Nvmen Vol 45

NVME
INI'ERNATIONALREVIEW FOR THE

HISTORY OF RELIGIONS
EDITEDON BEHALFOF THE
INTERNATIONAL
ASSOCIATIONFOR THE
HISTORYOF RELIGIONS
by H.G. KIPPENBERGand E.T. LAWSON
VOLUME XLV
E
EG/
%
/68
/ 6 8
'
BRILL
LEIDEN . BOSTON * KOLN
1998
CONTENTS
Articles
Peter Beyer, The Religious System of Global Society: A Sociological
Look at Contemporary Religion and Religions ................
Reinhard Pummer, Samaritan Tabernacle Drawings ............
Galen Amstutz, The Politics of Pure Land Buddhism in India ....
Jan G. Platvoet, Close Harmonies: The Science of Religion in Dutch
Duplex Ordo Theology, 1860-1960 ..........................
Monica L. Siems, How Do YouSay "God" in Dakota? Epistemological Problems in the Christianization of Native Americans ....
Chi-tim Lai, Ko Hung's Discourse of Hsien-lmmortality: A Taoist
Configuration of an Alternate Ideal Self-Identity . ............
Jacques Waardenburg, Observations on the Scholarly Study of Religions as Pursued in Some Muslim Countries . ................
Arthur McCalla, The Structure of French Romantic Histories of Religions ...................................................
Torkel Brekke, Contradiction and the Merit of Giving in Indian
Religions ..................................................
1
30
69
115
163
183
235
258
287
Book reviews
Stephen A. Geller, Sacred Enigmas: Literary Religion in the Hebrew
Bible (Berhard LANG) .. ....................................
Vinciaine Pirenne-Delforge, L'Aphrodite grecque. Contribution a
l'etude de ses cultes et de sa personnalite dans le pantheon archaique et classique (Christoph AUFFARTH)..................
W.A.R. Shadid and P.S. van Koningsveld (Eds.), Muslims in the
Margin: Political Responses to the Presence of Islam in Western
Europe (Abdulkader I. TAYOB) . .............................
Keith Stevens, Chinese Gods: The Unseen World of Spirits and
Demons (R.J.Z. WERBLOWSKY)
.............................
the
Program for
Analysis of Religion Among Latinos Studies Series,
4 vols. (Luther MARTIN)....................................
Frank Whaling (Ed.), Theory and Method in Religious Studies. Contemporary Approaches to the Study of Religion (Abdulkader
I. TAYOB)..................................................
97
98
100
101
104
221
Guy G. Stroumsa,Hidden Wisdom: Esoteric Traditionsand the

Roots of ChristianMysticism(LutherH. MARTIN)............
RichardF. Gombrich,How BuddismBegan: The ConditionedGenesis of the Early Teachings(Axel MICHAELS)
.................
Luc Brisson, Orpheeet I'Orphismedans l'Antiquit6greco-romaine
..................
...........
(GiulianaScaleraMCCLINTOCK)
Hans G. Kippenberg,Die Entdeckungder Religionsgeschichte.Re.....
ligionswissenschaftundModere (Kockuvon STUCKRAD)
KangshengDai, Xinying Zhang, and Michael Pye (Eds.), Religion
and Modernizationin China: Proceedingsof the Regional Conference of the IAHRHeld in Beijing 1992 (TimothyLIGHT)...
Ali S. Asani and Kamal Abdel-Malek, in colloboration with
A. Schimmel, CelebratingMuhammad. Images of the Prophet
in PopularMuslimPoetry(EdwinWERINGA)
.................
June Campbell,Travellerin Space. In Searchof Female Identityin
Tibetan Buddhism (Adelheid HERRMANN-PFANDT)
............
222
224
321
324
325
328
329
Announcements
IAHR Congressin Durban(ArminW. GEERT) .................
New Appointmentsin the IAHR (ArminW. GEERTZ)
............
18th QuinquennialCongressof the IAHR in Durban (PratapKuMAR) ......................................................
Publicationsreceived...................................
108
331
336
110, 226, 341
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1998
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permissionof the publisher.
PRINTEDIN THE NETHERLANDS
THE RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OF GLOBAL SOCIETY:

A SOCIOLOGICAL LOOK AT CONTEMPORARY RELIGION
AND RELIGIONS
PETERBEYER
Summary
Controversieswithinreligiousstudiesover the categoriesof religionand religions
are reflectiveof changes in religionthatcorrespondto the historicaldevelopmentof
global society in recent centuries. The globalizationof society has created social
conditions that encourage the differentiationof religion as a distinct modality of
social communicationbased on binary codes and centredon institutionalizedprogrammesthat flow from these. The result has been the gradualconstructionand
imagining of an ambiguousbut nonetheless observableand operativeglobal religious system. From its beginningsin early modem WesternChristianity,the system
has spreadhaltingly and graduallyto the rest of the world. Similarto the way the
spreadof the global political system broughtabout the discovery and construction
of nations,the developmentof the religioussystem has resultedin the crystallization
of 'religions,' especially but not exclusively what we now call the world religions.
The examples of Christianity,Hinduism,Islam, and Chinese religion are discussed
brieflyas illustration.
Religion, World Religions, and Globalization

Like many academic disciplines, religious studies' has its share of
persistent foundational debates. One of these concerns the prevailing
division of the field according to different religions or religious traditions, most notably but not exclusively, the 'world religions.' Many
scholars contest this increasingly dominant partition in principle on
the grounds that both the categories of 'religion' and 'religions' are
derived from Christian, or at least Western experience, and are thus
unsuitable for understandingthe religious aspects of non-Western cultures: constructing the discipline with these concepts amounts, one
often hears, to the mistaken or imperialistic imposition of 'our' culture
on 'them' (see, e.g., Fitzgerald, 1990; Paper, 1995). Some scholars,
notably W.C. Smith (1964), go farther to claim that it is misleading
to speak of 'religions' at all.
? KoninklijkeBrill NV, Leiden (1998)
Peter Beyer
The foundationsof this critiqueare multiple. First, the academic

study of religion is for the most part still a Westerndiscipline. As
a whole, it carries the strong marks of its dual origins in postEnlightenmentChristiantheology and in 19th century comparative
study of religion, both in some measure the consequence of observers from Christiancultures attemptingto come to terms with
the religiously 'others'of non-Westerncivilizations.2Related to this
ambiguityis the recentnessof the development.As KatherineYoung
(1992) has pointedout, while the practicalorientationto 'world religions' is as old as the moder comparativestudy of religion, its rise
to the position of a primecategorywithinthe field dates only fromthe
period.3A finalproblemconcernswhich religions
post-World-War-II
or religious traditionsare to be the object of study. As Youngpoints
out, the list of 'worldreligions'varies considerably.Judaism,Christianity,Islam, Buddhism,and Hinduismare the consistentmembers;
but even here, commentatorsfrequentlyremarkon the artificiality
of the last term (e.g., Fitzgerald,1990; cf. Frykenberg,1989; ThaSikhism,and Jainismusually qualify,but
par, 1989). Zoroastrianism,
seem to have a sort of 'minorreligion' status;while the religions of
East Asia share a nebulousquality in that the common labels used
for them-Shinto, Daoism,Confucianism,East Asian Buddhism,are
or insufficient.Otherreligions,
generallydeemed to be inappropriate
notably regional/indigenous(e.g., Yoruba,Oglala, Vodoun)and relatively new (e.g., Baha'i, Cao Dai, Wicca) religions receive varying
attention, but the discipline generally treats them under categories
(e.g., aboriginal,African,other,new) ratherthan individually.In all
cases, membersof the disciplinehave paid scant attentionto the reasons for this inconsistentandvisibly hierarchicalranking(cf. Young,
1992).
Nonetheless, inspite of these inconsistenciesand misgivings, the
discipline in fact, for the most part,proceeds in practicalterms as if
religion were a reasonablyclear category,as if there were definitely
such entities as religions(or at least delineatedtraditions),and as if
the implicit rankingswere somehowjustifiable. Scholarsof religion
do not thereby forget about the ambiguities: rather,the notions of
The Religious System of Global Society
religion and the religions are mattersof practicalconsensus, not of

agreed upon definition. Somehow, they make sense and it seems
difficultto get away from them.
The purpose of the present article is to inquire into some key
sociological conditionsthat generatethis ambiguoussituation. My
general thesis is that the difficultiesand the actual practiceare not
simply a matter of internalscholarly debate; that the question of
religion and religions is more than observersarguingover the best
ways to observea supposedlyneutralobject. InsteadI wish to suggest
thatthe ambiguitiesreflecta particularsocial context,one which has
broughtabout changes in what we now call religion and religions.
These changes, I suggest, are what is at the root of the academic
debates.
The social context and the transformations
I referto concernwhat
recent sociological discussionhas begun to call the globalizationof
society. The core notion here is that social reality on today's globe
has become in an increasinglystrong sense singular: social interaction or communicationhas become so interconnectedaroundthe
worldthat it becomes meaningfulto speakof a single global society.
Globalizationin this debateis significantlymorethanthe popularmedia and business idea with its primarilyeconomic and technological
referents.My thesis thenclaims thatthe idea and social realityof religion differentiatedfrom non-religionand of religions distinguished
from one anotherare to a significantextentproductsand expressions
of this historicaldevelopment;and certainlynot merely the mistaken
conclusion of observerswith a Westernculturalor Christianbias,
even though such bias is indeed a part of the picture. Moreover,I
wantto suggest thata useful way of conceivingthese transformations
in religion is to speak of the gradualformationor differentiationin
the last two centuriesof a single global religious system. The ideas
of differentiationand system are key to my argument.
A more precise formulationof the hypothesisruns like this: We
live today increasinglyin a global society whose dominant,butby no
meansexclusive, structuralfeaturesaredifferentiatedsocietal systems
centredon function or technique. We have, for instance, the polit-
Peter Beyer
ical, legal, economic, scientific, educational,and medical systems.

Althoughin a somewhatambiguousfashion,among these is a global
religious system, one of the constitutivefeaturesof which is the internaldifferentiationof religions or religious traditions.The system
and the context in which it has formedraise two persistentboundary,
identity,or control questions;namely, how do we differentiatereligion from non-religion?and what identifiesa religion that allows us
to distinguishit from others?Both these questionspoint to a certain
selectivityof this system: it does not andcannotmeaningfullyinclude
everythingthat might conceivablycount as religious. Moreover,far
from ignoringresistanceto such differentiationand distinctionon the
part of both observersand religious actors, the hypothesis includes
this in the way the system constitutesand reproducesitself. Resistance, as I show below, can have the paradoxicaleffect of helping to
reproducethe system, not because it is 'wrong' or 'ineffective,'but
because of the social contextin which thatresistancetakes place.
One featureof this historicallyglobalizingcontextis worthemphasizing at the outset. This has to do with the geographicaland cultural
origins of the historicaldevelopmentwhich has led to contemporary
global society. Simplifyingsomewhat,it was in WesternEuropeand
then the Americas that the historical 'GreatTransformation'began
in the Middle Ages and the early modem period, lending the concomitant and subsequentspread of the process aroundthe globe a
decidedlyWesterncharacter.Thatmost definitelydoes not mean that
global society is to be understoodsimply as the imperialisticspread
of Westernsociety aroundthe globe; only thatglobalizationstill bears
the marksof its origins. Similarly,the global religious system bears
the marks of its origins and early developmentin Christiansociety,
especially in the way we tend to conceive religion and religions.
The contemporaryglobal religious system thereforelooks somewhat
Christian,not in a religious sense, but only in a sense parallel to
the way that globalizationlooks like Westernization.Christianity's
conditions of origin and its longer experiencewith secularizedand
functionallyorientedstructureshave encouragedmany of us to view
certainof its responsesto the globalizingcontextas characteristically
Christian,when it may be more useful to think of them as characteristicallymodem. Such a view would greatly attenuate-although
not negate-accusations thatglobal systems and the global religious
system are anotherway of saying Wester imperialismand Christian
bias.
The furtherelaboration,theoreticaldefense, and illustrationof the
hypothesisproceed along the following lines: A first section centres
on globality and consistsof a brief look at key structuraland cultural
aspects of globalization.The next section focuses on the concept of
system. Selecting and adaptingcertainideas from the systems theory
of Niklas Luhmann,I consider-again very briefly-some of the constitutivefeaturesof modemsocietal systems, includingthe possibility
of a religious versionof these. A thirdsection examineshow and to
whatextentcontemporaryreligionand religionsare constitutingsuch
a system. I do this in the context of a very selective and illustrative
historicalaccountof the formationof the global religioussystem. Of
primeconcernhere are how religion and religionshave been and are
being constructed.A concludingsection examinessome generalfeatures of the system, ones throughwhich the separatereligions relate
to one anotherand to their largersocietal environment.The prime
goal of these last two sectionsis to show the empiricalplausibilityof
the hypothesis. Proof is the affairof a much more extensive work.
Structure, Culture, and Religion in Global Society
The currentsocial-scientificdiscussionon what can broadlybe labelled globalizationhas by now yielded severalimportantvariations
and key contributors,amongwhich the culturalemphasisof Roland
Robertson(1992), the politicalemphasisof AnthonyGiddens(1990;
1991), and the economic emphasisof ImmanuelWallerstein(1979).
The first and last of these have thus far probablyhad the most influence on other participantsin the discussion. My own position owes
much to the work of RolandRobertson,but with a heavy admixture
of elements from the social theories of Niklas Luhmann(cf. 1995).
Here a brief summarywill suffice to describethe context in which I
see the global religioussystem forming.
Peter Beyer
The view begins withthe idea thatthe exceedinglycomplexprocess

that led to the modem transformationof WesternEuropeansociety
over the last centurieshad at its structuralcore a shift in how that
society formed its dominantsocial subunits. Where once the most
salient divisions were between hierarchicallyrelatedsocial strataor
estates, for instance between nobility and commoners, there arose
functionallyorientedsubsystemsthat constitutedthemselves around
specializedinstrumentalitiesor modalitiesof communication:differentiation more accordingto what we do than who we are. Above
all, systems for politics (states), law, economy (capitalist),science,
and religion developed graduallywith relationto one another,that
is, in responseto the fact thatthe others were developingsimultaneously, and with no clearhierarchicalorderamongthem (cf. Luhmann,
1982). In the earlierportionsof this history,religion as centredon
an increasinglybureaucraticChristianchurchnot only differentiated
its own specific structuresand culture, but also providedimportant
stimuli for other systems;for example, throughthe growthof canon
law, the individualizationof consciousness in the confessional, and
the elaborationof rationalizedthought in the monasteriesand universities. In more recentcenturies,however,and especially afterthe
ProtestantReformation,the gradualshift to a primacyof functional
systems has proven less favourablefor the continuedpower of religion in Westernsociety. Instead, systems for state-centredpolitics,
positive law, capitalisteconomy,and empirically-basedscience have
taken over as the most salientforces in thatmodem society.
The developmentof thesefunctionsystemsin Europeansociety has
had as a direct historicalconsequencethe gradualcreationof global
society. More specifically,the increasingindependenceof the function systems from each other and interdependencewith each other
allowed their acceleratedinstrumentaleffectiveness;to such an extent thatthe Europeancarrierswere eventuallyable to introducethem
throughoutthe inhabitedworld. It is in this sense thatWesternimperialism was the historicalantecedentof contemporaryglobalization.
These basic structuralfactors are, however, only one aspect of
globalization. Virtuallyfrom the beginning,the expansion of these
The ReligiousSystemof Global Society
functionsystemsbroughttheirEuropeancarriersinto muchmorethan
incidentalcontactwith a varietyof differentpeoples andcivilizations,
alongwith theirreligiousexpressions.The prevailingresponseon the
partof the Europeanswas to dismissthese 'others'as preciselyuncivilized and thereforein need of (Europeanand Christian)civilization.
In certain cases, however,some Europeanswere after a time both
impressedand influencedby those they encountered. The level of
culturalcomplexity and achievementof especially Middle Eastern,
South Asian and East Asian civilizations was no doubt in part responsible for such exceptions; and it is no coincidence that these
latterare also the homes of several religions that would eventually
come to be regardedas worldreligions, that is, standardsubsystems
of the global religious system (see, e.g., Almond, 1988; Marshall,
1970; Mungello, 1977).
Equally if not more important in such appreciation, but above all,
identificationof the religiously and culturallyother were developments within the Westernsphereitself, most notablythe rise of politically enabled distinctionsamong Westernculturalnations, which
made it logical to find nations(or races) everywhere(cf. Anderson,
1991);and the isolationof the categoriesof religionand the religions,
in large part because of the consequencesof functionaldifferentiation and resultantconfessionalsplits in Christianity(cf. Byre, 1989;
Despland,1979; Feil, 1986; 1992; Harrison,1990; Luhmann,1989).
Among the Westerners,this differentiationof nations/culturesand
religions reachedits 'take-off'period in the 18th and especially the
19th century,a periodthatcoincidedwith the consolidationof European expansion into precisely those civilizationalregions just mentioned (see Wallerstein,1989). Since the later 19th and 20th centuries, non-Westernregions have joined in this process of mutual
self-identification,with perhapsthe most obviousmanifestationbeing
the rise of non-Westernnation-states.This greaterappropriationby
these regions of the dominantglobalizing and functionallyoriented
instrumentalitiesin response to Western imperialismhas included
the identificationand social constructionof non-Westernreligions as
distinctentities comparableto, but differentfrom, especially Chris-
PeterBeyer
tianity. One critical result is that, along with the global spreadand
eventualappropriationof the instrumentalities,
contemporaryglobalization also has as a definingand strictly relatedculturalaspect the
mutual recognition of collective culturalunits (see Lechner, 1989;
Robertson,1992), albeitunits that are always contextualizedor relativized by the structuraldominanceof functionsubsystems,including
the religious (Beyer, 1994: 45-69).
In this last regard,religion during this historicalprocess, somewhat like the state, has shown an importantambiguity or tension
between its potential characteras a universal technical orientation
and an identifierof particularcollectivities. As the Westernand nonWesterncivilizationsencounteredeach other,religionbecame, along
with and sometimes even in opposition to the idea of nation, one
of the increasingly differentiatedloci of identity or, in Anderson's
phrase, 'imagined community'(1991; cf. Thapar,1989). Similar in
this regardto the state-centredglobal political system, religion has
become both a universalmodalitythat all humankindhas putatively
in common, and a way of identifyingdifference.
Religion as a FunctionSystem
The readerunfamiliarwith sociological systems theory,especially
the Luhmannianversion, may at this stage in the presentationbe
wonderingprecisely what a functionsystem is supposedto be. Here
cannotbe the place for dealingwith this questionin anythoroughway.
A brief considerationof main characteristicscan, however,serve at
least to avoid certainmisunderstandings.Above all, one must avoid
the idea that a religious version of such a system is simply the sum
of all religious activities,groups,organizations,and culturesthatoccur in today's world. A system is somethingmuch more selective
and constructedthanthat, somethingmuch more intentionaland operative: it is more than an abstractconcept. It structureswhat we
do as well as what we think. What I mean by a religious system
is not a mere agglomerationof religious 'things,' but ratherthe social differentiationandsocial constructionof a recognizablyreligious
category of action or way of communicatingwhich manifests itself

primarilythroughnumerousequally recognizablesocial institutions4
(see Luhmann,1990; 1995). The religioussystem is the institutional
expressionof the categoryof religion.
From a Luhmannianperspective,a social system is an entity that
constitutesitself throughthe continuousand recursiveproductionof
connectedseries of communicationsbasedon meaning. The communications(and not people) are the basic elements of a social system.
They are possible only on the basis of meaning;meaning provides
their context and therebyconnects them. Throughmeaning, new
communicationsreferto other or previouscommunicationsand this
recursivenessconstitutesthe closure or boundednessof the system,
distinguishingthe systemfromwhatit is not, namelyits environment.
It is only throughthis closurethatthe system of communicationscan
be open to its environment.A simple althoughultimatelymisleading
parallelis a language.We can communicateabout a wide varietyof
themes using a language,but in so doing we are limited to what the
words and grammaticalstructuresof thatlanguagecan express. That
limitation is necessaryif we are to be able to communicateat all,
and this includes the ability to communicateabout somethingnew.
Closure is a necessaryconditionfor openness.
A simple example of a social system is an interaction,say a conversationat a streetcomer between two people. This system arises,
operatesaccordingto varioussimplifyingand mutuallyexpected orderingrules which constituteits closure,but is in principleopen to a
varietyof themes and communicativeevents that the participants(as
environmentof the system) may introduce. The interactionsystem
continues as long as the communicationdoes. Social systems are
thus forms that allow us to constituteworld for ourselves, but only
indirectlythroughsuchultimatelycircularand selective or contingent
arrangements.
Modem functionsystemsare also social systems, butof a different
kind. They do not get their identity directlyfrom the interactionof
human beings, but throughfocusing on a particularmode of communicationand the special institutionsthat carry it out. Take for
10
Peter Beyer
instancea modem economy. This system centreson the exchangeof

ownershipof productsor commodities.The exchangeis the core economic communication.The system does not predeterminewhat will
be exchanged,only how it will be exchanged.In principle,anything
can be commodifiedand exchangedthroughpurchase.The system of
the economy constitutesitself throughsuch purchaseswhich transfer
ownershipfrom one partnerto another. At the heart of the system
is the distinctionbetweenowning and not owning (thatis, property),
an organizingdistinctionthatLuhmanncalls a binarycoding. In the
modem economy, the complex processes of production,consumption, pricing, and capital formationall centre aroundthe difference
between owning/notowning, the two poles linked throughthe idea
and social action of buying.
We could approachthe other function systems throughan analogous descriptionof their root binary codings, their constitutiveelements, and the programmaticinstitutionsbuilt aroundthem. Examples of otherbinarycodingsareexpedient/inexpedient
(politic/impolitic) in the politicalsystem,legal/illegalin the legal system,healthy/unhealthy(or sick/well) in the medical system, or true/falsein the science system. In each case, as with economy, we have a particular way of approachingthe world, a particularspecializedtechnique
whichcan in principlebe appliedto anything.Althoughthese systems
are highly selective and thus partial,they also tend to be totalizing:
virtuallyanythingcan be commodified,politicized, medicalized,be
subject to scientific investigation,and so forth. This does not mean
that everythingis or will be absorbedor, to use Habermas'phrase,
'colonized' by these systems. Growing beans in my backyardand
eatingthem in my kitchenis not an elementof the modem economic
system. I would have to sell them. Similarly,gettinga cold and staying in bed is not as such an action of the modem medical system.
Diagnosisandtreatmentthrougha medicalinstitutionwouldbe. This
does not, of course, exclude that either the beans or the cold will be
understoodby me in economic or medical terms;but for systems to
be producedand reproduced,there must be communicationand this
requirespartnerswho communicateand understand.
11
Here cannotbe the place to defend in any detail the contemporary

existence and dominanceof these systems. My concern is ratherto
explore the notion thattherehas developed-or at least is in the process of developing-a globally extendedreligious version of these.
For this purpose, the importantquestions concern what constitutes
this system as a religioussystem and how it has formedhistorically.
Whatwe are looking for is the historicaldevelopmentof a notion of
religion aroundwhich differentiatedreligious institutionscan form,
ones which are recognizablyand operationallydistinctfrom what is
not religion, for example,from economy,polity, law, medicine,education,or, moregenerally,culture.This will be an inherentlyselective
enterprisein the sense thatonly such communicationas conformsto
the institutionalmodel will form and reproducethe system. Just as
economy is centredon exchangeand not simply on the production
and consumptionof goods or services;just as the educationalsystem
constructsitself aroundattendanceat schools and not more broadly
around any learning whatever;so we must look for the historical
emergence in concretesocial reality of a characteristicallyreligious
form of communication,with correspondingelements, institutions,
andbinarycodings thatreconstructthe worldfroma specificallyreligious perspective.This will be an inherentlyselective enterprisethat
will favour some forms over others, thus appearingas a distortion
to those that do not like how the selection happens. It is this selectivity which, I suggest, is at the root of the ambiguitysurrounding
the notion of religionsin contemporaryscholarlystudy of religions.
Modem 'Hinduism,'for instance,is not everythingthatthe conglomerate of South Asian religioustraditionshas been or could be. It is
a selective re-vision of the past with new things added on for the
sake of viability in the presentglobal social context. It is not simply
the continuationof 'a religion' that has actuallyexisted historically
since, say, Vedic times and before.
The question of what counts as religion in the moder context is
not, however, all that simple and straightforward.This is a problem not just of theory or observation,but also for concrete religion
itself. I have suggestedelsewhere(Beyer, 1994) that the overallreli-
12
Peter Beyer
gious binarycoding is the distinctionbetween transcendentand immanent;but actualreligionsof today invariablyoperatemore directly
with secondary versions of this (e.g., salvation/damnationor ignorance/enlightenment).The typicallyreligiousformof communication
is easier to discern: it involves the direct or indirectcommunication
with 'spiritual'or non-empiricalpartnersor sources of agency (and
thus includes the possibilityof non-theisticpartners),somethingakin
to whatEliade (1959) called 'hierophany.'The plausibilityof my thesis, however,does not rest solely or even primarilyon such abstract
considerations.Ratherthan continuein this general vein, therefore,
I turn now to an illustrativeoverview of the historicaldevelopment
of the religious system over the last several centuries,especially the
last two. In the course of this presentation,I deal more closely with
questionsof basic religiouselements,binarycodings of religion, and
the question of how this system has constituteditself in terms of a
pluralityof religions analogous,but in no sense identicalto, the formationof nationsandstatesas the primaryactorsin a global political
system.
The Historical Constructionof Religions in a Global Religious
System
Above, I outlinedhow the institutionaldifferentiationof religion
in WesternEuropeansociety of the medieval and early modem period played an importantrole in the differentiationand development
of the other, now more dominantfunctionsystems, notably science,
state, and economy. Christianinstitutionswere, however,not just a
generalresourceused by the carriersof emergingstate, economy,and
science to furthertheirown projects. Christianityas specializedreligion, relativelydistinctfrom these otherthree,was also a result. The
well-knownpower of the medievalchurchwas one manifestationof
this process; but so, eventually,was the ProtestantReformationand
which led to the establishmentandcorCatholiccounter-Reformation
respondingconceptionof not only religionas a distinctenterprise,but
also of the 'religions'(cf. Despland,1979). For religion, differentiation led to religious pluralism.Just as the emergingpolitical system
13
yielded states and not the state, so the emergingWesternreligious

system resultedin religionsand not just religion. The simultaneous
rise of states and nationalchurchesin the early modernperiod is,
from this perspective,not surprising.
The present approachmust ask, however,on what basis was this
religiousdifferentiationaccomplished?This is a way of asking what
binarycoding emergedas the characteristicone for religion. In this
Christiancase, the reasonablyclear answeris the distinctionbetween
salvationand damnation,but to some extent with the supportof the
moralcode, good/bad.The Christianchurchclaimedto controlaccess
to the good of salvation through its structures and programs, in the
Roman church above all throughits sacraments.Differentiationon

the basis of this code or codes did not happenall at once, of course.
In the later Middle Ages (roughly 1100-1500) the Roman church
becamerathermore of a multifunctionalinstitution,recognizingsuch
distinctionsas betweenthe 'two swords'and 'reasonand revelation,'
but insistingthatthe poweror knowledgeconnectedto salvationwas
primaryand extendedto otherspheressuch as science and education.
With the ProtestantReformation,this logic of differencewent a step
furtherwith the insistencethat salvationwas not determinedby the
criteriaof other functionalareas, that it was by 'faith alone.' The
success of the Reformers,of course, dependedlargely on the ability
of the rising political states to challenge the power of the Roman
churchprecisely in its multifunctionality.The developmentof the
variousfunction systems, far from being some sort of autonomous
process in each case, depended on several of them developing at
once.5
If salvation/damnation
was the code aroundwhich medieval and
early modernEuropeansconstructedtheirreligiousbeliefs and ritual
practice,it was only one aspectof how religiousinstancesresponded
and contributedto the developmentof a new and differentsocietal
context. Anothervery importantdimension,with strongprecedentin
earlier Christianity, was the further organization of religion. Espe-
cially in WesternEurope,the Christianchurchduringthe earlierMiddle Ages was the only unifyingpresencelargelybecauseof its internal
14
Peter Beyer
organization.Later,the Rome-centredchurchgreatlyacceleratedthis
historicaltendencywhen faced with the rising challenge of political
powers. Withthe confessionalsplitsbroughton by the ProtestantReformation,the churches,now plural,far from abandoningthe tactic,
continuedit, especially in the form of attachmentsof certainchurch
organizationsto certainpolitical states. Religion, not for the first
time in this story, so to speakhitchedits wagon to otherfunctionally
orientedinstitutions(and vice versa, of course). This again resulted
in variousprotestmovementsthat wantedto 'restore'the functional
purity of the church, leading to a multitudeof Protestantchurches,
most frequentlyorganizedalong sectarianand then denominational
lines. In the British-basedcolonial countriesof North America and
Australasia,denominationalorganizationbecame the prevailingform
of religious organizationafterthe late 18th centuryprecisely as a response to the logic of functionaldifferentiation(churchand state)and
its attendantvalues (inclusionor democratic/voluntary
participation)
In
the
case
such
of
the
Christian
1997).
(cf. Beyer,
largest
organization, the Roman Catholicchurch,the post-Tridentineperiod saw the
continuationof the strategyso as increasinglyto fashion this church
as a quasi-state(until 1870 even with its own territory),eventually
leading to the express sacralizationof the organizationitself in the
19th century.
The prevailinglyorganizationalstrategywas not a futile one. It
allowedChristianreligionto maintainstrongauthoritystructuresand
public influencefor quite some time, especiallyby attachingitself to
some of the developingfunctionsystems,the politicalat firstandmost
notably, but also the rising educationaland later medical systems.
Most importantfor our purposes in this regard, however, was the
successful attachmentto the Wester imperialprojectwhich has been
at the historicalroot of moder globalization.Here we move directly
into the formationof the contemporaryglobal religious system.
If the originallyWesternprocess of risingfunctionsystems tended
to assign religion to one social modalityamong several, essentially
situatingreligion as a partialconcernbeside non-religiousconcerns,
the imperialexpansionof Westernpowers eventuallyamplifiedthat
TheReligiousSystemof Global Society
15
relativizationand identificationby setting up Christianityas but one

religion among many;equal to the others,but not superior.If salvabecamea partialconcernin Westernsociety,it became
tion/damnation
but an alternativefor even the religious modalityand code in global
society.
In spite of this ambiguityor even weakness, the imperialproject

has led to the globalizationof (an admittedlylargely privatizedor
voluntary)Christianityso that it is now and will likely remainfor
the foreseeablefuture,the religion with the largestfollowing in the
world. Organizationhas been key to this success and not attachment
to one or more states. In addition,and far more importantfor my
purposeshere, the responsepatternswhich Christiansand Christian
and reactingto the modernizachurchesestablishedfor appropriating
have
tion and globalizationprocesses
become, if not normative,then
certainlythe models to which other religions have either conformed
or reacted. For better or worse, Christianityhas set the prevailing
standardfor what 'a religion' looks like. Not throughany conviction of some inherent'truth'in Christianity,but largely because of
similarity of social context, other religions in the world have increasinglyformedthemselvesalong the Christianpattern,up to and
includingexpressresistanceto the consequencesof globalizationfor
religion. Thus, for example, not only do we see such phenomena
as the 'protestantization'(laicization) of TheravadaBuddhismand
the partialorganizationof Hinduism,but also the denominationalization (and sectarianization)of Judaismand 'fundamentalisms'among
Muslims, the lattercompletewith politicizationand an emphasison
'family values' in the bid to supportor reclaimpublic religious authority. The result, increasingly,is a multifaceted,ambiguous,and
controversialglobal religious system that constitutesitself through
the recursiveand continuousproductionof a recognizablemodality
of communication,centredon specific codes (more than one!) and
correspondingprogrammes.If this religious system is less powerful
and homogeneousthanthe capitalisteconomic system, the system of
political states or the scientific-technologicalsystem, it is nonethe-
16
Peter Beyer
less still a recognizablesystem. The categoryof religionas a distinct

enterprisehas largely been institutionalizedaroundthe globe.
The patternof formationoutside the Christianspherecan perhaps
best be illustratedin the case of South Asia, not least becauseprevious incorporationof this regioninto 'Islamdom'did not have similar
results. This fact is significantbecause,in severalrespects,the British
Raj representedjust anotheroutside conquerorwith a differentreligious identification. Indeed,from a religious perspective,the Muslims ruled longer and convertedmore South Asians. In otherwords,
they seemed to constitutea greaterand longer lasting 'threatto Hinduism' thandid the supposedlyChristianBritish;and yet it was only
underthe British thatwe see among Hindusand non-Hindusdeliberate attemptsto 'imagine' a unified religious traditionor community
that could be labelled Hinduism.This entity, in spite of the tremendous religious diversitythat the term was meantto cover, has come
to be seen by observersand practitionersalike as a single religion
beside others,as an exampleof a generalcategory.The comparative
emphasisis the most importantdistinguishingfeaturefrom previous
systematizingefforts such as that of Shankaraor Ramanuja:the new
identityis constructedwith referenceto others.
Yet it was not simplythe awarenessof religiouspluralitythatmade
the difference;nor was it the advent of religiousconflict. These had
an exceedingly long historyin South Asia. Instead,it was the functionally differentiatedsocial context that the British introduced.Included underthis headingwould be a wide varietyof institutionsand
technologies. The introductionand rapidspreadof printingmade it
possible to sharpenand solidify religious differencesand to spread
successful formulationsin a uniform mannerover far greaterareas
and to far more people; and this often in express competitionwith
representativesof 'other'religions, especially Islam and Christianity.
Othertechnologiessuch as the railroadenhancedthe process. Incorporationof Indiansinto colonial administration,army,andeventually
governmentalong 'ethno-religious'(communal)lines intensifiedthe
logic of identifyingreligions,with the residualcategorybeing 'Hinduism.' Europeanscholarswith a decidedly Christianbias looked
17
for, found, and helped revive broaderinterestin Hindu (and other)

'scriptures,'especially the Vedas, Upanishads,and Epics, thus identifying a writtenbasis for the religion parallelto the Middle Eastern
religious traditions.And the colonial legal and political system was
frequentlyused to help define what authoritativeHinduism(or other
religion) was in a particulararea. In these last two cases especially,
Europeanand Indianelites combined to furtherthe process: it was
in no sense a unidirectionalone in which the colonial powers or the
Westernobserverssimplyimposedtheirview of thingson the natives.
Out of this complex context emerged various organized movements, such as the BrahmoSamaj, the RamakrishnaMath and Mission, the Arya Samaj,the (Europeanbased!) Theosophists,the Bharat
DharmaMahamandala,morerecentlythe VishwaHinduParishad,to
mentionbut a few (see Jones, 1989 for an overview). The prevalence
of organizationalstrategyagain manifests itself. Such movements
did not deliver a uniformvision of what constitutesHinduism;and
the questionof secondarycodes can in fact not be answeredstraightforwardlyin this case. Nonetheless, they allowed the observable
emergenceof patternsof religious practicethat togetherconstituted
Hinduism(cf. Frykenberg,1989; KeppleyMahmoud,1993). The fact
that this process was inconceivablewithoutthe parallelrise of first
Indiannationalism(includingits explicitly Hindu variants)and then
the Indianstate itself only underscoresthe degreeto which the functional differentiationof religionin global society is partand parcelof
the institutionalization
of functionsystems as its dominantstructures.
Althoughdevelopmentswithin South Asia itself were the primary
ones, other aspects and events have significantlystrengthenedthe
identificationof Hinduismas a religioustraditionamongothers. Two
examplesstandout andareoften mentionedin the literature.The first
is Swami Vivekananda'sperformanceat the First WorldParliament
of Religions in Chicagoin 1893. Not only did this follower of Ramakrishnaimpress the Christianorganizerswho still felt secure in
the, to them, self-evidentsuperiorityof their religion; Vivekananda
was much hailed in India itself simply because he demonstratedto
Christiansand Westernersthe value and wisdom of Hindu culture.
18
Peter Beyer
Religion, his admirersbelieved, was one area in which India had

somethingto teach the West. The story attests to the status of religion as a global modality;it is the spiritualmodalitybeside all the
materialones.
The second example concernsthe exportingof Hinduismto other
partsof the globe both throughmissions and migration.Well before
the 1960s, before ISKCON and the MaharishiMaheshyogi,Westernerswere attractedby the Wisdom of the East. And throughthe
medium of the British Empire, South Asians migratedaroundthe
world, carrying their religious identity (a disproportionatenumber
were in fact Sikhs, whose religiousidentitywas also being solidified
during the time under discussion and in a like manner)with them.
Most often, living in a differentplace has encouragedthese migrants
to reconstruct,organize,and identify 'their religion' both for themselves and for the non-Hindusaroundthem. Hinduism,whateverthe
difficulties in saying precisely what it is, whateverthe proteststhat
to speak like this is to impose Westerncategorieswhere they are inappropriate,is now a 'worldreligion' in identity,in self-conception,
and in social reality.
This sort of analysiscan be carriedout for otherreligions as well.
In a short article, however,it is not possible to look very closely at
too many of them. Therefore,I restrictmy remainingcommentsto
two cases, Islam and Chinese religion, because they illustratetwo
differentaspects of the historicalprocess. In the first case, we have
a clear example of how the religion/nonreligiondistinctionis problematic in global society and how that furthersthe developmentof a
global religious system ratherthan hinderingit. In the second case,
the identificationand constructionprocess has not happened,thereby
illustratingthe non-necessityand even fragility of the system, and
perhapsthe hypothesisitself.
If the chief transformations
with regardto my questionof a global
in
Eastern
religious system
religions have been in terms of the religion/religion distinction,the problem of constructingcomparative
identity; then Islam displays in more acute form than any of the
others the difficulty of the religion/non-religiondistinction. Islam,
19
like the others,has undergonevarioustransformations

as the areasin
which it is dominanthave been incorporatedinto the global system.
In this regard,the later20th centuryhas given particularprominence
to movements and forms that resist secularizationand privatization
explicitly by denying or attemptingto deny the religion/non-religion
distinction in the case of their tradition. It is far from uncommon
to hear the cry coming from devout Muslims: 'Islam is not a religion, it is a way of life!' So strong is this tendency that, at least
in part, Islamic orthodoxytoday-that is, the core identity of the
tradition-is being definedin terms of resistanceto the distinction
and the secularizationof otherspheresof society that it implies. The
chief tactics in this regardseem to be, parallelto conservativeChristian efforts,to attemptdedifferentiation,
at the level of the family and
often educationin diasporaareasand the legal system (e.g., India)or
the state where the concentrationof Muslims makes such a strategy
viable.
Far from distinguishingIslam as a traditionthat is not a religion
and thereforenot to be countedas a subsystemof the global religious
system, the strategyactuallycontributesto the furtherdelineationand
definitionof that system and of Islam as a subsystemof it. To begin,
the protest that 'Ours is not a religion' is common to all the major
traditions.Christians,Jews, Buddhists,Hindus,and Shintoistsinsist
or have insistedthe same thing. Like Muslims,they have pointedout
that their religions are holistic and affect all areas of life; they have
insistedthatratherthanbeingcontradictoryof science andeconomics,
they are actuallythe necessarybasis of all good science and economy,
not to mentionpolitics, law, art, and family life. What distinguishes
Islam in this regardis only its comparativesuccess in influencing
politics and law in variousMuslimcountries.
The fact that the protestis to be found emanatingfrom all major
religious traditionsindicatesthatthe religion/non-religiondistinction
is problematicfor religion. As I discussedabove,the functionallydifferentiatedsubsystemsthatare at the structuralcore of globalization
and thus global society define themselvesby their relative independence (but not autarchy)from theirfellows. From the perspectiveof
20
Peter Beyer
religion, this constitutessecularizationbut not necessarilyprivatization. The formeris not the problemfor religion,since all subsystems
must deal with this mutualindependence. Ratherit is the threator
actuality of the latter: the decline of public religious authority. In
terms of the religious system, this points precisely to problemswith
the religious code. For Muslimsas for Christiansand Buddhists,the
question is not whetherIslam or Hinduismare religions or ways of
life-they are of course both much like capitalismrefers both to an
economy and a way of life. Instead,the questionis 'how does this
religious traditioncode the world?'
For Islam the answer has historicallybeen in largest part: halal/
or simply legal/illegal. If this were to be
haram-permitted/forbidden,
abandoned,Islam would be left with other secondarycodings, especially the moral good/bad and the Abrahamicsalvation/damnation.
These, however,are problematicin the modem global context in the
sense that they have in the cases of Christianityand Judaismlargely
lead to the privatizationof religion (cf. Beyer, 1994: 70-96). Accordingly,it is not at all surprisingthat the core demandof so-called
Muslim fundamentalistsaroundthe world is thatShari'abe madethe
law of the land. It is an Islamic way of defendinga very powerful
religious code, but a code thatin the modem context has been establishing its independence,especially its independencefrom religious
programmingsof it.
In light of this Islamicspecificity,the protestthatIslam is different
is actuallyan indicatorthatit is not. Proponentsof deprivatizedIslam
want their religious traditionto remain powerfulas religion, not to
dissolve it into a generalizedaspect of culture. Religious authority
is to be strengthenedand furtherinstitutionalized,not generalized.
The protest 'ours is not a religion' is then itself a sign that we are
dealing with a religion among others. There are, however, certain
'religioustraditions'whose position in the global religious system is
more ambiguousor even totallyabsent. I turnnow to the exampleof
Chinese religion.
The Chinese example is in a real sense either the exception that
proves the rule or it shows that the question of a global religious
21
system is not tautological:its nonexistenceis possible. Chinese society has exhibiteda greatdeal of what generallycounts as religion.
This complex of religious beliefs and practiceshas a clear historical and objective interconnectedness:there is an observableunity in
the diversity which makes it possible to speak of Chinese religion.
Nonetheless, thatunity has no generallyacceptedand clear label nor
differentiatedinstitutionsthatcorrespondto it. Certainlyneitherthe
name Daoism, muchless the Westerntermof Confucianismoccupies
this place. The anomalyof Chinese religion is thereforenot that it
should be a religionbut is not. The anomalyis that Chinesereligion
as a whole has not undergonethe recentidentificationprocessso well
exemplifiedespeciallyin the case of Hinduism.Attemptsat labelling
it as Sinism have remainedobserverssuggestions(see Creel, 1929);
they have not become rootedin social reality. The reasonsfor this
state of affairsare multipleandperhapsto some extentuncertain;but
one can approachthemby lookingat the possible reasonsthatneither
Daoism nor Confucianismhave filled this role.
If one examines the attitudesof later 19th and early 20th century
Chinese elites towardthe categoryof religion, one gets a reasonable
idea of not only why no specificallyChinese religion has been constructed,but also the degreeto which that failure has everythingto
do with the categoryof religionitself and with the globalizingcontext. As China became incorporatedinto the global system during
the 19th and 20th centuries,one of the constanttasks of this elite
was to find a way in whichChinacould once againbe great,but now
as a majoractor in the global system, and no longer as the centreof
civilization as such. Essentially,they looked for ways to modernize,
with or without Westernizing.One reformer,Kang Yuwei, did seriously attemptto institutionalizeConfucianismas the religion of the
Chinese and as the state religion of China. His attemptfailed completely, largely becausehis fellow modernizingelites either rejected
the Confucianheritagealtogetheror consideredthatthe value of that
heritagelay preciselyin the fact thatit was not a religion. Confucianism was superiorto Christianitybecause it was a this-worldlyethical
philosophyand not a systemfor communicatingwith gods, spirits,or
22
Peter Beyer
other forms of extra-humanagency. Here we have not resistanceto

the restrictionof religionto one social sphereamong others,but the
rejectionof the typical social form of religion. These Chineseelites
did recognizethe categoryof religion, and they understoodit as centredaround'hierophanic'communication.They recognizedreligions
such as Buddhism,Christianity,Islam, and sometimeseven Daoism.
This latterthey generallyregardedas the embarrassingpracticesof
the superstitiousmasses;and the formerwere foreign imports,not or
only partiallyChinese. Daoist religious leadersdid not have the sort
of legitimacy that would have allowed them to form broadlybased
Daoist movements. The modernizingleaders who could have been
instrumentalin the imaginingof a modem Chinese religion did not
do so becausethey felt thatthis would underminethe moreimportant
project of (re)constructinga viable Chinese identity for the modem
and global world.
If we accept this analysis,then the most importantconclusionto
draw in the presentcontext is that the absence of 'Sinism' and the
inventionor selective constructionof Hinduismstem from analogous
circumstancesin two differentareas of emergingglobal society. The
Chinese have thus far eschewed the category and most of the typical institutionalforms of religion as they attemptedto appropriate
the dominantglobal systemic forms, mainly the nation-stateand the
global economy. The Indiansembracedthe notion of religion in the
process of their ratherdifferentpath to global incorporation.
The examples of Christianity,Hinduism,Islam, and the Chinese
case are of course only very skeletal illustrations.The sole intention
here is to show the plausibilityof the notionthat religion as category
and differentiatedinstitutionalsphereis of relativelyrecenthistorical
origin and makes sense in the context of globalization.
The Global ReligiousSystem:Unity in the Differences
The aspect of the overall thesis defended in the previoussection
is that religions have developedin the last two centuriesas the subsystems of a global religious system, much like nation-stateshave
23
developedas subsystemsin the global political system. As with the

political system, however,we also have to look at how the subsystems relateto one anotherin the overallsystem. This aspect,it must
be stressed, is not a logical derivativeof the religions themselves:
while much of the cultureof the religions preexiststhe system, their
constitutionas subsystems,as religionsof the global religioussystem
does not. The primaryunit of analysisis the global religioussystem.
Its religionsconstitutethemselvesin termsof the otherreligions: this
means thatthe relationsamongthem are as constitutiveof the system
as the traditionsthemselves.
To begin this consideration,it may be helpfulto continuethe comparison with the more clearly developed political system of states.
What are the mechanismsof inter-religiousrelationsthat might correspondto those of internationalrelations?What are the equivalents
of the United Nations, internationaldiplomacy,and war in the religious sphere. As concernsthe first, there is actually very little to
find as of yet and this is undoubtedlya main reasonfor the vagueness of the system, its lack of incontrovertiblesocial existence. The
fact that the second WorldParliamentof Religions met a full 100
years after the first hardlyattests to the importanceof this global
institution. But it may be a start. Under the analogical heading
of diplomacy and war there is, however, substantiallymore. What
among Christiansis called the ecumenical movementhas its interreligious side, above all in the form of interreligiousdialogue. Far
from being merely a casual talking to each other, such dialogue is
actuallybetterseen as a sort of global religiousritual:the idea is to
gain better insight, not only into the other's religious tradition,but
into one's own as well. It may be of note thatthe secondarycodings
of the differentreligions cannot operatehere alone, lending meaning to the searchfor some generalizedand unifyingpolarity,perhaps
spiritual/material,even though this one really cannot function as a
genuinely religiouspolarity.The same can be said for effortsto theologize the unity in the formof world theologiessuch as thatof W.C.
Smithor HansKiing(see Smith, 1981; Kiing, 1988), anotherinstance
24
Peter Beyer
of observation that is part of the actual formation and reproduction

of the system.
The result of interreligious dialogue, however, as with interaction
among states, is better mutual identification and not necessarily or
just more homogenization, let alone proselytization: even though
these latter may be the secret or open hope of some participants.
As in the case of religious representatives who protest the religious
categorization, so interreligious dialogue, even when carried out in
'bad faith' (according to whom?) operates so as to further delineate
and perpetuate the global religious system as a differentiated system
with its own characteristic communication.
Moving on to the question of inter-religious 'war,' the dominant
mechanism here is undoubtedly not war at all since most so-called
religious wars (e.g., in Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, Bosnia, Punjab,
Israel/Palestine) are only tangentially about religion or at least more
expressly about politics (expedient/inexpedient-diplomacy by other
means). Instead, more expressly religious words like mission or proselytization are the more appropriate terms. In fact, at this point it is
probably better to switch systemic analogies and speak about religious competition rather than war. Religions are neither states nor
are they economic corporations, but in this case the corporate comparison is more enlightening.6 The inclusion of missions as important
mechanisms of the global religious system points to the fact that this
system is not restricted to the religious activities of the more inclusive and tolerant 'liberals' within each tradition. The Pentecostal or
Mormon missionary and the migrating Vaishnavite guru reproduce
the system as much as and perhaps more than the Dalai Lama or
Pope John Paul II. What constitutes the global system is a common
modality of communication and not a common attitude to the religiously other. The various missionary and proselytizing efforts are
instrumental in helping to further define what will count as religion
and what forms different religions will take. Here again, the formation of religious movements and religious organizations is probably
key. Without them, the religions could not appear as distinct from
other modalities.
25
A final question concernsthe possibilities of new subsystemsof

the religious subsystem,that is, new religions. Quite obviously,just
as new states can form andcertainlynew businesscorporationsform
all the time, so new religions can form and do so all the time. In
many cases, these will be partiallyon the basis of new hierophanies, partiallyon the basis of old, as is the case with Wicca, Cao
Dai, and Baha'i. In some, such as the possible case of Chinese religion alreadydiscussed, we may in the futurewitness the imagining
and identificationof a religion that is in most senses quite old. In
this category,aboriginalreligions in North Americaand elsewhere,
as well as indigenousAfricanreligions would perhapsbe more current and intriguingcandidates.Then, of course, there are the totally
new religions or those that are so eclectic as to appearentirelynew,
such as Scientology or Unificationism. In all these cases, the operative question is, how much are they part of the global religious
system.
In one sense, they are so as soon as they constructthemselves
aroundreligious communication.In a strongersense, however,they
become part of the system when they identify themselves and are
identifiedby observersas religions. This factor raises again a very
importantlast point: to a very significantdegree,the religioussystem
of global society dependsfor its formationandreproductionon observation,as do all systems. Partand parcelof, not only identifyingnew
religions,but also identifyingthe old ones and the system as such is
the effort by both outsiders(includingscholars)and insiders to see
them, to understandand identify them as religious traditionsand as
religion, and then to act on that basis. That aspect, as I indicated
especially in the shortdiscussionof the imaginingof Hinduism,was
not only presentin the formativeperiodof the system duringthe last
two centuries. It is even more importanttoday. Thereforeone might
say thatmy attempthereto observethe global religioussystem is primarilya scientifictask of explanation,but one thatalso has potential
theologicalconsequences.This bringsme back, in conclusion,to the
ambiguoussituationin the contemporaryacademicstudy of religion
that I discussed at the outset.
26
PeterBeyer
Those who say that it is inappropriate

to use Christianand Western conceptionsof religionto understandothertraditionsare entirely
justified,but only if the objectof studyis religion before the moder
era. When the religion we are examiningis contemporary,then such
delineationand modellingmust become part of the observationsimply because that is an importantaspect of the religious reality that
observersand religious practitionershave in fact constructedand are
still in the process of constructing.Here we have the reasonthat one
of the main criteriafor qualifying as a 'world religion' is that the
religionin questionbe a 'living' religion(cf. Young, 1992). The category of world religion along with the ambiguitiesand controversies
surroundingit have arisen because the phenomenonunder observation has been in the process of forming, and only in that context
because we observerscannotescape our culturalbiases. Indeed, the
recognitionof the biases themselvesis a symptomof the historical
and social object of our observation.
Departmentof Classics and Religious Studies
Universityof Ottawa
Ottawa,Ontario,CanadaKIN 6N5
1 Or other titles such as
PETERBEYER
comparativereligions,historyof religions, the academic

of
study religions.
2 A still
very useful introductionto the history of the field is offered in Sharpe,
1986. On the problemsof extendingthe field beyond its Westernsocietal base, see
severalof the contributionsin Pye, 1989.
3 It is probablynot coincidentalthat the same period has seen the foundingof
the InternationalAssociation for the Historyof Religions (in 1950) and important
regionalbodies such as the AmericanAcademyof Religion (in 1959).
4 The word here is to be understoodin its broad sociological sense of any normative social arrangementor pattern:not just hospitals, schools, and corporations,
but holiday celebrations,marriage,and departmentalmeetingsas well.
5 For the
parallelcase of the developmentof a states-centredpolitical system dependingon the paralleldevelopmentof a capitalisteconomicsystem, see Wallerstein,
1974; Elias, 1982.
6 Effortssuch as those of Stark& Bainbridge,1987, to constructeconomicmodels
for understandingreligion are thereforeentirelyjustified; but on my account, they
27
cannotbe the basis of a theoryof religionbecauseexchangeis the centrepieceof the

economic modality,not the religious. Similarly,overlycommunalmodels of religion
which insist thatreligionis only worththe namewhenit acts as an integratingsacred
canopy also miss the mark. They refer to religion only in certainsocio-structural
circumstances,namely those in which religion is not differentiatedas specialized
institutions.
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Luhmann,Niklas (1995) Social Systems.Trans. JohnBednarz,Jr. andDirkBaecker.
Stanford,CA: StanfordUniversity.
Marshall,P.J.,ed. (1970) The BritishDiscovery of Hinduismin the EighteenthCentury. Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity.
Mungello, David C. (1977) Leibnizand Confucianism,the Searchfor Accord. Honolulu: Universityof Hawaii.
Paper,Jordan(1995) The Spirits are Drunk: ComparativeApproachesto Chinese
Religion. Albany, NY: SUNY.
Pye, Michael,ed. (1989) MarburgRevisited: Institutionsand Strategiesin the Study
of Religion. Marburg:Diagonal.
Robertson,Roland (1992) Globalization:Social Theoryand Global Culture. London: Sage.
Sharpe,Eric J. (1986) ComparativeReligion: A History. 2nd ed. London: Duckworth.
Smith,WilfredCantwell(1964) TheMeaningand Endof Religion: A New Approach
to the Religious Traditionsof Mankind.New York:Mentor.
Smith,WilfredCantwell(1981) Towardsa WorldTheology. Philadelphia:Westminster.
Stark,Rodney, and WilliamS. Bainbridge(1987) A Theoryof Religion. New York:
Peter Lang.
29
Thapar,Romila (1989) "ImaginedReligious Communities?AncientHistoryand the

