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It also considers and compares the origins and similarities shared between the various religions of the world. Studying such material facilitates a broadened and more sophisticated understanding of human beliefs and practices regarding the sacred , numinous , spiritual and divine .
For example, the similarities between the names of gods in different cultures. One particularly successful example of this approach is the study of Indo-European mythology. Scholars have found striking similarities between the mythological and religious terms used in different cultures of Europe and India.
The religions share doctrinal, historical, and geographic overlap that supposedly contrasts them with the Dharmic religions of India, Iranian religions, or traditions such as Chinese folk religion. [1] [2] However, the categorization has been criticized for oversimplification of different cultural and doctrinal nuances. [3]
The anthropology of religion involves the study of religious institutions in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures. Modern anthropology assumes that there is complete continuity between magical thinking and religion, [ 76 ] [ n 6 ] and that every religion is a cultural ...
Culture (/ ˈ k ʌ l tʃ ər / KUL-chər) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these groups. [1] Culture often originates from or is attributed to a specific region or ...
The religions of the ancient Near East were mostly polytheistic, with some examples of monolatry (for example, Yahwism and Atenism).Some scholars believe that the similarities between these religions indicate that the religions are related, a belief known as patternism.
More specifically, the definition of religion as dealing with the sacred only, regardless of the supernatural, is not supported by studies of these aboriginals. The view that religion has a social aspect, at the very least, introduced in a generalized very strong form by Durkheim has become influential and uncontested. [50]
Others required more expansive theological and poetic efforts: though both Ares and Mars are war gods, Ares was a relatively minor figure in Greek religious practice and deprecated by the poets, while Mars was a father of the Roman people and a central figure of archaic Roman religion.