Religion as a Belief System: What Is It?

Introduction.

A belief system, as is generally understood, contains high values, moral ideas and thoughts which provide a moral lesson. An overview identifies different types of belief systems that have been prevailing in the modern world. One can regard “belief system is the actual set of precepts from which you live your daily life, those which govern your thoughts, words, and actions.” (Your Belief System, 2007).

It is possible for one to identify various types of belief systems which exert their predominant influence in the formation of various cultures. One can also see their deep influence in molding one’s character. It is quite common that as one grew up, the society imposed many values and ideas upon him. General concept of the society is that if one wants to lead a peaceful life in this world, one has to believe in a particular belief system.

Most people believe that man cannot live without a belief system. Religion is the one belief system which is deep-rooted in human minds. So for majority of people religion is the backbone of their belief system. It is through one’s parents one gets the glimpses of religion. He/she gradually acquires some knowledge about the religious belief and the same takes him/her to a particular religion and its values, beliefs, customs and tradition.

It is not only through one’s parents that one acquires knowledge about the morals, values and ideas of a religious belief system but also through education and the social set up in which one lives. One of the main features of the modern communities is that they allow religious freedom to its people and let them either follow a particular religion or remain an atheist. After acquiring knowledge from his parents, a person is free to select a religion of his/her choice that acknowledges his/her freedom.

As mentioned earlier, if one is born into a Hindu family then his/her parents teach him about Hinduism. As a kid, it is the only source through which he can acquire knowledge. Most often the parents would be telling him about Hindu gods or goddess. Hindus are polytheists and they consider every living and non living being as a part of god. So they consider eating beef as a religious sin. Hindus also believe in rebirth. Really speaking, our belief system should evolve as a result of our own thinking about our existence or the existence of every creature in this world.

When one believes in the religious belief system with full faith in god, it is possible that one can live happily. Such people can take shelter in the belief that god will serve them. They will think that after death they will reach god and they will have rebirth. When we believe in a religion we are likely follow their conventions, ideas and values. A Hindu will go to temples and a Christian will visit church on Sundays. They will go through their sacred books and will acquire knowledge.

A deeply religious man will not probably commit any crime for the fear that God’s punishment awaits him. They live in the hope that if anything bad happens in their life god will come as a savior for them. But on the other side the disadvantage is also there. Faith in a particular religion will make man possessive. He will not be able to love people of other religions. He may think of causing harm to those who have different thoughts and ideas.

There is also a school of thought which propagates that people with firm faith in God will not do immoral things because they think that if they do any thing which God does not like, they will be punished.

Religion has a role in the belief system which guides one’s actions commonly known religious belief system. There are many viewpoints regarding belief system and one of them evaluates, “Belief System can be one of our most powerful assets or our worst enemy.” (Belief and healing, 2007).

Religion and the approach to spirituality of human beings offer a change in the way of thinking. Religious belief is centered around the existence and nature of life and the way of worship of a divine power. In spite of other belief systems religious belief system has certain qualities as they relate the values of social being at all levels. Religious belief system deals with existence of belief, the nature of the belief and the principles related to this belief. The system also offers explanations related to the belief and religion. Religious belief system focuses on varieties of systems of thoughts.

Tradition has a major role in the religious belief system. An overview reveals that religion gives out a lot of rigid rules and manners. Religion even exerts some control over men in their daily life. The rituals, customs, practice, conventions and beliefs in the religious belief system point to a very important role for tradition. One can see various rituals in every religion. These rituals are performed in a variety of ways. The customs and practices in different religions also vary.

There are a lot of conventions in the religious belief system. In other words the customs and rituals practiced by one religion differs from another. All these are the traditional elements and without these elements there will be no religion and no religious belief systems. So tradition is the corner stone of every religious belief system. In a way role of tradition in religious belief system makes the religion acceptable and valuable.

The role of tradition in religion differs from its role in religious belief system. Tradition influences religion or, in other words, religion is based on tradition. Religion often makes men understand the morals and teach them how to behave in a society. Every religion teaches men the morals, manners and beliefs. The customs, rituals, ritual practices, conventional methods and values together make a religion.

These traditional elements in a religion relate the values and practices transmitted by every spiritual leader. Religion, as a means of search of the meaning of existence often gives security and a certain identity. Traditional values in a religion provide comfort and peace. Tradition in every religion strengthens the belief and explains its truth in a way every one can understand. Thus tradition has a very remarkable way in the realm of religion in general.

One should have a deep knowledge about others’ belief and their attitude towards religion. This knowledge helps one to behave properly without hurting their religious belief. First, one should understand others’ beliefs, ideas and opinion towards religion. One should also have knowledge about their feelings, emotions, conventions and attitude towards religion. This knowledge is essential for a person. One can find out people who possess same thoughts and beliefs as himself.

If one is aware of others’ belief and attitudes it helps him to create a warm relation with others. Such knowledge helps one to interact with others freely. If one is unaware of other person’s beliefs, one’s attitude may cause irritation to the other. To avoid such irritations and hurt feelings one should have knowledge about others’ beliefs. There exists a deep relation between belief and knowledge. The belief will be knowledge if it is sincere and true. Belief systems are unique and universal in nature.

When reaching the conclusion, one can infer that belief is complimentary and it varies from person to person. It is the right of a person to be religious, atheist or spiritualist as he has the right to live on the earth. As there are different regions and beliefs, one can choose any religion which provides morality and values necessary to keep alive justice and safety of the people of the world.

Belief and healing. (2007). You’ve to Find Your Way to a Peaceful Mind. Web.

Your belief system . (2007). Fringe Wisdom. Web.

Cite this paper

  • Chicago (N-B)
  • Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2021, October 29). Religion as a Belief System: What Is It? https://studycorgi.com/religion-as-a-belief-system-what-is-it/

"Religion as a Belief System: What Is It?" StudyCorgi , 29 Oct. 2021, studycorgi.com/religion-as-a-belief-system-what-is-it/.

StudyCorgi . (2021) 'Religion as a Belief System: What Is It'. 29 October.

1. StudyCorgi . "Religion as a Belief System: What Is It?" October 29, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/religion-as-a-belief-system-what-is-it/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "Religion as a Belief System: What Is It?" October 29, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/religion-as-a-belief-system-what-is-it/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "Religion as a Belief System: What Is It?" October 29, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/religion-as-a-belief-system-what-is-it/.

This paper, “Religion as a Belief System: What Is It?”, was written and voluntary submitted to our free essay database by a straight-A student. Please ensure you properly reference the paper if you're using it to write your assignment.

Before publication, the StudyCorgi editorial team proofread and checked the paper to make sure it meets the highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, fact accuracy, copyright issues, and inclusive language. Last updated: October 29, 2021 .

If you are the author of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal . Please use the “ Donate your paper ” form to submit an essay.

SEP home page

  • Table of Contents
  • Random Entry
  • Chronological
  • Editorial Information
  • About the SEP
  • Editorial Board
  • How to Cite the SEP
  • Special Characters
  • Advanced Tools
  • Support the SEP
  • PDFs for SEP Friends
  • Make a Donation
  • SEPIA for Libraries
  • Entry Contents

Bibliography

Academic tools.

  • Friends PDF Preview
  • Author and Citation Info
  • Back to Top

The Concept of Religion

It is common today to take the concept religion as a taxon for sets of social practices, a category-concept whose paradigmatic examples are the so-called “world” religions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. [ 1 ] Perhaps equally paradigmatic, though somewhat trickier to label, are forms of life that have not been given a name, either by practitioners or by observers, but are common to a geographical area or a group of people—for example, the religion of China or that of ancient Rome, the religion of the Yoruba or that of the Cherokee. In short, the concept is today used for a genus of social formations that includes several members, a type of which there are many tokens.

The concept religion did not originally refer to a social genus, however. Its earliest references were not to social kinds and, over time, the extension of the concept has evolved in different directions, to the point that it threatens incoherence. As Paul Griffiths notes, listening to the discussions about the concept religion

rapidly suggests the conclusion that hardly anyone has any idea what they are talking about—or, perhaps more accurately, that there are so many different ideas in play about what religion is that conversations in which the term figures significantly make the difficulties in communication at the Tower of Babel seem minor and easily dealt with. These difficulties are apparent, too, in the academic study of religion, and they go far toward an explanation of why the discipline has no coherent or widely shared understanding of its central topic. (2000: 30)

This entry therefore provides a brief history of the how the semantic range of religion has grown and shifted over the years, and then considers two philosophical issues that arise for the contested concept, issues that are likely to arise for other abstract concepts used to sort cultural types (such as “literature”, “democracy”, or “culture” itself). First, the disparate variety of practices now said to fall within this category raises a question of whether one can understand this social taxon in terms of necessary and sufficient properties or whether instead one should instead treat it as a family resemblance concept. Here, the question is whether the concept religion can be said to have an essence. Second, the recognition that the concept has shifted its meanings, that it arose at a particular time and place but was unknown elsewhere, and that it has so often been used to denigrate certain cultures, raises the question whether the concept corresponds to any kind of entity in the world at all or whether, instead, it is simply a rhetorical device that should be retired. This entry therefore considers the rise of critical and skeptical analyses of the concept, including those that argue that the term refers to nothing.

1. A History of the Concept

2.1 monothetic approaches, 2.2 polythetic approaches, 3. reflexivity, reference, and skepticism, other internet resources, related entries.

The concept religion did not originally refer to a social genus or cultural type. It was adapted from the Latin term religio , a term roughly equivalent to “scrupulousness”. Religio also approximates “conscientiousness”, “devotedness”, or “felt obligation”, since religio was an effect of taboos, promises, curses, or transgressions, even when these were unrelated to the gods. In western antiquity, and likely in many or most cultures, there was a recognition that some people worshipped different gods with commitments that were incompatible with each other and that these people constituted social groups that could be rivals. In that context, one sometimes sees the use of nobis religio to mean “our way of worship”. Nevertheless, religio had a range of senses and so Augustine could consider but reject it as the right abstract term for “how one worships God” because the Latin term (like the Latin terms for “cult” and “service”) was used for the observance of duties in both one’s divine and one’s human relationships (Augustine City of God [1968: Book X, Chapter 1, 251–253]). In the Middle Ages, as Christians developed monastic orders in which one took vows to live under a specific rule, they called such an order  religio (and religiones for the plural), though the term continued to be used, as it had been in antiquity, in adjective form to describe those who were devout and in noun form to refer to worship (Biller 1985: 358; Nongbri 2013: ch. 2).

The most significant shift in the history of the concept is when people began to use religion as a genus of which Christian and non-Christian groups were species. One sees a clear example of this use in the writings of Edward Herbert (1583–1648). As the post-Reformation Christian community fractured into literal warring camps, Herbert sought to remind the different protesting groups of what they nevertheless had in common. Herbert identified five “articles” or “elements” that he proposed were found in every religion, which he called the Common Notions, namely: the beliefs that

  • there is a supreme deity, [ 2 ]
  • this deity should be worshipped,
  • the most important part of religious practice is the cultivation of virtue,
  • one should seek repentance for wrong-doing, and
  • one is rewarded or punished in this life and the next.

Ignoring rituals and group membership, this proposal takes an idealized Protestant monotheism as the model of religion as such. Herbert was aware of peoples who worshipped something other than a single supreme deity. He noted that ancient Egyptians, for instance, worshipped multiple gods and people in other cultures worshipped celestial bodies or forces in nature. Herbert might have argued that, lacking a belief in a supreme deity, these practices were not religions at all but belonged instead in some other category such as superstition, heresy, or magic. But Herbert did include them, arguing that they were religions because the multiple gods were actually servants to or even aspects of the one supreme deity, and those who worshiped natural forces worshipped the supreme deity “in His works”.

The concept religion understood as a social genus was increasingly put to use by to European Christians as they sought to categorize the variety of cultures they encountered as their empires moved into the Americas, South Asia, East Asia, Africa, and Oceania. In this context, fed by reports from missionaries and colonial administrators, the extension of the generic concept was expanded. The most influential example is that of anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor (1832–1917) who had a scholarly interest in pre-Columbian Mexico. Like Herbert, Tylor sought to identify the common denominator of all religions, what Tylor called a “minimal definition” of religion, and he proposed that the key characteristic was “belief in spiritual beings” (1871 [1970: 8]). This generic definition included the forms of life predicated on belief in a supreme deity that Herbert had classified as religion. But it could also now include—without Herbert’s procrustean assumption that these practices were really directed to one supreme being—the practices used by Hindus, ancient Athenians, and the Navajo to connect to the gods they revere, the practices used by Mahayana Buddhists to connect to Bodhisattvas, and the practices used by Malagasy people to connect to the cult of the dead. The use of a unifying concept for such diverse practices is deliberate on Tylor’s part as he sought to undermine assumptions that human cultures poorly understood in Christian Europe—especially those despised ones, “painted black on the missionary maps” (1871 [1970: 4])—were not on the very same spectrum as the religion of his readers. This opposition to dividing European and non-European cultures into separate categories underlies Tylor’s insistence that all human beings are equivalent in terms of their intelligence. He argued that so-called “primitive” peoples generate their religious ideas when they wrestle with the same questions that all people do, such as the biological question of what explains life, and they do so with the same cognitive capacities. They may lack microscopes or telescopes, but Tylor claims that they seek to answer these questions in ways that are “rational”, “consistent”, and “logical”. Tylor repeatedly calls the Americans, Africans, and Asians he studies “thinking men” and “philosophers”. Tylor was conscious that the definition he proposed was part of a shift: though it was still common to describe some people as so primitive that they had no religion, Tylor complains that those who speak this way are guilty of “the use of wide words in narrow senses” because they are only willing to describe as religion practices that resemble their own expectations (1871 [1970: 3–4]).

In the twentieth century, one sees a third and last growth spurt in the extension of the concept. Here the concept religion is enlarged to include not only practices that connect people to one or more spirits, but also practices that connect people to “powers” or “forces” that lack minds, wills, and personalities. One sees this shift in the work of William James, for example, when he writes,

Were one asked to characterize the life of religion in the broadest and most general terms possible, one might say that it consists of the belief that there is an unseen order, and our supreme good lies in harmoniously adjusting ourselves thereto. (1902 [1985: 51]; cf. Proudfoot 2000)

By an “unseen order”, James presumably means a structure that is non-empirical, though he is not clear about why the term would not also include political, economic, or other invisible but human-created orders. The same problem plagues James’s description of “a MORE” operating in the universe that is similar to but outside oneself (1902 [1985: 400], capitalization in the original). The anthropologist Clifford Geertz addresses this issue, also defining religion in terms of an “order” but specifying that he means practices tied to conceptions of “a general order of existence”, that is, as he also says, something whose existence is “fundamental”, “all-pervading”, or “unconditioned” (1973: 98, emphasis added). The practices that are distinctly religious for Geertz are those tied to a culture’s metaphysics or worldview, their conception of “the overall shape of reality” (1973: 104). Like James, then, Geertz would include as religions not only the forms of life based on the theistic and polytheistic (or, more broadly, animist or spiritualist) beliefs that Herbert and Tylor recognized, but also those based on belief in the involuntary, spontaneous, or “natural” operations of the law of karma, the Dao in Daoism, the Principle in Neo-Confucianism, and the Logos in Stoicism. This expansion also includes Theravada Buddhism because dependent co-origination ( pratītyasamutpāda ) is a conception of the general order of existence and it includes Zen Buddhism because Buddha-nature is said to pervade everything. This third expansion is why non-theistic forms of Buddhism, excluded by the Herbert’s and Tylor’s definitions but today widely considered religions, can serve as “a litmus test” for definitions of the concept (Turner 2011: xxiii; cf. Southwold 1978). In sum, then, one can think of the growth of the social genus version of the concept religion as analogous to three concentric circles—from a theistic to a polytheistic and then to a cosmic (or “cosmographic” [Dubuisson 1998]) criterion. Given the near-automatic way that Buddhism is taken as a religion today, the cosmic version now seems to be the dominant one.

Some scholars resist this third expansion of the concept and retain a Tylorean definition, and it is true that there is a marked difference between practices that do and practices that do not involve interacting with person-like beings. In the former, anthropomorphic cases, practitioners can ask for help, make offerings, and pray with an understanding that they are heard. In the latter, non-anthropomorphic cases, practitioners instead typically engage in actions that put themselves “in accord with” the order of things. The anthropologist Robert Marett marks this difference between the last two extensions of the concept religion by distinguishing between “animism” and “animatism” (1909), the philosopher John Hick by distinguishing between religious “personae” and religious “impersonae” (1989: ch. 14–15). This difference raises a philosophical question: on what grounds can one place the practices based on these two kinds of realities in the same category? The many loa spirits, the creator Allah, and the all-pervading Dao are not available to the methods of the natural sciences, and so they are often called “supernatural”. If that term works, then religions in all three concentric circles can be understood as sets of practices predicated on belief in the supernatural. However, “supernatural” suggests a two-level view of reality that separates the empirically available natural world from some other realm metaphorically “above” or “behind” it. Many cultures lack or reject a distinction between natural and supernatural (Saler 1977, 2021). They believe that disembodied persons or powers are not in some otherworldly realm but rather on the top of a certain mountain, in the depths of the forest, or “everywhere”. To avoid the assumption of a two-level view of reality, then, some scholars have replaced supernatural with other terms, such as “superhuman”. Hick uses the term “transcendent”:

the putative reality which transcends everything other than itself but is not transcended by anything other than itself. (1993: 164)

In order to include loa , Allah, and the Dao but to exclude nations and economies, Kevin Schilbrack (2013) proposes the neologism “superempirical” to refer to non-empirical things that are also not the product of any empirical thing. Wouter Hanegraaff (1995), following J. G. Platvoet (1982: 30) uses “meta-empirical”. Whether a common element can be identified that will coherently ground a substantive definition of “religion” is not a settled question.

Despite this murkiness, all three of these versions are “substantive” definitions of religion because they determine membership in the category in terms of the presence of a belief in a distinctive kind of reality. In the twentieth century, however, one sees the emergence of an importantly different approach: a definition that drops the substantive element and instead defines the concept religion in terms of a distinctive role that a form of life can play in one’s life—that is, a “functional” definition. One sees a functional approach in Emile Durkheim (1912), who defines religion as whatever system of practices unite a number of people into a single moral community (whether or not those practices involve belief in any unusual realities). Durkheim’s definition turns on the social function of creating solidarity. One also sees a functional approach in Paul Tillich (1957), who defines religion as whatever dominant concern serves to organize a person’s values (whether or not that concern involve belief in any unusual realities). Tillich’s definition turns on the axiological function of providing orientation for a person’s life.

Substantive and functional approaches can produce non-overlapping extensions for the concept. Famously, a functional approach can hold that even atheistic forms of capitalism, nationalism, and Marxism function as religions. The literature on these secular institutions as functionally religions is massive. As Trevor Ling says,

the bulk of literature supporting the view that Marxism is a religion is so great that it cannot easily be set aside. (1980: 152)

On capitalism as a religion, see, e.g., McCarraher (2019); on nationalism, see, e.g., Omer and Springs (2013: ch. 2). One functionalist might count white supremacy as a religion (Weed 2019; Finley et al. 2020) and another might count anti-racism as a religion (McWhorter 2021). Here, celebrities can reach a religious status and fandom can be one’s religious identity (e.g., Lofton 2011; Lovric 2020). Without a supernatural, transcendent, or superempirical element, these phenomena would not count as religious for Herbert, Tylor, James, or Geertz. Conversely, interactions with supernatural beings may be categorized on a functional approach as something other than religion. For example, the Thai villager who wears an apotropaic amulet and avoids the forest because of a belief that malevolent spirits live there, or the ancient Roman citizen who takes a bird to be sacrificed in a temple before she goes on a journey are for Durkheim examples of magic rather than religion, and for Tillich quotidian rather than ultimate concerns.

It is sometimes assumed that to define religion as a social genus is to treat it as something universal, as something that appears in every human culture. It is true that some scholars have treated religion as pan-human. For example, when a scholar defines religion functionally as the beliefs and practices that generate social cohesion or as the ones that provide orientation in life, then religion names an inevitable feature of the human condition. The universality of religion that one then finds is not a discovery but a product of one’s definition. However, a social genus can be both present in more than one culture without being present in all of them, and so one can define religion , either substantively or functionally, in ways that are not universal. As common as beliefs in disembodied spirits or cosmological orders have been in human history, for instance, there were people in the past and there are people in the present who have no views of an afterlife, supernatural beings, or explicit metaphysics.

2. Two Kinds of Analysis of the Concept

The history of the concept religion above shows how its senses have shifted over time. A concept used for scrupulous devotion was retooled to refer to a particular type of social practice. But the question—what type?—is now convoluted. The cosmic version of the concept is broader than the polytheistic version, which is in turn broader than the theistic version, and the functional definitions shift the sense of the term into a completely different register. What is counted as religion by one definition is often not counted by others. How might this disarray be understood? Does the concept have a structure? This section distinguishes between two kinds of answer to these questions. Most of the attempts to analyze the term have been “monothetic” in that they operate with the classical view that every instance that is accurately described by a concept will share a defining property that puts them in that category. The last several decades, however, have seen the emergence of “polythetic” approaches that abandon the classical view and treat religion , instead, as having a prototype structure. For incisive explanations of the classical theory and the prototype theory of concepts, see Laurence and Margolis (1999).

Monothetic approaches use a single property (or a single set of properties) as the criterion that determines whether a concept applies. The key to a monothetic approach is that it proposes necessary and sufficient conditions for membership in the given class. That is, a monothetic approach claims that there is some characteristic, or set of them, found in every religion and that if a form of life has it, then that form of life is a religion. Most definitions of the concept religion have been of this type. For example, as we saw above, Edward Tylor proposes belief in spiritual beings as his minimal definition of religion, and this is a substantive criterion that distinguishes religion from non-religion in terms of belief in this particular kind of entity. Similarly, Paul Tillich proposes ultimate concern as a functional criterion that distinguishes religion from non-religion in terms of what serves this particular role in one’s life. These are single criterion monothetic definitions.

There are also monothetic definitions that define religion in terms of a single set of criteria. Herbert’s five Common Notions are an early example. More recently, Clifford Geertz (1973: ch. 4) proposes a definition that he breaks down into five elements:

  • a system of symbols
  • about the nature of things,
  • that inculcate dispositions for behavior
  • through ritual and cultural performance, [ 3 ]
  • so that the conceptions held by the group are taken as real.

One can find each of these five elements separately, of course: not all symbols are religious symbols; historians (but not novelists) typically consider their conceptions factual; and so on. For Geertz, however, any religious form of life will have all five. Aware of functional approaches like that of Tillich, Geertz is explicit that symbols and rituals that lack reference to a metaphysical framework—that is, those without the substantive element he requires as his (2)—would be secular and not religious, no matter how intense or important one’s feelings about them are (1973: 98). Reference to a metaphysical entity or power is what marks the other four elements as religious. Without it, Geertz writes, “the empirical differentia of religious activity or religious experience would not exist” (1973: 98). As a third example, Bruce Lincoln (2006: ch. 1) enumerates four elements that a religion would have, namely:

  • “a discourse whose concerns transcend the human, temporal, and contingent, and that claims for itself a similarly transcendent status”,
  • practices connected to that discourse,
  • people who construct their identity with reference to that discourse and those practices, and
  • institutional structures to manage those people.

This definition is monothetic since, for Lincoln, religions always have these four features “at a minimum” (2006: 5). [ 4 ] To be sure, people constantly engage in practices that generate social groups that then have to be maintained and managed by rules or authorities. However, when the practices, communities, and institutions lack the distinctive kind of discourse that claims transcendent status for itself, they would not count for Lincoln as religions.

It is worth noting that when a monothetic definition includes multiple criteria, one does not have to choose between the substantive and functional strategies for defining religion , but can instead include both. If a monothetic definition include both strategies, then, to count as a religion, a form of life would have to refer to a distinctive substantive reality and also play a certain role in the participants’ lives. This double-sided approach avoids the result of purely substantive definitions that might count as religion a feckless set of beliefs (for instance, “something must have created the world”) unconnected from the believers’ desires and behavior, while also avoiding the result of purely functional definitions that might count as religion some universal aspect of human existence (for instance, creating collective effervescence or ranking of one’s values). William James’s definition of religion (“the belief that there is an unseen order, and our supreme good lies in harmoniously adjusting ourselves thereto”) is double-sided in this way, combining a belief in the existence of a distinctive referent with the spiritual disciplines with which one seeks to embody that belief. Geertz’s definition of religion also required both substantive and functional aspects, which he labelled “worldview” and “ethos” (1973: ch. 5). To treat religion as “both/and” in this way is to refuse to abstract one aspect of a complex social reality but instead recognizes, as Geertz puts it, both “the dispositional and conceptual aspects of religious life” (1973: 113). [ 5 ]

These “monothetic-set definitions” treat the concept of religion as referring to a multifaceted or multidimensional complex. It may seem avant garde today to see religion described as a “constellation”, “assemblage”, “network”, or “system”, but in fact to treat religion as a complex is not new. Christian theologians traditionally analyzed the anatomy of their way of life as simultaneously fides , fiducia , and fidelitas . Each of these terms might be translated into English as “faith”, but each actually corresponds to a different dimension of a social practice. Fides refers to a cognitive state, one in which a person assents to a certain proposition and takes it as true. It could be translated as “belief” or “intellectual commitment”. Beliefs or intellectual commitments distinctive to participation in the group will be present whether or not a religious form of life has developed any authoritative doctrines. In contrast, fiducia refers to an affective state in which a person is moved by a feeling or experience that is so positive that it bonds the recipient to its source. It could be translated as “trust” or “emotional commitment”. Trust or emotional commitment will be present whether or not a religious form of life teaches that participation in their practices aims at some particular experience of liberation, enlightenment, or salvation. And fidelitas refers to a conative state in which a person commits themselves to a path of action, a path that typically involves emulating certain role models and inculcating the dispositions that the group considers virtuous. It could be translated as “loyalty” or “submission”. Loyalty or submission will be present whether or not a religious form of life is theistic or teaches moral rules. By the time of Martin Luther, Christian catechisms organized these aspects of religious life in terms of the “three C’s”: the creed one believed, the cult or worship one offered, and the code one followed. When Tillich (1957: ch. 2) argues that religious faith is distorted when one treats it not as a complex but instead as a function of the intellect alone, emotion alone, or the will alone, he is speaking from within this tradition. These three dimensions of religious practices—symbolically, the head, the heart, and the hand—are not necessarily Christian. In fact, until one adds a delimiting criterion like those discussed above, these dimensions are not even distinctively religious. Creed, cult, and code correspond to any pursuit of what a people considers true, beautiful, and good, respectively, and they will be found in any collective movement or cultural tradition. As Melford Spiro says, any human institution will involve a belief system, a value system, and an action system (Spiro 1966: 98).

