Religion is the belief that a mysterious, supernatural Being (or Beings) controls and directs the lives and destinies of human beings. It embodies the deep need of Divine help, the conviction that alleged manifestations of God’s goodness and excellence have often been received in answer to prayer, and the desire to secure bliss-bringing communion with the Deity. It entails a tangle of responsibilities, obligations, and practices. It is transmitted in a variety of ways, including orally, through gestures and symbols, and even through silence.
Many philosophers have sought to define religion and have come up with different theories. Some have used a real or lexical definition of the term, some have offered stipulative definitions (that is, descriptions of what is meant by the term), and some have taken a functional approach.
It is difficult to find a general definition that applies in all cases, as the immense diversity of religions implies. However, it is possible to recognize a pattern of sorts that runs through religions. For example, most of them include some form of life after death — whether a heaven, hell, limbo or purgatory — and many have an omnipotent, loving, all-powerful Creator.
Some, like Kwame Anthony Appiah, have argued that perhaps there isn’t such a thing as a religion at all. He and others have pointed out that vast generalizations are risky because it is impossible to know what someone else believes or is practicing. In fact, any definition will have some flaws, and a good theory of religion will be able to recognize those flaws.