General term for social ideologies and social organizations that believe in and worship supra-natural deities; a social, historical and cultural phenomenon that appeared at a certain historical stage in the development of human society, in which the faith in God and their related knowledge and practical life are combined. The core of religion is man’s faith in God. The basic elements of religion include religious ideas, religious feelings, religious behaviors, religious organizations, and religious artefacts. Religious ideas and religious feelings are the basic intrinsic elements of religion; together with the other basic elements, they constitute the complex social and cultural system of religion. Religion, which arose in the later period of primitive society, has undergone an evolution from the spontaneous religion of primitive society to the man-made religion of class society, from polytheism to monotheism, and from clan religion, national religion to world religion. Buddhism, Christianity and Islam are the three major existing world religions…
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