Social Sciences
The "origin of religion" refers to the emergence of religious behavior in prehistory, before written records.
The history of religions is not concerned with theological claims apart from their historical significance. Some topics of this discipline are the historicity of religious figures, events, and the evolution of doctrinal matters.
Sociology of religion is concerned with the social aspects of religion, both in theory and in practice. Social structure, the relationship between individual practitioner and religious community, and the construction of meaning are a few of the concerns of the sociologist of religions. Emile Durkheim was the forefather of the sociological study of religion. In 1912 he stated in The Elementary Forms of Religious Life that religion cannot be separated from society, and vice-versa. Durkheim saw religion as a form of social solidarity which helped members of the society to bond together and worship the natural or the supernatural. Simply put, for the sociologist of religions the social conditions in the local form of Heaven or Pantheon mirror the local social conditions on earth, also often the former act to justify the latter.
Psychology of religion
The psychology of religion is concerned with what psychological principles are operative in religious communities and practitioners. William James was one of the first academics to bridge the gap between the emerging science of psychology and the study of religion. A few issues of concern to the psychologist of religions are the psychological nature of religious conversion, the making of religious decisions, and the psychological factors in evaluating religious claims.
Anthropology of religion
The anthropology of religion is principally concerned with the common basic needs of man that religion fulfills.
The cultural anthropology of religion is principally concerned with the cultural aspects of religion. Of primary concern to the cultural anthropologist of religions are rituals, beliefs, religious art, and practices of piety.
There are many approaches to the study of sacred texts. One of these approaches is to interpret the text as a literary object. Metaphor, thematic elements, and the nature and motivations of the characters are of interest in this approach. An example of this approach is God: A Biography, by Jack Miles.
Neurological approaches
Recently there has been an interesting meeting between neurology and religion, especially Buddhism. Also of interest has been the temporal lobe, the "God center" of the brain. (Ramachandran, ch. 9)
Political Science of Religion,or Politology of Religion
Although not a widely accepted discipline within religious studies, neurological findings in regard to religious experience may very well become of more widespread interest to scholars of religion. Scientific investigators have used a SPECT scanner to analyze the brain activity of both Christian contemplatives and Buddhist meditators, finding them to be quite similar.
Methodologies
A number of methodologies are used in Religious Studies. Methodologies are hermeneutics, or interpretive models, that provide a structure for the analysis of religious phenomena.
Phenomenology
Phenomenology is "arguably the most influential approach to the study of religion in the twentieth century." (Partridge) The term was first used by Pierre Daniel Chantepie de la Saussaye in his work Lehrbuch der Religiongeschichte (1887). Chantepie's phenomenology catalogued observable characteristics of religion much like a zoologist would categorize animals or an entomologist would categorize insects.
In part due to Husserl's influence, "phenomenology" came to "refer to a method which is more complex and claims rather more for itself than did Chantepie?s mere cataloguing of facts." (Partridge) Husserl argued that the foundation of knowledge is consciousness. He recognized "how easy it is for prior beliefs and interpretations to unconsciously influence one?s thinking, Husserl?s phenomenological method sought to shelve all these presuppositions and interpretations." (Partridge) Husserl introduced the term "eidetic vision" to describe the ability to observe without "prior beliefs and interpretations" influencing understanding and perception.
His other main conceptual contribution is the idea of the "epoch": setting aside metaphysical questions and observing phenomena in and of themselves. Husserl "sought to place philosophy on a descriptive and scientific basis." (Partridge)
Partridge examines the most systematic and thorough example of phenomenology, Gerardus van der Leeuw?s Religion in Essence and Manifestation (1933):
Firstly, argues van der Leeuw, the student of religion needs to classify the religious phenomena into distinct categories: e.g. sacrifice, sacrament, sacred space, sacred time, sacred word, festivals, and myth.
