宗教研究與敘事理論

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(1)南. 華. 大. 學. 宗教學研究所碩士論文. 宗教研究與敘事理論. Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. 研究生：明弘指導教授：何建興教授孫雲平教授中華民國一○一年六月.

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(3) Abstract The main purpose of this paper is to present the ideas and the theoretical background for the use of the narrative theory in the field of religious studies. First it describes the historical background of the religious studies, focusing on the evolving idea of the 'religious' as a culture-specific concept, rooted in the European Judeo-Christian tradition. With time, the theological ideas became secularized and used as general categories describing the world. These kind of narratives could have remained part of only a particular culture, but during the colonial times they have been imported and forced upon the rest of the world. The ideas became prevalent not because their intellectual superiority, but because of the military superiority and aggressiveness of the colonizing forces. The second part introduces the basics of the narrative theory as an alternative approach to analyze and understand the multitude of different narratives by recognizing their common elements and structure. The last part gives examples how to use the narrative theory in the religious studies. Because of the generally accepted ways of thinking about this topic are pervading our understanding of it, in order to break away from them there is a need to examine the historical and cultural situation where the idea of 'religion', as it exists in the modern language, was born. To break with the traditional way of examination concerning the subject of religious studies we need a radical change in the thought-pattern, a paradigm shift. In this paper this paradigm shift is represented by the realization of the narrative nature of the descriptions of the religious studies and by the propagation of alternative narratives. Keywords: religious studies, ideology, narrative theory, colonization, post-colonial theory, cultural relativity, paradigm shift.

(4) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. Table of Contents Chapter I: Introduction..........................................................................................................................1 1. Problems.......................................................................................................................................1 2. Methodology................................................................................................................................3 3. Structure.......................................................................................................................................5 4. Previous Writers...........................................................................................................................6 Chapter II: On the origin of 'religion'....................................................................................................9 1. On the Etymology of the Word 'Religion'..................................................................................10 2. The Word 'Religion' in History...................................................................................................11 3. The Protestant Reformation.......................................................................................................15 4. The Religious and the Secular....................................................................................................16 5. The Natural Religion..................................................................................................................18 6. The Impact of Colonization........................................................................................................21 7. Post-Colonial Theory.................................................................................................................25 8. The Study of Religion ...............................................................................................................26 9. Defining Religion.......................................................................................................................28 Chapter III: Ideology...........................................................................................................................34 1. Scientific Language and Common Language............................................................................34 2. Ideology......................................................................................................................................38 3. The Nature of Ideology..............................................................................................................40 4. Ideology and Religion................................................................................................................42 5. Concepts About Religion ..........................................................................................................44 6. The Change of the Idea .............................................................................................................46 7. The General Idea of Religion and the Idea of Religions............................................................47 8. The Separation of Religious from Non-Religious .....................................................................49 Chapter IV: The Narrative Theory......................................................................................................51 1. The Narrative World...................................................................................................................52 2. The Word and the Meaning........................................................................................................53 3. The Narrative as the Nature of the Human Understanding........................................................54 4. Temporality................................................................................................................................56 5. Events and Occurrences.............................................................................................................58 6. Plot and Emplotment..................................................................................................................60 7. Productive Imagination..............................................................................................................61 8. Characteristics of Temporality...................................................................................................62 9. Causality.....................................................................................................................................63 10. The Protagonist and the Focal Character.................................................................................65 11. Opposing Stories......................................................................................................................66 12. Ideology and Narrative.............................................................................................................67 Chapter V: Alternative approaches.....................................................................................................70 1. Personification............................................................................................................................73 2. Personification and its Connection With the Focal Character of the Story................................84 3. Reason vs. Belief........................................................................................................................85 4. Ceremonies and Rituals..............................................................................................................87 5. Devotion and Worship................................................................................................................88 6. Sacred and Treasured.................................................................................................................90.

(5) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. 7. Using the Word 'Religion' in the Daily Life...............................................................................91 8. Alternative Narratives in Different Cultures..............................................................................94 Conclusion..........................................................................................................................................97 Bibliography.......................................................................................................................................99.

(6) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. Chapter I: Introduction. 1. Problems The basic problem that this paper will explore is the meaning and usefulness of the category of 'religion' and the 'religious-secular' distinction. We will approach every kind of descriptions as narratives, not only the so called 'religious' texts, but the products of the academical researches, especially in the field of religious studies. Examining them on the same bases we will point out the difficulties, and the possible faults, of representing a specific narrative through the categories of an other narrative. Moreover, we will explore in what sense, and in which situations is it possible to use a narrative that is capable of describing an other one in a fruitful way. This paper will critically reflect on the concepts and methods used in the religious studies. It will focus on several questions that can be raised during the critical examination of the methodologies of this field. For example, the problem of definition: in many studies we have met several definitions and descriptions of the nature or the function of religion. However, until now, no generally accepted definition has been created. On the contrary it is generally accepted that it is not easy to give an accurate definition. This can raise the questions whether it is possible to define religion at all? If it is not possible to give an accurate definition then we have the right to doubt the word's concrete meaning. If it is without concrete meaning then what is the origin and function of this distinction? How does the notion of an objective quality, the 'religious' arise? What is the rational basis of keeping the religious-secular distinction, even though it is often contradictory? This contradiction we can see in grouping different ideas under the category as religious. For example, the thoughtless meditative state of a Buddhist monk, the philosophical writing of a Christian apologist and the circumcision of a Jewish child are all considered as religious. Is it possible to find any inherently common element in these that makes them belong to one group? Or on the other hand we often see similar kind of phenomena placed into two exclusive categories in the religious-secular division. For example, the distinction between the deep belief in the Dharma1 as a universal law and the deep 1 Referring to the dharma in Hinduism.. 1.

(7) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. belief in the Human Rights as a universal law. Is there any rational basis that makes one belief religious and the other secular? We will examine the concept of 'religion' as a culture related idea, and we will present the narrative theory as a theoretical background for the understanding of any discourse, not only expressed in language, but in conceptual thinking. By exploring the universal characteristics of every narratives and realizing the descriptions of the religious studies as being only one of the numerous possibilities, we will approach these problems as a tension between the goal of research and an inappropriate narrative.. 2.

