Religion & living together
People have built traditions around meaning, suffering, the sacred and life together. Here is a simple way to see what they share and where their answers part.
Twelve traditions, three shared questions. Read down each column to see how their answers compare.
| Tradition | RealityWhat is sacred or ultimate? | The aimWhat are we moving towards? | The practiceHow is it lived? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christianity Religious tradition Follow Jesus through faith, love and service, seeking reconciliation with God. | Most churches affirm one God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with Jesus both divine and human. | Reconciliation with God through Christ and a life shaped by grace and love. | Prayer, worship, scripture, baptism and communion shape many Christian lives. |
| Islam Religious tradition Worship one God and follow divine guidance through prayer, justice, charity and responsible conduct. | One incomparable creator, Allah, sustains the world and guides humanity through prophets. | Live faithfully before God, seeking divine mercy and accepting responsibility for one's actions. | Faith, daily prayer, giving, Ramadan fasting and pilgrimage when able shape Muslim life. |
| Judaism Religious and cultural tradition Connect Jewish peoplehood and Torah with a life of responsibility, study, community and covenant with God. | Jewish religious traditions affirm one God, understood through diverse theological interpretations. | Honour the covenant through faithful conduct, justice and responsibility to others. | Shabbat, Torah study, prayer, festivals and giving connect religious teaching with everyday life. |
| Hindu traditions Family of religious traditions Follow diverse paths of duty, devotion and knowledge towards spiritual fulfilment. | Diverse deities and philosophies express differing understandings of the divine and ultimate reality. | Many paths seek liberation from rebirth through devotion, knowledge or disciplined action. | Worship, festivals, chanting, study, meditation and service express different spiritual paths. |
| Buddhism Family of religious traditions Follow the Buddha's paths of wisdom, ethical conduct and compassion towards freedom from suffering. | Experience arises through changing conditions; teachings question treating body or mind as a permanent self. | Awakening that ends suffering rooted in craving, hostility and confusion. | Ethical training, meditation, study, chanting and offerings support Buddhist paths. |
| Sikhism Religious tradition Remember the Divine through truthful living, equality, honest work and service to others. | One Divine reality creates and pervades the world, grounding the spiritual equality of all people. | Recognise the Divine in everyday life and overcome self-centredness through grace and devotion. | Remember the Divine, sing scripture, join worship and serve others through practices such as langar. |
| Jainism Religious tradition Minimise harm and practise restraint to free the soul from karma and repeated birth. | An eternal universe contains distinct souls, which karma binds to repeated birth. | Free the soul from karma through understanding, restraint and care for living beings. | Vegetarian eating, careful conduct, study, meditation and fasting put restraint into daily life. |
| Daoism Religious and philosophical traditions Cultivate harmony with the Dao through simplicity, awareness and responsive action. | The Dao is the Way through which things arise and change. | Live in harmony with the Dao through spiritual cultivation. | Meditation, bodily cultivation and rituals support different paths of Daoist life. |
| Confucian traditions Ethical, philosophical and religious traditions Cultivate character through learning, relationships and ritual to support a humane society. | Human life unfolds within relationships and a wider order associated with Heaven. | Develop humane character and fulfil responsibilities within family and society. | Study, reflection, ritual and honouring family and ancestors cultivate character. |
| Shinto Religious traditions Honour kami and renew relationships with community, ancestors and the natural world. | Kami include deities, ancestral spirits and sacred presences associated with natural places and forces. | Maintain harmonious relationships with kami, people and the natural world. | Shrine visits, purification, offerings and festivals express reverence and gratitude. |
| Bahá’í faith Religious tradition Follow Bahá’u’lláh's teachings through spiritual growth, service and commitment to humanity's unity. | One God reveals guidance through successive messengers across humanity's history. | Develop spiritual qualities and contribute to a just, united and peaceful humanity. | Prayer, fasting, study, consultation and service connect spiritual growth with community life. |
| Zoroastrianism Religious tradition Support goodness through thoughts, words and actions, contributing to the world's renewal. | Ahura Mazda is the wise, good divine source; creation faces destructive evil. | Choose truth and goodness, helping creation move towards renewal and the defeat of evil. | Prayer, purification, festivals and care for sacred fire express religious commitment. |
A selection of religious and philosophical traditions. Each contains different communities and interpretations. Claims about the sacred and liberation describe the traditions’ teachings.
