Home›Core Tenets›TraditionBrowse ByTraditionThis page groups beliefs by the school of thought that holds them. Wikipedia notes that "eliminativists about belief ... argue that there is no phenomenon in the natural world which corresponds to our folk psychological concept of belief," one named position among several. Browsing by tradition lets a visitor read every belief from one named school together.FactsLearn MoreTraditionSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThe central affirmations of a tradition, stated one at a time. What counts as a core tenet is set by each tradition, and traditions differ over whether assent to stated propositions is what makes a member: creedal Christianity and Islam draw such lists explicitly, while Judaism, Hinduism and most Indigenous traditions do not. 2StatusStanding as a Comparative CategoryWell-attestedUsed, but its validity as a comparative category is disputed 3DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedBeliefs & Restrictions 1ComparisonPrimary Academic DisciplineWell-attestedComparative Religion 4Learn MoreThe core tenets This group gathers the core tenets of the traditions, the central affirmations and defining beliefs that stand at the heart of a religion or worldview, the doctrines a tradition holds as essential to its identity. It is the largest belief grouping in the atlas. The browser will find the core tenets the atlas gathers from across the traditions. The entries describe each belief in its own terms, distinguishing what a tradition affirms of itself from the historical and comparative perspective of scholarship.TraditionFilter Results156 entriesAdherents Today MaximumAll278,000 (1)400,910 (1)887,000 (1)1,500,000 (2)2,000,000 (1)3,500,000 (1)100,000,000 (1)110,000,000 (1)260,000,000 (1)Adherents Today MinimumAll278,000 (1)400,910 (1)887,000 (1)1,200,000 (1)1,500,000 (2)1,700,000 (1)2,500,000 (1)53,871,526 (1)80,000,000 (1)220,000,000 (1)Basis of the Education Facility CountAllThe Body's Own Published Statistics (1)Basis of the Humanitarian Aid FigureAllThe Body's Own Published Statistics (2)Basis of the Membership FigureAllChurch-Reported Rolls (24)Independent Survey (12)National Census (11)Scholarly or Demographic Estimate (19)Basis of the Wealth FigureAllAudited Annual Report (4)Court-Documented Inventory (1)Journalistic or Scholarly Estimate (3)Regulator Filing (2)The Body's Own Published Statistics (4)Calendar SystemAllJulian (Old Calendar) (1)Church FamilyAllAnabaptist (2)Anglican (5)Baptist (1)Church of the East (1)Eastern Orthodox (6)Evangelical (2)Latter Day Saint (1)Lutheran (2)Methodist (5)New Thought (1)Oriental Orthodox (4)Reformed (3)Restorationist (2)Date of SeparationAll2022 (1)Date of Separation End YearAll200 (1)451 (1)1204 (1)1527 (1)1566 (1)1571 (1)1600 (1)1612 (1)1712 (1)1815 (1)1850 (1)1876 (1)1908 (1)1913 (1)1967 (1)1971 (1)1974 (1)1995 (1)Date of Separation Start YearAll100 (1)451 (3)1054 (2)1500 (1)1525 (1)1534 (2)1536 (1)1609 (1)1693 (1)1772 (1)1787 (1)1796 (1)1804 (1)1811 (1)1833 (1)1844 (1)1858 (1)1870 (1)1873 (1)1881 (1)1883 (1)1889 (1)1895 (1)1906 (1)1962 (1)1971 (1)1985 (1)1993 (1)Defining Doctrinal PositionAllA Goddess and a God as a divine pair (2)A staged curriculum from the first motivation to buddhahood (1)Achintya bhedabheda: inconceivable oneness and difference (1)An impersonal universal Mind or Principle reached through directed thought, not petition (1)An inner (batin) meaning of scripture and law alongside the outward (1)Awakening through graded cultivation (1)Belief may be concealed where disclosure would bring harm (taqiyya) (2)Chalcedonian: two natures in the one person of Christ (Chalcedon, 451) (3)Chalcedonian: two natures in the one person of Christ (Chalcedon, 451) (13)Ethical practice held prior to and independent of theological agreement (1)Ethics grounded in reason and human experience, without the supernatural (2)Full mendicancy requires the abandonment of clothing (1)Halakha binding and not subject to historical revision (1)Halakha binding, but developing through scholarship (1)Liberation is attained only from a man's birth (1)Miaphysite: one incarnate nature of the Word, divine and human united (1)Miaphysite: one incarnate nature of the Word, divine and human united (3)Neidan: the refinement of body