Ninian Smart (1927 – 2001), Professor of Comparative Religions at the University of California and Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of Lancaster, England, suggested that there are certain aspects or dimensions of religion. In ‘The World’s Religions’ (Cambridge 1989), Smart suggested that there were seven dimensions:
- The Practical and Ritual Dimension
- The Experiential and Emotional Dimension
- The Narrative or Mythic Dimension
- The Doctrinal and Philosophical Dimension
- The Ethical and Legal Dimension
- The Social and Institutional Dimension
- The Material Dimension