Selected comparisons around a shared question.
Generosity, service and responsibility to neighbours receive strong emphasis across these traditions.
Christianity centres care on Christ; Islam and Judaism ground duties in divine guidance and covenant. Sikhism stresses divine presence; Bahá’í teaching stresses humanity's unity.
Compassion and restraint encourage practitioners to reduce harm to living beings.
Jainism teaches enduring individual souls. Buddhist teachings examine changing experience and attachment to self. Hindu schools offer differing accounts of self, divinity and liberation.
Truthful conduct and responsibility for one's choices connect personal character with the wellbeing of others.
Zoroastrianism connects choices to cosmic renewal; Islam grounds accountability in God; Confucian traditions emphasise cultivated character within relationships.
Humility, respect and repeated practices can nurture care for relationships and the wider world.
Shinto honours kami; Daoist paths seek harmony with the Dao; Confucian traditions cultivate relationships through ethical learning and ritual.
Churches differ over authority, salvation and worship; some communities hold different understandings of God.
Explore Christianity →Sunni, Shia, Sufi and other traditions overlap and differ in authority, interpretation and practice.
Explore Islam →Movements interpret belief and law differently. Jewish belonging also includes cultural and secular identities.
Explore Judaism →Schools differ over deities, scripture and the relationship between the self and ultimate reality.
Explore Hindu traditions →Schools differ over emptiness, awakening, scriptures and practices; devotion and meditation have varying roles.
Explore Buddhism →Observance and initiation vary; initiated Khalsa Sikhs undertake a shared religious discipline.
Explore Sikhism →Branches differ over scriptures and liberation teachings. Monks and nuns follow stricter vows than householders.
Explore Jainism →Lineages differ in their emphasis on deities, rituals, spiritual immortality and philosophical reflection.
Explore Daoism →Thinkers differ over human nature and Heaven; religious and humanistic interpretations coexist.
Explore Confucian traditions →Shrines have distinct customs; many people also participate in Buddhist practices.
Explore Shinto →This describes the main worldwide community; shared scriptures and institutions coexist with cultural variety.
Explore Bahá’í faith →Communities differ over ritual, membership and how they interpret the relationship between good and evil.
Explore Zoroastrianism →Twelve selected traditions, including religious and philosophical ways of life. Each row gives a broad introduction. Every tradition contains different schools, communities and interpretations.
The complete comparison. Select a tradition to read its cards.
| Tradition | ValuesHow to treat each other | RealityGod, the sacred and the world | PurposeThe human problem and the goal | PracticeWhat people do | After deathWhat happens when life ends | AuthorityWhere guidance comes from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christianity Religious tradition | Love of God and neighbour, forgiveness, care for vulnerable people and truthful conduct are central teachings. Churches debate their application to public and personal life. | Most churches teach one creator God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and understand Jesus as both divine and human. | Sin damages relationships with God and other people. Christians understand healing through Jesus, forgiveness and grace, with different accounts of faith and action. | Prayer, worship, Bible reading, baptism, shared communion and service shape many communities. Their forms and importance differ between churches. | Most churches teach resurrection, judgement and life with God. Christians differ over heaven, hell, purification and the possibility of universal salvation. | The Bible is foundational. Churches differ over how scripture, tradition, clergy, councils, the Pope and individual interpretation share authority. |
| Islam Religious tradition | Justice, charity, honesty, keeping promises and care for vulnerable people are recurring duties. Scholars and communities debate how these duties apply. | Muslims affirm one incomparable creator, Allah, who sustains the world. Prophets communicate divine guidance; God is understood as merciful and just. | Forgetting God, arrogance and wrongdoing lead people away from guidance. Repentance, mercy and responsible action help restore a faithful life. | Faith, daily prayer, giving, Ramadan fasting and pilgrimage when able shape Muslim life. Communities differ over details and additional obligations. | Muslims generally believe in resurrection, divine judgement and an afterlife. Accounts emphasise responsibility for actions alongside God's mercy. | The Qur'an and Muhammad's example guide Muslims. Scholars interpret scripture and reports of his life; Shia traditions also give special authority to the Imams. |
