The Atheist Bible

• Religion
  • Definition of Religion
    • Belief systems
    • Religion
    • New religious movements
    • Cults
    • Sects
    • Mythology
    • Interpretations
    • Denominations
    • The true interpretation
    • Wrong labels
    • Groups of religions
    • Scripture
    • The sources of religions
    • Talking about a religion
  • Gods
    • Spirits
    • Deities
    • Dualism
    • Godhead deities
    • Supra-systems
    • Abstractions
    • Extraterrestrials
  • Different Beliefs
    • Overview of today’s religions
    • Gods and spirits
    • The Birth of the Universe
    • Places of worship
    • Interaction with the Supernatural
  • References

Definition of Religion

Belief systems

We begin this chapter by defining religion, new religious movements, and mythologies. This is a difficult endeavor because existing definitions of these terms vary widely1: Religion is variously defined as a system of belief and worship2, a system of attitudes that relate to faithful devotion to an acknowledged ultimate reality or deity3, anything that deals with “ultimate concern”4, a unified system of thoughts, feelings, and actions4, a set of social practices5, a relation with what is holy6, or even the adoration of the transcendent, defined as “that which is outside of the self, and yet also within the self”7. A new religious movement is defined as a religious entity8, a spiritual group9, a “spiritual ferment”10, or what is sometimes called a cult11. And a myth is defined as a narrative12 or story4 — with no connection between these three concepts of religion, new religious movements, and mythologies. Our definitions will put them all on an equal footing.

For this purpose, we will use the overarching concept of a belief system. A belief system is a set of statements — the beliefs. Some of these beliefs must be supernatural statements in the sense of this book, i.e., basically unfalsifiable statements. Typically, belief systems also contain a moral framework and a description of rituals. Consider, for example, the following set of statements13:

Looking at this set of statements, the reader may have noticed that the first claim (that “everything in the Universe is alive and in harmony with the infinitely large and the infinitely small”) is an abstract universal hypothesis in the sense of this book, i.e., an unfalsifiable statement. The claim evades human perception on principle, and this makes it a supernatural claim. The set of statements also contains a moral framework of “do’s and don’ts” (i.e., “do not be violent” and “seek their happiness”), and therefore, the set is a belief system in the sense of this book. Indeed, these beliefs are taken from the scripture of Raëlism, a new religious movement13.

Generally speaking, once a set of statements includes a supernatural claim, the tenets qualify as a belief system. Beyond that, the full set of beliefs may be more complicated. In fact, it is not always possible to compile a definitive and comprehensive list of statements for every belief system. This is why, in this book, we will never fully spell out the entire list of beliefs of a religion. For example, we will never say “The beliefs of religion X are...”, we will only say “The beliefs of religion X include...”.

Religion

For the purposes of this book, a religion is a belief system that fulfills two conditions:

1. It is sufficiently old — most notably, its leader must be dead (otherwise it would be a new religious movement).
2. It has followers that are still alive (otherwise it would be a mythology).

Whether or not a belief system qualifies as a religion has nothing to do with its content. Any belief system can become a religion with enough living adherents and with enough time. In this book, religions with more than 10 million adherents will be called world religions.

New religious movements

A new religious movement is a belief system that has adherents but is not yet old enough to be a religion. Such a movement will become a religion only when it stands the test of time. This can take anywhere from 50 to 200 years, though at the very least, the leader of a new religious movement usually must pass away before the movement is accepted as a religion.

The transition from new religious movement to religion can still be observed today. The Bahai Faith, for example, was generally considered a new religious movement when it first rose to prominence in the late 19th century. Today, however, the Bahai Faith is widely recognized as a religion. In large part, this is because its leader is dead, it is sufficiently old (150 years), and it has gathered a substantial number of adherents (a few million). That said, there is no universal standard for what is considered a religion. In Iran, for example, Bahais are persecuted as heretics, while Indonesia, as of 2016, began moving slowly towards recognizing the faith as a religion15.

Scientology, in contrast, is still mostly regarded as a new religious movement. This is, in part, because it was founded only recently, in the 1950s. However, with time, it may start to be recognized as a religion. Raëlism, the belief system with the extraterrestrials that we saw above, also remains a new religious movement for now: It is relatively young (dating back to the 1970s) and its leader, Raël, is still alive. As is clear from these examples, the difference between a new religious movement and a religion is only a matter of degrees.

