RT Article
T1 Religion as the Transmission of An Authoritative Tradition: The Significance of Timothy Fitzgerald’s Critique of Religious Studies for a Socially Embedded Definition of Religion
JF Implicit religion
VO 22
IS 3/4
SP 331
OP 348
A1 Cox, James L. 1945-
LA English
PB Equinox
YR 2020
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1726271552
AB Timothy Fitzgerald’s critique of the category “religion” was based on  two main objections: the study of religion as a distinct discipline has  grown out of the historical collusion with colonial interests that has  culminated in the modern division between religion and the secular;  by associating the term “religion” with sacred entities, theological  assumptions have been smuggled into so-called scientific studies  of religion. In this paper, I offer my own non-theological, sociocultural  working definition of religion in an effort to separate “the  sacred” from “religion.” I argue that religion consists of identifiable  communities that adhere to traditions that are transmitted from  generation to generation with an overwhelming authority. I  conclude that Fitzgerald’s critique of religion does not require  scholars to abandon the category, but to re-think how they use the  academic findings they have extracted from their research subjects.  To advance beyond Fitzgerald’s argument, I contend that academics  need to work collaboratively with the religious communities they  are researching by acknowledging them as the legitimate owners of  the knowledge that is embedded in their authoritative traditions.
K1 Authority
K1 identifiable communities
K1 non-theological
K1 ownership of knowledge
K1 Tradition
K1 Transmission
K1 working definition
DO 10.1558/imre.40991