| Judaism Religious and cultural tradition | Justice, generosity, care for neighbours and strangers, and responsibilities expressed through commandments are central. Interpretation and debate help connect inherited teachings with daily life. | Jewish religious traditions affirm one God. Jewish thinkers offer different accounts of God's nature, presence and relationship with the world. | Wrongdoing and injustice damage relationships. Returning to responsible conduct, making amends and seeking forgiveness are important responses. | Shabbat, prayer, Torah study, festivals, dietary practices, giving and family rituals shape many Jewish lives. Observance varies widely. | Jewish teachings include resurrection, a world to come and the soul's survival. Communities differ over these ideas and the emphasis they receive. | The Hebrew Bible, rabbinic interpretation and communal traditions guide religious life. Movements differ over the binding force of Jewish law and how it develops. |
| Hindu traditions Family of religious traditions | Dharma concerns responsibilities and a sustaining order. Truthfulness, generosity, care and restraint recur; communities debate caste, gender and how duties apply. | Views range from devotion to Vishnu, Shiva or the Goddess to philosophies of an ultimate reality called Brahman. Schools explain their relationships differently. | Many teachings connect ignorance, attachment and harmful action with suffering and repeated birth. Accounts of divine grace and human effort differ. | Home and temple worship, festivals, pilgrimage, chanting, meditation, yoga, study and service have different roles across communities. | Many Hindus understand rebirth as shaped by karma. Liberation ends that cycle; schools differ over the liberated self's relationship with ultimate reality. | Vedas, Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, epics and other scriptures matter in different ways. Teachers, philosophical schools and local traditions guide interpretation. |
| Buddhism Family of religious traditions | Compassion, generosity, truthful speech and restraint from harming living beings are widely valued. Communities differ over rules and their application. | The self is examined as changing, dependent processes. Schools develop different accounts of reality, emptiness, Buddhas and spiritual beings. | Craving, hostility and confusion help sustain suffering. Buddhist paths cultivate understanding and changes in conduct, attention and response. | Ethical training, meditation, chanting, offerings, study and support for monastic communities shape Buddhist life. Different schools emphasise different combinations. | Traditional teachings describe rebirth shaped by actions and liberation called nirvana. Modern secular interpretations often concentrate on this life. | Scriptures, teachers and lineages guide practice. Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana communities recognise overlapping and distinct bodies of teaching. |
| Sikhism Religious tradition | Live truthfully, earn honestly, share resources, serve others and uphold human equality. | Sikhs affirm one Divine reality, the source of creation and present throughout it. This grounds the spiritual equality of people. | Self-centredness, called haumai, obscures awareness of the Divine. Greed and injustice damage spiritual and shared life. | Remember the Divine, sing and study scripture, join community worship and serve others, including through the shared meal called langar. | Sikh teachings describe karma and rebirth, with divine grace central to spiritual freedom. Union with the Divine is a goal within this life. | The Guru Granth Sahib is the enduring Guru. The ten human Gurus’ teachings and the Sikh community guide religious life. |
| Jainism Religious tradition | Minimise harm to living beings; practise honesty, restraint and care with possessions. Consider the limits of your own viewpoint. | Jain teaching describes an eternal universe containing distinct souls and matter. Living beings have souls; karma is understood as matter that binds them. | Harmful actions, ignorance, attachment and passions attract karma, keeping souls caught in repeated lives. | Vegetarian eating, meditation, study, worship and fasting. Monks and nuns undertake stricter vows than householders. | Jains teach that souls are reborn according to karma. Complete liberation leaves the soul free from further birth. | Enlightened teachers called Tirthankaras, including Mahavira, guide the tradition. Scriptures and monastic teachers carry authority, with different scriptural collections across branches. |
| Daoism Religious and philosophical traditions | Compassion, modest living and humility feature in the Daodejing. Traditions also develop moral precepts and responsibilities towards others. | The Dao names the Way through which things arise and change. Religious traditions also recognise deities and spiritual worlds. | Excessive desire, rigid judgements and forced control can disrupt harmony with life’s changing conditions. | Practices include meditation, breathing and movement, scripture, offerings and community rituals. Their importance differs between lineages. | The Zhuangzi explores death as natural transformation. Other Daoist traditions pursue immortality or salvation and perform rituals for the dead. | Texts such as the Daodejing and Zhuangzi, wider sacred collections, and teaching lineages guide different forms of Daoist life. |
