Does Comparative Theology have an Advantage over Religious Studies?
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Dec 31, 2013
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Abstract
In this essay, I assess the prospects for Comparative Theology as some
scholars proffered towards building a general theory of religion. I first
acknowledge the relationship between the two disciplines; second, I examine
the relationship between faith and religion which I believe is crucial to enter
the discussion on Comparative Theology and Religious Studies; third I come
to the crux of the matter by assessing the influence of theology on the study
of religion; fourth, having problematized the method of Comparative
Theology, I underscore the limits of theological method for comparative
analysis in the study of religion. This above outline is consciously intended
to take the general reader as well as specialists toward my conclusion, which
is to suggest that Comparative Theology can only serve an internal
theological purpose of one religious tradition but not for the purpose of a
general theory of religion.
scholars proffered towards building a general theory of religion. I first
acknowledge the relationship between the two disciplines; second, I examine
the relationship between faith and religion which I believe is crucial to enter
the discussion on Comparative Theology and Religious Studies; third I come
to the crux of the matter by assessing the influence of theology on the study
of religion; fourth, having problematized the method of Comparative
Theology, I underscore the limits of theological method for comparative
analysis in the study of religion. This above outline is consciously intended
to take the general reader as well as specialists toward my conclusion, which
is to suggest that Comparative Theology can only serve an internal
theological purpose of one religious tradition but not for the purpose of a
general theory of religion.
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Kumar, P. (2013). Does Comparative Theology have an Advantage over Religious Studies?. Alternation Journal, (11), 61-86. Retrieved from https://journals.ukzn.ac.za/index.php/soa/article/view/403
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India. In Braun, Willi & Russell T McCutcheon (eds): Introducing
Religion: Essays in Honor of Jonathan Z. Smith. London: Equinox.
Balagangadhara, SN 1994. ‘The Heathen in his Blindness….’: Asia, the West,
and the Dynamic of Religion. Leiden: EJ Brill.
Cabezón, José Ignacio 2006. The Discipline and Its Other: The Dialectic of
Alterity in the Study of Religion. Journal of the American Academy of
Religion March,74,1: 21 - 38.
Carman, John Braisted 1974. The Theology of Ramanuja: An Essay in
Interreligious Understanding. London: Yale University Press.
Clooney, Francis X 1993. Theology after Vedanta: An Exercise in
Comparative Theology. New York: State University of New York Press.
Clooney, Francis X 1995. Comparative Theology: A Review of Recent
Books. Theological Studies 56: 521 - 550.
Clooney, Francis X 2008. The Truth, the Way, the Life: Christian
Commentary on the Three Holy Mantras of the Srivaisnava Hindus.
Christian Commentaries on Non-Christian Sacred Texts. Cambridge,
UK: William B Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Cross, George 1922. The Motive of Theology. The Journal of Religion 2,4,
July: 380 - 401.
De Roover, Jakob 2003. An Unhappy Lover of Theology: Feuerbach and
Contemporary Religious Studies. Journal of the American Academy of
Religion September71,3: 615 - 635.
Griffin, David Ray 2000. Religious Experience, Naturalism, and the Social
Scientific Study of Religion. Journal of the American Academy of
Religion 68,1, March: 99 - 124.
Griffiths, Paul J 2006. On the Future of the Study of Religion in the
Academy. Journal of the American Academy of Religion. March,74,1: 66
- 74.
Hyman, Gavin 2004. The Study of Religion and the Return of Theology.
Journal of the American Academy of Religion March,72,1: 195 - 219.
Knott, Kim 2005. The Location of Religion: A Spatial Analysis. London:
Equinox Publishing Ltd.
Kumar, Pratap P 2008. Insiders and Outsiders: Studying Hinduism non-
Religiously. Braun, Willi & Russell T McCutcheon (eds): Introducing
Religion: Essays in Honor of Jonathan Z. Smith. London: Equinox.
Lease, Gary 1994. ‘The History of ‘Religious Consciousness’ and the
Diffusion of Culture. Historical Reflections/ Reflexions historiques 20:
453 - 479.
Lincoln, Bruce 1996. Theses on Method. Method & Theory in the Study of
Religion 8: 225 - 227.
Lott, Eric J 1976. God and the Universe in the Vedantic Theology of
Ramanuja. Chennai: Ramanuja Research Society.
Macdonald Jr., Paul A 2010. Studying Christian Theology in the Secular
University. Journal of the American Academy of Religion December,78,
4: 991 - 1024.
McCutcheon, R 2006. Studying Religion in Culture: A Tale of Prepositions
and Conjunctions. Religious Studies Newsletter 3,Spring,1. Tuscaloosa,
AL: Department of Religious Studies, University of Alabama.
McCutcheon, Russell T 1997. A Default of Critical Intelligence? The
Scholar of Religion as Public Intellectual. Journal of the American
Academy of Religion 65,2,1997: 443 - 468.
McCutcheon, Russell T 2003a. The Discipline of Religion: Structure,
Meaning, Rhetoric. New York: Routledge.