Modem Searchfor a HinduIdentity,"Modem Asian Studies 23, pp. 209-231.
Wallerstein,Immanuel(1979) The Capitalist WorldEconomy. Cambridge:Cambridge University.
Wallerstein,Immanuel(1-989)The Moder World-SystemIII: The Second Era of
Great Expansionof the CapitalistWorld-Economy,
1730-1840s. New York:
Cambridge.
Young,Katherine(1992) "WorldReligions: A Categoryin the Making?"Religionin
History: The Word,the Idea, the Reality,Michel Despland& GerardVallee,
eds., Waterloo,ON: WilfridLaurierUniversity,pp. 111-130.
SAMARITAN TABERNACLE DRAWINGS

REINHARDPUMMER
Summary
Drawingsof the Israelitetent sanctuary,the Tabernacle,and its implementsare
the main expression of representionalart among the Samaritans. They are based
on the descriptionsin Exodusand are expressionsof centraltenets of the Samaritan
faith-belief in the special statusof Moses, in the Tabernacleas the only legitimate
sanctuaryin the historyof Israel,and in the end times for which the restorationof
the Tabernacleis expected. The paperis an attemptto probethe questionof the age
of the Samaritantraditionof depictingthe Tabernaclein differentmedia.
Archaeologicalexcavationshaverevealedsynagoguemosaics andclay lampsfrom
the Byzantineperiod thatrepresentvarious elementsof this artistictradition.However, the main specimensdate fromthe early sixteenthto the early twentiethcentury.
It is these representations,executedon metal, cloth, parchmentand paper,which are
the focus of this article. The discussionis based on an examinationof all extantand
publicly accessible samples (see the Inventoryat the end of this article).
A greatchronologicalandartisticgap separatesthe representations
on the mosaics
and oil lamps of the Byzantine period from the drawingsof moder times. No
continuous line exists between the two groups. The parchmentin Moscow that
allegedly dates from 32 A.H., i.e., 652/653 C.E., must be assigned to a much later
period.
There are obvious similaritiesof the Samaritandrawingswith Jewish representations of the Tabernacle/Temple,
yet it is impossibleto identifya time or place where
cross-fertilizationmay have takenplace.
At the present state of our knowledge, therefore,neitherthe mosaics from the
Byzantineperiodnor the similaritieswith Jewish representationsenable us to determine the time at which the Samaritantraditionof makingTabernacledrawingsmay
have originated. It is probable,though, that the traditionhad its beginningswell
before the oldest extantsamplesfrom the early sixteenthcentury.
The Mosaic Tabernacle plays an important role in the Samaritan

tradition. It was the only legitimate sanctuary in the history of Israel,
and will be restored at the end of times, either by the "prophet like
NUMEN, Vol. 45
Samaritan Tabernacle Drawings
31
Moses" (Deut. 18: 18), or by Moses himself, or, from the 14th cent.
on, by the Taheb,the Samaritaneschatologicalprophet.'
According to Samaritanbeliefs, the Tabernaclewas set up on
Mount Gerizim after the Israeliteshad enteredthe land of Canaan.2
When a quarrelbroke out "betweenEli son of Yafni, of the line of
Ithamar,and the sons of Phinehas,becauseEli son of Yafniresolved
to usurp the High Priesthoodfrom the descendantsof Phinehas,"3
Eli moved to Shiloh where he built a schismatictemple. After this
quarrel,the fire in the Tabernacleon Mt. Gerizimwent out and all
the usual signs of the divine favour,rinmn,disappeared.Uzzi then
gatheredtogetherthe sacredvestmentsas well as the gold and silver
vessels and sealed them in a cave that he markedwith an inscription. Next morning, all traces of the cave had disappeared.4This
event marks the beginningof the time of divine disfavouror nrnm.
Although these details are containedin medieval Samaritanchronicles, the traditionof the hidden vessels goes back at least to the
time of Josephus.5Moreover,the text of the SamaritanPentateuch
atteststo the early beliefs of the Samaritansconcerningthe sanctity
of Mt. Gerizimand, implicitly,its sanctuary.
For the Samaritans,Mt. Gerizim was the place that God had
chosen,6 and, as mentionedalready,the Tabernaclethe only rightful place of worship. The sanctuarieserectedafterwardin Shiloh and
in Jerusalemwere, in theireyes, illegitimate.However,ancienttexts
andmoder archaeologypointto the existenceof a Samaritantemple
on Mt. Gerizim at a much later time than that of Eli. Accordingto
FlaviusJosephus,the Samaritansbuilt a templethere in the 4th cent.
B.C.E. that was modelledon the one in Jersualem.7And recent excavationson the main peak of the mountain8have confirmedthat a
sanctuarymust have existedthereas early as the Persianperiod.9Yet,
with the possible exceptionof one passage in the chronicle of Abu
l-Fath,10this latertempleis ignoredin Samaritanwritings." It is also
ignoredin Samaritanart-all the drawingsof a sanctuaryare of the
Mosaic Tabernacle.
Like the Jews, the Samaritansdepictedtheir sanctuaryand its implementsalreadyin antiquityon clay oil lampsand mosaic floors. In
32
Reinhard Pummer
more recent times, both traditionsproduceddrawingsof their sacra

on parchmentand paper. In the case of the Samaritans,the Tabernacle implementswere also engraved on a metal Torahscroll case
and embroideredon a silk hangingin the synagoguein Nablus. It is
these more recent Samaritanrepresentationsthatare the focus of this
article.
The drawingswere made on the basis of the biblical description
of the Tabernaclein Exodus. Although they differ from each other
in details, they exhibit a basic uniformityof style from the earliest
to the most recent specimens. They are the main and almost only
instances of representationalart among the Samaritans.'2As such,
and as expressionsof fundamentalSamaritanbeliefs, they deserveto
be examinedas a whole.
J.D. Purvis has recently discussed in detail the objects that are
depictedon the drawings,andthe differencesto Jewishand Christian
views on the Tabernacle,primarilyon the basis of two specimens
There is no need to repeathere
that are kept in Boston University.13
Purvis' thoroughdescriptionsand analyses. Nor is there any reason
to retracethe discussion about the hiding of the Tabernaclevessels
related in the Samaritansources. It suffices to refer to the works
of H.G. Kippenberg,'4F.M. Collins,15F. Dexinger,16and, recently,
I. Kalimi and J.D. Purvis.17
What does need fresh examinationis the dating of the Samaritan traditionto makedrawingsof the Tabernacleand its implements.
With one exception, all extant specimens date from the 16th and
19th/20thcent. One drawingis datedby its editorin the 7th cent. C.E.
Althoughit is in a poor stateof preservation,a re-examinationof the
legends on it, and a comparisonwith other drawingscan be made.
An additionalpoint of referenceare depictionsof Tabernacleimplements on mosaic floors of synagogues that were recently excavated
in Samaria.Furthermore,the similarities'betweenthe Samaritanand
the Jewish drawingsof the Tabernacle/Temple
implementsmust be
assessed anew.
The following paperwill attemptto shed light on this Samaritan
art form and try to reach a conclusion as to the date of its earliest
?u
K
:'
.t
??-
---
hI
' ''
*- : <f'
i.-:.t
*I !~ '^ :e .
. .
!Iq
? rr? Q
33
,^
of the ValmadonnaTrustLibrary.
f-
- <
, *e "
:
" :-a
.:.. ........,::,.,,1..
!:,\ I!i
--
. .
i
to
*1
*
ReinhardPummer
34
extantsamples. It will be based on a study of all known specimens,

the detailsof which, togetherwith the respectivesecondaryliterature,
are listed in an inventoryat the end of the paper.The photographof
one drawingcan serve as a representativesampleof the whole genre.
The Tabernacleand its Implements
The overallappearanceof the Tabernacleis a rectanglesurrounded
by a frame and divided into two parts;the upperhalf often is again
divided into two sections. A title, either at the top or the bottom,
identifiesthe drawing.The variousobjectsin the drawingsare named
in shortlegends adjacentto or directlyon the objects.
Typically,the followingfeaturesare foundin SamaritanTabernacle
drawings.Not all of them are presenton every image, and some can
appearin differentpartsof the Tabernacle.18
Title:19
;n 2p20em
wn
fmn, "pictureof the Holy Tabernaclemade acntyrnx :amn
cording to the order;"21tr'ln x?' ,nlm rWln, "pictureof the Tabernacle
l
withoutlikeness;"22aMa ;1m
rWy n ;enp ;rIn jrn
, "picpr pXl
;lXg
ture of the holy Tabernaclewhich our Master Moses made in the desert;"23
x yxY l~1n
7rn=n1n mann fn, "this is a pictrr"mnt =V nm:= mn 'X
ture like (the) picture that is found on the Ark which is in the synagogue of
m2n nT,"thisis a picthe Samaritans(in) Shechem;"24 r.u';li nfwp
n;nm
ture of the holy Tabernacleon Mount Gerizim;"25;lrgyneW m1y pm nman
m'a OXK(sic) Kx? n:V '71 I'hun
nm'
TUp 1Y n' U' nilm,"pictureof
theTabernacleof TestimonywhichMoses madein the desertandJoshuabenNun
set up on Mt. Gerizmopposite Shechem26as he (Moses) said in the Torah."27
Frame:
The frame of the design representsthe outer court (pnl nxrT;cf. Exod. 27:
9-19; 38: 9-20). The sixty columnsare usually numberedin the fashionKTOY,
etc. Sometimes the numberingbegins in the upperright corner,other times in
the upperleft corner. The directionof the numberingalso varies-it proceeds
either clockwise or counterclockwise. On some drawings28the names of the
Israelitetribes appearin the inside frame (cf. Num. 2: 1-34).
35
Upper half:
The upper,i.e., eastern,half representsthe Tabernacleproperwith the Holy of
Holies on the very top. In the Holy of Holies are depictedthe Ark (m'Tynpni),
the Mercy-Seat (?r';), two winged creatures(r,:1' ',tW), and the rods of
Aaron and Moses29 (P1;XirB and ; "1flo; see Exod. 25: 10-22; 37: 1-9;
Num. 17: 16-26).30
Below the Holy of Holies a bandsymbolizesthe screenfor the entranceof the
Tent(see Exod. 26: 36; 27: 16; 35: 12.15.17;etc.). On one drawing,31only the
word'O]n identifiesit, buton the othersit containsa text:32It[p;l nl"ra ].KX
nMoln
1[]
'[3
nenp ;1n nwM
pnp] rvy on[:rsD i]n -a[yx i)=
"Aa[ronand the guardiansof the sanc]tuary,[his] son [Elea]zer, [his] son
[Pin]has,Shishi, [Behqi],33andUzzi; in the days [of Uzzi] YHWHhid the holy
n 'r
;'x;3' p;;y , l,nX nln 35;Vp;1
Tabernacle;"34l"3 ;y ,pr,r
the
of
trust:
;a
;0o
;y
Pinhas,
;nl'
Moses,
Aaron,
Eleazar,
;p
"guardians
holy
Shishi, Behqi, Uzzi; in the days of Uzzi YHWH hid the holy Tabernacle;"36
I
onrim ryx nm1Ti
'nD
'pnu ri Y,mix
pD :Trpni mrna
n
, "guardians
of the holy trust:'AaronandMoses, EleazarandPinhas,Abisha and Shishi and
ma1 ra
;pln ne :npn; an
nI nr
Behqi and Uzzi;"37Onl'm 'y x ;m,
n ,T nlmrin:'tm T pnn m y,axn, "these are the names of
niVn
mrinn'; ,
the guardiansof the holy trust: Moses and Aaronand Eleazarand Pinhas and
Abisha and Shishi and Behqi and Uzzi; and in the days of this Uzzi YHWHhid
the Taberacle;"38
TnyX
;1lM rlnx lnp
n mfr,
n
rr'
sn
nml
tm,
;
ln
n 'Ty aral 'v (sic) 'pi? ''n y> xi on,sn,

u,y inn' uIwv:Mzm
;nV -i 1oE
"theseare the names of the high priests who guardedthe holy trust:Aaronand
Moses, Eleazar and Pinhas and Abisha and Shishi and Beqi and Uzzi; and in
the days of Uzzi YHWH hid the Tabernacle;may YHWH restoreit to us;"39
nx
ymnionomn 'x
m
nixm nrmenpn
m,n' ri 'i'nnm ,zrn Y
'"mv rnY
PT rimn'i X txa nntr m;';on n', "theseare the names
(sic) U, 'UI ' lav,
of the guardiansof the holy (trust): Moses and Aaron, Fleazar and Pinhas
and Abisha and Shishi and Behqi and Uzzi; in the days of Uzzi YHWH hid
the Tabernacle;we ask God in his goodness: may he restore it to us, to
on,'
M
tjMr
T'17r,mx yXI
us;"40 ,pnna'Tn
srVi
n;r'np aam
a.
r, "the
the
Tabernacle:
Ithamar
and Pinhas,
Aaron and Eleazar,
guardiansof
holy
Abisha and Shishi, Behqi and Uzzi;"41'l1'n 1 'InT pTr nrnp nnln "rav
hy1 mln on,'l'7 'XiT 'pnal 'V,1y onnml, "guardiansof the hole Taberacle:
Aaronand EleazarandIthamarand PinhasandShishiandBehqi and Uzzi; upon
them be peace for ever;"42wVe OnSDl 'tnXfll I
pnX ZMpnpVn (sic) ,'nv
M5tVn;n1py
'* (sic) 'p:, "guardiansof the holy Tabernacle:AaronandEleazar
andIthamarandPinhas,Shishi,Beqi, Uzzi; uponthembe peace;'43 rnrya `"V
:nl.la rnrn'nflOx'::l',l :'tY
Tpnl r'r:yr: '1X :onrD1: "TX1
"n:plnx nV:rpnl;l,
ReinhardPummer
36
"guardiansof the holy trust: Moses and Aaron, and Eleazar,and Pinhas, and
Abisha,Shishi andBehqi,Uzzi; andin those days YHWHhid theTabernacle."44
This is not the place to go into furtherdetails, but two points should be
noted here. First, in the SamaritanChronicles,the usual sequenceafterAmram
is Aaron and Moses, Eleazar,Pinhas, Abisha, Shishi, Behqi and Uzzi.45 The
last six are the high priests of the period of Divine Favour.46Second, in the
Pentateuch,neither Beqi nor Shishi are priests. Beqi, or Buqqi ('p) in the
Masoretic text, is the name of the leader of the Danites in Num. 34: 22; and
Shishi, or Sheshai ('t) in the Masoretictext, is the name of one of the sons of
Anak, piy, in Num. 13: 22. The name Uzzi does not occur in the Pentateuch.
All three names, however,are part of the priestly genealogy of Ezra in the
Masoretictext and in the apocrypha,i.e., in Ezra 7: 1-5; 1 Chron. 5: 29-31; 6:
35; 1 Esdr. 8: 1-2. In these passages,the first seven priests afterAaronare the
same as in the Samaritanlists.
Below the "screen"appearthe following: the Menorah(nTu; Exod. 25: 31f, Exod. 25: 23-30; 37:
40; 37: 17-24), the Tableof Showbread(T.;1 Dnr irn5
10-16), the Altarof Incenseor the GoldenAltar(l''p nrit or rnt; n'am; Exod.
30: 27 etc.; 30: 1; 39: 38 etc.), the jar for the Manna (pn n3l.; cf. Exod.
16: 32-33), the two tongs (nsnplmj
,nw; see Num. 4: 9),47 fire pans (nunrn;see
Num. 4: 9),48 and the entranceto the Tentof Meeting (Ty' 5';l nrlM;
Exod. 26:
36-37; 36: 37-38).49
Lower half:
The lower, i.e., western,half containsthe implementsin the court. They are: the
laver (Wr:;Exod. 30: 17-21;38: 8), the garmentsof the high priest ('lWn n't
or n1lpnnn; Exod. 28: 1-43), including the headdress(nMr:n; Exod. 28: 4
f
and 39), two trumpets(mrMn
,l'; Num. 10: 1-10),50 a jug (1U; see Exod.
Exod. 27: 3; 38: 3; Num. 4: 14),52 a pair
30: 18),51 basins (fr7h and pMlm;
the bronze altar (nfn:l nmrI)with the bronze grating
of knives (nfKXD;l),53
(nrImn-u=n; Exod. 38: 30; 39: 39; on the altarof burntofferingsee Exod. 27:
1-8 and 38: 1-7), and two hooks and two oblong objects that look like pipes
for the termnr';n see Exod. 27: 3; 38: 3; Num. 4: 14).54
(lry'n U',Co t,
The Artists
Six of the authorsof Tabernacledrawings are known by name.
Two of them drew two representationseach, so that, on the whole,
the authorshipof eight workscan be assignedto knownindividuals.55
Except for one, all artistswere from the priestlyfamily.
37
Isaac b. Sadaqa of the ytrnh family, the artist of the engraving

on the Torahcase in Nablus, is known to have lived in Gaza in the
16th cent.56He is the only artistwho did not belong to the priestly
family.57Joseph b. Sadaqathe priest, the artist who made the silk
hanging of the Nablus synagogue, is probablythe same as Joseph
b. Sadaqa b. Joseph of the priestly family who lived in Damascus
in the early 16th cent. and was the scribe of VaticanSam. 2.58Jacob b. Aaron (1840-1916; high priest 1874-1916)59made JRULM
Sam Ms 330 and the drawingin the Percy E. WoodwardCollection of Art and Archaeologyof the Jeffersonand Brown Museum
of the Boston UniversitySchool of Theology. Jacob b. Uzzi, his
grandson(1899-1987; high priest 1984-1987),60is the authorof the
drawingin the W.E. BartonCollection in the Boston UniversityLibrary.Abisha b. Pinhas(1880-1960; high priest 1943-1960)61is the
artistof JRULMSam Ms 330A and probablyalso of the drawingin
in Vienna that appearsin several Samarithe V6lkerkundemuseum
tan publications.The extremelystrikingsimilaritiesbetween the last
two works speak strongly in favour of such an assumption.62And
finally,Taqab. Masliahis the authorof the drawingthat was given
to C. Roth and is now in the BrothertonLibraryin Leeds.63
Synagogue Mosaics and Oil Lamps
As mentionedabove, one of the drawingsis believed to date from

the early Muslim period,i.e., from the 7th cent. It is the drawingon
parchmentfrom the NationalLibraryof Russiawhich was editedand
discussedby L. Vilsker.64If this dating is correct,the representation
would have been executed only a short time after the end of the
Byzantine period. Althoughthe medium on which it was done is
different,it is neverthelessreasonableto expect that the drawingon
the parchmentshows some similaritieswith the depictionsfound on
mosaicsthatwere discoveredin synagoguesin Samariaandthatcome
from the immediatelyprecedingByzantinetimes.
Two of the newly excavatedSamaritansynagoguescontainmosaics
that depict items which constitutedpart of the implementsof the
38
ReinhardPummer
Tabernacle;one of themcontainsalso a stone on which the Holy Ark

was depictedin relief; anda similarstone thatmay have belongedto
a synagoguewas found in a thirdlocation. The two synagogueswith
mosaics were uncoveredin el-Khirbe(map coordinates1671:1846)
in
and KhirbetSamara(mapcoordinates1609:1872), respectively;65
the apse of the synagogue in KhirbetSamarawas found the stone
with a depiction of the Holy Ark. The other stone with the relief
of the Holy Ark was discoveredin 1941 near the Crusaderchurch
in Kafr Fahma (map coordinates167:199) in northernSamaria. In
addition,an oil-lamp of the so-called Samaritantype, found in Umm
Khalid (map coordinates1375:1927) near Netanya and presentlyin
the Israel Museum in Jerusalem,shows the Holy Ark, the Menorah,
an incense shovel and variousvessels.66Inside the Ark appearsthe
word 'lnlp "arise"or "advance,"an abbreviatedquote of the verse
"Advance,O Lord! May your enemies be scattered,and may your
foes flee before you!" (Num. 10: 35), the words spoken by Moses
"when the Ark was to set out."67A numberof other lamps of the
same type show variouscult objects and musical instruments.68
It is clear from only a cursory comparisonof the parchmentas
well as the other drawings,that there is no similaritybetween the
Ark as portrayedon the mosaics from Samariaand the lamps on
the one hand, and the Ark as depicted on the Tabernacledrawings
on the other. On the latter,the Ark is a chest as describedin the
Bible, on the former it looks like a temple facade with a door and
a curtain.69As to other features of the Tabernacle,the mosaic in
el-Khirbedoes depictthe ShowbreadTablewith vessels, the Menorah,
two Shofarot and a Mahta; the mosaic in Khirbet Samaradepicts
jugs and other vessels, althoughnot in the vicinity of the Holy Ark.
Samaritanlamps likewise depict these objects, as noted above. All
of them are to be found also on the SamaritanTabernacledrawings,
but stylistically there is no resemblanceto those on the mosaics. It
is thereforeimpossibleto drawa connectiveline from the mosaicsto
the Moscow parchmentand furtherto the drawingsof the 16th and
19th/20thcent.70
SamaritanTabernacleDrawings
39
In additionto this stylisticconsideration,thereare the inscriptions

on the mosaics and the explanatorylegends on the drawings.While
the seven inscripitionson the mosaic floor of el-Khirbe are all in
Greek,all the Tabernacledrawings,includingthe presumedearliest
from the 7th cent. C.E., are inscribedwith Samaritanletters.71This
is a furtherindicationthatthe drawingsoriginatedat a considerably
later time than the mosaics.72
The TorahScroll Case "of the Images"and the Hanging in the
Synagoguein Nablus
The Torahscroll case "of the images" is the most famous of the
Samaritanscroll cases which are preserved in the synagogues in
Holon, Nablus and on Mt. Gerizim. It was firstphotographedby the
PalestineExplorationFundand has since then been depictedin numerousworks aboutthe Samaritansas the case thatholds the famous
Abisha Scroll. Among the Samaritansit is known as 'oxOnn5x=n.n,
i.e., Arabicfor "thescroll case of the images."73
Severalauthorshaveclaimedthatat least some of the drawingson
paper were modelled after the engravingon the metal Torahscroll
case in Nablus. W.E. Barton,who edited Jacob ben Aaron's article
on "The Messianic Hope of the Samaritans,"noted in the legend to
the "Chartof the Tabernaclein the Wilderness"thatthe "symbolsof
the temple furniture"depictedon it are "as illustratedon the case of
the Holy Scroll."74At the bottomof JRULMSam Ms 330, in Samaritan letters, appears the inscription: pix 5y xsamn rnfn 1a nTn nT
nf:l}n KnN'I . The Encyclopaedia Judaica75 depicts
n,a~1D=
the same drawingand adds the legend: "Illustrationof Temple implementsand vessels froma 16th centurycopy of partof the engraving on the ancient SamaritanTorahscroll." According to the English translationattachedto the design that is presentlyin the Mary
FrereHebrewLibraryof GirtonCollege, Cambridge,the drawingis
a "Copy of the design on the Silver Case of the old Pentateuchat
Nablus(Shechem)in the SamaritanSynagogue."76
It would seem that
in the case of these threeitems it was the Samaritanswho furnished
this informationto the buyersof the works.
40
ReinhardPummer
Purvis believes that it is possible that the drawingsby Jacob ben

Aaron as well as that by Jacob ben Uzzi were derived from the
engravingon the metalTorahcase. Differencesbetweenthe drawings
"mayreflect alternativetraditions(or opinions)withinthe Samaritan
communityon the appearanceand placementof certaincultic objects
within the shrine or, what is more likely, simply liberties taken by
the artists."77
Furthermore,a particularlyclose resemblanceexists between the
engravingon the Torahcase and ValmadonnaTrust20e (I). Notableis
also the depictionof the priestlygarmenton the two chartsby Jacob
ben Aaronand the one in Moscow; in all threecases the garmenthas
a characteristicshape and may be representedby its sleeves,78as it
does on ValmadonnaTrust20e (II).
One may be temptedto conclude that the Torahcase in Nablus is
in fact the model for all other drawings. But againstsuch a conclusion standsnot only the fact that the hangingin the same synagogue
is dated 12/13 years before the Torahcase, but also the differences
between the various representations. The latter may of course be
explained along the lines suggested by Purvis. The avowed model
characterof the Torahcase may simply be a meansof attributingspecial statusto the drawingsbecause of theiraffinitywith the engraving
on the case that houses the most reveredscroll of the Samaritans.If,
on the other hand, the present scroll case is indeed a replica of an
earlierone thatwas takenfrom the Samaritansby the Arabsas Gaster
was told,79the engravingcould have served as model.
It should be noted that the representationson the metal case in
Nablus and those on paper have been confused by several authors.
Gaster in his book The Samaritansprintsas pl. 4 the depiction of
JRULMSam Ms 330 and as pl. 5 the Torahmetal case which allegedly served as its model.80However, on the case on pl. 5 there
are no designs of the vessels; Gastermust have had the TorahScroll
case of 1522 in mind. Leveen in his book The HebrewBible in Art,
referringto Gaster'splates 4 and 5, conflatesthe latter'sdescription.
He speaks of "a roughdrawingmade in blue chalk upon the metal
case."81Ferber, who reproducesthe correctmetal case, albeit with
41
rightand left sides reversedand the bottomcut off, speaksof "a copper and bronze Torahcase," although Gaster specified "copper(or
brass)."82
The donor of the case, Jacobb. Abrahamof the pwqh family, was
possibly the same personthatis mentionedin the Tolidahfor the year
910 A.H., i.e., 1504-1505C.E. He is is said to have done muchgood,
and was thereforecalled "kingof Israel"becausehe played the same
role in the time of the n'nmDas did the king of Israel in the nnnm.83
One of the many scribes that added to the Chronicle,noted: "And
it was he who donatedthe copper case on which the Tabernacleis
depictedand which is to be found in the synagoguein Shechem;and
it is of gold, silver and copper,and it is from his property."84
As to the hanging in the syngaogue in Nablus, it was donated
family from Damascus,
by Jacob b. Abrahamb. Isaac of the mrnlm
in 915 A.H., i.e., 1509/10 C.E.85L.A. Mayer identifiedthe curved
"structure"at the bottomas the representationof a mihrdbas it is
found in mosques.86In his opinion, this is a sign of the weakening of the Samaritancommunity.However,the hanging is the only
Samaritandepiction of the Tabernacleimplements that includes a
mihrdb. Neither the almost contemporaryengraving on the scroll
case in Nablus nor any other drawing from later centuries show a
similarconfiguration.
The Moscow Parchment
If the early date of the Moscow parchment,87viz. the 7th cent.
C.E., were correct,it would make this drawingalmost nine hundred
years older than any of the otherextantrepresentations.And in fact
it would be the oldest Samaritanmanuscriptin existence.
Accordingto Vilsker,in the left upperquadrantof the drawing,the
(1) tbnytmsknhqdsh 'I hytwb'tc't (2) bsnt
following text appears:88
bl Immlktysm'['ylyh],i.e., "Pictureof the Holy Tabernacleat a standstill. Made in the year thirty-twoof the rule of the Ishmaelites."89
The drawingwould thereforedate from 32 A.H. or 652/653 C.E. Unavailableto me,90this text cannotbe
fortunately,on the reproductions
42
Reinhard Pummer
seen. Noteworthyis the form in which the date is given, viz. 5: instead of the usual :5. However,it must be admittedthat occasionally
this form of numeraldoes appearin Samaritanmanuscripts.
Also noteworthyis the lack of any similaritybetween the drawings on this Moscow parchmentand the depictions on the mosaics
found in the synagogues of el-Khirbe and KhirbetSamaraas well
as the reliefs on two stones and the lamp mentionedabove. Moreover, the inscriptionsin synagogues of the Byzantineperiod are all
in Greek as opposed to Samaritanscript on the drawings. Only
graduallydid the Samaritansadopt the habit of using Samaritan.9'
It would be surprisingif they had completelychangedfrom one language and scriptto the otheronly 16/17 years afterthe Muslimconquest. Thus, the use of the Samaritanscript on the drawingmay
be an additionalindicationthat it dates from a much later time. It
is true that the two synagoguesmentionedabove were dated to the
4th/5th cent., whereas the Moscow parchmentis said to date from
the 7th cent. However,it is hardly to be expected that so soon after the end of the Byzantinerule no traces of the earlier style were
left.
Furthermore,the early date of 32 A.H. for the parchmentdrawing
is excluded on linguisticgrounds.The hybridlanguagein which the
legends on the drawingare written,was not yet in existence at that
time; it developed only threehundredyears later.
Finally,there is a strongresemblancebetweenthe Moscow parchment drawingand the laterdepictions, on paper,from the 19th/20th
cent. Even in the faint reproductionavailable,the similaritybetween
the representationof the priestly garments, the trumpetsand the
flesh hooks on the Moscow sample on the one hand, and on Jacob
b. Aaron's drawingsas well as on ValmadonnaTrust20e (I) on the
other,is very close. On the otherhand, definitedifferencesalso exist.
The writing material indicates as terminus ante quem the 15th or
early 16th cent. Samaritanmanuscriptsafterthe early 16th cent. are

It may well be that the Moscow
on paper,ratherthan parchment.92
parchmentwas drawnaroundthe same time as the hangingand the
Torahscroll case in the synagogue in Nablus were made. It is con-
43
ceivable that the original year was 5pV, i.e., 930 A.H. or 1523/24
C.E. Given the state of preservationof the manuscript,the D may
be illegible, and the P may have been misreadfor a 1 by Vilsker,
the two letters being similarin Samaritanscript. Of course, without
examiningthe originalthis must remainspeculation.93
Similarities With Jewish Tabernacle Representations
In tryingto date the traditionof SamaritanTabernacleillustrations,

theirsimilaritywith Jewishrepresentations
has been noteda long time
ago.94Both Jews and Samaritansdepict largelythe same objects and
both provideexplanationsnext to the objectson the drawings.95The
Samaritanshave sometimes furnishedEnglish and Jewish Hebrew
translations,eithernext to those in Samaritanscript96or on a separate
Evidentlythis was done for the benefit
page attachedto the drawing.97
of non-Samaritanswho acquiredthese drawings.
An importantdifferencebetweenthe Jewishand the Samaritandepictions is the purposefor which they were made. The Jewish representationsare illustrationsof Bible manuscripts,whereasthe Samaritan drawingswere and are used independentof any manuscript;they
are items of religious art in their own right to be hung on the wall.
Most are considerablylargerthanpages of books. And in fact, there
areno illuminatedSamaritanBibles.98Anotherdifferenceis thatmost
Jewishillustrationsof the Tabernacle(or temple)consist of two pages
over which the differentimplementsare spread.The Samaritandrawings always depictthe Tabernacleandall the implementson one page.
Moreover,the Samaritansaddedcertainfeatureswhichunderlinespecific Samaritanbelieves. These are the list of high prieststhat served
at the Tabernaclewith a note that God hid the Tabernaclein the
days of Uzzi, and the prayerthat God may restoreit; fire depicted
on the altar; the staff of Moses in the Holy of Holies;9 and the
trumpets.
00
C. Roth, in 1953, surmisedthat the Samaritanas well as the strikingly similar Jewish representationsof the sanctuaryand its vessels
may be based on Biblicalilluminationsfrom"perhapsbeforeor at the
44
Reinhard Pummer
very beginning of the Christianera."'01He reasonedthat the similarity cannot"be wholly accidental;"but due to the "intenseopposition"
between Jews and Samaritansneitherwould have imitatedthe other;
when thereare similarities,they are muchmore likely to be explained
on the basis of a common source that antedatesthe schism and the
acute rivalry.102
S. Ferber also traces the origins of Samaritanand Jewish depictions of the Tabernacleback to early times. He believes that the
scroll case in Nablus'03is "formallyrelated by its schematic, diagrammatic,non-illusionistictreatmentof the same theme"to the fragmentaryillustrationin the "FirstLeningradBible,"04writtenin Cairo
in 930 C.E. He then surmisesthat the engraving"suggests a tenthor eleventh-centuryprototype."105And again he notes: 'The unifying quality in the LeningradBible and the Samaritanexamples,106
only three from many of this type, is the diagrammatic,non-spatial
schematismof the representationswith their emphasesupon the depiction of the cult objects. A type of ritualisticliteralismappearsto
be at the root of this formof illustration-a form which can perhaps
Later in
be associated with an earlierSyro-Palestiniantradition."107
his article he suggests "thatthe image of the Torahcase represents
the oldest extant traditionfor Temple/Taberacledepictions."'08Although he adds immediatelyafter: "I could not even begin to suggest a date for the origin of this tradition,"on the next page he
ventures to date it, after all, when he says: "This type of illustration may be based upon a Palestiniantraditionof the third century
A.D."
It is not necessary for the present purpose to address the question of the developmentof JewishTabernacle/temple
images. Suffice
it to say that numerousscholarshave refutedRoth's theories about
the filiation of early Jewish art and later manuscriptillustrations.'09
It is also unlikely that the line drawn by Ferber from the early
mosaics in Palestine, via Egyptian manuscriptsof the 10th cent.,
to the moder drawingsis correct. Following Roth,"0 Ferberand
others"' have seen a relationshipbetween the 6th cent. mosaic of
the synagoguein Beth-Alphawith the 10thcent. Egyptianmanuscript
45
now in St. Petersburg.Since the artistsof the Beth-Alphamosaic,

Marinos and his son Anina, made a mosaic in Beth-Sheanwhere
there may have been a Samaritansynagogue,it is even more tempting to look for a connection. And in fact the two bird-like figures on the roof of the Ark from the Beth-Alphamosaic are reminiscent of the representationof the cherubimon Samaritandrawings.
Nevertheless,for the following reasonsa connectionis to be ruled

out. Whatis depictedin the illustrationof the St. PetersburgBible12
differs from the Ark on the mosaics. On the former,the Ark contains the two tablets of the Law,'13whereas on the latter a door is
depicted. Apart from the slight resemblanceof the bird-likefigures
in Beth-Alphawith the cherubimon some Samaritandrawings,there
is no similaritybetween the mosaics, Samaritansor Jewish, and the
St. Petersburgillustrationson the one hand,andthe Samaritanimages
on the other, as alreadynoted above. The similaritiesthat do exist
betweenSamaritanandJewishdrawingsof the sanctuaryimplements
stem no doubtfromthe commonbiblicalsourceandmaybealso from
cross-fertilization.
Cross-fertilizationbetween the two traditionswould have had to
take place in the Near East;it is unlikely that Spanish,French,Germanic and Italianilllustrationswould have influencedSamaritanart,
at least before modem times. Apart from MS II, 17 in the Public Libraryin St. Petersburg,there is in the same library another
manuscriptwhich depicts the Tabernacle,i.e., MS II, 49; it probably
dates from the same time.14 Two other manuscriptsfrom Syria or
Babylon are British LibraryMS Or. 1467 and MS Or. 2363; they
are thought to have been written in the 11th or 12th cent.15 Neither St. PetersburgMS II, 49 nor the last mentionedmanuscripts
are comparableto the Samaritanimages.16 But even in the case
of St. PetersburgMS II, 17, the only parallel feature is the "diagrammatic,non-spatialschematismof the representationswith their
emphasesupon the depictionof the cult objects.""17If therewas crossfertilization,it must have taken place at a much later time than the
10th cent.
46
ReinhardPummer
On the whole, the similaritiesbetween the various Samaritandepictions are much greaterthan those between the latter and Jewish
areexactlyalike,
designs. Althoughno two Samaritanrepresentations
thereis a basic uniformityin appearancethatidentifiesall of them as
belongingto the same artistictraditionandsets them off from similar
Jewish designs.
Conclusion
The drawings of the Mosaic Tabernacleand its implements on
metal, cloth, parchmentandpaperare the main expressionof Samaritan representationalart in moder times. They are pictorial statements about central Samaritanbeliefs. At the present state of our
knowledge,it is not possible to determinethe time when Samaritans
firstbeganto makethese works. No drawingsexist thatare olderthan
the 16th cent. C.E. For the reasonsdiscussed,the Moscow parchment
cannot date from the 7th cent. Rather,its similaritieswith 19th/20th
cent. representationsplace it in moder times.
Furthermore,thereis no stylistic resemblancebetween the designs
found in synagogue mosaics in Samariaand images of cult objects
on oil lamps on the one hand, and the Tabernacledrawingsfrom
later periods on the other. By the time the latter were made, the
memory of the Byzantineartisticexpressionswas no longer present
to the Samaritans. Only in the last several decades have finds and
excavationsby archaeologistsuncoveredthe earliercreations.
Similaritieswith Jewishdesignsexist in bothgenres,i.e., lampsand
mosaics from the Byzantineperiod as well as parchmentand paper
drawingsfrom moder times. It stands to reason that mutualcrossfertilizationtook place in both instances,but, for the post-Byzantine
traditionof images, it is impossible to trace the point in time and
place at which it occurred.
An importantdifferenceexists with regardto the function of the
drawingsin the two traditions.In Judaism,they were used to illustrate biblical manuscripts,whereas in Samaritanismthey are works
of religious art in their own right. The SamaritanTabernacledrawings are visual symbols of the basic Samaritantheologumenathatthe
47
Mosaic Tabernaclewas the only legitimatesanctuaryin the past and

that it will be restoredat the end of times.
University of Ottawa
REINHARDPUMMER
Departmentof Classics andReligiousStudies

70 LaurierSt., P.O.Box 450, Stn. A
Ottawa,OntarioKIN 6N5, Canada
1 See Pummer,"HiddenVessels"and
"Temple"in Crown,Pummer,Tal, eds., Companion122-123 and 229-231. For detailedexaminationssee the works by Kippenberg,Collins and Dexinger quoted
below.
2 In Abu '1-Fath'schronicle it is said that "in the second year
(after the Israelites' entranceinto Canaan)Joshuabuilt the Temple
(in Arabic hykl) on Mt. Gerizimand put the Tabernacle(in Arabic
mshkn)in it" (Stenhouse,Kitdb28). Similarlythe SamaritanBook
of Joshua, ch. 24, end, althoughinstead of hykl it says knysht,and
insteadof mshkn,hykl. One of the drawingsto be discussed here,
includes in its title the statementthat Joshua set up the Tabernacle
on Mt. Gerizim (Leeds, BrotheronLibrary).Althoughthese are late
sources, the traditiongoes back to much earlier times. Josephus
recounts that during the time of Pontius Pilate, a Samaritanwho
promisedto reveal the hiddenvessels on Mt. Gerizim,claimed that
Moses had depositedthemthere(Ant. 18: 85). On the role of Moses
in this passage see Dexinger,Taheb(1978), 326.
3 Abu '1-Fath,Kitdb40-41. Cf. also the SamaritanBook of Joshua,
ch. 43 (text in Juynboll,Chronicon;Engl. transl.in Crane,TheSamaritan Chronicle).
4 Stenhouse, Kitdb43. For the disappearanceof the tabernacle

in the time of Uzzi, see also the Tolidah (Neubauer,"Chronique
samaritaine"398 [text] and 433 [transl.]);Bowman, Transcript11X;
ChronicleAdler (Adler and Seligson, "Une nouvelle chronique,"in
REJ44 [1902], 205-206); andGaster,"TheChain"mII,132 (text) and
I, 495 (transl.). In Abu 'l-Fath'schronicle occurs a second account
of the hiding of the vessels, in this case, by the High Priest 'Aqbiain
48
ReinhardPummer
the time of Nebuchadnezzar(see Stenhouse, Kitdb63); it is a doublet that probablycame from a differentsource used by Abu 'l-Fath
(cf. Stenhouse,Kitdb[1980], Vol. I, PartI, Chapter6).
5 See above n. 2.
6 In all 21 places of the Deuteronomicphrase"theplace which the
Lord your God will choose (n1r1),"the SamaritanPentateuchreads
"the place which the Lordyour God has chosen (inm)."
7 Ant. 11: 322-324, 13: 74 and 256; Bell. 1: 63.
8 See now my article"Samaritans"
in the OxfordEncyclopediaof
vol.
IV.
in
the
Near
East,
Archeology
9 No final
reportwas yet publishedsince the excavationsare still
underway.
10 See p. 87 in Stenhouse,Kitdb: During the time of the Jewish
king Simon, the Jews "demolishedthe altar and the Temple which
'Abdal the High Priesthad built." With Gaster,Stenhousesurmises
that this "king"was "thefamous Simon the Just (142-135 B.C.) the
Jewish High Priest praisedby Ben Sira"(KitdbXXVIII,n. 407).
11 Unless the destructionof God's House in TibatMarqe refers
to the destructionof this temple by John Hyrcanus(so Kippenberg,
Garizim244-245).
12 For other expressionssee Crown, "Artof the Samaritans,"in
Crown, Pummer, Tal, eds., Companion29-32. In the last years,
Samaritanshave depictedreligious subjects, includingpersons; so,
e.g., the drawingthatdepictsthe pilgrimagein the 14th cent., which
was designed by MenasheTsedaka,is dated Oct. 16, 1983, and was
an insert in an issue of the Samaritanbi-weekly periodicalA.B.
13 In his articles "TwoSamaritanDrawings of the Tabernaclein
the Boston UniversityLibrary,"and "The Tabernaclein Samaritan
Iconographyand Thought."See also I. Kalimi and J.D. Purvis on
"TheHiding of the TabernacleVessels in Jewish and SamaritanLiterature."
14 Garizim234-254.
15"TheHiddenVesselsin SamaritanTradition."See also A. Zeron,
"EinigeBemerkungenzu M.F.Collins 'The HiddenVesselsin SamaritanTraditions';"andC.R. Koester,TheDwelling of God 48-58, with
49
a charton p. 49 that comparesJewish and Samaritantraditions.Unfortunately,Koesterseems to have been unawareof Dexinger'scontribution.
16 Der Taheb;see the Index under "Zelt, Heiliges" and "Gerate

(Tempel,Kult)."
17 'The Hidingof the TabernacleVessels in Jewish and Samaritan
Literature."
18 For details, the two articlesby Purvis,quotedabove, shouldbe
consulted.
19 Only five of the drawingshave a title as does the hanging. The
drawingin the WilliamE. BartonCollectionin Boston Universityhas
only a title in English: "Thepictureof the Tabernacle."
20 The
phrase ptoD rman occurs in Exod. 25: 9.
21 Moscow
parchment;this descriptionappearswithinthe body of

the drawing,not at the top or bottom. Vilskertranslates3:urln y with
"at a standstill"and includesnltynKwith the next line, i.e., "madein
the year..." ("Onan IllustratedSamaritanWork"76; Manuel 102).
22
Hanging in Nablus.
23 JRUMLSam Ms 330.
24 JRULMSam Ms 330A; at the bottom of the
page.
25 Boston
University,PercyE. WoodwardCollection.
26 t:: m is additionalin the SamaritanPentateuchin Deut. 11:
30.
27
Leeds, BrothertonLibrary.The photographsin the publications
Asher
b. Masliahare accompaniedby legends that do not seem
by
to be part of the drawingitself. In The Samaritansthe legend reads
"The picture of Templeof Moses which built it Josha over Gerizim
mount" (sic); in D.n'mnlDt,'nTln
it reads 'irM flK potl, :n 3 nniU,
"picturesof (the) vessels of the Tabernacle,Tent of Meeting."

