• In the modern study of religion
  Religious studies
  Religious studies is the academic field of multi-disciplinary, secular study of religious beliefs, behaviors, and institutions. It describes, compares, interprets, and explains religion, emphasizing systematic, historically based, and cross-cultural perspectives.While theology attempts to...
  
   it is used to refer to the notion that there is a spontaneous religious apprehension of the world common to all human beings, see:
  • Urreligion
    Urreligion
    Urreligion is a notion of an "original" or "oldest" form of religious tradition. The term contrasts with organized religion, such as the theocracies of the early urban cultures of the Ancient Near East or current world religions.The term originates in German Romanticism...
    
    
  • origin of religion
  • anthropology of religion
    Anthropology of religion
    The anthropology of religion involves the study of religious institutions in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures.-History:...
    
    
• As a reverent form of nature worship
  Nature worship
  Nature worship describes a variety of religious, spiritual and devotional practices that focus on natural phenomenon. A nature deity can be in charge of nature, the biosphere, the cosmos or the universe. Nature worship can be found in panentheism, pantheism, deism, polytheism, animism, totemism,...
  
  , embodied in a well-known quote from Frank Lloyd Wright
  Frank Lloyd Wright
  Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
  
  : "I believe in God, only I spell it Nature
  Nature
  Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
  
  ."
• Referring to the religions of people prior to their Christianization
  Christianization
  The historical phenomenon of Christianization is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once...
  
  , or Islamization.

See also

• Natural theology
  Natural theology
  Natural theology is a branch of theology based on reason and ordinary experience. Thus it is distinguished from revealed theology which is based on scripture and religious experiences of various kinds; and also from transcendental theology, theology from a priori reasoning.Marcus Terentius Varro ...
  
  , often synonymous in the 18th and 19th centuries— see, for example, David Hume
  David Hume
  David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
  
  's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
  Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
  Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is a philosophical work written by the Scottish philosopher David Hume. Through dialogue, three fictional characters named Demea, Philo, and Cleanthes debate the nature of God's existence...
  
  .