This page groups religions by broad type, such as whether scholars classify them as a universal religion actively seeking converts or an ethnic religion identified with one people. Wikipedia describes universal religions as those that "seek worldwide acceptance and actively look for new converts, such as the BaháΚΌí Faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Jainism," in contrast to ethnic religions tied to a single group. Browsing by kind of tradition lets a visitor compare missionary faiths against traditions bound to one culture.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingReligions founded in the modern era, usually around a living founder and a new revelation or a new reading of an old one. The label describes age and origin and passes no judgement on legitimacy. 2 Status
Standing as a Comparative CategoryA standard category in the sociology of religion, adopted deliberately from the 1970s in place of cult, which had come to deliver a verdict rather than a description. 2 Learn More
New religious movements
This group gathers new religious movements: religions and spiritual movements that emerged in the modern period, typically in the nineteenth, twentieth or twenty-first centuries, often around a founder, a new revelation or a fresh synthesis of older sources.
The browser will find a varied set of movements, ranging from established faiths to small and sometimes controversial groups. The atlas describes each in its own terms, records its documented history, and notes controversy where it is well attested, without either endorsing or dismissing.
Kind of Tradition
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction
Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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