Religion is. Definition and classification of religions

Religion exists in human society from time immemorial, it appeared even earlier than speech. So what does it represent? Religion is one of the most important shaping parts of human culture. It implies a way of life based on believing in any supernatural forces and moral beliefs associated with them.

Religion is all existing or existing doctrines of the divine. She takes her roots in prehistoric pagan rituals. Then people needed gods to explain the essence of natural phenomena. There were also totemic religions, based on worship of an animal, designed to protect a particular community. They are interesting in that, according to the customs of the tribes, there were held prisons every year on which the totem animal was solemnly eaten, while during the year it was strictly forbidden.

Along with paganism, which implied worship of the visible phenomena of nature, at the end of the previous era in the East countries, teachings began, based on following the universal harmony of things. These include Indian religions (Hinduism, Buddhism), Japanese Shintoism, Taoism. And in some of them there is no deity as such, and they represent something between the religious and philosophical teachings. Many still argue whether it is worth considering Buddhism and Taoism to world religions.

At the same time, approximately eight hundred years before our era, the first letters of Judaism appear. This religion is interesting in that its adherents believed in the only "true" God and considered themselves the chosen people. Later, part of the adherents of Judaism separated, having organized a new trend - Christianity. No other teaching has had as many directions as this religion. Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism, which in turn are divided into smaller branches ... True, this division began already in the Middle Ages, when Christianity was on the second wave of popularity. In the beginning of the same era it was banned and persecuted. Also in the 600s of the new era in the Arab countries, Islam was born, which later became one of the most widespread world doctrines.

The most common classification of religions is the division of them into monotheistic and polytheistic. The first classifies the teachings, which boil down to the worship of one god - Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity. And despite the fact that in the last two gods can have different incarnations, it is still considered one. In polytheistic religions, there are often a huge number of gods. Such teachings include paganism, Shintoism, and certain separate areas of Hinduism.

At present, there are a number of teachings, the adherents of which believe that religion is an imperfect social institution, and deny it. These include atheism, apathyism, deism, agnosticism, ignostism, and so on. And some of these teachings do not deny the existence of gods and supernatural forces, but only do not accept the majority of existing religions. As a rule, motivating it is that religion is the creation of the human mind.