Religious Studies and Comparative Methodology

Arvind Sharma

Description

Comparison is at the heart of religious studies as a discipline and foundational to the field's methodology. In this book, Arvind Sharma introduces the term "reciprocal illumination" to describe the mutual enlightenment that can occur when a comparison is made between one tradition and another, one method and another, or between a tradition and a method. Developing the concept of reciprocal illumination through historical, phenomenological, and psychological methods, Sharma demonstrates how to use comparison, while avoiding the pitfall of treating it as merely raw material for higher order generalizations.

Introduction

Part I

1. Does One Religious Tradition Help Us Understand Another? A Wide Lens Approach

2. Does One Religious Tradition Help Us Understand Another? A Zoom Lens Approach

3. Reciprocal Illumination as a Formal Concept

4. Reciprocal Illumination in Relation to the Lived Experience of Other Religions

5. Reciprocal Illumination and Comparative Religion

6. Reciprocal Illumination in Relation to the Views of W. C. Smith and Mircea Eliade

7. Reciprocal Illumination and the Historical Method

8. Reciprocal Illumination and the Phenomenological Method

9. Parallelisms between Hinduism and Christianity as Further Examples of Reciprocal Illumination

Part II

10. Reciprocal Illumination within a Tradition

11. Reciprocal Illumination between Traditions

12. Reciprocal Illumination among Traditions

13. Reciprocal Illumination among Types of Traditions

14. Reciprocal Illumination between Religion and the Secular Tradition

Part III

15. Reciprocal Illumination within a Method

16. The History of Religions: Buddhism and Judaism

17. The Phenomenology of Religion and Buddhism

18. The Psychology of Religion and Buddhism

19. The Psychology of Religion and Hinduism

20. The Sociology of Religion and Hinduism

21. Reciprocal Illumination and the Dialogue of World Religions

Conclusion
Notes
Author Index
Subject Index

Sujets

• Comparative religion
• Psychology

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791483251
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Religious Studies and Comparative Methodology

The Case for Reciprocal Illumination 

Arvind Sharma

State University of New York Press

Religious Studies and Comparative Methodology

For John Braisted Carman and In Memory of Ineke Carman

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2005 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press 194 Washington Avenue, Suite 305, Albany, NY 12210-2384

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Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Sharma, Arvind. Religious studies and comparative methodology : the case for reciprocal illumination / Arvind Sharma. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-6455-5 (hardcover: alk. paper) 1. Religion—Study and teaching. 2. Religions. I. Title.

BL41.S49 2005 200—dc22

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2004016063

Introduction

CHAPTER 1:

CHAPTER 2:

CHAPTER 3:

CHAPTER 4:

CHAPTER 5:

CHAPTER 6:

CHAPTER 7:

CHAPTER 8:

Contents



Part I

Does One Religious Tradition Help Us Understand Another? A Wide Lens Approach

Does One Religious Tradition Help Us Understand Another? A Zoom Lens Approach

Reciprocal Illumination as a Formal Concept

Reciprocal Illumination in Relation to the Lived Experience of Other Religions

Reciprocal Illumination and Comparative Religion

Reciprocal Illumination in Relation to the Views of W. C. Smith and Mircea Eliade

Reciprocal Illumination and the Historical Method

Reciprocal Illumination and the Phenomenological Method

vii

ix

3

11

23

37

4

5

67

7

9

85

Reciprocal Illumination among Traditions

Part III

The Psychology of Religion and Hinduism

301

255

299

135

91

247

187

149

Reciprocal Illumination within a Tradition

The Psychology of Religion and Buddhism

213

Reciprocal Illumination among Types of Traditions

193

Reciprocal Illumination between Traditions

The Sociology of Religion and Hinduism

161

183

Parallelisms between Hinduism and Christianity as Further Examples of Reciprocal Illumination

The Phenomenology of Religion and Buddhism

117

113

Reciprocal Illumination between Religion and the Secular Tradition

Reciprocal Illumination within a Method

197

241

Reciprocal Illumination and the Dialogue of World Religions

229

CHAPTER 10:

The History of Religions: Buddhism and Judaism

CHAPTER 18:

CHAPTER 9:

viii

CHAPTER 16:

CHAPTER 19:

CHAPTER 17:

CHAPTER 14:

CHAPTER 12:

Contents

Notes

Conclusion

CHAPTER 13:

CHAPTER 21:

Subject Index

Author Index

CHAPTER 15:

CHAPTER 20:

Part II

CHAPTER 11:

Contents

Introduction



ix

Sometimes a throwaway line can enshrine a lot of wisdom, as when we ask a friend: “How are you,” and he or she says, “Compared to what?” Such a witticism smacks of cynicism in the course of daily life, but a fact of academic life contradicts its triviality—the enormously signifi- cant role comparison plays in the study of religion. It was central to the emergence of the study of religion as an academic discipline, and has remained a key ingredient of the discipline since its inception. That comparable data shed light on one another is a well-known phenomenon. This book undertakes a closer examination of the phe- nomenon by identifying one aspect of it, referred to as “reciprocal illumination.” The expression requires a word of explanation. The academic study of religion, as it is pursued today, is a multitraditional and polymethodic discipline. That is to say, it com- prises the study of such religions as Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucian- ism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the Primal religions, and so on. Moreover, it also consists of various methods utilized in the course of such study, such as the historical, the phenomenological, the socio- logical, the psychological, and so on. Such a schematic presentation generates two kinds of possibilities in terms of reciprocal illumination: that of one tradition shedding light on another and that of one method doing the same in relation to another (the latter possibility being less intuitively obvious than the former). This book focuses on such reciprocal illumination as results among the religious traditions when they are viewed in the light of one an- other. This is to be expected. It, however, also goes on to focus on a related phenomenon, which would initially appear less promising in this respect—namely, the reciprocal illumination that might result from studying a religious tradition alongside a methodological tradition of studying religion.

ix

x

Introduction

The reciprocal illumination that might result from comparing one method with another, however, is left unexamined in this book, for fear of far exceeding the limit the author has set for it in terms of size. The typical unit for comparison used in this book is a religious tradition: say, Hinduism or Buddhism (or a component thereof); or a method, such as the historical or the phenomenological. The first part of the book is devoted to a discussion of the principle of reciprocal illumination in general, and tries to locate it in the broader framework of the academic study of religion. It serves as a propaedeutic to the two parts that follow: part 2, in which religious traditions are com- pared with one another; and part 3, in which religious traditions are compared with the methodological traditions that have evolved for studying them.

Part I

