World religion

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The world: predominant religions by state

The term world religion is a term that classifies various religions into a rough grid, which are characterized, for example, by the high number of their followers, the supraregional distribution and / or their universal claim.

Theological reflection and metaphysical speculation are part of the essence of a world religion. Religious institutions have emerged in most of the world's religions over time. There is no consensus on the question of how many followers a religion must have in order to be considered a world religion. The age of a religion is also sometimes mentioned as a criterion. Accordingly, in the 20th / 21st Religions that emerged in the 19th century are referred to as “ new religious movements ”. A clear definition is difficult to provide. Therefore, lists of world religions are always subject to a certain arbitrariness. In religious studies the use of the term is avoided in order to avoid definition problems.

World religions

Spread of the world religions up to the beginning of modern times:
 Core area of the world religions in the course of the Middle Ages
Maximum expansion of the areas of influence of the individual religions around 1500:
Hatching fine diagonal high Islam Hatching fine diagonally down Christianity
Hatching fine horizontal Hinduism Hatching fine vertical Buddhism
Hatching small circles Daoism / Confucianism Area of ​​irregular points Jewish religion

The following five existing religions are generally referred to as world religions (followers according to Encyclopædia Britannica 2010):

In spite of its universal self-image, Judaism is numerically very different from the other world religions mentioned here. While Christianity and Islam actively proselytize , this does not take place in Judaism for various religious and cultural-historical reasons. At the same time, however, the Jewish faith has a great cultural impact, since Christianity and Islam are also based on Abrahamic monotheism . A conversion to the Jewish religion ( Gijur ) is in principle possible. There is no active proselytizing in Buddhism and Hinduism either. In Hinduism, religion is tied to a tight social structure ( caste ). Therefore, despite the large number of believers, Hinduism is strongly regionally bound. Religious institutionalization is relatively poor in Hinduism.

Universal religions

A very narrow understanding of the term world religion would only include Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, which are sometimes referred to as universal religions: Their universal validity was already present when the religion was founded, it is worldwide spread, the number of followers is very high and the religion is already very old.

Because of this claim, anyone interested can join a universal religion. Since there is no connection with kinship structures, no affiliation to a particular tribe, clan or people is required. The main contents of this religion are canonized and exist as Scripture before (see also: religion of the book ) .

Folk religions

The two world religions Hinduism and Judaism are sometimes also called (great) folk religions . Other major folk religions are, for example, Daoism or Chinese universalism and Shintoism . Folk religions are also assigned to ethnic religions , although this term is mostly only used for the small local religions of indigenous and traditional societies . They are all very strongly tied to a particular people and culture. Believers are born into these religions; as a rule one cannot join them retrospectively and there is no missionary claim.

Extended conceptual scheme

  • Daoism (number of followers in five states difficult to determine because mostly mixed with other religions; around 8 million followers in Taiwan , depending on the estimate up to 60 million followers in the People's Republic of China ; the Encyclopædia Britannica only gives just under 3 million )
  • Bahaitum (around 7 million followers, worldwide distribution)
  • Confucianism (about 6 million followers)

Many scholars also count Daoism among the world religions due to its great importance in China and Korea. The classification of Confucianism is controversial insofar as religious Confucianism does not have very many followers. It is also pointed out that the Western understanding of religion does not apply to Confucianism (which is primarily a moral teaching) anyway. Occasionally, that of the Baha'i is listed as a further universal religion (but only by authors who do not classify all religions that arose after Sikhism as “ new religious movements ”). Without a doubt, the Baha'i are a religion with universal claims, religious institutions, holy scriptures, etc. Only the small number of followers speaks against being added to the world religions. With Sikhism the universal claim is called into question.

This shows that the term “world religion” is not very selective and is used differently. In Religious Studies , the term world religion for this reason is increasingly replaced by the world's religions . This is primarily based on the number of followers and does not exclude religions without writing.

Research history

Religious map from 1881. From: Andrees Handatlas

In 1915, the sociologist Max Weber defined five world religions: Confucian, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Islamic ethics. Judaism is added as the sixth religion because it is important for understanding the last two religions. He goes into Daoism, but describes it as heterodoxy (dissent, heresy) to Confucianism.

The religious scholar Gustav Mensching (1901–1978) made a significant contribution, emphasizing in 1938 that in early human history the folk religions, which were limited to family, clan, tribe or people, were predominant. Only when they address the “human being and not the particular national comrade” do they become a universal or world religion. Universal religions assume that the individual is in a “general and existential disaster situation” from which he or she would like to be freed or redeemed. In contrast to the collectively oriented early religions, the world religions are more oriented towards the individual. For Mensching, five religions have achieved this status: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.

In 1963, the Indologist Helmuth von Glasenapp assumes eight “high ethical religions” (Hinduism, Jainism , Buddhism, Chinese Universism , Parsism , Judaism, Christianity and Islam), five of which he describes as world religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese Universism, Christianity and Islam), since they "together make up nine tenths of religious humanity". He regards Sikhism as a Hindu reform sect. Under the term "Chinese Universism" he summarizes Confucianism and Daoism (as well as other relevant aspects of Chinese religiosity).

In 2002 the theologian Gerhard Wehr assumed seven world religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism). He sees world religions as a counterpoint to the so-called " natural and tribal religions ", which know no separation between God and the world and no heresy (heresy). Wehr does not provide an exact reason for the choice of religions.

In 2005, the religious scholar Manfred Hutter also described seven world religions (Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Daoism, Islam, Baha'i and Hinduism). He rules out Confucianism because the number of adherents of religious Confucianism is too small. He does not list Sikhism because it misses the right to universal validity. Hutter points out that the term world religion is not a religious-scientific one, but a (largely understandable) term used in everyday language.

See also

literature

Web links

Portal: Religion  - Overview of Wikipedia content on religion

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Patrick Laube u. Francis Rossé: Anthropogeography: Cultures, Population and Cities. Compendio Bildungsmedien, Zurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-7155-9366-1 . P. 48.
  2. ↑ Lexicon of Geography on Spektrum.de: Ethnic Religions . , Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg 2001, accessed on September 23, 2015.