Religion

A religion is an apparently-universal human social phenomenon involving beliefs, values, practices, and group identity. Scholars typically characterize religion as concerned with the supernatural; the sacred; or with subjects of ultimate concern (such as birth and death). Elements which are often associated with "religion" include:

• a distinctive worldview or belief-system
• group identity
• social institutions
• rituals
• rules or behavioral expectations
• a focus on the supernatural

Some religions are implicit, and consist of inherited ancestral traditions (a "way of life"). Others are organized, and promote themselves in conscious contrast to alternatives within the wider society. We may also distinguish between personal religious beliefs and experiences, and those which may be socially prescribed.

In the case of religions which are divided into sects or denominations, the word "religion" is generally reserved for the most fundamental level of spiritual identity. For example, Methodists generally do not describe Methodism as a "religion" in its own right, but as a denomination within the religion of Christianity. Sikhs, however, insist that they are a "religion," and not, for example, merely a sect of Hinduism (despite their many similarities).

Major religions of the world

What makes a religion important, or worth studying? Common criteria include

• Size, i.e. number of followers. Major problems include definitional ones (e.g., are we to count "Catholics" according to the number of people baptized as Catholics, the number who say they are Catholics, or the number who attend mass at least occasionally?) as well as practical problems of enumeration. This list is organized according to size. Adherents.com is a well-known site which compiles population estimates for various religions.

• Antiquity, i.e. the age of a religion (with older ones generally being regarded as more venerable). This is not always easily calculated. For example, to many it seems obvious that Judaism is older than Christianity, which in turn is older than Islam; yet all three emerged from (and lay claim to) much the same prophetic tradition. Moreover, the basic features of (rabbinic) Judaism and Christianity as we know them coalesced at about the same time, during the second-to-fourth centuries AD. And should the International Society for Krishna Consciousness be traced back to the 1960's activity of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada; to the career of the fifteenth-century Bengali saint Caitanya; to the composition of the Bhagavadgita some two thousand years ago; or to Krishna himself (if he in fact existed as a historical figure)?

• Influence. While this is difficult to quantify with anything like objectivity, several religions have clearly influenced the world beyond what their numbers would suggest. For example, many of the characteristic features of the Abrahamic religions seem to have originated with Zoroastrianism, whose presence is now much reduced. And Jews have never been very numerous, but an intellectual history of the world could hardly be written without reference to them.

• Intrinsic interest. Often interest in a religion is inspired by some noteworthy event or attribute, whether good or bad.

Over 100 million followers

Religions at this size tend to double as "civilizations."

Christianity

Origin of name: Refers to belief that Jesus is the Messiah (Greek Christos)

Object(s) of worship:God, generally in the form of the Trinity

Founder(s):Jesus Christ

Scriptures: The (Christian) Bible, consisting of Old and New Testaments

Beliefs in a nutshell: Jesus Christ is God incarnate, the Savior.

Major divisions: the "Oriental" churches, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism

Population: 1.5 to 2 billion

Main geographic areas: Europe, the Americas, Oceania, much of Africa, several Asian countries.

Influenced: European civilization (and through it, world history).

Islam

Origin of name: From an Arabic word meaning "submission" (i.e., to God)

Object(s) of worship: God (Arabic Allah)

Founder(s): Historically, the Prophet Muhammad. From the point of view of the religion, God. (NB: The "first Muslim" is traditionally said to have been Abraham.)

Scriptures: The Qur'an.

Beliefs in a nutshell: There is only one God, and Muhammad is his prophet.

Major divisions: Sunni and Shi'a, based on disagreements over who should have succeeded Muhammad in his role as leader of the Muslim community.

Population:One billion, give or take a few hundred million.

Main geographic areas: The "land of Islam" includes Arabic, Persian, Turkish, sub-Saharan African, Indian sub-continental, (Hui) Chinese, and Malay-Indonesian subregions.

Influenced: Medieval science and geography, world politics, the art and literature of all the regions mentioned above.

