Field Of Religious Studies Research Articles

Interview with Professor Aaron Hughes: American Orientalism and Understanding the Quran in the Light of Late Antiquity

This study includes our interview with Aaron Hughes, who continued his studies on Islam in the United States. Hughes, a professor at the University of Rochester, is highly knowledgeable and widely recognized in the field of Religious Studies. The questions we posed to Hughes were re-lated to two subjects: American Orientalism and Late Antiquity. As far as we can determine, there are very few studies on these two subjects in Türkiye. This interview will attempt to contribute to the Turkish academic community. The question of which centuries are included in the Late An-tiquity created by Peter Brown is a matter of debate. This period, which generally covers the pe-riod from the 2nd century AD to the end of the 8th century in historiography, is constantly being stretched by researchers in the United States. Garth Fowden, who expanded the period even fur-ther and extended it to a longer period, put forward the theory of the “First Millennium”. This periodization, which has made a great leap forward in the field of history with the studies con-ducted in recent years, has begun to be used effectively in Qur’anic studies. Angelika Neuwirth, a German-born orientalist, has conducted an intertextual reading by placing the Quran within the epistemic fabric of Late Antiquity with her Corpus Coranicum project. This method, which is also used in the works of American orientalists such as Stephen Shoemaker, Daniel Beck, Sean Anthony, Gabriel Said Reynolds and David Powers, seems likely to dominate the field in the coming years.

Approaching the Freedom Convoy: Intra-disciplinary reflections on religion scholars as public intellectuals

This special issue crystalizes the reflections of a handful of Canadian scholars, initially written in the months following the Freedom Convoy’s occupation of downtown Ottawa (and then refined in the subsequent year), who consider the various ways in which the contemporary media oversimplified (or, more often, utterly ignored) the role(s) of religion in this event. This introduction uses the convoy’s occupation as an opportunity to revisit the role of the religious studies scholar as a public intellectual in contemporary Canada. In so doing, it explores the problem of hyperspecialization in the field of religious studies, the fraught discourse landscape in which all contemporary scholars of religion now operate, and the resultant frequent failure to operate as ‘critical rhetors’ (in Russell McCutcheon’s terms) when confronted by events like the convoy. It concludes by offering three practical observations: (1) engaging in intra-disciplinary conversations (like this one) better prepares scholars of religion to communicate with the public; (2) given that many scholars are employees of taxpayer-funded institutions (and thus are, by definition, ‘public intellectuals’), it behoves every scholar to decide what this means (no matter how idiosyncratically) and then to behave as such; and (3) thinking and writing about complex, messy phenomena like the convoy provides a valuable opportunity for scholars to articulate their own positions on who they are writing for and why – questions that no longer have simple answers in an era when much of scholarly production is no longer ensconced behind paywalled journals or within access-controlled academic libraries. This final point is, of course, informed by Laurie Patton’s cogent concluding reflections in Who Owns Religion?

FEATURES AND MAIN TYPOLOGIES OF THE ORIGINAL RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND CULTS

The article focuses on the research in the field of religious studies and the history of religion, specifically, the original religious cults and beliefs. The original beliefs are the basis of any modern religion. It is important to understand the history of formation of the ideas from the original communities’ times to the first states and up to current times. They allow us to better understand the religious beliefs and practices of our ancestors, as well as to find out how they influenced the formation of culture and society. Important aspects of the original religious beliefs, such as animism, totemism, fetishism, magic, and shamanism, which caused the formation of complex religious systems, are analyzed in the article. The original sources of well-known anthropologists, historians of religion of the 19th-21st centuries, which were not translated into Ukrainian, were analyzed, translated and introduced into scientific circulation. In the modern world, studying the original religious beliefs is important not only from a scientific point of view, but also from cultural and ethical points of view, as it allows to enhance our understanding and respect for the diversity of religions and cultures. The original religious beliefs have many unique features that distinguish them from more developed religious traditions. The original beliefs went beyond pure metaphysical explanations and included a variety of social and ethical aspects that were important for the formation of cultures and communities. Religious practices such as totemism and taboos played an important role in the lives of original communities and are key components of their religious traditions. In addition, original religious beliefs reflect many of the complex relationships between humans and nature, as well as our feelings and thoughts about life and death. These concepts reflect complex beliefs and practices that arose within original people groups and became key components of their religious traditions.