Secondly, scholars then need to interpolate the phenomena into the their own lives. That is to say, they need to empathetically (Einfuhlung) try and understand the religion from within....The life examined by the religious studies scholar, insists van der Leeuw, needs to "acquire its place in the life of the student himself who should understand it out of his inner self."
Thirdly, van der Leeuw stresses perhaps the fundamental phenomenological principle, namely epoch, the suspension of value-judgements and the adoption of a neutral stance.
Fourthly, scholars needs to clarify any apparent structural relationships and make sense of the information. In so doing, they move towards a holistic understanding of how the various aspects of a religion relate and function together.
Fifthly, this leads naturally to a stage at which "all these activities, undertaken together and simultaneously, constitute genuine understanding [Verstehen]: the chaotic and obstinate 'reality' thus becomes a manifestation, a revelation" (eidetic vision).
Sixthly, having thus attained this general grasp, there is a continual need to make sure that it tallies with the up-to-date research of other disciplines, such as archaeology, history, philology etc. For van der Leeuw, as for other phenomenologists, the continual checking of one?s results is crucial to the maintenance of scholarly objectivity. In order to avoid degeneration into fantasy, phenomenology must always feed on facts.
Finally, having gone through the above six stages, the phenomenologist should be as close as anyone can be to an understanding of the 'meaning' of the religious phenomena studied and be in a position to relate his understanding to others.
Most phenomenologists are aware of the fact that understanding is asymptotic and there will never be complete and absolute understanding. By setting aside metaphysical issues (such as a Christian phenomenologist would do with monotheism/polytheism while studying Hinduism), phenomenologists keep religious studies separate from theology and (hopefully) decrease their bias and come away with a more accurate picture.
Seven generally agreed upon features of phenomenology are as follows:
Phenomenologists tend to oppose the acceptance of unobservable matters and grand systems erected in speculative thinking;
Phenomenologists tend to oppose naturalism (also called objectivism and positivism), which is the worldview growing from modern natural science and technology that has been spreading from Northern Europe since the Renaissance;
Positively speaking, phenomenologists tend to justify cognition (and some also evaluation and action) with reference to what Edmund Husserl called Evidenz, which is awareness of a matter itself as disclosed in the most clear, distinct, and adequate way for something of its kind;
Phenomenologists tend to believe that not only objects in the natural and cultural worlds, but also ideal objects, such as numbers, and even conscious life itself can be made evident and thus known;
Phenomenologists tend to hold that inquiry ought to focus upon what might be called "encountering" as it is directed at objects and, correlatively, upon "objects as they are encountered" (this terminology is not widely shared, but the emphasis on a dual problematics and the reflective approach it requires is);
Phenomenologists tend to recognize the role of description in universal, a priori, or "eidetic" terms as prior to explanation by means of causes, purposes, or grounds; and
Phenomenologists tend to debate whether or not what Husserl calls the transcendental phenomenological epochê and reduction is useful or even possible. source
For the more general philosophical movement of phenomenology, see http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/phenomenology/.
Functionalism
Functionalism, in regard to religious studies, is the analysis of religions and their various communities of adherents using the functions of particular religious phenomena to interpret the structure of religious communities and their beliefs. A major criticism of functionalism is that it lends itself to teleologica explanations. An example of a functionalist approach is understanding the dietary restrictions contained in the Pentateuch as having the function of promoting health or providing social identity (i.e. a sense of belonging though common practice).
- 2016 Religion Conference: Religion In The Age Of The Anthropocene: Towards A Common Cause? - A Common Ground Conference
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY IN SOCIETY The Catholic University of America, Washington D.C, USA 23-24 March 2016 http://religioninsociety.com/DCConference //CALL FOR PAPERS// Founded in 2011, the Religion and Spirituality...
- Fifth International Conference On Religion And Spirituality In Society
THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY IN SOCIETY University of California at Berkeley Berkeley, USA 16-17 April 2015 Dear Delegate, The International Advisory Board is pleased to announce the Call For Papers for the Fifth...
