HISTORY OF RELIGION

Saint Francis of Assisi.

Credit: http://utopia.utexas.edu/project/portraits/index.html.

The Kaaba, located within the Mosque in the city of Mecca, is the holiest place in Islam.

Credit: Library of Congress.

A Torah open for use in a synagogue.

Credit: Photo by Grzegorz Niewiadomski.

A Hindu Temple in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Credit: Tony Webster.

Preface

This title covers the history of the major world religions.

The religions discussed include Christianity, particularly the Church of England and the Roman Catholics, together with the more fundamentalist Protestant sects (like Puritans and Presbyterians), plus the Islamic faith from the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia. The faiths of Jews, Sikhs, Hindus and Buddhists are also included.

Please note that the writers acknowledge that in the 21st century, there is a growing tendency to move from denoting the original years before and after the birth of Christ, which were BC (before Christ) and dates after the birth, AD (Anno Domini), which is Latin for the Year of our Lord.

BC, in a variety of writings, is now referred to as BCE, standing for Before Common Era. AD, also, is often changed to CE, standing for Common Era.

In this document, we have kept to the original BC and AD terminology, which we felt would be more appropriate for writing about the History of Religion.

Text credit:

http://www.historyofengland.net/religion/, Dynamic Learning Online, plus others where indicated.

Please select the first link below to go to the start of the title. Alternatively, select any Chapter link to go to that Chapter.