1.
Approaches, Academic Study, Defining, and
Questioning

2.
The Academic Study of Religion
 “To study the world’s religions is to progress from mere
observation of things to understanding their meaning
and relevance” and “to enhance one’s understanding
and appreciation of the rich variety of culture’s around
the globe.” (pg. 3-4)
 Learning about religion increases cultural literacy.
 Religions are foundational aspects of cultures around
the globe.
 Religion plays a crucial role in molding, transforming,
and transmitting cultures.

3.
The Academic Study of Religion
 “Religion is arguably a culture’s most potent force, in
ways both constructive and destructive.” (pg.4)
 Religions are powerful and sometimes even dangerous.
 The study of religion arose within Christian
intellectual culture that viewed Christianity as a model
of what a religion ought to be and that it was the only
true religion.
 Until the late 19th century, theorists only applied the
term “world religion” to Christianity.
 Eventually Buddhism, Judaism, and occasionally Islam
were considered to be in this group as well.

4.
The Academic Study of Religion
 Today there are over 4,200 religions in the world.
There are five “major” world religions:
1. Hinduism
2. Buddhism
3. Judaism
4. Christianity
5. Islam
 These five are the primary focus of the course. We will be
studying each of these in detail throughout the semester.

5.
The Academic Study of Religion
 “Do’s and Don’ts” of religions studies:
- Our study does not privilege any religion as being
somehow exemplary or the model with which others
are to be compared.
- We do need to avoid terms and categories that are
rooted in this privileging, such as: “faith”
- We do not have preconceived notions, underlying
motives, or assumptions of what any religion is,
including our own.
- For example: “All religions pretty much say the same thing.”

6.
The Academic Study of Religion
 Prior to the 19th century, it rarely occurred to anyone to
consider religion as an entity that could be separated from
other aspects of culture.
 Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) thought religion was
something separate from the various phenomena the
human mind is capable of perceiving.
 This separation as well as the European conquering of
“other” lands and their unfamiliar religions only increased
the efforts to understand religion.
 Be careful not to assume that all peoples recognize religion
as a distinct category or even define religion, some do not.

7.
The Academic Study of Religion
 Academic study of religion is NOT theology.
 Theology is the field of inquiry that focuses on
considering the nature of the divine.
 Theology is an example of doing and being religious.
 Religious studies is primarily based on an approach to
knowledge that depends on analysis of empirical data.
 Defining “religion” is extremely difficult and has
various meanings across cultures and traditions.
 There have been attempts at a universal definition of
religion but none have been totally successful… yet?

8.
The Academic Study of Religion
 Although a definition has not been fully agreed upon,
defining terms helps us draw clear boundaries around
the subject of study.
 Preconceived notions are based on our own culture’s
norms.
 Definitions reveal as much about the historical era and
about the intentions of the individual theorist as they
do about the nature of religion.
 We will now look at a few definitions of religion:

9.
The Academic Study of Religion
 “A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices
relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and
forbidden – beliefs and practices which unite into one single
moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to
them.” -Emile Durkheim
 “[Religion is]… the feelings, acts and experiences of
individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend
themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may
consider the divine.” - William James
 “[The] religions aspect points to that which is ultimate,
infinite, unconditional in man’s spiritual life. Religion, in the
largest and most basic sense of the word, is ultimate
concern.” - Paul Tillich

10.
The Academic Study of Religion
 Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) was a French sociologist who was a
founding figure of the sociological study of religion. His
definition has an emphasis on the social nature of religion.
 Williams James (1842-1910) was an American psychologist who
emphasized the individual nature of religion. He leaves out the
social aspects.
 Paul Tillich (1886-1965) was a Protestant theologian who
connected religion to a focus on man’s “spiritual life.” This
definition is very broad and says nothing of specific content in
religious traditions, however, it has been very influential because
of his emphasis on “ultimate concern.”
 What about those who are “spiritual” and not part of a religion?

11.
The Academic Study of Religion
 The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion states: “One may clarify
the term religion by definition it as a system of beliefs and
practices that are relative to superhuman beings.”
 Bruce Lincoln, one of the most prominent contemporary
theorists of religion, asserts there are four “domains:”
1. A discourse whose concerns transcend the human, temporal, and
contingent, and that claims for itself a similarly transcendent status…
2. A set of practices whose purpose is to produce a proper world and/or
proper human subjects, as defined by a religious discourse to which
these practices are connected…
3. A community whose members construct their identity with reference
to a religious discourse and its attendant practices…
4. An institution that regulates religious discourse, practices, and
community, reproducing them over time and modifying them as
necessary, while asserting their eternal validity and transcendent
value.

12.
The Academic Study of Religion
 Lincoln’s definition is precise and inclusive.
 By basing religion on the notion of the “transcendent”
rather than on “supernatural beings,” etc. his
definition encompasses Confucianism and certain
forms of Buddhism that do not focus on belief in
supernatural beings.
 Peter Berger, another sociologist and contributor to
the study of religion, said, “a definition is not more or
less true, only more or less useful.”

13.
What Religions Do
 No matter what you think a religion is, a religion does.
 Durkheim’s definition seems to reduce religion to
being an effect of societal forces. Religion, in turn,
serves to promote social unity.
 Psychologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) said,
“Religion would thus be the universal obsessional
neurosis of humanity; like the obsessional neurosis of
children, it arose out of the Oedipus complex, out of
the relation to the father.”
 Freud was an atheist whose psychological theory held
religion to be undesirable.

