What Is Religion?

Religion is the set of beliefs, practices and values that have become a vital part of some cultures. It has a variety of functions: it gives meaning and purpose to life, strengthens social bonds and stability, promotes psychological and physical well-being, and may motivate people to work for positive social change. Whether any particular religious practices can be called religions, however, remains controversial, since the term’s semantic range has shifted over time.

The modern concept of religion is much broader than its ancient roots, and this shift has made the topic difficult to study. Scholars have sought to identify what practices belong in the category, and they have used a variety of definitions. Two issues are of particular importance in this debate: (1) whether the phenomenon is a necessary and sufficient feature for being a religion, and (2) what sorts of things should be considered as part of a religion.

Traditionally, the word religion has meant humankind’s responses to God: how humans believe about God and how they behave in relation to him. This has led to the development of several theories of religion, which are based on different assumptions about how people respond to their creator and what role God plays in their lives.

Emile Durkheim’s theory of religion, for example, focuses on the ways that people respond to their creator: how they worship him or her and how they treat his or her creation. His idea is that human beings create religions to protect that which is essential for their survival: the world of knowledge, moral behavior and a sense of purpose. He also emphasizes that these religious systems are social, in that they build communities of people who support one another.

Durkheim’s work is influential in contemporary sociological thinking about religion, and a number of scholars have used his ideas to study religious phenomena. Other theories, however, have focused on the ways that religions influence individuals and society.

For example, the sociobiological perspective (which claims that culture can be best understood as a consequence of choices that have proven useful in protecting genes and promoting gene-replication) has claimed that religions are early and, for millennia, successful protective systems. These protect the potentialities of the brain and body, such as the need for sex or the desire to survive. They also impose order, control and power.

Many religious traditions have a strong element of symbolic interaction, and their rituals can be intense experiences. They can involve crying, laughing, screaming, trancelike states, feelings of oneness with those around them, and so on. For some, these experiences are transformative, and for others they are not. But all of them are designed to reinforce the belief that something is sacred, and therefore worthy of protection, and that they are being watched over by divine beings who can see what is really going on. This is a very powerful belief that can make people do remarkable things, such as sacrifice themselves for the sake of their religious values and beliefs.