Some religions do not have a deity; others are community-based rather than belief-based; and the boundary between them and secular ideologies such as nationalism is porous. 42 - 72. Accordingly, God is just the projected ultimate father image that helps humans deal with their feelings of helplessness and guilt. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. We will discuss religious studies as an . The method used was to compare the subjective experience with the intent of shaping the arrangement of religion itself from within the structure. Methodologies in religious studies are the interpretive models on which the analysis of religious phenomena and resources are discussed. On the contrary, religion, as it is studied in the secular state university, is both a category and an aspect of human behavior that must be subjected to the same types of scrutiny as any other category of human behavior that one may study. Among the many faiths represented here are Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. These philosophical issues include, among many others, whether we can adequately prove the existence of God, reconcile the existence of evil with the existence of a God who is wholly good and all-powerful, reconcile Gods omniscience (the power to know everything) and foreknowledge (the power to know future events) with human freedom, explain the nature of miracles, determine the meaningfulness of religious language (how religious linguistic expressions acquire their meanings), and many others. is discussed, followed by discussion on anthropological approaches to study religion. This means that a student of theology is a follower of the particular religion he/she is studying; whereas a student of religious studies is usually not a follower of the religions he/she is studying. In considering a religion, however, the scholar is concerned not only with individual responses but also with communal ones. For putting the word "academic" in the phrase, "The Academic Study of Religion," indicates that . 5 Evangelical Christian. We can confirm that the method of study that Smart used in his approach comprehend both external and internal analysis of religion, characterized by phenomenological perspectives. Much of the interesting work done in anthropology, sociology, and religious studies departments, for example, draws on both the first and the second approach). Religion may also be thought to be subjective because the criteria by which its truth is decided are obscure and hard to come by, so there is no obvious objective test, the way in which there is for a large range of empirical claims in the physical world. The first is that religion is (as Daniel Dubuisson once wrote) the Wests most characteristic concept, around which it has established and developed its identity. There is a deep and significant continuity between the Christian defense of the true religion and the nineteenth-century invention of world religions. The universalism of the concept masked an internally hierarchical classificatory scheme, which, as Tomoko Mazuzawa has shown, was crafted within the crucible of the missionary and colonial encounter. Nevertheless, common to all these different terms and their respective definitions of approach was the motivation to dispense with theologically orientated normative constructions in the study of religion. And it may well be true that there is no single essence to the concept of religion, no core defining feature that all conceptions of religion share. Will the globalization lead to a kind of universal religion, as prediction might lead, or it will be turned in a lively variety of many different beliefs? To him, sacred meant extraordinarysomething that inspired wonder and that seemed connected to the concept of "the divine.". In this post, I briefly set out three distinct approaches to the study of religion: criticizing religion, upholding religion, and disaggregating religion. Thus, the preliminary task of the student of religion must be to amass an inventory of kinds of religious phenomena. One of the significant sociological findings of Max Weber was the significant contribution of that the Calvinist religious ideas had on the development of the economic system of capitalism. Erin has an M.Ed in adult education and a BS in psychology and a BS in management systems. Scholars do generally agree that the pursuit of objectivity is desirable, provided this stance does not involve the sacrifice of a sense of the inner aspect of religion. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) defines religion as "a unified system of beliefs and An alternative approach is to select central themes of inquiry and to investigate how the religions engage with each theme. 1 Definition of Religion For Edward B. Tylor (1832-1917) religion is the belief in spiritual beings (1871). Hence, we also have Jewish theology (and Jewish theologians) and Islamic theology (and Islamic theologians). In this lesson, we will discuss the difference between the scientific and the religious approach and will look at some examples of each. Personal experience is crucial to any understanding of religion .On this particular account Aurobindo discovers the relation or union, he favours, what he identifies as spiritual psychology and integral methods, but for both he confirms that the objective is to be understood and interpreted in terms of subjective. the civilized races. The absence of good (the moral kind) is caused by our disobedience to the will of God. Three famous psychologists who examined and analyzed religious phenomena psychologically were William James, Sigmund Freud, and Carl Jung. Most of the major thinkers recognized in this area are also those recognized in the sociology of religion like Durkheim and Weber. It may well be true that the boundaries between religion and other cognate concepts such as tradition, culture, ideology, faith, reason, and so forth are porous and fuzzy. Other religions are sourced in man's rebellion against God and/or demonic influence. Like Muslim reformists' approach of reform, which attempted to reconstruct Islamic religious thought in the light of modern science and knowledge, Christian neo-orthodoxy insisted that Christianity itself needs continually to be rethought and that theology must engage seriously with the . Anthropologists, for example, legitimately study a key dimension of human experiencethe religious experiencein its diversity and unruliness. Phenomenology or Religion (3) Study of consciousness and experiences. Thus in principle it is the study of all religions from a viewpoint not isolated within any one of them. So neutrality, for liberals such as Rawls and Ronald Dworkin, is generalized non-establishment. Egalitarian theorists of religious freedom offer a compelling response to the critical religion school. He explains that such experience definitely will change positions on previous views regarding religious tradition. Influential sociological theories of religion came from Karl Marx (1818-1893), Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), and Max Weber (1864-1920). Which of these four approaches do you take in your everyday life, and why? