Religious Movements & Organizations, PIL-THE
Religious life is shaped not only by belief, but by the communities and movements that carry it forward. Explore the groups, institutions, and reform efforts that have organized faith in action.
Religious Movements & Organizations Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Pillar of Fire
Pillar of Fire, a white Holiness church of Methodist antecedence that was organized (1901) in Denver, Colo., U.S.,......
Pisa, Council of
Council of Pisa, (1409), a council of the Roman Catholic Church convened with the intention of ending the Western......
Plymouth Brethren
Plymouth Brethren, community of Christians whose first congregation was established in Plymouth, Devon, England,......
Polish National Catholic Church
Polish National Catholic Church, independent Catholic church that arose in the late 19th and early 20th centuries......
Poor Clare
Poor Clare, any member of the Franciscan Order of St. Clare, a Roman Catholic religious order of nuns cofounded......
Prarthana Samaj
Prarthana Samaj, (Sanskrit: “Prayer Society”), Hindu reform society established in Bombay in the 1860s. In purpose......
Premonstratensian
Premonstratensian, a Roman Catholic religious order founded in 1120 by St. Norbert of Xanten, who, with 13 companions,......
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), U.S. Protestant denomination formed on June 10, 1983, in the merger of the United......
Presbyterian Church in America
Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), theologically conservative U.S. evangelical Presbyterian denomination founded......
Presbyterian Church in Ireland
Presbyterian Church in Ireland, church organized in 1840 by merger of the Secession Church and the Synod of Ulster.......
Presbyterian Church of England
Presbyterian Church of England, church organized in 1876 by merger of the United Presbyterian Church and various......
Presbyterian Church of Wales
Presbyterian Church of Wales, church that developed out of the Methodist revivals in Wales in the 18th century.......
Primitive Methodist Church
Primitive Methodist Church, conservative Protestant church that developed in England. It was formed in 1811 by......
Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.
Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. (PNBC), association of Black Baptist churches, organized in 1961......
Protestant Church in the Netherlands
Protestant Church in the Netherlands, united Christian church, largest Protestant church in the Netherlands, formed......
Psychiana
Psychiana, religious movement that emphasized spiritual healing, prosperity, and physical and material happiness,......
Qalandarīyah
Qalandarīyah, loosely organized group of wandering Muslim dervishes who form an “irregular” (bī-sharʿ) or antinomian......
Qarmatian
Qarmatian, member of an Ismāʿīlī Shiʿi movement that rejected the claim of the Fāṭimid caliph ʿUbayd Allāh to the......
Quinisext Council
Quinisext Council, council that was convened in 692 by the Byzantine emperor Justinian II to issue disciplinary......
Qādiriyyah
Qādiriyyah, probably the oldest of the Muslim mystic (Sufi) orders, founded by the Ḥanbalī theologian ʿAbd al-Qādir......
Radha Soami Satsang
Radha Soami Satsang, esoteric religious sect of India that has followers among both Hindus and Sikhs. The sect......
Rajneesh movement
Rajneesh movement, religious sect founded by the Indian mystic and spiritual leader Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, also......
Rappite
Rappite, a member of a religious communal group founded in the United States in the early 19th century by about......
Raskol
Raskol, division in the Russian Orthodox Church in the 17th century over reforms in liturgy and forms of worship.......
Redemptorist
Redemptorist, a community of Roman Catholic priests and lay brothers founded by St. Alphonsus Liguori at Scala,......
Reformed Church in America
Reformed Church in America, church that developed from the Dutch settlements in New Netherlands (New York) in the......
Reformed Church in Hungary
Reformed Church in Hungary, Reformed church that developed in Hungary during and after the 16th-century Protestant......
Reformed Church of France
Reformed Church of France, church organized in 1938 by merging several Reformed churches that had developed in......
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, Protestant church in the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition organized in the......
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated)
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated), Protestant church in the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition that......
Reformed League
Reformed League, voluntary association of German Reformed churches founded at Marburg in 1884 to aid Reformed churches......
Reiyū-kai
Reiyū-kai, (Japanese: Association of the Friends of the Spirit), Japanese lay religion based on the teachings of......
Religious Science
Religious Science, religious movement founded in the United States by Ernest Holmes (1887–1960). Holmes and his......
Remonstrant
Remonstrant, any of the Dutch Protestants who, following the views of Jacobus Arminius, presented to the States-General......
