A spiritual healing element is one of the most ancient and fundamental religious functions, found in many of the ayurvedic practices of Hinduism, early Christianity, some schools of Buddhism, and in many modern religious denominations such as Christian Science and Pentecostal. “[A] religion that does not heal cannot long survive,” says Professor David Chidester of the University of Capetown, South Africa noting that it is only in the modern world that religion relinquished primary responsibility for healing the body and the mind.

Almost every religion also provides some way to help members resolve personal problems. In religions from the Judeo-Christian tradition, this often takes the form of pastoral counseling, particularly when the parishioner’s problem has to do with marital difficulties, problems at work or at school, antisocial or self-destructive behavior such as drug or alcohol abuse, or simply the stress of day-to-day life. Increasingly, churches encourage members to resolve problems through methods such as reading books or listening to recorded lectures in the privacy of their homes. Other religions prescribe following special rituals as a way to resolve personal problems. Catholics often use the confessional for this purpose. Dr. Wilson has described this function as providing “proximate salvation from immediate suffering and travail.”

Numerous other functions of religion could be noted here. But scholars and historians have stressed that the presence or absence of one or more of these or other functions should not be mistaken as a factor in “defining” religion. Rather, they furnish a deeper understanding of the greater meaning of religion in modern society, and what particular religions mean to their adherents.