28 Nablus Torahscroll case; JRULMSam Ms 330; Boston University,Percy E. WoodwardCollection;Cambridge,GirtonCollege.
29 On this see Purvis,"TwoSamaritan
Drawings"110.
30 On the Ark are sometimes
depicted the tablets of testimony,
nrny nrn
College.
(Exod. 31: 18; 32: 15; 34: 29); so Cambridge, Girton
50
ReinhardPummer
31 ValmadonnaTrust20e (II).
32 In the
following, all texts are quoted, except the one on the
in Vienna,since the photograph
drawingin the V6lkerkundemuseum
availableto me is not clear enough.
33 In the SamaritanPentateuch,the name, albeit of a different
individual,is spelt 'p: (Num. 34: 22). In the SamaritanChronicles
(Tolidah,ChronicleNeubauer,and Gaster,"The Chain"),the same
spelling as on this and otherdrawingsappears.
34 Moscow parchment.The text is only partiallylegible and was
reconstructedby Vilsker.Since Aaron is also regardedas one of the
"guardiansof the sanctuary,"Vilsker's reconstructionmay be incorrect.
35 For the
phraseVtpnr 'tZ "m see Num. 3: 28, 32. Cf. also
Lev. 8: 35; Num. 1: 53; 3: 7-8; 3: 38; 18: 4-5; 31: 30, 47.
36 TorahScroll Case in the Samaritansynagoguein Nablus. The
semi-colonsin the Hebrewtext indicatethe Samaritansign of abbreviation.
37 Montserrat,Ms. Or. 145.
38 ValmadonnaTrust20e (I).
39 JRULM Sam Ms 330.
40 JRULMSam Ms 330A.
41 Boston, Boston
University,Percy E. WoodwardCollection.
42
Boston, Boston University,William E. BartonCollection.
43 Leeds, Brotherton Library.
44
Cambridge,GirtonCollege.
45 See the Tolidah(Neubauer,"Chroniquesamaritaine"397-398
[text] and 432-433 [transl.]);ChronicleAdler (Adler and S61igson,
"Unenouvelle chronique,"in REJ44 [1902], 201-205); Gaster,'The
Chain" in Studies II, 131-132 (text) and I, 494 (transl.);
Abi 'l-Fathcounts six high priests for the period of Divine Favour,
viz. Eleazar,Pinhas, Abisha,Shishi, Behqi and Uzzi (see the translation by Stenhouse,Kitab39). In none of these lists does the nameof
Ithamaroccur. For a discussionof the Samaritanlist of high priests
and the role of Ithamarsee Kippenberg,Garizim60-68 and 176-180.
46 Stenhouse, Kitab39.
51
47 Purvis, discussing the drawing from the Barton Collection,

thinksthey "areprobablyreceptaclesfor the oil for the lamps"('Two
SamaritanDrawings"111). However,on other drawings(see, e.g.,
ValmadonnaTrust I) they appearas elongated objects ratherthan
receptacles.
48 Cf. Purvis, 'Two SamaritanDrawings"114-113.
49 Often the dooris depictedin the sectionbelow, i.e., outside,the
Tabernacleproper.
50 On the importanceof the trumpetsin the Samaritantradition
see Purvis, 'Two SamaritanDrawings"115-114.
51 See Purvis,'"TwoSamaritan
Drawings"113.
52 For a discussionsee Purvis,"TwoSamaritan
Drawings"113.
53 The drawingin the Percy E. WoodwardCollection depicts a
second pair of smallerknives,called an:.
54 On Dr71 see Purvis,"TwoSamaritan
Drawings"113.
55 For
biographicalinformationon them see the following foot
notes and the referencescited there.
56 Cf. Crown,"Studies"IV,no. 282. See also the discussionbelow.
57 The ytrnh family, now extinct, once was a large family with
branchesin Nablus, Ramla,Damascus and Egypt (A.B. 625 [25.12.
1994], p. 40).
58 See Crown,"Studies"IV, no. 409.
59 See Pummer, Samaritan Marriage Contracts I, pp. 149-150.
60 See Personalities 256.
61 See
Pummer, Samaritan Marriage Contracts I, pp. 141-142.
62 The most
conspicuoussimilaritiesare the decorativedesign inside the Holy of Holies (althoughthe drawingin the PercyE. Woodward Collection in Boston has a similar design, the other features
differ), the unique shape of the Menora, that of the Laver and the
priestly garment,the placementof the objects which is the same in
both instancesas well as the liberaluse of a rosette-likedesign.
63 He was a copyist, born in 1317 A.H., i.e., 1899/1900 C.E.,
accordingto Kahle ("Die Samaritaner"no. 32). According to the
census of 1908 (Ryl Sam MS 328), he was 11 years old in thatyear,
i.e., he would havebeenbornin 1897. This latterdate is confirmedby
52
ReinhardPummer
an Arabiccolophonwrittenby him in August 1930 C.E. He notes that

he finished copying the prayersfor Shemini Aseret on 28 Rabi' II,
1349, and adds: "And at the time of writing this service book I
marriedthe daughterof Jamilb. Mujan, Danafi,my age being 33 and
her age 17, and the celebrationwas the night of Monday,23 Rabi' I,
1349 H" (Robertson,CatalogueI, col. 293). Taqa'sfather,Masliah
b. Pinhas, was high priest from 1932 to 1943. Jamil b. Murjanis
no. 65a in Kahle's list; he was bornin 1289 A.H., i.e., 1872/73 C.E.,
and had no children yet in 1909; when his unnameddaughterwas
bor in 1913 he was 41 (or 42) years old.
64 Vilsker,"On an IllustratedSamaritanWork."
65 Forcolour reproductionsof the mosaicssee Qadmoniot,Vol.25,
No. 3-4 (99-100) (1992), frontand back cover, and F. Mannsand E.
Alliata, eds., Early Christianityin Contextpls. I-IV afterp. 240.
66 See V. Sussman,"SamaritanCult Symbols as Illustratedon Oil
Lampsfrom the ByzantinePeriod,"133, fig. 1, and Magen, "Samaritan Synagogues"225, fig. 47.
67 This allusion to the Tabernaclereflectsthe importancethat the
sanctuaryhad in the Samaritantradition.
68 In addition to the articles cited above, see also V. Sussman,
"SamaritanLamps of the Third-FourthCenturiesA.D.;" "Samaritan
Oil Lamps from Apollonia-Arsuf;""Symbolicand Representational
Art.Lamps,"and "Lamps,"in Crown,Pummer,Tal,eds., Companion
32-33 and 146-147.
69 On the similarityof synagoguefacadesto late antiquityRoman
templefacadessee Y. Tsafrir,"TheByzantineSettingandits Influence
on Ancient Synagogues"147-157, in particularpp. 148 and 149; and
B. Narkiss, "Pagan,Christian,and Jewish Elements in the Art of
Ancient Synagogues"183-188, in particularp. 184. In both articles
Jewish synagogues are the subject,but the same applies no doubtto
Samaritansynagogues.
70 See below.
71
Only on some oil lampsfrom the Byzantineperioddoes Samaritan script appear;see V. Sussman, "SamaritanCult Symbols as Illustratedon Oil Lampsfrom the ByzantinePeriod."
53
72 For furtherdiscussionsee below.

73 See A.B. 344-345
(2.10.1983), p. 30, and A.B. 625 (25.12.1994),
p. 38.
74 P. 295.
75 Vol. 14 (1971), col. 739, fig. 5.
76 H. Loewe, Catalogue 47.
77 'Tabernacle"227; cf. also "TwoSamaritanDrawings"106-105

and 118.
78 See Purvis,"TwoSamaritanDrawings"115. It shouldbe noted,
though,that the shape of the object may not representsleeves which
are, in any case, not mentioned in Exod. 28: 1-43, but only by
Josephus in Ant. 3: 162, as Purvis noted. It may well be that the
artist renderedthe two halves of the front of the vestment that, on
otherdrawings,resemblesa coat; the horizontalbar below the Mtllm
could then be the sleeves. However, in JRULMSam Ms 330, the
horizontalbar is inscribed1Pn, i.e., the breast-pouchof the high
priest (cf. Exod. 25: 7).
79 Samaritans 193-194, although Gaster wrote that the "copy (was)
made in the seventeenthcentury."

80 Samaritans 193.
81 Leveen, HebrewBible 67. "Blue chalk"is takenfrom Gaster's

descriptionof the drawingson JRULMSam Ms 330. In reality,the
drawingis multi-colouredwith blue, yellow, red, green, and brown
colours.
82 Ferber, "Temple"31. Moreover,Ferbergives no source for
his claim that "Amongthe Samaritans,an age-old, persistentlegend
maintainsthat the Torahcase we have been discussing is an exact
with all of its attendantaprepresentationof the Temple/Tabernacle
purtenances"("Temple"37).
83 See Neubauer, "ChroniqueSamaritaine"419 (text) and 464
(translation).
84 As quotedby B. Tsedakain A.B. 625 (25.12.1994), p. 38; the
passage is not in Neubauer'sedition nor in the manuscriptowned
by the priestly family in Nablus. Tsedaka concludes that Jacob
54
ReinhardPummer
b. Abrahamdonatedthe case to the synagoguein Shechem in 15041505 (A.B. 625 [25.12.1994], p. 38). However, according to the
dedicatoryinscriptionon the case, Isaac b. Sadaqaof the ytrh family made the case in 1522, i.e., 17 or 18 years after it is supposedto
have been donated.
85Fora descriptionanda photographsee Mayer,"ASixteenthCenturySamaritanHanging,"as well as the unsignedarticle"(10t) r'n3
f onKsnn,
anf VZnp.Tn,1518, Tra nflr3nall" in A.B.
," nlaz
DW f
405 (16.3.1986), 6-8. The date given in the latterarticle is based on
the reading, in the sixth line of the inscription, (Q"l)Mt nWtlnMnU,
i.e., 925 A.H.; however,the 1 before Vy is not in the original;Mayer

correctly reads O)MWlnltn rnm, i.e., 915 A.H. The article in A.B.
(an)?n to mean that the hanging was
explains the dedication (VOm)pnl
made "forthe Abisha Scroll."See also Strugnell,"Quelquesinscriptions"577. However,J.D. Whitingprovidesthe legend: "Thissilken
curtain ... is used in the synagogue to hang in front of the scroll
chests" ("The Last IsraelitishBlood Sacrifice"11). Today,the curtain is still in the synagoguein Nablus (letterfrom B. Tsedaka,dated
Dec. 17, 1996) while all othervaluableobjectshave been removedto
safes in the synagogueon Mt. Gerizim. Alreadyin 1986 the hanging
was in danger of disintegratingbecause during most of the year it
was kept folded in a moist environment(see "trr." 6).
86
Mayer,"A SixteenthCenturySamaritanHanging"113.
87 Vilskerrestoredthe
page fromfourfragments("Onan Illustrated
Work"
Samaritan
73).
88 Vilskerreconstructedthe text with the
help of JRULMSam Ms
330A ("On an IllustratedSamaritanWork"75 n. 5).
89 "On an IllustratedSamaritanWork"76 (see above, section
'Title"). In his work Samaritjanskiljazyk and its French translation, Manuel, Vilsker gives the text in Samaritancharactersand
adds a transliteration,the pronunciationand a translationas well
as a philological commentary. The text reads thus: Ul= ntV,n .1
1
y ?ElT. In his artinWynx arwn
.[:rn,K1]yn rnan h n : .2 [rl
cle, the rw at the end of line one are not in brackets,nor are they in
Samaritjanskiljazyk.In the transliterationin the Manuel, the second
55
line ends in the wordysm'['l], insteadof ysm'['ylyh]as in the article

and in the RussianSamarijanskiijazyk.It would seem then that the
readingin Samaritancharactersin both the originalRussianand the
Frenchtranslation,is the one to be retained.
90 Neithera microfilmnorthe photographin Vilsker'sarticleshow
the text; this is no doubtdue to the poor preservationof the drawing
and the quality of the reproductions.No originalphotographcould
be obtainedfrom the NationalLibraryof Moscow.
91 Cf. Magen, "Samaritan
Synagogues"227: the completeabsence
of Samaritaninscriptionsfrom the 4th/5thcent. on Mt. Gerizimmay
"indicatethat the inscriptionsin Samaritanscript discovered in a
number of sites date to a later period: the end of the Byzantine
period, the Islamic period or the Middle Ages, when Greek script
was no longer used by the Samaritancommunity."
92 All the manuscriptsin the BibliothequeNationaleof Paris,e.g.,
thatdate between the 12thand 15th cent. are on parchment,whereas
those from the 15thto 20th cent. are on paper(see Rothschild,Catalogue 20). Likewise, of all the extantketubotonly the oldest, dating
from 1510 C.E., is on parchment;those from the 18th to 20th cent.
are on paper. A.D. Crownalso confirmsthatthe 16th cent. is the last
in which the Samaritansused parchment(privatecommunicationof
Feb. 1996).
93 For the use of a one plus p to express hundreds,see Macuch,
Grammatikdes samaritanischenHebrdisch10.
94 There are also illustrations in Christian Bible manuscripts which
are similarto the Samaritandrawings.An exampleis fol. 325 of Cod.

10 in the Nationalbibliothek
in Vienna,from the early 12th cent. (see
22
and
in
78
Bloch, Nachwirkungen;and Enc Jud 15 [1972],
p.
pl.
987, fig. 8). However,it is unlikely that therewas cross-fertilization
between Samaritansand Christiansin this instance.
95 Not all Jewish representationsare annotated. For a thorough
discussion of the implementsin Jewish miniaturessee Nordstr6m,
"SomeMiniaturesin HebrewBibles."
96 As on JRULMSamMs 330A andon BostonUniversity,William
E. BartonCollection (Englishand JewishHebrew).
56
Reinhard Pummer
97 As in the case of GirtonCollege.

98 The closest
approximationis an early 20th cent. Torahscroll
(ca. 1930), writtenby Jacob b. Uzzi, and now in the libraryof the
Universityof Sydney;in it the text of Exodusis arranged,in imitation
of medieval Hebrew micrography,in such a way that it forms the
shapes of "a candelabrum,showbreadand the table, an altar,and the
Tabernacleitself' (Crown,HebrewManuscripts20; see also his "Art
of the Samaritans"30). Since Jacob b. Uzzi is the authorof one of
the drawingsof the Tabernacle,it wouldbe interestingto comparethe
drawingwith the micrographicrepresentationsin the Sydney scroll.
Unfortunately,no photographof the pertinentcolumns of the latter
was availableto me.
99 The
only Samaritanrepresentationthat does not show the staff
of Moses in the Holy of Holies is the silk hanging. Purvisenumerates
also the jar of manna ('Tabernacle"235); but it is present also in
Jewish designs in accordancewith Exod. 16: 33-34.
100Accordingto the ArabicBook of Joshua,the high priestsounded
the trumpetupon completionof the burnt-offeringin the morning;for
the referencessee Purvis,"Tabernacle"
235-236.
101 "Jewish Antecedents"36. For a critique of this article see
ThereseMetzger, "Lesobjets du culte",particularlypp. 399-401.
102"JewishAntecedents"36.
103 With M.
Gaster,S. Ferberdates it to the 17th cent.
104St.
Petersburg,Public Library,Ms. II, 17.
105"The
Templeof Solomon"31-32.
106His second Samaritan
example is JRULMSam Ms 330.
107 "Temple" 32-33.
108 "Temple" 37.
109 See in
particularTh6reseMetzger, "Les objets du culte" pp.
399-401, as well as J. Gutmann, Temple of Solomon 125; Sacred
Images, book IX, p. 440, and book XVII, pp. 235-237 and 253-254;
review of K. Weitzmannand H.L. Kessler,The Frescoes of the Dura
Synagogue and Christian Art in Speculum 67 (1992), 502-504. My
thanksto Prof. Gutmannfor these references.

110"JewishAntecedents"28-29.
57
111E.g., Nordstr6m,"TempleMiniatures"46.
112The
page is depictedin a numberof articles. One of the best
colour reproductionscan be found in B. Narkiss,HebrewIlluminated
Manuscripts Plate 1A.
113 See M. Metzger, "Quelquescaracteres"207 and PI. II, figs.

2 and 3. To the two tablets are attachedtrapezoidsas was usual
with writingtablets. Metzgerthinksthe tabletscould also have been
decorationsof the door.
114So T
Metzger,"Objets"404.
115Cf. T.
Metzger,"Objets"404.
116 Both are
marginalillustrations. MS Or. 1467 representsthe
vessels offered to the Tabernacleby the tribalchiefs as describedin
Num. 7: 12-86 and appearsnext to the text of Num. 7: 42. MS Or.
2363 depicts the tabletsof the Law next to the text of Exod. 20: 13.
117Ferber,"TheTempleof Solomon"32-33.
Inventory
The inventorycontainsa list of all knowndrawingson parchment

and paperas well as the engravingon the metal Torahcase and the
embroideredhangingin the synagoguein Nablus.
Whereverpossible, the following data are provided:presentlocation; cataloguenumber;artist;donor;date of origin;material;colors;
dimensions;and secondaryliterature.
1. Moscow, RussianStateLibrary,1F. 173. II, No. 175
32 A.H. = 652/653 C.E. (?)2
parchment
colored, green and read
670 x 553 mm
1 FormerlyV.I. Lenin StateLibrary.
2 See the discussionin the text.
ReinhardPummer
58
L.H. Vilsker, "Ob odnom samaritjanskomizobrazitel'nompamyatnikev gosudarstvennoibibliotekeSSSR imeni V.I.Lenina" ["Onan IllustratedSamaritanWorkin the V.I. Lenin
State Libraryof the USSR"], 1971 (Russian).
L.H. Vilsker,Samaritjanskil
yazyk[SamaritanLanguage],1974,
pp. 83-84.
A.B. 248 (15.11.1979), pp. 1-7 (ill.).
L.H. Vilsker,Manueld'arameenSamaritain,1981, pp. 101-102.
2. Nablus, Samaritansynagogue,hanging
915 A.H. = 1509/10 C.E.
red silk, embroideredwith silver thread
238 x 183 cm
donor: Jacob b. Abrahamb. Isaac of the mtwhyhfamily from
Damascus
artist: Joseph b. Sadaqathe priest
J.D. Whiting,'The LastIsraelitishBlood Sacrifice,"1920, p. 11
(ill.).
H. Glaser,"Die Samaritaner,"
1926, p. 7 (ill.).
L.A. Mayer, "A SixteenthCenturySamaritanHanging,"1947
(Hebrew).
L.H. Vilsker, "On an IllustratedSamaritanWork,"1971, 78 n.
11: the Samaritansection of the State Public Libraryin
St. Petersburghas a copy of the hanging with the faulty
date 815 A.H.
I n, =
"0I = nxz3,
nanpn, 1518,rUa nmmn1MVC

(lIot) fr'D
,nf, nl:o03 in A.B. 405 (16.3.1986), 6-8.

3. Nablus, Samaritan Synagogue,3 Torah Scroll Case
3 After the break-inon March21, 1995, when two ancientPentateuchscrolls
were stolen, this scroll case, togetherwith other valuableobjects, was transferred
to safes in the Samaritansynagogue on Mt. Gerizim (letter of B. Tsedaka from
December 17, 1996).
59
Sha'ban 928 A.H. = June 26-July 25, 1522

brass, inlaid with silver and gold
556 x 180 mm
donor: Jacob b. Abraham of the pqwh family
artist: Isaac b. Sadaqa of the ytrnh family
S. Manning, Those Holy Fields, 1874, ill. p. 136 (ill. repr. in
A.B. 344-345 (2.10.1983), p. 30).
C.R. Conder and H.H. Kitchener, The Survey of Western Palestine. Vol. II. Samaria, 1882, ill. after p. 206.
G. Grove, "Nabloos and the Samaritans (in 1861)." 1890, pp.
256-257; repr. in A.B. 344-345 (2.10.1983), pp. 62-66.4
J.A. Montgomery, The Samaritans, 1907, ill. after p. 286.
Whiting, "The Last Israelitish Blood Sacrifice," 1920, p. 45 (ill.).
M. Gaster, The Samaritans, 1923, pp. 193-194.
H. Glaser, "Die Samaritaner,"1926, p. 6 (ill.).
S. Ferber, 'The Temple of Solomon," 1976, pp. 31-38, fig. 12
(lower part not on plate; left and right side reversed; dated
to the 17th cent.).
The Torah Scroll (Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 1979), p. 49
(ill.).
4
Accordingto Grove,afterthe Yom Kippurcelebrationsof 1861, "thepriest"

showed him in the synagogueof Nablus "the case of the Great Roll" and allowed
him to make some "rubbingsof partsof it" (p. 256). First the priest claimed that
it was 1400 years old. However,when Grove expresseddoubts and suggestedthat
400 years would be more likely, the priest examined the case and "found a date
which he read as equivalentto A.D. 1420" (p. 257). In a footnote, Grove adds:
'These rubbingshave since been shown to the authoritiesof the South Kensington
Museum,andpronouncedto be Venetianworkof the fourteenthor fifteenthcentury"
(p. 257). Unfortunately,Grove'sdescriptionis not accompaniedby an illustration,
but the engravinghe saw mustbe the same as the one the TorahScroll case of 1522.
This is confirmedby a note in M.E. Rogers, "Booksand Book-Bindingin Syriaand
Palestine"42.
ReinhardPummer
60
P.-J.Callebaut,Les DerniersSamaritains.Memoiredes Hommes.

Paris: ASFAR, 1990, p. 79 (ill.).
B. Yaniv,"p'1-7- n", A.B. 625 (25.12.1994), pp. 35-40 (ill.).
4. Montserrat,Abbey,Library,Ms. Or. 145
19th/20thcent.
paper
multicolored
498 x 327 mm
bought by FatherBonaventuraUbach, monk of Montserrat,in
1910 or 1923, probablyin Nablus5
N. Allony and A.M. Figueras, "Manuscritoshebraicos de la
Biblioteca de Montserrat,"1959, p. 244.
N. Allony and E. (F.) Kupfer,The Instituteof HebrewManuscripts. List of Photocopies in the Institute,Part I, 1964,
p. 102, no. 1234.
5. London, ValmadonnaTrustLibrary20e (I)6
early 20th cent.
paper
multicolored,coloredpencil or crayon
409 x 289 mm
D. Sassoon, Ohel Dawid, 1932, p. 603.
Sotheby Catalogueof Public Auction on May 12, 1981, p. 137
(il).
6. London, ValmadonnaTrustLibrary20e (II)7
5 I want to thankG. Joan-AndreuRocha, AssistantLibrarianof the
Libraryof
the Abbey of Montserrat,for this information(letterof October24, 1995).
6
FormerlySassoon 33. Since this and the next drawingare cataloguedunder
the number20e, I have added(I) and (II) for easier reference.
7
FormerlySassoon 33.
61
early 20th cent.

paper
multicolored,coloredpencil or crayon
463 x 352 mm
D. Sassoon, Ohel Dawid, 1932, p. 603.
Sotheby Catalogueof Public Auction on May 12, 1981, p. 137.
7. Manchester,JRULMSam Ms 330
early 20th cent.
paper
multicolored
465 x 360 mm
artist: Jacobb. Aaron
Gaster,Samaritans,1925, pl. 4 and pp. 193-194.
Leveen, The Hebrew Bible in Art, 1944, 67-68, pl. XXII (ill.)
(wrong descriptionon p. XI, and underthe plate).

C. Roth, "JewishAntecedents",1953, p. 36 and pl. lOb (ill.).
Robertson,CatalogueII, 1962, cols. 251-252.
Enc. Jud. 14 (1971), 739, fig. 5.
S. Ferber,"TheTempleof Solomon,"1976, pp. 31-38, fig. 13.
A.B. 248 (15.11.1979),p. 2.
8. Manchester,JRULMSam Ms 330A
early 20th cent.
paper
multicolored
685 x 380 mm
artist: Abisha b. Pinhas
Robertson,CatalogueII, 1962, col. 252, pl. 11.
Rabinowicz, Treasures of Judaica, 1971, p. 160 (ill.).
Dexinger,Der Taheb(1978), Abb. 11.
ReinhardPummer
62
Pummer,The Samaritans,1987, pl. VIIa.

9. Boston, Boston University,Percy E. WoodwardCollection of
Art and Archaeologyof the Jeffersonand Brown Museum of
the Boston UniversitySchool of Theology
early 20th cent.
paper
multicolored8
457 x 329 mm
artist:Jacob b. Aaron
Purvis, "TwoSamaritanDrawings,"1989 (ill.).
Purvis, "The Tabernaclein SamaritanIconography,"1994 (ill.).
10. Boston, Boston University,William E. BartonCollection of the
Special CollectionsDivision of the MugarMemorialLibrary
early 20th cent.
paper
multicolored9
435 x 286 mm
artist:Jacob b. Uzzi
Jacob b. Aaron,"TheMessianic Hope of the Samaritans,"1907
(ill.).
Purvis, "TwoSamaritanDrawings,"1989 (ill.)

Purvis, "The Tabernaclein SamaritanIconography,"1994 (ill.)
11. Leeds, BrothertonLibrary,Cecil Roth Collection,MS 623
ca. 1930
paper
8 Colored
pencil or crayon (Purvis, 'Two SamaritanDrawings" 118, and
"Tabernacle"
227).
9 "Ink of metallic
compound"(Purvis, 'Tabernacle"227); see also "Two
SamaritanDrawings"109: possibly "powderedmetal [perhapscopper] mixed with
a bituminoussubstance."
63
multicolored
570 x 410 mm
artist: Taqa b. Masliah b. Pinhas b. Ishaq b. Salama b. Tabia,
Levitical priest
C. Roth, "Catalogue," 1950, no. 623.
12. Cambridge, Girton College, Mary Frere Hebrew Library
19th/20th cent.
paper
multicolored
571 x 482 mm
H. Loewe, Catalogue, 1915, no. 47.
13. Vienna, V6lkerkundemuseum
early 20th cent.
acquired by the Museum in 199410
artist: Abisha b. Pinhas
[Asher b. Masliah] Hasanein Wasef Kahen,11The SamaritansTheir History, Religion, Customs. Nablus, [1]970, ill. on p.
21 and the end cover page.
ItK (l'ion)
n,nnllrt'n
Tl,
[Asher b. Masliah]12 1;:;1
"
n,
(ed. Abraham Tsedaka). Nablus, 1968, ill. on p. 14.
10The item has not

yet been catalogued.
11 This is the form of the name as it appearson the cover and under the
Introduction;underthe photographof the authoron p. 1, the name is given as Wasef
TawfikKahen. The author,whose full name is Asher b. Masliah b. Pinhas, lived
from 1895 to 1982 and was high-priestfrom 1980 to 1982; he was the nephew of
Abishab. Pinhas.
12This is the formin whichthe author'snameappearson the title page; under
the photographon p. 3 the name is given as plnan
nrrm(l) in.
64
ReinhardPummer
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Sassoon, D.S., Ohel Dawid Descriptive Catalogueof the Hebrewand Samaritan
Manuscriptsin the Sassoon Library,London. London: Oxford University
Press, 1932.
Stenhouse,P., The Kitdbal-Tarikhof Abu 'l-Fath:A New Edition with Notes. Microfiche of Ph.D. thesis. Sydney, 1980.
Stenhouse,P., The Kitdbal-Tarikhof Aba'l-Fath. Studies in Judaica, 1. Sydney:
MandelbaumTrust,Universityof Sydney, 1985.
RB 74 (1967), 555-580.
Strugnell,J., "Quelquesinscriptionssamaritaines,"
and A. Tal, eds., A Companion
In:
A.D.
R.
Pummer
Sussman,V., "Lamps."
Crown,
to SamaritanStudies(Tubingen:J.C.B. Mohr[PaulSiebeck], 1993), pp. 146147.
Sussman,V., "SamaritanCult Symbolsas Illustratedon Oil Lampsfrom the Byzantine period."Israel-People and Land, EretzIsrael MuseumYearbook4 (22)
(1986-1987), 133-146 (Hebrew),13*-14* (Engl. summary).
CenturiesA.D."IEJ 28 (1978),
Sussman,V., "SamaritanLampsof the Third-Fourth
238-250.
68
Reinhard Pummer
Sussman, V., "SamaritanOil Lamps from Apollonia-Arsuf."Tel Aviv 10 (1983),

71-96.
Art.Lamps."In: A.D. Crown,R. PumSussman,V., "SymbolicandRepresentational
mer and A. Tal, eds., A Companion to Samaritan Studies (Tiibingen:
J.C.B. Mohr [PaulSiebeck], 1993), pp. 32-33.
Torah
Scroll. Jerusalem:The IsraelMuseum, 1979.
The
Y.,
Tsafrir, "The Byzantine Setting and its Influenceon Ancient Synagogues." In:
The Synagoguein LateAntiquity,ed. L.I. Levine (Philadelphia,Pennsylvania:
The AmericanSchools of OrientalResearch, 1987), pp. 147-157.
Vilsker,H., Manuel d'aramcensamaritain.Transl.from the Russianby J. Margain.
Paris: Editions de CentreNationalde la RechercheScientifique,1981.
izobrazitel'nompamyatnikev gosudarVilsker, H.L., "Ob odnom samaritjanskom
stvennoi biblioteke SSSR imeni V.I. Lenina" ["On an IllustratedSamaritan
Work in the V.I. Lenin State Library of the USSR"]. In: Zapiski Otdela
RukopiselBibliotekiSSSRim. VI. Lenina 32 (1971), pp. 73-80.
Vilsker, L.H., Samaritjanskilyazyk [SamaritanLanguage]. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo
"Nauka",1974.
Whiting, J.D., "The Last IsraelitishBlood Sacrifice." The National Geographic
Magazine 37: 1 (January1920), pp. 2-46.
Yaniv,B., "' -p'n." A.B. 625 (25.12.1994), pp. 35-40.
Zeron, A., "EinigeBemerkungenzu M.F.Collins 'The HiddenVessels in Samaritan
Traditions'."Journalfor the Studyof Judaism4 (1973), 165-168.
THE POLITICS OF PURE LAND BUDDHISM IN INDIA

GALENAMSTU'Z
Summary
PureLand Buddhismachievedits primaryinfluencein East Asia because it supplied a nonmonastic,autonomoussourceof religiousauthorityandpracticeto middle
elites in those culturalregions. In contrastPure Land failed to achieve any success
in India. The explanationfor the marginalizationof Indian Pure Land is probably sociopolitical: Pure Land teachingstended to bypass not only the authorityof
the Hindu brahmins,but even the authorityof Buddhistrenunciateorders. Indian
social history did not produceany significantmiddle elites concerned with such
non-gurucentricreligiousauthority.As a result,BuddhistIndiadid not produceany
innovationsin the upayaof religiousinstitutionalizationin Buddhism.
The Politics of Pure Land Buddhism in India

In the last millenium the most widespread form of Buddhist mythos
in East Asia has been Pure Land Buddhism. Although this fact has
irritated western-oriented Buddhological scholarship, Pure Land was
a natural development of an Indian religious environment.
The Nature of "Devotional" Pure Land
Buddhism began with an ancient Indian sramana model sharply
defined by the myth of gakyamuni. The tendency towards the mythic
hegemony of monasticism in Buddhism-which applies as much to
Mahayana traditions as to early (Nikaya) traditions-was fundamental. Nevertheless, as the Buddhist tradition began to diversify in the
Mahayana movement, one of the first variations was the teaching
about the Pure Land.
As written artifacts, the two principal Indian Pure Land suitraspresenting this story appear to be part of the Ratnakfita collection, the
NUMEN,Vol.45
70
Galen Amstutz
earliest Mahayanaliteraturein India.' The texts which were afterwardscentralin the East Asian Buddhisttraditionincludedthe WuT 360 and others)and
liang-shouching (TheLargerSukhavatl-vyiuha,
the A-mi-t'o ching (SmallerSukhavati-[amrta]vyi'ha,
or AmitabhaA
third
T
work
which
became
standard
in
East
Asia, the
vyuha, 366).
Kuan wu-liang shou-fo ching (Kuan-ching)(T 365), was composed
eitherin CentralAsia or Chinabutis consistentwith Indiantreatments
of the Sukhavati-vyihamythos.2A fourthwork, the Pratyutpannasutra,was also contemporaneousand concernedmeditationson the
AmitabhaBuddha.
The originalAmitabhasutraswere composedaround100 CE during the Kushan regime in northwestIndia (perhapsBactria or the
a Prfkritlanguageof northwestIndiaand
Kabulvalley) in Gandharni,
central Asia which was in use from about 300 BCE to 300 CE.3
The Pure Land narrativewhich survivedfrom this period to spread
into East Asia, especially the descriptionof the Pure Land realm itself, was probablythe productof a deliberatecompositionaleffortto
assemble the most interestingand persuasivemotifs from Buddhist,
Hindu, Greek and Iraniansources to arriveat the most superiorpossible vision of a "paradise."The idea of the AmitabhaPure Land
was probably "ingeniously,and with great care, invented"by Pure
Land followers using mythic ideas including the cakravartin(great
king turningthe wheel of dharma),Uttarakuru(Buddhistcosmological geography),devalokas(realmsof the gods) and stfpas, with the
elements of materialimagerysymbolizingreligious enlightenment.4
The principal sftras were only a part of a larger field of Pure
Land imaginationwhich includeda numberof writings and a number of other bodhisattvaswho were identifiedwith the past lives of
Amitabha. References to Amitabha'sPure Land and recommendations aboutrebirththereas a goal are foundin a varietyof texts even
where Pure Land is not the main object of attention.Amitabhaturns
up in over one-thirdof the translationsof IndianMahaya.natexts in
the Chinese canon, a total that comes to more than 270 pieces.5 A
generic concept of Sukhavatiwas widespread.6On the surface,such
literaryevidence suggests that Pure Land myth had been integrated
The Politics of Pure Land Buddhismin India
71
into early Indian Mahayanapractice and cult organizationby 200

CE,7althoughthe exact sources,conditionsandextentof the original
Amitabhacultus are unclear.8
Although it has been held that Pure Land representeda pseudoBuddhistreflectionof some kind of Indo-Iraniantheism,9Pure Land
was definitelya productof Buddhism,especially of the ancientideas
of the bodhisattvaand the vows of the bodhisattvaor Buddha. The
ultimateaim of all Pure Land teaching was the eventualattainment
of Buddhistnirvana,not the transitionalrebirthin a paradise.10Pure
Land developedlogically in Mahayanaliteraturein India. Stage one
seems to have involvedthe idea, which emergedsoon afterthe deathof Sakyamuni,thatmany otherBuddhashad existed in the past; this
soon becamelinkedto the idea of futureBuddhas.The appearanceof
these past and futureBuddhason the mythic stage universalizedand
made more flexible the idea of enlightenment. Stage two followed
when, mostly as partof the Mahayanamovement,Buddhistcosmology was expandedandinflatedwell beyondthe idea of past andfuture
Buddhas,so thatit includednot only an indefinitelylarge numberof
Buddhasbut also an infinitelylarge numberof realmsand universes
in which Buddhasoperated.1For some followers,the karmicpower
of these transcendent"savior"Buddhasand bodhisattvasbecome the
focus of attentionand meritand merit transferencewas sought from
them. In stage three, the specific AmitabhaPure Land mythos became established.In stage four, a range of practicesassociatedwith
the Pure Land orientationappeared. At one extreme, the practices
could be the preserveof religious specialists,involving the shamanistic vision quest and resemblingtantrism(visualization-basedPure
Landpracticewas associatedwith a class of Mahayanasamadhitexts,
most importantlylater the Kuan-ching).At the other extreme,however, Pure Land teachingcould also be interpretedas a teachingfor
nonspecialistsat a far lowerlevel of expectations,the ritualaffiliation
(possibly) involvingsomethingas simple and mundaneas recitation
of the name of the Buddha. (In the final stage five a critical commentarialtraditionbecame attachedto Pure Land, but this probably
occurredentirelyin China.)12
72
Galen Amstutz
The underlyingconceptsof Pure Land were typical of Mahayana:

the distinctivefeaturewas that they set up a strongly "dualistic"or
bipolarrelationshipbetween the humanrealm of ignoranceand the
ideal realm of enlightenment.The Pure Landwas an abode of Buddha (Buddha-ksetra).From the standpointof the individualseeking
religious liberation,the Pure Land served as a karmic transitzone.
"Rebirth"in Amitabha'sPure Land (i.e., karmicallyshifting one's
streamof consciousnessto a realm near the Buddha)merely moved
the transformativechanges which might (ideally) be undergoneby a
renunciantspecialist in this world to anotherplace and a futuretime
where such changes might be more accessible. The Pure Land did
not have the substantialepistemologicalcharacterof any heaven;it
manifestedboth enlightenedand unenlightenedphases, and did not
"exist"any more thanany otherregion of realitycharacterizedby the
Buddha'sconsciousness.
Key, however, to Amitabha'sSukhavatiwas the vagueness and
openness of the presupposedconditions accordingto which human
beings could direct their religiosity in orderto be rebornin (karmically transferredto) the environmentof this Pure Land when they
ended their earthlybiological spans. Almost any degree of attention
to the Buddhawould enablerebirthin Sukhavati.Beings neededonly
to set their minds on Amitabha,cultivate"rootsof good," and plan
for achieving enlightenmentthere. Even beings that had not done
well over their lifetimes in attendingto the Buddha could achieve
rebirthwith Amitabhaif theyjust directedtheirthoughtsthat way on
their deathbedsand experienceda vision of Amitabha;even a single
sincerethoughtmight be sufficient.Thus the languageof the original
sutrascollapsed all degrees of practice and attentioninto a nondiscriminativewave of hopeful good will. The sheer broadnessof the
path that led into the PureLandbecame the rhetoricalcenter.
Pure Land is routinelydescribedas "devotional."Yet any rhetorical isolation of a devotionalBuddhismas if it were a categoryseparatedfrom (and subordinateto) "normal"Buddhism is a misrepresentation. All Buddhismis devotional. It deals with experiential
transformationswhich in all cases pose ideals empirically "exter-
The Politics of Pure LandBuddhismin India
73
nal" to the startingstatusof the devotee. In the earliest stages Buddhism posed the experienceof Sikyamunias a mythic ideal external
to the individualfollowers. The actual ongoing physical presence
of the Buddha was presupposedin the sacred installationsof medieval Indian monasteries.'3In the Mahayanamovementdepictions
of the ideal merelybecamemultiplied,broadenedandabstracted.The
movementmay even have grownout of the visionaryexperiencesof
small scatteredgroupswhich were afterwardsperpetuatedby initiatory lineages.14Mahayanadevotionalisminvolved elements of the
tantric,the shamanicquest and the artsof clairvoyance;it may have
shared with other Indiantraditionsa historicalwave of "visionary
theism"which affectedreligiousimaginationin all of northIndia.15
Presupposingmultipleaspectsof "Buddha,"laterMahayanain India integratedphilosophy,meditation,a hierarchicalritual monastic
system, and personalcontactwith concretedeities who providedaccess to supernormalpowersandeffects along with prajfia.16
The texts
of Bhavaviveka,a sixth centuryMadhyamakathinker,show that the
concept of emptiness and the concept of the Buddha were inseparable, and to "see" the philosophicalidea was the same as seeing
"the Buddha." Emptinesswas associated with a specific form of
sensoryperception,and visual power yielded concretevisions of the
Buddha'sphysical form mergedwith intellectualunderstandingin a
single philosophicaland devotionalevent.'7Bhavavivekadescribed
phases of his Buddhistpracticequasi-physicallyas "palaces,"just as
pilgrimssuch as Hsiian-tsangencounteredthe IndianBuddhistreality
of emptiness in the physicalform of landscape,sacred sites, stupas,
relics, monastic persons,supernormalevents, superknowledges(abhijina),concrete manifestationsof the Buddha,and visions. Out of
this combinationof self-relianceand dependenceon Buddhas and
bodhisattvasarises the special "irony"characteristicof the more sophisticatedMahayanaliterature,in that to be truly independentis to
realize one's dependenceon others,especially spiritualbeings manifesting emptiness.18
Such a mergeramong visionaryexperience,the monasticexperience, Mahayanaphilosophy,the AmitabhaBuddha,and the variety
74
GalenAmstutz
of possible goals held out by "PureLand"practicewas demonstrated

a text preserved mainly in Tibetan and
in the Pratyutpanna-suitra,
Chinese. This text propoundedvisionarycontact with Amitabhafor
the purpose of furtheringone's goal of becoming a perfectedbodhisattva in this world. Unlike the Sukhavativy(ihait did not deal
mainly with the goal of rebirthin a transitionalPure Land, but it
did present the Amitabhameditationsin terms of the Perfectionof
Wisdom literature.19
Technical terms used to indicate relations with the Buddha of
the Pure Land includedbuddhanusmrti(rememberingthe Buddha),
prasada(purity),and adhimukti(directingattention);these were related to the generic Indian term Sraddha(entrusting,giving one's
attention).20The meaning of sraddha was nonspecific, conveying
broadlythe idea of participation,engagement,praxis,or more elaborately,participationin any ritualand symbol system which aimed to
lead the mind into contactwith a higher reality.21Even in Pali texts
the term (saddhain Pali) does not have one precise meaning,but is
used in various contexts to indicate a whole range of engagement
or serious encounterswith Buddhistpractice.22Indiancommentators
on tathagatagarbha
thought(which pushed to an extremea monistic
rhetoricin IndianBuddhism)placed a high value on terms such as
The usual translationinto Ensraddhato describe enlightenment.23
glish for these termshas been "faith,"but againstthe normalEnglish
semanticsbased on Christianor Near Easternreligious associations
the term is misleading.
Pure Land practicesin India remainedclosely tied to the visionary experiencecharacteristicof religious specialists.24It is likely that
the terms given above for "thinking"about the Buddhaor "directing
attention"to him originally meant some sort of visionary experience (even if it were open to non-monasticpeople without esoteric
The relevantsutras mention the cultivation
lineage requirements).25
of good deeds,26but they also mention deathbedvisions and dream
visions.27This socially open, but still vision-oriented,experienceis
what Pure Land entailedup until approximatelythe early T'ang period in China. Only at that point did the nonvisionarypractice of
75
reciting the Buddha'sname with low levels of expectationbegin to

achieve any importance.28
Thus, most of the originalmanagementof PureLand "devotionalism" occurredin the monasticcontext.29This phenomenonwas true
not only for Pure Land, but for the host of other Buddhistdeities
and practices. (Descriptionsof the visionary relationshipbetween
this world and the Pure Land as "dualistic"are easily misconstrued
without this understanding.)The differencesbetween popularPure
Land devotionalismand monasticpracticesof Pure Land devotionalism were merely mattersof intensity,expectationsand access. As
PureLand evolved laterin China,the populartraditionwould maintain somewhat lower (albeit serious) expectationsin exchange for a
sense of almost universalaccess; the monasticlevel would preserve
somewhathigherexpectationsin linkagewith the monastictradition.
Althoughno commentarialmaterialsurviveswhich indicatesthatin
India the Pure Land languagewas philosophicallyelaboratedin the
same way as the rest of Buddhistlanguage,Chinese and Japanese
scholarshave always assumedthat the PureLand texts were already
backgroundedin India by the same philosophicalconsiderationsas
the rest of Mahayanatradition.At the same time, as in some other
Mahayanatexts such as the Lotus Sutra,the text's attentionis so far
focused away from philosophicalissues per se that such presuppositions have to be gatheredfrom context.30
Pure Land's Weakness in India as a Concretely Operant Tradition
Despite the textualevidencefrom the sitras, the practicalstrength

of PureLand as a workingtraditionin Indiaat any time is doubtful.31
Some stone foundationsfor an Amitabhaimage dated 104 CE from
Mathuraare the only archaeologicalrecordof an exclusivisticAmitabha Pure Land practice. Epigraphicalevidence from Safichi from
the seventhcenturymentionsAmitabha,but only in connectionwith
verses praising Avalokitesvara.Archaeologicallyspeakingthe original, non-tantricAmitabhapractice in India appearsto have been
narrowlyconfinedto the Kusanaperiod(ca. 50-200 CE) in northwest
76
Galen Amstutz
India, afterwhich it faded. It exertedno influenceelsewherein India

and even in northwestIndiait had no influenceduringthe subsequent
Guptaperiod.32The diariesof early Chinesepilgrimsto Indiado not
refer to Pure Land; the earliestand final mention is in the reportof
Hui-jih (Tz'u-min, d. 748), who began his India pilgrimagein 702.
Hui-jih claimed that Indianteacherstold him to pursue Pure Land
as the quickest means of seeing the Buddha,and he is supposedto
have had a Pure Land vision duringhis sojourn. However,Hui-jih's
accountis probablyunreliablebecauseof his own ChinesePureLand
biases. When he returnedhome, he became one of the majorPure
Land teachersin the laterT'ang period.33
A distinct sociopoliticalhistory,the issue which becomes crucial
in Chinaand Japan,is obscurein India. Practicallynothingis known
aboutthe circumstancesof social productionand reproductionof the
texts. Thereis no evidencethatPureLandled to the formationof distinctcommunitieswith anunusualcharacter.Generally,scholarshave
searched in vain for substantialevidence that Indian approachesto
Buddhismdeviatedsignificantlyfromthe basic, renunciation-oriented
Sikyamunimythos: even where some Buddhistcommunitiesof an
alternatecharacter"lay"existed, they did so on a "lay bodhisattva"
basis which was closely tied to monasticism.34Only the most fragmentaryanecdotalevidence suggests that Pure Land teachingmight
have been associatedwith creatinga Buddhistmythosof a new social
character.35
Some evidence suggestsconflictsbetweenmonasticandnonmonastic groups in India based on differinguses of the Pure Land texts.
Criticisms made in the Pratyutpanna-sutra-againstan alleged materialistunderstandingof a visionarybuddhanusmrti
experienceand
mere desire for a fortunaterebirth-seemed to indicate attacks on
the Sukhavativyfihagoals. The monasticPratyutpannastressedthe
emptinessof the vision of Amitabha,with all the attendantphilosophical language. In contrastto this the Sukhavativyuha's
encounterwith
Amitabhawas said to be depictedas an "actual"event, takingplace
primarilyat the momentof death and indirectlyassociatedwith the
supernormalpowers and attributesof beings in the Pure Land.36The
77
two suftrasmay representdiffering approachesto the ideas of buddhanusmrtiand buddha-darsana

correlated,respectively,with more
monasticand less monasticfactions of IndianMahayana.
PureLand was associatedwith tathagatagarbha
theoryand related
ideas about the inherentuniversalliberationof beings, and the Yoends with an invocationto Amitabha.37
gacaratext Ratnagotravibhaga
and Pure Land did
However, associationsbetween tathagatagarbha
not mean that the two kinds of mythos agreedon practice. The Yogacaratext Mahayanasamgraha
displayspolemics againstPureLand.
had
Land
Pure
been
institutionalizedto some extent in
Apparently
Mahayanapracticeandcult before the Yogacarasynthesis,so thatby
the time thatYogacaraemergedthe Amitabhatraditionhad grownso
popular(at least in some locales) thatthe mythic-devotionalfigureof
fikyamuni(who representedmonasticideals)hadbeen in some cases
relegatedto the marginsof Mahayanaattention.In response,already
beforethe time of Asaiga (thechief thinkerassociatedwith Yogacara)
The
a movementhad arisento defend Sakyamuni
againstAmitabha.38
tenthchapterof the Mahayanasamgraha
triedto subordinatea variety
of diversepractices(includingthe PureLandpracticeand Amitabha)
to the unified Yogacarainterpretation.Like the Pratyutpanna,Yogacara thinkerswere apparentlyconcerned that the Pure Land approachand its "dualism"might result in practitioners'thinkingthat
Amitabhaandthe PureLandwere somehowsubstantiallyrealentities,
somethingthat might be clung to in an illusory quest for security.39
The Yogacaraargumentwas intendedto deny the practicallegitimacy
of some popularinterpretations
of the Pure Land.40
Such bits of evidence show early frictionbetween a monasticdevotionalismand a somewhatmore populardevotionalism,played out
as a contestbetweenthe mythicfiguresof gSkyamuniand Amitabha.
This anticipatedthe later friction between Ch'an/Zenrhetoricand
Pure Land rhetoricin China and Japan. Just as in the Mahayanasamgraha,monasticCh'an/Zenwould later try to coopt popularized Pure Land and depict it as an inferiorform of Sakyamuni's
teachings.41
78
GalenAmstutz
What is beyond doubt, in any case, is that from an early stage

the Pure Land mythos flourishedonly outside of India. The strong
connectionbetweenPureLandandnon-Indiangroupsto the northand
west of Indiamustbe interpretedin termsof this Indiandisinclination
regardingthe Pure Land variantof Mahayana.42
Some RelevantFeaturesof Bhakti
Pure Land Buddhism was philosophicallynot related to bhakti
traditionsin Hinduism,and the social profileof bhaktibecame quite
differentfrom that of Pure Land in India. However,both grew out
of the same civilization, and a look at bhakti helps illuminatethe
relationshipswhich mightexist betweenreligiousrhetoricand society
in India.43
The basis of Hinduismis an idea of UltimateReality called Brahman. The relevant religious practices usually emphasized ascetic
renunciationand the achievementof power throughvariouskinds of
sacrifice. Hinduism inheritedfrom pre-AryanIndia a long indigenous traditionof meditativeasceticism (muni-yaticults); when this
traditionwas assimilatedto Aryan brahmanicalreligion involving
rsis in the Upanisadicperiod it resulted in the classic brahmanical
myth of the search for transcendenceculminatingin the renunciant
hero. The classic renunciantwas closely associated with monistic
religio-philosophicallanguage. The teachingswere expressedin the
Vedic literature,receivedtheir classical formulationin the doctrines
of gankara,and were otherwiseimmenselydevelopedin brahmanical
speculationin India.
Nevertheless,bhaktic,or "devotional"versionsof Hindureligiosity
also made their appearanceat the earliest stage. Bhakti religiosity
assumed that the relationshipbetween man and the ultimate reality
was not based on an undifferentiatedmonism, but ratherentailed
a "dual"structure,expressingboth differentiationbetween man and
andcommunion
Brahmanon the one handandactiveinterrelationship
betweenthemon the other.Bhaktican be describedas bipolar,dyadic
or personalistic because the significance and differentiationof the
individualvis a vis the Ultimateis takenas a seriousissue. As in the
79
case of Buddhistsraddha,the assumptionsof bhaktido not translate

easily into English or any Europeanlanguage. Crucially,bhaktiand
Brahmando not containthe epistemologicalor ontologicalmeanings
of the creatorGod of Near Easterntraditionsbecause they refer to
the Upanisadicsense of the ultimate.
Historically,the energiesof bhaktiapparentlycame originallyfrom
outside the brahmins'Aryanruling class, reflectingthe interestsof
indigenouspeoples in retainingtribalor local deities, althoughbhakti
and brahminismwere eventuallyinseparablyblended. Because of
the brahminicalflexibility,bhakticversionsof Hinduismalso became
immenselycomplex.4
The formal synthesis of brahminicalphilosophy and the bipolar
structureof bhaktibeganwith certainof the Upanisads,becameovert
in the Bhagavadgita,and emergedmost prominentlyin the Vaisnava
traditions,whichhadthe strongesttendencyto assimilateto brahmanism and to seek self-justificationthroughthe generationof Vedantic
doctrines. Most VaisnavasregardedRamanuja(eleventhcentury)as
the culminationof Vedanticbhaktitheology. Where anfkarahad ofof the Upanisads,Ramanujadeveloped
fered a monisticinterpretation
a bhakticversion. This analysis (visistavaitaVedanta)has been unhelpfully translatedas "qualifiednondualism,"but the real sense of
visista is "differentiation:"
"(contingent)differentiationin a ground
of nondual brahman."Brahmanis supremeabove all, but several
types of knowledgeare separatelyreal, includingnonsentientmatter
and sentientbutfinite/ignorant
humanselves. Thushumanconsciousness establishes "dependent"relationshipswith its Ultimate matrix,
because it is discriminatedor differentiated-if only contingentlyfrom that matrix.45In any case Ramanuja'sideas had nothingto do
with a simple "devotionalism."
ViSistaargumentsaboutthe existentialand logical differentiation
of the human from God/brahmannaturallydeveloped into existential questions of practice,because the more clearly God the matrix
was differentiatedfrom the human, the more questionswould arise
about how the humanside could bridge the gap and to create out
of humanpowers the communingrelationshipwith the ultimatere-
80
GalenAmstutz
ality. The debatedevelopedin greatestcomplexityin the two south

