Portal:Religion
The Religion Portal
Religion is a range of social-cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements—although there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. Different religions may or may not contain various elements ranging from the divine, sacredness, faith, and a supernatural being or beings.
Religious practices may include rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration (of deities or saints), sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trances, initiations, matrimonial and funerary services, meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, or public service. Religions have sacred histories and narratives, which may be preserved in sacred texts, symbols, and holy places, that primarily aim to give life meaning. Religions may contain symbolic tales that may attempt to explain the origin of life, the universe, and other phenomena; some followers believe these to be true stories. Traditionally, both faith and reason have been considered sources of religious beliefs.
There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide, though nearly all of them have regionally based, relatively small followings. Four religions—Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism—account for over 77% of the world's population, and 92% of the world either follows one of those four religions or identifies as nonreligious, meaning that the remaining 9,000+ faiths account for only 8% of the population combined. The religiously unaffiliated demographic includes those who do not identify with any particular religion, atheists, and agnostics, although many in the demographic still have various religious beliefs.
Many world religions are also organized religions, most definitively including the Abrahamic religions Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, while others are arguably less so, in particular folk religions, indigenous religions, and some Eastern religions. A portion of the world's population, mostly located in Africa and Asia, are members of new religious movements. Scholars have indicated that global religiosity may be increasing due to religious countries having generally higher birth rates.
The study of religion comprises a wide variety of academic disciplines, including theology, philosophy of religion, comparative religion, and social scientific studies. Theories of religion offer various explanations for its origins and workings, including the ontological foundations of religious being and belief. (Full article...)
Vital article
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that Musa va 'Uj depicts figures from all three Abrahamic religions?
- ... that students and adults of three different religions visited the Armenian church in Kuzguncuk, Istanbul, as part of a social activity organized by the local women residents of these religions?
- ... that across his thirty-six collections, fashion designer Alexander McQueen contemplated religion, told fairy tales, and criticized the fashion industry?
- ... that some stone circles such as Stonehenge were perhaps great graveyards of honoured spiritual leaders in prehistoric religion?
- ... that the investigations of Scandinavian place names by Magnus Olsen were instrumental in restoring confidence in Icelandic literature as a useful source for information on Old Norse religion?
- ... that Myth and Religion of the North by Gabriel Turville-Petre has been described as the best work on Norse mythology in English?
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A Word of Comfort caricature at Joseph Priestley, by Dent William (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Nias megalith, by Ludwig Borutta (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Young monks in Cambodia at Buddhism in Cambodia, by JJ Harrison (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Shroud of Turin, by Giuseppe Enrie (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Devotees during Lathmar Holi, by Narender9 (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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B'nai B'rith membership certificate, by Louis Kurz (edited by Durova and Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Giant Suttung and the Dwarfs at Suttungr, by Louis Huard (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Meleager et Atalanta at Calydonian Boar, by Giulio Romano and François Louis Lonsing (edited by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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A Virgin with a Unicorn, by Domenichino (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Psalm 23, unknown author (edited by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Mandala, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Folio from a Quran, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Omer calendar at Counting of the Omer, by Baruch Zvi Ring (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant, by Benjamin West (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Achilles sacrificing to Zeus for Patroclus' safe return at Ambrosian Iliad, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Revelation 22:17 at Book of Revelation, by Joseph Martin Kronheim (edited by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Giant Skrymir and Thor at Útgarða-Loki, by Louis Huard (edited by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Martyrdom of Joseph and Hiram Smith at Death of Joseph Smith, by G.W. Fasel and Charles G. Crehen (edited by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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The Punishment of Loki, by Louis Huard (edited by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Cheyenne sun dance gathering, by Henry Chaufty (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Battle at Lanka, Ramayana, by Sahibdin (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Culture, entertainment, and lifestyle/Religion and mythology)
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Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists. (Full article...)
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Albert Einstein (/ˈaɪnstaɪn/ EYEN-styne; German: [ˈalbɛʁt ˈʔaɪnʃtaɪn] (
listen); 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely ranked among the greatest and most influential scientists of all time. Best known for developing the theory of relativity, he also made important contributions to quantum mechanics, and was thus a central figure in the revolutionary reshaping of the scientific understanding of nature that modern physics accomplished in the first decades of the twentieth century. His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which arises from relativity theory, has been called "the world's most famous equation". His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect", a pivotal step in the development of quantum theory. His intellectual achievements and originality resulted in "Einstein" becoming synonymous with "genius". Einsteinium, one of the synthetic elements in the periodic table, was named in his honor. (Full article...) -
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule. He inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā (Sanskrit: "great-souled", "venerable"), first applied to him in 1914 in South Africa, is now used throughout the world. (Full article...) -
The Uniform Civil Code (Hindi: समान नागरिक संहिता, romanized: Samāna Nāgarika Saṃhitā) is a proposal in India to formulate and implement personal laws of citizens which apply on all citizens equally regardless of their religion, gender and sexual orientation. Currently, personal laws of various communities are governed by their religious scriptures. Implementation of a uniform civil code across the nation is one of the contentious promises pursued by India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. It is an important issue regarding secularism in Indian politics and continues to remain disputed by India's political left wing, Muslim groups and other conservative religious groups and sects in defence of sharia and religious customs. Personal laws are distinguished from public law and cover marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption and maintenance. While article 25-28 of the Indian constitution guarantees religious freedom to Indian citizens and allows religious groups to maintain their own affairs, article 44 of the constitution expects the Indian state to apply directive principles and common law for all Indian citizens while formulating national policies. (Full article...)
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Jesus (c. 6 to 4 BC – AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and several other names and titles, was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the central figure of Christianity, the world's largest religion. Most Christians believe Jesus to be the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited messiah, the Christ that is prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. (Full article...) -
Muhammad (Arabic: مُحَمَّد; c. 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He is believed to be the Seal of the Prophets within Islam. Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity, with the Quran as well as his teachings and practices forming the basis of Islamic religious belief. (Full article...)
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