Philosophy and Religion
Saint Genevieve , c.420-c.500, patron saint of Paris. A nun renowned for good works, she is said to have averted, by fasting and prayer, an expected attack of Attila the Hun on Paris in 451. Feast: Jan. 3.
Islam , [Arab.,=submission to God], world religion founded by the Prophet Muhammad. Founded in the 7th cent., Islam is the youngest of the three monotheistic world religions (with Judaism and Christianity). An adherent to Islam is a Muslim [Arab.,=one who submits]. Believers Worldwide There are more than 1 billion Muslims worldwide, fewer than one fifth of whom are Arab. Islam is the principal religion of much of Asia, including Indonesia (which has the world's largest Muslim population), Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, the Arabian Peninsula states, and Turkey. India also has one of the world's largest Muslim populations, although Islam is not the principal religion there. In Africa, Islam is the principal religion in Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, and Sudan, with sizable populations also in Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania (where the island of Zanzibar is predominantly Muslim), and Nigeria. In Europe, Albania is predominantly Muslim, and, historically, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Macedonia, and Georgia have had Muslim populations. Elsewhere in Europe, significant immigrant communities of Muslims from N Africa, Turkey, and Asia exist in France, Germany, Great Britain, and other nations. In the Americas the Islamic population has substantially increased in recent years, both from...
Torah (Hebrew, law) Hebrew name for the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. The Torah is the body of written Jewish laws contained within these five books. The Torah also describes the complete Jewish Bible.
Throughout history, philosophy and religion have played a significant role in the development of a society, how it treats outsiders, and how it treats its own members. Humans have frequently looked to gods or deities to lead them and to answer some of life’s mysteries.
The Romans and the Greeks were led by a group of deities who shared many of the same traits and powers. The Greeks thought that th ... Read more
The three main Western religions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity can all trace their beginnings to the story of Abraham in The Bible. Today, there are more than 1 billion Muslims, more than 1 billion Christians and millions of Jewish people around the world. The ongoing struggle in the Middle East can be traced, in part, to the conflicts between these three religious groups. The Crusades, the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, and other events in history have created tension and led to conflict between the three groups.
Philosophy and religion are also practiced throughout Asia, with Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, and Shinto found in India, parts of China, Japan, and other areas. Philosophy is usually divided into the branches of metaphysics, logic, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics. They all help followers study the ultimate reality, causes, and principles that lie under being and thinking.