(8) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. 2. Methodology The paper mainly will focus on philosophical research. Although it will use some data from the fieldworks of other scholars, it will do it only if it will foster the understanding of the primary issue. The main purpose is to present the ideas and the theoretical background for the use of narrative theory in the religious studies. To make it clear that why is it seems necessary to use a new system in the religious research, we will introduce the problem from different approaches. Because of the generally accepted methodologies and ways of understanding of this topic pervade our thinking about it, there is a need to examine the roots of the religious studies itself. But this not going to be a historical recollection of the important events for the discipline of religious studies, rather it will be an exploration of the historical and cultural situation where the idea of 'religion', as it exists in the modern language, was born. The idea in its complete form originates from the 19 th century Europe, from a Judeo-Christian environment with specific economical and political situations. The whole body of the collected ideas of a person or the similar ideas of a group of people concerning a given topic, reclining upon Ricoeur's writings, we will call ideology. The whole system of ideology where the religious studies was born we consider an ethnocentric formation in contrast with our point of view which propagates cultural relativism. The categories and the way of expression that is generally found in the religious studies concerning the nature of religion or religions, regarding the religious-secular distinction, we consider as specific expressions of a sociocultural medium. The words and the ideas originally could not be found in every culture, but they have been imported during the process of colonization. For the general academical studies the effect of modern-colonization and neo-colonization has great importance. In this sense the countries emerged from similar sociocultural medium, merely by their superiority in military power, later because of monetary advantage, has “forced” their ideology on the colonized countries. To describe this situation we refer to the post-colonial theory to reveal cultural imperialism. Two fields of philosophy will be often discussed together in this paper, the narrative theory and the theory of ideology, because in this study they are complements to each other. In our research we will use the words 'ideology' and 'narrative' in a wide, philosophical sense, as the whole body of a person's thinking on a given topic (ideology), and its active component to understand and describe (narrative). These two concepts are inseparable from each other. The ideology is the framework of a 3.

(9) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. person's thinking and the narrative is the process of conceptual understanding as it is recreated in language. These qualities are always active in every human without exception. There is no ideologyfree thinking, consequently all explanations are narratives. The problem with the general approach to understand and describe religions lies in the intention to describe the phenomena from an ideology-free position. As Ricoeur pointed out, the historiography can not be separated from the narrative and there are similarities between the narratives of history and fiction. We would like to make a similar parallel between fiction and the history of religions. To break with the traditional way of examination, concerning the subject of religious studies, we need a radical change in the thought-pattern, a paradigm shift. In this paper this paradigm shift is represented by the realization of the narrative nature of the descriptions in the religious studies and by the propagation of alternative narratives.. 4.

(10) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. 3. Structure The Paper can be divided into two main parts. The first part (Chapter II, III) will generally introduce the diversity of the problems that are raised by the concept of 'religion' and by the religious-secular distinction. This part will examine the idea of religion itself in a philosophical way. We will mention the origin of the word 'religion' in the language and the ways it has been used, then we will analyze the ideas connected to this word and their - often contradictory - nature. This part will present the system of ideology, as a description of the framework inherent in every human thinking, to apply it as the description of the thought-pattern that gave birth and maintains the existence of the ideas of 'religion' (as a collective entity) and 'religions' (as separated historical entities) on the one hand, and the religious-secular distinction on the other hand. This problem can be approached from several ways but in this paper this will not be examined in all its diversity, the first part will serve as an introduction of the problem which will point to the direction of a possible solution. The focus of the second part (Chapter IV, V) will be on the creative nature of understanding based on the narrative theory. We will describe – inspired by Ricoeur's writings - the narrative theory and use it in the field of religious studies to point out that the generally accepted way of researching religions, with the religious-secular distinction, basically leans on only one main type of narrative and interpretation of the phenomena. First we will present the general system of narrative theory adapted for a description of the nature of human understanding. After the introduction of the categories and methodologies of the narrative theory the focus will shift to the application of the system for the religious studies to reveal the nature of the problems described in the first part. In the end we will provide alternative approaches that excludes the religious-secular distinction and reinterprets the meaning of 'religion'.. 5.

(11) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. 4. Previous Writers Besides the books of the traditional scholars of religious studies we will use the writings of authors from three fields: the study of critical religion, post-colonial theory and the narrative theory. The 'critical religion' means all those academical methods that pursue new ways to describe the religious phenomena by questioning the fundamental categories and methodologies of the religious studies. This field is often connected with the thinkers of post-colonialism. About the topic of critical religion the paper will often lean on the writings of Dr. Timothy Fitzgerald, professor at the University of Stirling in Scotland, especially his book The Ideology of Religious Studies. He is a member of a research group that propagates a critical approach toward the study of religion. The meaning of 'critical religion' with his own words: “My principal theoretical pursuit is ‘critical religion’, by which I mean the critical deconstruction of religion as a powerful discourse and its parasitic relation to ‘secular’ categories such as politics and economics.”2 Jonathan Z. Smith in his book Imagining Religion – From Babylon to Jonestown (1982) writes: “That is to say, while there is a staggering amount of data, of phenomena, of human experiences and expressions that might be characterized in one culture or another, by one criterion or another, as religious – there is no data for religion. Religion is solely the creation of the scholar's study. It is created for the scholar's analytic purposes by his imaginative acts of comparison and generalization. Religion has no independent existence apart from the academy.”3 An other important book is Wilfred Cantwell Smith's The Meaning and End of Religion (1991). In the Introduction he writes: “Neither religion in general nor any one of the religions, I will contend, is in itself an intelligible entity, a valid object of inquiry or of concern either for the scholar or for the man of faith.”4 This paper will follow the path of the former mentioned writers. Gavin Flood in the 5th chapter of his book Beyond Phenomenology – Rethinking the Study of Religion (1999) gives a description about the use of narrative theory in the religious studies, but it seems he does not really belong to the critical thinkers. 2 Critical Religion Research Group website; http://www.criticalreligion.stir.ac.uk/staff/dr-timothy-fitzgerald/ 3 Smith, J.Z. (1982) p. xi 4 Smith, W.C. (1991) p.12. 6.

