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Origin Era

This page groups religions by the era in which they first emerged, from ancient antiquity to movements founded within the last two centuries. Wikipedia dates the Baháʼí Faith's founding to "19th-century Iran," while describing Judaism as "the oldest Abrahamic religion." Browsing by origin era lets a visitor see which traditions are recent arrivals and which reach back into the ancient world.

Facts

Overview

What Defines This Grouping

The many-deity religion of a particular people as it is actually practised: local, carried by custom, festival and household observance rather than by scripture or a professional priesthood, and commonly coexisting with an official religion layered over it. 2

Peoples and Traditions Covered

Chinese and Vietnamese popular religion: distinct traditions with distinct pantheons and distinct histories, grouped here by how they are transmitted rather than by any shared content. 2

Status

Standing as a Comparative Category

Contested: folk or popular religion is defined by contrast with an elite or official religion - a distinction the practice itself does not observe, and one that scholarship increasingly declines to draw. 2

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. Popular ReligionView the Source

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The Inner World

The Civil World

The Natural World

Origin Era

16th century BCE

15th century

16th century

19th century

20th century