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® Br ca ti anni LEARNING L I B R A R Y Religions Around the World Investigate the beliefs and faiths of people everywhere CHICAGO LONDON NEW DELHI PARIS SEOUL SYDNEY TAIPEI TOKYO PROJECT TEAM Judith West, Editorial Project Manager Christopher Eaton, Editor and Educational Consultant Kathryn Harper, U.K. Editorial Consultant Marilyn L. Barton, Senior Production Coordinator Editors Theodore Pappas Anthony L. Green Mary Rose McCudden Andrea R. Field Michael J. Anderson Colin Murphy Locke Petersheim Indu Ramchandani (Encyclopædia Britannica India) Bhavana Nair (India) Rashi Jain (India) Design and Media Specialists Nancy Donohue Canfield, Design Megan Newton-Abrams, Design Karen Koblik, Photos Joseph Taylor, Illustrations Amy Ning, Illustrations Jerry A. Kraus, Illustrations Michael Nutter, Maps Copy Editors Barbara Whitney Laura R. Gabler Dennis Skord Lisa Braucher, Data Editor Paul Cranmer, Indexer ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA PROJECT SUPPORT TEAM EDITORIAL Linda Berris Robert Curley Brian Duignan Kathleen Kuiper Kenneth Pletcher Jeffrey Wallenfeldt Anita Wolff Charles Cegielski Mark Domke Michael Frassetto James Hennelly Sherman Hollar Michael R. Hynes Sandra Langeneckert Gene O. Larson Michael I. Levy Robert Lewis Tom Michael Janet Moredock DESIGN Steven N. Kapusta Carol A. Gaines Cate Nichols ART Kathy Nakamura Kristine A. Strom Nadia C. Venegas ILLUSTRATION David Alexovich Christine McCabe Thomas Spanos MEDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT Jeannine Deubel Kimberly L. Cleary Kurt Heintz Quanah Humphreys COPY Sylvia Wallace Jennifer F. Gierat Glenn Jenne Mary Kasprzak Thad King Larry Kowalski Joan Lackowski Dawn McHugh Julian Ronning Chrystal Schmit Sarah Waterman INFORMATION MANAGEMENT/ INDEXING Carmen-Maria Hetrea Edward Paul Moragne Marco Sampaolo Sheila Vasich Mansur G. Abdullah Keith DeWeese Catherine Keich Stephen Seddon EDITORIAL TECHNOLOGIES Steven Bosco Gavin Chiu Bruce Walters Mark Wiechec COMPOSITION TECHNOLOGY Mel Stagner MANUFACTURING Dennis Flaherty Kim Gerber INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS Leah Mansoor Isabella Saccà ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, INC. Jacob E. Safra, Chairman of the Board Jorge Aguilar-Cauz, President Michael Ross, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development Dale H. Hoiberg, Senior Vice President and Editor Marsha Mackenzie, Managing Editor and Director of Production © 2008 BY ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, INC. Cover photos (front): © Stephanie Colasanti/Corbis; (back): © Roy Morsch/Corbis. Cover insert photos (left): © Kit Kittle/Corbis; (center): © Dean Conger/Corbis; (right): © Jim Zuckerman/Corbis International Standard Book Number: 978-1-59339-509-4 No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. BRITANNICA LEARNING LIBRARY: RELIGIONS AROUND THE WORLD 2008 Britannica.com may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.britannica.com. (Trademark Reg. U.S. Pat. Off.) Printed in U.S.A. Religions Around the World I N T R O D U C T I O N Who is the Dalai Lama? What religion requires men to carry a comb? Where was Buddha born? What happened when Moses approached the Red Sea? Religions Around the World, you’ll In To help you on your journey, we’ve provided the following guideposts in Religions Around the World: ■ Subject Tabs—The colored box in the upper corner of each right-hand page will quickly tell you the article subject. discover answers to these ■ Search Lights—Try these mini-quizzes before and after you read the questions and many more. article and see how much—and how quickly—you can learn. You can even Through pictures, articles, and fun facts, you’ll learn about the people, make this a game with a reading partner. (Answers are upside down at the bottom of one of the pages.) ■ Did You Know?—Check out these fun facts about the article subject. With these surprising “factoids,” you can entertain your friends, impress traditions, and diverse your teachers, and amaze your parents. ideas that make up the ■ Picture Captions—Read the captions that go with the photos. They many religions of the world. provide useful information about the article subject. ■ Vocabulary—New or difficult words are in bold type. You’ll find them explained in the Glossary at the end of the book. ■ Learn More!—Follow these pointers to related articles in the book. These articles are listed in the Table of Contents and appear on the Subject Tabs. Br ® ca itanni LEARNING L I B R A R Y Have a great trip! © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The head of the golden Buddha at the Thiksey Monastery in the Ladakh region of India. © Stephanie Colasanti/Corbis © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Religions Around the World TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 RELIGION: Belief in a Higher Power . . . . 6 FAITHS FROM SOUTH ASIA God: One World, Many Beliefs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Vivekananda: The Teacher of Hinduism . . . . . . . . . . 40 Monasticism: A Life Apart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Buddhism: The Teachings of the Buddha . . . . . . . . . 42 Hinduism: Ancient Religion of South Asia . . . . . . . . 38 Buddha: The Enlightened One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 RELIGIONS OF MIDDLE EASTERN ORIGIN Dalai Lama: Tibet’s Great Teacher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Zoroastrianism: Jainism: Teaching Nonviolence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Sikhism: A South Asian Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Eternal Battle of Good and Evil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Judaism: Religion of Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Abraham: Father of Many Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 POWERS OF THE SPIRIT WORLD Moses: Yahweh’s Messenger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Shamanism: The Spirit World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Christianity: Following Jesus Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Vodun: Religion of Magic and Spirits . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Jesus Christ: The Son of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Mary: Mother of Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 TEACHINGS FROM EAST ASIA Roman Catholicism: A Branch of Christianity. . . . . . 26 Confucius: Teacher of Great Wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Bible: Jewish and Christian Scriptures . . . . . . . . . . 28 Daoism: The Religion of Laozi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Islam: The Religion of Muhammad . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Shinto: A Very Japanese Religion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Muhammad: Islam’s Prophet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Koran: Holy Book of Islam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Baha’i: A Simple Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Br ® ca itanni LEARNING L I B R A R Y © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. e w r o P r e h g Hi a n i B e l ie f T DID YOU KNOW? here are many people in the world who believe in a god or gods. India is the birthplace of Others do not use the word “god” but still believe that there are several world other, greater forces at work in their lives. The way groups of people religions. worship these forces or their gods forms what we call a “religion.” Buddhism, Many different religions are practiced around the world. Major Hinduism, Jainism, and religions today include Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism all Daoism, Sikhism, and Buddhism. Most began there. religions try to answer the same basic questions: How was the world created? What is the meaning of human life? Why do people die and what happens afterward? Why is there evil? How should people behave? Many religions have buildings set aside for worship. In these temples, cathedrals, mosques, and churches, activities such as prayer, sacrifice, and Worshipers in Nepal celebrate Buddha other forms of worship take place. Jayanti, honoring the Buddha’s birth, At different times in history, followers of one death, and Enlightenment. © Macduff Everton/Corbis religion have tried to make others believe in that religion. Sometimes this was done by peaceful means. Often, however, it was done by force—sometimes by “holy wars.” For instance, between 1095 and 1292, European Christians led a number of crusades against Muslims. Christians tried to take control of the holy city of Jerusalem and other places they associated with the life of Jesus Christ. Muslims also carried out holy wars, or jihads. At various times they spread into much of the Middle East and parts of Europe and Asia. Most religions, however, encourage their followers to live peacefully with people of other religions. And, in fact, they share many aspects in common. These include rituals to perform, prayers to recite, places to visit or avoid, days that are holy, holy books to read and study, and leaders to follow. LEARN MORE! READ THESE ARTICLES… BUDDHISM • ISLAM • JUDAISM Roman Catholics worship together in a service called “mass.” Here the mass is being led by Pope John Paul II, world leader of the church, in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Italy. © Vittoriano Rastelli/Corbis 6 © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. ★ Answer: FALSE. Some religions have one god. But others have many gods, and some have no god at all. © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. True or false? All religions have a single god. SE A
T GH RCH LI RELIGION One World, H Many Be l i ef s ow did the universe come to be? How did life on Earth begin? For thousands of years people have searched for the answers to such questions. Some look to science to solve these mysteries. But in the earliest times science could not explain natural events such as earthquakes and storms, day and night, and life and death. People believed these things were the work of beings greater and more powerful than humans: the gods. Today many people still seek an understanding of life through the worship of a god or gods. They often feel that their faith also helps them live better lives. Some religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, teach that there is Stained-glass image showing a Christian artist’s idea of God the Father, with angels. only one God, a supreme being who made © Royalty-Free/Corbis the universe and controls the world. This is called “monotheism,” from the Greek words for “one” and “God.” The worship of several powerful gods is called “polytheism,” because “poly” means “many.” Ancient Greeks and Romans believed in many gods, whom we know today from ancient myths and art. People from different places and cultures have their own names for their gods. The God of the ancient Jews was called Yahweh. Muslims use the Arabic word for God, Allah. Hindus believe in a large number of gods and goddesses (female gods). Each has a different personality and controls a different aspect of life. They believe these gods are forms of one supreme god. One popular Hindu god is the elephant-headed Ganesha. Many Hindus appeal to Ganesha when they begin an important new project. The behavior of a god can vary from religion to religion. Some religions may see their god or gods as unforgiving and cruel. Others consider their god to be merciful and kind. But all gods play a part in helping people understand their world. OW? U KN ient Egyptians DID YO c s, but did the an f god Not only e family o pharaoh, rg la a in believe at their believed th they also as a god. or king, w 8 © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. LEARN MORE! READ THESE ARTICLES… HINDUISM • ISLAM • JUDAISM GOD SE A
T GH RCH LI Fill in the blank: The Hindu god of successful beginnings is __________. In many world religions, worshipers like this woman in Hong Kong burn incense to honor their gods. Answer: The Hindu god of successful beginnings is Ganesha. © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. ★ © Royalty-Free/Corbis 9