The Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism Was Preserved in the Language of PluralismUniversity of Chicago Press, 2005 M05 15 - 359 pages The idea of "world religions" expresses a vague commitment to multiculturalism. Not merely a descriptive concept, "world religions" is actually a particular ethos, a pluralist ideology, a logic of classification, and a form of knowledge that has shaped the study of religion and infiltrated ordinary language. In this ambitious study, Tomoko Masuzawa examines the emergence of "world religions" in modern European thought. Devoting particular attention to the relation between the comparative study of language and the nascent science of religion, she demonstrates how new classifications of language and race caused Buddhism and Islam to gain special significance, as these religions came to be seen in opposing terms-Aryan on one hand and Semitic on the other. Masuzawa also explores the complex relation of "world religions" to Protestant theology, from the hierarchical ordering of religions typical of the Christian supremacists of the nineteenth century to the aspirations of early twentieth-century theologian Ernst Troeltsch, who embraced the pluralist logic of "world religions" and by so doing sought to reclaim the universalist destiny of European modernity. |
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Contents
Introduction I | 1 |
The Discourse on Religion as a Discourse of Othering | 14 |
A Synoptic Overview | 21 |
The Religions of the World before World Religions | 37 |
The Legacy of Comparative Theology | 72 |
The Birth Trauma of World Religions | 107 |
Buddhism a World Religion | 121 |
Philology and the Discovery of a Fissure in the European Past | 147 |
Islam a Semitic Religion | 179 |
F Max Müller | 207 |
Omnibus Guide for Looking toward | 259 |
Ernst Troeltsch | 309 |
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The Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism Was ... Tomoko Masuzawa Limited preview - 2005 |
The Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism Was ... Tomoko Masuzawa No preview available - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
Abraham Kuenen agglutinative ancient appears Arabs Aryan beginning Brahmanism Buddha Buddhism Burnouf called Chantepie chapter Christianity claim classification comparative religion comparative theology contemporary culture distinction early East edition Ernest Renan essay ethnic Eugène Burnouf Europe European fact faith German gions Greek Hardwick heathen Hebrew Hinduism historians history of religions human Humboldt idea idolatry India Indo-European inflection Islam Jewish Jews Judaism Kuenen lectures ligion Living Religions matter Max Müller modern Monier-Williams monotheism national religions nature nineteenth century Oriental origin Otto Pfleiderer pagan particular Pfleiderer philologists philology pluralism primitive prophets question race reli religious Renan Sanskrit Schlegel scholarly scholars scholarship Science of Language science of religion scientific seems Semitic Semitic languages sense significant spiritual study of religion Taoism term world religions texts theory Tiele tion tradition treatise Troeltsch truth Turanian universalistic Weber world religions world religions discourse Zoroastrianism