Cults

A cult is a religious movement that exists in some degree of tension with the dominant religious or cultural inclination of a society16.

Cults are often perceived as more dangerous than religions because they usually feature a charismatic and controlling leader who claims to have a direct line to a higher power; brainwashing techniques that instill fear, guilt, and shame and foster dependence on the leader; pressure to cut ties with family and friends; an intolerance to questioning of the cult’s beliefs and practices; financial exploitation; criminal activity; often an apocalyptic belief about the imminent end of the world; and an alternation of affection and punishment to break resistance.17

It turns out that some religions shared these characteristics in their early stages. Take Islam, for example. From its beginning, Islam had a charismatic and controlling leader (the Prophet Muhammad) who reported to have a direct line to a higher power and who was considered a criminal at the time (due to his participation in caravan raids)1819. To this date, conservative interpretations of Islam also show an intolerance to questioning of their beliefs, encourage adherents to cut ties with family members who have left the faith, and believe in the coming end of the world[Quran 80:33-42]. The Quran also continuously alternates promises of affection with threats of punishment. Something similar goes for Christianity: Jesus was a charismatic leader executed as a criminal by Roman authorities for his perceived rebellion. Christianity then rose to a world religion that, historically, instilled guilt and fear, condemned nonbelievers to Hell, and punished the questioning of its beliefs. To this date, Christianity believes in an impending end of the world (the Apocalypse) and has leaders who take financial advantage of their followers.

Clear from these examples is that there is not much difference between a cult and a new religious movement that may eventually turn into a world religion. Accordingly, this book does not use the term “cult” when discussing belief systems, and stays with the more neutral term “new religious movement”.

In a cult, there is a person at the top who knows it’s scam.
In a religion, that person is dead.

Sects

A sect is a religious group that has separated from a larger religion and is considered to have extreme or unusual beliefs or customs20.

Interestingly, many religions began as sects in the sense that they split off from another religion. For example, the followers of Jesus Christ were, at first, only a small group of Jews. Even after Jesus’s death, they still identified, and were regarded by others, as Jewish. It was only later that Christianity developed into a belief system of its own, at which point it ceased to be a sect of Judaism. At that time, Christians were hated and persecuted because they were seen as transgressing Jewish law. It was only when Constantine the Great made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire that the sect became a major religion.

Like a cult or a new religious movement, a sect can turn into a religion. Therefore, this book does not use the word “sect” and instead uses the term “new religious movement”.

A religion is a sect that succeeded.

Mythology

A myth is an ancient story dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serves as a foundation for the worldview of a group of people21. A mythology is a collection of myths that is shared among a population22. Well-known examples include Greek mythology (containing stories of Zeus, Persephone, Athena, etc.), Norse mythology (with Odin, Thor, Loki, etc.), and Maya mythology (featuring Chaak, Yum Kaax, Pawahtuun, etc.).

Interestingly, people believed in these mythologies with the same fervor that people believe in religions today. For example, the ancient Vikings were such ferocious warriors, in part, because they believed that they go to Valhalla (the Viking version of Heaven) when they died in battle23. The Mayas, for their part, believed so fervently in their gods that they sacrificed animals and humans (including children) to them at times24.

Therefore, this book looks at mythologies and religions in the same way: Both are belief systems. The main difference between the two is simply that the followers of a mythology are no longer living, while the followers of a religion are still alive.

One era’s religion is another era’s mythology.

Interpretations

This book proposes that a religion is a belief system whose followers are alive and that has been practiced for a long time. For example, Christianity is a religion that includes the following beliefs: This belief system can be, and often is, extended by more tenets depending on the interpretation of the followers. For example, liberal Christian churches allow gay people to marry, while conservative churches do not. Thus, a conservative interpretation of Christianity may contain the following beliefs: This set of tenets is again a belief system, and we will refer to it as an interpretation of Christianity. Technically, an interpretation of a religion is a belief system whose beliefs include those of the religion, and which extends these beliefs by more beliefs. Therefore, any adherent of an interpretation of a religion is also an adherent of the religion itself.

