What unites the leading religious beliefs. Major religions of the world. Complex topic in simple words. Christianity: God is the Holy Trinity

A very long time ago, such a wonderful feeling arose in a person as faith in God and higher power that determine the fate of people and what they will do in the future. There is a huge number, each of which has its own laws, orders, memorable calendar dates, and prohibitions. How old are the religions of the world? - a question that is difficult to give an exact answer.

Ancient signs of the birth of religions

It is known that in various forms began to exist already a huge number of years ago. Previously, it was common for people to sacredly and blindly believe that 4 elements can bestow life: air, water, earth and the sun. By the way, such a religion exists to this day and is called polytheism. How many religions exist in the world, at least the main ones? Today there are no bans on this or that religion. That's why religious movements more and more are being created, but the main ones are still there, and there are not so many of them.

Religion - what is it?

It is customary to include a certain sequence of rituals, rites and customs in the concept of religion, performed either daily (daily prayer is an example here), or periodically, and sometimes even once. This includes wedding, confession, communion, baptism. Any religion, in principle, is aimed at uniting perfectly different people V large groups. Despite some cultural differences, many religions are similar in the message that comes across to believers. The difference lies only in the external design of the rituals. How many major religions are there in the world? This question will be answered in this article.

Christianity, Buddhism and Islam can be considered. The latter religion is practiced more in the countries of the East, and Buddhism is practiced in Asian countries. Each of the listed religious branches has a history that lasts for more than several thousand years, as well as a number of indestructible traditions that are observed by all deeply religious people.

Geography of religious movements

As for geographical fragmentation, here about 100 years ago it was possible to trace the predominance of any confession, but now this does not exist at all. For example, earlier, more convinced Christians lived in Africa, Europe, South America, and the Australian continent.

The inhabitants of North Africa and the Middle East could be called Muslims, and the people who settled in the territory of the South-Eastern part of Eurasia were considered to be believers in the Buddha. On the streets of Central Asian towns, now more and more often you can see people standing almost side by side Muslim mosques and Christian churches.

How many major religions are there in the world?

As for the question of knowledge of the founders of world religions, most of them are known to all believers. For example, the founder of Christianity was Jesus Christ (according to another opinion, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit), the founder of Buddhism is Siddhartha Guatama, whose other name is Buddha, and, finally, the foundations of Islam, according to many believers, were laid by the Prophet Muhammad.

An interesting fact is that both Islam and Christianity conditionally come from the same faith, which is called Judaism. Isa Ibn Mariam is considered the successor of Jesus in this faith. Related to this branch of faith are other well-known prophets who were mentioned in Holy Scripture. Many believers believe that the prophet Muhammad appeared on earth even before people saw Jesus.

Buddhism

As for Buddhism, this religious denomination is rightfully recognized as the most ancient among all that are only known. human mind. The history of this faith has an average of about two and a half millennia, perhaps even much more. The origin of a religious movement called Buddhism began in India, and the founder was Siddhartha Guatama. The Buddha himself achieved faith gradually, step by step moving towards the miracle of enlightenment, which then the Buddha began to generously share with his fellow sinners. The teachings of the Buddha became the basis for writing a sacred book called the Tripitaka. To date, the most common stages of the Buddhist faith are considered to be Hinayama, Mahayama and Wajayama. Adherents of faith in Buddhism believe that the main thing in a person's life is a good state of karma, which is achieved only by doing good deeds. Every Buddhist himself goes the way to the purification of karma through deprivation and pain.

Many, especially today, are wondering how many religions are there in the world? It is difficult to name the number of all directions, because almost every day new ones appear. In our article we will talk about the main ones. The following religious trend is one of them.

Christianity

Christianity is a faith that was founded thousands of years ago by Jesus Christ. According to scientists, the religion of Christianity was founded in the 1st century BC. This religious trend appeared in Palestine, and the eternal fire descended to Jerusalem, where it still burns. Nevertheless, there is an opinion that people learned about this faith even earlier, and almost for a whole thousand years. There is also an opinion that for the first time people met not with Christ, but with the founder of Judaism. Among Christians, Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants can be distinguished. In addition, there are huge groups of people who call themselves Christians, but who believe in completely different dogmas and attend other public organizations.

Postulates of Christianity

The main inviolable postulates of Christianity is the belief that God has three guises (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), belief in saving death and in the phenomenon of reincarnation. In addition, the followers of Christianity practice the belief in evil and good, represented by angelic and devilish forms.

