Global studies is a fresh and dynamic discipline area that promises to reinvigorate undergraduate and postgraduate education in the social sciences and humanities. In light of these considerations, our approach in examining the different world religions in the subsequent chapters mainly falls under religious studies. So with Aurobindo is clear the goal is more directly mystical ,to became one with the divine . The method used was to compare the subjective experience with the intent of shaping the arrangement of religion itself from within the structure. The author as part of his degree course has studied these two vastly differing approaches. 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. Within religious studies there are three common methodologies: Philosophy of Religion ( Phenomenology ), the study of . The other is Sri Aurobindo who brought a change to the vision of evolution of life into the divinity of life. This article examines three anthropological theories explaining how religion has evolved and continues to evolve. The essence of religion and the context of religious beliefs, practices, and institutions, Neutrality and subjectivity in the study of religion, Theories of the Renaissance and Reformation, Historical, archaeological, and literary studies, Anthropological approaches to the study of religion, Theories concerning the origins of religion, Functional and structural studies of religion, The concerns of the philosophy of religion, Modern existentialist and phenomenological studies, Relationship between Western and non-Western philosophy in regard to religion, The relationship of Western Christianity to other religions, Modern origin and development of the history and phenomenology of religion, https://www.britannica.com/topic/study-of-religion. While for Marx religion isa creation of capitalism, for Weber it is the other way roundcapitalism is largely due to religion, more specifically, the Calvinist religion. Particularly, this study used an interdisciplinary approach, that is, a combination of religious and social approaches. Depending on the researcher's perspective, it is approached in various and often quite different ways. Psychology is the study of human and animal behavior and how thinking processes operate. The normative objection is slightly different. d.) the impossibility of studying other cultures' religions. The SSRC is an independent, international, nonprofit organization. 300 Cadman Plaza West 15th Floor Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA
Thus, some political ideologies, such as communism and fascism, have been regarded as analogous to 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. Disclaimer: This is an example of a student written essay.Click here for sample essays written by our professional writers. Manifestations of the sacred. 1 This study, however, takes a relatively straightforward approach to religious diversity. Phone: 212-377-2700 Fax: 212-377-2727. Religious studies, also known as the study of religion, is an academic field devoted to research into religious beliefs, behaviors, and institutions. c.) the truth or falsity of religion. Hence the proposed shift from an analogizing to a disaggregating strategy. 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. 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. There are many different approaches to finding truth. 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. Related to Freuds concept, the personal unconscious mind contains all our personal experiences that we are not aware of (because we have suppressed them); whilethe collective unconscious mind contains universal experiences of mankind and the archetypes (the basic universal images that recur in various forms in different cultures) which we have inherited from our ancestors. Chapter 1 in the The most influential premodern work in comparative religion is the book The Golden Bough (1890) by James G. Frazer (1854-1941). Most approaches come up with what are called theories of religion, referring to accounts or explanations of the origins and functions of religion. is discussed, followed by discussion on anthropological approaches to study religion. Hence, we also have Jewish theology (and Jewish theologians) and Islamic theology (and Islamic theologians). She is the Director of UCLs Religion and Political Theory Centre. R.R. 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. 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. 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. Free resources to assist you with your university studies! There are two main reasons for this suspicion. For egalitarian theorists of religious freedom (as I call them), there is nothing special about religion as such. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. To ask that the law embrace and describe the whole of social reality would be to yearn for a totalitarian law. )Of course the phenomenological approach employed by Smart can be interpreted as an attempt of taking into consideration the individual experience of religion a at the same time trying to separate from it. Understanding Religious Pluralism in India. "Religion: Problems of Definition and Explanation", in Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion, Michael Banton (ed. Attempts have been made to find a distinctive ingredient in all religions, such as the numinous, or spiritual, experience, the contrast between the sacred and the profane, and the belief in one or more gods. Yet the strategy of disaggregating religion has a further, more portentous implication for normative political theory. The etymological meaning of the word theologybased on its Greek origin, namely theo, which means God, and logos which means discourse or study,is study of God. Theology, however, is not just limited to the study of the nature ofGod, for it also studies in a systematic way the main doctrines of a particular religion. 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 myths of a religion. After studying the indigenous Australians, Durkheim claimed that the totems (sacred objects used as emblems or symbols of a group of people, family, clan, or tribe) that the aborigines worship represented their own conceptions of a unified group or society. Sullivan demonstrates that religion is too complex, too comprehensive, and too multi-faceted to be adequately captured by the law of the liberal state. In other words it is a fair and full study of all religions" (Whaling, 2006, "Theory and methods in religious studies: Contemporary approaches to the . 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. 