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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

Religious symbols in clock-wise form from top: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Baháʼí Faith, Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Slavic neopaganism, Celtic polytheism, Heathenism (Germanic paganism), Semitic neopaganism, Wicca, Kemetism (Egyptian paganism), Hellenism (Greek paganism), Italo-Roman neopaganism.

[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, ultimate concerns, which at some point in the future will be countless.[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 religionsEdit

Main article: Eastern religions

Dharmic religionsEdit

Main article: Indian religions

The four main religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent; namely Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism and religions and traditions related to, and descended from them.

BuddhismEdit

Main article: Buddhism
See also: Schools of Buddhism

Dharmic philosophy schoolsEdit

Main article: Hindu philosophy

HinduismEdit

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

Syncretic Hinduism

JainismEdit

Main article: Jainism
See also: Jain schools and branches

SikhismEdit

Main article: Sikhism
Further information: Sects of Sikhism

YogaEdit

Main article: Yoga

East Asian religionsEdit

Main article: East Asian religions
See also: Three teachings

Religions that originated in East Asia, also known as Taoic religions; namely Taoism, Confucianism, Muism and Shinto, and religions and traditions related to, and descended from them.

Chinese folk religionEdit

Main article: Chinese folk religion

Chinese philosophy schoolsEdit

Main article: Hundred Schools of Thought

ConfucianismEdit

Main article: Confucianism

Japanese religionsEdit

Main articles: Shinto and Religion in Japan
See also: Shinto sects and schools

Korean religionsEdit

Main articles: Korean shamanism and Religion in Korea

TaoismEdit

Main article: Taoism
See also: Taoist schools

Syncretic Taoism

Vietnamese religionsEdit

Main article: Religion in Vietnam

Middle Eastern religionsEdit

Main article: Religion in the Middle East
See also: Western religions

Religions that originated in the Middle East; namely Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and religions and traditions related to, and descended from them.

Abrahamic religionsEdit

Main article: Abrahamic religions

ChristianityEdit

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: List of Independent Catholic denominations and List of the largest Protestant denominations

Syncretic

Other

IslamEdit

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

JudaismEdit

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

Kabbalah

Main articles: Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism

Non-Rabbinic Judaism

Rabbinic Judaism

Main article: Rabbinic Judaism

Historical Judaism

Other AbrahamicEdit

Iranian religionsEdit

Main articles: Iranian religions and Religion in Iran

ManichaeismEdit

Main article: Manichaeism
See also: Manichaean schisms

YazdânismEdit

Main article: Yazdânism

ZoroastrianismEdit

Main article: Zoroastrianism

Indigenous (ethnic, folk) religionsEdit

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.

AfricanEdit

Main article: Religion in Africa

Traditional AfricanEdit

Main article: Traditional African religions

Diasporic AfricanEdit

Main article: Afro-American religion

AltaicEdit

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

AmericanEdit

Main article: Native American religion

AustroasiaticEdit

AustronesianEdit

CaucasianEdit

DravidianEdit

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

Indo-EuropeanEdit

Melanesian and AboriginalEdit

Main article: Melanesian mythology


NegritoEdit

PaleosiberianEdit

Main article: Shamanism in Siberia

Sino-TibetanEdit

Tai and MiaoEdit

UralicEdit

OtherEdit

New religious movementsEdit

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 cultsEdit

Main article: Cargo cults

New ethnic religionsEdit

Main article: Ethnic religion
See also: List of ethnic religions

BlackEdit

Black Hebrew Israelites

Main article: Black Hebrew Israelites

Rastafari

Main article: Rastafari

WhiteEdit

Native AmericanEdit

World Religion-derived new religionsEdit

Abrahamic-derivedEdit

Chinese salvationist religionsEdit

Main article: Chinese salvationist religions

Hindu reform movementsEdit

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

Muist-derivedEdit

Main article: Korean new religions

Neo-BuddhismEdit

Main article: Buddhist modernism

Perennial and interfaithEdit

ShinshukyoEdit

Main article: Japanese new religions

Sikh-derivedEdit

Modern paganismEdit

Main article: Modern paganism
See also: List of Neopagan movements

Ethnic neopaganismEdit

See also: Polytheistic reconstructionism and European Congress of Ethnic Religions

Syncretic neopaganismEdit

Entheogenic religionsEdit

Main article: Entheogen

New Age MovementEdit

Main article: New Age

New ThoughtEdit

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

Parody religions and fiction-based religionsEdit

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

Post-theistic and naturalistic religionsEdit

Main articles: Post-theism and Religious naturalism

UFO religionsEdit

Main article: UFO religions

Western esotericismEdit

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

Historical religionsEdit

Main article: History of religion

Prehistoric ReligionEdit

Main article: Prehistoric religion

Bronze AgeEdit

Classical antiquityEdit

Medieval PeriodEdit

Other categorisationsEdit

By demographicsEdit

Main article: Religious demographics

By areaEdit

Further information: Religion geography

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

  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. ^ Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli. Vol. 1-2. Indian Philosophy (1923) Vol. 1, 738 p. (1927) Vol. 2, 807 p. Oxford University Press.
  8. ^ a b c Tattwananda, Swami (1984). Vaisnava Sects, Saiva Sects, Mother Worship (1st rev. ed.). Calcutta: Firma KLM Private Ltd.
  9. ^ Dandekar, R. N. (1987). "Vaiṣṇavism: An Overview". In Eliade, Mircea (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 14. New York: MacMillan.
  10. ^ "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.
  11. ^ Melton 2003, p. 611.
  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. ^ 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.

SourcesEdit

External linksEdit

 
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