Unlike Protestants and Catholics, Christians do not believe in the existence of the so-called "purgatory", where the souls of sinners are selected for heaven or hell. Protestants believe that if faith in salvation is preserved in the soul, then a person is guaranteed to go to heaven. Protestants believe that the meaning of the rites is not beauty, but sincerity, which is why the rites are not pompous, and their number is much smaller than in Christianity.

Islam

As for Islam, this religion is considered relatively new, as it appeared only in the 7th century BC. The place of appearance is the Arabian Peninsula, where the Turks and Greeks lived. Place Orthodox bible takes holy quran, which contains all the basic laws of religion. In Islam, as well as in Christianity, there are several directions: Sunitism, Shiaism and Kharijitism. The difference between these directions from each other lies in the fact that the Sunnis recognize four caliphs as the "right hand" of the Prophet Mohammed, and in addition to the Koran, the collection of instructions of the prophet is considered a sacred book for them.

Shiites believe that only blood heirs can continue the work of the prophet. The Kharijites believe in almost the same thing, they only believe that only blood descendants or close associates can inherit the rights of the prophet.

The Muslim faith recognizes the existence of Allah and the Prophet Mohammed, and is also of the opinion that life after death exists, and a person can be reborn into any living creature or even an object. Any Muslim firmly believes in the power of holy customs, therefore, annually makes a pilgrimage to holy places. Truly holy city for all Muslims is Jerusalem. Salat is an obligatory ritual for every adherent of the Muslim faith, and its main meaning is prayer in the mornings and evenings. The prayer is repeated 5 times, after which the believers try to observe the fast according to all the rules.

In this faith, during the month of Ramadan, believers are forbidden to have fun, and are allowed to devote themselves only to prayer to Allah. Mecca is considered the main city of pilgrims.

We have covered the main areas. Summing up, we note: how many religions in the world, so many opinions. Unfortunately, representatives of not all religious movements fully accept the existence of another direction. Often this even led to wars. IN modern world some aggressive figures use the image of a "sectarian" or "totalitarian sect" as a scarecrow, promoting intolerance towards any non-traditional religiosity. However, no matter how different the religious directions, they, as a rule, have something in common.

Unity and Differences of Major Religions

The commonality of all religious denominations is hidden and at the same time simple in that they all teach tolerance, love for God in all manifestations, mercy and kindness towards people. Both Islam and Christian faith promote resurrection after earthly death, followed by rebirth. In addition, Islam and Christianity jointly believe that fate is destined by heaven, and only Allah or, as Christians call it, the Lord God, can correct it. Although the teachings of Buddhists are strikingly different from Christianity and Islam, these “branches” are united by the fact that a certain morality is sung, under which no one is allowed to stumble.

The instructions given to the Most High sinful people also have common features. For Buddhists, these are dogmas, for Christians there are commandments, and for adherents of Islam, these are excerpts from the Koran. It doesn't matter how many world religions there are in the world. The main thing is that they all bring a person closer to the Lord. The commandments for each faith are the same, only they have a different style of retelling. Everywhere it is forbidden to lie, kill, steal, and everywhere they call for mercy and tranquility, for mutual respect and love for one's neighbor.

(not global, but all).

The world religion is religion that spread among the peoples different countries Worldwide. The difference between world religions from national and national-state religions in that in the latter the religious connection between people coincides with the ethnic connection (the origin of believers) or political. World religions are also called supranational, as they unite different nations on different continents. History of World Religions always closely connected with the course of the history of human civilization. List of world religions small. Religious scholars count three world religions which we will briefly review.

Buddhism.

Buddhism- ancient world religion , which originated in the VI century BC in the territory of modern India. At the moment, according to various researchers, it has from 800 million to 1.3 billion believers.

In Buddhism there is no creator god, as there is in Christianity. Buddha means enlightened. In the center of religion, the teachings of the Indian prince Gautama, who left his life in luxury, became a hermit and ascetic, thought about the fate of people and the meaning of life.

In Buddhism there is also no theory about the creation of the world (no one created and no one controls it), there is no concept of an eternal soul, there is no expiation of sins (instead of this - positive or negative karma), there is no such a multicomponent organization as the church in Christianity. Buddhism does not require absolute devotion and rejection of other religions from believers. It sounds funny, but Buddhism can be called the most democratic religion. Buddha is something like an analogue of Christ, but he is not considered either a god or a son of God.

