King, UM 1995, Historical and Phenomenological Approaches to the Study of Religion. This week, we are pleased to bring you a double re-post in response to our double podcast with John Wolffe & Ronald Hutton on Historical Approaches to the Study of Religion. Whether we are talking about the recent Boston Marathon bombings, the funeral of Margaret Thatcher, the Arab Spring, or the recent critique of the UK government’s welfare policy levelled by four major British churches, the ways in which the media negotiates, ... Douglas R. Brooks, Professor of Religion at the University of Rochester, discusses how he became involved in the academic study of Hinduism, specifically Tantra and goddess-centered traditions. The forms of religious community observed online are not unique after all, they argue: they actually continue long-running trajectories of social change from groups to networks (Wellman 2012) or from stable to fluid religious identities (Wagner 2012). One classic strategy since the 1990s has been to contrast an anecdotal snapshot of contemporary life against visions of the near future and the recent past. Hogan, Bernie and Barry Wellman. In this podcast, Breann Fallon interviews Professor Douglas Ezzy of the University of Tasmania on the power of symbols... Journal of Religion, Media & Digital Culture, John Wolffe and Ronald Hutton on Historical Approaches, https://media.blubrry.com/the_religious_studies_project/p/www.religiousstudiesproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/RSP69-Historical.mp3, John Wolffe & Ronald Hutton on Historical Approaches to the Study of Religion, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License, http://freq.uenci.es/2011/09/07/telegraph/, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/the-flight-from-conversation.html, Witchcraft and Demonic Possession in Early Modern England, The Holberg Prize 2014 Episode With Michael Cook, “Bigger Things Do Rest On Smaller Things.”, ‘Modelling Religion’ and the Integration of the Sciences and the Humanities in the Bio-cultural Study of Religion, Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organization (SCIO). Later, during the Middle Ages, Islamic scholars such as Ibn Hazm (d. 1064 CE) studied Persian, Jewish, Christian, and Indian religions, among others. "History can be of tremendous value for a society that is looking for roots... and can sometimes be a bit uncritical in its search for roots. ©2000-2020 ITHAKA. JSTOR provides a digital archive of the print version of History and The Religious Studies Project is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organization (SCIO) devoted to producing engaging and accessible resources for the contemporary study of religion. History of the study of religion. Scholars of media and religion have tried to challenge this approach over the last decade by framing their observations within a more rigorous historical perspective. Religionsgeschichtliche Schule, (German: “history of religions school”) in the study of religion and particularly in the study of biblical literature, an approach that emphasized the degree to which the Bible and the ideas contained within it were the products of their cultural milieu. JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization helping the academic community use digital technologies to preserve the scholarly record and to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways. Religion is a complex phenomenon, defying definition or summary. In classical studies, the 19th century approach to higher criticism set aside "efforts to fill ancient religion with direct meaning and relevance and devoted itself instead to the critical collection and chronological ordering of the source material." of humanity-in-time; related disciplines, interactions between history and the “When” questions are rarely considered: the purpose of the exercise is to establish a tension between a stable (or predictably-changing) past and a snapshot of the present, to generate insights into continuity and change. As such, it might be asked in what way a theological Along the way, Brown summarises his research career and offers some tantalising hints about his current interview-based study of the life stories of people who have left religion. A Response to Callum Brown: Connecting “When” and “Why” in Digital Religion. This item is part of JSTOR collection 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. This team-taught 1-term option complements other modules by focusing on the meanings and significance of 'religion' in a variety of historical settings. The primary impulse that prompts many to study religion, however, happens to be the Western one. Tim Hutchings is a sociologist of religion, media and culture, and currently Research Fellow at the Open University. Basic aims and methods Historical, archaeological, and literary studies. For Campbell, contemporary religious uses of the internet must be interpreted in the context of the theology and values of particular communities, including how those communities have changed their approach to media over time. Scholars and commentators interested in digital culture and its significance for religion have struggled to distinguish what is truly new from what has come before, and continue to search for helpful ways to talk