Gods in World Religions
Different religions have different perceptions of God’s divine nature. In Christianity, Christians perceive God’s divine nature through his personality as the creator, author, finisher of the universe’s history, and judge of humanity. In Judaism, Jews trust that there is one true God with whom they can have a personal relationship (White, 2022).
In addition, Muslims subscribe to only one God named Allah (Ali, 2016). He controls the universe through angels and sends his guidance to humankind through prophets (Uthman, 2023). In Hinduism, Hindus refer to their God as Brahma. His divinity is expressed as being omnipresent, and He exists within human beings. In Buddhism, Buddhists trust that there are gods called devas. These gods act as hindrances or helpers to people’s insight (Zappulli, 2022).
Comparison of the Religions
Catholicism vs. Buddhism
Buddhism and Catholicism are similar since both religions practice meditation. However, their difference is that Catholics trust in one supernatural God, while Buddhists do not. Moreover, Catholics believe in life after death, where people go to hell or heaven, while Buddhists believe in reincarnation (Zappulli, 2022).
Catholicism vs. Hinduism
Consequently, the acceptance of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in Catholicism is similar to the faith of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva in Hinduism (Thakur, 2019). Moreover, Hindus worship in temples, compared to the Catholics who worship in churches. The significant difference is that Catholics regard Jesus as the Son of God, while Hindus do not believe in the nature of God (Van der Ven, 2020).
Catholicism vs. Islam
The similarities between Catholicism and Islam are that in both religions, believers trust in one God, the existence of angels, belief in judgment day, prayer and fasting, prayer beads, and a holy book with scriptures. The difference is that Catholics believe in the Trinity of God while Muslims do not (Uthman, 2023).
Catholicism vs. Other Christianity Movements
The similarities between Catholicism and other branches of Christianity are the belief in the holy trinity, the divine God, prayer, and fasting, Jesus as the Savior, worship of God in churches, judgment and life after death, and reverence for God through scriptures (Craig, 2018). The difference is that other Christians believe in confessing their sins directly to God, while Catholics make confessions through priests.
Catholicism vs. Judaism
In Catholicism and Judaism, believers have faith in one true God and the Holy Trinity. However, Jews do not believe in Jesus, devotion to saints, life after death, or the second coming of Christ as Catholics do (Zagonari, 2020). I have learned to accept and respect everyone’s religion of choice.
References
Ali, Z. (2016). Concepts of God in Islam. Philosophy Compass, 11(12), 892–904. Web.
Craig, W. L. (2018). Is God the Son begotten in his divine nature?TheoLogica: An International Journal for Philosophy of Religion and Philosophical Theology, 2(3). Web.
Thakur, S. C. (2019). Christian and Hindu ethics. Routledge.
Uthman, Y. O. O.-O. (2023). Effective repentance: Its concept, Islamic standpoint, and way of its application. At-Tadzkir: Islamic Education Journal, 2(1), 16–24. Web.
Van der Ven, J. A. (2020). Religion in process: An approach inspired by human dignity, rights, and reasonableness. Springer. Web.
White, T. J. (2022). The Trinity: On the nature and mystery of the One God. CUA Press.
Zagonari, F. (2020). Comparing religious environmental ethics to support efforts to achieve local and global sustainability: Empirical insights based on a theoretical framework. Sustainability, 12(7), 2590. Web.
Zappulli, D. A. (2022). Towards a Buddhist theism. Religious Studies, 1–13. Web.