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List of religions and spiritual traditions

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Further information: Major religious groups, Religious denomination, and History of religion
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

While the word religion is difficult to define, one standard model of religion used in religious studies courses defines it as

[a] system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic.[1]

Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to explain the origin of life or the universe. They tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws, or a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the cosmos and human nature. According to some estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions, churches, denominations, religious bodies, faith groups, tribes, cultures, movements, or ultimate concerns.[2]

The word religion is sometimes used interchangeably with the words "faith" or "belief system", but religion differs from private belief in that it has a public aspect. Most religions have organized behaviours, including clerical hierarchies, a definition of what constitutes adherence or membership, congregations of laity, regular meetings or services for the purposes of veneration of a deity or for prayer, holy places (either natural or architectural) or religious texts. Certain religions also have a sacred language often used in liturgical services. The practice of a religion may also include sermons, commemoration of the activities of a God or gods, sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trance, rituals, liturgies, ceremonies, worship, initiations, funerals, marriages, meditation, invocation, mediumship, music, art, dance, public service, or other aspects of human culture. Religious beliefs have also been used to explain parapsychological phenomena such as out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, and reincarnation, along with many other paranormal and supernatural experiences.[3][4]

Some academics studying the subject have divided religions into three broad categories: world religions, a term which refers to transcultural, international faiths; Indigenous religions, which refers to smaller, culture-specific or nation-specific religious groups; and new religious movements, which refers to recently developed faiths.[5] One modern academic theory of religion, social constructionism, says that religion is a modern concept that suggests all spiritual practice and worship follows a model similar to the Abrahamic religions as an orientation system that helps to interpret reality and define human beings,[6] and thus believes that religion, as a concept, has been applied inappropriately to non-Western cultures that are not based upon such systems, or in which these systems are a substantially simpler construct.

Eastern religions[edit]

Main article: Eastern religions

Eastern religions are the religions which originated in East, South and Southeast Asia encompassing a diverse range of eastern and spiritual traditions.[7]

East Asian religions[edit]

Main article: East Asian religions
See also: Three teachings

World religions that originated in East Asia, also known as Taoic religions; namely Taoism and Confucianism and religions and traditions descended from them.

Chinese philosophy schools[edit]

Main article: Hundred Schools of Thought

Confucianism[edit]

Main article: Confucianism

Taoism[edit]

Main article: Taoism
See also: Taoist schools

Syncretic Taoism

Indian religions[edit]

Main article: Indian religions

The four world religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent, also known as Dharmic religions; namely Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism and religions and traditions descended from them.

Buddhism[edit]

Main article: Buddhism
See also: Schools of Buddhism

Dharmic philosophy schools[edit]

Main article: Hindu philosophy

Hinduism[edit]

Main article: Hinduism
Further information: Hindu denominations and Bhakti movement

Syncretic Hinduism

Jainism[edit]

Main article: Jainism
See also: Jain schools and branches

Sikhism[edit]

Main article: Sikhism
Further information: Sects of Sikhism

Sects such as the Nirankari, Ramraiya and Namdhari are not accepted within the Sikh Rehat Maryada (Sikh Code of Conduct) as they believe in a current human Satguru which goes against Guru Gobind Singh Ji's Dohra in Ardaas.

Yoga[edit]

Main article: Yoga

Abrahamic religions[edit]

Main article: Abrahamic religions
See also: Western religions

Christianity[edit]

Main article: Christianity
See also: List of Christian denominations
Early Christianity
Main article: Early christianity
See also: Diversity in early Christian theology
Eastern Christianity
Main article: Eastern Christianity
Western Christianity
Main article: Western Christianity
See also: Chalcedonian Christianity

Syncretic

Other

Islam[edit]

Main article: Islam
See also: Islamic schools and branches, Ilm al-Kalam, Ahl al-Hadith, and Islamism
Khawarij
Main article: Khawarij
Shia Islam
Main article: Shia Islam
See also: List of extinct Shia sects
Sufism
Main articles: Sufism and Islamic Mysticism
See also: List of Sufi orders
Sunni Islam
Main article: Sunni Islam

Syncretic

Other


Judaism[edit]

Main articles: Judaism and Jewish religious movements
See also: Jewish schisms

Historical Judaism

Kabbalah
Main articles: Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism

Non-Rabbinic Judaism

Rabbinic Judaism
Main article: Rabbinic Judaism

Other Abrahamic[edit]

Iranian religions[edit]

Main articles: Iranian religions and Religion in Iran

Manichaeism[edit]

Main article: Manichaeism
See also: Manichaean schisms

Yazdânism[edit]

Main article: Yazdânism

Zoroastrianism[edit]

Main article: Zoroastrianism

Indigenous (ethnic, folk) religions[edit]

Main articles: Ethnic religion and Folk religion
See also: List of ethnic religions, Paganism, Animism, Totemism, Shamanism, and Fetishism

Religions that consist of the traditional customs and beliefs of particular ethnic groups, refined and expanded upon for thousands of years, often lacking formal doctrine. Some adherents do not consider their ways to be "religion", preferring other cultural terms.

