Learn Online: World Religions 101

World Religions 101 provides a clear and concise introduction to the major world religions. You'll learn about the people, places, practices and philosophies shaping today's events.  Some religions might be familiar, some strange and some you may never have heard about but why not discover karma, nirvana, yin and yang and the Holy Trinity?

Although many of us think of religion as a belief system practiced through faith, obedience, prayer and worship, you'll find that some religions are more than just a belief in a deity, but an entire philosophy and way of life. 

Explore the religions that have shaped history, civilizations and your next door neighbors views. You will learn about the founders, the history and essential teachings of each of these major religions: Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, and Taoism, plus brief descriptions of other religions and religious practices.

Why not join this self-paced course and learn about the diverse spiritual paths humanity has taken?  Everyone is welcome!

This course will not require you to have previous experience in any particular area but you should have a high school reading level. No books will be required.

Over the millennia of human existence, there has always been a spiritual or mystical component to people’s lives.  Due in large part to vast differences in language, culture, and geography, each region of the world developed a separate belief system which has garnered millions (or, in some cases, billions) of adherents.  Many of these religions are rooted in the Orient or “the East”, and still exert a great deal of influence on thought patterns and daily life in many countries of that part of the world.  In the Occident or “the West”, our familiarity with some of these religious traditions may not be much more than a mere recognition of the names by which they are known.

However, it should be noted that, in recent years, the number of adherents to many of these religions has increased, especially in the Western world.  More and more adherents of these faiths are appearing in traditionally Christian nations throughout Europe, North America, Australia, and South America.  Thus, it would behoove one to attain at least a perfunctory understanding regarding the nature of these religions and what their various belief systems are.

In this brief course, a number of the world’s leading religious, mystical, and philosophical movements are examined in order to provide a better understanding of these highly influential traditions, as well as a basic introduction to the idea of religion itself.  The major faiths or belief systems introduced in this course are, in alphabetical order: Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, and other minor and/or developing religious traditions.