Dynamics in the History of Religions – Preliminary Considerations on Aspects of a Research Programme

Abstract

This chapter is on interdisciplinary research on religion which has been facing a host of challenges for some time now. The task of providing contributions to a global history of religions from comparative cultural perspectives is what the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities has been tackling on the topic of Dynamics in the History of Religions between Asia and Europe. The following text presents some aspects of the research programme and a report of the work in progress. The statements in this text should be seen as methodological building blocks for exploring dynamics in the history of religions from the point of view of religious contact. The question of how religion can be scientifically identified must be separated from the question of the importance of religious phenomena for people's and collectives' identities. A second question is how religious contacts can be understood without falling prey to essentialisms. Keywords:dynamics; history; programme; religions; religious communication; religious contact; religious field; transcendence