宗教研究与人文精神的理解

宗教研究与人文精神的理解问题扩展——自说自话的乐趣与困境Humanism&ReligiousStudiesIrrational&Modernity,Belief&Ration,Scientific&TestableMysterious&Miraculous,Weird&DailyAcademy&Believer,Induction&ReductionofConversionTheology,Belief&KnowledgecalledReligiousStudiesSacredness&Church,Sacredness&Hierophany宗教学与神学(Theology)不是一回事。宗教学是一门“世俗学问”，跟神学不相干。神学是在某个特定的宗教体系内研究神的本质，神与人的关系，信仰的本质等等。宗教学研究的是宗教信仰的本质，宗教的来源(心理的，社会的，历史的等等)，其社会功能，心理功能等等，宗教史也可以算在宗教学内。宗教学的研究目的不是为了证明某种宗教优于别种宗教，也不是站在无神论的立场上反宗教。从宗教学的角度来看，任何一种宗教都是人类文化现像，是人类共同的文化创造，都有研究价值。研究宗教是为了尽可能全面地了解它，跟人类学，社会学等人文学科一样。宗教经验在人类众多经验之中的确具有其独特、自主及自足存在的性质；宗教经验的核心乃是在于人与超越者之间的一种感通关系宗教经验分别存在于其他日常世俗或理性的活动范围；宗教理解的工作首先不能将宗教信仰者的经验约化，必须是要从宗教信仰者本身的观点出发，同情地理解他们的宗教经验（与超越者相遇的经验），以及由他们的宗教经验而产生的各种存在于他们生活之中的意义宗教研究的合法性问题CollectiveConcept,DefinitioncreatedbyDefiningDefinitionwithinAcademicandCulturalContext,Cross-cultureUtilityoftheConceptrootedinWesternChurch,tobeexact,ChristianChurchandTrendofModernizationReligion,Religions,ReligiousReligion,teaching,moral,doctrine,Church,Monk,Temple,Sect,Heresy,School,HeterodoxyReligiousStudies,StudiesofReligion,HistoryofReligions,TheoriesofReligiousStudiesScientificStudiesonReligion,ReligionasaModelandParadigmSoulandHeart,EmotionalandphysicalWeshouldfirstlymakeitclearthattowardswhatwedeliverourstudiesofreligion?LegitimacyofReligiousStudies:Subject,Approaches,Neutralstand,endstowardsApproaches:Borrowinginnameofself-containJonathanZ.SmithwritesinImaginingReligion:“...whilethereisastaggeringamountofdata,phenomena,ofhumanexperiencesandexpressionsthatmightbecharacterizedinonecultureoranother,byonecriterionoranother,asreligion—thereisnodataforreligion.Religionissolelythecreationofthescholar’sstudy.Itiscreatedforthescholar’sanalyticpurposesbyhisimaginativeactsofcomparisonandgeneralization.Religionhasnoexistenceapartfromtheacademy.”Definitionsofreligiontendtosufferfromoneoftwoproblems:theyareeithertoonarrowandexcludemanybeliefsystemswhichmostagreearereligious,ortheyaretoovagueandambiguous,suggestingthatjustaboutanyandeverythingisareligioItisapparentthatreligioncanbeseenasatheological,philosophical,anthropological,sociological,andpsychologicalphenomenonofhumankind.Tolimitreligiontoonlyoneofthesecategoriesistomissitsmultifacetednatureandloseoutonthecompletedefinition.Definitionsofreligionnecessarilyinvolveassumptionsaboutitsunderlyingnature.“[E]achandeverydefinitionofreligionimpliesatleastsometheoreticalconclusions....”Oneofthemanydifficultiesencounteredinreachingaconsensusonalegaldefinitionofthetermisthat,atroot,“noconvincinggeneraltheoryofreligionexists.”Threeoftheprincipaltheoriesaboutreligionare:first,religioninitsmetaphysicalortheologicalsense(e.g.,theunderlyingtruthoftheexistenceofGod,thedharma,etc.);second,religionasitispsychologicallyexperiencedbypeople(e.g.,thefeelingsofthereligiousbelieveraboutdivinityorultimateconcerns,theholy,etc.);andthird,religionasaculturalorsocialforce(e.g.,symbolismthatbindsa