Denominations

If an interpretation of a religion operates under a common name and tradition, it is called a denomination2526. For example, the Catholic denomination of Christianity is an interpretation of Christianity that includes the following beliefs: The Protestant denomination of Christianity, in comparison, is an interpretation that includes the following beliefs: Thus, each such denomination is again a belief system in the sense of this book. And since all Christian denominations share the core beliefs of Christianity (regardless of if they add their own), every adherent of such a denomination is also an adherent of Christianity.

Most religions have several such denominations. Christianity, for example, is split into Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, and Orthodox denominations. Denominations also exist in Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, and other religions.

A Christian was walking across a bridge one day, and he saw a man about to jump off.
He ran over and said, “Stop! Don’t do it!”
"Why shouldn’t I?" he said.
"Well, there’s so much to live for!"
"Like what?"
"Well... are you religious or atheist?"
"Religious."
"Me too! Are you Christian or Jewish?"
"Christian."
"Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"
"Protestant."
"Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"
"Baptist."
"Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"
"Baptist Church of God."
"Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of God or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"
"Reformed Baptist Church of God."
"Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?"
"Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915!"
"Fuck you!" said the Christian, and pushed him off.

The true interpretation

Denominations and interpretations are variants of the belief system of a religion. This variation within all religions is all well and good until one interpretation of a religion claims to be the only true interpretation of that religion. For example, Shia Muslims claim that Shia Islam is “the true Islam” (as opposed to, say, Sunni Islam). Similarly, many conservative Christians claim that their interpretation is “the true Christianity”. Naturally, this upsets believers of other interpretations because it implies that their interpretations are not true.

This book takes no sides in these debates. It is not the task of an atheist to decide which interpretation of a religion is “the true one”. In any case, none of them can be “the true one” because the others cannot be false — they are all unfalsifiable. Therefore, for this book, each interpretation of a religion is simply understood as a set of beliefs, and none will be referred to as “the true interpretation” of their respective religions. What matters for this book is not whether the beliefs are true, but whether there are people who adhere to them.

Wrong labels

For convenience, we usually give names to religions, denominations, interpretations, and belief systems. For example, the religion that includes the ideas of Karma and reincarnation after death, and the enactment of rituals to that effect, is usually called Hinduism.

You might object to this name if you think that the true Hinduism is something different. For example, you could hold that the true Hinduism does not mandate rituals. In that case, you might be tempted to discard what this book has to say about Hinduism.

But think again: There are clearly a large number of people who practice Hinduism in with the rituals. Even if you object to it being called Hinduism, what these people practice is nonetheless a religion in the sense of this book. It is simply their religion.

For convenience, in this book, we call this religion “Hinduism” — but you can use any other name instead. For example, you might feel that a more appropriate name for this religion is “Indian Ritualism”. And if so, you are invited to load this book into a word processor and to replace the word “Hinduism” with the words “Indian Ritualism”. After this small change, you will agree with this book that “Indian Ritualism” prescribes rituals, and that it is a belief system because it includes supernatural statements. You will also agree that this belief system qualifies as a religion because it manifestly has a huge number of adherents (who are, in your view, those who misinterpret Hinduism). Thus, you will, in fact, agree with all the claims that this book makes about Hinduism — except the label. But that is not a problem: This book is about concepts, not about what you call them.

Questions of words are of little importance for us. It is for you to formulate your definitions in such a manner as to make yourselves intelligible to one another. Your disputes almost always arise from the want of a common agreement in the use of the words you employ. [...] For spirits, and especially for those of high degree, the idea is everything, the form is nothing.

Groups of religions

We sometimes group together several religions that share a subset of beliefs. For example, Islam, the Bahai Faith, Christianity, and Judaism all share the following beliefs:

1. There is exactly one god.
2. Abraham was a prophet of that god.
3. After death, humans go to either Heaven or Hell.

The religions that contain this subset of beliefs are known as the Abrahamic religions. In a similar fashion, this book groups together Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism because they share a belief in the repeating cycle of life and death, as well as the concept of Karma, and refers to them as the Indian religions.

Scripture

Many religions are based on scriptures, i.e., writings that are considered holy. For example, Christianity has the Bible, Judaism the Torah (pictured), and Hinduism the Vedas.

