Religion, denomination, discipline

The three categories nest. A religion is a whole tradition: Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and also the non-theistic worldviews that answer the same questions differently. A denomination is a branch within one: a church, a school of law or philosophy, a movement. A discipline cuts across religions, astrology and alchemy belong to no single faith, and is included as a field of knowledge and practice.

The atlas holds the major living religions, those of historical importance that are no longer practised, and the non-theistic and secular worldviews, describing each in its own terms and noting where scholarship and self-description diverge.