How many religions are there?

Answer 1

There are over 12 main categories;

• Christianity
• Buddhism
• Confucianism
• Hinduism
• Islam
• Jainism
• Judaism
• Shinto
• Sikhism
• Taoism
• Zoroastrianism
• New Religious Movements

And over 25 sub categories such as:

• Baptist
• Episcopal
• Lutheran
• Methodist
• Pentecostal
• Zen
• Pure Land
• Theravada
• Tibetan
• Shaivism
• Vaishnavism
• Shakta
• Philosophy
• Orthodox
• Liberal/Reform
• Christian-Derived NRMs
• Eastern-Derived NRMs
• Paganism and New Age
• Bahai
• Scientology
• Rastafarianism

Answer:

There are thousands of different belief systems from animism to zoroastrianism and, humans being humans, tens of thousands of differing views of those belief systems.

Let me give a couple or so examples.

Christianity:

The four main branches of Christianity are Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Anglican. Under these four broad headings a multitude of subdivisions exist. Indeed there are reported to be approximately 38,000 Christian denominations.

Islam:

There are also four major divides in Islam, Sunni, Shi'ite, Kharwarij and Sufi. There are numerous sub-divisions under each heading.

Answer:

Like the old saying goes "More than you can shake a stick at!"

Some religions have one (1) follower others claim a third of the human population. In some jurisdictions a "real" religion (for tax purposes) has to be registered. Other folks feel that since they've founded their religion on direct divine instructions no gov't agency should need to be involved. Then there are sects of existing religions who may be claimed or disavowed by the parent group. There is no truly accurate answer.

The appended link lists 1000 Religions. Not truly an exhaustive list, it has Jedi, but misses the Church of the SubGenius and Pastafariansm.