Religion is a cultural system of behaviors, practices and ethics. It may or may not include a belief in supernatural realities. Many religions have a rich heritage of mythologies, histories, rituals and symbols. Some of these traditions are very ancient, others have evolved rapidly in response to new ideas and experiences. Religions have a powerful effect on human life and behavior. They are an essential part of the fabric of most societies. The term’religion’ is often used without definition, but philosophers have offered several proposals for how to understand the nature of this social phenomenon.
One of the most basic theories is that religion grew out of human curiosity about life and death and fear of uncontrollable forces, transforming these needs into hope for a good afterlife and a sense of purpose to human lives. In addition, some religions are oriented towards an ultimate goal that transcends the organization itself (such as a divine plan of salvation or the end of time).
Some scholars argue that to define’religion’ in terms of beliefs or even mental states is to miss the point. They contend that the religions are primarily protective systems for information, encoding, protecting and transmitting the most important and valuable information from person to person, and from generation to generation. Religions protect information about a variety of things, including food, clothing and shelter; marriage, children, jobs and careers; the meaning of life, morality and truth; art, music and poetry; and kinship.
Other scholars, however, are more satisfied with a more functional definition of religion. Emile Durkheim, for example, defined it as whatever system of practices unite a group into a moral community. Paul Tillich, on the other hand, argued that religion is whatever dominant concern organizes a person’s values (whether or not those concerns involve beliefs in unusual realities).
The problem with either approach is that it can be difficult to distinguish between the different roles and functions of a religious form. Moreover, it is important to note that not all religions have the same underlying beliefs. For instance, some believe that there are only a few Gods or spirits, while others have multiple gods or spirit-beings.
For all these reasons, it is best to think about a broad and inclusive definition of religion, such as that provided by Frederick Ferre in his Basic Modern Philosophy of Religion. This allows us to recognize the common aspects of all religions, but also to keep in mind that they are all diverse and should be treated as such. See the article on Religion for a further explanation of this theory. It is worth noting that polythetic definitions, such as the one proposed by Ferre, are increasingly popular today as people seek to avoid the claim that an evolving social category has a fixed essence. This, though, should not be confused with a rejection of monotheistic definitions, which are equally problematic. See the article on Definitions of Religion for a discussion of these problems.