Thus in principle it is the study of all religions from a viewpoint not isolated within any one of them. 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. 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." Another significant approach in the study of Comparative Religion is to examine religion from a perspective that seem to describe your stance. 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. This … Because interactionists study one-on-one, everyday interactions between individuals, a scholar using this approach might ask questions focused on this dynamic. Historians, on the other hand, believe that nothing is inevitable and assume that “when” must be the first step in working out “why”. The Religious Studies Project is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organization (SCIO) devoted to producing engaging and accessible resources for the contemporary study of religion. Marxism, deconstruction, gender theory, psychoanalysis; time and culture, conceptions This historical approach is brought to bear on other parts of the methodology, such as attention to believers’ interpretations, in order to gain a broader understanding. On its publication in 1985, this text influenced the transition of Islamic studies from Orientalism and area studies to religious studies, and is now republished in the Oneworld Classics in Religious Studies series. 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. 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. 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. ©2000-2020 ITHAKA. 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. This material is disseminated under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. If you do, you can subscribe to receive our weekly podcast through iTunes and other portals. theoretical dimensions of historians' debates; history of historiography, theory The study of the history of religions examines events in the past. More specifically, can we use historical approaches to understand why people are losing it? 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. Religion is a complex phenomenon, defying definition or summary. Later, during the Middle Ages, Islamic scholars such as Ibn Hazm (d. 1064 CE) studied Persian, Jewish, Christian, and Indian religions, among others. 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. Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. The primary impulse that prompts many to study religion, however, happens to be the Western one. History of the study of religion. 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. There is clear scope here for inter-disciplinary collaboration. All Rights Reserved. Professor Callum Brown tells us why historical approaches have much to tell us about religious change. (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. Phenomenology of religion, methodological approach to the study of religion that emphasizes the standpoint of the believer. Chantepie de la Saussaye. He is also the editor of the Journal of Religion, Media & Digital Culture. 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. History and Theory As de Vries puts it: `The nineteenth-century scholars made abundant use of the new materials. 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. Instead of collecting snapshots, historians map change year-on-year, using that longitudinal data to establish the effects of key events. 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. However, when one starts to question the notion of grief, bereavement, and death in the contemporary West, these three are more connected than appears. His current research focuses on the future of the Bible as a digital text. As such, it might be asked in what way a theological 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. de Gruyter, pp. 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. You can also use our Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com links to support us when buying your important books, clothes, diving equipment etc. Contemporary Approaches to the Study of Religion. The truth lies in the historical context. A Response to Callum Brown: Connecting “When” and “Why” in Digital Religion. 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. 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. 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. 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 term perspectival is derived from the word perspective which implies a distinct view held by an individual or group of individuals. 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 … 484 BCE – 425 BCE). 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. This … Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. History and Theory is the premier international journal in the field publishes articles, review essays, and summaries of books principally in these 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. liberals. 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. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial- NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Theory. It goes without saying that ‘religion’ is a topic that frequently finds itself in the media spotlight. The first history of religion was the Treatise on the Religious and Philosophical Sects (1127 CE), written by the Muslim scholar Muhammad al-Shahrastani. of humanity-in-time; related disciplines, interactions between history and the Turkle, Sherry. 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. 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). available at http://www.interscience.wiley.com. How can we use historical approaches in the study 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. Peter the Venerable, also working in the twelfth century, studied Isla… This podcast is an excellent provocation to think harder about the questions we overlook and the interdisciplinary conversations that might help us uncover them. 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. The subject began in rhe ninereenrh century as the search for the origins of humankind. 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. Professor Michael Cook, winner of the Holberg Prize 2014, has had a huge influence on the historical study of Islam. 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. His research interests include digital Christianity, death and media, and the digital humanities. Some major developments and issues under debate since 1950. in F Whaling (ed. Tim Hutchings is a sociologist of religion, media and culture, and currently Research Fellow at the Open University. Sociologists, he argues, believe that the world is governed by rules. In fact, … The historical approach applies historical methodologies to the study of these issues. Start studying Five Approaches to studying religion. Recent examples include Jeremy Stolow’s keynote speech on the spirituality of the telegraph, delivered to the Digital Religion conference in Colorado earlier this year (see Stolow 2011), and Stefan Gelfgren’s work (2012) on the history of religious attitudes to media. 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