Since ancient times, people have believed in supernatural forces and creatures that controlled the phenomena and processes occurring in nature. One form or another of religious belief has survived to this day in almost every corner of the globe. Currently, there are more than five thousand different forms and types of religions in the world. No one has yet been able to classify and generalize them, since all religions can be divided according to ethnicity, and according to the time of their origin, and by level of organization, and by state status.

• Types of religions by time of development
• Major religions of the world
• Types of religions of Eastern civilization
• Types of early religions
  • Magic
  • Fetishism
  • Totemism
  • Animism
• Types of pagan religions

Types of religions by time of development

So, if we divide them by level of development, we can identify the following types of typology of religion:

• Early religions are beliefs that originated in the primitive era (magic, animism, totemism, fetishism).
• Polytheistic - these include all types of national religious beliefs (except Sikhism and Judaism).
• Monotheistic - Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism.
• Syncretic - beliefs that arose as a result of the mixing of several types of religions.
• New religious beliefs are religions distinguished by their non-traditional forms. These include the churches of the Antichrist, Satan, Krishna, Moon, as well as Yogism, Shintoism with the cults of karate and judo. This also includes the White Brotherhood and various esoteric associations.

Major religions of the world

The most common are:

• Christianity.
• Buddhism.
• Islam.
• Hinduism.

The largest world religion is Christianity. Currently, every country in the world has at least one Christian community, and the total number of adherents of this faith is 2.3 billion people. Christianity first appeared in the 1st century in Palestine and existed as a single form of religious belief until the Christian Church split into the Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic churches in 1054. Later, in the 17th century, another trend appeared catholic church- Protestantism.

In addition to the main religions, there are different kinds tribal religions - various forms of worship of certain deities inherent in a particular ethnic group, tribe or people.

Video about the main religions of the world:

Types of religions of Eastern civilization

What types of religions are characteristic of Eastern civilization? The religions of the East include:

• Hinduism (Nepal, India).
• Buddhism (Sri Lanka, Laos).
• Islam (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, etc.).
• Lamaism (Mongolia).
• Confucianism (Malaysia, Brunei).
• Shintoism (Japan).
• Sunnism (Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan).

Types of early religions

From early forms of religions the beliefs that exist today were developed. Primitive human society, in the course of its development, gradually formed various types of worship of natural phenomena: wind, thunder, rain. Due to a lack of knowledge about the processes that occur in the surrounding world, people believed that all phenomena were controlled by supernatural forces, each of which controlled the weather, crops, etc. Early religions there was no emphasis on any one deity - people believed in symbols, invisible spirits, fetishes and various powers.

The formation of the first religious beliefs depended on the structure of society, a certain established hierarchy of groups - tribe, state, city, village or individual family.

Early religious forms are characterized by the fact that they always identified the main gods and the deities who were subordinate to them. People endowed the main gods with one or another personal qualities, likened them to fathers of families, leaders or kings. The main god almost always had his own life story: birth, marriage, birth of heirs, who, as a rule, subsequently served as their assistants. In addition, the deities could be at enmity with each other, or, on the contrary, be friends, help people in agriculture, art, love and, accordingly, a certain god was responsible for each phenomenon, be it war or love.

The following types of early religions are distinguished:

• Magic.
• Fetishism.
• Totemism.
• Animism.

Magic

Magical beliefs are manifested in belief in supernatural forces, in the fact that a person is able to influence any natural phenomenon by performing certain symbolic actions - incantations, spells, etc.

This type of religion arose in ancient times and continues to exist to this day. The initial ideas about magic were quite abstract, but over time this direction of religion differentiated and today there are a huge number of its types and directions. So, depending on the methods of influence or social orientation, there are the following types of magic:

• Magic is harmful (damage).
• Therapeutic.
• Military (to attract good luck in military affairs).
• Love (lapels, love spells).
• Meteorological (for weather changes).
• Contact ( magical influence method of contact with the object).
• Imitative (impact on the simulated similarity of the subject).
• Partial (magical rituals using cut hair, nails or leftover food).