For the purposes of this book, a scripture is a set of statements. Usually, a scripture includes some supernatural elements. Thus, one could be tempted to call the scripture itself a religion in the sense of this book. However, scriptures are rarely followed in their entirety. For example, Christianity has abandoned the prohibition of pork prescribed by the Bible[Bible: Leviticus 11:7-8, Deuteronomy 14:8]. And since a set of statements can be a religion in the sense of this book only if it is followed by people, the Bible itself does not qualify as a religion.

However, a religion may incorporate beliefs from scripture. For example, the Bible says that there is only one god, and the Christian religion takes on this belief. Technically, the set of beliefs of Christianity and the set of statements in the Bible overlap. In addition, religions usually also incorporate beliefs about the scripture. For example, Christianity contains the belief that the Bible is the word of God. This is what links scripture to the faith, even if the faith is not the scripture.

The sources of religions

The beliefs of a religion can come from different sources.

Scripture

Most world religions are based on scripture. While many world religions hold that their scripture was divinely inspired, or even dictated by a god, all scriptures were ultimately written by people. It was always a human who held the pen. Most religions incorporate some of the tenets of these scriptures into their belief system.

Power struggles

Some denominations were born out of a struggle for power. In such cases, the new denomination received novel tenets to distinguish it from the mother religion. For example, Anglicanism split from Catholicism, in part, because the English king Henry VIII wanted a divorce — something that was not allowed in Catholicism. Hence, he created a new denomination of Christianity in which divorce would be practicable27. (The separation from Catholicism also allowed reclaiming untaxed land from the Church, as well as eliminating the political power of the pope and clergy28.) Anglicanism then received new beliefs about the role of the king, namely that he is, by God’s ordinance, the supreme governor of the church[Articles of Religion: Preamble]. As another example, Shia Islam was born out of a power struggle related to the succession of the Prophet Muhammad. Shia Muslims believe that a man called Ali is Muhammad’s righteous successor (as opposed to Abu Bakr, as Sunni Muslims believe). Therefore, the Shia profession of faith goes: “There is no god except Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and Ali is the friend of God”29. In both examples, statements about the role of particular leaders made it into the belief systems of these new denominations.

Scholarly decisions

Other beliefs within a religion are determined by scholars. For example, in 325 CE, Christian scholars decided that Jesus was identical to God. Since that time, the divinity of Jesus has been a belief of most denominations of Christianity. Likewise, in Judaism, the synod of Rabbeinu Gershom decided that polygamy was forbidden around 1000 CE30. Since then, the prohibition of polygamy has been part of the belief system of Ashkenazi Jews. (Today, the vast majority of Jews adhere to this prohibition as well.) The same goes for the very foundation of monotheism: The Israelite priests decided to abandon all other gods in favor of Yahweh and so removed all occurrences of the other gods from the holy scripture. Since then, Judaism has been a monotheistic religion.

Political decisions

In several countries, the government steers the interpretation of religion. In Singapore, for example, all Muslim Friday sermons are co-written by government agencies, with the goal of encouraging believers to take care of family elders, live a healthy life, be good citizens, and have good relationships with those of different faiths. The sermons also emphasize the role of fathers in childcare. Similar efforts exist in Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Arab Gulf States.31 In these countries, the prevalent interpretation of the faith thus echoes the messages of the government.

Preachers

In areas where few people can read, religion is spread mainly by tradition and preachers. These preachers can, to some degree, define the beliefs of the religion. The adherents then consider these beliefs part of their religion. In Hinduism, for example, there are no universally accepted religious rulings. Rather, adherents usually rely upon the teachings of their family guru32.

Inheritance from other religions

Many religions were influenced by the other religions predominant in the environments in which they were conceived. Buddhism and Sikhism, for example, adopted the concepts of Samsara and Karma from Hinduism. Islam acquired the prophethood of Jesus from Christianity. Both Islam and Christianity took on the concept of a unique god from Judaism. The Bahai Faith sees itself as inspired by the Abrahamic religions, Hinduism, and Buddhism. And Spiritualism recognizes the unique god from Christianity and adopted the practice of meditation from the Indian religions. As another example, the primary scripture of Islam (the Quran) does not mention the practice of circumcision, the five daily prayers, or the Halal slaughtering method. These practices came to the belief system via other religions: circumcision33 and the slaughtering rite from Judaism, and the five prayers most likely from Zoroastrianism34.

