Transcript Ways of Studying Religion

Ways of Studying
Religion
The Academic Study of Religion
- Assumptions 
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One religion is neither better nor worse than
another religion; they are simply different
There are core similarities that are shared by all
religions
There are differences between, within and
among all religions
Religion is a powerful influence on a person’s
approach and response to life experiences
All individuals have the right to be respected for
The Academic study of religion
“is a secondary activity that attempts to
discover, describe, and explain the
primary expressions of the religious life of
a community…”
 “requires the use of many disciplines and
methods…”
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Theology
“words about [study of] God”
 Generally done from within a [theistic] religious
tradition (e.g. Christian theology)
 To describe and transmit the teachings of a
particular religious tradition or community
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Discuss: difference between studying religion in
church vs. in the classroom
But religion is more than just thinking about God
Literary Criticism
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Asks questions regarding sacred texts
or scriptures:
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Who is the author?
When was this text composed?
Where was it written and to what audience?
What was the author’s reason for writing this?
What type of literature is used?
How has this text been received, edited, interpreted?
But religion is more than just what is contained in
a sacred text
History of Religion
click link to see 5000 years of religion play out in 90 seconds
Historians seek to find out “what really
happened” – the facts about a given
religion
 Explores how social, economic, cultural or
environmental factors may have
influenced a religion’s:
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– Beginnings, development, spread
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Using “tools” such as:
– Archaeology, geography, demography,
population statistics
The Anthropological Study of
Religion
“words about human beings” and human
societies…
 as both creators and creations of cultures
 Religion, as a part of human culture, is
thus studied by anthropologists as a
“powerful factor in any culture”
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Edward B. Tylor
(1832 – 1917)
Sociology of Religion
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“words about social behavior”
Generally concerned with the life of
modern , developed, literate societies (in contrast to
anthropology)
Explores the social origins and function of religion in
human society
The sociologist studies “the way religion interacts
with other dimensions of our social experience”
– How human social life changes religion
– How religion transforms human social behavior
Max Weber (1864-1920)
But religion is more than just a fact of social life
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Psychology of Religion
“words about the psyche [mind]”
 The psychologist explores the psychological
dimensions of religious phenomena
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William James (1842-1910)
 Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
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– “religion is an infantile dependency, a neurosis”
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Carl Jung (1875-1961)
– religion is a projection of “archetypes of the
unconscious”
But religion is more than just a fact of psychic life
Philosophy of Religion
“Love of wisdom”
Philosophers of religion reflect on the logic,
meaning and truth value of religious stories and
beliefs
 Analyzing religious language
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Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) (theologian)
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
But religion is more than just ideas to be analyzed
and often goes beyond the limits of logic
Phenomenology
“words about phenomena” – that which
appears
 Concerned only with description
 Goal: to portray religion in its own terms
rather than reduce or explain it in terms of
some other discipline
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Edmund Husserl (1859-1938)
 Mircea Eliade (historian of religion)
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The Phenomenologist
suspends judgment, does not seek to
explain (as do the other disciplines)
 must remain detached and impartial to
avoid explaining, interpreting or judging
what he or she studies
 remains skeptical of explanatory theories
that claim to completely account for the
complex origins or nature of religion itself,
or of any religious tradition
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The relationship between the disciplines
Literary Criticism
History
Philosophy
Theology
Phenomenolgy
Religion
Psychology
Each discipline studies
religion from a limited
perspective
Anthropology
Sociology
Phenomenology
studies the whole,
as it is
“insiders” vs. “Outsiders”
Hermeneutics: how we “interpret”
The “inside” believer and the “outside” observer
understanding of religion will differ
 Either may be a partial, distorted or even wrong
understanding
 These different scholarly disciplines are not
mutually exclusive; they may be complementary –
each providing insight to both “insiders” and
“outsiders”
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What can the academic study of religion do for you?
If religion were a house…
Are you an “insider”
(a committed believer)
or an “outsider”?
One has to be outside the
house to see it as a whole
- to see the big picture
The one who lives inside the
house (the committed
believer) will know all the
nooks and crannies - the
details up close
How might your
position affect your
study of religion?
Review Questions
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Who studies God?
•The anthropologist
Who studies sacred texts?
• The historian
Who studies the facts within the
larger context of history?
•The literary critic
Who studies religion as a part of
human culture?
•The phenomenologist
Who studies the way religion interacts
with other dimensions of our social
•The philosopher
experience?
•The psychologist
Who explores the psychological
dimensions of religious phenomena
•The sociologist
Who reflects on the logic, meaning
and truth value of religious stories
•The theologian
and beliefs?
Who merely describes, without trying to explain,
interpret, or judge religion?
Which discipline might appeal most to you? (why?)