Religion is a cultural system that relates humanity to spirituality through shared beliefs, narratives, traditions, and moral values. It provides explanations for life and the universe. The document then lists and briefly describes 20 major world religions including their core beliefs and practices. Key religions discussed are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and others.

2. • Religion is a collection of cultural
systems, belief systems, and worldviews that
relate humanity
to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values.
Many religions have narratives, symbols,
traditions and sacred histories that are
intended to give meaning to life or to explain
the origin of life or the universe. They tend to
derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a
preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the
cosmos and human nature.

3. • Atheism • Mormonism
• Bahai • Paganism
• Buddhism • Rastafari
• Candomble • Santeria
• Christianity • Shinto
• Hinduism • Sikhism
• Islam • Taoism
• Jainism • Unitarianism
• Judaism • Zoroastrianism

4. • Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection
of belief in the existence of deities. In a
narrower sense, atheism is specifically the
position that there are no deities. Most
inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of
belief that any deities exist. Atheism is
contrasted with theism, which in its most
general form is the belief that at least one deity
exists.

5. • Three core principles establish
a basis for Bahá'í teachings and
doctrine: the unity of
God, the unity of religion, and
the unity of humankind. From
these postulates stems the
belief that God periodically
reveals his will through divine
messengers, whose purpose is
to transform the character of
humankind and
develop, within those who
respond, moral and spiritual
qualities. Religion is thus seen
as orderly, unified, and
progressive from age to age.

6. • Buddhism is a religion and philosophy indigenous to
the Indian subcontinent and encompasses a variety of
traditions, beliefs, and practices largely based on
teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is
commonly known as the Buddha (the awakened one).
The Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part
of Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and
4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by Buddhists as
an awakened or enlightened teacher who shared his
insights to help sentient beings end ignorance, craving
, and suffering , by recognizing dependent
origination and sunyata, and attain Nirvana.

7. • Candomblé is an African-originated or Afro-
Brazilian religion, practiced chiefly in Brazil by
saint people.
• Candomblé is a polytheistic religion and worships
a number of gods, derived from African deities:
• the Orishas of Yoruba and Ketashi mythology
• the Voduns of the Ewe and Fon (Jeje nation); and
• the Nkisis (Minkisi) of the Bantu (Angola nation
and Congo).
• Tabela Orixas-Voduns-Nkisis

8. • Christians generally believe
Jesus is the Son of God, God
having become human and
the savior of humanity. Because
of this, Christians commonly
refer to Jesus as Christ
or Messiah. Jesus' ministry, sacr
ificial death, and
subsequent resurrection, are
often referred to as
the Gospel message ("good
news").

9. • Hinduism is a religion with
various gods and goddesses.
According to Hinduism, three
Lords rule the world. Brahma: the
creator; Vishnu: the preserver and
Shiva: the destroyer. Lord Vishnu
did his job of preserving the
world by incarnating himself in
different forms at times of crisis.
The three Lords that rule the
world have consorts and they are
goddesses. Consort of Brahma is
Sarasvati; goddess of learning.
Vishnu's consort is Lakshmi;
goddess of wealth and prosperity.
Shiva's consort is Parvati who is
worshipped as Kali or Durga.

10. • Muslims believe that God
is one and incomparable and
the purpose of existence is to
love and serve God. Muslims
also believe that Islam is the
complete and universal version
of a primordial faith that was
revealed at many times and
places before, including
through Abraham
, Moses and Jesus, whom they
consider prophets.

11. • Jainism, is an Indian
religion that prescribes a path
of nonviolence towards
all living beings. Its philosophy
and practice emphasize the
necessity of self-effort to move
the soul towards divine
consciousness and liberation.
Any soul that has conquered its
own inner enemies and achieved
the state of supreme being is
called a jina.(conqueror)

12. • Judaism is the religion
, philosophy, and way of life
of the Jewish
people. A monotheistic religi
on originating in the Hebrew
Bible and explored in later
texts such as
the Talmud, Judaism is
considered by religious Jews
to be the expression of the
covenantal relationship God
developed with the Children
of Israel.

13. • Mormonism is a form of
Christian primitivism that
shares a common set of
beliefs with the rest of the
Latter Day Saint
movement, including use
of, and belief
in, the Bible, as well as
other religious
texts including the Book of
Mormon and Doctrine
and Covenants.

14. • Paganism represents a wide
variety of traditions that
emphasize reverence for nature
and a revival of ancient
polytheistic and animistic
religious practices. Some modern
forms of Paganism have their
roots in 19th century C.E.
European nationalism, but most
contemporary Pagan groups
trace their immediate
organizational roots to the
1960s, and have an emphasis on
archetypal psychology and a
spiritual interest in nature.

15. • The Rastafarian movement • Garvey encouraged pride in
began with the teachings being black and worked to
of Marcus Garvey (1887- reverse the mindset of
1940), a black Jamaican who inferiority that centuries of
led a "Back to Africa" enslavement had ingrained
movement. He taught that on the minds of blacks.
Africans are the true Garvey is regarded as a
Israelites and have been second John the Baptist and
exiled to Jamaica and other famously prophesied in
parts of the world as divine 1927, "Look to Africa, for
punishment. there a king shall be
crowned."

16. • Santería, is a syncretic
religion of West
African and Caribbean
origin influenced
by Roman
Catholic Christianity.
Its liturgical language,
a dialect of Yoruba, is
also known as Lucumi.

17. • Shinto is the indigenous
spirituality of Japan and the
people of Japan. It is a set of
practices, to be carried out
diligently, to establish a
connection between present
day Japan and its ancient
past. Shinto practices were
first recorded and codified in
the written historical records
of the Kojiki and Nihon
Shoki in the 8th century.

18. • Sikhism is
a monotheistic religion
founded during the 15th
century in the Punjab
region, by Guru Nanak Dev
and continued to progress
with ten successive Sikh
gurus . It is the fifth-
largest organized religion in
the world, with over 30
million Sikhs and one of
the most steadily growing.

19. • Taoism is a philosophical
and religious tradition that
emphasizes living in
harmony with the Tao.
• The term Tao originally
means "way", "path" or
"principle", and can be
found in Chinese
philosophies and religions
other than Taoism.

20. • Unitarianism is
a Christian theological move
ment, named for its
understanding of God as
one person, in direct contrast
to Trinitarianism which
defines God as
three persons coexisting cons
ubstantially as one in
being. Thus, Unitarians
adhere to strict
monotheism, and maintain
that Jesus was a great man
and a prophet of God, but
not God himself.

21. • Zoroastrianism is
a religion and philosophy
based on the teachings of
prophet Zoroaster and was
formerly among the world's
largest religions. It was
probably founded some time
before the 6th century BCE
in Greater Iran.

22. • By Yeshasv
Bhargava and Tejasv
Bhargava