Encyclopedia
Religion is a system of social coherence based on a common group of beliefs or attitudes concerning an object, person, unseen being, or system of thought considered to be
supernatural, sacred, divine or highest truth, and the
moral codes, practices, values, institutions, and rituals associated with such belief or system of thought. It is sometimes used interchangeably with "faith" or "
belief system", but is more socially defined than that of personal convictions.
The
development of religion has taken many forms in various cultures. "Organized religion" generally refers to an organization of people supporting the exercise of some religion with a prescribed set of beliefs, often taking the form of a legal entity . Other religions believe in personal revelation and responsibility.
Definition of religion
There are many definitions of religion, and most have struggled to avoid an overly sharp definition on the one hand, and meaningless generalities on the other. Some have tried to use formalistic, doctrinal definitions and others have tried to use experiential, emotive, intuitive, valuational and ethical factors.
Sociologists and anthropologists see religion as an abstract set of ideas, values, or experiences developed as part of a cultural matrix. Primitive religion was indistinguishable from the sociocultural acts where custom and
ritual defined an emotional reality.
Other religious scholars have put forward a definition of religion that avoids the reductionism of the various sociological and psychological disciplines that relegate religion to its component factors. Religion may be defined as the presence of a belief in the sacred or the holy. For example Rudolf Otto's "The Idea of the Holy," formulated in 1917, defines the essence of religious awareness as awe, a unique blend of fear and fascination before the divine.
Friedrich Schleiermacher in the late 18th century defined religion as a "feeling of absolute dependence."
The
Encyclopedia of Religion describes religion in the following way:
- "In summary, it may be said that almost every known culture involves the religious in the above sense of a depth dimension in cultural experiences at all levels — a push, whether ill-defined or conscious, toward some sort of ultimacy and transcendence that will provide norms and power for the rest of life. When more or less distinct patterns of behaviour are built around this depth dimension in a culture, this structure constitutes religion in its historically recognizable form. Religion is the organization of life around the depth dimensions of experience — varied in form, completeness, and clarity in accordance with the environing culture."
Development of religion
There are a number of models regarding the ways in which religions come into being and develop. Broadly speaking, these models fall into three categories:
- Models which see religions as social constructions;
- Models which see religions as progressing toward higher, objective truth;
- Models which see a particular religion as absolutely true;
The models are not mutually exclusive. Multiple models may be seen to apply simultaneously, or different models may be seen as applying to different religions.
Religion as a social construction
This group of models holds that religion is a social construction, rather than referring to actual
supernatural phenomena; that is, phenomena beyond the
natural world that we measure using the
scientific method. Some of these models view religion as nonetheless having or having had a mostly positive effect on society, the individual, and civilization itself, and others view it as having or having had a mostly injurious or destructive effect. Many of these views have their origins in the field of the sociology of religion.
Models that view religion as a social construction include the "Dogma Selection Model," which holds that religions, although untrue in themselves, encode instructions or habits useful for survival, and that these ideas "mutate" periodically as they are passed on, and spread or die out in accord with their effectiveness at improving chances for survival. Karl Marx stated that "Religion is the opiate of the masses." This comment spawned a new model, in which, summarizes Bertrand Russel, "[r]eligion in any shape or form is regarded as a pernicious and deliberate falsehood, spread and encouraged by rulers and clerics in their own interests, since it is easier to exercise control over the ignorant" . Furthermore, the "Theory of Religion Model" states that religion arose from some psychological or moral pathology in religious leaders and believers. Another theory states that spirit-based religions found in many indigenous tribes may originate in dreams. A dead person seen in a dream is, in some sense, not really dead, and so may be able to do good or harm. Some anthropologists see in this the origin of a belief in ghosts and in those religions in which ancestors are worshiped .
Religions as progressively true
In contrast to the above models, the following models see religion as "progressively true." Within these models, religions reflect an essential Truth to one degree or another. The development of religion is therefore the course of religions aligning themselves more closely with the Truth.