The essence of the philosophy of Buddhism- striving for nirvana, self-knowledge, self-contemplation and spiritual self-development through self-restraint and meditation.

Christianity.

Christianity arose in the 1st century AD in Palestine (Mesopotamia) on the basis of the teachings of Jesus Christ, which were described by his disciples (apostles) in the New Testament. Christianity is the largest world religion in geographical terms (it is present in almost all countries of the world) and in terms of the number of believers (about 2.3 billion, which is almost a third of the world's population).

In the 11th century, Christianity split into Catholicism and Orthodoxy, and in the 16th century, Protestantism also broke away from Catholicism. Together they make up the three major currents of Christianity. Smaller branches (currents, sects) are more than a thousand.

Christianity is monotheistic, although monotheism a little non-standard: the concept of God has three levels (three hypostases) - Father, Son, Holy Spirit. The Jews, for example, do not accept this; for them God is one, and cannot be binary or ternary. In Christianity, faith in God, service to God and a righteous life are of paramount importance.

The main manual of Christians is the Bible, which consists of the Old and New Testaments.

Both Orthodox and Catholics recognize the seven sacraments of Christianity (baptism, communion, repentance, chrismation, marriage, unction, priesthood). Main differences:

• the Orthodox do not have a Pope (single head);
• there is no concept of "purgatory" (only heaven and hell);
• priests do not take a vow of celibacy;
• slight difference in rituals;
• holiday dates.

Among Protestants, anyone can preach, the number of sacraments and the importance of rites are reduced to a minimum. Protestantism is, in fact, the least strict branch of Christianity.

Islam.

IN islam also one god. Translated from Arabic means "subjugation", "submission". God is Allah, the prophet is Mohammed (Mohammed, Mohammed). Islam ranks second in terms of the number of believers - up to 1.5 billion Muslims, that is, almost a quarter of the world's population. Islam originated in the 7th century on the Arabian Peninsula.

Koran - holy book Muslims - is a collection of the teachings of Muhammad (sermons) and were compiled after the death of the prophet. Of considerable importance is also the Sunnah - a collection of parables about Muhammad, and Shariah - a code of conduct for Muslims. In Islam, observance of rituals is of paramount importance:

• daily five times prayer (prayer);
• Ramadan fasting (9th month) Muslim calendar);
• distribution of alms to the poor;
• hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca);
• pronouncing the main formula of Islam (there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet).

Previously, the number of world religions also included Hinduism And Judaism. This data is now considered obsolete.

Unlike Buddhism, Christianity and Islam are related to each other. Both religions are Abrahamic religions.

In literature and cinema, such a concept as "one universe" is sometimes encountered. The heroes of different works live in the same world and may one day meet, like, for example, Iron Man and Captain America. Christianity and Islam take place in "the same universe". Jesus Christ, Moses, the Bible are mentioned in the Koran, and Jesus and Moses are prophets. Adam and Chava are the first people on Earth according to the Quran. Muslims in some biblical texts also see the prophecy of the appearance of Muhammad. In this aspect, it is interesting to observe that especially severe religious conflicts arose precisely between these religions close to each other (and not with Buddhists or Hindus); but we will leave this question for the consideration of psychologists and religious scholars.

Existing religions can be compared to the buildings of various architectural styles. Appearance and the shape of buildings are different, but any building has a foundation, load-bearing structures and a roof.

Likewise, many religions that amaze with an abundance of rites, various arrangements, decoration of temples and a variety of rituals have similar components: the "foundation" and "supporting structures" presented in the dogma.

Any religion has a) a cult and b) a special worldview. Cult, or cult practice, involves specific actions of the believer (for example, prayer or visiting a temple). Worldview, or worldview, includes ideas about the surrounding world and man.

Indeed, if we remove from each religion what distinguishes it from others, the essence, the “core”, will remain, which is practically the same for all religions. This essence suggests that the Universe is more complicated than it seems at first glance: in addition to the surrounding world, familiar to everyone, there is another, invisible world that affects what is happening around. It is this knowledge that came from people who later became known as prophets , messiahs, avatars, teachers, and served as the cause of the emergence of all world religions.

