A Brief History of

Religion
Religion
Derives from the Latin re-legere, to read
again, to repeat; to lead/unite

Originally, similar to what is now called

personal piety

Augustine (354-430 CE) On True Religion

Religions
Comparative Religions originated in a
missionary stance: which one is better, which
one is right?

The 19th century Science of Religion based

itself on taxonomy, mainly inspired by Charles
Darwins On the Origin of Species (1859).

Assumption that religions were all

manifestations of a common source or natural
impulse
Mullers Science of
Religion
Based in the idea of Natural Religion as well
as the Romantic Movement of 19th century
Europe
Scientific quantification of religious
phenomena
scientific laws and moral laws
Also based on Geisteswissenschaften
philology and linguistics, particularly of
Sanskrit
The 19th century discovery of Indo-European
language

Some General Categories

Religion as belief in supernatural agents
Cognitive theory that humans have a natural
and universal inclination to see agency
Religion as a social structure
Sociology of Religion: the community is sacred
Religion as spiritual experience
Phenomenological interpretation
Religion as an outdated and/or inappropriate
category
Bad Science and Power Dynamics
Religion as Bad Science
Assumption: religion is about explaining the
world

Uses spirits, deities etc. to explain

phenomena that are better explained by
science

Related to 19th-century anthropology and the

idea of an evolutionary continuum
Religion and Power
Arguments that Christianity is better have been
used to justify colonial occupation, in spite of
clear evidence that non-Christians (especially in
China and India) had cultures that were (to the
colonists) respectable.

Argument that because religious studies is based

in a Christian (particularly, a Liberal Protestant)
view-point, attempts to define or understand
other religions are intrinsically flawed
A Central Issue
Is Religion sui generis?
Natural Religion, Phenomenology

If not, should religious studies be reduced to

(e.g.) anthropology, history, sociology? Does it
deserve its own academic department?

Can real religion be observed? Or must it be

experienced? Qualification vs. Quantification
Pluralism in Islam
Early Islam was limited to Arabs and, slowly,
their clients (mawli)

People of the Book (Ahl al-Kitb) and

protected minorities (dhimm)

Quran 5.48: For everyone we have established

a law, and a way. If God had wished, He would
have made you a single community
Pluralism in Buddhism
Early Buddhist emphasis on monasticism and
patronage

Missionary zeal seems to have begun around

the time of Aoka (ca. 270-323 BCE)

Buddha discovered the dharma, but didnt

invent it; all beings are acting on their karmic
predispositions.
Early Spread of Buddhism around
the time of Aoka Maurya