Top 10 Largest Religions In The World 2013. There are over 21 formal world religions and belief systems. Some have been around for only a few years while others have existed for thousands. Religions vary in beliefs with some believing in only one god, others many and some none. The one thing all followers of religion are governed by a set of beliefs apart from them that govern the way they live their lives. Top 10 Largest Religions In The World 2013 10. Shintoism - 4 million Shintoism is a religion indigenous to Japan circa 1000 B.C. and focuses worship on the kami, a host of supernatural beings dwelling in natural elements. There is no formal dogma, writ or founder, which has allowed for influence from other religions, such as Confucianism and Buddhism. Due to Shintoism’s compatibility with Buddhism, many of it’s followers practice both. Shintoism is devoted to life in the world and celebrates man’s essential goodness. The religion is focused on ritual rather than belief and is considered more of an essential Japanese way of life rather than a religion for its followers, contributing to its lack of practice outside Japan. 9. Jainism – 4.2 million Jainism rose alongside Buddhism in India and provides an alternate religion to Hinduism’s strict religious rituals. It teaches the escape from the process of rebirth and karma by reaching nirvana via leading a life of abstinence from the world’s earthly pleasures. Janism focuses on the wellbeing of the universe by living lives of harmlessness and renunciation from life’s evils. All living things, humans, animals and plants alike, contain souls with no soul being greater than any other. It’s followers believe there is no god but rather generate their morals based on self-help. 8. Bahaism - 7 million In sense of most world religions, Bahaism is strikingly new, only coming into existence in 1863 out of Persia. It focuses on the unification of all mankind drawing upon teachings from Islam and Christianity. Mirza Hoseyn ‘Ali Nuri, known as Baha ‘Ullah, founded Bahaism on the belief that his forerunner Bab and himself are manifestations of God. Bahais believe all founders of major religions were manifested upon the earth as agents of God implemented to teach the world spiritual lessons. Baha Ullah’s personal mission is to then unite and mankind despite religion, race or class, and focused most of his teachings on social ethics 7. Judaism - 14 million Judaism is the oldest of all monotheistic religions and blazed the trail for many other world religions including Christianity and Islam. Judaism follows the teachings of God, Yahweh, and focuses on Jews as the chosen people of God descending from the line of Abraham. Jews are called to be an example for others in holiness and ethical behavior. Moses founded the religion after leading his people from Egyptian slavery and receiving the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai. The Jewish religious text is known as the Torah and recounts the stories and teachings of it’s founders. 6. Juche -19 million Juche is the religion of North Korea and also known mockingly as “Kimilsungism.” It’s a religion founded on state dominance, veneration of leadership, political and economic independence, and communal production. The ideologies were first inducted by Karl Marx under the religion now known as Marxism. 5. Sikhism - 23 million Sikhism emerged from India circa the 15th century under the guidance of guru Nanak. The religion combines beliefs from Hinduism and Islam characterizing the belief that God comprises one reality alone while drawing upon meditative emphasis. At 29, Nanak declared, “there is no Hindu; there is no Muslim.” He rejected polytheism for monotheism and believes life is a circle of birth, death and rebirth only released by moksha into eventual unity with God. Sinkhism focuses on the importance of doing good rather than on religious rituals. 4. Buddhism -376 million Buddhism follows the teachings of Saddhartha, the son of a warrior prince born into an extremely wealthy background. The suffering of humanity led Saddhartha to leave his pampered life at 29 and travel in search of enlightenment and solutions to human suffering. While meditating beneath the bodi tree (tree of perfect knowledge) he received the enlightenment he sought and devoted the rest of his life teaching his followers of his new understandings. Buddhists focus on personal spiritual development and don’t worship gods or deities. 3. Hinduism - 900 million Hinduism is considered the oldest religion in the world with a legacy leading to prehistoric times. It is also the most diverse religion with followers from all races and walks of life, perhaps because there is no single doctrine, no founder or script binding believers together. Hinduism incorporates a number of influences in its beliefs and allows for complete freedom in doctrine. Instead, Hinduism’s history is written by a number of key figures, teachers and philosophers teaching practices and writings known as the Veda. As far as belief goes, Muslims draw upon a couple common values known as dharma. The term ‘Hindu’ was derived from the Sindhu River and doesn’t go back further than the 15th century. Followers began to call themselves Hindu in order to differentiate themselves from other religious followers, namely Muslims. 2. Islam – 1.5 billion Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world and follows the practices of Muhammad, a member of the Quraysh tribe born 570 A.D. At 25 he led a meditative life in the desert and received a vision from the angel Gabriel telling him to be a prophet. His wife Khadija encouraged him in this pursuit and he devoted his life to societal and religious reform. He was shunned from Mecca and fled after only gaining a few followers. Fleeing to Medina, Muhammad’s teachings were well received and marks the beginning of the Muslim era. In 630 A.D., he marched on Mecca and conquered it before passing away two years later. 1. Christianity - 2.1 billion Stemming from Judaism, Christianity is the largest religion in the world with 31.5% of the world’s population in practice. Christianity is characterized by its follower’s practice of monotheism and follow practices preached by Jesus of Nazareth, a Jew who claimed to be both fully man and fully God. Born in Bethlehem around 7 A.D., Jesus didn’t become public in his teaching until his 30th year and spent 3 years performing miracles and teachings until roughly 30 A.D. when he was brutally crucified for being a threat to the Roman Empire. Unaffiliated - 1.1 billion It’s debatable whether those who practice no religion count in the list of world religions, but it’s undeniable they hold a set of beliefs on religion even if those beliefs are to chose not to believe. If that is the case, then unaffiliated would come in at number 3 on our list. 16.3% of the world’s population professes to either one of the forms of disbelief, atheism/agnosticism, or with spiritual beliefs unlinked to any established faith. Of the 1.1 billion people professing no faith, over 62% of them live in China alone and make up more than half of its population. Japan is the most unaffiliated country with 57% of its population with no link to any established faith. America closes out the top 3 with 16.4% of it’s population in disbelief. Atheists and the unaffiliated believe god is a man-made construct, is unknowable or that its concepts are not meaningful to the human condition. Top 10 Largest Religions In The World 2013. Read more at americanlivewire/largest-religions/
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 11:14:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015