‘The Heathen in His Blindness…’: Asia, the West and the Dynamic of Religion (Numen Book Series: Studies in the History of Religions)

Cover......Page 1
Copyright......Page 2
Contents......Page 3
Acknowledgements......Page 7
The Conventional Wisdom......Page 9
The Theoretical Edifice......Page 10
The Structure of the Book......Page 12
Voices and Minds......Page 16
1 – Some Puzzles and Problems......Page 18
1.1.  On Some Strange Sentiments......Page 19
1.2  About Mystery and Mystifications......Page 26
Issues in a Discussion......Page 27
Some Avenues and Answers......Page 30
Multiple Themes......Page 33
Part I......Page 37
2.1  On the Cobbled Streets of Pagan Rome…......Page 39
An Ancient Puzzle......Page 40
An Enlightened Solution?......Page 44
A Methodological Orientation......Page 46
2.1.1  Romans and Their ‘Religio’......Page 47
2.1.2  From Demonstratio Evangelica…......Page 52
The Christian Quandary......Page 54
The Pagan Question......Page 55
A Jewish Theme......Page 56
The Christian Answer......Page 58
Christians and the Pagans......Page 61
2.2  …En Route to De Civilitate Dei......Page 62
2.2.1  “Will the True Pagan Stand Up, Please?”......Page 64
The Philosopher’s God?......Page 66
The Nature of the Invitation......Page 67
2.2.2  From Augustine to Calvin and Beyond......Page 68
A Medieval Dissertation......Page 73
The Frame in the Early Snapshots......Page 74
The Picture in the Early Snapshots......Page 76
3.1.1  What is ‘Modern’ about Sexual Liberation?......Page 79
3.1.2  The Heathens and their Irreligion......Page 84
3.1.3  Snapshots Superimposed......Page 86
3.2  All Roads Leas to Rome......Page 87
3.2.1  Some Four Reference Points......Page 88
3.2.2  On the Eve of a Reasonable Age......Page 91
Knowledge of the Natives…......Page 93
…and the Problems of Proselytisation......Page 94
About the Porch of Solomon......Page 97
3.3.1  On the Banks of the Seine......Page 99
On the Nature of a Hybrid Beast......Page 102
3.3.2  About the Pagans and the Primitives......Page 103
The Enlightenment of the World History......Page 107
When humanity was liberated from tyranny by the French revolution…......Page 108
How Does One Get to Jerusalem?......Page 109
4.1  Evangelical Quandaries......Page 111
4.1.1  A Conceptual Quandary......Page 112
Sources of Belief and the Belief in Sources......Page 113
“The Monkeys and their Playsome Whimsies”......Page 115
The Monkey as a Mirror?......Page 117
The System of Caste......Page 119
The Duplicity of the Devil’s Messengers......Page 120
On the Semantics of Talking and Shouting......Page 124
Criticism and Self-criticism......Page 125
4.2  The Oriental Renaissance......Page 127
Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom?......Page 128
4.2.1  ‘Vile Hindus’? The Other Face of the Coin......Page 130
The Enlightened Heirs of the Romantic Visionaries......Page 132
4.2.2  Buddha, the Saviour of People......Page 137
The Contexts of Creation......Page 139
On How Buddha Saved Souls......Page 142
4.3  A Conceptual Interregnum......Page 146
A Summary......Page 148
Part II......Page 149
5 – Requiem for a Theme......Page 151
5.1  A Methodological Consideration......Page 152
What is the Naturalistic Paradigm About?......Page 154
The Nature of the Problem......Page 155
What if We are Wrong?......Page 156
What Issues are at Stake?......Page 157
Suspicious Circumstances......Page 159
5.2  The Metaphysical Speculations......Page 162
5.2.1  Angst, Nature and Man......Page 163
Chaotic and Ordered Experiences......Page 164
Hostile and Unfriendly Experiences......Page 165
Mysteries Galore......Page 166
Hostile World Revisited......Page 167
5.2.2  Fear Theory and Fear from Theories......Page 169