The "foundation" of most religions is the same - it is a mystical experience. Mystics and prophets of all times and peoples talk about their mystical experience often in the same words. In them, the Highest Reality appears as an all-understanding, loving space filled with light and bliss.

It is important to emphasize that the founders of any religion spoke only about what was reality for them, the result of their own experience. They did not have faith in what they were talking about, but direct knowledge of it. Direct knowledge is the result of direct perception. In the same way, a sighted person knows about the existence of the sun because he sees it himself, while a blind person can only believe in its existence from the words of a sighted person. Therefore, in every religion, an element of faith is obligatory and, as a result, various rituals of worship accompanying it. After all ordinary people Attracted by the miracles and sermons of the saints, they themselves have never experienced anything like the illuminations of the saints. Therefore, for them, the only way to touch the Great Truth was faith and worship. Temples were built, prayers and rituals were created - all this strengthened faith and helped worship.
As far as dogma is concerned, even here the main "supporting structures" are often the same principles. The structure of the external and internal world of man, the paths leading to God and salvation, have common features. Many religions recognize as the only path to God the path of renunciation of their selfish aspirations, the path of love, and their followers are prescribed to follow ethical rules similar to the New Testament commandment: "... turn away from evil, cling to good" (Rom. 12.9).

If we consider the main principles of ethics of the main directions of Christianity, Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism and other religions, it turns out that they all complement each other in one way or another. For example, New Testament says that "God is love"; the Sanskrit sutras recognize God as "the source of all knowledge and all love"; Taoism notes that "Tao is a gentle being"; and the Qur'an states: "Allah is Merciful, Merciful." This implies that Divine Love is at the origin of being, and one can approach God only by developing more and more perfect love in oneself. "Continuously develop bodhichitta in yourself" (that is, perfect compassion for all living beings), Buddhist monks urge. "This I command you, that you love one another" (John 15:17), Jesus Christ taught. And for the mystics of Islam, the Almighty "is Love, Loving and Beloved."

Many religions offer detailed explanations about how to develop perfect love. This happens as a person learns to love all the world and to see in every person and event the manifestation of the Will and Love of God.

Other prescriptions and rules that follow from this main covenant of many religions are also very similar. They include principles similar to the commandments of the New Testament, i.e. the injunctions "do not kill", "do not steal", etc. Thus, in the Hindu and Buddhist traditions, the principle "do not kill" corresponds to ahimsa (doing no harm to all living beings neither in thoughts, nor in words, nor in actions), but to the principle "do not steal" - asteya (lack of desire to possess other people's things), etc.

Disagreements that eventually lead to conflicts with murders arise between believers, as they argue about their various faiths (i.e. about different fantasies or interpretations of sacred texts), and not about the single Truth itself. It is impossible to argue about it, you can experience it
The similarity of the basic religious moral prescriptions leads to the fact that many philosophers, theologians and religious scholars begin to talk about a single world ethics, "cosmic ethics", to one degree or another represented in the moral code of a particular religious tradition.

An international team of scientists conducted a study and found out which animals are most likely to become extinct by 2100. The text of the work can be found in the scientific journal BioScience. During the study, scientists analyzed the rate at which the number of individuals in a particular animal species is decreasing. In the end, it turned out that the worst of all things are with the western gorilla, ...

Glowing blue ball

While sailing off the coast of California, oceanographers stumbled upon a strange purple bubble - a life form that has never been seen by scientists. The discovery is reported by the Smithsonian. The expedition is taking place on the ship Nautilus. The glowing purple lump is five centimeters in diameter. Scientists have suggested that they have discovered a new species of tunicates, cnidarians, or holoto...

As the saying goes, you will know them by their fruits.

There are many fruits of nature on earth that are suitable for human consumption. One of the most ancient and widespread is mushrooms. A mushroom, like the elite, the intelligentsia and Orthodox Jews, has a mandatory attribute - a hat. Each mushroom under the hat has its own thoughts, ideas and to learn about them - you need to look under the hat. Because the outside of the hat can be completely o...

Black list

NeaTeam today at 04:23 Hid your articles from my feed. Andrei Nikolaevich Grebenyuk July 6 at 20:56 Hid your articles from his feed. Andrei Nikolaevich Grebenyuk July 6 at 20:56 Hid your articles from his feed. raiart July 6 at 00:39 Hid your articles from my feed. raiart July 6 at 00:39 Hid your articles from my feed. raiart July 6 at 00:39 Hid your articles from...