(12) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. The first important writer on the topic of the effect of colonization and post-colonialism is Edward Said with his book Orientalism (1978). Edward Said was a well-known PalestinianAmerican literary theorist and critic. In his book he criticized the concept of orientalism, the artificial separation of the east and west. The root of this distinction came from the European colonization. When the Europeans met with the eastern civilizations they described it as an exotic, mystical world. The science of orientalism was established in order to study these 'exotic' cultures, and their descriptions never could get over this initial impression. The division of the world into two parts, the occident and the orient, had also other sides: they characterized the western world as civilized, superior and the holder of right understanding. The east at the same time became the uncivilized, inferior and barbaric world. These kind of descriptions justified the colonization and it became their duty to educate the uncivilized world. The attributes they associated with the orient were very subjective descriptions, but they became the standard descriptions of the orient not only in literary works but in scientific reports too. The duty of the post-colonialist writers is to get rid of these false, illusionary descriptions and show the real nature of their own cultures. Other important writers on this topic are: Jean-Paul Sartre, Aimé Césaire (Discourse on Colonialism; 1950), Frantz Fanon (Black Skin, White Masks; 1952), Frantz Fanon (The Wretched of the Earth; 1961), Albert Memmi (The Colonizer and the Colonized; 1965), Kwame Nkrumah (Consciencism;1970), Ahmad, Aijaz (In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literaturess; 1994), Gandhi, Leela (Postcolonial Theory: A Critical Introduction; 1988) On the topic of ideology and narrative theory we follow two sources. For one, the writings of Paul Ricoeur, relying mainly on his books: From Text to Action (1991) and the Time and Narrative, (3 volumes; 1984, 1985, 1988). We will use some concepts form him that describes the nature of the narratives, like temporality, plot and emplotment, and productive imagination. The basic idea of the creative nature of the narratives is also comes from him: “In one way or another, all symbol systems contribute to shaping reality. More particularly, the plots that we invent help us to shape our confused, formless, and in the last resort mute temporal experience.”5 The other important writer on this topic is Walter R. Fisher. His book the Human 5 Ricoeur (1991). 7.

(13) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. Communication As Narration: Toward a Philosophy of Reason, Value, and Action describes most closely our approach toward the nature of human reconstruction of reality through storytelling. “(1)Humans are... storytellers. (2) The paradigmatic mode of human decision making and communication is “good reasons,” which vary in form among situations, genres, and media of communication. (3) The production and practice of good reasons are ruled by matters of history, biography, culture, and character along with the kinds of forces identified in the Frentz and Farrell language-action paradigm. (4) Rationality is determined by the nature of persons as narrative beings - their inherent awareness of narrative probability, what constitutes a coherent story, and their constant habit of testing narrative fidelity, whether or not the stories they experience ring true with the stories they know to be true in their lives... (5) The world as we know it is a set of stories that must be chosen among in order for us to live life in a process of continual re-creation”6. 6 Fisher (1987) p. 5. 8.

(14) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. Chapter II: On the origin of 'religion' In this chapter we are going to examine the origin of the religious studies in a historical and a socio-cultural context. In contrast of the common descriptions of the 'history of religion', our approach is not to find a coherent group of religious phenomena in the history to present their evolution. We are going to show that the very concept of religion, as we understand today, is a new, modern idea. Besides its appearance during the last couple of hundred years it can not be found in the history. In order to understand the difference between the modern meaning of the word 'religion', a brief part will introduce the word's former appearances in language from the ancients to the modern time. Although the description will be confined to Europe, as it is the cradle of the religious studies and the English word 'religion', we will mention some of the similar words in other languages. This part will give some information about the former meanings of the word 'secular' too, as it is the counterpart of the 'religious'. Then we will focus on the evolving idea of religion during history, by presenting how did the meaning of the word 'religion' reached its present form. To understand this we will try to sketch the world-view of the people in the earlier times, when there were no such conceptual distinction that would divide their lives into a religious and secular part. Our goal is to make it clear that this distinction is not inherent in the world, it does not come from observation, but it is an artificial, man-created concept. In the last part we will show what kind of contradictions can be found in the generally accepted concepts of religion and what kind of problems arose from the division of people to religious and non-religious groups. The topics presented in this chapter are introductory only, a deeper explanation of the historical and ideological background of the ideology of religion still needs further research. But for the understanding of the later chapters it is very important to understand this historical background. The main goal is to point out the need for a revision of categories in the religious studies and to help understand the role of the narrative theory in this field.. 9.

(15) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. 1. On the Etymology of the Word 'Religion' In order to define a word it is a common practice to find its root, the original word where it came from. In the English language the origin of a word often can be traced back to the Latin language. In the scientific writings about religions we often meet an etymological analysis in the beginning, to give a better definition of the word. About this practice we have to mention that the etymology in itself is not a definition. The former uses of the word has not necessarily has anything to do with its modern usage. Sometimes relying only on etymology to define a word can be very misleading, because the role of the word in the language can change. But for a better understanding we still have to briefly introduce the origin of the word 'religion', on the one hand to put in in a historical context, and on the other hand it might help to reflect on it as a word with other meanings as well. The use of etymology was common practice for the ancient Greeks and Romans to define a word's meaning. Even today there are scholars who rely entirely on etymology to define meaning. We don't believe that the etymological analysis of the Latin word 'religio' would take us really closer to the understanding of its modern meaning, but it can show in what kind of circumstances has it been used. The English word 'religion' comes from the Latin 'religio'. It has been used several ways in the history, it can mean: piety, reverence, holiness, sacredness, sanctity. Often connected with divinity, with God or the gods, like reverence for God or gods, fear of God. This reverence can be inward or manifested outside by ceremonies.7 There are different opinions about the origin of this word. There are two main derivations in the focus of the scholarly literature. Cicero8 derived 'religio' from the word 'relegere' (re-leg re): 'to treat carefully'9. Relegere can be translated as: to gather, choose or read carefully, to read over again or to pay attention to, in contrast of 'nec-leg re' or 'neg-leg' re which mean neglect or disregard. Most of the modern etymologists favor an other explanation, first introduced by Lactantius 10. 7 Lewis, C.T. and Short, C.,1879. A Latin Dictionary. New York: Clarendon Press [online edition] 8 Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC – 43 BC) was a Roman politician, political theorist, philosopher and one of Rome's greatest orators. He was also a lawyer and as a linguist and translator he created an important Latin philosophical vocabulary. 9 Cicero:De Natura Deorum; II, 28. 10 Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius (ca. 240 – ca. 320) was a Christian apologist, the advisor of Constantine I, the first Christian Roman emperor.. 10.

