comparative religion

Critical examination of all religious phenomena with the dispassion of scientific analysis but often with the hope of finding common ground, to solve the practical problems of competing claims of unique truth or inspiration.

The term was first used in the late 19th century to mark the beginnings of serious study of non-Christian traditions and beliefs in Western universities. The term has now fallen out of favour because such objectivity is impossible and because the concept of comparison implies that there is a degree of competition between the faiths. The study of religions is now more commonly known as religious studies, and may involve the thematic study of a number of faiths, or specific study of one faith.

The earliest known attempt at a philosophy of religious beliefs is contained in fragments written by Xenophanes in Greece in the 6th century BC, and Herodotus and Aristotle later contributed to the study. In 17th-century China Jesuit theologians conducted comparative studies. Towards the end of the 18th century, English missionary schools in Calcutta (now Kolkata) compared the Bible with sacred Indian texts.

The work of Charles Darwin in natural history, and the growth of anthropology, stimulated fresh investigation of religious beliefs; recent comparative religion and modern religious studies have been based on the work of the Sanskrit scholar Max Müller (1823–1900), the Scottish anthropologist James Frazer, the German sociologist Max Weber, and the Romanian scholar Mircea Eliade.