African[edit]

Main article: Religion in Africa

Traditional African[edit]

Main article: Traditional African religions

Diasporic African[edit]

Main article: Afro-American religion

Altaic[edit]

Main article: Shamanism in Siberia
See also: List of Tengrist movements

American[edit]

Main article: Native American religion

Austroasiatic[edit]

Austronesian[edit]

Caucasian[edit]

Dravidian[edit]

Main article: Dravidian folk religion
See also: Religion in ancient Tamilakam

Indo-European[edit]

Koreanic and Japonic[edit]

Melanesian and Aboriginal[edit]

Main article: Melanesian mythology

Negrito[edit]

Paleosiberian[edit]

Main article: Shamanism in Siberia

Sino-Tibetan[edit]

Tai and Miao[edit]

Uralic[edit]

Other[edit]

New religious movements[edit]

Main article: New religious movement
See also: List of new religious movements

Religions that cannot be classed as either world religions or traditional folk religions, and are usually recent in their inception.[12]

Cargo cults[edit]

Main article: Cargo cults

New ethnic religions[edit]

Main article: Ethnic religion
See also: List of ethnic religions and National mysticism

Black[edit]

Black Hebrew Israelites
Main article: Black Hebrew Israelites
Rastafari
Main article: Rastafari

White[edit]

See also: White supremacy and Religious aspects of Nazism

Native American[edit]

World religion-derived new religions[edit]

Abrahamic-derived[edit]

Chinese salvationist religions[edit]

Main article: Chinese salvationist religions

Hindu reform movements[edit]

Main article: Hindu denominations § Newer movements
See also: Neo-Vedanta and Hindu reform movements

Muist-derived[edit]

Main article: Korean new religions

Neo-Buddhism[edit]

Main article: Buddhist modernism

Perennial and interfaith[edit]

Main article: Perennial philosophy

Shinshukyo[edit]

Main article: Japanese new religions

Sikh-derived[edit]

Modern paganism[edit]

Main article: Modern paganism
See also: List of Neopagan movements, Neopagan witchcraft, and Euhemerism

Ethnic neopaganism[edit]

Main article: Polytheistic reconstructionism

Syncretic neopaganism[edit]

Main article: Eclectic paganism

Entheogenic religions[edit]

Main article: Entheogen

New Age Movement[edit]

Main article: New Age

New Thought[edit]

Main article: New Thought
See also: List of New Thought denominations and independent centers

Parody religions and fiction-based religions[edit]

Main article: Parody religion
See also: List of fictional religions

Post-theistic and naturalistic religions[edit]

Main articles: Post-theism and Religious naturalism

UFO religions[edit]

Main article: UFO religions

Western esotericism[edit]

Main article: Western esotericism
See also: Ceremonial magic and Left-hand path and right-hand path

Historical religions[edit]

Main article: History of religion

Prehistoric religion[edit]

Main article: Prehistoric religion

Bronze Age[edit]

Classical antiquity[edit]

See also: Imperial Cult

Post-classical period[edit]

Other categorisations[edit]

By demographics[edit]

Main article: Religious demographics

By area[edit]

Further information: Religion and geography

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ (Clifford Geertz, Religion as a Cultural System, 1973)
  2. ^ "World Religions Religion Statistics Geography Church Statistics". Archived from the original on April 22, 1999. Retrieved 5 March 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "About - the Parapsychological Association".
  4. ^ "Key Facts about Near-Death Experiences". Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  5. ^ Harvey, Graham (2000). Indigenous Religions: A Companion. (Ed: Graham Harvey). London and New York: Cassell. Page 06.
  6. ^ Vergote, Antoine, Religion, belief and unbelief: a psychological study, Leuven University Press, 1997, p. 89
  7. ^ Coogan, Michael David; Narayanan, Vasudha (2005). Eastern Religions: Origins, Beliefs, Practices, Holy Texts, Sacred Places. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195221907.
  8. ^ Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli. Vol. 1-2. Indian Philosophy (1923) Vol. 1, 738 p. (1927) Vol. 2, 807 p. Oxford University Press.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c Tattwananda, Swami (1984). Vaisnava Sects, Saiva Sects, Mother Worship (1st rev. ed.). Calcutta: Firma KLM Private Ltd.
  10. ^ Dandekar, R. N. (1987). "Vaiṣṇavism: An Overview". In Eliade, Mircea (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 14. New York: MacMillan.
  11. ^ "Welcome to Jainworld – Jain Sects – tirthankaras, jina, sadhus, sadhvis, 24 tirthankaras, digambara sect, svetambar sect, Shraman Dharma, Nirgranth Dharma". Jainworld.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  12. ^ Clarke 2006.
  13. ^ Melton 2003, p. 1001.
  14. ^ Melton 2003, p. 1004.
  15. ^ Melton 2003, p. 997.
  16. ^ Melton 2003, p. 1112.
  17. ^ Clarke 2006, pp. 507–509, Radhasoami movements.
  18. ^ Engle, John (2014). "Cults of Lovecraft: The Impact of H.P. Lovecraft's Fiction on Contemporary Occult Practices". Mythlore. 1 (125): 85–98. JSTOR 26815942.
  19. ^ Laycock, Joseph P. Reitman (2012). "We Are Spirits of Another Sort". Nova Religio. 15 (3): 65–90. doi:10.1525/nr.2012.15.3.65. JSTOR 10.1525/nr.2012.15.3.65.

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

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