Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism and Buddhism are the major religions in the world. Each of these religions has undergone development now and again in various regions across the globe with the basic aim of giving guidance to people to undertake their everyday activities in the most excellent and “welfaristic” way possible in any existing circumstances (Kumar 1). The religions are based on various principles and this makes them to be different from each other. However, these religions are in one way or the other similar to one other, and especially in regard to the beliefs held and the purpose they serve. Some of the similarities may not be common among all the religions but between two or three and other similarities may be general and applicable to all religions. The focus of this paper is to look at similarities between six religions which include; Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism and Buddhism.
Taoism and Buddhism share a similarity in that they are ethical religions which do not have gods like in the case of Christianity and Islam among others. They take up moral as well as ethical principles which are designed in such a way that they bring improvement in the relationship of the follower with the universe (“Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism” 1). In addition, Taoism and Buddhism share a common belief in particular incarnation forms. The fundamental part of these two religions is the notion that life does not come to an end after one dying (“Taoism & Buddhism”, para 1). This belief is also held by other religions. The everlasting hope of those who belief in the Buddhism religion is that by undergoing reincarnation, a person comes back into the world to live a better life, up to the time he or she attains the goal of being free from any form of suffering and having no need of coming to the world again. This pattern of rebirth is referred to as Samsara, and it goes on and on up to the time one attains Nirvana (“Taoism & Buddhism”, para 1). It is also important to point out that Buddhism shares some similarity with Christianity in that in both religions, there are saviors, that is; Jesus for Christians and Bodhisattva for Buddhists (Ankerberg and Weldon 1).
Moreover, such religions as Islam, Judaism and Christianity have a similarity in that each of them believes in the existence of one God. The Muslims and the Jews put great emphasis on the unity as well as the oneness of God. Considering the case of Christians in this regard, sometimes there is a misunderstanding about the affirmation of the oneness of God since they believe in the Holy Trinity; that is, God the Father, the Son and the Holy spirit. However, this does not dispute the fact that they belief in the existence of one God but rather, this is an assertion about how complex the Divine Being is (“Judaism, Christian and Islam similarities”, Para 1). In the religion of Hinduism, there is also a belief in the existence of God. They believe in Atman, “that is the individual soul and Brahman, the Supreme Creator” (Jayaram 1). The common belief under these religions is that God is the creator of the universe and is in charge of controlling everything in the world.
Considering these religions in overall terms, it is realized that most of them believe in the existence of a Supreme Authority. The authority is called by different names, depending on the religion. For instance, the Christians refer to the Supreme Authority as God, and Muslims as Allah. In addition, the six religions agree about equal superiority of humans over all living things. These religions relay the message to those who believe in them to be aware of this power and engage in making equality to be the foundation of their practice to flourish. They, in an equal manner, insist that there has been equal creation of people and discriminating against each other is something that is man-made. Therefore, in the absence of equality, there is no possibility of attaining the goal. There is also requirement in all religions to bring together deeds and knowledge (Kumar 1). The humans have been given a superior mental power among all creatures to gain a wide range of knowledge. This implies that human beings are able to make a distinction between what is right and what is wrong or are able to discern between what is true or false. Thus, the six religions lay big emphasis on agreement, coordination and responsibility between understanding and action in order for the later to guide people towards realizing their purpose.
In conclusion, the six religions have a lot in common. In all these religions, there is a belief in the existence of the Supreme Authority. Even if some of these religions do not believe in the existence of God, they believe that there exists some power that controls the lives of human beings. The main message that can be seen in all these religions is having people living in harmony and in an orderly manner in the world and even after they die, they will have to dwell in a better place where they will not suffer any more. All these religions guide human beings on how they can best live their daily life in order to improve their welfare to the highest level possible.
Works Cited
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Jayaram, Visram. Hinduism and Buddhism. 2012. Web. 12 March 2012. <http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_buddhism.asp>.
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Kumar, Ravindra. Similarities among teachings of religions, 2010. Web. 11 March 2012. <http://www.weeklyblitz.net/378/similarity-among-teachings-of-religions>.
“Taoism & Buddhism”. sikhphilosophy.net. sikhphilosophy. Web. http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/buddhism/575-taoism-and-buddhism.html
