The phenomenon of the sacred and the problem of understanding the essence of religion

Abstract

Historically there were and there are specific religions (there are about five thousand or even more), but there was not and there is no "religion at all". In order to explore the diverse world of religious phenomena, an appropriate notion is being developed in science, and its definition (which is believed to be about 250) is undoubtedly of great heuristic significance. This concept is a product of the long-term development of cognition; in its diverse interpretations, it helps to comprehend the religious processes of both modernity and the past.