Hinduism

Origin of name: Chosen by Persian Muslims, to refer to the religion of people living on the "other" side of the Indus River.

Object(s) of worship: A wide variety of deities, of whom the most popular are Vishnu and Shiva.

Founder(s): Not applicable.

Scriptures: Chiefly the Vedas; also the epics, Puranas, various others.

Beliefs in a nutshell: Vary widely. Typical ones include karma, varnashrama,

Major divisions: Hinduism is a collective name for a vast array of communities and their cults, whose integration into a common religion / society is often somewhat forced.

Population: 850 million to 1 billion.

Main geographic areas: India, Nepal, Bali, and the Indian diaspora.

Influenced: World philosophy and religion, aspects of Southeast Asian culture such as the Ramayana story and concept of kingship.

Buddhism

Origin of name: Refers to Buddha, the "Awakened One."

Object(s) of worship: The Three Jewels--Buddha, Dharma, Sangha

Founder(s):Historically, Siddhartha Gautama. However, Buddhist tradition recognizes other Buddhas who predated him.

Scriptures: Several collections, divided by language (Pali, Sanskrit/Tibetan, Chinese) and genre (sutra, vinaya, abidharma).

Beliefs in a nutshell: Aims at enlightenment, or release from the cycle of reincarnation.

Major divisions: (1) Southern Buddhism, or Theravada; (2) Northern Buddhism, or Mahayana, which may be subdivided into (2a) Tibetan / Mongolan / Himalayan and (2b East Asian strains. (NB: "Vajrayana" or "Tantric" Buddhism is a special subcategory of Mahayana.)

Population: 100-150 million exclusively, at least double that if we add Buddhists who also follow other religions.

Main geographic areas: Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, Tibet, Mongolia, the Himalayas, China, Korea, Japan, parts of Russia.

Influenced: Asian art, literature, philosophy, and (in some cases) society.

Taoism

Origin of name: From a Chinese philosophical term (Dao or Tao) meaning "the Way." The term is used in discussions of both cosmology and proper behavior.

Object(s) of worship: Various gods (who are organized into a celestial bureaucracy) such as the Jade Emperor or the Three Pure Ones; ancestral spirits

Founder(s): Traditionally Laozi or the Yellow Emperor. Chang Daoling started the first "Taoist" organized religion. Some elements are probably prehistoric.

Scriptures: The Daozang ("Treasury of Tao), a collection of several thousand texts, mostly of a magical or ritualistic nature

Beliefs in a nutshell: That certain rituals are effective in ensuring the health of the soul,

Major divisions: Tienshi ("Celestial Masters") and Chuanzhen ("Complete Perfection") lineages

Population: See note on Chinese religions.

Main geographic areas: China proper and the Chinese diaspora.

Influenced: Art and literature of China, Korea, and Japan.

Confucianism

Origin of name: From the Latinized name of its founder, Confucius (Kongfuzi or Kongzi). In Chinese it is called Rujia or Rujiao, an otherwise untranslateable term incorporating a character that originally referred to shamanism.

Object(s) of worship: Ancestral spirits

Founder(s): Confucius, though some elements predate him.

Scriptures: The "Five Classics" (The Classic of Poetry, -of Music, -of Rites, -of History, and the Spring and Autumn Annals) and "Four Books" (The Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Analects, and Mencius).

Beliefs in a nutshell: Based on the virtues Li ("ritual" or "etiquette"), Yi ("duty"), Ren ("kindness"), Zhong ("loyalty"), Xiao ("filial piety"). This last applies not only to children and parents, but all relationships, including political ones.

Major divisions: The most natural dividing lines would be according to nation, or according to role or function within a society (e.g. education, philosophy, statecraft, etc.)

Population: See note on Chinese religions. (Similar problems apply to Japan and Korea.)

Main geographic areas: China, Korea, and Japan.

Influenced: East Asian society and politics.

