Our Approach to the Study of Religion

Religion can be studied using different methodologies and in pursuit of different objectives. Given that religion is a domain of society and culture that touches almost every other aspect of human endeavor, it may become a focus for study at other faculties, departments, and chairs at the LMU; for example, there are separate faculties devoted to Catholic and Protestant Theology. The Center is dedicated to philosophical reflection and systematic theorization upon religion, regarded as a natural phenomenon and as part of the subject matter of the human sciences. This science, which is often called comparative religion, takes as its data the history and anthropology of religions, including various textual expressions, doctrinal elaborations, as well as myths, rituals, social institutions, etc. One goal of such a study is to develop a general theory of religion. Another is to recognize and account for the differences among traditions that describe various ways of living in the world. Because the study of religion as practiced in the contemporary academy emerged historically out of European traditions, a necessary component of this study is the reflection on these traditions, including both Christianity and secularism. In an increasingly diverse and interconnected world, the study of religion should contribute to furthering understanding across cultures, which requires, in turn, acknowledgment of the historical engagement of European traditions with those of others.