Fetishism

In ancient times, people revered various objects, which they believed brought good luck and protected them from dangers. This form of religious belief is called fetishism. Almost all types primitive religion, including fetishism, exist in the modern life of many peoples. Today, people who use all kinds of talismans and amulets to attract various benefits - material or spiritual - are usually called fetishists.

Any thing or object that comes into a person’s field of vision can become a fetish: it can be stones of unusual shapes, animal skulls, wooden, metal or clay products. Such items are selected by trial and error. For example, when a person noticed that an object brought him luck, this object became his fetish, otherwise the fetishes were thrown away, destroyed and replaced with others, more fortunate.

Totemism

Primitive people believed that there was a family relationship between certain groups of people (tribe, family) and certain species of animals or plants. Thus, a tribe that considered itself related to some animal provided a special cult to it and worshiped this animal. Wind, rain, sun, iron, water, etc. were often used as totems. Such beliefs were most widespread in Africa, North America, and Australia. Totemism has survived to this day in some tribes of these countries.

Animism

Animism is also a type of early religious form. This religion is characterized by belief in spirits and souls. Ancient people believed that nature and the objects around them had supernatural powers and had a soul. Spirits were divided into evil and good. In order to appease any spirit, sacrifices were often practiced.

Animism is currently present in many modern religions. Today perfume and devilry are modifications of the animistic ideas of primitive people. Although modern society considers them to be everyday superstitions and prejudices, almost all religious beliefs are associated with their existence.

Types of pagan religions

The term “paganism” comes from the word “language,” which means “people” in Church Slavonic. In the era of the Old Testament, Jews called everyone who was not a Jew Gentile. This word contained a negative assessment both in relation to the peoples themselves and to their customs, religious beliefs, moral and cultural values. In Christian vocabulary, the term “paganism” appeared thanks to the Jews, but Christians do not mean by this word any connections with race or nation. There are the following types of pagan religions:

• Shamanism.
• Magic.
• Satanism.
• Materialism.
• All types of polytheistic religions.

Characteristic features that unite the majority listed religions, are idolatry, magic, naturalism and mysticism.

What religion do you profess, and what religion would you like to know more about? Tell us in the comments about your attitude towards other religions.

The concept of “world religions” refers to three religious movements that are professed by the people of different continents and countries. Currently, these include three main religions: Christianity, Buddhism and Islam. It is interesting that Hinduism, Confucianism and Judaism, although they have gained enormous popularity in many countries, are not considered by world theologians. They are considered national religions.

Let's take a closer look at the three world religions.

Christianity: God is the Holy Trinity

Christianity arose in the first century AD in Palestine, among the Jews, and spread throughout the then Mediterranean. Three centuries later it became the state religion of the Roman Empire, and after another nine, all of Europe was Christianized. In our area, on the territory of what was then Rus', Christianity appeared in the 10th century. In 1054, the church split into two - Orthodoxy and Catholicism, and Protestantism emerged from the second during the Reformation. At the moment these are the three main branches of Christianity. Today the total number of believers is 1 billion.

Basic tenets of Christianity:

• God is one, but He is a Trinity, He has three “persons”, three hypostases: Son, Father and Holy Spirit. All together they form the image of one God, who created the entire universe in seven days.
• God made the atoning sacrifice in the guise of God the Son, Jesus Christ. This is a god-man, he has two natures: human and divine.
• There is divine grace - this is the power that God sends in order to free ordinary person from sin.
• There is an afterlife, life after death. For everything you have done in this life, you will be rewarded in the next.
• There are kind and evil spirits, angels and demons.

The holy book of Christians is the Bible.

