Six Ways of Being Religious: A Framework for Comparative Studies of Religion

Rating:
Summary: Comparative Religion
Review: This book encourages readers to exhibit the intellectual fortitude and cultural sensitivity for comparing the world's diverse religions in a meaningful way. Dale adopts a neutral, non-judgmental approach to the study of comparative religions. Although the book is not presented from a Christian perspective, it is perfectly consistent with such a perspective. The reader is not asked to question his or her own faith. Rather, the book provides a framework that can be used to appreciate different ways of being religious.

Part 1 defines the main concepts and discusses what it means to be objective. To be objective in a detached, cold and impersonal way would be a disaster in trying to truly understand religious phenomena. Dale discusses the need to be empathic if one is to succeed in understanding the various ways of being religious. Being empathic about another religion or another denomination does not mean that one has to abandon or question ones own faith.

Empathy is essential if one is to appreciate the different ways people draw closer to God. Any attempt to understand another religion or a different denomination would surely be superficial if one approached it without empathy or from a self-righteous perspective. As Dale says, "This approach involves a disciplined empathy, seeking to make accessible to the outsider what is understood and experienced by persons on the inside...."

After establishing the philosophic underpinnings of the book, part one then identifies and explores the six generic ways of being religious. These are Sacred Rite, Right Action, Devotion, Shamanic Mediation, Mystical Quest and Reasoned Inquiry. Each way of being religious is a different way of drawing near to what Dale calls °Ultimate Reality.

The second part of the book applies this framework to the whole of Buddhism (Chapter 7) and to the whole of Christianity (Chapter 8). I found Chapter 8 especially helpful in understanding the differences between Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism and the diversity within Protestantism.

Part 3 takes each of the six ways of being religious and uses them to compare and contrast Buddhism and Christianity. It juxtaposes an example of the same way of being religious from each of Buddhism and Christianity.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in deepening their understanding of their own religion or other religions. The book excels in pointing out similarities between disparate religions, but yet never glosses over important differences. The book is extremely well organized. Dale ends each chapter with a convenient summary, so if the going gets tough, try reading the summary first. Each chapter has a good bibliography that can be used for further reading on that topic.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, worth the work
Review: This book is a one of the books that has changed how I think about the world. As I study how religion and people interact, this book gives a framework to work within. At times the material is clearly written for other professors and professionals. But dispite the work it takes to get thru some of the material, the content is very valuable. This book is having the same kind of impact for me that "Diffusion of Innovation" had.