Models which view religion as progressively true include the
Bahá'í model of prophetic revelation, which holds that God has sent a series of prophets to Earth, each of which brought teachings appropriate for his culture and context, but all originating from the same God, and therefore teaching the same essential message. While religious truth is seen as being relative due to its varied cultural and developmental expression, this model accepts that the underlying essential truth being expressed is absolutely true, if incompletely and progressively presented. The A Study of History Model holds that prophets are given to extraordinary spiritual insight during periods of social decay and act as "surveyors of the course of secular civilization who report breaks in the road and breakdowns in the traffic, and plot a new spiritual course which will avoid those pitfalls." Another model, the Great Awakening Model, states that religion proceeds along a Hegelian dialectic of thesis, antithesis, synthesis, in cycles of approximately 80 years as a result of the interaction between four archetypal generations, by which old religious beliefs face new challenges for which they are unprepared and adapt to create new and more sophisticated beliefs .
Religions as absolutely true
In the following models, religions are seen as absolutely and unchangingly True. They contrast with both the first group of models , and the second group .
Models which view a particular religion as absolutely true include the
Jewish and
Christian Model which holds that God relates to humanity through covenants; that he established a covenant with all humanity at the time of
Noah called the Noahide Laws, and that he established a covenant with
Israel through the
Ten Commandments, and also
Jesus Christ did establish a covenant with the world through the
New Testament. Exclusivist Models hold that one particular set of religious doctrines is the "One True Religion," and all others are false, so that the development of the True Religion is tied inexorably to one prophet or holy book. In this model, all other religions are seen as either distortions of the original truth or original fabrications resulting from either human ignorance or imagination, or a more devious influence, such as false prophets or the influence of another rival supernatural entity . The model of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is nuanced differently than either the progressively true model or the absolutely true model, in that its leaders have taught that foreordination included plans by God that prophets as well as other good men and women would be inspired by God during the course of human history who would bring much light, truth and knowledge though not necessarily a fullness of truth to their particular societies.
Demographics
Present day adherents
The following statistics show the number of adherents in all known approaches, both religious and irreligious worldwide.
Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism are the largest world religions today. Approximately 75% of humanity follows one of these 4 religions. Christianity is the religion with the largest number of professed religious adherents, followed by Islam. The third-largest group of approximately 1 billion people adhere to irreligious approaches which include
Humanism,
Atheism, Rationalism, and Agnosticism. Hinduism with 900 million adherents is the third largest religion followed by 19 smaller groups of religious adherents. These figures are necessarily approximate: note that the figures in the following table total nearly 7 billion people, yet the world population was only 6.4 billion . .
- Christianity 2.1 billion
- Islam 1.3 billion
- Secular/Atheist/Irreligious/Agnostic/Nontheist 1.1 billion
- Hinduism
...
900 million
- Buddhism 708 million
- Chinese folk religion 394 million
- Primal indigenous 300 million
- African traditional and diasporic 100 million
- Sikhism 23 million
- Juche 19 million
- Spiritism 15 million
- Judaism 14 million
- Bahá'í Faith 7 million
- Jainism 4.2 million
- Shinto 4 million
- Cao Dai 4 million
- Zoroastrianism 2.6 million
- Tenrikyo 2 million
- Neo-Paganism 1 million
- Unitarian Universalism 800,000
- Rastafari movement 600,000
- Christianity encompasses many different denominations but the statistics in the source for this document consider them all together for the purposes of analysis.
- Shinto is a special case due to shrine-reporting versus self-reporting. Since the 17th century, there have been laws in Japan requiring registration with Shinto shrines. Because of this, 75-90% of all Japanese are listed on shrine rolls, greatly inflating the apparent number of adherents. When asked in polls, only about 3.3% of Japanese people identify themselves as "Shinto." However, many who do not consider themselves "Shintoists" still practice Shinto rituals.
In ranking religious denominations, the
Roman Catholic Church is the largest single denomination within Christianity, Sunni Islam within Islam, and
Vaishnavism within Hinduism. It is difficult to say whether there are more Roman Catholics or Sunnis, as the numbers are roughly equal, and exact counts are impossible, because some members though legally accepted in those denominations may have renounced their faith or have converted quickly.
Trends in adherence
Since the late 19th century, the demographics of religion have changed a great deal. Some countries with a historically large Christian population have experienced a significant decline in the numbers of professed active Christians. Symptoms of the decline in active participation in Christian religious life include declining recruitment for the
priesthood and
monastic life, as well as diminishing attendance at church. At the same time, there has been an increase in the number of people who identify themselves as secular humanists. In many countries, such as the
People's Republic of China, communist governments have discouraged religion, making it difficult to count the actual number of believers. However, after the collapse of communism in numerous countries of Eastern Europe and the former
Soviet Union,
Eastern Orthodox Christianity has been experiencing considerable resurgence there.
