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This entry catalogues the world's principal religious traditions and the prophets, founders, and visionaries associated with them, with an indication of how each tradition is positioned within the Wheel of Heaven framework's reading of religious history. The catalogue serves three functions: a navigation index for the wiki's coverage of individual traditions, a reference for the framework's adopted positions on the relative authenticity of different traditions, and a transparent statement of the methodology by which authenticity-tier assignments are made.

The framework reads a substantial majority of established religious traditions as preserving, in varying states of clarity and corruption, authentic testimonies of contact between the Elohim and human populations. The corpus's reading is not that one tradition is uniquely true and the others uniquely false, but that the broad pattern of human religious history reflects a long sequence of contacts, distributed across time and geography, with the resulting traditions preserving the relevant content with varying degrees of fidelity to the original events. The reading is developed at length in the Religion entry; the present entry assumes that broader treatment and supplies the tabulated reference catalogue.

The framework's authenticity classifications are not assessments of the spiritual or moral worth of the traditions in question. A tradition classified as "unlikely" on the framework's reading — meaning unlikely to derive from an authentic Elohim contact — may nonetheless have substantial spiritual, ethical, or cultural value for its practitioners, and may preserve genuine human wisdom developed by its founders and elaborated by its tradition. The framework's classifications concern only the specific question of whether the tradition's founding narrative reflects a contact with the Elohim civilisation as the source material describes such contacts.

Methodology

The five-tier authenticity scale used in the tables below requires explicit explanation, because the tiers carry specific meanings within the framework that may not be evident from the labels alone.

The five tiers

Canonical. A tradition is classified as canonical when its founding narrative is read on the framework as deriving from a well-documented, historically substantive contact between the Elohim and the prophet or founder, with the resulting tradition preserving the core content of that contact in identifiable form despite subsequent interpretive development. The canonical traditions are the ones the framework treats as the primary historical record of Elohim–human interaction, and they are the traditions whose textual content the corpus engages most closely in its interpretive work. Six traditions are classified as canonical in the catalogue below.

Highly likely. A tradition is classified as highly likely when its founding narrative includes specific contact-event content of a kind the framework reads as characteristic of authentic Elohim contact, but where the historical documentation, the textual preservation, or the subsequent interpretive development is less complete than the canonical tier requires. The highly-likely traditions are read on the framework as authentic in their origins but as having undergone substantial interpretive transformation in transmission.

Likely. A tradition is classified as likely when its founding narrative is consistent with authentic Elohim contact and includes some specific content the framework reads as characteristic, but where the documentation is substantially less specific, the founding figure is anonymous or collective, or the tradition's content has been substantially shaped by syncretism with neighbouring traditions. The likely tier covers many ancient and regional traditions whose origins predate substantial textual documentation.

Unlikely. A tradition is classified as unlikely when its founding narrative either lacks the specific content the framework reads as characteristic of authentic Elohim contact, or substantially contradicts the framework's reading of the contact pattern, or originates in a documentable cultural-influence pattern that does not require Elohim contact as an explanation. The unlikely tier is not a judgment that the tradition is without value; it is a judgment that the tradition's founding narrative is unlikely to derive from authentic contact.

Highly unlikely. A tradition is classified as highly unlikely when the framework's reading of its founding narrative is that the contact in question is substantially or wholly inauthentic — either fabricated by the founder, derived from non-Elohim sources (occult, hallucinatory, or otherwise), or so thoroughly entangled with documentable human sources that the original-contact hypothesis has no operational content. This tier is applied sparingly and only where the negative evidence is substantial.