and spirit as the path (1)No fixed pantheon or liturgy; each practitioner composes their own (2)Rangtong: emptiness of self-nature (1)Recognises a post-prophetic messianic figure (1)Rejects the Filioque: the Spirit proceeds from the Father (1)Rejects the Filioque: the Spirit proceeds from the Father (6)Restorationist: holds the apostolic church to have been lost and restored (2)Satan as a symbol, not a being (1)Strict dyophysite: two distinct natures held in two qnome (concrete hypostases), not Chalcedon's two natures in one hypostasis (1)Succession by divine designation in the Prophet's family (1)The Goddess alone (1)The Imams are protected from sin and from error (ismah) (1)The original canon held to have been lost (1)The tzaddik or rebbe as spiritual intermediary and head of the community (2)The tzaddik or rebbe as spiritual intermediary and head of the community (2)The written Torah alone; the rabbinic Oral Torah not accepted (1)Trinitarian: one God in three persons (14)Trinitarian: one God in three persons (11)Documented Accused CountAll5 (1)6 (1)390 (1)Education Facility Count As OfAll1878-12-31 (1)GovernanceAllA federation of autonomous member organisations (6)A single central governing body over the whole movement (3)An imam or caliph elected by the community or its electors (1)Authority in a living teacher and their succession (1)Authority in recognised reincarnate lineages (1)Authority in trained scholars, with no central office (1)Authority through a shaykh and an initiatic chain (1)Authority through monastic ordination lineage and its seats (3)Autonomous covens, authority conferred by initiation (4)Congregational: each congregation self-governing (6)Connexional: congregations bound in a conference with itinerant ministry (5)Delegated representation from congregations up to a general conference (2)Episcopal: governed by bishops (7)Lay boards or trusts govern, alongside the priesthood (1)No central authority (8)Presbyterian: governed by elders in graded courts (3)Priestly office passing by descent (2)Self-governing churches under patriarchs, deciding in synod (10)Synodal: governed by synods of clergy and lay delegates (2)How the Expectation Is EnforcedAllCodified Obligation With Consequences (3)Codified Obligation, Ruled Unenforceable (1)Customary Norm (9)Obligation to Support, No Set Rate (3)Preached Expectation, Not Enforced (8)Humanitarian Aid Figure As OfAll1877-12-31 (1)Liturgical LanguageAllAramaic (1)Church Slavonic (1)Classical Arabic (3)Classical Armenian (Grabar) (1)Classical Chinese (read in Sino-Japanese where used in Japan) (1)Classical Syriac (1)Classical Tibetan (1)Coptic (1)Early Modern German (the Luther Bible) (1)Geez (3)Georgian (1)Greek (liturgical) (5)Hebrew (5)Jain Shauraseni Prakrit (1)Sanskrit (2)The vernacular (35)Membership Figure As OfAll1868-01-01 (1)1876-01-01 (1)1910-01-01 (1)1912-01-01 (1)1914-01-01 (1)1922-01-01 (1)1923-01-01 (2)1924-01-01 (1)1930-01-01 (1)1935-01-01 (1)1953-01-01 (1)1958-01-01 (1)1970-01-01 (2)1972-01-01 (1)1985-01-01 (1)1988-12-31 (1)1990-01-01 (1)1991-05-25 (1)1992-01-01 (1)1996-01-01 (1)1998-01-01 (1)2000-04-01 (1)2004-01-01 (1)2005-01-01 (1)2006-01-01 (3)2007-01-01 (2)2008-01-01 (2)2010-01-01 (5)2011-01-01 (5)2013-01-01 (3)2014-01-01 (3)2015-01-01 (3)2016-01-01 (3)2016-12-31 (1)2017-01-01 (1)2018-01-01 (2)2019-01-01 (2)2020-01-01 (5)2021-01-01 (2)2021-03-21 (1)2022-01-01 (9)2022-05-03 (1)2023-01-01 (2)2023-04-29 (1)2023-07-01 (1)2023-08-08 (1)2023-12-31 (1)2024-01-01 (4)2024-03-01 (1)2024-12-31 (2)2025-01-01 (5)2026-02-01 (1)2026-08-14 (1)2026-08-16 (2)OrdinationAllAn unpaid lay ministry rather than a professional clergy (1)Authority conferred by initiation rather than by ordination (7)Celibacy required of the ordained (2)Married clergy permitted (11)No ordination; authority rests on learning or on the whole body (2)No successor by deliberate choice (1)Office passes by descent (3)Open to women and men (23)Ordination is into a monastic order, not to a congregation (4)Restricted to men (16)Restricted to women (1)The full female ordination lineage is held lapsed; revival contested (3)Varies between provinces or member bodies (7)Origin Period End YearAll52 (1)200 (1)301 (1)337 (1)340 (2)431 (1)451 (1)1204 (1)1419 (1)1527 (2)1534 (1)1559 (2)1560 (1)1571 (2)1600 (2)1612 (1)1712 (1)1745 (1)1772 (1)1789 (1)1797 (1)1810 (1)1816 (1)1821 (1)1832 (1)1850 (1)1860 (2)1867 (1)1870 (1)1876 (1)1881 (1)1889 (1)1906 (1)1908 (1)1913 (1)1941 (1)1954 (1)1960 (1)1966 (1)1967 (1)1971 (1)1988 (1)1995 (1)2022 (1)Origin Period Start YearAll30 (1)42 (1)49 (1)100 (1)295 (1)320 (2)326 (1)431 (1)800 (1)1200 (2)1300 (1)1409 (1)1486 (1)1525 (1)1527 (1)1534 (3)1536 (1)1560 (1)1571 (1)1609 (1)1693 (1)1734 (1)1740 (1)1775 (1)1787 (1)1789 (1)1796 (1)1800 (1)1801 (2)1802 (1)1845 (1)1850 (1)1860 (2)1870 (1)1876 (1)1880 (1)1881 (1)1889 (1)1895 (1)1940 (1)1941 (1)1946 (1)1962 (1)1966 (1)1971 (1)1985 (1)1988 (1)2022 (1)Position on JustificationAllFaith Alone (3)No Communion Wide Standard (1)Position on MarriageAllMarriage is held to be monogamous, with remarriage after divorce sanctioned under specified conditions (3)Marriage may licitly be polygynous (1)No single uniform teaching on marriage's terms holds across the body (1)Position on PredestinationAllDouble Predestination (1)Election Affirmed Reprobation Unstated (1)Single Predestination (1)Unsettled (1)Position on SexualityAllSame-sex marriage is performed and LGBT clergy are ordained on equal terms with heterosexual clergy (9)Same-sex orientation or practice is held to bar full membership or participation (3)Same-sex sexual relationships are held contrary to teaching; LGBT individuals are welcomed as members but not ordained, and same-sex unions are not blessed (13)Same-sex unions may be blessed, but ordination is not extended to partnered LGBT clergy (1)The body holds no single settled position; the question is actively and openly contested within it (3)Position on the EucharistAllNo Communion Wide Definition (1)Sacramental Union (1)Spiritual Reception by Faith (2)Principle of WorshipAllNormative (3)Regulative (1)Relation to the StateAllDisestablished (5)Established (3)No Establishment (7)Privileged Never Established (6)Varies by Province (6)Rule Established or Last ChangedAll2000-01-01 (1)2019-01-01 (1)Sacraments RecognisedAllTwo (4)Settlement TotalAll500,000 (1)137,300,000 (1)Standing as a Comparative CategoryAllA standard analytic category in the study of religion (1)Standing of Holy OrdersAllHistoric Episcopate (1)Historic Episcopate Locally Adapted (1)Historic Episcopate Received Not Required (1)Ministry by Lawful Call (1)Status TodayAllAccess restricted by its custodians or by law (1)Dissolved; the community wound itself up (1)Living tradition, practised today (56)Wealth Figure As Of YearAll2008 (1)2016 (1)2023 (1)2024 (7)2025 (3)Show ResultsBrowseCompareAfrican Methodist Episcopal ChurchTradition12 entriesAfrican Methodist Episcopal Zion ChurchTradition12 entriesAhmadiyyaTradition3 entriesAlawitesTradition6 entriesAlevismTradition6 entriesAlexandrian WiccaTradition2 entriesAmerican Humanist AssociationTradition4 entriesAmishTradition5 entriesAnabaptismTradition8 entriesAnglican CommunionTradition11 entriesAnglicanismTradition10 entriesArmenian Apostolic ChurchTradition14 entriesAssyrian Church of the EastTradition15 entriesBaptistTradition11 entriesBeta IsraelTradition4 entriesBreslov HasidismTradition5 entriesCalvinism (Reformed)Tradition12 entriesChabad-LubavitchTradition5 entriesChristian Methodist Episcopal ChurchTradition12 entriesChurch of CyprusTradition14 entriesChurch of EnglandTradition12 entriesChurch of God (Anderson, Indiana)Tradition8 entriesChurch of GreeceTradition14 entriesChurch of IrelandTradition12 entriesChurch of SatanTradition1 entryChurch of ScotlandTradition12 entriesChurch of SwedenTradition12 entriesChurch of the NazareneTradition10 entriesChurches of ChristTradition7 entriesCommunity of ChristTradition7 entriesConservative JudaismTradition2 entriesCoptic OrthodoxyTradition13 entriesDianic WiccaTradition2 entriesDigambaraTradition2 entriesDisciples of ChristTradition8 entriesDivine ScienceTradition5 entriesDragon GateTradition4 entriesDutch Reformed ChurchTradition11 entriesEastern OrthodoxyTradition13 entriesEclectic Solitary WiccaTradition3 entriesEcumenical Patriarchate of ConstantinopleTradition14 entriesThe Episcopal ChurchTradition13 entriesEritrean Orthodox Tewahedo ChurchTradition14 entriesEthical CultureTradition1 entryEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo ChurchTradition14 entriesEvangelical Lutheran