Religion after Critique

Abstract In the last few decades, religion and its terms have shown to be implicated in projects of colonial modernity. While this critique of religion is now generally accepted, the term continues to be used in the field with little regard to its history and its colonial construction. This essay aims to bring greater attention to the continuing relevance of religion in contemporary society as articulated in postcolonial scholarship. It proposes closer attention to the critique of religion in the work of David Chidester, Talal Asad and Charles Long. Two distinct dimensions of religion are identified in their work. The first is a construction of religion in colonial modernity, while the second suggests ways of studying religions in light of this construction. I show in this essay that their work points to multiple complementary ways of studying religions in the contemporary. Their work suggests that the field of religious studies cannot ignore its discursive history and construction.

Digital Reconstructions of Wounded Memories in Kosovo

Between 1998 and 2004 numerous religious and cultural sites—Serbian Orthodox and Islamic— in Kosovo were systematically vandalised, damaged or destroyed. The annihilation of these historical-religious architectures highlighted the strategic significance of cultural heritage as a political tool. Two decades later we know the extent of the losses thanks to the documentation collected by UNESCO, the UN and the OSCE. We also have a new methodology that incorporates digital technologies such as 3D modelling, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, data technology, geographic information systems and virtual reality/AR, which we could draw on for safeguarding this religious heritage. In this article we wish to present a project proposal which, using some of the Digital Humanities (DH) methodologies applied in the field of religious studies (and in peace and conflict studies), can guarantee the accessibility and long-term diffusion of these sites and cultural content at risk.

THE ORIGINAL RELIGIOUS BELIEFS: ORIGINS AND TYPOLOGY

The article focuses on the research in the field of religious studies and the history of religion, specifically, the original religious cults and beliefs. The original beliefs are the basis of any modern religion. It is important to understand the history of formation of the ideas from the original communities’ times to the first states and up to current times. They allow us to better understand the religious beliefs and practices of our ancestors, as well as to find out how they influenced the formation of culture and society. Important aspects of the original religious beliefs, such as animism, totemism, fetishism, magic, and shamanism, which caused the formation of complex religious systems, are analyzed in the article. The original sources of well-known anthropologists, historians of religion of the 19th-21st centuries, which were not translated into Ukrainian, were analyzed, translated and introduced into scientific circulation. In the modern world, studying the original religious beliefs is important not only from a scientific point of view, but also from cultural and ethical points of view, as it allows to enhance our understanding and respect for the diversity of religions and cultures. The original religious beliefs have many unique features that distinguish them from more developed religious traditions. The original beliefs went beyond pure metaphysical explanations and included a variety of social and ethical aspects that were important for the formation of cultures and communities. Religious practices such as totemism and taboos played an important role in the lives of original communities and are key components of their religious traditions. In addition, original religious beliefs reflect many of the complex relationships between humans and nature, as well as our feelings and thoughts about life and death. These concepts reflect complex beliefs and practices that arose within original people groups and became key components of their religious traditions.