McCutcheon, Russell T 2003b. Manufacturing Religion: The Discourse on
Sui Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
McCutcheon, Russell 2001. Critics, Not Caretakers: Redescribing the Study
of Religion. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Nabhan-Warren, Kristy 2011. Embodied Research and Writing: A Case for
Phenomenologically Oriented Religious Studies Ethnographies. Journal
of the American Academy of Religion June,79, 2: 378 - 407.
Ogden, Schubert M 1977. Theology and Religious Studies: Their Difference
and the Difference it Makes. Journal of the American Academy of
Religion XLVI,1: 3 - 15.
Panikkar, R 1981. The Unknown Christ of Hinduism: Towards an
Ecumenical Christophany. 2nd Revised Edition. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis
Books.
Panikkar, R 1998. Intra-Religious Dialogue. Revised Edition. New York:
Paulist Press.
Peperzak, Adriaan 2001. Philosophy – Religion – Theology. International
Journal for Philosophy of Religion 50,1,3 [Issues in Contemporary
Philosophy of Religion December: 29-39.]
Preus, Samule 1987. Explaining Religion: Criticism and Theory from Bodin
to Freud. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Roberts, Tyler 2004. Exposure and Explanation: On the New Protectionism
in the Study of Religion. Journal of the American Academy of Religion,
March, 72, 1: 143 - 172.
Roberts, Tyler 2009. All Work and No Play: Chaos, Incongruity and
Différance in The Study of Religion. Journal of the American Academy
of Religion March, 77, 1: 81 - 104.
Ryba, Thomas 1991. The Essence of Phenomenology and Its Meaning for the Scientific Study of Religion. New York, Bern, Frankfurt am Main, Paris.
Segal, Robert A 1989. Religion and the Social Sciences: Essays on the
Confrontation. Atlanta: Scholars Press.
Segal, Robert A 1992. Explaining and Interpreting Religion: Essays on the
Issue. New York: Peter Lang.
Smart, Ninian 1973. The Phenomenon of Religion. London: Macmillan.
Smith, Jonathan Z 1982. Imagining Religion: From Babylon to Jonestown.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Smith, Jonathan Z 2004. A Matter of Class: Taxonomies of Religion.
Jonathan Z Smith. Relating Religion: Essays in the Study of Religion.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Smith, Jonathan Z 2010. Tillich[’s] Remains …. Journal of the American
Academy of Religion December,78, 4: 1139 - 1170.
Smith, WC 1963. The Meaning and End of Religion. New York: Macmillan.
Smith, WC 1987. Faith and Belief. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press.
Smith, WC 1989. Towards a World Theology: Faith and the Comparative
History of Religion. New York: Macmillan.
Smith, WC 1993. What Is Scripture?: A Comparative Approach. Fortress
Press.
Smith, WC 1998. Patterns of Faith Around the World. Oxford: Oneworld
Publications.
Thatamanil, John J 2000. Managing Multiple Religions: An Argument for a
Theological Study of Hinduism. Journal of the American Academy of
Religion December, 68, 4: 791 - 803.
Thatamanil, John J 2010. Comparing Professors Smith and Tillich: A
Response to Jonathan Z Smith’s ‘Tillich(’s) Remains’. Journal of the
American Academy of Religion December, 78, 4: 1171 - 1181.
Wood, Mark 2001. Religious Studies as Critical Organic Intellectual
Practice. Journal of the American Academy of Religion March, 69, 1:
129 - 162.
India. In Braun, Willi & Russell T McCutcheon (eds): Introducing
Religion: Essays in Honor of Jonathan Z. Smith. London: Equinox.
Balagangadhara, SN 1994. ‘The Heathen in his Blindness….’: Asia, the West,
and the Dynamic of Religion. Leiden: EJ Brill.
Cabezón, José Ignacio 2006. The Discipline and Its Other: The Dialectic of
Alterity in the Study of Religion. Journal of the American Academy of
Religion March,74,1: 21 - 38.
Carman, John Braisted 1974. The Theology of Ramanuja: An Essay in
Interreligious Understanding. London: Yale University Press.
Clooney, Francis X 1993. Theology after Vedanta: An Exercise in
Comparative Theology. New York: State University of New York Press.
Clooney, Francis X 1995. Comparative Theology: A Review of Recent
Books. Theological Studies 56: 521 - 550.
Clooney, Francis X 2008. The Truth, the Way, the Life: Christian
Commentary on the Three Holy Mantras of the Srivaisnava Hindus.
Christian Commentaries on Non-Christian Sacred Texts. Cambridge,
UK: William B Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Cross, George 1922. The Motive of Theology. The Journal of Religion 2,4,
July: 380 - 401.
De Roover, Jakob 2003. An Unhappy Lover of Theology: Feuerbach and
Contemporary Religious Studies. Journal of the American Academy of
Religion September71,3: 615 - 635.
Griffin, David Ray 2000. Religious Experience, Naturalism, and the Social
Scientific Study of Religion. Journal of the American Academy of
Religion 68,1, March: 99 - 124.
Griffiths, Paul J 2006. On the Future of the Study of Religion in the
Academy. Journal of the American Academy of Religion. March,74,1: 66
- 74.
