Wikipedia: Religion

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There are several objective scientific approaches to religion to answer questions such as why religious belief is ubiquitous in every society. In neurology, work by scientists such as Ramachandran and his colleagues from the University of California at San Diego [1] has found evidence of brain circuitry in the temporal lobe that gives rises to religious experiences. In sociology, Rodney Stark has looked at the social forces that have caused religions to grow and the features of religions that have been most successful. In evolutionary psychology, scientists consider the survival advantages that religion might have had in the hunter-gatherer societies.

What constitutes a religion is a vexed topic, subject to much dispute in the field of theology. We might begin by defining religion as a system of belief?s based on man's attempt to explain the universe and natural phenomena, often ascribing agency to one or more deities? or other supernatural? forces. Religions tend to attract adherents who gather to celebrate holy days and to pray. Most religions also have a code of laws to be followed, like the Ten Commandments, or many of the books listed below.

Religions are systems of belief which deal with the supernatural? - what happens to us when we die, the nature of Deity (or Deities) (cf God) and our relationship therewith. Most religions begin when Deity intervenes in the lives of a person or group, enlightening them and establishing a superior way of life leading to internal peace in this life and qualification for some kind of Heaven after this life.

Religions deal with the (more or less) divergent lifestyle?s espoused by other religions in several ways. Religions with more closed sets of beliefs may label all others wrong, corruptions or counterfeits of the true faith. More open religions praise all belief systems as beneficial.

Religions usually have charismatic leaders, such as Martin Luther, Billy Graham, Mohandas Gandhi, Muhammad, the Buddha, etc. "Charismatic" means "gifted".

Extinct, ancient polytheistic religions, such as those of ancient Greece, [ancient Rome]?, the Vikings, etc., are often studied under the heading of mythology. More exactly, the stories and legends around these beliefs comprise the mythology of one of these religions. More generally, by extension, for the non-adherents of any given religion, the stories and legends thereof are sometimes referred to (but usually pejoratively) as the mythology of that religion.

Religions are often divided to monotheistic? and polytheistic?, but many are difficult to classify, either because they have no clear concept of "god" (like Buddhism), or because they claim to be monotheistic while having more than one god. A special case is Christianity, which claims to be monotheistic but worships three distinct divine "persons" in one Godhead (God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit), explained in the doctrine of the Trinity. Orthodox Chistianity also recognizes the existence of minor, created spiritual beings: angels and demons, but they are not worshipped as gods. In Catholicism Mary and the saints have especially important roles. According to Catholic theology, they are revered but not worshipped. In spite of the difficult concept of the doctrine of the Trinity, Christianity is generally classified as a monotheistic religion, not in the least by Christians themselves; Jesus Christ never profiled himself as a a separate God, but as the Son of God. He always claimed that whatever he said or did was in accordance with the will of his father (God).