Religions

Today, we’ll learn why these frameworks we call “religions” are so hard to define, and why our definitions have real-life consequences.

When we think of world religions, we often think of the Big Five: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. But why do we think of those?

What is a cult? How are cults different from religions? And why do many religious scholars say we shouldn’t even use that label?

The word “magic” has dubious, demonic connotations. But is there really a difference between magic and religion?

In this episode of Crash Course Religions, we’ll learn about the surprising history of the term “Hindu,” what the word “karma” really means, and how this vast, sprawling tradition contains more than one version of a story.

In this episode, we’ll explore the ways Buddhists try to leave that suffering behind and reach enlightenment, using the teachings of the Buddha, the three jewels, the four noble truths, and the eightfold path.

In this episode of Crash Course Religions, we’ll learn how Indigenous religious traditions’ emphasis on place, kinship, and diverse spirits challenge the dominant assumptions of the Western worldview.

Is it being part of a religion, a people, a culture, a nation? All of the above? In this episode, we’ll uncover how Jewish identity has been shaped by centuries of debate and deliberation.

n this episode of Crash Course Religions, we explore the many faces of the world’s most popular religion—its denominations, commonalities, and complexities.

In this episode, we dig into the beliefs, pillars, and spread of Islam, from the astronomers who charted stars hundreds of years ago to the Malaysian astronaut who took his faith to space.

African religions include Islam and Christianity, but also hundreds of diverse and complex indigenous religions.

We’ll learn about two of the Three Teachings of China—Confucianism and Daoism.

Atheism is far from new, but the various ways that people say “no thank you” to belief in gods, deities, or particular religions are so diverse that they’ve had a huge impact on world belief systems.

Sacred texts mean different things to different religions—sometimes they’re essential to belief and practice, and other times, not much importance is placed on them at all.

In this episode of Crash Course Religions, we explore the rituals that shape our lives—whether religious or not.

From priests to imams, from rabbis to gurus, religious leaders play a big role in shaping religions today. Today, we’ll dig into what makes a religious leader and how people can take the power back.

Today, we’ll explore how religions around the world have formed answers to a question nobody knows the answer to.

In this episode, we figure out how the paranormal and supernatural shows up in our religions, and outside of them.

Religion and science have had some famously messy fights, but do they always have to be in conflict? Let's explore that!

Today, we’ll learn how religious communities construct ideas about sex, gender, and sexuality, and why these concepts aren’t as timeless or unchanging as they might seem.

While race and religion may seem separate, they are inextricably linked. Today, we’ll unpack racism’s roots in religious colonialism, its presence in Indigenous boarding schools, and its effects today.

Today, we explore end-of-the-world predictions across time and faith traditions. It turns out that, more often than not, those predictions have been more about a group’s present problems than any future calamity.