Christianity: Jesus was a preacher and healer who lived 2,000 years ago in Palestine. After He died, his disciples spread his teachings over the land. Christianity is now the world's largest religion.
Christians believe that there is one God who is the creator of the world who is kind loving and forgiving. That Jesus is the Son of God who died to forgive our sins. God is seen in three ways, The Father, Son and The Holy spirit.
Christians read and learn from the Holy bible. It consists of the Old and New Testaments. .
Buddhism: "Buddhism began in India 2,500 years ago. An Indian Prince, Siddhartha Gautama, saw that there was suffering in the world,"(www.stjames-hamptonhill.org.uk) he found answers by meditation and is known as the Buddha. .
The aim of Buddhists is to feel joy and freedom, which they call "Nirvana." They believe that death is not the end of the world, but just another step in life. .
Buddhists read from a lot of scriptures. The most important is the Tripitaka, which contains teachings of Buddha. They have three baskets, the first one containing rules for monks, the second has Buddha's teachings and the third has more teachings. They do not believe in a God.
Hinduism: Hinduism started in India around 4,00o years ago; there was no actual founder. This religion includes ancient beliefs and customs.
They believe in a soul or spirit called Brahman, this spirit cannot be seen but is here threw everything. There are lots of Hindu gods and goddesses; each one shows a different aspect of Brahman's power.
Their religious books contain stories, prayers, hymns and poems. The most important books are; "the Vedas, which are the oldest writings about life and duty, the Upanishads which are hymns and poems and the Ramayana which contain poems." (www.stjames-hamptonhill.org.uk).
Judaism: Abraham was the first Jew, he lived in the Middle East more than 4,000 years ago. He is the father of the Jewish people. He spoke to God and made a covenant with him, saying that he will worship and obey him.