Indian wings of the Sri Vaisnavatradition,Vadgalaiand Tengalai.
Traditionalteachings had requiredbhaktiyoga,a complex religious
method tied to brahminicalstyles of educationand practice,including knowledge of the Vedasand sastras,lifetimes of meditationand
ritualpractice,andfinallythe antimasmrtior finalremembranceof the
Lord at the conclusion of the biological span. This restrictiveview
was graduallyalteredin the medievaltraditionssuch as Paficaratras
and Alvars,and attentionwas directedto certainwritingsattributedto
elements of the bhakti
Ramanujain which the emotional"surrender"
teachings are stressed ratherthan the philosophicalanalysis.46For
some of the teachings prapatti(surrender,radical grace, devotion,
yielding to God) was in theoryopen to all, regardlessof birth,education or even worldlyability,needing none of the ritualaccessories
(angas) of brahminicalbhaktiyoga.Prapatticould thus be understood
as an independentupayatowardssalvation.47
The two Srivaisnavastreamsmaintaineddifferent views on the
relative value of prapattiand bhaktiyogaand on the properrelationship between them; the main question was the residual validity of
bhaktiyoga.48The more radicalwas the Tengalaischool, associated
with the teachings of Pillai Lokacarya(1264-1369). Pillai took the
positionthatstrictlyspeaking,the graceof Brahman(in this case manifested as the goddess gri or Laksmi, consort of the suprememale
Bhakdeity Narayana)was all thatwas neededto achieveliberation.49
at
could
abandoned
be
the
time
of
the
realization
of
the
soul's
tiyoga
utterdependenceon the Lord. Self-effortand self-purposivepractices
were only provisionaland ultimatelyat odds with the soul's truenatureof dependenceon the Lord. The scripturalrequirementsof ritual,
wisdom and devotion were both ideal but in the final analysis also
unnecessary.Since, in fact, the traditionalbrahminicalrequirements
could not logically have any causal force towardliberationbecause
the humanis totally dependenton God, the only reason they would
be performed,especially after surrenderto God, would be to please
God and to providewitness to the grace of God. Tengalaiteachers
gave priority to the devotion representedby the Alvars, epics and
81
puranas, and preferred a relatively informal rhetoric based in popular

oral religious life.50
In theory such medieval developments of Indian bhakti, both in
south India and in the related sant tradition of north India, could have
sharp political implications, as summarized for example by A.K. Ramanujan:
...bhakti religionslike ViraSaivismare Indiananaloguesto Europeanprotestant
movements. Here we suggest a few parallels: protest against mediatorslike
priest, ritual,temples, social hierarchy,in the name of direct, individual,original experience;a religiousmovementof and for the underdog,includingsaints
of all castes and trades(like Bunyan,the tinker),speakingthe sub-standarddialect of the region, producingoften the first authenticregionalexpressionsand
translationsof inaccessibleSanskritictexts (like the translationsof the Bible in
Europe); a religion of arbitrarygrace, with a doctrine of the mystically chosen elect, replacinga social hierarchy-by-birth
with a mystical hierarchy-byexperience;doctrinesof workas worshipleadingto a puritanethic; monotheism
and evangelism,a mixtureof intoleranceand humanism,harshand tender.51
Relevant Similarities of Bhakti and Pure Land

Bhakti Hinduism and Pure Land Buddhism are both counterintuitive from classical Near Eastern theistic religious perspectives. Both
possess underlying theories of knowledge which (while quite distinguishable from each other) when compared to traditional Western
thought are nonfoundational and process-oriented. In this underlying flexibility, both Hinduism and Buddhism stand in contrast to the
historical concreteness, linearity, and epistemological realism which
characterize Near Eastern traditions. The flexibility of the theories
of knowledge yield a different attitude to textuality and mythmaking:
while neither tradition has been unaware of texts which might be appealed to as ultimate reference, it is easy to understand the textual
corpus as something expanding and renewable. This allows a large
literature with a plethora of mythic characters, stories and technical
philosophical terms which all make potential authority claims. In
both Hinduism and Buddhism, the relative openness of theories of
knowledge gives scope for a rich admixture of folk religion and an
82
Galen Amstutz
accomodationto the coexistence of multiplereligious motives. Religious purism is rare;indeed, if it appearsat all, it is primarilyin a
politically-drivencontext.
Both HinduismandBuddhismwere originallyorientedto Sramana
ideals, and because of these roots in the ascetic traditionsof religious
virtuosi,both have revealeda strongmainstreamtendencyto concentratepolitical power and authorityin religiousexperts.52The original
focus on Sramanaideals has consequentlymeant that the Indiantraditions have been confusing,and apparentlycontradictory,when they
have seemed to double-backon themselvesand to display a bipolar
(dualisticor theistic)structurewhich superficiallyresemblesthe Near
Easterntraditions.Both bhaktiand Pure Land variantsof Hinduism
and Buddhismhave divergedeventuallyfrom the pure monistic presentationsderived from their sramanacores by making explicit the
bipolarityof experience. Depictions of the humanreligious predicament for both have involvedtensions between the humanrealityand
the religious ideal; puremonismhas been regardedas a form of specialized religious rhetoricthat does not representthe complexity of
experiencedreligion.53Both reflectthe ancientproblemof the "leap"
between different dimensionsof experiencewhich recurs explicitly
or implicitly in all Indiantraditions.54
By makingbipolarityexplicit in a new way, the inherenttendency
of both bhaktiand PureLand traditionswas to equalizethe statusof
humanaspirantsandto reducethe need for mediatingauthority.Particularlywhen devotionaltheoryshiftedin the directionof prapattior
radicalgrace, traditionalunderstandingsof religious mediationwere
interrupted.Bipolarityencourageda shift towardsa language reinforcing individualpersonsas independentlyreligiouslyempowered.
DifferencesBetween Pure Land and Bhakti
This is not to argue that bhakti and Pure Land shared anything
morethanthese loose similarities.The underlyingexperiential,tonal,
emotional and philosophicaldimensionsremainedsharplydifferent.
Even where Pure Landpracticessuperficiallyresembledtantricones,
involving shamanictechniquesof visualization,still
83
...it is strikinghow-compared to the Bhagavadgit--the PureLandtexts manage to divorce visualizationfrom devotion:the saving Lordremainsimpersonal
anddistant,a powerto be tappedby vision andrecitation,in a cool and dazzling
ecstacy ratherthanin a genuineencounterof the humanwith a divine other.55
Polemics between Buddhistsand gaivas in medieval south India

recordedin the literatureof the bhaktimovementshow the two traditions became polarizedin partbecause of the underlyingincompatibility of their religiousmessages. Saiva bhaktiwas concernedwith
affectiveencounterswith Deity that often involvedpossession by the
god and altered states borderingon madness;ecstatic dance, music
and verse were the favoredforms of communication.Bhakti placed
a tremendousemphasison literal,concretemanifestationsof deities
at particularsacredplaces at which powerwas made immanent.This
kind of religiosity was remote from the cool control of mind and
body imagined as the ideal in any form of Buddhistpractice.56
Pure Land was also a more purely Buddhistproductthan bhakti
was a Vedanticproduct.It was probablyhybridizedconsciously out
of a variety of sources. Because Pure Land was not the productof
preexistingpopularstrainsof local religionwhichpressedtheirclaims
into the consciousnessof renunciantspecialists,it was simpler,more
idealizedand more abstractedthan the variedand fragmentedbhakti
traditions.
Crucially,however,the historicalsociopoliticaloutcomesof bhakti
and Pure Land ideas in India were fundamentallydivergent. Bhakti
becamethe de facto mainstreampresentationof Hinduismin the last
millenium or so. In contrast,Pure Land Buddhismseems to have
failedquite remarkablyin Indiato gain any sortof long-termfoothold
(even takinginto accountthe relativelysmall populationof Buddhists
in Indiaat any time). Yettherecertainlyexisteda theoreticalpotential
for doctrinalevolutionbroadlyparallelto that of radicalbhakti,i.e.,
a visista-style analysis, with its combinationof existential realism,
philosophicalsophistication,and potentiallypopularizingpolitics.
One explanation for failure is that is was mythically easier to
marginalizethe role of bipolar presentationin Buddhist traditions.
Comparedto Hinduism,Buddhismbegan even more unambiguously
84
Galen Amstutz
with a sramanamodel sharplydefined by the myth of Sikyamuni;

thereafterthe specialist model of Buddhist practice was not challenged, as in the case of bhaktitraditions,by popularenergiesoriginating from outside the system clamoringto be recognizedin terms
of the elite specialistsof the system. MonasticBuddhismwas vigorous, and it dominatedBuddhismmuch more than any single mythic
formatdominatedHinduism. The bipolarmythic structureof Pure
Landremainedclearlysubordinateto the mythicmodel of emulating
gSkyamuni.
However,even monasticBuddhismin Indiaeventuallylost power.
Why, when the monasticmovementbegan to weaken in India, did
Buddhistenergies not simply shift to Pure Land approaches? Are
there some logical or internalfeatures inherentin the traditionthat
blocked Pure Land Buddhismfrom exploringthe political and existentialintereststhatencourageda bhakticor vigigtaapproach?
No such barriersare logically apparent.Thereforethe most plausible hypothesis is the overall politics of Buddhism's relation to
Hinduism. All Buddhismin India-even in its ordinarymonastic
forms-had troublecompetingwith later Hinduism. Scholars have
not agreed on the reasons,but an argumentwhich fits (especially in
relationto Pure Land) is that Buddhism'smain threatto Hinduism
in India was not philosophyand not even surfacesocial pragmatics
(Buddhismin practice did not completely reject vama), but rather
something more fundamental:the unsuccessful root challenge that
the Buddhistmythos and its ideals offered to the brahminicalvision
of life-stages (aUramas)and the vama worldview. It is a possibility
that in ancient India, for some centuries after the Asokan imperial
sponsorshipof Buddhistinstitutions,the brahminicalvision was actuallyput on the defensive.However,afteraboutthe firstmillenium,
the rise of bhakticonclusivelyovercameBuddhistculture.Bhaktiwas
a powerfulsynthesis of the maturedpolitical and economic interests
of later premoder Indiansociety, which could incorporatethe popular attachmentto the gods while situatingitself Vedanticallyunder
the religious authorityof the brahminsand supportingthe varna/jati
system's programmaticsocial expectations.57
85
Buddhismhad no means of respondingto laterpremoder Indian

society's increasingneed for social authorityand caste articulation
which was as effectively syntheticas bhakti(Buddhism'sstrongest
This noncompetivegambit was the tantricguru-basedtraditions).58
ness was especially true for Pure Land. NormalBuddhismwas already somewhat marginalizedas a non-brahminicaltradition. Pure
Land, which could potentiallydetach itself from monasticismand
guru-basedauthority,could thus also detach itself from the vestiges
of vara influencethatcontinuedto cling to those forms of organization. The key historicalfact is that no ancientand medievalIndians
wanted,or were able, to pick up such possibilities.59
Bhakti did not seriouslychallenge the structureof vama society.
Leveling politics do not appearin the Bhagavadgita,for example,
which although it was about bhakti was also a highly brahminical
text concernedwith the preservationof social structure.Vaisnavism
associated with Ramanujaremainedstrongly brahminical.Even in
the more radicalversionsof grivaisnavism,prapattitendedto be assimilatedto brahminicalritual:the traditionwas resistantto allowing
the teachings to subvertthe dominantauthorityrelationshipsof Indian society. In the Tengalaischool, the theoryof ignoringcaste was
honoredfar more in the breachthanin the ritualobservance.60
Long
termdevelopmentsin the sant traditionswere similar.61
Hindureligiosityhas been thoroughlydominatedby religious virtuosi, their special religious communities,and patronageby central
political authorities(often with cosmologicalwholistic visions about
the centralrole of themselvesin a unified cosmos). The insistence
on maintaininga cosmologicallyfixed social structurein God's fluid
world may be one of the centralparadoxesof mainstreamHindureligious thought,butthe moreprivilegedelementsof a society did not
see the differentiationsof social reality as a problem. Nothing was
more characteristicof Indiathan the "harmonization"
(i.e., undifferentiatedsubmersion)of all philosophicaland religious perspectives
into the basic caste culturalpolitics of the society and the economic
and political interestsmanagedby caste agreements.The theoretical
political implicationsof bhaktiidealizedby Ramanujanhad little ef-
86
GalenAmstutz
fect on the underlyingpolitics of Indiansociety up to and including

the twentiethcentury.Bhaktidid not succeed in introducingreal social alterityinto Hindusociety.62Renunciantand bhakticversionsof
the traditionswere never allowed to separateinto truly independent
institutionswith independentsocial agendas, as would become the
case with majorpartsof Chineseand JapanesePureLandBuddhism.
It was becauseof the evolutionof such middle-eliteinterestgroups,
who were able to insist on supportingsocially-openinterpretations
of
PureLand, thatthe directionof PureLandwould become so different
in Chinaand Japan.Obviously,then, the Amitabhacult dependedfor
its flourishingon its contactwith the non-Indianworld, and the only
directions where Pure Land Buddhismcould succeed were beyond
the authoritystructuresof Indiansociety.63
The Limitsof IndianBuddhistUpaya
Pure Land has a low reputationin Westernscholarshippartlybecause of Westerners'orientalistinterestin exotic (i.e., monasticand
hismonistic) religious forms, but also because in a straightforward
torical way it failed politically in Indian culture. However, understandingthis failure in a more insightful way has implicationsfor a
view of Buddhismas a whole.
On a purely theoreticalbasis (and in view of the flourishingof
Hindu bhakti doctrinesand the success of the Shin traditionlater in
Japan) there is no reason why a sophisticatedbipolar or "bhaktic"
version of Buddhism could not have evolved in India. The nonrenunciantand bipolar approachmade at least as much sense in a
BuddhistMahayanacontext as in a Hindu one.64TraditionalIndian
Buddhism was in practiceas much interestedin the lived practical
coexistence of the realms of ignorance and enlightenment(and the
problemsof mediatingbetweenthem) as it was interestedin formal
analytical problems set by the parametersof Buddhist philosophy.
A great deal of the teaching"work"of the traditionwas carriedby
the implicit, but absolutelyessential, mythic and institutional"devotionalisms"and "dualisms"of deity-belief systems and of ritualsand
87
stories,which were takento be the sine quanon of Buddhismin most

of its history.
But no Indian Buddhistequivalentof Pillai Lokacharyaever appeared. Despite the gradualdecline of monasticism,somehow the
Buddhisttradition'sdevotionalismremainedallied with semi-monastic
orientationsor tantriclineage orientations.Somehow its practicesof
contactwith spiritualbeingsallowedIndianBuddhismto ignorecommentaryon a varietyof authorityproblemsof the kind that preoccupied the prapattiteachers.Whatis certainin any case is thatwhile intensive technicaldiscursiveattentionin IndianBuddhistthoughtwas
turnedto abstruseproblemsof perceptionand language,practically
no theory was devotedto the "political"practicesof the "upayaof
institutions,"in which Buddhistswere actuallyimmersedup to their
necks. Somehow IndianBuddhismengagedin little or no systematic
theoreticaldiscussion of the prapattiproblemor the problemof the
"leap,"and the conventionsof monasticismor lineage in Buddhism
were rarelyif ever systematicallyquestionedin the traditionalAsian
context of Buddhismoutsideof Chinaor Japan.In short, the Indian
experienceleft significantgaps in the Buddhisttheory of upaya.
ReischauerInstituteof JapaneseStudies
HarvardUniversity
1737 CambridgeStreet
Cambridge,MA 02138, USA
GALENAMSTUTZ
1 Akira Hirakawa,
History of Indian Buddhism,from Sakyamunito Ndgarjuna
(Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990), pp. 286-290; A.K. Warder,Indian
Buddhism(Dehli: MotilalBanarsidass,1980), pp. 356-362.
2 See KennethK. Tanaka,The Dawn of Chinese Pure Land BuddhistDoctrine
(Albany: State Universityof New YorkPress, 1990), p. 52.
3 Tanaka, pp. 3-4; Julian F. Pas, Shan-tao's Commentaryon the AmitdyurBuddhdnusmrti-Sutra
(McMasterUniversityPhD dissertation,1973), pp. 60-64.
4 FujitaK6tatsu,Genshij6do shiso no kenkyu.2nd ed. (Tokyo: Iwanamishoten,
1970), p. 17.
5
FujitaK6tatsuas cited in Hirakawa,Historyof IndianBuddhism,p. 290.
6 However, Sukhavatiideas were not often given central position, so the specific and restrictedpracticedirectedto Amitabhawas rare. See GregorySchopen,
88
Galen Amstutz
"Sukhavatias GeneralizedReligious Goal in SanskritMahayanaBuddhistLiterature,"Indo-lranianJournal,vol. 19, pp. 177-210 (1977); see also Tanaka,p. 3.
7 See Paul Griffithset al., trans., The Realm
of Awakening:a Translationand
Studyof the TenthChapterof Asanga's Mahdyanasangraha(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989), p. 35.
8 See Tanaka,pp. 8-9; on the origin of the Amitabhacult, see also Pas, pp. 4-64,
esp. pp. 51-52. (ContendingPure Land cults did not reach even the same level of
minor popularity,e.g., AksobhyaBuddha'sPure Land, which was aimed at ascetic
renunciants.See Tai-wo Kwan,A Studyof the TeachingRegardingthe Pure Land
of AksobhyaBuddha in Early Mahayana(Universityof Californiaat Los Angeles
PhD dissertation,1987)).
9 Soho Machida,"LifeandLife, the Infinite:A Historicaland
PhilologicalAnalysis of the Amida Cult," Sino-PlatonicPapers [Departmentof Oriental Studies,
Universityof Pennsylvania],no. 9, pp. 1-46 (December 1988); see also Tanaka.
10Thus the conclusionof Fujita'sstandardstudy of Pure Landin India.
1 The developmentof an expandedBuddhistdevotionalrepertoiremay havebeen
connected to social instabilityafter the breakdownof the Mauryanregime and the
ultimatelyunsuccessfulattemptto competewith emergentnew Saivite andBhagavata
bhaktitraditions;see below.
12 On the five
stages, see Tanaka,pp. 4-13.
13
Gregory Schopen, "The Buddha as an Owner of Propertyand Permanent
Resident in Medieval IndianMonasteries,"Journal of Indian Philosophy, vol. 18,
pp. 181-217 (1990), and G. Schopen,"BurialAd Sanctosand the Physical Presence
of the Buddhain EarlyIndianBuddhism:A Studyin the Archaeologyof Religions,"
Religion, vol. 17, pp. 193-225 (1987).
14 Andrew Rawlinson,'The Problemof the Origin of the Mahayana,"in Slater,
Peter and Donald Wiebe, eds. Traditionsin Contact and Change. Selected Proceedings of the XIVthCongressof the InternationalAssociationfor the History of
Religions (WilfredLaurierUniversityPress, 1980), pp. 163-169.
15
StephanBeyer, "Noteson the Vision Questin EarlyMahayana,"in: Lancaster,
and Relatedsystems: Studiesin Honor of EdwardConze
Lewis, ed. PrajnFpacramita
(Berkeley: BerkeleyBuddhistStudiesSeries, 1977); on the visionaryqualitiesof the
Sukhavati-vyflhaand the Kuan-ching,see especially pp. 330-331.
16 The semantic field of the bodhisattvaunquestionablyincluded the idea of
the wonder-worker;see Luis O. G6mez, "The Bodhisattvaas WonderWorker,"in:
and Related systems: Studies in Honor of
Lancaster,Lewis, ed. PrajFnparramita
Edward Conze (Berkeley: Berkeley Buddhist Studies Series, 1977), pp. 221-257.
The main public functionof the Buddhistmonk throughoutAsia at all times had to
do with taking care of spiritsof the dead via the supernormalpowers accumulated
through renunciation. See Gregory Schopen, "Filial Piety and the Monk in the
Practiceof IndianBuddhism:A Questionof 'Sinicization'Viewed from the Other
89
Side," T'oung Pao, vol. 66, pp. 110-126 (1980) or John Strong, "Filial Piety and
Buddhism: The Indian Antecedentsto a Chinese' Problem,"in: Peter Slater and
Donald Wiebe, eds. Traditionsin Contactand Change(Waterloo,Ontario:Wilfred
LaurierUniversityPress, 1983) pp. 171-186.
17 Malcolm David Eckel, To See the Buddha: a Philosopher's Questfor the
Meaning of Emptiness(San Francisco:Harper,1991), pp. 3-4.
18Bhavaviveka'srhetoricalso expressed"previousvows" (pranidhana)by which
the Buddha expressed his activity to rescue humankind. See Eckel, pp. 17-18,
51-61, 68-83, 147-148. Gratitudeto an "empty"deity, the symbolized "otherness"
of perfect emptiness,saturatesMahayanaliterature.Cf. GeorgeR. Elder,"'Grace'
in MartinLutherand TantricBuddhism,"in: Houston,G.W.,ed. The Crossand the
Lotus: Christianityand Buddhismin Dialogue (Dehli: Motilal, 1985), pp. 3949
(tantricBuddhismalso can externalizethe Buddha'sactionas "grace").These ideas,
which originatequite separatelyfromthe PureLandmythosper se, parallelthe later
Buddhismin Japan.
assumptionsof JodoshinshO
19PaulM. Harrison,"Buddhanusmrti
in the Pratyutpanna-Buddha-SammukhavasJournalof IndianPhilosophy,vol. 6; pp. 41-42 (1978).
thita-samadhi-sutra,"
20Althoughfor heuristicpurposesthe bipolarstructureof PureLandcan be called
"bhaktic,"the term is not used at all in the Sanskritof the IndianPure Landtexts.
See Fujita,pp. 545-549.
21 See WilliamCantwellSmith,Faithand Belief (Princeton:PrincetonUniversity
Press), pp. 59-68.
22 B.M. Barua,"Faithin Buddhism,"in: Law, B.C., ed. BuddhisticStudies(Calcutta, 1931, 1983), pp. 329-349. Saddhaserves as partof variouscompoundwords
which point to various levels of attainment,including the highest ones. Standing
by itself without specific context saddha or Sraddhais ambiguous. See also Nihon bukky6gakkai,ed. Bukkyoni okerushin no mondai (Kyoto: Heirakujishoten,
1963) and Sung Bae Park,BuddhistFaithand SuddenEnlightenment(Albany:State
University of New York Press, 1983) and Wonhyo'sCommentarieson the Awakening of Faith in Mahayaina(Universityof California,Berkeley PhD dissertation,
1979). Neverthelessrepresentativesof Pali Buddhismhave tried to insist that althoughdevotionaland faith elementswere unquestionablypart of early Buddhism,
Mahayanadiverged in non-Buddhistdirections. (For example, K.N. Upadhyaya,
"TheImpactof the BhaktiMovementon the Developmentof MahayanaBuddhism,"
in: Narain, A.K., ed. Studies in the History of Buddhism(papers at International
Conferenceon History of Buddhismat Universityof Wisconsin, Madison, 1980),
pp. 349-357.)
23 David
Mindand the Problemof Gradualismin
SeyfortRuegg,Buddha-nature,
on
the
and Receptionof Buddhismin India
Transmission
ComparativePerspective:
and Tibet(London: School of Orientaland AfricanStudies, Universityof London,
1989), pp. 46-48.
90
Galen Amstutz
24 The evidence
necessarily comes mostly from the Chinese record. See Carl
B. Becker, "ReligiousVisions: ExperientialGroundsfor the Pure Land Tradition,"
EasternBuddhist,vol. 17, no. 7, pp. 138-153 (1984).
25 However, the
categorizationof ranks of followers is not very centralor imin
the
original texts, and distinctionsbetween initiatedspecialists and nonportant
inititated non-specialists, or between monastics and laypersons, are not at issue.
(Fujita,p. 537)
26
Schopen, "Sukhavatias a GeneralizedGoal."
27 A
special relationshipmay exist between PureLand imageryand the common
medical phenomenonof the near-deathor deathbedvision. (Cf. Becker)
28 The
interpretationof PureLandthroughoutAsia has been deeply influenced,
or perhapsconfused, by the retroactiveinterestsof JapanesePure Land (especially
J6doshinshQ)in demonstratingthat its egalitarianpractices and ideas go back to
ancientBuddhism.
29 Monks and nuns, along with lay people, were heavily involvedin the donative,
merit-makingactivitiesat stfipasites; cult activitieswere probablyled by monastics.
This is exactly the patternwhich prevailedin early Chinese Buddhism. Gregory
Schopen, "Two Problems in the History of Indian Buddhism: The Layman/Monk
Distinction and the Doctrines of the Transferenceof Merit,"Studienzur Indologie
und Iranistik,vol. 10, pp. 9-47 (1985).
30 E.g., the Pure Landliteraturemay even have been writtenby a differentcommunitythanthe one which compiledthe Perfectionof Wisdomliterature(Hirakawa,
History of Indian Buddhism,p. 290). It is reasonableto assume, based on understandingsof Pure Land later in other parts of Asia togetherwith bits of evidence
above, that the idea of the Pure Land was from the beginningmultivocal. An uneducatedpeasantmight have takenthe imagery literally,but it is a modem artifact
to suppose that religiously educatedIndianswould have taken Pure Land imagery
"literally,"ratherthan metaphorically,allusively,poetically,or visionarily.
31 The lack of contextualknowledge about ancient Indian Buddhismmakes it
extremelydifficultto reconstruct.See Harrison,pp. 35-36.
32 GregorySchopen, 'The Inscriptionon the KusanImage of Amitabhaand the
Characterof the Early Mahayanain India,"Journalof the InternationalAssociation
of BuddhistStudies, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 99-134 (1987).
33 Tanaka,p. 3.
34 Partsof IndianBuddhismboth early and late may have accommodateda weak
distinctionbetween monk and lay statuses, but there was no long-term relaxation
of quasi-monasticexpectations.It has been arguedthat the lay-monkcategorymay
not be useful in classic IndianBuddhism,since the trendwas to generalizeto more
followers the possibility of achievingyogic goals, such as the attainmentof rebirth
in Sukhavati,that were formerlythe provinceof ascetics. (GregorySchopen,'The
Generalizationof an Old Yogic Attainmentin MedievalMahayanaSftra Literature:
91
Some Notes on Jatismara,"Journal of the InternationalAssociation of Buddhist

Studies,vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 133-134(1983).) Yetin anycase the categoryof practitioner
was relatively elite, seeking power by means of special access to some kind of
charismaticauthoritytypicallyheld in teachinglineageswith or withoutfull monastic
precepts.
35 For
example,accordingto the Tibetanhistorianof BuddhismTiarnath,
"Amitfbha'sworshipcould be tracedback to Sarahaor Rahulbhadra,a great
magician, and reputedto be the teacher of Nagajuna, who saw Amitabhain
the land of Dhingkotaand died with his face turnedtowardsSuhavati. The
name Sarahadoes not sound Indian, probablya Sudrarepresentedin Tibetan
scrolls with a beardand top knot and holding an arrowin his hand. Thus, the
firstperson whom traditionconnects with the worshipof Amitabhawas of low
caste and bore a foreignname. He saw the deity in a foreign country,and was
representedas totallyunlikea Buddhistmonk."(B.N. Puri,Buddhismin Central
Asia (Dehli: MotilalBanarsidass,1987), pp. 142-143.)
36 While the vision that led to the
SukhavativyfihaPure Land may have been
differentlyorientedthanthe Pratyutpanna-theformerwas afterall meantto create
wide access to the Buddha-it is illegitimateto sharplyoppose the texts, because
the differenceis one of degree,not of kind. (Cf. Harrison,esp. pp. 51-52.) Harrison
is less sophisticatedbecauseits Amitabhais said to
arguesthat the Sukhavativyiiha
be not nirmita("apparitional").
However,the termnirmitain Sanskritactuallyhas no
philosophicalcontentbutwas a descriptivetermassociatedwith the idea of "earthly"
manifestationsof the Buddha,i.e., nirmanakaya,as contrastedwith sambhogakaya.
The Sukhavativyfhamerelyindicatesthat Amitabhais a sambhogakfyaentity. See
Nakarura Hajime, ed. Bukkyogodaijiten (Tokyo: T6ky6 shoseki, 1981), pp. 131,
291, 293.
37 By the meritI have acquiredthroughthis,
May all living beings come to perceive
The Lord Amitayusendowedwith infinitelight,
And, having seen him, may they, owing to the arising
Of the immaculatevision of the Doctrinein them
Obtainthe SupremeEnlightenment.
(Uttaratantra)
(Translatedby JikidoTakasaki,A Studyon the Ratnagotravibhaga
(Roma: IstitutioItalianoper il Medio ed EstremoOriente, 1966), pp. 389-390; see
esp. his footnote 84.)
38 One Indiantext, the
was devotedto promotinggakyamuni
Karunapundan'ka,
in: Griffithset al., The Realm of
over Amitabha. (JohnP. Keenan,"Introduction,"
was thatbecausegSkyamuni
The
technical
utilized
35-36.)
argument
Awakening,pp.
has chosen this impureworldas his sphere of activity,his compassionwas superior
to thatof Buddhaslike Amitabhawho had chosen to residein a pureworld. In some
92
GalenAmstutz
locales, the cult of gakyamuniitself may have undergonea changein which he too
came to be worshippedas some kind of altruisticsavior.
39 Keenan,pp. 37-39. The interpretationsuggests that Yogacaramonasticswere
aware of the popularizationof Pure Land myth and were already engaged in a
polemic tryingto drawit backinto the rangeof rhetoricand practicewhich were de
facto associatedwith monasticism.ThusYogacarinsdeniedthatthe karmictransition
zone of the Pure Land "reallyexisted;"if it did not really exist, ordinarypersons
could not make their orientationto it; if they could not make theirorientationto it,
the only access to Buddhismwould be throughthe meditationand monisticinsights
of the specialists. But it is doubtful whether the Pure Land claim for a karmic
transitionzone was a claim that the Pure Land was "substantial"in the sense of
svabhavaas treatedin Madhyamaka
thought!Thereis no indicationin the intellectual
Chineseand JapanesePureLandtraditionsthatmythicbipolarityever involvedsuch
an attributionof "substantiality."
Furthermore,in view of the intensely imaginative
worldsin all Asian monasticBuddhistsalso lived, any claim that
and thaumaturgical
Pure Landersengaged in exceptionalimaginarysupernaturalism,or that monastic
Buddhismwas in contrast"demythologized,"
is disingenuous.
40 Cf. Tanaka, 12.
p.
41 See Paul 0.
Ingram,"TheZen Critiqueof Pure Land Buddhism,"Journal of
the AmericanAcademyof Religion, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 184-200 (June 1973).
42 The imageryof Sukhavati(especiallyin its detailsreflectingvisions of material
wealth) may have reflected the prosperityof merchantsin the boundaryKushan
empirewho were probablythe best audiencefor PureLandteaching. (Fujita,p. 256)
The non-Indiantrend is associated with the Pure Land escape from stipa-based
practices,which have sometimesbeen suggestedas the sourceof a "lay"Mahayana.
(HirakawaAkira,Historyof IndianBuddhism,pp. 270-274, 308-311 and "TheRise
of MahayfnaBuddhismand Its Relationshipto the Worshipof Stipas,"Memoirsof
the ResearchDepartmentof the ToyoBunko, vol. 22, pp. 77-91, 102-106 (1963).)
The sukhavatiin the SmallerSukhavativythaSitra probablymodels the idealized
image of an Indian stilpa, and passages in various older versions and translations
of the LargerSukhavativyfhaSftra introducestipa worshipas one of the kinds of
meritoriouspracticewhichwill qualifyfollowersfor birthin the PureLand. However
referencesto stipa worshiptendedto be editedout of laterPureLandtexts. Probably
AmitabhaBuddhareplacedthe stfipaas the focus of attentionbecause, as the more
of Buddhism,it manifestedeternallife and left
abstract(and flexible) representation
no deathrelics to be enshrinedin fixed places. (Hirakawa,"TheRise of Mahayana,"
pp. 91-94)
43 On
topics in Hinduismsee Mircea Eliade, ed. The Encyclopediaof Religion
(New York: Macmillan,1986).
44 On the continuitiesbetweenbhaktiand the
underlyingbrahminical-yogicinterests of Vedanticreligion, see MadeleineBiardeau.Hinduism:The Anthropologyof
93
a Civilization(Dehli: OxfordUniversityPress, 1989), pp. 84-121. On bhaktigroups

in general,see Jan Gonda,Die ReligionenIndiens,vol. II (Stuttgart,1963), pp. 229252, 125-150 and manyothersourcessuch as R.G. Bhandarkar,
Vaisnavism,Saivism
and Minor Religious Systems(Poona, 1982) and MariasusaiDhavamony,Love of
God Accordingto Saiva Siddhinta(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress, 1971).
45 On
Ramanuja'sVedantictechnical thoughtsee sources such as Anima Sen
A
Critical
Studyof the Philosophyof Ramanuja(Varanasi:ChowhambaSanGupta,
skritSeries Office, 1967) or P.N. Srinivasachari,The Philosophyof ViSistivaita,2nd
ed. (Adyar,1946). gaiva Siddhantaanalyticaldevelopmentswere equally complex,
e.g., M.M. Arulchelvam,in: John Ross Carter,ed. Of HumanBondage and Divine
Grace (La Salle, IL: Open Court,1992), pp. 1-55.
46 See John Carman,The Theologyof Ramanuja: an Essay in Interreligious
Understanding(New Haven:Yale UniversityPress, 1974).
47 PatriciaY. Mumme,The rSfvaisnavaTheologicalDispute: Manavalamamuni
and Vedinta Desika (Madras:New Era Publications, 1988), p. 74, and Vasudha
Narayanan,"Karma,Bhaktiyoga,and Grace in the Srivaisnavatradition:Ramanuja
and Karattalvan,"and "Bondageand Grace in the SrivaisnavaTradition: Pillai
Lokacaryaand VedantaDesika,"in: Carter,John Ross, ed. Of Human Bondage
and Divine Grace, pp. 57-73 and pp. 75-94.
48 The more conservativeVadgalaischool was associatedwith the teachings of
VedantaDesika (1268-1369), who followed the tendencyof the great majorityof
bhakti schools in maintainingthat a mixed patternof religious activity would be
requiredfor liberation,combiningritual,conscious devotion,and caste observance.
49 Vadgalaiwas called the "monkeyschool" because in the same way that an
infant monkey must hold onto its mother'sfur in orderto be carried,it taughtthat
some voluntaryeffort by the devoteeof God/Sri/Narayana
was requiredin orderto
combine with the activity of God and result in liberation. Tengalai, on the other
hand, was called the "cat school,"because in the same way that a kitten is picked
up by its motherby the back of the neck, with no effort or intentionon its part,it
taughtthat ultimatelyno voluntaryeffort on the partof the devotee was needed in
orderfor the devotee to be takento liberation.
50 Mumme,pp. 75-95. Tengalaiteachinghas a logical structurepracticallyidentical to thatof Shin Buddhism(interestinglyenough,Pillai was Shinran'snearcontemporary).Tengalaiprapattiwas supposedto modify the relationshipwith a varietyof
formalreligious behaviors.Ritualacts (karmas,which includedthe study of scripture, offerings of flowers, prayers,and expiations)were not supposed to be done
as matterof detachedobligation,but out of the free and spontaneousexpression
of devotion. For example,prayersshould be ardent,but brief; they served only to
appealfor bhaktiandjinana.In addition,properfamily life and sexualitywere sanctioned, astrology and magic were criticized, extremesof asceticism were avoided,
rightlivelihood was practiced,overanxietyaboutlife and deathwas avoided,animal
94
Galen Amstutz
sacrifice was abjured,and so on. (See John C. Plott, A Philosophyof Devotion: a

ComparativeStudy of Bhaktiand Prapattiin Visistavaitaand St. Bonaventuraand
GabrielMarcel (Dehli: MotilalBanarsidass,1974), pp. 253-258.)
51 A.K. Ramanujan,trans.,Speakingof Siva (Baltimore:Penguin, 1973), pp. 5354. See also Karine Schomer,"Introduction:The Sant Traditionin Perspective,"
in: Karine Schomer and W.H. McLeod, eds. The Sants: Studies in a Devotional
Traditionof India (Berkeley:BerkeleyReligious StudiesSeries, 1987), pp. 2, 8, and
John StrattonHawley and MarkJuergensmeyer,Songs of the Saints of India (New
York: Oxford UniversityPress, 1988).
52 Of course, within the Indian setting Hinduism and Buddhismhad different
foci. Hinduismwas inseparablefrom the vara system andits assumptionsaboutthe
special cosmic role of brahminsin mediatingreligious power. Classical Buddhism
rejectedthe concept of the inheritedbrahminicalpriesthood,but partly substituted
in its place the monastic sangha, which tended to achieve a similar cosmological
mediating role and linkage with temporalpolitical power. (See Stanley Tambiah,
WorldConqueror,WorldRenouncer:A Study of Buddhismand Polity in Thailand
Against a Historical Background(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 1976).)
53 If the
ordinaryworld,andour own persons,are alreadysubsumedin the higher
reality,how is it that our humanexperienceis painful and flawed? Pure monistic
positions are also paradoxicalon a strictly logical basis. A great deal of effort in
Hindu monistic philosophicalthoughtwas devoted to devices to explain away the
apparentcontradictionsof experience,as in gaikara's conceptof maya and multiple
levels of reality, but in practicesuch a recognitionof the bipolarityof experience
amountsto a bipolardoctrineanyway.
54 KarlH. Potter,
Presuppositionsof India'sPhilosophies(EnglewoodCliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall,1963), pp. 236-256. In fact, monisms smuggle bipolarstructureinto
their overall patternsby means of institutionaldyadism: monk-versus-layrelationrelationships.Bipolarstructurecould
ships, or guru-and-disciple-versus-non-initiate
be thus fixed in an oppositionof specially authorizedand legitimatedsocial roles.
55
Beyer, p. 340.
56 Glenn E. Yocum, "BuddhismThroughHindu Eyes: Saivas and Buddhistsin
Medieval Tamilnad,"in: Slater,Peter and Donald Wiebe, eds. Traditionsin Contact and Change. Selected Proceedingsof the XIVthCongressof the International
Associationfor the History of Religions (WilfredLaurierUniversityPress, 1980),
pp. 143-162.
57 Arvind Sharma, Thresholdsin Hindu-BuddhistStudies (Calcutta: Minerva,
1979), pp. 64-82. Strong,p. 173 has noted that some ChineseBuddhistreactionsto
ConfucianaccusationsagainstBuddhistunfilialityhadantecedentsin IndianBuddhist
reactionsto identical brahminicalattacks.
58 Interestin Buddhismwas fading even before the Islamic invasionsphysically
destroyedmonastic centersin northernIndia. Perhapsthe brahminicalsystem was
95
betterable to meet the lay people'sneed for ordinaryritualservices (life cycle and
crisis rites) whereas in Buddhismthe emphasisof the lay role was on donationto
institutions.AnotherargumentholdsthatBuddhistidentitytendedto become fuzzy,
for lay involvement in Buddhismblurredmonasticism(especially as comparedto
the Jainatradition)and Buddhistdoctrinessuch as those aboutbodhisattvaswere so
flexible that they were vulnerableto assimilationby bhakti. (PadmanabhS. Jaini,
"TheDisappearanceof BuddhismandThe Survivalof Jainism:A Studyin Contrast,"
in: Narain, A.K., ed. Studies in the History of Buddhism(papers at International
Conferenceon History of Buddhismat Universityof Wisconsin, Madison, 1980),
pp. 81-91.)
59
Strangely,ancientBuddhismprobablybeganwith an urbanbase andeven made
its initial appeal to merchantclasses. See A.L. Basham, "The Backgroundto the
Rise of Buddhism"in: Narain,A.K., ed. Studiesin the Historyof Buddhism(papers
at InternationalConferenceon Historyof Buddhismat U of Wisconsin, Madison,
1980), p. 17; Narain,A.K. 'Towarda New Historyof Buddhism,"in: Narain,A.K.,
ed. Studiesin the Historyof Buddhism(papersat InternationalConferenceon History
of Buddhismat U of Wisconsin,Madison),pp. xv-xxxi; see also TrevorLing, The
Buddha: Buddhist Civilizationin India and Ceylon (Baltimore: Penguin Books,
1973).
60 Srvaisnavism was saturatedwith normalbrahminicalauthorityelements. The
teachings were mediated by guru-basedteacher-disciplenetworks. The acharya
and the initiation he providedremainedcrucial and lineage organizationessential.
Women were still discriminatedagainst. Even for Tengalai brahmins,ritual observancewas exactly like that for other Hindu brahmins,althoughin principlethe
acharyacould come from any caste. See K. Gnanambal,"?riaisnavasand Their
Religious Institutions,"BulletinAnthropologicalSurveyof India, vol. 20, pp. 97-187
(July-Dec 1971); KadambiRangachariyar,The Sri VaishnavaBrahmans(Madras,
1931); PatriciaY. Mumme,"Rulesand Rhetoric: Caste Observancein gnrvaisnava
Doctrineand Practice,"Journalof VaisnavaStudies,vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 113-133 (Winter 1993) and 'The Evolutionof the TenkalaiUnderstandingof the Acarya;Teacher,
Mediatorand Savior"(Unpublishedpaperfrom the InternationalgrivaisnavaConference, Bombay, December 1988-January1989). On Lingayat assimilationinto
brahmanicalpatternssee WilliamMcCormack,"OnLingayatCulture,"in: Ramanujan, Speakingof Siva, pp. 175-187.
61 The Kabirpanth("sect")shouldin theoryhavebeen the most socially reformist
becauseof the relationshipto Kabir,but see David N. Lorenzen,'The KabirPanth:
Heretics to Hindus,"in: David N. Lorenzen, ed. Religious Change and Cultural
Domination(Mexico City: El Colegio de M6xico, 1981), pp. 151-171; Lorenzen,
"The Social Ideologies of Hagiography:gafikara,Tukaramand Kabir,"in: Milton
Israeland N.K. Wagle, eds. Religionand Society in Maharashtra(Toronto:Univer-
96
Galen Amstutz
sity of TorontoCentre for South Asian Studies, 1987), pp. 92-114; and Lorenzen,
"TheKabir-Panthand Social Protest,"in: Schomer,ed. The Sants, pp. 281-303.
62 The historical situationhere is of course extremely complex; the arrivalof
Islam, which offered Indiansa way out of the caste system, may have historically
preemptedcertaindevelopmentsin bhaktiand also by rallyingHindusaroundHinduism preventedmore internaldiversification.
63 Viz. Machida,pp. 20, 38-39.
64 Hinduism
essentiallydealtwith the ultimatequiescentpowercenterat the heart
of creation,a set of metaphysicaland religious notionspsychologicallyallied to the
goals of the renunciantwho learnedalteredstates of consciousnessallowing withdrawaldeep into noncognitivereachesof the mind. Hinduismtendedto expect that
this power centercould not be trulyfully experiencedby anyoneexcept a meditator
or specialist, althoughnon-meditatorscould interactwith the periodicrelease of accumulatedpower,especiallythroughcontactwith deities in darSanaor in possession.
(See, e.g., Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty,Asceticismand Eroticismin the Mythology
of Siva (Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress, 1973).) Buddhism,on the other hand,
dealt with the ultimatelyinterrelatednatureof all phenomena,a goal not essentially
defined by withdrawalfrom ordinaryphenomenabut by an ongoing state of more
fluid participationin them. In Buddhism,meditationaimednot to accumulatepower
but to open the mind to the world of interdependence.In short, the nonrenunciant
approachhas been in most respectsactuallymore intelligiblefor Buddhismthanfor
bhakti.
BOOK REVIEWS
A. GELLER,
Sacred Enigmas: LiteraryReligion in the Hebrew
STEPHEN
Bible-London: Routledge,1996 (VIII, 224 p.), ISBN 0-415-12771-8
(cloth), ?40.00.
Among the new methodsusedin biblicalstudies,literaryapproaches,psychoanalysis,and feministreadingsfigure prominently.Until recently,these
approacheswere generallybelievedto supplement,ratherthansupplanttraditional historical-criticalones. However,what no one has suspectedeven
a decade ago, many adepts of biblical studies have now opted out of historical approachesbelieving, as they do, that there are not enough hard
facts availableto warrantthe historicalenterprise.Just attendany biblical
studies conferencein Europe,North America, or Israel, and you will find
yourself in the turmoilof the relevantdebates. Some of Geller's papers
could well have given the impressionthat his interestis with "the Bible as
literature"ratherthan "the Bible as history."However,the presentcollection of essays puts the recordstraight: Geller, and with him the biblical
departmentof New York'sJewish Theological Seminary,is still interested
in history. Geller belongs to those who, far from exaggeratingthe historicityof biblical traditions,stir a middle course between"too much"and
"too little" history. The historicalframe into which he sets the seven papers of the presentcollectionis vaguely (but sensibly) the one which originated "next door,"i.e., in Columbia University'sdepartmentof Ancient
Historywhere, until recently,the late MortonSmith was the dominantfigure. WithMortonSmith(and,of course, JuliusWellhausen)Geller believes
the book of Deuteronomyto provide the biblical canon with its leading
voice, and that this book's insistence on the exclusive worshipof one deity originatedultimatelywith the prophets.While Deuteronomypushes the
idea of God's transcendenceto its limits (as Geller ably demonstratesin
his careful readingof Deut 4), the priestly authorsaimed at subvertingthe
Deuteronomicrationalismby rescuingas muchmysteryas was still possible
(see Geller's chapteron the "bloodcult"). Geller emergesas an interpreter
? Koninklijke
BrillNV,Leiden(1998)
NUMEN,Vol.45
Book reviews
98
who creativelycombines literarysensitivitywith a clear historicalperspective.