In each of these cases, human made tenets were added to the belief system of the new religion, all of which now form an integral part of that religion. Anglicanism is as much a denomination of Christianity as is Catholicism, even if its belief system includes beliefs that were added during a power struggle. Judaism is certainly a monotheistic religion, even if the abandonment of the other gods was a scholarly decision. Buddhism is a religion in its own right, even if it took on concepts from Hinduism. Similarly, the five prayers are a natural part of the belief system of Islam, even if they were added only after the Quran was finished. Muslims in Singapore may believe that the father’s role in childcare is an integral part of Islam, even though this idea was deliberately instilled by the government. And Hinduism is a proper religion, even if some of its tenets were most likely added by Brahmans. Thus, even if the belief system of a religion may contain elements that were added by humans, or inspired or adapted from other religions, these beliefs are nevertheless considered integral parts of the religion today.

From an atheist point of view, of course, this applies to all facets of a religion. All tenets of a religion were ultimately made up by humans. A religion is a completely human construction. None of the beliefs comes from a god. Therefore, it is futile, from an atheist point of view, for one to argue that any given religion could be misinterpreted by humans against God’s will. A religion is simply a set of tenets, created by humans, which were then declared divine — God’s will appears nowhere.

Talking about a religion

In this book we will use the word “religion” metonymically as follows:

Religion X believes/holds/says/... Y.

The belief Y is part of the set of beliefs of X. For example, we might say: “Christianity believes in the triune God”.

Religion X condemns/shuns/punishes/... Y.

The beliefs of X include a moral statement that condemns/shuns/punishes Y. For example, we might say: “The Bahai Faith condemns homosexual relationships”.

Variants/Interpretations/Denominations/... of Religion X do Y.

There exist interpretations of X that do Y. For example, we might say: “Variants of Hinduism believe in several gods”.

Historically, Religion X did Y.

There exists a historical interpretation of X that did Y. For example, we might say: “Historically, Confucianism had very brutal punishments”.

The scripture of Religion X says Y.

The statement Y appears in the scripture of Religion X. This does not necessarily mean that it also appears in the beliefs of X. For example, we might say: “The scripture of Christianity denounces the consumption of pork and shellfish” — even if these beliefs are not part of Christianity today.

Adherents of Religion X generally believe Y.

The majority of adherents of Religion X believe in Y. For example, we might say: “Polls show that Muslims generally reject homosexuality”.

Religion (in general)

Most major religions, or even all religions. For example, we might say: “Religion does not make concrete predictions about the real world” to mean that “None of the major religions makes concrete predictions about the real world”.

After having defined religions, we will now turn to the primary entities in these belief systems: gods, spirits, and supra-systems.

Gods

Spirits

For the purpose of this book, a spirit is an entity described within a belief system

1. as acting independently, according to its own will; and
2. as being supernatural (i.e., its existence is unfalsifiable).

Examples of spirits include the angels in Christianity, the Jinns in Islam, the fauns in Roman mythology (pictured right), the Elohim in Raëlism, and the shen spirits in the Chinese religions.

Some religions aim to enter into contact with the spirits. In such cases, special people (often called mediums) receive messages from the spirits. In this way, one may think that spirits are a physical phenomenon, and that their existence is falsifiable. Yet, they are not. There is nothing that an adherent of such a religion would accept as a proof that spirits do not exist. For example, the first mediums of Spiritualism, the Fox sisters, later admitted that they had faked their contact with the spirits35. Still, followers of Spiritualism continue to believe in the spirits. Thus, even proof that the Fox Sisters’ contact was faked was not enough to convince adherents that spirits do not exist. Hence, the existence of spirits is unfalsifiable.

Local spirits

A local spirit is bound to a particular physical object or location. Examples could be the spirit that lives in the big fig tree down the valley, or the spirit of a certain river.

Most early religions likely worshipped local spirits. Only later did universal deities appear — such as the Roman goddess of love, the Hindu god of destruction, or the all-powerful Abrahamic god.

