Profiles of Religions

These are the multiple profiles I have created for some of the world's major religions, including a table that compares them all. Please correct me if something is wrong, or if I've missed something. Note that these are quick overviews of each, I will not list every perceived problem in every religion. I'm focusing on the largest ones. These were created in a class I took over the summer: The World's Major Religions: Their Roles, Reaches, and Rivalries. Taken through Duke TIP.

The Large Table:

Religion	Christianity	Islam	Hinduism	Buddhism	Judaism	Confucianism
Problem	Sin	Pride	Samsara	Suffering	Exile	Chaos
Solution	Salvation	Submission	Moksha	Nirvana	Return	Order
Techniques	Follow the rules defined in the Bible.	The Five Pillars.	Bhakti, Jnana, and Karma yogas.	Meditation, chanting, doing nothing, etc.	Follow the rules of the Hebrew Bible.	Practice Confucius’ rules.
Exemplars	Jesus, saints, martyrs, missionaries.	Muhammad.	Gandhi, renouncers, priests.	Buddhas, Dalai Lamas.	Moses, Noah.	Confucius, Junzis.
Major Beliefs	The Trinity, Heaven.	Submission to Allah and following the Five Pillars grants entry to Paradise.	Accumulated karma decides your fate after death.	The Four Noble Truths, the self does not exist.	Be a good Jew, get into Heaven.	Ren, li, zhong, shu, and xiao.
Geographical Spread	Europe, North and South America.	Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.	India, Nepal.	China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar.	U.S.A. and Israel.	China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan.
Number of Believers	2.2 billion.	1.97 billion.	900 million.	376 million.	14 million.	6.2 million (roughly).
Sacred Texts	Bible, Apocrypha, Didache.	Qu’ran, Hadith.	Vedas, Darshanas, Tantras, Upanishads, Aranyakas, Brahmanas.	Tripitakas, Mahayana Sutras, Tibetan Book of the Dead.	Old Testament, Tanakh, Talmud, Mishna, Haggadah, Kabbalah, Midrash.	The Five Classics, the Four Books.
Sacred Sites	Jerusalem, Israel, Nazareth.	Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Karbala, Najaf.	Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Varanasi, Kanchipuram.	None.	Jerusalem.	None.
Divisions	Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant.	Sunni, Shiite, Ahmadiyya, Druze.	Shaivanism, Vaishnavism.	Mahayanan Buddhism, Therevadan Buddhism, Vajrayanan Buddhism.	Secular, reform, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Conservative.	Boston Confucianism, Neo-Confucianism, New Confucianism.

Individual Profiles: (In alphabetical order)

Profile of Buddhism

For Beliefs:

Problem: Suffering

Solution: Nirvana, or release from the suffering of reincarnation.

Techniques: Differing. Chanting, sitting doing "nothing", pondering over questions, and meditating are all common practices.

Exemplars: Buddhas and Dalai Lamas.

Major Beliefs: The Four Noble Truths and that the self does not truly exist.

For Logistics:

Geographical spread: China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar have the largest Buddhist communities.

Number of believers: About 376 million.

Sacred texts: Tripitakas, Mahayana Sutras, and the Tibetan Book of the Dead are all well-known Buddhist texts.

Sacred sites: Though none are considered truly holy, Lumpini and Bodhgaya were very important areas for Siddhartha Gautama.

Divisions: Mahayanan Buddhism, Therevadan Buddhism, and Vajrayanan Buddhism are the three main divisions.

Profile of Christianity 

For Beliefs:

Problem: Sin. Every human is a sinner.

Solution: Salvation. Repent and accept Jesus into your heart.

Techniques: Follow the rules defined in the Bible. Know that you will always be a sinner, but strive otherwise. Be baptised. 

Exemplars: Obviously, Jesus is the most well-known exemplar. Also accused of being sinless. Others include John the Baptist, martyrs and missionaries.

Major Beliefs: The Trinity, Heaven

For Logistics:

Geographical spread: Europe, North and South America.

Number of believers: Approximately 2.2 billion people. Note: Christianity comprises many different sects and denominations.

Sacred texts: The New and Old Testaments, the Apocrypha, and the Didache. Note: The Apocrypha and Didache are only accepted by some Christians.

Sacred sites: Jerusalem, Israel, Nazareth.

Divisions: Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant.

Profile of Confucianism

For Beliefs:

Problem: Chaos!

Solution: Order.

Techniques: Practice the rules set forth by Confucius. Become a junzi.

Exemplars: Junzis and Confucius.

Major Beliefs: Ren (humaneness), li (rituals), zhong (being true to one's own nature), shu (reciprocity), and xiao (filial piety). 

For Logistics:

Geographical spread: Primarily asia. Specifically China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan. Small amounts worldwide.

Number of believers: About 6.2 million Confucianists, not including those that follow multiple. It's a rough number.

Sacred texts: The Five Classics and the Four Books.

Sacred sites: The Ancestral Stone (for individual families and villages), or none. Is this real?

Divisions: Boston Confucianism, Neo-Confucianism, and New Confucianism.

Profile of Hinduism

For Beliefs:

Problem: Samsara, or reincarnation.

Solution: Moksha, or release from samsara. This ends the cycle of reincarnation.

Techniques: All forms of yoga (Bhakti, Jnana, and Karma)

Exemplars: Gandhi, renouncers, and priests.

Major Beliefs: When you die, your accumulated karma decides your fate.

For Logistics:

Geographical spread: India contains the largest amount of Hindu. Nepal has a considerable amount as well.

Number of believers: 900 million (It's over 9,000!!!!!!)

Sacred texts: The Vedas, Darshanas, Tantras, Upanishads, Aranyakas and Brahmanas.

Sacred sites: Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Varanasi, and Kanchipuram are a few.

Divisions: Shaivanism and Vaishnavism.

Profile of Islam

For Beliefs:

Problem: Pride.

Solution: Submission.

Techniques: The Five Pillars.

Exemplars: Muhammad

Major Beliefs: Submission to Allah, acceptance of Muhammad as Allah's messenger and prophet, and following the Five Pillars will grant you entry into Paradise. 

For Logistics

Geographical Spread: Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India are the top four countries in descending order, each with over 100 million adherents to the Muslim faith.

Number of Believers: About 1.97 billion adherents.

Sacred Texts: Qu'ran (Koran) and the Hadith.

Sacred Sites: Mecca, Medine, Jerusalem, Karbala, and Najaf.

(Major) Divisions: Sunni, Shiite, Ahmadiyya, and Druze.

Profile of Judaism

For Beliefs:

Problem: Exile, from both God and their homeland.

Solution: Going back to God (the obvious answer to exile, returning!).

Techniques: Worship God with great piety. Follow the laws of the Hebrew Bible with tenacity.

Exemplars: Moses, Noah.

Major Beliefs: If you’ve lived a good Jewish life, you will go to Heaven. If not, you will fall into Hell.

For Logistics:

Geographical spread: The U.S. of A with about 5.6 million is first and Israel with around 4.4 million in second.

Number of believers: Around 14 million.

Sacred texts: Tanakh, Talmud and Mishna, Haggadah, Kabbalah, and the Midrash.

Sacred sites: Jerusalem.

Divisions: Conservative, Unaffiliated and Secular, Reform, Orthodox, Reconstructionist.