Religion and beliefs

World religions

While there are many local beliefs and religions, some have spread around the world and gained followers in many different countries. Those with the largest following are:

Christianity: The most popular religion in the world with over 2 billion followers. It's centred on belief in God and Jesus Christ and has the Bible as its holy book.

Islam: The second largest religion in the world, its followers are called Muslims. They believe there is only one God who has spoken through his Prophet Mohammed. The Muslim holy book is called the Qur'an (or Quran).

Judaism: One of the oldest religions, appearing in the Middle East over 3,500 years ago. Jews believe that there is only one God. The Torah is their holy book.

Hinduism: The religion of the majority of people in India and other significant populations worldwide. The Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita are examples of some of their holy books.

Buddhism: A widespread religion that originated in India by Siddhartha Gautama. The sacred book of Buddhism is called the Tipitaka.

Religion, belief and superstition

These sites have facts and information about different religions and belief systems around the world. There's also information about superstitions - beliefs about the spiritual world that may not be connected to a particular religion.

BBC Religions

This is a great resource providing useful facts about different religions. Although this page has been archived and is no longer updated, the information that's there is reliable and easy to follow.

• Under Featured religions and beliefs choose a religion you'd like to find out about.

Tips: Websites that have .com or .co in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the company’s mission and values are.

Britannica School

This is one of the EPIC resources, a collection of reliable databases that help to answer questions like this. You may need a password from your school or local library to access it.

• Choose the level you would like to search with.

• Enter the name of the religion you are looking for, or try a particular keyword like 'Quran'.

• Or search for 'religion' to find the religion article which has links to many articles about different religions and religious ideas.

• You can also search for information about superstitions. Superstitions are often cultural or personal, like using the phrase 'touch wood' or avoiding the number 13.

Tips: Search words, or keywords, are the most important words in our question. We can always change our keywords or add more if we need to.

Gale eBooks

Gale eBooks is another EPIC database. It has lots of book on various topics like Arts, Business, History, Medicine, Religion and more.

• Go down the page to Browse Collections to find Religion.

• Explore any of the titles to understand more about religions, beliefs and the difference between agnosticism and atheism.

Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online. Some EPIC databases may also be available through your public library.

Religion in New Zealand

New Zealand has its own history of religion and beliefs, from Māori beliefs to religions that came with the European settlers and more recent immigration.

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

This is an excellent starting point for all questions about New Zealand Aotearoa.

• Start with a keyword search for 'religion'.

• Select Traditional Māori religion to find out about early Māori beliefs and practices.

• Choose Religion and society for an overview of religion in New Zealand from the days of the early settlers.

• Go to Diverse religions to find out about different faiths that have come into New Zealand since.

• The first page of each story has a quick summary - look through the different headings to find more detail. Each story has External links and sources where you can find more information.

Tips: If we scroll down to the bottom of the page we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.

NZ Interfaith Group

This website has lots of discussions and events related to different religions and beliefs. The aim of this organisation is to encourage groups of different faiths to work together and understand each other.

• Check out the Multifaith Calendar to see some events around the country.

• Go to Internet Sites and Resources to find their recommended websites.

Tips: Websites that have .org or .net in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the organisation's mission and values are.

Indigenous beliefs

Indigenous peoples are those who are native to a particular country rather than people who arrived and settled at a later date. Some examples are the Māori of New Zealand, the Aborigines of Australia and the Native American peoples of North America.

Te Ara: Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Once again we can use Te Ara to find out about the beliefs and rituals of the early Maori population.

• Search for 'Māori religion'

• Look at the stories Traditional Māori religion and Māori and religion to find out more.

Artlandish Aboriginal Art Gallery

This is the website of an art gallery in Western Australia. Even though it has lots of images of art for sale, it has a section of information on the Aboriginal belief known as The Dreaming or Dreamtime.

• Go down to the end of the page to find Online Library.

• Select Dreamtime Art Library to find Aboriginal Dreamtime, Aboriginal Dreamtime Stories and Aboriginal Ceremonies.

Tips: Some websites have advertisements (or ads) which ask us to buy something or tell us to ‘click here’. It’s best to ignore these ads and focus on the information we’re looking for.

Britannica School Secondary

This is a good place to find an overview of Native American beliefs.

• Search for the keywords Native American religion to find their article.

• Try the heading Web's Best Sites to find other recommended resources.

Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online. Some EPIC databases may also be available through your public library.

Non-religious beliefs

There are also a number of non-religious beliefs, for example, atheism, humanism and communism. Here are some good resources to find out more about them.

Britannica School

This encyclopedia has a good description of these different belief systems.

• Try searching the Secondary level.

• Each topic will have an in-depth article, with links to other resources eg Humanism.

World History (Gale In Context)

This is another good EPIC resource.

• You will see a panel headed Religions on the front page, with the option to view all.

• Select the topic Agnosticism and Atheism.

• You will find a range of resources to choose from.

• Or select a different belief system from the list.

Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online. Some EPIC databases may also be available through your public library.

Alternative points of view

Try these sites for some alternative and different viewpoints on religious issues in today's society.

Opposing Viewpoints (Gale In Context)

This is another EPIC resource so you may need a password from your school or local library to access it.

• Using the Society and Culture box, select the heading Politics and Religion.

• There are resources in lots of formats under the different sections.

Global Issues (In Context)

This EPIC resource has current information about lots of important issues around the world.

• Go up the Browse Issues tab at the top of the page.

• From the Topics menu Society and Culture to shorten the list.

• You will find lots of topics to explore such as Religion and Geopolitics, Religious Freedom, Religious Fundamentalism and more.

• These topics will have an overview and will link to different types of sources.

Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online. Some EPIC databases may also be available through your public library.

Books

The following are a few titles you may like to have a look at. Check for others at school or the local public library.

• The Usborne encyclopedia of world religions by Susan Meredith

• ReligioNZ: a guide to religions in New Zealand by Bronwyn Elsmore

• A concise encyclopedia of Māori myth and legend by Margaret Orbell

• The encyclopedia of Native American religions: an introduction by Arlene B Hirschfelder

• Religion for atheists: a non-believer's guide to the uses of religion by Alain De Botton

• The encyclopedia of superstitions by Mona A Radford, Edwin Radford.

SCIS no: 1845892