5.3  The Psychological Speculations......Page 173
Religious Explanation......Page 175
Religion and Explanation......Page 176
5.4  On Explaining Religion......Page 179
By Way of a Summary......Page 181
6 – “Shall the Twain Ever Meet?”......Page 182
6.1.1  Development on Two Levels......Page 183
On the Two Levels......Page 185
6.1.2  Grouping the Concerns......Page 186
Christian Forgetfulness......Page 188
A Christological Dilemma......Page 190
6.3  A Christian Persecution of Paganism......Page 193
Reden über die Religion and the Contemporary Readers......Page 194
Reden über die Religion and Schleiermacher’s Public......Page 196
Nathan Söderblom: Archbishop and Scholar......Page 201
Otto and his Das Heilige......Page 205
A Simple Argument......Page 208
The ‘Sacred’ and the ‘Profane’......Page 209
6.4  “J’Accuse”......Page 212
7 – “Guilty as Charged, My Lords and Ladies?”......Page 214
7.1.1  “Tell Me, Sonadanda, Who is a Brahmin?”......Page 215
“Objection, Your Honour!”......Page 218
“Objection Overruled. Proceed Mr Prosecutor…”......Page 225
7.1.2  “Tell Me Again, Brother Jacob, Who is Religious?”......Page 227
7.1.3  “Who is Religious, Dear Reader, Who Secular?”......Page 229
7.2  “The Prosecution Rests, M’Lords…”......Page 235
7.2.1  Raising a Problem......Page 236
Religious Practice and Linguistic Practice......Page 239
The Linguistic Inconceivability......Page 241
7.2.3  “What Say You, The Jury, Guilty or Not Guilty?”......Page 243
7.3  About One Half of An Argument......Page 246
Part III......Page 249
8 – A Human Tragedy or the Divine Retribution?......Page 251
The Structure......Page 253
A Thought Experiment......Page 255
An Illustration......Page 256
An Alternate Description......Page 257
A Further Illustration......Page 258
8.1.2  …De Gustibus Non Disputandum Est......Page 260
An Illustration......Page 261
An Alternate Description......Page 262
A Theoretical Point......Page 263
An Illustration......Page 264
An Alternate Description......Page 265
A Theoretical Point......Page 266
An Illustration......Page 268
An Alternate Description......Page 270
A Theoretical Point......Page 271
An Alternate Description......Page 273
The Suggestion and the Evidence......Page 275
Developing the Problem......Page 276
Formulating the Problem......Page 277
8.2  Switching the Tracks......Page 278
Some Objections......Page 279
The Objections Answered......Page 280
Carrying the Argument Further......Page 281
Prototypical Examples......Page 282
On the Problem of Variety......Page 283
8.2.3  Linguistic Constraints Elaborated......Page 285
What is not Said......Page 287
What May Not be Done......Page 288
8.3.2  From a Simple Answer to a Complex Query......Page 290
Christianity as a Religion......Page 295
9 – “Blessed Are Those Who Seek…”......Page 297
9.1  The Epistemology of Intolerance......Page 298
9.1.1  Historical Constraints Elaborated......Page 300
9.1.2  Religion and Doctrine......Page 303
Explanatory Accounts and Intelligibility Considerations......Page 306
9.2.1  No Gods, but Lord God Alone......Page 308
“The World is Governed”......Page 310
Order, Explanation, and Religion......Page 311
9.2.2  Seek, and Ye Shall Find......Page 312
Religion and the Meaning of Life......Page 313
9.3  “Thy Kingdom Come”......Page 315
9.3.1  “When the Son of Man Cometh…......Page 316
The Two Dimensions of Faith......Page 317
9.3.2  “…Will he Find Faith on Earth?”......Page 318
The Poignancy of the Question......Page 319
9.3.3  “It is Absurd, Therefore I Believe…”......Page 321
9.3.4  Ye Shall be as Children......Page 324
9.4  On Religious Experience......Page 326
9.4.1  Atheistic Religiosity......Page 328
