The disaggregating approach helps us answer this critique. Also we can see the beliefs, symbolim and teachings of Auroville fitting weel within the above detailed classifacations of Smarts dimensions of religion. Most approaches come up with what are called theories of religion, referring to accounts or explanations of the origins and functions of religion. 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. Often the scholar is confronted only with texts describing beliefs and stories, so the inner sentiments that these both evoke and express must be inferred. J.F. Psychology is the study of human and animal behavior and how thinking processes operate. 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). The study of multiple religious traditions in order to prove the existence or non-existence of God The scholarly examination and comparison of the beliefs, rituals, customs, and traditions of two or more religions Sociology of religion, on the other hand, studies religious beliefs, practices, and organizations using the theories and methods of the discipline of sociology. 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. Approaches to ReligionSpring 2010REL 111. Network analysis applied to such data may provide insight into real-life mixtures . 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. Approaches to Religious/Worldview Studies 1 Sociological. We're here to answer any questions you have about our services. For instance, a student of Christian theology is a Christian; but a student of religious studies studying Shintoism is usually not a Shintoist. 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. 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. To export a reference to this article please select a referencing stye below: If you are the original writer of this essay and no longer wish to have your work published on UKEssays.com then please: Our academic writing and marking services can help you! 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. Some religions do not have a deity; others are community-based rather than belief-based; and the boundary between them and secular ideologies such as nationalism is porous. develop an informed understanding of the diversity of world religions. The History of Religion as a Sociological Concept Thus, the matter of coming to understand the inner side of a religion involves a dialectic between participant observation and dialogical (interpersonal) relationship with the adherents of the other faith. This research focuses on the legal basis for anti-corruption measures in Indonesia and Malaysia and touches upon aspects of enforcement. Nigerias 2023 Elections: Which Way Democracy? Accordingly, Calvinists believed in predestination, the view that God has already decided on who will enter heaven or not. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Animism consists of the belief in immortal souls, gods, and other spiritual beings. (Stephen H.Phillips.p79,Aurobindo`s Philosophyof Brahman,E.J.Brill Leiden 1986), The strength of Smart can be seen that he does not wish to strip religion or faith down to one or two elements say belief in The Virgin Birth and the dogma of out with the church there is no salvation but his classificatory account makes it clear that it has many elements and strands. These studies suggest the significance of religion in health communication and in our . Talal Asad and Saba Mahmood have shown, for instance, that liberal secularism requires individual beliefnot communal observance, rituals or embodied pietyto be taken as the essence of religiosity. (Michael T.Mclaughlin,p96, Editrice Ponteficia Universita` Grecoriana Roma 2003)In many occasions he confirmed that he does not intend to promote any old religion or to find a new one and he strongly oppose religious particolarism. . 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. Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified. Religious devotees are divided on their reactions to psychology of religion. Thus, when William James describes religion as. For the last four decades universities and schools have been acting in response to a constant , steady demand for courses upon the study of 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 . This is a legitimate perspective from the standpoint of faith. Is religion a valid category of scholarly inquiry? Contact. Sociologists use a variety of methods to analyze culture. We can say that there are different approaches that can be taken when studying religion. An alternative approach is to select central themes of inquiry and to investigate how the religions engage with each theme. 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. Aurobindo offers no guidance upon other religions as his account is purely personal. We've received widespread press coverage since 2003, Your UKEssays purchase is secure and we're rated 4.4/5 on reviews.co.uk. Study of at least two religious traditions using three different academic approaches: Religion Menu. Thus in principle it is the study of all religions from a viewpoint not isolated within any one of them. For the last four decades universities and schools have been acting in response to a constant, steady demand for courses upon the study of religion. These different approaches disagree about the essence of religion, but all three camps operate within a shared account of the human. First, the secular state defines what religion is; religion is privatized as a faith whose object is the supernatural, and differentiates it from the natural and the rational which are the jurisdiction of the state. 2 Psychological. Conversely, theological claims may imply something about the history of a religion. God, in this regard, serves as a source of security and forgiveness. the 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. 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. 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. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. For other religions, the systematic study of their doctrines is usually referred to as philosophy instead of theology. One obvious reason is that the term theology implies a belief in one God but other religions may not subscribe either to the belief in God or gods or to the belief that there is only one God. The other sense of the subjectivity of religion is properly a matter for theology and the philosophy of religion. This approach teaches that there is only one true religion and only one way of salvation. O . It all depends on the person you are and the personal period of life you are going through. Accordingly, God is just the projected ultimate father image that helps humans deal with their feelings of helplessness and guilt. The idea is that one who experiences financial success is blessed and is thus favored by God. Psychology of religion involves the application of psychological methods and interpretive frameworks to religious institutions, as well as to individuals of all religious or noreligious persuasions. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. We will discuss religious studies as an . This distinction depends to some extent upon taking a projectionist view of religion as a human product. The author will attempt to evaluate the strengths and weakness of two approaches to religion and try to compare the work of the two representations and their methodology .The first is Professor Ninian Smart as he wrote widely, regarding different topics in religions, with papers and articles appearing in a vast range of . Sociology in general looks at people's . Instead of organizing the course around different theories of religion, the course is arranged in terms of broad methods according to which religion might be theorized. Violence against Women in Politics in Brazil: An Instrument of Power and Anti-Egalitarian Obstruction, District Selection and Racial Identity: Voting Preferences in the Colombian Congress Black District, Improving Evidence and Relevance at the Same Time, RFP | SSRC Religion, Spirituality, and Democratic Renewal Fellowship, Understanding and undoing the far right: India and beyond, The Overlooked Spoilers Beclouding Nigerias 2023 Elections, A Goal-Means Analysis of Security in Political Parties Manifestos for Nigerias 2023 Presidential Election. 