How Much Do You Know About Religious Movements Throughout History?

Most people don't realize that changes in religious beliefs occur quite slowly. Often, not even religious leaders and the pious realize that they're occurring.

Keep in mind that religious organizations are quite dynamic. They are ever-changing phenomena.

Religious movements fall into a subcategory of social movements. They are organized efforts to cause or prevent change.

An endogenous religious movement is one that seeks to change the internal character of the religion. This is, essentially, changing the core of beliefs.

An exogenous religious movement changes the general environment, sometimes via the economy or ideology. Such movements are often connected with social causes.

Generative religious movements seek to introduce new religions into an environment or society. There have been several of these throughout history.

The Great Schism split Christianity. In the eleventh century, Christianity became Western Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Protestantism and Roman Catholicism split during the Reformation. All of this took place during the 16th century.

It's true that Protestantism has been prone to schism. More than 750 Protestant groups have been identified in North America alone.

New religious groups that form due to schism are known as sects. There are many sects within the Christian religion.

Sectarian movements are most often led by laity and low-level clergy. These types of movements are common, but not always significant.

It's false that all religious movements result in schism. Often, they merely result in reform.

The Roman Catholic Church has been particularly effective at incorporating movements back into the church. That is a testament to the strength of this particular religious order.

Pope John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council to respond to pressures to modernize the Catholic Church and improve relations with other faiths. This took place in the early 1960s.

The Protestant ecumenical movement saw the union of diverse Protestant traditions. This took place in the latter half of the 20th century.

Today, liberal Protestantism has forged coalitions with a number of liberal social causes. Likewise, Evangelical or conservative Protestantism has aligned itself with economically and socially conservative causes.

Often, religious leaders will tell their followers that a movement or certain actions are part of a divine plan. This is the case with jihad, or holy war, which was prevalent in Islam in the late 20th century.

In essence, the Civil Rights movement in the United States can equally be viewed as a religious movement. It was led by black ministers, activities were organized in churches, and spirited black and white youth were motivated by their religious traditions.

Religious traditions played a key role in Eastern Europe's liberation from communism. For instance, the Solidarity labor movement in Poland received legitimacy from the Catholic Church.

L. Ron Hubbard wrote the book "Dianetics" in 1950. After the book became a bestseller, Hubbard formed the Church of Scientology in 1954.

It's false that there were few religious movements during this time. In fact, the U.S. saw a slew of religious movements, thanks to the youth subculture at the time.

The late 19th and early 20th centuriess were a time when Christian missionaries flocked to Africa. The 20th century was also a time when many Eastern gurus came to the United States as missionaries of their faiths.

All of the above are sectarian or cult movements that were formed in the 19th century. The list also includes Jehovah's Witnesses and Theosophy.

Fundamentalism is a religious movement that spans across most of the 20th century. It's actually considered one of the most important movements of the 20th century.

Fundamentalism teaches that the scriptures are inerrant, or literally true. This is in opposition to liberal scholars who believe the Bible should not be understood literally.

NRMs are New Religious Movements. These are sometimes pejoratively referred to as cults.

Christianity is the largest religion in the world today. It has about 2.3 billion members.

Hinduism is the oldest religion in practice today. It dates back to prehistoric times.

Judaism was founded approximately 3,500 years ago. It is the oldest of the monotheistic faiths.

Jesus Christ is famously the founder of Christianity. The religion was founded in AD 30 in Jerusalem.

Siddhartha Gautama was the founder of Buddhism and was known as the Buddha. The religion was formed in the 4th and 5th centuries BC in India.

Islam is a religion that was founded in modern Saudi Arabia. It was originated by Muhammad in the 7th century A.D.

Although Wicca seems like an ancient religion, it actually wasn't founded until the 1950s. That being said, it has its roots in European fertility cults.

In Buddhism, Nirvana is a state reached not through death, but rather through enlightenment. This can sometimes take multiple reincarnations to achieve.

It's true that in Catholicism there are patron saints for nearly everything. For instance, Saint Drogo is the patron saint of coffee. Hallelujah!