What does the concept of "religious picture of the world" include? In the most general sense, it refers to religious manifestations in a particular state and in the world as a whole, their character, intensity. Their influence on the life of society and the dynamics of development are also taken into account.
That is, when the religious picture of the world is analyzed, the presence of various religions, trends and faiths, inter-religious and inter-religious interaction among them is taken into account. We study their percentage, the historical appearance in a particular society and the impact on it.
But in practice, it is almost impossible to indicate the actual number of believers belonging to a particular religion. This is due to the ambiguous understanding of the term “religiosity”. So, according to the definition of the Orthodox Church, everyone who has accepted the Sacrament of Baptism refers to it. Although in fact, many people call themselves "Orthodox" more likely to belong to historical and cultural traditions than to denominations.
Most religious scholars believe that the modern religious picture of the world is heterogeneous and developed countries are significantly different in this regard from developing countries. The fact is that developed countries solve both domestic political problems and foreign policy. While maintaining social injustice and poverty, the level of material wealth of the population is still high in them. The level of education is also constantly growing.
But in developing countries, the bulk of the population directs their mental and emotional resources to solving domestic political economic problems. Religions that offer a simple worldview, give categorical formulations and clear calls to action are more suitable here. Of course, similar tendencies may also appear in a developed society, but they do not take root too much due to the predominance of the educated population.
As an analysis of reality has shown, at the present stage, religious groups no longer accept obligations and the rules are so simple, on faith, recklessly. Now the entire heritage of the past is being carefully checked and studied, especially by the scientific representatives of a particular group.
The fate of religion (in the broad sense) used to be predicted by two options: inevitable and complete withering away, or, conversely, rebirth with even greater power. Dying, as life has shown, did not happen. Religion still has an impact on social life, only this influence changes its character.
Be that as it may, religious scholars state the fact that the majority of the world's population nevertheless adheres to religiosity, only the forms of its manifestation differ.
According to the last years of the 20th century, the religious composition of the world's population is as follows: 1 billion Christians, including 800 million Catholics, 400 million Protestants and 200 million Orthodox; 300 million Buddhists; 600 million Hindus, 800 million Muslims; 300 million followers of Confucius. In addition, there are many unaccounted for cults and currents. Some common, major religions are also not included in this list.
What can be said with full certainty is that the modern religious picture of the world is characterized by the completed process of secularization - the crowding out of society of religion. That is, at this stage in most countries, it absolutely does not affect decision-making in the field of politics or society, as was the case before. The opposite happened: politicians use religion in their own interests.
The completion of the secularization process is connected with modernization, with the development of civilization, with the victory of a pragmatic outlook on life, a view in terms of efficiency and usefulness.