A. Geographical Overview
1. The number of religions in the world:B. Historical Overview (Periods and Types)
(a) Countless (living and dead)(b) 12 or 13 "big name" traditions*,
usually divided into Western &
Eastern (with the line drawn
between Iran and India -- sort
of through Afghanistan!)**Western **Eastern
JUDAISM HINDUISM
Zoroastrianism Shinto
CHRISTIANITY Jainism
ISLAM BUDDHISM
Baha'i Confucianism
TAOISM
Sikhism
***[animism/
shamanism]
*There is some bias in this list: it is2. Relative Sizes
based upon the religions that have
been of most interest and had the
most impact in the Western
hemisphere. The "big three" would
probably make any list, despite the
fact that there is a great disparity in
numbers of followers (e.g.,
Christianity claims around 2 billion,
while Judaism only around 14
million). Shinto, Zoroastrianism,
Jainism, Confucianism, and
Sikhism have relatively few
followers and are very geographic-
ally and culturally concentrated.
Baha'i, though very widespread across
the world, has fewer followers than
even Judiasm).**Geographical terms are slippery, at
best: e.g., "Western Civilization"
includes Europe and "Western
Hemisphere" and "Country &
Western" do not.***Animism/shamanism is very ancient,
the religion of stone age, tribal,
peoples around the world (pockets
of which still exist on every
continent)Religion Followers
Christianity ............ 2 billion3. Geographical Distribution
Islam ................ 1.2 billion
Hinduism .................800 million
Buddhism ................ 325 million
Sikhism .................. 19 million
Judaism .................. 14 million
Baha’i ..................... 6.1 million
Confucianism ............... 5.3 million
Jainism .................... 4.9 million
Shintoism ...... ............ 2.8 million
(1) Christianity: Euro-Americas,
Australia, Russia
(2) Judaism: Israel, Euro-
Americas
(3) Islam: Middle East, North
Africa, Central & South-
east Asia
(4) Hinduism: India, Nepal
(5) Jainism: India
(6) Buddhism: Central, South-
east, & East Asia
(7) Sikhism: India
(8) Confucianism: China &
Asia
(9) Taoism: China & Asia
(10) Shinto: Japan
(11) Zoroastrianism: India
(12) Baha'i: worldwide (thinly)
(13) tribal: worldwide (pockets)
1. Prehistoric Religion -- Animistic-Shamanistica. Definition: Those religions that existed2. Ancient (Culture/Civilization) Religions --
among non-literate, tribal before about
3000 BCE (when writing was invented),
i.e., the Stone Age; also, the religions
among contemporary "Stone Age"
peopleb. Examples:
(1) Paleolithic ("Old Stone") - 100,000-
7,000 BCE; includes Neanderthal and
later Cro-Magnon, both hunters and
gatherers; graves and artifacts strongly
suggest religious beliefs; cave
paintings(2) Neolithic ("New Stone") - 7,000-
3,000 BCE; characterized by
agriculture & settlements; image of
divinity emerges here, and it is
feminine: Mother Earth by a variety
of names)c. Characteristics:
(1) animism - the belief that the world is
full of (nature) spirits, and that they
can do you good or harm, and that
they can be influenced(2) mana - the belief in a non-specific,
amorphous, spiritual power, that can
invade persons, places, or things,
making them taboo (i.e., spiritually
charged, potentially dangerous if
mishandled, and off-limits)(3) shamanism - the belief that certain
people (shamans) are born gifted to
handle the spirits and mana (= the
medicine men and witch doctors of
the movies)(4) magic - the means and methods used
by a shaman to influence the spirits
and mana, including(a) divination - reading the present
signs and the future to which they
point (by reading flights of birds,
animal guts, heat-cracked bones
and shells, tossed sticks or stones,
etc.)(b) imitation - performing on a small
scale in advance, what you want
to happen on a large scale later
(e.g., hunting dances, Stone Age
cave paintings — all done
beforehand)(c) totemism - a tribe's or clan's
identifying with a totem, i.e., a
"power animal" (bear, buffalo,
lion), whose body/blood may be
ritually eaten/drunk for spiritual
renewal(d) fetishism - use of objects
(fetishes) to influence spirits
(e.g., amulets, feathers, pipes)d. Evaluation -
(1) These used to be called "primitive"
religions; now they are called
"basic" or "primal" or "primor-
dial," due largely to the work of
historian of religion Mircea Eliade
(U. of Chicago), who argued that
in this period, religion was at its
purest; reason: their religion was
their worldview (basic view of
reality), whereas for us, our
religions are in tension with our
worldview (which is modern
scientific); he called these non-
literate tribal people homo
religiosus (humans full of
religion); by comparison, we
moderns "dabble" in religion, &
most of life/world is secular
(i.e., unsacred)(2) Many of our modern behaviors
may be holdovers or throwbacks
to tribal religion, especially (but
not only) our "superstitions." Are
sports teams' names and mascots
totems? Are many of our taboos
really taboos?! What about our
lucky charms and mementos?