Many have complained that arguments about how religion should be defined seem unresolvable. To a great extent, however, this is because these arguments have not simply been about a particular aspect of society but rather have served as proxy in a debate about the structure of human subjectivity. There is deep agreement among the rival positions insofar as they presuppose the cognitive-affective-conative model of being human. However, what we might call a “Cartesian” cohort argues that cognition is the root of religious emotions and actions. This cohort includes the “intellectualists” whose influence stretches from Edward Tylor and James Frazer to E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Robin Horton, Jack Goody, Melford Spiro, Stewart Guthrie, and J. Z. Smith, and it shapes much of the emerging field of cognitive science of religion (e.g., Boyer 2001). [ 6 ] A “Humean” cohort disagrees, arguing that affect is what drives human behavior and that cognition serves merely to justify the values one has already adopted. In theology and religious studies, this feelings-centered approach is identified above all with the work of Friedrich Schleiermacher and Rudolf Otto, and with the tradition called phenomenology of religion, but it has had a place in anthropology of religion since Robert Marett (Tylor’s student), and it is alive and well in the work of moral intuitionists (e.g., Haidt 2012) and affect theory (e.g., Schaefer 2015). A “Kantian” cohort treats beliefs and emotions regarding supernatural realities as relatively unimportant and argues instead that for religion the will is basic. [ 7 ] This approach treats a religion as at root a set of required actions (e.g., Vásquez 2011; C. Smith 2017). These different approaches disagree about the essence of religion, but all three camps operate within a shared account of the human. Thus, when William James describes religion as

the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual [people] in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine. (1902 [1985: 34])

he is foregrounding an affective view and playing down (though not denying) the cognitive. When James’s Harvard colleague Alfred North Whitehead corrects him, saying that “[r]eligion is what a person does with their solitariness” (1926: 3, emphasis added), Whitehead stresses the conative, though Whitehead also insists that feelings always play a role. These are primarily disagreements of emphasis that do not trouble this model of human subjectivity. There have been some attempts to leave this three-part framework. For example, some in the Humean camp have suggested that religion is essentially a particular feeling with zero cognition. But that romantic suggestion collapses under the inability to articulate how an affective state can be noncognitive but still identifiable as a particular feeling (Proudfoot 1985).

Although the three-sided model of the true, the beautiful, and the good is a classic account of what any social group explicitly and implicitly teaches, one aspect is still missing. To recognize the always-presupposed material reality of the people who constitute the social group, even when this reality has not been conceptualized by the group’s members, one should also include the contributions of their bodies, habits, physical culture, and social structures. To include this dimension mnemonically, one can add a “fourth C”, for community. Catherine Albanese (1981) may have been the first to propose the idea of adding this materialist dimension. Ninian Smart’s famous anatomy of religion (1996) has seven dimensions, not four, but the two models are actually very similar. Smart calls the affective dimension the “experiential and emotional”, and then divides the cognitive dimension into two (“doctrinal and philosophical” and “narrative and mythological”), the conative into two (“ethical and legal” and “ritual”), and the communal into two (“social and institutional” and “material”). In an attempt to dislodge the focus on human subjectivity found in the three Cs, some have argued that the material dimension is the source of the others. They argue, in other words, that the cognitive, affective, and conative aspects of the members of a social group are not the causes but rather the effects of the group’s structured practices (e.g., Asad 1993: ch. 1–4; Lopez 1998). Some argue that to understand religion in terms of beliefs, or even in terms of any subjective states, reflects a Protestant bias and that scholars of religion should therefore shift attention from hidden mental states to the visible institutional structures that produce them. Although the structure/agency debate is still live in the social sciences, it is unlikely that one can give a coherent account of religion in terms of institutions or disciplinary practices without reintroducing mental states such as judgements, decisions, and dispositions (Schilbrack 2021).

Whether a monothetic approach focuses on one essential property or a set, and whether that essence is the substance or the function of the religion, those using this approach ask a Yes/No question regarding a single criterion. This approach therefore typically produces relatively clear lines between what is and is not religion. Given Tylor’s monothetic definition, for instance, a form of life must include belief in spiritual beings to be a religion; a form of life lacking this property would not be a religion, even if it included belief in a general order of existence that participants took as their ultimate concern, and even if that form of life included rituals, ethics, and scriptures. In a famous discussion, Melford Spiro (1966) works with a Tylorean definition and argues exactly this: lacking a belief in superhuman beings, Theravada Buddhism, for instance, is something other than a religion. [ 8 ] For Spiro, there is nothing pejorative about this classification.

Having combatted the notion that “we” have religion (which is “good”) and “they” have superstition (which is “bad”), why should we be dismayed if it be discovered that that society x does not have religion as we have defined the term? (1966: 88)

That a concept always corresponds to something possessing a defining property is a very old idea. This assumption undergirds Plato’s Euthyphro and other dialogues in which Socrates pushes his interlocutors to make that hidden, defining property explicit, and this pursuit has provided a model for much not only of philosophy, but of the theorizing in all fields. The traditional assumption is that every entity has some essence that makes it the thing it is, and every instance that is accurately described by a concept of that entity will have that essence. The recent argument that there is an alternative structure—that a concept need not have necessary and sufficient criteria for its application—has been called a “conceptual revolution” (Needham 1975: 351), “one of the greatest and most valuable discoveries that has been made of late years in the republic of letters” (Bambrough 1960–1: 207).

In discussions of the concept religion , this anti-essentialist approach is usually traced to Ludwig Wittgenstein (1953, posthumous). Wittgenstein argues that, in some cases, when one considers the variety of instances described with a given concept, one sees that among them there are multiple features that “crop up and disappear”, the result being “a complicated network of similarities overlapping and criss-crossing” (Wittgenstein 1953, §68). The instances falling under some concepts lack a single defining property but instead have a family resemblance to each other in that each one resembles some of the others in different ways. All polythetic approaches reject the monothetic idea that a concept requires necessary and sufficient criteria. But unappreciated is the fact that polythetic approaches come in different kinds, operating with different logics. Here are three.

The most basic kind of polythetic approach holds that membership in a given class is not determined by the presence of a single crucial characteristic. Instead, the concept maps a cluster of characteristics and, to count as a member of that class, a particular case has to have a certain number of them, no particular one of which is required. To illustrate, imagine that there are five characteristics typical of religions (call this the “properties set”) and that, to be a religion, a form of life has to have a minimum of three of them (call this the “threshold number”). Because this illustration limits the number of characteristics in the properties set, I will call this first kind a “bounded” polythetic approach. For example, the five religion-making characteristics could be these:

  • belief in superempirical beings or powers,
  • ethical norms,
  • worship rituals,
  • participation believed to bestow benefits on participants, and
  • those who participate in this form of life see themselves as a distinct community.

Understanding the concept religion in this polythetic way produces a graded hierarchy of instances. [ 9 ] A form of life that has all five of these characteristics would be a prototypical example of a religion. Historically speaking, prototypical examples of the concept are likely to be instances to which the concept was first applied. Psychologically speaking, they are also likely to be the example that comes to mind first to those who use the concept. For instance, robins and finches are prototypical examples of a bird, and when one is prompted to name a bird, people are more likely to name a robin or a finch than an ostrich or a penguin. A form of life that has only four of these characteristics would nevertheless still be a clear example of a religion. [ 10 ] If a form of life has only three, then it would be a borderline example. A form of life that has only two of these characteristics would not be included in the category, though such cases might be considered “quasi-religions” and they might be the most interesting social forms to compare to religions (J. E. Smith 1994). A form of life that only had one of the five characteristics would be unremarkable. The forms of life that had three, four, or five of these characteristics would not be an unrelated set but rather a “family” with multiple shared features, but no one characteristic (not even belief in superempirical beings or powers) possessed by all of them. On this polythetic approach, the concept religion has no essence, and a member of this family that only lacked one of the five characteristics— no matter which one —would still clearly be a religion. [ 11 ] As Benson Saler (1993) points out, one can use this non-essentialist approach not only for the concept religion but also for the elements within a religion (sacrifice, scripture, and so on) and to individual religions (Christianity, Hinduism, and so on).

Some have claimed that, lacking an essence, polythetic approaches to religion make the concept so vague that it becomes useless (e.g., Fitzgerald 2000: 72–3; Martin 2009: 167). Given the focused example of a “bounded” approach in the previous paragraph and the widespread adoption of polythetic approaches in the biological sciences, this seems clearly false. However, it is true that one must pay attention to the parameters at work in a polythetic approach. Using a properties set with only five elements produces a very focused class, but the properties set is simply a list of similarities among at least two of the members of a class, and since the class of religions might have hundreds of members, one could easily create a properties set that is much bigger. Not long after Wittgenstein’s death, a “bounded” polythetic approach was applied to the concept religion by William Alston who identified nine religion-making characteristics. [ 12 ] Southwold (1978) has twelve; Rem Edwards (1972) has fourteen and leaves room for more. But there is no reason why one might not work with a properties set for religion with dozens or even hundreds of shared properties. Half a century ago, Rodney Needham (1975: 361) mentions a computer program that sorted 1500 different bacterial strains according to 200 different properties. As J. Z. Smith (1982: ch. 1) argues, treating the concept religion in this way can lead to surprising discoveries of patterns within the class and the co-appearance of properties that can lead to explanatory theories. The second key parameter for a polythetic approach is the threshold number. Alston does not stipulate the number of characteristics a member of the class has to have, saying simply, “When enough of these characteristics are present to a sufficient degree, we have a religion” (1967: 142). Needham (1975) discusses the sensible idea that each member has a majority of the properties, but this is not a requirement of polythetic approaches. The critics are right that as one increases the size of the properties set and decreases the threshold number, the resulting category becomes more and more diffuse. This can produce a class that is so sprawling that it is difficult to use for empirical study.

Scholars of religion who have used a polythetic approach have typically worked with a “bounded” approach (that is, with a properties set that is fixed), but this is not actually the view for which Wittgenstein himself argues. Wittgenstein’s goal is to draw attention to the fact that the actual use of concepts is typically not bound: “the extension of the concept is not closed by a frontier” (Wittgenstein 1953, §67). We can call this an “open” polythetic approach. To grasp the open approach, consider a group of people who have a concept they apply to a certain range of instances. In time, a member of the group encounters something new that resembles the other instances enough in her eyes that she applies the concept to it. When the linguistic community adopts this novel application, the extension of the concept grows. If their use of the concept is “open”, however, then, as the group adds a new member to the category named by a concept, properties of that new member that had not been part of the earlier uses can be added to the properties set and thereby increase the range of legitimate applications of the concept in the future. We might say that a bounded polythetic approach produces concepts that are fuzzy, and an open polythetic approach produces concepts that are fuzzy and evolving . Timothy Williamson calls this “the dynamic quality of family resemblance concepts” (1994: 86). One could symbolize the shift of properties over time this way:

Wittgenstein famously illustrated this open polythetic approach with the concept game , and he also applied it to the concepts of language and number (Wittgenstein 1953, §67). If we substitute our concept as Wittgenstein’s example, however, his treatment fits religion just as well:

Why do we call something a “religion”? Well, perhaps because it has a direct relationship with several things that have hitherto been called religion; and this can be said to give an indirect relationship to other things we call the same name. (Wittgenstein 1953, §67)

Given an open polythetic approach, a concept evolves in the light of the precedents that speakers recognize, although, over time, what people come to label with the concept can become very different from the original use.

In the academic study of religions, discussions of monothetic and polythetic approaches have primarily been in service of developing a definition of the term. [ 13 ] How can alternate definitions of religion be assessed? If one were to offer a lexical definition (that is, a description of what the term means in common usage, as with a dictionary definition), then the definition one offers could be shown to be wrong. In common usage, for example, Buddhism typically is considered a religion and capitalism typically is not. On this point, some believe erroneously that one can correct a definition by pointing to some fact about the referents of the term. One sees this assumption, for example, in those who argue that the western discovery of Buddhism shows that theistic definitions of religion are wrong (e.g., Southwold 1978: 367). One can correct a real or lexical definition in this way, but not a stipulative definition, that is, a description of the meaning that one assigns to the term. When one offers a stipulative definition, that definition cannot be wrong. Stipulative definitions are assessed not by whether they are true or false but rather by their usefulness, and that assessment will be purpose-relative (cf. Berger 1967: 175). De Muckadell (2014) rejects stipulative definitions of religion for this reason, arguing that one cannot critique them and that they force scholars simply to “accept whatever definition is offered”. She gives the example of a problematic stipulative definition of religion as “ice-skating while singing” which, she argues, can only be rejected by using a real definition of religion that shows the ice-skating definition to be false. However, even without knowing the real essence of religion, one can critique a stipulative definition, either for being less adequate or appropriate for a particular purpose (such as studying forms of life across cultures) or, as with the ice-skating example, for being so far from a lexical definition that it is adequate or appropriate for almost no purpose.

Polythetic definitions are increasingly popular today as people seek to avoid the claim that an evolving social category has an ahistorical essence. [ 14 ] However, the difference between these two approaches is not that monothetic definitions fasten on a single property whereas polythetic definitions recognize more. Monothetic definitions can be multifactorial, as we have seen, and they can recognize just as many properties that are “common” or even “typical” of religions, without being essential. The difference is also not that the monothetic identification of the essence of religion reflects an ethnocentrism that polythetic approaches avoid. The polythetic identification of a prototypical religion is equally ethnocentric. The difference between them, rather, is that a monothetic definition sorts instances with a Yes/No mechanism and is therefore digital, and a polythetic definition produces gradations and is therefore analog. It follows that a monothetic definition treats a set of instances that all possess the one defining property as equally religion, whereas a polythetic definition produces a gray area for instances that are more prototypical or less so. This makes a monothetic definition superior for cases (for example, legal cases) in which one seeks a Yes/No answer. Even if an open polythetic approach accurately describes how a concept operates, therefore, one might, for purposes of focus or clarity, prefer to work with a closed polythetic account that limits the properties set, or even with a monothetic approach that limits the properties set to one. That is, one might judge that it is valuable to treat the concept religion as structurally fuzzy or temporally fluid, but nevertheless place boundaries on the forms of life one will compare.

This strategy gives rise to a third kind of polythetic approach, one that stipulates that one property (or one set of properties) is required. Call this an “anchored” polythetic definition. Consistently treating concepts as tools, Wittgenstein suggests this “anchored” idea when he writes that when we look at the history of a concept,

what we see is something constantly fluctuating … [but we might nevertheless] set over against this fluctuation something more fixed, just as one paints a stationary picture of the constantly altering face of the landscape. (1974: 77)

Given a stipulated “anchor”, a concept will then possess a necessary property, and this property reintroduces essentialism. Such a definition nevertheless still reflects a polythetic approach because the presence of the required property is not sufficient to make something a religion. To illustrate this strategy, one might stipulate that the only forms of life one will consider a religion will include

(thereby excluding nationalism and capitalism, for example), but the presence of this property does not suffice to count this form of life as a religion. Consider the properties set introduced above that also includes

If the threshold number is still three, then to be a religion, a form of life would have to have three of these properties, one of which must be (A) . An anchored definition of religion like this would have the benefits of the other polythetic definitions. For example, it would not produce a clear line between religion and nonreligion but would instead articulate gradations between different forms of life (or between versions of one form of life at different times) that are less or more prototypically religious. However, given its anchor, it would produce a more focused range of cases. [ 15 ] In this way, the use of an anchor might both reflect the contemporary cosmological view of the concept religion and also address the criticism that polythetic approaches make a concept too vague.

Over the past forty years or so, there has been a reflexive turn in the social sciences and humanities as scholars have pulled the camera back, so to speak, to examine the constructed nature of the objects previously taken for granted as unproblematically “there”. Reflexive scholars have argued that the fact that what counts as religion shifts according to one’s definition reflects an arbitrariness in the use of the term. They argue that the fact that religion is not a concept found in all cultures but rather a tool invented at a certain time and place, by certain people for their own purposes, and then imposed on others, reveals its political character. The perception that religion is a politically motivated conceptual invention has therefore led some to skepticism about whether the concept picks out something real in the world. As with instrumentalism in philosophy of science, then, reflection on religion has raised doubts about the ontological status of the referent of one’s technical term.

A watershed text for the reflexive turn regarding the concept religion is Jonathan Z. Smith’s Imagining Religion (1982). Smith engages simultaneously in comparing religions and in analyzing the scholarly practice of comparison. A central theme of his essays is that the concept religion (and subcategories such as world religions , Abrahamic faiths , or nonliterate traditions ) are not scientific terms but often reflect the unrecognized biases of those who use these concepts to sort their world into those who are or are not “like us”. [ 16 ] Smith shows that, again and again, the concept religion was shaped by implicit Protestant assumptions, if not explicit Protestant apologetics. In the short preface to that book, Smith famously says,

[ T ] here is no data for religion . Religion is solely the creation of the scholar’s study. It is created for the scholar’s analytic purposes by his imaginative acts of comparison and generalization. Religion has no independent existence apart from the academy. (1982: xi, italics in original)

This dramatic statement has sometimes been taken as Smith’s assertion that the concept religion has no referent. However, in his actual practice of comparing societies, Smith is not a nonrealist about religion . In the first place, he did not think that the constructed nature of religion was something particular to this concept: any judgement that two things were similar or different in some respect presupposed a process of selection, juxtaposition, and categorization by the observer. This is the process of imagination in his book’s title. Second, Smith did not think that the fact that concepts were human products undermined the possibility that they successfully corresponded to entities in the world: an invented concept for social structures can help one discover religion—not “invent” it—even in societies whose members did not know the concept. [ 17 ] His slogan is that one’s (conceptual) map is not the same as and should be tested and rectified by the (non-conceptual) territory (J. Z. Smith 1978). Lastly, Smith did not think that scholars should cease to use religion as a redescriptive or second-order category to study people in history who lacked a comparable concept. On the contrary, he chastised scholars of religion for resting within tradition-specific studies, avoiding cross-cultural comparisons, and not defending the coherence of the generic concept. He writes that scholars of religion should be

prepared to insist, in some explicit and coherent fashion, on the priority of some generic category of religion. (1995: 412; cf. 1998: 281–2)

Smith himself repeatedly uses religion and related technical terms he invented, such as “locative religion”, to illuminate social structures that operate whether or not those so described had named those structures themselves—social structures that exist, as his 1982 subtitle says, from Babylon to Jonestown.

The second most influential book in the reflexive turn in religious studies is Talal Asad’s Genealogies of Religion (1993). Adopting Michel Foucault’s “genealogical” approach, Asad seeks to show that the concept religion operating in contemporary anthropology has been shaped by assumptions that are Christian (insofar as one takes belief as a mental state characteristic of all religions) and modern (insofar as one treats religion as essentially distinct from politics). Asad’s Foucauldian point is that though people may have all kinds of religious beliefs, experiences, moods, or motivations, the mechanism that inculcates them will be the disciplining techniques of some authorizing power and for this reason one cannot treat religion as simply inner states. Like Smith, then, Asad asks scholars to shift their attention to the concept religion and to recognize that assumptions baked into the concept have distorted our grasp of the historical realities. However, also like Smith, Asad does not draw a nonrealist conclusion. [ 18 ] For Asad, religion names a real thing that would operate in the world even had the concept not been invented, namely, “a coherent existential complex” (2001: 217). Asad’s critical aim is not to undermine the idea that religion exists qua social reality but rather to undermine the idea that religion is essentially an interior state independent of social power. He points out that anthropologists like Clifford Geertz adopt a hermeneutic approach to culture that treats actions as if they are texts that say something, and this approach has reinforced the attention given to the meaning of religious symbols, deracinated from their social and historical context. Asad seeks to balance this bias for the subjective with a disciplinary approach that sees human subjectivity as also the product of social structures. Smith and Asad are therefore examples of scholars who critique the concept religion without denying that it can still refer to something in the world, something that exists even before it is named. They are able, so to speak, to look at one’s conceptual window without denying that the window provides a perspective on things outside.

Other critics have gone farther. They build upon the claims that the concept religion is an invented category and that its modern semantic expansion went hand in hand with European colonialism, and they argue that people should cease treating religion as if it corresponds to something that exists outside the sphere of modern European influence. It is common today to hear the slogan that there is no such “thing” as religion. In some cases, the point of rejecting thing-hood is to deny that religion names a category, all the instances of which focus on belief in the same kind of object—that is, the slogan is a rejection of substantive definitions of the concept (e.g., Possamai 2018: ch. 5). In this case, the objection bolsters a functional definition and does not deny that religion corresponds to a functionally distinct kind of form of life. Here, the “no such thing” claim reflects the unsettled question, mentioned above, about the grounds of substantive definitions of “religion”. In other cases, the point of this objection is to deny that religion names a defining characteristic of any kind—that is, the slogan is a rejection of all monothetic definitions of the concept. Perhaps religion (or a religion, like Judaism) should always be referred to in the plural (“Judaisms”) rather than the singular. In this case, the objection bolsters a polythetic definition and does not deny that religion corresponds to a distinct family of forms of life. Here, the “no such thing” claim rejects the assumption that religion has an essence. Despite their negativity, these two objections to the concept are still realist in that they do not deny that the phrase “a religion” can correspond to a form of life operating in the world.

More radically, one sees a denial of this realism, for example, in the critique offered by Wilfred Cantwell Smith (1962). Smith’s thesis is that in many different cultures, people developed a concept for the individuals they considered pious, but they did not develop a concept for a generic social entity, a system of beliefs and practices related to superempirical realities. Before modernity, “there is no such entity [as religion and] … the use of a plural, or with an article, is false” (1962: 326, 194; cf. 144). Smith recommends dropping religion . Not only did those so described lack the concept, but the use of the concept also treats people’s behavior as if the phrase “a religion” names something in addition to that behavior. A methodological individualist, Smith denies that groups have any reality not explained by the individuals who constitute them. What one finds in history, then, is religious people, and so the adjective is useful, but there are no religious entities above and beyond those people, and so the noun reifies an abstraction. Smith contends that

[n]either religion in general nor any one of the religions … is in itself an intelligible entity, a valid object of inquiry or of concern either for the scholar or for the [person] of faith. (1962: 12)

More radical still are the nonrealists who argue that the concepts religion, religions, and religious are all chimerical. Often drawing on post-structuralist arguments, these critics propose that the notion that religions exist is simply an illusion generated by the discourse about them (e.g., McCutcheon 1997; 2018; Fitzgerald 2000; 2007; 2017; Dubuisson 1998; 2019). As Timothy Fitzgerald writes, the concept religion

picks out nothing and it clarifies nothing … the word has no genuine analytical work to do and its continued use merely contributes to the general illusion that it has a genuine referent …. (2000: 17, 14; also 4)

Advocates of this position sometimes call their approach the “Critical Study of Religion” or simply “Critical Religion”, a name that signals their shift away from the pre-critical assumption that religion names entities in the world and to a focus on who invented the concept, the shifting contrast terms it has had, and the uses to which it has been put. [ 19 ] Like the concept of witches or the concept of biological races (e.g., Nye 2020), religion is a fiction (Fitzgerald 2015) or a fabrication (McCutcheon 2018), a concept invented and deployed not to respond to some reality in the world but rather to sort and control people. The classification of something as “religion” is not neutral but

a political activity, and one particularly related to the colonial and imperial situation of a foreign power rendering newly encountered societies digestible and manipulable in terms congenial to its own culture and agenda. (McCutcheon & Arnal 2012: 107)

As part of European colonial projects, the concept has been imposed on people who lacked it and did not consider anything in their society “their religion”. In fact, the concept was for centuries the central tool used to rank societies on a scale from primitive to civilized. To avoid this “conceptual violence” or “epistemic imperialism” (Dubuisson 2019: 137), scholars need to cease naturalizing this term invented in modern Europe and instead historicize it, uncovering the conditions that gave rise to the concept and the interests it serves. The study of religions outside Europe should end. As Timothy Fitzgerald writes, “The category ‘religion’ should be the object, not the tool, of analysis” (2000: 106; also 2017: 125; cf. McCutcheon 2018: 18).

Inspired by the post-structuralist critiques that religion does not apply to cultures that lack the concept, some historians have argued that the term should no longer be used to describe any premodern societies, even in Europe. For example, Brent Nongbri (2013), citing McCutcheon, argues that though it is common to speak of religions existing in the past, human history until the concept emerged in modernity is more accurately understood as a time “before religion”. His aim is “to dispel the commonly held idea that there is such a thing as ‘ancient religion’” (2013: 8). Citing Nongbri, Carlin Barton and Daniel Boyarin (2016) argue that the Latin religio and the Greek thrēskeia do not correspond to the modern understanding of religion and those studying antiquity should cease translating them with that concept. There was no “Roman religious reality”, they say (2016: 19). These historians suggest that if a culture does not have the concept of X , then the reality of X does not exist for that culture. Boyarin calls this position “nominalism”, arguing that religion is

not in any possible way a “real” object, an object that is historical or ontological, before the term comes to be used. (2017: 25)

These critics are right to draw attention to the fact that in the mind of most contemporary people, the concept religion does imply features that did not exist in ancient societies, but the argument that religion did not exist in antiquity involves a sleight of hand. None of these historians argues that people in antiquity did not believe in gods or other spiritual beings, did not seek to interact with them with sacrifices and other rituals, did not create temples or scriptures, and so on. If one uses Tylor’s definition of religion as belief in spiritual beings or James’s definition of religion as adjusting one’s life to an unseen order— or any of the other definitions considered in this entry —then religion did exist in antiquity. What these historians are pointing out is that ancient practices related to the gods permeated their cultures . As Nongbri puts it,

To be sure, ancient people had words to describe proper reverence of the gods, but … [t]he very idea of “being religious” requires a companion notion of what it would mean to be “not religious” and this dichotomy was not part of the ancient world; (2013: 4)

there was no “discrete sphere of religion existing prior to the modern period” (2019: 1, typo corrected). And Barton and Boyarin:

The point is not … that there weren’t practices with respect to “gods” (of whatever sort) but that these practices were not divided off into separate spheres …. (2016: 4)

Steve Mason also argues that religion did not exist in antiquity since religion is “a voluntary sphere of activity, separate in principle” from politics, work, entertainment, and military service (2019: 29). In short, what people later came to conceptualize as religion was in antiquity not a freestanding entity. The nominalist argument, in other words, adds to the definition of the concept religion a distinctively modern feature (usually some version of “the separation of church and state”), and then argues that the referent of this now-circumscribed concept did not exist in antiquity. Their argument is not that religion did not exist outside modernity, but that modern religion did not exist outside modernity.

These post-structuralist and nominalist arguments that deny that religion is “out there” have a realist alternative. According to this alternative, there is a world independent of human conceptualization, and something can be real and it can even affect one’s life, whether or not any human beings have identified it. This is true of things whose existence does not depend on collective agreement, like biochemical signaling cascades or radioactive beta particles, and it is equally true of things whose existence does depend on collective agreement, like kinship structures, linguistic rules, and religious commitments. A realist about social structures holds that a person can be in a bilateral kinship system, can speak a Uralic language, and can be a member of a religion—even if they lack these concepts.

This realist claim that social structures have existed without being conceptualized raises the question: if human beings had different ways of practicing religion since prehistoric times, why and when did people “finally” create the taxon? Almost every scholar involved in the reflexive turn says that religion is a modern invention. [ 20 ] The critique of the concept religion then becomes part of their critique of modernity. Given the potent uses of religion —to categorize certain cultures as godless and therefore inferior or, later, to categorize certain cultures as superstitious and therefore backwards—the significance of the critique of religion for postcolonial and decolonial scholarship is undeniable. Nevertheless, it is not plausible that modern Europeans were the first to want a generic concept for different ways of interacting with gods. It is easy to imagine that if the way that a people worship their gods permeates their work, art, and politics, and they do not know of alternative ways, then it would not be likely that they would have created a concept for it. There is little need for a generic concept that abstracts a particular aspect of one’s culture as one option out of many until one is in a sustained pluralistic situation. The actions that today are categorized as religious practices—burial rites, the making of offerings, the imitation of divinized ancestors—may have existed for tens of thousands of years without the practitioners experiencing that diversity or caring to name it. Nevertheless, it is likely that a desire to compare the rules by which different people live in relation to their gods would have emerged in many parts of the world long before modernity. One would expect to find people developing such social abstractions as cities and then empires emerged and their cultures came into contact with each other. From this realist perspective, it is no surprise that, according to the detailed and example-filled argument of Barton and Boyarin (2016), the first use of religion as a generic social category, distinct from the concept of politics , for the ways that people interact with gods is not a product of the Renaissance, the Reformation, or modern colonialism at all, but can be found in the writings of Josephus (37–c. 100 CE) and Tertullian (c. 155–c. 220 CE). [ 21 ] From the realist perspective, it is no surprise to see the development of analogous terms in medieval China, centuries before interaction with Europeans (Campany 2003, 2012, 2018) and in medieval Islam (Abbasi 2020, 2021). The emergence of social kinds does not wait on language, and the development of language for social kinds is not only a Western project. If this is right, then the development of a concept for religion as a social genus is at least two thousand years old, though the social reality so labeled would be much older.

