Religion is a worldwide phenomenon that appears in many forms. It has a complex and varied impact on the lives of individuals and society at large. Despite this complexity, there are some things that seem to be universal about religion. Many people see religion as a source of meaning and purpose in their lives, an answer to life’s mysteries, or a comfort in times of sadness and sorrow. It also provides a sense of community and belonging, and offers moral guidance to help people live ethically. Whether it is a belief in a god or a higher power, or an intense spiritual experience, religion has had a profound impact on the world’s cultures and history.
One major theory of why religion developed argues that it grew out of human curiosity about death and the universe, as well as the fear of forces beyond control. Religion evolved to offer hope for these fears and to provide answers to the meaning of life and our place in it. This hope usually involves some form of salvation, whether it be a physical resurrection to eternal life in heaven as in Christianity, or a more abstract spiritual release from suffering known as nirvana as practiced by Buddhism. Religion often deals with these issues in various ways, including through the practice of rituals and prayers, sacred scripture, a clergy or priesthood that governs the religion, symbols and days of significance, and social structures that manage these practices.
Several early sociologists, including Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Karl Marx, studied religion in terms of its societal impacts. They found that religion binds people together in social harmony, promotes moral behavior, and provides strength for people in the face of life’s tragedies and hardships. Durkheim argued that these effects are due to the underlying values and beliefs held by the religions, which help people cope with the problems of life.
Some scholars have taken a different approach to understanding religion by dropping the idea of belief in a distinctive kind of reality, and instead focusing on what functions religion performs. This is called a functional definition of religion. For example, Edward Tylor’s minimal definition of religion, which he proposed in 1871, and Paul Tillich’s functional definition both use this approach. They define religion as a set of activities that bring people into a group with a shared identity.
Other theories of religion are more scientific in nature, such as the meme theory, which argues that ideas can be transmitted to new generations in much the same way that genetic material is passed on from one generation to the next. Many scientists, including psychologists and neuroscientists, think that these kinds of ideas are transmitted through culture. Others, such as evolutionary biologists and sociologists, argue that religion serves a social function by giving people a sense of community and moral purpose. This helps people live ethically and discourages antisocial behavior such as alcoholism, drug abuse, out-of-wedlock births, and crime.