Reference: Religion
Fausets
RELIGIOUS. Jas 1:26-27, threeskos, threeskeia; distinct from eulabees ("reverent"; from the Old Testament standpoint; "cautious fear toward God"), "devout" (Lu 2:25); theosebees, "godly"; eusebees, "pious." "If any man seem a diligent observer of the offices of religion (threeskos) ... pure and undefiled religion (not the sum total or inner essentials of religion, but its outer manifestations) is to visit the fatherless," etc. The Old Testament cult or "religious service" (threeskeia) was ceremony and ritual; the New Testament religious service consists in acts of mercy, love, and holiness. "Religion" refers to the external service, "godliness" being the soul. James as president of the Jerusalem council (Ac 15:13-21) had decided against ritualism; so he teaches, instead of Judaic ceremonialism, true religious service is (1) active, (2) passive (Mic 6:7-8; Mt 23:23); compare Ac 26:5, "our religion"; Col 2:18, "worshipping," threeskeia.
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Hastings
The word 'religion,' wherever it occurs in AV, signifies not the inner spirit of the religious life, but its outward expression. It is thus used of one form of religion as distinguished from another; as in 2Ma 14:36, where the same word is translated in the middle of the verse 'Judaism,' and in the end of it 'the religion of the Jews.' It is also used by St. James (Jas 1:26-27) to contrast moral acts with ritual forms.
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Watsons
RELIGION. See CHRISTIANITY.