Studying Religion
Based on your reading of “Religion and Culture” by Eliza Rosenburg and “Religion” by Sashur Henninger-Rener do the following:
Discuss why it can be difficult to define religion and determine what we refer to when we use the term “religion.”
Use the list of four possible approaches to studying religion below from religious theorists and decide which one you think best relates to what you learned in
the Gateway into Religions resource.
Explore why you think this approach best applies to the Gateway into Religions resource by providing specific examples from the Gateway reading.
Finally, make a brief statement about which of the approaches below makes the most sense to you and why?
Sample Solution
Religion has continued to play a vital role in the lives of individuals worldwide. Its hold remains as strong as ever among both the under-privileged, as well as the economically and intellectually advanced people. In a multi-ethnic and philosophically diverse global culture not only religion is undergoing radical changes but also its very meanings and definitions. One of the primary causes for the problem of defining religion is its very complexity of nature. No moment a person can say that he has attained the whole truth of religion or defined the uniqueness essence of religion. Durkheim`s formal definition of religion is that “religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden – beliefs and practices which unite into a single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them (Durkheim [1912] 1995:62).
