different approaches to the study of religion

The realities of the modern world significantly contribute to communication between representatives of different cultures. 3 Phenomenological. On the other hand, some view it as a way of purifying religion from the idolatry or worship of human-made objects. Religion is a concept created by modern scholars and superimposed on a variety of different phenomena for a variety of motives. 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. 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. This approach teaches that there is only one true religion and only one way of salvation. Religion can be said to be subjective in at least two senses. 4 Ecumenical/Inclusivism. This idea led Calvinists to engage in activities that would increase their wealth, paving the way for the development of capitalism. The author will attempt to evaluate the strengths and weakness of two approaches to religion and try to compare the work of the two representations and their methodology .The first is Professor Ninian Smart as he wrote widely, regarding different topics in religions, with papers and articles appearing in a vast range of . Sullivan demonstrates that religion is too complex, too comprehensive, and too multi-faceted to be adequately captured by the law of the liberal state. This idea led Calvinists to engage in activities that would increase their wealth, paving the way for the development of capitalism. Religious devotees are divided on their reactions to psychology of religion. The disaggregating approach helps us answer this critique. There are many different approaches to finding truth. Methodologies in religious studies are the interpretive models on which the analysis of religious phenomena and resources are discussed. Intellectual historians and students of political thought study religious traditions as coherent, inter-generational, scholarly bodies of thoughtthe Islamic or the Christian or the Confucian tradition, for example. The law does not describe and regulate the full experience of marriage: the fact that, in law, marriage is a contract does not mean that marriage is, or should be experienced as, a contract. Among the many faiths represented here are Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Within religious studies there are three common methodologies: Philosophy of Religion ( Phenomenology ), the study of . Download file to see previous pages. As we examine the different disciplinal approaches to the study of religion, we shall briefly touch on some of the external theories of religion. Religion-making involved singling out certain social activities and cultural practices as religious and de-politicizing them (see Hinduism in India). 2 The closer a country comes to having equal shares of the . Discussion about religion has been complicated further by the attempt of some Christian theologians, notably Karl Barth (18861968), to draw a distinction between religion and the Gospel (the proclamation peculiar to Christianity). foster a respectful awareness of the significance of the beliefs and practices for the faith member. This tradition goes back in modern times to the seminal work of the German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach (180472), who proposed that God was the extension of human aspirations, and it is found in the work of the philosopher Karl Marx, the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, and others. Religion is both a fascinating and an essential subject of study. Philosophy of religion tries to settle issues in religion solely by means of the human power of reasoning. Religion is also studied within cultural geography, which studies how cultural processes spread. He is not final. It can use either separately or in any combination the methods of history, sociology, Most approaches come up with what are called theories of religion, referring to accounts or explanations of the origins and functions of religion. Sociology studies human societies, their interactions, and the processes that preserve and change them. b.) The author will attempt to evaluate the strengths and weakness of two approaches to religion and try to compare the work of the two representations and their methodology .The first is Professor Ninian Smart as he wrote widely, regarding different topics in religions, with papers and articles appearing in a vast range of publication sand television worldwide developing his own vision and philosophy of human progress and spiritual evolution. The Immanent Frame publishes interdisciplinary perspectives on religion, secularism, and the public sphere. SSRC activities span more than 80 countries on 6 continents, Apply for research opportunities across the globe, Contributions fund research and scholarship worldwide. For instance, a student of Christian theology is a Christian; but a student of religious studies studying Shintoism is usually not a Shintoist. Thus, the bracketing means forgetting about beliefs of ones own that might endorse or conflict with what is being investigated. Even this cursory summary of this first approach is, I hope, sufficient to convey the force and depth of the critique of religion. It is the opium of the people (Contribution to Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right). 10. So he is proposing a mystical goal and from his yogic teachings he guides,shows and achieves that. He regarded the belief in God as a childish and neurotic illusion which rational and realistic persons ought to abandon. The new scientific study of religion knows basically three main strands, quite connected with one another and often complementary, but each sometimes following its own paths: the cognitive-psychological; the biological-evolutionist; and the . Approaches to the Study of Religion. In addition to the main scriptures of a particular religion, theology often involves the study of the works of recognized theologians who are usually believers of the religion. In Marrett's view, the first form of religion was a belief in an ever-present and ubiquitous force that gave power to all elements of life (Durkheim 203). 