  • Abbasi, Rushain, 2020, “Did Premodern Muslims Distinguish the Religious and the Secular? The Dīn-Dunyā Binary in Medieval Islamic Thought”, Journal of Islamic Studies , 31(2): 185–225. doi:10.1093/jis/etz048
  • –––, 2021, “Islam and the Invention of Religion: A Study of Medieval Muslim Discourses on Dīn ”, Studia Islamica , 116(1): 1–106.
  • Albanese, Catherine, 1981, America: Religions and Religion , Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
  • Alston, William P., 1964, The Philosophy of Language , Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
  • –––, 1967, “Religion”, The Encyclopedia of Philosophy , Paul Edwards (ed.), New York: Macmillan.
  • Asad, Talal, 1993, Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam , Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.
  • –––, 2001, “Reading a Modern Classic: W. C. Smith’s The Meaning and End of Religion ”, History of Religions , 40(3): 205–222. doi:10.1086/463633
  • Asad, Talal and Craig Martin, 2014, “ Genealogies of Religion , Twenty Years On: An Interview with Talal Asad”, Bulletin for the Study of Religion , 43(1): 12–17. doi:10.1558/bsor.v43i1.12
  • Augustine, City of God, Volume III: Books 8–11 , David S. Wiesen (trans.), Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1968.
  • Bambrough, Renford, 1960–1, “Universals and Family Resemblances”, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society , 61: 207–222. doi:10.1093/aristotelian/61.1.207
  • Barton, Carlin A. and Daniel Boyarin, 2016, Imagine No Religion: How Modern Abstractions Hide Ancient Realities , New York: Fordham University Press.
  • Berger, Peter L., 1967, The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion , New York: Doubleday.
  • –––, 1974, “Some Second Thoughts on Substantive versus Functional Definitions of Religion”, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion , 13(2): 125–133. doi:10.2307/1384374
  • Biller, Peter, 1985, “Words and the Medieval Notion of ‘Religion’”, Journal of Ecclesiastical History , 36(3): 351–369. 10.1017/S0022046900041142
  • Boyarin, Daniel, 2017, “Nominalist ‘Judaism’ and the Late-Antique Invention of Religion”, in Religion, Theory, Critique: Classic and Contemporary Approaches and Methodologies , Richard King (ed.), New York: Columbia University Press, ch. 2.
  • Boyer, Pascal, 2001, Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought , New York: Basic Books.
  • Burley, Mikel, 2019, “‘Being Near Enough to Listen’: Wittgenstein and Interreligious Understanding”, in Interpreting Interreligious Relations with Wittgenstein: Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Studies , Gorazd Andrejč and Daniel H. Weiss (eds), Leiden: Brill, 33–53.
  • Campany, Robert Ford, 2003, “On the Very Idea of Religions (in the Modern West and Early Medieval China)”, History of Religions , 42(4): 287–319. doi:10.1086/378757
  • –––, 2012, “Chinese History and Writing about ‘Religion(s)’: Reflections at a Crossroads”, in Dynamics in the History of Religions between Asia and Europe: Encounters, Notions, and Comparative Perspectives , Marion Steineke and Volkhard Krech (eds), Leiden: Brill, 273–294.
  • –––, 2018, “‘Religious’ as a Category: A Comparative Case Study”, Numen , 65(4): 333–376. doi:10.1163/15685276-12341503
  • Casadio, Giovanni, 2016, “Historicizing and Translating Religion”, in The Oxford Handbook of the Study of Religion , Michael Stausberg and Steven Engler (eds), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • De Muckadell, Caroline Schaffalitzky, 2014, “On Essentialism and Real Definitions of Religion”, Journal of the American Academy of Religion , 82(2): 495–520. doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfu015
  • Dubuisson, Daniel, 1998 [2003], L’Occident et la religion: mythes, science et idéologie , Bruxelles: Editions Complexe. Translated as The Western Construction of Religion: Myths, Knowledge, and Ideology , William Sayers (trans.), Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.
  • –––, 2019, The Invention of Religions , Martha Cunningham (trans.), Sheffield: Equinox. French original published as L’invention Des Religions: Impérialisme Cognitif et Violence Épistémique , Paris: CNRS éditions, 2020.
  • Durkheim, Emile, 1912 [1915], Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse, le système totémique en Australie , Paris: F. Alcan. Translated as The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, a Study in Religious Sociology , Joseph Ward Swain (trans.), London: George Allen & Unwin, 1915.
  • Edwards, Rem, 1972, Reason and Religion: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion , New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanavich.
  • Ferro-Luzzi, Gabriella Eichinger, 1989, “The Polythetic-Prototype Approach to Hinduism”, in Hinduism Reconsidered , Günther-Dietz Sontheimer and Hermann Kulke (eds), New Delhi: Manohar, pp. 294–304.
  • Finley, Stephen C., Biko Mandela Gray, and Lori Latrice Martin (eds.), 2020, The Religion of White Rage: Religious Fervor, White Workers and the Myth of Black Racial Progress , Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Fitzgerald, Timothy, 2000, The Ideology of Religious Studies , New York: Oxford University Press.
  • –––, 2007, Discourse on Civility and Barbarity: A Critical History of Religion and Related Categories , New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195300093.001.0001
  • –––, 2015, “Critical Religion and Critical Research on Religion: Religion and Politics as Modern Fictions”, Critical Research on Religion , 3(3): 303–319. doi:10.1177/2050303215613123
  • –––, 2017, “ The Ideology of Religious Studies Revisited: The Problem with Politics”, in Method and Theory in the Study of Religion: Working Papers from Hannover , Steffen Führding (ed.), Leiden: Brill, 124–152.
  • Geertz, Armin W., 2016, “Conceptions of Religion in the Cognitive Science of Religion”, in Contemporary Views on Comparative Religion , Peter Antes, Armin W. Geertz, and Mikael Rothstein (eds), Sheffield: Equinox, 127–139.
  • Geertz, Clifford, 1973, The Interpretation of Cultures , New York: Basic Books.
  • Griffiths, Paul J., 2000, “The Very Idea of Religion”, First Things , 103(May): 30–35. [ Griffiths 2000 available online ]
  • Haidt, Jonathan, 2012, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion , New York: Vintage.
  • Hanegraaff, Wouter J., 1995, “Empirical Method in the Study of Esotericism”, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion , 7(2): 99–129.
  • Harrison, Peter, 1990, ‘Religion’ and the Religions in the English Enlightenment , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511627972
  • Hick, John, 1989, An Interpretation of Religion: Human Responses to the Transcendent , New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
  • –––, 1993, Disputed Questions in Theology and the Philosophy of Religion , New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
  • James, William, 1902 [1985], The Varieties of Religious Experience , London: Longmans, Green, and Co.; reprinted, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985.
  • –––, 1912 [1979], The Will to Believe , London: Longmans, Green, and Co.; reprinted, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979.
  • Kant, Immanuel, 1793 [1934], Die Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der bloßen Vernunft , Königsberg. Translated as Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone , Theodore M. Greene and Hoyt H. Hudson (trans.), La Salle, IL: The Open Court, 1934.
  • Laurence, Stephen and Eric Margolis, 1999, “Concepts and Cognitive Science”, in Concepts: Core Readings , Eric Margolis and Stephen Laurence (eds), Cambridge: MIT Press, 1–81.
  • Lehrich, Christopher I., 2021, Jonathan Z. Smith on Religion , London: Routledge.
  • Lincoln, Bruce, 2006, Holy Terrors: Thinking about Religion after September 11 . Second edition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 
  • Ling, Trevor, 1980, Karl Marx and Religion: In Europe and India , London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Lofton, Kathryn, 2011, Oprah: The Gospel of an Icon , Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
  • –––, 2012, “Religious History as Religious Studies”, Religion , 42(3): 383–394. doi:10.1080/0048721X.2012.681878
  • Lopez, Donald S., Jr., 1998, “Belief”, in Critical Terms for Religious Studies , Mark C. Taylor (ed), Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
  • Lovric, Bruno, 2020, “Pokémon Fandom as a Religion: Construction of Identity and Cultural Consumption in Hong Kong”, in Handbook of Research on the Impact of Fandom in Society and Consumerism , Cheng Lu Wang (ed.), Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 460–479.
  • Luther, Martin, 1526 [1973], Der Prophet Jonah , Nuremberg. Translated in Lectures on the Minor Prophets, Volume II , Hilton Oswald (ed.), (Luther’s Works, 19), Saint Louis, MO: Concordia.
  • Marett, Robert Ranulph, 1909, The Threshold of Religion , London: Methuen and Co.
  • Martin, Craig, 2009, “Delimiting Religion”, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion , 21(2): 157–176. doi:10.1163/157006809X431015
  • Mason, Steve, 2019, “Our Language and Theirs: ‘Religious’ Categories and Identities”, in Roubekas 2019: 11–31.
  • Masuzawa, Tomoko, 2005, The Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism , Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • McCarraher, Eugene, 2019, The Enchantments of Mammon: How Capitalism Became the Religion of Modernity , Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  • McCutcheon, Russell T., 1997, Manufacturing Religion: The Discourse on Sui Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia , New York: Oxford University Press.
  • –––, 2018, Fabricating Religion: Fanfare for the Common e.g. , Berlin: de Gruyter. doi:10.1515/9783110560831
  • McCutcheon, Russell, and Arnal, William, 2012, The Sacred is the Profane: The Political Nature of “Religion” , New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199757114.001.0001
  • McWhorter, John, 2021, Woke Racism: How a New Religion has Betrayed Black America , New York: Portfolio/Penguin.
  • Needham, Rodney, 1975, “Polythetic Classification: Convergence and Consequences”, Man , New Series 10(3): 349–369. doi:10.2307/2799807
  • Nongbri, Brent, 2013, Before Religion: A History of a Modern Concept , New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
  • –––, 2019, “Introduction: The Present and Future of Ancient Religion”, in Roubekas 2019: 1–8.
  • Omer, Atalia and Jason A. Springs, 2013, Religious Nationalism: A Reference Handbook , Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
  • Platvoet, J. G., 1982, Comparing Religions: A Limitative Approach , The Hague: Mouton.
  • Possamai, Adam, 2018, The i-zation of Society, Religion, and Neoliberal Post-Secularization , Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-5942-1
  • Proudfoot, Wayne, 1985, Religious Experience , Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
  • –––, 2000, “William James on an Unseen Order”, Harvard Theological Review , 93(1): 51–66. doi:10.1017/S0017816000016667
  • Riesebrodt, Martin, 2007 [2010], Cultus und Heilsversprechen: eine Theorie der Religionen , München : Verlag C.H. Beck. Translated as The Promise of Salvation: A Theory of Religion , Steven Rendall (trans.), Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
  • Roubekas, Nickolas P. (ed.), 2019, Theorizing “Religion” in Antiquity , (Studies in Ancient Religion and Culture), Bristol, UK: Equinox Publishing.
  • Saler, Benson, 1977, “Supernatural as a Western Category”, Ethos , 5(1): 31–53. doi:10.1525/eth.1977.5.1.02a00040
  • –––, 1993, Conceptualizing Religion: Immanent Anthropologists, Transcendent Natives, and Unbounded Categories , Leiden: E. J. Brill.
  • –––, 1999, “Family Resemblance and the Definition of Religion”, Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques , 25(3): 391–404.
  • –––, 2021, The Construction of the Supernatural in Euro-American Cultures: Something Nice about Vampires , London: Bloomsbury.
  • Schaefer, Donovan O., 2015, Religious Affects: Animals, Evolution, and Power , Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
  • Schellenberg, J. L., 2005, Prolegomena to a Philosophy of Religion , Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
  • Schilbrack, Kevin, 2013, “What Isn’t Religion?”, Journal of Religion , 93(3): 291–318. doi:10.1086/670276
  • –––, 2018, “Mathematics and the Definitions of Religion”, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion , 83(2): 145–160. doi:10.1007/s11153-017-9621-6
  • –––, 2021, “Religious Practices and the Formation of Subjects”, in The Future of the Philosophy of Religion , M. David Eckel, C. Allen Speight, and Troy DuJardin (eds), (Boston Studies in Philosophy, Religion and Public Life 8), Cham: Springer International Publishing, 43–60. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-44606-2_4
  • Smart, Ninian, 1996, Dimensions of the Sacred: An Anatomy of the World’s Beliefs , Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
  • Smith, Christian, 2017, Religion: What it is, How it Works, and Why it Matters , Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
  • Smith, John E., 1994, Quasi-religions: Humanism, Marxism, and Nationalism , New York: St. Martin’s Press.
  • Smith, Jonathan Z., 1978, Map is Not Territory: Studies in the History of Religions , Leiden: Brill.
  • –––, 1982, Imagining Religion: From Babylon to Jonestown , Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
  • –––, 1995, “Afterword: Religious Studies: Whither (Wither) and Why?”, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion , 7(4): 407–414. doi:10.1163/157006895X00171
  • –––, 1998, “Religion, Religions, Religious”, Critical Terms for Religious Studies , Mark C. Taylor (ed.), Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
  • Smith, Wilfred Cantwell, 1962, The Meaning and End of Religion , New York: Macmillan.
  • Southwold, Martin, 1978, “Buddhism and the Definition of Religion”, Man , New Series 13(3): 362–379. doi:10.2307/2801935
  • Spiro, Melford, 1966, “Religion: Problems of Definition and Explanation”, in Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion , Michael Banton (ed.), London: Tavistock, 85–126.
  • Taves, Ann, 2009, Religious Experience Reconsidered: A Building-Block Approach to the Study of Religion and other Special Things. , Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
  • Tillich, Paul, 1957, Dynamics of Faith , New York: Harper and Row.
  • –––, 1963, Christianity and the Encounter of the World Religions , New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Turner, Bryan S., 2011, Religion and Modern Society: Citizenship, Secularization and the State , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511975660
  • Tylor, Edward Burnett, 1871 [1970], Primitive Culture , two vols., London: John Murray, 1871; vol. 2 reprinted as Religion in Primitive Culture , Gloucester: Peter Smith, 1970.
  • Vásquez, Manuel A., 2011, More than Belief: A Materialist Theory of Religion , Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Weed, Eric, 2019, The Religion of White Supremacy in the United States , Lanham, MD: Lexington.
  • Whitehead, Alfred North, 1926, Religion in the Making , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Williamson, Timothy, 1994, Vagueness , London: Routledge.
  • Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 1953 [2009], Philosophical Investigations , G. E. M. Armstrong (trans.), Oxford: Basil Blackwell; reprinted: 4 th edition, Malden: Blackwell, 2009.
  • –––, 1974, Philosophical Grammar , Anthony Kenny (trans.), Oxford: Blackwell.
How to cite this entry . Preview the PDF version of this entry at the Friends of the SEP Society . Look up topics and thinkers related to this entry at the Internet Philosophy Ontology Project (InPhO). Enhanced bibliography for this entry at PhilPapers , with links to its database.
  • Nye, Malory, 2020, “ Religion is Not a Thing ”, Religion Bites , 31 January 2020.
  • The Critical Religion Association
  • The Religious Studies Project
  • Centre for Critical Realism

definitions | religion: philosophy of | skepticism | Wittgenstein, Ludwig

Copyright © 2022 by Kevin Schilbrack < schilbrackke @ appstate . edu >

  • Accessibility

Support SEP

Mirror sites.

View this site from another server:

  • Info about mirror sites

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is copyright © 2023 by The Metaphysics Research Lab , Department of Philosophy, Stanford University

Library of Congress Catalog Data: ISSN 1095-5054

Become a Writer Today

Essays About Religion: Top 5 Examples and 7 Writing Prompts

Essays about religion include delicate issues and tricky subtopics. See our top essay examples and prompts to guide you in your essay writing.

With over 4,000 religions worldwide, it’s no wonder religion influences everything. It involves faith, lessons on humanity, spirituality, and moral values that span thousands of years. For some, it’s both a belief and a cultural system. As it often clashes with science, laws, and modern philosophies, it’s also a hot debate topic. Religion is a broad subject encompassing various elements of life, so you may find it a challenging topic to write an essay about it.

1. Wisdom and Longing in Islam’s Religion by Anonymous on Ivypanda.com

2. consequences of following religion blindly essay by anonymous on ivypanda.com, 3. religion: christians’ belief in god by anonymous on ivypanda.com, 4. mecca’s influence on today’s religion essay by anonymous on ivypanda.com, 5. religion: how buddhism views the world by anonymous on ivypanda.com , 1. the importance of religion, 2. pros and cons of having a religion, 3. religions across the world, 4. religion and its influence on laws, 5. religion: then and now, 6. religion vs. science, 7. my religion.

“Portraying Muslims as radical religious fanatics who deny other religions and violently fight dissent has nothing to do with true Islamic ideology. The knowledge that is presented in Islam and used by Muslims to build their worldview system is exploited in a misinterpreted form. This is transforming the perception of Islam around the world as a radical religious system that supports intolerance and conflicts.”

The author discusses their opinion on how Islam becomes involved with violence or terrorism in the Islamic states. Throughout the essay, the writer mentions the massive difference between Islam’s central teachings and the terrorist groups’ dogma. The piece also includes a list of groups, their disobediences, and punishments.

This essay looks at how these brutalities have nothing to do with Islam’s fundamental ideologies. However, the context of Islam’s creeds is distorted by rebel groups like The Afghan mujahideen, Jihadis, and Al-Qa’ida. Furthermore, their activities push dangerous narratives that others use to make generalized assumptions about the entire religion. These misleading generalizations lead to misunderstandings amongst other communities, particularly in the western world. However, the truth is that these terrorist groups are violating Islamic doctrine.

“Following religion blindly can hinder one’s self-actualization and interfere with self-development due to numerous constraints and restrictions… Blind adherence to religion is a factor that does not allow receiving flexible education and adapting knowledge to different areas.”

The author discusses the effects of blindly following a religion and mentions that it can lead to difficulties in self-development and the inability to live independently. These limitations affect a person’s opportunity to grow and discover oneself.  Movies like “ The Da Vinci Code ” show how fanatical devotion influences perception and creates constant doubt. 

“…there are many religions through which various cultures attain their spiritual and moral bearings to bring themselves closer to a higher power (deity). Different religions are differentiated in terms of beliefs, customs, and purpose and are similar in one way or the other.”

The author discusses how religion affects its followers’ spiritual and moral values and mentions how deities work in mysterious ways. The essay includes situations that show how these supreme beings test their followers’ faith through various life challenges. Overall, the writer believes that when people fully believe in God, they can be stronger and more capable of coping with the difficulties they may encounter.

“Mecca represents a holy ground that the majority of the Muslims visit; and is only supposed to be visited by Muslims. The popularity of Mecca has increased the scope of its effects, showing that it has an influence on tourism, the financial aspects of the region and lastly religion today.”

The essay delves into Mecca’s contributions to Saudi Arabia’s tourism and religion. It mentions tourism rates peaking during Hajj, a 5-day Muslim pilgrimage, and visitors’ sense of spiritual relief and peace after the voyage. Aside from its tremendous touristic benefits, it also brings people together to worship Allah. You can also check out these essays about values and articles about beliefs .

“Buddhism is seen as one of the most popular and widespread religions on the earth the reason of its pragmatic and attractive philosophies which are so appealing for people of the most diversified backgrounds and ways of thinking .”

To help readers understand the topic, the author explains Buddhism’s worldviews and how Siddhatta Gotama established the religion that’s now one of the most recognized on Earth. It includes teachings about the gift of life, novel thinking, and philosophies based on his observations. Conclusively, the author believes that Buddhism deals with the world as Gotama sees it.

Check out our guide packed full of transition words for essays .

7 Prompts on Essays About Religion

Essays About Religion: The importance of religion

Religion’s importance is embedded in an individual or group’s interpretation of it. They hold on to their faith for various reasons, such as having an idea of the real meaning of life and offering them a purpose to exist. Use this prompt to identify and explain what makes religion a necessity. Make your essay interesting by adding real-life stories of how faith changed someone’s life.

Although religion offers benefits such as positivity and a sense of structure, there are also disadvantages that come with it. Discuss what’s considered healthy and destructive when people follow their religion’s gospels and why. You can also connect it to current issues. Include any personal experience you have.

Religion’s prevalence exhibits how it can significantly affect one’s daily living. Use this prompt to discuss how religions across the world differ from one another when it comes to beliefs and if traditions or customs influence them. It’s essential to use relevant statistical data or surveys in this prompt to support your claims and encourage your readers to trust your piece.

There are various ways religion affects countries’ laws as they adhere to moral and often humanitarian values. Identify each and discuss how faith takes part in a nation’s decision-making regarding pressing matters. You can focus on one religion in a specific location to let the readers concentrate on the case. A good example is the latest abortion issue in the US, the overturning of “Wade vs. Roe.” Include people’s mixed reactions to this subject and their justifications.

Religion: then and now

In this essay, talk about how the most widespread religions’ principles or rituals changed over time. Then, expound on what inspired these changes.  Add the religion’s history, its current situation in the country, and its old and new beliefs. Elaborate on how its members clash over these old and new principles. Conclude by sharing your opinion on whether the changes are beneficial or not.

There’s a never-ending debate between religion and science. List the most controversial arguments in your essay and add which side you support and why. Then, open discourse about how these groups can avoid quarreling. You can also discuss instances when religion and science agreed or worked together to achieve great results. 

Use this prompt if you’re a part of a particular religion. Even if you don’t believe in faith, you can still take this prompt and pick a church you’ll consider joining. Share your personal experiences about your religion. Add how you became a follower, the beliefs that helped you through tough times, and why you’re staying as an active member in it. You can also speak about miraculous events that strengthen your faith. Or you can include teachings that you disagree with and think needs to be changed or updated.

For help with your essay, check out our top essay writing tips !

religion and belief system essay

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

View all posts

13.1 What Is Religion?

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

  • Distinguish between religion, spirituality, and worldview.
  • Describe the connections between witchcraft, sorcery, and magic.
  • Identify differences between deities and spirits.
  • Identify shamanism.
  • Describe the institutionalization of religion in state societies.

Defining Religion, Spirituality, and Worldview

An anthropological inquiry into religion can easily become muddled and hazy because religion encompasses intangible things such as values, ideas, beliefs, and norms. It can be helpful to establish some shared signposts. Two researchers whose work has focused on religion offer definitions that point to diverse poles of thought about the subject. Frequently, anthropologists bookend their understanding of religion by citing these well-known definitions.

French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) utilized an anthropological approach to religion in his study of totemism among Indigenous Australian peoples in the early 20th century. In his work The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (1915), he argues that social scientists should begin with what he calls “simple religions” in their attempts to understand the structure and function of belief systems in general. His definition of religion takes an empirical approach and identifies key elements of a religion: “A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden—beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them” (47). This definition breaks down religion into the components of beliefs, practices, and a social organization—what a shared group of people believe and do.

The other signpost used within anthropology to make sense of religion was crafted by American anthropologist Clifford Geertz (1926–2006) in his work The Interpretation of Cultures (1973). Geertz’s definition takes a very different approach: “A religion is: (1) a system of symbols which acts to (2) establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by (3) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic” (90). Geertz’s definition, which is complex and holistic and addresses intangibles such as emotions and feelings, presents religion as a different paradigm , or overall model, for how we see systems of belief. Geertz views religion as an impetus to view and act upon the world in a certain manner. While still acknowledging that religion is a shared endeavor, Geertz focuses on religion’s role as a potent cultural symbol. Elusive, ambiguous, and hard to define, religion in Geertz’s conception is primarily a feeling that motivates and unites groups of people with shared beliefs. In the next section, we will examine the meanings of symbols and how they function within cultures, which will deepen your understanding of Geertz’s definition. For Geertz, religion is intensely symbolic.

When anthropologists study religion, it can be helpful to consider both of these definitions because religion includes such varied human constructs and experiences as social structures, sets of beliefs, a feeling of awe, and an aura of mystery. While different religious groups and practices sometimes extend beyond what can be covered by a simple definition, we can broadly define religion as a shared system of beliefs and practices regarding the interaction of natural and supernatural phenomena. And yet as soon as we ascribe a meaning to religion, we must distinguish some related concepts, such as spirituality and worldview.

Over the last few years, a growing number of Americans have been choosing to define themselves as spiritual rather than religious. A 2017 Pew Research Center study found that 27 percent of Americans identify as “spiritual but not religious,” which is 8 percentage points higher than it was in 2012 (Lipka and Gecewicz 2017). There are different factors that can distinguish religion and spirituality, and individuals will define and use these terms in specific ways; however, in general, while religion usually refers to shared affiliation with a particular structure or organization, spirituality normally refers to loosely structured beliefs and feelings about relationships between the natural and supernatural worlds. Spirituality can be very adaptable to changing circumstances and is often built upon an individual’s perception of the surrounding environment.

Many Americans with religious affiliation also use the term spirituality and distinguish it from their religion. Pew found in 2017 that 48 percent of respondents said they were both religious and spiritual. Pew also found that 27 percent of people say religion is very important to them (Lipka and Gecewicz 2017).

Another trend pertaining to religion in the United States is the growth of those defining themselves as nones , or people with no religious affiliation. In a 2014 survey of 35,000 Americans from 50 states, Pew found that nearly a quarter of Americans assigned themselves to this category (Pew Research Center 2015). The percentage of adults assigning themselves to the “none” category had grown substantially, from 16 percent in 2007 to 23 percent in 2014; among millennials, the percentage of nones was even higher, at 35 percent (Lipka 2015). In a follow-up survey, participants were asked to identity their major reasons for choosing to be nonaffiliated; the most common responses pointed to the growing politicization of American churches and a more critical and questioning stance toward the institutional structure of all religions (Pew Research Center 2018). It is important, however, to point out that nones are not the same as agnostics or atheists. Nones may hold traditional and/or nontraditional religious beliefs outside of membership in a religious institution. Agnosticism is the belief that God or the divine is unknowable and therefore skepticism of belief is appropriate, and atheism is a stance that denies the existence of a god or collection of gods. Nones, agnostics, and atheists can hold spiritual beliefs, however. When anthropologists study religion, it is very important for them to define the terms they are using because these terms can have different meanings when used outside of academic studies. In addition, the meaning of terms may change. As the social and political landscape in a society changes, it affects all social institutions, including religion.

Even those who consider themselves neither spiritual nor religious hold secular, or nonreligious, beliefs that structure how they view themselves and the world they live in. The term worldview refers to a person’s outlook or orientation; it is a learned perspective, which has both individual and collective components, on the nature of life itself. Individuals frequently conflate and intermingle their religious and spiritual beliefs and their worldviews as they experience change within their lives. When studying religion, anthropologists need to remain aware of these various dimensions of belief. The word religion is not always adequate to identify an individual’s belief systems.

Like all social institutions, religion evolves within and across time and cultures—even across early human species! Adapting to changes in population size and the reality of people’s daily lives, religions and religious/spiritual practices reflect life on the ground . Interestingly, though, while some institutions (such as economics) tend to change radically from one era to another, often because of technological changes, religion tends to be more viscous , meaning it tends to change at a much slower pace and mix together various beliefs and practices. While religion can be a factor in promoting rapid social change, it more commonly changes slowly and retains older features while adding new ones. In effect, religion contains within it many of its earlier iterations and can thus be quite complex.

Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Magic

People in Western cultures too often think of religion as a belief system associated with a church, temple, or mosque, but religion is much more diverse. In the 1960s, anthropologists typically used an evolutionary model for religion that associated less structured religious systems with simple societies and more complex forms of religion with more complex political systems. Anthropologists noticed that as populations grew, all forms of organization—political, economic, social, and religious—became more complex as well. For example, with the emergence of tribal societies, religion expanded to become not only a system of healing and connection with both animate and inanimate things in the environment but also a mechanism for addressing desire and conflict. Witchcraft and sorcery, both forms of magic, are more visible in larger-scale, more complex societies.

The terms witchcraft and sorcery are variously defined across disciplines and from one researcher to another, yet there is some agreement about common elements associated with each. Witchcraft involves the use of intangible (not material) means to cause a change in circumstances to another person. It is normally associated with practices such as incantations, spells, blessings, and other types of formulaic language that, when pronounced, causes a transformation. Sorcery is similar to witchcraft but involves the use of material elements to cause a change in circumstances to another person. It is normally associated with such practices as magical bundles, love potions, and any specific action that uses another person’s personal leavings (such as their hair, nails, or even excreta). While some scholars argue that witchcraft and sorcery are “dark,” negative, antisocial actions that seek to punish others, ethnographic research is filled with examples of more ambiguous or even positive uses as well. Cultural anthropologist Alma Gottlieb , who did fieldwork among the Beng people of Côte d’Ivoire in Africa, describes how the king that the Beng choose as their leader must always be a witch himself, not because of his ability to harm others but because his mystical powers allow him to protect the Beng people that he rules (2008). His knowledge and abilities allow him to be a capable ruler.

Some scholars argue that witchcraft and sorcery may be later developments in religion and not part of the earliest rituals because they can be used to express social conflict. What is the relationship between conflict, religion, and political organization? Consider what you learned in Social Inequalities . As a society’s population rises, individuals within that society have less familiarity and personal experience with each other and must instead rely on family reputation or rank as the basis for establishing trust. Also, as social diversity increases, people find themselves interacting with those who have different behaviors and beliefs from their own. Frequently, we trust those who are most like ourselves, and diversity can create a sense of mistrust. This sense of not knowing or understanding the people one lives, works, and trades with creates social stress and forces people to put themselves into what can feel like risky situations when interacting with one another. In such a setting, witchcraft and sorcery provide a feeling of security and control over other people. Historically, as populations increased and sociocultural institutions became larger and more complex, religion evolved to provide mechanisms such as witchcraft and sorcery that helped individuals establish a sense of social control over their lives.

Magic is essential to both witchcraft and sorcery, and the principles of magic are part of every religion. The anthropological study of magic is considered to have begun in the late 19th century with the 1890 publication of The Golden Bough , by Scottish social anthropologist Sir James G. Frazer . This work, published in several volumes, details the rituals and beliefs of a diverse range of societies, all collected by Frazer from the accounts of missionaries and travelers. Frazer was an armchair anthropologist, meaning that he did not practice fieldwork. In his work, he provided one of the earliest definitions of magic, describing it as “a spurious system of natural law as well as a fallacious guide of conduct” (Frazer [1922] 1925, 11). A more precise and neutral definition depicts magic as a supposed system of natural law whose practice causes a transformation to occur. In the natural world—the world of our senses and the things we hear, see, smell, taste, and touch—we operate with evidence of observable cause and effect. Magic is a system in which the actions or causes are not always empirical. Speaking a spell or other magical formula does not provide observable (empirical) effects. For practitioners of magic, however, this abstract cause and effect is just as consequential and just as true.

Frazer refers to magic as “sympathetic magic” because it is based on the idea of sympathy, or common feeling, and he argued that there are two principles of sympathetic magic: the law of similarity and the law of contagion. The law of similarity is the belief that a magician can create a desired change by imitating that change. This is associated with actions or charms that mimic or look like the effects one desires, such as the use of an effigy that looks like another person or even the Venus figurine associated with the Upper Paleolithic period, whose voluptuous female body parts may have been used as part of a fertility ritual. By taking actions on the stand-in figure, the magician is able to cause an effect on the person believed to be represented by this figure. The law of contagion is the belief that things that have once been in contact with each other remain connected always, such as a piece of jewelry owned by someone you love, a locket of hair or baby tooth kept as a keepsake, or personal leavings to be used in acts of sorcery.

This classification of magic broadens our understanding of how magic can be used and how common it is across all religions. Prayers and special mortuary artifacts ( grave goods ) indicate that the concept of magic is an innately human practice and not associated solely with tribal societies. In most cultures and across religious traditions, people bury or cremate loved ones with meaningful clothing, jewelry, or even a photo. These practices and sentimental acts are magical bonds and connections among acts, artifacts, and people. Even prayers and shamanic journeying (a form of metaphysical travel) to spirits and deities, practiced in almost all religious traditions, are magical contracts within people’s belief systems that strengthen practitioners’ faith. Instead of seeing magic as something outside of religion that diminishes seriousness, anthropologists see magic as a profound human act of faith.

Supernatural Forces and Beings

As stated earlier, religion typically regards the interaction of natural and supernatural phenomena. Put simply, a supernatural force is a figure or energy that does not follow natural law. In other words, it is nonempirical and cannot be measured or observed by normal means. Religious practices rely on contact and interaction with a wide range of supernatural forces of varying degrees of complexity and specificity.

In many religious traditions, there are both supernatural deities, or gods who are named and have the ability to change human fortunes, and spirits, who are less powerful and not always identified by name. Spirit or spirits can be diffuse and perceived as a field of energy or an unnamed force.

Practitioners of witchcraft and sorcery manipulate a supposed supernatural force that is often referred to by the term mana , first identified in Polynesia among the Maori of New Zealand ( mana is a Maori word). Anthropologists see a similar supposed sacred energy field in many different religious traditions and now use this word to refer to that energy force. Mana is an impersonal (unnamed and unidentified) force that can adhere for varying periods of time to people or animate and inanimate objects to make them sacred. One example is in the biblical story that appears in Mark 5:25–30, in which a woman suffering an illness simply touches Jesus’s cloak and is healed. Jesus asks, “Who touched my clothes?” because he recognizes that some of this force has passed from him to the woman who was ill in order to heal her. Many Christians see the person of Jesus as sacred and holy from the time of his baptism by the Holy Spirit. Christian baptism in many traditions is meant as a duplication or repetition of Christ’s baptism.

There are also named and known supernatural deities. A deity is a god or goddess. Most often conceived as humanlike, gods (male) and goddesses (female) are typically named beings with individual personalities and interests. Monotheistic religions focus on a single named god or goddess, and polytheistic religions are built around a pantheon, or group, of gods and/or goddesses, each usually specializing in a specific sort of behavior or action. And there are spirits , which tend to be associated with very specific (and narrower) activities, such as earth spirits or guardian spirits (or angels). Some spirits emanate from or are connected directly to humans, such as ghosts and ancestor spirits , which may be attached to specific individuals, families, or places. In some patrilineal societies, ancestor spirits require a great deal of sacrifice from the living. This veneration of the dead can consume large quantities of resources. In the Philippines, the practice of venerating the ancestor spirits involves elaborate house shrines, altars, and food offerings. In central Madagascar, the Merino people practice a regular “turning of the bones,” called famidihana . Every five to seven years, a family will disinter some of their deceased family members and replace their burial clothing with new, expensive silk garments as a form of remembrance and to honor all of their ancestors. In both of these cases, ancestor spirits are believed to continue to have an effect on their living relatives, and failure to carry out these rituals is believed to put the living at risk of harm from the dead.

Religious Specialists

Religious groups typically have some type of leadership, whether formal or informal. Some religious leaders occupy a specific role or status within a larger organization, representing the rules and regulations of the institution, including norms of behavior. In anthropology, these individuals are called priests , even though they may have other titles within their religious groups. Anthropology defines priests as full-time practitioners, meaning they occupy a religious rank at all times, whether or not they are officiating at rituals or ceremonies, and they have leadership over groups of people. They serve as mediators or guides between individuals or groups of people and the deity or deities. In religion-specific terms, anthropological priests may be called by various names, including titles such as priest, pastor, preacher, teacher, imam (Islam), and rabbi (Judaism).

Another category of specialists is prophets . These individuals are associated with religious change and transformation, calling for a renewal of beliefs or a restructuring of the status quo. Their leadership is usually temporary or indirect, and sometimes the prophet is on the margins of a larger religious organization. German sociologist Max Weber (1947) identified prophets as having charisma , a personality trait that conveys authority:

Charisma is a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These as such are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a leader. (358–359)

A third type of specialist is shamans . Shamans are part-time religious specialists who work with clients to address very specific and individual needs by making direct contact with deities or supernatural forces. While priests will officiate at recurring ritual events, a shaman, much like a medical psychologist, addresses each individual need. One exception to this is the shaman’s role in subsistence, usually hunting. In societies where the shaman is responsible for “calling up the animals” so that hunters will have success, the ritual may be calendrical , or occurring on a cyclical basis. While shamans are medical and religious specialists within shamanic societies, there are other religions that practice forms of shamanism as part of their own belief systems. Sometimes, these shamanic practitioners will be known by terms such as pastor or preacher , or even layperson . And some religious specialists serve as both part-time priests and part-time shamans, occupying more than one role as needed within a group of practitioners. You will read more about shamanism in the next section.

One early form of religion is shamanism , a practice of divination and healing that involves soul travel, also called shamanic journeying, to connect natural and supernatural realms in nonlinear time. Associated initially with small-scale societies, shamanic practices are now known to be embedded in many of the world’s religions. In some cultures, shamans are part-time specialists, usually drawn into the practice by a “calling” and trained in the necessary skills and rituals though an apprenticeship. In other cultures, all individuals are believed to be capable of shamanic journeying if properly trained. By journeying—an act frequently initiated by dance, trance, drumbeat, song, or hallucinogenic substances—the shaman is able to consult with a spiritual world populated by supernatural figures and deceased ancestors. The term itself, šamán , meaning “one who knows,” is an Evenki word, originating among the Evenk people of northern Siberia. Shamanism, found all over the world, was first studied by anthropologists in Siberia.

While shamanism is a healing practice, it conforms to the anthropological definition of religion as a shared set of beliefs and practices pertaining to the natural and supernatural. Cultures and societies that publicly affirm shamanism as a predominant and generally accepted practice often are referred to as shamanic cultures . Shamanism and shamanic activity, however, are found within most religions. The world’s two dominant mainstream religions both contain a type of shamanistic practice: the laying on of hands in Christianity, in which a mystical healing and blessing is passed from one person to another, and the mystical Islamic practice of Sufism, in which the practitioner, called a dervish, dances by whirling faster and faster in order to reach a trance state of communing with the divine. There are numerous other shared religious beliefs and practices among different religions besides shamanism. Given the physical and social evolution of our species, it is likely that we all share aspects of a fundamental religious orientation and that religious changes are added on to, rather than used to replace, earlier practices such as shamanism.

Indigenous shamanism continues to be a significant force for healing and prophecy today and is the predominant religious mode in small-scale, subsistence-based societies, such as bands of gatherers and hunters. Shamanism is valued by hunters as an intuitive way to locate wild animals, often depicted as “getting into the mind of the animal.” Shamanism is also valued as a means of healing, allowing individuals to discern and address sources of physical and social illness that may be affecting their health. One of the best-studied shamanic healing practices is that of the !Kung San in Central Africa. When individuals in that society suffer physical or socioemotional distress, they practice n/um tchai , a medicine dance, to draw up spiritual forces within themselves that can be used for shamanic self-healing (Marshall [1969] 2009).

Shamanistic practices remain an important part of the culture of modern Inuit people in the Canadian Arctic, particularly their practices pertaining to whale hunting. Although these traditional hunts were prohibited for a time, Inuit people were able to legally resume them in 1994. In a recent study of Inuit whaling communities in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, cultural anthropologists Frédéric Laugrand and Jarich Oosten (2013) found that although hunting technology has changed—whaling spears now include a grenade that, when aimed properly, allows for a quick and more humane death—many shamanistic beliefs and social practices pertaining to the hunt endure. The sharing of maktak or muktuk (whale skin and blubber) with elders is believed to lift their spirits and prolong their lives by connecting them to their ancestors and memories of their youth, the communal sharing of whale meat connects families to each other, and the relationship between hunter and hunted mystically sustains the populations of both. Inuit hunters believe that the whale “gives itself” to the hunter in order to establish this relationship, and when the hunter and community gratefully and humbly consume the catch, this ties the whales to the people and preserves them both. While Laugrand and Oosten found that most Inuit communities practice modern-day Christianity, the shamanistic values of their ancestors continue to play a major role in their understanding of both the whale hunt and what it means to be Inuit today. Their practice and understanding of religion incorporate both the church and their ancestral beliefs.

Above all, shamanism reflects the principles and practice of mutuality and balance, the belief that all living things are connected to each other and can have an effect on each other. This is a value that reverberates through almost all other religious systems as well. Concepts such as stewardship (caring for and nurturing resources), charity (providing for the needs of others), and justice (concern and respect for others and their rights) are all valued in shamanism.

The Institutionalization of Religion

Shamanism is classified as animism , a worldview in which spiritual agency is assigned to all things, including natural elements such as rocks and trees. Sometimes associated with the idea of dual souls—a day soul and a night soul, the latter of which can wander in dreams—and sometimes with unnamed and disembodied spirits believed to be associated with living and nonliving things, animism was at first understood by anthropologists as a primitive step toward more complex religions. In his work Primitive Culture (1871), British anthropologist Sir Edward Tylor , considered the first academic anthropologist, identified animism as a proto-religion, an evolutionary beginning point for all religions. As population densities increased and societies developed more complex forms of social organization, religion mirrored many of these changes.

With the advent of state societies, religion became institutionalized. As population densities increased and urban areas emerged, the structure and function of religion shifted into a bureaucracy, known as a state religion . State religions are formal institutions with full-time administrators (e.g., priests, pastors, rabbis, imams), a set doctrine of beliefs and regulations, and a policy of growth by seeking new practitioners through conversion. While state religions continued to exhibit characteristics of earlier forms, they were now structured as organizations with a hierarchy, including functionaries at different levels with different specializations. Religion was now administered as well as practiced. Similar to the use of mercenaries as paid soldiers in a state army, bureaucratic religions include paid positions that may not require subscribing to the belief system itself. Examples of early state religions include the pantheons of Egypt and Greece. Today, the most common state religions are Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism.

Rather than part-time shamans, tribal and state religions are often headed by full-time religious leaders who administer higher levels within the religious bureaucracy. With institutionalization, religion began to develop formalized doctrines , or sets of specific and usually rigid principles or teachings, that would be applied through the codification of a formal system of laws. And, unlike earlier religious forms, state religions are usually defined not by birthright but by conversion. Using proselytization , a recruitment practice in which members actively seek converts to the group, state religions are powerful institutions in society. They bring diverse groups of people together and establish common value systems.

There are two common arrangements between political states and state religions. In some instances, such as contemporary Iran, the religious institution and the state are one, and religious leaders head the political structure. In other societies, there is an explicit separation between religion and state. The separation has been handled differently across nation-states. In some states, the political government supports a state religion (or several) as the official religion(s). In some of these cases, the religious institution will play a role in political decision-making from local to national levels. In other state societies with a separation between religion and state, religious institutions will receive favors, such as subsidies, from state governments. This may include tax or military exemptions and privileged access to resources. It is this latter arrangement that we see in the United States, where institutions such as the Department of Defense and the IRS keep lists of officially recognized religions with political and tax-exempt status.

Among the approximately 200 sovereign nation-states worldwide, there are many variations in the relationship between state and religion, including societies that have political religions, where the state or state rulers are considered divine and holy. In North Korea today, people practice an official policy of juche , which means self-reliance and independence. A highly nationalist policy, it has religious overtones, including reverence and obeisance to the state leader (Kim Jong Un) and unquestioning allegiance to the North Korean state. An extreme form of nationalism, juche functions as a political religion with the government and leader seen as deity and divine. Unlike in a theocracy, where the religious structure has political power, in North Korea, the political structure is the practiced religion.

Historically, relationships between religious institution and state have been extremely complex, with power arrangements shifting and changing over time. Today, Christian fundamentalism is playing an increasingly political role in U.S. society. Since its bureaucratization, religion has had a political role in almost every nation-state. In many state societies, religious institutions serve as charity organizations to meet the basic needs of many citizens, as educational institutions offering both mainstream and alternative pedagogies, and as community organizations to help mobilize groups of people for specific actions. Although some states—such as Cuba, China, Cambodia, North Korea, and the former Soviet Union—have declared atheism as their official policy during certain historical periods, religion has never fully disappeared in any of them. Religious groups, however, may face varying levels of oppression within state societies. The Uighurs are a mostly Muslim ethnic group of some 10 million people in northwestern China. Since 2017, when Chinese president Xi Jinping issued an order that all religions in China should be Chinese in their orientation, the Uighurs have faced mounting levels of oppression, including discrimination in state services. There have been recent accusations of mass sterilizations and genocide by the Chinese government against this ethnic minority (see BBC News 2021). During periods of state oppression, religion tends to break up into smaller units practiced at a local or even household level.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-anthropology/pages/1-introduction
  • Authors: Jennifer Hasty, David G. Lewis, Marjorie M. Snipes
  • Publisher/website: OpenStax
  • Book title: Introduction to Anthropology
  • Publication date: Feb 23, 2022
  • Location: Houston, Texas
  • Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/introduction-anthropology/pages/1-introduction
  • Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/introduction-anthropology/pages/13-1-what-is-religion

© Dec 20, 2023 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.

Logo

Essay on World Religions And Belief Systems

Students are often asked to write an essay on World Religions And Belief Systems in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on World Religions And Belief Systems

World religions.

There are many different religions in the world, each with its own beliefs and practices. Some of the major religions include Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism.

Belief Systems

A belief system is a set of beliefs that a person or group of people holds to be true. Belief systems can be religious or secular. Religious belief systems are based on the teachings of a particular religion, while secular belief systems are not based on any particular religion.

Diversity of Religions

The diversity of religions in the world is a reflection of the different ways that people have tried to understand the meaning of life and the universe. There is no one right way to believe, and people should be free to practice the religion that they feel is right for them.

It is important to be tolerant of people who have different religious beliefs. Tolerance means respecting the beliefs of others, even if you do not agree with them. Tolerance is essential for creating a peaceful and harmonious world.

250 Words Essay on World Religions And Belief Systems

What are world religions.

World religions are belief systems that have a large number of followers all over the world. They offer rituals, ceremonies, and practices to help people connect with the divine or ultimate reality. World religions include Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism.

Christianity:

Christianity is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ and revolves around the belief in a triune God consisting of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah who came to Earth to save humanity from sin. Christianity emphasizes love, forgiveness, and compassion.

Islam is founded on the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad and centers around belief in one God, Allah, and his messenger, Muhammad. It highlights the importance of submission to God’s will, known as Islam, and adherence to the Five Pillars of Islam. Muslims strive to live a life of devotion, prayer, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage to Mecca.

Hinduism is a complex and diverse belief system with no single founder. It originated in India and encompasses a variety of traditions, philosophies, and practices. Hinduism places great emphasis on dharma, or righteous living, and the concept of reincarnation, where the soul passes through a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

Buddhism, founded by Siddhartha Gautama, or the Buddha, originated in India and focuses on the pursuit of enlightenment or nirvana. It emphasizes the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path as ways to overcome suffering and achieve liberation from the cycle of rebirth.

Judaism is the oldest monotheistic religion, dating back to the Hebrew patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It revolves around the belief in one God, Yahweh or Jehovah, and the sacredness of the Torah, the Hebrew Bible. Judaism emphasizes ethical behavior, ritual observance, and the covenant between God and the Jewish people.

500 Words Essay on World Religions And Belief Systems

World religions are belief systems that have a large number of followers all over the world. They often have a long history, and they have shaped the cultures of the regions where they are practiced. Some of the largest world religions include Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

Belief Systems of World Religions

Belief systems of world religions are the sets of beliefs and practices that are followed by the members of that religion. These beliefs and practices can be about things like God or gods, the afterlife, and the meaning of life. They can also include things like rituals, ceremonies, and festivals.

Similarities among World Religions

Even though world religions have different beliefs and practices, they also share some similarities. For example, many religions believe in a higher power, or God. They also often have a sense of community and belonging. Additionally, many religions have a code of ethics that their members are expected to follow.

Differences among World Religions

Of course, there are also many differences among world religions. These differences can be in their beliefs about God, the afterlife, and the meaning of life. They can also be in their rituals, ceremonies, and festivals. These differences can sometimes lead to conflict between different religious groups.

Importance of Understanding World Religions

It is important to understand world religions because they play a major role in the lives of many people around the world. They can help to shape people’s values, beliefs, and behaviors. They can also give people a sense of community and belonging. By understanding world religions, we can better understand the people who practice them and build bridges between different cultures.

World religions are belief systems that have a large number of followers all over the world. They often have a long history, and they have shaped the cultures of the regions where they are practiced. Belief systems of world religions are the sets of beliefs and practices that are followed by the members of that religion. They can be about things like God or gods, the afterlife, and the meaning of life. Even though world religions have different beliefs and practices, they also share some similarities.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

  • Essay on Refugee
  • Essay on Power Of Truth
  • Essay on Young India Boon Or Bane

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

  • Tools and Resources
  • Customer Services
  • Communication and Culture
  • Communication and Social Change
  • Communication and Technology
  • Communication Theory
  • Critical/Cultural Studies
  • Gender (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies)
  • Health and Risk Communication
  • Intergroup Communication
  • International/Global Communication
  • Interpersonal Communication
  • Journalism Studies
  • Language and Social Interaction
  • Mass Communication
  • Media and Communication Policy
  • Organizational Communication
  • Political Communication
  • Rhetorical Theory
  • Share This Facebook LinkedIn Twitter

Article contents

Religion, culture, and communication.

  • Stephen M. Croucher , Stephen M. Croucher School of Communication, Journalism, and Marketing, Massey Business School, Massey University
  • Cheng Zeng , Cheng Zeng Department of Communication, University of Jyväskylä
  • Diyako Rahmani Diyako Rahmani Department of Communication, University of Jyväskylä
  •  and  Mélodine Sommier Mélodine Sommier School of History, Culture, and Communication, Eramus University
  • https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.166
  • Published online: 25 January 2017

Religion is an essential element of the human condition. Hundreds of studies have examined how religious beliefs mold an individual’s sociology and psychology. In particular, research has explored how an individual’s religion (religious beliefs, religious denomination, strength of religious devotion, etc.) is linked to their cultural beliefs and background. While some researchers have asserted that religion is an essential part of an individual’s culture, other researchers have focused more on how religion is a culture in itself. The key difference is how researchers conceptualize and operationalize both of these terms. Moreover, the influence of communication in how individuals and communities understand, conceptualize, and pass on religious and cultural beliefs and practices is integral to understanding exactly what religion and culture are.

It is through exploring the relationships among religion, culture, and communication that we can best understand how they shape the world in which we live and have shaped the communication discipline itself. Furthermore, as we grapple with these relationships and terms, we can look to the future and realize that the study of religion, culture, and communication is vast and open to expansion. Researchers are beginning to explore the influence of mediation on religion and culture, how our globalized world affects the communication of religions and cultures, and how interreligious communication is misunderstood; and researchers are recognizing the need to extend studies into non-Christian religious cultures.

  • communication
  • intercultural communication

Intricate Relationships among Religion, Communication, and Culture

Compiling an entry on the relationships among religion, culture, and communication is not an easy task. There is not one accepted definition for any of these three terms, and research suggests that the connections among these concepts are complex, to say the least. Thus, this article attempts to synthesize the various approaches to these three terms and integrate them. In such an endeavor, it is impossible to discuss all philosophical and paradigmatic debates or include all disciplines.

It is difficult to define religion from one perspective and with one encompassing definition. “Religion” is often defined as the belief in or the worship of a god or gods. Geertz ( 1973 ) defined a religion as

(1) a system which acts to (2) establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by (3) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic. (p. 90)

It is essential to recognize that religion cannot be understood apart from the world in which it takes place (Marx & Engels, 1975 ). To better understand how religion relates to and affects culture and communication, we should first explore key definitions, philosophies, and perspectives that have informed how we currently look at religion. In particular, the influences of Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, and Georg Simmel are discussed to further understand the complexity of religion.

Karl Marx ( 1818–1883 ) saw religion as descriptive and evaluative. First, from a descriptive point of view, Marx believed that social and economic situations shape how we form and regard religions and what is religious. For Marx, the fact that people tend to turn to religion more when they are facing economic hardships or that the same religious denomination is practiced differently in different communities would seem perfectly logical. Second, Marx saw religion as a form of alienation (Marx & Engels, 1975 ). For Marx, the notion that the Catholic Church, for example, had the ability or right to excommunicate an individual, and thus essentially exclude them from the spiritual community, was a classic example of exploitation and domination. Such alienation and exploitation was later echoed in the works of Friedrich Nietzsche ( 1844–1900 ), who viewed organized religion as society and culture controlling man (Nietzsche, 1996 ).

Building on Marxist thinking, Weber ( 1864–1920 ) stressed the multicausality of religion. Weber ( 1963 ) emphasized three arguments regarding religion and society: (1) how a religion relates to a society is contingent (it varies); (2) the relationship between religion and society can only be examined in its cultural and historical context; and (3) the relationship between society and religion is slowly eroding. Weber’s arguments can be applied to Catholicism in Europe. Until the Protestant Reformation of the 15th and 16th centuries, Catholicism was the dominant religious ideology on the European continent. However, since the Reformation, Europe has increasingly become more Protestant and less Catholic. To fully grasp why many Europeans gravitate toward Protestantism and not Catholicism, we must consider the historical and cultural reasons: the Reformation, economics, immigration, politics, etc., that have all led to the majority of Europeans identifying as Protestant (Davie, 2008 ). Finally, even though the majority of Europeans identify as Protestant, secularism (separation of church and state) is becoming more prominent in Europe. In nations like France, laws are in place that officially separate the church and state, while in Northern Europe, church attendance is low, and many Europeans who identify as Protestant have very low religiosity (strength of religious devotion), focusing instead on being secularly religious individuals. From a Weberian point of view, the links among religion, history, and culture in Europe explain the decline of Catholicism, the rise of Protestantism, and now the rise of secularism.

Emile Durkheim ( 1858–1917 ) focused more on how religion performs a necessary function; it brings people and society together. Durkheim ( 1976 ) thus defined a religion as

a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things which are set apart and forbidden—beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them. (p. 47)

From this perspective, religion and culture are inseparable, as beliefs and practices are uniquely cultural. For example, religious rituals (one type of practice) unite believers in a religion and separate nonbelievers. The act of communion, or the sharing of the Eucharist by partaking in consecrated bread and wine, is practiced by most Christian denominations. However, the frequency of communion differs extensively, and the ritual is practiced differently based on historical and theological differences among denominations.

Georg Simmel ( 1858–1918 ) focused more on the fluidity and permanence of religion and religious life. Simmel ( 1950 ) believed that religious and cultural beliefs develop from one another. Moreover, he asserted that religiosity is an essential element to understand when examining religious institutions and religion. While individuals may claim to be part of a religious group, Simmel asserted that it was important to consider just how religious the individuals were. In much of Europe, religiosity is low: Germany 34%, Sweden 19%, Denmark 42%, the United Kingdom 30%, the Czech Republic 23%, and The Netherlands 26%, while religiosity is relatively higher in the United States (56%), which is now considered the most religious industrialized nation in the world ( Telegraph Online , 2015 ). The decline of religiosity in parts of Europe and its rise in the U.S. is linked to various cultural, historical, and communicative developments that will be further discussed.