The criteria

The criteria by which the framework assigns traditions to the tiers include several specific features that the corpus reads as characteristic of authentic Elohim contact:

• Documented contact narratives. The founding narrative includes specific descriptions of contact with non-terrestrial beings, with operational detail consistent with the source material's account of how the Elohim conduct their interactions with human populations.
• Specific Elohim-consistent content. The founding text or oral tradition includes content the framework reads as deriving from the Elohim's broader programme — including but not limited to discussions of cosmic origins, the design of life, the relationship between Earth and other inhabited worlds, the future history of humanity, and the eventual return of the Elohim.
• Historical traceability. The contact event and its founder are historically attested in independent sources beyond the tradition's own internal records.
• Textual preservation. The tradition's core texts have been transmitted with sufficient fidelity that the original content can still be reconstructed.
• Resistance to alternative explanations. The founding narrative is not adequately explained by available alternative hypotheses — psychological, cultural-syncretic, fraudulent, or otherwise.

A tradition's classification reflects the cumulative balance of these criteria. The classifications are not point-estimates and are subject to revision as new evidence or interpretation emerges; the catalogue below represents the framework's adopted positions as of the current editorial pass.

What the classifications do not claim

Three things the classifications do not claim are worth stating explicitly.

The classifications do not claim that traditions in lower tiers are without value. A "likely" or even "unlikely" tradition may preserve genuine human spiritual and ethical wisdom, may serve its practitioners well, and may make substantial cultural contributions. The framework's classifications concern only the specific question of contact authenticity, not the broader question of religious value.

The classifications do not claim universal contact-source uniformity. The framework does not read all authentic contacts as having occurred at the same level of clarity or with the same Elohim representatives. Some traditions reflect more substantial and extended contact (Judaism, Christianity); others reflect briefer or more peripheral contact preserved in compressed form. The tier system collapses this variation into discrete categories for cataloguing convenience.

The classifications are not final. The framework's reading is open to revision. Future evidence or interpretation may move traditions between tiers, and the catalogue below is a snapshot of the corpus's current positions rather than a fixed adjudication.

The catalogue of religious traditions

The catalogue below covers the principal religious traditions of historical and contemporary significance, classified by the five-tier system described above. The catalogue is not exhaustive; coverage is most complete for traditions with substantial historical documentation and existing dedicated wiki entries. Traditions are ordered by approximate historical period, most recent first.