Day and night

Slept, sleep, sleeps, back, alcohol, one hundred, herd, barn, sodom .... Night - slept, fell, with him, with pet, back, sleep of the mouth, with that, a hundred house, Sar paradise, with the house ... .Selena, with Elena, selena, flax, laziness .... Shin, laziness, goal, goal .... Knees, knees, laziness .... From wine, pig, pig, from ata to .... If a person sleeps, the mind is turned off .... A sleeping person has no mind .... A fallen man has no mind...

New understanding, or just about the complex

1. Everything in the image and likeness. Space is usually represented as a straight line, plane, volume. Time as past, present, future. Worlds as a microcosm, real world and the macrocosm. The main religions are Judaism, Christianity, Islam. In Christianity, the holy trinity is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The state of matter is solid, liquid and gaseous. Three states are present both in the material...

Russia and Enemies….

When the earth was flat for people, they were looking for Paradise for themselves.... Some were looking for Paradise, going to Sunrise, while others were looking for Sunset.... They finally settled when they realized that the Earth is round. East - West was formed as two opposite poles ... Global poles of confrontation - USA - Russia .... But since ancient times there have been two opposites, this is China (red ...

Confrontation

The reasons for the opposition of different points of view .... The first reason is to stand against each other, and different points of view follow from this .... A person, being alone, knows where he has left - right, top - bottom .... Taking out an image from himself, an assistant and naming her Khava, and then, having spiritualized it - adding the cross of Christ, received Life - F .... From the point of view of the Human, on the right side of the F is K, ...

War..., between earth and sky

In Christianity, the cross is a symbol of Christ aspiring to the Father of Heaven .... The opposite direction is Peter crucified upside down, he is the foundation of the Church of Christ - its foundation ... Peter was crucified on an inverted cross, setting the vector for the capture of the earth .... The weapon was a sword that symbolized the cross among the crusaders .... Sticking into the ground and praying to the cross - they used the word in the war, and the translation ...

Or me

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that when I come, I will not strike the earth with a curse ”(Mal. 4: 5-6). The emphasis is on I ... Or I, or my God Yahweh .... Elijah (Heb. אֵלִיָּהוּ‏‎‎‎ (Eliyahu), Heb. ‏אֵלִיָּה‏‎‎‎‎ (Eliya) - “My God Yahweh”;

Jerusalem is the foundation of the world....

Its antiquity goes back to the times of Abraham - Salem, in which Melchizedek was king and high priest. -im - l at on, l-it .... Lena - selena, knees, shin .... Jacob put a stone under his head - for you L ok .... Peter - Stone, the foundation of the church of Salem - Sa-...

Parable of the Evil Tenants

And he began to speak to them in parables: A certain man planted a vineyard and surrounded it with a fence, and dug out a winepress, and built a tower, and having given it to the vinedressers, he went away. And in due time he sent a servant to the vine-growers to receive from the vine-growers the fruits from the vineyard. They seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent another servant to them; and they broke his head with stones and let him go ...

The plane is itself about years….

Grab on the fly (colloquial) trans. - understand, assimilate immediately, from the first word. Not everyone understands the first time, or does not want to understand at all .... How many circles, years, years - do you need to understand? Christ at the age of 30 did not yet understand, but at 33 he understood ... .If Moses obeyed the water - the sea parted ... then Christ .... 37And a great storm arose; the waves were beating the boat, so she was already...

Prophets and terrorists

The relation of the parts to each other and their relation to the whole, as well as the relation of the whole to the parts .... Russia at one time was divided into a white part and a red one .... One part was supposed to be capitalists, the other communists - the ists unite these two parts .... In the struggle these units appeared terror-ists - white terror and red terror .... It was impossible to agree, the struggle reached its apogee ...

Why the Almighty - having Omnipotence, delays punishment ....

In case of Biblical character Jonah, it was said: “You pity the plant that you did not work on and which you did not grow. right hand from the left, and a multitude of cattle?” Lack of consciousness and being in the state of a beast served as an excuse .... During the Judgment ...

Thunder

The two parts of the Bible are the Old Testament and the New.... Old Testament about the 12 tribes of Israel, and the New about the 12 Apostles .... John is the connecting link of the two parts of the Bible ....... We find an interesting detail of this tragic night in the Gospel of John (18:15-16). From Gethsemane, "Jesus [and the guards] were followed by Simon Peter and another disciple; this disciple was the sign of the high priest...

