over 21 formal world
religions and belief systems.
Some have been around for
only a few years while others
have existed for thousands.
Religions vary in beliefs with
some believing in only one
god, others many and some
none. The one thing all
followers of religion are
governed by a set of beliefs
apart from them that govern
the way they live their lives.
Top 10 Largest Religions In
The World 2013
10. Shintoism - 4 million
Shintoism is a religion
indigenous to Japan circa
1000 B.C. and focuses
worship on the kami , a host
of supernatural beings
dwelling in natural elements.
There is no formal dogma,
writ or founder, which has
allowed for influence from
other religions, such as
Confucianism and Buddhism.
Due to Shintoism’s
compatibility with Buddhism,
many of it’s followers
practice both. Shintoism is
devoted to life in the world
and celebrates man’s
essential goodness. The
religion is focused on ritual
rather than belief and is
considered more of an
essential Japanese way of life
rather than a religion for its
followers, contributing to its
lack of practice outside
Japan.
9. Jainism – 4.2 million
Jainism rose alongside
Buddhism in India and
provides an alternate
religion to Hinduism’s strict
religious rituals. It teaches
the escape from the process
of rebirth and karma by
reaching nirvana via leading
a life of abstinence from the
world’s earthly pleasures.
Janism focuses on the
wellbeing of the universe by
living lives of harmlessness
and renunciation from life’s
evils. All living things,
humans, animals and plants
alike, contain souls with no
soul being greater than any
other. It’s followers believe
there is no god but rather
generate their morals based
on self-help.
8. Bahaism - 7 million
In sense of most world
religions, Bahaism is
strikingly new, only coming
into existence in 1863 out of
Persia. It focuses on the
unification of all mankind
drawing upon teachings from
Islam and Christianity. Mirza
Hoseyn ‘Ali Nuri, known as
Baha ‘Ullah, founded
Bahaism on the belief that
his forerunner Bab and
himself are manifestations of
God. Bahais believe all
founders of major religions
were manifested upon the
earth as agents of God
implemented to teach the
world spiritual lessons. Baha
Ullah’s personal mission is to
then unite and mankind
despite religion, race or
class, and focused most of
his teachings on social ethics
7. Judaism - 14 million
Judaism is the oldest of all
monotheistic religions and
blazed the trail for many
other world religions
including Christianity and
Islam. Judaism follows the
teachings of God, Yahweh,
and focuses on Jews as the
chosen people of God
descending from the line of
Abraham. Jews are called to
be an example for others in
holiness and ethical
behavior. Moses founded the
religion after leading his
people from Egyptian slavery
and receiving the Ten
Commandments from God on
Mount Sinai. The Jewish
religious text is known as the
Torah and recounts the
stories and teachings of it’s
founders.
6. Juche -19 million
Juche is the religion of North
Korea and also known
mockingly as “Kimilsungism.”
It’s a religion founded on
state dominance, veneration
of leadership, political and
economic independence, and
communal production. The
ideologies were first inducted
by Karl Marx under the
religion now known as
Marxism.
5. Sikhism - 23 million
Sikhism emerged from India
circa the 15th century under
the guidance of guru Nanak.
The religion combines beliefs
from Hinduism and Islam
characterizing the belief that
God comprises one reality
alone while drawing upon
meditative emphasis. At 29,
Nanak declared, “there is no
Hindu; there is no Muslim.”
He rejected polytheism for
monotheism and believes life
is a circle of birth, death and
rebirth only released by
moksha into eventual unity
with God. Sinkhism focuses
on the importance of doing
good rather than on religious
rituals.
4. Buddhism -376 million
Buddhism follows the
teachings of Saddhartha, the
son of a warrior prince born
into an extremely wealthy
background. The suffering of
humanity led Saddhartha to
leave his pampered life at 29
and travel in search of
enlightenment and solutions
to human suffering. While
meditating beneath the bodi
tree (tree of perfect
knowledge) he received the
enlightenment he sought and
devoted the rest of his life
teaching his followers of his
new understandings.
Buddhists focus on personal
spiritual development and
don’t worship gods or
deities.
3. Hinduism - 900 million
Hinduism is considered the
oldest religion in the world
with a legacy leading to
prehistoric times. It is also
the most diverse religion
with followers from all races
and walks of life, perhaps
because there is no single
doctrine, no founder or
script binding believers
together. Hinduism
incorporates a number of
influences in its beliefs and
allows for complete freedom
in doctrine. Instead,
Hinduism’s history is written
by a number of key figures,
teachers and philosophers
teaching practices and
writings known as the Veda.
As far as belief goes,
Muslims draw upon a couple
common values known as
dharma. The term ‘Hindu’
was derived from the Sindhu
River and doesn’t go back
further than the 15th
century. Followers began to
call themselves Hindu in
order to differentiate
themselves from other
religious followers, namely
Muslims.
2. Islam – 1.5 billion
Islam is one of the fastest
growing religions in the
world and follows the
practices of Muhammad, a
member of the Quraysh tribe
born 570 A.D. At 25 he led a
meditative life in the desert
and received a vision from
the angel Gabriel telling him
to be a prophet. His wife
Khadija encouraged him in
this pursuit and he devoted
his life to societal and
religious reform. He was
shunned from Mecca and
fled after only gaining a few
followers. Fleeing to Medina,
Muhammad’s teachings were
well received and marks the
beginning of the Muslim era.
In 630 A.D., he marched on
Mecca and conquered it
before passing away two
years later.
1. Christianity - 2.1 billion
Stemming from Judaism,
Christianity is the largest
religion in the world with
31.5% of the world’s
population in practice.
Christianity is characterized
by its follower’s practice of
monotheism and follow
practices preached by Jesus
of Nazareth, a Jew who
claimed to be both fully man
and fully God. Born in
Bethlehem around 7 A.D.,
Jesus didn’t become public in
his teaching until his 30th
year and spent 3 years
performing miracles and
teachings until roughly 30
A.D. when he was brutally
crucified for being a threat
to the Roman Empire.
Unaffiliated - 1.1 billion
It’s debatable whether those
who practice no religion
count in the list of world
religions, but it’s undeniable
they hold a set of beliefs on
religion even if those beliefs
are to chose not to believe.
If that is the case, then
unaffiliated would come in at
number 3 on our list. 16.3%
of the world’s population
professes to either one of
the forms of disbelief,
atheism/agnosticism, or with
spiritual beliefs unlinked to
any established faith. Of the
1.1 billion people professing
no faith, over 62% of them
live in China alone and make
up more than half of its
population. Japan is the
most unaffiliated country
with 57% of its population
with no link to any
established faith. America
closes out the top 3 with
16.4% of it’s population in
disbelief. Atheists and the
unaffiliated believe god is a
man-made construct, is
unknowable or that its
concepts are not meaningful
to the human condition.

http://americanlivewire.com/largest-religions/

....My religion is to do good...Thomas Paine

religious matter is sensitive,i dnt knw wat to say

Am a proud jew

What about guru maharaj ji, ombatse and olumba olumba?

Hahahahahahashha.....dem nor count am well..... When counting muslims , u also count he goats and cattles

lincolnj88: Hahahahahahashha.....dem nor count am well..... When counting muslims , u also count he goats and cattles

if someone lives to conderm everything around, he must have grown up among pple that conderm evertin he did. Sorry dude, u can never be more intelligent than ur ability.