CHAPTER I An Approach To The Study Of Religion
CHAPTER
I
AN
APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF RELIGION
There
is a crucial question about the study of religion. The question is “is it
possible to study religion scientifically?”
Religion
is a social phenomenon as are politics, economics, psychology, anthropology and
the like. These social sciences can be studied scientifically, so can religion.
Religion is a universal phenomenon and is the most important ingredient in the
study of human life.
.
There
are two approaches to the study of religion. These approaches are linked
through the unbroken line of the two extremes. The first approach is normative
and the other is descriptive. The normative approach is based on the criteria
of what is true and good and what is bad, what one ought to do and ought not to
do. This is based on the personal internal experiences of the religion founder
or the messenger in contact with the divinity; the transcendental experience.
This approach can be looked at two ways. The first one is Theology, that is an
attempt to give a systematic traditional expression of religious experience. In
Islam it is called the aqa’id, something which must be accepted and believed.
The second way is religious ethics or moral behavior: how to act with one’s
fellow man. The second approach is the descriptive which is based on
intellectual curiosity rather than on belief.
There
are number of disciplines which will help in understanding religion. The first
is the history of religion: looking at religious behavior historically. The
second is the psychology of religion: understanding the mental process and
feeling of religious people, and the last is the sociology of religion trying
to understand how religious groups organized themselves, the role of religious
institutions, religious leaders, law, and the state. Using the descriptive
approach, it is possible to study religion scientifically. (Prof Dr Charles
Johan Adams)
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