All world religions, with the exception of Buddhism, come from a relatively small corner of the planet, located between the desert shores of the Mediterranean, Red and Caspian Seas. From here come Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and the now almost extinct Zoroastrianism.

Christianity. The most common of the world's religions is Christianity, whose followers are considered to be 1.6 billion people. Christianity retains its strongest positions in Europe, America and Australia.
Christianity appeared at the beginning of our era as a development of the biblical wisdom that had been built up over the previous 2000 years. The Bible teaches us to understand and fulfill the meaning of life. Biblical thinking gives decisive importance to the issue of life and death, the end of the world.
Jesus Christ preached the ideas of brotherhood, diligence, non-acquisitiveness and peacefulness. The service to wealth was condemned and the superiority of spiritual values ​​over material ones was proclaimed.

First Ecumenical Council, who gathered in Nicaea in 325, laid the dogmatic foundations of the One Holy Cathedral Apostolic Church for many centuries to come.
In Christianity, the view was adopted of the "inseparable and inseparable" union in Jesus Christ of two natures - divine and human. In the 5th century the supporters of Archbishop Nestor, who recognized the basic human nature of Christ (later separated into Nestorians), and the followers of Archimandrite Eutychius, who claimed that in Jesus Christ there is only one divine nature, were condemned. Supporters of the one nature of Jesus Christ began to be called Monophysists. Adherents of monophysism make up a certain proportion among contemporary Orthodox Christians.
In 1054 there was a major split christian church to the East ( Orthodox center in Constantinople (now Istanbul) and Western (Catholic) with the center in the Vatican. This division runs through the whole history of the world.

Orthodoxy established itself mainly among the peoples of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Largest number adherents of Orthodoxy - Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Greeks, Romanians, Serbs, Macedonians, Moldavians, Georgians, Karelians, Komi, peoples of the Volga region (Mari, Mordvins, Udmurts, Chuvashs). Centers of Orthodoxy exist in the USA, Canada, and a number of Western European countries.

A tragic split occurred in the history of Russian Orthodoxy, which led to the emergence of the Old Believers. The origins of the schism date back to the years of the adoption of Christianity by Russia. In those days, Byzantium was dominated by two charters close to each other, according to which the rite of worship was carried out. In the east of Byzantium, the Jerusalem Charter was the most common, and in the west, the Studian (Constantinople) Charter prevailed. The latter became the basis of the Russian charter, while in Byzantium the charter of Jerusalem (St. Sava) became more and more dominant. From time to time certain innovations were introduced into the Jerusalem Rule, so that it began to be called Modern Greek.
Russian Church until the middle of the XVII century. led the rite according to the archaic Studian typikon with two-toed baptism, keeping Orthodoxy in the highest purity. Many Orthodox peoples looked at Moscow as a spiritual center.


Outside the Russian state, including in Ukraine, church rites were carried out according to the modern Greek model. With connection with the unification of Ukraine and Russia in 1654, Kyiv begins to have a huge impact on the spiritual life of Moscow. Under his influence, Moscow begins to turn away from the past, adopts a new way of life, more pleasing to Kyiv. Patriarch Nikon introduces new ranks and rituals. Icons are updated according to Kyiv and Lvov samples. Patriarch Nikon edits Church Slavonic liturgical books according to modern Greek editions of the Italian press.
In 1658 Nikon founded the New Jerusalem monastery and the city of New Jerusalem, according to his plan, the future capital of the Christian world.
As a result of Nikon's reforms, six major innovations were introduced into the canon. duodenal sign of the cross replaced by three fingers, instead of "Jesus" it was ordered to write and pronounce "Jesus", during the sacraments, the circumambulation of the temple was ordered to be done against the sun.
The introduction of non-Orthodox veneration of the king placed him above religious spiritual dominion. This reduced the role of the church in the state, reduced it to the position of the Church order (an order, this is a kind of ministry in Russia of those times). Many believers perceived Nikon's reforms as a deep tragedy, secretly professed the old faith, followed it to torment, burned themselves, went into the forests and swamps. The fateful year 1666 led to a catastrophic split of the Russian people into those who accepted the new rite and those who rejected it. For the latter, the name "Old Believers" has been preserved.

