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Main article: Major religious groups Further information: Organized religion The list of still-active religious movements given here is an attempt to summarize the most important regional and philosophical influences on local communities, but it is by no means a complete description of every religious community, nor does it explain the most important elements of individual religiousness. The five largest religious groups by world population, estimated to account for 5 billion people, are Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism (with the relative numbers for Buddhism and Hinduism dependent on the extent of syncretism) and Chinese folk religion. Five largest religions Adherents in 2000[69][70] % of world population[69] Demographics Christianity 2.0 billion 33% Christianity by country Islam 1.2 billion 19.6% Islam by country Hinduism 811 million 13.4% Hinduism by country Chinese folk religion 385 million 6.4% Chinese folk religion Buddhism 360 million 5.9% Buddhism by country Abrahamic The patriarch Abraham (by József Molnár) Abrahamic religions are monotheistic religions which believe they descend from Abraham. Judaism is the oldest Abrahamic religion, originating in the people of ancient Israel and Judea. Judaism is based primarily on the Torah, a text which some Jews believe was handed down to the people of Israel through the prophet Moses. This along with the rest of the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud are the central texts of Judaism. The Jewish people were scattered after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. Today there are about 13 million Jews, about 40 per cent living in Israel and 40 per cent in the United States.[71] Jesus is the central figure of Christianity. Christianity is based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth (1st century) as presented in the New Testament. The Christian faith is essentially faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and as Savior and Lord. Almost all Christians believe in the Trinity, which teaches the unity of Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead. Most Christians can describe their faith with the Nicene Creed. As the religion of Byzantine Empire in the first millennium and of Western Europe during the time of colonization, Christianity has been propagated throughout the world. The main divisions of Christianity are, according to the number of adherents: Catholic Church, headed by the Pope in Rome, is a communion of the Western church and 22 Eastern Catholic churches. Protestantism, separated from the Catholic Church in the 16th-century Reformation and split in many denominations, Eastern Christianity, which include Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and the Church of the East. There are other smaller groups, such as Jehovah's Witnesses and the Latter Day Saint movement, whose inclusion in Christianity is sometimes disputed.[by whom?] Muslims circumambulating the Kaaba, the most sacred site in Islam Islam is based on the Quran, one of the holy books considered by Muslims to be revealed by God, and on the teachings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, a major political and religious figure of the 7th century CE. Islam is the most widely practiced religion of Southeast Asia, North Africa, Western Asia, and Central Asia, while Muslim-majority countries also exist in parts of South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Europe. There are also several Islamic republics, including Iran, Pakistan, Mauritania, and Afghanistan. Sunni Islam is the largest denomination within Islam and follows the Quran, the hadiths which record the sunnah, whilst placing emphasis on the sahabah. Shia Islam is the second largest denomination of Islam and its adherents believe that Ali succeeded prophet Muhammad and further places emphasis on prophet Muhammads family. Other denominations of Islam include Ahmadiyya, Nation of Islam, Ibadi, Sufism, Quranism, Mahdavia, and non-denominational Muslims. Wahhabism is the dominant Muslim schools of thought in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Bahá'í Faith is an Abrahamic religion founded in 19th century Iran and since then has spread worldwide. It teaches unity of all religious philosophies and accepts all of the prophets of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as well as additional prophets including its founder Bahá'u'lláh. Smaller regional Abrahamic groups, including Samaritanism (primarily in Israel and the West Bank), the Rastafari movement (primarily in Jamaica), and Druze (primarily in Syria and Lebanon). Iranian Zoroastrian Fire Temple Iranian religions are ancient religions whose roots predate the Islamization of Greater Iran. Nowadays these religions are practiced only by minorities. Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster in the 6th century BC. The Zoroastrians worship the Creator Ahura Mazda. In Zoroastrianism good and evil have distinct sources, with evil trying to destroy the creation of Mazda, and good trying to sustain it. Mandaeism is a monotheistic religion with a strongly dualistic worldview. Mandaeans are sometime labeled as the "Last Gnostics". Kurdish religions include the traditional beliefs of the Yazidi, Alevi, and Ahl-e Haqq. Sometimes these are labeled Yazdânism. Indian Hindu statue of Rama in Kalaram Temple (India) The Buddha, in a Sanskrit manuscript, Nālandā, Bihar, India Indian religions are practiced or were founded in the Indian subcontinent. They are sometimes classified as the dharmic religions, as they all feature dharma, the specific law of reality and duties expected according to the religion.[72] Hinduism is a synecdoche describing the similar philosophies of Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and related groups practiced or founded in the Indian subcontinent. Concepts most of them share in common include karma, caste, reincarnation, mantras, yantras, and darśana.[note 3] Hinduism is the most ancient of still-active religions,[73][74] with origins perhaps as far back as prehistoric times.