Buddhist Apologetics and a Genealogy of Comparative Religion in Siam
Contemporary identity in Thailand is prominently configured through an allegiance of reformed Buddhism with the modern Thai state. What is not well understood, however, is the centrality of “comparative religion” to the construction of this naturalized religionationalist identity, for interreligious...
Κύριος συγγραφέας: | |
---|---|
Τύπος μέσου: | Ηλεκτρονική πηγή Άρθρο |
Γλώσσα: | Αγγλικά |
Έλεγχος διαθεσιμότητας: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Έκδοση: |
Brill
2015
|
Στο/Στη: |
Numen
Έτος: 2015, Τόμος: 62, Τεύχος: 1, Σελίδες: 76-99 |
Άλλες λέξεις-κλειδιά: | B
religious studies in Asia
Christian-Buddhist debates
Buddhist apologetics
religious studies in Thailand
comparative religion in Thailand
Buddhism in Siam
religion and modern identity
|
Διαθέσιμο Online: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
Σύνοψη: | Contemporary identity in Thailand is prominently configured through an allegiance of reformed Buddhism with the modern Thai state. What is not well understood, however, is the centrality of “comparative religion” to the construction of this naturalized religionationalist identity, for interreligious study in Siam has been an integral component of modern Thai identity since the mid-nineteenth century. First, the emergence of “religion” as an object of study in modern Thailand is explored here, in an effort to detail the genealogy of this field for the first time. The articulation of Thai religious identity is identified as a response to intellectual challenges from colonial influences, especially the reproofs of Buddhism by Christian missionaries and Orientalist scholarship on religion. Thai Buddhist intellectuals responded to these challenges by robustly countering that Theravada Buddhism was, in fact, superior to Christianity and other religions. Finally, I explore the contentions between the Thai Buddhist apologetics and their opponents as a genealogy of the knowledge in comparative religion in Siam over the past century and a half. Given this genealogy, the field of comparative religion in Thailand is revealed as being far from a disinterested pursuit of knowledge; rather, it is part of the formation and reaffirmation of Thai national identity. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 1568-5276 |
Περιλαμβάνει: | In: Numen
|
Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685276-12341356 |