Tradition	Period	Founder(s) / Prophet(s)	Principal content relevant to framework	Authenticity
Raëlism	1973–present	Claude Vorilhon (Raël)	Direct first-person contact narrative; Elohim creation account; cosmic-chain doctrine; embassy project	Canonical
Eckankar	1965–present	Paul Twitchell	Soul-travel doctrine; eclectic syncretism drawing on Sant Mat	Unlikely
Wicca	1953–present	Gerald Gardner	Reconstructed nature religion; goddess theology; horned-god theology	Unlikely
Caodism (Đạo Cao Đài)	1921–present	Ngô Văn Chiêu	Syncretism of Eastern and Western religions; spirit-communication narratives; supreme-being doctrine	Highly likely
Thelema	1900–present	Aleister Crowley	The Book of the Law (1904); Cairo working; Aiwass-contact narrative; "do what thou wilt" ethics	Highly unlikely
Ōmoto (大本)	1892–present	Nao Deguchi (出口 なお)	Spirit possession; transformation-of-the-world doctrine; influence on subsequent Japanese new religions	Highly likely
Tenrikyō (天理教)	1838–present	Nakayama Miki (中山 みき)	Direct contact with Oyagami (God the Parent); world-renewal doctrine; Ofudesaki scripture	Highly likely
Mormonism (LDS)	1830–present	Joseph Smith	Angel-Moroni contact narrative; tangible-gods theology; exoplanet content (Kolob); plurality-of-worlds doctrine	Canonical
Bahá'í Faith	1844–present	The Báb; Bahá'u'lláh; 'Abdu'l-Bahá	Progressive revelation doctrine; unity of religions; world-government doctrine	Highly likely
Sikhism	15th c. CE–present	Guru Nanak	Monotheism; divine name; ten-guru lineage; Guru Granth Sahib	Likely
Islam	7th c. CE–present	Muhammad	Quranic revelation; Gabriel-contact narrative; eschatological doctrine; final-prophet doctrine	Canonical
Christianity	1st c. CE–present	Jesus of Nazareth; the apostles	Incarnation; resurrection; Second Coming doctrine; apocalyptic literature; Trinity doctrine	Canonical
Manichaeism	3rd–14th c. CE	Mani	Dualism; light–darkness cosmology; world-religions-synthesis doctrine; once a world religion in its own right	Highly likely
Mithraism	1st c. BCE–4th c. CE	—	Roman mystery religion; Mithras as solar-bull-slayer; seven-grade initiation; possible Iranian roots	Likely
Hermeticism	1st c. BCE onward	(Hermes Trismegistus; pseudepigraphic)	Corpus Hermeticum; cosmic-correspondence doctrine; Emerald Tablet; foundational for Western esotericism	Likely
Gnosticism (Sethian, Valentinian, etc.)	1st–4th c. CE	Various	Demiurge theology; Elohim-as-archons readings; pneumatic anthropology; substantial textual corpus (Nag Hammadi)	Likely
Eleusinian Mysteries	14th c. BCE–4th c. CE	(mythologically: Demeter)	Death-and-rebirth initiation; agricultural cosmology; secrecy ethos	Likely
Orphism	6th c. BCE onward	(mythologically: Orpheus)	Soul–body dualism; reincarnation; cosmogonic poems; influence on Plato	Likely
Shintō (神道)	3rd c. BCE–present	—	Kami theology; ancestor veneration; sacred-place cosmology; imperial-ancestral myth	Likely
Taoism	4th c. BCE–present	Laozi (老子)	The Tao Te Ching; Zhuangzi; cosmic Tao; immortality traditions	Likely
Confucianism	5th c. BCE–present	Kongzi (Confucius, 孔子)	Ethical-political philosophy; ancestor veneration; ritual propriety; Five Classics	Likely
Buddhism	5th c. BCE–present	Siddhārtha Gautama (the Buddha)	Four Noble Truths; Eightfold Path; anatta; karma; nirvana; vast textual canon	Canonical
Judaism	13th c. BCE–present	Moses; the Hebrew prophets; the patriarchs	Hebrew Bible; covenant theology; messianic doctrine; the Elohim themselves	Canonical
Zoroastrianism	7th c. BCE–present	Zarathustra (Zoroaster)	Ahura Mazda; dualism (Ahura Mazda vs Angra Mainyu); eschatology; resurrection doctrine; influence on subsequent traditions	Highly likely
Hinduism	15th c. BCE–present	— (Vedic rishis)	Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata, Ramayana; atman–brahman; avatar doctrine; cyclical cosmology	Highly likely
Vedic religion (pre-Hindu)	15th c. BCE–6th c. BCE	— (Vedic rishis)	The four Vedas; rishi-contact narratives; soma rituals; Indo-Aryan religion	Highly likely
Jainism	9th c. BCE–present	Parshvanatha; Mahavira	Twenty-four tirthankaras; ahimsa; ascetic tradition; jiva–ajiva dualism	Highly likely
Sabaean / Harranian tradition	12th c. BCE–10th c. CE	Hermes / Idris / Enoch	Sabian astral religion; the Harranian Sabians; transmission of late antique pagan philosophy to Islamic philosophy	Highly likely
Ancient Egyptian religion	31st c. BCE–4th c. CE	—	The netjeru (Ennead, Ogdoad); afterlife doctrine; pyramid and coffin texts; Book of the Dead; long temple tradition	Highly likely
Sumerian religion	31st c. BCE–6th c. BCE	—	The Anunnaki; Enuma Elish; Gilgamesh; the deluge tradition; cuneiform sources	Highly likely
Akkadian / Babylonian religion	24th c. BCE–6th c. BCE	—	Continuation of Sumerian theology in Semitic form; Enuma Elish; astrological tradition	Highly likely
Canaanite religion	24th c. BCE–6th c. BCE	—	El, Baal, Asherah, Mot, Yam; Ugaritic texts; substrate of Hebrew Bible terminology	Highly likely
Hittite religion	17th c. BCE–8th c. BCE	—	"Thousand gods" syncretic pantheon; Anatolian–Hurrian–Mesopotamian fusion	Likely
Indo-European religion (reconstructed)	4th millennium BCE	—	Reconstructed proto-tradition; Dyēus Pətḗr (sky-father); thunder god; threefold social-functional theology (Dumézil)	Likely
Maya religion	1st millennium BCE–16th c. CE	—	Long Count calendar; the Popol Vuh; astronomical-religious complex; world-age doctrine	Likely
Aztec religion	14th–16th c. CE	—	Five-suns cosmology; Quetzalcoatl; calendrical-religious complex	Likely
Inca religion	13th–16th c. CE	—	Viracocha; solar theology; huacas; Andean cosmology	Likely
Norse religion	1st millennium CE	—	The Æsir and Vanir; Eddas; Ragnarök; world-tree (Yggdrasil) cosmology	Likely
Celtic religion	1st millennium BCE–1st millennium CE	(druids)	Polytheism; otherworld traditions; druidic priesthood; partial preservation in Welsh and Irish texts	Likely
Slavic religion	1st millennium CE	—	Perun; Veles; pre-Christian Slavic mythology; partial textual preservation	Likely
African Traditional Religions	Various antiquity–present	Various	Yoruba (Orisha); Akan; Bantu; Vodun (West Africa); diverse regional traditions	Likely
Native American traditions	Various antiquity–present	Various	Diverse traditions across the Americas; star-people contact narratives in many traditions	Likely
Polynesian traditions	Various antiquity–present	Various	Hawaiian, Maori, Tongan, Samoan; the Kumulipo; voyaging-knowledge religion	Likely
Greco-Roman religion	8th c. BCE–4th c. CE	—	The Olympian pantheon; mystery cults; philosophical-religious schools (Stoicism, Neoplatonism)	Likely
Theosophy	1875–present	Helena Blavatsky	Esoteric synthesis; root-races doctrine; ascended-masters; influence on subsequent occult and New Age traditions	Unlikely
Anthroposophy	1912–present	Rudolf Steiner	Spiritual science; Christian mysticism; biodynamic agriculture; Waldorf education	Unlikely
Scientology	1954–present	L. Ron Hubbard	Thetan theology; auditing; the Xenu narrative; cosmic-history doctrine	Highly unlikely
New Age movement	20th c.–present	(various)	Eclectic syncretism; channelling; reincarnation; energy-and-vibration doctrine	Unlikely (varies by branch)

