Spirituality in the Global Age: Theory of Religious Cycles and Its Implications

This paper looks at religion in the global age through the prism of the theory of religious cycles that is outlined by the author. According to his approach, in the course of its evolution every historical religion goes through specific and almost identical stages of growth. Based on a distinct correlation between sacred scriptures and traditions, the author distinguishes six such phases – formative, orthodox, classical, reformist, critical, and post-critical. Also, in the course of its expansion religious system undergoes two types of crises – structural and systemic. When applied to the world's spiritual traditions, this model reveals astounding similarities among existing faiths, offers a different perspective on modernity and predicts the rise of new religious movements with globalist teachings and institutions.

Keywords: evolution of religion, religious cycle, sacred scriptures, sacred tradition, structural crisis, systemic crisis, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, modernity, European Enlightenment, comparative studies.