MAJOR TYPES OF RELIGION

The major types of religious organization

are the church, sect, and cult. Two types
of church organizations include the
ecclesia and denomination. Although
the term cult brings to mind negative
connotations, several world religions
began as cults, and most of today's cults
are not violent.
 WHAT ARE THE 3 TYPES OF RELIGION?

Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the three

major monotheistic religions, all
originated in what is known today as the
Arab World. Monotheism literally means
"the belief in only one God". The central
values of family, charity, and respect for
others are shared by these three
religions.
 WHATS DOES RELIGION MEAN?

Religion is belief in a god or gods and

the activities that are connected with
this belief, such as praying or worshipping
in a building such as a church or temple.
... A religion is a particular system of
belief in a god or gods and the activities
that are connected with this system.
 Images of the 12 Most
Popular World Religions
and Sects
1. Christianity (General) — 2.04 Billion
Followers
Most of the religious Western World
(North America, Europe, and Oceania)
follows this monotheistic religion based on
the Bible. Above, Christian pilgrims carry
wooden crosses along the Via Dolorosa
during the Good Friday procession on April
22, 2011, in Jerusalem, Israel. Thousands of
Christians around the world on that day
marked Good Friday, which is when
Christians commemorate the crucifixion of
Jesus Christ. In Jerusalem, Christian pilgrims
took part in processions along the route
that Jesus is believed to have taken in his
last days as he carried the cross.
2. Islam (General) — 1.226 Billion
Followers Islamic pilgrims perform the walk around the
Kaaba (Tawaf) at the Grand Mosque in the
Saudi Arabian holy city of Mecca on Nov. 9,
2010. The Kaaba, Islam's most sacred
sanctuary and pilgrimage shrine, which stands
in the heart of Mecca's Masjid Al-Haram
mosque, contains the holy Black Stone
believed to be the only piece remaining from
an altar built by Abraham. Pilgrims try to touch
and kiss the Black Stone and the door of the
Kaaba.

“Islam” literally means “submission to God”

and the Quran is its holy book. Islam is most
often practiced in the Middle East, Northern
Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, Western Africa,
the Indian subcontinent, Malay Archipelago
with concentrations of worshipers in Eastern
Africa, the Balkan Peninsula, Russia, and
China.
3. Catholicism — 1.142 Billion Followers
For some, Catholicism refers to Christians and churches
belonging to the Catholic Church in communion with
the Holy See, for others it refers to continuity "back to the
earliest churches," which is claimed by other churches in
mutual disputes over Christian doctrine and practice,
such as the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental
Orthodoxy, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Old
Catholic Church, and the Anglican Communion.

Top: A press hall attendant holds the curtains adorned

with portraits of late Pope John Paul II, left, and John
XXIII prior to the start of a news conference at the
Vatican on Friday, April 25, 2014.
Bottom: The Faithful walk next to rows of empty chairs in
St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 25. Hundreds of
thousands of pilgrims and faithful were expected to
attend the April 27 ceremony at the Vatican in which
Pope Francis elevated in a solemn ceremony John XXIII
and John Paul II to sainthood.
 4. Hinduism (General) —
828 Million Followers

Top: Hindus and Sadhus celebrate Diwali (the start of the Hindu New Year)
at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, the first traditional Hindu temple to
open in Europe, on Nov. 14, 2012, in London.

Middle: Indian Hindu devotees pray before forming a human pyramid to

break a dahi-handi, curd-pot, suspended in the air during celebrations of
Janmashtami, which marks the birth of Hindu God Lord Krishna in Mumbai
on Aug. 10, 2012. Hindu men and boys receive prize money by constructing
a human pyramid until it is tall enough to enable the topmost person to
reach the pot and claim the contents after breaking it.

Bottom: Hindu devotees bathe in the holy Ganges river during the royal
bathing day of Makar Sankranti, the start of the Maha Kumbh Mela on Jan.
14, 2013, in Allahabad, India. The Maha Kumbh Mela, perhaps the largest
religious gathering on earth (attracting more than 100 million people) is held
every 12 years on the banks of Sangam, the confluence of the holy rivers
Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati.
5. Agnosticism — 639 Million Followers

A giant letter “A” representing the

atheist and agnostic community
sits between a nativity scene and
a menorah in Daley Plaza on Dec.
4, 2013, in Chicago. The plaza is
also home to the city's traditional
Christmas tree and
Christkindlmarket Chicago, a
German-themed outdoor market
open during the Christmas
shopping season. Agnosticism
maintains that the truth of certain
religious or metaphysical claims —
in particular claims about the
existence of any deity — is
unknown or unknowable.
6. Buddhism (General) — 367 Million
Followers

