Religion Religion was often used interchangeably with the terms " faith " and " belief system " or " belief structure " . Broadly speaking , it was a set of stories or beliefs that were believed or gave meaning to a particular society . In many instances a certain deity or god was worshipped . The Doctor encountered several forms of religion in the form of church es , cult s , god s , deities and a variety of other forms . Specific locations and civilisations . Gallifrey . Religion was present on Gallifrey during the time of the Pythia when mysticism ruled Gallifrey . It was a time of psychics and prophecy . ( PROSE : " " ) Later in Gallifrey ' s history , another " religion " formed : a cult known as the Faction Paradox , a voodoo - organisation who revelled in the art of a paradox , something that was practically sacrilegious ( if Gallifreyans believed in such thing ) on Gallifrey . ( PROSE : " Alien Bodies " ) Earth . Around the 12th century , the major religions on Earth were — in the West — " Mohammedanism " , Judaism and Christianity , and — in the East — Hinduism , Buddhism , Janism , Sikhism , Parsee and Shinto . At this point in history , these essentially comprised of the entire planet ' s population , and each religion fought against each other . ( PROSE : " Doctor Who and the Crusaders " ) There were several instances of a variety of species masquerading on Earth within belief structures : the Gorgon s controlled a sect of Christian nun s ; ( TV : " Eye of the Gorgon " ) Exxilon s visited Earth several times , influencing civilisations ( and their religions ) such as the Mayan and Aztec ; ( PROSE : " The Left - Handed Hummingbird " ) Cessair of Diplos was worshipped by the Druid s for 4000 years ( till the mid - 1970s ) , adopting several identities while maintaining control of the religion around a stone circle comprised of several Ogri ; ( TV : " The Stones of Blood " ) and at least one Time Lord portrayed himself as a Christian monk while on Earth . ( TV : " The Time Meddler " ) Divergent Universe . Within the Divergent Universe , there existed the Multihaven where a large number of religions could all exist in harmony together . While there , the Eighth Doctor and Charley Pollard claimed their religions to be ' tourists ' . ( AUDIO : " Faith Stealer " ) C ' rizz was a member of the Church of the Foundation . ( AUDIO : " The Next Life " ) Elsewhere . Religion was forbidden on Platform One . ( TV : " The End of the World " ) On Delta Magna the ' Swampie s ' worshipped Kroll . A high priest would often dress up as Kroll to terrorise their captives . ( TV : " The Power of Kroll " ) When the All - Gods awoke and took over the planet Dellah , religious practices became sacrosanct , and read to the letter of their beliefs ; many people were punished or killed for not following a religion . ( PROSE : " Where Angels Fear " ) Drang had religion banned on Aoris . ( AUDIO : " Legacy of Death " ) By the 52nd century , the Silence , the Church and the Order of the Headless were all allied to kill the Doctor to stop him reaching Trenzalore and answering a Question that must never be answered . ( TV : " The Impossible Astronaut " , " A Good Man Goes to War " , " Let ' s Kill Hitler " , " Closing Time " , " The Wedding of River Song " ) Religious iconography , symbols and vocations . Nun s were often associated with a particular religion ; on Earth they were often associated with religions with ties to Christianity . ( TV : " Eye of the Gorgon " ) Study of religion . St . Oscar ' s University in the 26th century had a Department of Comparative Religion , headed by Professor Urquhart . ( PROSE : " Dry Pilgrimage " ) The People had an interest group called Apocalyptic Religions Interest Group . ( PROSE : " Where Angels Fear " ) The Devil . The Devil idea was a form that ran through several religions . The " horned beast " in particular was an icon that was seen on several worlds and in many civilisations . Some of this imagery could be credited to the Dæmon s of Dæmos . ( TV : " The Dæmons " ) Others could be credited to the Beast . During the 42nd century in particular several religions included the Beast within their belief structures ; the Arkiphets , the Church of the Tin Vagabond , Quoldonity , Pash Pash , San Klah , Christianity and New Judaism . ( TV : " The Satan Pit " )