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Common Beliefs  

This page describes some ideas and beliefs which are common to a number of different religions. Some beliefs have passed directly from one religion to another, but in many cases the same idea has arisen independently in different religions.

Reincarnation
The basic idea of reincarnation is that an organism's soul leaves its body at death and then enters the body of another newly-born life form. Thus over time it passes through a series of successive existences in different physical bodies. According to an associated idea called karma, actions in one life will affect the form of existence in the next life. In particular, through good behavior a soul may be able to pass to higher and higher life forms in successive stages of existence.

Belief in reincarnation is found in a number of religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Manichaeism, and Gnosticism. Adherents of some of these religions also believe that an individual can permanently escape the cycle of birth and rebirth by reaching a state of enlightenment or nirvana. In Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama is always the reincarnation of his predecessor.

Gods in Human Form
The idea that a god or goddess can appear on earth in human form is found in many religions. Such a belief was especially common in the ancient polytheistic religions of the middle eastern and Mediterranean religions. For example, in the epic works of the Greek author Homer, gods and goddesses often appear in human form in order to intervene in events taking place on the earth.

In Hinduism, a manifestation of a god in human or animal form is known as an Avatar. The most important of these Avatars are manifestations of the God Vishnu, and have appeared at critical points in history in order to save the world from an especially evil threat.

Founders of several major religions have been viewed as incarnations of a god. These include Zoroaster, the Buddha Gautama, and Jesus.

Sacred Texts
Sacred texts or scriptures are an important part of many religions. Many of these writings are thought to have come directly from a god or goddess, usually as some kind of revelation. Others are known to be compositions of an original founder of the religion, or early leaders or prophets, but are now considered to be divinely-inspired.

The sacred writings of Hinduism include the Vedas and the Upanishads. The Hebrew Bible, the sacred text of Judaism, was created over a period of at least eight centuries, but no new books have been added in two thousand years. Most Christians also consider the Hebrew Bible to be a sacred text, but have added some additional books to it in the form of the New Testament. Followers of Islam believe that their sacred book, the Quran or Koran, are the words of Allah given to Mohammed through the voice of the angel Gabriel.

Adherents of most religions consider it very important to preserve their sacred writings exactly in their original form.

Body Mutilation
Perhaps the best known example of religious bodily mutilation is the Jewish act of circumcision, the removal of the foreskin of the penises of infant males. This ancient practice was also adopted by some Christian groups, and both Jews and Christians continue to perform it.

Another old practice, tattooing, has also been used for religious purposes. Followers of some ancient Greek and Roman pagan religions used tattoos to show their devotion to particular gods or goddesses.

Self-wounding and self-whipping are a feature of many religions. Some Christians have attempted to re-experience the sufferings of Jesus by giving themselves wounds or markings known as stigmata. Another form of stigmata is found in Islamic societies.

Ritual mutilation has been observed in primitive tribal groups throughout the world. In many cases it is done as part of an initiation rite.

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