Religion

We explain what religion is and the types of religions that exist. Also, its history and the main religions of the world.

What is religion?

Religion is understood to mean system of beliefs, behaviors and cultural, ethical and social values through which a community is linked to the sacred and the transcendent.

Etymologically, two origins of the term have been proposed religion.

• According to one interpretation, religion comes from latin religionderived in turn from the verb I will religatewhich means 'to bind', 'to bind', 'to bind'. Religion would, thus, be a link or subordination of the human being to divinity.
• Another interpretation holds that religion derives from latin religiosuswhich means scrupulous (the opposite of negligens'negligent'). In this case, religion is the scrupulous fulfillment of the duties of worship.

religion played a central role in the development of the first civilizations. Economic, social and political life was organized around it. Examples of this are:

• The rites associated with natural cycles in which divinity was invoked.
• The presence of a priestly caste, often with legislative functions, which interpreted the will of the gods.
• The concentration of the highest political and religious authority in the person of the monarch.

There is no known culture that has not had some type of religion. Throughout history, religions have provided man with answers to questions such as the creation of the world, the meaning of existence, life after death, and the origin of suffering. Frequently, such answers are found in the form of narratives, symbols and teachings, often contained in sacred texts (such as the Bible, the Koran or the Vedas).

Religions, furthermore, have given societies a sense of belonging and have become emblems of their identity, reflected in celebrations, images and temples.

It is estimated that there are around 4,000 religions in the world. Each one has its conception of the divine, its doctrine, its rites of communion, its sacred places, its symbols of faith and its mythology.

The vast majority of people profess some religion, and even among those who do not identify with any, there are many who hold some type of religious idea. At the moment, It is estimated that only 2% of the world's population is atheist.

• See also: Freedom of religion

Features of religion

Religion has a series of characteristics that, together, distinguish it from other belief systems (such as philosophy or politics). These features are:

• The belief in the existence of something sacred. For example, gods or other supernatural beings.
• The distinction between sacred objects and spaces (the image of a deity, a temple) and profane objects and spaces.
• The performance of ritual acts focused on sacred objects and spaces. For example, prayers, ceremonies.
• The existence of a moral code that is considered to be of sacred or supernatural origin. For example, the Ten Commandments.
• The presence of typical feelings and attitudes, associated with contact with sacred spaces and objects and with rituals focused on them or on supernatural beings. For example, awe, adoration, guilt, awe.
• The use of various forms of communication with the supernatural. For example, prayers, sacrifices, ritual dances.
• A worldview that includes an explanation of the place that humans and the rest of nature occupy in the world, the relationship between them, and the general purpose of existence. For example, the idea of ​​the world as a divine creation and of the human being as the center of creation.
• An organization of life based on this vision of the world. For example, the idea, common to many religions, that the existence of each individual has been determined by a god from eternity.
• The formation of a social group united by and around shared beliefs. For example, the Catholic Church or each of the various Protestant churches.

Types of religions

According to their conception of the divine, religions can be classified into:

• monotheistic religions. They are those who believe in the existence of a single God, creator of the universe. For example: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
• polytheistic religions. Instead of a single God, they believe in a more or less hierarchical pantheon of deities, to whom they attribute dominion over the different aspects of human life and nature. For example: the religion of the ancient Greeks and Hinduism.
• pantheistic religions. They are the religions that maintain that everything that exists is part of divinity. For example: Hinduism, Vedanta.
• Non-theistic religions. They do not believe in the existence of creative or absolute gods (although they do believe in the existence of spiritual entities). For example: Zen Buddhism.

Religions are also classified according to their origin and provenance. Taking this criterion into account, the following groups or families of religions:

• Abrahamic religions. They are Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which recognize a common origin in the patriarch Abraham. They are monotheistic religions, arising in the Near East, with a similar conception about the final destiny of man.
• Dharmic religions. This group comprises the main Indian religions: Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Taoism and Sikhism. These religions preach the notion of dharma ('religion', 'teaching', 'law'), the pious path that every being must follow to maintain the balance of the universe.
• Iranian religions. They are the religions originated in Greater Iran, before Islam. They include Zoroastrianism and Yazidism, religions that support a dualistic conception, according to which good and evil exist as two opposite and antagonistic principles.
• Traditional religions. This group includes the various indigenous cults, typical of different indigenous peoples and ethnic groups. They are generally polytheistic and totemic (worship objects that represent the community). Voodoo and shamanism, in Africa; The Aztec religion and Candomblé, in America, and the traditional Chinese religion make up this group of religions.
• Neopagan religions. They are religions of recent origin, based on pre-Christian beliefs of some peoples, mainly Europeans. Wicca, traditional witchcraft, druidism, neo-Hellenism and Germanic neo-paganism, among other cults, belong to this religious family.

History of religion

Religion is as old as humans. The discovery of bodies of Neanderthals and homo sapiens apparently intentionally buried primitives has been considered proof that religious ideas existed as early as 300,000 years ago.