[75] Hinduism is not a monolithic religion but a religious category containing dozens of separate philosophies amalgamated as Sanātana Dharma, which is the name with whom Hinduism has been known throughout history by its followers. Jainism, taught primarily by Parsva (9th century BCE) and Mahavira (6th century BCE), is an ancient Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence for all forms of living beings in this world. Jains are found mostly in India. Buddhism was founded by Siddhattha Gotama in the 6th century BCE. Buddhists generally agree that Gotama aimed to help sentient beings end their suffering (dukkha) by understanding the true nature of phenomena, thereby escaping the cycle of suffering and rebirth (saṃsāra), that is, achieving nirvana. Theravada Buddhism, which is practiced mainly in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia alongside folk religion, shares some characteristics of Indian religions. It is based in a large collection of texts called the Pali Canon. Mahayana Buddhism (or the "Great Vehicle") under which are a multitude of doctrines that began their development in China and are still relevant in Vietnam, Korea, Japan and to a lesser extent in Europe and the United States. Mahayana Buddhism includes such disparate teachings as Zen, Pure Land, and Soka Gakkai. Vajrayana Buddhism first appeared in India in the 3rd century CE.[76] It is currently most prominent in the Himalaya regions[77] and extends across all of Asia[78] (cf. Mikkyō). Two notable new Buddhist sects are Hòa Hảo and the Dalit Buddhist movement, which were developed separately in the 20th century. Fresco of Guru Nanak at Goindwal Sahib Gurdwara Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded on the teachings of Guru Nanak and ten successive Sikh gurus in 15th century Punjab. It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world, with approximately 30 million Sikhs.[79][80] Sikhs are expected to embody the qualities of a Sant-Sipāhī—a saint-soldier, have control over one's internal vices and be able to be constantly immersed in virtues clarified in the Guru Granth Sahib. The principal beliefs of Sikhi are faith in Waheguru—represented by the phrase ik ōaṅkār, meaning one God, who prevails in everything, along with a praxis in which the Sikh is enjoined to engage in social reform through the pursuit of justice for all human beings. African traditional Main article: Traditional African religion African traditional religion encompasses the traditional religious beliefs of people in Africa. There are also notable African diasporic religions practiced in the Americas. North Africa: Traditional Berber religion (Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya) Ancient Egyptian religion (Egypt, Sudan) Northeast Africa: Waaq (Horn of Africa) Shango, the Orisha (god) of fire, lightning, and thunder, in the Yoruba religion, depicted on horseback West Africa: Akan religion (Ghana) Dahomey (Fon) mythology (Benin) Efik mythology (Nigeria, Cameroon) Odinani of the Igbo people (Nigeria, Cameroon) Serer religion (Senegal, Gambia) Yoruba religion (Nigeria, Benin) Central Africa: Bantu mythology (Central, Southeast, and Southern Africa) Bushongo mythology (Congo) Mbuti (Pygmy) mythology (Congo) Lugbara mythology (Congo) Dinka religion (South Sudan) Lotuko mythology (South Sudan) Southeast Africa: Bantu mythology (Central, Southeast, and Southern Africa) Akamba mythology (Kenya) Masai mythology (Kenya, Tanzania) Malagasy mythology (Madagascar) Southern Africa: Bantu mythology (Central, Southeast, and Southern Africa) San religion (South Africa) Lozi mythology (Zambia) Tumbuka mythology (Malawi) Zulu mythology (South Africa) Diaspora: Main article: African diasporic religions Santeria (Cuba) Candomble (Brazil) Vodun (Haiti, United States) Lucumi (Caribbean) Umbanda (Brazil) Macumba (Brazil) Folk Incense burner in China The term folk refers to a broad category of traditional religions that includes shamanism and elements of animism and ancestor worship, where traditional means "indigenous, that which is aboriginal or foundational, handed down from generation to generation…".[81] These are religions that are closely associated with a particular group of people, ethnicity or tribe; they often have no formal creeds or sacred texts.[82] Some faiths are syncretic, fusing diverse religious beliefs and practices.[83] Chinese folk religion, e.g.: those aspects of Confucianism and Taoism which are seen as religious by outsiders, as well as some Mahayana Buddhism. New religious movements include Falun Gong and I-Kuan Tao. Other folk religions in Asia-Pacific region, e.g.: Cheondoism, Korean shamanism, Shinbutsu-shūgō and Modekngei. Australian Aboriginal mythology. Folk religions of the Americas, e.g.: Native American religion Folk religions are often omitted as a category in surveys even in countries where they are widely practiced, e.g. in China.[82] New A Modern-style Unitarian Universalist sanctuary New religious movements include: Shinshūkyō is a general category for a wide variety of religious movements founded in Japan since the 19th century. These movements share almost nothing in common except the place of their founding. The largest religious movements centered in Japan include Soka Gakkai, Tenrikyo, and Seicho-No-Ie among hundreds of smaller groups. Cao Đài is a syncretistic, monotheistic religion, established in Vietnam in 1926. Raëlism is a new religious movement founded in 1974 teaching that humans were created by aliens. It is numerically the world's largest UFO religion. Hindu reform movements, such as Ayyavazhi, Swaminarayan Faith and Ananda Marga, are examples of new religious movements within Indian religions. Unitarian Universalism is a religion characterized by support for a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning", and has no accepted creed or theology. Noahidism is a Biblical-Talmudic and monotheistic ideology for non-Jews based on the Seven Laws of Noah, and on their traditional interpretations within Judaism. Scientology teaches that people are immortal beings who have forgotten their true nature. Its method of spiritual rehabilitation is a type of counseling known as auditing, in which practitioners aim to consciously re-experience and understand painful or traumatic events and decisions in their past in order to free themselves of their limiting effects. Eckankar is a pantheistic religion with the purpose of making God an everyday reality in one's life. Wicca is a neo-pagan religion first popularised in 1954 by British civil servant Gerald Gardner, involving the worship of a God and Goddess. Druidry is a religion promoting harmony with nature, and drawing on the practices of the druids. Satanism is a broad category of religions that, for example, worship Satan as a deity (Theistic Satanism) or use "Satan" as a symbol of carnality and earthly values (LaVeyan Satanism). Sociological classifications of religious movements suggest that within any given religious group, a community can resemble various types of structures, including "churches", "denominations", "sects", "cults", and "institutions". |
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