World Religions: Comparative Study
How to compare
A good comparative answer uses common categories: founder or origin, key texts, core beliefs about God, main practices, festivals, ethical teaching and place of worship. Learn a compact profile of each major tradition.
Christianity: founded on Jesus Christ; Bible (Old and New Testaments); Trinity; baptism and Eucharist; Christmas and Easter; church; love of God and neighbour.
Islam: Prophet Muhammad; Qur'an and Hadith; strict oneness of God; Five Pillars (shahadah, salah, zakat, sawm, hajj); Ramadan and Eid; mosque; justice and charity.
Judaism: Abraham and Moses; Torah and Talmud; one God, covenant; Shabbat, synagogue; Passover and Yom Kippur; mitzvot.
Hinduism: no single founder; Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita; many deities understood variously as manifestations of the ultimate; puja, yoga, pilgrimage; Diwali; temple and home shrine; dharma, karma, moksha.
Buddhism: Siddhartha Gautama; the Tripitaka; non-theistic in Theravada; Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, meditation; Vesak; temple and stupa; compassion, ahimsa.
Sikhism: Guru Nanak; Guru Granth Sahib; one God; gurdwara; Vaisakhi; service (sewa) and equality.
Traps to watch
- Do not say "Hindus worship many gods" without qualification; many see one ultimate reality in many forms.
- Do not call Buddhism atheistic in a hostile sense; Theravada simply does not centre a creator God.
- Do not mix founders with texts (Muhammad did not write the Qur'an; it is believed to be revealed).
- Do not list facts without comparing; questions reward similarities and differences.
Rule of thumb
Compare in parallel columns: for each tradition, one belief, one practice, one festival. Example: "Christians and Muslims both believe in one God and both give to the poor - through the church offering and through zakat - but they differ on the Trinity and on the status of the Qur'an."