WORLD RELIGIONS
Judaism 0.3% Buddhism 6%
Other
Hinduism 13%
Christianity
Islam 18%
33%
How do you say yudayakyo in English?
When was Buddhism founded?
Where was Hinduism founded?
Who founded Christianity ?
What do you call people who believe in Islam ?
What percent of the world’s people are Hindus ?
Where do most Jews live?
What is the holiest day for Moslems ?
What holidays do Christians celebrate?
Where do Buddhists worship?
What’s the Jewish holy book called?
What are the most important Hindu holy places?
Is Buddhism monotheistic or polytheistic?
According to Islam , what happens after death?
What are the main sects of Christianity ?
J U D A I S M
Judaism developed in the Middle East about 1500
B.C. Abraham is considered to be the founder.
Believers in Judaism are called Jews (or Jewish people).
Less than 1% of the world’s population (0.3%) are
Jewish - about 17 m illion people. They live in the
United States (40%), Israel (23%), Russia (14%) and
Europe (10%).
The holiest day of t he week for Jewish people is
Saturday. Major holidays include the Jewish New Year
Rosh Ha-Shanah (September), Yo m Kippur (October),
Hanukah (December) and Passover (March). Jews
worship in a synagogue and study the Torah, the Jewish
holy book. Jerusalem is the holiest place in Judaism.
Jews have only one god, called Jehovah, an d believe
they are a “chosen” people. They believe in heaven and
hell. Two main sects of Judaism are Reform and
Orthodox. Strict Jews can ’t eat pork or shellfish and are
only allowed to eat specially-prepared kosher food.
Men often wear a small cap called a kipah or yamulkah.
Jews are n ot allowed to do any kind of work on
Saturday.
C H R I S T I A N I T Y
Christianity was founded in the 1st century A.D. by
Jesus Christ. Believers in Christianity are called
Christians. There are now about 2 billion Christians,
about 33% of the wo rld’s people, living all over the globe
(mainly in North America, Latin America and Europe).
Sunday is the Christian holy day. Christmas and E aster
are two m ajor holidays. Christians worship in a church
and believe in a b ook called the Bible. The most
important Christian holy places ar e Rome, Bethlehem and
Jerusalem.
Christianity has only one god, called God. Christians
believe that after death people go to h eaven or hell. The
main sects of Christianity are Catholic (southern Europe,
Latin America), Eastern Orthodox (Greece, Russia) and
Protestant (northern Europe). Christians have a number of
special cu stoms. Catholics pray to Mary, Jesus’ mother,
and confess their sins to a priest. Christians often wear
crosses, make the sign of the cross and baptize babies
with h oly water. In church, they take communion -
drinking wine (Christ’s blood) and eating bread (Christ’s
body).
B U D D H I S M
Buddhism was founded in India in 525 B.C. by
Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama). People who believe in
Buddhism are known as Buddhists. 6% of the world’s
population are Buddhist, about 350 million. Almost all
Buddhists live in Asia (mostly South-East Asia and East
Asia).
There is n o s pecial holy day o f the week in
Buddhism. The major Buddhist holiday is Buddha’s
birthday. Buddhists worship at home or in a temple. The
holy Buddhist writings are called sutras. Bodh Gaya in
India is a very holy place for Buddhists, since that is
where Buddha attained enlightenment sitting under a
tree.
Originally, there were no gods in Buddhism, but
people later made Buddha a God. Buddhists believe that
people who die are reborn. Two Buddhist sects are
Theravada (Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos,
Cambodia) and Mahayana (Tibet, China, Korea, Japan).
Buddhists in different countries have special customs.
In Thailand, for example, Buddhist priests wear orange
robes and beg for food each morning.
Christian
cross
The
Bible
star of
David
menorah
candle
stick
Buddhist
wheel of
law
Buddha
statue
