It was Max Müller who coined the famous motto of the comparative study of religion "He who knows one, knows none." Since its first beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century, the history of religions has always somehow invoked comparative insights as its very raison d'être. The nature of these insights has been under constant debate and at times, scepticism and devastating critique of the more pretentious comparative projects made regionally specialized studies seem the only legitimate enterprise within the discipline. The fact remains, however, that the major general issues addressed by historians of religions are rooted in considerations of a comparative nature. The dossier of papers from an international conference held at the University of Copenhagen discusses tradition as well as new approaches to the fundamental issues of the aim, scope and validity of comparative studies in history of religions. No longer bound to monolithic visions of history and human nature, these papers critically explore the limits and the roles of comparison in the study of religion.

Nel 1990 si tenne a Roma il XVI Congresso del I.A.H.R. che ebbe come tema la nozione di "religione". Venne particolarmente analizzato l'uso di tale termine da parte degli studiosi di lingua europea nei rapporti con le culture non europee e viceversa.

Excerpt from Religion: A Comparative Study The author has a definite purpose in offering this book to the public. He is aware that there are many valuable works on the subject of Comparative Religion. He regards some of them as too voluminous and technical for the average reader who is seeking an intelligent understanding of the Great Religions of the world. Others show unmistakable signs of having been "made in Germany" and as being a part of the destructive higher criticism that has done harm to the cause of Christianity. Some of these volumes are admirable in every way, but are so condensed they do not give a general survey of the field. The present work will doubtless prove equally unsatisfactory to many readers, but if others get as much pleasure and profit from its perusal, as the author has in its preparation, he will be well paid. We have treated the subject under three general heads: I. The Science of Comparative Religion. II. The History of Religions. III. The Comparison of Religions. The religious idea is one and innate, but as this idea is expressed by different peoples it is colored by the medium through which it passes. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The comparative method is an integral part of religious studies. All the technical terms that scholars of religion use on a daily basis, such as ritual, hagiography, shrine, authority, fundamentalism, hybridity, and, of course, religion, are comparative terms. Yet comparison has been subject to criticism, including postcolonialist and postmodernist critiques. Older approaches are said to have used comparison primarily to confirm preconceptions about religion. More recently, comparison has been criticized as an act of abstraction that does injustice to the particular, neglects differences, and establishes a mostly Western power of definition over the rest of the world. In this book, Oliver Freiberger takes a closer look at how comparison works. Revisiting critical debates and examining reflections in other disciplines, including comparative history, sociology, comparative theology, and anthropology, Freiberger proposes a model of comparison that is based on a thorough epistemological analysis and that takes both the scholar's situatedness and his or her agency seriously. Examining numerous examples of comparative studies, Considering Comparison develops a methodological framework for conducting and evaluating such studies. Freiberger suggests a comparative approach - which he calls discourse comparison - that confronts the omnipresent risks of decontextualization, essentialization, and universalization. This book makes a case for comparison, arguing that it is indispensable for a deeper analytical understanding of what we call religion. The book is intended to enrich the practice of both aspiring and seasoned comparativists, stimulate much-needed further discussions about comparative methodology, and encourage more scholars to produce responsible comparative studies.

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From Gods, to ritual observance to the language of myth and the distinction between the sacred and the profane, Religious Worlds explores the structures common to all spiritual traditions.