Spirits of the dead

A spirit of the dead is thought to rise from the deceased, and to continue to interact with this world after the person’s passing. Spirits of the dead are particularly common in Spiritualism and Indigenous religions. The saints of Christianity are also, technically, spirits of the dead. One particular form of spirits of the dead are ancestor spirits, i.e., the spirits of a deceased relative. Ancestor spirits commonly are worshiped in East Asian religions.

Deities

For the purpose of this book, a deity (or god) is a spirit that has sole power over one or all domains of life. Examples include Krishna in Hinduism (responsible for the domain of compassion and love), Allah in Islam (responsible for everything), and Neptune in Roman mythology (responsible for the domain of the sea).

This book understands a deity to be nothing more than an entity described within a religious belief system. In this way, we do not care about the metaphysical quality of deities or about their relation to reality. Rather, we understand, categorize, and describe deities like characters in a book.

Not every spirit is necessarily a deity. For example, Christianity recognizes the spirit of the Archangel Michael but he does not have power over any domain of life. Hence, he is not a deity. Local spirits and spirits of the dead, likewise, do not have universal or sole responsibility in any domain of life. Other cases are less clear-cut: Spirits of cities (such as Athena in Greek mythology) are commonly understood to be deities — assuming the city as a domain of life. The patron saints in Christianity are very similar to deities but closely miss the mark in official theology: They do not have power over a domain but merely advocate for it with the supreme god. The Abrahamic devil, likewise, is usually not considered a deity.

Historians have cataloged over 3,700 supernatural beings, of which 2,870 can be considered deities. So next time someone tells me they believe in God... I’ll point out that they are nearly as atheistic as me. I don’t believe in 2,870 gods, and they don’t believe in 2,869.

Dualism

Dualist belief systems recognize two important deities: a positive deity who works for order, justice, and human happiness, and a negative deity who works for chaos, suffering, and injustice. These two forces are not subordinate to each other. Rather, they exist on an equal footing and are often balancing, competing, or opposing forces.

One of the first dualist religions was Zoroastrianism, with the positive deity Ahura Mazda and the negative deity Angra Mainyu36. Dualist traits can also be found today in religions that have a devil (such as Islam and Christianity). In these systems, however, the devil is not on an equal footing with the good god.

Godhead deities

A godhead deity is a deity that consists of several spirits. The most prominent example within the Abrahamic religions is the Christian god: Christianity reveres both God the Father and the Holy Spirit. These two entities qualify as spirits in the sense of this book because they are supernatural entities that act independently, but they are not, individually, deities, because there is no domain for which they (and they alone) are responsible. Christianity groups these two spirits together with Jesus to form one deity — the triune god. Another example of a godhead deity can be found in Hinduism, wherein some variants believe that the deities Vishnu, Lakshmi, Shiva, Parvati, Brahma, and Saraswati are but different aspects of the all-embracing godhead deity known as Brahman.

How exactly the spirits are grouped together in one being is not always easily understandable. But it is also of lesser importance to an atheist. For the purposes of this book, we will simply refer to any deity that groups several spirits together as a godhead.

Supra-systems

Some belief systems have what we will call a supra-system, which is a set of statements that describe the fate of humans after death, a causal link between a person’s behavior in this life and said fate, or an underlying world order of the Universe. Different from a deity, a supra-system does not consciously act according to its own will. It is merely a description of the way the Universe supposedly works. A supra-system is supernatural because its existence is unfalsifiable and because it evades human perception.

An example of a supra-system is the Hindu concept of reincarnation: Humans will have another life after their death, and their status in that life depends on their deeds in this one. Another example of a supra-system is the Tao in Taoism, a natural order of the Universe whose ultimate essence is said to be difficult to describe.

In such systems, gods may or may not exist. If they exist, they coexist with the other creatures of nature. In such world views, humans, elephants, apple trees, and deities are all subject to the same supra-system.

Abstractions

Some modern belief systems (which we call metaphysical philosophies in this book) have neither gods nor supra-systems. In their view, the word “god” is just another name for a metaphysical phenomenon such as the first cause of the Universe, the meaning of life, a universal principle of existence, or the perceived oneness of nature. This god does not have any physical attributes. In particular, this god does not have the characteristics that are commonly ascribed to the Abrahamic god. However, all of these interpretations of the word “god” assume some unfalsifiable cause or quality of a natural phenomenon. They are thus supernatural beliefs in the sense of this book. We will refer to such belief systems as abstractions.

