| Deity* |
Creation |
Communion with the Divine |
Morality |
Afterlife? |
Missionary? |
Texts/Scriptures |
| Christianity |
God, and sometimes The Trinity (Personal, Anthropomorphic) |
All things intentionally created by God |
Devotion to Biblical teachings, personal prayer (the mental contemplation of God in conversational style), sacrifice |
Dictated by God through the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible |
Yes |
Yes |
Bible (Old and New Testaments) |
| Islam | Allah (Personal, Anthropomorphic)
| All things intentionally created by Allah |
Iman (faithful trust), personal prayer, observance of Islamic law and the Five Pillars of Islam, sacrifice |
Dictated by Allah through the teachings of the prophet Muhammad and the Qur'an |
Yes (al-akhira) |
Yes |
Qur'an, hadith |
| Judaism | Yhwh, usually pronounced "yah way", although this name is usually not articulated, but represented by "God" (or "G-d" in writing), instead. (Personal, Anthropomorphic) |
All things intentionally created by God |
Devotion to and study of the Torah, personal prayer, sacrifice, community solidarity |
Dictated by the Torah and the Talmud |
Yes |
No |
Torah, Talmud |
| Buddhism |
Depends greatly on tradition. Theravada Buddhists do not generally believe in a deity; Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhists, however, generally believe in many beings who could be considered deities. (Impersonal, Anthropomorphic) |
There was no Creation; the entire system of world-levels is transient and always changing |
Meditation and contemplation, sacrifice, devotion to the Eightfold Path |
Dictated by the The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, but variations exist between traditions |
Yes (varies greatly between traditions) |
No |
Tripitaka, and often certain Sutras |
| Traditional Religious Taoism |
Many, depending on historical period, including the Three Pure Ones |
The Universe began when Qi ("breath") separated into Yin and Yang. Zaohua is used to mean "Creation without a Creator" |
Divination, alchemy, shamanic mediation, adherence to Tao Tsang |
Dictated by the Tao Tsang |
No, although one can become physically immortal |
No |
Tao Tsang (Taoist Cannon), The Three Caves and Four Supplements, and sometimes the I Ching |
| Reform Taoism | Tao (A spiritual focus, rather than a deity; impersonal, and not anthropomorphic) |
Uncommitted (though the creation process was regulated by Tao, the process itself is unknown) |
Introspection, meditation, personal transformation according to Taoist concepts of peace and harmony |
Dictated generally by the Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi, and revealed personally from within, through meditation |
Yes |
No |
Tao Te Ching, Zhuangzi |