ФИЛОСОФСКАЯ ШКОЛА Д.В. ПИВОВАРОВА: СОВРЕМЕННОЕ СОСТОЯНИЕ И ПОТЕНЦИАЛ РАЗВИТИЯ

The relevance of the problem being developed is due to the fact that, on the one hand, quite significant attention is paid to the study of philosophical schools in modern literature. However, on the other hand, there are sometimes certain disagreements in the views of representatives of the philosophical community. Some believe that as philosophy develops, its schools gradually lose their significance. Others, who deny ideas of this kind, believe that if certain rules are followed during the functioning of the school, then within its boundaries new knowledge is generated that enriches humanity. The purpose of the study, which has a historical and philosophical nature, is to, taking into account the most significant and heuristically valuable thoughts of various authors, reflect the process of formation of the philosophical school of D. V. Pivovarov, describe its current state and identify prospects for further development. Based on the principles of integrity, systematicity and historicism, using methods of analysis, synthesis and extrapolation in our research, we sought to reveal the multidimensional talent of this extraordinary person, capable, having absorbed all the best from his teachers, to find happiness in the process of scientific creativity, to identify and raise fundamental philosophical problems and involve others in this. The work draws attention to Daniil Valentinovich’s contribution to the enrichment of philosophical thought, which is so significant that it is not limited to the creation of only the officially approved philosophical school «Synthetic Paradigm of Philosophy». Among philosophers there is an idea that Pivovarov is also the founder of the Ural school of religious studies. Studying his philosophical biography as impartially as possible, we sought to show that this idea has the most solid foundations and Daniil Valentinovich managed to raise and convey to specialists topical, sometimes unique layers of knowledge in the field of religious studies: his educational and theoretical works have the proper scientific novelty directions, dissertation research of his graduate students and doctoral students. The changing specificity of the direction of Daniil Valentinovich’s research can also be seen in the renaming of the department he heads and the training of relevant qualified specialists. A significant place in our study is given to the analysis of the development potential of the Pivovarov School and the conditions for its implementation. Attention is drawn to the fact that the rich ideological heritage of Daniil Valentinovich remains largely underestimated; At the same time, the original, scientifically novel ideas of his students are often overlooked. The authors of the article believe that the successful development of a school largely depends on the cohesion of its members. The spiritual heritage of Daniil Valentinovich Pivovarov is the basis that gives reason to believe that his philosophical school will continue to develop. Its representatives will either rally around the new leader, or, relying on the ideas of their teacher, will begin to form new philosophical schools.

ВВОДНАЯ ЛЕКЦИЯ К КУРСУ "ПСИХОЛОГИЯ РЕЛИГИИ"

The first published introductory lecture to the course “Psychology of Religion”, written by Professor N.L. Muskhelishvili, announces a monograph that is planned to be published soon. It is based on the lecture materials of two courses he wrote in the late 1990s and early 2000s to train specialists in the field of religious studies in Russia. For many years, this course has been part of the basic part of the training of religious studies at the Center for the Study of Religions at RSUH

Critical Humanism and the Study of Religion: A Statement and Defense

Abstract This essay offers a statement and defense of four core claims of my work, Why Study Religion? Those are: (1) the field of religious studies is preoccupied by procedural methods for studying religion to the neglect of values and purposes that can justify its intellectual practices; (2) this preoccupation operates under a “regime of truth” that is anti-normative; (3) this regime of truth buckles under the pressure of repressed values and smuggles in crypto-normative judgments and commitments; and (4) this preoccupation with method can be remedied by attending to purposes that can justify the study of religion, which I call Critical Humanism. Critical Humanism aims to expand the moral imagination and comprises four values: post-critical reasoning, social criticism, cross-cultural fluency, and environmental responsibility. After describing the book’s main claims, I take up critiques expressed by Michael Stausberg, et al. in their essay, “A Normative Turn in Religious Studies?”

Christian-Muslim Relations in the Second Half of 19th Century India in View of Syed Nāṣir-ul-Dīn Muḥammad Abūlmanṣūr Dehlvī (d. 1903)

The current study examined the nature of Christian-Muslim relationships in 19th-century India. It is argued that their relationships were largely shaped in the context of the polemical debates that were developed to defend the teachings and tenets of their respective religions. Syed Nāṣir-ul-Dīn Muḥammad Abūlmanṣūr Dehlvī (d. 1903) was a polemical Muslim writer who wrote approximately 25 books in the refutation of Christianity. He also defended the religion of Islam; however, his work remains in oblivion. The primary objective of the current research was to analyse Dehlvī's major works dedicated to refute Christianity and to assess their significance. This research holds importance under two key reasons. Firstly, it sheds light on the nature of Christian-Muslim relationships during the 19th century and secondly, it highlights the significance of Muslim writings about other religions, particularly Christianity, in the modern world. The research concluded that while the polemical technique, due to its confrontational aspect, may no longer be the primary method of religious studies. The texts, however, generated through this approach can still be significant resources for students and academics since they offer opportunities for critical thinking, historical investigation, and a better understanding of intricate relationships that exist between religious traditions. Therefore, polemical writings play a significant role in advancing the academic knowledge in the field of religious studies.

