In a multi-ethnic multi-confessional state, it is quite possible to get confused with differences in religious teachings. There are Christians who confess Christ. Muslims who talk about Mohammed, Jews who do not recognize either one or the other. Buddhists are generally far from all this, they teach about indifference and nirvana. What is the difference between all these creeds, and what is the difference between a Buddhist and a Baptist?
Questions are quite reasonable, but not difficult at all. Indeed, there are several religions that profess completely different ideas about God. It is often said that God is one, but He is glorified in various ways. One has only to delve deeper into the description of Allah to understand that he and Jesus Christ are very different. So different that it is simply impossible to describe one Being in such a different way.
Christianity preaches Christ. Judaism is, one might say, pre-Christianity. These are the people who did not recognize the come Savior in Jesus and are still waiting for His coming.
Muslims know that there was such a great man - Jesus Christ, but they do not recognize Him as God, for them He is only a prophet. Buddhism generally teaches that there is no personal God, but there is a certain absolute, to whichstrive, in which one should merge and completely dissolve.
So, there are several different religions in the world and in Russia. They are distinguished not only by the God that their followers revere, but also by the ethical principles they follow. But even within one religion there are several confessions.
A confession is one branch of a certain religion, while there are other branches, that is, confessions. Such divisions exist today in any religion. For example, in Christianity, the oldest denomination is Orthodoxy, the newer one is Catholicism, and the most modern one is Protestantism.
And Orthodox, and Catholics, and Protestants revere Christ. The gospel is important and authoritative for everyone, but everyone disagrees in their interpretation of the foundations of faith. Moreover, each denomination considers its interpretation and teaching to be correct and criticizes other teachings. Orthodox believe that Catholics, who separated from the Orthodox Church about a thousand years ago, are dogmatically wrong, have wrong spiritual practice. In turn, Catholics do not like the excessive conservatism of the Orthodox, and there are some dogmatic disagreements.
But representatives of confessions of the same religion are guided by the same values, they speak the same language. But if the dialogue is conducted by representatives of different religions, then, apart from global values, they are no longer united, so it is extremely difficult for them to agree.
The oldest denomination in Judaism is Orthodox Judaism, there is also a newer trend -Hasidism, as well as Reform Judaism.
Islam is also heterogeneous. There is Sunnism, Shiism and Salafism.
In Russia, the main Christian denomination is Orthodoxy, although there are both Catholics and Protestants. Russian people for the most part hardly represent the canonical difference between currents. It's just that Russians are accustomed to the appearance of churches and the type of service. Various Christian denominations in Russia are not infringed, they have the right to exist, the freedom to preach. Almost every major city has a Catholic church and several Protestant prayer houses. Before, belonging to one or another tradition could cost one's life (the Crusades, St. Bartholomew's), but now people are more tolerant.
The majority of the population of Russia does not understand religious movements, and therefore a dogmatic dispute between confessions will cause bewilderment at best.
