They argue, for example, that exemptions from general laws can be justified on the ground of conscience; and that what the state should not establish are conceptions of the good. Another illustration of religious beliefs is the creation stories we find in different religions. village and nad level bring in solidarity and unity among different social segments . 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. b.) India is a multi-cultural and a diverse nation with a flourishing history of pluralism that has been thriving for thousands of years. by Cristina Echeverri-Pineda and Mateo Villamizar-Chaparro. 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. Study for free with our range of university lectures! 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. It does this by examining the dynamics of the constituent parts of societies such as institutions, communities, populations, and gender, racial, or age groups (Encyclopaedia Britannica 2013). For the workers to bear their miserable and unfulfilling life, the capitalists created various belief-systems, foremost of which was religion, for the working class to see their state as something positive and justified. 427-5290. adlerj@kenyon.edu. These two neighboring countries have different legal systems and, of course, their own unique characteristics. We pick out, from the complex notion of religion that we have inherited, distinct elements and values that democratic law has good reason to protect. But because they wanted to know who would eventually be saved and enter heaven, they thought that financial success was one good indicator. 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 stage from man to super being is the next which depends from the approach of the achievement on the evolution on earth. 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. The law does not describe and regulate the full experience of marriage: the fact that, in law, marriage is a contract does not mean that marriage is, or should be experienced as, a contract. Sociology in general looks at people's . Sociologists today employ three primary theoretical perspectives: the symbolic interactionist perspective, the functionalist perspective, and the conflict perspective. This article examines three anthropological theories explaining how religion has evolved and continues to evolve. Looking for a flexible role? Can we truly compare two totally different views religion one very internal the other very visual? First, as religion is not a thing but a term of art, it is perfectly legitimateas suggested abovethat different dimensions of it are appropriated in different disciplines and areas of life. These questions within Smarts Classifactory account would help to define a religion. 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 determining the history, origins, and functions of religion. He illustrate the introduction of Phenomenology saying, a lot of opinions have been written about not only the physical interchange of races but;, also ethnical and cultural, and especially upon values, so what take place when religions and their tradition convene? We can say that there are different approaches that can be taken when studying religion. 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. Transcribed image text: To address the following questions, consider the four approaches to religion described in the introduction to this module exclusivism, inclusivism, pluralism and empathetic interest in other people. The dominant sense in which the contemporary study of religion is understood is the descriptive sense. Sullivan demonstrates that religion is too complex, too comprehensive, and too multi-faceted to be adequately captured by the law of the liberal state. At this juncture, let us x-ray some of the approaches in studying religion scientifically. A&C Black, Jan 1, 1999 - Social Science - 286 pages. But it is necessary to be clear about what objectivity and subjectivity in religion mean. Manifestations of the sacred. The Comparative Study of Religions World Religions: A Voyage of Discovery, Fourth Edition, considers one religion at a time, chapter by chapter. The modern sovereign state is grounded in a distinctive political theology that mobilizes the structural categories of metaphysics and theology to bolster and consolidate the higher identity of secular citizenship. Rituals, practices and texts focused on death provide the basis for comparative study of Asian and Western religious approaches to the meaning and mystery of death as it confronts individuals and communities. Phone: 212-377-2700 Fax: 212-377-2727. 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. Most approaches come up with what are called theories of religion, referring to accounts or explanations of the origins and functions of religion. So with Aurobindo is clear the goal is more directly mystical ,to became one with the divine . As the world's largest democracy, India . Psychology of religion is the application of the different psychological theories and methods to explain religious phenomena, which include the belief in God, religious experiences and behaviors, and spirituality. Three famous psychologists who examined and analyzed religious phenomena psychologically were William James, Sigmund Freud, and Carl Jung. Approaches to Religious/Worldview Studies 1 Sociological. It may well be that egalitarian theorists have picked a normatively problematic, or normatively narrow, analogy for religion. Aside from being exploited, the workers were also dehumanized or alienated in the workplace. No plagiarism, guaranteed! The field of religion/worldview is a broadly defined area of study. Box No. We can confirm that the method of study that Smart used in his approach comprehend both external and internal analysis of religion, characterized by phenomenological perspectives. Author of, Robert Segal, Chair in Religious Studies, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland. Sociologists are primarily interested in examining the effects of religion on society. Copyright 2003 - 2023 - UKEssays is a trading name of Business Bliss Consultants FZE, a company registered in United Arab Emirates. Morgan, Sue. Normative inquiries primarily concern the truth of religious claims, the acceptability of religious values, and other such normative aspects; descriptive inquiries, which are only indirectly involved with the normative elements of religion, are primarily concerned with the history, structure, and other observable elements of religion. Thus, some political ideologies, such as communism and fascism, have been regarded as analogous to religion. 2 Psychological. 2.Religious studies has a bigger scope because it analyzes the different world religions. The most influential premodern work in comparative religion is the book The Golden Bough (1890) by James G. Frazer (1854-1941). 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. The study of religion may thus come to have a reflexive effect on religion itself, such as the manner in which modern Christian theology has been profoundly affected by the whole question of the historicity of the New Testament. describing how religion is experienced by practitioners. Second, secular modernity is itself rooted in a distinctive Protestant anthropology, the ethos of which neatly maps onto a modern liberal subjectivity that encourages the individual to cultivate the autonomy and discipline required to relate to her beliefs and ends in the right way. Author of. Evolutionary Approaches. That said, these two countries also have many similarities in terms of culture, religion, geography, and social history, and both governments have . 2. Learn about sociologists . An internal theory of religion is a particular religions account of its own origins and functions (e.g., Christianitys own 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. Like Muslim reformists' approach of reform, which attempted to reconstruct Islamic religious thought in the light of modern science and knowledge, Christian neo-orthodoxy insisted that Christianity itself needs continually to be rethought and that theology must engage seriously with the . It all depends on the person you are and the personal period of life you are going through. Instead, I shall merely sketch an alternative strategy. 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