Neo-Religionswissenchaft: Din Biliminden Dinler Çalışmasına Eleştirel Dönüşümlerle Dinler Tarihi

Abstract

XIX. yüzyılın ikinci yarısından itibaren antropolojiden ayrışarak başlangıçta, Almanca resmi adıyla Religionswissenchaft (Din Çalışması) ismini alan Dinler Tarihi, modern zamanların bilimi olarak ortaya çıkıp teorik açıdan güçlenerek normatif olmayan, filoloji ve kutsal metinlere dayalı din olgusunu, dinleri ve din fenomenlerini mukayeseli tarihsel yaklaşımıyla inceleyen bir bilim olarak belirdi. Dinler Tarihi, her zaman olduğu gibi çağının parametrelerindeki değişimlere uygun olarak eleştirel bir bilim olarak, günümüzde ön-ek olarak kabul edildiği yenilik odaklı çoklu yöntemsel yaklaşımların, konuların, sorunların ve gelecek perspektiflerinin değişim gösterdiğinin gayet farkındadır. Bu makale, bilhassa Eliade sonrası (Post-Eliaden) yeni dönemde Dinler Tarihi’ni etraflıca yeniden gözden geçirerek güncellemek niyetindedir. Biz öncelikle disiplinin çok isimli kimliğini, interdisipliner olmaktan hibrit disipline dönüşümleri, inanç ve gelenekleri inceleyen tarihsel mukayese ve fenomenolojik yöntemlere daha fazla eklektik ve sentetik formlarla yeni mukayesecilik bilişsel ve neo-feminist yönelimlere sahip çoklu metodolojiye yaklaşımları işleyeceğiz. Modern dönemde yerellik ile evrensellik arasında salınım gösteren Dinler Tarihi çağdaş dönemde eleştirel kimliğiyle hareket eden, sorgulayan hatta meydan okuyucu şekilde dönüştürerek yol alan “her yerdeliğini” çok kültürlü ve dinamik ilişkileriyle sergileyeceğiz. Bunlara bağlı olarak alandaki değişen terminolojik diliyle gittikçe genişleyen “akademi politiğini” yansıtan problemleri hakkındaki değişen bakış açılarına değineceğiz. Son olarak disiplinin önündeki coşkulu, yankı verici ve sonsuzluk kazandırıcı geleceği hakkında öngörülerde bulunacağız.

Keywords

• Dinler Tarihi
• Din
• Bilişsel Yaklaşım
• Yeni Mukayesecilik
• Yeni Feminizm
• Din Bilimleri
• Postmodernizm

Neo-Religionswissenchaft: The History of Religion in Critical Transformation From The Science of Religion to the Study of Religions

Abstract

Since the second half of the 19th century, the History of Religions has emerged as a scientific discipline distinct from anthropology, initially under its official German name Religionswissenschaft. As a science of modern times, it has theoretically strengthened its foundations by examining the phenomenon of religion, religions, and religious phenomena through a non-normative, philological, and sacred text-based, comparative-historical approach. As always, the History of Religions functions as a critical science attuned to the changing parameters of its era. It is well aware that contemporary methodological approaches, topics, problems, and future perspectives have undergone significant transformations, now favoring innovation-oriented and multi-methodological approaches. This article aims to extensively reassess and update the field of the History of Religions, particularly in the post-Eliade era. We will first evaluate the discipline's development from a micro-historical perspective. Then, we will address its multi-named identity, trans/post-humanist interpretations of the sacred, the transformation of myth into secular narratives, and the shift from an interdisciplinary to a hybrid disciplinary structure. Furthermore, we will explore how traditional historical-comparative and phenomenological methods for analyzing belief and tradition have evolved into more eclectic and synthetic approaches, incorporating cognitive, neo-feminist, and analytical methodologies. We will also present new topics in the field, which oscillates between locality and universality in the modern era, while boldly engaging with global issues and exhibiting multicultural and techno-digital concerns. In connection with this, we will provide insights into the evolving terminological jargon and the ever-expanding and constantly renewed literature. Lastly, we will address the changing academic-political perspectives surrounding the field, which has increasingly assumed a maternal role for other religious sciences. We will conclude with projections about the vibrant, resonant, and potentially enduring future of the discipline.

Keywords

• History of Religions
• Religion
• Cognitive Approach
• New Comparativism
• Neo-Feminism
• Religious Studies
• Postmodernism

