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- Hinduism - Introduction
Hinduism
differs from Christianity, Islam and other Western religions in that it does
not have a single founder, a specific theological system, a single system of
morality, or a central religious organization. It consists of thousands of
different religious groups that have evolved in India since 1500 BC.
Hinduism
has grown to become the world's third largest religion, after Christianity
and Islam. It has about 762 million followers - 13% of the world's
population. It is the dominant religion in India, Nepal, and among the
Tamils in Sri Lanka. According to the "Yearbook of American &
Canadian Churches", there are about 1.1 million Hindus in the U.S.
Canada estimates that there are about 157,015 Hindus in Canada.
Hinduism
is generally regarded as the world's oldest organized religion.
Religions
which recognize the existence of multiple deities have traditionally been
among the world's most religiously tolerant. Hinduism remains arguably one
of the most tolerant of such religions.
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Early History
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The
classical theory
of the origins of Hinduism traces the religion's roots to the Indus valley
civilization circa 4000 to 2200 BC.
The development of Hinduism was influenced by many invasions over thousands of
years. The major influences occurred when light-skinned, nomadic
"Aryan" Indo-European tribes invaded Northern India (circa 1500 BCE)
from the steppes of Russia and Central Asia. They brought with them their
religion of Vedism. These beliefs
mingled with the more advanced, indigenous Indian native beliefs, often called
the "Indus valley culture.".
This theory was initially proposed by Christian academics some 200 years ago.
Their conclusions were biased by their pre-existing belief in the Hebrew
Scriptures (Old Testament). The Book of Genesis, which they interpreted
literally, appears to place the creation of the earth at circa 4,000 BC,
and the Noahic flood at circa 2,500 BCE. These dates put severe constraints on
the date of the "Aryan invasion," and the development of the four Veda
and Upanishad Hindu religious texts. A second factor supporting this theory was
their lack of appreciation of the sophisticated nature of Vedic culture; they
had discounted it as primitive. The classical theory is now being rejected by
increasing numbers of archeologists and religious historians
more...
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