Religion can be explained as a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

Тhe major spiritual traditions may be parsed into denominations: Christianity into Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Nestorianism (see Christian denominations) Islam into Sunnism, Shi'ism, Sufism, and Kharijites (see divisions of Islam). Hinduism into Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism, Smartism, and others (see Hindu denominations) Buddhism into Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana (see Schools of Buddhism).

Some people's religion has no specific God or gods to be worshiped Some people's religion has no specific God or gods to be worshiped. There are also people who practice their religious beliefs in their own personal way, largely independent of organized religion. But almost all people who follow some form of religion believe that a supreme being created the world and influences their lives.

Sociological classifications of religious movements suggest that within any given religious group, a community can resemble various types of structures, including "churches", "denominations", "sects", "cults", and "institutions".

New religious movements Cao Đài is a syncretistic, monotheistic religion, established in Vietnam in 1926. Raëlism is a new religious movement founded in 1974 teaching that humans were created by aliens. It is numerically the world's largest UFO religion.

Hindu reform movements, such as Ayyavazhi, Swaminarayan Faith and Ananda Marga, are examples of new religious movements within Indian religions. Unitarian Universalism is a religion characterized by support for a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning", and has no accepted creed or theology.

Eckankar is a pantheistic religion with the purpose of making God an everyday reality in one's life. Wicca is a neo-pagan religion first popularised in 1954 by British civil servant Gerald Gardner, involving the worship of a God and Goddess.

Druidry is a religion promoting harmony with nature, and drawing on the practices of the druids. Satanism is a broad category of religions that, for example, worship Satan as a deity (Theistic Satanism) or use "Satan" as a symbol of carnality and earthly values (LaVeyan Satanism).

Rastafari is an Abrahamic belief which developed in Jamaica in the 1930s, following the coronation of Haile Selassie I as Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. Its adherents worship him in much the same way as Jesus in his Second Advent, or as God the Father.

To modern Rastafari the most important doctrine is belief in the divinity of Haile Selassie I.

Unitarianism is historically a Christian theological movement named for the affirmation that God is one entity.

Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions. It was founded by the Prophet Zoroaster in ancient Iran approximately 3500 years ago.

Jehovah's Witnesses are members of a Christian-based religious movement probably best known for their door-to-door evangelistic work.