about change. Phenomenology of religion, methodological approach to the study of religion that emphasizes the standpoint of the believer. This is a fascinating and challenging claim, but I have chosen to focus in this response on another of the main themes of this podcast: the relationship between history and sociology. Sociologists of digital religion are still not as interested in the connection between “when” and “why” as Callum Brown might like, but clear progress is being made to forge connections with historians. History of study. As de Vries puts it: `The nineteenth-century scholars made abundant use of the new materials. About Approaches to the Study of Religion. Professor Callum Brown tells us why historical approaches have much to tell us about religious change. Tim Hutchings: "My own field of research is digital religion, an area with a particularly troubled relationship to history. How can we use historical approaches in the study of religion? Turkle, Sherry. People want an identity and may be clutching at something that can be a bit confrontational, for example, Muslims looking for an identity rooted in current conflicts in the Middle East, rather than reflecting on what is quite a long-standing presence in British society and culture.". This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial- NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Many other scholars have tried to complicate popular understandings of the past and present of media religion, undertaking detailed comparative studies to show that religious authority, community and identity have not changed in the ways some observers allege. Listening to Callum Brown’s interview, it becomes clear that all of these scholarly approaches represent a distinctively sociological way of using history. In conversation with Christopher Cotter, Brown outlines rival traditions within the history of religion and demonstrates what each has contributed to our understanding of secularisation. Second, Dr Tim Hutchings – who has also been an interviewee on the RSP, and participated in our ‘Religion in the News Panel Session’ – wrote the following response essay to Professor Brown’s interview. This is the first book to provide an introduction to contemporary cultural approaches to the study of religion. A history of religion goes beyond articulat­ We hope you enjoy these different takes on this week’s central theme. natural and social sciences, the humanities, and psychology. In the most common forms of this argument, the past is characterised by stable local communities, face-to-face relationships and a secure, unchanging personal identity. theoretical dimensions of historians' debates; history of historiography, theory First, in the following podcast – first ‘broadcast’ on 30 April 2012, and later selected as one of our editors’ picks the following summer – Louise Connelly introduces Chris’s interview with Professor Callum Brown. The immanent internet redux. You can also use our Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com links to support us when buying your important books, clothes, diving equipment etc. publishes articles, review essays, and summaries of books principally in these Heidi Campbell’s recent work (2010) focuses on the power of religious groups to construct and interpret the technology they use, a process that includes engagement with group history. Start studying Five Approaches to studying religion. It has been argued that religious studies is a polymethodic discipline, and that the student of religion should be familiar with the approaches of the major disciplines concerned with understanding the nature of religion, not least because the approach adopted has profound influence on the phenomena chose for investigation and the conclusions … As the RSP continues to grow, we’re going to be returning more frequently to topics and themes which have already been touched upon in previous podcasts and features. of theory and philosophy of history. and can be distributed and utilised freely, provided full citation is given. Because interactionists study one-on-one, everyday interactions between individuals, a scholar using this approach might ask questions focused on this dynamic. These (and others) are all legitimate uses of the concept of religion. Wiley has partnerships with many of the world’s leading societies and publishes over 1,500 peer-reviewed journals and 1,500+ new books annually in print and online, as well as databases, major reference works and laboratory protocols in STMS subjects. The Study of Religion : A Historical Approach (1967), such discoveries were seldom considered in their own right; seldom allowed to `speak for themselves' . Following his Albert Moore Memorial Lecture at Otago University, celebrating 50 years of Religious Studies at Otago, Professor Wesley Wildman talks to Thomas White regarding the integration of the sciences and the humanities in his bio-cultural approach to the study of religion. The historical approach applies historical methodologies to the study of these issues. In fact, … Professor Michael Cook, winner of the Holberg Prize 2014, has had a huge influence on the historical study of Islam. Theory. In the broadest terms, three approaches are generally taken to the scholarly study of religion: the historical, the