Basic information on various religions:
Religion
Date Founded
Sacred Texts
Membership 5
% of World 6
Christianity
30 CE
The Bible
2,039 million
32% (dropping)
Islam
622 CE
Qur'an & Hadith
1,226 million
19% (growing)
Hinduism
1500 BCE with truly ancient roots
Bhagavad-Gita, Upanishads, & Rig Veda
828 million
13% (stable)
No religion(Note 1)
-
None
775 million
12% (dropping)
Chinese folk rel.
270 BCE
None
390 million
6%
Buddhism
523 BCE
The Tripitaka & Sutras
364 million
6% (stable)
Tribal Religions, Shamanism, Animism
Prehistory
Oral tradition
232 million
4%
Atheists
No date
None
150 million
2%
New religions.
Various
Various
103 million
2%
Sikhism
1500 CE
Guru Granth Sahib
23.8 million
<1%
Judaism
Note 3
Torah, Tanach, & Talmud
14.5 million
<1%
Spiritism
12.6 million
<1%
Baha'i Faith
1863 CE
Alkitab Alaqdas
7.4 million
<1%
Confucianism
520 BCE
Lun Yu
6.3 million
<1%
Jainism
570 BCE
Siddhanta, Pakrit
4.3 million
<1%
Zoroastrianism
600 to 6000 BCE
Avesta
2.7 million
<1%
Shinto
500 CE
Kojiki, Nohon Shoki
2.7 million
<1%
Taoism
550 BCE
Tao-te-Ching
2.7 million
<1%
Other
Various
Various
1.1 million
<1%
Wicca
800 BCE, 1940 CE
None
0.5 million?
<1%
Notes:
Note 1: Persons with no formal, organized religion include agnostics, freethinkers, humanists, secularists, etc.
Note 2: We have included Wicca even though their numbers are small because such a large percentage of our site's visitors are of that faith. There is no reliable measure of their numbers. Some Wiccans believe that their faith can be traced back to the origins of the Celtic people; other suggest it is a recently created religion.
Note 3: There is no consensus on the data of founding of Judaism. Some claim that Adam and Eve were the first Jews, and lived circa 4000 BCE; others suggest that they never existed. Some would place the date at the time of Abraham, circa 1900 BCE; others consider Abraham to be a mythical character. Some date it to the Exodus from Egypt circa 1490 BCE; others say that no Exodus happened, and the ancient Hebrews were originally a group that gradually separated from the main body of Canaanites and developed a different culture.
Names of the places of worship and English titles by which local leaders are called:
Religion
Place of worship
Title of local leader
Christianity
Church, Cathedral, Temple, Mission
Pastor, priest, minister
Islam
Mosque
Imam
No religion *
None
None
Hinduism
Mandir, Mandira, Temple, and other names
Priest
Buddhism
Pagoda, Stupa, Temple
Monk
Atheists
None
None
New Asian religion
Various
Various
Tribal Religions, Animism
In nature
Shaman
Judaism
Synagogue
Rabbi
Sikhism
Gurdwaras
Granthi (professional reader)
Shamanists
In nature
Shaman
Confucianism
Temple, Shrine, Seowon
Unknown
Baha'i Faith
House of worship
Usually a lay leader
Jainism
Temple
Priest, Pandit
Shinto
Temple
Priest
Wicca
Circle, Grove
Priestess, Priest, Wiccan
Zoroastrianism
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