Theorizing ‘religion’ in Canadian law

With primary reference to two Supreme Court rulings – Syndicat Northcrest v. Amselem ([2004] 2 SCR 551) and Ktunaxa Nation v. British Columbia (Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations) ([2017] 2 SCR 386) – the focal points of this study are twofold. In the first part, the authors analyse Amselem’s definition of religion with reference to concepts and theories that have a well-entrenched place in the field of religious studies. They contend that even as Amselem frames religion as an ontological entity, the Court’s definition is best understood as a particular type of social construct – namely, an ‘ethno-definition’ that is polythetic in approach. Segueing from a discussion of Amselem, the second part of this study concerns the issue of why – or perhaps whether – the Amselem articulation of religion remains relevant. In this regard, it is argued that there is a palpable transition between Amselem and Ktunaxa in terms of how the Supreme Court analyses the concepts of religion and religious freedom under the Charter.

A cross-cultural religiology between reductionism and anti-reductionism

‘Religion’ has been subjected to two kinds of reduction: one from the various branches of religious studies, the other being the mutual ‘reduction’ among religions. We advocate a cross-cultural religiology and try to take a middle path between reductionism and anti-reductionism, responding to both kinds of reduction separately. As for the former reduction, we agree with a moderate reduction of religion by various religious disciplines on the one hand, and on the other hand, we propose to respect the religious whole as an integrate human activity, and try to learn to face and study religion with a holistic attitude and method. For the latter reduction, we propose three points to overcome the merely reductive cognitive approach in inter-religious understanding without falling into some kind of anti-intellectualism. Firstly, we insist that we should face the other religions with a pluralistic confidence without giving up understanding, and engage both ‘dialogical dialogue’ and ‘dialectical dialogue’ with other religions. Secondly, we advocate learning from the wisdom of Buddha, Confucius and Jesus, giving priority to practice, and being concerned about our most urgent life practice of the moment. Thirdly, we propose that cross-cultural research can be carried out thematically, which is exemplified with the author’s cross-cultural research on ‘the other shore’.Contribution: In the field of religious studies, there is constant dispute between reductionism and anti-reductionism. This article tries to place cross-cultural religiology between reductionism and anti-reductionism, avoid the debate between the two, emphasise the integrity of religion as a whole human activity, and propose some practical and usable methods for cross-cultural religiology, hoping to have some inspiration for academic colleagues.

Critical Race and Religion

Laura McTighe (2020, 299) argues in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion that “Religious Studies has a race problem.” I strongly agree with this argument: not only does the field largely ignore issues of race in its examination of cultural and religious differences, but also the field itself was formed and developed (largely over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries) in the context of British, continental European, and American colonialism. That is, the field of religious studies has in particular a whiteness problem. In short, the study of religion has the issue of race and racialization at its centre—and thus any attempt to explore issues of critical religion should also embrace critical race theory in all its forms. Drawing on writers such as Sara Ahmed, Aime Cesaire, Angela Y Davis, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Toni Morrison, I will examine some of the contours of what a “Critical Race and Religion” approach may contribute to a decolonized study of religion—including a strong critique of the underlying issues of whiteness (and white supremacy) within the contemporary field.

How Meditation Affects Ethical Reasoning and Ethical Behavior: Limitations of Current Research and Suggestions Moving Forward

Some earlier scientific research on mindfulness, lovingkindness and compassion meditation have investigated their effects on ethical reasoning and ethical behavior. Unfortunately, when these studies are cited, improving ethical reasoning or awareness or judgment is too often conflated with increasing ethical behavior. However, empirical evidence from Experimental Philosophy shows a key gap between reasoning and behavior. A similar issue exists with research on meditation and ethical awareness or ethical judgment. Later studies on meditation and ethics acknowledge that there are mitigating factors that influence changing ethical behavior. Though I conclude that the current evidence from research is limited, it is still a promising area of study. This paper argues for the need for more multidisciplinary work to combine insights from the discipline of philosophy and the field of religious studies in order to inform psychological research on meditation and changing ethical behavior.