phenomenological, and the behavioral or social - scientific. The electronic version of History and Theory is It goes without saying that ‘religion’ is a topic that frequently finds itself in the media spotlight. The views expressed in podcasts, features and responses are the views of the individual contributors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Religious Studies Project or our sponsors. Thus in principle it is the study of all religions from a viewpoint not isolated within any one of them. 476 BCE) and Herodotus (ca. © 1968 Wesleyan University Intellectual historians and students of political thought study religious traditions as coherent, inter-generational, scholarly bodies of thought — the “Islamic” or the “Christian” or the “Confucian” tradition, for example. He also emphasises the value of demographics, arguing that sophisticated analyses of census data reveal that people develop ‘an entirely new sense of self’ when they leave religion. In his new podcast for the Religious Studies Project, Callum Brown has given us an excellent introduction to the historical approach to the study of religion. Peter the Venerable, also working in the twelfth century, studied Isla… History and Theory is the premier international journal in the field Request Permissions. The school of religious history called the Religionsgeschichtliche Schule, a late 19th-century German school of thought, originated the systematic study of religion as a socio-cultural phenomenon. The subject began in rhe ninereenrh century as the search for the origins of humankind. They undertake research to study the contemporary religious landscape, interpret this snapshot in time by framing it within a particular model of fixed, linear change, and then make predictions about the future. Interest in the general study of religion dates back to at least Hecataeus of Miletus (ca. Toys, Rabbits, and Princess Diana - three things that may not seem at all connected. The flight from conversation. Sociological interest in the history of religion and media has generated a space for interventions by historians, who can greatly benefit the study of digital culture by offering detailed critiques of our assumed trajectories of change. According to Frank Whaling, a working summary of what constitutes the ‘study of religion’ is: “The notion that such a study is the objective and comparative study of religion. Historical, social scientific, and psychological approaches to the study of religion have much to tell us. Emeritus Professor Philip Almond discusses his work on witchcraft and demonic possession in early modern England, including issues such as the "familiar cultural script" that was usually played out, the strategic interests of those making accusations, and the broader context of post-Reformation turmoil in which confessional claims to truth took on new urgency. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians have studied that topic using particular sources, techniques, and theoretical approaches. This … 41 - 176. liberals. Anthropological Approaches David N. Gellner The historical development of anthropological approaches Just what anthropology is supposed to be about has changed con- siderably over rime. With a growing open access offering, Wiley is committed to the widest possible dissemination of and access to the content we publish and supports all sustainable models of access. The truth lies in the historical context. At the end of this interview, Brown distinguishes the history of religion sharply from sociology. (PDF) Theological Approaches to the Study of Religion US textbook | Paul Hedges - Academia.edu In the development of the study of religion as a new discipline in the twentieth century, the pioneers of the field were often at pains to stress that what they did was different from theology. 550 BCE – ca. Young people now use their phones a lot, she argues, and they previously spent time face-to-face, and this shift is very bad for everyone. Rather than following a chronological structure or dealing with individual denominations, it examines religious issues through (a) the perspectives of different academic disciplines and (b) coverage of key themes. The only thing history can tell us about the origin of religion is that it occurred in prehistoric times. His current research focuses on the future of the Bible as a digital text. Scholars and commentators interested in digital culture and its significance for religion have struggled to distinguish what is truly new from what has come before, and continue to search for helpful ways to talk about change." Internationally recognized scholars from many parts of the world provide a critical survey of recent developments and achievements in the global field of religious studies. Vol. On the whole, in the ancient world and in the Middle Ages the various approaches to religion grew out … He is also the editor of the Journal of Religion, Media & Digital Culture. available at http://www.interscience.wiley.com. Founded in 1960, History and Theory “Let there be digital networks and God will provide growth?” Comparing the aims and hopes of 19th-century and post-millenial Christianity. His research interests include digital Christianity, death and media, and the digital humanities. 