Influence of the West in the study of Religious Traditions
The study of comparative religions as a course began by Western Scholars who not only observed several religions but also drew comparisons between one another to enhance their understanding of the various theologies existing in the world. One of the most esteemed scholars, Max Muller, was the earliest philosopher who implied the use of philology to the study of religion and proposed a new refined way to classify religion according to language. Similarly, while most of the prestigious religious philosophers emerged during the Enlightenment period, Tomoko Masuzawa has the distinction of belonging to the twenty-first century, and her book, “The Invention of World Religion”, stands out for its commitment to multiculturalism. While Masuzawa examines the emergence of “world religion” in modern European thought, she gave extensive significance to the relationship between the science of religion and the study of language. Although in some particular aspects, she did elevate the status of religions like Islam and Buddhism, accusations regarding her biased views towards Christianity may affect the credibility of her work.
The unprecedented status of Muller is basically due to his theory on the “Science of Religion”. Muller insisted that like rational sciences, we need to develop the ability to compare religious ideas and scriptures with different religions to understand the crux of a particular belief or idea. He criticized western scholars for classifying religion according to racial lines and indirectly claiming that they are not capable enough to understand the underlying meaning within the lines of scriptures of other religions[1]. With comparisons and further inquiry, there would be a rise in religious tolerance amongst the people in the society as most of the characteristics are fairly similar paving way for the idea of “Natural Theology”. He further backed this claim by initially referring to the vast volume of writings from ancient religion lost and then stated the dilemma of the Zulus[2]. While there was an assumption that the Zulus lacked any religious ideas or beliefs, recent interaction with them has revealed that not only they do have their religious principles but also the complexity of their theological inquiries has astonished the Bishops.
Not only are Masuzawa and Muller on the same page with regards to their objection to the classification of religion along racial lines but also the power of language in the development of a particular religion. In the early nineteenth century, Western scholars of religion saw the world divided into four broad religious traditions: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, with a general categorization of idolaters and pagans. However, by the early twentieth-century scholars of religious studies had increased their understanding of the world religious traditions from four to eleven namely, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, and Sikhism. To many, the process itself appeared to be a movement from the outsider approach to an insider, or towards religious pluralism. Masuzawa persuasively argues that there was nothing inevitable in the expansion of the list of world religions and that despite the appearance of pluralism, Western values determined the outcome. Furthermore, she also emphasized the fact that since in the past, Christians dominated the study of religion which made it a bit biased as they were unable to free themselves from some hegemonic objections. It is also worth noticing that the Europeans were morally driven by their “white man’s burden” coupled with their domination on the geography of the world which may have instilled a sense of superiority (“East preserves history, West creates history”) regarding themselves which was translated with their racial classification of religion.
Nevertheless, it is worth pointing out that regardless of Masuzawa’s efforts to present religion as universal, philosophers from the past think otherwise. While she persists that religion is universal, Sufism, which has been placed as exterior due to its Aryan nature because of its origin in Persia, has been valorized as a higher form of Islam[3]. This is unjustified as the basic principles of Islam and Sufism are the same; have the same criterion for faith. Moreover, the Arabs were humiliated as they were labeled as lazy, incompetent, and uneducated. Ironically, it is also true that the Arabs were the most dominant force before the rise of Europe and had conquered areas including Spain. Furthermore, the rigidity of scholars to consider Muslims as Muslims instead of Mohammadens further highlighted the discrepancy. Nevertheless, this custom was indeed changed during the 19th century when Western Scholars refuted from using the word Mohammadens and started calling them Muslims.
Another questionable assumption towards the study of religious traditions during its early stages was the unwavering belief that Christianity is a perfect religion. They are the ones who have been guided by the Supreme God and are the only ones following the “real” religion. They further ridicule other religions by claiming that although their followers do have a religion to follow, it is just not right. It was their failure to recognize Jesus as the preacher of the perfect religion which misled them to follow some other religions or they were fooled by the false Prophet Mohammad[4]. Such claims not only deteriorate the relations between communities but also make people feel psychologically inferior to others. They conclude that they are similar to Christians and would eventually join their fold once they stop rebelling against themselves.
These ideas are not unique, especially because even Muller firmly appreciated this stance by not only praising Christianity as the sole religion of humanity and being superior in several retrospects[5]. The personal bias that Muller displays towards Christianity is further evident from his unjustified appreciation of that specific religion[6]. Although Muller was firmly against classifying religions as superior and inferior, the need to classify according to their language, only science of religion can help us grasp the hidden concepts concealed within the Holy Scriptures and that comparison of religions is necessary to develop common group and religious tolerance, however, many argue that Muller’s style of writing depicted a tone influenced by the colonialism movement.
While it is true that both these philosophers attempted to free the field of religious philosophy from its Western bias and the inability to fully comprehend the crux of other religions apart from Christianity, the fact remains that the discipline itself is much dominated by philosophers from the age of Orientalism who consider themselves to be somewhat “superior” than their fellow beings from the rest of the world. This was a result of European dominance in the form of colonialism around the globe. The work of Muller and later on Masuzawa proved to be highly significant in eradicating most of the bias views present in the field of theology and religious studies. Finally, while both philosophers have been criticized for being biased towards Christianity, this similarity should make us ponder that is Christianity the perfect religion for the study of religion? Can it be used as a yardstick while assessing other religious theologies? What is the unique quality possessed by Christianity that convinces philosophers to advocate its qualities and exalted status?
Work Cited
Masuzawa, Tomoko. “The Invention of World Religions.” 2005, doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226922621.001.0001.
Muller, F. Max. “Lectures on the Science of Language.” 2009, doi:10.1017/cbo9781139600569.
[1] Max Muller, Lectures on the Science of Religion, Lecture 1: The phrase of language which gives rise, inevitably, we may say, to these misunderstandings, is earlier than the earliest literacy documents
[2] Max Muller: Zulus had no religious ideas at all; at present, our very Bishops have been silenced by their theological inquiries.
[3] Masuzawa, The Invention of World Religion, Introduction: Sufism was particularly valorized as a higher form of Islam……..hence exterior to what was deemed Islam proper
[4] Masuzawa, The Religion of the World before World Religion, Chapter 1: They chose to follow a false prophet, Mohammed the Imposter. Nevertheless, Jews and the Mohammedans were kindred to Christians.
[6] Muller, Lecture 1: It is Christianity alone which, as a religion of humanity………development of all the races of the world
