different approaches to the study of religion

Ontology. In the literature, lived religion is treated variously as a term, a concept, an approach, and a field of studyor all of these. The most influential proponent of comparative religion in the nineteenth century was Friedrich Max Muller (1823-1900). The aims of the Diploma Programme world religions course are to enable students to: promote an inquiring, analytical and empathetic approach to the study of religion. The idea is that one who experiences financial success is blessed and is thus favored by God. Theologians adopt a more content-based approach: they study the texts and dogma which capture our fundamental dependence on a greater order of things. The worry here is the hard-won liberal right to religious freedom will not elicit much respect if the existence of religion itself is radically questioned. Moreover, in the absence of a tight definition there will always be a number of disputed cases. Significance is reported at the p < .10 level. As we examine the different disciplinal approaches to the study of religion, we shall briefly touch on some of the external theories of 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. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. 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). It studies religion in relation to other social institutions and compares religious beliefs and practices across cultures. In light of these considerations, our approach in examining the different world religions in the subsequent chapters mainly falls under religious studies. 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. Required fields are marked *. In this . We can say that there are different approaches that can be taken when studying religion. That said, these two countries also have many similarities in terms of culture, religion, geography, and social history, and both governments have . Durkheim further claimed that more complex societies had more complex religious systems, but they were all same in that they had religions as ways of unifying their societies. 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. In the above definition Marx has stressed few points about religion which require special emphasis. Fall 2005. So he is proposing a mystical goal and from his yogic teachings he guides,shows and achieves that. How can we best identify and protect the normative values which historically have underpinned freedom of religion, non-establishment and the like? By criticizing religion, I mean not the critique of the beliefs or practices of self-described religious individuals or groups but rather the critique of the concept of religion as a scholarly category. a complex continuum of resemblances and differences, Hindutva and the shared scripts of the global right, Normalizing nationalism through social media in transnational Jain communities. Let me get back to the starting point of our inquiry: Is religion a valid category of scholarly research? Certain attempts at a functionalist definition of religion, such as that of the German American theologian Paul Tillich (18861965), who defined religion in terms of human beings ultimate concern, would leave the way open to count these ideologies as proper objects of the study of religion (Tillich himself called them quasi-religions). Evolutionary Approaches. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. J.F. Sullivan demonstrates that religion is too complex, too comprehensive, and too multi-faceted to be adequately captured by the law of the liberal state. Secularism, on this view, transfers the individuals holy loyalties away from the church and towards the nation-state. Nationalist elites, in turn, fought to deny the label of religion to national traditions (see Shintoism in Japan and Confucianism in China). In his own words: Man is on a transitorily passage . Psychology is the study of human and animal behavior and how thinking processes operate. From this perspective, it would be a mistake to think that conceptual imprecision is in itself an obstacle to scholarly inquiry. Each perspective uniquely conceptualizes society, social . This article examines three anthropological theories explaining how religion has evolved and continues to evolve. In this lesson, we will discuss the difference between the scientific and the religious approach and will look at some examples of each. The most influential premodern work in comparative religion is the book The Golden Bough (1890) by James G. Frazer (1854-1941). It is the opium of the people (Contribution to Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right). Morgan, Sue. People often do truly unique things for their faith. 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. Omissions? 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. 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. Some theologians also engage in philosophy of religion to show that what is believed by faith can also be demonstrated by reason. He illustrate the introduction of Phenomenology saying, a lot of opinions have been written about not only the physical interchange of races but;, also ethnical and cultural, and especially upon values, so what take place when religions and their tradition convene? by Ccile Laborde February 5, 2014. 3.Theology requires its learners to have some degree of faith whereas religious studies does not . There are two main reasons for this suspicion. 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. 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. Your email address will not be published. These (and others) are all legitimate uses of the concept of religion. 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. If theology focuses on a particular religion, religious studies examine the different religions of the world. In the Australian context, the interdisciplinary pedagogy that defines global studies is gaining wider acceptance as a coherent and necessary approach to the study of global change. 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). Forte geertz symbols rituals and faith based behavior nov 8 14 ppt There are many ways of studying religions. APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF RELIGION WILLIAM E. ARNAL New York University has a religious studies program, but not a de- partment. Ascension 120. This approach is known as comparative religion. The SSRC is an independent, international, nonprofit organization. Freud viewed religion negatively. 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 this regard, Marx described religion as the opium of the masses.. Others have no clear vision upon their religious identity and are searching possible traditions, ready to meet their spiritual exploration .So they start looking for different approaches to their study ,bringing along different opinions and whatever the process and methodology is, will bring them information from which eventually they will find answers or give opinion. 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. 47. For example different opinions regarding the Trinity between Roman Catholics and Jehovah Witnesses. Sensory experience. Two famous and highly influential Christian theologians who also engaged in philosophy of religion were St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) defines religion as "a unified system of beliefs and Smart contemplated these question for many years investigating various religions in the world. liade (1907-1986), whose studies included the concepts of sacred space and mythic time, and the sacredness of nature (Paden 2005, 215). 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. What Wittgenstein said about the concept of game also applies to the concept of religion: the fact that we cannot identify a single feature that all religions exhibit does not mean that the concept of religion is meaningless. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Religion-making involved singling out certain social activities and cultural practices as religious and de-politicizing them (see Hinduism in India). Human health risk assessment of chemical mixtures is complex due to the almost infinite number of possible combinations of chemicals to which people are exposed to on a daily basis. Bonferroni correction compensates for multiple . Other religions are sourced in man's rebellion against God and/or demonic influence. The disaggregating approach helps us answer this critique. William James (1842-1910) focused on the psychological process that occurs in a religious conversion, when a nonreligious person becomes religious (Merkur 2005, 172). 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). a creation of capitalism, for Weber it is the other way roundcapitalism is largely due to religion, more specifically, the Calvinist religion. These studies suggest the significance of religion in health communication and in our . Can we categorize all religions within Ninian Smart definitions? The works of both Sri Aurobindo and Ninian Smart shows two drastic and completely different approaches to religion. Is religion a valid category of scholarly inquiry? The dominant sense in which the contemporary study of religion is understood is the descriptive sense. Here I focus on two objectionswhich, for ease of presentation, I call the anthropological and the normative objection. 5 Evangelical Christian. The specific question which political and legal philosophers (should) ask themselves is this. Which concept of religionif anydo we need in the law of the liberal democratic state? Manifestations of the sacred. She shows that the First Amendment Free Exercise clause is quite incapable of capturing the popular, unruly, ritualized religiosity that she sees at work in the baroque funerary displays in a Florida cemetery. 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. Reformulated in this way, Sullivans critique has bite. 2.Religious studies has a bigger scope because it analyzes the different world religions.
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