Christianity

The founder of Christianity was Jesus Christ who was a carpenter before spreading his teachings. He created the religion in about 33 AD when he started his ministry. It was also in that same year when Christ revealed the religion by teaching his Gospel. Although Jesus was loved by his disciples, he was despised of men. Around 33 AD, Jesus was arrested and was hung on the cross where he died. After Christs death, two of his disciples took over the religion and continued to teach his teachings.

Division of Christianity

The division of Christianity between the Catholic and Protestant Church, also known as the reformation, began after the people started to complain about the catholic church. People began to say that the Catholic Church was wrong in a way because of things such as: Clerical Ignorance, Clerical Absenteeism and Pluralism, Widespread Corruption within the Church and the fact that the Catholic Church had too much money. This caused issues between the people and the Catholic church.

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was born and lived in Eisleben, Saxony, in modern southeast Germany where he started out as a monk and scholar. Around 1521, Martin started the protestant reformation where he created his 95 Theses. These 95 theses were the foundation of the Protestant Reformation and focused on two central beliefs: the Bible is the central religious authority and humans may reach salvation only by their faith, not their deeds. In order to spread these 95 theses, Martin used pamphlets, ballads, and woodcuts. The Catholic Church was not happy with Martin Luther after the releasing of his 95 theses because they both had different beliefs in tradition, salvation, saints, the pope and Catechism . They responded by meeting with him and trying to get him to stop. After that failed, they tried to arrest him but Luther escaped.

The Counter Reformation

In order to counter the spread of the Protestantism, the Catholic Church found ways to respond. They first responded by creating new organizations that were open to both clerics and lay people and were used to spread Catholic beliefs. Other actions made by the Catholic Church that played an important part in the outcome of the Counter-Reformation were the Council of Trent, The Inquisition, and the Peace of Augsburg. All three were used to gain followers and even to try and tempt the Protestants back to the Catholic Church by getting rid of beliefs that were not apart of the Catholic Church.

Christians in the World Today

Christians are 33.32% of the world's population today which is about 2.2 billion people. Not only are there that many Christians in the world today but they are also still continuing to grow. Over the past three years, Christianity has grown to populate two more percent then it did in 2010. Christianity is the most accepted and practiced religion in the world and although a lot of people are not Christian, most all people accept it.

Islam

The founder of Islam is Muhammad. He is the central figure of Islam and is known as the "Holy Prophet" to Muslims. Before becoming a prophet, Muhammad was known as a prominent merchant. Muhammad first started receiving revelation at age 40 but did not begin teaching/preaching these revelations until age 43 in the Middle East during the 7th century. Muhammad was accepted by Muslims throughout the world but was also ridiculed and some of the people actually boycotted his clan. Muhammad later died on Monday, June 8th 632, after becoming ill, in Medina at age 62 or 63. After his death, Abu Bakr, Muhammads friend and collaborator, was made the first successor of Muhammad.

The Division Between the Sunni and Shiites

The Sunni and Shiite separated mainly because of religious beliefs and political conflict. The split began after the Prophet Muhammad's death when the people began to argue over who was to be the rightful successor and because they simply could not agree, they split. The Sunnis believed that Muhammad had no rightful heir whereas the Shiites believed that only Allah, the God of the Islamic faith, can select the next leader. Another religious belief they disagreed on was the "guided on" named Mahdi. Although both groups believe Mahdi to be the sole ruler, the Sunnis believe that Mahdi has not been born yet whereas the Shiites believe that Mahdi was born in 869 A.D. Today they still don't get along but both have separate leaders. The Sunnis leader is The Imam and the Shiites leader is The Marja. Although both groups do not get along, they have similar beliefs. Muslim beliefs include: Belief in God, Belief in the Angels, Belief in God's revealed books (their scriptures), Belief in the Prophets and Messengers of God, and Belief in Al-Qadar. Both groups used these beliefs to spread their gospel and gain new converts. Between the eighth and ninth centuries, Arab traders and travelers, then African clerics, began to spread the religion along the eastern coast of Africa and to the western and central Sudan. New converts were brought in to the Islam religion by using their beliefs.

Islam in the World Today

It is estimated that there are about 3.3 million Muslims in the world today, with about 332 million of them making up 1% of the population in the United States. Islam has been growing and is said to continue to grow even bigger in the next 30 or so years. In 2015-2016 they estimated that there were about 3.3 million Muslims in the world and that their numbers will double by 2050. Muslims are projected to become the second-largest religious group in the U.S. after Christians before 2040. By 2050, the American Muslim population is projected to reach 8.1 million people, or 2.1% of the total population.