Editing Religious studies (section)

{{distinguish|Theology}}
{{About|the study of religion as an academic field|the academic journal|Religious Studies (journal){{!}}''Religious Studies'' (journal)}}
{{Short description|Objective study of religion}}
[[Image:Religious syms.svg|thumb|Various [[religious symbols]] representing the [[World religions|world's largest religions]] (from left to right): {{Bulleted list|1st row: [[Christianity]], [[Judaism]], [[Hinduism]]|2nd row: [[Islam]], [[Buddhism]], [[Shinto]]|3rd row: [[Sikhism]], the [[Baháʼí Faith]], [[Jainism]]}}]]

'''Religious studies''', also known as '''religiology''' or the '''study of religion''', is the study of [[religion]] from a [[historical]] or [[scientific]] perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and [[definition of religion|its definition]] is highly contested. It describes, compares, interprets, and explains religion, emphasizing [[empirical]], historically based, and cross-cultural perspectives.

While [[theology]] attempts to understand the [[Transcendence (religion)|transcendent]] or [[supernatural]] according to traditional religious accounts, religious studies takes a more scientific and objective approach, independent of any particular religious viewpoint. Religious studies thus draws upon multiple academic disciplines and methodologies including [[Anthropology of religion|anthropology]], [[Sociology of religion|sociology]], [[Psychology of religion|psychology]], [[Philosophy of religion|philosophy]], and [[history of religion]].

Religious studies originated in [[Modern Europe|19th-century Europe]], when [[Biblical criticism|scholarly]] and [[Historicity of the Bible|historical analysis of the Bible]] had flourished, as [[Hindu texts|Hindu]] and [[Buddhist texts|Buddhist]] [[sacred texts]] were first being translated into European languages. Early influential scholars included [[Friedrich Max Müller]] in England and [[Cornelis Petrus Tiele]] in the Netherlands. However, Max Müller was a philologist, not a professor of religion; Cornelis Tiele was. Today, religious studies is an academic discipline practiced by scholars worldwide.<ref>{{cite book|author=C.S. Adcock|title=The Limits of Tolerance: Indian Secularism and the Politics of Religious Freedom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2UMfAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA67|year=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=67–70|isbn=9780199995448|access-date=2015-11-07|archive-date=2016-06-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617131244/https://books.google.com/books?id=2UMfAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA67|url-status=live}}</ref> In its early years, it was known as "[[comparative religion]]" or the '''science of religion''' and, in the [[United States]], there are those who today also know the field as the "History of religion" (associated with methodological traditions traced to the [[University of Chicago]] in general, and in particular [[Mircea Eliade]], from the late 1950s through to the late 1980s).

The religious studies scholar [[Walter Capps]] described the purpose of the discipline as to provide "training and practice&nbsp;... in directing and conducting inquiry regarding the subject of religion".{{sfn|Capps|1995|p=xiv}} At the same time, Capps stated that its other purpose was to use "prescribed modes and techniques of inquiry to make the subject of religion intelligible."{{sfn|Capps|1995|p=xiv}}
Religious studies scholar Robert A. Segal characterised the discipline as "a subject matter" that is "open to many approaches", and thus it "does not require either a distinctive method or a distinctive explanation to be worthy of disciplinary status."{{sfn|Segal|2021|p=xvii}}

Different scholars operating in the field have different interests and intentions; some for instance seek to defend religion, while others seek to explain it away, and others wish to use religion as an example with which to prove a theory of their own.{{sfn|Capps|1995|p=xvi}} Some scholars of religious studies are interested in primarily studying the religion to which they belong.{{sfn|Herling|2016|p=15}} Other scholars take a more unbiased approach and broadly examine the historical interrelationships among all major religious ideologies through history, focusing on shared similarities rather than differences.<ref>Grande, L. 2024. ''The Evolution of Religions. A History of Related Traditions''. Columbia University Press.</ref> Scholars of religion have argued that a study of the subject is useful for individuals because it will provide them with knowledge that is pertinent in inter-personal and professional contexts within an increasingly [[Globalization|globalized world]].{{sfn|Herling|2016|pp=6–7}} It has also been argued that studying religion is useful in appreciating and understanding [[Sectarian violence|sectarian tensions]] and [[religious violence]].{{sfn|Dawson|2018|pp=141–164}}{{sfn|Herling|2016|pp=7–10}}{{sfn|Mani|2012|pp=149–169}}