Catholicism is another major branch of Christianity. It is common in North and South America. Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, part of the French, most of the Belgians, part of the Austrians and Germans (southern lands of Germany), Poles, Lithuanians, Croats, Slovenes, most of the Hungarians, Irish, some of the Ukrainians (in the form of Uniatism or Greek- Catholicism). A large center of Catholicism in Asia is the Philippines (the influence of Spanish colonization). There are many Catholics in Africa, Australia, Oceania.
Western Catholic Church boldly discarded the old ones and came up with new rituals that were closer in spirit to the Europeans and their ideas about the world as a space calling for conquest. Expansionism and enrichment of the church were dogmatically justified. The speeches of non-Catholics and heretics were brutally suppressed. The result was continuous wars, massive repressions of the Inquisition and a decline in the authority of the Catholic Church.

In the XIV-XV centuries. in Europe, the ideas of humanism and rebirth arose. During the 16th century Reformation Protestantism separated from Catholicism. Protestantism that arose in Germany was formed in the form of several independent movements, the most important of which were Anglicanism (the closest thing to Catholicism), Lutheranism and Calvinism. From Protestant churches new movements were formed that were of a sectarian nature, their number currently exceeds 250. Thus, Methodism spun off from Anglicanism, and the Salvation Army, organized in a military way, closely adjoins Methodism. Baptism is genetically related to Calvinism. Pentecostal sects separated from Baptism, and the sect of Jehovah's Witnesses also separated. Non-Christian Mormons occupy a special place in the Protestant milieu.

The stronghold of Protestantism is Northern and Central Europe. In the US, Protestants make up about 64% of the population. A large group of American Protestants are Baptists, followed by Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians. In Canada and South Africa, Protestants make up about half of the population. There are many adherents of Protestantism in Nigeria. Protestantism is predominant in Australia and most of Oceania. Separate forms of this branch of Christianity (especially Baptism and Adventism) are common in Russia and Ukraine.
The founder of Protestantism, the Catholic monk M. Luther, made demands to limit the excessive power of the church and calls for diligence and thrift. At the same time, he argued that the salvation of the human soul and deliverance from sins is accomplished by God himself, and not by the forces of man. The Calvinist Reformation went even further. According to Calvin, God eternally chose some people for salvation, and others for destruction, regardless of their will. Over time, these ideas turned into a revision of Christian dogmas. Calvinism turned out to be imbued with an anti-Christian denial of asceticism and the desire to replace it with the cult of natural man. Protestantism became the ideological justification of capitalism, the deification of Progress, the fetishization of money and goods. In Protestantism, as in no other religion, the dogma of the subjugation of nature, which was later adopted by Marxism, is strengthened.

Islam the youngest world religion. Islam dates back to 622 AD. e., when the prophet Muhammad with his followers moved from Mecca to Medina and the Bedouin tribes of Arabs began to adjoin him.
In the teachings of Muhammad, traces of Christianity and Judaism can be seen. Islam recognizes Moses and Jesus Christ as prophets as the penultimate prophet, but places them below Muhammad.


In private, Muhammad forbade pork, liquor, and gambling. Wars are not rejected by Islam and are even encouraged if they are waged for faith (holy war jihad).
All the foundations and rules of the Muslim religion are united in the Koran. The explanations and interpretations of obscure places in the Qur'an made by Muhammad were written down by his close people and Muslim theologians and compiled a collection of traditions known as the sunnah. Later, Muslims who recognized the Koran and the Sunnah became known as Sunnis, and Muslims who recognized only one Koran, and from the Sunnah only sections based on the authority of the relatives of the prophet, were called Shiites. This division still exists today.
Religious dogma formed the basis of Islamic Sharia law - a set of legal and religious norms based on the Koran.

Sunnis make up about 90% of Muslims. Shiism is predominant in Iran and Southern Iraq. In Bahrain, Yemen, Azerbaijan and mountainous Tajikistan, half of the population is Shiites.
Sunnism and Shiism gave rise to a number of sects. Wahhabism came out of Sunnism, dominating in Saudi Arabia, spreading among the Chechens and some peoples of Dagestan. The main Shiite sects were Zaidism and Ismailism, which was influenced by atheism and Buddhism.
In Oman, the third direction of Islam, Ibadiism, has spread, the followers of which are called Ibadis.

