Religion archive

Adventism

Restorationist and Protestant Christian tradition that emphasizes Christ's return, the Sabbath, the heavenly sanctuary, and holistic health.

United States, in the context of nineteenth-century Protestant revivals and Millerite movements

Agnosticism

Philosophical and existential position that upholds uncertainty, suspension of judgment, or limits of knowledge about God and ultimate realities.

Diffuse origin, with ancient antecedents and modern conceptual consolidation in European and Atlantic philosophical debates

Amish

Anabaptist Christian branch of Mennonite origin, marked by simplicity, communal discipline, separation from the world, and traditional congregational life.

Switzerland, Alsace, and southern Germany, with later decisive development in North America

Anglicanism

Christian tradition that emerged from the English Reformation and is marked by common liturgy, historic episcopacy, and broad internal diversity.

England, with later expansion through missions and the formation of autonomous provinces on several continents

Armenian Apostolic Church

Ancient Eastern church of Armenian tradition, with strong apostolic, liturgical, and national identity, belonging to the Oriental Orthodox family.

Ancient Armenia and the Christianity of the Caucasus, with later expansion through the Armenian diaspora

Assyrian Church of the East

Eastern Christian church of East Syriac tradition, with strong apostolic consciousness, ancient liturgy, and a missionary history that extended from Mesopotamia to Asia.

Ancient Christian Mesopotamia and Persia, with later Asian expansion

Atheism

Nontheistic position that denies or does not accept the existence of gods, in diverse philosophical, scientific, political, and existential forms.

Diffuse and transnational origin, with ancient antecedents and modern consolidation

Ayyavazhi

Religious tradition of southern India associated with Ayya Vaikundar, the Akilattirattu Ammanai, the Arul Nool, and the expectation of the renewal of dharma.

Southern India, especially the Kanyakumari region and the former kingdom of Travancore

Aztec Traditional Religion

Mexica religious tradition linked to gods of war, the sun, rain, calendars, sacrifice, the Templo Mayor, and Mesoamerican cosmic order.

The Valley of Mexico and central Mesoamerica, with imperial center in Tenochtitlán

Bahá'í Faith

Modern monotheistic religion that emphasizes the unity of God, the unity of humanity, and progressive revelation.

19th-century Persia, with later global development

Baptist Churches

Protestant family that emphasizes believer's baptism, biblical authority, local church autonomy, religious liberty, and congregational discipleship.

England and the Low Countries in the context of Protestant dissent in the early seventeenth century

Brahma Kumaris

Modern spiritual movement originating in South Asia, known for Raja Yoga meditation, a discipline of purity, language about the soul and God, and strong female organizational pres…

Hyderabad, Sindh, in British India, with later consolidation in Mount Abu, Rajasthan

Buddhism

Religious tradition originating in ancient India, centered on awakening, the end of suffering, and the path to liberation.

Ancient northern India, especially the region of present-day Nepal and the Ganges valley

Calvinism

Reformed Christian tradition associated with John Calvin, divine sovereignty, covenant theology, and Reformed confessions.

Reformed Switzerland and other centers of the European Reformation

Candomblé

Afro-Brazilian religion formed from African matrices and Atlantic diasporas, centered on orixás, voduns, nkisis, ancestry, axé, and the ritual life of the terreiro.

Brazil, especially Bahia, from diasporic African matrices

Caodaism

Modern Vietnamese religion of a syncretic character, centered on the supreme God, spiritual revelation, and unity among the great religious traditions.

Southern Vietnam, especially the Tây Ninh region, in the twentieth century

Catholicism

Christian tradition centered on the Catholic Church, the sacraments, and apostolic authority.

Roman Judea and the eastern Mediterranean, with later development in the Greco-Roman world

Christian Science

Religious movement that arose in the nineteenth century, associated with Mary Baker Eddy, with emphasis on spiritual reality, prayer, and Christian healing.

United States, especially New England, in a nineteenth-century Protestant and metaphysical environment

Christianity

Religious tradition centered on Jesus Christ, his life, death, resurrection, and saving mission.

Roman Judea and the eastern Mediterranean

Church of the Nazarene

Christian denomination of Wesleyan-Holiness tradition, marked by conversion, entire sanctification, mission, and practical discipleship.

United States, in a Wesleyan-Methodist and holiness context of the late nineteenth century

Confucianism

Chinese intellectual, ethical, ritual, and social tradition centered on self-cultivation, human relationships, and moral order.

Ancient China, especially the cultural and political contexts of northern China

Congregationalism

Reformed Protestant tradition marked by the autonomy of the local church, congregational covenant, the centrality of the Word, and communal government.

England and the English-speaking Protestant world, with especially strong development in New England

Conservative Judaism

Modern rabbinic Jewish movement that combines fidelity to tradition with historical reading and halachic adaptation.

Modern Central and Eastern Europe, with later institutional consolidation especially in North America

Coptic Christianity

Egyptian Christian tradition within the Oriental Orthodox family, marked by Alexandrian heritage, miaphysite Christology, monasticism, and Coptic liturgy.

Egypt, especially around Alexandria and the Nile Valley