Comparative Religions
Comparative Religions
Comparative religions were shaped
By a euro-centered culture
This formed the basis
Of what students know about world religions
Much of this trajectory was lit by missionaries.
They came from Europe and traversed the globe.
Many were religious as they encountered colonists.
Their basic strands became the bedrock
Of how they interpreted the various religious faiths
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Like Judaism, Christianity, Islam,
Hinduism, Daoism, Shintoism, and secular humanism
These interpreters ushered their thoughts about
religion
They revived an emphasis on Greek and Latin
That led to the shape of comparative Christianity
Becoming prominent in the Protestant Reformation
Some European theologians became famous –
Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Desiderius Erasmus
But the world of religion was born with the Peace of
Westphalia
And by the 17th century there existed a
noteworthy guide
That included all the known religions of the world
From the 18th to 21st century
there was a broadening of its scope
With peoples of India, China, Russia, Artic and
Oceania
In the West Sanskrit studies became popular
And Semitic languages and religions were studied
The Age of Enlightenment dawned
With figures like Charles Darwin, Sir Isaac Newtown,
And contemporary thinkers like Richard Dawkins,
Christopher Hitchens, and Karen Armstrong
“Great Designer, you have lit a fierce fire in the
heart of comparative religions. Grant
that this process continues to grow with an enduring flame.”
Amen
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