References

1. Alıcı, Mustafa. “Dünyanın Yerel Bilimi: Dinler Tarihi”.Türk Bilimsel Derlemeler Dergisi 2/1 (2009), 153-179.
2. Alıcı, Mustafa. “Dindar Değil Maneviyatçıyım: Postmodern Din Bilimlerinde Dindarlık- Maneviyat Tartışmaları”. Akra Kültür Sanat ve Edebiyat Dergisi6/16 (2018), 11-20.
3. Alıcı, Mustafa. “Metafizik Kutsallıktan Sanal Gerçekliğe: Dijital Din”.Akra Kültür Sanat ve Edebiyat Dergisi 10/27 (2022), 253-278.
4. Alıcı, Mustafa.“Yeni Dini Hareketlerin Klasik Dinlerden Ayrıştığı Noktalar”. Nedenleri ve Niçinleriyle Yeni Dini Hareketler. ed. Süleyman Turan - Faruk Sancar.71-79. İstanbul: Okur Akademi, 2018.
5. Antes, Peter. “Ugo Bianchi”. Estratta da Ugo Bianchi Una Vita Per la Storia delle Religioni. ed Givoanni Casadio. 79-83. Roma: Il Calamo, 2002.
6. Asad, Talal. Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993.
7. Asad, Talal.Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003.
8. Arendt, Hannah.Crisis of theRepublic: Lying in Politics, Civil Disobedience on Violence, Thoughts on Politics, and Revolution. New York: HarcourtBraceJovanovich, 1972.

