Wikidata:WikiProject Religions/Ontology

Home

Howto

Ontology

FAQ

Todo

Queries

General rules

Given the sensitivity of the subject, it is indispensable to comprehend how to use references to source. Consider including the statement disputed by (P1310) qualifier.

See, especially, explanations about books:

For the ancient religions, the people and the religion are often confused and designated by the same name. In that case, there should exist two items: one for the people and one for the religion. The labels should not contain the word "religion", if it's possible to avoid it. It is nevertheless recommended to add an alias "<people> religion".

Among the general rules about labels, the most frequent error is to start the label by a capital letter.

There are no specific rules concerning the description of a religion, see the general help about descriptions.

Ontology

Every property must cite source, generally with stated in (P248).

About religious movements themselves

Mandatory properties

Every item:

• is a religion (even schools, churches, movements, etc.) and is thus a subclass of (P279) of one (or several) religion(s). This classification does not necessarily reflect the historic links or the characteristics of religions, it must be the reflect of the one used by specialists, that consider religions from all angles (history, culture, philosophy, etc.). Religions not being part of more generic movement(s) are subclass of (P279) religion (Q9174). NOTE: Do not use part of (P361). An instance of religion being a concept too difficult to define (ending at one instance by human being), do not use instance of (P31) = religion (Q9174), because of subclass inheritance.
• has a inception (P571) (even an uncertain one, cf. the Dates section below),
• a location of formation (P740),
• one or more located in/on physical feature (P706),
  • along with the period for which it's true (see below for how to use dates),
• is has characteristic (P1552) philosophico-religious concepts. Examples: see below.

Title	ID	Data type	Description	Examples	Inverse
subclass of	P279	Item	subclass of: this item is a subclass (subset) of that item; all instances of this item are instances of that item; different from P31 (instance of), e.g.: K2 is an instance of mountain; volcano is a subclass of mountain (and an instance of volcanic landform)	Baptists <subclass of> Protestantism	-
inception	P571	Point in time	date of establishment: time when an entity begins to exist; for date of official opening use P1619	Islam <inception> 610	-
location of formation	P740	Item	location where a group or organization was formed	Christianity <location of formation> Jerusalem	-
located in/on physical feature	P706	Item	landform: located on the specified (geo)physical feature. Should not be used when the value is only political/administrative (P131) or a mountain range (P4552).	Manichaeism <located in/on physical feature> Gaul	-
point in time	P585	Point in time	point in time: date something took place, existed or a statement was true; for providing time use the "refine date" property (P4241)	Manichaeism <located in/on physical feature> Gaul <point in time> 4. siècle	-
has characteristic	P1552	Item	quality: inherent or distinguishing quality or feature of the entity. Use a more specific property when possible.	atenism <has characteristic> monotheism	-

Philosophico-religious concepts.

Every item should (probably) be has characteristic (P1552) philosophico-religious concepts.

• Number of god(s): polytheism (Q9163), henotheism (Q150395), monotheism (Q9159), atheism (Q7066), …
• Structure: syncretism (Q172904), Greco-Roman mysteries (Q505821),
• Concepts: anattā (Q488506), reincarnation (Q128593), mysticism (Q45996), apocalypticism (Q618859), gnosticism (Q48420), millenarianism (Q467687), Resurrection of the dead (Q2997437), Messianic Age (Q2072928), Day of Judgment (Q1821239), ,…

Optional properties

A religion can have:

• a founded by (P112),
  • and be named after (P138) him,
• a foundational text (P457),
• a dissolved, abolished or demolished date (P576) ; NOTE : do not use end time (P582), reserved for qualifiers, do not use date of disappearance (P746), reserved for people.
  • and a end cause (P1534), if need be,
• a time of earliest written record (P1249),
  • use stated in (P248) as a qualifier, to indicate the written record itself,
• for more generic events (that do not lead to the birth of new movements, for instance), use significant event (P793).
• a population (P1082), if data is available,
  • do not forget to add the point in time (P585) qualifier to indicate the date of validity of the census source.

Title	ID	Data type	Description	Examples	Inverse
founded by	P112	Item	organizational founder: founder or co-founder of this organization, religion or place	Islam <founded by> Muhammad	-
dissolved, abolished or demolished date	P576	Point in time	date of dissolution, abolition or demolition: point in time at which the subject (organisation, building) ceased to exist; see "date of official closure" (P3999) for closing a facility, "service retirement" (P730) for retiring equipment, "discontinued date" (P2669) for stopping a product	Arianism <dissolved, abolished or demolished date> 689	-
end cause	P1534	Item	end cause: qualifier to use together with the end date qualifier (P582) to specify the cause	Catharism <dissolved, abolished or demolished date> 1321 <end cause> Inquisition	-
time of earliest written record	P1249	Point in time	earliest written record: first time a subject was mentioned in writing	Manichaeism <time of earliest written record> 242	-
stated in	P248	Item	reference: to be used in the references field to refer to the information document or database in which a claim is made; for qualifiers use P805; for the type of document in which a claim is made use P3865	Manichaeism <time of earliest written record> 242 <stated in> Shabuhragan	-
named after	P138	Item	eponym, memorial society and namesakes: entity or event that inspired the subject's name, or namesake (in at least one language). Qualifier "applies to name" (P5168) can be used to indicate which one	Buddhism <named after> Buddha	-
foundational text	P457	Item	articles of association, Constitutional document and constitutive treaty: text through which an institution or object has been created or established	Islam <foundational text> Qur’an	-
significant event	P793	Item	key event: significant or notable events associated with the subject	Zoroastrianism <significant event> Muslim conquest of Persia	-

Links between religions

The notion of link between religions is a sensitive issue and lead easily to subjective bias, it is thus vital for every link property to cite sources.

