Religious Studies — Tier 3 Family Indexes

Tier 3 of the Religious Studies library hosts dense reference catalogs of named scriptures, ritual texts, lineages, founders, and councils — the inventory layer behind the conceptual Tier 1 / Tier 2 surveys.

Tier 1 status

The Tier 1 root Religious Studies library index is published and links to five Tier 2 surveys:

• Abrahamic Traditions
• Dharmic Traditions
• East Asian Traditions
• Indigenous and New Religious Movements
• Comparative Religion

Tier 2 status

Five Tier 2 surveys complete. Future Tier 2 expansions planned: History of Christianity, History of Islam, Buddhist Philosophy, Hindu Philosophy, Religion and Science, Ritual Studies.

Tier 3 catalogs in this folder

• sacred-texts-catalog — comprehensive catalog of canonical scriptures of Judaism, Christianity (including denominational variations), Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism (Pali, Mahayana, Tibetan canons), Jainism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, Bahá’í, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Mandaeism, Yazidism, and modern new religious movements. Includes canonical recensions, principal editions, translations, and dating.
• denominations-and-sects-catalog — Sunni madhāhib, Shia branches (Twelver, Ismaili Nizari/Mustaali, Zaydi, Alevi, Druze, Alawi), Sufi orders, Eastern Orthodox autocephalous churches, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic + 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, Protestant families (Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, Restorationist, Adventist, Quaker, Mennonite), LDS family, JW + Christian Science + Unification + NOI, Hindu sampradayas (Vaishnava, Shaiva, Shakta, Smarta, reform), Sikh sub-sects, Buddhist lineages (Theravada + Mahayana + Vajrayana branches), Jain Digambara/Svetambara, Zoroastrian, Bahá’í — with founders, doctrines, geography, and adherent estimates.
• pilgrimage-sites-and-religious-calendar-catalog — major pilgrimage sites (Mecca/Madinah, Karbala/Najaf/Mashhad, Jerusalem, Vatican/Lourdes/Fatima/Santiago/Guadalupe, Mt Athos/Meteora/Lalibela, Kumbh Mela/Char Dham/Varanasi/Tirupati, Bodh Gaya/Lumbini/Sarnath/Kushinagar, Mt Kailash, Golden Temple, Palitana, Bahá’í World Centre) and a month-by-month festival calendar across Islamic, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, Chinese, and Shinto traditions.

Planned Tier 3 additions

• founders-and-prophets-catalog.md — Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Mahavira, Confucius, Laozi, Zarathustra, Guru Nanak, Bahá’u’lláh, Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, Ron Hubbard.
• councils-and-creeds-catalog.md — Nicaea 325, Chalcedon 451, Trent 1545–63, Vatican I and II, Buddhist councils 1–6, Shia/Sunni split events.
• monastic-orders-catalog.md — Benedictines, Cistercians, Franciscans, Dominicans, Jesuits, Theravada Sangha, Mahayana schools, Sufi tariqas (partial coverage in denominations catalog), Vaishnavite sampradayas (partial).

Adjacent

• Philosophy — Tier 3 (medieval philosophers as scriptural commentators)
• History — Tier 3 (states sponsoring each religion)
• Linguistics — Tier 3 (liturgical languages)
• Anthropology — Tier 3 (ritual, myth)
• Compendium root

Conventions

• Scripture titles in italics.
• BCE / CE dating; “c.” for approximate; “trad.” for traditional / contested dates.
• Canonical recensions named where contested (Uthmanic Quran, Vulgate, Masoretic Text, Septuagint).
• No emojis. Diacritics preserved in transliteration where standard (Pāli, Avestā).