9. Arnal, William E. “Definition”. Guide to the Study of Religion. ed. Willi Braun- Russell T. McCutcheon. 21-34. London-New York: Continuum, 2000.
10. Aydın, Mehmet. Dinler Tarihine Giriş. Konya: Din Bilimleri Yayınları, 2002.
11. Badham, Paul.“The Future of Religious Studies: Towards a New Perspertive”. The Future of Religion: Postmodern Perspectives, ed. Christopher Lamb- Dan Cohn-Sherbok. 172-183. London: Middlesex University Press, 1999.
12. Bainbridge, William Sims. After the New Age. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43/3(2004), 381–95.
13. Barrett, Justin L. Cognitive Science, Religion, and Theology: From Human Minds to Divine Minds. West Conshohocken: Templeton Press, 2011.
14. Barrett, Justin L.Born Believers: The Science of Children’s Religious Belief. New York: Free Press, 2012.
15. Banks, R. J. “Guest Editorial: The Future Shape of Religious Studies”, International Jorunal of Christianity and Education 17/3 (1974), 4-8.
16. Berg, Maarten C.New Age to Advice? Ticket to Happiness. Journal of Happiness Studies 3(2008), 361-377.
17. Berger, Peter L. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. New York: Anchor Books, 1969.
18. Berger, Peter L. The Heretical Imperative: Contemporary Possibilities of Religious Affirmation. New York: Anchor Books, 1980.
19. Bostrom Nick. The Transhumanist FAQ. http://www.transhumanism.org/resources/faq.html (11/07/2022).
20. Boyer, Pascal. ReligionExplained: EvolutionaryOrigins of ReligiousThought. New York: Basic Books, 2001.
21. Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 1990.
22. Cameron, Ron. Ancient Myths and Modern Theories of the Gospel of Thomas and Christian Origins. MethodandTheory in TheStudy of Religion. 11 (1999), 236-257.
23. Campbell, Heidi A. Digital Religion: Understanding Religious Practice in New Media Worlds. London- New York: Routledge, 2012.
24. Casanova, José. Public Religions in the Modern World. University of Chicago Press, 1994.
25. Christ, Carol. “Why Women Need the Goddess.” Womanspirit Rising: A Feminist Reader in Religion, ed. Carol Christ ve Judith Plaskow, 273–287. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1979.
26. Eliade, Mircea. “A New Humanism”. The Insider/ Outsider Problem in the Study of Religion: A Reader, ed. Russell T. McCutcheon. 95-103. London –New York 1999.
27. Fitzgerald, Timothy. The Ideology of Religious Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
28. Flood, Gavin.Beyond Phenomenology: Rethinking the Study of Religion. London: Cassell, 1999.
29. Flood, Gavin.The Importance of Religion: Meaning and Action in Our Strange World. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
30. Fiorenza, Elisabeth Schüssler. In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins. New York: Crossroad, 1983.
31. Filoramo, Giovanni. Dizionario delle religioni. Torino: Einaudi, 1993.
32. Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books, 1973.
33. Gisel, Pierre. “A Productive Coexistence for Theology and Religious Studies. What Kind of Work Is Needed on Both Sides?”. Euare Lectures Ex Nihilo And First Annual Conference 2017-2018, ed. Francesca Cadeddu. 49-69. Bologna: European Academy of Religion, 2019.
34. Gross, Rita.Feminism and Religion: An Introduction. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996.
35. Hanegraaff, Wouter J. New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought. New York: SUNY Press 1998.
36. Harvey, Graham. Contemporary Religious Studies: An Introduction. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2013.
37. Heimbrock, Hans-Günter , Christoph Th. Scheilke. Din Bilimlerine Giriş. Çev. Suat Cebeci. Ankara: Fecr Yayınevi, 2016.
38. King, Richard. “The Copernican Turn in the Study of Religion, Religion, Theory, Critique- Classic and Contemporary Approaches and Methodologies. ed. Richard King. 1-20. New York: Colombia University Press, 2017.
39. Kippenberg, Hans G. Discovering Religious History in the Modern Age. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.
40. Laclau, Ernesto, Chantal Mouffe. Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics. London- New York: Verso, 1985.
41. Levitt, Peggy. God Needs No Passport: Immigrants and the Changing American Religious Landscape. New Press, 2007.
42. Mahmood, Saba. Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005.
43. Martin, Luther H. “Comparison”, Guide to the Study of Religion, ed. Willi Braun- Russell T. McCutcheon. 45-56. London-New York: Continuum, 2000.
44. Masuzawa, Tomoko. The Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism Was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.
45. McCutcheon, Russell. T. A Modest Proposal on Method: Essaying theStudy of Religion. Leiden: Brill, 2015.
46. McCutcheon, Russell T. Critics Not Caretakers: Redescribing the Public Study of Religion. Albany- New York: State University of New York Press, 2001.
47. McCutcheon, Russell T. Manufacturing Religion: The Discourse on Sui Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
48. McCutcheon, Russell T. The Discipline of Religion: Structure, Meaning, Rhetoric. London: Routledge, 2003.
49. Mete, Duygu. “Din Bilimcisi Ne Kadar Agnostiktir? Çağdaş Din Bilimlerinde Agnostisizm Sorunu”. Kesit Akademi Dergisi 14/4 (2018), 396-409.
50. Paden, William E. “Elements of A New Comparativism”. Method & Theory in The Study of Religion 8/1 (1996), 5-14.
51. Penchev, Vasil. “Quantum theology, or: “Theologie als strenge Wissenschaft”. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4956963. (08.09.2025)
52. Olupona, Jacob K.African Religions: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
53. Sarıkçıoğlu, Ekrem. Din Fenomenolojisi-Dinlerin Mahiyeti ve Tezahür Şekilleri. Isparta: S.D.Ü Yayınları, 2002.
54. Santos, Boaventura de Sousa.Epistemologies of the South: Justice Against Epistemicide. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers, 2014.
55. Said, Edward.Culture and Imperialism. New York: Vintage, 1994.
56. Said, Edward. Kültür ve Emperyalizm. çev. Necmettin Soydan, İstanbul: Hil Yayın, 2004.
57. Said, Edward.Oryantalizm. Çev. Nezih Uzel. İstanbul: Metis Yayınları, 2001.
58. Sharpe, Eric J. Comparative Religion: A History. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co, 1986.
59. Smart, Ninian. Dimensions of the Sacred: An Anatomy of the World's Beliefs. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.
60. Smith, Jonathan Z. Imagining Religion: From Babylon to Jonestown. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982.
61. Smith, Jonathan Z. Map Is Not Territory: Studies in the History of Religions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.
62. Smith, Jonathan Z. “Adde Parvum Parvo Magnus Acervus Erit ,” Map IsNot Territory: Studies in the History of Religions. 240-245. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1993.
63. Sutcliffe, Steven J. - Ingvild Gilhus. New Age Spirituality: Rethinking Religion. London-New York: Routledge, 2014.
64. Swim, Janet- Laurie Hyers. “Sexism”. Handbook of Prejudice, Stereotyping, and Discrimination, ed. Todd D. Nelson 407-409. New York: Psychology Press, 2009.
65. Thiong’o, Ngũgĩ wa. Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers, 1986.
66. Trible, Phyllis. Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984.
67. Tolle, Eckhart. ThePower of Now: A Guide To Spiritual Enlightment. London: Hodder&Stoughton 2001.
68. Turner, Bryan S. “Religion and Contemporary Sociological Theories.The Cambridge Companion to Religious Studies, ed. Robert A. Orsi. 771-788. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
69. Tümer, Günay- Abdurrahman Küçük. Dinler Tarihi. Ankara: Ocak Yayınları, 1993.
70. Tworuschka, Udo. “Religionswissenschaft as Intercultural Science.” Numen 44/3 (1997), 263–276.
71. Üzüm, Hamza. Teolog, Eleştirmen, Din Bilimcisi William Robertson Smith. Ankara: Astana 2024.
72. Yusa, Michiko, “From Topos to Environment: A Conversation with Nishida Kitaro”, The Future of Religion: Postmodern Perspectives, ed. Christopher Lamb- Dan Cohn-Sherbok. 112-127. London: Middle Sex University Press, 1999.
73. De Vries, Jean. The Study of Religion A Historical Approach. trans. Kees W. Bolle. Los Angeles: Harcourt- University of California, 1967.
74. Waardenburg Jacques. “Religionswissenchaft New Style Some Thoughts and Afterthoughts”. Annual Review of the Social Science of Religion 2 (1978), 189- 220.
75. Whaling, Frank. Contemporary Approaches to the Study of Religion –II. Berlin- New York-Amsterdam: Moulton 1985. White, Claire. “The Cognitive Science of Religion and Gender: An Exploratory Framework.” Religion, Brain & Behavior 3/1 (2013), 37–54. Woodhead, Linda.Gendering Religion and Politics: Untangling Modernities. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Žižek, Slavoj.The Sublime Object of Ideology. London: Verso, 1989.