Universitat Paderborn, Fb. 1
BERNHARD
LANG
WarburgerStr. 100
D-33098 Paderborn,Germany
VINCIAINE
PIRENNE-DELFORGE,
L'Aphrodite grecque. Contribution a I'etude
de ses cultes et de sa personnalitedans -lepantheonarchaiqueet classique (KernosSupplement4)-Athens, Liege, 1994 (XII, 527 p.), ISSN
0776-3824.
There are only few monographson single Greek gods, a lack for which
there are two reasons: (1) The materialis abundant. The four volumes
of Cook's Zeus deter any student from emulating such a monumentand
restrictingoneself to a single life-long task. And (2) a monographon one
god only tempts the authorto create a theology thus tearingapartthe web
of polytheism and its social foundations.
In her Aphrodite(a these submittedat Liege) Pirenne-Delforge[P-D]
presentsall materialaboutthe local cults of the goddess, takingPausaniasas
a guide throughthe Greekregions. Thatis, she does not discuss Aphrodite's
image in literatureor in fine art (which is now collected in the LIMC article), butrathercommentsuponthe presentationof the local contextgiven in
Pausaniasand confrontsit with the evidence from literal, epigraphicaland
archaeologicalsourcesas well as modernstudies. The resultis an admirably
comprehensivedocumentationon Aphroditein Greece (pp. 15-308). Following the ancient guide P-D discusses only in passing the materialfrom
the islands, from Magna Graecia,and the colonies. Indispensible,however,
are the cults in Cyprus, which are presentedwith the same expertise on
pp. 309-369. The Greekswere ever-awarethat Aphroditewas the goddess
of Cyprus, the Kypria(as Athena was the goddess of Athens). It seems
prudentthat P-D set aside the questionof the origin of the Greek goddess,
focusing instead on the enormousdifferencesbetweenthe local cults. Local
gods and goddesses attractfunctionsand domainsthat belong to othergods
in the other local Greekpantheaor in the nationalpantheon as reflectedin
literature.The case of Lokroi,presentedby C. Sourvinou-Inwood(1978),
? KoninklijkeBrill NV, Leiden(1998)
NUMEN, Vol. 45
Book reviews
99
has madethatevident;P-D's documentationcorroboratesthis conclusion,but

she does not recognize the enormousconsequencesfor the study of Greek
religion originatingin local feasts, cults, and gods. A list of the epikleseis
can be found in the excellent indexes. In her synthese (pp. 371-465) P-D
turnsher attentionto the common signs and characteristicsof the goddess:
her attributes,like the apple and the dove; her functionas goddess of love
(beforeand beyondmarriage)and in connectionwith war;the relationships
to other gods, especially Ares. Only in the final pages, the conclusions
(pp. 467-472), P-D tends to smooth out the differences. A comprehensive
bibliographyof 24 pages completesthe work.
I would disagree with some explanations,e.g. concerningAphroditein
weapons. This aspect of the goddess is more thanjust a structuralistcounterpartto her truenatureas goddess of love. She representssexual desirewild, unboundsex, more than sex in marriage;like her counterpart,Ares,
representsthe wild, unboundfighter,not the soldier.Young women before
marriagerepresentedtheir equality with young men throughrole reversal
presentingthemselvesas amazon-like. Hence the social group determined
the choice of the martialrepresentationof the goddess(in contrastto Athena
in weapons). Furthermore,images of orientalgoddesses, especially Ishtar
(see G. Colbow, Die kriegerischeIstar, Miinchen, 1991; S. Bohm, Die
nackteGottin,Mainz, 1990), nakedand/orarmed,influenceessentialfactors
of Aphrodite'simage in the Greek imagination.I also come to a different
reconstructionof the festivalHybristikaat Argos (in my forthcomingbook
on Argive local religion, ch. 5). But since P-D gives a clear, uncontrived
presentationof the ancientevidence and the moderndiscussion, the reader
can draw his or her own conclusions. If the issue of orientalconnections,
regardingboth the origin and synchronicinfluence,and Aphroditebeyond
mainlandGreece are considered, then some of her conclusions must be
changed. A balancedoverview is given in the articleby F Graf in DDD,
1995, pp. 118-125.
A whole centuryafterFarnell'schapterson Aphroditein his Cults of the
GreekStates (vol. 2, 1896, pp. 618-730) we now have a moder monograph
on the cults of Aphrodite,a valuablehandbookfor Greekreligion.
Universitit Tiibingen
Abt. fur Religionswissenschaft

Corrensstr.12
D-72076 Tiibingen,Germany
AUFFARTH
CHRISTOPH
100
Book reviews
W.A.R. SHADIDand P.S. VANKONINGSVELD

(Eds.), Muslims in the Margin: Political Responsesto the Presence of Islam in WesternEuropeKampen: Kok PharosPublishingHouse, 1996 (288 p.), ISBN 90-3900520-6 (pbk.), DFL 69.00.
This anthology on Europeanresponses to Islam representsyet another
sign of the growingimportanceof Islam in Europe.Numerousstudieshave
tried to analyze and proposehow Europeand Muslims ought to deal with
each other. As the title suggests,this book focuses on how Europeans,more
especiallyEuropeanstates,haverespondedto Islam. The anthologycontains
rich data on the many differentways in which Muslims are viewed by their
official hosts.
The editors have promisedthat the view from Islam and Muslimsforms
the subject of a later companionvolume. One cannot help the feeling that
the promisedsecond part,or some portionsthereof,should have been in this
book as well. I do not only mean the contributionsfrom Muslim spokespersons, which may also shed light on the debate,butratherthe analysesof the
transformationsand self-definitionsof the mosque organizersand religious
leaders within the growing and emerging Muslim communities. As it is,
the book representsa Europeandiscourse of the state as it comes to terms
with a religious communityregardedas strange,often refusingto assimilate,
integrateor emigrate. It seems to me thatthe presenceof Muslimsrepresenting an extremeanti-poleethnically,culturallyandreligiously,challengesthe
democraciesof Europe. The state responses, as attestedto in this volume,
are less than satisfactory.However,what is missing is what Muslimsmake
of these responses and how they see themselvesas immigrants,or religious
communities. The articleby Leman and Renaertson Muslims in Belgium,
at least, begins to identify the changing discoursetowardsthe state. Like
the others, however, it does not delve into the natureof discourse on the
partof Muslims as such. The absence of this second part gives most of the
articles a sense of being brilliantmonologues.
The anthology presentsdetailed analyses of how West Europeanstates
deal with the presence of Muslims. There is a heavy dose of case studies
in the Netherlands (4 out of 14) which is sometimes too specific for a
generalreadership.On the otherhand, these detailedstudies revealhow the
Muslim subjecthas emergedin moder Europepolitical discourse. In most
cases, Muslimcommunitiesreceiveattentionas refugeesor ethnicminorities,
and not specifically as religious communities. In many instances, there is
? Koninklijke
NUMEN,Vol.45
Book reviews
101
clearly a confusion between how Muslims presentthemselves as religious

communitieswhilst Europeanstates are boundby specific models of what
religions ought to be in modernstates.
Apartfrom the case studies,thereare more generalcontributionsas well.
Ballardreiteratesthe now familiartheme of Islam as the anti-poleof European identity. Tibi suggests that Europeshould not follow the example of
Indiaby grantingMuslimsa separatelegal space;while Herbertarguesto the
contraryin a separatearticlethatMaclntyre'smodel of pluralrationalities
may be more fruitfulthan Habermas'differentiationbetween social system
and life worlds. The ability of Muslims to establish a social life world,
combiningthe separatesystemsof Habermas,is brilliantlyraised by Pedersen for his study of Islam in Denmark.Finally,in a fine but quaintessay,
Waardenburg
speculateson how Muslims in Europemay be able to liberate
themselves from their dhimmi (protected)status. All in all, an excellent
anthology,but one which shouldbe read with its futurepartner.
Department of Religious Studies
ABDULKADER
I. TAYOB
Rondebosch7700, South Africa
ChineseGods: The UnseenWorldof Spiritsand DemonsKEITH

STEVENS,
London:Collins& Brown1997 (192 p.) ISBN 1-85028-409-1,? 25.00.
The statementthattheremay be more Chinesegods (in the Chinesesense
of the term: shen, kuei, deities, demons, spectres,membersof the heavenly
as well as underworldbureaucracy)
"onthe otherside"thanChinesehumans
on earthis possibly a slight exaggeration,but after all every humanbeing
is a candidatefor "euhemerization,"
i.e., a potentialdeity whose help can
be invokedand/ordangerousghost that has to be pacified. Unlike de Groot
who, in his pioneering"AnnualFeasts,"chose theprimafacie moremechanical sequenceof the Fujianritualcalendar,Mr. Stevenspresentshis material
in a more systematicand synoptic way: iconography;temples and altars;
creationand prehistory;stellardeities of fate and destiny; gods of health,
sickness and medicine; marriageand childbirth;wealth and success; agricultureand nature;seas andrivers;the underworldand the dead;Confucian,
Taoistand Buddhistdeities and their burocraciesetc. The well-writtentext
is of two types: surveysof the aforementionedsubjects,and short explana? Koninklijke
NUMEN,Vol.45
102
Book reviews
tory paragraphsaccompanyingeach of the several hundred(colour-plate!)

picturesnot only of deities but also of ritualactivities.
The author,who served for many decades as a Britishcolonial civil servant stationed in Hong Kong, used his time and unique opportunitiesto
go with a toothcombthroughthe temples of popularreligion in the south
of China (minnan in the widest sense: Fujian, Hong Kong, Taiwan)and
wherevercommunitiesoriginatingthere (as in Malaysia, Thailand,Singapore, Indonesia)still preservedtheir cultic traditions.Academicsinological
ethnographymakes more use of texts (gazetteers,hagiographiesetc.) and
is generally focused on particulardeities and on a limited area, and confined to 2-3 years of field-work. Steven's work is more wide-rangingboth
in space (southernChina) and time (several decades). A taoist temple in
the Philippines may also have a statue of Santa Maria or Baby Jesus in
good Latin American Roman Catholic style on a side-altar. "All deities
have humanbiographies,"but some "areso shortas to be virtuallyof little
value,"whilst others are "so complicatedby local variationsthat the story
is difficult to unravel."His collection, of which only a selection could be
presented in this book, contains close to 2000 pieces and his text is of
special value as it is based not only on the Feng-shen Yen-i, the "Lives
of Eminent Monks" and the like, but on thousandsof interviews, many
of which were conductedat intervalsof years in the same temples. Did
temple custodians and staff, priests, god-carversand worshippersgive the
same explanationsand refer to the same legends in 1960 and 1980? One
importantsource of informationhas unfortunatelydried up as "streetstorytellers have disappearedfrom ... tea houses" where "televisionhas led
to their redundancy"(p. 18). The authorinsists that northof the Yangtze
iconographyand legend can be very different(unless local gods "makeit"
to the imperial cult), and that due to the homogenizationof iconographic
representationmany items are (and will remain)not only "unprovenanced"
but also unidentified,as many membersof the folk-pantheonlack specific
and individual(one might say "canonical")featuresthatwould rendermore
precise identificationpossible. Often the contextor the traditionof the temple is of help, and some deities are "easily identifiable."To give a western
analogy: a figure in a brownhabitis not enough. But if the saint depicted
has stigmataand preachesto birds we know for sure that it is St. Francis
and not St. Antony of Padua. The Chinese situationis complicatedby the
fact that, as the authorpoints out, differentlegends are often told aboutthe
Book reviews
103
same god, and identicallegendsare often told about differentgods. Hence

the brief accounts accompanyingthe pictures should not always be taken
as the last or the only word on its subject. Unfortunately,moreover,many
of the colour-platescould be betterand are often too small with the result
that their correspondenceto the accompanyingtext is not clear at all. The
authoralso includes some recentimages "madeafter the CulturalRevolution."
There are plenty of amusingdetails. We learnthat a photographtakenin
the kitchen of the late ChairmanMao's motherreveals that she had some
dozen images there, though-with the exception of Kuan Yin-they could
not be identified. Hai Juai (p. 160) a high-rankingMing official renowned
for his integrityand rectitude,who also became the popularhero of a huge
novel and of a Peking opera, was noted by the authoron a side-altarin
a temple in Singapore. He was also used by Mao as a symbol for his
fallen rival P'eng Chen, mayorof Peking and the first high-rankingpartymember to be purged duringthe CulturalRevolution. Other deities too
have a moder history. Lii Tung-pin(one of the most colourful of the
Eight Immortals)was regardedby the Taiwaneseduringthe Pacific Waras
a guardianagainst Americanbombingraids. Togetherwith Kuan-yiiand
Ma-tsu he was renownedfor the diversionof bombersaway from Taipeh,
and even the defusion of bombs alreadydropped(p. 77). An elderly godcarver in a Kowloon backstreetexplained to the authorthat as a Roman
Catholic he viewed these images with disdain, but he sympathizedwith
the needs of his customersand providedfor them in spite of the remonstrationsof his parishpriest. These few randomexamples should suffice
to show the interestof the incidentalinformationto be gleaned from this
volume.
This is an eminentlyreadable,enjoyableand instructivebook. Although
ostensibly written by a most knowledgeablelayman for laymen, and although publishedin the formatof a "coffee-tablealbum"(23 x 30 cm), it
should be found most helpful also by academicprofessionals. It would be
unfairto expect fromthis kind of publicationwhat scholarswill miss most:
a minimum bibliographyof at least standardmonographson the deities
shown (e.g., Brigitte Berthier'sstudy of the Lady of Lin-shui described
pp. 120-121). On the otherhandthe index of the deities' names and titles
in Wade-Giles,Pinyin and Chinese charactersshould enhancethe value of
the book also to non-layreaders.Customersof bookshops,awareof today's
104
Book reviews
prices of even unillustratedbooks, will find ChineseGods with its hundreds

of colour-platesone of the best bargainsever.
HebrewUniversityof Jerusalem
Faculty of Humanities
Deptartmentof ComparativeReligion
Mount Scopus
Jerusalem91905, Israel
R.J. ZwI WERBLOWSKY
PROGRAM
FORTHEANALYSIS
OFRELIGION
AMONG
LATINOS
STUDIES
SERIES.New York: BildnerCenterfor WesternHemisphereStudies,The
City University of New York. Vol. I: ANTHONYM. STEVENS-ARROYO
and ANAMARfADfAZ-STEVENS
(Eds.),An EnduringFlame: Studieson
LatinoPopularReligiosity,1994 (219 p.), ISBN 0-929972-07-4, $29.95;
and GILBERT
Vol. II: ANTHONY
M. STEVENS-ARROYO
CADENA
(Eds.),
Old Masks, New Faces: Religion and LatinoIdentities, 1995 (196 p.),
M. STEVENS-ARROYO
ISBN 0-929972-09-0, $29.95; Vol. I: ANTHONY
Y MENA(Eds.), EnigmaticPowers: Syncretism
and ANDRESI. PRREZ
with African and IndigenousPeople's ReligionsAmong Latinos, 1995
M. STEVENS(208 p.), ISBN 0-929972-11-2,$29.95; Vol. IV:ANTHONY
with SEGUNDO
PANTOJA
ARROYO
(Eds.), DiscoveringLatino Religion:
A ComprehensiveSocial Science Bibliography, 1995 (142 p.), ISBN
0-929972-13-9, $29.95.
For many members of the InternationalAssociation for the History of
Religions, the XVIIth Congressof the IAHR in Mexico City served as an
introductionto researchin religion that is being undertakenby our Latin
Americancolleagues. What we discovered, of course, was a rich tradition
and corpusof researchin religionlargely neglectedby European-including
US and Canadian-scholars since, in these contexts, Spanishhas not been
emphasized as an "academic"language. The four volumes publishedby
The Programfor the Analysis of Religion Among Latinos (PARAL)now
make availableto non-Spanishspeakersthree volumes of studies by Latino
scholarstogether with a comprehensivebibliographyof researchon Latino
religion.
It is important, first of all, to distinguish research by Latinos about
"Latino"religion from the study of religion in Latin and South America
? Koninklijke
NUMEN,Vol.45
Book reviews
105
generally. PARAL focuses exclusively on the "experienceof people of

Latin Americandescent living with the 50 states [of the United States] and
PuertoRico." The experiencesand religious formationsof these people as
minoritiesin a dominantcultureare, of course,differentfrom those in Latin
and South America,especiallyas regardsquestionsof identity.
The choice of the designation"Latino"is an attemptto capturesome of
the culturalcomplexityoccasionedby Latin Americanimmigrationinto the
United States. An alternativedesignation,"Hispanic,"for example, refers
to "things,places and personssomehowrelatedto Spain"but "subordinates
the Amerindianand Africancomponentsthatcontributeto the variationsof
Spanishcultureproperto this hemisphere"[II: 11]. Thereare, nevertheless,
a numberof shared themes that characterizethe researchon religion by
South Americans,Latin Americansand Latinos. These themes, born of a
common colonial history,includethose addressedby the threePARALvolumes: VolumeI on popularreligion,with manyanalogiesto theiremergence
in Latinand SouthAmericagenerally;VolumeII on the integralrelationship
between religion and collectiveidentity;and VolumeIII on "syncretism"between various indigenouspopulations,between indigenous populations
and Spanishconquerors,betweenindigenousand Europeanpopulationsand
Africanslaves. Althoughthe contributionsto all threevolumes of the series
representa combinationof theoreticalreflections,case studies, and literary
and theological essays, those to Volumes I and mI are the most valuable
from a theoreticalpoint of view.
While admittingthe artificialityof separatingthe theme of popularreligion from thatof syncretism,the series editor,Stevens-Arroyo,suggeststhat
"popularreligion"carriesmore a sense of "the inclinationto be religious"
whereas it was considereduseful to limit "syncretism"to a descriptionof
"the materialaspects of a people's traditionsor practices"[I: 10]. Despite
this interestingdistinction,the concernsand conclusionsof VolumesI and
II largely overlap.
Popularreligion (religiosidadpopular) is consideredto be a "defining
characteristic"of Latinoreligiousexperiencein the United States [I: 19]. It
is definedas a form of personalexpressionthatis outsideecclesiasticalcontrol, more involvedwith social and culturalidentity,resists assimilation,and
negotiatesculturalincludingmaterialgoals. Froman official, or even scholarly perspective,the categoryof popularreligion, like that of syncretism
assumes "orthodoxy"or some representationof purity [I: 114]. Similarly,
106
Book reviews
GustavoBenavidesoffers a theoreticalchallengeto the validity of the category "syncretism"itself. Noting its always "unspokenpoint of reference"to
powerand legitimacy,Benavides,who also contributedan importantanalysis
of popularreligion in VolumeI, challenges the usefulness of this category
becauseof its always"unspokenpoint of reference"to power and legitimacy
[III:37].
The contributionsto Volumem arepredominantlycase studies, including
two very interestingstudies of santer'a. The brief contributionby Meredith
McGuireto VolumeI on "LinkingTheoryandMethodologyfor the Studyof
LatinoReligiosity"might be given special mentionin this context. McGuire
social scientistsin theiruse of surveydata
notes oversightsby "mainstream"
and in their subsequentconstructionof case studies when studying nonmainstreamexpressions of religiosity such as that exemplified by Latino
religion.
The weakest of the three volumes from a strictly theoreticalperspective
is the second. While its theme of "LatinoIdentities"is centralto all three
volumes, its essays are largely anecdotal,ideological and theological. As
Stevens-Arroyoclarifies in his Introductionto this volume, "while thereis
a greatdeal of social analysisin contemporarytheology,this does not constitute sociological analysis.... Theology uses differentrules for evidence
... based on personalexperience."He concludes,however,that "[t]hesubjective factors that are included in the theological definitionsof liberation
and transformationare not aetherealcategoriestotallydisconnectedfromthe
kinds of issues thatlie at the core of social science"[II: 17]. In otherwords,
the more subjectiveessays in this volume, as do those in the othertwo, contributean interestingand sometimesvaluableinsightinto the experiencesof
Latinos of which the more theoreticaland empiricalstudies seek to make
sense.
VolumeIV of the series offers a comprehensivebibliographyof scholarship by and about Latinos. In contrastto the Europeanhistory-of-religions
traditionwhich developedout of liberalProtestantism,religious scholarship
in Latin and South Americagenerallyhas developedin the context of, and
often in opposition to, Catholicismand is predominantlysocial scientific
or theological-the first two divisions of VolumeIV. The volume includes
also helpful bibliographiesof "Reports,Documents, UnpublishedPapers
and Bibliographies"and 'Theses and Dissertations."The Introductionsto
the four volumes by Stevens-Arroyoprovidea commendablecoherencefor
the entire project.
Book reviews
107
The four volumes of the PARALseries can be recommendedto historians

of religion for the richnessof both theirtheoreticalcontributionsand for the
insightsof theircase studies. Not only will theyprovidedatafor comparative
studiesthatis not alwaysreadilyavailable,but the theoreticalquestionsthey
raise, both implicitly and explicitly,make a contributionto our largertask
as well.
The Universityof Vermont
Departmentof Religion
48 Main Street
Burlington,Vermont05405, USA
LUTHER
H. MARTIN
PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED
Periodicals
Acta Comparanda,8 (1997).
MonumentaNipponica,52 (1997), 2.
HISTORYOF RELIGIONS,36 (1997), 4
Elliot R. Wolfson,Tiqqunha-Shekhinah:Redemptionand the Overcomingof

GenderDimorphismin the MessianicKabbalahof Moses HayyimLuzzatto
June Nash, GenderedDeities and the Survivalof Culture
Charles W.Nuckolls,The Dynamicsof Desire in JalariMyth
Book Reviews
METHOD& THEORYIN THESTUDYOF RELIGION,9 (1997), 2
TimothyFitzgerald,A Critiqueof "Religion"as a Cross-CulturalCategory

HerbertBurhenn,EcologicalApproachesto the Study of Religion
TonyEdwards,Rortyon the Literalizationof Metaphor
L GregoryBloomquist,RhetoricalAnalysis and Sociological Analysis in HistoricalJesus Research
ConferenceReports
Book Reviews
RELIGION,27 (1997), 1
THE STUDYOF DREAMSAND VISIONSIN ISLAM
Marcia K. Hermansen,Introduction
Jonathan G. Katz, An Egyptian Sufi InterpretsHis Dreams: 'Abd alWahhabal-Sha'rarni
1493-1565
Marcia K. Hermansen,Visions as 'Good to Think': A CognitivApproach
to VisionaryExperiencein Islamic Sufi Thought
ValerieJ. Hoffman,The Role of Visions in ContemporaryEgyptianReligious Life
MatthewsA. Ojo, Sexuality,Marriageand Piety amongCharismaticsin Nigeria
Leslie J. Francis, The Psychologyof GenderDifferencesin Religion: A Review
of EmpiricalResearch(SurveyArticle)
Book Reviews
NUMEN, Vol. 45
PublicationsReceived
111
RELIGION,27 (1997), 2
RELIGIONAND POSTMODERNISM-AREVIEWSYMPOSIUM
(Eds. Robert Segal
and ThomasRyle)
MarshaHewitt,Alterityand Ethics
ThomasRyba,Derrida,NegativeTheology and the Trespassof the Sign
Jay Geller, Idols, Fetishesand Foreskins:The Otherof Religion
Donna Maeda,The OtherWoman:IrreducibleAlterityin FeministThealogies
GustavoBenavides,PostmodernDisseminationsandCognitiveConstraints
RobertA. Segal, Postmodernismandthe Social ScientificStudyof Religion
Attila Molndr,The ProtestantEthic in Hungary
BertrandM. Roehner,Jesuitsand the State: A ComparativeStudy of theirExpulsions
Bron Taylor,EarthenSpiritualityor CulturalGenocide?:RadicalEnvironmentalism's Appropriationof NativeAmericanSpirituality
Book Review
RELIGION,27 (1997), 3
A SACRIFICIAL
CHRISTIANITY:
OR NONSACRIFICIAL
RELIGION?
James G. Williams,Introduction
Bruce Chilton,SacrificialMimesis
RobertJ. Daly, Is ChristianitySacrificialor Antisacrificial?
PaulB. Duff,The SacrificialCharacterof EarliestChristianity:A Response
to R.J. Daly
Interviewwith Ren6Girard:Commentson Christianity,Scapegoating,and
Sacrifice
WilliamShepard,The Mythof Progressin the Writingsof Sayyid Qutb
NormanRavitch,A 'Pascal'Mystery
WilliamK. Kay, Phenomenology,Religious Education,and Piaget
Book Reviews
Books
(Listing in this section does not precludesubsequentreviewing)
Graf, Fritz (Ed.), Einleitungin die lateinische Philologie. Series: Einleitung in
die Altertumswissenschaft-Stuttgartand Leipzig, B.G. TeubnerVerlagsgesellschaft, 1997, X + 725 p., ISBN 3-519-07434-6 (cloth).
112
Publications Received
Mirecki, Paul and Jason BeDuhn (Eds.), Emergingfrom Darkness. Studies in the
Recovery of ManichaeanSources. Series: Nag Hammadi and Manichaean
Studies, ed. by J.M. Robinsonand H.J. Klimkeit,vol. 43-Leiden, New York,
Koln, E. J. Brill, 1997, 294 p. + 10 p. illustrations,US$ 116.25, ISBN 90-0410760-6 (cloth).
Ghose, Rajeshwari(Ed.), In Quest of a Secular Symbol. Ayodhya and AfterPerth,IndianOcean Centre& SouthAsian ResearchUnit, CurtinUniversityof
Technology,1996, 219 p., A$ 35.00, ISBN 1-86342-523-3(pbk.).
The VimalakirtiSutra. Translatedby Burton Watson from the Chinese Version
by Kumarajiva. Series: Translationsfrom the Asian Classics- New York,
Columbia University Press, 1997, 168 p., US$ 26.00, ISBN 0-231-10656-4
(cloth).
Amstutz,Galen, InterpretingAmida. History and Orientalismin the Study of Pure
LandBuddhism. SUNY Seriesin BuddhistStudies,ed. by MatthewKapsteinAlbany,NY, State Universityof New YorkPress, 1997, 248 p., $ 21.95, ISBN
0-7914-3310-2 (pbk.).
Pakkanen,Petra, InterpretingEarly Hellenistic Religion. A Study Based on the
Mystery Cult of Demeter and the Cult of Isis. Papers and Monographsof
the Finnish Instituteat Athens, vol. III-Helsinki, Foundationof the Finnish
Instituteat Athens, 1996, 207 p., ISBN 951-95295-4-3 (pbk.).
Forsen,Bj6rn,GriechischeGliederweihungen.Eine Untersuchungzu ihrerTypologie
und ihrer religions- und sozialgeschichtlichenBedeutung. Papers and Monographsof the FinnishInstituteat Athens, vol. IV-Helsinki, Foundationof the
FinnishInstituteat Athens, 1996, 225 p. + 115 illustrations,ISBN 951-952955-1 (pbk.).
Sil, NarasinghaP., Swami Vivekananda. A Reassessment-Selinsgrove, SusquehannaUniversityPress; London,Associated UniversityPresses, 1997, 250 p.,
US$ 32.50, ISBN 0-945636-97-0 (cloth).
Assmann,Jan,Moses the Egyptian.The Memoryof Egyptin WesternMonotheismCambridge,MA and London,HarvardUniversityPress, 1997, 276 p., ? 19.95,
ISBN 0-674-58738-3 (cloth).
113
Burkert, Walter, Homo Necans. InterpretationenaltgriechischerOpferritenund

Mythen. 2nd ed. with new afterword-Berlin and New York, Mouton de
Gruyter,1997, 378 p., DM 78.00, ISBN 3-11-015098-0 (pbk.).
VanEss, Josef, Theologieund Gesellschaftim 2. und 3. Jahrhundert
Hidschra.Eine
Geschichtedes religiosenDenkensim friihenIslam. Vol IV, mit Gesamtregister
der Bande I-VI-Berlin, New York, Walterde Gruyter,1997, 1107 p., DM
790.00, ISBN 3-11-014835-8 (cloth).
Bremmer,Jan,Gotter,MythenundHeiligttimerim antikenGriechenland-Darmstadt,
PrimusVerlag, 1996, 163 p., DM 39.80, ISBN 3-89678-018-2 (cloth).
Molendijk, Arie L., ZwischenTheologie und Soziologie. Ernst TroeltschsTypen
der christlichenGemeinschaftsbildung:
Kirche,Sekte, Mystik. Erst-TroeltschStudien9-Giitersloh, GutersloherVerlagshaus,1996, 223 p., DM 68.00, ISBN
3-579-00288-0 (paper).
Robbins Dexter, Miriamand EdgarC. Polomd (Eds.), Variaon the Indo-European
Past: Papersin Memoryof MarijaGimbutas.Journalof Indo-EuropeanStudies
Monograph19-Washington, DC, Institutefor the Study of Man, 1997, 265 p.,
ISBN 0-941694-58-5 (paper).
Trainor,Kevin, Relics, RitualandRepresentationin Buddhism.Rematerializingthe
Sri LankanTheravadaTradition. CambridgeStudies in Religious Traditions
10-Cambridge, CambridgeUniversity Press, 1997, 223 p., ? 35.00, ISBN
0-521-58280-6 (cloth).
YoungGregg,Joan,Devils, Women,and Jews. Reflectionsof the Otherin Medieval
SermonStories. SUNY Seriesin MedievalStudies,ed. by Paul E. SzarmachAlbany,NY, State Universityof New YorkPress, 1997, 275 p., $ 20.95, ISBN
0-7914-3418-4 (pbk.).
Pyysiainen, Ilkka, Belief and Beyond. Religious Categorizationof Reality-Abo,
Abo Akademi, 1997, 177 p., ISBN 951-650-831-6 (pbk.).
Sullivan,LawrenceE. (Ed.), EnchantingPowers. Music in the World'sReligionsCambridge,MA, HarvardUniversityPress, 1997, 321 p., ? 16.50, ISBN 0945454-09-0 (cloth), ? 11.50, ISBN 0-945454-12-0 (pbk.).
114
Schopen, Gregory,Bones, Stones, and BuddhistMonks. Collected Papers on the

Archaeology,Epigraphy,and Textsof MonasticBuddhismin India-Honolulu,
Hawaii, Universityof Hawaii Press, 1997, 298 p., US$ 58.00, ISBN 0-82481748-6 (cloth), US$ 31.95, ISBN 0-8248-1870-9 (pbk.).
Boyle, Kevin and Juliet Sheen (Eds.), Freedomof Religion and Belief. A World
Report-London and New York, Routledge, 1997, 475 p., ? 50.00, ISBN 0415-15977-6 (cloth), ? 16.99, ISBN 0-415-15978-4 (pbk.).
Turner,John D. and Anne McGuire(Eds.), The Nag HammadiLibraryafter Fifty
Years. Proceedingsof the 1995 Society of Biblical LiteratureCommemoration.
Series: Nag Hammadiand ManichaeanStudies, ed. by J.M. Robinson and
H.J. Klimkeit,vol. 44-Leiden, New York,Koln, E. J. Brill, 1997, 531 p., US$
187.50, ISBN 90-04-10824-6 (cloth).
Mesquita, Roque, Madhva und seine unbekanntenliterarischenQuellen. Einige
Beobachtungen. Publicationsof the De Nobili ResearchLibrary,vol. 24Wien, SammlungDe Nobili, Institutfur Indologieder UniversitatWien, 1997,
151 p., ISBN 3-900-271-29-1 (paper).
LAHRCONGRESSIN DURBAN
ARMIN
W. GEERTZ
The ExecutiveCommitteeof the InternationalAssociation for the
History of Religions (IAHR)decided at its recentannualmeeting in
Turku,Finland to hold the XVIIth QuinquennialCongress during
August 5-12, 2000 in Durban,South Africa. This particularcongress
will be a special event for a numberof reasons. First, it will be the
first IAHR congress ever held on the African continent. Second, it
coincides with the 50th anniversaryof the foundingof the IAHR in
Amsterdam. And, third, it will also mark the 100th anniversaryof
scientific congressesin the historyof religions.
The congress will be organizedin cooperationwith a professional
congress organizingcompany,TurnersConferenceLtd., which will
take advantageof the internetto improve the servicing of registration, abstracts,and so on. The actual venue will be the International
ConventionCentreDurban.The ConventionCenterwas inaugurated
during August 1997 and is one of the best and most modernconvention centers in the world. Every care will be taken to ensure
that scholars from all over the world will be able to live in Durban
accordingto their means, and already now the congress organizers
are conductinga fund-raisingcampaignto help relieve cost burdens.
Furthermore,the conventioncenterand congresshotels lie in an area
of the city where every precautionis taken to ensure the safety of
visitors to Durban.
Durbanis situatedon the easterncoast of South Africa by the Indian Ocean. With its tropicalclimate at the end of the South African
winter, congress participantswill find the weatherpleasant and enjoyable. Durbanis also a city of immense culturaland religious diversity,and the congressorganizersare developinga programwhich
NUMEN, Vol. 45
IAHRCongressin Durban
109
will give congress participantsthe possibility of experiencingthis

diversityfirst-hand.
The theme of the congress will be "The History of Religions:
Origins and Visions." The organizersare currentlyworking on a
very attractiveacademicprogramwhich will ensurecoverage of the
methodologicalandtheoreticalimplicationsof the themeas well as of
SouthAfricanreligionsin particularandAfricanreligionsin general.
Therewill furthermorebe sections,symposiaandpanels on all major
aspects of the historyof religions and cognate disciplines. The first
circularis expectedto be out by the end of this year.
The IAHR will be inauguratinga new conceptionof IAHR congresses in connection with Durban2000. Earliercongresses were
generally the sole responsibilityof the hosting IAHR affiliate, but
with Durban2000, the IAHRsharesequallywith the local organizers
bothburdensand benefits.The new congressorganizationalstructure
will be detailedfurtherin the up-comingissue of the IAHR Bulletin.
Please send inquiriesto the CongressDirector,Prof. PratapKumar,
Departmentof Science of Religion, Universityof Durban-Westville,
Private Bag X54001, Durban, 4000 South Africa (e-mail:
or to the GeneralSecretaryof the IAHR,
kumar@pixie.udw.ac.za)
Prof. ArminW. Geertz,Departmentof the Studyof Religion,University of Aarhus,MainBuilding,DK-8000 AarhusC, Denmark(e-mail:
geertz@teologi.aau.dk).
roriisHow can Roman Religion be Defined, and what was its

Political and CulturalMeaning?
Romische Reichsreligion
und Provinzialreligion
Herausgegeben von Hubert Cancik
und J6rg Riipke
The authors of this volume offer a
reappraisalof the history of the
term 'Roman religion' and give a
precise definition of the terms 'imperial religion' and 'provincial religion'. They examine preconceived
assumptions regarding the political
function of religions in the pre-moder empire and elaborate on the
existing descriptions of religions in
ancient societies and intercultural
or interreligious encounters. Case
studies used as examples for the
eastern and western parts of the
Roman Empire round off the picture. The authors thus close the research gap that existed between the
history of religion in Rome and the
cultural history of the provinces.
Surveyof contents:
Systematische Versuche
JorgRiipke:Ein Reich und viele
G6tter - GiinterKehrer:Civil Religion
und Reichsreligion - Andreas
Bendlin:Peripheral Centres - Central
Peripheries. Religious Communication in the Roman Empire
Querschnitte
GregoryWoolf:Polis-Religion and its
Alteratives in the Roman
Provinces - ChristaFrateantonio:
Autonomie in der Kaiserzeit und

Spatantike - Alain Blomart:Die evocatio und der Transferfremder
Gotter von der Peripherie nach Rom
- lan Haynes:Religion in the Roman
Army. Unifying Aspects and Reginal
Trends
Lokal- und Regionalstudien
HubertCancik:Die ,Reprasentation'
von ,Provinzen' (nationes, gentes) in
Rom. Ein Beitrag zur Bestimmung
von ,Reichsreligion' vom 1. Jahrhundert vor bis zum 2. Jahrhundert
nach Christus - Wolfgang
Spickermann:
Aspekte einer ,neuen'
regionalen Religion und der Prozeg
der,interpretatio' im romischen
Germanien, Ratien und Noricum AnnetteNunnerich-Asmus:
Architektur
und Kult Beispiele landlicher und
urbaner Romanisierung - Alfred
Schdferund AlexandruDiaconescu:Das
Liber-Pater-Heiligtumvon Apulum
(Dakien) - ChristophAuffarth:
Verrater- Obersetzer'?Pausanias,
das r6mische Patrai und die
Identitat der Griechen in Achaia PeterHerz:Herrscherverehrungund
lokale Festkultur im Osten des romischen Reiches (Kaiser/Agone)ChristophMarkschies:Stadt und Land
des Christentums in Palastina
1997. 320 pages (est). ISBN 3-16146760-4 paper DM 140.00 (est.) October
ARTIBUS
.Mo B.
Mohr
Siebeck
Envisioning Magic
Seminar and Symposium
Edited by Peter Schafer and Hans G. Kippenberg
A Princeton
This collection of twelve articles presents a selection of papers delivered in the

course of a seminar 1994-95 and its concluding international symposium at
the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.
The common theme is the interrelation between magic and religion, focusing
particularly on the Mediterranean world in Antiquity - Egyptian, Graeco-Roman
and Jewish beliefs and customs - but also treating the early modern period in
Northern Europe (the Netherlands and Germany) as well as offering more
general reflections on elements of magic in language and Jewish mysticism. The
volume is characterized by an interdisciplinary approach and the use of varied
methodologies, emphasizing the dynamic nature of the often contradictory forces
shaping religious beliefs and practices, while dismissing the idea of a linear
development from magic to religion or vice versa.
The contributors are outstanding scholars in their fields: Ancient, Medieval and
Modern History, Religious Studies, Jewish Studies, Classical Studies, Early
Christianity, Islamic Studies, Anthropology, Egyptology and Comparative
Literature. Without a doubt this re-evaluation of a fascinating age-old subject
will stimulate scholarly discussion and appeal to educated non-specialist readers
as well.
Readership: Those interested in the history of religions, the history of magic,
intellectual history and church history.
Peter Schifer, Dr.phil. (1968) in Jewish Studies, Habilitation 1973, is Professor
of Jewish Studies and Director of the Institut fur Judaistik at the Freie Universitat
Berlin. He has published extensively on Jewish literature and history in late
antiquity and on early Jewish mysticism. His most recent book is Judeophobia.
Attitudes toward the Jews in the Ancient World, (Harvard University Press, 1997).
Hans G. Kippenberg, Dr. phil., University of Gottingen, secured his habilitation
at the Freie Universitat Berlin, held the chair for Comparative religion at the
University of Groningen from 1977 to 1989, and currently holds the chair at
Bremen. He is the editor of Numen (Brill, Leiden).
? Publication date: September 1997. (281 pp.)
? ISBN 90 04 10777
* Cloth with dustjacket NLG 205.- / USs 128.25

* Price for subscribers to the series NLG 180.- / USS 112.50
* Numen Book Series, 75
Brill Academic Publishers
P.O. Box 9000
2300 PA Leiden
The Netherlands
Publishers
Academic
Brill Academic Publishers Inc.

24 Hudson Street
Kinderhook, NY 121
06R
'?-'
CLOSE HARMONIES: THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION IN

DUTCH DUPLEX ORDO THEOLOGY, 1860-1960
JAN G. PLATVOET
Summary
In this article, the history of the Science of Religion in the Netherlandsin the
period 1860 to 1960 is surveyedat the time when it was an integralpart of Dutch
liberal academic theology as pursuedin the faculties of theology at the universities of Leiden, Groningen,Utrechtand Amsterdam. In 1876, these faculties were
given a special statute,the so-calledduplex ordo, in a law that separatedthe 'confessional' theological disciplines from the 'scientific' ones. It also introducedthe
new disciplines of the Science of Religion and the Philosophyof Religion into these
reconstitutedfaculties. I discuss Tiele's plan to make the Science of Religion their
centraldiscipline, and why it was ultimatelygiven only a marginalplace in them.
My main concern, however,is to outline the theology which inspiredthe Science
of Religion of Tiele, Chantepie,Vander Leeuw and Bleekerand to demonstrateits
'close harmony'with the liberaltheology prevailingin these duplexordo faculties,
as also in at least some of the modalitiesof the NederlandseHervormdeKerkwhose
ministerswere trained,again by law, in these faculties. It was that close harmony
which allowed Van der Leeuw to disregardthe duplexordo and to establish a full
harmonybetween the Science of Religion and confessionaltheology. I also discuss
dissonantvoices, Kraemer'sespecially,calling for the abrogationof the duplexordo
andthe integrationof the Science of Religion into a militantlyconfessionaltheology.
Vom Christentumaus unsem Blick auf die Welt der historischenReligionen richtend,meinenwir zu sehen, daBdas Evangeliumsich zeigt als
Erfiillungder Religion iberhaupt.1
The main thesis of this article is that 'Science of Religion'2 was

part and parcel of academic liberal theology in the Netherlands from
its inception in the 1860s until 1960. To document it, the theologies
undergirding the Sciences of Religion of Tiele, Chantepie, Van der
Leeuw and Bleeker are discussed; and those of some other Dutch
scholars of religions of that same period are also briefly indicated.
NUMEN, Vol. 45
116
Jan G. Platvoet
I also will discuss the institutionalstructure,known as duplexordo,

establishedby the Dutchparliamentin 1876. It separated'academic'
theology from 'confessional,'or church-tiedtheology and, and at the
same time, introducedthe new disciplineof Science of Religion into
the Faculties of Theology of the Universitiesat Leiden, Groningen,
Utrechtand Amsterdam.I concludeby discussingthe protestsvoiced
againstthe duplexordo by Gunningand Kraemerin theirpleas for a
re-confessionalisationof academictheology and Science of Religion.
Tele's Strategy
When the ArminianministerC.P.Tiele (1830-1902) used the term

godsdienstwetenschap,'Science of Religion,' for the first time in
ratherthana descriptivesense. The
1866, he did so in a programmatic
term 'Science of Religion' was only just beginningto gain currency
in German,3French,4English,5and Dutch academicwriting,and the
newly emergingdisciplinehad as yet nowherebeen grantedchairs.6
By this time, however,the disciplinehad alreadybegun to createthe
scholarlyidentitieswith which it was to emergeas an academicdiscipline in continentaluniversitiesin the last quarterof the 19thcentury.
Tiele was undoubtedlyone of its founders.7From as early as 1860,
he began to pursuean ambitious"strategyof conquest"8not merely
to establish Science of Religion as a new discipline in the (Leiden)
Faculty of Theology, but to install it there as the very paradigmand
centrepieceof what he called "scientifictheology."9
Tiele executed that strategyin threephases. He began in 1860 by
publishing a caustic critiqueof the poor quality of J.H. Scholten's
teachingof Historyof Religions (godsdienstgeschiedenis)at the Leiden Faculty of Theology. At that time Scholten,togetherwith Abraham Kuenen,was the mostfamousprofessorof theologyin the Leiden
Faculty. He taughtNew Testament,theologia naturalis (or doctrina
de deo)'0 and DogmaticTheology and was the architectand undisputed leader of 'modem theology,' a new Leiden-basedschool of
liberal theology that had been gaining popularitysince 1848.1
Its second phase ran from 1866 to 1867, when the Minister of
InternalAffairs, the Arminianvan Heemskerk,publishedthe (first)
Close Harmonies
117
draft of a bill reorganisingsecondaryand tertiaryeducation in the