Islam: There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet

This youngest world religion arose in the seventh century AD on the Arabian Peninsula, among the Arab tribes. Islam was founded by Muhammad - this is a specific historical figure, a man born in 570 in Mecca. At the age of 40, he announced that God (Allah) had chosen him as his prophet, and therefore began to act as a preacher. Certainly, local authorities This approach was not liked, and therefore Muhammad had to move to Yathrib (Medina), where he continued to tell people about God.

The holy book of Muslims is the Koran. It is a collection of Muhammad's sermons, created after his death. During his life, his words were perceived as the direct speech of God, and therefore were transmitted exclusively orally.

The Sunnah (a collection of stories about Muhammad) and the Sharia (a set of principles and rules of conduct for Muslims) also play an important role. The main rituals of Islam are important:

• daily prayer five times a day (namaz);
• universal observance of strict fasting during the month (Ramadan);
• alms;
• performing hajj (pilgrimage) to the holy land in Mecca.

Buddhism: You need to strive for Nirvana, and life is suffering

Buddhism is the oldest of the world's religions, which originated in the sixth century BC in India. She has over 800 million followers.

It is based on the story of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who lived in joy and ignorance until he met an old man, a man with leprosy, and then - funeral procession. So he learned everything that had previously been hidden from him: old age, illness and death - in a word, everything that awaits every person. At the age of 29, he left his family, became a hermit and began to search for the meaning of life. At the age of 35, he became Buddha - an enlightened one who created his own teaching about life.

According to Buddhism, life is suffering, and its cause is passions and desires. To get rid of suffering, you need to renounce desires and passions and try to achieve the state of nirvana - a state of complete peace. And after death, any creature is reborn in the form of a completely different creature. Which one depends on your behavior in this and past lives.

These are the most general information about three world religions, as far as the format of the article allowed. But in each of them you can find a lot of interesting and important things for yourself.

And here we have prepared even more interesting materials for you!

Religion is a person’s worldview based on belief in and worship of the supernatural. The components of religion as a worldview are people’s observance of certain moral standards, their adherence to a special value system, the practice of rituals and recognition of the cult. As a rule, it involves the creation of an organized association of believers in a separate, clearly structured structure - the church.

In most religious communities and communities, the leading place is occupied by clergy or clergy. Religious worldview most often based on certain sacred texts that contain the foundations of a given faith and, according to its supporters, are dictated either directly by God or by people who have reached the highest stages of initiation into the sacrament (that is, saints).

Major religions in the world

According to statistical data from 2012, according to religion, the population professes the following:
forms of religion

• Christians (Orthodoxy, Protestantism)
  — 2.31 billion believers (33% of the world’s population)
• — 1.58 billion believers (23% of the world’s population)
• Hinduism - believers 0.95 billion (14% of the world's population)
• — believers 0.47 billion (6.7% of the world population)
• traditional Chinese religions— believers 0.46 billion (6.6% of the world population)
• Sikhs - believers 24 million (0.3% of the world population)
• Jews - believers 15 million (0.2% of the world's population)
• paganism and adherents of local beliefs - about 0.27 billion (3.9% of the world's population)
• non-religious - about 0.66 billion (9.4% of the world population)
• atheists - about 0.14 billion (2% of the world's population).

The relationship between secularism and religion. State religion

The relationship between religion and secular power in any state is regulated by the Constitution, the laws of the country, adopted by parliament and the traditions of the population. Religion occupies its strongest position in countries where it is recognized as the state religion. This
- in Catholic countries - in - Vatican City, Malta, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Monaco, (a number of cantons), in - , Costa Rica, Dominican Republic
- in Orthodox states - in Macedonia.
- in Protestant states (Anglicanism) - this is part of, while Northern Ireland and Wales do not have a state church;
- in Protestant states (Lutheranism) - Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Scotland as part of Great Britain;
- - Israel;
- Islam (Sunni) - Afghanistan, Sudan, Palestine, Algeria, Brunei, Qatar, Yemen, Jordan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Mauritania, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Somalia, Morocco, UAE (United Arab Emirates);
- Islam (Shiites) - and Iraq;
- Buddhism - Cambodia, Bhutan, Laos.

