Материал: The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion by John Hinnells

Introduction

Religions do not exist, nor are they studied, in a vacuum. While the first edition of this book was being prepared, major international events have rocked societies and their religions: the attack on the Twin Towers in New York and on the Pentagon on 9/11; the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, ever more brutal battles between Palestinians and Jews appear to have pitched Christianity, Islam and Judaism against each other. Bombs in Bali, Kenya and London, terrorist attacks in Mumbai, wars in Sudan and Somalia, crisis in Zimbabwe and the global credit crunch have turned societies upside down as fears of nuclear war grow with tensions rising and falling between India and Pakistan and with developments in North Korea and Iran, the world appears under threat. With the break up of the old Soviet Union, countries have been opened up to Christian missionaries and New Religious Movements, so religions have become more prominent on the world stage.

This book looks at the many perspectives from which religion may be viewed. The first edition (2005) was well received but this second edition is larger with eight new chapters as well as revisions and updating to the others. It starts by looking at different answers to the question ‘Why study religion?’ It is important to know how we got to where we are in the subject and how scholars have theorized about religion. The chapter by Eric Sharpe maps the historical picture of the growth of religious studies down to the 1960s and the chapter by Greg Alles covers the period since then. Contrary to popular opinion there are many approaches and disciplines involved in the study of religions; each is discussed here in a separate chapter. Robert Segal discusses theories of religion. The obvious routes into the subject are theology and religious studies, though there is much debate about the relationship between the two. In America there are signs of a growing difference whereas in Britain the two appear to be coming together as can be seen in the chapters by David Ford and Don Wiebe. The historical approach is clearly an important one in the study of religions and is discussed here by John Wolffe. Philosophy of religion is a well established route in many cultures, which is discussed by Chad Meister. A very different approach is the phenomenology of religion – where the term phenomenology is used differently from wider philosophy as discussed by Douglas Allen. There are various social and/or scientific ways of studying religion. The sociological study of religion is of growing importance and is discussed here by Martin Riesebrodt and Mary Ellen Konieczny. Authors were asked to look particularly at recent developments in their subjects; Rosalind Hackett exemplifies this in her chapter on anthropology by avoiding the all-too- common tour of nineteenth-century theorists. ‘Psychology of religion’ is an umbrella term for a number of approaches which are discussed by Dan Merkur. Many different approaches are used in the comparative study of religion as discussed by William Paden.

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Whichever methodological approach one pursues there are a number of key issues addressed by scholars involved with religions. Gender is obviously an important subject and is addressed here by Darlene Juschka. An issue which is often discussed is the problems caused by insider and outsider perspectives as discussed by Kim Knott. Jeremy Carrette discusses some of the key developments in post structuralist theories of religion. ‘Orientalism’ has been a subject of recent debate and the issues related to religions are discussed by Richard King who also discusses issues concerning mysticism and spirituality. Theories of secularization and studies of New Religious Movements are discussed by Judith Fox. Contrary to what ‘rationalist’ approaches to society might have expected, fundamentalism (often a misused term) seems to have become more prominent in various cultures and countries (Henry Munson). Myths and rituals are interpenetrating and central to religions and cultures (Robert Segal). The question of authority is a major feature in most traditions, both in the sense of religious individuals and their charisma, and in the sense of authoritative texts (Paul Gifford). Of course texts are not static; the words may not change, but their interpretation does – an issue at the heart of hermeneutics (Garrett Green). Religions do not exist in a vacuum so there are chapters on how religions have been involved in, interacted with or been seen through the prism of politics (George Moyser), popular culture (Gordon Lynch), the financial world (Larry Iannaccone and William Bainbridge), advances in scientific discoveries and thought (Thomas Dixon) and environmental concerns (Roger Gottlieb). Increasingly scholars have become interested in the notion of sacred space (Kim Knott). The chapter on religion and cognition by Luther Martin looks at one of the most challenging forms of current approaches to religious studies. Back in the 1960s and 1970s international migration increased dramatically. It was assumed by many that migrants would, over a couple of generations, ‘assimilate’ and leave their religion behind. The reverse has happened, resulting in the growth of the study of diasporas (Sean McLoughlin). As religions have met and interacted – and sometimes experienced tensions – so religious pluralism has become an issue that many people have had to address (Michael Barnes).

There have been numerous debates about definitions and presuppositions in the study of religion. Many scholars have questioned whether there is any such ‘thing’ as religion, there are only the religions. But some have gone further and questioned the value of the terms ‘religion’ at all. In various languages, Sanskrit for example, there is no word for ‘religion’. Is ‘religion’ a Western construct imposed on various cultures as a part of intellectual imperialism? It has been said that words mean what we want them to. My own opinion is that the word ‘religions’ is useful, but should be used with caution.