Notes on selected classifications

Several of the classifications in the catalogue above warrant specific comment, since the framework's adopted positions are not always obvious from the tradition's surface characteristics.

Mormonism as canonical. The classification of Mormonism alongside Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Raëlism in the canonical tier is the most distinctive feature of the framework's reading among contemporary religious classifications. The framework reads Joseph Smith's reported angel-Moroni contact, the resulting Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price as preserving authentic contact content of a specific kind: the tangible-gods theology (the LDS doctrine that God the Father has a physical body and that exalted humans can themselves become gods), the plurality-of-worlds doctrine (the LDS teaching that Christ has visited many inhabited worlds), the Kolob content (an exoplanet near where God dwells, in the Pearl of Great Price), and the broader cosmological framework of LDS theology. The framework reads these features as significantly more consistent with the Raëlian source material's account of the cosmic chain than would be expected from a tradition without authentic contact origins. The Mormonism entry develops this reading at length.

Caodism as highly likely. Caodism (Đạo Cao Đài), the 1921 Vietnamese syncretic religion founded by Ngô Văn Chiêu, integrates Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Christianity, Islam, and Vietnamese folk traditions under a supreme-being theology, with substantial spirit-communication content as part of its founding narrative. The framework reads the founding narrative and the syncretic-revelation pattern as consistent with authentic contact, with the high-syncretism feature distinguishing it from more exclusivist contact traditions.

Tenrikyō and Ōmoto as highly likely. Both are Japanese new religious movements whose founders reported direct experiences of divine contact (Nakayama Miki of Tenrikyō: contact with Oyagami/God-the-Parent in 1838; Nao Deguchi of Ōmoto: spirit-possession contact in 1892), with each developing a tradition that includes world-renewal eschatology and substantial scripture (the Ofudesaki of Tenrikyō; the Reikai Monogatari of Ōmoto). The framework reads the founder-contact narratives as authentic and the resulting traditions as preserving genuine content despite substantial cultural specificity.

