RLG100Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Blackboard, On The Origin Of Species, Ethnocentrism
Document Summary
October 2nd eveyr other friday off. Beginnings of religious studies: factors involved in the beginning of the formal academic study of religion. Missionizing jesuit impact on south american tribes. Getting well involved in communities studied local languages and traditions, through the languages they gained access to texts of others, chinese, indian. Hinduism so inspired were they that they in fact began new understanding which led to already presented critique of christianity and christian hegemony. Christian ideological dominance took great beating: enlightenment, even before this, the reformation. We should live lives informed by rationality rather than authority. People thought of religion on the basis of their own religion. Christans would compare religious structures, creeds, bibles, etc. We have been deriving the definition of what is a religion from. But now you got all these other religions that don"t always fit them all. No god, more of a way of life. Try to encompass wider understanding of what is religion.
