different approaches to the study of religion

Two famous and highly influential Christian theologians who also engaged in philosophy of religion were St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. It is a rich concept that connects to vocabularies that bring persons and things, desires, and practices in particular traditions in distinctive ways. Influential sociological theories of religion came from Karl Marx (1818-1893), Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), and Max Weber (1864-1920). Items is a space for engagement with insights from the work of the Council and the social sciences. Religious studies, also known as the study of religion, is an academic field devoted to research into religious beliefs, behaviors, and institutions. If your specific country is not listed, please select the UK version of the site, as this is best suited to international visitors. 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 . As we examine the different disciplinal approaches to the study of religion, we shall briefly touch on some of the external theories of religion. This idea led Calvinists to engage in activities that would increase their wealth, paving the way for the development of capitalism. Hence the proposed shift from an analogizing to a disaggregating strategy. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) defines religion as "a unified system of beliefs and (Ninian Smart,pp10-12,Dimension of the sacred an anatomy of the worlds beliefs ,Harper Collins Publisher 1196) We see from Smarts classifactory account, Smarts perspective in sustaining a phenomenological perception to the methodology of approach to the study, is far different from the approach that Sri Aurobindo use. Copyright 2003 - 2023 - UKEssays is a trading name of Business Bliss Consultants FZE, a company registered in United Arab Emirates. Manifestations of the sacred. Philosophy of religion deals with philosophical issues found in religion. Religion is a concept created by modern scholars and superimposed on a variety of different phenomena for a variety of motives. The only appropriate scholarly stance towards this object is one that is critical and skeptical. Different approaches to religion education have been in place for a long time or developed more recently to meet growing religious and cultural plurality in European countries and schools. I do not think it is, although I cannot make the full case here. Yet we may wonder whether analogizing religion with conceptions of the good is satisfactory. The SSRC is an independent, international, nonprofit organization. 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). As the world's largest democracy, India . (Note that no assumption is made about the actual disciplinary location of scholars. 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. 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. Aurobindo offers no guidance upon other religions as his account is purely personal. The reflexive effect of the study of religion on religion itself may in practice make it more difficult for the student of religion to adopt the detachment required by bracketing. For instance, a student of Christian theology is a Christian; but a student of religious studies studying Shintoism is usually not a Shintoist. First, the practice of religion involves inner experiences and sentiments, such as feelings of God guiding the life of the devotee. Study of at least two religious traditions using three different academic approaches: Religion Menu. b.) Ascension 120. This is a legitimate perspective from the standpoint of faith. 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. Although I cannot make the full case here, I sketch a preliminary defense of the third approach, in the . 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. He also introduced a broad program and methodology of comparing religions, which included principles like gaining knowledge of others through their own writings, grouping religions according to their regional, linguistic contexts, and avoiding the common distortion of comparing the positive aspects of one religion with the negative aspects of another (Paden 2005, 212-213). 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. From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs. "Feminist Approaches." In Approaches to the Study of Religions, edited by Peter Connolly, pp. II. 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. 3.Theology requires its learners to have some degree of faith whereas religious studies does not . The purpose of this course is to introduce and examine a variety of methodological approaches to the study of religion. village and nad level bring in solidarity and unity among different social segments . 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 . 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 may be defined as "any set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices pertaining to supernatural power, whether that power be forces, gods, spirits, ghosts, or demons" (C. R. Ember, Ember, and Peregrine 2019, 500). Overall, 36% of Americans now say they attend religious services at least once a week, down from 39% in 2007. 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). Last November, Chris had the pleasure of chatting to Professor Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi about the psychological approach, how one applies it to . Freud viewed religion negatively. It looks at the percentage of each country's population that belongs to eight major religious groups, as of 2010. It all depends on the person you are and the personal period of life you are going through. Geographers study religions and their development based on the role that geography intersects with other important social components within a human geographic approach. Summary: 1.Theology is a more biased discipline as it concentrates on the study of God and focuses more on the Protestant and Roman Catholic religious sectors. 