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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

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.

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.

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.

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. 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, 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

Main article: Eastern religions See also: Eastern esotericism and Pandeism in Asia

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

East Asian religions

Main article: East Asian religions See also: Three teachings and Chinese theology

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

Main article: Hundred Schools of Thought

Confucianism

Main article: Confucianism

Taoism

Main article: TaoismSee also: Taoist schools and Taoist philosophy

Syncretic Taoism

Indian religions

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

Main article: BuddhismSee also: Schools of Buddhism

Dharmic philosophy schools

Main article: Hindu philosophy

Hinduism

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

Syncretic Hinduism

Jainism

Main article: Jainism See also: Jain schools and branches

Sikhism

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

Main article: Yoga

Abrahamic religions

Main article: Abrahamic religions See also: Western religions, Classical Theism, and Monotheism

Christianity

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

Syncretic

Other

Islam

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

Syncretic

Other

Judaism

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

Historical Judaism

KabbalahMain articles: Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism

Non-Rabbinic Judaism

Rabbinic JudaismMain article: Rabbinic Judaism

Other Abrahamic

Iranian religions

Main articles: Iranian religions and Religion in Iran

Manichaeism

Main article: Manichaeism See also: Manichaean schisms

Yazdânism

Main article: Yazdânism

Zoroastrianism

Main article: Zoroastrianism

Indigenous (ethnic, folk) religions

Main articles: Ethnic religion and Folk religion See also: List of ethnic religions, Natural religion, Earth religion, Fetishism, and Paganism

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. Many indigenous religions incorporate forms of Animism, Totemism and Shamanism.

African

Main article: Religion in Africa

Traditional African

Main article: Traditional African religions

Diasporic African

Main article: Afro-American religion

Altaic

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

American

Main article: Native American religions

Austroasiatic

Austronesian

Caucasian

Dravidian

Main article: Dravidian folk religion See also: Religion in ancient Tamilakam and Tribal religions in India

Indo-European

Koreanic and Japonic

See also: Shinto sects and schools

Melanesian and Aboriginal

Main article: Melanesian mythology

Negrito

Paleosiberian

Main article: Shamanism in Siberia

Sino-Tibetan

Tai and Miao

Uralic

Other

New religious movements

Main article: New religious movementSee 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. Non-cargo cults are generally excluded from this list, see list of cults for cults

Cargo cults

Main article: Cargo cults

New ethnic religions

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

Black

Black Hebrew IsraelitesMain article: Black Hebrew Israelites RastafariMain article: Rastafari

White

See also: White supremacy and Religious aspects of Nazism

Native American

World religion-derived new religions

Abrahamic-derived

Chinese salvationist religions

Main article: Chinese salvationist religions

Hindu reform movements

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

Muist-derived

Main article: Korean new religions

Neo-Buddhism

Main article: Buddhist modernism

Perennial and interfaith

Main article: Perennial philosophy See also: Omnism

Shinshukyo

Main article: Japanese new religions

Sikh-derived

Modern paganism

Main articles: Modern paganism, Polytheism, and Paganism See also: List of Neopagan movements and Neopagan witchcraft

Ethnic neopaganism

Main article: Polytheistic reconstructionism See also: Euhemerism

Syncretic neopaganism

Main article: Eclectic paganism

Goddess religions

Main article: Goddess movement See also: Matriarchal religion, Feminist theology, and Thealogy

Entheogenic religions

Main article: Entheogen See also: Vegetalismo

New Age Movement

Main article: New Age

New Thought

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

Nonsectarian Theism

Main articles: Deism and Theism

Nontheism and Atheism

Main articles: Nontheism, Nontheistic religion, and Atheism

Parody religions and fiction-based religions

Main article: Parody religionSee also: List of fictional religions

UFO religions

Main article: UFO religions

Western esotericism

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

Historical religions

Main article: History of religion See also: Star worship

Prehistoric religion

Main article: Prehistoric religion

Bronze Age

Classical antiquity

See also: Imperial Cult

Post-classical period

Other categorisations

By demographics

Main article: Religious demographics

By area

Further information: Religion and geography

See also

References

  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. ^ 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.

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