Classifications of Religions

In looking at beliefs and practices of religion, there are several ways to categorize religions.

• Looking at the number of gods there is differentiation between monotheistic religions, beliefs that have only one god and polytheistic religions, beliefs with multiple gods.

• Looking at how religions gain adherents there is a differentiation between ethnic religions and universalizing religions. re associated with one group of people. The largest ethnic religion is Hinduism. Judaism is another well-known ethnic religion. Through migration, both religions have become dispersed around much of the world, but they are closely tied to their ethnic groups. Tribal/traditional religions have strong ties to the natural world and little contact or assimilation with the modern world. Universalizing religions seek to convert others. For some religions, it is a requirement for practitioners to spend part of their lives in missionary work attempting to convert others.
• Looking at the purity of a faith there is differentiation between orthodox and syncretic religions. Voodoo, or Vodou, is a syncretic religion that originated in Haiti, blending West African spiritual traditions with Roman Catholicism and indigenous beliefs. Entities that had previously represented African gods are recast as Catholic saints, who themselves are semidivine in Catholic cosmology. Combining two religions to create a new religion is known as syncretism.