Secularised Religion or Secular Faith?......Page 330
9.4.2  Controversies Illumined......Page 332
9.5.1  “The Heathen in his Blindness…......Page 334
The Question of Symmachus......Page 335
The Sight Restored......Page 337
9.5.2  “…bows Down to Wood and Stone”......Page 339
Constraints on Religion......Page 340
The Sin of Idolatry......Page 342
A Summary......Page 344
10 – “Imagine, There Is No Religion…”......Page 347
10.1.1  A First Line of Defence......Page 348
Religion and Worldview: A Preliminary Foray......Page 349
Religion and Worldview: A Secondary Foray......Page 350
Reflexivity in Religion......Page 353
Worldviews......Page 354
On the Nature of the Best Example......Page 355
On Epistemic Dissimilarities......Page 356
10.1.3  Religion and Worldview......Page 359
A Human Dilemma......Page 360
An Epistemological Point......Page 361
Religion and Worldview: A Disjunction......Page 362
Primal Myths?......Page 365
An Objection and an Illustration......Page 369
On the Truth of the Stories......Page 371
A Dialogue Transcribed......Page 375
The Conditions of Possibility......Page 379
On Unfulfilled Conditions......Page 381
By Way of a Summary......Page 387
About the Conditions of a Defence......Page 388
10.3.1  A Conceptual Fragment of the Answer......Page 389
10.3.2  The Depth of the Deep Questions......Page 393
Religion and Worldview: A Maximal Argument......Page 394
Two Possibilities......Page 395
Universalisation of Religion......Page 397
Part IV......Page 401
11 – Prolegomena to a Comparative Science of Cultures......Page 403
11.1.1  Learning Processes and Cultural Differences......Page 404
Cultural Difference and Configurations of Learning......Page 406
11.1.2  Religion as the Root Model of Order......Page 408
A Dialogue Concerning Religion......Page 411
11.1.3  Science and the Root Model of Order......Page 414
Religion and Science......Page 416
Slicing a Problem......Page 418
11.2  Conceptualising Cultural Differences......Page 419
11.2.1  Another Configuration of Learning......Page 420
On the Nature of the Configuration......Page 421
Evidences at Face Value......Page 423
11.3  How A Difference Makes The Difference......Page 432
Denying a Rhetorical Question......Page 433
A Substantive Answer to a Naive Question......Page 434
Methodological Answers to a Naive Question......Page 435
Three Answers to a Naive Question......Page 436
11.3.2  An Encounter of Cultures......Page 437
A Contrasting Description......Page 438
The Story Continued......Page 440
11.3.3  Traditio, Knowledge, and the Religious Culture......Page 441
‘Religio’ as ‘traditio’......Page 442
11.4  The Dynamic of Religion......Page 445
11.4.1  Proselytisation and Secularisation......Page 446
11.4.2  Idolatry and the Sin of the Secular......Page 448
11.5  About the Other Half of An Argument......Page 454
12.1  The Different Rest Houses......Page 455
Constraints on a Description......Page 460
Status of a Description......Page 461
12.3  Epistemic Questions......Page 462
On Equivocation and Suppression......Page 463
From a Dilemma to a Problem......Page 465
A Note......Page 466
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H......Page 480
I-J-K......Page 482
L......Page 484
M......Page 486
N......Page 489
O......Page 490
P......Page 491
Q-R......Page 493
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U-V......Page 500
W......Page 501
Y-Z......Page 503
A-B-C-D-E-F-G......Page 504
H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-R......Page 505
S-T-V-W-X-Z......Page 506
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D-E-F-G-H-I......Page 508
J-K-L-M-N-O-P-R......Page 509
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T-U-W......Page 511