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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

Indian religions Edit

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.

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

East Asian religions Edit

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 religion Edit

Main article: Chinese folk religion

Chinese philosophy schools Edit

Main article: Hundred Schools of Thought

Confucianism Edit

Main article: Confucianism

Japanese religions Edit

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

Korean religions Edit

Main articles: Korean shamanism and Religion in Korea

Taoism Edit

Main article: Taoism
See also: Taoist schools

Syncretic Taoism

Southeast Asian religions Edit

Religions that originated in Southeast Asia, namely Vietnamese folk religion, Muong ethnic religion, Philippine folk religions, and animistic indigenous religions.

Filipinos religions Edit

Main articles: Indigenous Philippine folk religions and Religion in Philippines

Vietnamese religions Edit

Main articles: Vietnamese folk religion and Religion in Vietnam

Middle Eastern religions Edit

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 religions Edit

Main article: Abrahamic 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: List of Independent Catholic denominations and List of the largest Protestant denominations

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

Kabbalah

Main articles: Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism

Non-Rabbinic Judaism

Rabbinic Judaism

Main article: Rabbinic Judaism

Historical 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

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

Black Edit

Black Hebrew Israelites

Main article: Black Hebrew Israelites

Rastafari

Main article: Rastafari

White Edit

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

Shinshukyo Edit

Main article: Japanese new religions

Sikh-derived Edit

Modern paganism Edit

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

Ethnic neopaganism Edit

See also: Polytheistic reconstructionism and European Congress of Ethnic Religions

Syncretic neopaganism Edit

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, Left-hand path and right-hand path, and Occult

Historical religions Edit

Main article: History of religion

Prehistoric Religion Edit

Main article: Prehistoric religion

Bronze Age Edit

Classical antiquity Edit

Medieval Period Edit

Other categorisations Edit

By demographics Edit

Main article: Religious demographics

By area Edit

Further information: Religion 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. ^ 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.

Sources Edit

External links Edit

 
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