Within the world's four largest religions Christianity currently has the greatest growth by numbers and Islam has the fastest growth by percentage. Islam composes a large majority in many countries from northern Africa to Indonesia, where there are close ties between government and religion and with the influx of Muslim immigrants to Western countries, Islam has grown in significance and in popular awareness even in countries where it is still a minority religion. Similarily, Christianity composes a large majority in many continents; it is the predominant religion in the
Americas,
Europe,
Oceania and
southern Africa. It is also spreading rapidly in
northern Africa and the Far East, in particular
China and
South Korea. Like Islam, the growing number of Christian missionaries in the
Middle East has made Christianity grown in significance.
Hinduism is undergoing a revival, and many temples are being built, both in India and in other countries. Hindu concepts like Law of Karma, Reincarnation, Yoga and Meditation are gaining tremendous acceptance in western nations. In the Far East, Hinduism,
Buddhism, and
Shintoism are the religions with the largest number of adherents and have greatly influenced spirituality in the West, particularly in the United States.
A 2002 Pew Research Center study found that, generally, poorer nations had a larger proportion of citizens who found religion to be very important than richer nations, with the exception of the United States.
- See also: Major religious groups,
Religious belief
Religious belief usually relates to the existence, nature and worship of a deity or deities and divine involvement in the
universe and human life. Alternately, it may also relate to values and practices transmitted by a spiritual leader. Unlike other belief systems, which may be passed on orally, religious belief tends to be codified. Religious beliefs are found in virtually every
society throughout human history.
Related forms of thought
Religion and science
Religious knowledge, according to religious practitioners, may be gained from religious leaders,
sacred texts , and/or personal revelation. Some religions view such knowledge as unlimited in scope and suitable to answer any question; others see religious knowledge as playing a more restricted role, often as a complement to knowledge gained through physical observation. Some religious people maintain that religious knowledge obtained in this way is absolute and infallible . While almost unlimited, this knowledge can be unreliable, since the particulars of religious knowledge vary from religion to religion, from sect to sect, and often from individual to individual
The
scientific method gains knowledge by testing theories through facts or
experiments and thus only answers cosmological questions about the physical universe. It develops theories of the world which best fit physically observed evidence. All scientific knowledge is probabilistic and subject to later improvement or revision in the face of better evidence. Scientific theories that have an overwhelming preponderance of favorable evidence are often treated as facts.
Many early scientists held strong religious beliefs and strove to reconcile science and religion.
Isaac Newton, for example, believed that
gravity caused the
planets to revolve about the
Sun, and credited
God with the design. In the concluding General Scholium to the
Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, he wrote: "This most beautiful System of the Sun, Planets and Comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful being." Nevertheless, conflict arose between religious organizations and individuals who propagated scientific theories which were deemed unacceptable by the organizations. The
Roman Catholic Church, for example, has historically reserved to itself the right to decide which scientific theories are acceptable and which are unacceptable. In the 17th century,
Galileo was tried and forced to recant the
heliocentric theory. Several other scientists have had their discoveries opressed as well. The modern Roman Catholic Church accepts most common current scientific theories, to the extent that they can be shown not to conflict with the Church's doctrine.
Many theories exist as to why religions sometimes seems to conflict with scientific knowledge. In the case of
Christianity, a relevant factor may be that it was among Christians that science in the modern sense was developed. Unlike other religious groups, as early as the 17th century the Christian churches had to deal directly with this new way to investigate nature and seek truth. The perceived conflict between science and Christianity may also be partially explained by a literal interpretation of the
Bible adhered to by many Christians, both currently and historically. This way to read the sacred texts became especially prevalent after the rise of the
Protestant reformation, with its emphasis on the Bible as the only authoritative source concerning the ultimate reality.This view is often shunned by both religous leaders and scientists who regard it as an impossibility.
Some Christians have disagreed or are still disagreeing with scientists in areas such as the validity of
Keplerian astronomy, the theory of
evolution, the method of creation of the
universe and the Earth, and the origins of life. On the other hand, scholars such as Stanley Jaki have suggested that Christianity and its particular worldview was a crucial factor for the emergence of modern science.