Every link should be dated in such a way that the period under which the influence exists (for example, the founder life, cf. the Dates section).

Because of the difficulty to avoid subjective bias, it is highly touted to use the influenced by (P737) property, to the exclusion of all others, in any case. However, in cases where a source clearly states it, separated from (P807) can be used (possibly along with influenced by (P737)).

NOTES :

• Properties based on (P144) and inspired by (P941) are reserved for work (Q386724). While a religion can be considered as a (fiction) work of the (human) mind, it is probable that it would be perceived as a strongly subjective opinion.
• Do not use school of (P1780), because it is reserved for qualifiers and that the limit between a "school" and a fully-fledged religion cannot be rigorously defined.
• In the specific case of temporal series (for instance with greek religions), one can be tempted to use follows (P155) and followed by (P156). However, we advise against their use, because a movement that seems to have evolved in another could have lasted after it, without it being noticed (see, for example, the mysteries of Isis (Q39742)).

Religions may be gathered in a category defined by another criterion than their belief system, for example by the location or culture of origin. In that specific case, the religion is part of (P361) the category. Note: it is impossible to use subclass of (P279), which is kept for structural relationships.

Title	ID	Data type	Description	Examples	Inverse
influenced by	P737	Item	social influence: this person, idea, etc. is informed by that other person, idea, etc., e.g. “Heidegger was influenced by Aristotle”	Mithraic mysteries <influenced by> ancient Roman religion	-
part of	P361	Item	part: object of which the subject is a part (if this subject is already part of object A which is a part of object B, then please only make the subject part of object A), inverse property of "has part" (P527, see also "has parts of the class" (P2670))	Zoroastrianism <part of> Iranian religions	has part(s)

Related subjects

• A lot of elements imported from Wikipedia are about religion but are not religion (for example "<religion> in <country>)). They must be described by facet of (P1269) = religion (Q9174) with a applies to part (P518) qualifier. NOTE: and not by instance of (P31) = religion (Q9174) or subclass of (P279).
  • Do not forget that there is often TWO aspects (for instance "religion in country" is an aspect of the religion that applies to the country part AND an aspect of the country that applies to the religion part).
• Gods or other sacred objects are worshipped by (P1049) one or more religions.
• People have one or more religion or worldview (P140).
• There exists a specific property to denote that an element belong to a religious order (P611),
  • every religious order (Q2061186) should be a subclass of (P279) of the associated religion.
• There exists a specific property to denote that an element belong to a catholic diocese (P708).

Title	ID	Data type	Description	Examples	Inverse
facet of	P1269	Item	aspect: topic of which this item is an aspect, item that offers a broader perspective on the same topic	Buddhism in Australia <facet of> Buddhism	-
applies to part	P518	Item	part, aspect, or form of the item to which the claim applies	Buddhism in Australia <facet of> Buddhism <applies to part> Australia	-
worshipped by	P1049	Item	believer: religion or group/civilization that worships a given deity	Ahura Mazda <worshipped by> Zoroastrianism	-
religion or worldview	P140	Item	religion, religious identity, religious movement, doxastic attitude and religion or world view: religion of a person, organization or religious building, or associated with this subject	Śāntarakṣita <religion or worldview> Mahāyāna	-
religious order	P611	Item	monastic order: order of monks or nuns to which an individual or religious house belongs	Nicolaus Copernicus <religious order> Society of Jesus	-
diocese	P708	Item	diocese: administrative division of the church to which the element belongs; use P5607 for other types of ecclesiastical territorial entities	Turku Cathedral <diocese> Archdiocese of Turku	-

Dates

• If the date is uncertain, because of a lack of precision: use the "precision" field (day, month, year, decade, etc.).
• If the date is a period (not taggable as a precision): use a date with an unknown value, with two qualifiers: earliest date (P1319) and latest date (P1326).
• If one cannot decide between several precise dates: add several date properties (of the same rank).
• To qualify a property that is valid for a period identified by an element (not just a date) : use the valid in period (P1264) qualifier.

Title	ID	Data type	Description	Examples	Inverse
earliest date	P1319	Point in time	earliest date at which an event could have happened. Use as qualifier for other date properties	date of birth of Jesus <earliest date> 0006	-
latest date	P1326	Point in time	unknown: latest possible time that something could have occurred. Use as qualifier for other date properties	date of birth of Jesus <latest date> 0004	-
valid in period	P1264	Item	time period when a statement is valid	Tübingen <valid in period> standard time	-

People

• To indicate that a person is a martyr (Q6498826) (or subclasses), use subject has role (P2868)