Tiele followedit up at once with two articlesin which
Netherlands.12
he outlined his concept of a Faculty of 'Scientific Theology' with
Science of Religion as its centraldiscipline. 'Traditionaltheology,'
with its polemics, apologeticsand dogmatics,was to be bannedfrom
it.13The second of these articleswas given a prominentplace in the
It
very first issue of the new Leiden-basedTheologischTijdschrift.14
meant that Tiele's ideas met with considerablesympathy with the
Leiden Faculty. It seems likely that the Leiden Faculty and Tiele
continuedto cultivatedthis mutualgoodwill andunderstandingin the
years that followed, as the thirdand crowningphase showed.
That phase ran from 1872 to 1877. In 1872, Tiele was granteda
doctoratehonoris causa by the Leiden Faculty. In 1873, following
Tiele's appointmentas Rectorof the Seminaryof the small Arminian
Churchat Amsterdam,the seminarywas moved to Leiden. Tiele
presentedhis inauguraladdressas its Professorin the Groot Auditorium, 'Great Hall,' of Leiden Universityon 13 February1873.'5
The bill of 28 April 1876 reformingDutch secondaryand tertiary
education having at long last been steered through Parliamentby
again van Heemskerk16and having come into effect in 1877, Tiele
was appointedProfessorof History of Religions (and Philosophyof
Religion)'7 at the Leiden Faculty of Theology in 1877. Not only
was his chair the first of its kind in the Netherlandsbut he was also
the only academic from outside the NederlandseHervormdeKerk
(NHK), the formerPublic Church,to be given a professorshipin a
facultyof theology at a Dutch State university.18
Tiele'sScientific Theology
In his 1866 article, Tiele endowed Science of Religion with the
mission to save theology from the "alieninterests"of the churches.
He brandedconfessionaltheologyas "obscurantist
supranaturalism,"19
of one kind with that ruling"in the twilight of [R.C.] seminariesor
the darknessof [its] cloisters."20
The narrow-mindedness
of theology
tied to the confession of a church was, in Tiele's view, the main
118
Jan G. Platvoet
reason why a truly scientific,religion-tiedtheology had not yet been

bor. Theology should not be dependenton the "unscientificprinciple of [the] authority"of the particularfaith of a specific churchbut
on research.Comparison,he asserted,is "thefoundation,the starting
point, [and]the conditionof all science."21By outlawingthe comparative study of religions, the churchesimpededthe self-knowledgeof
their own brandof Christianity.The lack of informationabout"heathen"religions, and the speculativemethodsof confessionaltheology
were two more reasonsfor the unscientificcharacterof church-bound
theology.2 The Science of Religion would restoretheology's "inner
coherence"by founding it upon historicalcriticism and "the unbiased ascertainingand recordingof facts."23It now lacked coherence
because it had been made to serve the needs of a particularchurch,
especially that of the trainingof its futureministers,instead of being developedfrom the consistentconceptof a scientificdiscipline.24
The Science of Religion wouldconstitutethe religions of humankind
as theology's properobjectof study and cause scientific theology to
coincide with the Science of Religion by abrogatingthe distinction
between naturaland revealedreligions and integratingthe study of
the biblical religions into that of the other religions of humankind.25
It was the task of the Science of Religion to develop a body of theory aboutthe religions of humankindin four stages. The firstwas to
accuratelydescribe all religions. The second was to comparethem
judiciously in order to develop a genealogy of all the families of
the world's religions. The third was to analyse them morphologically in orderto determineinto what stages of evolutionthe religions
of humankindcould be ordered26and to determinehow far specific
religions had travelled along that road. The final stage was their
studyin orderto establishthat
"physiological"and "psychological"27
faith and adorationconstitutedthe innermostcore of all religions,
and that it was a fact of historythat Christianitypossessed these two
in their highest form.28Tiele admonishedthe "small elite corps"of
for an
"modem"theologians who had exchanged"supranaturalism"
independenttheology, not to keep their studies separatefrom [the]
Close Harmonies
119
History of [Non-Christian]Religions, but to combine with it and

constituteit into the "GeneralScience of Religion."29
7iele's Close Harmony
The historicaland comparativestudy of the religions of mankind
was for Tiele, however,only the foundationof what he termedthe
Humankind'sreligions are "thediverse
study of "religionas such."30
expressionsof religion lying dormant,as a disposition,in every human being." They are the "productsof the humanmind, [of which]
religion is one of its properties,"and one of its four faculties (the
otherthreebeing to speaka languagecorrectly,and the aestheticand
moral 'senses').31In a lateressay, he added the intellect as the fifth
faculty of the humanmind32and arguedthat the origin of religion
was not to be located in man's moral and religious feelings only.33
That origin was to be explainedby man's moral and religious feeling's being informedby his intellectualcapacity for abstraction.34
The feelings and emotionswhich man has in common with animals
cannot,in themselves,explainreligion and morality,these two being
the distinctiveand intimatelyconnectedfeaturesthat make man into
what he uniquely is. Intellect,moral sense and religious feeling togetherconstitutedthe humanconscience. Tiele regardedthem as the
ultimatesource of religion(and morality).He definedconscience as
"the feeling that we are boundby a moral world order,"35
of which
God is the lawgiver.36His laws have, on the one hand, been made
known to man by humanreason,and on the other hand by his conscience, which is the "feeling in the human heart for the laws of
God." He also equatedconsciencewith [God's]"Revelation,"for the
humanconscience revealsthatGod's love "pullsat our hearts."This
act of God revealinghimself in "the most importantorgan of [human] perfectibility,"the humanheart,provokesin humansthe need
to adoreGod as the perfectlove.37
Tiele termed faith and the love of God the godsdienstigegrondkracht,the "basicreligiousforce,"the sourcefromwhich religionhad
sprungin every humanbeing.38He regardedthis "primevalforce"39
120
Jan G. Platvoet
as the [scientific] explanationof religion, on the groundsthat religion was rooted "in humannature"and "relatedmost intimatelyto
[man's] innermostbeing."40In fact, the very purposeof the Science
of Religion, as a scientificdiscipline, was precisely "to explain this
fact."41Tiele consideredthe Science of Religion, therefore,to be a
multi-facetedenterprise. It was, he said, a Science of Man, or Anthropology,and a Science of the Human Mind, or Psychology; as
well as a Natural Science, because, he said, man is religious "by
He saw it, too, as a Philosophyof Religion.43As such, it
nature."42
could serve as scientifictheology'scentrepieceand thus replaceconfessional theology. He assuredhis fellow academictheologiansthat
all the disciplines thathadprogressedtowardsbecomingtruly"scientific"since 1800, could now be fully integratedinto thatphilosophical
Science of Religion.44
Tiele developed an elaborateargumentand two schemes to show
that nothing of permanentscientific value would be lost from Aesthetic, HistoricalandSystematicTheology,as developedby 'modern'
theologians,by their being integratedinto the frameworkof Science
of Religion as Scientific Theology. Only the irredeemablyconfessional disciplines of Apologetics, Polemics and Dogmatics were to
be returnedto the churches,"with thanks for the services they had
The "purelyphilological"disciplines of Hermeneutics
rendered."45
and Exegesis were to be returnedto the Faculty of Arts & Philosophy. New TestamentExegesis oughtto be studiedin thatfacultytoo,
as partof Hellenistic Literature,ratherthan be placed in the Faculty
of Theology.46Tiele offeredtwo argumentsagainstlocatingNew Testament studies in the Facultyof Theology. "The books of the New
Testamentmust not be explainedby any othermethodthanthose used
for the Old Testament,or the Koran,the Vedas,the Zend Avesta,the
Edda, or even whateverother piece of ancient literature."It would
be strange too if New TestamentExegesis became the preserve of
the Faculty of Theology, when Hebrew,Israeliteantiquities,and the
Exegesis of the Old Testamentwere all taughtin the Facultyof Arts
& Philosophy.47Tiele was referringhere to the acade.micdivision
of labourwhich had been standardin Dutch universitiesin the 18th
Close Harmonies
121
century when both Old and New TestamentExegesis had been the
provincesof the professorsof EasternLanguagesand of Greekin the
Facultyof Arts & Philosophy.Studentsat the Arminian,Baptist,and
LutheranSeminariesat Amsterdamhad always attendedthe courses
given by these professorsin preferenceto those given in the Amsterdam Facultyof Theologyeven when the latterhad begunto acquirea
more prominentplace in thatfaculty from the middle decadesof the
19th centuryonwards,followingthe pioneerwork done by Abraham
Kuenen (1828-1891) in the field of Old TestamentExegesis in the
Leiden Faculty of Theology.48Tiele was, therefore,actuallyproposing that the earlier model be reinstated. Under the law of 1876,
however,both New andOld TestamentExegesis were assignedto the
Facultiesof Theology.
Tiele had decriedconfessionaltheology for serving the "alien interests"of the churchand for being so preoccupiedwith the issues
of ministerialformationthatthey caused theologyto disintegrateinto
a set of disciplines withoutfocus. It is, therefore,remarkablethat
he nonetheless includedthe subject of PracticalTheology into his
scheme of Scientific Theology. Tiele viewed PracticalTheology as
the appliedscience of Science of Religion. It was to reflecton how
the body of theory developedby the Science of Religion could be
used to reformandnurturethe religion of Christians,throughpreaching and religious education,and on how these could be applied to
the propagationof Christianitythroughmission. The aim of mission
must,however,not be to eradicateotherreligionsbut to ratherreform
and refine them.49
Tiele concludedthe outlineof his programmeby quotingScholten
to the effect that it is the task of mortalman to learnwhat is a priori
(i.e., metaphysically)true,by studying[naturaland historical]reality
a posteriori (i.e., as it is empirically). Tiele believed that man can
ascendfromknowledgegainedby empiricalobservation,to an understandingof the eternallaws by which the universeis held together.50
Empiricalscience served,in his view, as "thebest defence of what is
essential in religion and [as] the best justificationof faith."51Tiele's
theology was, in tunewithhis age, an evolutionistone, whichgranted,
122
Jan G. Plarvoet
as a matter of course, the topmost position among the religions of

mankindto this brand-newliberal Christianity."Christianitymeets
the religious needs of the humanheartbetterthan any other religion
and is thereforedestinedto become the religion of humanity."52
Tiele regardedhis scientific theology as fully compatible with a
rigorousconception of science.53At its heart,however,was his unflinching conviction that God had revealed himself to all humans
alike, in their heartsand consciences, theirminds and reasons,54and
that the study of religions was not exhausted either by historical
genealogies and morphologies,or by their social and psychological
functions. The bedrockof his Science of Religion was a true theology in its own right.55It allowed him to establish a close harmony
between his new Science of Religion, being mainly the study of the
non-biblicalreligions, and the study of the biblical ones as pursued
by the other 'modem' theologiansworkingin the Leiden Facultyof
Theology duringthe last threedecades of the 19th century.
In the period under review, other Dutch historians of religions
have developed their own close harmoniesbetween the Science of
Religion and theirparticularvarietiesof liberalChristiantheology in
Dutch duplex ordo faculties of theology. I will first describe that of
Chantepie.
Chantepie'sAnti-EvolutionistTheology
PierreDaniel Chantepiede la Saussaye(1848-1920) developedhis
close harmonyin the shape of a philosophicaltheology of religion.
He articulatedit in his Ph.D. thesis, the first, and most likely the
smallest,56ever in DutchScience of Religion circles and he defended
it before the UtrechtFaculty of Theology in 1871 at the age of 23.
He called the Science of Religion, "th[e] youngest among the sciences, and divided it into "the Science of Religion in general and
in its special forms." By the latter,he meantthe historical study of
single religions, and by the formertheir comparative,systematicand
philosophicalstudy.57
If Tiele held that the "scienceof religion is as distinct from [confessional] theology as astronomyis from astrology, and chemistry
Close Harmonies
123
from alchemy,"58and protestedsharplyagainst the "alien interests"

of the churcheswhich held [scientific]theology in bonds, there was
no such chafing againstthe reins of confessional theology apparent
in Chantepie'sslim thesis. Nor did he striveto bring theology under
the rule of Science of Religion. Though he held that the study of
religions was of greatuse to theology,they were in his view distinct
disciplineswith differentaims and methods.59
In his thesis, Chantepiepostulatedthree metaphysicalaxioms60as
constitutingthe foundationsof an "objectiveScience of Religion."
The first was that the relationshipbetween the believer and God as
practisedin religion, was an objectiveone. Religion, he said, could
not be an object of scientificresearchif God did not exist and if man
had no innate dispositiontowardsa relationshipwith him:
"If religion were only the representations,expectations, ambitions, affective
moods, and deeds of men; if religion were only man seeking a relationship
with a God who does not really exist, then it would [truly]have to be termed
a disease of the humanmind. No reality could then be attributedto religion,
and it could hardlybe an object of scientific research,because one would not
be able to find objectivetruthin it."61
Chantepie'ssecondassertion,therefore,is thatGod exists objectively.62He knew that "God'sexistenceand his relationshipto the world
and to man cannot be proved,"yet held that "this postulate is the
very foundationof the entire Science of Religion." As the Science
of Religion must necessarilyenter"therealmof the unprovable"and
religion finds its most objectiveexplanationin God's continuousactivity for humankind,the Science of Religion "cannotbut have a
speculativeelement."With Chantepie,that intuitivespeculationtook
the shape of a (religious)philosophyof history.63
The corollaryof this secondpostulate,therefore,is that religion is
as much the act of God revealinghimself as of man respondingto
it; and that man has a spiritualnatureand is religious by nature.64
Religion was the spiritualfaculty by which man could enter into a
relationwith God. QuotingMax Miiller'sdictum,with approval,that
man'ssensus luminiswas also his sensus numinis,Chantepiebelieved
that God spoke to all men in the phenomenaof nature,but in par-
124
Jan G. Platvoet
ticular in those of light. The unity of the human race was based
The anti-Darwinian
on precisely this inborn common spirituality.65
of
this
was
that
humans
had
been
elevated
corollary
by God above
all (the rest of his) creationbecause of their uniquereligious nature.
Chantepieheld, therefore,that humankindcould not have evolved
from lower creatures.6 He deemed Darwin's theory a "disorderly
pile of hypotheses"which even plain common sense must dismiss.67
Chantepie, therefore,refused to accept Darwinism"in its absolute
form,"i.e., as valid also for humanspiritualevolution:humans,having religions, could not have evolved "froma lower species of beings without religion." That would contradict"the very simple rule
that a religious being cannot evolve from a non-religiousbeing."6
He was, inclined, albeit cautiously,to accept the theory of primitive
monotheism.69
Chantepie's third axiom was that humankind'sreligious history

representedthe historicalvariationof the humanresponse to God's
three modes of revelation:in history,both to earliesthumansand in
the furthercourse of history;70in nature;71and in man's innermost
being.72ChantepiestressedGod'srevelationin naturefor two reasons.
First,becausehe sharedSchleiermacherandMiller's view thatman's
sensus luminis was also his sensus numinis.73 Secondly, because the
same, one and only trueGod had revealedhimself in both natureand

historyandthis doubledispensationmustthereforebe takenas one, its
recipient, mankind,was also religiously a unity, its religions being
based on this double dispensation. Moreover,Chantepieheld that
primitivemonotheismhadneverbeen lost completelybecause of this
unitarydivine economy. However much it had been corruptedand
adulteratedin the courseof history,it had nonethelessbeen preserved
in a varietyof formsanddegrees,rangingfrompureto impure.It had
also been revivedin the religionof Israeland in esotericcults, andhe
assertedtoo that it "lies at the bottom of the heathenreligions even
now." The twofold divine revelationto humankindin historyand in
naturewas at the heart of Chantepie'sliberal theologia religionum.
It enabled him to hold that "the religions of the heathens [have]
objectivevalue" in spite of all their apparent"corruption."74
Close Harmonies
125
Chantepiealso held that the origin of religion could only be explainedby a speculativeand intuitivephilosophyof historythat penetrated to the very 'nature'of religion. He did not bother about
his theory's circularityand the metaphysicalassumptionson which
it was founded, because, in his view, no one would ever be able to
obtainempiricalvalidationaboutthe originof humankind'sreligions,
or aboutanythingelse pertainingto the metaphysicalrealmwhich for
Chantepiewas the Absolute.75
Chantepieversus 7iele
Siding withMax MiilleragainstDarwinianevolutionism,Chantepie
did not look favourablyon Tiele's aim to discover the laws of human religious evolution,on the groundsthatthe heartof religion,the
interactionbetween God and man, was beyond empiricalresearch.
All attemptsto find the laws of [religious]evolution,therefore,were
bound to fail. ChantepieinformedTiele that "the time for writing
a coherent history of religions has not yet arrived." He was even
more unhappyabout Tiele explaining religion virtuallyexclusively
from the godsdienstigegrondkrachtof humans,i.e., from man's inherent religious nature,as he was also with Tiele's consequentreduction of revelationto an inner subjectiveexperience. As religion
is a two-way affairbetweena real God and historicalbelievers, the
explanationof religion must always be twofold, detailing causality
from both God and man'sreligious nature.Tiele's psychologicalexplanationof the originof religionarisingfrom man'sinnatereligious
disposition,was only the secondaryand "subjective"one. Contrary
to Renan and Tiele, Chantepieheld that man's religious natureis a
necessary,but by itself insufficientexplanationof religion. It does
not in itself explain religion;it explains it only in combinationwith
religion's"objective"explanation:the existence,and activepresence,
of God.76
Tiele versus Chantepie
In response, Tiele beratedChantepiefor founding the scientific
study of religions upon a religious hypothesis;for declaringit bind-
126
Jan G. Platvoet
ing on scholars of religion; for keeping the Science of Religion in

shackles forever;andfor preventingit from following the laws binding upon all sciences. The Science of Religion must not keep a
backdooropen to the "throughand throughunscientifictheological
[approach]:"it must exclude infinitecauses and only look for finite
ones. The problemof the origin of religion does not, as Chantepie
contended, belong to metaphysicalphilosophy,which Tiele considered to be "thelast strongholdof the old transcendentalworld view,"
but ratherto "the philosophyof anthropology."Tiele suggestedthat
the "simple"method of "observingand comparingthe several religions and religious phenomena"be followed, in order to "establish
what constitutesthe essentiallyreligious elementin them."Then one
should inquire, "how this specifically religious content can be explained from what psychologicalinquiry has been able to establish
aboutthe natureof man."Tiele believed, in fact, that it would establish thatreligion is "somethingthatresidesin man'sinnermostspirit."
The "objective"elements of religion: doctrine,cult, and institution
are only the externalsof the essence of religion. Serious psychological researchrevealsthatthe inneressence, and origin, of religionare
to be found in the depths of the human mind. For Tiele, then, the
Science of Religion was partof "Psychology"(as was Linguistics!),
Psychology being part again of [philosophical]"Anthropology."He
assignedto the Science of Religion the task of investigatingreligions
as proceedingfrom the revelationsreceived in the humanheart,i.e.,
as psychological phenomenasubjectto definitelaws.n
The Duplex Ordo as SimplexOrdo
What Tiele actually achieved in 1876 was much more modest
than what he had proposedin his two programmaticarticlesof 1866
and 1867. The Facultiesof Theology at the Universitiesof Leiden,
Groningen,UtrechtandAmsterdamwere not convertedinto Faculties
of Scientific Theology. Theology was not merged with Science of
Religion for the studyof all the religions of humankind,and confessional theology was not completelybannedfromthem.78Instead,they
Close Harmonies
127
were given the duplexordo structureaccordingto the provisions of

the law of 28 April 1876. It separatedthe church-bounddisciplinesof
Dogmatic and PastoralTheology79and its two professorsappointed
by the NHK church80fromthe facultiesproperwhich comprisedonly
the four or five professorsappointedby "the Crown"81to teach the
ten subjectsstipulatedin that law.82
The Historyof Religionswas introducedinto these facultiesproper
as merely one of those ten disciplinesandheld a marginalpositionin
them for a numberof reasons.83One was thatapartfrom Tiele, who
was appointedas its firstchairholderin LeidenUniversityin 1877,84
and Chantepie,who was given the second chair in the Universityof
Amsterdamin 1878, therewere no Dutch scholarsavailableto teach
Science of Religion. Academicsfrom otherProtestantdenominations
had eitherto be recruitedfromabroador the Science of Religion was
taughtby Philosophersof Religion. Tiele was succeededby the Norwegian Lutheran,WilliamBrede Kristensen,from 1901 to 1938; the
GermanLutheranministerand missionaryin China,HeinrichHackmann, occupied the Amsterdamchair from 1913 to 1934; and the
Swiss Protestant,BenedictHartmann,held the chair of Ancient Religions at Leiden from 1950 to 1987. The marginalityof the Science
of Religion is even more apparentfrom its being an appendixto the
disciplinesin the serviceof which it was emerging.They were firstof
all the core disciplinesof modem[ist]theology: NaturalTheology,85
Philosophy of Religion,8 and the Encyclopaediaof Theology, and
secondly biblical studies.
In Groningen,G.H. Lamers,Professorof Philosophyof Religion
from 1876 to 1883 when he moved to Utrecht,was also assigned to
teach History of Religions. So was also his successor, I. van Dijk
(1883-1917), though this Professorof Historyof Religions, Natural
Theology, and the Encyclopaediaof Theology was not interestedin
any religion otherthanChristianity(althoughhe did have a passionate interestin Socrates).87Historyof Religionswas taughtat Utrecht
Facultyof Theologyby the Professorsof Philosophyof Religion and
Ethics, G.H. Lamers (1883-1903) and H. Visscher (1903-1931).88
This union of History of Religions with these two disciplines, was
128
Jan G. Platvoet
seen as so normal and naturalthat historiansof religions were often assigned to teach doctrinade deo and/orthe Encyclopaediaof
Theology89(but neverPhilosophyof Religion).90
The marginalityof the Science of Religion is also apparentfrom
the fact thatTiele, thoughhe was also appointedProfessorof Philosophy of Religion, did not actuallyteach thatcentralsubjectuntil after
1892. Indeed,he would not havetaughtit at all if he had not runinto
a conflict with J.H. Gunningover the duplex ordo in 1891.91Gunning, who was an articulatepropagatorof the moreorthodox"ethical"
modalityin the DutchReformedChurch,had been Professorof Dogmatic Theology at the AmsterdamFaculty since 1882. He had been
appointedto the Leidenduplexordo chairof Philosophyof Religion92
in 1889 by a governmentcoalitionof "confessional"politicalparties93
againstthe expresswishes of the Leiden Faculty.94Gunningheld that
theology should be tied to the faith of the church, and in particular to that of the local congregationof believers: it should conform
with the way in which thatcongregationexperiencesthe mysteryof
God. In 1890 and 1892, he publishedbooks in which he not only
declaredthat (Christian)theology and the neutralscience of religion
were incompatible,but moreoverspecifically directedhis attacksat
his predecessor,the Leidenphilosopherof religion,Rauwenhoff.95
By
thus publicly proclaiminga simplex ordo position and rejectingthe
duplex ordo of 1876, Gunningcontravened,as the Leiden Professor
of Philosophy of Religion, the 'golden rule' of freedom from [confessional] theology fundamentalto the Leiden modern[ist]position
and the Science of Religion as conceived by Tiele, therebyincurring
Tiele's wrath. Gunningadmittedthat he was unableand unwillingto
teach Philosophyof Religion on the basis of the 'neutral,'modernist
model establishedby Scholten,Kuenen and Tiele. The conflict was
'resolved' by Tiele, who had been teaching doctrina de deo since
Scholten's retirementin 1881, and Gunningswappingtheir teaching
assignments.96
Lastly,the Historyof Religionsin these facultiesconsistedmainly,
if not exclusively, in study of the religions of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the extra-biblicalSemitic regions in order to explore
Close Harmonies
129
the Umweltof the Bible, and of those of the Greek, Hellenisticand

Latinworlds for the contextualisationof early Christianity.The Science of Religion served thereforein this respect as an adjunctto
Priorto 1950, nearly
the study of the Bible and early Christianity.97
all Dutch scholarsof religionswere Egyptologists(W.B. Kristensen,
G. van der Leeuw, A. de Buck, C.J. Bleeker,Th.P. van Baaren,and
J. Zandee), Assyriologists (P.C. Tiele), or Semiticists/Egyptologists
(H.Th. Obbink,H.W. Obbink).The exceptionswere P.D. Chantepie
de la Saussaye who specialisedin ancientTeutonicand Nordic religions; H. Hackmann,who was the first to have personalexperience
of, and to study,the Far-Eastern
religions;H. Visscherwho wroteon
and
H.
Kraemer,whose field of study was Japreliteratereligions;
vaneseIslam. The studyof Islam,Indianand otherEasternreligions,
and those of the preliteratereligions was mainly developed in these
facultiesafter 1960.
So what Tiele actuallyachievedwas a significantcontributionto
the establishmentof the duplex ordo as the simplex ordo of Dutch
liberal academic theology as it had emergedsince the late 1840s in
Liberatedby the law of 1876 from the need
Leiden, in particular.98
the NHK churchand its just then emerging
faith
of
to conformto the
modalities,and from the supervisionof its synod, academictheology
was now free, in as far as it wished to be free," to pursuethe study
of religion(s) in accordancewith the dual norms of critical, indeinclusive theology of
pendentscholarshipand its own "modern[ist],"
had
That
theology
religions.1??
relinquishedChristianity'straditional
claim to the extra ecclesiam nulla salus salvific exclusivity. It also
had exchangedconfessionalDogmaticTheologyfor varietiesof NaturalTheology (doctrinade deo) and Philosophyof Religion'0'as the
centralsubjectsof duplexordotheology;andit had rejectedthe absolute authorityof the Bible as well as the so called 'supranaturalism'
of confessionaltheology. It had,however,replacedthem with its own
set of metaphysicalpostulates.One was that the meta-empiricaldid
really exist and intervenein human affairs. Anotherthat man was
by naturereligious. A thirdthat there was an economy of salvation
for all humansthroughall religions.'02And a fourththatChristianity,
130
Jan G. Platvoet
andespecially its modem,local varieties,in the ministrationof which

the studentsof a faculty of theology were to be trained,was, if not
the "fulfilmentof religion as such,"'03then at least the "deep-rooted
religion"of Dutch society.04
A numberof practicalconsequenceswere deducedfrom these postulations. A faculty of theology ought to have, and actually has
had, Christianity,and more specifically Dutch, mainline Protestant
Its
Christianity,as its substantiveobject of researchand teaching.1?5
studentshad to be taughtthat "the Gospel has been a force for life
throughouthistory."They hadto be presentedwith argumentsagainst
those who declare religion an illusion.106The sui generis doctrines
of orthodox Christianityon the uniquenessof Jesus the Christ, the
Bible, and the Christianchurch,were exchangedfor anotherset of
axiomaticclaims aboutGod, the religiousnatureof man, religiousexperience,and the fundamentalequalityof the religionsof humankind.
Content-wise,these views were wider,but in termsof testabilitythey
were as imperviousto falsification,and thereforeas sui generis, as
were the orthodoxChristianbeliefs.
Vander Leeuw's Reconfessionalisation
Nearly all the otherscholarswho were appointedto chairs of History of Religions in the four duplex ordo Faculties of Theology in
the Netherlandsuntil the 1960s, createdtheir own 'close harmonies'
with the Christianacademictheologyof theirown facultyof thattime.
They often did likewise, implicitly or explicitly,with that of a specific, liberalor middleof the road,modalityof the NHK church. The
appointeeswho did so at Leidenwere: W.B. Kristensen,from 1901 to
1937;107H. Kraemerappointedfor 'Living Religions,' from 1937 to
1948; A. de Buck, Kristensen'spupil, for 'AncientReligions,' from
1939 to 1959;108and K.A.H. Hidding for 'Living Religions,' from
1948 to 1972; and B. Hartmannfor 'AncientReligions,' from 1960
to 1987.
At Groningen,Gerardusvan der Leeuw (1890-1950) took an expositionas early as 1918, as is evidentfrom
plicitly church-congruent
Close Harmonies
131
It is not accidentalthat he cultivatedthis

his inauguraladdress.109
in
the
confessionalapproach
GroningenFaculty.As only futureministers of the NHK churchwere being trainedin it, its climate was
much more mono-denominational110
than in the Leiden faculty, in
which studentsof the ArminianChurchwere also being trained,and
in Amsterdam,wherethose of the Lutheranand MennoniteChurches
also studied. Moreover,in the spectrumof the modalitiesof the NHK
church,the GroningenFacultycultivatedlinks with the slightly leftof-centre 'ethical' modality,to which Van der Leeuw belonged,"'
and the duly right-of-centre'confessional' modality. The latterhad
been founded in 1864 to combat the liberal theology of the former
and to restorethe doctrinaldiscipline of the early (17th century)orthodox Calvinist 'Christconfessing' ReformedPublic Churchin the
NHK churchof the 19th and 20th centuries."2
Van der Leeuw explainedin his addresswhy he had no qualms
about disregardingthe legal separationbetween academicand confessional theology. He observedcorrectly that those of his fellow
scholars of religions, who demandedthat (confessional) Theology
be replaced with Science of Religion, or that the two be strictly
separated,had also foundedScience of Religion on meta-empirical
postulates,such as the existence of God and the "real"relationship
of believersto him, and,therefore,on a propertheology."3His other
argumentwas the psychicunity of humankindin mattersof religion.
He arguedthatthe disparatedisciplineof the Historyof Religions(in
the plural), i.e., the historical-philologicalstudy of the religions of
humankindin theirsingularities,could be unifiedinto the Historyof
Religion (in the singular)by the study of their"psychologicalunity,"
for the human mind functionedin all of them in identical ways.14
He dismissedthe standpuntloosstandpunt("thestandpoint-lessstandpoint")of "allegedobjectivity"as bothimpossibleandundesirable,15
and rejectedall non-religiousexplanationsof religion, because they
failedto do justice to thesui generis natureof religion.16 He said that
he followed Kristensen"l7
in relying on this (religious)"psychology"
andthe artof the empathyof the religiousscholar'18for creatinga unitary approachto humanreligions which aimed to discover"religion
132
Jan G. Platvoet
as such" in them. It sought to understand"the [common] religious

[element] in [its many] differentphenomena"which was "at their
heart"everywhere,and to penetrateto "thepsychologicalground,""9
OtherthanKristensen(whose only stipwhich was "theiressence."120
ulation was that a scholarof religion must be religious),121Van der
Leeuw, moreover,"consciouslyand with conviction [took] one specific religion [Christianity],not only as his field of researchbut also
as his norm."'22
He proposed that Science of Religion be regardedas the modem version, and successor,of NaturalTheology,or doctrina de deo.
By doing so, he proposedto fuse it with godsdienstgeschiedenis,
the History of Religion (in the singular),23or the Phenomenology
of Religion,124and to assign to it the task of dealing in a nonconfessionalway with 'the phenomenonof religion as such,' including Christianity.125Science of Religion, in his view, therefore,was
"theprecinctof Christiantheology"'26and as such an organicpartof
a faculty of theology.'27In his scheme of thatfaculty'sdisciplines,128
Vander Leeuw includedthe Historyof Religions (in the plural)as an
integralpartin the History(or Science) of Religion (in the singular),
defining the latter as their systematicstudy unifiedby the "psychology" of [religious]empathy.The 'Historyof Religion' in its turnwas
to serve as a substantivepartof the HistoricalTheology,togetherwith
the Biblical Theology and the Historyof Christianity.This historical
groupof theologicaldisciplineswas againto serve as the broad,'factual' basis of SystematicTheology. In reverseand descendingorder,
all these disciplines had to take theirnorm not only from Systematic
Theology, but also, in line with Gunning'29and Chantepie,from "the
living faith of the Christiancongregation."'30
In Van der Leeuw's system of the disciplines of a faculty of theology, the Science of Religion was part and parcel of a Christian
theology that was academicand liberal as well as confessional and
practical, i.e., directed towards"the living faith of the [Christian]
congregation."'3' This theology providedit not only with its norm,
and point of departurebut also with its goal. Van der Leeuw developed this approachfurtherthroughouthis tenureuntil his sudden
Close Harmonies
133
death in 1950.132By that time, he had redefinedthe differencebetween duplexandsimplexordotheology as thatbetweenthe reflective
stance of a Christiantheologianin the universitylecture hall of the
faculty of theologyon a weekday,and thatsame theologian'sfervent
sermonfromthe pulpitas a ministerof the churchon a Sunday.133
By
a
the
to
achieve
awareness
of
Christian
theology
profound
assisting
distinctly differentrevelationswhich God had grantedto religions,
the Science of Religionwas to be instrumentalin guidingthe Church
to its "LivingLord,Jesus Christ,"who alone was "able to vivify it
by His love."'34VanderLeeuw grew increasinglyconvincedthat"all
theology is anthropology,and all anthropologyis theology, [because]
the principleof all knowledgeaboutGod and natureis the God-man,
He statedthathis Science of Religionwas thatof a "ChrisChrist."135
and a "Christianexistentialist"137
who was certain
tian humanist"136
that he "hadbeen found"by God incarnatein Christ,the suffering
Ecce Homo.'38
His successor, Th.P. van Baaren, who held the Groningenchair
from 1952 to 1980, also tooka 'religionist'positionin the firstdecade
The same goes, and much more explicitly,
of his teachingthere.139
for H.Th. Obbink,who occupied the chair of History of Religions
in the very confessionalUtrecht Faculty from 1913 to 1939.140As
it did for his son and VanBaaren'steacher,H.W. Obbink,who held
it from 1939 to 1968;141and for D.J. Hoens, Professor of 'Living
Religions' from 1961 to 1982; and J. Zandee,Professorof 'Ancient
Religions' from 1968 to 1982. The successors to Chantepie'schair
in the AmsterdamFaculty were again no exception to this rule.142
They were A.J.H. Brandt(1900-1909), H.Th. Obbinkfrom 1910 to
1913, H. Hackmannfrom 1913 to 1934,143J. van den Bergh van
Eysinga from 1934 to 1935,44 and C.J. Bleekerfrom 1945 to 1969.
I will only discuss brieflyBleeker's 'close harmony'in view of the
influenceof his views in some quartersabroad.
Bleeker's Transcendent
Reality
Bleekertook "awarenessof the divine as a transcendentreality"as
essential for any and all religions.145That is also apparentfrom his
134
Jan G. Platvoet
definitionof religion as "man'srelationto a divine reality,"146

which
originatedfrom "a highernecessity:" a hierophanic"encounterwith
God or the Holy," and is expressed in sincere godsdienst, "service
of God."147
He viewed religion as "an invincible, creative and selfregeneratingforce,"as "man'sinseparablecompanion,"which "rises
and "inherspontaneouslyin the humanheart,"and is "indispensable"
ent" in humanlife.14 He explainedthe "disparate"varietyof human
religionsas God having"fixed"some humangroupsin one, andother
peoples in another"habit,"or "attitude,"of receptivitytowardsone
of his several modes of revelation:in nature,history, or the human
mind.149He held that Schleiermacherhad laid the theoreticalfoundation for the Science of Religion by "accordingthe same absolute
validity to all religions;"and he rejectedboth the Christianorthodox assertionthat Christianityalone is the one true religion, and the
reductiveexplanationsof religion on the grounds of psychological
and social factors.150He also publisheda theologia religionum,the
core of which is that "God has lightened the path to truthfor all
peoples in all ages [...] in a pluriformdispensationof the truth."
"The spiritualnotions [of mankind]are complementary,"therefore,
and "theindisputablyreligiouscontentof the non-Christianreligions
forces us to take seriouslythe notion of a generalrevelation."151
He
accordedno unique value to the Christianreligion, save for Christians. The gospel is, as one of God's dispensations,of "exceptional
significance[...] for Christians"and "totallybinding"on Christians,
because "Godhas revealedHis love in Christ"to them. But God did
"not reveal in him his purposefor the world"nor his "unfathomable
wisdom andmajesticomnipotence."Bleekerconsideredthe doctrines
of Trinity,incarnationand the two naturesof Christ to be laudable
Christologiesof the past but "untenablein modem times."'52Religions must constantlybe reformedand re-conceived.153
Christianity
being a "Christonomous"
religion,154however,he concluded his review of Vestdijk'sDe Toekomstder religie'55with the set liturgical
confession: "Christis the same today, yesterday,and in all eternity"
(Hebr. 13: 8).156
Close Harmonies
135
The ReligionistParadigm
The 'close harmonies'of Kristensen,Van der Leeuw, H.Th. Obbink, Bleeker, and Hiddingtook the shape of phenomenologiesof
religiongroundedin the samemetaphysicalpostulateson which Tiele
and Chantepiefoundedtheirphilosophiesof religion. They were that
the meta-empiricalis real; that man is religious by nature;and that
religion is sui-generisand should,therefore,not be 'explainedaway.'
The others, H.W. Obbink,de Buck, Hartmann,Hoens, and Zandee
also workedwithinthis religionistparadigmwithoutthemselvesmaking any pronouncementsupon it. This commoncore of their several
"close harmonies,"served as the virtuallyaxiomatic philosophicaltheological frameworkfor the Science of Religion in the Netherlands till far beyond 1948,157when Van der Leeuw's disciple, Fokke
Sierksma,beganpubliclyto disputeit. Despitehis starkanti-Christian
'nihilism,' even Sierksmawas a believer, albeit in an "unchristian
god," whom he experiencedas "an x, a god-in-my-back,"a silent
god playing cruel games with him.158Until 1960, liberal Christian
and, in Sierksma's case, post-Christiantheologies of several sorts
were taken to be the "natural'setting of Science of Religion in the
Faculties of Theology of the Dutch State Universities. They were
presumedto createthe conditionsfor an unbiasedand fully objective
This choir,therefore,also sang
study of the religions of mankind.159
of dissent were also heard.
a
few
voices
But
shrill
in close harmony.
Kraemer'sDissent
HendrikKraemer(1888-1965) was the principalexception to this
general model, as Gunningand Visscherhad been before him. The
three had in common that they rejectedthe duplex ordo and strove
afterthe re-absorptionof academictheology and Science of Religion
into confessional theology.160Gunningand Visscher, however, had
been foisted on theirfacultieswhilst Kraemerhad not. It is curious
that Kraemer,the missionarylinguist,islamologistand theologianof
a militantlyconfessionalkind,'16was selected in early 1937 as Kristensen's successorby the Leiden Facultyat the behest of Kristensen
136
Jan G. Platvoet
himself.'62The Faculty may have appointedhim for two reasons.

First, the Facultymay have felt that the inclusionof the study of the
modem religions of Asia (Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism)in the
curriculumof the Facultywas overduein the light of the increasingly
significantpresence the NHK church in the Dutch colonies, partly
throughits recent missionaryactivities and partlyas the result of its
establishedposition of old.163The religions of Asia, and Islam especially, were importantculturaland political factorsin the DutchEast
Indies,now Indonesia.Secondly,the gradualweakeningof the liberal
made it mandatory
modalityof the NHK churchin the interbellum'64
to
with
relation
that church. One
the
Leiden
its
for
Faculty improve
way to do so was throughthe missionaryinstitutionsin which Kraemer played a pivotal role, as Deputy Directorof the Zendingsschool
at nearbyOegstgeest,in which its missionarieswere trained,and as
Chairmanof its Mission Board.165It is probablyfor these reasons
that the Leiden Facultyallowed Kraemerto spend most of his time
on his work for the Christianmissions world wide before and after
WorldWarII, and duringthe war on his efforts to reformthe NHK
church. All in all, he seems to have spent ratherlittle time on teaching and his other duties as Professor of Science of Religion.66 At
his request,the Facultyappointedthe Egyptologistde Buck to teach
Ancient Religions (1939-1959).167
Kraemercalled his variety of Barth's dialectical theology "biblical realism."'68It was an equally polemic one, for Kraemerregarded "God's revelationin the Bible" as radically opposed to all
human religion.'69But he dissented from Barth in one important
respect. Kraemerheld, as did Kuyper,170that human naturewas
"ineradicablystampedwith a sensus divinitatisand [had] a sensus
religionisimplantedinto it"171But he agreedwith Barthnonetheless
that "the relationshipbetween God and man [was] fundamentally
The
defective and [could] only be restored by divine initiative."'72
Christianfaith must, therefore,be radicallytheocentric,bibliocentric,
and Christocentric.All (the other) religions of man were radically
They were naturalistand totalitariansystemsemanthropocentric.173
bracingnature,society, cosmos and the believers, in monistic,rela-
Close Harmonies
137
tivist and even fundamentallyagnostic ways.'74Because they were

basically similar, they were tolerantof each other and syncretistic,
each easily assimilating,and peacefully coexisting with, other religions. According to Kraemer,no such coexistence was possible
between these and propheticmissionaryChristianity,however, because, by their nature,the naturalistreligionshad to resist radically
the theocraticclaims of Biblicalreligion. The two were diametrically
opposed.'75
Duplexordo academictheologyalso resistedthese claims. In Kraemer's view, however, "theology,history,psychology, anthropology
must [all] be exploitedto achieve one aim, and one aim only: to be
a better instrumentin conveying the convictionthat God is speaking His decisive Word in Jesus Christto individuals,nations, peoHe termedthe duplex
ples, culturesand races withoutdistinction."176
ordo a "crooked"and "schizophrenicconstruction,"and the faculties
of duplex ordo theology "positivist"conglomerationsof literaryand
and "quasihistorical disciplines which were only "half-Christian"
theological,"i.e., theological in name, only.177He also demanded
that Philosophyof Religion be expandedinto one cateringnot only
for the West but also for the East. The Science of Religion ought
to be placed in the marginsof a "proper"(confessional)Faculty of
Theology. Its professorsshouldnot only be lecturers,researchersand
mentorsbut also militia Christi,"soldiersof Christ;"and the Science
of Religion should be "crowned"by a Theology of Religion.178
AlthoughKraemerheld thatthe simplexordo ought to be restored,
he had no intentionof banningthe Science of Religion from simplex
ordo theology. His linguisticstudies and missionarywork had made
it plain to him that no modem theology, whether confessional or
'academic,'whetherfor missionariesin the colonies or for ministers
'at home,' could do withoutthe studyof the otherreligions,historical
and comparative.179
It must,however,not claim a centralposition.'80
Kraemeralso voiced strongreservationsaboutthe 'scientificmethod'
in the study of religions. He claimed that analysis of them breaks
up their living, indivisible unity and thereby greatly distorts their
actual realities. He insisted that all religions must be studied "in
138
Jan G. Platvoet
the illuminatinglight of the revelationin Christ." That revelation

showed "all religious life, the lofty as well as the degraded,[... as
8
fundamentally]misdirected."'
Kraemerspent barelyten years at Leiden. On 1 January1948, he
exchanged his chair at Leiden for the directorshipof the new study
centre of the World Council of Churchesin Bossey, near Geneva,
Switzerland. With the exception of his inauguraladdress, he had
producedno publicationin Science of Religion in that decade.'82
Epilogue
It is a firm conclusionof this article that the duplex ordo may be
seen in retrospectto have servedas the simplexordo of DutchProtestantliberaltheologybetween1860 and 1960.183The 1876 law did not
"convertthe facultiesof theology,as a matterof principle,into faculties of science of religion,"84as has been assertedby its opponents.
The crucial factor was the emergence of liberal theology with its
different appreciationof humankind'sreligions in the course of the
19th century.Thatmay be convincinglyshown from anothercentury
of the history of the Dutch Science of Religion, that in the Dutch
simplex ordo institutesof (confessional)theology between 1880 and
1980. In 1880, Kuyperfoundedthe first of the Dutch simplexordo
institutesof academictheology: the Faculty of Theology at the Free
University at Amsterdam,in explicit opposition to the new duplex
ordo liberal theology establishedby the 1876 law at the Facultiesof
Theology of the State Universities.In the course of the 20th century,
however,liberaltheologygraduallycame to pervadenearly all Dutch
academicinstitutesof confessionaltheology. The introductionof the
Science of Religion into them was one of the signposts signalling
that shift. The Science of Religion in those institutesdisplayed,and
displays, a range of traitsbroadlysimilar to those of the Science of
Religion in duplexordo theology in the perioddiscussed. But thatis
matterfor anotherarticle.
Close Harmonies
Departmentfor the Study of Religions
Facultyof Theology
Leiden University
P.O.B.9515
NL-2300 RA Leiden
139
J.G. PLATVOET
1 "Directingour gaze from Christianityat the world of the historicalreligions,

we thinkthat we see the Gospelmanifestitself as the fulfilmentof religionas such"
(Vander Leeuw 1933: 614; 1948a: 629; 1963: 646). All translationsfrom Dutch,
Germanor French into English in this article are by the authorunless a different
translatoris expressly mentioned.
2 The academicstudyof religionshas traditionallybeen termed'Science of Religion' in the universitiesof ContinentalEurope. It goes by the nameof Religionswisin the Netherlands;religionsvidenskap
senschaftin Germany;godsdienstwetenschap
in Denmark;religioznawczein Poland;religiovedeniyain Russia;science(s) des religions in France;scienza delle religioniin Italy;ciencias de las religionesin Spain;
in Afrikaansin SouthAfrica. I use the term'Science
etc. andby godsdienswetenskap
article
this
because it is a historicalstudy, thoughI would
of Religion' throughout
of
Science
it
'the
term
Religions.'
preferto
3 Pinard de la Boullaye (1922: 504) traced the earliest use of Religionswissenschaftto a periodicalon the Historyof Religions, entitledMuseumfir die Religionswissenschaftin ihremganzen Umfang,threevolumes of which were published
by H.Ph.K.Henke in Magdeburgbetween 1804 and 1806. Othervery early uses of
Religionswissenschaftwere by the Czech philosopherof religionand mathematician
Bolzano (18341/18532/19943; 18371/18412/19943);cf. also Post (1869). Its synonym, Die Wissenschaftder Religion, was used by Stiefelhagen(1858) and Tolle
(1865-1871, I: 4; II: V).
4 The earliestuse of science des
religionswas by Leblancin 1852 (Leblanc1852,
I: 17 sq.). He, however,gave it in a differentmeaningfrom the moder one, i.e., as
the allegoricalinterpretationof the myths of the ancient religions. The first to use
the termin its modem sense was tmile Burouf in 1864 (Bumouf 1864, 1872), with
whom F. Max Miiller had studiedin 1845-1846. Cf. Pinardde la Boullaye 1922:
277, 504; van den Bosch 1993: 108.
5 Max Miiller was the firstto use it in English and he did so for the firsttime in
an essay on 'Semitic monotheism'in 1860 (pace van den Bosch 1993: 109) which
was republishedin Muller (337-374). He popularisedthe term in his introduction
to the Essays on the Science of Religion (1867) and his Introductionto the Science
of Religion (1873), definingit as 'the critical and comparativestudy of the religions
of the world' (cf. Miiller 1867: XI, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, XXVI, 183, 373;
and Miiller 1873).
140
Jan G. Platvoet
6 The first chair of

AllgemeineReligionsgeschichte,'the GeneralHistoryof Re-
ligions,' was establishedin the Faculty of Theology at the Universityof Geneva,

Switzerland, in 1873 (pace Kraemer1959: 9). Its first incumbentwas T. Droz
who occupied it from 1873 to 1880. Chairs were also establishedin the Universities of Lausanne,Basle, and Zurichin the following decades. The first two chairs
in godsdienstgeschiedenisin het algemeen, 'GeneralHistory of Religions,' in the
Netherlandswere establishedin 1877 and 1878 at the universitiesof Leiden and
Amsterdamafter that subjecthad been added to list of courses to be taughtin the
Faculties of Theology at the (State) Universitiesof Leiden, Utrechtand Groningen
in 1876. That list was also adoptedby the Faculty of Theology of the (Municipal) University of Amsterdam.The first incumbentat Leiden Universitywas C.P.
Tiele, from 1877 to 1900. P.D. Chantepiede la Saussayewas the firstto occupy the
Amsterdamchair, from 1878 to 1899, when he gave it up to become Professorof
Ethics at the Leiden Facultyof Theology. The first chairs in Francewere those of
A. Reville at the College de France,and of P. de Broglie at the InstitutCatholique,
both in Paris, in 1880. In Belgium, the chair of E.F.A. Comte Goblet d'Alviella at
the UniversiteLibre in Brusselswas foundedin 1884. In Italy,those of B. Labanca
at the University of Rome, and of R. Pettazoniat the Universityof Bologna were
established in respectively 1886 and in 1914. Sweden's earliest chairs were those
of N. Soderblom at the Universityof Uppsala in 1901, and of E. Lehmannat the
Universityof Lund in 1913. Thatof T.W.Rhys Davids was the first in England,at
the Universityof Manchesterin 1904. In Germany,they were those of E. Lehmann
at the University of Berlin in 1910, N. S6derblomat Leipzig University in 1912,
C. Clemen at the Universityof Bonn in 1920, and F. Heiler at the Universityof
Marburgin 1922. The firstchairin Science of Religion in Denmarkwas established
at the Universityof Copenhagenin 1914; and in Norway at the Universityof Oslo
in 1915. Cf. Pinard de la Boullaye 1922: 331-333; Van der Leeuw 1948a: 679;
Waardenburg1972: 381, 461, 639; Sharpe 1975: 120-133; Rollmann 1991: 87-91.
Cf. also Bianchi 1975: 28, note 21: 'The first permanentchair of the Historyof
Religions in Italy was held at the Universityof Rome, 1923-1953, by R. Pettazoni."
7 Chantepie 1909a: 91. Anotherfounderwas, of course, F.M. Muller, as Tiele
(1871a: 102) himself testified.
8 Leertouwer1989: 154, 156, 158.
9 Tiele 1860: 816. Cf. also: "I can hardlyimaginea scientifictheology of which
the history of religions is not an importantpart"(Tiele 1860: 816, note 1); and:
'Theology and Science of Religion must not be practisedseparatelyand independently. The former will have become truly scientific only when it has enlargedits
boundariesand has mergedcompletelywith the latter"(Tiele 1873a: 39).
10 NaturalTheology, or doctrina de deo, had emerged as a distinct discipline
duringthe 'Batavian'revolution(1795-1801), when it was split off fromconfessional
Dogmatic Theology becauseit was believed to transcendthe dogmatictheologies of
Close Harmonies
141
particularChristianchurches(cf. De Jong 1969: 14, 16, 17, 18, 20). It was the
"predecessorof both Philosophyof Religion and Historyof Religions,incorporating
much materialfrom DogmaticTheology"(De Jong 1969: 21; 1968: 314). It was
removedfrom the list of disciplinesto be taughtand examinedin the duplex ordo
faculties of theology in 1927.
1 Tiele 1860. Cf.,
e.g., Roessingh1924a, 1924d and Vander Linde 1983 on the
growingpopularityof moder theology.
12 Cf. De Jong 1968: 316 sq.
13Tiele 1866, 1867: 39.
14Whichbecamethe strongholdof 'modem' (i.e., liberal)theologyin the Netherlands in the following decades.
15Tiele 1873a.
16 After three earlierdraftshad stranded(De Jong 1968: 316-324). The universities at Leiden, Utrechtand Groningenwere given five faculties: Theology, Law,
Medicine,Mathematics& Physics, and Arts & Philosophy(art. 41).
17 The Faculties of Theology had usually only four, or exceptionallyfive, professors and some ten subjects to teach (cf. below note 113). The professorsof a
faculty, therefore,used to confer amongst themselves on who would teach which
courses,each takingtwo or, if need be, three or more (Kristensen1939/1954: 31).
Tiele, however,taughtHistoryof Religions only. The reasonfor this was probably
his (Arminian)outsiderhood(cf. below). Except for the new subject, History of
Religions, all the other fields of study were, as a matterof course, entrustedto the
'normal'staff. They were those who had been raisedin the traditionsof these faculties which they viewed as the reservesof the Public Churchand its newly emerging
modalities(Van Rooden 1996: 159-168, 173, 174). Tiele assertedhis rightto teach
Philosophyof Religion, and revivedthe defunct partof his formal commission as
professorof the LeidenFaculty,only in 1891, when he, by thenthe seniormemberof
the faculty,clashed with J.H. Gunningover the duplexordo. (See below the section
on 'The Duplex Ordoas SimplexOrdo.')
18De Jong 1968: 329.
19Tiele 1866: 213, 216, 226, 243; 1867: 41, 42, 52.
20 Tiele 1866: 212. He hastenedto add that he was not referringto the theology
taughtin the seminariesof the small Arminian,Lutheranand Baptist churchesin
the Netherlands,in which, "howeverhumble their name":the theology taught,he
asserted,was of an academiccalibre.
21 Tiele 1866: 213, 216; 1867: 42.
22 Tiele 1866: 217-218.
23 Tiele 1860: 815.
24 Tiele 1866: 212-215.
25 Tiele 1866: 216, 224-227.
142
26Tiele (1866: 239-240)
Jan G. Platvoet
distinguishedfourstagesin thatevolution.They evolved

refrom naturereligions throughmythologicalreligionsand dogmatic-philosophical
He
saw
as
the
to
world
transition
between
"symbolic
thinking"
religions.
ligions
mythology and doctrine (Tiele 1870a: 9-11). Cf. also Tiele 1871a on the phase of
the naturereligions, and in particularon the problemof whetheror not fetishismis
a markof man's earliest religion.
27 Both these terms mustbe takenin a wider,more metaphoricalsense thanthey
would normallybe takennowadays.
28 Tiele 1866: 241-242; 1867: 44-48, 51. In Tiele's Christianity,however,there
was no room for the divinity of the Christ, but only for the historical Jesus of
Nazarethwho had taughtmen to adore God in spirit and truth(Tiele 1870b: 165,
167). That teaching of Jesus Christ must be propagatedas the "religion of the
coming age" (Tiele 1870b: 168). Tiele was not alone in rejectingthe divinity of
the Christ: J.H. Scholten and a few other 'modem' theologianshad also taken this
positionin the 1860s (cf., e.g., Roessingh 1924d, IV: 311-317).
'anti-supranaturalist'
29 Tiele 1866: 225-227.
30 Tiele 1866: 227; or "religionitself" (Tele 1866: 227, 240), or its "essence"
(Tiele 1866: 233, 240-241).
31 Tiele 1866: 227, 229.
32 Tiele 1870a: 18-25.
33 Tiele was
referringhere to J.H. Scholten's appeal in the 1840s, and to that
of C.W. Opzoomer in the 1860s, to religious feeling for proving that Christianity
had a unique position amongthe religions of humankind(cf. Roessingh 1924d, IV:
279-283, 286, 298-300).
34 In line with the positiontakenby Scholtenin his book on free will (1859; cf.
Roessingh 1924d, IV: 291-296).
35 Tiele 1870a: 20-21.
36 The concept of "God' said Tiele (1870a: 21) originatedas reason's"highest
abstraction"afterthat humanfacultyhad evolved from its earliestphase of "instinctive imagination"and had begunto "reducereligionto concepts."
37 Tiele 1870a: 22, 20-25; 1870b: 167.
38 Tiele 1867: 51.
39 Tiele (1867: 51) himself translatedthe Dutch grondkracht('basic force') in
Germanas Urkraft,'primevalforce.'
40 Tiele 1866: 234; also 1867: 43-44.
41 Tiele's 'psychological method' was actuallya version of the then prevailing
school of naturemythology. He assertedthe psychologicalmethodexplainedreligion
from man himself. It did so by studying religions, and more specifically myths,
as symbol systems. Man had borrowed these from his naturalenvironmentfor
expressinghis belief thata spiritualprinciplegovernsthe universein the same manner
Close Harmonies
143
as the humanmind consciouslyrules the humanbody and its naturalenvironment

