According to experts, there are tens of thousands of religious movements and confessions in the world. Many of the old forms of worship are fading into oblivion, giving way to new ones. Today, historians ask themselves: what religion was the first on earth?
Instructions
Step 1
All existing religious teachings are grouped into several main directions, of which Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism are the most famous. The study of the history of the emergence of these religions allows us to draw a conclusion about the religious worship that appeared on earth from the very beginning.
Step 2
The above directions can be divided into 2 groups: "Abrahamic" and "Eastern". The latter includes Hinduism, Buddhism and a number of related movements that originated in Southeast Asia. While Buddhism emerged in the 6th century BC, thus becoming the same age as Confucianism, Hinduism has a much longer history. It is believed that the earliest date of its origin is 1500 BC. Nevertheless, Hinduism is not any single system of religious teachings, as it unites various schools and cults.
Step 3
The "Abrahamic" group of religions represents three related directions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The first two forms of worship have a common doctrinal source - the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible. Islam, which emerged in the 7th century AD, took as its basis the Qur'an, which relies heavily on the experience of the entire Bible, including the New Testament. Unlike the “eastern” group of religions, which have many fundamental differences in the understanding and even the very existence of God, the “Abrahamic” forms of worship are distinguished by the main feature - monotheism, belief in one and only Creator. This detail is emphasized by the name of God in the "Abrahamic" religions: for Muslims he is "Allah", which indicates the related "Elohim" of the Jews, in the Old Testament of which God is also called "Jehovah" (Yahweh), which is confirmed by Christians. The commonality of these fundamental doctrines makes it possible to trace the historical path of the birth of "Abrahamic" religions.
Step 4
Judaism is the earliest of these forms of religious worship. The Torah, the first five Bible books of the Old Testament (also called the Pentateuch), began writing around 1513 BC. Nevertheless, this work describes in detail the period of the formation of mankind and the history of the birth of religion long before the beginning of the writing of the Bible. Based on the analysis of the initial chapters of the Old Testament, the researchers came to the conclusion about the existence of previous manuscript sources, on the basis of which the writing of the Bible was started.
Step 5
The Bible makes it much easier to study the historical background, as it contains a detailed chronological line. So, according to biblical chronology, Abraham, who is revered by representatives of all "Abrahamic" religions, practiced serving God at the turn of the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC. The famous global flood, which the servants of God were able to survive, in the Holy Scriptures dates back to about 2370 BC. According to the description of the Bible, hundreds of centuries before the flood, people also professed the same faith in God. In particular, the Bible quotes the words of the first woman, Eve, who mentioned Jehovah (Yahweh) as the God who gave life to the first people on earth.
Step 6
The religious and cultural influence that the Bible had on eastern and western civilizations, as well as the presence in its composition of a strict chronological line describing the system of religious worship practiced by the ancient world, distinguish the Bible from the general mass of other religious documents. Today, the Bible is considered an authoritative religious source by more than half of the world's inhabitants. Unlike many cults, the Bible is fundamental, which allowed the religious form presented in it to maintain a single system of worship for a long time. In turn, this helps to trace the history of the confession of faith in the biblical God over the millennia. These circumstances allow us to conclude that the first religion on earth was the one described in the Bible.
