Why do people consider Judaism as one of the three major religions?

[cyberwolf001]

I misread you then. I am sorry. I thought you said that all religions are montheistic.

To comment on your exact post, I have never seen them called the three major religions, only the three major monotheistic ones. Hinduism and Buddhism were always considerd bigger.

Sorry if I came off harsh all’s good

Now back on topic why is Judaism considered one of the big three? When there’s a monothestic religion bigger than Judaism.

 

[Contarini]

Religion Adherents estimated that in the world there are:

1. Christianity 2.1 billion
2. Islam 1.5 billion
3. Secularism/irreligious/agnostic/atheism 1.1 billion
4. Hinduism 900 million
5. Chinese traditional religion 394 million
6. Buddhism 376 million
7. Primal-indigenous 300 million
8. African traditional/diasporic 100 million
9. Sikhism 23 million
10. Juche 19 million
11. Spiritism 15 million
12. Judaism 14 million
13. Bahá’í 7 million
14. Jainism 4.2 million
15. Cao Dai 4 million
16. Zoroastrianism 2.6 million
17. Tenrikyo 2 million
18. Neo-Paganism 1 million
19. Unitarian-Universalism 800,000
20. Rastafarianism 600,000
21. Scientology 500,000

Some other surveys also have slightly different numbers but Judaism really never goes over 15 million…Yet it seems to be the target of most controversy, but when you consider that there are 11 other religions or belief systems with a greater population then Judaism why don’t those belief systems get more coverage?

First of all, this is one set of statistics that differs quite a bit from others I’ve seen. In the second place, the groups mentioned are not all of the same kind. For instance, “secular/nontheistic/atheist/etc.” is a broad category defined purely in negative terms. It’s not a “belief system” at all–people falling under that category no doubt have a wide variety of belief systems. Similarly, “traditional Chinese religion” is a set of cultural practices rather than an organized religion. And so on.

The traditional “big five” (someone else mentioned a “big three,” but those are just monotheistic religions) are Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These are the ones I focus on in my “Religions of the World” course (though less on Christianity, because we are a Christian college and the students take other courses dealing with Christianity). Of course, even among these five there are huge differences–is Hinduism really a “religion” in the same way Christianity is, for instance? But these are the five traditions that folks tend to focus on.

This is not because of numbers. I am not sure where you get the assumption that one focuses on religious groups primarily because of the numbers of their adherents. Obviously this is one factor, but another huge one is cultural influence and influence on other religions. That’s why Judaism is important. Judaism is in some sense the root tradition for the other two “Abrahamic” religions–Christianity and Islam. It has also had a huge cultural impact, not only through the Hebrew Bible and its appropriation by Christianity (and its echoes in Islam) but through the contributions Jews have made to Western and Middle Eastern culture.

Sikhism, by comparison, may have more adherents, but it is a derivative of Hinduism heavily influenced by Islam. When you understand Hindu bhakti devotionalism, and you understand Sufi mysticism, you have many of the basic ideas of Sikhism already. So in my course I spend one day on Sikhism, sometimes two, while spending two to three weeks on Judaism. And I think this is thoroughly defensible. The academic study of religion is not “one person, one vote.” It focuses on movements that are deemed to be particularly important.

That doesn’t mean that Sikhism isn’t deserving of a lot more attention than it usually gets. It is. But Judaism is fully deserving of all the attention it gets.

Edwin

 

[cthulhubryan]

The traditional “big five” (someone else mentioned a “big three,” but those are just monotheistic religions) are Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Hinduism takes many forms, one of which is monotheistic. Other forms are non-theistic and polytheistic. Polytheistic religions truly seem to have gone by the wayside, you just don’t see to many Odin/Thor/Heimdal revivals anymore.

Really I guess only Hinduism, Mormonism and some forms of Paganism are the only polytheists left.

 

[Usagi]

Sorry if I came off harsh all’s good

Now back on topic why is Judaism considered one of the big three? When there’s a monothestic religion bigger than Judaism.

Like some others above, I have honestly never seen a claim that Judaism is one of the three largest religions.

I have seen Judaism, Christianity, and Islam included together as the three Abrahamic religions (not merely monotheistic, but with a common root and at least theoretically the same Deity).

If someone is operating under the misconception that Judaism is nearly as large as its offspring, and using that to make some point about Abrahamic monotheism, then that person is simply wrong. But in my experience that is not a common problem.

I don’t think that the (demonstrably false) notion that Judaism is the world’s third largest religion is a keystone of anyone’s belief in the truth or importance of monotheism.

Can you point to some of the sources that you say are putting forward this falsehood, and the agendas they are thereby advancing?

Usagi