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). (Scott London ,the future of religion an Interview with Ninian Smart June 1999 issue ofThe Witnessmagazine. ) According to William Cavanaughs provocative thesis, the fact that Christianity is construed as a religion, whereas nationalism is not, ensures that the Christians public and lethal loyalty belongs to the nation-state. It may well be, for example, that, in their exclusive focus on the claims of individual conscience, egalitarian theorists have neglected the normative importance of other dimensions of lived religion, such as the centrality of traditional collective rituals to the moral lives of believers. On the face of it, the field of religion is no different from other fields within the humanities, and to study religion should simply mean to reflect upon religious materials from a . 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 . We also study religion in order to learn more about how different aspects of human lifepolitics, science, literature, art, law, economicshave been and continue to be shaped by changing religious notions of, for example, good and evil, images of the deity and the divine, salvation and punishment, etc. In particular, a student of theology intends to deepen his/her understanding of a particular religion, while a student of religious studies intends to understand the different religions of the world. In this post, I briefly set out three distinct approaches to the study of religion: criticizing religion, upholding religion, and disaggregating religion. 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. Free resources to assist you with your university studies! Sociologists use a variety of methods to analyze culture. 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. People often do truly unique things for their faith. 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. Animism consists of the belief in immortal souls, gods, and other spiritual beings. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) defines religion as "a unified system of beliefs and Aurobindo offers no guidance upon other religions as his account is purely personal. 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. They are: commitment theory, which postulates that religion is a system of costly signaling that reduces deception and creates cooperation within groups; cognitive theory, which postulates that religion is the manifestation of mental modules that have evolved for other purposes . 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. O . If religion is a western concept that has been used to shore up the authority of the colonial and sovereign state, through shifting, arbitrary demarcations between religion tradition, culture, reason, and the nation, then scholars should be wary of treating it as a stable, coherent object of academic study. The author will attempt to evaluate the strengths and weakness of two approaches to religion and try to compare the work of the two representations and their methodology .The first is Professor Ninian Smart as he wrote widely, regarding different topics in religions, with papers and articles appearing in a vast range of . Given this, we, however, also use other approaches especially comparative religion and philosophy of religionwhich we will discuss next. How a believer of a certain religion (an insider) will study his/her own religion, for instance, will differ from how a nonbeliever of that religion (an outsider) will study it.Their motivations and methods will be different. The apologetic approaches to the study of religion is pro-religion in that it defends religion and attempts to prove that religion is true, right, or good. Some of these theories may be controversial, or questionable, for some people; nonetheless, knowing them broadens our understanding of the meaning and nature of religion. The idea is that one who experiences financial success is blessed and is thus favored by God. Our academic experts are ready and waiting to assist with any writing project you may have. Here you can choose which regional hub you wish to view, providing you with the most relevant information we have for your specific region. Office hours: MW 3-4, TTh 1-2:30. and by appointment. (Michael T.Mclaughlin,p96, Editrice Ponteficia Universita` Grecoriana Roma 2003)In many occasions he confirmed that he does not intend to promote any old religion or to find a new one and he strongly oppose religious particolarism. A&C Black, Jan 1, 1999 - Social Science - 286 pages. For egalitarian theorists of religious freedom (as I call them), there is nothing special about religion as such. Here you can choose which regional hub you wish to view, providing you with the most relevant information we have for your specific region. The term theology, though often used to refer to Christian theology, also applies to the systematic study of the other monotheistic religions, standardly referring to Judaism and Islam. Like most abstract concepts, the concept of religion is a construction projected onto the world, but one consequence of this large-scale projection may well be that our world has genuinely come to exhibit it. To some extent the emphasis on neutral description arises in modern times as a reaction to committed accounts of religion, which were for long the norm and which still exist among those who treat religion from a theological point of view. The challenge is threefold: we must attend to the concerns of the critical religion school while, at the same time, be sensitive both to the lived reality of religious experience and belief, and to the protection of the normative ideals underpinning freedom of religion in the law. Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified. But because they wanted to know who would eventually be saved and enter heaven, they thought that financial success was one good indicator. Although I cannot make the full case here, I sketch a preliminary defense of the third approach, in the context of recent debates in political theory. First of all we have to say that both, Smart and Aurobindo have not defined religion from objective point of view but rather to determine religion in terms of its own value. It does this by examining the dynamics of the constituent parts of societies such as institutions, communities, populations, and gender, racial, or age groups (Encyclopaedia Britannica 2013). These different approaches disagree about the essence of religion, but all three camps operate within a shared account of the human. Likewise, the fact that the law shows special concern for certain dimensions of religionsay, claims of individual consciencedoes not entail that religion is, or should be experienced as, individual conscience. We will discuss religious studies as an . God, in this regard, serves as a source of security and forgiveness. Moreover, in the absence of a tight definition there will always be a number of disputed cases. From the belief in human souls grew the belief in other spirits, like those that inhabit nature and those venerated as gods. Let me get back to the starting point of our inquiry: Is religion a valid category of scholarly research? Even if an inventory of kinds of belief and practice could be gathered so as to provide a typical profile of what counts as religion, some scholars would maintain that the differences between religions are more significant than their similarities. Religious beliefs, in particular, are only one sub-set of a larger class, which political philosophers, following John Rawls, call conceptions of the good. On this view, a liberal state protects, not only freedom of religion, but more generally freedom of conscience; it disestablishes, not only dominant religion, but also any controversial conception of the good. From the plot summary, it is obvious that the film mainly focuses on the religion of Christianity. Since becoming aware of our unconscious makes us a whole person (a fully realized Self), religion is thus seen by Jung as something positive (Merkur 2005, 177). (a) The Polymethodic Approach Polymethodicality, according to Smart, is the fact that the scientific study of religion employs a variety of methods to study religion. In the last quarter of the 20th century, four approaches to cultural studies drew growing attention. Some theologians also engage in philosophy of religion to show that what is believed by faith can also be demonstrated by reason. (Note that no assumption is made about the actual disciplinary location of scholars. I do not think it is, although I cannot make the full case here. Forte geertz symbols rituals and faith based behavior nov 8 14 ppt 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. The belief in the soul as something separate from the body though residing in the body resulted from dealing with certain biological questions such as those concerning the difference between a living body and a dead one; the causes of waking, sleep, trance, disease, and death; and the origin of dreams and visions involving human images. n account of the origins and functions of the Christian religion); while an external theory of religion is an account of the origins and functions of particular religions, or religion in general, using the methods of certain academic disciplines. Nationalist elites, in turn, fought to deny the label of religion to national traditions (see Shintoism in Japan and Confucianism in China). London and New York, 1999. If your specific country is not listed, please select the UK version of the site, as this is best suited to international visitors. Anthropologists, for example, legitimately study a key dimension of human experiencethe religious experiencein its diversity and unruliness. These questions within Smarts Classifactory account would help to define a religion. The study of religion emerged as a formal discipline during the 19th century, when the methods and approaches of history, philology, literary criticism, psychology, anthropology, sociology, economics, and other fields were brought to bear on the task of determining the history, origins, and functions of religion. Most of the major thinkers recognized in this area are also those recognized in the sociology of religion like Durkheim and Weber. Which concept of religionif anydo we need in the law of the liberal democratic state? Study for free with our range of university lectures! But perhaps we should apply to religion something like Ludwig Wittgensteins theory of family resemblance. The most influential proponent of comparative religion in the nineteenth century was Friedrich Max Muller (1823-1900). "Religion: Problems of Definition and Explanation", in Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion, Michael Banton (ed. As a social institution, religion is a pattern of social action organized around the beliefs and practices that people develop to answer questions about the meaning of existence. 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. For the last four decades universities and schools have been acting in response to a constant, steady demand for courses upon the study of religion. Muller, an authority of Sanskrit (the classical religious language of India), urged that the study of religion should not be limited to the religions of the Mediterranean (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) and that the great religions of the East should also be seriously studied. For a Christian, Christ is the only way of salvation and the Bible is the only source of saving revelation today. The most influential premodern work in comparative religion is the book The Golden Bough (1890) by James G. Frazer (1854-1941). How would a strategy of disaggregating religion help here? Thus, when William James describes religion as. Cultural processes spread within religious studies there are three common methodologies: philosophy of religion tries to settle issues religion. Models on which the analysis of religious freedom ( as I call them ), there is nothing about... Thus, the bracketing means forgetting about beliefs of ones own that might endorse or conflict with is... 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