| Confucian traditions Ethical, philosophical and religious traditions | Cultivate care, fairness, trustworthiness and respect. Consider others’ experience and the responsibilities that come with your relationships. | People belong to networks of family, society and nature. Heaven provides a wider order, interpreted differently across thinkers and periods. | Selfish conduct, neglected responsibilities and poor leadership damage relationships and create social disorder. | Study, reflect on conduct, learn from good examples, practise meaningful rituals and honour family and ancestors. | Mourning and honouring ancestors matter. The Analects emphasises understanding life; accounts of spirits and what follows death vary. | Classical texts, including the Analects, exemplary teachers, inherited rituals and reasoned interpretation guide moral learning. |
| Shinto Religious traditions | Honesty, sincerity, gratitude and care for relationships with people, kami and the natural world receive emphasis. | Kami include deities, ancestors and sacred presences associated with natural places and forces. People maintain relationships with them through reverence and ritual. | Ritual impurity can follow events such as death or illness. Purification renews ritual relationships; traditions also address harmful conduct. | Visit shrines, wash hands before worship, make offerings, take part in festivals and honour kami at home. | Ancestors may be honoured as protective kami. Myths and later teachings offer varied pictures of the other world and life after death. | Shrine traditions, priests, community customs and texts such as the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki preserve and interpret religious practice. |
| Bahá’í faith Religious tradition | Teachings emphasise truthfulness, justice, equality of women and men, ending prejudice, and service to humanity. | Bahá’ís believe one God reveals guidance through successive messengers. They interpret major religions as stages in humanity's spiritual development. | Prejudice, ignorance and selfishness obstruct spiritual growth and human unity. Education, justice, reflection and service help people respond. | Daily prayer, fasting, study, consultation and community service support spiritual development. Communities gather for worship and shared learning. | Bahá’ís believe the soul continues after bodily death and can keep developing towards God. Earthly life develops capacities for that continuing journey. | Sacred writings and authorised interpretations guide belief. Elected institutions, headed by the Universal House of Justice, guide the community and apply its teachings. |
| Zoroastrianism Religious tradition | Choose good thoughts, truthful speech and helpful deeds. Care for people and the created world. | Ahura Mazda is the wise, good divine source. Teachings describe a struggle between goodness and destructive evil, with differing interpretations of their relationship. | Falsehood, destructive choices and evil damage creation. People bear responsibility for the side their actions support. | Prayer, sacred clothing and cord, purification, festivals and care for sacred fire shape religious life. Observance varies. | Traditional teachings describe judgement after death, heaven and hell, followed by resurrection and a final renewal in which evil is overcome. | Zarathustra’s teachings, especially the Gathas within the Avesta, are central. Later texts, priests and community interpretation also guide practice. |
This selection leaves many traditions and local ways of life for future additions. Descriptions of God, liberation or an afterlife are attributed religious beliefs.
A shared word such as compassion can carry different meanings, duties and limits. These are selected comparisons.
Generosity, compassion and responsibility for others recur across many teachings. They appear as neighbourly love, charitable giving, service and concern for living beings.
Who receives care, the duties involved and the reasons given vary. These examples describe teachings; everyday practice differs.
Truthful speech, honest work and keeping commitments help people live together. Several traditions connect honesty with spiritual integrity and responsibility towards others.
Traditions place honesty within different accounts of God, virtue, duty and the consequences of action.
Training attention, restraining harmful impulses and examining conduct recur across traditions. Their goals include holiness, wisdom, harmony and liberation.
Meditation, repentance, prayer and moral cultivation each have their own purposes. Their resemblance supports comparison while their meanings remain distinct.
Shared meals, festivals, worship and remembrance can connect personal life with family, community and a wider order.
Belonging takes different forms, including family rituals, local congregations and worldwide institutions. Communities differ over membership and participation.
Agreement about kindness can sit alongside deep disagreement about God, the self, authority and what follows death.
Most Christian churches understand one God as Trinity. Islam affirms God's indivisible oneness. Hindu traditions offer varied accounts of deity and ultimate reality. Jainism describes an eternal universe of souls and matter; Buddhist accounts centre on dependent processes. These positions make different claims about reality.
Jainism describes enduring individual souls. Hindu schools differ over the self and its relationship with ultimate reality. Buddhist teachings examine the person as changing, dependent processes. Bahá’í teaching describes an individual soul that continues to develop after death.
