QUESTIONS

1. What are the key historical factors that allowed the academic study of religion to emerge in the European university setting?

Culture and religion are two different things which are very related to each other. Therefore, to get an in-depth understanding of religion one also needs to know what culture entails. The study of religion and culture must be done together. Cultural studies are related to aspects of human life like words, films, and sport. Religion is not any different as it relates to features of cultural life. The desire by many scholars in Europe to study culture influenced the study of religion because cultural studies help in the study of religion.

In many instances there is a lot of similarities between culture and religion. For a better understanding of religion, its study has to be done together with the study of culture. The relationship between culture and religion goes beyond any written work. Most of the scriptures in the Christian bible have a strong relationship with religious buildings in Europe (for example Notre Dame in Paris). Most of the European culture was founded around religious teachings.

2. What are some of the key terms in Otto's theory of religion, and what do they mean? What is his overall theory of religion?

Rudolf Otto in his theory of religion used some words to better explain his ideas to the people. Some of these terms include sui generis which means something that is unique and not comparable to other things. Another term used by Otto was numinous which means something that is totally different from normal experiences. Numinous initially recognize consciousness as a sense of total reliance on new power. Lastly other terms used by Otto are “mesterium tremendum et fascinans” which means something that concealed, terrible, and fascinating. In his theory of religion Rudolf Otto tried to argue that for somebody to understand religion one has to have experience in religious matters.

1. What are the benefits and challenges of comparing religious trad...