World Religion: An Overview

While I do not consider myself a very religious person, religion is something that has always fascinated and intrigued me. Over 80% of the world's population considers themselves religious, religion is a big part of most people's lives. With estimates of over 4,000 different religions in the world it can be a confusing topic. It can also be a confusing topic when it comes to what religions came first and when they started.

Here is a video of the spread the first religions throughout the world. http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/history-of-religion.html

Even though tribal people had different types of religious practices and spiritual rituals, Hinduism is the world's oldest organized religion, with Judaism following. Then Christianity and Islam were born from Judaism. These are still the main religions today. Among the other larger religions are: Buddhism, Confucianism, and Jainism.
For information on the different types of religions and a comparison go to: http://www.religionfacts.com/big_religion_chart.htm

Different religions practice different things but they can be broken down into different sub-groups.
There is monotheism which is the belief in one God, polytheism which is the belief in many Gods, and pantheism which is a belief that all is God.
http://www.allaboutreligion.org/origin-of-religion.htm

The "Big Four" religions are all very similar and different at the same time. Hinduism has no known founder or year of origin, but it is known that it was developed in India. Hindu is not just a religion it is a cultural system too. The Vedas is the oldest book of Hindu and lays out the foundation of it. Judaism was originated in 1300 B.C.E. by Abraham, who was the first Hebrew. The Tanakh or Torah is the religious book of Hindu. Christianity comes from Judaism and the holy book is the Bible. Christianity is broken down into many smaller groups such as: Catholic, Protestant, Methodist, to name a few. Islam also originated from Judaism; the Qur'an is the holy book. Muhammad is known as the prophet of Islam he was not just a religious leader, he was also a political and military leader.