Much of world history and culture has been the result of the operation of the systems of thought, prescribed behavior and other strictures known as religions. The ways in which these systems have acted on the course of human history, and with each other, have been heavily dependent on the unique characteristics of religion. When looked at, even for the purposes of intellectual inquiry and not necessarily as a permanent conclusion, from an outside perspective that examines the effects of religion on the physical, observable world without accepting its claims made for qualities of transcendent truth and supernatural intervention, a particularly significant feature often, though not always, exhibited by systems of thought commonly understood to constitute religions, is the tendency to exclude other worldviews that are religious in nature. Though all systems by definition have the tendency to set out limits by which to define themselves and to be based on a self-understanding, directed at least some area of endeavor, as the best possible option, religions have been found to experience marked difficulty in interacting with each other because of the inability to admit shortcomings in a system aimed at the achievement of ultimate truth. An important step in the modern world toward the devising of cultures that can function at least to some extent outside the traditional paradigms defined by religions has been the formation of the basic concept of religion, which insofar as it judges such a system from an outside perspective, has been necessarily absent from most forms of religious vocabulary. The linguistic basis for the word “religion” is derived from the early Christian church official and writer St. Augustine, who used the term “religio” in his writings. His use of the word provided the influence for the later formation of the concept of religion but by itself expressed quite a different idea. One important note to be made in studying religions as such is understanding the extent to which the practice is based on a conceptual means for studying the world which only came about at a certain point and could only be allowed to occur under a certain specific set of circumstances.