CHILDREN OF GOD
1800 CE – PRESENT
A chronological survey of modern and contemporary religion, from revival movements, reform traditions, and new religions to secularization, globalization, digital worship, ecological spirituality, and post-secular identity.
Traditions 1800 CE – Present CE
Between 1800 CE and 2025 CE, religion entered the age of globalization, mass media, migration, secular critique, revival, reform, and digital transformation.
Ancient traditions adapted to modern states, colonial histories, scientific worldviews, global capitalism, social justice movements, and new technologies of communication.
This era produced both institutional expansion and spiritual individualization: global Christianity, modern Islam, Hindu and Buddhist reform, new religious movements, secular humanism, interfaith dialogue, Indigenous revivals, ecological spirituality, and online religious life.
Chronological Table of Modern and Contemporary Religious Traditions
Evangelicalism, global missions, denominational diversity
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Billy Graham, modern churches
Historical Importance:
Largest global religion by population
Global
Reformism, revivalism, global ummah consciousness
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, contemporary scholars
Historical Importance:
One of the world’s fastest-growing religions
Global
Reform, nationalism, yoga, global spirituality
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
Globalized Hindu philosophy and practice
Global
Reform, meditation revival, global transmission
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
Expanded Buddhism into the modern West
Global
Revivalism, conversion preaching, reform activism
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
Expanded evangelical Protestantism
United States
Restorationism, continuing revelation
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
Origin of Mormonism
United States
Unity of religions, global peace, progressive revelation
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
Major modern global religion
Iran & Global
Communication with spirits, séances
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Mediums, spirit guides
Historical Importance:
Influenced occult and New Age movements
Europe & America
Social reform, scriptural reinterpretation
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
Modernized Hindu thought
India
National identity, emperor veneration, shrine tradition
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Imperial cult, kami
Historical Importance:
Shaped modern Japanese nationalism
Japan
Esoteric synthesis of religions and occultism
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
Influenced New Age spirituality
Global
Indigenous Christian leadership and worship styles
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Prophetic founders
Historical Importance:
Expanded African Christianity
Africa & Diaspora
Holy Spirit gifts, healing, revival worship
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
One of the fastest-growing Christian movements
Global
Universal spirituality, interfaith synthesis
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
Popularized Hindu spirituality globally
India & Global
Adaptation under modernization and communism
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Reform movements
Historical Importance:
Reshaped Chinese religious life
China
Christian unity and interdenominational cooperation
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
Encouraged global Christian dialogue
Global
Black empowerment, Islamic reinterpretation
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
Influenced African-American religious identity
United States
African redemption, spiritual resistance
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Haile Selassie symbolism
Historical Importance:
Major Afro-Caribbean religious movement
Caribbean & Global
Dialogue among world religions
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
Expanded religious cooperation
Global
Ethics without organized religion
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Humanist thinkers
Historical Importance:
Expanded nonreligious identity
Global
Alternative spirituality, syncretism
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Diverse founders and gurus
Historical Importance:
Diversified modern spirituality
Global
Nature spirituality, ritual magic, goddess worship
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
Revived pre-Christian spiritual themes
Global
Spiritual self-development, auditing
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
Controversial modern religious movement
Global
Christianity linked with social justice
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
Influenced modern Catholic activism
Latin America
Catholic modernization and ecumenism
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
Transformed modern Catholicism
Vatican
Holistic spirituality, mysticism, self-transformation
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Channeling, crystals, meditation
Historical Importance:
Major alternative spiritual culture
Global
Yoga as spiritual and wellness practice
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Global yoga teachers
Historical Importance:
Spread Hindu-derived practices worldwide
Global
Secularized Buddhist meditation
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Mindfulness teachers
Historical Importance:
Integrated Buddhism into psychology and wellness
Global
Religion linked with ethnic and national identity
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Multiple movements
Historical Importance:
Major force in global politics
Global
Spirit-focused worship, healing, prophecy
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Global megachurch leaders
Historical Importance:
Expanded rapidly worldwide
Global
Online worship, virtual communities
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Internet-based ministries
Historical Importance:
Transformed religious communication
Global
Cultural restoration and sacred land activism
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Indigenous elders and activists
Historical Importance:
Revitalized ancestral traditions
Global
Individualized belief, hybrid identity
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Spiritual-but-not-religious trends
Historical Importance:
Redefined religion in modern society
Global
Sacred ecology, climate ethics
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Laudato Si’, eco-spiritual leaders
Historical Importance:
Linked religion with environmental activism
Global
Livestream worship, virtual ritual, digital pilgrimage
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Online clergy and communities
Historical Importance:
Accelerated technological transformation of religion
Global
New papal leadership in the digital era
Major Figures / Deities / Concepts:
Historical Importance:
Marked a new stage in modern Catholic history
Global Catholicism
Major Themes
- Religion became increasingly globalized through migration, missions, media, technology, and transnational networks.
- Christianity expanded dramatically in Africa, Latin America, and Asia while also diversifying through evangelical, Pentecostal, charismatic, ecumenical, and liberationist forms.
- Islamic revival and reform movements reshaped Muslim societies through scholarship, activism, nationalism, and global ummah consciousness.
- Hinduism and Buddhism became global traditions through reform, diaspora, yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and interfaith engagement.
- New religious movements and alternative spiritualities proliferated through esotericism, occult revival, New Age culture, modern Paganism, and syncretic practice.
- Secularism, atheism, humanism, and spiritual-but-not-religious identities expanded in many modern societies.
- Religion became deeply intertwined with nationalism, identity, civil rights, anti-colonial movements, environmental activism, and social justice.
- Digital technology transformed worship, ritual, teaching, community formation, and religious authority.
Key Takeaways
Religion became global: migration, missions, print, broadcast media, and the internet carried traditions across borders at unprecedented scale.
Religion became pluralistic: modern societies increasingly contain many traditions, hybrid identities, and competing worldviews.
Religion became contested: secularism, science, nationalism, human rights, colonial memory, and political conflict reshaped religious authority.
Religion became experiential: yoga, meditation, Pentecostal worship, New Age practice, pilgrimage, healing, and personal spirituality emphasized lived experience.
Religion became digital and ecological: by 2025, sacred life was increasingly mediated by technology while also responding to planetary crisis, cultural survival, and global interdependence.
Religious Traditions 1800 CE – Present CE
Transitional Threshold Toward the Digital and Post-Secular Age
By 2025 CE, religion existed within an unprecedented global environment. Ancient traditions coexisted with digital spirituality, institutional religion with individualized practice, and secular modernity with renewed forms of mysticism, nationalism, ecological concern, and identity-based revival.
- Global migration created pluralistic societies in which many religious traditions coexist side by side.
- Digital platforms reshaped sacred space through livestream worship, online sanghas, virtual pilgrimage, and internet-based ministries.
- Environmental crisis encouraged new forms of eco-theology, sacred ecology, and interfaith climate activism.
- Indigenous and minority traditions gained renewed visibility through cultural restoration, land rights, and ancestral memory.
- Secularization and post-secular spirituality developed simultaneously, producing both nonreligious identities and new spiritual experimentation.
- Questions of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, climate change, identity, globalization, and political conflict increasingly shaped religious discourse.