Religion and Science

There are several points of view regarding the issue of interaction between science and religion. They can be divided into four types:

1. Conflict. From this point of view, religion and science are contradictory and incompatible with each other. The most famous representatives of this point of view are Richard Dawkins, Andrew Dixon White, Peter Atkins, Richard Feynman, Vitaly Ginzburg.

2. Independence. Religion and science deal with different areas of knowledge. This point of view is based on Immanuel Kant's doctrine of the transcendental, which was formulated in the Critique of Pure Reason.

3. Dialogue. The areas of knowledge overlap and there is a need to eliminate contradictions on individual issues by refuting or harmonizing positions.

4. Integration. Both of these areas of knowledge are combined into one holistic system of reasoning. Defended by some philosophers and theologians, for example, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Ian Barbour.

Religion and medicine

In an article published in Psychiatric Times by David Larson, president of the National Institute of Health Research (USA), and his co-authors, “The Forgotten Factor in Psychiatry: Religious Commitment and mental health" The authors agreed that "the lack of religious or spiritual interests remains a serious risk factor for the development of alcoholism and drug addiction."

On the other hand, spirituality can actually help overcome any alcohol or drug abuse, for example: “45 percent of patients in faith-based addiction recovery programs were drug-free one year later—compared with 5 percent in nonreligious community-based programs.” (Desmond and Maddux, 1981).

Religious court

In some countries there are also religious courts (eg Muslim Sharia courts) and customary courts.

There are two types of these organs:
- church courts (consider intra-church disputes on the basis of religious law), operating in many countries of the world (Great Britain, Russia), and the R.S. itself. (consider a wider range of issues, albeit on the basis of religious law, for example, marriage and family disputes, inheritance disputes). Not only the clergy, but also the laity of a given denomination fall under the jurisdiction of the latter (such courts operate, for example, in Israel).
- In principle, religious courts also include Sharia courts, which, however, have a mixed, state-public nature.

Basic signs of religion

Any religion always involves the following components:
1. Religious consciousness. Religious consciousness exists in the form of images, ideas, moods, feelings, experiences, habits, traditions
2. Religious activities (cult and non-cult). Cult actions are a set of symbolic actions through which believers try to establish a connection with supernatural forces. These are religious rites, rituals, sacrifices, worship, prayers, etc. Non-cult activities can be spiritual and practical. The spiritual includes self-contemplation, various types of meditation, revelations, the development of religious ideas, and the writing of religious texts. Practical side non-cult activities consist of all kinds of actions aimed at spreading and protecting religion.
3.Religious organization. Religious organizations are a form of possible ordering of joint religious activities of believers, the primary organizational link which is a religious group or community. The highest form of organization is the Church.

Theories about the emergence of religion

1. Religious. Distributed exclusively among believers and suggests the emergence of religion as a result of divine revelation. According to this theory, God himself revealed himself to people in the form of signs, phenomena, and the gift of sacred texts.
2. Scientific. Involves a rational explanation of the reasons why people at one time turned to religion. There are several of them:
- dependence natural phenomena, fear of all kinds of disasters;
- endowment of sacred properties to their leaders, deification of kings (for example, as in ancient Egypt).

In addition, there are many more, so-called situational, reasons for applying different people to faith (both before and now):
- a feeling of fear of possible retribution for committed actions (sins);
- dissatisfaction in earthly life and the desire to compensate for all the failures encountered in this world, in another - the other world;
- the need for moral support and consolation, which can only be found among fellow believers;
- imitation of others;
- respect for believing parents;
- following traditions and national feeling.

Forms of religiosity

The concept of “religiosity” reflects originality and originality spiritual world individual according to the degree of influence of faith on his consciousness. A religious person is one who believes in the real existence of supernatural forces, primarily God, and other world into which he will definitely end up after earthly life. To do this, he fulfills all the requirements prescribed by his religion and regularly performs cult actions. The main goal and meaning of a believer’s actions is serving God. Strict adherence to religious norms and rules will help a person to join the Divine. Earthly life is considered only as an intermediate stage on the path to eternal bliss.

