Oldest religion in the world

The 10 Largest Religions in the World After millennia of passing down knowledge through rich oral and written traditions, each of the world’s major religions has carried ambitious philosophies through countless eras. Woven throughout these mystical theologies are the epic sagas of humanity’s ancestors, who fought every day to uncover their purpose in life, just the same as us. Different approaches often utilize the same foundational myths, such as Eastern religions and the concept of the Dao, or the Abrahamic faith’s shared understanding of monotheism. Worth remembering is that humankind has been infatuated with religion for at least as long as people have pursued agriculture, approximately 10 thousand years. By studying these 10 ongoing faiths, one glimpses into an ancient history involving forefathers who gambled their souls on what they believed. Read More Christianity Holy Mass in the Church Our Lady of Queen in Poland At well over 30% of the global population, Christianity is a religion that resonates with over 2 billion believers. The core of the belief, despite the glaring differences between Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox, revolves around the 1st-century figure that is A Christian Cross on a wooden platform Another essential aspect is the death and resurrection of Jesus, in which humanity is allowed to repent of all misdeeds, and eventually spend the afterlife with their beloved deity. The philosophical values and codes of Christianity have been influential e...

In the dusty highlands of northern Ethiopia, a team of archaeologists recently uncovered the oldest known Christian church in sub-Saharan Africa, a find that sheds new light on one of the Old World’s most enigmatic kingdoms—and its surprisingly early conversion to Christianity. An international assemblage of scientists discovered the church 30 miles northeast of Aksum, the capital of the Aksumite kingdom, a trading empire that emerged in the first century A.D. and would go on to dominate much of eastern Africa and western Arabia. Through radiocarbon dating artifacts uncovered at the church, the researchers concluded that the structure was built in the fourth century A.D., about the same time when Roman Emperor Constantine I legalized Christianty in 313 CE and then converted on his deathbed in 337 CE. The team detailed their findings in Antiquity. The discovery of the church and its contents confirm Ethiopian tradition that Christianity arrived at an early date in an area nearly 3,000 miles from Rome. The find suggests that the new religion spread quickly through long-distance trading networks that linked the Mediterranean via the Red Sea with Africa and South Asia, shedding fresh light on a significant era about which historians know little. “The empire of Aksum was one of the world’s most influential ancient civilizations, but it remains one of the least widely known,” says Michael Harrower of Johns Hopkins University, the archaeologist leading the team. Helina Woldekiros...

Indus Valley Civilization: The Indus Valley Civilization is about 5000 years old where Sanatana Dharma is a set of duties and a way of life. There was no concept of religion at that time. Dharma means a set of duties that apply to all human beings. The word Hinduism is coined by foreigners to address the people living in the vicinity of the river Sindhu. You May Also Like To Read: Is Zoroastrianism the Oldest Religion in the World? The Zarathushtra wrote down some hymns that predate written Is Judaism the Oldest Religion in the World? Some Jews believe that Judaism is the oldest religion in the world because its oral tradition dates back to 4000 years old. Also, some written texts may be older than Sanskrit and Avestan texts. Top 10 Oldest Religions in the World: Hinduism – 2300 BCE. Judaism – 640 BCE. Zorastrianism – 600 BCE. Confucianism – 551 BCE. Shinto – 300 BCE. Christianity – 1 CE. Taoism – 142 CE. Islam – 570 CE. (The years of inceptions of these religions given here are approximate.) Conclusion: Although there are different opinions about which is the oldest religion in the world, most scholars agree that Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world and Judaism is the second oldest religion.

