Top 10 Biggest Religious Misconceptions

The Christians, looking for followers, wanted to convert the Pagans. To do this, they told them that they had a holiday during the Winter Solstice - Jesus' "Birthday."

Now, whenever I say this to someone, they give me a weird look and tell me to go to church. But it's the truth.

The Bible never claims that as Jesus' birthday. The most likely reason for the December date is that Pope Julius I declared it to correspond with the Roman Winter Solstice, during which many pagan festivals occurred.

The Bible does not say this. No one knows when he was born. We only know when he died and rose again. We celebrate his birth on this day.

"Jihad" means "struggle," not war. While there are references to a "struggle of the sword," most Islamic scholars believe that this implies a spiritual struggle.

Not at all. Most Christian groups don't take the Bible word for word and don't practice or preach hatred. Instead, they choose to help and accept LGBT+ people.

No. People only think this because of groups like the Westboro Baptist Church.

Only the nutters believe this.

This is a "hadith" or a saying of the Prophet Muhammad as reported by others, but it is not part of the Quran itself. Muslims are not meant to take hadiths as scripture.

The fat Buddha is not a Buddha. It's a god in Taoism associated with prosperity, wellness, money, etc. The real Buddha was thin. During his meditation, he ate just one seed a day to reach nirvana.

There are two representations of the Buddha (the real, thin one). One depicts him in meditation with his two hands together, and the other shows him after reaching nirvana, touching the ground with his right hand.

The fat god has many representations. He can sit (like the Buddha), and sometimes he is depicted lying on his side. This god is also often shown smiling, while the Buddha doesn't smile because he is in meditation.

This belief came much later in some Chinese schools of thought.

Buddhism has always taught self-reliance and individual striving rather than a deity-based paradigm.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that exactly three magi came to visit the baby Jesus, nor that they were kings, rode on camels, or that their names were Casper, Melchior, and Balthazar.

The number three has been assumed based on the mention of three gifts. Additionally, nowhere does it say that they visited him on the day of his birth.

People should realize that Jesus was Middle Eastern! Bethlehem is in the Middle East, and he was Jewish. Jesus was Jewish.

People should get to know this. Why would Jesus believe in something that revolved around himself? Christianity started hundreds of years after his death, and the religion is based mainly on his death. So, Jesus being Christian would never make sense.

This could be true because the Middle East had many civilizations that ruled there (Greeks, Romans, etc.), so there may be a heritage of these civilizations mixed with the people there.

Some Gnostic writings and apocryphal writings about Jesus suggest he had Greek heritage. These texts are, of course, not accepted by the church.

Roman Catholic dogma does not say that the Pope is sinless or free from error.

"Allah" is actually the Arabic word for God. My family consists of Arabic-speaking Christians, and they call God "Allah."

While the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints practiced polygamy in various forms, members who practice it now are excommunicated.

While the fruit is commonly assumed to be an apple, this is due to a translation that could have also meant "evil."

Hebrew scholars believe the fruit could have been a grape, a fig, wheat, an apricot, or an etrog.

No, we don't. If we did, we would be breaking one of the Ten Commandments. We just ask them to pray for us.

In the Hail Mary prayer, we say, "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death."

You see? We officially only pray to the Lord our God.

I've heard of Christian metal music.

He actually wasn't described as all that good-looking, according to Isaiah 53:2. He probably wasn't a supermodel, but that's never really been the point.

It also has nothing to do with the supposed belief in the virgin birth of his mother, Mary. It refers to the belief that Mary was conceived free from original sin.

As I mentioned in a previous comment, there is no age of majority in the Bible.

Not really. He was most likely trying to reform Judaism.

God himself does not send people to hell. People end up there, especially if they are not close to God and do not seek forgiveness for their sins.