Comparative Religion

Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yields a deeper understanding of the fundamental philosophical concerns of religion such as ethics, metaphysics and the nature and forms of salvation. It also considers and compares the origins and similarities shared between the various religions of the world. Studying such material facilitates a broadened and more sophisticated understanding of human beliefs and practices regarding the sacred, numinous, spiritual and divine.

In the field of comparative religion, a common geographical classification of the main world religions distinguishes groups such as Middle Eastern religions (including Abrahamic religions and Iranian religions), Indian religions, East Asian religions, African religions, American religions, Oceanic religions, and classical Hellenistic religions.

There also exist various sociological classifications of religious movements.

History

Al-Biruni (973 – ) and Ibn Hazm (994 – 1064), both of the Islamic Golden Age and considered the "fathers of comparative religion", compared the study of religious pluralism and their works have been significant in the fields of theology and philosophy.Ibn Hazm.
The Ring of the Dove: A Treatise on the Art and Practice of Arab Love
'' (Preface). Trans. A. J. Arberry. Luzac Oriental, 1997 R. Arnaldez
Ibn Ḥazm
. Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill Online, 2013. Reference. 9 January 2013Joseph A. Kechichian
A mind of his own
. Gulf News: 21:30 20 December 2012. Al-Biruni discussed his idea of history in ''The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries'' ( AD) which was translated by Eduard Sachau in the 19th century. It is a comparative study of calendars of different cultures and civilizations, interlaced with mathematical, astronomical, and historical information, exploring the customs and religions of different peoples.M. S. Khan (1976). "al-Biruni and the Political History of India", ''Oriens'' 25, pp. 86-115.

In the seventeenth century, antiquarians such as Athanasius Kircher along with Sir Thomas Browne were pioneering scholars of comparative religion.

Social scientists in the 19th century took a strong interest in comparative and "primitive" religion through the work of Max Müller, Edward Burnett Tylor, William Robertson Smith, James George Frazer, Émile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Rudolf Otto.
Nicholas de Lange, Professor of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Cambridge University, says that

Examples that demonstrate this point are Buddhism and Chinese Folk Religions. These belief systems have not historically been seen as mutually exclusive and have blended over time into different beliefs such as Pure Land Buddhism. This shows a marked difference from Western conceptions of religions, which see adherence to one religion as precluding membership of another faith.

Hinduism and Buddhism provide another insight in the form of soteriology. Comparative study of religions may approach religions with a base idea of salvation with eternal life after death, but religions like Hinduism or Buddhism don't necessarily share this view. Instead, Hinduism and Theravada Buddhism both speak of a falling back into nonexistence and escaping the cycle of reincarnation, rather than eternal life after death.Batchelor, S. (2012). A secular buddhism. ''Journal of Global Buddhism, 13'', 87-107.

Geographical classification

According to Charles Joseph Adams, in the field of comparative religion, a common geographical classification discerns the main world religions as follows:

# Middle Eastern religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, and a variety of ancient belief systems;
# East Asian religions, the religious communities of China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam, and consisting of Confucianism, Taoism, the various schools of Mahayana ("Greater Vehicle") Buddhism, and Shintō;
# Indian religions, including early Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and sometimes also the Theravada ("Way of the Elders") Buddhism and the Hindu- and Buddhist-inspired religions of South and Southeast Asia;
# African religions, the ancient belief systems of the various indigenous peoples of Africa, excluding ancient Egyptian religion, which is considered to belong to the ancient Middle East;
# American religions, the beliefs and practices of the various Indigenous peoples of the two American continents;
# Oceanic religions, the religious systems of the peoples of the Pacific islands, Australia, and New Zealand; and
# Religions of ancient Greece and Rome and their Hellenistic descendants.

Middle Eastern religions

Abrahamic or Western Asian religions

In the study of comparative religion, the category of Abrahamic religions includes the three monotheistic religions, Christianity, Islam and Judaism, which claim Abraham (Hebrew ''Avraham'' אַבְרָהָם; Arabic ''Ibrahim'' إبراهيم ) as a part of their sacred history. Smaller religions such as the Baháʼí Faith that fit this description are sometimes included but are often omitted.

The original belief in the God of Abraham eventually became strictly monotheistic present-day Rabbinic Judaism. Religious Jews regard Judaism as the expression of the covenant that God established with the Children of Israel. Jews hold that the Torah forms part of the larger text known as the Tanakh