The oldest religion in the world dates back to the 15th century. Hinduism is believed to have been the oldest religions. Religion is a broad term and it often becomes the base for an individual's beliefs, customs and sometimes even class systems in some countries. Read here to know the seven oldest religions of the world. Hinduism is believed to have been founded around the 15th century- 5th century BCE. It might not be a unified religion or organised into a very typical belief system, however, Hindus, follow similar traditions that are understandable to all various other followers. The Vedas are considered to be Hinduism’s oldest scriptures. The four Vedas were compiled between the 15th and 5th centuries BCE in the Indian subcontinent which makes Hinduism the oldest religion to exist. Since then, Hinduism has evolved a lot. Today, there are close to one billion Hindus in the world. Zoroastrianism is believed to have been founded around the 10th – 5th century BCE. It evolved into its current form from the teachings of the reforming prophet Zoroaster, who historians believe to have lived between the 10th and 6th centuries BCE. It was the state religion for various Persian empires until the Muslim conquest and today, it survives in parts of Iran and India. There are about 200,000 followers of Zoroastrianism. Three particular Kurdish religious variants, Yazidis, Goran, and Ishik Alevis were grouped together under the umbrella neologism Yazdânism have evolved from a mix of Isl...

Having done some research on the common features of early agrarian cities, I’m interested in finding out why all civilizations adopted some sort of religion and how these religions spread over vast regions. I know that by 1200 BCE, there were developed cities in most parts of the world. Having examined some early writing from the city of Sumer in Mesopotamia, I know that people had already conceived of gods that looked out for them and the welfare of their crops and cities. But the world religions I know of — Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam — were bigger than a single city or even a single region of the world. In fact, these religions have survived for thousands of years, and all of them seem to have developed around the same time. Since people do not appear to have lacked for religious life on a local scale from very early times, why did several large-scale belief systems emerge between 1200 BCE and 700 CE? In fact, why did all the major world religions appear in that era? One possibility is that by about 100 BCE, the population in Afro-Eurasia had climbed to over a million. As a result of increasing commercial and cultural interaction between people across this large area, religions were shared. The new religious systems provided foundations of cultural communication, moral expectation, and personal trust among people who were meeting, sharing ideas, and doing business with one another far beyond their local neighborhoods. The historians J.R. and Wil...

Zoroastrianism is an ancient Persian religion that may have originated as early as 4,000 years ago. Arguably the world’s first monotheistic faith, it’s one of the oldest religions still in existence. Zoroastrianism was the state religion of three Persian dynasties, until the Muslim conquest of Persia in the seventh century A.D. Zoroastrian refugees, called Parsis, escaped Muslim persecution in Iran by emigrating to India. Zoroastrianism now has an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 worshipers worldwide, and is practiced today as a minority religion in parts of Iran and India. Zoroaster The prophet Zoroaster (Zarathrustra in ancient Persian) is regarded as the founder of Zoroastrianism, which is arguably the world’s oldest monotheistic faith. Most of what is known about Zoroaster comes from the Avesta—a collection of Zoroastrian religious scriptures. It’s unclear exactly when Zoroaster may have lived. Some scholars believe he was a contemporary of Cyrus the Great, a king of the Zoroaster is thought to have been born in what is now northeastern Iran or southwestern Afghanistan. He may have lived in a tribe that followed an ancient religion with many gods (polytheism). This religion was likely similar to early forms of According to Zoroastrian tradition, Zoroaster had a divine vision of a supreme being while partaking in a pagan purification rite at age 30. Zoroaster began teaching followers to worship a single god called Ahura Mazda. In the 1990s, Russian archaeologists at Gonur T...

Having done some research on the common features of early agrarian cities, I’m interested in finding out why all civilizations adopted some sort of religion and how these religions spread over vast regions. I know that by 1200 BCE, there were developed cities in most parts of the world. Having examined some early writing from the city of Sumer in Mesopotamia, I know that people had already conceived of gods that looked out for them and the welfare of their crops and cities. But the world religions I know of — Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam — were bigger than a single city or even a single region of the world. In fact, these religions have survived for thousands of years, and all of them seem to have developed around the same time. Since people do not appear to have lacked for religious life on a local scale from very early times, why did several large-scale belief systems emerge between 1200 BCE and 700 CE? In fact, why did all the major world religions appear in that era? One possibility is that by about 100 BCE, the population in Afro-Eurasia had climbed to over a million. As a result of increasing commercial and cultural interaction between people across this large area, religions were shared. The new religious systems provided foundations of cultural communication, moral expectation, and personal trust among people who were meeting, sharing ideas, and doing business with one another far beyond their local neighborhoods. The historians J.R. and Wil...