However, the degree of religiosity of a particular person can vary significantly. There are several forms of “immersion” in faith:

1. People with moderate religiosity. In their worldview, the religious element is not decisive. Their faith in God is not specific; it does not imply obligatory conversion, strict knowledge of religious systems, or strict fulfillment of all religious actions and instructions.
2. Ordinary believers. For such people, faith is deeply rooted in all structures of consciousness; it morally regulates all their life activities. An ordinary believer fulfills all church instructions and embodies the highest values ​​of his religion in his own behavior and actions. But, at the same time, he is capable of dialogue with representatives of other religions and treats them tolerantly.
3. Religious fanatics. People who are extremely committed to religious ideas, striving to strictly follow them in practical life and calling on everyone to do the same, intolerant of people of other faiths and dissidents, confident in their own infallibility. As a rule, such people are prone to violent actions.

Functions of religion

This refers to the nature of the impact of religion on a person and on society as a whole.

· Worldview function. Religion forms a certain view of the world, explains a person’s place in it, the meaning and purpose of his life.
· Illusory-compensatory function. Man's inability to control many natural and social processes, the need to overcome forces beyond his control, receives a ghostly embodiment in religious ideas.
· Communication function. Religion can also act as a means of communication between people. For example, at meetings, during the performance of certain rituals, during services in temples.
· Regulatory function. Religious norms, which a believer strictly adheres to, concern not only the religious side of his life, they also regulate social behavior person (in the family, at home, at work, etc.).
· Integrating function. Religion has the ability to spiritually unite individual groups of people, as well as society as a whole.

Types of religions

Throughout its history, humanity has created more than five thousand different religions. Naturally, they were and remain very diverse. Therefore, there was a need to classify them according to various criteria.

Depending on the number of gods, religions are divided into monotheistic and polytheistic.

Monotheistic (monotheism) includes Christianity, Islam, Judaism and others.

Polytheistic (polytheism) includes Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, etc.

Depending on the area of ​​distribution, religions are divided into three groups:
1. Global - covers people of different nationalities. There are only three of them - Christianity, Islam, Buddhism.
2. National - common only among representatives of one nation. For example, Judaism among the Wu, Shintoism among the Japanese, Taoism among the Chinese, Hinduism among the Hindus, Zoroastrianism among the ancient Persians.
3. Tribal - common among tribes that have not yet transformed to the level of nations. This type includes:
- shamanism - belief in interaction with the world of spirits;
- totemism - belief in an imaginary family union with a totem (natural object), which can be an animal, plant, or natural phenomenon;
- animism - belief in the animation of all objects and things around a person;
- fetishism - belief in the supernatural power of objects;
- magic - belief in the possibility of achieving a certain goal by supernatural means.

Depending on their attitude to the Bible, religions are divided into two groups:
1. Abrahamic religions - belong to the Old and New Testament traditions. These are Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
2. Non-Abrahamic religions - all others.

Knowledge begins with a question. Since childhood, comprehending the basics of knowledge, people seek their personal path to God. Everyone longs for spiritual light. They want to know the fundamental truths, concepts, sacraments, the essence of worship services, rituals. There are many questions! But there are also answers.

How many religions are there in the world

About five thousand religions are known to science. Largest quantity Several world religions have adherents.

Christianity. Followers of Jesus Christ are united in more than 100 churches, movements and sects. These are Eastern Catholic churches. Old Catholicism. Protestantism. Orthodoxy. Spiritual Christianity. Sect. It is the largest world religion both in terms of the number of adherents, of which there are about 2.1 billion, and in terms of geographical distribution - almost every country in the world has at least one Christian community.

Islam is divided into 7 movements: Sunnis, Shiites, Ismailis, Kharijites, Sufism, Salafis (Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia), radical Islamists. Followers of Islam are called Muslims. Muslim communities exist in more than 120 countries and, according to various sources, unite up to 1.5 billion people.