Church in AmericaTradition12 entriesEvangelicalismTradition6 entriesFeri TraditionTradition2 entriesFree Methodist ChurchTradition11 entriesGardnerian WiccaTradition2 entriesGaudiya VaishnavismTradition5 entriesGelugTradition14 entriesGeorgian Orthodox ChurchTradition14 entriesGlobal Methodist ChurchTradition12 entriesGreek Orthodox ChurchTradition14 entriesHaredi JudaismTradition3 entriesHasidic JudaismTradition1 entryHumanistic JudaismTradition3 entriesHumanists InternationalTradition4 entriesIbadismTradition4 entriesIrani ZoroastrianismTradition4 entriesISKCON (Hare Krishna)Tradition5 entriesIsmailismTradition7 entriesJehovah's WitnessesTradition3 entriesJodo ShinshuTradition10 entriesJonangTradition12 entriesKagyuTradition13 entriesKaraite JudaismTradition2 entriesKarma KagyuTradition14 entriesKashmir ShaivismTradition5 entriesKhalsaTradition4 entriesKharijitesTradition2 entriesLatter-day Saints (Mormonism)Tradition6 entriesLingayatismTradition5 entriesLutheranismTradition9 entriesMadhyamakaTradition7 entriesMahayanaTradition8 entriesMaronite ChurchTradition12 entriesMennonitesTradition6 entriesMethodismTradition10 entriesModern Orthodox JudaismTradition4 entriesMoravian ChurchTradition9 entriesNath SampradayaTradition4 entriesNation of IslamTradition2 entriesNational Baptist Convention of AmericaTradition11 entriesNew AtheismTradition4 entriesNichirenTradition10 entriesNichiren ShoshuTradition10 entriesNirmalaTradition4 entriesNyingmaTradition14 entriesOld BelieversTradition14 entriesOneida CommunityTradition2 entriesOneness PentecostalismTradition2 entriesOrder of Nine AnglesTradition2 entriesOriental OrthodoxyTradition13 entriesOrthodox JudaismTradition3 entriesPalo MayombeTradition1 entryParsi ZoroastrianismTradition4 entriesPentecostalismTradition11 entriesPresbyterianismTradition12 entriesProgressive National Baptist ConventionTradition11 entriesProtestantismTradition5 entriesPure LandTradition7 entriesQuakerism (Religious Society of Friends)Tradition4 entriesQuanzhen (Complete Reality)Tradition3 entriesQuranismTradition3 entriesReclaimingTradition1 entryReconstructionist JudaismTradition2 entriesReform JudaismTradition2 entriesReligious Science (Centers for Spiritual Living)Tradition5 entriesRinzaiTradition11 entriesRoman CatholicismTradition14 entriesRomanian Orthodox ChurchTradition14 entriesRussian Orthodox ChurchTradition14 entriesSakyaTradition11 entriesSalafismTradition4 entriesSamkhyaTradition5 entriesThe Satanic TempleTradition2 entriesSeax-WicaTradition3 entriesSect ShintoTradition3 entriesSeicho-no-IeTradition3 entriesSerbian Orthodox ChurchTradition14 entriesSethianismTradition3 entriesSeventh-day AdventismTradition10 entriesShaivismTradition3 entriesShakersTradition2 entriesShaktismTradition3 entriesShangqing (Highest Clarity)Tradition3 entriesShia (Twelver)Tradition7 entriesShingonTradition12 entriesShri VidyaTradition4 entriesShrine ShintoTradition3 entriesSmartismTradition3 entriesSoka GakkaiTradition12 entriesSotoTradition10 entriesSri VaishnavismTradition7 entriesSufismTradition5 entriesSunniTradition8 entriesSvetambaraTradition2 entriesTemple of SetTradition2 entriesTendaiTradition15 entriesTheravadaTradition7 entriesTiantaiTradition12 entriesTibetan BuddhismTradition10 entriesUdasiTradition4 entriesUkrainian Greek Catholic ChurchTradition12 entriesUkrainian Orthodox ChurchTradition13 entriesThe United Methodist ChurchTradition12 entriesUnity (Unity School of Christianity)Tradition5 entriesVaishnavismTradition3 entriesVajrayanaTradition10 entriesWahhabismTradition4 entriesWesleyan ChurchTradition10 entriesZaidiyyahTradition7 entriesZenTradition9 entriesZhengyi (Orthodox Unity)Tradition4 entriesSources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Encyclopedia of Religiontier 1Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005View the Source3. Belief, Language, and Experiencetier 1Rodney Needham, Basil Blackwell, 19724. Wikipedia: Comparative religiontier 2WikipediaComparative religion, opening definitionQuote, Comparative religion, opening definitionComparative religion is the branch of religious studies that systematically compares the doctrines, practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the worlds religions.View the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.