Two young Buddhist monks are

seen in Bagan, Myanmar
(Burma). Buddhism originated
with Siddhartha Gautama, better
known as Buddha ("the
awakened one"). Buddha lived in
northeastern India between the
6th and 4th centuries BC. The
goal of Buddhism is to end
suffering, achieve nirvana, and
escape a cycle of suffering and
rebirth.
 7. Atheism — 150 Million Followers
David Silverman, president of the American Atheists,
addresses the American Atheists National Convention in
Salt Lake City on Friday, April 18, 2014. In an effort to
raise awareness and attract new members, the
organization held their national conference over Easter
weekend in the home of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
8. Anglicanism — 85.4 Million Followers
Desmond Tutu, Anglican archbishop
emeritus and Nobel Peace Laureate,
greets people as he is wheeled away
after joining other religious leaders and
a wide range of people from civil
society on a march called Procession of
Witness in defense of the role of the
Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela (not
visible), in uncovering corruption, as well
as protesting violence, and profiteering
by people in business and politics, on
April 19, 2014, through the center of
Cape Town. On Tutu's left is current
Anglican archbishop Thabo Makgoba.

As part of a Christian tradition mostly

comprising or tied to the Church of
England, Anglicans fully declared their
independence from the pope at the
time of the Elizabethan Religious
Settlement with the Act of Supremacy
9. Sikhism — 23.8 Million Followers
Fireworks explode over the illuminated
Golden Temple, the Sikhs’ holiest
shrine, on the festival of Baisakhi in
Amritsar, India, on April 14, 2014.
Baisakhi, which marks the Sikhs’ New
Year’s day is also a harvest festival.

Sikhism was founded in the 15th

Century in Punjab, India, on the
teachings of Guru Nanak Dev and 10
successive Sikh Gurus (the last one
being the sacred text Guru Granth
Sahib). The word Sikh derives from the
ancient Sanskrit root śiṣya meaning
"disciple" or "learner," or śikṣa meaning
"instruction."
10. Seventh-Day Adventists — 16
Million Followers

On Feb. 2, 2014, students from Parkview Jr.

Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist school,
are seen making 700 valentines for
homeless people. From left to right are
Jared Tamaleaa, 12, Mackenzie Pitcher, 14,
and Noah Gloudeman, 15. Seventh-day
Adventists (SDA) are a 150-year old
Christian denomination that emphasizes
the central role of Jesus Christ as personal
savior, high priest for all believers, and
judge of all humankind. The denomination
has no creed but members typically agree
to 29 fundamental beliefs that cover core
Christian beliefs as well as beliefs
differentiating it from other sects.
11. Latter Day Saint Movement (Mormonism) — 15
Million Followers
Top: More than 100,000 Latter-day Saints came
to Salt Lake City last month for the church's
biannual general conference. Leaders of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints give
speeches providing members with guidance
and inspiration in five sessions that span
Saturday and Sunday. They announce church
statistics, new temples, or initiatives. The 21,000-
seat conference center fills to capacity during
the sessions, and thousands more listen or
watch around the world in 95 languages on
television, radio, satellite, and Internet
broadcasts.

Bottom: Members of the famous Mormon

Tabernacle Choir sing during the opening
session of the two-day Mormon church
conference.
12. Judaism — 14.5 Million Followers

Judaism stems from the Hebrew

Bible, the Tanakh, and is
contemplated and explained in
subsequent texts such as the
Talmud. The laws and
commandments of God were
revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai
in the form of both the written and
oral Torah. Karaite Judaism,
however, believes that only the
written Torah was revealed.
Moreover, humanistic Judaism and
similar humanistic moments may be
considered non-theistic.
 RELIGIOUS SYNCRETISM

 Religious syncretism exhibits blending of two or more

religious belief systems into a new system, or the
incorporation into a religious tradition of beliefs from
unrelated traditions.
 Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: γνωστικός gnostikos,
"having knowledge", from γνῶσις gnōsis, knowledge) is a
modern name for a variety of ancient religious ideas and
systems, originating in Jewish-Christian milieux in the first
and second century AD.
Example of religious syncretism?

GNOSTICISM is a modern name for a variety

of ancient religious ideas and systems, originating in
Jewish-Christian milieux in the first and second century
AD. These systems believed that the material world is
created by an emanation or 'works' of a lower god,
trapping the divine spark within the human body.
Wikipedia