The ease of travel, large migrations to and from many countries and the growth of the internet and the media have resulted in the interaction of cultures at a global level. The ‘other’ is encountered more often, more closely and by more people than ever before. Whereas some religions were remote and exotic, now they are part of the local scenery for many.

Students on many courses become fretful when studying theory and method. However, the more complex the subject, the more important such issues are. When the subject is one as full of sensitivities, presuppositions and prejudices as the study of religions is, then it is essential, from the outset, the student is alerted to debates and doubts and that key issues, motives, aims and academic beliefs are fore-grounded – that is why my own assumptions and interests are articulated frankly and explicitly in the first chapter. I spent much time reflecting on the value of a section on the definition of such important terms as ‘religion’, but others, such as Mark Taylor, have done that, and for shorter articles students can consult my New Penguin Dictionary of Religions. I thought this book should be on theoretical approaches

Introductionâ 3â

and key issues at the heart of debates in the study of religions. There is no one ‘right’ way to study religions. One ‘wrong’ way is dogmatism – that does not appear in this volume. Not only are there different approaches, there are also different opinions and emphases and much enthusiasm for the subjects (the singular is best avoided!). The publishers suggested that I indicate how the book may be used by students on courses. Had it been available during the forty years in which I taught the subject at undergraduate level, I would have woven a seminar around each chapter; if it were at (post)graduate level I would have required students to have read the relevant chapter before a lecture or seminar. However it is used, I hope students find it useful.

In planning the book, authors were invited who are specialists and leaders in their field, on the basis that an introduction to a subject can be the most influential literature a student ever reads. It is often the person who has real command of the subject who is the person with the vision to give the best overview. Each author received the same author’s brief on length, treatment of material and bibliography. Inevitably some kept ‘closer’ to the brief than others; equally inevitably some have different perceptions of what are the appropriate issues and levels for students in their first year of studying religions. Such are the facts of life for every editor. Nor is it necessarily a bad thing. The students using the book will be different and it is foolish to invite senior scholars to contribute and then to put them all into a straitjacket. Furthermore, some topics are better handled in one way rather than another. But all authors have been willing to discuss and amend their text.

The structure of the book follows broadly the structure of the introductory course I taught at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London University, some of the time with one of the contributors, Dr Judith Fox; she joined the course to the benefit and delight of both myself and the students. It has been amended in the light of discussions with Professors Rosalind Hackett and Don Wiebe in the early stages, and Professor Robert Segal has helped considerably on several occasions. I am indebted to all of them, although I take responsibility for any failing in the overall conception and execution of the book. I would like to dedicate my work in this book to Eric Sharpe, a long-standing close friend, who finished his chapter for this book only a few days before his death.

John R. Hinnells

Chapter 1

Why study religions?

John R. Hinnells

Introduction

Are the study of theology and religious studies only for religious people? If you are religious, should you not get on and practise your religion rather than study it? If you are studying religions, should you not get on with that – studying them – rather than discussing abstract theories and debates on methods? The answer to each of these questions is ‘no’. Obviously many people do wish to study religion if they are religious, because they want to know more about their own religion, or be able to see their religion in the context of others. Some people find studying religion helps to develop their own spiritual journey, be they Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Zoroastrian or whatever. Students in most fields object to starting a subject by lectures on theory and method. But it is necessary to be aware of the different disciplinary perspectives used, and to be alert to some of the key issues that affect basic presuppositions.

But why study religions if you are not religious and/or do not want to become religious? As a professor of the comparative study of religion, the first question I am commonly asked when meeting people is – ‘which religion do you belong to?’ Those who know me to be an atheist, often ask why I spend most of my life studying something I believe to be wrong? Indeed one might go further. I incline to the view that religions are dangerous because more people have been tortured and killed for religious reasons than for any other motive. Persecution, the torture and killing of heretics and people of other religions have been major themes running through much of world history. At a personal level a religion can be helpful, supportive and even joyous for many people. But equally many are tortured by feelings of guilt or shame because they cannot live according to the ideals of their religion, or cannot in conscience accept doctrines they are expected to hold.

Of course one does not have to agree with something in order to study it. Students of the Holocaust do not have to agree with Hitler and his followers. One can learn something about history, about oneself, from studying even evil forces. But why have whole departments of theology and religious studies? Why have such financial and human resources been invested in the subject if it is harmful or marginal, and for which one has no attachment? Increasingly sociology, psychology, history, philosophy departments in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have moved religious studies towards the margins of their subject. One does not have to be ill to become a doctor but one does have to want to care for and aid the sick to be a doctor – why study religions if one does not wish to encourage people to be religious? Some universities have it in their constitution that they shall not teach or research religion

– University College London and Liverpool are two examples in Britain.