Combining Simmel’s ( 1950 ) notion of religion with Geertz’s ( 1973 ) concept of religion and a more basic definition (belief in or the worship of a god or gods through rituals), it is clear that the relationship between religion and culture is integral and symbiotic. As Clark and Hoover ( 1997 ) noted, “culture and religion are inseparable” and “religion is an important consideration in theories of culture and society” (p. 17).

Outside of the Western/Christian perception of religion, Buddhist scholars such as Nagarajuna present a relativist framework to understand concepts like time and causality. This framework is distinct from the more Western way of thinking, in that notions of present, past, and future are perceived to be chronologically distorted, and the relationship between cause and effect is paradoxical (Wimal, 2007 ). Nagarajuna’s philosophy provides Buddhism with a relativist, non-solid dependent, and non-static understanding of reality (Kohl, 2007 ). Mulla Sadra’s philosophy explored the metaphysical relationship between the created universe and its singular creator. In his philosophy, existence takes precedence over essence, and any existing object reflects a part of the creator. Therefore, every devoted person is obliged to know themselves as the first step to knowing the creator, which is the ultimate reason for existence. This Eastern perception of religion is similar to that of Nagarajuna and Buddhism, as they both include the paradoxical elements that are not easily explained by the rationality of Western philosophy. For example, the god, as Mulla Sadra defines it, is beyond definition, description, and delamination, yet it is absolutely simple and unique (Burrell, 2013 ).

How researchers define and study culture varies extensively. For example, Hall ( 1989 ) defined culture as “a series of situational models for behavior and thought” (p. 13). Geertz ( 1973 ), building on the work of Kluckhohn ( 1949 ), defined culture in terms of 11 different aspects:

(1) the total way of life of a people; (2) the social legacy the individual acquires from his group; (3) a way of thinking, feeling, and believing; (4) an abstraction from behavior; (5) a theory on the part of the anthropologist about the way in which a group of people in fact behave; (6) a storehouse of pooled learning; (7) a set of standardized orientations to recurrent problems; (8) learned behavior; (9) a mechanism for the normative regulation of behavior; (10) a set of techniques for adjusting both to the external environment and to other men; (11) a precipitate of history. (Geertz, 1973 , p. 5)

Research on culture is divided between an essentialist camp and a constructivist camp. The essentialist view regards culture as a concrete and fixed system of symbols and meanings (Holiday, 1999 ). An essentialist approach is most prevalent in linguistic studies, in which national culture is closely linked to national language. Regarding culture as a fluid concept, constructionist views of culture focus on how it is performed and negotiated by individuals (Piller, 2011 ). In this sense, “culture” is a verb rather than a noun. In principle, a non-essentialist approach rejects predefined national cultures and uses culture as a tool to interpret social behavior in certain contexts.

Different approaches to culture influence significantly how it is incorporated into communication studies. Cultural communication views communication as a resource for individuals to produce and regulate culture (Philipsen, 2002 ). Constructivists tend to perceive culture as a part of the communication process (Applegate & Sypher, 1988 ). Cross-cultural communication typically uses culture as a national boundary. Hofstede ( 1991 ) is probably the most popular scholar in this line of research. Culture is thus treated as a theoretical construct to explain communication variations across cultures. This is also evident in intercultural communication studies, which focus on misunderstandings between individuals from different cultures.

Religion, Community, and Culture

There is an interplay among religion, community, and culture. Community is essentially formed by a group of people who share common activities or beliefs based on their mutual affect, loyalty, and personal concerns. Participation in religious institutions is one of the most dominant community engagements worldwide. Religious institutions are widely known for creating a sense of community by offering various material and social supports for individual followers. In addition, the role that religious organizations play in communal conflicts is also crucial. As religion deals with the ultimate matters of life, the differences among different religious beliefs are virtually impossible to settle. Although a direct causal relationship between religion and violence is not well supported, religion is, nevertheless, commonly accepted as a potential escalating factor in conflicts. Currently, religious conflicts are on the rise, and they are typically more violent, long-lasting, and difficult to resolve. In such cases, local religious organizations, places facilitating collective actions in the community, are extremely vital, as they can either preach peace or stir up hatred and violence. The peace impact of local religious institutions has been largely witnessed in India and Indonesia where conflicts are solved at the local level before developing into communal violence (De Juan, Pierskalla, & Vüllers, 2015 ).

While religion affects cultures (Beckford & Demerath, 2007 ), it itself is also affected by culture, as religion is an essential layer of culture. For example, the growth of individualism in the latter half of the 20th century has been coincident with the decline in the authority of Judeo-Christian institutions and the emergence of “parachurches” and more personal forms of prayer (Hoover & Lundby, 1997 ). However, this decline in the authority of the religious institutions in modernized society has not reduced the important role of religion and spirituality as one of the main sources of calm when facing painful experiences such as death, suffering, and loss.

When cultural specifications, such as individualism and collectivism, have been attributed to religion, the proposed definitions and functions of religion overlap with definitions of culture. For example, researchers often combine religious identification (Jewish, Christian, Muslim, etc.) with cultural dimensions (Hofstede, 1991 ) like individualism/collectivism to understand and compare cultural differences. Such combinations for comparison and analytical purposes demonstrate how religion and religious identification in particular are often relegated to a micro-level variable, when in fact the true relationship between an individual’s religion and culture is inseparable.

Religion as Part of Culture in Communication Studies

Religion as a part of culture has been linked to numerous communication traits and behaviors. Specifically, religion has been linked with media use and preferences (e.g., Stout & Buddenbaum, 1996 ), health/medical decisions and communication about health-related issues (Croucher & Harris, 2012 ), interpersonal communication (e.g., Croucher, Faulkner, Oommen, & Long, 2012b ), organizational behaviors (e.g., Garner & Wargo, 2009 ), and intercultural communication traits and behaviors (e.g., Croucher, Braziunaite, & Oommen, 2012a ). In media and religion scholarship, researchers have shown how religion as a cultural variable has powerful effects on media use, preferences, and gratifications. The research linking media and religion is vast (Stout & Buddenbaum, 1996 ). This body of research has shown how “religious worldviews are created and sustained in ongoing social processes in which information is shared” (Stout & Buddenbaum, 1996 , pp. 7–8). For example, religious Christians are more likely to read newspapers, while religious individuals are less likely to have a favorable opinion of the internet (Croucher & Harris, 2012 ), and religious individuals (who typically attend religious services and are thus integrated into a religious community) are more likely to read media produced by the religious community (Davie, 2008 ).

Research into health/medical decisions and communication about health-related issues is also robust. Research shows how religion, specifically religiosity, promotes healthier living and better decision-making regarding health and wellbeing (Harris & Worley, 2012 ). For example, a religious (or spiritual) approach to cancer treatment can be more effective than a secular approach (Croucher & Harris, 2012 ), religious attendance promotes healthier living, and people with HIV/AIDS often turn to religion for comfort as well. These studies suggest the significance of religion in health communication and in our health.

Research specifically examining the links between religion and interpersonal communication is not as vast as the research into media, health, and religion. However, this slowly growing body of research has explored areas such as rituals, self-disclosure (Croucher et al., 2012b ), and family dynamics (Davie, 2008 ), to name a few.

The role of religion in organizations is well studied. Overall, researchers have shown how religious identification and religiosity influence an individual’s organizational behavior. For example, research has shown that an individual’s religious identification affects levels of organizational dissent (Croucher et al., 2012a ). Garner and Wargo ( 2009 ) further showed that organizational dissent functions differently in churches than in nonreligious organizations. Kennedy and Lawton ( 1998 ) explored the relationships between religious beliefs and perceptions about business/corporate ethics and found that individuals with stronger religious beliefs have stricter ethical beliefs.

Researchers are increasingly looking at the relationships between religion and intercultural communication. Researchers have explored how religion affects numerous communication traits and behaviors and have shown how religious communities perceive and enact religious beliefs. Antony ( 2010 ), for example, analyzed the bindi in India and how the interplay between religion and culture affects people’s acceptance of it. Karniel and Lavie-Dinur ( 2011 ) showed how religion and culture influence how Palestinian Arabs are represented on Israeli television. Collectively, the intercultural work examining religion demonstrates the increasing importance of the intersection between religion and culture in communication studies.

Collectively, communication studies discourse about religion has focused on how religion is an integral part of an individual’s culture. Croucher et al. ( 2016 ), in a content analysis of communication journal coverage of religion and spirituality from 2002 to 2012 , argued that the discourse largely focuses on religion as a cultural variable by identifying religious groups as variables for comparative analysis, exploring “religious” or “spiritual” as adjectives to describe entities (religious organizations), and analyzing the relationships between religious groups in different contexts. Croucher and Harris ( 2012 ) asserted that the discourse about religion, culture, and communication is still in its infancy, though it continues to grow at a steady pace.

Future Lines of Inquiry

Research into the links among religion, culture, and communication has shown the vast complexities of these terms. With this in mind, there are various directions for future research/exploration that researchers could take to expand and benefit our practical understanding of these concepts and how they relate to one another. Work should continue to define these terms with a particular emphasis on mediation, closely consider these terms in a global context, focus on how intergroup dynamics influence this relationship, and expand research into non-Christian religious cultures.

Additional definitional work still needs to be done to clarify exactly what is meant by “religion,” “culture,” and “communication.” Our understanding of these terms and relationships can be further enhanced by analyzing how forms of mass communication mediate each other. Martin-Barbero ( 1993 ) asserted that there should be a shift from media to mediations as multiple opposing forces meet in communication. He defined mediation as “the articulations between communication practices and social movements and the articulation of different tempos of development with the plurality of cultural matrices” (p. 187). Religions have relied on mediations through various media to communicate their messages (oral stories, print media, radio, television, internet, etc.). These media share religious messages, shape the messages and religious communities, and are constantly changing. What we find is that, as media sophistication develops, a culture’s understandings of mediated messages changes (Martin-Barbero, 1993 ). Thus, the very meanings of religion, culture, and communication are transitioning as societies morph into more digitally mediated societies. Research should continue to explore the effects of digital mediation on our conceptualizations of religion, culture, and communication.

Closely linked to mediation is the need to continue extending our focus on the influence of globalization on religion, culture, and communication. It is essential to study the relationships among culture, religion, and communication in the context of globalization. In addition to trading goods and services, people are increasingly sharing ideas, values, and beliefs in the modern world. Thus, globalization not only leads to technological and socioeconomic changes, but also shapes individuals’ ways of communicating and their perceptions and beliefs about religion and culture. While religion represents an old way of life, globalization challenges traditional meaning systems and is often perceived as a threat to religion. For instance, Marx and Weber both asserted that modernization was incompatible with tradition. But, in contrast, globalization could facilitate religious freedom by spreading the idea of freedom worldwide. Thus, future work needs to consider the influence of globalization to fully grasp the interrelationships among religion, culture, and communication in the world.

A review of the present definitions of religion in communication research reveals that communication scholars approach religion as a holistic, total, and unique institution or notion, studied from the viewpoint of different communication fields such as health, intercultural, interpersonal, organizational communication, and so on. However, this approach to communication undermines the function of a religion as a culture and also does not consider the possible differences between religious cultures. For example, religious cultures differ in their levels of individualism and collectivism. There are also differences in how religious cultures interact to compete for more followers and territory (Klock, Novoa, & Mogaddam, 2010 ). Thus, localization is one area of further research for religion communication studies. This line of study best fits in the domain of intergroup communication. Such an approach will provide researchers with the opportunity to think about the roles that interreligious communication can play in areas such as peacemaking processes (Klock et al., 2010 ).

Academic discourse about religion has focused largely on Christian denominations. In a content analysis of communication journal discourse on religion and spirituality, Croucher et al. ( 2016 ) found that the terms “Christian” or “Christianity” appeared in 9.56% of all articles, and combined with other Christian denominations (Catholicism, Evangelism, Baptist, Protestantism, and Mormonism, for example), appeared in 18.41% of all articles. Other religious cultures (denominations) made up a relatively small part of the overall academic discourse: Islam appeared in 6.8%, Judaism in 4.27%, and Hinduism in only 0.96%. Despite the presence of various faiths in the data, the dominance of Christianity and its various denominations is incontestable. Having religions unevenly represented in the academic discourse is problematic. This highly unbalanced representation presents a biased picture of religious practices. It also represents one faith as being the dominant faith and others as being minority religions in all contexts.

Ultimately, the present overview, with its focus on religion, culture, and communication points to the undeniable connections among these concepts. Religion and culture are essential elements of humanity, and it is through communication, that these elements of humanity are mediated. Whether exploring these terms in health, interpersonal, intercultural, intergroup, mass, or other communication contexts, it is evident that understanding the intersection(s) among religion, culture, and communication offers vast opportunities for researchers and practitioners.

Further Reading

The references to this article provide various examples of scholarship on religion, culture, and communication. The following list includes some critical pieces of literature that one should consider reading if interested in studying the relationships among religion, culture, and communication.

  • Allport, G. W. (1950). Individual and his religion: A psychological interpretation . New York: Macmillan.
  • Campbell, H. A. (2010). When religion meets new media . New York: Routledge.
  • Cheong, P. H. , Fischer-Nielson, P. , Gelfgren, S. , & Ess, C. (Eds.). (2012). Digital religion, social media and culture: Perspectives, practices and futures . New York: Peter Lang.
  • Cohen, A. B. , & Hill, P. C. (2007). Religion as culture: Religious individualism and collectivism among American Catholics, Jews, and Protestants . Journal of Personality , 75 , 709–742.
  • Coomaraswamy, A. K. (2015). Hinduism and buddhism . New Delhi: Munshiram Monoharlal Publishers.
  • Coomaraswamy, A. K. (2015). A new approach to the Vedas: Essays in translation and exegesis . Philadelphia: Coronet Books.
  • Harris, T. M. , Parrott, R. , & Dorgan, K. A. (2004). Talking about human genetics within religious frameworks . Health Communication , 16 , 105–116.
  • Hitchens, C. (2007). God is not great . New York: Hachette.
  • Hoover, S. M. (2006). Religion in the media age (media, religion and culture) . New York: Routledge.
  • Lundby, K. , & Hoover, S. M. (1997). Summary remarks: Mediated religion. In S. M. Hoover & K. Lundby (Eds.), Rethinking media, religion, and culture (pp. 298–309). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
  • Mahan, J. H. (2014). Media, religion and culture: An introduction . New York: Routledge.
  • Parrott, R. (2004). “Collective amnesia”: The absence of religious faith and spirituality in health communication research and practice . Journal of Health Communication , 16 , 1–5.
  • Russell, B. (1957). Why I am not a Christian . New York: Touchstone.
  • Sarwar, G. (2001). Islam: Beliefs and teachings (5th ed.). Tigard, OR: Muslim Educational Trust.
  • Stout, D. A. (2011). Media and religion: Foundations of an emerging field . New York: Routledge.
  • Antony, M. G. (2010). On the spot: Seeking acceptance and expressing resistance through the Bindi . Journal of International and Intercultural Communication , 3 , 346–368.
  • Beckford, J. A. , & Demerath, N. J. (Eds.). (2007). The SAGE handbook of the sociology of religion . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
  • Burrell, D. B. (2013). The triumph of mercy: Philosophy and scripture in Mulla Sadra—By Mohammed Rustom . Modern Theology , 29 , 413–416.
  • Clark, A. S. , & Hoover, S. M. (1997). At the intersection of media, culture, and religion. In S. M. Hoover , & K. Lundby (Eds.), Rethinking media, religion, and culture (pp. 15–36). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
  • Croucher, S. M. , Braziunaite, R. , & Oommen, D. (2012a). The effects of religiousness and religious identification on organizational dissent. In S. M. Croucher , & T. M. Harris (Eds.), Religion and communication: An anthology of extensions in theory, research, and method (pp. 69–79). New York: Peter Lang.
  • Croucher, S. M. , Faulkner , Oommen, D. , & Long, B. (2012b). Demographic and religious differences in the dimensions of self-disclosure among Hindus and Muslims in India . Journal of Intercultural Communication Research , 39 , 29–48.
  • Croucher, S. M. , & Harris, T. M. (Eds.). (2012). Religion and communication: An anthology of extensions in theory, research, & method . New York: Peter Lang.
  • Croucher, S. M. , Sommier, M. , Kuchma, A. , & Melnychenko, V. (2016). A content analysis of the discourses of “religion” and “spirituality” in communication journals: 2002–2012. Journal of Communication and Religion , 38 , 42–79.
  • Davie, G. (2008). The sociology of religion . Los Angeles: SAGE.
  • De Juan, A. , Pierskalla, J. H. , & Vüllers, J. (2015). The pacifying effects of local religious institutions: An analysis of communal violence in Indonesia . Political Research Quarterly , 68 , 211–224.
  • Durkheim, E. (1976). The elementary forms of religious life . London: Harper Collins.
  • Garner, J. T. , & Wargo, M. (2009). Feedback from the pew: A dual-perspective exploration of organizational dissent in churches. Journal of Communication & Religion , 32 , 375–400.
  • Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays by Clifford Geertz . New York: Basic Books.
  • Hall, E. T. (1989). Beyond culture . New York: Anchor Books.
  • Harris, T. M. , & Worley, T. R. (2012). Deconstructing lay epistemologies of religion within health communication research. In S. M. Croucher , & T. M. Harris (Eds.), Religion & communication: An anthology of extensions in theory, research, and method (pp. 119–136). New York: Peter Lang.
  • Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind . London: McGraw-Hill.
  • Holiday, A. (1999). Small culture . Applied Linguistics , 20 , 237–264.
  • Hoover, S. M. , & Lundby, K. (1997). Introduction. In S. M. Hoover & K. Lundby (Eds.), Rethinking media, religion, and culture (pp. 3–14). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
  • Karniel, Y. , & Lavie-Dinur, A. (2011). Entertainment and stereotype: Representation of the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel in reality shows on Israeli television . Journal of Intercultural Communication Research , 40 , 65–88.
  • Kennedy, E. J. , & Lawton, L. (1998). Religiousness and business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics , 17 , 175–180.
  • Klock, J. , Novoa, C. , & Mogaddam, F. M. (2010). Communication across religions. In H. Giles , S. Reid , & J. Harwood (Eds.), The dynamics of intergroup communication (pp. 77–88). New York: Peter Lang
  • Kluckhohn, C. (1949). Mirror for man: The relation of anthropology to modern life . Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
  • Kohl, C. T. (2007). Buddhism and quantum physics . Contemporary Buddhism , 8 , 69–82.
  • Mapped: These are the world’s most religious countries . (April 13, 2015). Telegraph Online .
  • Martin-Barbero, J. (1993). Communication, culture and hegemony: From the media to the mediations . London: SAGE.
  • Marx, K. , & Engels, F. (1975). Collected works . London: Lawrence and Wishart.
  • Nietzsche, F. (1996). Human, all too human: A book for free spirits . R. J. Hollingdale (Trans.). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
  • Piller, I. (2011). Intercultural communication: A critical introduction . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Philipsen, G. (2002). Cultural communication. In W. B. Gudykunst (Ed.), Cross-cultural and intercultural communication (pp. 35–51). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
  • Simmel, G. (1950). The sociology of Georg Simmel . K. Wolff (Trans.). Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
  • Stout, D. A. , & Buddenbaum, J. M. (Eds.). (1996). Religion and mass media: Audiences and adaptations . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
  • Weber, M. (1963). The sociology of religion . London: Methuen.
  • Wimal, D. (2007). Nagarjuna and modern communication theory. China Media Research , 3 , 34–41.
  • Applegate, J. , & Sypher, H. (1988). A constructivist theory of communication and culture. In Y. Y. Kim & W. B. Gudykunst (Eds.), Theories of intercultural communication (pp. 41-65). Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.

Related Articles

  • Christianity as Public Religion in the Post-Secular 21st Century
  • Legal Interpretations of Freedom of Expression and Blasphemy
  • Public Culture
  • Communicating Religious Identities
  • Religion and Journalism
  • Global Jihad and International Media Use

Printed from Oxford Research Encyclopedias, Communication. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 26 March 2024

  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal Notice
  • Accessibility
  • [66.249.64.20|81.177.182.136]
  • 81.177.182.136

Character limit 500 /500

Religious vs. Non-Religious Belief Systems

  • Belief Systems
  • Key Figures in Atheism
  • M.A., Princeton University
  • B.A., University of Pennsylvania

Religion is a type of belief system, but not all belief systems are religions. Differentiating religious from nonreligious belief systems is sometimes easy, but other times rather difficult, as demonstrated by the arguments people have over what qualifies as a religion. Establishing a set of characteristics which tend to coalesce around religions can help, but that isn't always enough.

In the end, there are a few beliefs or belief systems which are difficult to categorize. Theism is perhaps most often confused with religion, even though theism by itself doesn't even qualify as a belief system whereas religion always does. Philosophy is sometimes confused with religion because the two topics tend to cover the same basic issues. Spirituality is often mistaken for not being a religion - perhaps because religion has acquired a bad name but people still want to retain the basic trappings and features.

Understanding how and why theism, philosophy, spirituality, and other beliefs are similar and different from what we normally think of when when think "religion" can help a great deal in understanding just what religion is. Some point to where the outer boundaries of religion lie, while others help us understand what religion necessarily includes.

Religion vs. Superstition Comparing religion to superstition will probably cause most believers to take offense, but there are too many similarities between the two for a comparison to be dismissed out of hand. Granted, not every religious believer is superstitious and some irreligious atheists are superstitious, but that doesn't mean that there's no connection between the two. Both depend on a non-material understanding of nature that seems to have deep psychological resonance with the average person.

Religion vs. The Paranormal Most religious believers will completely reject the idea that there is any connection between religion and paranormal beliefs. Outsiders, in contrast, will quickly notice that there are a number of similarities that cannot be easily dismissed. Paranormal beliefs may not be quite the same as a religion, but sometimes they come rather close.

Religion vs. Theism Because most religions tend to be theistic, and become theism is so central to the largest religions in the West, many have acquired the confused idea that theism is somehow itself the same as religion, thus ignoring everything else that goes into religions (including their own, oddly enough). Even some atheists have fallen victim to this error.

Religion vs. Religious The terms religion and religious obviously come from the same root, but that doesn't mean they always refer to basically the same thing. In reality, the adjective religious has a broader usage than the noun religion.

Religion vs. Philosophy Both religion and philosophy address similar questions, but that doesn't mean they are the same thing. Most obviously, philosophy doesn't depend on miracles or revelations from deities, philosophers don't engage in common rituals, and philosophy doesn't insist that conclusions need to be accepted on faith.

Religion & Spirituality It's become popular to imagine there is a hard and fast difference between two different ways of relating with the divine or the sacred: religion and spirituality. Religion is supposed to describe the social, public, and organized means by which people relate to the sacred or divine while Spirituality is supposed to describe such relations when they occur in private. The truth is that such a distinction is not entirely valid.

What is Animism? Animism is the belief that everything in nature has its own spirit or divinity.

What is Paganism? Paganism might be pantheistic or polytheistic, but is distinctive in that it relates to God or gods primarily through nature.

What is Shamanism? Shamanism is an animistic religion of certain peoples of northern Asia in which mediation between the visible and spirit worlds is effected by shamans."   

  • Religion 101: Examining the Nature of Religion and Religious Beliefs
  • What's the Difference Between Religion and Spirituality?
  • Religion vs. Religious
  • Defining the Characteristics of Religion
  • Are There Any Atheistic Religions?
  • One or Many Gods: The Varieties of Theism
  • Religious vs. Secular Humanism: What's the Difference?
  • Beliefs and Choices: Do You Choose Your Religion?
  • Why Don't Atheists Believe in Gods?
  • Atheism and Skepticism in Ancient Greece
  • What Is the Difference Between Denotation and Connotation?
  • Defining Science - How is Science Defined?
  • Albert Einstein on Science, God, and Religion
  • Argument From Miracles: Do Miracles Prove God Exists?
  • Leonardo Da Vinci: Renaissance Humanist, Naturalist, Artist, Scientist
  • The Relationship Between Technology and Religion
  • Email Signup

religion and belief system essay

Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology

religion and belief system essay

World Religions Overview Essay

religion and belief system essay

The Movement of Religion and Ecology: Emerging Field and Dynamic Force

Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, Yale University

Originally published in the Routledge Handbook of Religion and Ecology

As many United Nations reports attest, we humans are destroying the life-support systems of the Earth at an alarming rate. Ecosystems are being degraded by rapid industrialization and relentless development. The data keeps pouring in that we are altering the climate and toxifying the air, water, and soil of the planet so that the health of humans and other species is at risk. Indeed, the Swedish scientist, Johan Rockstrom, and his colleagues, are examining which planetary boundaries are being exceeded. (Rockstrom and Klum, 2015)

The explosion of population from 3 billion in 1960 to more then 7 billion currently and the subsequent demands on the natural world seem to be on an unsustainable course. The demands include meeting basic human needs of a majority of the world’s people, but also feeding the insatiable desire for goods and comfort spread by the allure of materialism. The first is often called sustainable development; the second is unsustainable consumption. The challenge of rapid economic growth and consumption has brought on destabilizing climate change. This is coming into full focus in alarming ways including increased floods and hurricanes, droughts and famine, rising seas and warming oceans.

Can we turn our course to avert disaster? There are several indications that this may still be possible. On September 25, 2015 after the Pope addressed the UN General Assembly, 195 member states adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). On December 12, 2015 these same members states endorsed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Both of these are important indications of potential reversal. The Climate Agreement emerged from the dedicated work of governments and civil society along with business partners. The leadership of UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres, and many others was indispensable.

One of the inspirations for the Climate Agreement and for the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals was the release of the Papal Encyclical, Laudato Si’ in June 2015. The encyclical encouraged the moral forces of concern for both the environment and people to be joined in “integral ecology”.  “The cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor” are now linked as was not fully visible before. (Boff, 1997 and in the encyclical) Many religious and environmental communities are embracing this integrated perspective and will, no doubt, foster it going forward. The question is how can the world religions contribute more effectively to this renewed ethical momentum for change. For example, what will be their long-term response to population growth? As this is addressed in the article by Robert Wyman and Guigui Yao, we will not take it up here. Instead, we will consider some of the challenges and possibilities amid the dream of progress and the lure of consumption.

Challenges: The Dream of Progress and the Religion of Consumption

Consumption appears to have become an ideology or quasi-religion, not only in the West but also around the world. Faith in economic growth drives both producers and consumers. The dream of progress is becoming a distorted one. This convergence of our unlimited demands with an unquestioned faith in economic progress raises questions about the roles of religions in encouraging, discouraging, or ignoring our dominant drive toward appropriately satisfying material needs or inappropriately indulging material desires. Integral ecology supports the former and critiques the latter.

Moreover, a consumerist ideology depends upon and simultaneously contributes to a worldview based on the instrumental rationality of the human. That is, the assumption for decision-making is that all choices are equally clear and measurable. Market based metrics such as price, utility, or efficiency are dominant. This can result in utilitarian views of a forest as so much board feet or simply as a mechanistic complex of ecosystems that provide services to the human.

One long-term effect of this is that the individual human decision-maker is further distanced from nature because nature is reduced to measurable entities for profit or use. From this perspective we humans may be isolated in our perceived uniqueness as something apart from the biological web of life. In this context, humans do not seek identity and meaning in the numinous beauty of the world, nor do they experience themselves as dependent on a complex of life-supporting interactions of air, water, and soil. Rather, this logic sees humans as independent, rational decision-makers who find their meaning and identity in systems of management that now attempt to co-opt the language of conservation and environmental concern. Happiness is derived from simply creating and having more material goods. This perspective reflects a reading of our current geological period as human induced by our growth as a species that is now controlling the planet. This current era is being called the “Anthropocene” because of our effect on the planet in contrast to the prior 12,000 year epoch known as the Holocene.

