Religion is the system of beliefs and practices that a person or group subscribes to, usually with the idea that it is the source of ultimate truth and meaning in life. The belief systems differ greatly, but many of them have certain common characteristics: sacred objects and places, holy texts, rituals, codes of behavior and a supreme deity.
The earliest historical religions developed from tribal totems, ancestor worship and the belief in guardian and protective gods. Later, more complex beliefs arose in Egypt and Mesopotamia, with monotheism (belief in one god) and polytheism (belief in several gods). The concept of salvation is central to many religions, as are the notions that good will be rewarded in the afterlife and that evil will be punished.
Some scholars have viewed religion as pan-human, and defined it functionally as the beliefs and practices that generate social cohesion or provide orientation in life. However, these definitions essentially equate religion with the human condition, and if taken to their logical extreme can be seen as stipulative, rather than analytical.
In recent times, scholars have shifted away from the classical view of religion as an object that can be accurately defined using a lexical definition and toward a more “polythetic” approach that recognizes that different religions have distinct characteristics but share some general features. This approach is most fully developed in the study of world religions by authors such as Durkheim and Paul Tillich. While this approach lacks the precision of a lexical definition, it allows one to critique stipulative definitions for their inadequacy and inappropriateness.