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Great question!

Judaism is the mother of Christianity, Islam, and Catholicism. Their 'bibles' tell almost identical stories and base their entire faith around a messiah who is the son of a single God.

Buddism, on the other hand, arose around the same time as Islam, but is extremely different to the other religions. Buddism doesn't have a central text, and is built around philosophies rather than idols.

In Judaism, Islam and Buddhism the main character points the way towards eternal reward. In Christianity the main character point to himself as the only way towards eternal reward.

Deacon

Buddhism exist way before christianity and islam

Buddhism is older than Christianity (In the sense that Jesus would be it's base and founder so to speak), predating about 5 centuries.

In the end you could ask where the line should be drawn between a political party and a religion, as orginised religion was invented to bring governance through the fear of god when we had simple and very uneducated societies and is used now as a way to impose the will of the few on the many.

Belief in a higher power and religion are often confused, but as the quote from The big bang theories Amy goes roughly "I don't object to the concept of a deity, but I'm baffled by the notion of one that takes attendance"

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Jews believe that the messiah is yet to come. Christians believe Jesus was the messiah. Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet (but not the messiah) and that Muhammad was a "better" prophet. They all believe in a single creator-god and an eternal afterlife, however there's a lot of different groups that believe different things about how this works. Protestants e.g. believe that you go to heaven as long as you believe in Jesus. Catholics believe that you go hell unless you confess and atone for all your sins. There's dozens of sub-religions and cults in all religions who are more or less extreme than others.

Buddhism is more a philosophy than a religion but they believe that you're reborn over and over.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all directly related. Judaism is the oldest by a few thousand years, and arose in the Middle East with some influences from Zoroastrianism. The important part is that the Jews believe in the idea of a Messiah, who will come to Earth at some point and uplift humanity.

Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism that arose in the first few centuries of the common era. Christianity is based around the idea that Jesus Christ, a Jewish religious figure from the Second Temple era, fulfilled the idea of the Jewish Messiah, and was the son of god.

Islam rose a few hundred years after Christianity in Arabia, and centered on the conquest of Arabia by Muhammad. Within Islam, Muhammad is considered the final prophet, overriding the scriptural rules of both Judaism and Christianity.

Buddhism is a completely separate religion that arose in India, and is slightly older than Christianity, centered on the teachings and philosophies of Siddhartha Gautama, who was enlightened and thus became the Buddha.

great question but unfortunately a poor answer

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>Buddism, on the other hand, arose around the same time as Islam,

You're off by some 11 centuries.

Catholicism is a denomination of Christianity

Religions are belief systems that either reproduce themselves or die out. Like genes there will be a process that ensures or fails to ensure survival.

1. Judaism reproduces itself primarily by attachment to the Jewish race, hence the confusion as to whether the term might refer to a religion or a race. This confusion does not apply to the other two.

2. Christianity primarily reproduces and multiplies itself by conversion (preaching) and also by passing down the generations.

3. Islam reproduces itself by forcible conquest and then passing down the generations.

The only half decent answer so far... Some more points that seem important.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all monotheistic religions. That means they insist people worship only one god - in fact, they deny the existence of any others (though this wasn't always the case for Judaism).

Islam, Christianity and Buddhism are "universal" religions - believers believe that the religion is for everyone, and that they have a duty to spread the religion. This is not the case for Judaism.

Jews follows a (complex) set of laws and rules (although how strictly they follow them varies a lot). Muslims follow five key rules, like charity and regular prayer, though they have some of the same taboos as Jews, like not eating pork. Christians don't place this same emphasis on specific rules or even on behaviour. Generally what's most important is belief - belief in God and in Jesus as saviour.

If you do or believe the right things, when you die your soul will go to heaven (though you might have to go through purgatory first).

Buddhists believe that the world we perceive is an illusion and that the goal of life is to free ourselves from this illusion - what they call "enlightenment". They believe souls are reincarnated over and over until they become free.

Buddhists generally believe in a range of gods, demigods and mystical beings, who can help or hinder people on earth or in achieving enlightenment. Buddhism is very "syncretic" meaning it mixes easily with other religions, like Hinduism, Taoism and Shintoism.

Muslims believe messiah is yet to come and messiah is Jesus himself.

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