Zoroastrianism as highly likely rather than canonical. Zoroastrianism is one of the historically most influential religions and arguably the source of several doctrinal features (eschatology, dualism, resurrection, angelology) that subsequently shaped Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The framework's classification at the highly-likely rather than canonical tier reflects the relative scarcity of well-preserved primary Zoroastrian texts (the Gathas of Zarathustra are preserved but the bulk of the Avesta has been transmitted in compromised form) rather than any judgement about the authenticity of Zarathustra's founding contact.

Theosophy and Anthroposophy as unlikely. Both are 19th- and early-20th-century esoteric synthetic traditions (Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine, 1888; Steiner's Occult Science, 1909) with substantial elaborate cosmologies, claimed contact with ascended masters or higher beings, and influential subsequent traditions (the New Age movement in part descends from Theosophy; Waldorf education and biodynamic agriculture descend from Anthroposophy). The framework reads both as substantially derived from documentable human sources (Theosophy from a synthesis of Hindu, Buddhist, and Western esoteric materials; Anthroposophy from a synthesis of Goethean science, Christian mysticism, and Theosophical content) rather than from authentic non-human contact, while recognising the cultural and intellectual value of both traditions.

Scientology as highly unlikely. The classification of Scientology in the highly-unlikely tier is the framework's strongest negative judgment in the contemporary catalogue. The reasoning is that Scientology's founding narrative (the Xenu cosmology, the broader cosmic-history doctrine, the thetan theology) is read by the framework as substantially fabricated by L. Ron Hubbard, with documentable origins in Hubbard's earlier science-fiction writing and Dianetics work and without the contact-event substrate that would make the originative-contact hypothesis available. The classification is a judgment about the founding narrative, not about contemporary practitioners.

Thelema as highly unlikely. Thelema's founding event is the 1904 Cairo working in which Aleister Crowley received the Book of the Law from a discarnate intelligence named Aiwass. The framework reads the Cairo working as a documentable case of altered-state experience (consistent with Crowley's broader work in ritual magic and altered-state induction) with Aiwass as a psychological rather than non-terrestrial entity, and reads the resulting text and tradition as Crowley's elaboration of his own broader synthesis of Eastern, Western esoteric, and personal-ethical material. The classification reflects the strong cultural-influence and personal-creation pattern of the Thelemic founding rather than a contact pattern of the kind the framework reads as characteristic.

Excluded categories

Several categories of religious phenomena are deliberately excluded from the catalogue above.

• Strictly philosophical or ethical traditions without religious-contact content (Epicureanism, Stoicism in its non-religious phases, secular humanism) are excluded as not falling within the catalogue's scope.
• Modern revivalist or reconstructionist movements of older traditions (modern Druidry, Heathenry, Hellenismos, Kemetism) are not separately classified; they inherit the classification of the older traditions they reconstruct.
• Hybrid New Age and esoteric movements without strong founder-contact narratives are noted in aggregate under "New Age movement" rather than catalogued individually.
• Specific Christian denominations beyond the major branches are inherited from Christianity's canonical classification, with Mormonism separately classified given its distinctive theological content.
• Specific Buddhist schools (Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, Zen, Pure Land) inherit Buddhism's canonical classification; specific Hindu schools inherit Hinduism's highly-likely classification.

The catalogue of prophets and founders

The catalogue below lists the principal prophets, founders, and visionary figures associated with the traditions catalogued above. Where the prophet's own wiki entry exists, the figure's name is linked.