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). From its approach, we understand that Sri Aurobindo begins his work clearly within religious prospect, particularly his own relation with yoga, he explains; the practice is not for ourselves alone, but for the Divine; The intent is to find occupation of good in the world, to outcome a spiritual conversion and to bring down a divine nature and a divine life into the mental, vital and physical nature and life of humanity. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was the founder of psychoanalysis, which generally claims that our behaviors are largely controlled by our unconscious mind which contains our repressed sexual and violent desires. And the best- known scholar of comparative religion of the last generation was Mircea Eliade (1907-1986), whose studies included the concepts of sacred space and mythic time, and the sacredness of nature (Paden 2005, 215). Religion and 'The Study of Religions' has many approaches which try to investigate the core of what religion is and what it means to the people who practice it. (James L.Cox,p.159.A guide to the Phenomenology of religion .key figure ,formative influence and subsequent debate. The journal is a very significant endeavor since, until we launched it, there was no journal in the study of religion that has focused exclusively on developing a critical approach. . Given this, we, however, also use other approaches especially comparative religion and philosophy of religionwhich we will discuss next. This is an important critique, which draws on what I have called the first (critical) and the second (anthropological) approach to religion. Religion and 'The Study of Religions' has many approaches which try to investigate the core of what religion is and what it means to the people who practice it. Significance is reported at the p < .10 level. It may perhaps intensify your religious experience. We pick out, from the complex notion of religion that we have inherited, distinct elements and values that democratic law has good reason to protect. These different approaches disagree about the essence of religion, but all three camps operate within a shared account of the human. Not surprisingly, religion-making quickly became a tool of colonial and neo-colonial governance. Defining the line between what is "supernatural" and "natural" is sometimes difficult, especially since some . Egalitarian theorists of religious freedom, from this perspective, are right to seek to identify the normative grounds on which certain beliefs and practices call for state protection (or state restraint, in the case of non-establishment). by Cristina Echeverri-Pineda and Mateo Villamizar-Chaparro. Some of the contributions of William James were his distinction between institutional religion and personal religion, his analysis of religious experiences as mystical experiences, and his pragmatic approach to the value of religionthat the truth and value of a religious belief for an individual depend on the beneficial effects of the belief on the life of the individual. Can we categorize all religions within Ninian Smart definitions? Rituals, practices and texts focused on death provide the basis for comparative study of Asian and Western religious approaches to the meaning and mystery of death as it confronts individuals and communities. This suggests that the works of these thinkers cut across the disciplines of sociology and anthropology. Author of, Robert Segal, Chair in Religious Studies, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland. Contact. Particularly, this study used an interdisciplinary approach, that is, a combination of religious and social approaches. Second, however, we may ask whether the normative analogy used by egalitarian theorists of religious freedom is the right one. Consequently, the systematic study of the doctrines of Buddhism and Hinduism, for instance, are respectively called Buddhist philosophy and Hindu philosophy, and not Buddhist theology and Hindu theology. Accordingly, Calvinists believed in predestination, the view that God has already decided on who will enter heaven or not. Ascension 120. This idea led Calvinists to engage in activities that would increase their wealth, paving the way for the development of capitalism. Method & Theory in the Study of Religion publishes articles, notes, book reviews and letters which explicitly address the problems of methodology and theory in the academic study of religion. Office hours: MW 3-4, TTh 1-2:30. and by appointment. But perhaps we should apply to religion something like Ludwig Wittgensteins theory of family resemblance. Durkheim was more interested in the unifying effect of religion among members of a society. This involves identifying a plurality of normative analogies for religion. These strategies have been identified as central to the development of programs that prioritize student development and help improve student retention, engagement, and academic performance. The author as part of his degree course has studied these two vastly differing approaches. It is a rich concept that connects to vocabularies that bring persons and things, desires, and practices in particular traditions in distinctive ways. The academic study of religion is an inherently interdisciplinary field, incorporating textual studies of the world's sacred texts, language studies, art, history, philosophy, anthropology, politics, economics, sociology, psychology, comparative literature and literary studies, cultural studies, gender and ethnic studies, legal studies, and . For instance, Christian theologians explain the doctrines of Christianity, and their works constitute Christian theology. If it is not possible, then cross-religious comparisons would mostly break down, for normally it is not possible to be inside more than one religion. The study of religion may thus come to have a reflexive effect on religion itself, such as the manner in which modern Christian theology has been profoundly affected by the whole question of the historicity of the New Testament. The book is a vast collection of rituals, myths, and religions organized by patterns and themes, which made extensive use of sources from primitive and folk cultures (Paden 2005, 213). This decline is accompanied by a rise in the share of U.S. adults who say they seldom or never attend religious services (from 27% in 2007 to 30% in 2014). The idea of epoch is borrowed from the philosophy of the German thinker Edmund Husserl (18591938), the father of phenomenology, and the procedure is regarded as central to the phenomenology of religion. