Questions on the blog

1. There are four basic Vedic texts in use by Hindus.

Give a brief description of each, including how many hymns are in each.

The first Vedic text is The Rig Veda: The Book of Mantra. It has 1,017 hymns in it. It is a main source of information on the social, religious, and political beliefs. 

The second book is The Sama Veda : The Book of Chant. This book has 1,549 hymns in it. It is a book of chants derived form the original eighth and ninth books.

The third book is The Yajur Veda : The Book of Ritual. This book has 730 hymns in it. It is a guide book for priests that help them perform sacrifices. 

The fourth book is The Atharva Veda : The Book of Spell. It has 730 hymns. This book has knowledge on magical formulas. 

I found this information at Quora.com 

2. Indulgences relied on two main things. That purgatory is an actual place and also the fact that penance was not enough. People believed that you had wronged the almighty God so you should have to be dearly for it. The church then decided to start selling indulgences. These were very common to buy for people that were going off to war or to fight in the crusades because they were killing people which is not Gods will but also if they died before going through penance and having their sins forgiven. Although this was a great plan the church did not have the power to do this. This made Martin Luther upset because the church was charging people money for simply a piece of paper. He then went off and started his own religion that he believed fully followed the bible. 

britannica.com is where I found this information

3. The Hajj is "The Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca that takes place in the last month of the year. All muslims are expected to take this trip at least once in their life time. They do this to renew their senses in the world. It is the fifth and final pillar in Islam.