Why are there so many religions in the world?

Answer 1

Not all religions believe that there is only one God, e.g. Hinduism, Shinto, Taoism, Wicca, Buddhism, ancient Greek, Roman, and Scandinavian religion, etc. Even most forms of Christianity believe that the Diety is three persons in one (Father, Son, Holy Ghost); officially, Christians consider themselves monotheistic, but practitioners of other religions often view Christianity as polytheistic (so perspective plays a role). In Mormonism, any man has the potential to become a god (they believe that God was once a man like one of us).

The simple reason why there are numerous concepts or religions is simply because each religion is a reflection of the socioeconomic agenda of its human creator. Whenever beliefs are based upon imaginary concoctions as opposed to infallible and comprehensive data then obviously there would be numerous variations designed to satisfy the agenda of the person peddling it. It is similar to the many versions of the Santa story. Information that is reliable and accurate would be concurrent with similar information from alternative sources.

The craving for economic and social control is the most significant area of contention which results in new/altered religions popping up. Before science was able to debunk the fallacies of religion regarding the sun and the stars, there were numerous cultures with their fantastic inventions regarding the sun and the solar system. Almost every religion has similar heaven and hell concepts that outlines the pleasures or pains that await the dead. If there is a singular divine entity (God) pervading all substance causing it to have existence then it follows that it will be balanced/equitable in its administration in a similar manner as the sunlight, wind and rain. Therefore if there is only one God it is obvious that the only person/religion who truly knows him/her/it is the one that consistently demonstrates equanimity and any that purports chauvinism is absolutely fictitious.

Answer 2

Some religions begin as conflicts within an older one divide it (for example, Christianity's many offshoots and Sunni/Shia Islam); others are simply a small group of people that thinks it has found the "only truth" or has decided that the method another group was teaching this truth is wrong.

Imagine you saw something happen, something you couldn't explain (which in ancient times was a lot). Now you go and write that account down, and you also tell all your friends about it; they believe you, and form a club devoted to whatever caused this event - which must be a god, because you cannot explain it. This would be the start of the first religion.

Now over time, the story will be told by you again to others, and by your friends to some more people, and again more still will read your book about it. Each will hear a slightly different story, though, and start to argue about what you actually originally saw: whether you were in this place or that, what you were doing at the time, whether there were angels and a light from the sky shining down, etc. It will be embellished and each account will be rewritten in the way the author thinks it should have been or was originally done.

So as we go further into the future (maybe a century or five), many different people have spread their version of the story, have changed it to what they believe is the "true" account and perhaps interpreted it as whatever signal from whatever god they choose.

ANSWER 2: From the Baha'i perspective, there are only nine major world religions, each founded when mankind received nine progressive Revelations from God through different Messengers (Prophets). The Scriptures of each all have the same basic spiritual teachings and they all worship the same God (the Creator of all). The fact that there are numerous sects and seemingly many religions is because men founded their own religions based on fallible human interpretations of Scripture from those major world religions.

Answer 3:

There are only 2 basic concepts in religions around the world.:

#1-I am able to earn my way (do good things, etc.) on my own to come to a type "heaven," which could be called Nirvana or Peace or afterlife.

#2-There is no way I can do what it takes to get to heaven. No matter what I do, I will never be good enough or will have earned enough by doing good deeds to deserve heaven. I need a savior. Christianity is the only "religion" that follows this idea. Jesus being the Savior.

Answer 3

From the Baha'i perspective, the major world religions - Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Islam, Baha'i Faith - were begun by divine Messengers of God who appeared to different peoples as civilizations progressed, each containing the same basic religious truths. This would include indigenous oral traditions dating back to before the written word. Manmade religions, however, while having been inspired by the major religions, all fall under the umbrella of one of the major religions and are usually regional in scope.

Answer 2:

There are only 2 basic concepts in religions around the world.:

#1-I am able to earn my way (do good things, etc.) on my own to come to a type "heaven," which could be called Nirvana or Peace or afterlife.

#2-There is no way I can do what it takes to get to heaven. No matter what I do, I will never be good enough or will have earned enough by doing good deeds to deserve heaven. I need a savior. Christianity is the only "religion" that follows this idea. Jesus being the Savior.

Jesus is God's son, come to earth to pay for sins (actions that we have done to separate ourselves from God) by dying for us even though he was blameless, then rose from the dead.

If one believes that they cannot do it on their own, that God is actually bigger and better and more good than they could ever imagine, and there is no way that anything they could do would deserve a spot in His presence... and then they accept that Jesus has bridged this gap, they will be in relationship with the one and only almighty God for eternity.

It does not make sense that all of the world's religions came from the same Creator, because they contradict each other. If you say one is true, then the other, which is opposite, cannot also be true. Either Jesus is the Savior, or he is not. He did not leave a way for there to be a mediocre, wishy washy answer to His claims.

Answer 4

Not all religions entail the belief in one God, for example... Hindus believe in multiple Gods. Furthermore, there are so many religions because there are so many opinions. People who started the religions we have today had different opinion, they agreed with some of the aspects but not all of them so they changed a few of them and created a new religion. This kept going on and that is why we have so many religions today.

Answer 5

In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) there is only one God. In Zoroastrianism, there is only one god, who is called Ahura Mazda. In most other religions, there are many gods. The followers of each religion sincerely believe that their god or gods are the true gods, but no one can objectively say that one religion is more true than another.