- Fifth International Conference On Religion And Spirituality In Society
THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY IN SOCIETY University of California at Berkeley Berkeley, USA 16-17 April 2015 Dear Delegate, The International Advisory Board is pleased to announce the Call For Papers for the Fifth...
- Phd Fellowship
Max Planck Institute Invites PhD ResearchersStudy of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen and Utrecht University.PhD "Urban Religion in Mumbai" Apply for a four-year doctoral position jointly financed by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of...
- Fwd: Acerp 2011 - The Asian Conference On Ethics, Religion And Philosophy 2011
The Asian Conference on Ethics, Religion and Philosophy 2011 Organized by the International Academic Forum 20 to 22 March, 2011 Osaka, Japan Call for papers: Deadline December 1 2010 Special Theme: "Truth, Reason, and Faith in Modern Civilization"...
Social Sciences
Religious Studies
HIstory of religious studies
Interest in the general study of religion dates back to at least Hecataeus of Miletus (ca. 550 BCE? ca. 476 BCE) and Herodotus (ca. 484 BCE ? 425 BCE). Later, during the Middle Ages, Islamic scholars studied Persian, Jewish, Christian, and Indian belief and practice. The first history of religion was the Treatise on the Religious and Philosophical Sects (1127 CE), written by the Muslim scholar Muhammad al-Shahrastani. Peter the Venerable, also working in the twelfth century, studied Islam and made possible a Latin translation of the Qur'an.
Notwithstanding the long interest in the study of religion, the academic discipline Religious Studies is relatively new. Dr. Chris Partridge notes that the "first professorships were established as recently as the final quarter of the nineteenth century." In the nineteenth century, the study of religion was done through the eyes of science. Max Müller was the first Professor of Comparative Religion at Oxford University, a chair created especially for him. In his Introduction to the Science of Religion (1873) he wrote that it is "the duty of those who have devoted their life to the study of the principal religions of the world in their original documents, and who value and reverence it in whatever form it may present itself, to take possession of this new territory in the name of true science."
Partridge writes that "by the second half of the twentieth century the study of religion had emerged as a prominent and important field of academic enquiry." He cites the growing distrust of the empiricism of the nineteenth century and the growing interest in non-Christian religions and spirituality coupled with convergence of the work of social scientists and that of scholars of religion as factors involved in the rise of Religious Studies.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the term "religious studies" became common and interest in the field increased. New departments were founded and influential journals of religious studies were initiated (for example, Religious Studies and Religion). In the forward to Approaches to the Study of Religion, Ninian Smart wrote that "in the English-speaking world [religious studies] basically dates from the 1960s, although before then there were such fields as 'the comparative study of religion', the 'history of religion', the 'sociology of religion' and so on..."
In the 1980s, in both Britain and America, "the decrease in student applications and diminishing resources in the 1980s led to cut backs affecting religious studies departments." (Partridge) Later in the decade, religious studies began to pick up as a result of integrating religious studies with other disciplines and forming programs of study that mixed the discipline with more utilitarian study.
Philosophy of religion uses philosophical tools to evaluate religious claims and doctrines. Western philosophy has traditionally been employed by English speaking scholars. (Some other cultures have their own philosophical traditions including Indian, Muslim, and Jewish.) Common issues considered by the (Western) philosophy of religion are the existence of God, belief and rationality, cosmology, and logical inferences of logical consistency from sacred texts.
Although philosophy has long been used in evaluation of religious claims (i.e. Augustine and Pelagius's debate concerning original sin), the rise of scholasticism in the 11th century, which represented "the search for order in intellectual life" (Russell, 170), more fully integrated the Western philosophical tradition (with the introduction of translations of Aristotle) in religious study.
There is some amount of overlap between subcategories of religious studies and the discipline itself. Religious studies seeks to study religious phenomena as a whole, rather than be limited to the approaches of its subcategories.
