World religions include Buddhism, Christianity, Islam. History of the origin and foundations of world religions

The word "religion" comes from the Latin term religio, which denotes piety, holiness, piety and superstition. The concept itself is one of the forms of social consciousness, conditioned by the belief that there are supernatural phenomena in the world. Such a judgment is the main sign and element of any religion represented by believers.

The emergence of religions

To date, world religions include Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. Their main and characteristic features are the places of their distribution, which do not depend on the places of appearance. The ancient inhabitants of the planet, when they created their own types of religions, first of all cared about the presence of ethnic needs and hoped for a certain "earthly" help of their gods.

The emergence of world religions originates in ancient times. Then there were also beliefs that corresponded to the dreams and hopes of not only the people, from where the prophet came who proclaimed the divine will. For such doctrines, all national limits turned out to be close. Therefore, they began to master the minds of millions of people who inhabited various countries and continents. So there were such directions as Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. A table of world religions will show their details.

How did Buddhism come into being and what is this kind of religion?

Buddhism appeared in ancient India in the sixth century BC. The person who founded him is Siddhartha Gautama, popularly known as Buddha. Later, he was considered a certain deity, that is, a certain being that reached the state of the highest perfection, or enlightenment.

World religions are Buddhism and its various directions. For its basis was taken the so-called doctrine of the Four Noble Truths, consisting of the following sections:

- about suffering;

- about the origin and causes of suffering;

- the complete cessation of suffering and the disappearance of its sources.

According to spiritual practice, after passing through such paths, a true cessation of suffering occurs, and the person finds his highest point in nirvana. The most widespread Buddhism in Tibet, Thailand, Korea, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, China, Mongolia, Vietnam and Japan. In Russia this direction was actual in the territory of the Caucasus and on Sakhalin. In addition, today it is the mainstream religion of Buryatia and the Kalmyk steppe.

Everyone knows that Buddhism belongs to world religions. Usually it is divided into the Great Chariot and the Teaching of the Oldest (Mahayana and Theravada). The first kind can include Tibetan and Chinese directions, as well as several separate schools. His followers share this religion with the Great and the Lesser Chariot. The second species, Theravada, is the only surviving school of Nikaya. The concept of metta-bhavana is very actively used here.

Tibetan Buddhism is characterized by Vajrayana, which is also called the Diamond Chariot, or Tantric Religion. In some cases, it is considered separate, and sometimes also one of the Mahayana schools. This branch is quite common in countries such as Nepal, Tibet, it is found in Japan and Russia.

The emergence of the first literature of Buddhism

While Buddhist religion flourished, literature and writing appeared. This is indeed one of the world's religions, since it has millions of followers. Even in the distant fourth century BC, the famous Panini created a grammar of the Sanskrit language, the rules and vocabulary of which then significantly helped to establish communication and understanding of the most diverse nationalities and numerous tribes. Just at this time in Sanskrit were recorded such famous poems as "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana", and in addition, and treatises on different branches of knowledge.

World religions - Buddhism, Christianity, Islam - carry in their directions certain information. They imbued various collections of fairy tales, myths and fables. In the same period, the main rules of versification were developed. Buddhism in the world is characterized by a desire for parables, metaphors and comparisons. Religious and philosophical works of literature are very remarkable and unique. Most of all, of course, they are related to the description of the life of the Buddha, as well as his sermons.

The influence of Buddhism on the construction of temples

In Japan, for example, with the advent of Buddhism, not only new architectural forms developed, but also construction techniques. This manifested itself in a special type of planning of the temple complexes. Stone foundation was very important technical novelty. In ancient Shinto designs, the heaviness of the building fell on the piles dug deep into the earth. This significantly limited the size of the buildings. In the temples, the inner territory of a rectangular shape was surrounded by a corridor covered with a roof. Here were also the gates.

The entire monastic territory was surrounded by outside walls from the ground with gates on each side. They were called according to the direction to which they pointed. In addition, a rather important point is that many of the ancient monuments of Japanese architecture were built of wood.

Indeed, the process of building religious premises has always been and will be very relevant. Even from the very beginning of its development, when the foundations of world religions were born, humanity designated such places. Today, when the main religions are already established, numerous churches, monasteries, churches and other sacred places continue to have great significance and play a huge role in the life of each person.

When and where did Christianity appear?

Such a religion, now known as Christianity, appeared in the first century of our era in Judea (eastern province of the Roman Empire). In addition, this direction applies to world religions. It is based on the doctrine of the God-man Jesus Christ (Son of God), who according to legend came to the world to people with good deeds and preached to them the laws of right living. It was he who took great suffering and painful death on the cross to atone for their sins.

The word "Christianity" comes from the Greek term "Chryotos", which means the anointed one, or the messiah. Today it is considered a monotheistic religion, which, together with Islam and Judaism, is part of the Abrahamic faith, and together with Islam and Buddhism is part of the three world religions.

Previously, many believed that there are 4 world religions. In modern times, Christianity is one of the most widespread beliefs in the world. Today it is professed by more than a quarter of humanity. This religion ranks first in the world in terms of its geographical spread, that is, in virtually every country there is at least one Christian society. Directly the roots of the Christian teaching are closely related to Judaism and the Old Testament.

The Legend of Jesus

The gospels and church legends say that Jesus, or Joshua, was originally brought up as a Jew. He observed the laws of the Torah, attended the lessons of the synagogue on Saturdays, and celebrated the holidays. As for the apostles and other first followers of Christ, they were Jews. However, already a few years after the church was founded, Christianity as a religion began to be preached in other nations.