14.
What Religions Do
 Political philosopher Karl Marx (1818-1883) said:
“Man makes religion, religion does not make man. In
other words, religion is the self-consciousness and self-
feeling of man who has either not yet found himself or
has already lost himself again. But man is no abstract
being squatting outside the world. Man is the world of
man, the state, society… Religion is the sigh of the
oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just
as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium
of the people.”

15.
What Religions Do
 Marx dismissed all forms of ideology as being abstractions
and obstacles to the pursuit of true well-being. He felt that
religion was like an opiate that deters the suffering
individual from attending to the true cause of the problem.
 Freud felt that religion was an effect of other forces,
viewing it as a by-product of psychological forces. He felt
that religion functions as an unhealthy but soothing buffer
against the inner terrors of the psyche.
 Freud and Marx never really tried to define religion, more
accurately, they tried to explain it away.
 Religions may function in these ways at certain times in
certain situations, but overall, there is much more to them.

16.
What Religions Do
 Why do religions exist?
 Religions naturally respond to human needs and
readily acknowledge reasons for their doctrines and
rituals.
 There is a perceived separation from the sacred.
 Most religions have a “path” to follow that leads to
perfection or that offers fulfillment.
 Most religions arose out of fear of death. Religion was
developed as a coping mechanism for loss or the
possibility of loss.

17.
What Religions Do
 Religions typically assert that ultimate reality is somehow
divine, and explanation of the nature and role of the divine
takes center stage in a religion’s belief system.
 “Divine” does not always mean God or gods.
 Theistic/Theism – belief in God or gods.
 Nontheistic/Atheism– no belief in God or gods.
 Polytheism – belief in more than one God or gods.
 Monotheism – belief in only one God.
 Henotheism – belief in more than only God or gods, but
elevates one of them to special status.
 Pantheism – the divine is equal to nature or the material
world.

18.
What Religions Do
 Quasi-divine figures (supernatural but not gods):
angels, demons, giants, saints, monsters, mythical
creatures, etc.
 Monism – belief that all reality is ultimately one.
(Hindu – Brahman = essence of all) Non-dualistic. No
distinction between the divine and humans.
 Revelation – divine reality being revealed to human
beings. (Christian – Bible; Ten Commandments)
Usually these are recorded = scripture. (Buddhism –
text + direct experience (meditation) = revelation)

19.
What Religions Do
 Sacred space – Many religions have sacred monuments, landmarks, or
places that have significant religious meaning.
 Origin and status of human beings and this planet are a primary focus
for many religions. Also, how to conduct yourself in this world.
 Cosmology (world or universe) strongly influences the degree to
which a religion’s adherents are involved in caring for the world.
 Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism all maintain belief in
samsara, the “wheel of life,” that implies a series of lives, deaths, and
rebirths for every individual.
 Some religions have little to say about the afterlife.
 Christianity believes there is Heaven and Hell but even Catholics
believe there is an “in-between” holding place called purgatory where
you can gradually be purified of sin.

20.
What Religions Do
 Numinous experience – characterized by mysterium
tremendum and fascinans. “Awe-inspiring mystery” of
the ‘wholly other’ and “fascinating” or overwhelming
attraction.
 Rudolf Otto – The Idea of the Holy
 Encounter with “the Holy” described as “numinous.” It
is alluring and frightening at the same time. The
biblical phenomenon or the “fear of God” fits this
description. He is feared but is also the source of life
and the hope for salvation.

21.
What Religions Do
 Mystical experience – the complete dissolution of an
individual’s sense of selfhood. A state of perfect bliss
and ultimate fulfillment. (Buddhism – nirvana)
 Both the numinous experience and nirvana are
examples of transcendent states of existence.
 For Otto, this experience depended on the existence of
“the Holy.” For many Buddhists, the experience of
nirvana does not depend on the belief in God or gods.
 Achieving these, can be considered an ultimate
objective of the religious life.

22.
Dimensions of Religion
 Ninian Smart (1927-2001) asserted there was a
“dimensional” scheme that divides the various aspects
of religious traditions:
1. The mythic (sacred narrative)
2. The doctrinal (or philosophical)
3. The ethical (or legal)
4. The ritual (or pratical)
5. The experiential (or emotional)
6. The social
7. The material

23.
Dimensions of Religion
 Religions involve beliefs and myths.
 Beliefs can be observed and interpreted. These often
become doctrines or creeds. These are concepts that
are believed in. (Christianity most emphasizes this.)
 Myth DOES NOT MEAN FALSE. I repeat, myth DOES
NOT mean false. Myth is set forth in narrative form
and originally conveyed orally. Myths do not depend
on empirical verifiability or rational coherence for
their power. They are accepted by believers as true
accounts. (Origin myths)

24.
Religions in the Modern World
 Religious influence can be seen in art, architecture, music, and
daily rituals.
 The roles of women are changing within most religious
traditions.
 This is due in part to the work of those in the fields of feminist
theory, gender studies, and women’s studies.
 Religion and science often intersect. (Biblical creation and
evolution; cosmology; Biblically - Earth is the center of the
cosmos)
 Balance (insider and outsider viewpoints) and empathy
(capacity of seeing things from another’s perspective) are
imperative for studying religion.
 Comparative and multidisciplinary approaches are preferred.

25.
Religions in the Modern World
 Modernization – the general process through which
societies transform economically, socially, and culturally to
keep pace with an increasingly competitve global
marketplace.
 Urbanization – the shift of population centers to cities
instead of rural, agricultural settings.
 Globalization – the linking and intermixing of cultures.
 Multiculturalism – the coexistence of different peoples
and their cultural ways in one time and place.
 Secularization – the general turning away from
traditional religious authority and institutions.