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Introduction to Comparative Religion

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1. Introduction

Goal: Understand the similarities, differences and historical development

  • Appreciate the rich tapestry of human religious experience

Ultimate question: Origin / Universality / Function / Truth / Future

Keep in mind

  • Open-mindedness
  • Respect
  • Cultural Context
  • Avoid Over-generalization
  • Empathy
  • Awareness of Bias

Learning order

1.1. My Question

What’s my belief system:

  • Science, not actually religious belief

What’s the relationship between science and religion

  • Different base, interact in the history
  • Maybe interested in some same problem

Can religion be tested to be false?

  • Random claim from scared text

True and false in religion

  • From scared text

Is religion a kind of brainwash

  • Not, A weak and voluntary brainwash

1.2. Learning Order

  1. Introduction: foundational understanding
  2. Theoretical Approaches: academic methodologies
  3. World Religions Survey: learn the major world religions
  4. Religions Texts: grounds in primary sources
  5. Epistemology: concepts of truth, belief, and knowledge
  6. Philosophy of Science and Religion
  7. Psychology of Religion: why individual might be drawn to specific belief
  8. Critical Analysis
  9. Personal Reflection

2. Introduction to Comparative Religion

What? Seeks to understand and compare religious beliefs, practices, rituals, philosophies

  • Not judging which is better or more true
  • Rather, explore the commonalities

How do different religions approach concepts of divine (gods/goddesses, cosmic principles, supreme entities)

  • Why this question important?
    • Since is at the very heart of their practices
    • Provides meaning and purpose

What ethical system? A set of moral principles

  • Source: in many religions, primary source is the scriptures or teachings

How do they address question about life, death, purpose and suffering

3. Theoretical Approaches

Understand religious beliefs from different approach

Sociology approach: How religion operates in societies, how it influence

  • Concepts:
    • Social Solidarity: serve to unify society by shared beliefs
    • Religious Economy: religions compete within a marketplace of ideas
  • How? Survey, observation, analysis

Anthropological approach: Study the role in different cultures

  • Concepts:
    • Rituals and Rites of passage: rituals plays a key role in shaping and expressing cultural beliefs
    • Totemism and Animism: 图腾和万物有灵论
  • How? Ethnographic, observation

Psychological approach: understand individual’s inner experience, motivation and behaviors related to religion

  • Concepts

    • Religion and Unconscious: Freud viewed religion as an illusion arising from unconscious desires
    • Archetypes and Collective Unconscious (集体无意识): manifestations of universal psychological archetypes
    • Religious Experience: religious experience as genuine phenomena that can provide insight into human psyche

  • How? Case study, survey

Philosophical approach: analyze the logical, metaphysical and ethical foundation

  • Concepts:
    • Existence of God: argument for and against god’s existence
    • Religious Language: whether religious language is meaningful
    • Ethics and Religion: relationship between religious and moral value
  • How? Logical analysis, argumentation

3.1. Question

Market religion：

  • Core value provided: meaning and purpose, community and belonging, moral and ethical guidelines, rituals and tradition, emotional support

Unconscious: maybe related to find the origin of religion

  • Unconscious is suppressed feeling
  • As wish fulfillment, defense mechanism to help individual manage anxieties

Existence of god

  • FOR
    • Everything has a cause, cannot be an infinite regree of cause
    • Complexity and order cannot be the result of random chance
    • Objective moral value exist
  • AGAINST
    • Existence of widespread and intense suffering
    • If exist, would not remain hidden
    • Attribute assigned to god are logically incompatible

4. World Religions Survey

4.1. Christianity

Foundation: monotheistic faith centered on life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ

Text: Bible (Old Testament and New Testament)

Sects(派系): Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox

Practice: worship, sacraments, prayer

4.2. Islam

Foundation: monotheistic faith Muhammad as the last in a series of prophet(先知)

Text: Quran

Sects: Sunni, Shia

Practices: Five Pillars of Islam: faith, prayer, charity, fasting during Ramadan（斋月期间禁食）, pilgrimage to Mecca（麦加朝圣）

4.3. Hinduism

Foundation: complex tradition with a focus on concepts like dharma, karma, moksha

Text: Vedas, Upanishads..吠陀经、奥义书、薄伽梵歌、罗摩衍那、摩诃婆罗多。

Sects: Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism

Practice: worship, meditation, yoga, festivals

4.4. Buddhism

Foundation: Founded on the teaching of the Buddha, Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path

Text: Pali Canon 三藏

Sects: Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana. 上座部、大乘、金刚乘

Practice: Meditation, mindfulness,

4.5. Judaism

Foundation: monotheistic faith based on the covenant between God and Israelites

Text: Torah

Sects: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform

Practice: Sabbath observance, dietary laws, prayer

4.6. Daoism

Foundation: centers on living in harmony with the Dao, the source of all existence

Text: Tao Te Ching

Practice: Meditation, Feng Shui

4.7. Question

Old, new bible?

  • Old: Hebrew bible, recounts the history of Israelites, covenant with God
  • New: Exclusive to Christianity, centers on the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ

Three sects

  • Catholicism: hold both the Bible and church tradition
  • Orthodox: significant emphasis on the original Church’s practice
  • Protestantism: challenge certain Catholic teachings and practices

Why fasting

  • Reflection, heightened devotion, remembrance of those less fortunate

Pilgrimage for whom

  • Kaaba in Mecca, the building
  • Commemorate the actions of Abraham, his wife, and their son

Israelites and Judaism

  • Israelites: descendants of Jacob, who also named Israel
  • Judaism: from Judah, one of Jacob’s sons

5. Epistemology

Definition: the study of knowledge, its nature, origin, limits

Questions

  • What is knowledge
  • How do we come to know something
  • What distinguishes genuine knowledge from belief
  • How can we justify beliefs

5.1. Truth

Religious truths often claim universality or objectivity.