Buddhism. The most ancient of the world religions is Buddhism, which arose in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. in India. After more than 15 centuries of dominance in India, Buddhism gave way to Hinduism. However, Buddhism spread widely throughout the countries of Southeast Asia, penetrated into Sri Lanka, China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, and Mongolia. The number of adherents of Buddhism is estimated at approximately 500 million people.

In Buddhism, all the social and moral tenets of Hinduism are preserved, but the requirements of caste and asceticism are weakened. Buddhism pays more attention to the current life.
At the beginning of the first millennium, Buddhism split into two major branches. The first of them - Theravada, or Hinayana - requires the obligatory passage of monasticism from believers. Its adherents - Theravadins - live in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand (about 90% of the population of these countries), as well as in Sri Lanka (about 60%).

Another branch of Buddhism - Mahayana - admits that lay people can also be saved. Mahayana followers are concentrated in China (including Tibet), Japan, Korea, Nepal. There are a number of Buddhists in Pakistan, India, and among Chinese and Japanese immigrants in the Americas.

Judaism. Judaism can be attributed to the number of world religions with a certain degree of conventionality. This is the national religion of the Jews, which arose in Palestine in the 1st century. BC e. Most adherents are concentrated in Israel (the official religion of the state), the United States, European countries and Russia.

Judaism has preserved the ideas of brotherhood and mutual assistance, from Egyptian religion with the ideas of righteousness and sinfulness, heaven and hell. The new dogmas responded to the rallying of the Jewish tribes and the increase in their militancy. The sources of the doctrine of this religion are the Old Testament (recognized by later Christianity) and the Talmud (“commentaries” on the Old Testament books).

national religions. The most common national religions are the religions of India. Remarkable is the introversion of Indian religions, their appeal to such an inner and spiritual connection that opens up wide opportunities for self-improvement, creates a feeling of freedom, bliss, humility, self-giving, tranquility, is able to compress, collapse the phenomenal world until the world essence and the human soul completely coincide.

Religion of China made up of several parts. The earliest are the beliefs associated with agriculture, mastered in the 7th millennium BC. They believed that there is nothing higher than that in which the village man finds peace and beauty. About 3.5 thousand years ago, the former beliefs were supplemented by the cult of veneration of great ancestors - sages and heroes. These cults were embodied in Confucianism, formulated by the philosopher Confucius, or Kung Fu Tzu (551-479 BC).
The ideal of Confucianism was perfect man- modest, disinterested, possessing a sense of dignity and love for people. The social order is presented in Confucianism as one in which everyone acts in the interests of the people represented big family. The goal of every Confucian is moral self-improvement, respectful respect for elders, honoring parents and family traditions.
At one time, Brahmanism and Buddhism penetrated China. On the basis of Brahmanism, almost simultaneously with Confucianism, the teachings of Taoism arose. Internally connected with Taoism is Ch'an Buddhism, which spread in Japan under the name of Zen Buddhism. Together with Taoism and Confucianism, Chinese religions have developed into a worldview, the main features of which are the worship of the clan (ancestors, descendants, hearth) and poetic perception of nature, the desire to enjoy life and its beauty (S. Myagkov, 2002, N. Kormin, 1994).

Religion of Japan. Around the 5th century AD The Japanese got acquainted with the wisdom of India and China, adopted the Buddhist-Taoist attitude to the world, which did not contradict their original faith, Shintoism, the belief that everything is full of spirits, gods (ka-mi), and therefore deserves to be reverently treated. Main Feature Japanese Shintoism, transformed under the Chinese influence, became that, like Taoism, it does not teach goodness and does not expose evil, for "the threads of happiness and troubles tangled into a ball cannot be separated." The eradicated evil will inevitably break through with such a stormy undergrowth, about which the world builder did not even suspect. The Japanese perceive their homeland as the sacred property of the nation, which is in the temporary care of the living to be passed on to their descendants. Several million Japanese are adherents of Shintoism (T. Grigorieva, 1994).

Zoroastrianism distributed mainly in India (Parsis), Iran (Gebra) and Pakistan.
In addition to the major religions, there are dozens of local traditional beliefs in the world, mainly in the form of fetishism, animism and shamanism. There are especially many of them in Africa, primarily in Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin.
In Asia, followers of tribal cults predominate only in East Timor, but are also common on the islands of the western part of Oceania and among the peoples of the North of Russia (shamanism).
Source -