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. The Immanent Frame publishes interdisciplinary perspectives on religion, secularism, and the public sphere. The final approach to world religions is exclusivism. These theologians, through their works, systematically explain the main doctrines of their own respective religions. For our purposes, we shall examine certain approaches to the study of religions that are based on certain academic disciplines. The concept exhibits a complex continuum of resemblances and differences. In sum, the anthropological objection urges us to take both ordinary language and ordinary experience seriously. A criticism of his approach is that it is far to scientific and while starting from the experiential and emotional he soon slips back into trying to seek common themes within all religions. Some of the contributions of William James were his distinction between institutional religion and personal religion, his analysis of religious experiences as mystical experiences, and his pragmatic approach to the value of religionthat the truth and value of a religious belief for an individual depend on the beneficial effects of the belief on the life of the individual. 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 . 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 Hijab Controversy in Political Philosophy (Oxford University Press 2008). Much of the interesting work done in anthropology, sociology, and religious studies departments, for example, draws on both the first and the second approach). (Scott London ,the future of religion an Interview with Ninian Smart June 1999 issue ofThe Witnessmagazine. ) Muller, an authority of Sanskrit (the classical religious language of India), urged that the study of religion should not be limited to the religions of the Mediterranean (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) and that the great religions of the East should also be seriously studied. Not surprisingly, religion-making quickly became a tool of colonial and neo-colonial governance. Historiography then becomes the science that studies the conceptions and production of historical interpretations of human civilization. In particular, a student of theology intends to deepen his/her understanding of a particular religion, while a student of religious studies intends to understand the different religions of the world. 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. The implications of the first approach have been resisted in many quarters. Thus, the preliminary task of the student of religion must be to amass an inventory of kinds of religious phenomena. It describes, compares, interprets, and explains religion, emphasizing systematic, historically based, and cross-cultural perspectives. The author will attempt to evaluate the strengths and weakness of two approaches to religion and try to compare the work of the two representations and their methodology .The first is Professor Ninian Smart as he wrote widely, regarding different topics in religions, with papers and articles appearing in a vast range of publication sand television worldwide developing his own vision and philosophy of human progress and spiritual evolution. Secularism and freedom of religion, in liberal thought, are connected to moral values such as individual autonomy, moral self-determination, freedom of conscience as well as more political ideals such as non-theocratic constitutional democracy, separation of church and state, and non-establishment of the dominant religion. "The notion that such a study is the objective and comparative study of religion. But it is necessary to be clear about what objectivity and subjectivity in religion mean. How can we best identify and protect the normative values which historically have underpinned freedom of religion, non-establishment and the like? As noted, there is a specific pedagogical In fact, the religions of civilized races evolved from the animism of the lower races. The Essay Writing ExpertsUK Essay Experts. Hence the proposed shift from an analogizing to a disaggregating strategy. But nor does it reduce the normative inscription of religion in the law to a narrow (often ethnocentric) set of concerns and values. If theology focuses on a particular religion, religious studies examine the different religions of the world. These perspectives offer sociologists theoretical paradigms for explaining how society influences people, and vice versa. These strategies have been identified as central to the development of programs that prioritize student development and help improve student retention, engagement, and academic performance. This tradition goes back in modern times to the seminal work of the German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach (180472), who proposed that God was the extension of human aspirations, and it is found in the work of the philosopher Karl Marx, the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, and others. To a large extent and outside the main trend in social science, these approaches were mostly oriented toward meaning, symbolism, language and discourse.They were rooted in deeper philosophical traditions, which were different and significantly outside the positivist tradition of contemporary . A theory of religion may be internal or external. The term phenomenology also refers to the attempt to devise a typology, or classification, of religious phenomenareligious activities, beliefs, and institutions. In his own words: Man is on a transitorily passage . 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). A standard line of criticism against this egalitarian strategy has been to argue that it rests on a contested understanding of religion. One of the many reasons for this failure is that each discipline enlisted to study religion has its own distinctive methods and topics, and scholars often disagree about how to resolve the inevitable conflicts between these different intellectual perspectives. 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). As a belief system, religion shapes what people think and how they see the world. Ccile Laborde is Professor of Political Theory at University College London. The term fundamentalism can be used in very different religious contexts and texts to describe the devotion and strict loyalty to a set of principles or ideas. Is Sri Aurobindo truly internal when we have the community of Auroville and a culture around him? The apologetic approaches to the study of religion is pro-religion in that it defends religion and attempts to prove that religion is true, right, or good. Looking for a flexible role? So how would Aurobindo address questions upon doctrine say within the New Testament? These (and others) are all legitimate uses of the concept of religion. Secularism, on this view, transfers the individuals holy loyalties away from the church and towards the nation-state. The word anthropology means science of human beings or humanity. Religious studies, also known as the study of religion, is an academic field devoted to research into religious beliefs, behaviors, and institutions. Box No. So critics confuse an empirical inquiry (describing what religion is) with a normative inquiry (accounting for its status in the law). The goods that the workers helped produced by means of their labor (using the materials and machines owned by the capitalists) were sold in the market at a certain value. This is an important critique, which draws on what I have called the first (critical) and the second (anthropological) approach to religion. This article examines three anthropological theories explaining how religion has evolved and continues to evolve. First, the practice of religion involves inner experiences and sentiments, such as feelings of God guiding the life of the devotee. Barths distinction attempts to draw a line between the transcendent, as it reveals itself to humans, and religion, as a human product involved in the response to revelation. The disaggregated approach does not claim that it captures the fullness of the lived, anthropological reality of religion. 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