Timeline of Major & Other Religions

Religion has been around almost since the beginning of mankind. Descriptions and definitions vary from religion to religion, but most religious factions equally share a common denominator - belief in an omnipresent Creator. The following is an informational assortment of the top five (5) major world religions, their brief histories and the beliefs of its founders. This article also includes a partial compilation of other religions [mainly off-shoots from one of the five major religions] and their timelines, founders and membership statues.
                   

2085 BC

Judaism

Founder: Abraham

Members: 14 million

Judaism is a monotheistic religion founded by the Hebrew patriarch, Abraham, almost 4,000 years ago. Its origins can be found in the Hebrew Bible (known as the Tanakh) and examined in later texts such as the Talmud. The Tanakh is an account of the Israelites' relationship with the Creator from their earliest history until the building of the Second Temple around 535 BC. Abraham is considered by many to be the first Hebrew and the father of the Jewish people. Judaism is basically the establishment of a covenant between the Creator and Abraham for his act of faith in believing in just one god; he is credited with teaching his people the true laws and precepts of the one true God. Judaism has three branches: Orthodox, Reformed and Conservative. The sacred texts, traditions and values of Judaism has strongly influenced other religions, which include: Christianity, Islam and the Baha'i Faith, which are known as the Abrahamic religions. The story of Abraham can be found in the book of Genesis (starting at chapter 11:26 through chapter 18 and chapters 20:1 through 25:11). The adherents of Judaism can be found mainly in Israel, the United States and Canada, with most of the remainder living in Europe.

1500 BC

Hinduism

Founder: none specific

Members:  900 million

Hinduism is the polytheistic religion of the Indian subcontinent and includes Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Śrauta among numerous other traditions. The Hindu belief revolves around as many as 330 million gods in the dharma, yet the ultimate reality of Hinduism contains one, omnipresent God having many different names and functions.  The religion is formed of diverse traditions and has no single credited  founder. Among other practices and philosophies, this religion includes a wide variety of laws and prescriptions of "daily morality" based on the dharma, karma and other societal norms. Hinduism does not stick to a rigid set of beliefs common to most other religions. One orthodox classification of Hindu texts is divided into Śruti ("revealed") and Smriti ("remembered"). These texts discuss theology, philosophy, mythology, rituals and temple building, among other topics. Major scriptures include the Vedas, Upanishads, Purāṇas, Mahābhārata, Rāmāyaṇa, Bhagavad Gītā and Āgamas. Hindu followers can be found worldwide with the majority residing  in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and the minority in such countries as Malaysia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. 

560 BC

Buddhism

Founder: Gautama Buddha

Members:  376  million

Buddhism is another polytheistic religion mainly indigenous to the Indian subcontinent and encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices that are attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha (meaning "the awakened one"). Buddha's teachings encouraged mankind to help unfortunate beings end suffering through eliminating ignorance by way of understanding and seeing dependent origination in order to attain the highest degree of happiness or nirvāņa. Unlike many religions, Buddhism has no central text that is universally referred to by all traditions. Buddhism is an off-shoot from Hinduism. It was during the first century BC that the religion completely broke away from the insignificant sacrifices and rituals of Vedic Brahmanism and rejected the Vedas and Brahmans [of the Hindus]. Three major branches of the religion is recognized: Theravada, Mahayana and Tibetan. The teachings of the Four Noble Truths are regarded as central to the teachings of Buddha and are said to provide an abstract framework for Buddhist thought. The "four truths" explain the nature of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, dissatisfaction), its causes, and how it can be overcome. Devotion is also an important part of the practice of most Buddhists. Devotional practices include bowing, offerings, pilgrimage, and chanting. Most Buddhists are found in India, Sri Lanka and in East, Central and Southeast Asia.

c/30 AD

Christianity

Founder: Jesus Christ

Members:  2.1  billion

Christianity is the largest monotheistic religion in the world and is based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as presented in the New Testament writings of the Christian Bible; moreover, Jesus expounded upon the laws from the Old Testament (Jewish Tanakh) and taught a "new way" of worshipping and furthering one's understanding of the true laws of the Creator. The mainstream Christian belief is that Jesus was not only a prophet, but the Son of God and the savior of humanity. Because of this, Christians commonly refer to Jesus as the Messiah. The religion has three branches: Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and the various denominations of Protestantism. The Christian faith teaches the way to achieve eternal life. In short, through the Gospel of Jesus, the Creator achieves eternal victory over evil and the promise of  salvation [and eternal life for all people] through divine grace. Christians are scattered throughout the world with the majority of its adherents being in the Americas, Europe and Africa and has played a prominent role in the shaping of the sub-Saharan and Western civilizations.

610 AD

Islam

Founder: Muhammad

Members:  1.5 billion

Islam is the second largest monotheistic religion in the world. Muḥammad is credited with being the religion's founder and reorganized the concepts of Judaism to bring the Abrahamic religion back to its original teachings and created a "true religion". Muslims (Islam adherents) believe their holy book, the Qur'an, is a verbatim text dictated to the Islamic prophet by Allah (God) through the archangel Gabriel . Their holy book is divided into 114 suras (chapters), which contain 6,236 āyāt (verses) and is considered the "sourcebook of Islamic principles and values". The sacred teachings of Muhammad, known as the Sunnah and composed of the Hadith, are also considered consecrated teachings. There are two major branches of Islam: Sunni and Shia. In Islam, God is one and incomparable; the purpose of existence is to love and serve God. The Muslims maintain that the previous messages and revelations of other religions have been partially misinterpreted or altered over time, but consider the Qur'an to be both the unaltered and final revelation of God. The religion of Islam is practiced worldwide with the majority of its members located in Indonesia, South Asia, the Middle East and in sub-Sarahan Africa. There is a large minority of followers in the Americas, China and Russia and is one of the fastest growing religions in the world. 

  

 

PARTIAL LIST OF OTHER RELIGIONS IN THE WORLD

DATE	RELIGION	FOUNDER	MEMBERS
3000 BC	Paganism	None	0.5 million
600 BC	Zoroastrianism	Zoroaster	2.7 million
570 BC	Jainism	Mahavira	4.3 million
550 BC	Taoism	Lao Tzu	2.7 million
520 BC	Confucianism	Confucius/Lun Yu	6.3 million
30-70 AD	Eastern Orthodox	St. Paul	230 million
500 AD	Shinto	Kojiki/Nohon Shoki	2.7 million
590 AD	Roman Catholicism	Constantine/Pope Gregory	1.2 billion
1500 AD	Sikhism	Guru Granth Sahib	23.8 million
1515 AD	Protestantism	Martin Luther	800 million
1559 AD	Anglicanism	Anglican divines	85 million
1650 AD	Tibetan Buddhism	Dalai Lama	10-20 million
1830 AD	Mormonism	Joseph Smith	14.4 million
1844 AD	Bahá'í Faith	Baha’u’llah	13.5 million
1879 AD	Christian Science	Mary Baker Eddy	100 thousand
1930 AD	Nation of Islam (Black Muslims)	Wallace D. Fard	100 thousand
1954 AD	Unification Church	Sun Myung Moon	unavailable
1955 AD	Scientology	L. Ron Hubbard	8-15 million
1966 AD	Church of Satan	Anton LeVey	unavailable
1968 AD	Hare Krishna	Swami Prabhupada	250 thousand