Module 1:

What is Religion?
What is Religious
Studies?
JASON M. BROWN
 About Me
• Native of California.
• BA in Anthropology, BYU.
• MAR, MF in Forestry, Theology from Yale University.
• PhD, The University of British Columbia’s Institute for
Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES).
• Lecturer in Religious Studies: Department of Global
Humanities.
• Occasionally for the Faculty of Environment.
• Past Teaching: UBC, Western Washington University and
Corpus Christi College.
• Salt Lake Community College, Utah Valley University (2011-2013).

• Courses:
• HUM 130, HUM 204, HUM 360, HUM 330
• REM 320W
• Website: [Link] Instagram: @holyscapes
 Why Study Religion?
• Foster “religious literacy” to increase understanding.
• Realize how deeply embedded religion is in our world
systems (s0cial, cultural, political, ecological).
• Reflect on the possibility that secularism, communism,
capitalist-consumerism and science hold ‘religious’
perspectives and values.
• E.g., No cultural institution, not even science, is value free.
• Deepen our understanding of our own heritages/faiths.
• Learn how others have navigated the “inner landscape”.
 Asking Big Questions
• Why is there something rather
than nothing?
• What is the self? Who am I?
• What is the purpose of life?
• How does one find happiness?
• Why does suffering and
natural evil exist?
• What is consciousness?
• What or who is/are responsible
for events in the world?
• Is there an ultimate destiny for
the universe?
 “If I went back to college
today, I think I would
probably major in
comparative religion,
because that’s how
integrated it is in
everything we are working
on and deciding and
thinking about in life
today.”
–John Kerry, Former US
Secretary of State
 Religion in a Global Society:
Terminology
• Pre-(non)-modern: Institutions of society tend not to be as
separated. Non-humans more integral to social etiquettes.
• Modernism: The compartmentalization of institutions.
E.g., Separation of church and state. Rise of Nationalism.
Individualism. Secularism.
• Colonialism: The imposition of one’s way of life on another
society by force or coercion.
• Fundamentalism: Rejection of aspects of modernity in
favor of a more original ‘fundamental’ approach to the world.
• Post-Modernism: Skepticism of authority and objectivity
in state, church and science. New configurations of
spirituality within society. Relativist. Pluralist. Intersectional
justice. “Heretical” (Gk. To chose).
 “A modern, secularized understanding of
religion, for example, sees it as a segment of
society and associates it closely with the life
of the individual. Within this framework,
religion is something chosen by individuals as
one choice among many and turns out to be a
private matter, a product of personal
reflection, conscience, and belief” (Herling
2016, 61).
 Theology versus Religious
Studies
• Religious Education: Insider (often) approaches
to the religion:
• Theology is embedded within the world of a
religion.
• Seminaries, religious schools train clerics and
faithful.
• Religious Studies: Outsider (often) approaches to
the religion:
• Anthropological exercise. Interested in exploring
theories of culture, society, politics, evolution.
 What is Religion?
Etymology:
• Religare: To bind together
• Relegere: To go over again
• Roman rites and obligations to the
gods were Religio, everything else
was Superstitio (literally to stand
outside).
• “The sense of being tied or bound Reconstructed Temple of
by sacred obligations to powers Artemis in Ephesus
believed to govern our destiny”
(Esposito et al. pg. 8).
 Sapien Religion
Religion is:
“…a superhuman order, which is not the product
of human whims or agreements…
Professional football is not a religion, because
despite its many laws, rites and often bizarre
rituals, everyone knows that human beings
invented football themselves...
…religion establishes norms and values that it
considers binding. Many Westerners today believe
in ghosts, fairies and reincarnation, but these are
not a source of moral or behavioral standards. As
such, they do not constitute a religion.” (pg. 234)
Characteristics of the World’s Religions
Religions are…
• Internally diverse. Not always
exclusive to one identity.
• Religions are always changing
and evolving (Some more than
others).
• They are always enmeshed in
other dimension of human life.
• They are embedded in culture
and history.
• Religion is both a noun and an
adjective.
 Religion as Meaning Making
“When people began to devise their
myths and worship their gods, they
were not seeking a literal explanation
for natural phenomenon. The symbolic
stories, cave paintings and carvings
were an attempt to express their
wonder and to link this pervasive
mystery with their own lives; indeed,
poets, artists and musicians are often
impelled by a similar desire today.”
–Karen Armstrong, A History of God
 Religion as Myth-Telling
• Myths of Nature: Forces of nature are central to human
concern. Appeasing, relating, reverencing these forces is key
to success and health. Time is cyclical. World is alive with
agencies (Animist). Polytheist.
• Myths of Harmony: Cosmos is a dynamic between
opposites. Harmony between tensions essential in world,
society and body. Time is cyclical. Pantheist. Polytheist.
Mystical.
• Myths of Liberation: The appearances of world are illusory.
Must untangle ourselves from what binds to suffering. Time
is cyclical and linear. Monotheist. Polytheist. Mystical.
• Myths of History: The world has a Creator who seeks
connection with creation through Revelation. Faith enables
union with Creator in eternity. Time is linear. Monotheist.
Mystical. (Esposito et al. 17-18)
 Dimensions of Religious Expression
Religious studies scholar Ninian Smart (1927-2001) postulated
that there were seven dimensions that exist within a given
religion:
• Practical and Ritual
• The Experiential and Emotional
• The Narrative or Mythic
• The Doctrinal and Philosophical
• The Ethical and Legal
• The Social and Institutional
• The Material/Aesthetic (Dimensions of the Sacred (1996)
(The textbook uses six, pg. 8).
 Family Resemblances
“We can deal with religion in terms
of a pool of elements that we deem
typical of religion, without
supposing that any one element is
necessary for the existence of a
religion….”
–Benson Saler, Conceptualizing
Religion (1993)
Family Resemblances Visualized
 Religion as Ultimate Concern
“Religion is the state of being
grasped by an ultimate concern,
a concern which qualifies all
other concerns as preliminary
and which itself contains the
answer to the question of the
meaning of our life.”
–Paul Tillich, Systematic
Theology
 The Boundaries of Religion
• Secular Humanism
• Scientism (Strict Materialism)
• Nazism
• Soviet Communism
• American Capitalism
• Burning Man and other festivals
Each of these share “family Flooding at Burning Man
resemblances” with commonly 2023
identified religions.
When does something become an
official RELIGION?
 What is Spirituality?
• Etymology: From the Latin spiritus breath.
Greek pneuma and Hebrew ruah.
• Seeking personal development? An altered state
of consciousness? A sense of peace? Self-
realization?
• Religious practices associated with achieving
particular goals (Nirvana, Moksha, Salvation).
• “An understanding of how life should be lived
and an attempt to live that way.” (Gottlieb 2012)
• Does being spiritual but not religious (SBNR)
imply there are people who are religious but not
spiritual?
Unaffiliated
• 16% of global
population.
• 68% of unaffiliated in
US believe in God.
• 44% of unaffiliated in
China make offerings
to ancestors.
• Are Indigenous
peoples religious?
What about SBNR?
NRM?
Religion in Metro Vancouver
• 2.3 Million inhabitants.
• Fewest Christians of any major
Canadian city 41% (67% across
Canada).
• Sikhs and Hindus are the fastest
growing religions in the province.
• Sikhism is the second largest religion
in region.
• The ‘Nones’, are homegrown and hail
from Southeast Asia.
• SBNR are also a major component of
Vancouver.