Proponents of
Hinduism claim that Hinduism is not afraid of scientific explorations, nor of the technological progress of mankind. According to them, there is a comprehensive scope and opportunity for Hinduism to mold itself according to the demands and aspirations of the modern world; it has the ability to align itself with both
science and
spiritualism. This religion uses some modern examples to explain its ancient theories and reinforce its own beliefs. For example, some Hindu thinkers have used the terminology of quantum physics to explain some basic concepts of Hinduism such as Maya or the illusory and impermanent nature of our existence.
The philosophical approach known as pragmatism, as propounded by the American
philosopher William James, has been used to reconcile scientific with religious knowledge. Pragmatism, simplistically, holds that the truth of a set of beliefs can be indicated by its usefulness in helping people cope with a particular context of life. Thus, the fact that scientific beliefs are useful in predicting observations in the physical world can indicate a certain truth for scientific theories; the fact that religious beliefs can be useful in helping people cope with difficult emotions or moral decisions can indicate a certain truth for those beliefs. .
Religion, metaphysics, and cosmology
Religion and
philosophy meet in several areas, notably in the study of
metaphysics and
cosmology. In particular, a distinct set of religious beliefs will often entail a specific metaphysics and cosmology. That is, a religion will generally have answers to metaphysical and cosmological questions about the nature of being, of the universe, humanity, and the divine.
Esotericism and mysticism
Mysticism, in contrast with philosophy and metaphysics, denies that logic is the most important method of gaining enlightenment. Rather, physical disciplines such as
yoga,
starvation, self-strangulation, whirling , or the use of
Psychoactive drugs such as
LSD, lead to higher states of consciousness that logic can never hope to grasp.
Mysticism is the pursuit of communion with, or conscious awareness of ultimate reality, the divine, spiritual truth, or
God through direct, personal experience rather than rational thought. Mystics speak of the existence of realities behind external perception or intellectual apprehension that are central to being and directly accessible through personal experience. They say that such experience is a genuine and important source of knowledge.
Esotericism claims to be more sophisticated than religion, to rely on intellectual understanding rather than faith, and to improve on philosophy in its emphasis on techniques of psycho-spiritual transformation . Esotericism refers to "hidden" knowledge available only to the advanced, privileged, or initiated, as opposed to exoteric knowledge, which is public. It applies especially to spiritual practices. The mystery religions of
ancient Greece are examples of Esotericism.
Spirituality
Members of an organized religion may not see any significant difference between religion and spirituality. Or they may see a distinction between the mundane, earthly aspects of their religion and its spiritual dimension.
Some individuals draw a strong distinction between religion and spirituality. They may see spirituality as a belief in ideas of religious significance , but not feel bound to the bureaucratic structure and creeds of a particular organized religion. They choose the term
spirituality rather than religion to describe their form of belief, perhaps reflecting a disillusionment with organized religion , and a movement towards a more "modern" — more tolerant, and more intuitive — form of religion. These individuals may reject organized religion because of historical acts by religious organizations, such as
Islamic terrorism, the marginalisation and persecution of various minorities or the
Spanish Inquisition.
Myth
The word
myth has several meanings:
- A traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon;
- A person or thing having only an imaginary or unverifiable existence.
- A metaphor for the spiritual potentiality in the human being
Ancient polytheistic religions, such as those of
Greece,
Rome, and
Scandinavia, are categorized under the heading of mythology. Religions of pre-industrial peoples, or
cultures in development, are similarly called myths in the anthropology of religion. The term "myth" can be used pejoratively by both religious and non-religious people. But by defining another person's religious stories and beliefs as mythology, one implies that they are less real or true than one's own religious stories and beliefs.
Joseph Campbell often made the statement "Mythology is popularly defined as 'other peoples' religions'...but actually religion is misinterpreted mythology".
Humanists believe that all religion is based on myth, including modern day religions such as Christianity.
The term
myth in sociology, however, has a non-pejorative meaning. There,
myth is defined as stories that are important for the group whether or not it is objectively or provably true. Examples include the death and
resurrection of
Jesus, which, to Christians, explains the means by which they are freed from sin, as well as being ostensibly a historical event. But from a mythological outlook, whether or not a death and resurrection actually occurred or not is unimportant. Instead, the symbolism of a death to an old "life" and the start of a new "life" is more important than the religious dogma of the actual historical authenticity.