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Here I focus on two objectionswhich, for ease of presentation, I call the anthropological and the normative objection. by Ccile Laborde February 5, 2014. Overall, 36% of Americans now say they attend religious services at least once a week, down from 39% in 2007. By studying different religious . Tylor cited the association of morality with animism which was little represented in the lower races but became an integral part of the religions ofthe civilized races. For other religions, the systematic study of their doctrines is usually referred to as philosophy instead of theology. One obvious reason is that the term theology implies a belief in one God but other religions may not subscribe either to the belief in God or gods or to the belief that there is only one God. Such distinctions, however, only serve to shore up the arbitrary power that the state has to demarcate the sphere of its own sovereignty. The people who take these courses are usually involved in religion themselves ,many are involved a in religious communities or, wishing to know more and learn regarding the religious beliefs of others. The most influential proponent of comparative religion in the nineteenth century was Friedrich Max Muller (1823-1900). (Scott London ,the future of religion an Interview with Ninian Smart June 1999 issue ofThe Witnessmagazine. ) Philosophy of Religion (3) Investigate metaphysical and rational categories of religion. Religious fundamentalism is the approach of those religious groups that look for the literal interpretation of original religious texts or books believing that teachings obtained from . Religion is a concept created by modern scholars and superimposed on a variety of different phenomena for a variety of motives. Its object is not personal, although is a necessary condition of the yoga. It is the logic of Natures process. The term phenomenology refers first to the attempt to describe religious phenomena in a way that brings out the beliefs and attitudes of the adherents of the religion under investigation but without either endorsing or rejecting the beliefs and attitudes. What may be the way forward in the teaching and definition of religion is to accept the singularity of each religion and each individuals faith and seek ways in which they can be accommodated within a safe international environment that moves away from empirical definitions. This can often lead to conflicts, including those that arise on religious grounds. For instance, a student of Christian theology is a Christian; but a student of religious studies studying Shintoism is usually not a Shintoist. Items is a space for engagement with insights from the work of the Council and the social sciences. One contribution of St. Augustine was his theory that evil is the absence of good (which he adopted from the view of the Greek philosopher Plotinus on the nature of light and darkness). The Practical and ritual dimensions (BBC.Religion). Thus, some political ideologies, such as communism and fascism, have been regarded as analogous to religion. The findings that focus on the scientific study of religion, including the SSSR and the SSR units within the AAR, are especially highlighted, as are contrasts between sociological and psychological approaches in the academic study of religion. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UKEssays.com. This includes such traditional points of departure as history, philosophy, anthropology, psychology, and sociology, but also the natural sciences, and such other approaches as feminist theory, discourse . The stress on the distinction between the descriptive and normative approaches is becoming more frequent among scholars of religion. As we examine the different disciplinal approaches to the study of religion, we shall briefly touch on some of the external theories of religion. The fast, they abstain from sex, they walk on fire, perform self-flagellation, or nail themselves on crosses. Copyright 2019 - 2022 Elcomblus Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. On the other hand, comparative religion refers to a branch of religious studies that is concerned with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices of two or more particular religions. Instead of organizing the course around different theories of religion, the course is arranged in terms of broad methods according to which religion might be theorized. Anthropology of religion, on the other hand, explores the ways religious practices are embedded in specific forms of sociality, regimes of power, historical struggles, and modes of production (Lambek 2008, 5). The Hijab Controversy in Political Philosophy (Oxford University Press 2008). Sociologists study religion as both a belief system and a social institution. First, different disciplines will have different answers to the question of what the concept of religion is for; and as a result they will work with different conceptions of religion. As an academic discipline, anthropology studies human beings in aspects ranging from the biology and evolutionary history of Homo sapiens to the features of society and culture that decisively distinguish humans from other animal species. Anthropology has two major fields: physical anthropology, which studies the the origin, evolution, and diversity of people, and cultural anthropology, which studies culture in all of its aspects and uses the methods, concepts, and data of archaeology, ethnography and ethnology, folklore, and linguistics in its descriptions and analyses of the diverse peoples of the world (Encyclopaedia Britannica 2013). Religion must be to amass an inventory of kinds of religious phenomena and resources are discussed we have! 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