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 Comparative Study of Religions World Religions: A Voyage of Discovery, Fourth Edition, considers one religion at a time, chapter by chapter. Copyright 2019 - 2022 Elcomblus Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. Each perspective uniquely conceptualizes society, social . Two famous and highly influential Christian theologians who also engaged in philosophy of religion were St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. Another reason is that questions about the origins and functions of religion have often been conflated with questions about the truth of religion, and this has led to controversies that tend to hinder the development of common concepts, methodologies, and problems. Geographers study religions and their development based on the role that geography intersects with other important social components within a human geographic approach. A standard line of criticism against this egalitarian strategy has been to argue that it rests on a contested understanding of religion. Besides their evolutionary assumption about religion, the followers of evolutionary theory show overwhelming Eurocentric biases. In the literature, lived religion is treated variously as a term, a concept, an approach, and a field of studyor all of these. Methodologies provide a lense of analysis from which to view the field of religous studies. This course introduces students to the variety of academic approaches to the study of religion and to the procedures and sources used in writing academic papers in religious studies. Fall 2005. APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF RELIGION WILLIAM E. ARNAL New York University has a religious studies program, but not a de- partment. The phenomenology of religion is an approach to the study of religion that emphasizes: a.) It looks at the percentage of each country's population that belongs to eight major religious groups, as of 2010. Nor does the origin of a concept in itself discredit its uses: the concept may well have been forged in the crucible of missionary and colonial encounters, but its meanings and uses have further proliferated in non-colonial and post-colonial settings, in ways that escaped, distorted, and subverted the original discourse. Three famous psychologists who examined and analyzed religious phenomena psychologically were William James, Sigmund Freud, and Carl Jung. The most influential proponent of comparative religion in the nineteenth century was Friedrich Max Muller (1823-1900). For Jung, religious experiences are manifestations of the archetypes in the collective unconscious in our own consciousness. There are religions, however, in which even worship rituals are not central. But perhaps we should apply to religion something like Ludwig Wittgensteins theory of family resemblance. London and New York, 1999. Sensory experience. The idea is that one who experiences financial success is blessed and is thus favored by God. But what the capitalists gave back to the workers as payment for their labor were merely their subsistence wages that were just enough for the workers to survive. He is not final. These studies suggest the significance of religion in health communication and in our . Can we categorize all religions within Ninian Smart definitions? A number of specific program design strategies increase the possibility that students of all backgrounds will have positive . From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs. In this . Sociologists are primarily interested in examining the effects of religion on society. The second ground for skepticism is that religion has served to define the western idea of the secular, and remains deeply entangled with it. Here you can choose which regional hub you wish to view, providing you with the most relevant information we have for your specific region. Psychology, in general, is defined as the study of psychological and biological processes and behavior in humans and other animals (Encyclopaedia Britannica 2013). Secularism, on this view, transfers the individuals holy loyalties away from the church and towards the nation-state. From this perspective, it would be a mistake to think that conceptual imprecision is in itself an obstacle to scholarly inquiry. 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. Here you can choose which regional hub you wish to view, providing you with the most relevant information we have for your specific region. Omissions? In my opinion, the study of different approaches to the study and comprehension of religions is indeed an exciting and important topic. 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. Rowny Professor of Comparative Religions, University of California, Santa Barbara. Sociology of religion, on the other hand, studies religious beliefs, practices, and organizations using the theories and methods of the discipline of sociology. The Essay Writing ExpertsUK Essay Experts. Durkheim was more interested in the unifying effect of religion among members of a society. These theologians, through their works, systematically explain the main doctrines of their own respective religions. No consensus among scholars concerning the best way to study religion has developed, however. From the plot summary, it is obvious that the film mainly focuses on the religion of Christianity. 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. For example, a religious (or spiritual) approach to cancer treatment can be more effective than a secular approach (Croucher & Harris, 2012), religious attendance promotes healthier living, and people with HIV/AIDS often turn to religion for comfort as well. Approaches to ReligionSpring 2010REL 111. Introduces students to the study of religion, world religious traditions and ethics through an exploration of death and dying. It is the opium of the people (Contribution to Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right). But the historical process itself has to be investigated scientificallythat is, by considering the evidence, using the techniques of historical enquiry and other scientific methods. 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We have a service perfectly matched to your needs copyright 2019 - 2022 Elcomblus Media, Inc. all Rights.... To the vision of evolution of life # x27 ; religions undergraduate and postgraduate education in the subsequent mainly! Components within a human geographic approach a totalitarian law with other important social components within a human approach... Their development based on the researcher & # x27 ; religions also have Jewish theology ( and theologians! For egalitarian theorists of religious freedom ( as I call them ), the followers of evolutionary theory show Eurocentric!