(Tiele 1870a: 5). In 1870, i.e., beforethe publicationof Tylor'sPrimitiveCulturein
1871, Tiele combinedelementsof Mller's approachwith some of Tylor's without
apparentlybeing awareof the contradictionbetweenMiiller'sdegressiveandTylor's
progressive theories of culturalevolution. Thus Tiele spoke of his revulsion at
the "chaotic"myths and "confused"beliefs of the savages (Tiele 1870a: 2) and
regardedtheir fetishism a "diseasefrom which religion could not have originated"
(Tiele 1870a: 16). But he praised"naturalman'srelativelyvery pure"representation
of "the above." He attributedhis confused poly-, heno- and monotheisticbeliefs to
his childlikeintelligencewhich was, as yet, unableto see the contradictionbetween
belief in one god and belief in many gods (Tiele 1870a: 16; also 1870b: 162). In
1871, however,Tiele shifted towardsa consistentTylorianposition, from which he
severelycriticisedMiiller'spostulateof primitiverevelationand his Schleiermachian
theology of manperceivingthe infinitein the finite. He also rejectedMiller's theory
of the disease of languageas the route along which the pure, primevalreligion had
degeneratedinto polytheism;his too close identificationof the study of languages
with the study of religions; and his extrapolationof insights, which were perhaps
true for the Arian religions,to religionsof humankind(Tiele 1871a: 101-115). In
same article,Tiele rejectedthe concept of fetishism as the earliest phase of human
religious history and replacedit with that of the degenerateleftovers from earlier
periods, a phenomenonwhich he said was found in all religions (Tele 1871a: 98101, 115-128). By 1873, Tiele had "swallowedTylor's animism lock, stock and
barrel"(Leertouwer1989: 160). The religions of the savages were no longer the
most degenerate,but ratherthe least developedform of a primevalreligion that had
been even more rude than theirs. From that "primitivereligion'"all religions had
descended by naturalgrowthor reform(Tiele 1873: 12). However, in his article
on "Religion"in the EncyclopaediaBrittannica(1884), Tiele seems to have shifted
again,this time towardsa theoryof primitivemonotheism.He declaredthatprimitive
religions were "only the degradedremnantsof [the more perfectreligion that] they
must once have been"(Chantepiede la Saussaye 1909a: 117).
42 Tiele conceded thathe took the terms "nature"and "natural"here "not in the
ordinary[meaning],but in [their]widest sense" (Tiele 1866: 228, 230).
43 Tiele divided the Science of
Religion into two parts: "the historical [part],
or the philosophyof the historyof religions,"which researchesthe morphologyof
religions, and "the psychological[part]or the philosophyof religious man,"which
investigatesthe essence of religion(Tiele 1866: 236; cf. also Tiele 1860: 828-829).
44 Tiele 1866: 224-226.
45 Tiele 1866: 236-243, esp. 243; 1867: 38-52, esp. 39-42, 48-52.
46 Tiele 1867: 39-42.
47 As they were until 1876 (Tiele 1867: 40; Oort 1892: 114). Tiele, however,
excluded the Historyof the Religion of Israel as a matterof course from this allo-
144
Jan G. Platvoet
cation of subjects to the Facultyof Arts & Philosophy,becausehe consideredit an

integralpart of the generalhistoryof religions (Tiele 1866: 242-243; 1867: 42).
48 De Jong 1969: 5, 7. AbrahamKuenen (1828-1891) was Scholten's special
pupiland a leaderof 'ModemTheology.' In 1853, at the age of 24, he was appointed
to teach New TestamentExegesis and the Encyclopaediaof Theology at the Leiden
Faculty,to which Ethics was addedin 1860. But his particularfield of study was Old
TestamentExegesis in which he also offeredclasses and in which he became one of
the leading scholarof his time (Oort 1892: 114; Kristensen1939/1954: 31-32). He
was formallyappointedProfessorof OT Exegesis and the Historyof the Religion of
Israelin 1877 (cf. also Anonymus1912: 734).
49 Tiele 1866: 212-215, 242; 1867: 51-52.
50 Tiele 1860: 830.
51 Tiele 1867: 52.
52 Said Tiele in 1879 (quotedin Roessingh 1924d, IV: 359-360). Tiele addedthat
Christianitywould be readyto play that role only afterit had assimilated"thebest
of the otherreligions."For similarpositions,cf. Groenman1933: 208-216; Vanden
Bergh van Eysinga 1940: 114-115. For an incisive critiqueof the theological teleevolutionism,see Kristensen1915/1954:
ology of this Euro- and Christiano-centric
75-79.
53 As did Scholten in his dogmatictheology (Roessingh 1924d, IV: 294).
54 Tiele 1870b: 167; cf. Groenman(1933: 213) who termedmen "the organsof
God;"and Van den Bergh van Eysinga 1940: 109.
55 There are, of course, iiportant differencesbetweenTiele's unitariantheology
and Vander Leeuw's Christocentricone as well as betweentheirrespectiveSciences
of Religion, as I will show in greaterdetail below. Even so, Wiebe (1991) is wrong
to constructan absolute oppositionbetween Tiele and Van der Leeuw, by arguing
thatVander Leeuw subvertedanddestroyedTiele's scientificstudy of religions. The
Science of Religion of eachof themsprangfroma Christiantheology. The semblance
of scientificrigorevidentin Tiele's workis due mainlyto the methodologicalnaivite
of his more positivistic age. Wiebe's polemic against Van der Leeuw however,is
not without historical substance. Van der Leeuw 'reconfessionalised'Science of
Religion by comparisonwith Tiele's, as will be shown below. But that difference
is better explained by Tiele's being an 'outsider' and Van der Leeuw an 'insider,'
in terms of their relationshipto the (informal NHK) 'establishment,'than by the
one 'establishing'and the other 'subverting'the Science of Religion. Furthermore,
VanderLeeuw studiedin Leidenfrom 1908 to 1913 andwas in termsof his theology,
muchmore a disciple of Chantepie,his Professorof Ethicsanda memberof the NHK
church, than of Kristensen,his Professorof Science of Religion and a Norwegian
Lutheran. Hak (1994: 122) was also incorrectin suggestingthat Tiele had begun
to separateScience of Religion from Theology; nor does his referenceto Sierksma
1977 supportthis assertion.
Close Harmonies
56 The
145
body of the thesis counts only 87 small pages and is supplementedby

19 pages of annotations.
57 Chantepiede la Saussaye1871: 3, 46, 47-58, 81, 93, note 1.
58 Tiele 1873b: 379.
59 Chantepie1878: 25.
60 Chantepie(1871: 10) referredto them as [ver]onderstellingen,'hypotheses.'
They were, however,clearlynot meantas provisionalassumptionsto be rejectedif
falsified,butratheras thebasicandaxiomaticconditionswithoutwhichno 'objective'
Science of Religion is possible.
61 Chantepie1871: 10, 55. He argued,that"if thatrelationship[betweenGod and
man, JP] does not actuallyexist, religion would indeed have to be termeda disease
of the humanmind;and, becauseno realitycorrespondedto it, it could hardlyclaim
to be an object of scientificresearch"(Chantepie1871: 10, 17-18).
62 'Though it cannotpossibly be denied that the existence of God and his relationship to the world cannotbe provedscientifically,the postulateof his existence
remainsnonethelessthe very corer stone of the science of religion. [...] It [simply]
cannotcount God out." (Chantepie1871: 47-48).
63 Chantepie1871: 47, 48, 81, 83.
64
Chantepie1871: 9-10, 11, 32, 41, 47-48, 54-55.
65
Chantepie1871: 51-52, 101, note 47.
66 Chantepie1871: 11, 33-35. Chantepie(1871: 98-99) referredto F.M.Miiller's
early publicationson languageto corroboratehis argument.
67 Chantepie1871: 12-15. He used the term"hypothesis"here and on p. 38 in a
very differentmeaningfromthaton pp. 10, 17-18, whereit referredto the axiomatic
metaphysicalfoundationof the Science of Religion.
68
Chantepie1871: 10-14, 87.
69
Chantepie 1871: 26, 37, 49-51, 59-76. Chantepieheld that humansdid not
evolve from an animalstate, for they had been endowedwith language,cultureand
a "healthyintellect"from the earliestmoment of their existence (Chantepie1871:
33-34, 98-99).
70
Chantepie1871: 49; 1878: 28.
71
Chantepie1871: 49, 51-54; cf. also 97, where he approvinglyquotedM. Carriereto the effect thatphenomenaof naturecausedman to become awareof superior
powers. Not only did they feel dependentupon them but, at the same time, they
felt borne by them and surroundedby their love (liebevoll umfangen). This is an
early expressionof the mysticism,at once deistic and Christo-centric,which was at
the heartof the romanticspiritualitywhich Chanrepiecultivatedthroughouthis life.
As with other theologiansof the GroningenSchool, this emotionalChristo-centrism
did not necessarily imply that Chantepieheld that Christ was divine, althoughhe
regardedhim God's supremerevelationto humankind.
146
72
Jan G. Platvoet
Chantepie1871: 54 sq.
73 Curiously,in his valedictoryaddress,Chantepieseems to join Miller's "perception of the Infinite"with Tylor's animism as a reductionistexplanationof the
origin of religion (Chantepie1916: 9).
74 Chantepie1871: 51-53, 76, 101.
75 Chantepie1871: 81, 86; see also Roessingh 1924c: 466, 468471.
76 Chantepie1871: 33-34, 54-58, 83, 98.
77 Tiele 1871b: 374-380.
78 See Roessingh 1919: 66, 69-72, esp. 71: "Ourfaculties [of theology] are not
faculties of Science of Religion and must not pretendthat they are. [...] Actually,
the [progratllmle
of] studies has remainedcompletelyorientedtowardsChristianity."
79 To which several other disciplines were added in the course of this century:
ChristianEthics, Biblical Theology,the History of the Dutch ReformedChurch,its
'Canon Law,' the History of ChristianMission, Liturgics,Homiletics, Catechetics,
Ecumenics,etc. (cf. De Jong 1968: 239-332.)
80 Their salaries, however, were paid by the State (article 104 of the law of
28 April 1876). They were entitledto take part in the various ceremoniesat their
universities(art. 105). Candidatesfor the ministrywere admittedto the university,
as full students,at half the normalfees (art. 106).
81 They were actuallyappointedby the Ministerof InternalAffairs. As a result,
political considerationsdid sometimes play a major part in appointmentssuch as
those of Gunning (see below and notes 114, 121) and Visscher (see below and
note 123).
82 They were the Encyclopaediaof Theology, the Historyof the Doctrineabout
God, the General History of Religions, the History of the Religion of Israel, the
Historyof Christianity,the Literatureof IsraelandEarlyChristianity,the Exegesisof
the Old and New Testaments,the Historyof the Doctrinesof the ChristianReligion,
the Philosophy of Religion, and Ethics (art. 42). On the history of the genesis of
this law and, in particular,its reconstructionof the facultiesof theology,cf. Berkhof
1954: 24-29; Kraemer1959: 10-19;De Jong 1968; Bakhuizenvan den Brink 1954.
83 Pace Van Leeuwen 1959: 115.
84 In 1877, Tidle was
appointedProfessorof Historyof Religions and Philosophy
of Religion, on maximumsalaryand some extras(De Jong 1982: 6).
85 See above note 10.
86 It is of interestto note thatHume's The Natural
Historyof Religion (1857) is
the fountainheadnot only of the term and the discipline of History of Religion(s),
but also, at least in England,of Philosophyof Religion (Root 1956: 7).
87 Apartfrom his inauguraladdress(van Dijk 1883), van Dijk neverproduceda
publicationon the Historyof Religions (van Haarlem1983: 183). He held thattrue
knowledgeof other religionswas possible only for those who possessed the "faculty
Close Harmonies
147
the religiouslanguageof dependencyupon the living

of divination"for understanding
God who had revealedhimself to them, commonto all men. That dependencywas
the essence of all religion, for religion was not merely a mood, but also both an
ontological relationshipbetween God and humans, and their awarenessthat they
were bound to, and dependenton, God. VanDijk also held that God was a proper
object of [the] science [of Theology] because he had revealedhimself in the finite
realmof man (Van Dijk 1883/1927,I: 398-402, 409-410, 413).
88 Lamers 1900; Visscher1911.
89 H.Th.ObbinktaughtHistoryof Religions,NaturalTheology (doctrinade deo),
and Assyriology at UtrechtUniversityfrom 1913 till 1939. In 1918, G. van der
Leeuw became Professorof Historyof Religions, the History of doctrina de deo
(van der Leeuw 1918: 3), and Egyptology at the Universityof Groningenwhere
he also taughtthe Encyclopaediaof Theology. In 1941, the NHK churchcommissioned him also to teach the (confessional)subjectof Liturgics(cf. van der Leeuw
19482/19351; Sierksma 1951: 31, 107-108; Waardenburg1983: 114-115). P.D.
Chantepiede la Saussaye had no teaching duties other than History of Religions
at the Universityof Amsterdambetween 1878 and 1899, nor had Tiele's successor,
W.B. Kristensen,at Leiden from 1902 to 1937. Chantepie,however, gave up his
chairof Historyof Religions in Amsterdamin 1899 in orderto succeed Gunningas
Professorof the Encyclopaediaof Theology, Philosophyof Religion, and Ethics at
LeidenUniversity(De Jong 1982: 16). In his Leideninauguraladdress,he statedthat
he was not really happywith the duplexordo structureof the faculties of theology
(Chantepie1899: 16), but he did not demand,as Gunninghad done, that theology
be tied to the faith of the church,thoughhis personalfaith was a Christocentricone
(Roessingh 1924a, [II]:400; 1924c: 469; cf. also Hak 1964: 14-15).
90 The fact that, except for Tiele, historiansof religions were never assigned to
teach the Philosophy of Religion signals the beginningof the separationbetween
Philosophy of Religion, which was the centralsubject of Christianocentricduplex
ordo liberaltheology,and Science of Religion, which remainedmarginalin termsof
its subjectmatterand perceivedrelevancefor 'ministerialformation.'The distance
graduallyincreasedby the followingsteps. Chantepieintroduced'Phenomenologyof
Religion' for classifyingthe dataof Historyof Religionsin an orderlyway (Chantepie
1887: 8, 67-73; Waardenburg1973: 105-113). Kristensen(1960: 1-9) used Phenomenologyof Religion in addition"to graspthe [absolute]value which [religious
phenomena]have had for the believersthemselves,"andto discover"theirideal connections"and essences. Van der Leeuw equated(and exchanged)Phenomenology
of Religion with NaturalTheologyin his own projectof the reconfessionalisationof
Science of Religion. See below and Vander Leeuw 1918: 5; see also above note 10
on the history of NaturalTheology as a subjectin Dutch faculties of theology; and
James 1985: 325-334. The separationbecame a huge rift after 1960 when method-
148
Jan G. Platvoet
ological agnosticism becamethe dominantparadigmof Dutch Science of Religion

in duplex ordo faculties of theology (VanBaaren 1973: 44; Platvoetforthcoming).
91 See Tiele 1892: 1.
92 J.H. Scholten (1811-1885), the formerProfessorof New Testament,doctrina
de deo (Natural Theology) and Dogmatic Theology (1845-1876), had also been
appointedProfessorof Philosophyof Religion and doctrinade deo in 1876. When
Scholten retired in 1881, L. Rauwenhoff,who had been Professor of History of
Christianityand ChristianDoctrinetill then, was appointedProfessorof Philosophy
of Religion; in additionhe was assignedthe Encyclopaediaof Theology (Roessingh
1924a, (II): 396; Wiegeraad1991: 23). After Rauwenhoff'searly death in 1889,
J.H. Gunningwas appointedProfessorof Philosophyof Religion; with Ethics being
addedon Kuenen's deathin 1891.
93 These partieswere the firstmajorsigns of the re-organisationof Dutch society
into a mode of apartheid,the 'pillars.'Betweenroughly 1880 and 1960, theydivided
the Dutch nation into a numberof sections each cultivatingits distinct religious or
ideological identityby each establishingits own political party,schools, universities,
healthcare, media, sportingandotherassociations,etc.; cf. VanRooden 1996: 32-42,
162-199.
94 De Jong 1982: 12-13.
95 Cf.
Gunning 1890, 1892.
96 See Tiele 1892: 1-5; Roessingh 1924a, (II): 398-400; Kraemer1959: 22-26;
De Lange 1987.
97 Cf., e.g., Roessingh(1919: 71) on Historyof Religions as the "obligingmaidservantassisting us to understandbetter the piety and ideas of the Old and New
Testaments."
98 Cf.
Roessingh 1924d(IV): 278, passim.
99 Only a few, such as Tiele in Leiden and Vanden Bergh van Eysinghain Amsterdam, actually strove for full independencefrom the NHK church. The largest
faculty,the Utrechtone, in particularbecameclosely allied to the emergingorthodox
wing of that church. The modalitiesof the NHK church,and the minor Protestant
churcheswhich maintainedtheir seminariesat one of the faculties, each cultivated
stronglinks with a particularfaculty.Throughthe informalprocessesof co-optation,
they influencedde facto who was appointedto what chair, as Tak van Poortvliet,
Ministerof InternalAffairs,was forcedto admitin Parliamentin 1896 when pressed
on this point by AbrahamKuyper(De Jong 1982: 15). When Kuyperhimself was
both PrimeMinisterandMinisterof InternalAffairsfrom 1901 to 1906, he pursued
a vigorous policy of 'reconfessionalisation,'e.g., by appointingHugo Visscher as
Professorof Historyof Religions,NaturalTheology andEthicsat the UtrechtFaculty
to Kuyperand
against its wishes. Visscher'smany dissenting "recommendations"
his successorsenabledthemto steer that facultyeven more solidly towardsthe right
wing of the NHK church. A similar policy of 'reconfessionalisation'was pursued
Close Harmonies
149
by the various Dutch governmentcoalitions of the 'confessional' partiesbetween

1918 and 1933 (De Jong 1982: 29-32; cf. also Wiegeraad1991: 45-67). On the
pragmaticand political relationshipsbetween the NHK churchand the duplexordo
faculties,cf. also Roessingh 1924b,(II): 416; 1924d: 288.
100Cf., e.g., Roessingh 1924a: 394-395; Vanden Berghvan Eysinga 1940: 102103; and especially Sierksma(1950: 197) who squarelylocated the 'a-theoretical'
(i.e., normative)interestof this Scienceof Religion in the theologicalproblemposed
by the pluralityof religions.
101Van Heemskerk,however,was enoughof a realistto acknowledgethatit was
unlikely that (church-tied)Dogmatic Theology would not palpably influence the
teaching of these subjects by these duplex ordo professorsof theology (De Jong
1968: 327).
102Cf., e.g., Kuenen 1874: 625, 634, 639-641; VanDijk 1883/1926, I: 399-400;
Groenman1933: 206-208.
103Cf. above note 1. Except for Tiele (cf. above note 64), van der Leeuw (cf.
note 1), Bleeker (with qualifications,see below), and of course Kuyperand Kraemer (see below), this theology of Christianity'ssuperiorityover otherreligions was
more often a hiddenassumptionthanan explicit theoryin the publicationsof Dutch
scholarsof religions of this period. If they voiced these views at all, it was mostly
viva voce in the lecture hall (Sierksma 1951: 41-42). Kristensen(1960: 11-15,
17) strongly resistedTiele's gradingof religions, on the basis of his (Kristensen's)
(mistaken)argumentthateveryreligionwas "of absolutevalue"to its believers(Kristensen 1960: 6). Kraemer(1960: xxiv) was greatlytroubledby this "blurringof the
majesticproblemof Truth"by his teacherand predecessorKristensen.
104
Roessingh 1919: 70-72.
105That was the case not only in Roessingh'stime (Roessingh 1919: 71) but is
grosso modo true even now.
106Cf., e.g., Roessingh 1919: 74-75; 1924b: 416-418.
107 See Kristensen(1960: 9-10; 1931/1954: 11; Kraemer 1960: xiii, xviiixix, xxi-xxii, xxiii-xiv) on the need for the scholar of religions to have "personal
religiousexperience."On Kristensen'sChristianspirituality,cf. VanLeeuwen 1959:
116-117; Kraemer1960: xi, xiii, xxii-xxiiv. Kristensen'smethodologywas not free
of contradiction.He held, on the one hand,thatthe only legitimateobject of Science
of Religion was religion as the believersthemselvessaw it (Kristensen1946/1954:
15). Its task, therefore,was to understandreligions from the perspectiveof their
believers(Kristensen1960: 13); and the scholarof religionsmust himself or herself
be religious and "grow religiously"by that study (Kristensen1919: 264; 1960:
10). He also insisted, however,that scholars,as moder man, "cannotpenetrateto
the real meaning"which Ancientbelievers attachedto their acts and myths. They
cannot"understandthem in the same manneras the Ancientsunderstoodthem,"for
moder man can only attachsymbolical meanings to what was perfectly real for
150
Jan G. Platvoet
the Ancients (Kristensen1931/1954: 10-11). Moder scholars, therefore,"remain

strangersin the precinctsof the temple"forever.They achieve an understandingof
the irrationalmagical religiosityof the Ancients that is doomed to be qualitatively
differentandonly approximate.Because "theirrealityis no longer ours"andbecause
"we cannot look with their eyes,""[the Ancients] saw what we do not see, and we
see what they did not see" (Kristensen1931/1954: 9, 10, 12, 13, 14).
108Cf. Hidding 1960.
109Cf. Kraemer1959: 27.
110That at the Utrechtfaculty,at which also, until the late 1960s, only students
of the NHK church were trained,was even more outspokenly 'confessional' than
the Groningenfaculty because of its preponderantlink to the powerful right wing
GereformeerdeBond modality,foundedin 1909.
III Cf.,
(1978: 189, 197, 242-243)
e.g., Waardenburg1983: 116; Waardenburg
characterizesVan der Leeuw's 'ethical' position as a "balancebetween confessional
orthodoxyand liberal modernism."
112Cf. Golterman1971.
113Van der Leeuw 1918: 17-18. He
might have referredfor supportto Kuenen
who in 1874 had combattedthe 'naturalist'conclusionof the 'positivists'amongthe
Dutch modem theologiansthatthe rejectionof the 'supranaturalism'
[of confessional
without
modem
theologylogically implied "religion
metaphysics"and
theology] by
the reductionof religion to a merelypragmaticattitudeto life (Kuenen 1874: 624,
635, passim). Kuenenaccusedhis opponentsof "orthodoxophobia"
(Kuenen 1874:
645).
114Van der Leeuw 1918: 5, 6, 7.
115Van der Leeuw 1918: 15; Vander Leeuw expressedhimself in even stronger
termswhen he termedthe allegedunbiasedtreatmentof databy the "cold observer"
"fromafar"as "positivelyfateful"("geradezuverhingnisvolr')(VanderLeeuw 1933:
613, 647, 648; 1948: 628, 666; 1963: 645, 678, 679). Vander Leeuw touchedhere
on a raw nerve in Kristensen,who accusedhim of over-simplifyingthe methodology
of the historicalstudy of religionsby collapsing their historicaldiversityinto their
"commonpsychologicalground"of "religionas such"or "naturalreligion."Thatabstraction,said Kristensen(1919: 262), "does not exist." Only the historicalreligions
exist. Moreover,Phenomenologyof Religion is not competentto establishthe nature
of religion. That is the task of PhilosophicalTheology/Philosophyof Religion, and
even that discipline could "notsolve that problem"(Kristensen1919: 263; cf. 1960:
9). Kristensen(1919: 263) took the position that the historicalresearchof religions
should not be governedby definitionsof religion that purportedto establishedits
essence. AgainstVander Leeuw'sdismissal of the "allegedobjectivity"of historical
researchand his shift to his own Christiansubjectivity,Kristensenarguedthat the
study of religionsshouldbe guidedby the sincere interactionbetween the religiosity
of the believers studiedand of the scholar studying them. That study providedthe
Close Harmonies
151
scholarwith a constantlyexpandingreligious horizonthat not only caused the researcherto "growreligiously"but also slowly changedhis religiouspreconceptions
(Kristensen1919: 263-265; cf. also Waardenburg1978: 244; 1983: 115). Historical
research,he insisted elsewhere,is led astrayby normativeevaluation. Instead,the
"dangerousdiscipline"of the Historyof Religions demandsthat one abandon"the
notion of one's own centrality."The safety of one's axiomaticcertaintiesmust be
abandoned.One must surrenderoneself to the object of one's study and understand
it from the sympathywhich it has generatedin one, at the price of paralyzinguncertaintyin mattersof religioustruth(Kristensen1915/1954: 68-69, 70-73, 74-75,
80-81). Once a scholarhas de-establishedhis own centre,has reducedit to only one
amongmany,and views each religionas the very imperfectexpressionof the divine
realityas believershave experiencedit, each and every religionwill lead the scholar
deeperinto its mystery(Kristensen1915/1954: 82-83).
116Van der Leeuw 1918: 7-9.
117Cf. Kristensen1960: 7, 139-140.
118Who is in need of intuitionas much as he is in need of
knowledge(Vander
Leeuw 1918: 9-10).
119Vander Leeuw 1918: 7,
quotingKristensen1904: 237.
120Vander Leeuw 1918: 21.
121Cf.,
e.g., Kristensen1960: 9-10; cf. also Van der Leeuw (1918: 14): "the
study of religions requiresa religiousresearcher."
122Van der Leeuw 1918: 15, 18-20; also 1933: 613-614; 1948a: 629; 1963:
645-646. Van der Leeuw explicitlyaffirmedthat that religion was that of the NHK
church.He did so in the concludingpartof his inaugurallecture,when he addressed
the two professorsappointedby that churchto teach confessionaltheology as well
as the studentspreparingfor the ministryin that churchat the Groningenfaculty
(Vander Leeuw 1918: 23-24, 27). He did so again in note 23.
123 He
proposed that the title of his chair be changed from geschiedenis der
godsdienstenin het algemeen (the General History of Religions, in the plural)to
algemenegodsdienstgeschiedenis(the GeneralHistoryof Religion, in the singular).
He consideredthat"reduction"
only as "a minorbreach"of the law of 1876, although
he acknowledgedthatit introduced"afundamentaldistinction"(VanderLeeuw 1918:
5).
124On the genesis, historyand multiple meanings of 'phenomenology'and its
distinctuses in 'Phenomenologyof Religion' as championedby Chantepie,Vander
Leeuw and Bleeker,cf. James 1985.
125Van der Leeuw 1918: 6, 7, 19.
126Van der Leeuw 1918: 22.
127Van der Leeuw 1918: 5-7, 14-15.
152
Jan G. Platvoet
128 Van der Leeuw was also
assigned to teach the Encyclopaediaof Theology

(andEgyptianLanguageandLiteraturein theFacultyof Arts)(cf., e.g., Waardenburg
1978: 189-190).
129Vander Leeuw explicitlyacknowledgedhis debt to Gunning'sGodgeleerdheid
en Godsdienstwetenschap('Theology and Science of Religion,' 1892), praisingit as
a "marvelousbooklet"(Vander Leeuw 1918: 25, note 2).
130Van der Leeuw 1918: 15-16, 18-22.
131Van der Leeuw 1918: 15-16, 18.
132For surveys of Van der Leeuw's theological development,cf. Waardenburg
1978: 193-220; 1983: 116-118.
133 Van der Leeuw 1948b: 197. The briefest summaryof Van der Leeuw's
'close harmony' was his saying that there was 'no culture without cult' (quoted
by Van Veen [1951: 531]); anotherbrief one is: "all understandingis ultimately
religious"(Van der Leeuw 1933: 647).
134Van der Leeuw 1918: 21-22.
135Van der Leeuw 1948b: 196; cf. also Van der Leeuw 1933: 613-614; 1948a:
628-630; Kraemer1959: 26-33; Mulder 1965: 8-9.
136Van der Leeuw 1947a.
137Van der Leeuw 1947b: 571-572.
138Vander Leeuw & Sierksma1949: 6-7, 10-12; cf. also Van der Leeuw 1933:
1973: 419-421; 1983: 119;
646-648; 1948a: 665-667; 1963: 678-679; Waardenburg
James 1985: 328-329.
139On VanBaaren'searlyreligionismandhis shift to methodologicalagnosticism,
cf. Platvoetforthcoming.
140When Obbink retired,his studentstestified that he had taught the Science
of Religion to them in closest union with Biblical Studies and in a Christo-centric
manner,in order that they might become good ministersin the church (Edelkoort
e.a. 1939: VII-XI). For examplesof Obbink'sbiblio- and Christo-centricapproach,
see Obbink 1903: 22-28; 1913: 105-107;cf. also Hak 1964: 16.
141Cf. Hak (1964: 17-21) on H.W. Obbink'spartly 'ethical,' partly Barthian
theology.
142 I have not been able to establish who taught Science of Religion in the
AmsterdamFaculty from 1935 to 1945.
143Hackmannread Theology and Semitic Languagesat Leipzig and Gottingen
Universitiesfrom 1883 to 1886, and obtaineda Ph.D. in Old TestamentExegesis
at GOttingenin 1893. He workedas a Lutheranministerin Shanghaifrom 1894 to
1903, and travelled extensivelyin the Far East from 1901 to 1903 and again from
1910 to 1912. While servingas the pastorof a Germancongregationin London,he
publishedextensively on ChineseBuddhism.He was appointedProfessorof History
of Religions and the Historyof the Religion of Israel at AmsterdamUniversityin
1913. His publicationswere virtuallyall on Chinese religions. Cf. Merkel 1934.
Close Harmonies
153
144This "lastand
probablymosteruditerepresentativeof the radicalDutchschool
[in New TestamentStudies]"(VanderHorst1988: 38) was anotherleaderof 'Modern
of Historyof Religions in the
Theology.' He was appointedProfessorExtraordinary
AmsterdamFaculty in 1934, and OrdinaryProfessorfor New Testamentand Early
ChristianLiteraturein 1935.
145Quoted in Sierksma 1979: 139; cf. also Bleeker 1963: 37-38; 1966: 77,
120-121; 1973: 151-152, 197.
146Bleeker 1963: 45, 51; also 1966: 84; 1973: 11, 151, 156, 163.
147Bleeker 1956: 7; 1965: 24, 34; 1966: 95, 117, 120; 1971: 646; 1972: 41;
1973: 156, 167.
14 Bleeker 1963: 24;1966: 7, 60-62, 112, 117, 119-121.
149Bleeker 1956: 77-80; 1958b: 339; 1963: 32-34; 1966: 72-74, 76, 95, 101102; 1973: 163.
150Bleeker 1956: 6-7, 13, 75, 85-88; 1958b: 335-336; 1963: 9, 19, 31; 1966:
58-59, 63, 70, 76-94; 1971: 645-646; 1973: 161.
151 Bleeker 1965: 122; 1966: 105-106; also 1959a: 171; 1966: 72-74, 81,
95-109, 128; 1972: 217.
152Bleeker 1966: 107, 124-126.
153Bleeker 1958a: 169-170; 1966: 36, 54, 127-128.
154Bleeker 1966: 125.
155Bleeker 1949, also in Sierksma1979: 129-139.
156In Sierksma1979: 139; also Bleeker 1966: 121. Cf. also Mulder 1965: 8-9;
James 1985: 313-318.
157E.g., Bakhuizenvan den Brink(1955: 211-212) arguedin 1955 thatone might
conceivably equate duplex ordo theology with 'Facultiesof Science of Religion,'
nature"of duplex ordo theology
providedthat the "completelyWestern-Christian
is also acknowledged,as well as its intimaterelationshipwith [Dutch] Science of
Religion.
158Van der Leeuw & Sierksma1948: 15-16; see Platvoetforthcoming.
159Cf. also van den
Berghvan Eysinga 1940: 112.
60 Cf.,
e.g., Kraemer1959: 14.
161Kraemer
(1888-1965) had been trainedas a missionaryat the Nederlandse
Zendingsschoolat Rotterdamfrom 1905 to 1911. He had read Languagesand Literaturesof Indonesia (mainly those of Java) at Leiden University,specialising in
Islam under Snouck Hurgronje,from 1911 to 1921 (Van Leeuwen 1959: 10-16;
JansenSchoonhoven 1983: 104-105). He had sat in also on Kristensen'sScience
of Religion lectures in those years. They had "gripped"him, because Kristensen
"himselfwas gripped"(Kraemer1960: xix). He had concludedhis studies in Leiden in 1921 with a cum laude Ph.D. on a 16th centuryJavaneseprimbon,Muslim
mysticaltreatise(Kraemer1921). He had been employed,between 1923 and 1935,
154
Jan G. Platvoet
as Bible translatorby the NederlandsBijbelgenootschapon Java. In addition,he had

also been commissioned to study recent developmentsamong intellectualsin Java
and in Javanese Islam. He had travelledwidely throughIndonesiain his official
functionof visiting, and reportingon, many regionaldependenciesof the Protestant
Churchof the Dutch East Indies (Van Leeuwen 1959: 16-92; JansenSchoonhoven
1983: 105-107). After his returnto Europe in 1935, he had served as an officer
of the InternationalMissionaryCouncil from 1936 to 1938, with the special task of
preparingits third internationalconferenceat Tambaran,India, in December 1938
(Van Leeuwen 1959: 98-109).
162Kraemer1960: xi; VanLeeuwen 1959: 116-117.
163Cf.,
e.g., VanLeeuwen1959: 21-92; on its establishedposition: VanLeeuwen
1959: 84-87.
164
Mainly throughthe growinginfluenceof Dutch varietiesof Barth's'dialectical' theology,developedby O. Noordmans(1871-1956), H. KraemerandH. Miskotte
(1894-1976), confessional systematictheology lost virtuallyall interestin the other
religions of humankindand in Science of Religion (Waardenburg1978: 243, 246;
1983: 119).
165Van Veen 1947: 562.
166Van Leeuwen 1959: 117; 103-113. The Leiden Facultyagreedthat Kraemer
would assume teaching duties only after the conferenceat Tambaranin December
1938 (VanLeeuwen 1959: 117). Thoughheavilypreoccupiedwith the preparationof
thatconference,Kraemerdid manageto deliverhis inauguraladdresson 3 December
1937. After Tambaran,Kraemertraveledfor four months throughSouthernIndia,
Ceylon, Sumatra,Java, Celebes and Bali (Kraemer1940: 55-202; Van Leeuwen
1959: 109-113), returningto Leiden in the early summerof 1939. The University
of Leiden was closed from 26 November1941 until the end of the war. With many
other leading intellectuals,Kraemerwas detainedas a hostage by the Germansat
St. Michelsgestel from July 1942 until 1943 (VanLeeuwen 1959: 139-141, 151). In
addition,from 1940 until his departurefor Bossey in late 1947, Kraemerwas deeply
involved in NKH churchrenewal(Van Veen 1947; Van Leeuwen 1959: 114-157).
Kraemerhad an aversionto the routineof teaching(VanLeeuwen 1959: 114, 120).
He suffereda serious collapse in late 1946 (JansenSchoonhoven1983: 108-109).
167Cf. van Leeuwen 1959: 120. De Buck was appointedProfessorExtraordinary
in Egyptology and the Historyof Ancient Religions in both the Faculty of Arts &
Philosophyand the Facultyof Theology (de Buck: 1939: 3, 5, 22-23).
168 Kraemer 1938: 61sq. On Kraemer'sBarthianism,cf., e.g., Kraemer1945;
Bronkhorst1946: 322-323; JansenSchoonhoven1983: 108.
169Van Leeuwen 1959: 100-101,
passim.
170Kraemer(1959: 19)
quotedKuyperon the sensus divinitatisin ipsis medullis
et visceribushominis hominisinfixus("the sense for the divine fixed into the very
Close Harmonies
155
innardsand bowels of man").Throughit, says Kuyper(1909, III:448, 449, 451-453,

563) all humanspossess cognitioDei concreata,naturalknowledge aboutGod.
171 Kraemer 1959: 19-20; 1938: 120-121, 133-134; 1963: 311. Kraemer's
otherteacherswere KristensenandChantepie,andhe was also influencedby Pascal,
Kierkegaard,and Blumhardt(VanLeeuwen 1959: 150; Jansen Schoonhoven1983:
105).
172Kraemer1938: vi.
173Kraemerdistinguished"threefundamentalapproachesto life and the world:"
the naturalist,the rationalist,and the prophetic.The aim of the firstwas the realisation of the self, thatof the secondwas rationalcomprehension,and of the thirdwas
being receptive to God's revelation. The first two were anthropocentric;the third
was theocentric(Kraemer1937: 18-20).
174Kraemer1937: 21-25; 1938: 101 sq.
175Kraemer1937: 5-25; 1938: 142 sq. Cf. also Van Leeuwen 1959: 100-103,
114-120; JansenSchoonhoven1983: 109.
176Kraemer1938: 445; cf. also 1937: 27-28.
177Kraemer1959: 14, 17-18, 45; Berkhof 1954: 29; Van Leeuwen 1959: 119.
178Kraemer1959: 39-43; VanLeeuwen 1959: 119.
179Kraemer1960: xxv; cf. also Kraemer1959: 34-38; VanLeeuwen 1959: 119.
180Van Leeuwen 1959: 119.
181Kraemer1938: 135-136, his italics; cf. also Van Leeuwen 1959: 119.
182 Van Veen 1947.
183Not unlike Van der Leeuw (1933: 647; 1948a: 665)

finding a duplex ordo
attitudein the R.C. simplexordo theology of E. Przywaraas early as 1928.
184Pace Van Leeuwen 1959: 115.
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Tijdschrift5: 373-406.
Tiele, C.P., 1873a, De plaats van de godsdienstender natuurvolkenin de godsdienstgeschiedenis;redevoeringbij het aanvaardenvan het professoraataan
het Seminariumder Remonstranten,den 13den Februari1873, in het Groot
Auditoriumder LeidscheHoogeschool. Amsterdam:P.N. van Kampen.
Tiele, C.P., 1873b, "Overde geschiedenis der oude godsdiensten,haar methode,
geest en belang,"in TheologischTijdschrift7: 573-589.
Tiele, C.P., 1874a, "Overde wetten van de ontwikkelingvan den godsdienst,"in
van den godsdiensten de hypotheze
Tiele, C.P., 1874, "De ontwikkelingsgeschiedenis
waarvanzij uitgaat,"in Dc Gids 38: 421-449.
Tiele, C.P., 1892, "Eenigewoordenter inleiding van den nieuwen cursus over de
wijsbegeertevan den godsdienst,"in TheologischTijdschrift26: 1-9.
Tolle, W., 1865-1871, Die Wissenschaftder Religion. Gottingen: no publisher,
2 vols.
Veen, J.M. van, 1947, "Een afscheid en een boek: bij het vertrekvan Prof. Dr.
H. Kraemer,"in Wending2: 562-567.
Veen, J.M. van, 1951, "Prof.Dr. G. van der Leeuw" in Wending5: 529-532.
162
Jan G. Platvoet
Visscher, H., 1911, Religion und soziales Leben bei den Naturvolkern;I: Prolegomena; II: Die Hauptprobleme.Bonn: Schergens.
Waardenburg,J., 1972, "Religion Between Reality and Idea: a Century of Phenomenology of Religion in the Netherlands,"in Numen 19, 2/3: 128-203.
Waardenburg,J., 1973, Classical Approachesto the Study of Religion; Vol. 1: Introductionand Anthology.The Hague, etc. Mouton.
J., 1978, Reflectionson the Studyof Religion; Includingan Essay on
Waardenburg,
Gerardusvan der Leeuw. The Hague, etc.: Mouton.
Waardenburg,J.D.J., 1983, "Leeuw,Gerardusvan der,"in Nauta e.a. 1983, I: 114120.
Wiebe,D., 1991, "Phenomenologyof Religion as a Religio-CulturalQuest: Gerardus
van der Leeuw and the Subversionof the Scientific Study of Religion,"in
Kippenbergand Luchesi 1991: 65-86.
1864-1947: 'een Calvinistop eigen houtje.'
Wiegeraad,B.J., 1991, Hugo Wisscher,
Leiden: Groen & Zoon.
HOW DO YOU SAY "GOD" IN DAKOTA?

EPISTEMOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
IN THE CHRISTIANIZATION OF NATIVE AMERICANS
MONICAL. SIEMS
Summary
This essay explores some of the interpretiveproblemsposed by the missionary work of the AmericanBoard of Commissionersfor Foreign Missions among
Minnesota'sDakotaIndiansin the mid-nineteenthcentury.Since "success"in conversion has often been definedlargely in terms of Native Americanassimilationto
white Americansocietalnorms,I arguethatthe Dakotas'acceptanceof a Christianity
that was preachedto them in theirown languageposes a problemfor understanding
what "conversion"meantin this case. The difficultyof knowing what Christianity
meant to the Dakotas, a difficultyI see as rooted in the problemsattendantupon
translation,can be illustratedby showing how distortedsome of the missionaries'
translationsof Dakotareligiousideas into Englishwere. Theirtranslationerrorstook
two forms: the postulationof a similarityin referencebetween Dakotaand English
terms where it did not exist (as with the English words"god"and "spirit"and what
the missionariesidentifiedas theirDakota counterparts),or, conversely,the heightening of differencesbetween Dakota and ProtestantChristianreligiosity (an effect
achieved by associatingDakotaterms with English pejoratives).I argue that what
unites these two differingtypes of distortivetranslationsis the missionaries'failure
to understandthe conceptualuniverse, or "deep structure,"underlyingthe Dakota
language. And since they failed to perceive the holistic characterof this conceptual system, the missionariesmay have concludedthatthey had effected conversions
among the Dakotaswhen they had only scratchedthe surfaceof Dakotareligiosity.
1. WHY Do We Say "God" in Dakota?