Origin of religion
Interest in the general study of religion dates back to at least Hecataeus of Miletus (ca. 550 BCE? ca. 476 BCE) and Herodotus (ca. 484 BCE ? 425 BCE). Later, during the Middle Ages, Islamic scholars studied Persian, Jewish, Christian, and Indian belief and practice. The first history of religion was the Treatise on the Religious and Philosophical Sects (1127 CE), written by the Muslim scholar Muhammad al-Shahrastani. Peter the Venerable, also working in the twelfth century, studied Islam and made possible a Latin translation of the Qur'an.
Notwithstanding the long interest in the study of religion, the academic discipline Religious Studies is relatively new. Dr. Chris Partridge notes that the "first professorships were established as recently as the final quarter of the nineteenth century." In the nineteenth century, the study of religion was done through the eyes of science. Max Müller was the first Professor of Comparative Religion at Oxford University, a chair created especially for him. In his Introduction to the Science of Religion (1873) he wrote that it is "the duty of those who have devoted their life to the study of the principal religions of the world in their original documents, and who value and reverence it in whatever form it may present itself, to take possession of this new territory in the name of true science."
Partridge writes that "by the second half of the twentieth century the study of religion had emerged as a prominent and important field of academic enquiry." He cites the growing distrust of the empiricism of the nineteenth century and the growing interest in non-Christian religions and spirituality coupled with convergence of the work of social scientists and that of scholars of religion as factors involved in the rise of Religious Studies.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the term "religious studies" became common and interest in the field increased. New departments were founded and influential journals of religious studies were initiated (for example, Religious Studies and Religion). In the forward to Approaches to the Study of Religion, Ninian Smart wrote that "in the English-speaking world [religious studies] basically dates from the 1960s, although before then there were such fields as 'the comparative study of religion', the 'history of religion', the 'sociology of religion' and so on..."
In the 1980s, in both Britain and America, "the decrease in student applications and diminishing resources in the 1980s led to cut backs affecting religious studies departments." (Partridge) Later in the decade, religious studies began to pick up as a result of integrating religious studies with other disciplines and forming programs of study that mixed the discipline with more utilitarian study.
Philosophy of religion uses philosophical tools to evaluate religious claims and doctrines. Western philosophy has traditionally been employed by English speaking scholars. (Some other cultures have their own philosophical traditions including Indian, Muslim, and Jewish.) Common issues considered by the (Western) philosophy of religion are the existence of God, belief and rationality, cosmology, and logical inferences of logical consistency from sacred texts.
Although philosophy has long been used in evaluation of religious claims (i.e. Augustine and Pelagius's debate concerning original sin), the rise of scholasticism in the 11th century, which represented "the search for order in intellectual life" (Russell, 170), more fully integrated the Western philosophical tradition (with the introduction of translations of Aristotle) in religious study.
There is some amount of overlap between subcategories of religious studies and the discipline itself. Religious studies seeks to study religious phenomena as a whole, rather than be limited to the approaches of its subcategories.
Origin of religion
The "origin of religion" refers to the emergence of religious behavior in prehistory, before written records.
History of religion
The history of religions is not concerned with theological claims apart from their historical significance. Some topics of this discipline are the historicity of religious figures, events, and the evolution of doctrinal matters.
Sociology of religion
Sociology of religion is concerned with the social aspects of religion, both in theory and in practice. Social structure, the relationship between individual practitioner and religious community, and the construction of meaning are a few of the concerns of the sociologist of religions. Emile Durkheim was the forefather of the sociological study of religion. In 1912 he stated in The Elementary Forms of Religious Life that religion cannot be separated from society, and vice-versa. Durkheim saw religion as a form of social solidarity which helped members of the society to bond together and worship the natural or the supernatural. Simply put, for the sociologist of religions the social conditions in the local form of Heaven or Pantheon mirror the local social conditions on earth, also often the former act to justify the latter.