(16) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. He derives religio from the word 'religare' with the meaning of 'to bond'11. It can also mean to bind back or behind, to bind or fasten up, to bind fast. It comes from the re (again) + ligare (to reconnect). St. Augustine12 agrees with this derivation in Retractions 13, although in an earlier work, in the City of God14 he derives it from religere in the sense of recovering (religentes) as the opposite of neglect (negligens) Thomas Aquinas15 introduces all these three explanations in the Summa Theologica 16, but he does not choose between them. For modern scholars the etymological research is usually a tool for a better understanding of the origin of religion, but for the writers of the old Christian world, like Thomas Aquinas, it was a tool to understand the meaning of the Christian religion. Perhaps the intentions of the ancient Christian and modern scholars has much more in common than we would first assume. It is important to understand that these words we can find connected with the meaning of 'religion' are words of an ancient language, and they are part of that time's narrative. The narrative constructions are changing by time, so the reconstruction of meaning is not easy. Even if the word 'religio' is connected with the words like 'god' or 'God', we have to remember that the meanings of these words would require further research too, in order to fully recognize their position and meaning in an ancient narrative. Since people of that time used different words to describe their lives than people of the present time, we always have to keep in mind that we can easily impose modern meaning on them.. 2. The Word 'Religion' in History To find a precise meaning for the word 'religion' is not only a difficulty for its present usage in language, but it is also difficult to find the meaning in the past. Trough the history, this word has been used in a lot of different senses.17 And there is no word exactly same as the English 'religion' in 11 12 13 14 15 16 17. Lactantius: Divinarum Institutionum; Book IV, Chapter 28. Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis (354 – 430). Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian, Bishop of Hippo Regius. Augustinus: Retractationes; I, 8. Augustinus: De Civitate Dei contra Paganos; X, 3 Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274) was a scholastic philosopher, the greatest theologian of the Catholic Church. Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologica; II-II Question 81, Article 1 Smith (1982) p.19. 11.

(17) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. other languages, neither among the Indo-European languages, nor in Greek or Latin18. If we examine the historical records of the ancient religious writings we will find no traces of this concept. Probably, apart from a few exceptions 19, the notion of religion as a particular system of belief was unknown prior to the modern period. We can check the classical texts of Hinduism or Buddhism, Sanskrit or Pali, we will not find this kind of concepts of religion. Nor in the ancient Egyptian, nor classical Chinese, nor Hebrew of the Jewish scriptures, nor Greek of the New Testament.20 All of these writings has no one single word that could be translated to our modern concept of religion or religions. It seems that the people of the old times did not described themselves and others in a religious-secular distinction. Would this mean that the people of that time did not realize such an important part of life? Or simply there was nothing to realize, because this kind of distinction did not make any sense. If this is the case, then what has changed with the modern time? There were different words that we can connect with this modern concept, but we will not find any real analogy. Of course, they talked about different qualities, living matters that can be characterized as religious life. Qualities and concepts such as faith, obedience and disobedience, piety, worship, the truth in the ancient writings are somewhat close in meaning with the modern sense of religion. But even these words did not suggest a secular-religious distinction, and did not necessarily separated a specific life area from politics or economics. That kind of distinction which would make a clear separation, and would show the religion as a communally embodied system of belief was not present. Important to note, that two opposing groups with different ideas about the truth, God, or what is the proper piety or behavior, does not mean they have the concept of 'religion' in their mind. This only suggests that these people does not have the same attitude toward different parts of life. They could think about the other that they do something wrong, or have an incorrect understanding, but not in the sense that one group possesses a 'religious' quality and the other does not. The difference of the modern idea is that it tries to characterize a separated group of phenomena, called 'religion', which can be distinguished from the other aspects of culture and from a 'secular' world. A definition of religion tries to explain the meaning of the word 'religion' or, we could say, it 18 Needham (1981) p. 73 19 The Islam is an exception, its whole structure is totally different. A word similar to 'religion' also can be found in the Koran. 20 Smith (1982) pp. 55-57. 12.

(18) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. tries to find the meaning behind it. In most of the cases the research treats this word as it has a well known, unquestionable meaning that can be exposed. The job of the scholar seems to find this inherent meaning and express it. But the meaning of this word as we are using it today and the idea behind it is quite new, even though in the European tradition there is the word 'religion' in the older times. The meaning of 'religio' in the early Europe is different from the modern word 'religion'. Most of the times it was connected with meanings like piety or Christian truth. The different meanings of the word can make great confusion and misunderstanding if we try to understand an old text with the word 'religion' in the modern sense. When reading ancient texts we can 'read' a wrong meaning into the context. For example, take the 'religio' and understand it as something similar to the modern word 'piety', which is probably a good choice in many Christian writings 21. One of the works of the Christian philosopher St. Augustine22 called: 'De Vera Religione'. Most of the time it is translated as 'On the True Religion'. It is translated in a way, that is influenced by the modern commonly accepted point of view. But the meaning is probably different and it could be translated as: 'On True Religiousness' or 'On True Piety'. With the use of the word 'religion' and its modern meaning it has a totally different meaning. It can make a misunderstanding from the very beginning, forcing a modern concept on an ancient writing. Keep using the modern concept of the word can make the whole text interpreted in a modern way. This text does not suggests a world-view with religioussecular distinction, only shows what is the right way to be religious, by avoiding wrong religiousness. Take an other example from a thousand years later. Huldrych Zwingli 23 wrote the 'De Vera et Falsa Religione', usually translated as "The True and False Religion". It suggests that this book talks about different religions, showing which is true or false. But the subject was not Christianity as the true religion in contrast to false religions, but rather the true or false 'piety' of Christians. If we see John Calvin's24 work the 'Institutio Christianae Religionis', which in English known as 'The Institutes of the Christian Religion'. This title, again, misleading as it can suggest that it realizes 21 Detailed explanation about the different meanings of 'religion' in Smith, W.C. (1991) pp. 19-50. Here we are going to follow his explanations. 22 Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis (354 – 430), Bishop of Hippo Regius, was a Latin speaking philosopher. One of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity. 23 (1484 – 1531) He was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. 24 John Calvin (1509 – 1564) was a French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530. He fled from France to Basel, Switzerland, where in 1536 he published the first edition of his seminal work Institutio Christianae Religionis.. 13.

