"Religion is a range of social-cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements."
Examines the various religious traditions observed by different religious groups.
Theories of Religion: A study of the methods and theories used to understand religion, as well as the historical and contemporary religious traditions.
Religious Diversity and Pluralism: Exploration of the diversity of religions around the world, analyzing the structure, beliefs, and practices of various religious groups.
Religious ritual and symbols: An analysis of the role of symbols and rituals play in religious practices, the use of symbols to understand the connection between the individual and the community.
Religion and Society: An examination of the interaction between religious institutions and society, how religion influences social norms and values, and how it is influenced by broader social and political trends.
Religion and Politics: A study of the relationship between religion and politics in different societies, how religious beliefs and practices impact political decision-making, and how governments regulate religion.
New Religious Movements: Study of New Religious Movements and their emergence and function.
Atheism and Secularism: The study of Atheism and Secularism, their historical background, and the challenges posed to religions.
Religious conversion: An analysis of the process of religious conversion, including factors that influence religious change, reasons for conversion, and the impact of conversion on individuals and society.
Gender and Religion: A study of the impact of gender roles and norms on religious practices, and how religious ideologies and institutions shape gender identities and roles.
Religion and Science: Study of convergence and divergence of religious and scientific beliefs and discoveries.
Death, Dying, and Religion: Analysis of the role of religious beliefs, rituals, and practices in dealing with death, dying, and bereavement.
Religion, Media and Popular Culture: A study of how religious traditions are portrayed in the media and popular culture, and how this affects religious institutions and beliefs.
Religion and Modernity: An analysis of how religion has been affected by modernity and globalization, and the impact of modernization on religious institutions and beliefs.
Comparative Religion: Study of comparison of different religious traditions, their beliefs, institutional structure, and practices.
Religious communities: Different communities and sub-cultures that look at Religion differently.
Monotheistic religions: Monotheistic religions refer to religious traditions in which believers worship and acknowledge the existence of a single supreme deity.
polytheistic religions: Polytheistic religions are belief systems that worship multiple gods or deities.
Animistic religions: Animistic religions are belief systems that attribute spiritual significance to natural elements and believe that these elements possess souls or spirits.
New Religious Movements: New Religious Movements refer to recently formed religious or spiritual groups that have emerged in the modern era and often deviate from or challenge established religious traditions.
Mystical traditions: Mystical traditions refer to spiritual practices and experiences focused on achieving direct, transcendent encounters with the divine or ultimate reality beyond the boundaries of traditional religious norms and doctrines.
Secular religions: Secular religions refer to belief systems or ideologies that adopt religious-like characteristics and rituals while maintaining a non-religious or non-theistic worldview.
Tribal religions: Tribal religions refer to indigenous belief systems and spiritual customs practiced by specific ethnic groups in a localized and ancestral context.
Esoteric traditions: Esoteric traditions refer to spiritual and mystical practices that focus on inner transformation, secret knowledge, and direct experience of the divine, often involving rituals, symbols, and hidden teachings.
Folk religions: Folk religions refer to the diverse indigenous and traditional beliefs and practices of a particular region or culture, often characterized by animism, ancestor worship, and a strong connection to nature and local deities.
"Different religions may or may not contain various elements ranging from the divine, sacredness, faith, and a supernatural being or beings."
"Religious practices may include rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration (of deities or saints), sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trances, initiations, matrimonial and funerary services, meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, or public service."
"Religions have sacred histories and narratives, which may be preserved in sacred texts, symbols, and holy places, that primarily aim to give life meaning."
"Traditionally, both faith and reason have been considered sources of religious beliefs." (implies that some religious stories may be believed as true)
"There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide..."
"Four religions—Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism—account for over 77% of the world's population."
"The religiously unaffiliated demographic includes those who do not identify with any particular religion, atheists, and agnostics, although many in the demographic still have various religious beliefs."
"Most definitively including the Abrahamic religions Christianity, Islam, and Judaism..."
"A portion of the world's population, mostly located in Africa and Asia, are members of new religious movements."
"Scholars have indicated that global religiosity may be increasing due to religious countries having generally higher birth rates."
"The study of religion comprises a wide variety of academic disciplines, including theology, philosophy of religion, comparative religion, and social scientific studies."
"Theories of religion offer various explanations for its origins and workings, including the ontological foundations of religious being and belief."
"Religions have sacred histories and narratives, which may be preserved in sacred texts, symbols, and holy places..."
"Religious practices may include rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration (of deities or saints), sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trances, initiations, matrimonial and funerary services, meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, or public service."
"Most definitively including the Abrahamic religions Christianity, Islam, and Judaism..."
"Although there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion."
"Traditionally, both faith and reason have been considered sources of religious beliefs."
"Four religions—Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism—account for over 77% of the world's population."
"The remaining 9,000+ faiths account for only 8% of the population combined."