Christian and Muslim teachings commonly describe resurrection and judgement. Hindu, Jain and Buddhist traditions teach forms of rebirth, with different accounts of what continues. Confucian traditions often give greater attention to living and honouring ancestors; Shinto views of the other world vary.
Catholic Christianity gives the Pope a distinctive teaching role. Muslim traditions differ over scholarly and Imamic authority. Sikhs recognise scripture as Guru. Confucian and Daoist traditions draw on classical texts and lineages. Similar ethical words therefore come through different sources and institutions.
Shahzad’s reflections
Personal observations about teachers, attention and the expectations we bring to people.
Understanding a teaching and bringing it into life.
How our interests bring some details into view.
The evidence behind our expectations of people.
Attention → interpretation → expectation → experience → a revised understanding.
Shahzad’s starting idea is that religion should help people develop values and live in harmony. The design below explores that aim. It is one possible proposal, with choices people can debate.
Dignity, care, honesty and freedom of conscience.
Reflection, shared meals, service and repairing harm.
Open accounts, accountable leaders and a safe way to leave.
Listen to criticism. Test factual claims. Revise harmful practices.
People could hold different views about God and ultimate reality while agreeing on how they treat one another. Peaceful disagreement belongs inside the community.
Religion also carries worship, identity, inherited practices and accounts of salvation or liberation. A values charter captures one part of that larger picture.
The Parliament of the World’s Religions’ Global Ethic is one existing interfaith effort to name shared ethical commitments. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights supplies a reference for dignity and freedom of conscience. The practices and governance choices above are Learn’s editorial proposal.
Parliament of the World’s Religions: Global Ethic ↗United Nations: Universal Declaration of Human Rights ↗Shared expectations help shape what people praise, repeat and avoid.
PoliticsAuthority influences the rules.Communities distribute power. Their rules affect whose voice is heard.
PhilosophyClaims need reasons.Experience, reasoning, testimony and revelation are different grounds people offer for belief.
These notes make the broad rows more precise. Academic introductions and sources from the traditions themselves are credited below.
Christians centre their faith on Jesus, his teachings, death and resurrection. They seek reconciliation with God and a life shaped by love, grace and service.
Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and other communities differ over authority, worship and salvation. Beliefs also vary within each branch.
Read the cards →Primary text: Matthew 22:34–40, NRSV Updated Edition ↗Church of England: the Nicene Creed ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: introduction to Christianity ↗Catholic Catechism: resurrection of the body ↗Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: heaven and hell in Christian thought ↗Muslims worship one God and follow guidance they believe was revealed through prophets, with Muhammad as the final prophet. Faith joins worship, moral responsibility and care for others.
Sunni, Shia and other traditions have different histories and authorities. Legal schools, Sufi traditions, cultures and individual interpretations add further variety.
Read the cards →Primary text: Qur'an 2:177, belief and conduct ↗Primary text: Qur'an 112, God's oneness ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: Islamic beliefs ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: Islamic practices ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: Sunni and Shia interpretations ↗Primary text: Qur'an 4:36, care for others and humility ↗Judaism connects the Jewish people, Torah and a covenant with God. Study, ethical responsibility, shared memory and religious practice shape a life of community and commitment.
Orthodox, Masorti or Conservative, Reform and other movements interpret law and belief differently. Jewish identity also includes peoplehood, culture and secular forms of belonging.
Read the cards →Primary text: Pirkei Avot 1:2, study, worship and kindness ↗Primary text: Leviticus 19:18, care for one's neighbour ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: God, Torah and Israel ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: Jewish pluralism ↗Reform Judaism: death and the afterlife, with discussion of Jewish differences ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: repentance and Yom Kippur ↗Many Hindu paths connect everyday duty, spiritual practice and liberation. They explore how actions, desire and knowledge shape life and our relationship with the divine.
Vaishnava, Shaiva, Shakta and other traditions honour different forms of the divine. Philosophical schools disagree about the self, God and ultimate reality.
Read the cards →Primary text: Bhagavad Gita 12:13, translations collected by IIT Kanpur ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: many gods and one ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: a context for diversity ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: karma and action ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: dharma and social order ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: scripture and authority ↗Buddhist traditions teach ways to understand suffering and cultivate wisdom and compassion, following the Buddha. Awakening involves changing how we see and respond to experience.
Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions overlap and differ in scriptures, practices and ideals. Devotion, monastic life, meditation and secular interpretation have different roles across communities.
Read the cards →Primary text: the Buddha's first discourse, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: the Buddha's teachings ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: introduction to Buddhist traditions ↗Secular Buddhist Network: an account of its approach ↗Sikh teaching connects devotion to one Divine reality with truthful living, equality and service. Everyday work and relationships become places to practise spiritual awareness.
Sikhs differ in observance, initiation, dress and interpretations of particular practices. Initiation into the Khalsa carries a specific shared discipline.
Read the cards →Sikh Coalition: beliefs ↗Sikh Coalition: practice, diversity and afterlife ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: the Sikh scripture ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: Guru Nanak’s message ↗Sikh Research Institute: haumai ↗Jain teaching places care for living beings at the centre of a disciplined path. The goal is to free each soul from karma and repeated birth.
Digambara and Shvetambara branches differ over scriptures, monastic clothing and some liberation teachings. Further communities differ over using images in worship.
Read the cards →Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Jain philosophy ↗Tattvartha Sutra, chapter 10: liberation, via Jainworld ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: Jain monastic branches ↗JAINA: introduction to Jainism ↗Daoist traditions explore living in harmony with the Dao, the Way. They connect natural change with simplicity, spiritual cultivation and ways of acting with less force.
Temple lineages, monastic communities and philosophical readers place different weight on ritual, deities, meditation, bodily cultivation and spiritual immortality.
Read the cards →Daodejing: Robert Eno’s teaching translation, Indiana University ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: Daoist traditions ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: Daoist practice and goals ↗Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Chinese ethics ↗Confucian traditions connect becoming a better person with caring for relationships and improving society. Learning, example and meaningful rituals help people develop character throughout life.
Thinkers disagree about human nature, Heaven and moral development. Some emphasise religious cultivation; others emphasise humanistic ethics. Traditions developed across several East Asian societies.
Read the cards →Analects: Robert Eno’s teaching translation, Indiana University ↗Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Confucius ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: the scholarly tradition ↗Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Chinese ethics ↗Shinto traditions honour kami, sacred presences associated with nature, places and ancestors. Shrine visits, festivals and purification express gratitude and renew connections with community and place.
Local shrines and communities have distinctive customs. Shinto has long interacted with Buddhism, and people may participate in practices from both traditions.
Read the cards →Jinja Honcho: the heart of Shinto ↗Jinja Honcho: kami, shrines and festivals ↗Kokugakuin University: kegare ↗Kokugakuin University: views of the other world ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: Shinto history and diversity ↗Bahá’ís follow Bahá’u’lláh's teachings on one God, the unity of humanity and unfolding divine guidance. Personal spiritual growth and service contribute to a more just and peaceful world.
Bahá’ís come from many cultures and religious backgrounds. This profile describes the main worldwide community; personal understanding varies within its shared scriptures and institutions.
Read the cards →Bahá’í World Centre: beliefs and their scriptural foundations ↗Bahá’í World Centre: the soul ↗Primary institutional text: Constitution of the Universal House of Justice ↗Bahá’í World Centre: ending prejudice ↗Harvard Pluralism Project: the Bahá’í faith ↗Zoroastrian teaching calls people to support goodness through their thoughts, words and actions. Human choices participate in a struggle against evil and towards the world’s renewal.
Iranian, Parsi and other communities vary in customs and interpretation. Traditionalist and reformist approaches differ over ritual, conversion and religious membership.
Read the cards →Avesta: Yasna 12, the Zoroastrian creed, translated by J. H. Peterson ↗Avesta archive: beliefs, scriptures and observances ↗Encyclopaedia Iranica: Zoroastrian history ↗Encyclopaedia Iranica: judgement and final renewal ↗Encyclopaedia Iranica: conversion and internal differences ↗Research checked 18 September 2026. These are short selections from living traditions. Beliefs and practices vary by region, community and person; people may also combine traditions. The headings are editorial choices. Words such as God, self and liberation carry different meanings across traditions. Scriptures describe ideals. Communities also act within institutions, political circumstances and changing historical conditions. Claims about ultimate reality and life after death are presented as beliefs. Each source represents a particular text, institution or scholarly interpretation. The twelve traditions provide a starting selection. Indigenous traditions, humanist outlooks and many other religious communities have further perspectives.