Psychology of religion
The psychology of religion is concerned with what psychological principles are operative in religious communities and practitioners. William James was one of the first academics to bridge the gap between the emerging science of psychology and the study of religion. A few issues of concern to the psychologist of religions are the psychological nature of religious conversion, the making of religious decisions, and the psychological factors in evaluating religious claims.
Anthropology of religion
The anthropology of religion is principally concerned with the common basic needs of man that religion fulfills.
Cultural anthropology of religion
The cultural anthropology of religion is principally concerned with the cultural aspects of religion. Of primary concern to the cultural anthropologist of religions are rituals, beliefs, religious art, and practices of piety.
Literary approaches
There are many approaches to the study of sacred texts. One of these approaches is to interpret the text as a literary object. Metaphor, thematic elements, and the nature and motivations of the characters are of interest in this approach. An example of this approach is God: A Biography, by Jack Miles.
Neurological approaches
Recently there has been an interesting meeting between neurology and religion, especially Buddhism. Also of interest has been the temporal lobe, the "God center" of the brain. (Ramachandran, ch. 9)
Political Science of Religion,or Politology of Religion
Although not a widely accepted discipline within religious studies, neurological findings in regard to religious experience may very well become of more widespread interest to scholars of religion. Scientific investigators have used a SPECT scanner to analyze the brain activity of both Christian contemplatives and Buddhist meditators, finding them to be quite similar.
Methodologies
A number of methodologies are used in Religious Studies. Methodologies are hermeneutics, or interpretive models, that provide a structure for the analysis of religious phenomena.
Phenomenology
Phenomenology is "arguably the most influential approach to the study of religion in the twentieth century." (Partridge) The term was first used by Pierre Daniel Chantepie de la Saussaye in his work Lehrbuch der Religiongeschichte (1887). Chantepie's phenomenology catalogued observable characteristics of religion much like a zoologist would categorize animals or an entomologist would categorize insects.
In part due to Husserl's influence, "phenomenology" came to "refer to a method which is more complex and claims rather more for itself than did Chantepie?s mere cataloguing of facts." (Partridge) Husserl argued that the foundation of knowledge is consciousness. He recognized "how easy it is for prior beliefs and interpretations to unconsciously influence one?s thinking, Husserl?s phenomenological method sought to shelve all these presuppositions and interpretations." (Partridge) Husserl introduced the term "eidetic vision" to describe the ability to observe without "prior beliefs and interpretations" influencing understanding and perception.
His other main conceptual contribution is the idea of the "epoch": setting aside metaphysical questions and observing phenomena in and of themselves. Husserl "sought to place philosophy on a descriptive and scientific basis." (Partridge)
Partridge examines the most systematic and thorough example of phenomenology, Gerardus van der Leeuw?s Religion in Essence and Manifestation (1933):
Firstly, argues van der Leeuw, the student of religion needs to classify the religious phenomena into distinct categories: e.g. sacrifice, sacrament, sacred space, sacred time, sacred word, festivals, and myth.
Secondly, scholars then need to interpolate the phenomena into the their own lives. That is to say, they need to empathetically (Einfuhlung) try and understand the religion from within....The life examined by the religious studies scholar, insists van der Leeuw, needs to "acquire its place in the life of the student himself who should understand it out of his inner self."
Thirdly, van der Leeuw stresses perhaps the fundamental phenomenological principle, namely epoch, the suspension of value-judgements and the adoption of a neutral stance.
Fourthly, scholars needs to clarify any apparent structural relationships and make sense of the information. In so doing, they move towards a holistic understanding of how the various aspects of a religion relate and function together.
Fifthly, this leads naturally to a stage at which "all these activities, undertaken together and simultaneously, constitute genuine understanding [Verstehen]: the chaotic and obstinate 'reality' thus becomes a manifestation, a revelation" (eidetic vision).