As you know, now there are three world religions. From the very beginning, Christianity spread among Jews in Palestine and in the Mediterranean diaspora, however, starting from the first years, because of the sermons of the apostle Paul, more followers from other nations joined him.

Distribution and division of Christianity

Until the fifth century, the spread of this religion was carried out on the territory of the Roman Empire, as well as in its emergence. Then - among the Germanic and Slavic peoples, as well as in the Baltic and Finnish regions. This is the specificity of world religions. At present, Christianity has spread beyond Europe through colonial expansion and the work of missionaries. The main branches of this religion are Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism.

For the first time, Christianity was divided in the eleventh century. At that time, the two largest churches appeared. It is western, having a center in Rome, and an eastern one, whose center was in Constantinople, in Byzantium. As the table of world religions shows, Christianity also has its own directions.

Catholic Church

The first church was called Catholic (in translation from Greek - universal, or universal). This name reflects the desire of the Western Church for worldwide dissemination. The Pope was the head of the western Catholic Church. This branch of Christianity preaches the doctrine of the "supernatural merits" of various saints before God. Such acts are a kind of treasury, which the church can dispose of as you like, that is, at its discretion.

Major world religions have their adherents in many states. The Catholic followers of Europe, as a rule, are present in such countries as Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, France, Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, Malta, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland. In addition, in the Catholic faith there are approximately half of the people in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, as well as the population of the Balkan Peninsula and part of Western Ukraine and Belarus.

As for the states of Asia, here the Catholic countries are the Philippines, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, India, Indonesia. In Africa there are Catholics in Gabon, Angola, Congo, Mauritius, the Seychelles and other states. In addition, Catholicism is very common in America and Canada.

Orthodoxy - the main direction of Christianity

World religions - Buddhism, Christianity, Islam - are known to all people. What can we say about Orthodoxy? It is another major direction of Christianity. As a rule, it is widespread in the Eastern European countries. If we compare it with Catholicism, then Orthodoxy does not have a single religious center. Each more or less large Orthodox community exists separately, thus forming autocephaly, and also it absolutely does not submit to any other centers.

Today there are fifteen autocephaly. According to the church traditions, which take into account the time of their receipt, the official list of such churches is the list: Constantinople, Serbian, Alexandrian, Antioch, Russian, Jerusalem, Georgian, Romanian, Eliad, Bulgarian, Cypriot, Albanian, American, Czechoslovak and Polish. However, most of all Orthodoxy has strengthened on the territory of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, as well as in some Eastern European countries.

Protestantism - the third course of Christianity

It's not a secret for anyone that the world's religions are Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. The third largest trend of Christianity is Protestantism. It represents a certain kind of Christianity and is widespread in the countries of Western Europe, America, and also in Russia. Protestants include Old Catholics, Mennonites, Quakers, Mormons, Moravian brothers, the so-called "Christian commonwealth" and so on.

If we talk about the history of origin, then we can say that Protestantism appeared in the seventeenth century in Germany. This name was given to this direction because it represented a kind of protest of believing states of Western Europe, aimed at the administrative forces of the Vatican and the popes.

Major world religions spread throughout the world. The first founder of such a direction as Protestantism was the German figure Martin Luther. This religion, when compared with Catholicism and Orthodoxy, represents many currents and churches, the most influential of which are Lutheranism, Anglicanism and Calvinism.

Today, Protestantism is very widespread in various Scandinavian countries, America, Germany, Britain, Canada and Switzerland. Its world center is the USA. And modern Protestantism is characterized by a desire for integration, and it found expression in 1948 in the World Council of Churches.

The Third World Religion: Islam

Fundamentals of world religions say that Islam is one of them. This is the third, the latest in the time of occurrence of the world religion. It appeared on the territory of the Arabian Peninsula at the beginning of the seventh century. The word "Islam" comes from the Arabic term, which means obedience to God, that is, to Allah, or to his will. In general, Islam is a monotheistic religion. His followers believe that the very first person and messenger is the Prophet Adam. In addition, they are convinced that Islam is the first religion of humanity, and they worship the One One God. Absolutely all the prophets spread this religion and taught how to serve Allah properly.

However, faith was changed over time and lost its authenticity. That is why Allah sent the last prophet Muhammad, through whom religion was transferred to all people as a true and perfect direction and faith of all the Prophets. Muhammad is the last prophet to spread Islam. Here, like other world religions, there is no unity. This confirms the existence of two main areas - Sunni and Shiite. Sunni dominates, while the latter live mainly in Iran and Iraq.

The Two Directions of Islam

The culture of world religions is quite diverse. Sunnism is the first branch of Islam. It appeared in the tenth century in the Arab Caliphate and was the dominant religious trend. His split came from power in the caliphate. If we compare it with the Shiite direction, the idea of Ali's nature and the idea of mediation between the people and Allah was denied here.

As you know, Islam belongs to the world religions. Shiism is its main direction. He appeared in the seventh century in the Arab Caliphate as a group that advocated protecting the descendants of Ali and his rights from Fatima. When Shi'ism lost in the struggle for supreme power, it became a special trend in Islam.

Thus, now there are three world religions. When they are talked about (Christianity, Buddhism and Islam), they imply a rather complex cumulative concept that includes some mythology, cultic activities, religious institutions, forms of relations between believers and religious organizations, and much more.

At the same time, for each direction of religion, such moments are characterized by their specific semantic content, their own history of emergence and further existence. A certain study of all these semantic features in the development of many religions, as well as their historical species, is a special science called religious studies.