(19) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. Christianity as a religion. A literal, word for word translation of the title would read as 'An Instruction of Christian Piety' or 'The Foundations' or perhaps 'Structures of Christian Piety'. The Latin word 'institutio' can mean arrangement, custom, introduction, or education. The English word institute can mean elementary principle or a brief, intensive course of instruction devoted to technical fields. Perhaps a better rendering for this part of the title would be introduction or catechism. Calvin himself says in his prefatory address to King Francis: "My intention was only to furnish a kind of rudiments, by which those who feel some interest in religion might be trained to true godliness."25 Here, again, the 'religion' is referring to something different then it would mean in the modern time. Both of the former mentioned writers are writing against the practices of the Catholic church, and presenting the right way of Christian religiousness as piety, the way of living, or even the right social order. During the early times of the Christian world 'religion' meant the Christian truth. But this truth was not in opposition with other 'religious truths' but with falsity or error. To understand this concept we have to see every aspects of the society, regarding religiousness, as a coherent whole. There were no that kind of non-religious part of the life as we would describe today, and in fact there were no religion in the modern sense. It was only life that people lived according to the order of things. Everything that worked accordingly to the truth, the country, the king, politics, economics were all religious. Until the 19th century all the institutions were part of it. Non-religious was equal with the uncivilized, barbarous or pagan. The people of that time did not consider themselves as religious, even the word 'religion' rarely appeared in the texts. If they used it 'the religious' meant the monastics and the monastic order. And the secular was the name for the priests living outside of the monasteries, they were the secular priests.26 There were no separation of church and state, the king was a kind of priest too, God's lieutenant on earth. He could even bless people, or command them to heal. In order to understand better the point of view of that time, we can check ourselves, how do we relate to ideas as, for example, law or rights. The people of the modern time accept lots of laws as 25 Calvin [Online] http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php %3Ftitle=535&Itemid=27 26 Secular Clergy (Latin clerus sæcularis) In the language of religious, the world (sæculum) is opposed to the cloister; religious who follow a rule, especially those who have been ordained, form the regular clergy, while those who live in the world are called the secular clergy. - In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved June 11, 2012 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13675a.htm. 14.

(20) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. not only man made regulations but as universal truths. For example, the concepts that killing or stealing is not right, and it is right to punish who commits them. The ideas of equality, freedom, that people have free will or they are free to chose how they live. Or the formation of a family, the concept of monogamy. These ideas are all very natural for people and most of them would consider them as parts of life, parts of reality, not something that they just believe in or accept by faith. Actually there is no any rational basis to believe in these ideas instead of any other. Now if we consider these as merely one kind of narratives about how to live, we can understand that the people of the past have the same attitude toward their narratives. Adding a 'religious' element to their lives makes no sense, if we do not add the same quality to our lives. In this sense the phrase 'being religious' in the earlier times has the same meaning as 'being law-abiding' at the present. That kind of abstract category which is similar to the modern concept, but still not the same, appeared during the time of enlightenment, used by the deists.. 3. The Protestant Reformation Starting from the 16th century with the Protestant Reformation, the structure of the European society started to change. Before this time most people were Roman-Catholic. During the years of reformation, the conflict between two groups separated the Christians of Western Europe to Protestants and Catholics. It was a separation in the unity of society, besides the attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church. It was started by priests who were against some of the teachings and practices of the Church, for example, against the sale of indulgences27 and clerical offices and against many Catholic doctrines that were not found in the bible, even the authority of the Pope. Their intention was to get rid of the additional theories and practices that can not be found in the Bible, to reach a personal for them 'original' - way of religious practice. The Reformation began on 31 October 1517, the day when Martin Luther, a German priest and professor of theology, nailed his statement, the NinetyFive Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences 28 to the door of the Castle Church, in Wittenberg. Soon other reformers followed his example, like John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, John 27 The indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment due to sin. It is granted by the Catholic Church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution. Here it means the practice when this is sold for money. 28 Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum. 15.

(21) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. Knox29. Although the new movement was quickly spreading through Europe, there were not complete agreement among their members. These differences in doctrines first caused divisions between them, later total separation. This lead to the establishment of different Protestant Churches: the Lutheran, the Reformed, the Puritans, and the Presbyterian. The events started here led to a series of violent actions and finally to the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). The differences between the protestant groups has no significance for us now, what important is the new message and the active confrontation with the practices of the church. The new idea was a new way of thinking about the religious life, and about the meaning of right piety as it should be separated from the church. The Reformation had a great impact on every sphere of life in Europe. It effected not only the role of the Church in the human life, but a new way of looking at the world and a new social structure were born. This implied the rethinking of several former truths about the society, and since the church was not separated from the state, this effected the economics and politics too. The formerly unified Christian Europe divided into two parts, and a new way of thinking about religion appeared: the idea of the religious life, as something that should be separated from many other aspects of human life. This was the starting idea that made possible the development of the modern idea of religion.. 4. The Religious and the Secular Dr. Timothy Fitzgerald dates the first appearance of the secular as a distinct field from the religious around the end of the 17 th century30. It is connected with the activity of two persons: John Lock31 and William Penn32. Both of them were English philosophers and were working on a separated, distinct category of politics and also on the private nature of religious life. This kind of separation of religious and secular appears the earliest time in their writings, but that time it still didn't have the same meaning as now. The purpose was the separation of the church from the state 29 John Knox (1514 - 1572) was a Scottish clergyman. 30 RRI 2008 (New Delhi). Record of the conference: Rethinking Religion in India. Organised by the Research Centre Vergelijkende Cultuurwetenschap (Ghent University) and the Centre for the Study of Local Cultures (Kuvempu University, India). http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL92E6952D0AEC9D2A&feature=plcp 31 John Locke (1632 – 1704) was an English philosopher, an important thinker of the Enlightenment. Also known as the Father of Liberalism. 32 William Penn (1644 – 1718). 16.

(22) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. and to posit the religious life in a private sphere not in the hand of a group of people. Similar ideas were propagated by a group called 'The Religious Society of Friends' or Quakers. It is a Christian movement which started in England in the middle of the 17th century. Their teaching were spread by traveling preachers, and they were very critical about the whole religious life of that time. One of their purpose was to lead the people back to the practices of the early Church by transforming the religion to an inner, private quest, and pursuing a personal relationship with Christ 33. To achieve this they separated themselves from the Church of England, and preached the need for a separate order which regulates the relations in society. Since that time there were no difference between church and state, in modern words we could call it a political and also a religious movement. In 1650 the main figure of this movement, George Fox, was charged for blasphemy, and from 1662 the Quakers were officially persecuted in England34. The persecution stopped in 168935, but until this time many of the Quakers already escaped to America to be out of reach, and spread their teachings there. William Penn even made a “holly experiment” to run a state by the laws based on Quaker principles, the state of Pennsylvania.36 The Quakers clearly separated themselves from people with other beliefs. They thought the only right way of religious practice is through direct connection with Christ. They considered all other approaches as paganism, even the different views within the Christian traditions. In the 19 th century there were intentions to establish a universal Church that would embrace all the different kinds of human religious traditions. James George Frazer, one of the founding fathers of the religious studies was a Quaker too.37 All these events made significant changes in the perception of the human life. But even if these movements often seems to us as religious, all their actions have an other side too. During that time lot of political and social power was concentrated in the hands of the Church. It was not possible for anybody to get a position in the Church, the positions were divided between themselves based on inner political interests and social background. The common people of that time, generally, did not 33 34 35 36. At least for them that was the original way. The Quaker Act (1662) and the Conventicle Act (1664). Because of the The Act of Toleration Archdiocese of Philadelphia - Loughlin, J. (1911). In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved June 11, 2012 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11793b.htm 37 Pals (1996) p.17. 17.

