Hinduism: Details about 'Major World Religions'
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Major world religions have been distinguished from minor religions using a variety of methods, though any such division naturally reflects a particular bias, since many adherents of a religion are likely to consider their own faith "major". Two methods are mentioned in this article, number of adherents and the definitions used by classical scholars of religions. For a list of all religions, please see the article list of religions. For a discussion of the relationships between religions, see Religious pluralism
Defined by populationOne way to define a major religion is by the number of current adherents. Population numbers by religion are computed by combination of census reports and population surveys (in countries where religion data is not collected in census, for example USA or France), but results can vary widely depending on the way questions are phrased, the definitions of religion used, and the bias of the agencies or organizations conducting the survey. Informal or unorganized religions are especially difficult to count. All religions or belief systems by number of adherentsThis listing does not draw distinctions between organized religion, which has a single belief code and religious hierarchies, and informal religions, such as Chinese folk religions:
Source of statistics for all religons but Falun Gong and Humanism: , updated 2005. These statistics are based on analysis of a range of sources on religious populations, for more on the methodology, please see . *Falun Gong estimate that of the People's Republic of China, other estimates are much higher. ** Estimates from American Humanist Association, and Indian Humanist Union Organized religions by population rankingThe Christian Science Monitor used a separate standard, examining only organized religions. The newspaper listed the following in 1998 as the "Top 10 Organized Religions in the World" based on descending level of population:
Historic "classic" viewMajor religions have also been identified based on their perceived importance, whether theological or temporal. This sorting has been generally been the preserve of Western, Christian scholars, so lists of classic major religions betray this bias. Early Christian scholars, the earliest known classifiers of major religions, recognized only three religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Paganism (which they considered to encompass every other religion). Views evolved during the Enlightenment, however, and, by the 19th century, Western scholars considered the five major religions to be Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. As the exposure of Westerners to other religions increased, five other religions were added to the original five: Confucianism, Taoism, Jainism, Shinto and Zoroastrianism. Later, the Bahá'í Faith was added to this list, resulting in eleven classic religions:
Modern Western definitions of major religion come from the classical definition, often expanding on "Christianity," and omitting Jainism and Zoroastrianism. An example is this list found in the New York Public Library Student Reference:
ReferencesSee also: Religions of the world, Religious_pluralism. Weltreligion Religio#Listo de religioj laŭ grandeco 세계의 주요 종교 Wereldreligie Мировая религия Major world religions Glavne svetovne religije Dinler
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