RELIGION


               What is the origin of 'Religion'? In my opinion, in ancient times when human beings

could not understand the big natural phenomena, such as, sunrise, sunset, rain, windstorm

fire, they imagined that some mysterious and powerful forces are  causing them. Being 

awed by these agents, they developed beliefs in different Gods: Sun God, Moon God,

Rain God, Wind God, Fire God, etc. Fear of their wrath and Desire for their blessings led

them to develop rituals of propitiation and worship of these Gods, Thus 'Religion' was

born. At first prevailed polytheistic religion (many Gods), also called paganism.


                About 4000 bc. first monotheistic (one and only one God) religion was 

propagated: Judaism. Its geographical origin was in the middle east. Abraham is considered

to be its propounder. This was followed by Christian religion. Then came Islam, established

by Mohammed in seventh century ad. These were the first three Monotheistic 

religions. Origin of these three religions was in the middle east. They are all called 

Abrahmic religions since they all share belief in the same God. 


               Hindu religion is distinct. It is estimated to have been started around 1500 to 2000 

bc. in what is India today. It is a conglomerate of complex beliefs: one almighty God along 

with many subordinate Gods and Goddesses. This indicates a mixture of monotheism and 

polytheism. Later on, in Hindu religion, new rituals of worship were added. such as penis 

worship, cow worship, snake worship etc. Buddhism and Jainism are two atheistic religions

(no God), which were propounded in India around 6th century bc.


               This is the story of Major religions of the world.



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