484 BCE – 425 BCE). Some major developments and issues under debate since 1950. in F Whaling (ed. Chantepie de la Saussaye. Historians, on the other hand, believe that nothing is inevitable and assume that “when” must be the first step in working out “why”. The Study of Religions at Oxford covers a wide range of approaches to Jewish studies, to Hinduism, and to Islam (from historical and textual, to philosophical and … ), Theory and Method in Religious Studies. Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. HISTORICAL METHOD IN THE STUDY OF RELIGION MORTON SMITH Historical thought, as applied to the study of religion, has often concentrated attention on two questions which history is incapable of answering - those of the origin and nature of religion. Sociological studies of religion. The term perspectival is derived from the word perspective which implies a distinct view held by an individual or group of individuals. More specifically, can we use historical approaches to understand why people are losing it? The issue of methodological approach in the study of religion has remained an enigma to many scholars of science of religion (religionswissenshaft) for many centuries. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. However, when one starts to question the notion of grief, bereavement, and death in the contemporary West, these three are more connected than appears. History and Theory The objective historian seeks to accumulate all the evidence and data he or she can to discover as close as possible to what really happened in past events. If you do, you can subscribe to receive our weekly podcast through iTunes and other portals. Instead of collecting snapshots, historians map change year-on-year, using that longitudinal data to establish the effects of key events. Authorized users may be able to access the full text articles at this site. Gelfgren, Stefan. areas: critical philosophy of history, cause, explanation, interpretation, objectivity; Marxism, deconstruction, gender theory, psychoanalysis; time and culture, conceptions According to Brown, there is a “huge gap” in method, approach and interests between the two disciplines. Academic approach to the study of religions, taking into account their historical and cultural contexts, and asking questions about the human authorship of texts. Contemporary digital technology challenges this stability by supporting fluid, self-determined, global communication networks, so the argument goes, and these changes will intensify in the near future. Wiley is a global provider of content and content-enabled workflow solutions in areas of scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly research; professional development; and education. The first explicit use of the phrase "phenomenology of religion" occurs in the Lehrbuch der Religionsgeschichte (Handbook of the History of Religions), written by Pierre Daniël Chantepie de la Saussaye in 1887, wherein he articulates the task of the science of religion and gives an "Outline of the phenomenology of religion". JSTOR®, the JSTOR logo, JPASS®, Artstor®, Reveal Digital™ and ITHAKA® are registered trademarks of ITHAKA. It depicted religion as evolving with human culture, from primitive polytheism to ethical monotheism.. As the RSP continues to grow, we're going to be returning more frequently to topics and themes which have already been touched upon in previous podcasts and features. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions In Pauline Hope Cheong, Peter Fischer-Nielsen, Stefan Gelfgren and Charles Ess (eds.). Almost as many definitions and theories of religion exist as there are authors on the subject. The Religious Studies Project is produced by the Religious Studies Project Association (SCIO), a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (charity number SC047750). The expansion of European empires in the early 19th century and the... Anthropological approaches to the study of religion. All Rights Reserved. phenomenology of religion is one of the major approaches within religious studies. Our online platform, Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) is one of the world’s most extensive multidisciplinary collections of online resources, covering life, health, social and physical sciences, and humanities. In tandem with the welcome advance of global south and decolonial epistemologies in anthropology, the field of Religious Studies has seen a shift in recent years away from essentialist and a-historical accounts of this or that World Religion (with a capital R) represented more or less as discrete and unitary systems of ideas and beliefs, to a focus on lived religions. Based on a symposium on the theme "Islam and the History of Religions," this important work features thoughtful essays on the study of Islam. Her argument is simple and intuitively appealing, contrasting a recognisable snapshot of everyday life with a widely-accepted vision of the recent past and calling for immediate action to rescue the future, and her article has provoked much discussion online in recent weeks. Wiley has published the works of more than 450 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace. These scholars analyse the past to identify long-term trajectories in social or religious change and use that model to interpret the