(23) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. want to go against the will of the Church and accepted it as the source of truth. But there were other groups of power too, outside of the Church, such as the nobility and the richest traders. Since the places of influence was divided among these groups, one way to get higher share from the power was through the reduction of the Church's role. This interest increased in the colonial countries, since they were far away from the motherland, they could set up new power structures for themselves. To change social structure and make acceptable, especially for the common people, there was a need for a reasonable explanation. A new ideology, that would justify the separation of governance from the church came in handy. Later, by the official separation of church and state the world actually has been divided into two parts. This new division forced the people to rethink their categories about country, religion, duty, faith, etc. These events and ideas had great importance in the shaping of the new ideas: the 'religion' and its counterpart the 'secular'. The former review of the historical events is not giving a complete and detailed description for the development of the new ideas. Its purpose is to introduce some important historical events, and make it clear that the distinction of the religious from the secular world is the result of a series of historical events, often dominated by struggle for power. The distinction is not based on a realization of a fundamental fact in the world, but from the opposition of different interests. A detailed analysis still requires further research.. 5. The Natural Religion During the time of the 18th century a new cultural movement of intellectuals emerged in Europe and America. Prior to the 17th century theism and deism referred to the same idea. Both terms meant that there is a supreme creator. The idea of deism started to diverge from theism with the expansion of the use of rationality and scientific inquiry. The deists gave a new view about the world, the rule of God and the role of humanity in it. For them, although God created the universe and set it into motion, but only that was his role in it. God created the laws of nature, and set up the laws of morality, but He does not interfere and did not place power or authority in the hand of a group of people, the church. This idea was in accordance with the times intentions to separate the church from the state. There is a third thing that God did gave to the people, the chance for an afterlife, if they follow the moral laws. 18.

(24) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. Because of the special ideas of the deists, it was much easier to answer some questions that was difficult to answer for other Christians. One fundamental problem was for the Christians is to explain why there is no Christian religion in the other parts of the world. If God is almighty and allloving, then it is difficult to explain that why God would leave millions and millions of people without hearing about Him, dooming them to eternal damnation. Since the deists did not rely on the church or revelation they could answer this easily. For them there is no need to meet with priests or read the bible to know God, everybody has equal chance for that. Among the deists there were two main kinds of explanations. The first is that every human beings have an innate, natural understanding of God. Without the need of any studies everybody has a perception of God, and understands that the world is created by Him. This is the faith of even the very first human beings, the 'natural religion' shared by the whole human race. The other explanation of the deists was not based on an inner faith, but on observation. They claimed that anybody merely just observing the surrounding world will reach to the conclusion of God's existence. This explanation relies on the importance of reasoning. It characterizes God as a great architect who created a 'clockwork' universe, and the world in itself is the evidence for His existence. The Teleological or Design Argument is one of the oldest and most popular of the theistic proofs. It is easily understandable by everybody, so it is often used not only by theologists, but people of faith without deeper philosophical background. It suggests that there is an analogy between the order and regularity of the cosmos and the products made by human beings. We can see in the world everything has its right place, everything is working according to its function in a very complex system. The whole universe is similar to a perfect machine, where every part was designed perfectly to fit its place. Even the different parts of the body are functioning according to support the whole human being. If we see a machine, for example a watch, we know it is made by somebody. If we see the world we should get to the same conclusion. This kind of argumentation also can be traced back to ancient Greek philosophers, like Socrates and Plato, but the most known version is probably the watchmaker analogy associated with theologian William Paley 38, who presented it in his book, the Natural Theology in 1802. The rational consequence of these ideas is that all the people around the world with their 'religious' manifestations are belong to the same natural religion, and all of them are inspired by 38 William Paley (1743–1805). 19.

(25) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. God in some way. Not only the teachings and rituals of he Christian world, but the teachings and rituals of the people in China, Africa, India etc. can be traced back to God. If an American Indian performs a ritual for the Great Spirit, or a Hindu offers fruits to Vishnu, they are motivated by the same principle: the inner realization of a transcendent power: God. Although this approach went against the dominant teachings of the Church, but it still did not offered total equality for every people in the world. The deists still thought that their understanding is deeper then the understanding of others, and only they see clearly the true nature of God. The non-European and non-American cultures were still treated inferior, and their religious practices too. Besides the right religiousness, the cultural and intellectual superiority of the west was also taken as evident. In the teachings of the deists the basics concepts of the religious studies were formulated. This was the moment when the concept of general religion, and its several instances of religions were born. At the time of the 18th century there were common ideas among the intellectuals, they started to perceive the world as the place for religious beings. The idea of religiousness, even though got a broader sense, it was still based on the Judeo-Christian concepts. Actually, they pointed out directly that all the religions of the world are based on the religion of the deists, indirectly on the God of the European Christian tradition. All the descriptions they gave were based on the Christian idea of religion, although they formally has been separated from the Church, but they could not escape from the ideological structures of it, their framework of thinking remained similar. And this was exactly the theoretical background of the religious studies. All the founding fathers of the religious studies were influenced by these ideas, or were deists themselves. They created the categories and methodology of the religious research based on Christian foundations. The religious studies is a product of this specific age and time, probably in an other culture it could not have happened the same way. In this sense we can say that the foundations of the religious studies are not excursively scientific, which is true to some of its methodologies only, but it is came from Christian Theology. Because the created categories, and the idea of religion itself, are resisting total revision, and there is a strong resistance to abandon even controversial ideas, it is also can be considered as dogmatic. The rationality of that time, with the questioning of religious world views have an other effect too. From the evidence of the teachings of the church and the scriptures they shifted to the evidence found in nature. This approach favors scientific knowledge over any other kind, and since the non20.

