World religions

World religions is a category used in the study of religion for the largest and most widespread religious movements. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism are always included in the list; they are known as the "Big Five". Some scholars also include other religions, such as Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, or the Bahá'í Faith. The term world religions is used to compare them with other groups, such as indigenous religions and new religious movements.

The term was first used in the 1960s. Scholars such as Ninian Smart first used it, because he wanted to get away from looking at religions form a focus of Christianity. Smart also wanted to take other religious traditions into account.

The concept of "world religion" has also been criticized: Scholars such as Jonathan Z. Smith have said that it should be abandoned. They say, the concept is bad because it takes the Protestant view as the model of what is a religion. Protestantism is a movement that developed recently. According to the scholars, it takes an uncritical standpoint, and it dictates what religions should be called "major". Other people have argued that the concept is useful, as long as people are aware of its shortcomings.