Extraterrestrials

Some religions hold that the Earth was created by extraterrestrials. Extraterrestrials by themselves are not supernatural entities. While they are hypothetical beings, their existence in the observable part of the Universe could be proven wrong.

However, the religions that know extraterrestrials typically assert that there is no way to prove that these entities do not exist, which makes their existence unfalsifiable and the claim supernatural.

Different Beliefs

Overview of today’s religions

There exist hundreds if not thousands of religions and denominations. In the following Chapter on the World Religions, we will explore the more common ones in detail. Here, we set out to provide a rough overview, classifying them as follows:

Indian religions

These include Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. With a combined 1.8 billion adherents (mainly on the Indian subcontinent), these religions share a supra-system that enables reincarnation in a next life. These religions know several gods (in variants of Hinduism), no gods in the Abrahamic sense (in Buddhism, Jainism, and variants of Hinduism), or one god (in Sikhism and variants of Hinduism).

East Asian religions

These include Shintoism, Taoism, and Confucianism. These religions share the concept of shen (i.e., local spirits and spirits of the dead; also known as kami in Shintoism). Taoism and Confucianism also share a supra-system that represents the general order of the world. Together, the East Asian religions have around a billion adherents.

Indigenous religions

These include traditional African religions, Asian shamanism, Native American religions, Austronesian and Australian Aboriginal traditions, and the Chinese Folk Religion, and comprise around half a billion adherents. These religions are commonly centered on the concept of magic, rituals, and the power of certain objects to ward off evil. They are usually animist, meaning they believe in local spirits.

Abrahamic religions

These include Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Spiritualism, and the Bahai Faith. Today there are around 3.4 billion adherents worldwide. The primary shared belief is that of a single omnipotent god who created the Universe.

New religious movements

These include Wicca, Rastafari, Unitarian Universalism, Raëlism, and Scientology, among others, comprising several million adherents. These religions all emerged in the 19th century or later, and they often syncretize, reinterpret, or revive aspects of other religions. Other modern philosophies reject the concept of religion altogether and hold metaphysical or spiritual viewpoints instead.

Gods and spirits

Most, but not all, of today’s religions believe in supernatural beings. These beliefs can be classified as follows:

Polytheistic religions

Polytheistic religions worship many gods, potentially in addition to spirits. Classical examples include the Ancient Greek and Roman religions. Today, the following religions are polytheistic: Hinduism (in some variants), the Chinese Folk Religion, Shintoism, Wicca, and Druidry. Together, they have slightly more than a billion adherents.

Monotheistic religions

Monotheistic religions worship exactly one god (possibly in addition to spirits but without a supra-system). The most prominent monotheistic religions are the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the Bahai Faith, Spiritualism), Zoroastrianism, Yazdanism, and Sikhism. Nonreligious spiritual belief systems may also be de facto monotheistic. Some variants of Hinduism are also monotheistic. Together, these religions have around five billion adherents.

Supra-system religions

Supra-system religions believe in a supernatural world order, which usually involves reincarnation. In such systems, gods and spirits may or may not exist. If they do, they are subordinate to the supra-system, and thus of lesser importance. The most prominent examples of these religions are Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism, and Hinduism, with more than a billion adherents.

UFO religions

UFO religions believe that there are extraterrestrial intelligent beings. Examples are Scientology and Raëlism, with a combined several hundred thousand adherents.

Animist religions

Animist religions believe in local spirits — natural physical entities (such as animals, plants, or inanimate objects) that possess a spiritual essence. These religions also sometimes venerate ancestor spirits. Examples of such religions include many Indigenous religions and neopagan religions (those that aim to revive pre-Christian religions). Altogether, animist religions have probably a few million adherents.

Metaphysical philosophies

Metaphysical philosophies hold that the word “god” is just another name for a metaphysical phenomenon. These philosophies do not believe in deities or spirits at all.

Around half of the world is monotheistic, though it is not clear whether this one god is the same god. The other half of the world believes in several gods, no gods, or spirits. (The Website GodChecker.com maintains a list of gods — currently numbering 4,000, both past and present.)

