What is Religion? Methodological Approaches to the Study of Religion

Historical Religions “evolve” Animism: Nature is alive Naturism: Nature Worship Polytheism Monotheism Metaphysics Discredited

Theorists Sir Edward Burnett Tylor ( ) Herbert Spencer ( )

Psychological God is a projection of human needs Wish-fulfillment We created God in our image, not the reverse =__7I_aRH0KHztB_GaTHRmL5YDkKuo=&h=657&w=1152&sz=200&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=EEZCne1Khno46M:&tbnh=120&tbnw=210&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcreation %26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1204%26bih%3D665%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=125&vpy=135&dur=4748&hovh=1 69&hovw=297&tx=164&ty=84&ei=fO8lTaiFL8T68AaYy9XZDQ&oei=fO8lTaiFL8T68AaYy9XZDQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

Theorists Sigmund Freud Karl Marx Carl Jung William James tive_power_myth.html

William James Founding theorist Drew important distinctions: Institutional and personal religion Healthy-minded and sick-minded religiousness Healthy-minded individuals tend to focus on the positive and the good, ignoring or de-emphasizing the evil Hypothesis of pragmatism: if it works, people do it

Freud Religion is Pathological Religion exists because of human psychological needs and processes Fear of death, loneliness, meaninglessness Oedipal Complex “God” arises from individual experiences with primary caregivers Oedipal Development leads to image of God as Father

Carl Jung Agnostic: Impossible to know whether God exists Theory: Collective Unconscious is source of “archetypes” Collective Unconscious: an inherited awareness of human experience Source of dreams Archetypes are basic images that are universal in that they recur regardless of culture Religion arises from the irruption of these images into consciousness Also the source of artistic creativity unconscious/

Contemporary Theorists Allen Bergin Robert Emmons Kenneth Pargament James Hillman dpress.com/2008/05/30/allen- bergin-encounters/ Psychology of Religion

Sociological Approach Examines the role/purpose/ function of religion in society Examines the relationship between religion and all aspects of society (interconnected and mutually reinforcing) How does religion function? Provides language for identifying and understanding relationship between religion and society (Denomination, Sect, Cult)

Sociological Theorist: Emile Durkheim Religion arises from collective (social) needs and processes (vs. individual) Thus religion “functions;” every aspect of it serves a purpose Every culture “produces” religion Thus to study religion is to study society

Marx Religion is pathological “the Sign of the oppressed creature, the opiate of the people” Spirituality may arise from psychological processes, but RELIGION is created and used by the elite to control the masses Economic and political influence religion, which alters culture and-the-metabolic-rift-theory/

Contemporary Theorists Peter Berger Robert N. Bellah Thomas Luckmann Rodney Stark Robert Wuthnow Christian Smith Bryan R. Wilson Catherine Albanese Sociological t=safari&rls=en&biw=732&bih=690&tbs=isch%3A1 &sa=1&q=sociological+theor&aq=f&aqi=g2&aql=& oq=&gs_rfai=

Phenomenological Accepts that religion is real Focuses on accurately describing religious experience Emphasis on adherent’s language/perspective Assumes that religion is comprised of different components Assumes that comparing religious components across diverse religious traditions helps us gain deeper understanding

Phenomenological Theorist: Micea Eliade Theory of Hierophanies (manifestations of the sacred) Distinct from Theophanies (manifestations of God) Religion exists because of the interplay between the sacred and the profane Theory of “Eternal Return” Myths and rituals not only commemorate hierophanies, but also enable adherents to re-enact/ participate in them

Structuralism Universal Brain Structure Human culture the product of universal cognitive developmental processes and stages Context and experience creates diverse details, but underlying patterns that create, shape, and sustain religion are universal Patterns emerge through close observation and comparison

Claude Levi-Strauss The “savage mind” is structurally identical to the “civilized mind” Myths present a paradox: Specific features of mythic narrative are diverse and seemingly arbitrary, yet overall myths are remarkably similar across different cultures Proposed: Universal Laws (of cognition) arising from human brain structure must govern mythical thought

Myth “Mythical thought always progresses from the awareness of oppositions toward their resolution” Structurally, myths consist of Elements that: Oppose/contradict each other Mediate/resolve those oppositions If myths, as examples of the most fantastic/ arbitrary products of religion, are developed according to universal cognitive laws, then ALL areas of human thought are governed by universal laws

Analysis of Trickster myths Trickster= mediator Contradictory and unpredictable personality Raven or coyote Mediates between polar opposites-- Life and Death Agriculture/Hunting Herbivore/Predators Ravens and Coyotes eat carrion-- neither predator nor herbivore

Mediation of Opposites

Concluding Remarks Post-modernism has challenged all these approaches Each has validity Each is limited Most productive to employ multiple methods