Religions (Eyewitness Companions)
Philip Wilkinson
Language: English
Pages: 354
ISBN: 1435121325
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
This coherent introduction to the diverse religious traditions that exist today- belief systems that provide expressions of holiness and ways to comprehend the divine for billions of people around the world-will explain the beliefs of the family down the street as well as the cultures halfway around the world. AUTHOR BIO: Philip Wilkinson has more than 50 titles to his credit in the fields of history, religion, mythology, and the arts, including DK's Illustrated Dictionary of Religion, Eyewitness Companion: Mythology,</i> and A Celebration of Customs and Rituals of the World, which was endorsed by the United Nations.
widespread. Christianity, having spread to much of the Western world, formed and dominated the ethics and outlook of Europe and North America. It still has a huge influence there as well as in many other areas of the globe, such as Africa. Islam pervades the way of life in most of the Middle East, from devoutly Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia, to essentially secular states with a Muslim majority, such as Turkey. Judaism, though numerically much smaller, also has a broad influence on life
Christians should lead their lives in order to take their place in the kingdom of God. This instruction is in the form of stories that recount Jesus’s teachings, and through the letters of Christian leaders, such as St. Paul. The Jews of the Roman period looked forward to a time in the future when, as God had promised, a leader or Messiah would appear to guide them as they freed themselves from Roman oppression, and a virtuous kingdom of God would begin on Earth. disciples that they should
ancient Sanskrit language that were written down in around 800bce, but are probably based on beliefs stretching back centuries before. bce, foundations of A faith The Aryan scriptures, called the Vedas (from the Sanskrit word for knowledge), are the first texts of Hinduism. The oldest of the Vedas is the Rig Veda, which contains more than 1,000 hymns, each addressed to a specific god. Among the many gods mentioned in these hymns, two of the most popular are the warrior deity Indra and the
focused on worship of one Absolute God. His main achievements were in encouraging Hindus to think more deeply about their faith and campaigning for social reforms. Rammohun Roy, founder of the Brahmo Samaj movement, pressed for reforms in India’s caste system and championed the rights of women. to interpret the messages of these had themselves at first been seen as scriptures and present their essence in a branches of Hinduism. But they were way people could understand. One of unified in seeing
apostles speak his or her own language. close to God. Such perceptions are not Jesus’s followers interpreted this limited to ritual that involves aesthetic remarkable event as a elements. Worshippers in sign from God of the more down-to-earth spiritual renewal—the Evangelical Christian birth of a Christian services sometimes church, separate from experience “speaking in Judaism—made possible tongues,” in a similar phenomenon to the first by the Holy Spirit. Pentecost described in Similar