The Encyclopedia of World Religions

382 S religion, study of

It may also make it difficult to recognize the dis tinctive characteristics of other religions. In the course of the 20th century, represen tatives of many religions have come together for interreligious dialogue. The goal of this enterprise is not to convince others of one’s own religious truth. It is to listen to another person in order to learn about that person’s beliefs and practices. Advocates say that if dialogue is to work, all partic ipants must share their beliefs and practices openly and honestly. By the beginning of the 21st century, however, strong movements often known as FUNDA MENTALISM were reasserting traditional teachings of such religions as Christianity, H INDUISM , and Islam, often from an exclusionist position. Humanistic In contrast to THEOLOGY , which openly adopts a specific religious perspective, the humanistic study of religions tries to take each religion on its own terms. Some have suggested that this approach requires a stance of “methodological agnosticism.” That is, for the purposes of study, one refuses to make a judgment about the truth of various reli gions. This approach has taken two major forms: historical studies and comparative studies. Conceived narrowly, the historical study of religions studies how religions change over time. More broadly, this approach studies a religion or one of its elements. Examples would be books about specific features of H INDUISM , Buddhism, or Christianity. In the last half of the 20th century his torians were especially interested first in religious symbols and meanings, then in the ways religions exercised or undercut power and domination. In the late 19th century the goal of the com parative study of religions was to rank religions from the crudest to the most advanced. During the 20th century, scholars generally rejected this approach. Throughout much of the century they studied what religions shared. For example, Rudolf O TTO described how human beings experienced the sacred. Mircea E LIADE tried to identify the fun damental patterns by which the sacred showed itself to human beings. During the last quarter of the 20th century scholars became less interested in

anthropological—flourished. In addition, the old attitude of missionary conquest gave way. Many theologians became interested in learning about others, not converting them. A preferred method was interreligious DIALOGUE . By the beginning of the 21st century, many scholars had begun to explore the roots of religion in the human brain ( see BRAIN , MIND , AND RELIGION ). WAYS TO STUDY RELIGIONS It is possible to study religions in several ways: from within a religious tradition, from a perspec tive that treats all religions equally and on their own terms, and from a perspective that analyzes religion as a part of society or the human personal ity. One may call these three standpoints theologi cal, humanistic, and social scientific approaches to the study of religions, respectively. Theological J UDAISM , Christianity, and I SLAM have traditionally claimed that they have grasped religious truth bet ter than other religions. Indeed, they have at times claimed to be the sole source of religious benefit. A standard Christian formula runs, Extra eccle sia nulla salus, “there is no SALVATION outside the church.” Furthermore, Christians have seen Chris tianity as the true continuation of ancient Judaism. Muslims have seen Islam as the culmination of Judaism and Christianity. These religions certainly have a right to their claims to truth. But when other religions are seen as threatening or mistaken, the typical approach to them is “heresiology” and “apologetics.” That is, it becomes common to list the errors of other religions and defend the truth of one’s own. The danger, too often realized, is misrepresentation, distortion, and ill-will. In China and Japan it has been traditional for people to practice more than one religion. In such an environment, one religion may suggest that it is a more perfect statement of another religion. Japa nese B UDDHISM and S HINTO have made this claim about each other. Many Hindus—and others as well—have taken a different approach. They have seen all religions as different paths to the same goal. This viewpoint is certainly well-intentioned.