Editing Religious war (section)

== Prevalence ==
{{See also|Casus belli#Categorisation|War of succession#Prevalence and impact}}
The definition of 'religious war' and the applicability of religion to war have a strong influence on how many wars may be properly labelled 'religious wars', and thus how prevalent religious wars have been as opposed to other wars. 

According to historian Andrew Holt's review of estimates of causes of war in 2022, historians have not embraced narratives that religion causes war frequently since no quantitative study supports this.<ref name="Holt2022" />

According to [[Kalevi Holsti]] (1991, p.&nbsp;308, Table 12.2), who catalogued and categorised wars from 1648 to 1989 into 24 categories of 'issues that generated wars', 'protect[ion of] religious [[:wikt:confrere|confrères]]' (co-religionists) was (one of) the primary cause(s) of 14% of all wars during 1648–1714, 11% during 1715–1814, 10% during 1815–1914, and 0% during 1918–1941 and 1945–1989.{{sfn|Holsti|1991|p=308}} Additionally, he found 'ethnic/religious unification/[[Irredentism|irredenta]]' to be (one of) the primary cause(s) of 0% of all wars during 1648–1714 and 1715–1814, 6% during 1815–1914, 17% during 1918–1941, and 12% during 1945–1989.{{sfn|Holsti|1991|p=308}}

In their 1997 ''Encyclopedia of Wars'', authors [[Charles Phillips (historian)|Charles Phillips]] and [[Alan Axelrod]] documented 1763 notable wars in world history, out of which 121 wars were in the "religious wars" category in the index.<ref name="Holt">{{Cite web|url=https://apholt.com/2018/12/26/counting-religious-wars-in-the-encyclopedia-of-wars/|title=Counting "Religious Wars" in the Encyclopedia of Wars|last=Andrew Holt Ph. D|date=2018-12-26|website=Andrew Holt, Ph.D.|language=en|access-date=2019-10-11|archive-date=4 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504223858/https://apholt.com/2018/12/26/counting-religious-wars-in-the-encyclopedia-of-wars/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Axelrod vol3" /> They note that before the 17th century, much of the "reasons" for conflicts were explained through the lens of religion and that after that time wars were explained through the lens of wars as a way to further sovereign interests.<ref name="Axelrod, Alan 2004">Axelrod, Alan & Phillips, Charles ''Encyclopedia of Wars'' Vol.1, Facts on File, November 2004, {{ISBN|978-0-8160-2851-1}}. p.xxii. "Wars have always arisen, and arise today, from territorial disputes, military rivalries, conflicts of ethnicity, and strivings for commercial and economic advantage, and they have always depended on, and depend on today, pride, prejudice, coercion, envy, cupidity, competitiveness, and a sense of injustice. But for much of the world before the 17th century, these “reasons” for war were explained and justified, at least for the participants, by religion. Then, around the middle of the 17th century, Europeans began to conceive of war as a legitimate means of furthering the interests of individual sovereigns."</ref> Some commentators have concluded that only 123 wars (7%) out of these 1763 wars were fundamentally originated by religious motivations.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sheiman|first1=Bruce|title=An Atheist Defends Religion : Why Humanity is Better Off with Religion than Without It|date=2009|publisher=Alpha Books.|isbn=978-1592578542|pages=117–118}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Day|first1=Vox|title=The Irrational Atheist: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens|date=2008|publisher=BenBella Books|isbn=978-1933771366|pages=104–106}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Lurie|first1=Alan|title=Is Religion the Cause of Most Wars?|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-alan-lurie/is-religion-the-cause-of-_b_1400766.html|website=Huffington Post|date=10 April 2012|access-date=12 February 2015|archive-date=1 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901161339/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-alan-lurie/is-religion-the-cause-of-_b_1400766.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Andrew Holt (2018) traced the origin of the "only 123 religious wars" claim back to the 2008 book ''[[The Irrational Atheist]]'' of far-right activist [[Vox Day]], which he notes is slightly adjusted compared to the 121 that is indeed found in the ''Encyclopedia of Wars'' itself.<ref name="Holt"/>

''The Encyclopedia of War'', edited by Gordon Martel, using the criteria that the armed conflict must involve some overt religious action, concludes that 6% of the wars listed in their encyclopedia can be labelled religious wars.<ref>"The Encyclopedia of War" by Gordon Martel (17 Jan 2012, 2912 pages)</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2015}}