Christianity began in the 1st century AD as a Jewish sect in Judea (Roman

province) but quickly spread throughout the Roman empire. Despite early persecution of
Christians under the Roman Empire, it later became the state religion. In the Middle Ages it
spread into Northern Europe and Russia.

The New Testament's Acts of the Apostles and Epistle to the Galatians record that the first
Christian community centered on Jerusalem and that its leaders included Peter, James, the
"brother of Jesus", and John the Apostle. After his conversion, Paul the Apostle claimed the
title of "Apostle to the Gentiles"

Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity and
hold that Jesus' coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The
Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept.

Islam
Muhammad was the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet, sent to
present and confirm the monotheistic teachings preached previously by Adam, Abraham,
Moses, Jesus, and other prophets.

Faith (iman) breaks down into six axioms:

1. Belief in the existence and unicity of God (Allah).
2. Belief in the existence of Angels.
3. Belief in the existence of the books of which God is the author: The Quran being the last of them
revealed to Muhammad, the Gospel is revealed to Jesus and the Torah to Moses.
4. Belief in the existence of Prophets: Muhammad being the last of them, Jesus the penultimate,
and Moses sent before them.
5. Belief in the existence of the Day of Judgment Day: in that day, humanity will be divided into two
groups: that of paradise and that of hell. These groups are themselves composed of subgroups.
6. Belief in the existence of God's predestination, whether it involves good or bad.

Of these, the first five are mentioned together in the Qur'an and by Muhammad, while including
a corollary of belief in Allah – the good and evil of fate ordained by God – has referred to all six
together in the following manner in the Hadith of Gabriel:
"Iman is that you believe in God and His Angels and His Books and His Messengers and the
Hereafter and the good and evil fate [ordained by your God]."

5 major beliefs in Islam

 Tawhid (monotheism: belief in the oneness of God)

 Adl (divine justice: belief in God's justice)
 Nubuwwah (prophethood)
 Imamah (succession to Muhammad)
 Mi'ad (the day of judgment and the resurrection)
 Hinduism
Beliefs/Practices: There is no single founder or founding incident of Hinduism. It grew out of
cultural and religious changes in India. The Hindu belief is that gods or divinities can take many
forms, but all form one universal spirit called Brahman.

Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and
scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal tradition", or the "eternal way", beyond
human history.

Raja Rammohan Roy is known as the father of the Hindu Renaissance. He was a major
influence on Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902), who, according to Flood, was "a figure of great
importance in the development of a modern Hindu self-understanding and in formulating the
West's view of Hinduism".

Here are some of the key beliefs shared among Hindus:

 Truth is eternal. ...

 Brahman is Truth and Reality. ...
 The Vedas are the ultimate authority. ...
 Everyone should strive to achieve dharma. ...
 Individual souls are immortal. ...
 The goal of the individual soul is moksha.

Hindus believe in the formless Absolute Reality as God and also in God as personal Lord and
Creator. This freedom makes the understanding of God in Hinduism, the
oldest monotheistic religion. Hinduism is also unique in saying that God can be experienced,
and, in fact, that is the ultimate goal of one's soul.
Chinese religion is a diverse mixture of beliefs. ... These beliefs include, but are
not limited to, shamanism, ancestor worship, magic, ghosts and other spirits, and aspects of
animism. Such folk religion may overlap with an individual's belief in Buddhism, Taoism,
Confucianism, or other traditional Chinese religions.

Religions in China: China is a multi-religious country. Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Protestantism,

and Catholicism have all developed into culture-shaping communities throughout Chinese
history. Freedom of belief is a government policy, and normal religious activities are protected
by the constitution.

There are at least 800,000,000 followers of Chinese folk religion worldwide (estimate). Most if
not all of these followers are also followers of Buddhism,Confucianism and Taoism, as these
three philosophy-religions are major influences of China's folk religion.

Traditional Life in China: Temple and Worship. There are three main systems of belief in China:
Daoism (sometimes written Taoism), Buddhism and Confucianism.

The government formally recognises five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam,Protestantism,

and Catholicism (though the Chinese Catholic Church is independent of the Catholic
Church in Rome).

In recent years, the number of Chinese Christians has increased significantly;Christians were
4 million before 1949 (3 million Catholics and 1 million Protestants), and are reaching 67 million
today, Christianity is reportedly the fastest growing religion in China with average annual rate
of 7%.

The Chinese traditional cultural values of harmony, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy,

wisdom, honesty, loyalty, and filial piety are embodied in China'sdiplomacy through the concept
of harmony, the most important Chinese traditional value
God, Jesus and the saints

God
Christians believe that there is only one God, whom they call Father as Jesus Christ taught
them.

Jesus
Christians recognise Jesus as the Son of God who was sent to save mankind from death and
sin.

Jesus Christ taught that he was Son of God. His teachings can be summarised, briefly as the
love of God and love of one's neighbour.

Jesus said that he had come to fulfil God's law rather than teach it.

Justification by faith
Christians believe in justification by faith - that through their belief in Jesus as the Son of God,
and in his death and resurrection, they can have a right relationship with God whose
forgiveness was made once and for all through the death of Jesus Christ.

The Trinity
Christians believe in the Trinity - that is, in God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Some confuse this and think that Christians believe in three separate gods, which they don't.

Christians believe that God took human form as Jesus Christ and that God is present today
through the work of the Holy Spirit and evident in the actions of believers.

Life after death

Christians believe that there is a life after earthly death.

While the actual nature of this life is not known, Christians believe that many spiritual
experiences in this life help to give them some idea of what eternal life will be like.

The Saints
These days, the word saint is most commonly used to refer to a Christian who has lived a
particularly good and holy life on earth, and with whom miracles are claimed to have been
associated after their death.

The formal title of Saint is conferred by the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches through a
process called canonisation.

Members of these Churches also believe that Saints created in this way can intercede with God
on behalf of people who are alive today. This is not accepted by most Protestants.

In the Bible, however, the word saint is used as a description of anyone who is a committed
believer, particularly by St. Paul in the New Testament (e.g. Ephesians 1.1. and 1.15)