Among the religious testimonies preserved before writing, highlights Göbekli Tepe (in modern Türkiye), the oldest known sanctuary. It is a set of megaliths, built around 9000 BC. C. The first religious texts correspond to the texts of the Egyptian pyramids, which date from between 2400 and 2300 BC. c.

According to many researchers, The development of religious ideas had its turning point between 900 and 200 BC a period called by the philosopher Karl Jaspers the Axial Era. During this era, several of the most influential philosophical and religious traditions in history were founded:

• Monotheism, emerged in Persia (Zoroastrianism) and Canaan (Judaism).
• Platonism, originated in Greece.
• Buddhism and Jainism, developed in India.
• Confucianism and Taoism, born in China.

In the Middle Ages, today's religions spread throughout Europe and Asia. Christianity spread throughout the West, Buddhism through East Asia (while declining in India) and Islam through the Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa and some areas of India and Europe (such as the Iberian Peninsula). ).

The advance of religions was not without conflicts. For example, Muslims collided with Zoroastrians in Persia, confronted Hindus and Sikhs in India and fought with Christians on several occasions (wars between Arabs and Byzantines, between the 7th and 11th centuries, the Crusades, between the XI and XIII, Spanish Reconquest, between the VIII and XV centuries).

Starting in the 15th century, as a consequence of the European conquest and colonization, Christianity spread in America, the Philippines, sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania. In Europe, the Protestant Reformation, initiated by Martin Luther in 1517, spread rapidly and led to a series of religious wars between Catholics and Protestants throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.

The spread of the rationalist ideas of the Enlightenment in the 18th century marked the beginning of the secularization process in Europe. This process deepened with the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. The main consequence was the separation between Church and State in many countries and a decrease in religiosity in Europe.

Despite the prevailing secularism in part of the world, religion continues to be a majority phenomenon today. While in countries like China the State actively promotes atheism, nations like Iran have features typical of theocracies, in which the political authority is, at the same time, the religious authority.

Main religions of the world

At the moment, Almost 84% of the world's population professes some religion. According to their number of followers, the main ones are Christianity (31% of the world population), Islam (25%), Hinduism (15%) and Buddhism (6.6%).

• Christianity. Emerging in the 1st century, it is based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, contained in the New Testament. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, sent into the world to save man from sin. Together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, he forms the Trinity (i.e., God himself existing as three persons). The main branches of Christianity are:
  • Catholicism led by the bishop of Rome (the pope) and the bishops of the world in communion with him.
  • The Orthodox Church which separated from the Catholic Church in the 11th century and is made up, in turn, of several churches, including the Russian Orthodox Church, the Greek Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church of Constantinople.
  • Protestantism which separated from the Catholic Church in the 16th century and is divided into numerous denominations, including Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglicanism, Methodism and Baptistism.
• Islam. Founded in the 7th century, it is based on the teachings of the prophet Muhammad and the revelations that God made to him; The latter are contained in the Koran, the holy book of Muslims (as the followers of Islam are called). Islam recognizes Jewish prophets and Jesus, also considered a prophet. There are two main Islamic denominations:
  • Sunnism with a larger number of faithful, who, in addition to the Koran, are followers of the Sunna, a collection of sayings and facts attributed to Muhammad.
  • Shiism to which around 10% of Muslims belong, emerged after the death of Muhammad, among the supporters of Ali, his son-in-law.
• Hinduism. It is one of the oldest religions in the world and comprises a set of diverse doctrines, based on four groups of texts: the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-gita and the Agama. Hindus believe in a cosmic principle that sustains the universe (Brahman) and that all creatures go through a cycle of rebirth (samsara). The main denominations of Hinduism are:
  • Visnuism the group with the largest number of faithful, which considers Vishnu, reincarnated numerous times, the Supreme Being.
  • Shaivism which considers Shiva as the Supreme Being, a deity at the same time creator and destroyer, transcendent and immanent to the world.
  • Shaktism which considers the female deity Shakti as the supreme deity.
  • smartism based on a set of traditional Hindu texts, influenced by Vedic doctrines (smrti).
• Buddhism. Originated in India in the 5th century BC. C., is based on the teachings of the Indian sage Siddharta Gautama. Buddhism maintains that human life is a cycle of suffering and rebirth, which can be escaped if one reaches enlightenment or nirvana, when one comes to understand the true nature of things. The main branches of Buddhism are:
  • The Mahayana (or the great vehicle), centered on the figure of the bodhisattvas (beings who have achieved enlightenment, but return to teach humans) as role models to achieve nirvana. It includes various currents, such as Zen, Pure Land Buddhism and Nichiren Buddhism.
  • Theravada (or doctrine of the elders), which emphasizes monastic life and meditation as means to reach nirvana.

References

• “Defining the Characteristics of Religion,” in Learn Religion.
• “How many religions are there in the world and which are the main ones?”, in The World Order
• “The Changing Global Religious Landscape,” at Pew Research Center.