Religions Eyewitness Companions

Jacket images Front: Alamy Images: Ron Yue (fbr); Corbis: Amit Bhargava (br); David Clapp/Arcaid (bl); Blaine Harrington III (t); DK Images: St Mungo, Glasgow Museums (fbl); Getty Images: The Image Bank/Angelo Cavalli (c). Spine: Alamy Images: Andrew McConnell (t); Visual Arts Library, London (b). Back: The Bridgeman Art Library: Santa Maria della Grazie, Milan, Italy (t); Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK (br); Corbis: Hanan Isachar (c); PoodlesRock (cl); DK Images: American Museum of Natural History (cr); Stephen Oliver (bl) PHILIP WILKINSON PHILIP WILKINSON Religions Religions Religions Religions other eyewitness companions architecture • Art • astroLOGY • astronomy Hiking • beer • cats • Classical Music • dogS film • fishing • French Cheeses • French Wines Golf • Guitar • herbal remedies • HORSE Riding MYTHOLOGY • Olive Oil • OPERA • PHILOSOPHY Photography • SAILING • scuba diving • Trees weather • whisky • Wines of the World PHILIP WILKINSON Philip Wilkinson has more than 50 titles to his credit in the fields of history, religion, mythology, and the arts, including DK’s Illustrated Dictionaries of Religion and Mythology, Eyewitness Companion: Mythology, and A Celebration of Customs and Rituals of the World, which was endorsed by the United Nations. CONTENTS PAGES 12–35 PAGES 56–155 PAGES 156–231 PAGES 232–269 PAGES 270–289 PAGES 290–317 PAGES 318–345 what is religion? primal religions the indian religions the eastern religions new religious movements who’s who in religion directory E Y E WI TN E S S c o m pa ni o n s E YE WI T NES S com pa nion s E YE WI T NES S com pa nion s E Y E W IT N ES S c o m pa ni o n s PAGES 36–55 Discover more at www.dk.com the monotheistic religions Gods and prophets A comprehensive who’s who profiles the deities and holy figures of each faith. Rituals, rites, and festivals Explores the religious practices and traditions of each belief system, from day-to-day devotions to key events in the religious calendar. The birth of belief The origin and history of each religion is traced from the moment of its founding to its spread across the world today. Religions of the world Examines all of the world’s major faiths, as well as the lesser-known beliefs of Africa and the Americas. Religions BELIEFS • CEREMONIES • FESTIVALS GODS • SECTS • SACRED TEXTS BELIEFS • CEREMONIES • FESTIVALS GODS • SECTS • SACRED TEXTS I S B N 978-0-7566-3348- 6 9 7 8 0 7 5 6 6 3 3 4 8 6 5 2 5 0 0 key to symbols used in this book Place of origin Date of origin Total number of adherents Relevant religions Role of religious figure $25.00 USA $28.00 Canada Printed in China philip wilkinson eyewitness companions Religions [...]... 32 36 PRIMAL RELIGIONS The Americas 50 Africa 52 Asia 53 Oceania and Australia 54 56 MONOTHEISTIC RELIGIONS Judaism 60 Christianity 84 Islam 124 Zoroastrianism 148 158 INDIAN RELIGIONS 272 NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS Hinduism 162 Buddhism 182 Sikhism 208 Jainism 224 290 WHO'S WHO IN RELIGION 234 EASTERN RELIGIONS Confucianism 238 Daoism 250 Shinto 262 The monotheistic religions 294 The Indian religions 306... looks at the statistics about religions things religions have in common— Borobudur, a 9th-century Buddhist monument features such as doctrines, stories in Java, central Indonesia, is impressive evidence of the faith’s ancient heritage of God or the gods, systems of ethics, foreword 11 what is religion? 14 WHAT IS RELIGION? almost every corner of the globe, the world’s religions are as diverse as its... God Another common thread in much religion is morality: teaching people to be good But some religions, such as that of the Ancient Greeks, are centered on amoral deities, and other faiths, such as many primal religions, place more emphasis on honoring the gods in the right way than on living a moral life Most religions have authority figures or ritual leaders who provide guidance and instruction But... of God himself The result is a rich framework of ethical values for all followers to live by The Eastern best kind of job to religions have to the best way Moral instruction lies in which to meditate at the very heart of Underpinning several Eastern religions of the Eastern religions Confucius, for (particularly Buddhism, example, was Hinduism, Sikhism, and interested above all in Jainism) is the concept... religion? distribution of faiths today The long history of the world’s major religions, combined with the upheavals of the past two centuries, have created complex patterns of distribution Today, many Westerners follow “Eastern” religions; faiths such as Islam and Christianity have made rapid inroads in the developing world; primal religions still attract followers in advanced industrial societies; and... poor, healing the sick, and The main body of this book campaigning on behalf of the explores in turn the religions that disadvantaged Religion has have the most adherents and have inspired some of the planet’s had the most influence through greatest paintings, sculptures, history After the primal religions and music Many of the most comes the group of monotheistic remarkable buildings in the faiths... institution, Rather than settle on one phrase that which can be a vast global organization tries to sum up all religions, students of such as the Catholic Church or a small religion today try for a more broadly but organized body such as a Buddhist descriptive approach They monastery The next feature speak of religions as belief is the ethical content of systems that display seven the religion—the set of or eight... Indian subcontinent, China, and Japan have all been fertile seed-grounds for major religions Each of these areas has produced faiths with distinctive themes, from the emphasis on monotheism in western Asia to the development of the concept of karma in India A number of different factors led to the foundation of the major world religions One was the presence of a rich indigenous religious tradition that was... Chinese popular religion And in Japan, Shinto had its roots in traditional beliefs in a multitude of spirits Another early factor that allowed religions to develop was the emergence of religious leaders, This map shows the geographical regions where the major world religions began, along with the approximate dates of their foundation or early revelation Zoroastrianism 6th century bce Iran The Baha’i Faith... religion’s mythology underpins its beliefs, explains the way the world is, and provides moral lessons to guide followers The oral tradition myths of many gods The mythologies of primal The world religions, by contrast, religions have been passed down record their mythologies in their orally for probably thousands of sacred texts, the narratives, hymns, years In general they show that poems, epics, and other . History (cr); Stephen Oliver (bl) PHILIP WILKINSON PHILIP WILKINSON Religions Religions Religions Religions other eyewitness companions architecture • Art • astroLOGY • astronomy Hiking • beer. origin Total number of adherents Relevant religions Role of religious figure $25.00 USA $28.00 Canada Printed in China philip wilkinson eyewitness companions Religions