religion: Quick Facts

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Charles Sprague Pearce: Religion

World map using color-coded regions to show the predominant religions in each area during the early 1980s. Christianity, Islam (Sunni and Shi'i), Buddhism, Hinduism, Chinese and Japanese religions, Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Sikhism, indigenous religions, Judaism, nonreligious populations, and uninhabited areas are all represented by different colors and symbols, with a legend explaining each. The map highlights religious majorities by region, such as Christianity in th

Indonesia. Communal conflicts and secessionist pressures have been on the rise in Indonesia, which has one of the world's most religiously diverse populations. Thematic map. Includes locator.

Know about Richard Dawkins's views on atheism and his idea of religion as a virus

Know why Karl Marx called religion “the opium of the people” and his dream of a communist revolution

Christianity and superstition in the Middle Ages

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Topics

Christianity Judaism Hinduism Buddhism Islam myth study of religion Taoism Confucianism religious symbolism and iconography Historiography political system social science chronology government Culture Archaeology philosophy History

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Key People

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Rashīd Riḍā

Islamic scholar

Vigny, lithograph by Antoine Maurin, 1832

Alfred-Victor, count de Vigny

French author

Ahura Mazdā

Zarathushtra

Iranian prophet

Portrait of Sholem Asch around 1957, showing him with gray hair, a mustache, and wearing a suit and bow tie.

Sholem Asch

American writer

Constant, detail of an oil painting by Hercule des Roches, c. 1830; in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris

Benjamin Constant

French author

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Martin E. Marty

American historian of religion

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Xenophanes

Greek poet and philosopher

Cosmo Gordon Lang, 1929.

Cosmo Gordon Lang, Baron Lang

archbishop of Canterbury

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Kūkai

Japanese Buddhist monk

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Jacob van Maerlant

Dutch poet

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John Bastwick

English religious zealot

John Owen, oil painting by an unknown artist; in the National Portrait Gallery, London

John Owen

English minister

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Matthäus Schiner

Swiss diplomat

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Jnanadeva

Indian poet

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Johann von Staupitz

German clergyman

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Theoleptus Of Philadelphia

Greek Orthodox bishop

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Simon Kimbangu

African religious leader

Duperron, detail from an engraving

Jacques Davy Duperron

French cardinal

Seraphim of Sarov, Saint

Saint Seraphim of Sarov

Russian monk

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Konrad von Marburg

German inquisitor

Omar Ali Saifuddin mosque, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.

World Religions & Traditions

Drum. Buddhist monk in Luang Prabang, Laos, hitting temple drum. (Buddhism, religion, percussion)

Religion Across the Globe

Old Bible. Antique Bible, the bible, Christianity education literature manuscript religion text language words biblical, arts and entertainment, history and society, text philosophy, text wisdom, homepage 2010

Religion: High and Mighty Quiz