1. Understanding World Religions
Chapter 1
Introduction to the Study of Religion
© 2011 Irving Hexham and Zondervan

2. Introduction to the Study of Religion
What is religion?
Is Scientology a religion?
- Some people say it is not. Find and read this article on the Internet:
“Scientologists in German push” By Tristana Moore BBC News, Berlin, Saturday, 13 January 2007
Photo by Irving Hexham of sign in Berlin. © 2011 Irving Hexham and Zondervan

3. Introduction to the Study of Religion
The How do we decide whether Scientology is a religion?
Most people who say that Scientology is not a religion argue that religions involve a belief in God that is missing from Scientology.
Others, like some members of the German and French Governments, say that Scientology does not contribute to the good of society like other religions.
Are these objections valid?
© 2011 Irving Hexham and Zondervan

4. Introduction to Study of Religion
Is Buddhism a religion?
Buddhists do not believe in God
Some forms of Buddhism demand that priests totally withdraw from society. So how can they contribute to the social good?
Photo by Irving Hexham of Buddhist temple in Calgary. © 2011 Irving Hexham and Zondervan 4

5. Introduction to Study of Religion
Is Buddhism a religion?
Buddhists do not believe in God
Some forms of Buddhism demand that priests totally withdraw from society. So how can they contribute to the social good?
Photograph by Irving Hexham. © 2011 Irving Hexham and Zondervan 5

6. Introduction to Study of Religion
In Tom Jones () one of Henry Fielding’s characters gives the following definitions of religion:
By religion I mean Christianity; by Christianity
I mean Protestantism; by Protestantism I mean
the Church of England, as established by law.
Henry Fielding ( )
Photo from a book published in the early 19th century. Prepared for Irving Hexham by the Audio Visual department at Bishop Lonsdale College in Derby in the 1970’s is in the public domain. The same picture can be found on the Internet at Wiki Commons at and © 2011 Irving Hexham and Zondervan 6

7. Introduction to Study of Religion
Fielding was being satirical. But this definition raises the question what makes a good definition? To be useful a definition must not be prejudiced and must:
apply to all groups we normally recognize as religions, e.g. Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, etc.
exclude those we do not recognize as religions, e.g. football games, venerating political leaders, etc.
© 2011 Irving Hexham and Zondervan 7

8. Introduction to Study of Religion
Many different definitions of religion have been proposed over the years. Here are some brief ones:
“Religion is ultimate concern.” Paul Tillich ( )
“ Religion refers to systems of general compensators based on supernatural assumptions.” Rodney Stark (1940-)
“A unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things.” Emile Durkheim ( )
“The recognition of all our duties as divine commands.” Immanuel Kant ( )
© 2011 Irving Hexham and Zondervan 8

9. Introduction to Study of Religion
One problem with all of these definitions is that they reflect the academic background of the persons who proposed them. Thus as a sociologist, Rodney Stark proposes a sociological definition.
Rodney Stark (1940-)
Photograph supplied by Rodney Stark. © 2011 Irving Hexham 9

10. Introduction to Study of Religion
One To avoid problems of definition Ninian Smart proposed that all religions involve:
A set of institutionalised rituals identified with a tradition and expressing and/or evoking sacral sentiments directed at a divine or trans-divine focus seen in the context of the human phenomenological environment and at least partially described by myths or by myths and doctrines.
Photo by Irving Hexham. © 2011 Irving Hexham
Ninian Smart ( ) 10

11. Introduction to Study of Religion
Ninian Smart model for recognizing religions when we encounter them:
Diagram by Jeremy Hexham. © 2011 Irving Hexham 11

12. Introduction to Study of Religion
How do we study religion? Probably the best way is to recognize that religious studies is a field rather than a discipline. Therefore, scholars of religions use many different methods:
Diagram by Irving Hexham. © 2011 Irving Hexham 12

13. Introduction to Study of Religion
In practice most people studying religions use one of the following methods which they often combine:
Diagram by Jeremy Hexham. © 2011 Irving Hexham 13

14. Introduction to Study of Religion
Finally, it is important to note that studying religion often involves the study of religious texts written in many different languages. Therefore, philology, or the study of texts is an essential part of religious studies.
Scans from the Jewish Encyclopedia, edited by Isidore Singer, New York, Funk & Wagnalls, This work is in the public domain and available through the Internet Archive found at:
© 2011 Irving Hexham 14