Prophet / Founder	Tradition	Approximate dates	Principal contact narrative	Tier
Claude Vorilhon (Raël)	Raëlism	1946–present	1973 Clermont-Ferrand contact with Yahweh; 1975 contact and Elohim-planet visit	Canonical
Joseph Smith	Mormonism	1805–1844	Angel-Moroni visitations from 1823; First Vision (1820)	Canonical
Báb (Siyyid 'Ali Muhammad)	Bahá'í Faith	1819–1850	Self-declaration as the Báb (Gate) in 1844	Highly likely
Bahá'u'lláh	Bahá'í Faith	1817–1892	Garden of Riḍván declaration (1863)	Highly likely
Aleister Crowley	Thelema	1875–1947	Cairo working (1904); reception of Book of the Law from Aiwass	Highly unlikely
Nakayama Miki	Tenrikyō	1798–1887	1838 contact with Oyagami (God the Parent)	Highly likely
Nao Deguchi	Ōmoto	1837–1918	1892 spirit possession by Ushitora-no-Konjin	Highly likely
Ngô Văn Chiêu	Caodism	1878–1932	Spirit-communication contacts beginning 1921	Highly likely
Helena Blavatsky	Theosophy	1831–1891	Claimed contact with the Mahatmas / ascended masters	Unlikely
Rudolf Steiner	Anthroposophy	1861–1925	Claimed clairvoyant access to the Akashic record	Unlikely
Paul Twitchell	Eckankar	1909–1971	Claimed succession from a line of ECK masters	Unlikely
Gerald Gardner	Wicca	1884–1964	Claimed initiation into an existing New Forest coven	Unlikely
L. Ron Hubbard	Scientology	1911–1986	Dianetics (1950) developed without explicit contact narrative; Xenu cosmology developed subsequently	Highly unlikely
Guru Nanak	Sikhism	1469–1539	Direct experience of the divine in 1499	Likely
Muhammad	Islam	c. 570–632 CE	Quranic revelations via Gabriel from 610 CE	Canonical
Jesus of Nazareth	Christianity	c. 4 BCE – c. 30 CE	Baptism vision; Transfiguration; the broader ministry	Canonical
Mani	Manichaeism	216–276 CE	First revelation at age 12; second at age 24	Highly likely
Laozi (老子)	Taoism	6th c. BCE (traditional)	Authorship of Tao Te Ching; departure to the west	Likely
Kongzi (Confucius)	Confucianism	551–479 BCE	No contact narrative; teacher and ethical reformer	Likely
Siddhārtha Gautama (the Buddha)	Buddhism	c. 563–483 BCE	Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree	Canonical
Mahavira	Jainism	c. 599–527 BCE	Enlightenment after twelve years of asceticism	Highly likely
Parshvanatha	Jainism (earlier tirthankara)	c. 8th c. BCE	Twenty-third of twenty-four tirthankaras	Highly likely
Zarathustra (Zoroaster)	Zoroastrianism	c. 1500–500 BCE (dating contested)	Vision of Ahura Mazda; the Gathas	Highly likely
Moses	Judaism	c. 13th c. BCE	Burning bush; Sinai theophany; sustained contact across forty years	Canonical
Abraham	Judaism (patriarchal period)	c. 2nd millennium BCE	Covenant theophany; Sodom-and-Gomorrah contact	Highly likely
Enoch (Hanokh)	Antediluvian period	(mythological)	Walked with God; translated to heaven	Highly likely
Noah	Antediluvian / postdiluvian period	(mythological)	Pre-flood instructions; covenant after flood	Highly likely
Hermes Trismegistus / Thoth / Idris	Sabaean / Hermetic	(pseudepigraphic / mythological)	Variable across traditions	Highly likely
Vedic rishis (Vyasa, Vasishtha, Vishvamitra, etc.)	Vedic / Hindu	2nd millennium BCE	Reception of the Vedas	Highly likely

Open questions

Several open questions about the catalogue's scope and methodology deserve explicit registration.