(26) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. European cultures seemed not following the same narrative system, their descriptions were treated as primitive. Although the existence of God as the first cause of the universe and nature was accepted by lots of scholars, and they agreed that other cultures has this notion too, but they argued that those cultures had some rudimentary grasp on reality only. Their understanding is screened with superstition and misunderstanding. This kind of attitude, even if it is usually hidden, is still part of the modern narratives of this field.. 6. The Impact of Colonization Before there could be any serious attempt to clarify the categories used in the religious studies, there is an other problem to face: the culturally dependent nature of the research itself. The narrative that describes the world by the categories used in the religious studies is not a general, not a crosscultural perception. It is a part of, and emerged from a specific socio-cultural medium – as we described it before -, so it is limited to that medium's ideological manifestations. The difficulty to realize this lies not only in the fact that if one belongs to a specific cultural medium then one would unintentionally follow the distinctive categories of that thought-system, but also in the accepted ideology's prevalent nature, viz. the so called 'western' way of thinking and lifestyle has been exported to the most part of the world. At least it is true, that it has been exported to those parts where this kind of studies were made, and the researchers all shared a similar narrative background. The created categories are maintained and recreated in the daily language, through the media, laws etc., and even in the academical world. The origin of this kind of narrative on the one side is the English language, and indirectly the Latin, with its vocabulary and categories shaped by a Christian culture. On the other side is the political and cultural ideology based on the interests of the Euro-American colonial powers, and their effect on the social life, for example by the separation of church and state. The unique situation of the English language as a general medium of communication in the world, and often in the scientific world, is evident, and the pervasiveness of the 'western' culture and ideologies too. To understand how did it came to this we have to go back in time, at least to the 16 th century. The spreading of the 'western' culture can be traced back to the process of colonization. In the beginning this expansion was made by physical force, leaning on one country's superiority over 21.

(27) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. an other in technology, especially in warfare39. The process of colonization started with the forceful elimination of physical resistance, and with the establishment of alien rules in politics and social life. Then the conquered country has been “educated”, usually by repressing the local culture. After long time of domination the categories that the conquerors were using to describe the conquered became the part of the narrative that has been used by the conquered too to describe themselves, even if these categories were non-existent before. In this re-education, the establishment of a new language - the language of the colonizing countries - as official language has a great importance. With the new language new words are used to describe the world, this also means a new categorization of the reality. This way new, formerly unknown concepts appeared and has been mixed with the original ideas. With time, by the education of the new generation, the local language became secondary, even almost forgotten. The “education” also forced new costumes, and value system on the locals, and the formerly important ones often has been degraded into the categories of superstition, or primitive habits. In this paper by the word 'colonization' we refer manly to the colonial activities of the Western European countries from the 16th century until the very beginning of the 20 th century. The countries of The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, France and the Kingdom of England, from the 18th century Great Britain, all had important colonial roles during the history. There was a time when most part of the world was under colonial control: the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania too. At one time, Great Britain, for example, ruled almost fifty percent of the world. 40 The European empire have held around eighty-five percent of the world by the time of the First World War. This great number assures that the European ideas not only could be reached almost every part of the world, but had a great influence on them. Although there were significant changes in the dominant thoughts of the colonial countries by the 19th century, and these changes amplified the tension between the colonial practice and the liberal thought, this effected only the material exploitation of the counties. The new liberal ideas wanted to lift up the colonized countries from a slave-like state, and wanted to give them more political freedom, but not in every aspect of life. At the same time most of the political philosophers were propagating the legitimacy of colonialism and imperialism in order to “educate” the 39 We would like to emphasize that this is not a superiority in knowledge or understanding of the world, nor in morality or any other human values. 40 Ferguson (2004) p.15. 22.

(28) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. “uncivilized” societies. Behind the idea of equality the European values, languages, categories of thinking and political constructions were forced upon the colonized societies. All of these activities were formulated as a “civilizing mission” that meant to serve the best interests of the oppressed countries. The controlling power had to be maintained until a similar socio-political structure has been recreated and the newly formed society has been capable of sustaining similar kind of liberal institutions and self-government.41 But even after the withdrawal of the formal colonial control, its effect on the culture could not be dismissed. The local people already organized themselves based on the ways of the oppressors. And the leading elite usually had been educated in foreign environment, often working for the former colonizing powers. We also have to emphasize that by the creation of a new political and social order, which has been manifested through a 'secular' state, a totally new perception of life emerged. The religious-secular distinction has been forced upon the people this way, letting them no choice for an alternative living of life. This situation destroyed their originally different understanding of life, where these categories were unknown. From the 20th century, mainly after the Second World War, a new process, the neo-coloniazation took place with a new method of control. The main tool of power from the direct use of political and military force is changed into the propagation of global political, ideological and economical views usually by military, political and economical pressure from behind. At the same time the mainstream media and the education was still controlled on some level. For example, by the decision of what the correct interpretation of the history is and what the fundamental human values are. The withdrawal of the colonial powers might be experienced as a liberation by the formerly dominated societies, but the cultural effect of the long years of oppression remained already integrated into the society. This caused the maintenance and reproduction of the foreign ideologies by the local communities. Most of the locals accepted the new values and goals and because they are just started to construct the western kind of society, they immediately placed themselves in an inferior position. They needed further help from the west to create a western-like social, cultural, political and academical life. By the spreading of the liberal capitalism and free market, the business interests are often become culture forming powers. Some of the cultural or religious days have been transformed in order to serve business interests. Usually it took form in the reshaping of an ancient or holy day, that people celebrate, by preserving some of its elements, but alter it in a way that will promote 41 Same kind of situation and similar rhetoric can be seen even recently, for example: the invasion of Iraq.. 23.