Note on Chinese traditional religion: Chinese religion is a complex of folk traditions such as ancestor-worship; professional religious services operating under the names of "Buddhism" and "Taoism"; a "Confucian" social ethic; and various sectarian movements which partake of this ethos. There is a serious difficulty with demarcation as well as nomenclature, as many people in this category describe themselves as irreligious, or else give "Buddhism" as the name of their religion. As the name suggests, Chinese religion is largely confined to ethnic (Han) Chinese, whether in China proper or overseas. While practically all 1.3 billion of these would participate in some aspect of the folk religion, such as funeral or New Years' customs, the proportion who view this as their religion is surely much smaller. The government of China insists on sharply distinguishing between "Taoism" and "Buddhism" (which are regulated separately), and "superstition" and popular devotion (which are unprotected).

Over 10 million followers

Shinto

Origin of name: Japanese for "Way of the Gods"

Object(s) of worship: Various gods (Kami)

Founder(s): Not applicable.

Scriptures: The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki (mythological compendia)

Beliefs in a nutshell: Reverence for nature, the gods, purification rites, tradition, and the family

Major divisions: Folk Shinto, shrine Shinto, state Shinto, sectarian Shinto

Population: Most of Japan's population is registered with a Shinto shrine, but few name Shinto as their religion. It is associated mainly with major life-cyle ceremonies.

Main geographic areas: Japan

Influenced:

Sikhism

Origin of name: From Punjabi shiksa ("instruction")

Object(s) of worship: God, addressed by various names such as Vahiguru ("Wonderful Teacher") or Ek Onkar ("One Taste")

Founder(s):Guru Nanak in the fifteenth century.

Scriptures: The Granth Sahib, a collection of hymns and other writings by the ten gurus.

Beliefs in a nutshell: Salvation comes from devotion to God and the recitation / remembrance of his divine name (nam simran). The guru is the voice of God.

Major divisions: Khalsa Sikhs, Namdharis, Udasis.

Population: 18 to 20 million.

Main geographic areas: India's Punjab

Influenced: Sant Mat, Hindu-Muslim relations.

Judaism

Origin of name: From Judah, one of the Twelves Tribes of Israel

Object(s) of worship:God

Founder(s):It is difficult to name a single figure. Abraham as an ancestral figure, Moses as prophet and lawgiver.

Scriptures: The (Jewish) Bible or "TaNaKh," consisting of the Law (Torah), Prophets (Neviim), and Writings (Khetuvim); also commentarial literature such as the Mishnah, Midrash, and Talmud.

Beliefs in a nutshell: God has entered into a relationship with the "people of Israel" (now represented by the Jewish people), as expressed through the "written and oral Torahs," and which remains constant despite periods of exile and catastrophe

Major divisions: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist.

Population: The ethnic Jewish population is 13-15 million and falling. A fraction of that would consider themselves religious.

Main geographic areas: Israel, New York, Russia, other diaspora locations.

Influenced: World history through the biblical tradition, as well as through later Jewish intellectuals such as Marx, Freud, and Einstein.

Over one million followers

Jainism

Tenrikyo

The Baha'i religion

Origin of name: Refers to their founder, Baha'u'llah

Object(s) of worship:God, through his "Manifestations" (roughly, prophets), the most recent of whom is Baha'u'llah

Founder(s): Baha'u'llah, a 19th century Iranian exiled to the Ottoman Empire

Scriptures: Various, but especially the Kitab-i-aqdas

Beliefs in a nutshell: The "Three Onenesses": the unity of (1) God; (2) his prophets, and hence of world religions; and (3) the world's people.

Major divisions: Hardly any to speak of.

Population: estimates range from 1.2 to 7 million

Main geographic areas: Numerous countries as a tiny minority; Iran as a largish minority

Influenced: Modern architecture, pop music, Esperanto, interfaith dialogue

Caodaism

Origin of name: Refers to the name of God, Caodai ("High Tower")

Object(s) of worship:God and his servants--the Buddhas, Saints, and Sages

Founder(s): God, through Ngo Van Chieu and others, at a 1925 seance in Saigon

Scriptures: The Compilation of Divine Messages, Phap Tranh Chuyen (Religious Constitution), New Canonical Code

Beliefs in a nutshell: In this Third Amnesty of Salvation, God unites the world by speaking directly (through mediumship) rather than through prophets

Major divisions: 18 subgroups

Population: 1-2 million claimed.