Rifāʿīyah
Rifāʿīyah, fraternity of Muslim mystics (Ṣūfīs), known in the West as howling dervishes, found primarily in Egypt......
Ringatū
Ringatū, Māori prophetic movement in New Zealand. It was founded in 1867 by the Māori guerrilla leader Te Kooti......
Rinzai
Rinzai, one of two major Zen Buddhist sects in Japan; it stresses the abrupt awakening of transcendental wisdom,......
Risshō-Kōsei-kai
Risshō-Kōsei-kai, (Japanese: “Society for Establishing Righteousness and Friendly Relations”), lay religious group......
Rizalist cult
Rizalist cult, any of numerous ethnic religious groups in the Philippines that believe in the divinity of José......
Rnying-ma-pa
Rnying-ma-pa, (Tibetan: “The Old Order”), second largest Buddhist sect in Tibet; it claims to transmit the original......
Roman Catholic Church of Romania
Roman Catholic Church of Romania, an Eastern Catholic church of the Byzantine rite, in communion with Rome. The......
Romanian Orthodox Church
Romanian Orthodox Church, the largest autocephalous, or ecclesiastically independent, Eastern Orthodox church in......
Rosicrucian
Rosicrucian, member of a worldwide brotherhood claiming to possess esoteric wisdom handed down from ancient times.......
Russian Catholic church
Russian Catholic church, an Eastern Catholic church of the Byzantine rite, in communion with Rome since the early......
Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church, one of the largest autocephalous, or ecclesiastically independent, Eastern Orthodox churches......
Ruthenian Catholic Church
Ruthenian Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic Christian church of the Byzantine rite, in communion with the Roman......
Ryōbu Shintō
Ryōbu Shintō, in Japanese religion, the syncretic school that combined Shintō with the teachings of the Shingon......
Rāfiḍah
Rāfiḍah, (Arabic: “Rejectors”), broadly, Shīʿite Muslims who reject (rafḍ) the caliphate of Muḥammad’s two successors......
Rām Rāiyā
Rām Rāiyā, member of a group of dissenters within Sikhism, a religion of India. The Rām Rāiyās are descendants......
Rātana church
Rātana church, 20th-century religious awakening among the New Zealand Māori and a national political influence,......
Sa-skya-pa
Sa-skya-pa, Tibetan Buddhist sect that takes its name from the great Sa-skya (Sakya) monastery founded in 1073,......
Sacred Heart, Society of the
Society of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ), Roman Catholic religious congregation of women devoted to the education of......
Sadducee
Sadducee, member of a Jewish priestly sect that flourished for about two centuries before the destruction of the......
Salesian
Salesian, member of either of two Roman Catholic religious congregations, one of men and one of women, devoted......
San Vitale, Church of
Church of San Vitale, church in Ravenna, Italy, that was built in the 6th century and is considered a masterpiece......
Sandemanian
Sandemanian, member of a Christian sect founded in about 1730 in Scotland by John Glas (1695–1773), a Presbyterian......
Sannō Ichijitsu Shintō
Sannō Ichijitsu Shintō, in Japanese religion, the syncretic school that combined Shintō with the teachings of the......
Sanūsiyyah
Sanūsiyyah, a Muslim Sufi (mystic) brotherhood established in 1837 by Sīdī Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Sanūsī. In modern......
Sardica, Council of
Council of Sardica, (342/343), an ecclesiastical council of the Christian Church held at Sardica, or Serdica (modern......
Saura sect
Saura sect, Hindu sect, widely dispersed throughout India in the Gupta and medieval periods, whose members worshipped......
Sautrāntika
Sautrāntika, ancient school of Buddhism that emerged in India about the 2nd century bc as an offshoot of the Sarvāstivāda......
Scientology
Scientology, international movement that emerged in the 1950s in response to the thought of L. Ron Hubbard, a writer......
Scotland, Church of
Church of Scotland, national church in Scotland, which accepted the Presbyterian faith during the 16th-century......
Second Great Awakening
Second Great Awakening, Protestant religious revival in the United States from about 1795 to 1835. During this......
Seeker
Seeker, member of any of numerous small groups of separatist Puritans in 16th-century England who sought new prophets......
Self-Realization Fellowship
Self-Realization Fellowship, spiritual society founded in the United States by Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952),......
