The learned practice of religion: A review of the history of Religious Studies in Canada and its portent for the future

Abstract

I will argue here that a history of the study of religion in the Canadian academic context will reveal it to be little more than an extension of the kind of intellectual treatment religion receives in traditional religious contexts. To put it bluntly, I believe that an examination of "Religious Studies" in Canada will uncover a fundamental affinity between its "brand" of Religionswissenschaft and what is traditionally recognized as Glaubenswissenschaft, and, consequently, that it has contributed more to the leamed practice of religion than it has to the creation of a scientific study of religion. I will further argue that no scientific study of religion (rather than scientific analyses of particular aspects or elements of religious traditions) can possibly emerge on the Canadian scene until scholars in the field transcend the aim of making possible for their students the achievement of a new kind of religiosity or the creation of a more inclusive culture/society.