Intro to Theories of religion

• The worlds largest religions;

  • Christianity 31%
  • Islam 25%
  • Athiesm 15%
  • Hinduism 15%
  • Buddhism 5%
  • Sikhism 0.3%
  • Judaism 0.2%
  • Baha’l 0.07%
  • Jainism 0.05%
• The substansive definition is the belief in God, is exclusive, is the most common understanding and has a western bias
• The Functional Definition of religion focuses of social/psychological functions and is an inclusive definition
• The Constructionist Definition of religion is the way people interpret religion, isnt always about the supernatural, not always the same function to everyone and says religion is socially constructed