Printable World Religions Worksheets

The Washington Post recently reported that ninety-two percent of Americans believe in a god or a universal spirit. More than half of those polled pray at least once a day. A recent report cited that twenty-one major (at least 500,000 known followers) religious faiths exist in the world. This set of worksheets helps students learn more about them.

  1. December Holiday Worksheets
  2. World Religions Acrostic Poem
  3. World Religions Crossword Puzzle
  4. World Religions Crossword Answers
  5. World Religions Multiple Choice 1
  6. World Religions Multiple Choice 2
  7. World Religions Multiple Choice Answers
  8. World Religions Secret Decoder
  9. World Religions Secret Decoder Answers
  10. World Religions Spiral Puzzle
  11. World Religions Spiral Puzzle Answer
  12. World Religions Vocabulary Words
  13. World Religions Vocabulary Quiz
  14. World Religions Vocabulary Quiz Answers
  15. World Religions Venn Diagram
  16. World Religions Word Scramble
  17. World Religions Word Scramble Answers
  18. World Religions Word Search


What are the Various Religions of the World?

Religion is a powerful force. It impacts everyone in the world; from our interaction with others and our moral values, to every law and value that governs our life – even someone who does not believe in a higher power. Religion is the driving force for unity among people, and some of the biggest conflicts in the world have also been based upon religious differences and the controversies around them.

There are approximately 4000 religions in the world. Of them, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Atheism are the largest in terms of their number of practitioners. Below are some of the various religions of the world, their history, ethics, and ceremonies.

Christianity

With over 2 billion believers worldwide, Christianity is the world's largest religion. It is based on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth (or Christ). Its largest branches are the Roman Catholic Church, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox churches.

The holy scripture of the Christian religion is the Bible, which comprises the Old Testament and the New Testament. The old testament contains scripture from Torah and Jewish religion, and the New Testament contains the teachings of Jesus.

A church, in Christian community, is considered as an organization of the believers or the whole religious community. Christians believe that Jesus sacrificed himself for the sins of the world during the crucifixion and promised eternal blessings for all those who believe in him.

Worship of God and The Holy Trinity (represented by the divinity of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit) are important aspects of Christianity. The ethics of this religion are based upon morality and devotion to God. The major festivals of Christianity are Epiphany, Easter, Advent, and Christmas.

Islam

With more than 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, Islam is the world's second-largest religion. The term Islam means "surrender to the will of God." Muslims believe in only one God, Allah. They believe in submission, commitment, and peace.

The Holy Quran is the religious text of Islam, which was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H), the prophet of Allah. In Quran, Allah has described the complete way of life, and His will is always the center of a Muslim's life.

Muslims believe in the same prophets as Jews and Christians and accept Muhammad as the last prophet. They pray five times a day and fast during the whole month of Ramadan. Islam teaches values like equality for men and women, justice, and freedom for everyone. A mosque (also called Masjid) is the place where Muslims pray. Eid-al-Fitr and Eid-al-Adha are the most important Muslim festivals.

Hinduism

It is one of the oldest and largest religions in the world with more than 1 billion followers. Hinduism doesn't have a single founder; rather, it's a merger of various beliefs and systems. Hinduism is mostly practiced in India.

The core belief of this religion is that God exists in every creation of the world. Hindus believe in multiple gods and goddesses. Demi-gods and other deities. They also believe in reincarnation and karma. They have various sects, and each has its own set of scripture. There are several Hindu festivals, but their most important ones are Holi, Diwali, and Krishna Janmashtami.

The core values of this religion are kama, pleasure, artha, economic success, dharma, righteousness, good life, moksha, enlightenment, and liberation. Yoga is also a very important practice by the believers of this religion. A mandir or a temple is the place for worship for Hindus, where they also hold religious ceremonies.

Buddhism

506 million people around the world practice Buddhism. Siddhartha Gautama, or Buddha, who gave up his life of extravagance to live a simple life as a monk, was the founder of Buddhism.

The foundation of Buddhism is based on his teachings to seek enlightenment in life. The followers of Buddha don't look at him as a God but as a human. Their core principles are detachment from material desire, meditation and physical and spiritual labor, wisdom, kindness, and good behavior. Buddhists believe in reincarnation (coming back as yourself after death) and rebirth (returning as a different entity).

The words and teachings of Buddha are present in Tripitaka's sacred texts. The two major branches of this religion are Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. Buddhist New Year, Magha Puja Day, and Sangha Day are some of the festivals that Buddhists celebrate.

Atheism

Atheism is not a religion but rather a lack of belief in any religious system. Atheists reject the existence of deities. This opinion stems from the fact that there is no scientific evidence of spiritual beings, so they do not believe in the existence of a God.

However, some Atheists do claim they believe in some higher power, but cannot choose between an active religion. Atheists have a large share of the population in European countries. German anthropologists Ludwig Feuerbach and Friedrich Nietzsche were one of advocates of Atheism. There are almost 450 to 500 million Atheists in the world.

Bahàí

It's a relatively new religion found in Iran by Mīrzā Ḥosayn 'Alī Nūrī (Bahā Allāh). Bahàí religion believes in universal equality and unity of all religions and teaches its followers to use their intellect to understand and follow a religion. This religion focuses on the elimination of racial and religious prejudices.

Judaism

It is also a monotheistic religion. Jewish comprises only 14 million people worldwide, and 40% live in Israel. Judaism was the religion of ancient Hebrews, and their sacred text is the Hebrew Bible, which has the same books as Old Testament in Christian Bible. The Jewish house of worship is called a Synagogue. Shabbat, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur are some of the festivals that Jewish celebrate.