Main geographic areas: Vietnam, the Vietnamese diaspora.

Influenced: Graham Greene (see The Quiet American).

Yiguandao (or I-Kuan Tao)

Origin of name: Chinese for "One-Unity Religion"

Object(s) of worship: God, called by a twenty-character name that begins Ming Ming Shangdi, various Buddhas/saints/sages from Chinese lore

Founder(s): Historically, Lu Zhongyi and Zhang Tianran in the late Qing Dynasty. Mythologically, the religion claims a series of "patriarchs" from the primordial Taoist and Buddhist past.

Scriptures:

Beliefs in a nutshell:

Major divisions:

Population: One or two million claimed, this is likely inflated.

Main geographic areas: Taiwan

Influenced: Vegetarianism in Taiwan.

Chondogyo A 19th-century Korean movement that arose in opposition to Roman Catholicism. The name means "Teachings of the Way of Heaven." Its earlier name was Donghak ("Eastern Teachings"), in contrast to the Western teachings which it was confronting.

Less than one million followers

Zoroastrianism

Origin of name: The Greek form of "Zarathustra"

Object(s) of worship:Ahura Mazda ("Wise Lord")--essentially, God--and other good spirits

Founder(s):Zarathustra (Zoroaster)

Holy Text: The Avesta

Beliefs in a nutshell: The two principles (good and evil) and three times (a past in which good and evil were separate, the present in which they are mixed, and a future when they will be separated again through a final war).

Major divisions:

Population: Estimates vary by a whole order of magnitude, from several hundred thousand to more than 2 million.

Main geographic areas: Yazd and Kerman (Iran), Bombay, Karachi.

Influenced: The Abrahamic religions, also the Iranian national consciousness through such things as Noruz (New Years) customs and Firdowsi's Shahnama (Epic of Kings).

Mandaeanism

Oomoto

Neopaganism includes a variety of revivals of

"New Age") is a term that was coined to describe the modern trend of new religions which have a strong belief in the supernatural. Some religions strongly reject the label as it has been used derisively by scholars of other faiths, while some religions accept the label proudly. These religions are very diverse.

Borderline cases

There is no agreement as to the proper meaning and scope of the term "religion." Following are some debateable examples:

Confucianism. Textbooks on religion often include Confucianism, but its adherents often disagree, pointing to Confucius' reluctance to discuss the supernatural.

Freemasonry. Masonic tradition contains ample references to God (called "the Grand Architect of the Universe") and biblical imagery (such as the Temple of Solomon). Like religions, the Masons perform solemn rituals, cultivate group solidarity, and stress the cultivation of ethical virtues. However, Freemasons deny that their fraternity qualifies as a "religion," on the grounds that it is meant to complement and encourage--not replace--its members' previous religious identities. Men from any religion (but not atheists) are eligible to join.

• If one insists that the Masons are a religion, despite their protests to the contrary, what are we to make of the Boy Scouts, who boast many of the same features? Scounting has rituals (e.g., the flag ceremony), texts (the Boy Scout Handbook), a founder (Lord Baden-Powell), institutions with rank, and in some countries, required beliefs (such as God).

American civil religion. In the United States, various political rituals are practiced which some (such as Jehovah's Witnesses) reject as covertly religious. An example would be the "Pledge of Allegiance," in which Americans customarily stand facing their flag--with the right hand covering the heart--and recite a short oath which refers to the USA as "one nation under God."

Soviet Communism. For all its anti-religious rhetoric, the USSR boasted "sacred" texts, condemned "heretics", revered founders, conducted rituals (such as venerating Lenin's mummified body), and promoted an elaborate eschatological prophecy in the form of the future workers' utopia. Communism often played much the same organizing role in its citizens' lives as religion does elsewhere--for example, in sponsoring "coming of age" ceremonies.

