Editing Lumpers and splitters (section)

=== Religious studies ===
[[Paul F. Bradshaw]] suggests that the same principles of lumping and splitting apply to the study of early Christian [[liturgy]]. Lumpers, who tend to predominate in this field, try to find a single line of successive texts from the [[apostolic age]] to the fourth century (and later). Splitters see many parallel and overlapping strands which intermingle and flow apart so that there is not a single coherent path in the development of liturgical texts. Liturgical texts must not be taken solely at face value; often there are hidden agendas in texts.<ref name="bradshaw">Bradshaw, Paul F., ''The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship'', Oxford University Press, 2002, p. ix. {{ISBN|0-19-521732-2}}.</ref>

The idea of a single Hindu religion is essentially a lumper's concept, sometimes also known as [[Smartism]] (on the basis of the Smārta synthesis). Hindu splitters, and individual adherents, often{{quantify|date=June 2021}} identify themselves on the other hand as adherents of a religion such as [[Shaivism]], [[Vaishnavism]], or [[Shaktism]], according to which deity they believe to be the supreme creator of the universe.{{Citation needed|date= June 2012}}

Various [[Holism|"holistic"]] approaches to religion can prioritise themes such as individual spirituality,<ref>
{{cite book
 | last = Enrich
 | first = Sturm
 | author-link = 
 | title = Holistic Religion: God-Free, Faith-free, Worship-free; Pro-Individual, Pro-People, Pro-Earth, Pro-Ethics
 | date = 22 March 2021
 | publisher = Sturm Enrich
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dfBUzgEACAAJ
 | publication-date = 2021
 | isbn = 9780996113458
 | access-date = 11 June 2021
}}
</ref>
the [[New-Age]]-style essential oneness of multiple religious traditions, or [[religious fundamentalism]].<ref>
{{cite book
 | last = Mozaffari
 | first = Mehdi
 | year = 1996
 | chapter = Islamism in Algeria and Iran
 | editor1-last = Sidahmed
 | editor1-first = Abdel Salam
 | editor2-last = Ehteshami
 | editor2-first = Anoushiravan
 | editor2-link = Anoushiravan Ehteshami
 | title = Islamic Fundamentalism
 | url =  https://books.google.com/books?id=bQDFDwAAQBAJ
 | location = New York
 | publisher = Routledge
 | publication-date = 2018
 | page = 229
 | isbn = 9780429968143
 | access-date = 11 June 2021
 | quote = [...] the Islamic fundamentalists have a holistic concept of Islam. They believe in the absolute indivisibility of the three famous D's.
}}
</ref>