RELIGIOUS STUDIES BY THE RELIGIOUS: A DISCUSSION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEOLOGY AND THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION
As the study of religion in Africa is undertaken increasingly by African scholars, we can assume that many producing academic research in this field will themselves be religious. This calls for a renewed discussion of the relationship between theology and the science of religion. The science of reli...
| Published in: | Journal for the study of religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
ASRSA
1994
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| In: |
Journal for the study of religion
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | As the study of religion in Africa is undertaken increasingly by African scholars, we can assume that many producing academic research in this field will themselves be religious. This calls for a renewed discussion of the relationship between theology and the science of religion. The science of religion has been defended as a unique discipline traditionally by phenomenologists such as C.J. Bleeker and systematic scientists of religion like Th. P. van Baaren. Recently, however, Robert Segal and Donald Wiebe have asserted that religion is not an autonomous subject; in its religionist form, it is best described as theology, and in its scientific form, it is best dealt with in the social sciences. This article argues that (1) the Segal-Wiebe position misrepresents as unscientific the religionist emphasis on the perspective of believers; and (2) Segal and Wiebe advance a dialectical as opposed to a dialogical approach for understanding religion. The religiousness of the African, therefore, must not provide an excuse for absorbing the science of religion into theology, nor, however, should arguments like those of Segal and Wiebe convince us that such a fusion is inevitable. |
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| ISSN: | 2413-3027 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the study of religion
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