Modern Study of Religion & Worldviews

In the book, Worldview: Crosscultural Explorations of Human Beliefs (1995), author Ninian Smart attempts to introduce readers to the major components behind the modern study of religion. Smart defines the modern study of religion as the study of, "systems of belief that, through symbols and actions, mobilize feelings and wills of human beings" (Smart, 1995, 1). He hypothesizes that the study of religion will illuminate the themes and patterns which define both social continuity and change. Further, the study of religion involves aspects of other disciplines; such as psychology, history, anthropology, sociology, linguistics, economics, symbolism, and political science, mixed into a cultural grab bag of ideologies which Smart labels as "Worldviews" (Smart, 1995, 2-3). Smart argues that "the heart of the modern study of religion is the analysis and comparison of worldviews" (Smart, 1995, 3). Ninian Smart also compares various worldviews by using six dimensions he believes are found in all religions; these are doctrine, mythic, ethic, ritual, experiential, and social.

Ninian Smart begins the book, Worldviews, by looking at the historical evolution of some of the world's major worldviews such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism, as well as more secular worldviews such as the growth of nationalism. In chapter two Smart divides the world into seven "blocks" or regions where particular worldviews are dominant. For example, the modern West is dominated by Christia

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d have been more interesting if Smart had more carefully analyzed the historical relationship between religion and politics. While religion does predate the modern nation-state, its connection to politics and group identification surely goes back to the world's most ancient civilizations. Although Smart insists that none of the dimensions are more important than any other, he discusses experience in chapter three as the foundation of the world's religions. Smart uses experience to describe how people interact with their particular religion. Smart also borrows the concept of numinous, or spirit, first expounded by Rudolph Otto, to define one's relationship to religion in general and God in particular (Smart, 59). Smart also breaks down the dimension of experience into external and internal characteristics. Externally, experience describes one's relationship to their God in terms of how they understand that divine being's presence. For example, God can be represented or exist in the form of a temple or as nature (Smart, 59). However, another aspect of experience is one's internal relationship to God and religion. This experience Smart labels mystical and it deals with the human soul or inner consciousness. It describes ho

Category: Philosophy - M