I had to look it up. Anytime a question arises in my mind where I am unsure of the answer, I conduct research to find the answer. The question that came to mind today was: How many religions are there in the world? I quickly found that there are presently some 4,200 of them. Egads!
Why so many?
#Psychology argues that the reason there are so many religions is because there is an inherent need for humanity to be religious due to the evolutionary theory. It sounds plausible. Other psychologists argue that the reason is because humans seek their own path to God. That is probably more in line with the truth based on what may be observed whenever the topic of religion pops up (as it eventually will). People have their own idea of what they must do or believe to reach an afterlife of a blissful eternity.
It seems to me based on observing people and by studying history that there is a natural tendency for humans to be restless. Social media, stories in the news media, and even here on read.cash reveal this to be true, if a person is paying attention. We see people speak about their "bad day", anxiety, worry, lack of finances, poor relationships with loved ones, and the list can be quite extensive.
Anyway, these cares cause people to seek an entity or belief system outside of the self, and this is a natural phenomena. And there is nothing wrong with wanting to alleviate the ever-mounting concerns we experience and think about how a person may live a better life, right?
But then again, some people throughout history (and even today) believe they are God. Can you imagine? The Roman emperors believed they were gods, as did many leaders throughout history. Additionally, self-deluded others believed they were gods. In sum, there is a natural penchant for us humans to be religious.
Modern societies
According to Worldmeter (link below), the present population of Earth at the time of this writing is 7,893,368, 827. Wow. Scientists and theologians believe the number of all humans who have ever lived is double this number. That is close to 16 billion people. Let's look at a graph to give us some perspective.
Just as there are billions of people, there are billions of perspectives and opinions. It can get pretty confusing when you think about it. Who could possibly believe they are right among so many opinions and beliefs? I mean, everybody that leans on a specific religious belief honestly believes they either follow the true path to God or that there is no God.
Primary religions
There are essentially four main categories of religious beliefs in the world today. These major religions are: #Christianity, #Islam, #Judaism and secular #humanism. Of course, there are many more religions that have in excess of 500,000 adherents, but the 4 listed are the so called major ones.
One of the more interesting religions began in the 1970s, The Force and the Jedi religion. This religion was created by none other than George Lucas and his enduring Star Wars franchise. His debut film introduced the world to a new religion on May 25, 1977.
The Religion of Star Wars
Many never saw the underlying meaning behind Star Wars and still do not. But Lucas knew what he was doing. Most of the above-mentioned major religions recognized their belief system in Star Wars. Watkins (2017) writes: "George Lucas’s vision of his saga as a “mono-myth”: a story with broad themes and characters that would have echoes in nearly every belief system."
Take a look at this brief exchange between Luke and Yoda after Yoda uses The Force.
Luke Skywalker: "I don't believe it!"
Yoda: "That is why you fail."
Luke initially lacked faith. All religions have at their core a need to believe in some set of tenets. Luke eventually believed in The Force. And so did Lucas. He stated: "The conclusion I’ve come to is that all the religions are true” (Watkins, 2017).
The truth is out there
Is Lucas correct? Are all religions true? It's a far-fetched concept. Truth is not relative; there is one truth when it comes to religion or else the God of it is not sovereign - all knowing, all seeing, all powerful.
Buy Lucas had a different idea. The Force is described by Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope as the source of a Jedi’s power, “the energy field created by all living things” that “binds the galaxy together.” In The Empire Strikes Back, we learn that the Force has a light and a dark side. We see the parallels of most religions in the latter.
Of all the 4,200 religions, all of the gods are dead and in the grave but One - Jesus Christ. Christianity is not a religion but rather a personal relationship with the risen Christ.
Like most religions, Lucas had the quest for a belief but fell far short of it. You don't have to make the same fatal mistake. "“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16, ESV).
Trust Him today and taste the sweetness and hope in Christ Jesus
References
Watkins, G. (2017). The Religion of 'Star Wars': Why People of All Faiths Embrace the Force. Yahoo Entertainment. Retrieved from https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/religion-star-wars-people-faiths-embrace-force-172420366.html
Sometimes its really confusing when we talk about religion especially here in the Philippines we can see different kind of religions that basically rooted on Christianity we have the same God the we worship but we differ in beliefs.