• The treatment of post-Smith Mormonism. The framework reads Joseph Smith's founding contact as canonical, but the subsequent development of the LDS tradition includes substantial doctrinal developments (the introduction and later renunciation of plural marriage, the priesthood policy regarding Black members, the various sectarian developments after Smith's death) that have shaped contemporary Mormonism in ways the founding contact does not directly entail. The relationship between the framework's reading of the founding event and its assessment of the subsequent tradition is an open question.
• The treatment of Christianity's textual development. Christianity is classified as canonical, but the framework's adopted position acknowledges substantial subsequent transformation: the Pauline interpretive overlay, the late-antique theological synthesis, the council-period doctrinal definitions, the various subsequent denominational developments. The relationship between the framework's reading of the Jesus contact and its assessment of the subsequent Christian tradition is treated in the Christianity entry but remains an active interpretive area.
• The collective-prophet question. Several traditions (Hinduism, ancient Egyptian, ancient Sumerian, Shinto, the Native American and African traditions) have no single founding prophet but rather a collective tradition developed over many generations. The framework's reading of these traditions depends on the assumption that authentic contact can be distributed across many figures and across long time-periods, rather than requiring a single founding-contact event. The methodology for assessing collective traditions is less developed than for single-prophet traditions and represents an open area.
• The boundary between authentic and inauthentic syncretism. Several traditions explicitly synthesise elements from earlier traditions (Caodism, Bahá'í, Manichaeism, Theosophy, Anthroposophy). The framework's classifications distinguish between authentic-content syncretism (Caodism, Bahá'í, Manichaeism — classified as highly likely) and substantially-human syncretism (Theosophy, Anthroposophy — classified as unlikely). The criteria by which this distinction is made are partly methodological and partly substantive, and represent an active interpretive area.
• The treatment of indigenous and shamanic traditions. Many indigenous traditions (across the Americas, Australia, Africa, Siberia, and elsewhere) have substantial founder-figure or culture-hero narratives whose specific historical content is difficult to assess. The catalogue above treats these collectively under "likely" but the individual traditions vary substantially in their content and would warrant individual treatment as the wiki's coverage expands.

See also

• Religion
• Bible
• Raëlism
• Elohim
• Genesis
• Christianity
• Judaism
• Islam
• Buddhism
• Hinduism
• Mormonism
• Sikhism
• Caodism
• Taoism
• Shinto
• Jesus
• Moses
• Muhammad
• Buddha
• Joseph Smith
• Raël
• Apocalypse
• Cosmic Chain

References

Vorilhon, Claude (Raël). The Book Which Tells the Truth (1974) and Extraterrestrials Took Me to Their Planet (1976), collected as Message from the Designers (Raëlian Foundation, current English edition).

Sendy, Jean. La Lune, clé de la Bible. Julliard, 1968.

Sendy, Jean. Ces dieux qui firent le ciel et la terre. Robert Laffont, 1969. English: Those Gods Who Made Heaven and Earth. Berkley, 1972.

Smart, Ninian. The World's Religions. 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 1998. [Standard reference for the comparative-religion overview adopted as the encyclopedic baseline.]

Eliade, Mircea. A History of Religious Ideas. 3 vols. University of Chicago Press, 1978–1985.

Eliade, Mircea, ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion. 16 vols. Macmillan, 1987. [Foundational reference for the historical and comparative treatment of individual traditions.]

Smith, Joseph. The Book of Mormon (1830); Doctrine and Covenants; Pearl of Great Price. [Standard LDS scriptures.]

Bahá'u'lláh. The Kitáb-i-Aqdas. 1873. [Principal Bahá'í scripture.]

Nakayama Miki. Ofudesaki. 19th c. [Principal Tenrikyō scripture.]

Hutchison, William R. Religious Pluralism in America: The Contentious History of a Founding Ideal. Yale University Press, 2003.

Stark, Rodney. The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History. Princeton University Press, 1996.

Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. 2nd ed. Routledge, 2001.

Ferrer, Daniel C., ed. Caodaism: A New Religion. Hartford Institute, 2009.

Reader, Ian. Religion in Contemporary Japan. University of Hawaii Press, 1991.

Pew Research Center. The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010–2050. 2015. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/

"List of religions and spiritual traditions." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religions_and_spiritual_traditions

"List of founders of religious traditions." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_founders_of_religious_traditions

"Major religious groups." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_religious_groups