Religion

In Encyclopædia Britannica there is a lengthy treatment of the classification of religions (Adams, 1994). The article discuss normative principles of classification, geographical criteria, ethnographic-linguistic principles, philosophical principles, morphological criteria, phenomenological principles, among others and it concludes:

• “First, classifications should not be arbitrary, subjective, or provincial. A first principle of the scientific method is that objectivity should be pursued to the extent possible and that findings should be capable of confirmation by other observers.

• Second, an acceptable classification should deal with the essential and typical in the religious life, not with the accidental and the unimportant. The contribution to understanding that a classification may make is in direct proportion to the penetration of the bases of religious life exhibited in its principles of division. A good classification must concern itself with the fundamentals of religion and with the most typical elements of the units it is seeking to order.

• Third, a proper classification should be capable of presenting both that which is common to religious forms of a given type and that which is peculiar or unique to each member of the type. Thus, no classification should ignore the concrete historical individuality of religious manifestations in favour of that which is common to them all, nor should it neglect to demonstrate the common factors that are the bases for the very distinction of types of religious experience, manifestations, and forms. Classification of religions involves both the systematic and the historical tasks of the general science of religion.

• Fourth, it is desirable in a classification that it demonstrate the dynamics of religious life both in the recognition that religions as living systems are constantly changing and in the effort to show, through the categories chosen, how it is possible for one religious form or manifestation to develop into another. Few errors have been more damaging to the understanding of religion than that of viewing religious systems as static and fixed, as, in effect, ahistorical. Adequate classifications should possess the flexibility to come to terms with the flexibility of religion itself.

• Fifth, a classification must define what exactly is to be classified. If the purpose is to develop types of religions as a whole, the questions of what constitutes a religion and what constitutes various individual religions must be asked. Since no historical manifestation of religion is known that has not exhibited an unvarying process of change, evolution, and development, these questions are far from easily solved.

With such criteria in mind it should be possible continuously to construct classification schemes that illuminate man's religious history” (Adams, 1994; bullets added).

Literature:

Adams, C. J. (1994). The study and classification of religions. Encyclopedia Britannica. Chicago, Illinois: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.

Mills, J. & Broughton, V. (1977): Bliss Bibliographical Classification. 2. ed. Class P: Religion. London: Butter­worth.

Graarup, K. (2003). Religionsvidenskab, klassifikation og kontekst. Biblioteksarbejde, 23(65), 21-33.

Graarup, K. (2005).Classification of religious literature: Some thoughts on the dilemmas of universalism. IN: New Frontiers in Public Library Research. Ed. By Carl Gustav Johannsen & Leif Kajberg. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. 
 

Birger Hjørland

Last edited: 04-09-2006

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