Western religions
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The Western religions are the religions that originated within Western culture, which are thus historically, culturally, and theologically distinct from Eastern, African and Iranian religions. The term Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) is often used instead of using the East and West terminology, as these originated in the Middle East.
Western culture itself was significantly influenced by the emergence of
Since the 19th century, Western religion has diversified into numerous
Antiquity
"The West" as a culture or civilization historically evolved out of
During
During the same period, inherited traditions of native Roman religion were marginalized or overlaid by
Western Christianity
Western Christianity is a subset of
For at least a millennium and a half, Europe has been nearly equivalent to Christian culture.[2] The Christian culture was the predominant force in Western civilization, guiding the course of philosophy, art, music, science, social structure and architecture.[3][4]
Renaissance magic
Secularization
Following the
New religious movements
The principle of religious freedom introduced in Western society in the early 19th century facilitated the emergence of various new religious movements. First examples were derived from western occultism and the tradition of
Religions in the Western world today
The
The second largest religions in all these regions are smaller by at least an order of magnitude,
Most non-Christians in the Western world are irreligious, 22% in Australia, 40% in New Zealand, 18.2% in Europe,[11] 16.4% in the USA[11] and 16% in Canada, (Latin America, South Africa and Philippines are more religious). This is a reflection of the tradition of secular humanism which culminated in the 18th century Age of Enlightenment.[12][13][14]
There remains a minority of the order of 5% of the population in the Western world which adheres to non-Western religions, mostly due to recent immigration, but to some extent also due to proselytization, notably conversion to various sects of Buddhism and Hinduism in the context of the New Age movement in the later part of the 20th century.
References
- ISBN 978-0-8132-1683-6.
- ISBN 978-0-8132-1683-6.
- ISBN 978-0-88489-298-4.
- ISBN 978-0-8132-1683-6.
- ^ The Global Religious Landscape A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Major Religious Groups as of 2010 Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, p.18
- ^ "American Religious Identification Survey". CUNY Graduate Center. 2001. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
- ^ "Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population" (PDF), Pew Research Center, 383, Pew Research Center, p. 130, 2011, retrieved 14 August 2013
- ^ "Regional Distribution of Christians - Pew Research Center". Pewforum.org. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
- ^ "Cultural diversity in Australia". 2071.0 – Reflecting a Nation: Stories from the 2011 Census, 2012–2013. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 21 June 2012. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
- ^ "The future of the global Muslim population - Europe (excluding however Turkey and including Siberian Russia)". Pew Research Center. January 27, 2011.
- ^ a b "The Global Religious Landscape A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Major Religious Groups as of 2010" (PDF). Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. 21 June 2012. p. 25.
- ^ Electa Draper (25 June 2008). "Neopaganism growing quickly". The Denver Post. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
- ^ "The pagans of suburbia". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 January 2003. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
- ^ "Major Religions Ranked by Size". Adherents.com. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
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