(29) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. consuming different, usually that day's specific products. The original meaning of that day soon forgotten, only a simplified message remained, but actually not as the main center of that day, but only as a reason for consuming goods. One good example of this is the character of Santa Claus. The well known form that usually appears everywhere is the joyous, white-bearded man wearing a red coat and red trousers with white collar and cuffs, black leather belt and boots. This kind of characterization started to appear already in the 19th century in commercials, but this specific illustration was created by the Coca-Cola Company to propagate its product in the beginning of the 20th century. Today the main symbol of Christmas is this figure, even outside of the US. The many different illustrations in the European traditions slowly has been forgotten, and the stories behind it has been replaced by the artificial fairy-tale like stories. There were numerous traditions having some kind of celebration around the day 25 th December, and stories about a person who later became Santa Clause. The origin of this character is a 4 th century Greek saint Nikolaos of Myra. He was also called Nikolaos the Wonderworker or Saint Nicholas. He was the Bishop of Myra in Lycia. According to the stories, he was a good hearted man who often gave gifts to the poor, sometimes left money secretly at poor houses. If people left their shoes out for him for the night, he would put in some coins by the morning. In some countries on the 6 th of December children clean their boots and put it at the window, in hope to get some gifts and sweets. In Hungary they are calling him the 'Winterfather' or 'Mikulas' which is a derivation of the name Nikolaos. Besides the strong effect of American culture during the last decades there were no Santa Claus in Hungary before. But there is still a gift giving habit at Christmas eve, although the gifts are not from Santa, but form the 'Baby Jesus'. In America it is common to see 'Christmas Stockings' on Christmas Eve. These are empty socks or sock-shaped bags usually hanged close to the fireplace so Santa Claus can fill it up with gifts, small toys, candies or fruits. This custom originates from a very old story about Saint Nicholas. There was a poor man who had three daughters. Because he was very poor, he could not afford a proper dowry for them which would be a requirement to find a husband. Saint Nicholas wanted to help him, but without anybody else to discover it. There are many different versions of the story, but they are common in one thing: after two gracious offerings the poor man wanted to find out the identity of their benefactor. In one version, Saint Nicholas figures out that the man is waiting for him, so he drops the third bag of money down the chimney which falls into the stockings of the 24.

(30) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. daughter, who just washed them that day and hanged them there to dry. The historical Saint Nicholas and his miraculous stories are still remembered and he is well respected among Catholic and Orthodox Christians. He is the patron saint of many professions and cities. Probably not many people are really aware of the connection between him and Santa Claus. Similar transformations can be seen in the 'marketization' of other religious, cultural days as the Halloween, Eastern or the Valentine's Day. These, mainly Christian days after a time changed to a kind of fun, consuming day. They have been imported as a product, a business model to many countries around the world. This kind of effects on culture sometimes called coca-colonization 42. Of course, the numerous special days from the east, the Chinese, Indian or Muslim holidays not only never made it to the west, but never even heard of. All these modern holidays are religious in their origin, but in their modern form only a few people celebrate it as a religious day, and almost nobody would consider the acts during these times, for example the decoration of the Christmas Tree, as a religious ritual. Why is it so? Why do we call customs with similar actions from non-western countries religious? And why would anybody think that these kind of habits in non-western countries are indicating something more, something more 'spiritual' than the western ones? These are questions that every student of the religious studies should ask. The important in these processes for us is that it shows how the newly formed ideas and concepts, supported by oppression of former ideas or by advertising new ones, easily can change the people's relationship with their daily lives. The fundamental changes in a culture are not necessarily can be seen clearly, because even long existing concepts and ideas can disappear, and their former existence can be unknown for an outsider. The understanding of the importance of these events and their effect on human thinking will help to see the dependent nature of the categories used in the field of religious studies.. 7. Post-Colonial Theory The term post-colonialism, refers to not only one, but a set of theoretical approaches in different cultural studies, history, literature and political theory. The common aspect in them is the intention 42 Wagnleitne (1994). 25.

(31) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. to reveal the effects of colonization, primarily on the culture of the colonized but in some cases also on the colonial countries. In our research it is important to reflect on its effect on the academical studies, as the definition of knowledge is based on European concept. The post-colonial studies started during the middle of the 20th century after the independence of the colonized countries. In the beginning it appeared only in the post-colonial countries, but later the ideas expanded to other countries too. Edward Said's and his book Orientalism (1978) has an important role in this. In his book he described the Middle East using Michel Foucault's technique of discourse analysis. He criticize the Western representations of the Eastern culture and pointed out the relation between knowledge and power. Said was of Palestinian origin, and a University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, New York. His great discovery was that in the western representations of the eastern countries, he himself, and the eastern people generally can not recognize themselves. The reason of this is that the orientalist scholarship is neither objective, nor independent. It is based on the ideologies of the imperialist societies that produced it, hence their research is interwoven not only with social, but political ideology too. In this sense the categories and descriptions created by the orientalist scholarship are servile to power. Connected to the post-colonial theory we have to mention another important process: the intellectual decolonization. It means the process of deconstruction of the patterns in thinking, behavior and the formulations in the society that has been created by the colonizing powers. The post-colonialism, as an intellectual and critical movement, appeared in a wide range of disciplines. Here we are interested only in those aspects that can facilitate the understanding of the spreading of the religious-secular distinction, and of its maintenance. The deconstruction of the categories used in the religious studies belongs to the decolonization process of the post-colonial theory.. 8. The Study of Religion Now, we are going to give a short introduction about the field of religious studies. The religious studies is a modern science, it was created out by a blend of disciplines, using their methodologies and results. These disciplines are, for example, the anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, history of religion etc. In the beginning they called it 'the science of religion'. It was invented by a 26.

(32) Religious Studies and the Narrative Theory. German philologist Friedrich Max Müller43. He was a professor at Oxford University and he was well known from his writings on language and mythology. His main field of research was Hinduism and the ancient Indian texts. He was the first person, who got an official title about religious studies, he was the first 'Professor of Comparative Religion'. This kind of major did not exist before, the position was created especially for him. In his book the 'Introduction to the Science of Religion' (1873) he creates the theory and methodology of the comparative study of the religions. In order to understand why this was the time for the creation of this discipline we have to remember the important historical and ideological events that preceded it. We covered them on the former pages, from the beginning with the idea of the separation of church and state until the natural religion of the deists. Müller inherited this perspective and he used it to describe the 'religious' phenomena. The method of comparing different customs and finding similarities has a great importance in his book, and it has influenced the later studies of scholars in this field. Researches with similar kind of intentions and methodology spread more and more and by the second half of the 20 th century the study of religion had emerged as a prominent and important field of academical research. Beside the Christian religions, the other religions also got more and more attention. By the 1960s and 1970s, the term "religious studies" became widely known and the academical interest about the field increased. New departments were founded, more and more books were published, and journals focusing on religious studies were initiated. Before the 1960s there were such fields as 'the comparative study of religion', the 'history of religion', the 'sociology of religion' but later the term 'religious studies' become common. The numerous subcategories of the religious studies are focusing on different fields connected with religion. For example the philosophy of religion uses philosophical tools to evaluate religious claims and doctrines. There is some amount of overlap between subcategories of religious studies and the discipline itself. Religious studies seeks to study religious phenomena as a whole, rather than be limited to the approaches of its subcategories. But the origin of the general picture of the world, with existing religions and the view of the duality of the religious and secular world, usually is not an object of its research.. 43 Pals (1996) p. 3. 27.