Religion is one of the world’s most widespread forms of human life. It is a system of spiritual beliefs and practices that are generally organized around the worship of an all-powerful god or deities. Most religions also include a code of moral conduct and often involve ritual participation and personal and group prayers. Some of the most prominent religions include Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.

The word “religion” comes from the Latin religio, which roughly translates as scrupulousness or devotion. In Western antiquity, it was common to refer to certain worship as “our religion,” in the same way that a specific ethnicity or group might call its own customs and traditions by that name. Today, it is more common to use the term religion to describe a social genus, or category-concept, that includes many diverse cultural types.

It is generally accepted that early religion grew out of humans’ curiosity about the supernatural and the spiritual, as well as a fear of uncontrollable forces in the environment (for example, weather, pregnancy and birth, or success in hunting). It became a way for people to deal with these concerns by seeking hope — hopes for immortality, life after death, a loving creator who would watch over humanity, and a meaning and purpose to human existence.

Anthropologists have generally categorized religions according to two different functions: manipulation, or magic, which tries to control the environment by direct means, and supplication, or religion, which tries to control the environment through appeals to a higher power, such as gods and goddesses.