Buddhism consists of three main and many local schools: Theravada - the most conservative school of Buddhism; Mahayana - the latest form of development of Buddhism; Vajrayana – occult modification of Buddhism (Lamaism); Shingon-shu is one of the main Buddhist schools of Japan, belonging to the Vajrayana movement. Estimates of the number of followers of Buddhism range from 350 to 500 million. According to the Buddha, “all that we are is the result of our thoughts, the mind is everything.”

Judaism is divided into 11 movements: Orthodox Judaism, Litvaks, Hasidism, Orthodox modernism, religious Zionism, Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism, the movement of humanistic Judaism, Renovationist Judaism of Rabbi Michael Lerner, Messianic Judaism. Has up to 14 million followers.

Hinduism. A religion that originated in the Indian subcontinent. Historical name Hinduism in Sanskrit is Sanatana Dharma, which means “eternal religion”, “eternal path” or “eternal law”. It has its roots in the Vedic civilization, which is why it is called the world's oldest religion. 1 billion followers.

The privileged caste is the Brahmins. Only they alone could be ministers of the cult.

Confucianism. Formally, Confucianism never had the institution of a church, but in terms of its significance, the degree of penetration into the soul and education of the consciousness of the people, it successfully played the role of a religion. In Imperial China, Confucianism was the philosophy of learned thinkers. Over 1 billion followers.

African traditional religions. Practiced by approximately 15% of Africans, they include a variety of concepts of fetishism, animism, totemism and ancestor worship. Some religious beliefs are common to many African ethnic groups, but they are usually unique to each ethnic group. Has 100 million followers.

Shintoism- traditional religion of Japan. Forms of Shinto: temple, imperial court, state, sectarian, folk and home. Only about 3 million Japanese turned out to be ardent supporters of Shintoism, who gave preference to this particular religion.

Voodoo. Common name religious beliefs that emerged among the descendants of black slaves taken from Africa to South and Central America.

Shamanism. A well-established name in science for a set of people’s ideas about ways of conscious and purposeful interaction with the transcendental (“otherworldly”) world, primarily with spirits, which is carried out by a shaman.

The road to Abashevo was long. Our film crew went to the Temple of St. John the Warrior early in the morning. We had to overcome 350 kilometers.

Today there are more than 5,000 religions in the world, but only three are the main ones - Christianity, Buddhism and Islam. All of them help a person find the meaning of life and understand why he comes into this world. They combine belief in higher spiritual powers and the continued existence of the soul after the death of the body. What religions there are will be discussed in this article.

What religions exist?

Those who are interested in which religion is the most widespread should answer that Christianity. Its followers worship Jesus Christ, the son of God, who sacrificed himself for the sins of all mankind. This religion is practiced by about 2.5 billion people around the world. There are its separate movements, such as Catholicism, Protestantism and Orthodoxy, which are somewhat different from each other, and numerous sects have broken away from Christianity. The second most common religion is Islam. The Prophet Muhammad preached faith in one God, Allah, 600 years before the birth of Christ, and today Muslims of all countries honor him as the greatest seer and the sacred teaching of the Koran, which Allah sent down to him.

Buddhism arose around the same time as Islam. This religion originated in India and today its main followers live in Asia and countries Far East. Buddhism calls for entering nirvana and seeing life as it is. The practice of self-restraint and meditation is practiced. For those who are interested in which religion is the very first, it is worth answering that Hinduism, which originated in 1500 BC.

However, it is also not a unified system of religious teachings and includes such schools and cults as Krishnaism, Tantrism, Shaivism, etc. Hinduism never had its own founder, unified system values ​​and general doctrine. For those wondering what dogmas the oldest religion in the world professes, it is worth saying that special importance is attached to a personal creator or God, an impersonal Absolute, as well as pluralism and non-absoluteness.