Sixthly, having thus attained this general grasp, there is a continual need to make sure that it tallies with the up-to-date research of other disciplines, such as archaeology, history, philology etc. For van der Leeuw, as for other phenomenologists, the continual checking of one?s results is crucial to the maintenance of scholarly objectivity. In order to avoid degeneration into fantasy, phenomenology must always feed on facts.
Finally, having gone through the above six stages, the phenomenologist should be as close as anyone can be to an understanding of the 'meaning' of the religious phenomena studied and be in a position to relate his understanding to others.
Most phenomenologists are aware of the fact that understanding is asymptotic and there will never be complete and absolute understanding. By setting aside metaphysical issues (such as a Christian phenomenologist would do with monotheism/polytheism while studying Hinduism), phenomenologists keep religious studies separate from theology and (hopefully) decrease their bias and come away with a more accurate picture.
Seven generally agreed upon features of phenomenology are as follows:
Phenomenologists tend to oppose the acceptance of unobservable matters and grand systems erected in speculative thinking;
Phenomenologists tend to oppose naturalism (also called objectivism and positivism), which is the worldview growing from modern natural science and technology that has been spreading from Northern Europe since the Renaissance;
Positively speaking, phenomenologists tend to justify cognition (and some also evaluation and action) with reference to what Edmund Husserl called Evidenz, which is awareness of a matter itself as disclosed in the most clear, distinct, and adequate way for something of its kind;
Phenomenologists tend to believe that not only objects in the natural and cultural worlds, but also ideal objects, such as numbers, and even conscious life itself can be made evident and thus known;
Phenomenologists tend to hold that inquiry ought to focus upon what might be called "encountering" as it is directed at objects and, correlatively, upon "objects as they are encountered" (this terminology is not widely shared, but the emphasis on a dual problematics and the reflective approach it requires is);
Phenomenologists tend to recognize the role of description in universal, a priori, or "eidetic" terms as prior to explanation by means of causes, purposes, or grounds; and
Phenomenologists tend to debate whether or not what Husserl calls the transcendental phenomenological epochê and reduction is useful or even possible. source
For the more general philosophical movement of phenomenology, see http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/phenomenology/.
Functionalism
Functionalism, in regard to religious studies, is the analysis of religions and their various communities of adherents using the functions of particular religious phenomena to interpret the structure of religious communities and their beliefs. A major criticism of functionalism is that it lends itself to teleologica explanations. An example of a functionalist approach is understanding the dietary restrictions contained in the Pentateuch as having the function of promoting health or providing social identity (i.e. a sense of belonging though common practice).
- 2016 Religion Conference: Religion In The Age Of The Anthropocene: Towards A Common Cause? - A Common Ground Conference
SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY IN SOCIETY The Catholic University of America, Washington D.C, USA 23-24 March 2016 http://religioninsociety.com/DCConference //CALL FOR PAPERS// Founded in 2011, the Religion and Spirituality...
- Fifth International Conference On Religion And Spirituality In Society
THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY IN SOCIETY University of California at Berkeley Berkeley, USA 16-17 April 2015 Dear Delegate, The International Advisory Board is pleased to announce the Call For Papers for the Fifth...
- Fifth International Conference On Religion And Spirituality In Society
THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY IN SOCIETY University of California at Berkeley Berkeley, USA 16-17 April 2015 Dear Delegate, The International Advisory Board is pleased to announce the Call For Papers for the Fifth...
- Phd Fellowship
Max Planck Institute Invites PhD ResearchersStudy of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen and Utrecht University.PhD "Urban Religion in Mumbai" Apply for a four-year doctoral position jointly financed by the Max Planck Institute for the Study of...
- Fwd: Acerp 2011 - The Asian Conference On Ethics, Religion And Philosophy 2011
The Asian Conference on Ethics, Religion and Philosophy 2011 Organized by the International Academic Forum 20 to 22 March, 2011 Osaka, Japan Call for papers: Deadline December 1 2010 Special Theme: "Truth, Reason, and Faith in Modern Civilization"...