Reflection

Through the writing of this essay process, I have learned not only more about the various different definitions of religion, but also more about my own views on religion. Firstly, I prepared for this essay by listening to class discussions and reading the assigned readings. Through those means I gained an understanding that some scholars see religion as a set definition and some scholars believe that rather religion is simply made up of general aspects or dimensions. From those we learned about, I wanted to learn more. So, I did some research on JSTOR and viewed various different theories of religion and the combination of this two seemed to strike a cord with me and my personal views, which is why I choose to write about them. In the end, learning more about this material and creating this essay, I believe that I have formulated for myself a solid definition of what I believe I classifies as a religion, which is a combination of the emphasizes of Crane’s and Smith’s theory.

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Since its inception, religion has been an integral part of both human life and civilization. Today, many different religions inhabit the world, the most popular being Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. However, some scholars challenge the classification of certain religions, and seek to define religion as something narrower, even excluding some of the most popular religions, or potentially utilizing a more all-encompassing definition in some cases. That brings up the question, what exactly is the best way to define a religion? There are various scholars, such as Huston Smith, Ninian Smart, Tim Crane, James Frazer and Christian Smith, who have tried to tackle this difficult task of figuring out a way to classify all religions under one umbrella. These scholars each have their own opinions on what specifically are the foundational characteristics of all religions. However, no one individual provides a classification that encompasses all religions. In my opinion, the theories of both Christian Smith and Tim Crane offer enlightening definitions, each of them emphasizing different aspects of religion. Smith offers a solid foundation through stressing the importance of a supernatural power while Crane then accentuates the significance of social practices that allow religious communities to prosper. Combining the two theories creates a way to classify religion while also creating an understanding of why religion is so influential in society. Through bringing together cosmology, morality and the social aspects of religion, my definition of religion not only defines the essence of religion but specifies that the social aspect of religion generates its influential nature within human civilization.

In what follows I will first explain Smith’s theory and highlight his strengths, specifically a foundational definition that emphasizes the impact of cosmology and morality that come from a superpower. However, one weak point in Smith’s theory is that it proposes that the social aspect of religion is a secondary feature rather than a core part of what religion is. Nevertheless, Crane addresses this point by emphasizing that social practices that bring religious communities together are what make them so impact, and as a result, must be accentuated in any definition of religion. Therefore, I will conclude that combining Smith’s theory with the emphasis’s made in Cranes theory offer up a definition of religion that not only covers its essences, but also its ability to influence people.

In looking at the scholarship, there is a split between those who think all religions can all be defined under one definition and then those who disagree and rather believe that religions simply share general characteristics. Though they differ in their specific definitions, Tim Crane, James Frazer and Christian Smith each provide a singular definition in order to classify what a religion is. Specifically, James Frazer describes religion as “a belief in powers higher than man and an attempt to…please them.”[1] Furthermore, some scholars such as Huston Smith and Ninian Smart, disagree with one complete definition and rather view religions as sharing general dimensions or aspects. Out of these scholars, it is clear that both Christian Smith and Tim Crane offer the best methods, and together create a definition that encompasses all popular religions.

Christian Smith offers a definition of religion that focuses on the essences of religion and its relationship to the supernatural. Smith, in his book Moral, Believing Animals: Human Personhood and Culture, defined religion as a “set of beliefs, symbols, and practices about the reality of superempirical orders that make claims to organize and guide human life.”[2] However, his definition of religion excludes the key aspects of some religions that have important religious practices that lack a basis in the supernatural or general human existence. For starters, Smith’s explicit definition of religion is that it is “a complex of culturally prescribed practices that are based on premises about the existence and nature of superhuman powers.”[3] He additionally emphasizes that religion plays a necessary role within human societies, explicitly stating “no human society has existed that did not include religion.”[4] Moreover, Smith makes an important emphasis on practices serving as a foundational aspect of religion. He mentions that religious practices create “a variety of new social features and powers” which in turn influence the way people act and perceive the world, specifically impacting things like community, identity, self-expression, and social control.[5] Not only are practices essential to human society, but Smith stresses that religious people believe a superhuman power helps humans to deal with the limited capabilities that they naturally possess. Due to these factors of the enhancement of community and helping to cope with human existence, Smith argues religion will never disappear from human society, about which I believe he is correct. Then, Tim Crane offers a theory that supplements Christian Smith’s theory, emphasizing that social practices play just as integral a role in religious communities as cosmology and morality.

Time Crane highlights that religious practices, not just cosmology and morality, provide religion with its fundamental power and appeal that influences others, which also explains religions’ long lasting presences among human civilization. For starters, Cosmology is classified as ideas that have to do with the theory of the universe, referring to superpowers generally, while morality has to do with the correct way to exist in the world, involving things like the ten commandments or the Bible. However, Crane mentions that “the cosmology-plus-morality picture leaves out…something that is central to most things we call religions,” that being religious practices not based in those two ideas.[6] He refers specifically to practices such as baptism, confirmation, the hajj, the Sabbath, and alms giving to name a few. These activities, Crane proclaims, are “fundamental to anything that we recognize as a religion” though do not have anything to do with cosmology or morality, as emphasized already.[7] However, these religious practices are essential in creating the mass communities and vast social connections between people that develop as a result of religion, which is what contributes to religions influential nature and foundation of most human societies around the world, as Smith also suggests. Specifically, Crane quotes that the “paradigm of religious practice is repetition- doing something that has been done before many times- and doing it socially, along with other people.”[8] And this is not coincidental, rather these social aspects of religion are at the heart of religious communities purposefully and together these people who create connections between one another belong to what Crane calls “the element of identification in religious belief.”[9]

In conclusion, Christian Smith initially provides a strong classification as to what religion is at its core, and then Tim Crane’s theory of religion supplements Smith’s and creating one all-encompassing definition. In pulling them together, to classify all popular religions, a religion must have the presence of cosmology justified through a superpower, a code of morality, and religious practices that bring the two together, though may also include merely social practices, all promoting the formation of social connections amongst individuals within a particular religious community. Through that classification, religion will continue to play an important role in human existence and the development of civilizations until the end of human history.

 

[1] James Frazer, “What is Religion?” worksheet, Dr. Richter, 2020.

[2] Smith, 98.

[3] Smith, 3.

[4] Smith, 1-2.

[5] Smith, 4.

[6] Tim Crane, “What is Religion?” worksheet, Dr. Richter, 2020.

[7] Tim Crane, “What is Religion?” worksheet, Dr. Richter, 2020.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.