1 - Understanding World Religions

Understanding World Religions
Chapter 1
Introduction Information Sessions:
Monday 21 January
In SS 1332
At 4 pm
Introduction to the Study of Religion
• What is religion?
• Is Scientology a religion?
- Some people say it is not. Find and read this article on
the Internet:
“Scientologists in German push” By Tristana Moore BBC
News, Berlin, Saturday, 13 January 2007
Is Scientology a Religion?
“Scientologists in German push”
By Tristana Moore BBC News,
Berlin, Saturday, 13 January 2007
What is Scientology?
Aims at increasing individual abilities
through a rigorous practice based on a rich
mythology found in Hubbard’s writing. A
form of confession using an e-meter, yoga
like meditation, special diets and other
practices free the individual from evil
influences and discover the true self or
“Theatan” within.
Is Scientology a REAL religion?
BBC News, Saturday, 23 February, 2002, 01:55
“Scientologists face Paris ban”
“The public prosecutor in France has accused the Church
of Scientology of engaging in "mental manipulation" and
called for it to be shut down in Paris.”
What is a “real” religion?
How do we decide?
• The How do we decide whether Scientology is a
religion?
– Most people who say that Scientology is not a
religion argue that religions involve a belief in God
that is missing from Scientology.
– Others, like some members of the German and
French Governments, say that Scientology does not
contribute to the good of society like other religions.
– Are these objections valid?
What about Buddhism?
• Is Buddhism a religion?
– Buddhists do not believe in God
– Some forms of Buddhism demand that priests totally
withdraw from society. So how can they contribute to
the social good?
God in Buddhism
The importance of dogma
“Buddhists do not believe in God”
Professor Paul Williams
Department of Religious Studies
University of Bristol
Is Buddhism a real religion?
Salvation in Buddhism
Release from Samsara - the wheel of existence
Nirvana/Nibbana
Religion = belief in God or the gods
Buddhism, explicitly rejects the idea of God
Problem of Buddhism
and many traditional religions
Buddhism is a religion without God as its central focus
African traditions often focus on the ancestors
In some other religions: either they have
no god or God is unimportant
For some it is a sense of awe ...
Introduction to Study of Religion
• In Tom Jones (1749) one of Henry Fielding’s characters
gives the following definitions of religion:
By religion I mean Christianity; by Christianity
I mean Protestantism; by Protestantism I mean
the Church of England, as established by law.
Henry Fielding
(1707-1754)
Introduction to Study of Religion
• Fielding was being satirical. But this definition raises the question what makes a good definition? To be useful a definition must not be prejudiced and must: – apply to all groups we normally recognize as
religions, e.g. Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, etc.
– exclude those we do not recognize as religions,
e.g. football games, venerating political leaders, etc.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
“The recognition of all our duties
as divine commands.”
Friedrich Schleiermacher
(1768‐1834) "a feeling for the infinite" and "a feeling of ABSOLUTE dependence.“
Karl Marx (1818‐1883)
“the SELF-conscious and SELF-feeling of man who has either
not found himself or has already lost himself again... the general
theory of the world... its logic in a popular FORM... its moral
sanction, its solemn completion, its universal ground for
consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realization of the
human essence..."
Emile Durkheim’s Definition of Religion
“A unified system of beliefs and
practices relative to sacred things.”
Emile Durkheim
(1858-1917)
Max Weber (1864-1920)
“To say what it is, is not possible …
the essence of religion is not even our concern,
as we make it our task to study the conditions
and effects of a particular type of social behavior.”
Seeing everything as religion
Paul Tillich (1886-1965)
“Religion is ultimate concern.”
Fred Welbourn (1912 - 1986)
“Towards a Definition of Religion”
http://people.ucalgary.ca/~uwr/academic-articles.html
Stark’s Definition of Religion
Religion refers to systems of general compensators
based on supernatural assumptions.
Rodney Stark (1940-)
Introduction to Study of Religion
• One problem with all of these definitions is that they
reflect the academic background of the persons who
proposed them. Thus as a sociologist, Rodney Stark
proposes a sociological definition.
Rodney Stark (1940-)
Self-created religion
“My mind is my Church”
Tom Paine (1737-1809)
How do we define religion?
Kant
Philosophy
Durkheim
Sociologically
Marx
Historically
Schleiermacher
Religiously
Each according to his own discipline/interests
Introduction to Study of Religion
• One To avoid problems of definition Ninian Smart
proposed that all religions involve:
– A set of institutionalised rituals identified with a
tradition and expressing and/or evoking sacral
sentiments directed at a divine or trans-divine focus
seen in the context of the human phenomenological
environment and at least partially described by
myths or by myths and doctrines.
Ninian Smart (1927-2001)
Introduction to Study of Religion
• Ninian Smart model for recognizing religions when we
encounter them:
Ninian Smart’s suggestion about recognizing a religion
Institutions
Rituals
Traditions
Religion
Myths
Doctrines
Sacral
Sentiments
When all of these features are found together in
society then we are probably dealing with a religion.
Why institutions?
“My mind is my Church”
Tom Paine (1737-1809)
Private Religion
The Origins of Cheese
Private Religion
“Blue Cheese Cult”
Institutionalized Rituals
amaNazarites
Ritual: repetitive behavior with a significance beyond the act itself
The Social Context
What we can observe
Evoking or expressing sacral sentiments
Casper David Friedrich (1774-1840)
Carlisle Cathedral
Directed at a Divine or Trans‐divine Focus
Seen in the context …
John Middleton (1921‐)
"a myth is a statement about society and man's
place in it and in the surrounding universe....Myths
and cosmological notions are concerned with the
relationship of a people with other peoples, with
nature and with the supernatural."
John Middleton, ed., Myth and Cosmos, New York,
Natural History Press, 1967: x.
King Arthur and Glastonbury
And doctrines …
That which is believed, a
dogma. The official
teachings or beliefs of a
religious group.
A Greek term meaning “that
which is good.” The decree
of a King. Fundamental
beliefs or doctrines.
Dogma
Introduction to Study of Religion
• How do we study religion? Probably the best way is to
recognize that religious studies is a field rather than a
discipline. Therefore, scholars of religions use many
different methods:
Methods for the study of religion
Aesthetics
Anthropology
Art
Astronomy
Chemistry
Classics
Economics
Food
Geography
History
Linguistics
Literature
Physics
Psychology
Sociology
Zoology
There are as many ways
of studying religion as
there are academic
disciplines. So which
methods are the most
useful?
Introduction to Study of Religion
• In practice most people studying religions use one of
the following methods which they often combine:
Practical methods for the study of religion
Logic and Philosophy
History
Social
Anthropology
and sociology
Introduction to Study of Religion
• Finally, it is important to note that studying religion often
involves the study of religious texts written in many
different languages. Therefore, philology, or the study of
texts is an essential part of religious studies.