What is flipping a coin, if not
divination? Is building a scale
model of a building before
construction imitation? Why do
you say "Gesundheit" and "Knock
on wood"??? Is Holy Communion
a totemistic ritual?!a. Definition: Those religions flourishing (at
least in the Eastern hemisphere) between
about 3,000 BCE and around 600 BCE
and associated with specific ancient civili-
zations/cultureb. Examples: Mesopotamia, Egypt, India,
China, Japan, Greece Rome (later, in
Americas: Mayans, Incas, Aztecs)c. Characteristics:
(1) polytheism - many gods/goddesses
(from tens to thousands to millions)(2) ritualism - mostly sacrifices to
appease gods(3) priesthood - a formal office of
ritualists(4) temple - a set place to do the rituals
(5) scriptures - sacred writings emerge,
mostly inscriptions(6) no missionary zeal: these culture-
specific religions didn't travel well and
either died out or were replaced; two
modern survivors: Hinduism and
Shinto (only!)3. Classic (Universal) Religions
a. Definition: Those religions that emerged
between 600 BCE. and 600 or 800 CE,
had widespread appeal, and survived by
traveling beyond their home culturesb. Examples: (in chronological order)
Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Jainism,
Buddhism,Taoism, Confucianism,
Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Baha'i
[added to Hinduism and Shinto from
the Ancient Period and animism-
shamanism from the Prehistoric = a
baker's dozen big-name religions in the
world today]c. Characteristics:
(1) nameable founders (with legendary
elements and historical problems)(2) a focus on Unity of Ultimacy: one
personal God (mono-theism) or
one impersonal Power (monism)(3) canons of scripture (i.e., focal,
authoritative writings): Bible, Quran,
Tripitaka, etc.(4) missionary zeal --> geographical
spread(5) pattern: founder with simple
teachings; with disciples, doctrine
becomes complicated and contro-
versial; organization becomes more
rigid, and institutions result; schisms/
splits occur; schools, sects, denom-
inations result; worstens as religion
travels to different regions/cultures,
picking up extraneous beliefs and
practices; effect: all universal
religions are complicated, variegated,
fragmented, and "messy"4. Post-Classic (Synthetic) Religions
a. Definition: those religions that arose
after 600-800 CE and were conscious
combinations of existing religions;
also, the tendency of Classic Religions
to derive ideas from one another in
their ongoing evolution
b. Examples:
(1) Sikhism (16th century, India) =
a combination of Hinduism and
Islam; and(2) Baha'i (19th century, Iran) = a
combination of all of the world's
religions!c. Characteristics:
(1) like the Classic religions, a
Unity of Ultimate Reality
(monotheism or monism)(2) small, though Baha'i has been
very effective in spreading
worldwide(3) eclectic in belief and practice
(4) deeply affected by the emerging
and increasingly dominant
modern scientific worldview, a
by-product of the Enlightenment