Introduction: Material Religion in Central and Eastern Europe

This introduction to the special issue “Material Religion in Central and Eastern Europe” provides an overview of various aspects of material religion in Central and Eastern Europe. It focuses on three major issues and their interconnectivity, which have played an important role in the social, political, and religious history of this macro-region: the much-debated notion of Central and Eastern Europe as a cultural and political region of the continent, the “glocal” aspects of material religion, and the role of material religion in the field of religious studies in this region. The article discusses the major topics and methodological approaches of the contributors of this special issue, highlighting the variety of research perspectives in religious studies in the post-communist regions.

Islam Dan Studi Agama-Agama: Telaah Atas Buku Approaches To Islam In Religious Studies Karya Ricard C. Martins

Islam gained great attention in the study of religion due to the development and global influence on the world Muslim population. An understanding of Islam as a religion and understanding of religion from the viewpoint of Islam is an issue that needs to be elaborated in the discussion and the discussion in the field of religious studies. The failure of religious studies to standardize itself as a 'discipline', although many emerging religious studies. The position of those who want to ask "how" to learn Islam as a religion perplexed by tendencies on compartmentalization in education. The failure of religious studies to standardize itself as a scientific discipline, but the outlook is promising because someday they may be separate disciplines by seeking consensus regarding curriculum, problem solving, and performance criteria and become academic background. From a more narrow academic context, so any problem that arises is the study of religion as a whole.

Charles H. Long’s Significations (1986), or, Making Problems for the Study of Religion in the Netherlands

As part of NTT JTSR’s series on Key Texts, this article discusses Charles H. Long’s collection Significations: Signs, Symbols, and Images in the Interpretation of Religion. Since its publication in 1986, Significations has inspired a wide range of scholars in the United States. In this article, I will outline some of the main themes and concerns of the text and review its reception in (Black) religious studies. I will then explore the potential impact of Long’s work on religious studies in the Netherlands, where it has been largely overlooked. To do so, I will bring Significations in conversation with the recent debate on Markus Davidsen’s vision for the study of religion in the Netherlands (published in NTT in 2020). I will argue that Long, as a “bringer of problems,” can help “reorient” the field of religious studies in the Netherlands towards a more thorough, forceful, and self-reflexive engagement with (Dutch) colonialism and its afterlife—both as a material reality and as a hermeneutical problem.