This human capacity to imagine and implement a utilitarian-based worldview regarding nature has undermined many of the ancient insights of the world’s religious and spiritual traditions. For example, some religions, attracted by the individualistic orientations of market rationalism and short-term benefits of social improvement, seized upon material accumulation as containing divine sanction. Thus, Max Weber identified the rise of Protestantism with an ethos of inspirited work and accumulated capital.

Weber also identified the growing disenchantment from the world of nature with the rise of global capitalism. Karl Marx recognized the “metabolic rift” in which human labor and nature become alienated from cycles of renewal. The earlier mystique of creation was lost. Wonder, beauty, and imagination as ways of knowing were gradually superseded by the analytical reductionism of modernity such that technological and economic entrancement have become key inspirations of progress.

Challenges: Religions Fostering Anthropocentrism

This modern, instrumental view of matter as primarily for human use arises in part from a dualistic Western philosophical view of mind and matter. Adapted into Jewish, Christian and Islamic religious perspectives, this dualism associates mind with the soul as a transcendent spiritual entity given sovereignty and dominion over matter. Mind is often valued primarily for its rationality in contrast to a lifeless world. At the same time we ensure our radical discontinuity from it.

Interestingly, views of the uniqueness of the human bring many traditional religious perspectives into sync with modern instrumental rationalism. In Western religious traditions, for example, the human is seen as an exclusively gifted creature with a transcendent soul that manifests the divine image and likeness. Consequently, this soul should be liberated from the material world. In many contemporary reductionist perspectives (philosophical and scientific) the human with rational mind and technical prowess stands as the pinnacle of evolution. Ironically, religions emphasizing the uniqueness of the human as the image of God meet market-driven applied science and technology precisely at this point of the special nature of the human to justify exploitation of the natural world. Anthropocentrism in various forms, religious, philosophical, scientific, and economic, has led, perhaps inadvertently, to the dominance of humans in this modern period, now called the Anthropocene. (It can be said that certain strands of the South Asian religions have emphasized the importance of humans escaping from nature into transcendent liberation. However, such forms of radical dualism are not central to the East Asian traditions or indigenous traditions.)

From the standpoint of rational analysis, many values embedded in religions, such as a sense of the sacred, the intrinsic value of place, the spiritual dimension of the human, moral concern for nature, and care for future generations, are incommensurate with an objectified monetized worldview as they not quantifiable. Thus, they are often ignored as externalities, or overridden by more pragmatic profit-driven considerations. Contemporary nation-states in league with transnational corporations have seized upon this individualistic, property-based, use-analysis to promote national sovereignty, security, and development exclusively for humans.

Possibilities: Systems Science

Yet, even within the realm of so-called scientific, rational thought, there is not a uniform approach. Resistance to the easy marriage of reductionist science and instrumental rationality comes from what is called systems science and new ecoogy. By this we refer to a movement within empirical, experimental science of exploring the interaction of nature and society as complex dynamic systems. This approach stresses both analysis and synthesis – the empirical act of observation, as well as placement of the focus of study within the context of a larger whole. Systems science resists the temptation to take the micro, empirical, reductive act as the complete description of a thing, but opens analysis to the large interactive web of life to which we belong, from ecosystems to the biosphere. There are numerous examples of this holistic perspective in various branches of ecology. And this includes overcoming the nature-human divide. (Schmitz 2016) Aldo Leopold understood this holistic interconnection well when he wrote: “We abuse land because we see it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” (Leopold, 1966)

Collaboration of Science and Religion

Within this inclusive framework, scientists have been moving for some time beyond simply distanced observations to engaged concern. The Pope’s encyclical, Laudato Si , has elevated the level of visibility and efficacy of this conversation between science and religion as perhaps never before on a global level. Similarly, many other statements from the world religions are linking the wellbeing of people and the planet for a flourishing future. For example, the World Council of Churches has been working for four decades to join humans and nature in their program on Justice, Peace, and the Integrity of Creation.

Many scientists such as Thomas Lovejoy, E.O. Wilson, Jane Lubchenco, Peter Raven, and Ursula Goodenough recognize the importance of religious and cultural values when discussing solutions to environmental challenges. Other scientists such as Paul Ehrlich and Donald Kennedy have called for major studies of human behavior and values in relation to environmental issues. ( Science , July 2005) This has morphed into the Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere. (mahb.standford.edu). Since 2009 the Ecological Society of America has established an Earth Stewardship Initiative with yearly panels and publications.  Many environmental studies programs are now seeking to incorporate these broader ethical and behavioral approaches into the curriculum.

Possibilities: Extinction and Religious Response

The stakes are high, however, and the path toward limiting ourselves within planetary boundaries is not smooth. Scientists are now reporting that because of the population explosion, our consuming habits, and our market drive for resources, we are living in the midst of a mass extinction period. This period represents the largest loss of species since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago when the Cenozoic period began. In other words, we are shutting down life systems on the planet and causing the end of this large-scale geological era with little awareness of what we are doing or its consequences.

As the cultural historian Thomas Berry observed some years ago, we are making macrophase changes on the planet with microphase wisdom. Indeed, some people worry that these rapid changes have outstripped the capacity of our religions, ethics, and spiritualities to meet the complex challenges we are facing.

The question arises whether the wisdom traditions of the human community, embedded in institutional religions and beyond, can embrace integral ecology at the level needed? Can the religions provide leadership into a synergistic era of human-Earth relations characterized by empathy, regeneration, and resilience? Or are religions themselves the wellspring of those exclusivist perspectives in which human societies disconnect themselves from other groups and from the natural world? Are religions caught in their own meditative promises of transcendent peace and redemptive bliss in paradisal abandon? Or does their drive for exclusive salvation or truth claims cause them to try to overcome or convert the Other?

Authors in this volume are exploring these issues within religious and spiritual communities regarding the appropriate responses of the human to our multiple environmental and social challenges. What forms of symbolic visioning and ethical imagining can call forth a transformation of consciousness and conscience for our Earth community? Can religions and spiritualites provide vision and inspiration for grounding and guiding mutually enhancing human-Earth relations? Have we arrived at a point where we realize that more scientific statistics on environmental problems, more legislation, policy or regulation, and more economic analysis, while necessary, are no longer sufficient for the large-scale social transformations needed? This is where the world religions, despite their limitations, surely have something to contribute.

Such a perspective includes ethics, practices, and spiritualities from the world’s cultures that may or may not be connected with institutional forms of religion. Thus spiritual ecology and nature religions are an important part of the discussions and are represented in this volume. Our own efforts have focused on the world religions and indigenous traditions. Our decade long training in graduate school and our years of living and traveling throughout Asia and the West gave us an early appreciation for religions as dynamic, diverse, living traditions. We are keenly aware of the multiple forms of syncretism and hybridization in the world religions and spiritualties. We have witnessed how they are far from monolithic or impervious to change in our travels to more than 60 countries.

Problems and Promise of Religions

Several qualifications regarding the various roles of religion should thus be noted. First, we do not wish to suggest here that any one religious tradition has a privileged ecological perspective. Rather, multiple interreligious perspectives may be the most helpful in identifying the contributions of the world religions to the flourishing of life.

We also acknowledge that there is frequently a disjunction between principles and practices: ecologically sensitive ideas in religions are not always evident in environmental practices in particular civilizations. Many civilizations have overused their environments, with or without religious sanction.

Finally, we are keenly aware that religions have all too frequently contributed to tensions and conflict among various groups, both historically and at present. Dogmatic rigidity, inflexible claims of truth, and misuse of institutional and communal power by religions have led to tragic consequences in many parts of the globe.

Nonetheless, while religions have often preserved traditional ways, they have also provoked social change. They can be limiting but also liberating in their outlooks. In the twentieth century, for example, religious leaders and theologians helped to give birth to progressive movements such as civil rights for minorities, social justice for the poor, and liberation for women.  Although the world religions have been slow to respond to our current environmental crises, their moral authority and their institutional power may help effect a change in attitudes, practices, and public policies. Now the challenge is a broadening of their ethical perspectives.

Traditionally the religions developed ethics for homicide, suicide, and genocide. Currently they need to respond to biocide, ecocide, and geocide. (Berry, 2009)

Retrieval, Reevaluation, Reconstruction

There is an inevitable disjunction between the examination of historical religious traditions in all of their diversity and complexity and the application of teachings, ethics, or practices to contemporary situations. While religions have always been involved in meeting contemporary challenges over the centuries, it is clear that the global environmental crisis is larger and more complex than anything in recorded human history. Thus, a simple application of traditional ideas to contemporary problems is unlikely to be either possible or adequate. In order to address ecological problems properly, religious and spiritual leaders, laypersons and academics have to be in dialogue with scientists, environmentalists, economists, businesspeople, politicians, and educators. Hence the articles in this volume are from various key sectors.

With these qualifications in mind we can then identify three methodological approaches that appear in the still emerging study of religion and ecology. These are retrieval, reevaluation, and reconstruction. Retrieval involves the scholarly investigation of scriptural and commentarial sources in order to clarify religious perspectives regarding human-Earth relations. This requires that historical and textual studies uncover resources latent within the tradition. In addition, retrieval can identify ethical codes and ritual customs of the tradition in order to discover how these teachings were put into practice. Traditional environmental knowledge (TEK) is an important part of this for all the world religions, especially indigenous traditions.

With reevaluation, traditional teachings are evaluated with regard to their relevance to contemporary circumstances. Are the ideas, teachings, or ethics present in these traditions appropriate for shaping more ecologically sensitive attitudes and sustainable practices? Reevaluation also questions ideas that may lead to inappropriate environmental practices. For example, are certain religious tendencies reflective of otherworldly or world-denying orientations that are not helpful in relation to pressing ecological issues? It asks as well whether the material world of nature has been devalued by a particular religion and whether a model of ethics focusing solely on human interactions is adequate to address environmental problems.

Finally, reconstruction suggests ways that religious traditions might adapt their teachings to current circumstances in new and creative ways. These may result in new syntheses or in creative modifications of traditional ideas and practices to suit modern modes of expression. This is the most challenging aspect of the emerging field of religion and ecology and requires sensitivity to who is speaking about a tradition in the process of reevaluation and reconstruction. Postcolonial critics have appropriately highlighted the complex issues surrounding the problem of who is representing or interpreting a religious tradition or even what constitutes that tradition. Nonetheless, practitioners and leaders of particular religions are finding grounds for creative dialogue with scholars of religions in these various phases of interpretation.

Religious Ecologies and Religious Cosmologies

As part of the retrieval, reevaluation, and reconstruction of religions we would identify “religious ecologies” and “religious cosmologies” as ways that religions have functioned in the past and can still function at present. Religious ecologies are ways of orienting and grounding whereby humans undertake specific practices of nurturing and transforming self and community in a particular cosmological context that regards nature as inherently valuable. Through cosmological stories humans narrate and experience the larger matrix of mystery in which life arises, unfolds, and flourishes. These are what we call religious cosmologies. These two, namely religious ecologies and religious cosmologies, can be distinguished but not separated. Together they provide a context for navigating life’s challenges and affirming the rich spiritual value of human-Earth relations.

Human communities until the modern period sensed themselves as grounded in and dependent on the natural world. Thus, even when the forces of nature were overwhelming, the regenerative capacity of the natural world opened a way forward. Humans experienced the processes of the natural world as interrelated, both practically and symbolically. These understandings were expressed in traditional environmental knowledge, namely, in hunting and agricultural practices such as the appropriate use of plants, animals, and land. Such knowledge was integrated in symbolic language and practical norms, such as prohibitions, taboos, and limitations on ecosystems’ usage. All this was based in an understanding of nature as the source of nurturance and kinship. The Lakota people still speak of “all my relations” as an expression of this kinship. Such perspectives will need to be incorporated into strategies to solve environmental problems. Humans are part of nature and their cultural and religious values are critical dimensions of the discussion.

Multidisciplinary approaches: Environmental Humanities

We are recognizing, then, that the environmental crisis is multifaceted and requires multidisciplinary approaches. As this book indicates, the insights of scientific modes of analytical and synthetic knowing are indispensable for understanding and responding to our contemporary environmental crisis. So also, we need new technologies such as industrial ecology, green chemistry, and renewable energy. Clearly ecological economics is critical along with green governance and legal policies as articles in this volume illustrate.

In this context it is important to recognize different ways of knowing that are manifest in the humanities, such as artistic expressions, historical perspectives, philosophical inquiry, and religious understandings. These honor emotional intelligence, affective insight, ethical valuing, and spiritual awakening.

Environmental humanities is a growing and diverse area of study within humanistic disciplines. In the last several decades, new academic courses and programs, research journals and monographs, have blossomed. This broad-based inquiry has sparked creative investigation into multiple ways, historically and at present, of understanding and interacting with nature, constructing cultures, developing communities, raising food, and exchanging goods. 

It is helpful to see the field of religion and ecology as part of this larger emergence of environmental humanities. While it can be said that environmental history, literature, and philosophy are some four decades old, the field of religions and ecology began some two decades ago. It was preceded, however, by work among various scholars, particularly Christian theologians. Some eco-feminists theologians, such as Rosemary Ruether and Sallie McFague, Mary Daly, and Ivone Gebara led the way.

The Emerging Field of Religion and Ecology

An effort to identify and to map religiously diverse attitudes and practices toward nature was the focus of a three-year international conference series on world religions and ecology. Organized by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, ten conferences were held at the Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions from 1996-1998 that resulted in a ten volume book series (1997-2004). Over 800 scholars of religion and environmentalists participated. The director of the Center, Larry Sullivan, gave space and staff for the conferences. He chose to limit their scope to the world religions and indigenous religions rather than “nature religions”, such as wicca or paganism, which the organizers had hoped to include.

Culminating conferences were held in fall 1998 at Harvard and in New York at the United Nations and the American Museum of Natural History where 1000 people attended and Bill Moyers presided. At the UN conference Tucker and Grim founded the Forum on Religion and Ecology, which is now located at Yale. They organized a dozen more conferences and created an electronic newsletter that is now sent to over 12,000 people around the world. In addition, they developed a major website for research, education, and outreach in this area (fore.yale.edu). The conferences, books, website, and newsletter have assisted in the emergence of a new field of study in religion and ecology. Many people have helped in this process including Whitney Bauman and Sam Mickey who are now moving the field toward discussing the need for planetary ethics. A Canadian Forum on Religion and Ecology was established in 2002, a European Forum for the Study of Religion and the Environment was formed in 2005, and a Forum on Religion and Ecology @ Monash in Australia in 2011.

Courses on this topic are now offered in numerous colleges and universities across North America and in other parts of the world. A Green Seminary Initiative has arisen to help educate seminarians. Within the American Academy of Religion there is a vibrant group focused on scholarship and teaching in this area. A peer-reviewed journal, Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology , is celebrating its 25 th year of publication. Another journal has been publishing since 2007, the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture . A two volume Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature edited by Bron Taylor has helped shape the discussions, as has the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture he founded. Clearly this broad field of study will continue to expand as the environmental crisis grows in complexity and requires increasingly creative interdisciplinary responses.

The work in religion and ecology rests in an intersection between the academic field within education and the dynamic force within society. This is why we see our work not so much as activist, but rather as “engaged scholarship” for the flourishing of our shared planetary life. This is part of a broader integration taking place to link concerns for both people and the planet. This has been fostered in part by the twenty-volume Ecology and Justice Series from Orbis Books and with the work of John Cobb, Larry Rasmussen, Dieter Hessel, Heather Eaton, Cynthia Moe-Loebeda, and others. The Papal Encyclical is now highlighting this linkage of eco-justice as indispensable for an integral ecology.

The Dynamic Force of Religious Environmentalism

All of these religious traditions, then, are groping to find the languages, symbols, rituals, and ethics for sustaining both ecosystems and humans. Clearly there are obstacles to religions moving into their ecological, eco-justice, and planetary phases. The religions are themselves challenged by their own bilingual languages, namely, their languages of transcendence, enlightenment, and salvation; and their languages of immanence, sacredness of Earth, and respect for nature. Yet, as the field of religion and ecology has developed within academia, so has the force of religious environmentalism emerged around the planet. Roger Gottlieb documents this in his book A Greener Faith . (Gottlieb 2006) The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew held international symposia on “Religion, Science and the Environment” focused on water issues (1995-2009) that we attended. He has made influential statements on this issue for 20 years. The Parliament of World Religions has included panels on this topic since 1998 and most expansively in 2015. Since 1995 the UK based Alliance of Religion and Conservation (ARC), led by Martin Palmer, has been doing significant work with religious communities around under the patronage of Prince Philip.

These efforts are recovering a sense of place, which is especially clear in the environmental resilience and regeneration practices of indigenous peoples. It is also evident in valuing the sacred pilgrimage places in the Abrahamic traditions (Jerusalem, Rome, and Mecca) both historically and now ecologically. So also East Asia and South Asia attention to sacred mountains, caves, and other pilgrimage sites stands in marked contrast to massive pollution.

In many settings around the world religious practitioners are drawing together religious ways of respecting place, land, and life with understanding of environmental science and the needs of local communities. There have been official letters by Catholic Bishops in the Philippines and in Alberta, Canada alarmed by the oppressive social conditions and ecological disasters caused by extractive industries. Catholic nuns and laity in North America, Australia, England, and Ireland sponsor educational programs and conservation plans drawing on the eco-spiritual vision of Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme. Also inspired by Berry and Swimme, Paul Winter’s Solstice celebrations and Earth Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York Winter have been taking place for three decades.

Even in the industrial growth that grips China, there are calls from many in politics, academia, and NGOs to draw on Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist perspectives for environmental change. In 2008 we met with Pan Yue, the Deputy Minister of the Environment, who has studied these traditions and sees them as critical to Chinese environmental ethics. In India, Hinduism is faced with the challenge of clean up of sacred rivers, such as the Ganges and the Yamuna. To this end in 2010 with Hindu scholars, David Haberman and Christopher Chapple, we organized a conference of scientists and religious leaders in Delhi and Vrindavan to address the pollution of the Yamuna.

Many religious groups are focused on climate change and energy issues. For example, InterFaith Power and Light and GreenFaith are encouraging religious communities to reduce their carbon footprint. Earth Ministry in Seattle is leading protests against oil pipelines and terminals. The Evangelical Environmental Network and other denominations are emphasizing climate change as a moral issue that is disproportionately affecting the poor. In Canada and the US the Indigenous Environmental Network is speaking out regarding damage caused by resource extraction, pipelines, and dumping on First Peoples’ Reserves and beyond. All of the religions now have statements on climate change as a moral issue and they were strongly represented in the People’s Climate March in September 2015. Daedalus, the journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, published the first collection of articles on religion and climate change from two conferences we organized there. (Tucker & Grim, 2001)

Striking examples of religion and ecology have occurred in the Islamic world. In June 2001 and May 2005 the Islamic Republic of Iran led by President Khatami and the United Nations Environment Programme sponsored conferences in Tehran that we attended. They were focused on Islamic principles and practices for environmental protection. The Iranian Constitution identifies Islamic values for ecology and threatens legal sanctions. One of the earliest spokespersons for religion and ecology is the Iranian scholar, Seyyed Hossein Nasr. Fazlun Khalid in the UK founded the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Science. In Indonesia in 2014 a fatwa was issued declaring that killing an endangered species is prohibited.

These examples illustrate ways in which an emerging alliance of religion and ecology is occurring around the planet. These traditional values within the religions now cause them to awaken to environmental crises in ways that are strikingly different from science or policy. But they may find interdisciplinary ground for dialogue in concerns for eco-justice, sustainability, and cultural motivations for transformation. The difficulty, of course, is that the religions are often preoccupied with narrow sectarian interests. However, many people, including the Pope, are calling on the religions to go beyond these interests and become a moral leaven for change.

Renewal Through Laudato Si’

Pope Francis is highlighting an integral ecology that brings together concern for humans and the Earth. He makes it clear that the environment can no longer be seen as only an issue for scientific experts, or environmental groups, or government agencies alone. Rather, he invites all people, programs and institutions to realize these are complicated environmental and social problems that require integrated solutions beyond a “technocratic paradigm” that values an easy fix. Within this integrated framework, he urges bold new solutions.

In this context Francis suggests that ecology, economics, and equity are intertwined. Healthy ecosystems depend on a just economy that results in equity. Endangering ecosystems with an exploitative economic system is causing immense human suffering and inequity. In particular, the poor and most vulnerable are threatened by climate change, although they are not the major cause of the climate problem. He acknowledges the need for believers and non-believers alike to help renew the vitality of Earth’s ecosystems and expand systemic efforts for equity.

In short, he is calling for “ecological conversion” from within all the world religions. He is making visible an emerging worldwide phenomenon of the force of religious environmentalism on the ground, as well as the field of religion and ecology in academia developing new ecotheologies and ecojustice ethics. This diverse movement is evoking a change of mind and heart, consciousness and conscience. Its expression will be seen more fully in the years to come.

The challenge of the contemporary call for ecological renewal cannot be ignored by the religions. Nor can it be answered simply from out of doctrine, dogma, scripture, devotion, ritual, belief, or prayer. It cannot be addressed by any of these well-trod paths of religious expression alone. Yet, like so much of our human cultures and institutions the religions are necessary for our way forward yet not sufficient in themselves for the transformation needed.  The roles of the religions cannot be exported from outside their horizons.  Thus, the individual religions must explain and transform themselves if they are willing to enter into this period of environmental engagement that is upon us. If the religions can participate in this creativity they may again empower humans to embrace values that sustain life and contribute to a vibrant Earth community.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Berry, Thomas. 2009. The Sacred Universe: Earth Spirituality and Religion in the 21st Century (New York: Columbia University Press).

Boff, Leonardo. 1997. Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books).

Gottlieb, Roger. 2006. A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and Our Planetary Future . (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

Grim, John and Mary Evelyn Tucker, eds. 2014. Ecology and Religion. (Washington, DC: Island Press).

Leopold, Aldo. 1966. A Sand County Almanac . (Oxford University Press).

Rockstrom, Johan and Mattias Klum. 2015. Big World, Small Planet: Abundance Within Planetary Boundaries . (New Haven: Yale University Press)

Schmitz, Oswald. 2016. The New Ecology: Science for a Sustainable World. (Princeton: Princeton University Press).

Taylor, Bron, ed. 2008. Encyclopedia of Religion, Nature, and Culture. (London: Bloomsbury).

Tucker, Mary Evelyn. 2004. Worldly Wonder: Religions Enter their Ecological Phase . (Chicago: Open Court).

Tucker, Mary Evelyn and John Grim, eds. 2001 Religion and Ecology: Can the Climate Change? Daedalus Vol. 130, No.4.

Header photo: ARC procession to UN Faith in Future Meeting, Bristol, UK

help for assessment

  • Customer Reviews
  • Extended Essays
  • IB Internal Assessment
  • Theory of Knowledge
  • Literature Review
  • Dissertations
  • Essay Writing
  • Research Writing
  • Assignment Help
  • Capstone Projects
  • College Application
  • Online Class

Religion Essay Topics: 40+ Interesting Ideas to Explore

Author Image

by  Antony W

December 8, 2023

religion essay topics

There nothing more complicated under the sun than religion. It’s a system of belief packed with controversies, differing opinions, and thousands of questions about human origin and the meaning of life. Let’s not even get started on the fact that religion has been and continues to be a driver of ethnic disputes and endless wars between nations.

As confusing and sensitive as it is, religion opens up an opportunity to explore different topics, even in your essay assignment. From the existence of God and proof of a deity to the concepts of love and harmony in human existence, there’s no limit to what you can write about religion. You just have to find a topic that fascinates you and start working on it.

Key Takeaways

  • Choose a topic that you can explore objectively without a stint of bias or emotional attachment.
  • Remember, religion is a controversial subject that requires the use of appropriate language that sounds fair and respectful.

Best Religion Essay Topics

The following is a list of 50+ topic ideas that you may find interesting to explore in your religion essay assignments:

Christianity Essay Topics

  • How Christian perspectives on same-sex relationships has evolved over time
  • The concept of salvation, as well as how it differs among various Christian denominations
  • Progress made regarding the role of women in leadership positions within Christian communities
  • Ways Christian traditions have influenced and shaped Western literature throughout history
  • How globalization has affected the formation and maintenance of Christian identity worldwide
  • How does Christianity intersect with and contribute to various social justice movements?
  • What were the lasting effects of the Protestant Reformation on the diversity and structure of Christianity?
  • The theological perspectives on suffering within Christian traditions
  • How the historical relationship between Christianity and science has evolved
  • What aspects of Christian values remain relevant and essential in addressing modern societal challenges?
  • Has the Bible served as the cornerstone for shaping and informing Christian theology throughout history?

Free Features

work-free-features

Need help to complete and ace your essay? Order our writing service.  

Get all academic paper features for $65.77 FREE

Society and Religion Topics

  • How religion has historically influenced and shaped cultural norms across different societies
  • What transformations have occurred within religious institutions due to the rise of secularism?
  • How religion has played a role in various social justice movements throughout history and in contemporary times
  • The dynamics and consequences of the intersection between religion and politics in today’s society
  • How globalization has affected the diversity of religions and belief systems worldwide
  • In what ways has technology affected religious practices and rituals in the modern era?
  • Does religion generally promote or hinder efforts toward achieving gender equality, and why?
  • How does religion affect educational systems and curriculum development?
  • What are the challenges and opportunities posed by religious pluralism for fostering interfaith dialogue?
  • What societal impacts emerge from religious fundamentalism in various parts of the world?
  • How does religion influence mental health perceptions and treatments within different cultures?
  • To what extent do religious beliefs shape attitudes and actions towards environmental sustainability?
  • How have religious traditions influenced healthcare practices and medical ethics across different societies?

World Religion Essay Topics

  • How do various world religions conceptualize the afterlife?
  • Roles that prayer and meditation play across different world religions
  • How religion has entangled with or contributed to instances of violence throughout history
  • The ways in which globalization has affected the diversity and interactions of different religious beliefs and practices
  • The portrayals of women within the narratives and teachings of various world religions
  • How Eastern religions have influenced and contributed to the development of spiritual thought in Western societies?
  • The significance of prophets and messengers within different world religions
  • How does the concept of karma manifest differently in Hinduism and Buddhism
  • Tracing the evolution and changes in religious beliefs and practices across different historical periods
  • How monotheistic and polytheistic religions differ in their approaches to spirituality and understanding of the divine
  • What impacts did colonization have on the indigenous religious traditions of different cultures?
  • How world religions inspired or influenced artistic and architectural expressions throughout history

Islamic Religion Topics

  • How has the rich history of Islamic civilizations contributed to global culture and knowledge?
  • What fundamental changes might we anticipate in the world if Islam had not existed throughout history?
  • How the West shaped and created an image of Islam
  • The nature and extent of Islam’s influence on political structures and governance in various regions
  • How we can redefine and perceive a woman’s role within Islamic teachings and practices
  • Challenges that arise in integrating Islamic legal principles into modern legal systems
  • Prevalent prejudices and misunderstandings exist about Islam and the way they affect societal perceptions
  • Is there an inherent connection between Islam and traditionalism?

Religion Argumentative Essay Topics

  • Does doctrinal competency influence religious practice and belief systems within various faiths?
  • Should we consider abortion as permissible or is it an evil practice from a religions and legal perspective?
  • Are there core beliefs and practices in the world’s major faiths?
  • Is situation ethics necessary to uphold a moral code in modern society, and what implications does it have?
  • Does the concept of rebirth resonate and evolve within contemporary societies?
  • Are there any reliable religious perspectives on the moral and ethical considerations surrounding abortion?
  • Is there evidence that Martin Luther really leave the Catholic Church?
  • Is adversity and pain across religious teachings and cultures?
  • Women should not hold any role within religious congregations.
  • What societal, cultural, and individual factors contribute to the emergence and spread of new religions?
  • How relevant is Zoroastrianism in addressing contemporary environmental issues?
  • Explore and analyze non-theistic world faiths and their core principles.
  • How do various world religions reconcile their beliefs with scientific advancements in the modern era?
  • What perspectives do different religions hold regarding LGBTQ individuals, and how do these views vary globally?

