RELIGION AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES
An introduction
Religion is a subject that nearly everyone feels comfortable identifying
without much trouble because it seems so apparent. When people attempt
to define its nature, however, they find that it is difficult to execute this
task in a way that everyone can recognize the subject of the definition.
Moreover, the difficulty of defining the nature of religion is even more
evident when a person attempts to apply the term and its definition to
cultures outside of one’s own religious milieu. An excellent example of
such a problem is shared by Robert Ellwood. While on his way to Japan
during a sabbatical leave, a person asks him why he is traveling to Japan.
Ellwood responds that he is going to Japan to study its religion, to which
the other person replies that Japan does not have any religion. What this
casual encounter exemplifies is that the term “religion” does not have
cross-cultural applicability in many cases. But until something better
arrives, it is this inadequate term from a cross-cultural perspective that
we have at the present time.
Origins Of the cOncept Of religiOn
The term religion is derived from the Latin religio that originally refers
to the human fear of God or other divine beings. It incorporates an inti-
mate association with formal ceremonies and rites, such as sacrifice, dur-
ing the course of its development. Its precise Latin etymology is unclear;
Cicero traces it to relegere, which refers to gathering together, repeatedly
passing over, or to read over again. Others look to the Latin term religare
which means binding together. Both derivations suggest the social aspects