Exploring Religious Meaning Midterm

Thomas Tweed

"Theories are sightings from sites" Thomas Tweed's five ways to understand theory: 1. The deduction nomological view 2. Law oriented view 3. The idealizing notion of theory 4. The constructivist view of theory 5. Critical Theory Supra-locative v. Locative: 1. Supra-locative = god's eye view, no where but everywhere, omnipresent 2. Locative = theory is located with in a certain context

Mysticism

-Kripal (scholar on mysticism) -modern comparative category that has been used in a wide variety of ways to locate, describe, and evaluate individuals' experiences of communion, union, or identity with the sacred. -mysticism as a modern construct: obscure, universal dimension of man, perceived or experienced as a reality hidden beneath a diversity of institutions, religions and doctrines. A "loss of self." -themes of the mystical: thinking dialectically and/or paradoxically, eroticism, empowerment, transgression, physical/special abilities.

Confession

-Pamela Klassen -reconciling yourself and with God -form of writing or speaking in which an individual or group acknowledges, often with some guilt in play, his/her/their past actions and dispositions to an audience. -mode of public sharing that is at once intimate and soul baring -individual/group acknowledges, guilt, past actions

"Caged Knowledge"

-knowledge recorded on text

"Map is not a territory"

-territory looks very different on the actual ground than what you see on the map -the taxonomies and categories for studying religion are not what is actually happening -Johnathan Z Smith

Ronald Grimes

1. "Defining ritual is like defining jazz" A. In order to define both you need the context of which you are trying to define because jazz, like ritual, is so broad?? Cannot define without context? 2. "There are two language games, one in the field and one in the academy" explanation for the academy part B. No one says they are "doing/performing a ritual" C. Translate what you are doing to a local context to scholars 3. "Ritual is no different from a soccer game" A. A particular soccer game has the conditions of a rite (set of actions widely accepted by members of the community) and a ritual is the concept of soccer as a whole 4. 4 R's A. Rites = a set of actions widely recognized by members of a culture; particular (bar mitzvah, wedding, soccer game) B. Ritual = general idea of a rite, specific instance, scholarly category (concept of soccer) C. Ritualizing = cultivating rites; a process, inventing rites; rituals are a process; behaviors D. Ritualization = based on real life; repetitious bodily stylization that constitutes the baseline of quotidian human social interaction 5. Minimal Definition A. Ritual is an embodied, condensed, and prescribed enactment 6. "Fuzzy Set Theory" A. Traditionalizing B. Elevating C. Repeating D. Prescribing E. Stylizing F. Invoking Powers G. Performing H. Attributing influence I. Singularizing

Taxonomy

1. A way of classifying/categorizing religion, rituals, ect.. A. World Religions Paradigm (predominant taxonomy) B. Rites of passage 2. Traditional, categorical

Story

1. Can be told through word of mouth 2. Can have significance (creation, norms)

Pamela Klassen

1. Cosmologies of mediation A. Confession, testimony, protocol 2. Adwax and Adawak

Johnathan Z. Smith

1. Critiques religion as a universal category A. Critical theorist B. Critiqued the dominant taxonomy: world religions paradigm 2. "Religion is not a native category" A. It is a term created by scholars for their intellectual purposes and it is theirs to define B. Is a "category from the outside" in some aspect of culture C. Colonists are solely responsible for the term 3. "Only an adequate taxonomy would convert a 'natural history' of religion to science" A. 17th century - 1st beginnings of academic religion B. Natural: based on rational understanding that all people can discover for themselves and can warrant by rational reflection I. God in nature II. Internal C. Revealed: based on divine revelation I. External II. Theological category 4. "Map is not a territory"

Critical Theory

1. Critiques the dominant taxonomy for categorizing religion: World Religions Paradigm A. Anything that looks like Christianity B. Religion as the construction of scholars; "not a native category" 2. Critiques of religion as a universal category A. Johnathan Z Smith B. Suzanne Owen I. Indigenous religions are often seen as unimportant II. Effects how religions are perceived and presented through the media and politics III. Gaps between academic research and teaching IV. An elite male class V. Tries to remodel other religions to the western model = Paganism: had to work very hard to become recognized as a religion in the U.K, had to create precepts and prove they had a belief in a higher power C. Josephson

Contextualism

1. Different from perennialism (lasting a long, infinite time and always occuring) in that there is no pure mystical experience; depends on context 2. What are the causes of a religious experience/mysticism?