$4.99 Title page

$10.91 Formatting

$3.99 Outline

$21.99 Revisions

Get all these features for $65.77 FREE

About the author 

Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.

helpful professor logo

Belief Systems: Definition, Characteristics & Examples

belief systems definition, examples, and types, explained below

A belief system is a structured set of principles or tenets held to be true by an individual or larger group. It can contain aspects such as morality, life purpose, or empirical reality (Uso-Domenech & Nescolarde-Selva, 2016).

Belief systems are fundamental to human existence. By studying them, we can gain critical insight into the underlying causes behind both individual and societal actions, values, and perceptions.

Belief systems tend to shape our individual code of conduct. For example, the ethical principle of “do no harm” paves the base for medical professionals’ conduct (Wattenberg, 2019).

Furthermore, these systems extend beyond personal ethics, providing a backbone to cultural groups and shaping significant aspects, including politics, law, and cultural norms . For example, broad constructs such as democracy or justice are underpinned by a cultural group’s shared beliefs and norms.

The Origins of Belief Systems

The genesis of belief systems is multifaceted. It traces back to our earliest human ancestors trying to make sense of the world around them.

Examples include:

  • Explaining Natural Phenomena: Oftentimes, belief systems spring from the desire to explain natural phenomena (Converse, 2006). Early societies utilized faith to provide reasons for natural occurrences, such as storms or earthquakes. For instance, the ancient Greeks believed in the God Poseidon, whom they saw as the cause of earthquakes and other seismic events.
  • Social Structure and Control: Belief systems also stem from the human need for social structure and control (Kinder, 2006). Early societies established rules and expectations concerning each member’s behavior. This led to principles that were passed down from generation to generation, creating a communal belief system. Japanese culture, for instance, has a deeply ingrained belief known as “giri” or familial obligation , which dictates social interactions and responsibilities (Kinder, 2006).
  • Experience and Context: They can also be shaped by experience, cultural context , and education. What we learn from our parents, teachers, and life experiences significantly influence our perceptions, beliefs, and values (Converse, 2006). A person who grew up during the civil rights movement in the United States, for example, may have formed strong beliefs about racial equality due to their experiences during that time. Each of these factors, individually or combined, contributes to the creation and development of belief systems.

Types and Examples of Belief Systems

1. religions.

Religions are complex systems of beliefs that shape an individual’s or group’s spiritual worldview. They typically embody questions about the nature of the divine, the afterlife, and moral standards (Schipper, 2015). For example, Christianity holds the belief in a monotheistic God and emphasizes principles of love and forgiveness.

Examples: Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Janism

2. Philosophical Systems

Philosophical systems consist of frameworks that strive to answer life’s fundamental questions. They deal with concepts such as existence, reality, knowledge, values, and morality. A case in point is existentialism, which focuses on individual freedom, choice, and subjective meaning (Popkin, 2018).

Examples: Existentialism , Utilitarianism , Stoicism, Nihilism, Rationalism, Empiricism

3. Political Ideologies

These are belief systems that govern political views and shape how societies should be organized. They dictate the distribution of power, rights, and resources among the population (Wattenberg, 2019). For instance, liberalism places a high importance on individual rights and freedom , advocating for a democratic system and equality of opportunity.

Examples: Liberalism , Conservatism , Socialism , Fascism , Anarchism

4. Economic Systems

These belief systems define how societies produce, distribute and consume goods and services. They guide the economic policies a country adopts and how it manages its resources (Popkin, 2018). Capitalism, for example, is centered on private ownership of resources and a free market for distribution and consumption.

Examples: Capitalism , Socialism, Communism , Mixed economies , Market economies

5. Scientific Paradigms

These influence our understanding and interpretation of natural and physical phenomena. Constituting specific theories, methods, and standards of practice, they shape scientific investigation and discovery (Rutjens & Brandt, 2018). The theory of evolution, for example, guides biologists and paleontologists in their interpretation of fossil records and genetic studies.

Examples: Theory of Evolution, Quantum Mechanics, General Relativity, Newtonian Physics, Plate Tectonics, Germ Theory of Disease

Influence of Belief Systems on Human Behavior

Belief systems fundamentally influence human behavior . They essentially define our perception of what is right or wrong, shaping our actions in alignment with these views.

Belief systems shape moral behavior (Brandt, 2022). For example, most religions have guidelines on ethical conduct (known as “commandments” in Christianity or “precepts” in Buddhism), which influence followers’ behavior. Believers are urged to adhere to these principles, significantly impacting decision-making and conduct.

Belief systems also affect how we go about our days (Rutjens & Brandt, 2018). Our morning routines, our choice of transportation, even the food we eat, are all influenced by deeply rooted belief structures. For example, a person with a belief system focused on environmental sustainability might choose to cycle to work and follow a vegetarian diet.

Likewise, belief systems influence our social behavior (Wattenberg, 2019). They guide our approach towards fairness, justice, and interpersonal relationships. A person who values fairness may eschew discriminatory actions, promoting diversity and inclusivity in their spheres of influence.

Positive and Negative Effects of Belief Systems

While belief systems help cultures develop norms of behavior, shared identities, and frameworks for action, they can also be restrictive and cause in-groups and out-groups.

Below is a summary of key aspects of belief systems, and their positive and negative impacts:

Summary of Key Points

  • Belief systems underpin individual, societal actions and values.
  • They influence personal ethics, politics, and cultural norms.
  • They’re developed to explain various things, such as natural phenomena, the origins of the universe, and personal experience .
  • Main types of belief systems include religions, philosophical systems, political ideologies, economic systems, and scientific paradigms.
  • Belief systems can positively shape behavior, offer identity, and help form cohesive societies.
  • However, they can also divide societies and cause people to engage in immoral actions.

Brandt, M. J. (2022). Measuring the belief system of a person. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Converse, P. E. (2006). The nature of belief systems in mass publics (1964). Critical review, 18 (1-3), 1-74.

Kinder, D. R. (2006). Belief systems today. Critical Review, 18 (1-3), 197-216.

Popkin, S. L. (2018). The factual basis of “belief systems”: A reassessment. In The Nature of Belief Systems Reconsidered (pp. 279-300). Routledge.

Rutjens, B. T., & Brandt, M. J. (2018). Belief systems and the perception of reality: An introduction. Belief systems and the perception of reality , 1-10.

Scanes, C. G., & Chengzhong, P. (2018). Animals and Religion, Belief Systems, Symbolism and Myth. In Animals and Human Society (pp. 257-280). Academic Press.

Schipper, E. L. F. (2015). Religion and Belief Systems. Cultures and disasters: Understanding cultural framings in disaster risk reduction , 162-71.

Uso-Domenech, J. L., & Nescolarde-Selva, J. (2016). What are belief systems?. Foundations of Science, 21 , 147-152.

Wattenberg, M. P. (2019). The changing nature of mass belief systems: The rise of concept and policy ideologues. Critical Review, 31 (2), 198-229.

Chris

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

  • Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 5 Top Tips for Succeeding at University
  • Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 50 Durable Goods Examples
  • Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 100 Consumer Goods Examples
  • Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 30 Globalization Pros and Cons

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

223 Belief Essay Ideas, Topics, & Examples

Looking for belief essay ideas? Being a subject of numerous philosophical debates, the concept of belief is worth exploring.

🏆 Best Belief Essay Examples

⭐ personal belief essay topics, 💡 most interesting belief topics to write about, 📑 simple & easy belief essay titles, 📌 top belief topics to write about, 👍 exciting belief essay ideas, ❓ belief system research questions.

In your belief essay, you might want to focus of various philosophical approaches to the concept. Another idea is to compare religious and secular belief systems. One more option is to talk about your strongest personal beliefs and practices. Whether you have to write a high-school or a college assignment, our article will be helpful. Here you’ll find everything you might need to write a belief essay. Best personal belief essay topics and examples written by A+ students are collected below.

  • “Confessions of Faith” Written by Cecil Rhodes In particular, the author argues that the citizens of the British Empire have a right to rule different regions of the world.
  • Cultural Belief System: Experiences and Traditions In most communities, the belief systems form the basis for validity of governance systems in the community as well as the acceptable laws governing behavior in the society.
  • Omnism: Belief in All Religions The practice of omnism has been in here for a while, but the definition of the term is quite young. In Japan, an omnism religion is called Kokyo was formed in the 1800s, and the […]
  • The Importance of Perseverance and Self-Belief Of course, I was fluent in Spanish, which was my native language, but I faced a problem in the USA – I needed to learn English to feel comfortable and free.
  • Ecologies of Faith in the Digital Age and Surviving and Thriving in Seminary Therefore, based on this powerful technique, I believe that embracing the concept of spiritual growth through the use of the online platform will enable me to learn from the online community as well as to […]
  • The Circle of Life: Belief of Native Americans He shows the weakest and frailest infants being at the base of the hill while the oldest were on the top.
  • “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?” by Gettier In addition, the article reveals that the concepts of ‘the right to be sure that’ and ‘has adequate evidence for’ only work if the element of ‘justified true belief’ is not introduced in an analysis.
  • The Faith Concept and Types The concept of faith, types of faith and the criticism of faith are the key areas explored in this paper. The most common type of faith in the world is the religious faith.
  • Relationship Between Psychology and Christian Faith Truly, I have realized that sincerity is found in Jesus discipleship and the study of persona, but the varying aspects guiding the honesty are the belief in Christ and analytical thinking.
  • Mary Rowlandson’s Strong Faith, Captivity and Restoration Her strong faith helped her to endure her captivity and ultimately be restored to her family. Rowlandson’s faith in God gave her the strength to endure this difficult situation.
  • Faith and the Future: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Jews can gloat and say that they are the chosen people but this is not a wise decision to make because they will be threatened on all side and in fact since two thousand years […]
  • Preaching: Communicating Faith in Age of Skepticism Keller provides six approaches to preach Jesus from all of Scripture that are appropriate to both the message and the context of a given chapter to assist avoid these pitfalls.
  • Critique of Health-Belief Model by R. Davidhizar The primary objective of concept analysis is to examine the main idea critically to identify the themes of the design. The concept of health-related behavior is used in the field of breast cancer to enlighten […]
  • Kant’s Categorical Imperative vs. Kierkegaard’s Notion of Faith The reason of why Kant’s ideas are preferable to me is that the categorical imperative allows to define what actions are obligatory and which ones should be forbidden and to choose the way that is […]
  • The Experience of Faith The major concern in religion is that the relationship between faith and spirituality is a frequently debated subject among all Christians.
  • “The Ethics of Belief” by Clifford and “The Will to Believe” by James Belief in God is a momentous decision, and the benefits of yielding to religious faith outweigh the potential risks of error.
  • Human Experience and Development Of Religious Belief In an analysis of the role of the human experience in the development of religious beliefs, it is necessary also to note that the relation between human experience and religion is the exact background to […]
  • Christian Faith: Ancient Religion For example, ity teaches that Jesus is the son of God, he is the way to salvation, and he was sent by God to save the world from sin.
  • Evolutionary Ethics vs. Belief in God In addition, the disadvantage of the evolutionary theory is that moral and ethical norms cannot be determined only to a biological degree.
  • Religion in Moliere’s Tartuffe: True Faith Versus Hypocrisy Notably, he uses religion as the major instrument of his influence as it is easy to become a mentor and guide through the hazards of the world.
  • Faith and Materialism in Matthew 6:24-30 Due to simplicity, readers do not have to refer or infer to the original text in Greek or to the bible dictionary to get the meaning of the complex words in the text.
  • Islamic Belief Is Comprehensive The central theme of Islam as carried in all beliefs is peaceful co-existence and respect for other people’s religion.
  • Faith Integration in the Hebrew 11 Passage The examples of people leading by their example and convincing others to accept the Christian faith as the [path to salvation are incredibly inspiring, which is why the specified part of the Scripture has a […]
  • Human Belief in Myths and Legends However, suppose one understands the meaning and the reasons for their creation, which in most cases are similar regardless of the area of origin of the legend.
  • The “Dynamics of Faith” Book by Paul Tillich Relying on the study of Dynamics of Faith, Paul Tillich would analyze the “dynamics of faith” present in The Plague’s Fr.
  • God’s Healing Is Not Influenced by Level of Faith For example, in response to the courage that the woman with the flow of blood demonstrated, Jesus said that the faith she had made her whole.
  • The Relationship Between Faith and Charity The word church in the Apostles’ Creed, similarly to the Bible, refers to the people of God, the holy society made up of individuals who profess faith in the Father, the Son, and the Holy […]
  • The Role of Faith in the US-Middle East Foreign Policy Moreover, the belief that the US was the nation assigned the role of fulfilling God’s promise to his people and the whole of humanity encouraged them to contribute to the well-being of settlers and natives […]
  • Reason and Faith in Christianity It should be stressed that the two entities of theological justification are seen to be reason and faith. People must have both the right justification and faith in order to believe, as those are the […]
  • Faith Integration: 1 Peter 5:1-4 The Bible verse can be applied to corporations that may take advantage of vulnerable consumers. Such an approach is detrimental to the consumers and the organizations.
  • Pascal’s Wager: Belief in God as a Rational Choice It is one of the favorite tools of religious preachers who try to appeal to famous names and a kind of logic to convince people to enter their faith. The second argument against Pascal’s wager […]
  • Evangelism in Daily Life: Sharing the Christian Faith The main Bible statement for Evangelism is “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes”.
  • How Christianity Faith Influenced Mathematics Christianity displays God to have qualities of order due to the fashion and timeline of creation. Divisive interpretations between Christianity and science challenge the interconnectivity of both fields.
  • “Midsommar” and Sublime Nature of the Belief The work’s title hints at the central theme that follows the plot’s narrative the power of belief in the higher force in the world.
  • Faith and Transformational Teaching The authors say that being deeply and comprehensively trained in the field being taught is the path to success as a teacher.
  • Perception of Faith: Perspective and Science I became kinder, more righteous, and wiser as I began to deepen my understanding of the Nature of things. I first noticed the influence of the gospel when I had to make a difficult decision.
  • Christian Faith and Scientific Disciplines It is believed that the introduction of philosophical naturalism to scientific thinking led to the development of the natural sciences. In contrast to the natural sciences, the social sciences focus on particular people and communities […]
  • The “Your Grown-Up Faith” Book by Kenneth Parker The author shows the importance of the spiritual path in avoiding the traps of pseudo-spirituality and mysticism. The Youth’s Way is a challenging stage of doubts and searches for a place in the world and […]
  • The Jewish Belief of Heaven and Hell in Comparison to New Testament The Old Testament Sheol is both the plan of dead souls in the direct and the state of the fallen soul in the figurative sense.
  • Shintoism as a Faith Indigenous to the Japanese Currently, no central authority exists in Shinto, and practitioners employ a diverse number of ways to practice their faith Though the exact date of the creation of Shinto is not known, the variation of the […]
  • Personal Reflection on Integrating Faith and Work The relevance of a Christian’s positive view of the sociocultural practices of other people is biblically supported by the story of creation.
  • Augustine on Instructing Beginners in Faith The main thesis of this book is how to provide relevant instructions to the new converts. Therefore, improvements should be made to help in addressing the situation in most of the Christian conventions.
  • Aspects of Belief of Jainism When learning about religions and philosophies, I find that origins or backgrounds are essential in interpreting the context and content of a religion.
  • Christian Faith: Influence on Learning He discusses science and how humans are the products of the world they are endowed with feeling and thought, which are beyond natural.
  • “Faith and Learning” by David Dockery The main feature of this perception of the literary text is that the reader should not look for the secret meaning of the writer.
  • “Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism” Book by Tim Keller In his book, Timothy Keller underlines the centrality of the gospel as one of the major means to connect an individual and the Church and establish fair and effective relationships.
  • Health Belief Model: Description and Concepts The concept is based on a person’s sufficient motivation to affect an issue, the existence of a threat, and the realization that the benefits are worth the cost.
  • Faith and Other Areas of Human Development From my point of view, there is undoubtedly a certain kind of connection between the development of faith and other areas of human development.
  • Spiritual Formation Reflection: Integrating Faith and Learning This strengthened understanding of the mutual necessity of faith and learning in becoming closer to God is a crucial result of this course for me.
  • Philosophy of Religion: Approaches to Faith and Church The epistemology in this work is not based on avid socialism but a specific definition of concepts and their application to religion.
  • Integrating Faith While Caring for Pediatric Patients: The Concept of Health The key points that the paper discusses are the need to care for patients, the desire to offer emotional support to them, the responsibility of personal sacrifice, and the call to be committed to the […]
  • Faith and Justice in the City. Seek for Justice It is crucial to have the same law and the same treatment to a foreign person and for a native-born, as equal treatment is one of the main aspects of justice, promoted in the Bible.
  • How Faith Leaders Are Divided Over Equality Act The Vatican refuses to bless same-sex marriages saying that this is not in accordance with the canons of the Roman Catholic Church since marriage is a union of a man and a woman.
  • Public Health Theories. Health Belief Model For example, it is difficult to understand the relationship between perceived severity of HIV and perceived benefits of engaging in positive sexual health behaviors.
  • Discussion of Miracle and Faith in Medicine Thus, one of the most interesting concepts tackled in the topic readings is the evaluation of scientism as a means of explaining the phenomena of death, illness, and morality.
  • Identity Formation: Faith Overview As a result, I made a commitment and took the responsibility for my decisions, which was a long process. Undoubtedly, my faith was helpful in the process of my identity formation in other areas as […]
  • Spiritual Growth: The Sense of Spirituality and Faith In the read story, the author mentioned two basic methods of development, which consist in the sense of spirituality and faith.
  • Religious Belief and Buying Behavior The main categories to be assessed are religious affiliation and religious dedication in respect to Hinduism and Islam. According to the research, religious affiliation and religiosity play a vital part in shopping conduct.
  • Faith and Gods in Ancient Civilizations Thus, it was important for the people of Ancient Greece, Rome, and China to have faith and praise the gods they chose.
  • Role of Faith in Social Work The first lesson of this book is that social work should be multifaceted to meet the specific needs of people, and it should consider the opportunities that every person has.
  • Faith Integration and Strategic Management At the Adult and Teen Challenge Ohio organization, which seeks to offer support and encouragement to women struggling with substance addiction, the focus on the search of a spiritual core as the key source of […]
  • Faith Integration: Opportunities and Threats Adult & Teen Challenge Ohio presently operates in Columbus, OH, yet the organization may expand in the future to embrace larger markets and address the needs of a more diverse range of clients. It is […]
  • Analytical Processing, Religion Belief & Science In order to test validity of the difference, it may be necessary to conduct an investigation on analytical processing skills of individuals in science and in religion.
  • Health Belief and Precautionary Adoption Process Models The agreement to change depends on the susceptibility of the risk. The study established that the construct of risk perception among the parents played a crucial role in determining the completion of the vaccination process.
  • Health Care Provider and Faith Diversity in Health Care The universal Christian community believes in the power of prayer in healing and the clergy offer prayers and spiritual nourishment to the sick.
  • Faith Diversity: Healing Prospects Muslims believe in the effect of the evil eye, jinns or magic, and it is this effect that results in illnesses with a supernatural cause.
  • Reason, Motivations, and Belief for Conducting Cyber Attack The end is beneficial to the threat source and detrimental to other users. In fact, activities of cyber attackers make the Internet both a blessing and a curse.
  • An Ethical Dilemma – Religious Belief Versus Medical Practice In the first step, the ethical dilemma is between the principle of beneficence in the treatment of meningitis and the principle of autonomy with respect to the decision of the parents.
  • Religion: The Canons as a Standards to Measure One’s Faith The authority of God in the New Testament cannot be exclusively attributed in the writing of the twenty-seven books that make up the New Testament as is the case with the Old Testament or Hebrew […]
  • Religion: Christians’ Belief in God So, in essence, he might take such turbulent times as a test of faith since the belief in the existence of God lies within the affirmation that God is in all things that we encounter.
  • Modality of Family Faith and Meanings and Relationships in Family Life The theme of this study is to investigate two broad categories of modalities of faith in family life: first, what they value or seek, and how they relate to God or to others and the […]
  • Acting in Good Faith: Contract and Agency Law To start with the validity of the contract should be analyzed; and in this case, the two contracting parties had agreed mutually to reduce the amount to a nominal amount of $150.
  • “Strength in the Unfeigned Faith” To the extent of questioning the incarnation of Jesus Christ, I become skeptical in basing my belief on the knowledge of this world.
  • Christian Faith and Work With Service Members In their article, Kick and McNitt discuss the importance of faith in providing help to the military members, veterans, and their families.
  • Faith-Based Organization Services as the Best Means to Prevent HIV and AIDS in Southern Cameroons The HIV/AIDS issue was complicated by the fact that at the moment of this research, there was no cure and the only way of addressing the infection spread was through prevention and ensuring that people […]
  • Belief and Evidence Between Religion and Science Therefore, they base their hopes on the belief that all will be well with them, and they will wake up to continue with their daily activities.
  • “Faith-Sharing” by Fox and Morris The three concepts that I have learned from the text include the meaning of faith, the motivation for faith sharing, and the appreciation of the meaning of faith sharing.
  • “Ferguson and Faith” by Leah Francis In this way, the religious activists may raise public awareness about the topical social issues in relation to the spiritual dimensions of human life, and engage people “in conversation about the theological imperative” in the […]
  • Adam’s Apples: Testing of Faith Adam, on the other hand, is skeptical and eager to confront the vicar, seeking to prove that Ivan’s miserable life is a sign of God’s hatred.
  • Four Apostles’ by Albrecht Dürer: Protestant Faith Protestantism emerged in Europe at the beginning of the 16th century as the opposition to the Roman Catholic Church and based on the belief in personal faith and the connection to God.
  • Spiritual Belief Is the Integral Parts of Human Beings In other words, the fact of the existence of the universe proves the idea of God responsible for the creation of such ideal objects and things.
  • Reason and Religious Belief. An introduction to The Philosophy of Religion’ by M. Peterson The chapter reveals that God is imperceptible to the senses of a man, and unconditionally pervades all the reality known to man. Therefore, it is challenging to reconcile the concept of God with evil and […]
  • The Chinese Belief on Death and Dying These distinctions are visible due to several cultures act of subjecting to an influencing experience of death in the African perspective, the keeping with the nature of the Bible or its times, the people from […]
  • Discovering Faith: The Search for Truth and Certainty The author starts his article with “truthseekers” using reason and faith as tools to find the truth. As opposed to both extremes- Fundamentalist Protestantism and Christian apologetic- Taylor argues that it is wrong to ridicule […]
  • Creationism as a Religious Belief The evolutionary scientists believe that the positions taken by creation scientists on the origin of the earth and life forms are irreconcilable to theirs.
  • Aquinas and Faith: Theological Theories Aquinas asserts that true faith should believe in what has been revealed by God The agreement that characterizes faith is being wholehearted and not timid. Through revelation one accepts the propositions in faith that God […]
  • Martin Buber: Two Types of Faith The first type of faith is expressed in the continuity of the nation which one is born in and he is a member.
  • Voluntaristic Faith: Readings by Clifford and James Faith, according to the readings of Clifford and James is a strong belief inscribed in the mind of an individual that that what they think is right.
  • Ethics of Belief: Term Discussion For instance, in the above example of taking your friends to a restaurant, you have to follow epistemic norm and the moral norm almost becomes obligatory.
  • ”The Believers”: An Analysis of Belief & Faith Thus faith involves a process and belief is only a part of the process by way in which you acquire faith faith being the ultimate expression of belief.
  • Martin Luther: Justification by Faith Alone The basis of the doctrine of justification by faith is the doctrine of grace as undeserved favor of God to fallen humanity.
  • Islamic Faith and Ritual Practice In the Islamic faith, rituals, known in their religion as ibadat, meaning acts of obedience, service, and worship to God, form the foundation on which the whole faith is anchored.
  • Vedic Hinduism, Classical Hinduism, and Buddhism: A Uniting Belief Systems The difference between Vedic and Classical Hinduism is fundamentally approach towards life rather than beliefs or reformation and the progression from the former to latter is not clear in terms of time.
  • Ethics and Combination of Religious Faith, Ethical and Aesthetic Beliefs It is essentially described by the existence of pleasure and in living an aesthetic life to the maximum one has to aim at maximizing the given pleasures.
  • Christian Ministry and Personal Faith Moreover, should we want to focus on the Christian Ministry, and any other ministry for that matter, I think we have to get back to the basic teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, and this […]
  • Islam: a Restatement of Israeli Faith He did not have formal training or wisdom to have made any editorializing or modification to the word of God hence Muslims believe that the Koran is the pure and unadulterated word of God as […]
  • Cherokee Indian Belief: Gateway to Modern Civilization The Cherokee learned the art of combat war from the Europeans and they used the same tactics later on to attack their neighbors in the frontiers.
  • The Christian Faith in Geisler’s and Feinberg’s “Introduction to Philosophy: A Christian Perspective” In spite of all this reason vs.revelation debate, there is an underlying determination that is made apparent in the book: this is the determination to overcome any kind of rationalist thought or idea and discount […]
  • Islam: Connection of Belief With a Traditional Life Knowledge of the bases of Muslim doctrine is rather variously at various layers of the population and in the different countries of traditional distribution of Islam.
  • The Conditions in Formulating a Reasonable Belief 2 Both ideas make sense, and the goal of this review is to compare the opinions of James and Clifford to strengthen an understanding of the connection between beliefs, evidence, and sentiments.
  • Faith and Critical Reason Issues My understanding of faith is close to the definition suggested by Tilley, who argues that faith is the relationship between the person who has faith and that “which one has faith in”.
  • Mahāyāna Awakening of Faith and Chinese Culture To support this argument, it is possible to read through the Awakening and note the parts that might have been influenced by the situation in China at the time.
  • Cardiac Surgery vs. Faith Healing However, I believe that it is our duty as true Christians to forego any other interventions, including operations, since it has already been proven that it is wrong to go against God’s will.
  • Core Values in Personal Belief System These are my core values and include happiness, family, friends, pleasure and financial security and stability. In conclusion, I agree that values are important to my life.
  • Belief Systems in Generation X and Millennials As the purpose of the project consists in analyzing various belief systems pursued by Generation X and Millennials, it is purposeful to represent photos, statistics, and graphs uncovering the percentage characteristics in terms of the […]
  • Change in Belief System Their life experiences, friends, and exposure to reality are some of the factors that contribute to such shifts in belief and attitude towards diverse occurrences in life.
  • Reformation Theology as the Source of Religious Faith The three major teachings from Martin Luther regarding reforming the church include the fact that faith in God’s gift of forgiveness is very essential and is the only way through which individuals could win salvation […]
  • “The Ethics of Belief” by William K. Clifford On religious beliefs, Clifford advises that belief matters are private and that people have the right to choose whichever religion to believe.
  • Faith Development in Adolescents I believe my input was valuable for the patient and her faith development as she carved some of the spiritual pillars that would be helpful in her adulthood.
  • Religious Belief and Academic Content It should adapt to the overall situation and change the nature of the speeches to reflect that the people’s righteousness was the cause of the good times and that their perseverance would help them overcome […]
  • Faith and Excellent Systematic Knowledge In the context of a specific parish, one will need to encourage the promotion of parishioners’ education to ensure that they are aware of the key market principles.
  • Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith is one of his writings that discusses religion that is close to the author.
  • Philosophical Views: Faith vs. Science It is important to look at some of the philosophical views and philosophers that supported the concept of faith, science or both.
  • Morality, Faith, and Dignity in Modern Youth The blistering evolution of society combined with the appearance of new opportunities resulted in the significant deterioration of moral and values which determine the nature of human actions.
  • Mindfulness in a Faith-Based Education Setting The College’s overall strategy for the following years is to continue promoting education in faith to form the staff around the Lasallian values, improve their appreciation of these values, use the Lasallian principles as a […]
  • Testing a Person for His Faith and Devotion to God Suffering is usually perceived as a negative experience since it is commonly believed that it is a punishment for the sinner.
  • The Faith and Ethics Course: Attaining Ethical Maturity In Christian context, the Bible is the principle guide to ethical conduct and all actions should be in conformity to it.
  • Faith and Ethics Role in Religion We will discuss two of the characteristics of the ethics of Jesus, that is, His new concept of love and the value of the individual person and how they can be incorporated in our own […]
  • Islamic Faith: Teachings and Practices Ahmed elaborates that Muslims in Middle East, India and Pakistan are keen and aware of the distinctions between the two factions.
  • Religious Studies: The Rahman Discussion and His Faith in Islam Yes, Rahman believes in the teachings of the Quran because they are the basis of all his writing. He cites from the Quran that this day will be the Day of Decision.
  • Religious Studies: Shinto’ Belief System This differs significantly from a vast majority of current belief systems such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and the Hindu religion wherein some form of the profession of faith is necessary to be considered a member […]
  • Faith, Justice, War – and Human Rights in the Realm of the Present-Day World Quran: The Most Ancient and Sacred Islamic Book as the Basis for the Laws on Human Rights Considering the Issue from a Different Perspective: The Fifteen Postulates Security of life and property: bi-al haqq and […]
  • Ushpizin: An Unshakable Jewish Faith This is a Jewish film owing to the title, language, setting, themes and even the actors involved in the film. The level of concern that they have for the Sukkot festival is indicative of their […]
  • The Main Problems of “Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief” by John Frame One of the best ways to solve this problem is to approach it from the point of view of God’s love for mankind.
  • “Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief” by John M. Frame The book goes further to analyze God’s will and power. Christians should use this book in order to establish the best relationships with their God.
  • Without Faith, There Can Be No True Virtue? It relates to the author of integrity and the dishonest virtue that occurs where there is no faith in God even if the qualities of an individual are the best.
  • Integrating Faith and Learning Kotter and Keller provide that marketing management is the process of formulating and organizing marketing strategies to control the organizational activities as well as allocate the marketing resources.
  • ‘Belief in Action: The Salvation Army, a Global Not-for-Profit Organization’ Strategic planning goes through a process from setting the mission, objectives, situation analysis, strategy creation, execution and finally control so as to achieve positive results and an effective plan of action.”Strategic planning is inextricably interwoven […]
  • Ethics and Faith in the Movie “Crimes and Misdemeanors” In this motion picture, he seems to support the defeat of the religious as seen through the death of the most religious person in the story – Ben.
  • Rational Approach to the Issue of Belief In spite of the fact, objecting the position of Clifford, the person can support James’s views, and objecting the position of James, the person can discuss Clifford’s ideas as relevant, it is possible to provide […]
  • The Individual, Faith, and Society Hobbes managed to overcome all the political and social havocs that affected his life and which were the major things that shaped the way he was thinking.
  • Empowerment Through Art: A Biographical Study on Faith Ringgold But the key lies in knowing that the sickness is real, and her art strives to inform the masses of just that.
  • Faith and Grace as the Peculiarities of Religion Analyzing the opinions of different researchers, it is possible to consider faith as a set of the moral principles caused by the personal experience of God, while grace is a gift given by God in […]
  • Analyzing the Inculturation Process of Specific Historical Moments in the Development of the Christian Faith Inculturation refers to the process of going against the culture or societal values in the process of developing faith. This paper seeks to analyze the inculturation process of specific historical moments in the development of […]
  • W. K. Clifford, ‘The Ethics of Belief’ Clifford provided an opinion in opposition to theism where his statements can be put in three points; there is inadequate evidence to believe that there is existence of God, it is incorrect forever, all over, […]
  • Relationship Between Christian Faith and Science For this reason, science and faith are integral fields of knowledge that enhance understanding of the universe and human existence in the society; thus, theology should allow faith to correlate with science and seek understanding […]
  • Cross-Cultural Psychology: Similarities and Differences in Belief Systems and Behavioral Patterns These similarities and differences in cultural backgrounds have led to emergence of cross-cultural psychology, a study on the interaction between diverse human culture, belief systems and behavioral patterns.
  • Belief, Doubt and Modern Mind With the efforts to try and find solutions to one of the greatest mysteries, the ancient societies tried to come up with different suggestions that became a foundation for the creation of religion and religious […]
  • Philosophy of Religion: Argument According to Pascal’s Wager on the Belief in God In the philosophical argument presented by the book, Pascal’s Wager, by Jeff Jordan with regard to the existence and work of God, it emerges that people’s belief in God is often enhanced by self-interests rather […]
  • Belief Without Prior Evidence This is one of the main points that one can make in response to William Clifford’s essay The Ethics of Belief.
  • “The Ethics of Belief” by William Clifford While advancing his idea that there can be no justification for people to be blinded with irrational beliefs to such an extent that they grow deaf to the voice of reason, Clifford resorted to the […]
  • An Individual’s Belief is a Private Matter In Clifford’s article “The Ethics of Belief”, the author argues that individuals’ beliefs are not private matters. In the story of the ship, had the ship not capsized, the owner would have achieved his aims.
  • Faith and Family: Video Review The significance of a family as a building block of the community is enormous because it is important for each individuals to have a feeling of connection.
  • Blind Faith vs. the Rational Approach However, the novelty of the approach wears off quickly, since the only original idea of the presuppositional apologetics is that Christian religion is the only rational explanation for everything that happens in the world.
  • The Ethics of Belief: Based on Evidence or Inquiry In his essay The Ethics of Belief, William Clifford argued that every form of belief had to be based on some evidence or inquiry.
  • Families of Faith East and West, Their Cosmologies, Core Beliefs and Practice Christians believe in the presence of the Holy Spirit in the church and that God is the creator and the savior of mankind.
  • Historical Background of Islamic Faith The fundamental goal of this pillar is to ensure sharing among the Muslims. Muslims believe that the purpose of sexual relations is to beget children.
  • Buddhism: Analysis of the Religion’s Faith and Practices This includes the name of the religion followers, the history and origins of the religion including the founders, the name of the Supreme Being or God, as well as the name of the place of […]
  • Criticism of “Our Faith in Science” The authors imply that scientific methods can help to prove the positive effect of Tenzin Gyatso’s practices in order to tell about this phenomenon to the international community.
  • Belief in Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” This is the beginning of his disbelief and loss of faith in good. This is the main factor which points to the weakening of the society in general.
  • Religion: Reason and Faith Judaism According to Anon, this is one of the religions that have their origin in the covenant of Abraham with God.
  • What is Theology – Faith and Reason in Theology Paul Ricoeur specialized in philosophy and of relevance to this paper are his thoughts on the effect of the past on the present.
  • The Belief in God The existence of God is justified in the sense that existence in the mind as a concept limits the idea of God already in the minds of people.
  • Corporate Ethics in the “Business Through the Eyes of Faith” He concludes that prosperity and profitability in business should not be equated to God’s approval and favor, rather it should be perceived as due reward for diligence and discipline in the course of running the […]
  • Utopia Is The Belief Of The Perfect Place On Earth
  • What is Socrates Belief about the Pursuit of truths by the Critical Methods of Inquiry
  • The Enlightenment of the Personality Disorder and the Belief of the Flat Earth Concept
  • The Use of Belief, Faith and Struggle in The Road, a Novel by Cormac McCarthy
  • What Does the Evidence Reveal About Belief in the Afterlife in New Kingdom Egypt?
  • The Evolution of Awareness and Belief Ambiguity During the Process of High School Track Choice
  • Understanding Fundamentalist Belief Through Bayesian Updating
  • The Verification Principle Offers no Real Challenge to Religious Belief
  • What Is Superstitions As A Belief Or A Way Of Behaving
  • The Elements of Belief in the Horror Film Rosemary’s Baby
  • Use Self Belief To Shape Your Own Destiny
  • Why the Distinction Between Knowledge and Belief Might Matter
  • Which Is Better, True Belief and Knowledge
  • Weakly Belief-Free Equilibria in Repeated Games with Private Monitoring
  • The Diversity of the Christian Belief under a Single God
  • Universally Rational Belief Hierarchies
  • Using the Health Belief Model to Understand Pesticide Use Decisions
  • Why Alfred Hitchcock is Not Dead Contrary to Popular Belief
  • The Importance of Compassion in My Life and Belief as a Ocean Lifeguard
  • Toward an Economic Theory of Religious Belief and the Emergence of Law
  • The Use and Belief in Superstitions in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
  • William Clifford, Blaise Pascal And William James ‘ Arguments Of Belief
  • The Hindu Belief In Respect For All Living Creatures
  • The Influence of Human Conduct on Belief in God Essay
  • The Influences of the Mexican Cultural Belief of Death in Pedro Paramo
  • The Relationship between Belief in God and Grammatical Habit
  • The Problem Of Education Is Teaching Individuals The Belief
  • Witches and Devil Belief from Europe to America
  • Time, History, and Belief in Aztec and Colonial Mexico
  • The True Puppeteer : Is It A False Belief Or An Idea Of Human
  • The Relationship Between Belief Systems and Political or Social Hierarchy in South and East Asia
  • Why The Government Is Allowed Their Own Personal Belief
  • Witches This Was Necessary To Combat The Devil Witch Authorities Belief
  • The Positive and Negative Effects of Mongol Practice and Belief
  • The Sociological Challenges To Religious Belief
  • Using System Dynamics to Investigate How Belief Systems Influence the Process of Organizational Change
  • The Similar Belief in Gods of the Ancient Greek and Roman Religions
  • The Three Generations of My Family and the Belief on the Idea of Having Children Out of Wedlock
  • The Role of Communication in Attitudes, Belief Systems and Self-Motivation
  • The Spiritual Belief Of Demon Possession And Epilepsy
  • The Unethical and Unscientific Climate Change Denial in The Ethics of Belief by William Clifford
  • The True Reason and Aspects Behind One’s Belief
  • Understanding the Puritan Belief of Mary Rowlandson
  • Toy Manufactures Has Enforced The Belief Of Children
  • How Is a Belief System Different From an Ideology?
  • What Is the Difference Between Belief and Belief System?
  • How Many Belief Systems Are There in the World?
  • What Is Belief System in Psychology?
  • Did Athenian Democracy Erode Popular Belief in Divination?
  • What Are the Characteristics of Belief System?
  • How Does Social Media Influence Religious Beliefs?
  • What Was the First Belief System?
  • Can Belief Make Things Happen?
  • How Do Values and Beliefs Influence Changes in Culture?
  • What Are the Elements of Belief System?
  • Are Religious Beliefs Associated With Nature or Nurture?
  • What Beliefs Does Descartes Doubt?
  • How Did Superstitious Belief Influence People?
  • What Is the Difference Between Self-Belief and Self-Esteem?
  • Can Beliefs Be Morally Wrong?
  • Why Is It Important to Have a Sense of Belief?
  • What Is the Difference Between Knowledge and Justified Belief?
  • Is Science a System of Beliefs?
  • What Was Machiavelli’s Belief on Power?
  • Do Implicit Attitudes and Beliefs Change Over the Long-Term?
  • Are Thoughts and Beliefs the Same?
  • Do Different Cultures Have Different Moral Beliefs?
  • Is There a Difference Between Religion and Belief in God?
  • How Do Religious Beliefs Affect Decision Making?
  • Chicago (A-D)
  • Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, February 22). 223 Belief Essay Ideas, Topics, & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/belief-essay-topics/

