The phenomenology of religion

The phenomenology of religion, alongside the history of religions, forms part of a larger field initially associated with the comparative study of religions but nowadays frequently referred to in academic institutions simply as religious studies. Movements to conduct research on religious communities using contemporary scientific methods originated in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries from disciplines as diverse as linguistic and textual studies, anthropology, sociology, archaeology, economics, and political studies. The phenomenology of religion, as a specific branch of the science of religion, was influenced from two main sources: the philosophical phenomenology of Edmund Husserl and liberal Christian theology as it developed at the end of the nineteenth century. Ultimately, phenomenologists of religion distinguished their methodology from that employed by theologians, philosophers, and social scientists by arguing chat religions must be interpreted according to a unique methodology. Although the social sciences were regarded as integral to contributing co an understanding of religion, scholars in the phenomenological tradition insisted that a method needed to be developed chat would identify and interpret the uniquely religious elements that were interwoven into historical and social contexts. Philosophy was employed inconsistently in phenomenological writings, with most scholars selecting basic concepts derived from philosophical phenomenology without attempting to employ its methods in depth. As we will see, only Gerardus van der Leeuw attempted to apply Husserl 's epistemological analyses directly to a methodology for the study of religion. Theology, since it originated from within specific traditions, was regarded as forming part of the phenomena of religion, which, alongside other phenomena such as myths, rituals, and beliefs, comprised part of the data for the study of religion itself.