Religious Studies : A Textbook

This textbook offers a brief overview of the basic approaches to the scientific scrutiny of religion. To remain uninterested in examining religion is more difficult than examining any other object of research. In relation to issues of religion, we cannot stand as impartial observers, because we are always somehow involved. Therefore, this book emphasizes not only knowledge of religions, but also how to find ways to get closer to impartiality. It offers an overview of topics, questions, and context, rather than a coherent theory. Cover Contents Introduction 1. What is Religious Studies and Religion 1.1 What Do Religious Studies Deal With? What Is Religion? 1.2 Why Study Religion? 1.3 Who and How Do We Observe Religion? 2. Methodological Approaches to the Study of Religion 2.1 Theological Approach 2.2 Philosophical Approach 2.3 Religious Approaches 3. The Inside Perspective versus the Outside Perspective 3.1 Information versus Experience 3.2 Participant and Observer 3.3 The Experiences of Others and Claims to Veracity 4. Theories about the Origin and Development of Religions 4.1 Motifs of Interest in the Origin of Religion 4.2. Older Evolutional Theories 4.3 The Latest Approaches 5. Comparative Religious Studies 5.1 The Role of Comparison 5.2 Aspects, Levels, and Types of Comparison 6. Sociology of Religion 6.1 Formation of the Sociology of Religion 6.2 Peter Ludwig Berger – Dialectical Understanding of the Relation between Man and Society 6.3 Contemporary Trends 7. Psychology of Religion 7.1 The Beginnings of the Psychology of Religion; William James 7.2 Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung 7.3 Examples of Psychological Approaches 8. The Cognitive Approach to Religion 8.1 What Is the Cognitive Approach? 8.2 Religious Experience and Ritual 8.3 The Role of Emotions in Religion in Terms of Cognitive Approach 9. Hermeneutic Religious Studies 9.1 Deeper Understanding 9.2 Notable Figures in the History of Hermeneutics 9.3 Other Aspects of Hermeneutics and Their Application to Religion 10. Phenomenology of Religion 10.1 Attentive Perception Instead of Deduction 10.2 Representatives of the Phenomenology of Religion 10.3 Cryptomorphous Religious Phenomena 11. New Religiosity 11.1 New Religiosity – a Challenge to Contemporary Society 11.2 Causes and Signs 12. Religion in the Contemporary World 12.1 Religion and Politics 12.2 Religion and Economics 12.3 Religion and Science Bibliography This textbook offers a brief overview of the basic approaches to the scientific scrutiny of religion. It emphasizes not only knowledge of religions, but also how to find ways to get closer to impartiality in relation to religious topics and people.