Burning of the dead bodies (p. 15-16)
Documentary record reveals that Hinduism is one of the dominant religions across the globe, mainly practiced in India subcontinent with a current population of over 700 million people. The religion is mainly dominated by diversity, and its ability to accept any doctrine or practice. Majority of the Hindus are monotheists while others are polytheists. Hinduism as a religion, however, is stern in their authoritative traditional practices such as burning of the dead bodies. To them, the concept of life after death is usually vague practice. They believe that their first man to die Yama had a clear reference to the world of the dead. Through the hymn book, Agni is requested to burn the corpse of the dead and ensure that it is disposed of promptly to the land of the dead. The Agni call explains why globally, the Hinduism devotees are practicing crematory (Fieser 15).
The Beneficial Effects of Drinking Soma (p. 16-17)
The identity and utilization of the plant referred as Soma among the Indians is one of the greatest unresolved mysteries in the study of religion. This sacred plant was regarded as a god, especially when presented during the time of worship to the worshiper to provide powerful attributes. The unique characteristics of this plant are described in the special poetic books of the Indians. The drink is usually prepared like the catholic Eucharist then bestowed upon pious to distribute to other members to give them spiritual inspiration. To the Hinduism believes, the devotee becomes powerful and able to withstand the various challenges after drinking the Soma. The devotee is can withstand evil, live long healthy life and foresee the coming dangers. Unfortunately, over the millennia, the originality and purpose of drinking soma have been lost (Fieser 16).
Sex and the Yogin (p. 17-18)
In the Upanishad and Vedic periods of Yoga, devote are expected to practice total abstinence from sexual intercourse (brahmacarya). The exponents of yoga continue to reveal that the practice should be considered sacred and should be carried out while maintaining dispassionate attitudes. The practice should be carried out using the utmost purity standards thus only applicable between marriage bonds. The yogin provided detailed best sexual practices to the Hinduism in terms of positions, hygiene and individual preservation (fieser 18).
Christianity
Jesus birth and Ministry (p.349-361)
The bible is regarded as an organized and complete unit of Christians before creation of the world; God had an intention of sending his Son into the world to save mankind. Most of the Christian gospel books were mainly written as theological documents thus they fail to give the exact dates and time of birth and His ministry. The birth of Jesus mainly precedes that of John the Baptists. All the chronological events of the Jesus ministry are documented in the bible through the well documented in the four gospel books of Mathew, John, Luke, and Mark. The real Jesus presented in this bible is the Christ of gospels a hero of the revolutionary movement that rocked the unjust institutions of the world and provided a broad base for Christians living through his ministry. He is the way the truth and the life to Christians (Fieser 356)
Jesus Death (p. 363-366)
The death of Jesus Christ is marked as an important incident in the Christians history. It is through Jesus death that Christians is saved from remissions of their sins. It is through believed in the death of Jesus Christ that that Christians entitled to enter the kingdom of God. The Christian religion reaffirms t believes through the resurrection of their Lord thus making the death incident a core element of hope. The miracles, preaching and teaching that were carried out before his death mainly becomes significant after his resurrection. The death, resurrection and ascension of Christ fulfill the promise of salvation and mark the onset of Holy Spirit reign in the Christian realign (Fieser 364).
The New Testament Church (p. 370-374)
Christians believe that God ordained the New Testament Church principally for sharing the gospel to the unreached world. It denotes that it is important for Christians to understand their role in the word of God. Jesus founded the New testament Church during his last supper in the upper room with his disciples. As stipulated, Christians need to understand the scriptural truth about the gospel, its organization and function in their lives and others. As observed, Christian needs to use the bible as the only true Gods holy word rather than human wisdom when spreading the gospel.
Islam
Islamic religion is a strictly monotheists religion who believes in one god and His Prophet Allah. The term mainly refers to surrendering and the followers are called Muslims. The religion believes that Allah resurrects the dead, punish the wicked and give the entrusted believers with eternal life in his kingdom. They believe that Mohamed is the final prophet after Moses and Jesus who delivered the Allah’s voice through the Holy book of Quran (Fisher 45).
Quran (p.433-441)
The Quran is the basic scripture of the Muslims that was revealed to Prophet Mohammed by angel Gabriel. Muslims believe that the angel Gabriel recited the verses to their prophet who subsequently taught them to his followers. The Quran has 14 significant suras arrange in descending length. The holy book interpretations are currently available in other languages from its original Arabic language (Fieser 435).
The Hadith canons (p.456-465)
These are the most authoritative text after the Quran among the Muslims. The text mainly accounts for the reported narratives that were accounted by the prophet acquaintances during his reign. The Hadith canon text is divided into two sections that are the story itself (matn) and the list of the sources of the stories referred as the (isnad). The first part of the matn contains the divine revolutions similar to the ones in Quran. The second contains mostly the prophet Mohamed personal life experiences and his non-prophetic experiences. The authenticity of the Hadith canon is quite significant to the Islamic religion and is regarded as a subsidiary revelation of the Islamic religion (Fieser 457).
Buddhism
Life of the Buddha (p.88-106)
Buddha was born a prince in a small kingdom of Nepal. He trained and perfected his qualities to mark him as Buddha. His reign as the king was prophesied by several astrologers who marked him as a great ruler. He developed teachings through his daily experiences and consecrated followers to form a monastic discipline. His first teachings were carried out in Sarnath where he decided to turn the wheel of the doctrines. Today, Buddhist faith is regarded an important virtue by majority of the Buddhism across the globe. It literature is mainly based on the evidences and valid reasoning (Fieser 103).
The Hinayana and Mahayana scriptures (p. 107-122)
After the demise of Buddha, his devotees convened a meeting in Rajagrila to codify his teachings. The cannon continued to be developed in the coming centuries due to different doctrinal interpretations. The most significant variations in the teachings are the emergence of the two scriptural schools of the Hinayana and Mahayana. The Hinayana mainly emphasized on the universal salvation of mankind thus described as a perfect bliss while the Mahayana emphasized the importance of single emancipation (Fieser 117).
Women in Buddhism (p. 120)
Buddhism as a religion greatly honors the position of women in the temple. When Buddha onset his ministry, his main disciples were mainly monks. Fortunately, some women requested to be ordained as nuns. The songs of the nuns (Therigatha) mainly exclaim the lives of ancient Buddhist nuns. One of the important notable features of the song is provision of the spiritual capacity to women in Buddhist religion. The Buddhist scriptures also provide a great emphasizes on the need to honor and value women as the perfection of creation (Fisher 234).
In conclusion, this paper has reviewed four religions as detailed in scriptural texts. Two books have been used to portray a contrarian concept in regards to different topics. Diversity on the different topics of as approached by different religions is discussed extensively and presented in a logical manner. The extensive research also reveals the various distinctions that prevail in the different religions across the globe.
Works cited
Fieser, James, and John Powers. Scriptures of the World's Religions. New York: McGraw-Hill,
2011. Pp. 1-541 Print.
Fisher, Mary P. Living Religions. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Pp. 1-543 Print.
