This page groups practices by how settled their scholarly classification is. Wikipedia notes that "starting about 1920, 'cult' acquired an additional six or more positive and negative definitions," a term whose meaning has shifted considerably. Browsing this way lets a visitor see which practices scholars describe consistently and which remain genuinely contested.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingGiving required or commended by a tradition - zakat, tithing, sadaqah, seva, langar. The grouping holds obligatory levies at a fixed rate with named categories of recipient alongside voluntary gifts and unpaid service, which are not the same kind of act: a legal due and a free gift differ in who may compel them and in what failing to give means. 2 Status
Standing as a Comparative CategoryA standard analytic category in the study of religion 2 Learn More
The charitable practices
This group holds charitable practices, the acts of giving and service enjoined by the traditions as religious duty and virtue: almsgiving, care for the poor and the stranger, and generosity as a path of merit or righteousness. Charity is a central obligation in most of the world's religions.
The browser will find charitable practices from across the traditions. The entries describe each practice's form and religious basis, noting the tradition that commands it.
Scholarly Standing
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005s.v. AlmsgivingView the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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