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Religious studies is the designation commonly used in
the English-speaking world for a multi-disciplinary, secular study of religion that dates to the late 19th century in Europe (and the influential early work of
such scholars as Friedrich
Max Müller, in England, and Cornelius P. Tiele, in the Netherlands), but is
practiced today by scholars worldwide. |
It is distinct from confessional theology in that it emphasizes human society and behavior rather than metaphysics.
It draws upon multiple disciplines and their methodologies including the anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy,
and history
of religion. In its early years, it was known as Comparative Religion or the
Science of Religion and, in the US, there are those who today also know the
field as the History of Religion (associated with methodological traditions
traced to the University of Chicago in general, and in particular Mircea
Eliade, from the late 1950s through to the late 1980s). Known as Religionswissenschaft in Germany and Sciences de la religion in the French-speaking world, this
academic field emphasizes the systematic, historically-based, and cross-cultural
description, comparison, interpretation, and explanation of religious beliefs,
behaviors, and institutions. Religious studies -
Wikipedia |