The Birth of the Universe

Different religions have different stories as to how the world came into existence. These can be classified as follows:

Single divine creator

In the monotheistic world religions (Judaism, Islam, Christianity, the Bahai Faith, and Spiritualism), the Universe was created by a single god. This god is eternal and was not created.

World parents

In some Indigenous religions (such as the Maori faith) and some neopagan religions, the Universe was created by a male god (commonly identified with the sky) and a female god (the Earth), known as the world parents. The two deities procreate, and give rise to the world, humans, animals, and possibly other deities.

Extraterrestrials

In some UFO religions, the Earth was created by extraterrestrials. In Raëlism, for example, the Earth is a big scientific experiment run by extraterrestrials.

Transformation

In some creation stories, divine beings transform into other divine beings or into physical parts of the world. In variants of Hinduism, for example, Brahma, the god of creation, emerges from a lotus risen from the navel of Vishnu (the Supreme Being), who lies on the serpent Ananta Shesha. Brahma then goes on to create the world.

Abstract

Some religions provide an abstract, nonphysical explanation for the beginning of the Universe. The Taoist creation story, for example, goes as follows: “The Tao gave birth to unity, unity gave birth to duality, duality gave birth to trinity, trinity gave birth to the myriad creatures.”[Tao Te Ching § 42]

Existence for Eternity

Some religions believe that the Universe has always existed. According to Buddhism, for example, world systems have always appeared and disappeared in the Universe. In another example, Jainism holds that it is not possible to create matter out of nothing. Hence, according to Jainism, the Universe and its constituents have always existed.

Others

Indigenous religions offer a wide variety of creation stories. The Pueblo peoples of the Southwestern United States, for example, believe that they are descended from ancestors who came to this world through an opening to an underworld38.

The above list of creation stories is complemented by an equally diverse list of legendary first humans.

Places of worship

Most world religions have buildings or places for communal worship. Common examples include synagogues in Judaism, churches in Christianity, and mosques in Islam. In most other religions, locations of worship are called temples. Below are some examples of today’s places of worship.

Interaction with the Supernatural

In most large religions, people aim to interact with the supernatural. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Shintoism contain the concept of prayer, i.e., an imagined, personal conversation with the supernatural. Adherents of Judaism and Confucianism write letters to the gods. Buddhists can use prayer wheels, on which sacred verses are written (turning the wheel equals reciting the verse)39. The East Asian religions know the concept of Joss papers, which are burned as offers to the spirits of the deceased40. Hinduism knows offers to the gods.

After having provided an overview of the variety of belief systems, creation stories, and forms of worship, our next chapter will look more closely at the world religions.

References

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14. Allen Kardec: The Spirits’ Book, 1857
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17. Ira A. Lipman: How to be safe, 2014
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20. Cambridge Dictionary: “Sect”, 2025
21. American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: “Myth”, 2025
22. Merriam Webster: “Mythology”, 2025
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24. Rodrigo Barquera et al: “Ancient genomes reveal insights into ritual life at Chichén Itzá”, in Nature, 2024
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30. Jewish Encyclopedia: “Gershom ben Judah”, 2021
31. Helmiati: “Friday Sermons in Singapore - The Voice of Authorities toward Building State-Centric Muslim Identity”, in Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 2022
32. Taniya Dewan: “Hinduism and LGBT Rights in Indian Society”, in Rights for All Sexual Orientation Religious Traditions and the Challenge of Inclusion, 2015
33. Mohammed Saqib Anwar, Farhan Munawar, and Qashif Anwar: “Circumcision - a religious obligation or ‘the cruellest of cuts’?”, in British Journal of General Practice, 2010
34. AboutIslam.net: “Does The Muslim Prayer Come from Zoroastrianism?”, 2017
35. Smithsonian Magazine: “The Fox Sisters and the Rap on Spiritualism”, 2012-10-30
36. Encyclopedia.com: “Angra Mainyu”, in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, 2019
37. Yuval Noah Harari: Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind, 2011
38. Merriam Webster: “Sipapu”, 2023
39. Encyclopedia Britannica: “Prayer wheel”, 2025
40. Sheng Kuan Chung and Dan Li: “An artistic and spiritual exploration of Chinese joss paper”, in Art Education, 2017