1. APPROACHES AND INSIGHTS

2. DEFINITIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF RELIGION

3. • Very difficult for scholars to capture a full definition
• Latin roots of the word
• Re (again)
• Lig (join/connect)
• Religion = to rejoin, reconnect
• Reconnecting our human world
to the sacred
• Connecting a community holding
common beliefs
Bound Roman tablets with magic
inscriptions from late antiquity

4. • Components of religion:
• A belief system or comprehensive worldview
• A community that shares that belief system
• Central stories that articulate and dramatize the belief system
• Rituals enacted by the community
• Ethics/Rules of behavior
• Material expression (visual arts, music, etc.)

5. • All religions are concerned with the deepest levels of
reality
• God is often defined by transcendence. That is,
exceeding the limits of our reality

6. • A way to deal with our own
mortality
• Social companionship among
those with a shared worldview
• An outlet for to artistic
expression
• Respond to humanity’s
natural wonder at the world
around us

7. • William James in Varieties of Religious
Experience
• Visible world is merely part of a spiritual
universe
• Union with the spiritual is our true destination
• Inner communion through prayer, the “law,”
etc. produce effects in material world
• Adds a zestful quality to life
• Brings an assurance of safety to oneself and
peaceful relations with others
William James
New York Review of Books

8. • Religion is the substance of culture, and culture the form
of religion. — Paul Tillich, theologian
Tao ritual in China

9. APPROACHES TO STUDYING RELIGION

10. • Many disciplines take on religion as a subject of study.
None capture the entire picture, but provide valuable
interdisciplinary insights.
• Some disciplinary approaches
• Psychology: Mental effects of religion, from mystical states to
human development
• Anthropology: How religion influences and shapes world cultures
• Linguistics: How religious ideas shape how we speak and how we
define the world around us

11. • Historic theories about religion:
• “Great Founder” theory: Moses, Buddha, Muhammad, etc.
establish new tradition

12. • Historic theories about religion:
• Sociological approach: Religion emerges from social dynamic of
whole tribes and peoples

13. • Historic theories about religion:
• Structuralism: The human mind is
pre-dispositioned to form ideas
about morality, sacredness, etc.

14. • Historic theories about religion:
• Post-structuralism: Religion found in the individuality of experience

15. • Historic theories about religion:
• Deconstruction: Religious ideas are found in the meaning
adherents assign to their sacred texts

16. • Clifford Geertz: Pioneered phenomenological approach:
• Relies on experiential observation over a long period
• Tackles both ritual and beliefs along with their meanings to
adherents for “thick description”
Illustration by Bennett Klein

17. • Can religious research capture the wide array of
perspectives within the religion itself?

18. RELIGIOUS STUDIES: ISSUES AND INSIGHTS

19. • Studying religion offers insight into:
• Human values and creativity
• Grand patterns in human development
• The individuality of people
• The diversity of human expression
• Approaches to peaceful relationships

20. • Studying religion offers insight into:
• The role of religion in everyday life
• An appreciation for the arts
• Enriched experience in travel
• One’s own religious journey

21. © Walter R. Ratliff