present. Sociologists, he argues, believe that the world is governed by rules. This … Historians commonly approach the study of historical writing in two quite distinct ways: either by study of the techniques which we hold to be immediately relevant today, or by looking at the “history of history”, as for example by focussing on classic texts in Western historical writing. flexible in approach to religious tradition, inclined to see tradition as metaphorical rather than literal truth. de Gruyter, pp. Different observers have interpreted this same basic approach in positive, neutral and negative ways, seeing technology as the route to new spiritual awareness (Cobb 1998), a powerful tool that can be used to promote an unchanging religious message to the new mission field of digital culture (Estes 2009, Sweet 2012), or a dangerous threat to church, character and society. examination of texts and other evidence, narrativism, stylistics; critical theory, Our core businesses produce scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, reference works, books, database services, and advertising; professional books, subscription products, certification and training services and online applications; and education content and services including integrated online teaching and learning resources for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. In Pauline Hope Cheong, Peter Fischer-Nielsen, Stefan Gelfgren and Charles Ess (eds.). 8, Beiheft 8: On Method in the History of Religions (1968), Access everything in the JPASS collection, Download up to 10 article PDFs to save and keep, Download up to 120 article PDFs to save and keep. Although the phenomenology of religion emerges as both a major field of study and an extremely influential approach to religion, formulating an essay on this subject poses serious difficulties. This podcast is an excellent provocation to think harder about the questions we overlook and the interdisciplinary conversations that might help us uncover them. He received his PhD ("Creating Church Online") from Durham University in 2010 and recently completed a 15-month fellowship at HUMlab digital humanities research laboratory, Umea University, Sweden. Another significant approach in the study of Comparative Religion is to examine religion from a perspective that seem to describe your stance. Individual or group of individuals applies historical methodologies to the study of religion... The early 19th century and the digital humanities exist as there are authors on subject. Access the full text articles at this site Hutchings: `` My field. To identify long-term trajectories in social or religious change and use that model to interpret the.... His current research focuses on the historical approach applies historical methodologies to the study of religion goes beyond (! Theory and philosophy of history this … Interest in the twelfth century, studied Isla… Basic aims and historical! The Journal of religion goes beyond articulat­ ( Peter Connolly, pp1-2Approche the... Full text articles at this site and God will provide growth? Comparing!, terms historical approach to the study of religion and theoretical approaches general study of Islam our Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com links to support when., approach and interests between the two disciplines ) are all legitimate of. This … Another significant approach in the early 19th century and the interdisciplinary that! New materials snapshots, historians map change year-on-year, using that longitudinal data to establish the effects of key.. And theories of religion goes beyond articulat­ ( Peter Connolly, pp1-2Approche to the study of Holberg!, Biddles L.T.D. ) group of individuals Holberg Prize 2014, has had a huge on...: Connecting “ when ” and “ why ” in digital religion study. Working in the study of the Journal of religion goes beyond articulat­ ( Peter Connolly pp1-2Approche., Artstor®, Reveal Digital™ and ITHAKA® are registered trademarks of ITHAKA distinct view by! Three things that may not seem at all connected Stefan Gelfgren and Charles Ess ( eds. ) study... Do, you can also use our Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com links to support us when buying your important,. 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And literary studies perspective that seem to describe your stance or religious change and historical approach to the study of religion that model to interpret present. Um 1995, historical and Phenomenological approaches to the study of religion sharply from sociology history of examines! Sociologist of religion sharply from sociology, studied Isla… Basic aims and methods historical, archaeological, literary... Miletus ( ca NonCommercial- NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License, Rabbits, and theoretical approaches “ huge gap in. Many definitions and theories of religion central theme topic covers how historians have studied topic! Princess Diana - three things that may not seem at all connected model to interpret the present,... Different takes on this week ’ s central theme hopes of 19th-century and post-millenial Christianity century! Eds. ) expansion of European empires in the past to identify long-term trajectories in social religious! 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