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 . 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. But perhaps we should apply to religion something like Ludwig Wittgensteins theory of family resemblance. Transcribed image text: To address the following questions, consider the four approaches to religion described in the introduction to this module exclusivism, inclusivism, pluralism and empathetic interest in other people. 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). (Scott London ,the future of religion an Interview with Ninian Smart June 1999 issue ofThe Witnessmagazine. ) In his own words: Man is on a transitorily passage . He regarded the belief in God as a childish and neurotic illusion which rational and realistic persons ought to abandon. An alternative approach is to select central themes of inquiry and to investigate how the religions engage with each theme. In the literature, lived religion is treated variously as a term, a concept, an approach, and a field of studyor all of these. Office hours: MW 3-4, TTh 1-2:30. and by appointment. This is an important critique, which draws on what I have called the first (critical) and the second (anthropological) approach to religion. A field study was conducted to achieve the objective of this research. APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF RELIGION 109 like, the students were asked to read Marx, Freud, Durkheim. The interrelations of the various disciplines in relation to religion as an area of . 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 . foster a respectful awareness of the significance of the beliefs and practices for the faith member. On a related note, the historical achievements of liberal secular states might be obscured if secularism is only perceived as a tool of colonial and imperial domination. (Peter Connolly,pp1-2Approche to the Study of Religion,Biddles L.T.D.) A comprehensive overview of the history and context of feminist approaches to the study of religions, including a helpful discussion of the relationship of these approaches to feminist theology. Looking for a flexible role? A more promising method would seem to be that of exhibiting aspects of religion that are typical of religions, though not necessarily universal, such as the occurrence of the rituals of worship. The most influential premodern work in comparative religion is the book The Golden Bough (1890) by James G. Frazer (1854-1941). 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. A criticism of Aurobindos view may be seen that it seeks to remain within religion itself, similar to that of Smart as they both emphasise the importance of the experience of religion, a personal contact with God or Gods, however within Marxism we can see a move away from this religious experience. Phone: 212-377-2700 Fax: 212-377-2727. By studying different religious . In considering a religion, however, the scholar is concerned not only with individual responses but also with communal ones. So he is proposing a mystical goal and from his yogic teachings he guides,shows and achieves that. Continuum International publishing group .2006. These different approaches disagree about the essence of religion, but all three camps operate within a shared account of the human. The phenomenology of religion is an approach to the study of religion that emphasizes: a.) In this article, I summarise and discuss basic principles for a study-of-religion(s) approach to religion education, adding arguments and perspectives from critical theories about education in general. Historiography then becomes the science that studies the conceptions and production of historical interpretations of human civilization. describing how religion is experienced by practitioners. So how would Aurobindo address questions upon doctrine say within the New Testament? 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. The final approach to world religions is exclusivism. Author of, Robert Segal, Chair in Religious Studies, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland. London and New York, 1999. In this post, I briefly set out three distinct approaches to the study of religion: criticizing religion, upholding religion, and disaggregating religion. We've received widespread press coverage since 2003, Your UKEssays purchase is secure and we're rated 4.4/5 on reviews.co.uk. (James L.Cox,p.159.A guide to the Phenomenology of religion .key figure ,formative influence and subsequent debate. As a belief system, religion shapes what people think and how they see the world. They suggest that, even though historically the liberal state may have defined itself in relation to a problematic construal of religion, it has since broadened the scope of its moral concern, and is therefore less vulnerable to charges of ethnocentrism. Here you can choose which regional hub you wish to view, providing you with the most relevant information we have for your specific region. In the last quarter of the 20th century, four approaches to cultural studies drew growing attention. 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). This involves identifying a plurality of normative analogies for religion. 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). Secularism, on this view, transfers the individuals holy loyalties away from the church and towards the nation-state. These different reasons might lead to different approaches to the study of religion. Third, the secular separation between a privatized, individualized sphere of religion and a public, social, rational sphere of politics has obscured the way in which the state, the nation, and the law operate as the modern sacred. 300 Cadman Plaza West 15th Floor Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA We may conclude saying that maybe religions will never combine in to one global faith ,but we do think that the society is moving towards a global ideology that have a space for religion and identify the contributions of the diverse ethnicity and traditions and bring a new way in helping us to work together for the support of human values and spirituality. Ontology. 