Astrology.

Subud. Subud is an international network of people who practice a spiritual exercise called the Latihan, in which initiates "open" themselves to God or the Great Life-Force. Subud denies having doctrines, yet promotes numerous traditions (often derived from the teachings of its founder, Bapak Subuh) relating to the nature of the universe and the human soul. Subud sources deny that Subud is a religion, using reasoning similar to that of the Masons. (Atheists are however permitted.)

Yoga. "Yoga" is sometimes taught and practiced as a religious activity, but sometimes not. For many, it is merely another form of exercise, though some aspects (e.g., saluting the sun) bespeak its religious origins and are scarcely understandable otherwise.

Meditation. Refers to a wide range of practices aimed at mental activity or quiesscence.

Interest in UFO's. While there do exist a number of religious movements centered around the thesis that UFO's are space aliens, many other enthusiasts focus on UFO's (and even find a worldview, or source of ultimate meaning, in them) without joining any of the "Saucer Cults."

Esperanto. Enthusiasm for this artificial language resembles a religious movement in some ways. The movement has a revered founder (Dr. Zamenhof), martyrs, goals which some regard as of ultimate concern (world peace, Esperanto as a solution to "the language problem), and has even suffered "schisms" with offshoots like Ido.

Traditional worldviews / traditional behavior. Many traditional societies make no clear distinction between "religious" and "nonreligious" aspects of daily life. How are we to decide, for example, whether a particular people's understanding of their place in the cosmos qualifies as a belief to which they adhere? And at what point does "social etiquette" become "religious custom"?

Scientific / secular values. Is the scientific worldview now prevailing within industrial societies, really just another religious option? If religion is banned in schools, does that amount to an endorsement of the "religion" of "secular humanism" or atheism?

Classification of Religions

The following categories are often encountered:

"Dharmic religions". Includes the several Indic religions which conceive of their teachings in terms of dharma (a word variously meaning "religion" or "duty"): Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.

"Abrahamic religions". This category includes the three religions which recognize Abraham as a part of their sacred histories: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Baha'i religion also fits this description, but is more frequently overlooked on account of its small size.

"Monotheistic religions". Religious which affirm belief on one God include Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, and the Abrahamic religions (listed above). Some strains of Hindu or ancient Egyptian religion arguably qualify. The concept becomes somewhat murky in view of the many theologies in which God or his equivalent boasts a heavenly retinue, or changes form. The concept of "henotheism" (in which any of various deities may be singled out for worship as the Supreme Being) has been proposed to describe Hinduism.

Pagan / Heathen religions. These represent a Christian religious category encompassing all non-Christians except Jews, and perhaps also Muslims. "Pagan" comes from the Latin paganus ("country bumpkin"); "heathen" ("heath-dweller") has much the same set of connotations. The terms recall a time when Christianity was making inroads in European cities, while rustics often continued to follow the old religions. For centuries the terms were assumed to be negative; however, "neo-pagan" groups began reclaiming them in the twentieth century.

"People of the Book" (Ahl al-Kitab). An Islamic term for other monotheistic religions founded by prophets who revealed holy books. The Qur'an recognizes Judaism, Christianity, and "Sabeanism." (Scholars are unsure as to what a Sabean was.) Muslim theologians debated the status of Zoroastrianism and Hinduism.

"Tribal religions." Include a wide variety of small-scale religions found in pre-modern societies. "Shamanism" describes one common religious-specialist role within many such societies (but neither exhausts the categeory, nor is limited to it).

"New Religious Movements" (NRM's) An umbrella term which encompasses groups which arose (at the very earliest) in the nineteenth century or later. Some scholars prefer World War II as a cutoff date. Not all NRM's claim to be religions per se; some say they are "spirtual movements," while others see themselves as part of another religion such as Christianity.

See Also

• cult
• faith
• spirituality