An independent educational project
Understand where beliefs come from.
Explore the origins, evolution, and evidence behind the beliefs that have shaped human history.
Explore
Belief systems, side by side
A starting point for each tradition — when and where it emerged, and what defines it. Each entry links into deeper histories and evidence.
Judaism
View- Approximate origin
- c. 2nd millennium BCE
- Geographic origin
- Levant
One of the oldest continuous monotheistic traditions, centered on a covenant between a people and a single God.
Hinduism
View- Approximate origin
- c. 1500 BCE
- Geographic origin
- Indian subcontinent
A vast family of traditions and texts with no single founder, evolving over millennia across South Asia.
Buddhism
View- Approximate origin
- c. 5th century BCE
- Geographic origin
- Northern India
Founded on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, emphasizing the causes of suffering and paths to its cessation.
Christianity
View- Approximate origin
- c. 1st century CE
- Geographic origin
- Roman Judea
Emerged from Second Temple Judaism around the figure of Jesus of Nazareth before spreading across the Roman world.
Islam
View- Approximate origin
- c. 7th century CE
- Geographic origin
- Arabian Peninsula
Traces its message to the prophet Muhammad, drawing on and reinterpreting earlier Abrahamic traditions.
Sikhism
View- Approximate origin
- c. 15th century CE
- Geographic origin
- Punjab region
Founded by Guru Nanak, teaching devotion to one formless God alongside equality and honest living.
Belief Tree
How traditions branch and borrow
A preview of the lineage between the Abrahamic traditions. The full interactive graph is in development.
- Judaismc. 2nd millennium BCE · Levant
- Christianityc. 1st century CE · Roman Judea
- CatholicismRome
- Eastern OrthodoxyConstantinople
- Protestantism16th-century Reformation
- Islamc. 7th century CE · Arabian Peninsula
Drew on and reinterpreted earlier Jewish and Christian traditions (shown as a dashed line of influence).
Latest
Recent explorations
Long-form writing and video essays that trace a single question back to its roots.
- Article
How Christianity Actually Began
Tracing the movement from a Jewish sect in Roman Judea to a distinct faith across the Mediterranean.
14 min read - Video
Where Did the Idea of Hell Come From?
Following the concept of the afterlife and punishment as it shifted across cultures and centuries.
18 min watch - Article
Why Do Humans Believe in Gods?
What cognitive science and history suggest about the persistence of belief across every society.
11 min read
Methodology
How we approach the evidence
Belief Origins is documentary, not devotional. The same standards apply to every tradition, and uncertainty is stated plainly.
Separates people from beliefs.
Distinguishes historical claims from faith claims.
Follows scholarly consensus where it exists.
Shows disagreement where consensus does not.
Applies the same evidentiary standards to every belief system.
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Help keep Belief Origins independent.
Belief Origins is an independently funded educational project. Support helps fund research, visualizations, writing, and open access to the project.