Hyman, Gavin 2004. The Study of Religion and the Return of Theology.
Journal of the American Academy of Religion March,72,1: 195 - 219.
Knott, Kim 2005. The Location of Religion: A Spatial Analysis. London:
Equinox Publishing Ltd.
Kumar, Pratap P 2008. Insiders and Outsiders: Studying Hinduism non-
Religiously. Braun, Willi & Russell T McCutcheon (eds): Introducing
Religion: Essays in Honor of Jonathan Z. Smith. London: Equinox.
Lease, Gary 1994. ‘The History of ‘Religious Consciousness’ and the
Diffusion of Culture. Historical Reflections/ Reflexions historiques 20:
453 - 479.
Lincoln, Bruce 1996. Theses on Method. Method & Theory in the Study of
Religion 8: 225 - 227.
Lott, Eric J 1976. God and the Universe in the Vedantic Theology of
Ramanuja. Chennai: Ramanuja Research Society.
Macdonald Jr., Paul A 2010. Studying Christian Theology in the Secular
University. Journal of the American Academy of Religion December,78,
4: 991 - 1024.
McCutcheon, R 2006. Studying Religion in Culture: A Tale of Prepositions
and Conjunctions. Religious Studies Newsletter 3,Spring,1. Tuscaloosa,
AL: Department of Religious Studies, University of Alabama.
McCutcheon, Russell T 1997. A Default of Critical Intelligence? The
Scholar of Religion as Public Intellectual. Journal of the American
Academy of Religion 65,2,1997: 443 - 468.
McCutcheon, Russell T 2003a. The Discipline of Religion: Structure,
Meaning, Rhetoric. New York: Routledge.
McCutcheon, Russell T 2003b. Manufacturing Religion: The Discourse on
Sui Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
McCutcheon, Russell 2001. Critics, Not Caretakers: Redescribing the Study
of Religion. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Nabhan-Warren, Kristy 2011. Embodied Research and Writing: A Case for
Phenomenologically Oriented Religious Studies Ethnographies. Journal
of the American Academy of Religion June,79, 2: 378 - 407.
Ogden, Schubert M 1977. Theology and Religious Studies: Their Difference
and the Difference it Makes. Journal of the American Academy of
Religion XLVI,1: 3 - 15.
Panikkar, R 1981. The Unknown Christ of Hinduism: Towards an
Ecumenical Christophany. 2nd Revised Edition. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis
Books.
Panikkar, R 1998. Intra-Religious Dialogue. Revised Edition. New York:
Paulist Press.
Peperzak, Adriaan 2001. Philosophy – Religion – Theology. International
Journal for Philosophy of Religion 50,1,3 [Issues in Contemporary
Philosophy of Religion December: 29-39.]
Preus, Samule 1987. Explaining Religion: Criticism and Theory from Bodin
to Freud. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Roberts, Tyler 2004. Exposure and Explanation: On the New Protectionism
in the Study of Religion. Journal of the American Academy of Religion,
March, 72, 1: 143 - 172.
Roberts, Tyler 2009. All Work and No Play: Chaos, Incongruity and
Différance in The Study of Religion. Journal of the American Academy
of Religion March, 77, 1: 81 - 104.
Ryba, Thomas 1991. The Essence of Phenomenology and Its Meaning for the Scientific Study of Religion. New York, Bern, Frankfurt am Main, Paris.
Segal, Robert A 1989. Religion and the Social Sciences: Essays on the
Confrontation. Atlanta: Scholars Press.
Segal, Robert A 1992. Explaining and Interpreting Religion: Essays on the
Issue. New York: Peter Lang.
Smart, Ninian 1973. The Phenomenon of Religion. London: Macmillan.
Smith, Jonathan Z 1982. Imagining Religion: From Babylon to Jonestown.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Smith, Jonathan Z 2004. A Matter of Class: Taxonomies of Religion.
Jonathan Z Smith. Relating Religion: Essays in the Study of Religion.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Smith, Jonathan Z 2010. Tillich[’s] Remains …. Journal of the American
Academy of Religion December,78, 4: 1139 - 1170.
Smith, WC 1963. The Meaning and End of Religion. New York: Macmillan.
Smith, WC 1987. Faith and Belief. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press.
Smith, WC 1989. Towards a World Theology: Faith and the Comparative
History of Religion. New York: Macmillan.
Smith, WC 1993. What Is Scripture?: A Comparative Approach. Fortress
Press.
Smith, WC 1998. Patterns of Faith Around the World. Oxford: Oneworld
Publications.
Thatamanil, John J 2000. Managing Multiple Religions: An Argument for a
Theological Study of Hinduism. Journal of the American Academy of
Religion December, 68, 4: 791 - 803.
Thatamanil, John J 2010. Comparing Professors Smith and Tillich: A
Response to Jonathan Z Smith’s ‘Tillich(’s) Remains’. Journal of the
American Academy of Religion December, 78, 4: 1171 - 1181.
Wood, Mark 2001. Religious Studies as Critical Organic Intellectual
Practice. Journal of the American Academy of Religion March, 69, 1:
129 - 162.