Cosmology
Humans have many different methods which attempt to answer fundamental questions about the nature of the
universe and our place in it . What is reality? How can we know? Who are we? Why we are here? How should we live? What happens after we die? Religion is only one of the methods for trying to answer one or more of these questions. Other methods include
science,
philosophy,
metaphysics,
astrology, esotericism,
mysticism, and forms of
shamanism, such as the sacred consumption of
ayahuasca among
Peruvian
Amazonia's
Urarina. The Urarina have an elaborate
animistic cosmological system, which informs their mythology,
religious orientation and daily existence.
Given the generalized discontents with modernity, consumerism, over-consumption, violence and anomie, many people in the so-called
industrial or
post-industrial West rely on a number of distinctive religious worldviews. This in turn has given rise to increased religious pluralism, as well as to what are commonly known in the academic literature as new religious movements, which are gaining ground across the globe.
Etymology
The etymology of the word "religion" has been debated for centuries. The English word clearly derives from the Latin
religio, "reverence " or "conscientiousness". The origins of
religio, however, are obscure. Proposed etymological interpretations include:
From Relego
- Re-reading–from Latin re + lego , referring to the repetition of scripture.
- Treating carefully–from Latin re + lego "go over again" or "consider carefully".
From Religare
- Re-connection to the divine–from Latin re + ligare . This interpretation is favoured by modern scholars such as Tom Harpur, but was made prominent by St. Augustine, following the interpretation of Lactantius.
- To bind or return to bondage–an alternate interpretation of the "reconnection" etymology emphasizing a sense of servitude to God, this may have originated with Augustine. However, the interpretation, while popular with critics of religion, is often considered imprecise and possibly offensive to followers.
From Res + legere
- Concerning a gathering — from Latin res + legere , since organized religion revolves around a gathering of people.
See also
Notes
References
- Saint Augustine; The Confessions of Saint Augustine ; Image , ISBN 0-385-02955-1.
- Descartes, René; Meditations on First Philosophy; Bobbs-Merril , ISBN 0-672-60191-5.
- Durant, Will ; Our Oriental Heritage; MJF Books , ISBN 1-56731-012-5.
- Durant, Will ; Caesar and Christ; MJF Books , ISBN 1-56731-014-1
- Durant, Will ; The Age of Faith; Simon & Schuster , ISBN 0-671-01200-2.
- Gonick, Larry; The Cartoon History of the Universe; Doubleday, vol. 1 ISBN 0-385-26520-4, vol. II ISBN#0-385-42093-5, W. W. Norton, vol. III ISBN 0-393-05184-6.
- Haisch, Bernard The God Theory: Universes, Zero-point Fields, and What's Behind It All -- discussion of science vs. religion , Red Wheel/Weiser, 2006, ISBN 1-57863-374-5
- Lao Tzu; Tao Te Ching ; Bantam .
- Saler, Benson; "Conceptualizing Religion: Immanent Anthropologists, Transcendent Natives, and Unbounded Categories" , ISBN 1-57181-219-9
- The Holy Bible, King James Version; New American Library .
- The Koran; Penguin , ISBN 0-14-044558-7.
- The Origin of Live & Death, African Creation Myths; Heinemann .
- Poems of Heaven and Hell from Ancient Mesopotamia; Penguin .
- The World Almanac , World Almanac Books, ISBN 0-88687-964-7.
- - American Journal of Psychiatry 160:1965-1969, November 2003.
- United States Constitution
- "Selected Works" Marcus Tullius Cicero
- The World Almanac , 2005
- Religion [First Edition]. Winston King. Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. Vol. 11. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. p7692-7701.
- World Religions and Social Evolution of the Old World Oikumene Civilizations: A Cross-cultural Perspective by Andrey Korotayev, Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2004, ISBN 0-7734-6310-0 .
External links
- BBC article about Flores Man and religion
- - Introduction to the methods and scholars of the academic study of religion
- - Marx's original reference to religion as the opium of the masses.
-
- Harvard Human Rights Journal article from the President and Fellows of Harvard College
- by Adherents.com Retrieved December 22, 2005
- - an overview