The 10 Largest Religions in the World After millennia of passing down knowledge through rich oral and written traditions, each of the world’s major religions has carried ambitious philosophies through countless eras. Woven throughout these mystical theologies are the epic sagas of humanity’s ancestors, who fought every day to uncover their purpose in life, just the same as us. Different approaches often utilize the same foundational myths, such as Eastern religions and the concept of the Dao, or the Abrahamic faith’s shared understanding of monotheism. Worth remembering is that humankind has been infatuated with religion for at least as long as people have pursued agriculture, approximately 10 thousand years. By studying these 10 ongoing faiths, one glimpses into an ancient history involving forefathers who gambled their souls on what they believed. Read More Christianity Holy Mass in the Church Our Lady of Queen in Poland At well over 30% of the global population, Christianity is a religion that resonates with over 2 billion believers. The core of the belief, despite the glaring differences between Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox, revolves around the 1st-century figure that is A Christian Cross on a wooden platform Another essential aspect is the death and resurrection of Jesus, in which humanity is allowed to repent of all misdeeds, and eventually spend the afterlife with their beloved deity. The philosophical values and codes of Christianity have been influential e...

In the dusty highlands of northern Ethiopia, a team of archaeologists recently uncovered the oldest known Christian church in sub-Saharan Africa, a find that sheds new light on one of the Old World’s most enigmatic kingdoms—and its surprisingly early conversion to Christianity. An international assemblage of scientists discovered the church 30 miles northeast of Aksum, the capital of the Aksumite kingdom, a trading empire that emerged in the first century A.D. and would go on to dominate much of eastern Africa and western Arabia. Through radiocarbon dating artifacts uncovered at the church, the researchers concluded that the structure was built in the fourth century A.D., about the same time when Roman Emperor Constantine I legalized Christianty in 313 CE and then converted on his deathbed in 337 CE. The team detailed their findings in Antiquity. The discovery of the church and its contents confirm Ethiopian tradition that Christianity arrived at an early date in an area nearly 3,000 miles from Rome. The find suggests that the new religion spread quickly through long-distance trading networks that linked the Mediterranean via the Red Sea with Africa and South Asia, shedding fresh light on a significant era about which historians know little. “The empire of Aksum was one of the world’s most influential ancient civilizations, but it remains one of the least widely known,” says Michael Harrower of Johns Hopkins University, the archaeologist leading the team. Helina Woldekiros...

The oldest religion in the world dates back to the 15th century. Hinduism is believed to have been the oldest religions. Religion is a broad term and it often becomes the base for an individual's beliefs, customs and sometimes even class systems in some countries. Read here to know the seven oldest religions of the world. Hinduism is believed to have been founded around the 15th century- 5th century BCE. It might not be a unified religion or organised into a very typical belief system, however, Hindus, follow similar traditions that are understandable to all various other followers. The Vedas are considered to be Hinduism’s oldest scriptures. The four Vedas were compiled between the 15th and 5th centuries BCE in the Indian subcontinent which makes Hinduism the oldest religion to exist. Since then, Hinduism has evolved a lot. Today, there are close to one billion Hindus in the world. Zoroastrianism is believed to have been founded around the 10th – 5th century BCE. It evolved into its current form from the teachings of the reforming prophet Zoroaster, who historians believe to have lived between the 10th and 6th centuries BCE. It was the state religion for various Persian empires until the Muslim conquest and today, it survives in parts of Iran and India. There are about 200,000 followers of Zoroastrianism. Three particular Kurdish religious variants, Yazidis, Goran, and Ishik Alevis were grouped together under the umbrella neologism Yazdânism have evolved from a mix of Isl...