WORLD RELIGIONS. There are three overlapping yet divergent senses in which the term world religions is commonly used today. In its broadest sense, it is shorthand for the "religions of the world," that is, any religion that currently exists or formerly existed somewhere in the world. The emphasis, however, tends to be on extant religions rather than those that flourished in the past, and in this connotation another often favored synonym is "living religions" or "living faiths." In the second, somewhat more restrictive and evaluative sense, only a certain number of religions is meant: usually, "the major religions of the world," meaning the type of religions that can claim to have played a distinct and significant role in the historical process of a nation or a region, or the type of religions that purportedly have had universal aspirations and an appeal that transcends the limits of...