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TheWestern religions are thereligions that originated withinWestern culture, which are thus historically, culturally, and theologically distinct fromEastern,African andIranian religions. The termAbrahamic religions (Judaism,Christianity, andIslam) is often used instead of using theEast and West terminology, as these originated in theMiddle East.
Western culture itself was significantly influenced by the emergence of Christianity and its adoption as thestate church of the Roman Empire in the late 4th century and the term "Christendom" largely indicates this intertwined history.[1]Western Christianity was significantly influenced byHellenistic religion (notablyneoplatonism) as well as theRoman imperial cult. Western Christianity is largely based on theCatholic Church'sLatin Church tradition, as opposed toEastern Orthodoxy, from which it was divided by theGreat Schism of the 11th century, and further includes allProtestant traditions that split with the Catholic Church from the 16th century onward.
Since the 19th century, Western religion has diversified into numerousnew religious movements, includingOccultism,Spiritism and diverse forms ofNeopaganism.
The West as a culture or civilization historically evolved out ofGreco-Romanclassical antiquity. These cultures hadpolytheistic religions, viz. Greek polytheism and Roman polytheism. Eastern influences on these religions are evident from the earliest times, theOrientalizing period at the very beginning of Greek antiquity.
DuringHellenism and theRoman Empire period, Eastern (Oriental) religions exerted a considerable influence on "Western" religion, giving rise toPersian influenced traditions likeGnosticism andMithraism, as well asEgyptian andChaldean influence onmystery religions (Orphism),astrology andmagic.Early Christianity itself is a further example of Orientalizing influence on the later Roman Empire.
During the same period, inherited traditions of native Roman religion were marginalized or overlaid byinterpretatio graeca, and theRoman imperial cult evolved into acivil religion which involved state ritual rather than religious faith or experience.Celtic andGermanic religion was described by Roman ethnography as primitive, but at the same time as pure or unspoiled compared to the so-called urban decadence of Rome.
Western Christianity is a subset ofChristianity, originally based on theLatin Christianity of theCatholic Church, as opposed toEastern Orthodoxy – from which it was divided during theGreat Schism of the 11th century – and various other non-western Christian movements. Western Christianity itself was divided by theProtestant Reformation in the 16th century, and pronouncedly "Western" forms of Christianity include Puritanism and Evangelicalism, movements resulting from the various "Great Awakenings" in the 18th to 20th centuryEnglish-speaking world and popularly practiced in the United States.
For at least a millennium and a half,Europe has been nearly equivalent toChristian culture.[2] The Christian culture was the predominant force inWestern civilization, guiding the course ofphilosophy,art,music,science,social structure andarchitecture.[3][4]
Renaissance magic was a resurgence inHermeticism andNeoplatonic varieties of themagical arts which arose along withRenaissance humanism in the 15th and 16th centuries CE. During the Renaissance period, magic and occult practices underwent significant changes that reflected shifts in cultural, intellectual, and religious perspectives.C. S. Lewis, in his work on English literature, highlighted the transformation in how magic was perceived and portrayed. In medieval stories, magic had a fantastical and fairy-like quality, while in the Renaissance, it became more complex and tied to the idea of hidden knowledge that could be explored through books and rituals. This change is evident in the works of authors likeSpenser,Marlowe,Chapman, andShakespeare, who treated magic as a serious and potentially dangerous pursuit.
Following thereligious wars of the 16th to 17th centuries, theAge of Enlightenment of the 18th century paved the way for a detachment of society and politics from religious questions. Inspired by theAmerican Revolution, theFrench Revolution brought the idea ofsecularization and alaicist state granting freedom of religion to Europe. After the turmoils of theNapoleonic Wars, this development caught hold in other parts of Europe, utilizing theGerman mediatization and theseparation of church and state in various European constitutions drawn up after therevolutions of 1848.
The principle of religious freedom introduced in Western society in the early 19th century facilitated the emergence of various new religious movements. First examples were derived from western occultism and the tradition ofsecret societies such as theFreemasons, but from the later 19th century, the influence ofEastern religions, notablyBuddhism andHinduism played an increasing role. From the mid 20th century, Eastern and Western spiritual traditions were increasinglysyncretized in the various movements associated with the New Age and Neopagan countercultures.
TheWestern world, taken as consisting of Europe, the Americas, Australia-New Zealand and (in part) South Africa and Philippines, are predominantlyWestern Christian: 77.4% inNorth America (2012),[5][6] 90% inLatin America (2011), close to 76.2% inEurope (2010),[7] (includes 35% of European Christians who areEastern Orthodox especially in Eastern Europe, 76%, not properly part of "Western religion", 46% of European Christians areRoman Catholic, 18% of European Christians areProtestant),[8] 61.1% inAustralia-New Zealand (2011),[9] 79% inSouth Africa and 90% in thePhilippines.
The second largest religions in all these regions are smaller by at least an order of magnitude,Islam in Europe (6%)[10] with about 4%,Islam in Canada with about 3%,Judaism in the United States with about 1.7%, andIslam in Australia with about 1.7%.
Most non-Christians in the Western world are irreligious, 22% in Australia, 40% in New Zealand, 18.2% in Europe,[11] 16.4% in the USA[11] and 16% in Canada, (Latin America, South Africa and Philippines are more religious). This is a reflection of the tradition ofsecular humanism which culminated in the 18th century Age of Enlightenment.[12][13][14]
There remains a minority of the order of 5% of the population in the Western world which adheres to non-Western religions, mostly due to recentimmigration, but to some extent also due toproselytization, notably conversion to various sects of Buddhism and Hinduism in the context of the New Age movement in the later part of the 20th century.
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