Serbian Orthodox Church
Serbian Orthodox Church, autocephalous, or ecclesiastically independent, member of the Eastern Orthodox communion,......
Servite
Servite, a Roman Catholic order of mendicant friars—religious men who lead a monastic life, including the choral......
Shaiva-siddhanta
Shaiva-siddhanta, religious and philosophical system of South India in which Shiva is worshipped as the supreme......
Shaker
Shaker, member of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, a celibate millenarian group that......
Shangqing
Shangqing, important early sectarian movement associated with the emergence of Daoism during the southern Six Dynasties......
Shaṭṭārīyah
Shaṭṭārīyah, Ṣūfī (Muslim mystic) order deriving its name from either a 15th-century Indian mystic called Shaṭṭārī......
Shingaku
Shingaku, religious and ethical movement in Japan founded by Ishida Baigan (ad 1685–1744). It pays particular devotion......
Shrine Shintō
Shrine Shintō, form of the Shintō religion of Japan that focusses on worship in public shrines, in contrast to......
Shugen-dō
Shugen-dō, a Japanese religious tradition combining folk beliefs with indigenous Shintō and Buddhism, to which......
Shvetambara
Shvetambara, one of the two principal sects of Jainism, a religion of India. The monks and nuns of the Shvetambara......
Shādhilīyah
Shādhilīyah, widespread brotherhood of Muslim mystics (Ṣūfīs), founded on the teachings of Abū al-Ḥasan ash-Shādhilī......
Social Gospel
Social Gospel, religious social reform movement prominent in the United States from about 1870 to 1920. Advocates......
Society of St. Pius X
Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), breakaway Roman Catholic priestly society founded in 1970 in Ecône, Switzerland,......
Socinian
Socinian, member of a Christian group in the 16th century that embraced the thought of the Italian-born theologian......
Solar Temple, Order of the
Order of the Solar Temple, small New Religious Movement that was founded in Geneva in 1984 and is best known for......
South India, Church of
Church of South India, united Protestant church that is part of the Anglican Communion. The Church of South India......
Southern Africa, Anglican Church of
Anglican Church of Southern Africa, independent church that is part of the Anglican Communion. In 2020 the church......
Sthanakavasi
Sthanakavasi, a modern subsect of the Shvetambara (“White-robed”) sect of Jainism, a religion of India. The group......
Subud
Subud, religious movement, based on spontaneous and ecstatic exercises, founded by an Indonesian, Muḥammad Subuh,......
Suhrawardīyah
Suhrawardīyah, Muslim order of mystics (Ṣūfīs) noted for the severity of its spiritual discipline, founded in Baghdad......
Swami-Narayani
Swami-Narayani, Hindu reform sect with a large popular following in Gujarat state. It arose primarily as a protest......
Sweden, Church of
Church of Sweden, church of Sweden that, until 2000, was supported by the state; it changed from the Roman Catholic......
Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East
Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, autocephalous Oriental Orthodox Christian church. In......
Syrian Catholic Church
Syrian Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic church of the Antiochene rite, in communion with Rome since the 17th......
Sōka-gakkai
Sōka-gakkai, lay Nichiren Buddhist movement that arose within the Japanese Buddhist group Nichiren-shō-shū; the......
Sōtō
Sōtō, largest of the Zen Buddhist sects in Japan. It follows the method of quiet sitting and meditation (zazen)......
Taborite
Taborite, member of a militant group of Bohemian Hussite reformers who in 1420 gave the biblical name of Tabor......
Tajong-gyo
Tajong-gyo, modern Korean millenarian sect that originated in the late 19th century. Tajong-gyo was formulated......
Telakhon
Telakhon, one of the oldest Buddhist-influenced prophet cults among the Karen hill peoples of Myanmar (Burma).......
Templar
Templar, member of the Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, a religious military order of knighthood......
Tenkalai
Tenkalai, one of two Hindu subsects of the Shrivaishnava, the other being the Vadakalai. Though the two sects use......
Tenrikyō
Tenrikyō, (Japanese: “Religion of Divine Wisdom”), largest and most successful of the modern Shintō sects in Japan.......
The Episcopal Church
The Episcopal Church (TEC), autonomous, mainline Protestant church in the United States and member of the Anglican......
The Scottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal Church, independent church within the Anglican Communion that developed in Scotland out......