Religion is a set of beliefs and practices centered on questions about life’s meaning and purpose, and often involves the worship of a god or gods. Its scope is wide and varied: in some religions, it concerns humans’ relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, absolute, spiritual, divine, or worthy of especial reverence; in others, it includes an emphasis on human relationships or the natural world. In all religions, it provides a framework of meaning and morality, and helps people cope with the mysteries of life.
Almost all societies have some kind of religion; it is central to the lives of two-thirds of the world’s population. The practice of religion is beneficial to individuals, families, states, and the world as a whole: it enhances health, learning, economic well-being, self-control, self-esteem, empathy, and morality. It is also a source of great creativity, providing a framework for art, science, and literature. But there is a dark side to religion: it can promote intolerance, hatred, social oppression, and violence.
In recent times, scientific theorizing has focused on understanding religion in terms of a particular attribute: belief in gods. But such a definition is problematic, as it conflates a feature of religion with the whole system: any theoretical explanation would be picking out and explaining only one aspect of the system, rather than the entire phenomenon, making it difficult to determine whether that aspect has a cause in reality or simply is a result of other factors.
A number of scholars are developing a more holistic approach to the study of religion, which includes both substantive and functional definitions. This is the “polythetic” approach, inspired by Wittgenstein’s notion of family resemblance. It is a useful approach because it acknowledges that there are many crisscrossing and partially overlapping features of religion, and that these can be understood through a broad range of disciplines and methods of study.
For example, anthropologists examine religion in human culture and society; historians investigate religions across time and space; philosophers analyze their epistemological bases and justifications; psychologists explore the effects of religious experience; and sociologists look at how religion shapes power relations and social structures.
A key feature of religion is its transcendence of individual identity. This allows it to address ultimate concerns that concern the destiny of humanity and all living beings. In some religions, these are expressed as concern for the afterlife; in others, they are embodied in concepts such as enlightenment, peace, emptiness (Sunyata), or Buddha-nature. In some religions, the emphasis is on exploration inwards: the quest for the truth within the body through such practices as meditation or yoga. This is sometimes called the ‘inversive’ system of religion, and leads to religions such as Jainism and Buddhism. In other religions, such as Hinduism and Judaism, the search is for a ‘universal’ truth that can be found in all things.