Religion and Sport: Future Directions for the Field

Religion and Sport: Future Directions for the Field Terry Shoemaker Gaining traction the last four decades, the field of religion and sport advances several different methodological and theoretical directions for understanding these cultural phenomena. Primarily focusing on sport as religion or religious case studies in sporting spaces, scholarly input demonstrates how valuable analyzing both religion and sport can be particularly within Western societies. These contributions to the academic field lay a strong foundation for critical reflection and movement forward while also contributing significantly to broader discussions in religious studies. In the following, I quickly review some of the important scholarly additions to understanding the relationships between religion and sport and then utilize these previous directions to offer some suggestions for ways to progress the field forward. Obviously, the literature review and the suggestions are not exhaustive but an attempt to contribute to a discussion regarding the advancement of the field of religion and sport. Where We’ve Been Within the field of religious studies, the focus of much of the religion and sport research offers several discussions around two areas: religion as sport and religion in sport. These two areas supply numerous case studies and individual examples of how the cultural phenomena of religion and sport intersect, overlap, and mimic each other. The first, religion as sport, supposes a significant overlap in what religion and sport do for humans while the second, religion in sport, analyzes the many ways religious expressions, identities, and motivations find their way into sporting arenas [End Page 39] and athletes’ public lives. The first presupposes something about human nature while the second shows how porous the public and private divide is. Each area compels further consideration regarding the essence of what it means to be human and about human social structures, theoretically and practically. Examining sports as religion, scholars like Eric Bain-Selbo and Gregory Sapp (2016), Joseph L. Price (2001), Onaje X.O. Woodbine (2016) and Paul O’Connor (2020) argue sports are or functionally are religious. There is a slight nuance to these two positions worth considering, but primarily the theory states sport functions as or similar to religious activity. Whether it be with mirroring rituals, identity development, community formation, or cultivated superstitions, it is difficult to argue against the idea that sport commitments are religious for some people. These scholars point to the ways in which secular sporting calendars (i.e., baseball) displace religious calendars (i.e., Christian liturgical calendars) or how fans’ journeys to special sporting sites across the globe epitomize religious pilgrimages to holy sites or sacred centers. Another example focuses on how sports fans, teams, and athletes adopt and bicker about mascots and logos. These emblematic symbols represent something meaningful much like a Jewish Star of David, Christian crucifix, or Hindu Ohm. In sum, many sports fans practice their commitments to their favorite teams, organizations, and sports like religious adherents practice their commitments to religious traditions. Many of these arguments hinge on the idea that humans are homo religiosus, or that there is something about human nature needing religious expressions and commitments. Whether there is something essentially homo religiosus about humans or an evolutionary development of religious needs, the understanding within the sport as religion or functionally religion arguments supposes that as religion loses its authority in secular or secularizing countries, humans still need an outlet for religious expression. In this way, sport replaces religion as the mechanism to exercise religious needs. Thus, sport might be functionally religious if humans need to experience something like Durkheim’s (1995) collective effervescence. Although statistical trends might show an increase in disaffiliation with religious traditions, humans still need to experience the energy from gathering together in unity. To take it further, the sport as religion position speculates, even without a deity necessarily, sport is [End Page 40] commiserate with religious devotion. Both of these positions presuppose that human nature requires religiosity. Thus, religion isn’t dying, religion is simply changing. This echoes Durkheim’s famous line “the former gods are growing old or dying, and others have not been born” (429). From this vantage point, sport is the latest god and, thankfully so, because humans would be lost otherwise. There are counter...

Свет и тени украинского советского религиоведения второй половины 1980-х гг. (по материалам журнала «Философская мысль»)

The subject of the research is the main directions of intellectual search in the field of religious studies among Ukrainian scientists of the second half of the 1980s. Publications in the central academic journal of the republic in the field of philosophy are considered. With the help of historical-genetic, typological and idiographic methods, the publications of Ukrainian scientists of this period con­cerning the issues of understanding the essence of religion and its place in public life are analyzed. The undertaken analysis makes it possible to identify the ideo­logical foundations in the question of understanding the social significance of re­ligion among Ukrainian researchers and public figures. The conclusions about the formation of several directions within which the authors tried to comprehend the role and place of religion in society are substantiated. The first approach, designated as a conservative direction, was closely related to the Soviet atheistic ideology. The authors, who wrote within the framework of a relatively “renova­tionist” approach, sought to rethink the attitude towards religion and believers, but in methodological terms they did not reach the critical analysis of the scien­tific tools of the Soviet scientific school. Publications that offered a historioso­phy understanding of the religious past of the country are singled out separately.

Neo-Perennialism: A Trap to Avoid or a Valid Research Program?

In a previous essay in this journal, I suggested that the kind of perennialism associated with the names of René Guénon and Fritzjof Schuon may—despite its obvious defects—remain relevant to our thinking about religious pluralism. Anything that seems to echo the perspectives of their classic perennialism is, however, often dismissed by scholars in the field of religious studies as invalid. Here, I suggest that this dismissal is often based on what sociologists call “recipe knowledge” and that a number of factors point toward the possibility of developing a more nuanced kind of perennialism. These factors include developments within the cognitive science of religion and of anthropology, which are reinforced by considerations related to psychology and sociology that allow a new appreciation of the notion of archetypes to be found in the writings of C. G. Jung and Mircea Eliade. All these factors, when viewed in light of empirical research into religious experience of the kind initiated by Alister Hardy, point toward the way in which religious experience is to be understood as a significant factor in exploring religious pluralism. In the “neo-perennialism” that I shall advocate, the valid aspects of current thinking within religious studies are affirmed, while, at the same time, the recipe knowledge that tends to distort judgments within that field is discarded.