When (and how) does one differentiate a religion from a sect ?
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Well, Joseph Smith did it by writing his own fanfic about the Bible and the convincing a bunch of people it was true so that he could sleep with their wives.
It’s an oversimplification, sure, but not by much.
Well, Joseph Smith did it by writing his own fanfic about the Bible and the convincing a bunch of people it was true so that he could sleep with their wives.
It’s an oversimplification, sure, but not by much.
This is a question without a definite answer (philosophers can’t even define religion as a concept itself). Scholars would say that if one can agree on a set of core beliefs, they are the same religion. Jews, Christians and Muslims all believe in the same entity as god but they all have a differing opinion of prophets (Jews and Muslims don’t believe in Jesus as the son of god and Jews don’t recognise Muhammad as a prophet) and they take that belief to be a core belief (so much so they mark the great dividing points between their holy books). Protestants and Catholics disagree on the pre-eminence of the pope but still agree on the idea that Jesus is the son of god. Their core beliefs are in alignment but they disagree with various other positions.
The issue is that core beliefs can be somewhat flexible and exist on a spectrum where some view a belief as a core belief of the religion and others don’t and this distinction also creates the issue of infinite sects of religion given that everyone’s experience and belief in religion will have a degree of uniqueness to them, hence philosophy’s great problem defining religion.
This is a question without a definite answer (philosophers can’t even define religion as a concept itself). Scholars would say that if one can agree on a set of core beliefs, they are the same religion. Jews, Christians and Muslims all believe in the same entity as god but they all have a differing opinion of prophets (Jews and Muslims don’t believe in Jesus as the son of god and Jews don’t recognise Muhammad as a prophet) and they take that belief to be a core belief (so much so they mark the great dividing points between their holy books). Protestants and Catholics disagree on the pre-eminence of the pope but still agree on the idea that Jesus is the son of god. Their core beliefs are in alignment but they disagree with various other positions.
The issue is that core beliefs can be somewhat flexible and exist on a spectrum where some view a belief as a core belief of the religion and others don’t and this distinction also creates the issue of infinite sects of religion given that everyone’s experience and belief in religion will have a degree of uniqueness to them, hence philosophy’s great problem defining religion.
This is a question without a definite answer (philosophers can’t even define religion as a concept itself). Scholars would say that if one can agree on a set of core beliefs, they are the same religion. Jews, Christians and Muslims all believe in the same entity as god but they all have a differing opinion of prophets (Jews and Muslims don’t believe in Jesus as the son of god and Jews don’t recognise Muhammad as a prophet) and they take that belief to be a core belief (so much so they mark the great dividing points between their holy books). Protestants and Catholics disagree on the pre-eminence of the pope but still agree on the idea that Jesus is the son of god. Their core beliefs are in alignment but they disagree with various other positions.
The issue is that core beliefs can be somewhat flexible and exist on a spectrum where some view a belief as a core belief of the religion and others don’t and this distinction also creates the issue of infinite sects of religion given that everyone’s experience and belief in religion will have a degree of uniqueness to them, hence philosophy’s great problem defining religion.
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