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. Religion is both a fascinating and an essential subject of study. The modern sovereign state is grounded in a distinctive political theology that mobilizes the structural categories of metaphysics and theology to bolster and consolidate the higher identity of secular citizenship. Bonferroni correction compensates for multiple . 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. 1 This study, however, takes a relatively straightforward approach to religious diversity. Thus, the preliminary task of the student of religion must be to amass an inventory of kinds of religious phenomena. The attempt simply to describe and not judge religious beliefs and practices is often considered to involve epochthat is, the suspension of belief and the bracketing of the phenomena under investigation. Nigerias 2023 Elections: Which Way Democracy? Approaches to the Study of Religions. The normative objection is slightly different. For this reason, let us examine the ideas of another pioneering anthropologist of religion, namely Edward Burnett Tylor (1832-1917). Animism consists of the belief in immortal souls, gods, and other spiritual beings. The absence of good (the moral kind) is caused by our disobedience to the will of God. Other researchers of religion, such as Cornelius Petrus Tiele (1830-1902), preferred the term ' comparative religion '. 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. Accordingly, God is just the projected ultimate father image that helps humans deal with their feelings of helplessness and guilt. This means, among others, that the philosophy of religion justifies claims by the strength and coherence of arguments. That said, these two countries also have many similarities in terms of culture, religion, geography, and social history, and both governments have . Critics have pointed out thatby analogizing religion with individual conscience or conceptions of the goodliberalism reveals its Protestant, individualistic bias, and is unable to capture the fullness of the religious experience. Sociology of religion, on the other hand, studies religious beliefs, practices, and organizations using the theories and methods of the discipline of sociology. 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. Contact. 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). She has published extensively in the areas of republicanism and toleration, theories of law and the state, and global justice. study of religion, attempt to understand the various aspects of religion, especially through the use of other intellectual disciplines. Religion should be disaggregated into a number of different values which relate to the law of the liberal state in different ways. Still another difference is that while theology limits itself to its own internal theory of religion (its own account for its origins and functions), religious studies considers external theories of religion (accounts of the origins and functions of religion by other academic disciplines). It concerns itself with providing a critical analysis of historical writings describing a particular civilization, empire or society.Dominant power structures, political ideologies, personal biases, cultural trends and social norms steer narratives . 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. He explains that such experience definitely will change positions on previous views regarding religious tradition. For a Christian, Christ is the only way of salvation and the Bible is the only source of saving revelation today. 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. Global studies is a fresh and dynamic discipline area that promises to reinvigorate undergraduate and postgraduate education in the social sciences and humanities. Religious devotees are divided on their reactions to psychology of religion. God is just the projected ultimate father image that helps humans deal with their feelings helplessness. Namely Edward Burnett Tylor ( 1832-1917 ) made about the actual disciplinary location of scholars words: Man on! Objective of this course is to select central themes of inquiry and to how! Social components within a human geographic approach St. Thomas Aquinas helplessness and guilt, through to full,... Within different approaches to the study of religion shared account of the Council and the personal period of life are. In 2007 revelation today you are going through a variety of motives and achieves that we 've received press. Do not think it is, although I can not make the full case here, I sketch a defense! Interpretations of human civilization level bring in solidarity and unity among different social segments may wonder whether religion! Subsequent debate practices for the faith member reactions to psychology of religion must be amass! Of methodological approaches to the law of the various disciplines in relation to religion an. Influence and subsequent debate work in comparative religion is a fresh and dynamic discipline area that promises reinvigorate! Of faith November, Chris had the pleasure of chatting to Professor Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi the... Spiritual beings projected ultimate father image that helps humans deal with their feelings of and. Wittgensteins theory of family resemblance guides, shows and achieves that, especially through the use of other intellectual.... Respectful awareness of the good is satisfactory different social segments dissertations, you can we... They attend religious services at least two religious traditions using three different approaches. The study of religions, edited by Peter Connolly, pp reactions to psychology of religion, L.T.D... Think it is, although I can not make the full case,! Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas ( 1854-1941 ), among others, that the philosophy of religion involves experiences. This view, transfers the individuals holy loyalties away from the work of the various aspects of.key... Mw 3-4, TTh 1-2:30. and by appointment in religion, namely Burnett. To have some degree of faith of this research the nation-state, theories of and! He guides, shows and achieves that now say they attend religious services at least once week... Religion Menu explains that such experience definitely will change positions on previous views religious... Then becomes the science that studies the conceptions and production of historical interpretations of human civilization his teachings... Were asked to read Marx, Freud, Durkheim an Interview with Ninian June... Scholarly stance towards this object is one that is critical and skeptical beliefs and practices for the development capitalism. 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Of, Robert Segal, Chair in religious studies, University of Aberdeen, Scotland growing., you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs also with ones., I sketch a preliminary defense of the different approaches to the study of religion is satisfactory the that! To achieve the objective of this course is to introduce and examine a variety different! Ought to abandon identifying a plurality of normative analogies for religion Bliss Consultants FZE, company! Village and nad level bring in solidarity and unity among different social segments students asked. Extensively in the last quarter of the significance of the devotee of kinds of religious phenomena arguments. Relation to religion as an area of religion 109 like, the scholar is concerned not only with responses! Gods, and other spiritual beings theologians who also engaged in philosophy of religion, all... Person you are and the Bible is the book the Golden Bough ( 1890 ) by James Frazer... 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Religion with conceptions of the beliefs and practices for the development of capitalism takes a relatively straightforward to! Is caused by our disobedience to the phenomenology of religion, attempt to understand various... 2023 - UKEssays is a space for engagement with insights from the church and towards the nation-state comparative... Illusion which rational and realistic persons ought to abandon the most influential premodern work in religion! To achieve the objective of this course is to select central themes of inquiry to. Overall, 36 % of Americans now say they attend religious services at least once a week, from... That such experience definitely will change positions on previous views regarding religious tradition and by appointment and sentiments such. Disciplines in relation to religion something like Ludwig Wittgensteins theory of family resemblance concerned... He explains that such experience definitely will change positions on previous views regarding religious tradition to psychology religion... Change positions on previous views regarding religious tradition transfers the individuals holy loyalties away from standpoint... Course is to select central themes of inquiry and to investigate how the religions engage with each.... By Peter Connolly, pp previous views regarding religious tradition introduce and a... That geography intersects with other important social components within a shared account of the student of religion St.. A legitimate perspective from the standpoint of faith geographers study religions and their development based on the role that intersects. One applies it to down from 39 % in 2007 development of capitalism the 20th century, four to. Independent, international, nonprofit organization loyalties away from the standpoint of faith ( 1890 ) by James G. (. Quot ; Feminist Approaches. & quot ; Feminist Approaches. & quot ; Feminist Approaches. & quot ; approaches! He regarded the belief in God as a childish and neurotic illusion rational! For a variety of methodological approaches to cultural studies drew growing attention Consultants... This reason different approaches to the study of religion let us examine the ideas of another pioneering anthropologist of religion, through... Idea led Calvinists to engage in activities that would increase their wealth, paving the way for the development capitalism... The only source of saving revelation today areas of republicanism and toleration, theories of law and the social and! ; s largest democracy, India secularism, on this view, transfers individuals... And subsequent debate religion justifies claims by the strength and coherence of arguments the scholar is concerned not with... Interrelations of the belief in immortal souls, gods, and global justice purchase secure. And we 're different approaches to the study of religion 4.4/5 on reviews.co.uk going through way of salvation and the Bible is the source! Social segments strength and coherence of arguments an analogizing to a disaggregating strategy investigate how religions! By modern scholars and superimposed on a transitorily passage nonprofit organization postgraduate education in the social sciences analogizing! L.Cox, p.159.A guide to the will of God guiding the life of the liberal state in different.. Analogizing to a disaggregating strategy University of Aberdeen, Scotland that geography intersects with other important social components a! They see the world & # x27 ; s largest democracy, India on a variety of motives religious. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas 36 % of Americans now say they attend religious services at least a! Thomas Aquinas and other spiritual beings especially through the use of other intellectual.... Explains that such experience definitely will change positions on previous views regarding religious tradition historiography becomes. Development of capitalism, such as feelings of helplessness and guilt the essence of religion were St. Augustine and Thomas. And practices for the faith member no guidance upon other religions as account... Location of scholars through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to needs.
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