Myth

1. Greek "mythos" meaning "speech" or "story" by word of mouth 2. Explains how things are 3. Provides insights A. Historical B. Anthropological (culture) C. Metaphysical D. Cosmological E. Sociological F. Psychological 4. Truthiness 5. Creation Myths A. The primordial chaos B. Emergence of gods C. Production of Earth & geographical features D. Coming of evil, death F. Opportunities of renewal, rebirth G. How animals and people came to be I. Thomas King

Delgamukw

1. Had been trying to negotiate jurisdiction over their territories since the 1800s when Europeans began to settle 2. Used oral story-telling and singing 3. Cosmologies and creation stories 4. Us v. Them

Joseph Campbell

1. Hero's Journey 2. Shows the underlying structure of the hero myth and to help us understand why humans keep telling versions of it over and over again, in all different cultures 3. Myth is written about every human being, by studying these stories, we can learn about the stages of our own struggle to become heroes of our own lives 4. The journey of the hero is not, a mere story. Rather it represents a spiritual reality: the hero is grappling with the place of all humans in the universe 5. All hero stores follow the same pattern: the monomyth A. "A magnification of the formula represented in the rites of passage: separation-initiation-return"

Thomas King

1. Indigenous writer, story-teller, creation stories 2. Wrote the novel "The Truth About Stories" A. Skywoman v. Genesis/Fall of Man B. Skywoman = chaos leading to harmony, equality (co-create), twins C. Genesis/Fall of Man = harmony leading to chaos, hierarchy (god, man, animals), evil vs good D. Dualism E. Both stories affect their different societies and how they behave 3. Notable quotes "The truth about stories is that's all we are" "If we believe one story to be sacred, we must see the other as secular" (criticizing western culture) "Do the stories we tell reflect the world as it truly is or did we simply start off with the wrong stories"

Prenennialism

1. Kripal/Craig Martin 2. Assumes essential core to mysticism; something keeps recurring over and over again no matter the culture 3. Ever-lasting

Jeffrey Kripal

1. Mysticism 2.Definition "a modern comparative category that has been used in a wider variety of ways to locate, describe, and evaluate individuals' experiences of communion, union, or identity.." 3. Explains mysticism derived from the Greek verbal root mu-, which lies behind words as the english mutter, mute, and mystery or well as the Sanskrit muni (the "silent one" or sage) 4. Claims "whereas pre-modern mysticism was historically embodied deeply in traditional forms of liturgical, scriptual, and doctrinal contexts, modernity has witnessed an increasing deracination of the mystical from the traditional forms of authority and faith and an ever-increasing psychologization of meanings" 5. Themes of the Mystical A. Thinking dialectically and/or paradoxically I. Coincidentia oppositorum; coming together of two opposite things B. Eroticism I. Symbolic reasoning, loss of self C. Transgression I. Go against norms D. Empowerment E. Physical/special abilities

Robert Segal

1. Myth A. "A story about something significant" B. "What unites the study of myth are the questions asked" I. Origin II. Function III. Subject Matter

The Hero's Journey

1. Not just entertainment 2. Representative of a spiritual reality 3. Can lead us to inner-literation 4. Follows the pattern of the monomyth (joseph campbell): A. Separation or Departure: retreat from external world to the internal (unconscious). Consists of a) the call to adventure; b) refusal of the call; c) supernatural aid; d)crossing the first threshold; e) in the belly of the whale. B. Trials and Victories: the hero tries to prove his/her and learn the secret of the gods. Consists of a) the road of trial; b)the meeting with the goddess; c) woman as temptress; d) atonement with the father; e) apotheosis, the ultimate boon (elixir). C. Return: reintegration into society with hope of teaching lesson he/she learned. Consists of a) refusal of the return; b) the magic flight; c) rescue from without, d)crossing the return threshold, e) master of the two worlds; f) freedom to live = "follow your bliss."