What if religious truths conflict with other perceived truth?

5.2. Source of Knowledge

Religions take given knowledge as primary source of truths

How can one validate or justify knowledge

5.3. Faith

Serve as the bridge between the known and the unknowable

How does faith interact with reason?

5.4. Role of Community and Tradition

Communal practice, traditions shape an individual’s belief

How communal understanding influence personal belief?

6. Philosophy of Science and Religion

Science: explaining phenomena through naturals causes and laws, avoiding supernatural explanations

Religious knowledge: come to know about divine though revelation, sacred texts, personal experience

Key topics:

  • Evolution vs Creationism
  • Miracles: supernatural event
  • Fine-tuning argument
  • Consciousness and the Soul

Purpose: understand different methodologies employed by science and religion

7. Psychology

Why human have religious belief?

  • Evolutionary perspective: offered evolutionary advantages, fostered cooperation, social cohesion, moral behavior
  • Cognitive process: human have a propensity to see patterns, infer intentions, attribute meaning to events.
  • Meaning: provide individual a sense of meaning and purpose of life
  • Mental health: religion serve as a coping mechanism during times of stress, or tragedy

Purpose: offer valuable insights into: human nature, interpersonal understanding, critical analysis

7.1. Question

Mystical Experience?

  • Feature: sense of unity, temp/spat transcendence, deep positive, ineffability(无法言表)
  • Example:
    • Classic: Christian Mysticism, Buddhist Enlightenment, Sufi Ecstasies
    • Modern: some individuals
  • Tricks or Truth:
    • Neuroscientific perspective, taking some drug for sense of unity
    • Psychological perspective: particular stimuli or condition
    • Philosophical perspective: what it means for an experience to be real

8. Critical Analysis

Seeking a deeper understanding of how and why religious phenomena occur, evolve, and impact society

History: investigate the origin of religious belief, ideas and practice are often influenced by historical events

Social and cultural influences: how religious shapes societal norms, values and structures, how do they shape individual and group identities

Political: religious beliefs influenced political systems, played roles in political movements, progressive and regressive

Religious Ideologies used for control

  • Fear of the afterlife
  • Gatekeeping
  • Regulation of personal life

9. Bonus

Psychological tactics of religion:

  • Control of information. Repetition. Social Proof
  • Appeal to Authority, Reward and Punishment
  • Emotional Manipulation. Us vs Them mentality
  • Identity Reinvention, Discrediting opposing views
  • Cognitive Dissonance

Foot in the door, a persuasion tactic based on

  • Consistency
  • Self-Perception

10. Ref

  1. Introduction to Comparative Religion:
    • Objective: To gain a foundational understanding of various religious beliefs and practices.
    • Focus on: Major world religions, their core beliefs, practices, texts, and histories.
    • Purpose: Provides a broad backdrop against which more specialized topics can be better understood.
  2. Theoretical Approaches to Religion:
    • Objective: Delve into the academic methodologies used in religious studies.
    • Focus on: Sociological, anthropological, psychological, and philosophical approaches to religion.
    • Purpose: Establishes the frameworks and lenses through which subsequent topics can be analyzed, ensuring you have a multi-faceted understanding.
  3. World Religions Survey:
    • Objective: Acquire deeper knowledge about major world religions.
    • Focus on: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Daoism, and other major traditions.
    • Purpose: By understanding the beliefs and practices of major religions, you’ll be better positioned to explore intersections with science, philosophy, and psychology.
  4. Religious Texts and Scriptures:
    • Objective: Familiarize yourself with central religious texts.
    • Focus on: Bible, Quran, Torah, Bhagavad Gita, Tripitaka, Tao Te Ching, etc.
    • Purpose: Grounds you in primary sources, enabling a deeper understanding of religious beliefs and practices.
  5. Religion and Epistemology:
    • Objective: To delve into the nature of religious knowledge and belief.
    • Focus on: Concepts of truth, belief, and knowledge in religious contexts.
    • Purpose: Prepares you for critical analysis by understanding how religious truths are formed and perceived.
  6. Philosophy of Science and Religion:
    • Objective: Understand the epistemological frameworks of both science and religion.
    • Focus on: Interactions and overlaps between scientific and religious understanding.
    • Purpose: By exploring this after epistemology, you’re in a good position to contrast the methods of knowledge acquisition in both realms.
  7. Psychology of Religion:
    • Objective: To understand the psychological underpinnings of religious belief and experience.
    • Focus on: Cognitive and psychological reasons people are drawn to religious beliefs and practices.
    • Purpose: Grounds your understanding of why individuals might be drawn to specific beliefs, and sets the stage for critical analysis.
  8. Critical Analysis of Religion:
    • Objective: Examine religion from a critical perspective.
    • Focus on: Historical, social, and political influences on religion; ways religious ideologies might be used for control.
    • Purpose: Having understood the foundations, theoretical approaches, and psychology, you’re now equipped to critically analyze religious phenomena.
  9. Personal Reflection and Synthesis:
    • Objective: Integrate all you’ve learned and reflect on personal beliefs and understandings.
    • Purpose: This step allows you to consolidate your knowledge, ensuring it’s coherent and addressing your original questions.