"223 Belief Essay Ideas, Topics, & Examples." IvyPanda , 22 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/belief-essay-topics/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '223 Belief Essay Ideas, Topics, & Examples'. 22 February.

IvyPanda . 2024. "223 Belief Essay Ideas, Topics, & Examples." February 22, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/belief-essay-topics/.

1. IvyPanda . "223 Belief Essay Ideas, Topics, & Examples." February 22, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/belief-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "223 Belief Essay Ideas, Topics, & Examples." February 22, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/belief-essay-topics/.

  • Hope Research Topics
  • Stoicism Topics
  • Forgiveness Essay Ideas
  • Tolerance Essay Ideas
  • Meaning of Life Essay Ideas
  • Personal Values Ideas
  • Spiritual Essay Titles
  • Respect Essay Topics
  • Kindness Research Ideas
  • God Paper Topics
  • Superstition Essay Ideas
  • Afterlife Research Topics
  • Motivation Research Ideas
  • Altruism Ideas
  • Utopia Topics

Read our research on: Abortion | Podcasts | Election 2024

Regions & Countries

5 facts about religion and americans’ views of donald trump.

Faith leaders pray over then-President Donald Trump during an "Evangelicals for Trump" campaign event held at the King Jesus International Ministry on Jan. 3, 2020, in Miami. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

For most of the last decade, observers have been trying to understand why so many highly religious Americans have a favorable view of Donald Trump, asking how values voters can support a candidate who has been divorced twice, married three times and found liable for sexual abuse . Is Trump viewed most positively by those who might be described as “Christians in name only” – people who identify as Christians but aren’t actually religious?

The latest Pew Research Center survey sheds light on these and related questions. Here are five facts about religion and views of Trump, based on our survey of 12,693 U.S. adults conducted Feb. 13-25.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to explore the connection between religion and views of Donald Trump.

For this analysis, we surveyed 12,693 respondents from Feb. 13 to 25, 2024. Most of the respondents (10,642) are members of the Center’s American Trends Panel, an online survey panel recruited through national random sampling of residential addresses, which gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection.

The remaining respondents (2,051) are members of three other panels, the Ipsos KnowledgePanel, the NORC AmeriSpeak panel and the SSRS opinion panel. All three are national survey panels recruited through random sampling (not “opt-in” polls). We used these additional panels to ensure that the survey would have enough Jewish and Muslim respondents to be able to report on their views.

The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education, religious affiliation and other categories.

For more, refer to the ATP’s methodology and the methodology for this survey .

Among religious groups, White evangelical Protestants continue to have the most positive opinion of Trump. Overall, two-thirds of White evangelical Protestants say they have a favorable view of the former president, including 30% who have a very favorable opinion of him.

A diverging bar chart showing that two-thirds of White evangelicals see Trump favorably.

Roughly half of White Catholics (51%) express positive views of Trump, as do 47% of White nonevangelical Protestants and 45% of Hispanic Protestants.

But in every other U.S. religious group large enough to be analyzed in this survey, large majorities have unfavorable opinions of Trump, including:  

  • 88% of atheists
  • 82% of agnostics
  • 80% of Black Protestants
  • 79% of Jewish Americans

These religious patterns largely reflect partisan differences . Most White evangelicals tend to vote for Republicans, as do smaller majorities of White Catholics and White nonevangelical Protestants. By contrast, most atheists, agnostics, Black Protestants and Jews tend to vote for Democrats.

Trump’s favorability rating is similar among Christians who attend church regularly and those who don’t. Some observers have pointed out that Trump’s political base consists largely of people who call themselves Christians but don’t go to church. However, our survey shows that Christians who regularly go to church express equally favorable views of Trump as those who don’t often attend religious services.

A diverging bar chart showing that Christians who attend church regularly and those who don't have similar views of Trump.

Among Christians as a whole, 47% of those who attend church at least monthly say they have a favorable view of the former president. That’s on par with the 46% of non-church-attending Christians who say the same.

Among White evangelical Protestants, 68% of regular churchgoers have a positive view of Trump – similar to the 64% among White evangelicals who don’t attend church regularly.

The only exception to this pattern is among White Protestants who do not identify as born-again or evangelical. In this group, Trump is viewed more favorably by those who don’t attend church regularly than by those who do (52% vs. 32%).

Many of the people who view Trump favorably don’t go to religious services regularly – but very few are nonreligious. Overall, 64% of respondents who have a favorable view of Trump say they attend religious services a few times a year or less often, while 35% say they go to services at least once or twice a month. (Among all respondents, 69% say they attend religious services a few times a year or less, while 30% go at least monthly.)

Table comparing those who have a favorable view of Donald Trump by level of religious commitment. 23% of U.S. adults with a favorable view of Trump are highly religious, including 11% who are highly religious White evangelical Protestants.

Religious attendance is just one way of looking at religious commitment. Another common way we measure it is to combine survey questions about attendance at religious services, how often people pray and how important religion is to them.

U.S. adults who attend religious services at least weekly, pray daily and say religion is very important in their lives are categorized as highly religious. Those who seldom or never attend services, seldom or never pray and say religion is not too important or not at all important in their lives are counted as having low religious commitment. Everyone else is counted as having medium religious commitment.

Looked at this way, 23% of U.S. adults with a favorable view of Trump are highly religious, including 11% who are highly religious White evangelical Protestants.

Another 62% of Americans with a favorable view of Trump have medium levels of religious commitment, including 13% who are White evangelicals.

Just 15% of people with a favorable view of Trump have low levels of religious commitment. By far the biggest subgroup within this category is religious “nones” – people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” Overall, 18% of people with a positive view of Trump are religious “nones,” including 10% who are “nones” with low levels of religiousness.

Very few of the people who have a positive view of Trump are White evangelical Protestants with a low level of religiousness. Indeed, self-described White evangelical Protestants who are not religiously observant account for less than 1% of the overall U.S. population. Even if a candidate wanted to form a coalition rooted in support from nonreligious evangelicals, there just aren’t enough of them to be a national political base.

Most people who view Trump positively don’t think he is especially religious himself. But many think he stands up for people with religious beliefs like theirs. Just 8% of people who have a positive view of Trump think he is very religious, while 51% think he is somewhat religious and 38% say he is not too or not at all religious .

But 51% of those with a favorable view of Trump think he stands up for people with religious beliefs like their own, including 24% who think he does this a great deal and 27% who say he does this quite a bit.

Among White evangelical Protestants with a favorable view of Trump, just 9% view him as very religious. But roughly two-thirds think he does a great deal (32%) or quite a bit (35%) to stand up for people with religious beliefs like theirs.

Table showing that among Americans who like Donald Trump, just 8% say he is very religious himself – but 51% say he does a great deal or quite a bit to stand up for people with religious beliefs like theirs

Religious “nones” who are culturally Christian view Trump a bit more positively than religious “nones” who aren’t.

A diverging bar chart showing that, among religious 'nones, cultural Christians are modestly more favorable toward Trump.

One way to measure for differences between “cultural” and “practicing” Christians is to compare Christians who do and don’t do go to church regularly, as we did above. Another is to look at religiously unaffiliated respondents, or “nones” – people who describe themselves, religiously, as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular.” In our new survey, we asked these Americans whether they think of themselves as Christians “aside from religion … for example ethnically, culturally or because of your family’s background.”

Religious “nones” who identify as culturally Christian have a modestly more favorable opinion of Trump than “nones” who do not identify as Christian in any way. Still, large majorities in both groups express negative views of the former president.

religion and belief system essay

Sign up for our weekly newsletter

Fresh data delivered Saturday mornings

Two-thirds of Republicans want Trump to retain major political role; 44% want him to run again in 2024

A partisan chasm in views of trump’s legacy, how america changed during donald trump’s presidency, trump’s approval ratings so far are unusually stable – and deeply partisan, most americans don’t see trump as religious; fewer than half say they think he’s christian, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

IMAGES

  1. world religions

    religion and belief system essay

  2. Impressive Belief System Essay ~ Thatsnotus

    religion and belief system essay

  3. Iwrbs Q1 Mod1 Worldviews Belief Systems and Religion

    religion and belief system essay

  4. What Is Religion Essay Example for Free

    religion and belief system essay

  5. Religions Essay

    religion and belief system essay

  6. 2.3.2 Religions and Belief Systems

    religion and belief system essay

VIDEO

  1. BlackPill as a Religion (Belief System)

  2. Religion In School Essay #religionInSchool #ReligionEssay #mintossmood

  3. "What Religion Or Belief System Is Older Than AFRICAN PEOPLE" ??

  4. [Writing God an essay] #religion #god #christianity #prayer

  5. Hindu vs Sanatana Dharma

  6. Who is PERIYAR? Ideology, Facts, Social Reforms, Controversies and Opinion

COMMENTS

  1. Religion as a Belief System: What Is It?

    Religious belief is centered around the existence and nature of life and the way of worship of a divine power. In spite of other belief systems religious belief system has certain qualities as they relate the values of social being at all levels. Religious belief system deals with existence of belief, the nature of the belief and the principles ...

  2. The Concept of Religion

    1. A History of the Concept. The concept religion did not originally refer to a social genus or cultural type. It was adapted from the Latin term religio, a term roughly equivalent to "scrupulousness".Religio also approximates "conscientiousness", "devotedness", or "felt obligation", since religio was an effect of taboos, promises, curses, or transgressions, even when these ...

  3. Essays About Religion: Top 5 Examples and 7 Writing Prompts

    A good example is the latest abortion issue in the US, the overturning of "Wade vs. Roe." Include people's mixed reactions to this subject and their justifications. 5. Religion: Then and Now. On your essay, ddd the religion's history, its current situation in the country, and its old and new beliefs.

  4. 13.1 What Is Religion?

    The other signpost used within anthropology to make sense of religion was crafted by American anthropologist Clifford Geertz (1926-2006) in his work The Interpretation of Cultures (1973). Geertz's definition takes a very different approach: "A religion is: (1) a system of symbols which acts to (2) establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by (3 ...

  5. Essay on World Religions And Belief Systems for Students

    100 Words Essay on World Religions And Belief Systems World Religions. There are many different religions in the world, each with its own beliefs and practices. Some of the major religions include Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. Belief Systems. A belief system is a set of beliefs that a person or group of people holds to ...

  6. World Religions: Experiences, Beliefs, and Rituals Essay

    Exclusively available on IvyPanda. Religion is a spiritually powerful belief system for people, consisting of certain practices and endowing things with sacred properties. Religion includes experiences, beliefs, and rituals. Sociologists of different times considered religion as something that gives social stability or as something that creates ...

  7. Importance of Religion and Religious Beliefs

    Importance of Religion. Three-quarters of U.S. adults say religion is at least "somewhat" important in their lives, with more than half (53%) saying it is "very" important. Approximately one-in-five say religion is "not too" (11%) or "not at all" important in their lives (11%). Although religion remains important to many ...

  8. READ: The Origin of World Religions (article)

    The Origin of World Religions. By Anita Ravi. As people created more efficient systems of communication and more complex governments in early agrarian civilizations, they also developed what we now call religion. Having done some research on the common features of early agrarian cities, I'm interested in finding out why all civilizations ...

  9. Culture, Religion, and Freedom of Religion or Belief

    The relationship between culture and freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is often seen as a negative one, with freedom of religion often invoked to defend human rights violations. In response, many human rights advocates draw a distinction between culture and religion, and what is insinuated is that culture is the problem, not religion.

  10. Religion, Culture, and Communication

    There is an interplay among religion, community, and culture. Community is essentially formed by a group of people who share common activities or beliefs based on their mutual affect, loyalty, and personal concerns. Participation in religious institutions is one of the most dominant community engagements worldwide.

  11. Religion

    religion, human beings' relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, absolute, spiritual, divine, or worthy of especial reverence. It is also commonly regarded as consisting of the way people deal with ultimate concerns about their lives and their fate after death.In many traditions, this relation and these concerns are expressed in terms of one's relationship with or attitude ...

  12. Religious vs. Non-Religious Belief Systems

    In the end, there are a few beliefs or belief systems which are difficult to categorize. Theism is perhaps most often confused with religion, even though theism by itself doesn't even qualify as a belief system whereas religion always does. Philosophy is sometimes confused with religion because the two topics tend to cover the same basic issues.

  13. PDF Religion and Belief

    selection of the high quality papers delivered to the Fourth Annual Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Research Conference. The aim of this book, and why these essays have been compiled, is to show how diverse religion in the ancient world was, be it Platonic religious belief or the Roman Eagle Standard.

  14. Wikipedia:Contents/Religion and belief systems

    The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to faith as well as to the larger shared systems of belief. A belief system can refer to a religion or a world view. A world view (or worldview) is a term calqued from the German word Weltanschauung ( [ˈvɛlt.ʔanˌʃaʊ.ʊŋ] ⓘ) Welt is the German word for 'world,' and ...

  15. World Religions Overview Essay

    A Canadian Forum on Religion and Ecology was established in 2002, a European Forum for the Study of Religion and the Environment was formed in 2005, and a Forum on Religion and Ecology @ Monash in Australia in 2011. Courses on this topic are now offered in numerous colleges and universities across North America and in other parts of the world.

  16. Essay on Religions of the World

    The Religions of the World Religion is big part of human life. Every area of the world has some kind of religion or belief system. Religion is defined as "a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices" ("Religion" Def.2). With such a large amount of religions today, religion is widely ...

  17. Religion Essay Topics: 40+ Interesting Ideas to Explore

    Christianity Essay Topics. How Christian perspectives on same-sex relationships has evolved over time. The concept of salvation, as well as how it differs among various Christian denominations. Progress made regarding the role of women in leadership positions within Christian communities. Ways Christian traditions have influenced and shaped ...

  18. Essay on Religions for Students and Children in English

    Religions Essay: The belief in a divine deity or entity is known as religion. Religion is actually about God's presence, who is also known as the controller of the world. Due to the different beliefs of different people, many different cultures exist. ... Religion refers to a system of beliefs, values, and practices which is sacred and holy ...

  19. Belief Systems: Definition, Characteristics & Examples

    A belief system is a structured set of principles or tenets held to be true by an individual or larger group. It can contain aspects such as morality, life purpose, or empirical reality (Uso-Domenech & Nescolarde-Selva, 2016). Belief systems are fundamental to human existence.

  20. Religion and belief

    Belief is a state of the mind when we consider something true even though we are not 100% sure or able to prove it. Everybody has beliefs about life and the world they experience. Mutually supportive beliefs may form belief systems, which may be religious, philosophical or ideological. Religions are belief systems that relate humanity to ...

  21. 223 Belief Essay Ideas, Topics, & Examples

    In your belief essay, you might want to focus of various philosophical approaches to the concept. Another idea is to compare religious and secular belief systems. One more option is to talk about your strongest personal beliefs and practices. Whether you have to write a high-school or a college assignment, our article will be helpful.

  22. 1. Religion's role in public life

    Taken together, this means 57% express a positive view of religion's impact - a larger share than we found in 2019 and 2022. 2. Far fewer express a negative view of religion by saying either that its influence is shrinking and this is good (13%) or by saying its influence is growing and this is bad (6%). About one-in-five adults (21%) say ...

  23. Essay on My Religious Belief System

    My Religious Belief System My religious belief system is embedded in Christianity. I was born into a family who worshiped as Methodist and I am still Methodist. Growing up my mother not only sent us to church, she went with us along with my grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins. Even though my father did not attend church often, he believed in ...

  24. Belief system in religion Essay Example For FREE

    Belief system in religion. I am writing this essay based on my friends religious belief system who I interviewed this week. His religion is Islam. Belief system: Islam literally means "surrender," or "submission. " Muslims surrender to the will of God. God is the creator, sustainer, and restorer of the world.

  25. Atheists beliefs: The different interpretations of what it means ...

    While a 2018 Pew survey found that 10% of US adults say they don't believe in any higher power or spiritual force, only about 4% of US adults identify as atheists. A 2022 Gallup poll puts the ...

  26. 5 facts about religion and Americans' views of Donald Trump

    Roughly half of White Catholics (51%) express positive views of Trump, as do 47% of White nonevangelical Protestants and 45% of Hispanic Protestants. But in every other U.S. religious group large enough to be analyzed in this survey, large majorities have unfavorable opinions of Trump, including: 88% of atheists. 82% of agnostics.