Adawx and Adaawak

1. Pamala Klassen 2. J.E Chamberlin A. Delgamuukw B. Can oral history be legal evidence? 3. Oral stories from western indigenous groups A. collectively owned/managed by families/tribes B. migrations C. contains songs D- sometimes represented on ceremonial crests or totem poles E. tell of the land/territory and what has happened there

Cosmologies of Mediation

1. Pamela Klassen 2. What medium we choose to tell stories matter A. How we choose our media is influenced by our religious understandings B. Ex. Christian modes used in the secular (court) = testimonies, confessions, protocol

Fredrich Schleiermacher

1. Religious Experience 2. Religion cannot be reduced/rationalized to doctrines or moral codes 3. Primary: feeling & intuition (substantivist) 4. "Religion's essence is neither thinking nor acting" 5. "Religion's essence is ... intuition and feeling" 6. "To have religion means to inuit the universe"

Normative Approach

1. Rudolph Otto, William James, and Schleirmacher I. Experience is primary II. Direct access to ultimate reality III. Universal IV. Essential: feeling/intuition V. Individualized 2. Craig Martin: Critiques A. Experience cannot be unmediated but it is mediated by language, culture, and politics B. Didn't account for power relationships I. Money, time, hierarchy, education C. Normative theorists are working with in their own religion traditions

Testimony

1. Speaking of the self 2. Confident, less guilt, act of conviction

J. Edward Chamberlin

1. Stories A. News B. Interacting with people C. Court rooms 2. "Stories are ceremonies of belief as much as they are chronicles of events" A. Creation stories 3. Protocols relating to story telling A. Protocols are different in each society for story telling B. Delgamuw

Theory

1. Theories are a way of "seeing" and understanding a problem 2. A theory provides a conceptual lens 3. Theories are interconnected ideas that frames a cognitive claim, coming from a context 4. Definitions are part of a bigger theory, but definitions explains one word while theories use interconnected experiences to explain something bigger

Protocol

1. Ways/rules of doing things A. Ritual, story-telling, courtroom, cosmology

Craig Martin

1. critiques the normative approach A. experience is mediated by language, culture, and politics; cannot be separated B. they don't account for power relationships

Religious Experience

A Mystic experience, "loss of self", Kripal 1. Normative approach v. Modern Scholars A. Normative approach = cannot interpret without experiencing I. Experience is primary II. Direct access to ultimate reality III. Universal IV. Essential: feeling/intuition V. Individualized B. Modern Scholars = cannot experience without interpretation I. Craig Martin

Clifford Geertz

Clifford Geertz os a functionalist who believes: 1. Religion is a cultural system 2. Each culture is unique and all knowledge is local knowledge 3. Religion is persuasive and powerful

Creation Stories

Creation Myths A. The primordial chaos B. Emergence of gods C. Production of Earth & geographical features D. Coming of evil, death F. Opportunities of renewal, rebirth G. How animals and people came to be I. Thomas King

E.B. Tylor

E.B. Tylor is a Substantivist who believes: 1. In the principle of physic unity = all humans have te same brain capacity so every one has the same capacity to reason 2. In the principle of intellectual evolution = cultures are different because they're at different intellectual evolutions

Emille Durkheim

Emille Durkheim is a functionalist who believes: 1. Religion is a glue that holds society together 2. Religion (church) is self-validation for society 3. Practice is primary; you become religious by going to church

Functionalism

Functionalists study how religion works and what is accomplishes (most popular)

Ritual

General idea of a rite, specific instance, scholarly category (concept of soccer)

Karl Marx

Karl Marx is a functionalist who believes religion: 1. Alienates us from reality and ourselves 2. Imprisons us

Rudolph Otto

Rudolph Otto is a Substantivist who believes: 1. In the idea of "The Holy" 2. Religion is an emotional feeling (numinous=emotional response to what is holy) 3. Religion cannot be reduces to theology or anything; it is simple itself 4. Religion is numinous = terrifying, awe inspiring 5. Religion exist pre-human cognition

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud is a functionalist who believes: 1. Religion is a need for wish fulfillment; to feel secure 2. He studied how religion functions in our individual mind 3. Religious people seek actions that are patterned and ceremonial

Substantivism

Subtantivists believe that there is something essential/substantial/sacred about religion

William James

William James is a Substantivist who believes: 1. Religion is a personal experience 2. Religion is a direct encounter with the "more" 3. Rituals/beliefs are secondary 4. Institutions act to prompt and encourage our experience in religion 5. You can't account for religion without experiencing the self 6. We are all able to have this religious experience

Ceremony

a formal event held in honor of a special occasion