When I recently began studying the Dakota language, one of the
first things I learned to say was, "How do you say this in Dakota?"
When I obtained this knowledge, it occurred to me that I could translate the title of this paper, which I had settled on months earlier.
When I first voiced this translation, I realized how well the result
served to illustrate the types of questions I plan to address here. The
Dakota title would run, "De Dakota ia toked eyapi he God?" and
NUMEN, Vol. 45
164
MonicaL Siems
it remindedme of the old jingle from the children'stelevision show

Sesame Street: "One of these things is not like the others." For
an English speaker, "God"and "Dakota"are the two recognizable
words in a string of which the rest are unknown,down to the level
of identifyingthem as nouns,verbs,and so on. For a Dakotaspeaker
who knows no English, however,the word "God"bears a linguistic
similarityto the Coke bottle that drops from the sky in the film The
Gods Must Be Crazy-it is completelyunfamiliar,and thus it could
be anything (again, noun, verb, adjective, etc.), and it could mean
anything.
If I were a nineteenth-century
missionary,then,going to live among
the Dakotasand tryingto learntheirlanguage,and I asked the question, "De Dakota ia toked eyapi he God?,"my Dakota informant
would need to ask me anotherquestion before he or she could answer. He or she would say, "Godtakukapi he?:" "Whatdoes 'God'
mean?"And at this point I wouldreali.e thatmy problemshave only
just begun.
When evangelistsfrom the AmericanBoardof Commissionersfor
Foreign Missions began proselytizingthe Dakotasin the Minnesota
Territoryin 1834, they faced precisely these problems,which I refer
to in my subtitle as the "epistemologicalproblems"attendantupon
Dakota (and all Native American)conversionto Christianitywhen
missionariesused the nativelanguageto convey their Christianmessage. The questionposed by my fictionalDakotainterlocutorabove
encapsulatesthese problemsnicely: What does God mean? What
could "God" or a host of otherChristiantheologicalterms, mean in
the language of a culturethathad no correspondingreferents?And,
therefore,when Native Americansconverted,to what did they think
they were converting? Such questions have long vexed scholarsof
Indian missions, inasmuchas they point to related issues like the
depth and "sincerity"of Native Americanconversionand, ergo, to
the "success"or "failure"of the mission enterprises.
Such questions, of course, admitof no easy answers. Thus I have
found that many historiansof Indian-whiterelations tend to leave
themunpursued,at least in depth. Such are the authorswho measure
How Do YouSay "God"in Dakota?
165
missions' success in terms of "civilizing"their charges-that is, in

urging upon them a comprehensiveprogramof assimilationto all
aspects of a "Christiancivilization,"thus includingbut not limitedto
religious conversion.1To adherentsof this view, I would arguethat
cases where missionizationoccurredentirelyor almostentirelyin the
native language clearly problematiz7the notion of full assimilation
and call for furtherinvestigation.
James Axtell has criticized the assimilationist view on other
grounds,arguingthat it "errs... in reducingreligion, in the manner
of culturalmaterialists,to a mere epiphenomenonof socio-economic
realities."2However,Axtell also takes issue with those who would
debate the sincerity of Native Americanconversionsby "resorting
to the hobgoblin of 'syncretism,"'or positing a hybridChristianity
within which Native Americans"interpretedthe new religion... in
traditionalterms."3Here again,I would simply want to press the issue furtherand ask whetherin fact this musthave been the case when
literally"traditionalterms,"i.e., the nativelanguage,were employed
to convey Christianideas.
It is possible, of course,thatthingswent otherwise. Such, at least,
Ameriwas the fond hope of StephenR. Riggs, a nineteenth-century
can Boardmissionaryto the Dakotasandperhapsthe mission'sablest
linguist. "The teachingsof the Bible have wonderfullychangedthe
meaning attachedto many words in our own language,"he wrote,
"andthey are capable of workingthe same transformationsfor the
Dakotas."4Riggs even waxed poetic on this topic: "As the abundant rain showers from heaven, falling upon earth's surface, often
makenew channelsof communicationwith the greatocean, so mind,
when invigoratedand enlarged,works its thoughtsout throughnew
channels,formingnew wordsand forms of speech, or impartingnew
meaningsto those alreadyin use."5
However, such a process clearly takes time, whetherat the level
of Riggs's watery metaphoror of human language, where it may
well requiremore generationsof Dakotaspeakersthan Riggs could
have lived to see. On this point I invoke George Tinker,who, in
his discussion of native-languageChristianity,cites linguist Noam
166
Monica L Siems
Chomsky's distinction between "deep" and "surface"structuresin

language. Contra Axtell's position, describedabove, Tinkerasserts
that "any new surfacestructurelanguageor behaviormust somehow
find meaning in terms of the old deep structures... that give meaning to language or behavior. The old deep structuresof meaning
and cognition must continueto informthe new surfacestructuresand
This suggests
give way only slowly to innovativetransformation."6
to me that any effortto imaginewhat nineteenth-century
Dakotasunderstood as Christianityrequiresa sufficientknowledge of the deep
structuresat work, of the cosmology thatinformedand was reflected
by their language. Thus in the largerwork towardwhich this paper
representsonly the preliminarythoughts,I will attemptto examine
the missionaries'choices of words to convey Christianideas against
those words' usages and meaningsin traditionalDakota mythological and ritual contexts. And, as incumbentas it is upon me at the
scholar's remove, so much more necessarywould such "deep structure"understandinghave been for the missionariesthemselves. They
surely would have needed to know what they were replacingbefore
they could replace it, so that they could choose the best or readiest "nativeequivalents"for their own theologicallanguage. In what
follows here I will argue that they largely failed to do so. This,
of course, should come as no surprise,but by examiningparticular
reasons why they failed I hope to shed furtherlight on the thorny
problemsof translationand conversion.
2. What'sthe Problem?
When the AmericanBoardinauguratedits effortsamongthe Dakotas, its evangeliststook learningthe native languageas their firstorder of business. Two of the missionaries,the brothersSamuel and
GideonPond, startedthis processwhile they were still en routeto the
Minnesotaterritoryfrom their home state of Connecticut. On their
way up the MississippiRiver,theirboat stoppedat Prairiedu Chien,a
tradingpost where a numberof Dakotaswere exchanginggoods. The
firstthing they learnedto say was, "Howdo you say this in Dakota?,"
167
that handy phrase,taughtto them by the trader.Thus equipped,the

missionariesproceededto inquireafterthe Dakotanamesfor the merchandise in the trader'sstore.7The techniqueserved them well, and
in the subsequenttwo yearsthey rapidlycompiled a Dakotalexicon
of several thousandwords. This list served as the basis for what
would laterbecome the firstpublishedDakota-Englishdictionary,after otherAmericanBoardmissionarieshad addedtheirknowledgeto
the Ponds'.
The rapidityand extent of this work suggest that the Ponds had
greatlinguisticabilities,andsuch was almostcertainlythe case. They
certainly had zeal for the task, as was evidenced when the elder
brother,Samuel, accompaniedthe Dakotabandthat lived nearesthis
home on a winter deer huntnot long after settling in the Territory.
"Thelanguage... was the gameI went to hunt,"he wrote,"andI was
as eager in pursuitof thatas the Indianswere of deer."8However,I
would like to call attentionto some of the difficultiesinherenteven
in this most basic level of translation.
The American philosopherW.V. Quine raised some intriguing
thoughts about this process. Given a situation in which a native
languageis to be learned"directlyby observingwhat the nativessay
under observed circumstances,"a linguist will make "a first crude
beginningby compilingnativetermsfor environingobjects;but here
He goes on:
alreadyhe is really imposinghis own patterns."9
The linguist may establishinductively... that a certain... expressionis one to
which natives can be promptedto assent by the presenceof a rabbit... and not
otherwise. The linguistis then warrantedin accordingthe nativeexpressionthe
cautioustranslation'There'sa rabbit,"'There we have a rabbit,""Lo! a rabbit',
"Lo! rabbithoodagain"... [This] recognizes the native expressionas in effect
a rabbit-heraldingsentence. But the linguist's bold furtherstep, in which he
imposes his own object-positingpatternwithoutspecial warrant,is takenwhen
he equates the nativeexpressionor any partof it with the term"rabbit."10
Indeed, says Quine, we would have no way of really knowing
whether the native expressionmeans "rabbit,""undetachedrabbit

Thus in philosophy
part,"or "temporalstage in the life of a rabbit.""l
of language terms, we would have the sense of the native phrase,
168
Monica L. Siems
but not the reference. We would, however,automaticallyrenderthe

term as "rabbit,"but this is only because we arbitrarilyassume that
the natives' worldviewis such they see objects in the same way we
do-in otherwords, we posit a deep structureon the natives' behalf,
one which may or may not be correct. And if translationsof object
names are so "tenuousand arbitrary,"12
how much more complicated
will the process be when it takes up concepts, and what will the
outcome really entail? In the case of translatingChristianity,failure
to appreciatesufficientlythe ideological differencesbetween relative
nativeandEnglishtermscouldeasily resultin a missionary'sthinking
he had effected a "changein meaning"when he had only scratched
the surface(structure).
However, there is a flip side to Quine; someone might opt to
translatethe "rabbit-heralding"
term by one of what Quine calls its
"perversealternatives,"such as "undetachedrabbitpart"or "rabbit
In this case the translatorwould rely on the notion that the
stage."'13
natives' worldviewis so differentfrom his or her own thatwhen they
look at a rabbitthey actuallyperceive somethingquite other, he or
she would also likely qualifythe translationby arguingthat the term
is extremely difficult to renderadequatelyin English. E.E. EvansPritchardbroughtup this possibilityin his Theoriesof PrimitiveReligion. 'The difficultieswere, I believe, increased,and the resultant
distortionmade greater,by the coining of special terms to describe
primitivereligions, therebysuggestingthat the mind of the primitive
was so differentfrom oursthatits ideas could not be expressedin our
vocabulariesand categories."'4
Here we see the sin of over-exoticizing
the religions formerlyknown as "primitive,"which presentsno less
(but, I would argue, also no more) a caricatureof the traditionsin
question than does the priorapproach,which paints native religions
merely as Christianitymanque.
In the case of the AmericanBoard's Dakotamission, the truthof
the translationenterprisedefinitelylies somewherein the middle of
these two alternatives.Or,to be more precise, the missionarieserred
in both directions, dependingupon the topic at hand. I argue that
this dual marginof errorresultedfrom the missionaries'fundamental
169
inabilityto perceivefirst,thatthe Dakotaspossesseda full, integrated

religioussystem,andsecond,just how differentthatsystemreallywas
from the missionaries'own.
3. Are WeNot Gods?
Examples of the first type of error-positing similaritiesof reference where they don't reallyexist-can be clusteredaroundthe general ideas of "god" and "spirit,"encompassingthe Dakota phrases
WakanTanka,TakuWakan,TakuSkanSkan,sicun, andwasicun. My
main point in this sectionis that it is as difficultto find a referentfor
"god"as for "God"in Dakota,and thatthe missionariesmadea faulty
reificationin conveyingthe notion that the Dakotaswere polytheists.
The missionariesagreedwith one anotherin theirassessmentthat,
prior to their exposureto the evangelists, the Dakotashad no God,
no SupremeBeing or "GreatSpirit."The Dakotatermthathas come
to be used to designatethe ChristianGod is WakanTanka,which the
missionariesaverredonly came into use following evangelization."It
is indeed true that Dakotasdo sometimes appealto the GreatSpirit
when in counsel with the white men,"wrote Gideon Pond, "butit is
because they supposehim to be the object of the white man's worship, or because they themselves have embracedthe christian[sic]
doctrines. Still it is generallythe interpreterwho makesthe appealto
the GreatSpirit,when the speakerreally appealedto the Taku-wakan,
and not to the wakan-Tanka."15
The differencewould be significant.
of
is
one
of
the
untranslatableterms challengedby
Wakan, course,
it has long been employedin religious studies as a
Evans-Pritchard;
for
and, as an adjective, can modify virtuallyany
mana,
synonym
noun in Dakotainasmuchas the namedentity exhibitsthe qualityof
powerfulness. When translatorsdo providean English definitionof
wakan,they usuallyascribeto it the sense of "mysterious,"or, nearly
as often, "sacred."Thus WakanTankawould signify the "GreatMystery"or "GreatSacred"while TakuWakanliterallymeans"something
mysteriousor sacred,"andwould not appearto denote an object that
easily correspondsto God or god. Yet Pond declaredthat "the general name for the gods in their dialect is this, TakuWakan,"and he
170
Monica L Siems
went on to suggest thatthe Dakotasrecognized"tensof thousandsof

divinities."'6
We should not be surprisedthat, where they found indeterminate

terms such as TakuWakan,the missionariesrushed to attachthem
to objects in the native cosmos; after all, they came to the mission
field with the assumptionthat "in termsto express abstractideas the
Dakotalanguageis undoubtedlydefective."17In so doing, they made
Quine's type of mistake, but for Evans-Pritchard'stype of reason.
A strongcase can be made, however,that the abstractsenses of the
terms hold primacyover any specificallydenominated"gods"in the
traditionalunderstanding.A contemporaryLakota authordescribes
the case thus: "Often,throughthe powerful language of metaphor,
a process by
the sacredworld is delineatedand anthropomorphized,
which the variousdimensionsof the personalityof the Wakan... are
made comprehensibleand visible to the mind of the Native."18Of
course, metaphoricalusage differssubstantiallyfrom literalmeaning,
and the view expressedhereconformsto thatof RuthUnderhill,who
arguedfor all Native Americantraditionsthat"theword Supernatural
must be used ratherthan any more definite term, such as spirit or
divinity. Often the Indiansdid not think of the Powers, which they
believed existed and influencedtheir lives, in such personaltermsas
does the white man."19
Of course cautionmust be employed in projectingsuch recentunderstandingsinto the mindsof Dakotaswho lived a hundredand fifty
years ago, but an illustrationfrom the missionaries' own writings
does plenty to show the difficultythatensued when they triedto convey a sense of the natureof the Dakotagods. Embarkingon a list of
these entities,GideonPondnamedfirstthe Onktehi,a "wakanobject"
variouslycharacterizedin the course of the next few paragraphsas
"thisgod,""thesegods,""thisfamily of divinities,""he,""they""the
male and the female."20Clearlythe structureand natureof Onktehi
remainsambiguousat the conclusionof this description,and the example should at least raise, if not answer, any numberof questions
about the Dakota meaningof even one term thoughtto have "god"
for a referent.
171
The plot thickensif we take anotherexample, the Dakotas' Taku

Skan Skan. Pond's account on this score runs as follows: "The
significationof the termis, that which stirs. This god is too subtle in
essence to be perceivedby the humansenses, and is as subtle in his
dispositionas in his being. Thoughinvisible,he is ubiquitous... His
symbol is the boulder,and hence bouldersare universallyworshiped
by the Dakotas. He lives, also, in what is termed'the four winds.'"21
Contrastthis with our modemLakota'sconceptionof TakuSkanSkan
as "thatwhich moves and causes all of life to move or to live, as
though the entireuniversewere injectedor infused with a common
source and type of energy."It dwells in all things in the universe,
and represents"themysteriousforce thatmakesall things and beings
relatives to each other and to their common ancestor."22
Again we
see that to give TakuSkan Skan the appellationof "a god," even a
"subtle"and "ubiquitous"one, amountsto a serious reductionin the
expanse of the Dakotaterm'smeaning.
As a final note on this subject, I would call attentionto perhaps
the most irresponsiblemissionaryuse of the term "god"to describe
any object of Dakotareverence. Stephen Riggs wrote, "as the Europeansbreakin upon savagelife with theirstrangefaces, language,
and dress; with theirwonderfulhorses, theirfire-speakingguns, and
their bird-likeships, the Indians,either seeing or hearingfrom afar,
and the marvelgrowingwith each league it travels,called them gods,
The Dakota word wasicun does, in fact, mean
or wa-she'-choon."23
one who has sicun, which can be defined as "thatmysteriousspiritlike power which all things possess," "whichcan be added to, expanded, and utilized to help others,"and is obtained by a person
when one of its non-humanpossessors conveys it to him or her in
the course of a visionaryexperience.24It is possible that the Dakotas gave white men such a name; James Axtell adduces a number
of examples where white men's technologicalsuperiorityappearsto
have led Native Americansto view the newcomersas having spiritualpower. But even Axtell marksthe differencebetween"spiritually
powerfulmen,"akin to nativeshamans,and "gods,"which he recognizes as the way "theEuropeansput it."25Furthermore,Axtell cites
172
Monica L Siems
evidence that beyond initialcontact,the Indians'previouslyapparent

reverenceoften wore off. Thus we would be justified in questioning
Riggs's applicationof this meaning of the term to himself and his
colleagues, after the Dakotashad been in contactwith whites (of the
Frenchpersuasion,but no less white) for well over a centuryby the
time the AmericanBoardset up its shop. Moreover,the fact that the
Frenchmenthe Dakotasknew (whom Riggs admits were the first to
receive the tag wasicun) were traderslends a distinct possibility to
the contemporaryDakotaview that Riggs got the name wrong altogether. Instead of wasicun, the properterm today is thought to be
wasicu, with the finalvowel not being nasalized. This is a distinction
an English speakerwould be unlikely to make, nasalizedvowels not
changingthe meaningof wordsin ourlanguage.It's a distinctionwith
a difference in Dakota, however;wasicu literally means "fat-taker,"
and it denotes, within for example the exchange situationof trade,
one who keeps the best partfor himself. Whateverelse we make of
the Dakota pantheon,then, we can surely hazarda reasonableguess
that the missionarieswere not in it.
4. Active and PowerfulEnemies
I have suggested thus far that, as a result of ascribingto the "barbarous"Dakotas and their language certain deficiencies in thought
and expression,the missionariesdid far morethanthe Dakotasthemselves ever did to people their universewith vast numbersof gods,
with the result that they perceiveda similaritybetween the Dakota
worldview and their own that may or may not have existed. After all, on the evolutionaryscale of religions so often employed in
the nineteenth century,polytheism is merely one step down from
monotheism,while belief in an impersonalforce such as mana represented the very primordiumof humanreligiosity. And since the
early scholarsof religiontook the Dakotaterm wakan as a synonym
for mana, it seems doubly ironic that the missionaries insisted on
attachingso many names and faces to it.
But if the missionariesdid not take a page from our books on the
meaningof wakan,therewere otherweaponsin religion'stheoretical
173
arsenalon which they did draw. And if attributingthe worship of

gods to the Dakotasseemedto elevatethe statusof the nativereligion,
nearlyevery other descriptionof the traditionserved to characterize
The most direct way for the
it as "a mass of palpableabsurdities."26
missionariesto convey this sense of Dakotareligion was to deny it
the very title of religionandsubstituteits negativecounterpartof long
standingand academicacceptance,superstition-the worshippingof
gods, whose "imaginary"naturewas now duly stressed, motivated
by fear of bad luck, which was construedas divine disfavor. Into
the class of superstitionthus fell all the day-to-day,personalrituals
engagedin by Dakotasin orderto securethe desiredend of an undertaking. As a for instance,SamuelPond adduceda numberof Dakota
cautionarytales aboutthe fates thathad befallenpeople who failed to
performthe properacts of worshipbeforeembarkingon a task. Such
anecdotes,Pond noted, "whethertreasuredup from past experience,
for the occasion... furnishsatisfactoryproof
or artfullymanufactured
who
those
of the folly of
despisedthe traditionsof their ancestorsor
the admonitionsof theirprophets... The same sort of proof supports
many of the populardelusionsof civilized people."27
The final part of this statementfrom Pond points to the next set
of examples I want to present, since, after all, missionaryreports
on "savage superstitions"are old news. But in allowing that the
Dakotas were far from the only people in the world to behave so
the missionariesopened themselvesup to committing
"irrationally,"
more small violences in theirinterpretationsof the Dakota tradition.
They did this by findingmorespuriousparallelsto it in the non-native
world,analogiesnot with the "true"but ratherwith "false"religions.
Manyof the negativesimilaritiesthe missionariessaw betweenthe
Dakotaand otherreligionscamefromthe kindof activitiesthatcan be
coveredby the blanketterm"magic."Thus Dakotaindividualswho
"claimed to possess supernaturalpowers"-with the putative tone
emphasized,of course-were styled by the missionaries"sorcerers,"
But morerevealingto me than
"jugglers,""faquirs,"or even "thugs."28
these (most of whichconstitutestock tropesin the generalmissionary
repertoire)was the sectionof GideonPond'smonographentitled"The
174
Monica L. Siems
Medicine Man a Priest." Here he defines the latter term in a way

far differentfrom what has normallybeen done in scholarlycircles
with regardto other Native Americanpriestly traditions,especially
those among the Pueblopeoples of the Southwest. While the Dakota
"priest"does have ritualfunctions,his significanceseems to lie for
Pond in anotherdirection:
He dictates prayersand chants,institutesfasts and feasts, dances and sacrifices.
He defines sin and its opposite,and their respectiveconsequences. In short,he
imposes upon the people a system of demonismand superstition,to suit their
depravedtastes, passions, caprices, circumstances,and interests as savages...
a system so artifully[sic] devised,so well adaptedto them, so congenialto them,
that it readily weaves itself into, and becomes a part of them as really as the
woof becomes a partof the texture,insuringtheir most obsequioussubmission
to its demands.29
He is a sinisterfellow, then, this priest,and Gideon'solder brother

makes it abundantlyclearthatwe shouldnot thinkit is a coincidence
that he bears the same title as his counterpartsin the non-Dakota
traditionthat is most readilyassociatedwith the office. "Whilethe
rude Dakota pleases his imaginarygod by purifyinghis hands with
the smoke of cedar leaves, the enlightenedritualistglorifiesthe Most
High by shuttingout the light of the sun andburningcandlesat noonday. One shakes his rattle,the otherjingles his bells, andperhapsthe
noise of the rattleis as acceptableto God as the sound of the bells."30
Thus, in contrastto early colonial reportsthat Algonkianpowwows
were servantsof the Devil, the AmericanBoard missionariesto the
Dakotasinsinuatedthatthe medicinemen of that nationmay as well
have been in cahoots with the pope. But then again, dependingon
your point of view, thatcould be the same thing.
The missionariesused a thin cover of Dakota religion to inveigh
just as stronglyagainstanotherfalse religionwithintheirown cultural
purview. "Throughoutthe study of the Dakotareligion, one is struck
with the likeness of many phenomena,to some which have made
great stir in our so-calledChristianland, and which many believe to
be a higherdevelopmentof Christianityitself,"wrote StephenRiggs.
This demonstrated"thata greatsubstratumof paganismunderliesour
175
vauntedcivilization. Thus spiritualismis found to be an element in

the religionof the Dakotas."And in a classic exampleof faintpraise,
to the Dakotaversionover
Riggs accordeda degreeof "respectability"
the mainstreamAmericanversion, for "the pagan form... does not
disguise,butconfessesthe fact,thatits truecharacteris a combination
of demon-worship,sorcery,divination,andjugglery."31
In this section I have called attentionto anotherangle of the dialectic of Self and Other at work in the missionaries'exercise of
understanding(or not) Dakota religiosity and translatingits tenets
and practices into English, accuratelyor not. By employing terms
like "priest"and "spiritualism,"
they projectedonto the Dakotaspejorativedifferencesfromthemselvesand pejorativesimilaritiesto the
more "civilized"forms of irreligion.Thattherewas a kind of relentshows throughin one of the
less logic behindthese characterizations
more interestingpassages of Stephen Riggs's authorship. Here he
providesthe reasoningbehindhis conclusionthatthe "sumand substance"of Dakota religion is demon-worship:"The worship of the
Dakotadoes not fall on vacancy,but is consciously paid to spiritual
Here
beings, which can be none otherthan the spiritsof darkness."32
we have a case of the missionarysuddenlyaffordingcredibilityto the
Dakota religion, but only in the most unkindway. In other words,
the Dakotauniversedoes containefficaciouspowers. Since they are
not my God, they must be of the Devil.
5. The Deep Structure,"Native"Style
This bringsme to my concludingthoughts,in which I wantto talk
a little moreaboutthe "Dakotauniverse"I just mentioned.Ultimately
I contendthatthe missionaries'mistranslationsand(usuallynegative)
associationsof Dakotaideas with other items in the Christianconceptual universe resultedfrom a near-totalfailure to appreciatethe
systematicnatureof the Dakotareligion and its place in a universe
thatdiffereddramaticallyfromthe missionaries'own. And these were
differentdifferencesthanthose that I have describedthe evangelists
as perceiving;on the whole, the divergencesseem to have been in
176
Monica L Siems
realityeven more pervasive.In line with contemporarynotionsabout

a unilinearevolutionof religion,the missionariesinterpretedDakota
beliefs and practices as "defective"religious forms, childish imitations of the "higher"traditions. But to posit such an evolutionary
scheme to begin with, of course, dependsupon falsely essentializing
the term "religion,"and supplyingit with a PlatonicForm of which
most phenomenawill merely seem pale reflections.
A moreaccuratepictureemergeswhen we takeseriouslythe notion
that among the world's many religions, some may have only the
faintest resemblanceto each other, and yet they all still may justly
be identified as belongingto the category "religion."This requires
employingthe polytheticmode of classificationdescribedby Jonathan
Z. Smith in his essay "Fences and Neighbors: Some Contoursof
Early Judaism."33
In such a system, a memberof a class can possess a sufficient
numberof the class's definingcharacteristicsto be includedand yet
shareno characteristicsin commonwith anothermemberof the same
class. The case is furtherillustratedby anotherone of Smith's theoretical constructs,his distinctionbetween "native"and "diasporic"
or, to put it in CatherineAlbanese'sterms,bereligious traditions,34
tween religions based on a worldviewof "correspondence"
and those
based on a worldviewof "causality."35
Causalityis characterizedby
a separationbetween God and the world, the Creatorand His creation, in which the transcendentdeity stands outside yet causes all
On the contrary,withina correspondential
worldlyphenomena.36
system, "Humanand transcendentcosmos were both made of the same
'worldstuff' and programmedby their own internalforces to follow
In other words (in Dakotawords), the
similar charts of existence."37
entirecosmos is suffusedby such qualitiesas wakan,sicun, andskan.
Significantly,in such a cosmos we do find magic; not magic as
"protoscience,"as Ruth Underhill called it, but simply as science:
"A magicianwas simplyan adeptwho had learnedto take advantage
of the basic unity of the world."38In this world, magic works. (This
may serve as a good reminderthat our own scientifictraditionholds
177
true only within our worldview,which is far from the only possible
configurationof reality.)
A correspondentialsystemsuch as the Dakotas'clearlychallenges
definitionsof religionbasedon the Christianparadigm,butit fits quite
nicely with other views, such as that of anthropologistA.F.C. Wallace, for whom a religionis "a set of rituals,rationalizedby myth,
which mobilize supernatural
powers for the purposeof achieving or
of statein manor nature."39
By puttingthe
preventingtransformations
on
Wallace
us
a
definition
friendlier
gives
primaryemphasis ritual,
to Native Americanreligionsthan to ProtestantChristianity,and indeed, I think much of the missionaries'failureto understandDakota
religion came from their inability to take seriously the proposition
that Dakota ceremoniesmeant things, and did things, in the sense
of having efficacy. That they describedDakota ritualswithout ever
explainingor interpretingthem illustratesthis point. Accordingto
Underhill,the purposeof Native Americanrituals"wasnot worship.
Perhapsit can be thoughtof as the renewingof a partnershipbetween
man and the Superaturals, to the benefit of both."40But without a
properunderstandingof the correspondencesbetween humanbeings
and other-than-human
personsin a universe like the Dakotas', one
will undoubtedlycome awaywith the notionthatthe religionobserved
consists of "confused,unsettled,and contradictory"fragments.41
Placing the focus on the efficacy of ritual within the Dakota religion thus goes a long way toward clarifying the reasons for the
missionaries'incomprehension.It also accountsfor the evangelists'
perceptionsof the similaritiesbetweenthe Dakotatradition,spiritualism, andCatholicism,the lattertwo of which also shareelementsof a
correspondentialworldview.For the spiritualists,of course,doctrines
of spiritas "refinedmatter"impliedthe lack of a real distinctionbetween the naturaland supernatural,
and directcontactcould be made
with the spirit world by those who merely shifted their own perceptions of reality. And while Christianityas a whole fits the patternof
causality,Catholicsacramentalism-fromwhich, afterall, the magic
words "hocus pocus" had their very derivation-exemplifies corre-
178
Monica L. Siems
spondentialnotions aboutthe transferenceof spiritualqualitiesfrom

the non-humanto the humanrealms.
Of course, ProtestantChristiansalso sought to effect transformations of their state throughtheir religion, but on the whole these
transformationswere reckonedin termsof a futurestate of existence,
as a symbolizationor commemorationof
andritualwas re-interpreted
a transformationalreadyworked. In fact it was extremelyimportant
for Protestantsto believe that rituals devised by humans could not
achieve what only the sovereign God could do in conveying grace.
Churchmembersgatheredratherto celebratetheirbelief that certain
transactionsbetween God and humanshad alreadytaken place.
A simple analogycan providea furtherillustrationof how assumptions aboutthe purposeof religious activitycoloredthe missionaries'
understandingof Dakotareligion. Supposeyou stumbleupon a group
of people playing a sport you have never seen before, in which the
participantstry to maneuvera ball into a goal using only their feet
and legs. Yourown understandingof "sport"might be such thatyou
will automaticallyassumethat the purposeof the game is to get the
ball into the goal as many times as possible. This assumption,in
turn,might temptyou to concludethatthese playersarejust not very
bright, for that purposecould be much more easily achieved with
the use of the hands. If you fail to consider that the sport you are
observing may have ancillary,or simply different,purposesbeyond
merely amassingthe largestpossible numberof goals, you may well
deem the players "deficient"in their understandingand practiceof
sport.42
Thus when they lookedat the Dakotasand saw superstition,magic,

and reflectionsof the "papism"and spiritualismof their neighbors,
Protestantmissionariesmissed the forest of correspondencefor the
trees of specific utterancesand acts-which, when taken out of the
system of which they partake,become essentiallymeaningless. But
they attributedmeaning-incorrectly, as I have shown-to these phenomena, and then undertookto "replace"the doctrinesand practices
in question with those of ProtestantChristianity.In a sense, I think
their failure to coliprehend Dakota religiosity allowed them to see
How Do YouSay "God" in Dakota?
179
their task as being easier than it actually was, for a far greater chasm
separates correspondential from causal worldviews than that which
separates poly- and monotheism. To what extent such misunderstanding led them further to think that they had effected conversions
where they had not is the question I look forward to answering over
the next couple of years.
So: de Dakota ia toked eyapi he "God"? How do you say "God"
in Dakota?
Department of Religious Studies
University of California,
Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
MONICAL. SIEMS
1 See, for example,RobertF. Berkhofer,Jr.'sSalvationand the Savage: An Analysis of ProtestantMissionsand AmericanIndianResponse, 1787-1862 (Lexington,
KY: University of KentuckyPress, 1965), especially Chapters6 and 7 where he
posits a direct correlationbetween overall culturalassimilationand religious conversion. Also, for perhapsthe most extreme view from this school, see George
Tinker,MissionaryConquest:The Gospel and NativeAmericanCulturalGenocide
(Minneapolis:FortressPress, 1993), in which he alleges thatmissionaries'only real
"success"lay in cooperatingor complyingwith secularagentsin the thoroughgoing
destructionof Indiancultures.
2 James Axtell, "WereIndianConversionsBona Fide?,"in After Columbus:Essays in the Ethnohistoryof ColonialNorthAmerica(New York: OxfordUniversity
Press, 1988), 116.
3 Ibid., 116-117. For an
example of the "syncretist"view that appearedsome
yearsafterAxtell hadpublishedthis essay, I wouldpoint to WilliamG. McLoughlin's
The Cherokeesand Christianity,1794-1870: Essays on Acculturationand Cultural
Persistence, edited by WalterH. Conser, Jr. (Athens: The Universityof Georgia
Press, 1994), a collection of essays publishedposthumously.Contrathe syncretist
view, Axtell wanted to arguethat Indian conversionwere "bona fide" changes of
heart and belief. However,when he cites as proof the confessions made by Massachuset converts in John Eliot's "prayingtown"of Natick, I would counterwith
George Tinker'sreminder(ironicin view of his basically assimilationistargument,
for which see n. 1) that-theseconfessions "presentinherentproblems. Most importantly,they have been preservedonly in English. The native utterancesof the
speakersare lost and cannotbe reclaimedeven remotely.Second, Eliot was the only
English translatorpresentat the examination."See Axtell, After Columbus,114-115,
180
Monica L. Siems
and Tinker,Missionary Conquest,36-40; esp. p. 38, where he addresses Axtell's

argumentdirectly.
4
StephenR. Riggs, 'The DakotaLanguage,"Collectionsof the MinnesotaHistorical Society I (1850-1856), 98. It should be noted that the case of the American
Boardmission to the Dakotasdiffers from the case of the Baptisteffort among the
Cherokees,led by Evan Jones, coveredextensivelyin McLoughlin'sThe Cherokees
and Christianity,most significantlyin the fact that the Presbyterians'and Congregationalists' strict Calvinist theology led them to explicitly reject the possibilities
of syncretismor hybridismapparentlytolerated(and perhapsencouraged)by Jones.
Riggs and his colleagues appearto have sincerelyintendedto replacewholesale the
Dakotas' traditionalbeliefs with their form of Christianity.In this they were more
similarto Eliot and theirotherPuritanforebearsin demandingthatwould-beconverts
undergoan examinationfor conviction of sin. But, as per n. 3, I would maintain
thatthe same "epistemologicalproblems"ensued when the examinationwas carried
out in the native language.
5
Riggs, "DakotaLanguage,"92.
6 Tinker,MissionaryConquest,34.
7 Gary Clayton Anderson,in his introductionto Samuel W. Pond, The Dakotas
or Sioux in Minnesotaas TheyWerein 1834 (St. Paul: MinnesotaHistoricalSociety
Press, 1986), viii. Pond'sethnographywas originallypublishedin Collectionsof the
MinnesotaHistorical Society XII (1908): 319-501.
8 Samuel W. Pond, 'Two Missionariesin the Sioux Country,"MinnesotaHistory
XXI (1940), 28.
9 W.V.
Quine, "Speakingof Objects,"OntologicalRelativityand Other Essays
York:
ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1969), 1-2.
(New
10 Ibid., 2.
Emphasisin the original.
I
Quine, "OntologicalRelativity,"OntologicalRelativityand OtherEssays, 30.
12
Quine, "Speakingof Objects,"25.
13
Quine, "OntologicalRelativity":34.
14E.E. Evans-Pritchard,
Theoriesof PrimitiveReligion(Oxford:ClarendonPress,
12.
1965),
15 Gideon Pond, "DakotaSuperstitions,"Collections of the MinnesotaHistorical Society II (1860-1867), 218. See also Stephen Riggs, Tah-kooWah-kan;or,
The Gospel Among the Dakotas (Boston: CongregationalPublishingSociety, 1869;
reprint,New York: Aro Press, 1972), 73.
16Pond, "DakotaSuperstitions,"217.
17 Riggs, "DakotaLanguage,"97.
18ArthurAmiotte,"OurOtherSelves,"I BecomePartof It: SacredDimensionsin
NativeAmericanLife, editedby D.M. Dooling andPaulJordan-Smith(SanFrancisco:
1989), 163.
HarperSanFrancisco,
181
19 Ruth Underhill, Red Man's
Religion: Beliefs and Practices of the Indians

North of Mexico (Chicago: Universityof ChicagoPress, 1965), 5.
20 Pond, "Dakota
Superstitions:'219-220.
21 Ibid., 230-231.
22 Amiotte, "OurOtherSelves,"171.
23 Riggs, Tah-kooWah-kan,73.
24 Amiotte, "OurOtherSelves'"170.
25 JamesAxtell, TheInvasionWithin:The Contestof Culturesin ColonialNorth
America(New York: OxfordUniversityPress, 1985), 10.
26 Samuel Pond, The Dakotas in Minnesota,105.
27 Ibid., 107.
28 See, e.g., SamuelPond, TheDakotasin Minnesota,105; GideonPond, "Dakota

Superstitions,"242, 251-252; Riggs, Tah-kooWah-kan,94-97.
29 Gideon Pond, "DakotaSuperstitions,"242-243.
30 Samuel Pond, TheDakotas in Minnesota,105-106.
31
Riggs, Tah-kooWah-kan,97-98.
32 Ibid., 92-93.
33 JonathanZ. Smith,"FencesandNeighbors:Some Contoursof EarlyJudaism;'
ImaginingReligion: FromBabylonto Jonestown(Chicago: Universityof Chicago
Press, 1982), 4-5.
34 JonathanZ. Smith, Map Is Not Territory:Studiesin the History of Religions,
Universityof Chicago ed. (Chicago:Universityof ChicagoPress, 1993), xii-xv.
35 CatherineL. Albanese,
CorrespondingMotion: TranscendentalReligion and
the New America (Philadelphia:Temple UniversityPress, 1977), Chapter1. I am
indebtedto Dr. Albanese for manyof the insightson correspondencethat follow.
36 Ibid., 4.
37 Ibid., 8.
38 Ibid., 13. The term "protoscience"is used by Ruth Underhillin Red Man's
Religion, 22-23.
39
AnthonyF.C. Wallace,Religion: An AnthropologicalView(New York: Random House, 1966), 107.
40 Underhill,Red Man's Religion,4.
41 Samuel Pond, The Dakotasin Minnesota,85.
42 I owe this analogyto the insight of my brother,BennettSiems, whom I wish
to thankfor the suggestion.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Albanese, CatherineL. CorrespondingMotion: TranscendentalReligion and the
New America Philadelphia:TempleUniversityPress, 1977.
182
Monica L Siems
Axtell, James. After Columbus:Essays in the Ethnohistoryof ColonialNorthAmerica. New York: OxfordUniversityPress, 1988.
Axtell, James. The Invasion Within: The Contest of Culturesin Colonial North
America New York:OxfordUniversityPress, 1985.
Berkhofer,Robert F, Jr. Salvationand the Savage: An Analysis of ProtestantMissions and American IndianResponse, 1787-1862. Lexington, KY: University
of KentuckyPress, 1965.
Bowden, Henry Warner.AmericanIndiansand ChristianMissions: Studies in Cultural Conflict. Chicago: Universityof ChicagoPress, 1981.
eds. I BecomePart of It: SacredDimensions
Dooling, D.M. and PaulJordan-Smith,
in Native AmericanLife. San Francisco:HarperSanFrancisco,
1989.
Evans-Pritchard,E.E. Theories of Primitive Religion. Oxford: ClarendonPress,
1965.
McLoughlin, William G. The Cherokeesand Christianity,1794-1870: Essays on
Acculturationand CulturalPersistence,editedby WalterH. Conser,Jr. Athens,
GA: The Universityof GeorgiaPress, 1994.
Pond, Gideon H. "DakotaSuperstitions."Collections of the Minnesota Historical
Society II (1860-1867): 215-255.
Pond, Samuel W. "The Dakota or Sioux in Minnesota as They Were in 1834."
Collections of the MinnesotaHistorical Society XII (1908): 319-501; reprint,
with an introductionby GaryClaytonAnderson,St. Paul: MinnesotaHistorical
Society Press, 1986.
Pond, SamuelW. "TwoMissionariesin the Sioux Country."MinnesotaHistoryXXI
(1940): 15-32, 158-175, 272-283.
Quine, W.V. Ontological Relativityand Other Essays. New York: ColumbiaUniversity Press, 1969.
Riggs, StephenR. "TheDakotaLanguage."Collectionsof the MinnesotaHistorical
Society I (1850-1856): 89-107.
Riggs, Stephen R. Tah-kooWah-kan;or, The Gospel Among the Dakotas. Boston:
CongregationalPublishingSociety, 1869; reprint,New York: Aro Press, 1972.
Smith, JonathanZ. ImaginingReligion: From Babylon to Jonestown. Chicago:
Universityof ChicagoPress, 1982.
Smith, JonathanZ. Map Is Not Territory:Studiesin the History of Religions,University of Chicago ed. Chicago: Universityof Chicago Press, 1993.
Tinker,George E. MissionaryConquest:The Gospel and Native AmericanCultural
Genocide. Minneapolis:FortressPress, 1993.
Underhill,Ruth. Red Man'sReligion: Beliefs and Practices of the IndiansNorthof
Mexico. Chicago: Universityof Chicago Press, 1965.
Wallace, Anthony F.C. Religion: An AnthropologicalView. New York: Random
House, 1966.
KO HUNG'S DISCOURSE OF HSIEN-IMMORTALITY:

A TAOIST CONFIGURATION OF AN ALTERNATE IDEAL
SELF-IDENTITY
CHI-TIM LAI
Summary
This study seeks to investigatethe ideological base underlyingKo Hung's new
Taoist discourse of hsien-immortalityin early Six Dynasties China. Our analysis
his
will show the symbolic and discursivecomplex of Ko Hung'shsien-immortality,
of the ancientChinese religioustradition
self-understanding,and his reaypropiiation
of physicalimmortality,in particularin relationto his own emerginghistoricalconsciousness. In so doing, it can serve as one of the keys to the understandingof an
early Taoistmaster'sreligiousdiscourseof hsien-immortalitywhich functionsas an
organizingprinciplethatordersthe way he experiencesthe social andculturalworld,
as an ideologicalresolutionfor his feelings of incongruencebetweenouterrealityand
inner world, and, finally,as a soteriologicalvision of an alternateideal self-identity
in contrastto the Han idealizedConfuciansage.Theconstructionof Taoistdiscourse
of hsien-identity,instancedin Ko Hung's Pao-p'u tzu nei-p'ien, should, therefore,
not be seen as something abstractand arbitrarywithoutthe roots in socio-cultural
reality,but a new formationand shape for the Six Dynasties literatiof an alternate
idealized self-identity.
Introduction
They walk throughthe raging fire and are not burned;stepping lightly, they
cross gloomy torrents;they fly in the pure air, with the wind as harnessand
the clouds as chariots.Raisingtheir eyes, they reach the PurplePole, lowering
them, they settle into Kun-lun.
They often mount to the paradiseof T'ai-ching; or fly in the Purple Firmament;or travel to Hsiian-chou;or live in Pan-t'ung... [They] enlargetheir
boundariesto include all of space;go where they will.1
Thus Ko Hung (A.D. 283-343) describes how Taoist hsien-immortals enjoy their ability to be ubiquitous and to fly through Heaven
and Earth.
Indeed, longing to become an immortal and to ascend to the paradise of hsien are conspicuous motifs seen in ancient Chinese lit? KoninklijkeBrill NV, Leiden(1998)
NUMEN, Vol. 45
184
Chi-timLai
erature. For instance, in the Chuang-tzu(fourthto second century

B.C.),2 a transcendentfigurelike Ko Hung's hsien-immortal,namely,
a divine man (shen-jen),3is depictedin the following way:
In the mountainsof far-offKu-yitherelives a shen-jen(divine man) whose skin
and flesh are like ice and snow, who is gentle as a virgin. He does not eat the
five grains but sucks in the wind and drinksthe dew; he rides the vaporof the
clouds, yokes flying dragonsto his chariot,and roamsbeyond the four seas.4
However, in light of the ancient Chinese religious imagination,

such a heavenly ascent, a characteristicof immortals'transcendent
natureand ability,is not expressedas a sort of journeyoccurringafter
one's death. Instead, hsien-immortalityis a continued state of this
worldly life.5 That is, insteadof being a journeyfrom one's deathto
his/herarrivalin heaven,the ancientChineseconcept of immortality,
however,means "non-aging,non dying"(pu lao pu ssu) and "nourish
[one's material]life in ordernot to die" (yang sheng pu ssu).6
The Shou-wen chieh-tzu(Explainingthe Graphsand Explicating
their Combinations),an early Han etymological dictionary,glosses
the word "hsien"as "havinga long life and ascendingto heaven."7
In addition,early Han rhapsodies(in the middle of the second century B.C.) like "Yian yu" (Far-offJourney)in the Ch'u tz'u (The
Songs of the South)8and "Yian ssu" (Journeyto the Romoteness)
by Liu Hsiang (79 B.C.-A.D. 8) express the wishful hsien-thinking
of embarkingon a journey to heaven without dying. As such, the
ancient Chinese ideal of immortality(hsien) essentially includes the
following two elements: "deathlessness"(pu ssu) and "heavenlyascent" (sheng t'ien).9 A hsien-immortalis recognized as a deathless
being who "ridesthe vaporof the clouds and yokes flying dragons
to his chariot."'0
Despite many scholarly attemptto chart the origins, continuity,
and changes of the ancientChinesedoctrineof hsien-immorality,few
studentsof ancientChinesereligiousthoughthave paid enoughattention to the ideologicalbase underlyingthe ancientChineseconcept(s)
of hsien-immortality;and few think of them accordingto individual
thinkers'lives, effective histories,dispositions,and social contexts.
Ko Hung'sDiscourse of Hsien-Immortality
185
Theoreticallyspeaking,in as much as a proponentof a given idea

or belief is an individualin history and society, KarlMannheimhas
argued that, "the 'existence' that surroundsa person is never 'existence as such,' but is always a concrete historicalform of social
existence."11Applyingthatconsciousnessto this study,it will be my
presuppositionthat not until a historicaland social study begins to
examinethe relationshipbetweensuch ancientChinesewishfulthinking as the immortalityof the body and the actual "social existence"
of the proponentsof such ideas does the belief of hsien-immortality
makes sense, eitherfor the writersin the past or for us today.
Moreover,this studyplacesthis themewithinthe theoreticalframework in which the ancientChinese concept of immortalitywas conceived of as an unrealizableutopia that emergedfrom an "incongruence"occurredbetweenourTaoistprotagonist'sunfulfilledtendencies
and the existing social order. Accordingto Mannheim,this type of
utopian mentality,as a manifestationof social and historicalincongruence, often in the form wishful thinking,
has always figured in humanaffairs. When the imaginationfinds no satisfaction in existing reality,it seeks refuge in wishfully constructedplaces and
periods. Myths, fairy tales, other-worldlypromisesof religion, humanisticfantasies, travelromances,havecontinuallychangingexpressionsof thatwhich was
lacking in actuallife.12
In otherwords,becauseof an incongruencewith the given reality,

utopian thought tends to burstthe bonds of the existing order. To
some extent, this transformingeffect may be focused on the existing
historical-socialsituation. Nevertheless, Mannheimdefines utopia
as differingfrom ideology in that the formerseems unreali7?blein
the given social/historicalorder,but projectstranscendentideas into
"other"time and space. Hence, notwithstandingits unrealizablityin
the reality,the functionof utopianideas, arguesMannheim,is to free
utopia from the bonds of the existing order.
In light of this theoreticalframeworkfor the social and historical incongruenceembodiedin utopian mentalities,I, in this paper,
shall analyzethe symboliccomplex of Ko Hung'sindependenthsienof the tradiand his reappropriation
discourse,his self-understanding,
186
Chi-timLai
in particularin relationto his own emerging

tion of hsien-immortality,
historical experiencesof incongruence. In other words, aiming at a
deeper interpretationof the internaldynamicsthatcreatedKo Hung's
discourse, my study will focus upon the following two problems:
(1) the interpretiveposition of Ko Hung's discourse; and (2) the
concrete interplayof the incongruentforms of social/culturalexistence with the correspondingincongruencethatinformshis discourse
of hsien-immortality.In so doing, it will be my contentionthat Ko
Hung's "obsessive"pursuitof bodily immortalityand his bearingof a
transmittedtraditionshouldnot only be consideredas an intellectualconceptualdimensionof practice,as somethingas abstractand arbitrarywithoutthe roots in empiricalreality.13Rather,I shall arguethat
Ko Hung's Taoistreligion of hsien-immoralityfunctionsas an organizing principlethat ordersthe way our protagonistexperiencesthe
social/culturalworld,as an ideologicalresolutionfor his incongruence
between outerrealityand innerworld, and, finally,as a soteriological
vision of a perfect self-identity.
Let us first glimpse the (incongruent)intellectualmilieu within
which Ko Hung's religiousdiscoursewas nourishedand configured.
The IntellectualMilieu Periods in WhichKo Hung's Discourse was
Situated (3rd-4thcenturiesA.D.) and the Flourishof Writingsabout
the Immortals
The period of the Six Dynasties (3rd-6thcenturiesA.D.) is generally regardedas the beginningof medievalChina.14Like the Dark
Ages in Europeanhistory,the Six Dynastiesperiodis often conceived
to be one of gloom and disorder,little more than a confusing series
of dynasticnames. And yet, due to the uprisingand invasionof barbariantribes,the ChineseWesternChin dynastywas forced to retreat
to the south of the Yangtzeriver. Hence, thatperiod of Chinese history is often summedup by the phrase,'The Five Barbariansbrought
disorderto China"(wu-huluan hua).
In contrastto such a provisionalview concerningthe history of
the Six dynasties,modem scholarshave discernedan underlyingpolitical continuityin its rulingclasses,15as well as culturalcreativity,
Ko Hung's Discourseof Hsien-Immortality
187
diversity,and proliferation.In one typical scholarlyview stressing

this historicaloccurrencewithparticularregardto the creativecultural
aspectin the Six Dynasties,Li Ze-hou,a modemChinesephilosopher
of aesthetics,has rightlyarguedthat,
The Wei-Jinera (A.D. 220-420) witnesseda re-emancipationand great activity
in the ideological domain where many questionswere put forwardand much
progess was made. Thoughin duration,breadth,scope, and diversityof schools
it could not matchthe Pre-Qin,nonetheless,the profoundityand purityattained
by its speculativephilosophywere unprecedented.16
In what follows, I shall brieflylay out threerepresentativecultural

aspectsthat characterizethe intellectualmilieu of the early periodof
Six Dynasties and, specifically,the transitionalperiod between the
WesternChin (A.D. 265-317) and EasternChin (A.D. 317-420) in
which Ko Hung was bornand situated.
The first culturalchange that emergedafter the fall of the Later
Han Dynasty (A.D. 25-220) was manifestedby the decline of Han
Confucian orthodoxy. Since the EmperorWu of the Han dynasty
had establishedthe classics of Confuciusas the standardmeasureof
intellectualand culturaluniformityat the expense of otherschools of
thoughts,Confucianteachingsand rituals(the Teachingof Names)
became a dominantvalue-systemlegitimatingthe currentsystems of
governingand education.Fromthe perspectiveof Confucianliterati
in the Han, the compulsionto standardizehumanthoughtand social
conductmight be explainedas having developedout of a particular
culturalconcern.17However,as things in historyoften go to extreme
of religiousrites and social regsides, the ideologicalstandardization
ulationsbased upon the Confuciantraditionresultedin a monolithic
naturaldisposition, value-system,and norm of social behaviorbeing imposed upon the literati at this time. For instance, Pan Ku
(A.D. 32-92), the historianwho wrote the dynastic history of the
FormerHan Dynasty,the Han shu (Historyof FormerHan), insisted
that the Confucianstandardwas the only criteriafor regulatinghuman intercourse.In a chapterof the Han shu, "Monographon Rites
and Music" (Li-yuehchih),he writes,
188
Chi-timLai
For those who are active in affairs of state, if for one morningthey fail in the
rites, then ruin and disorderwill prevail. Man holds within him the positive
and negative energies of Heavenand Earth;he possesses feelings of joy, anger,
grief and happiness. Heavenhas endowedhim a naturaldisposition[by which]
he can regulate [these feelings]. The sages were able to make regulationsfor
them, but unable to put an end to them. So imitatingHeaven and Earththey
fashionedrites and music, by which to gain access to the gods, establishhuman
relationships,correctthe feelings and disposition,and regulateall things.18
Nevertheless,withthe fall of the Hanempire,as well as the decline

of its dominantvalue system at the end of the second century,these
culturalconstraintschanged.19
As a significant sign testifying to a culturalchange in the early
Six Dynasties, literatiof that period had no longer restrictedthemselves to educationin the Five Classics. Instead,they substitutedthe
fading ideal personalityof Han literati-a specialist exclusively in
the classics of Confucius(t'ung-ju)-for an alternativeideal image:
a specialistin all aspectsof humanlife (t'ung-jen).20In the Han, any
intellectualinquiryinto the transcendentandeternalrealmbeyondthe
naturalworld most probablywould have been rebukedby orthodox
Confuciansbecause the latterrejectany belief in the actualexistence
of spiritsand gods.21Hence, given the intellectualacclaimof the ideal
image of t'ung-jen, it should come as no surprisethat the literatiof
the Six Dynasties have an unprecedentedpreoccupationwith matters
like the immortalityof the body, the fate of humansin the afterlife,
the esotericarts andmagic, and the causalrelationbetweenmeritand
punishment. In particular,the proliferationof the corpus of literary
writingsconcerningthe marvelous,like the Sou-shenchi, the Po-wu
chih, and the Shen-hsienchuan, convincinglydemonstratesthe new
culturaloutlook of the period of Six Dynasties.
A second aspect of the culturalshift in the Six Dynasties can be
discernedin a recurrentrhetoricalquestionthat correspondswith the
intellectualinquiryinto the eternalrealm beyond nature. Literatiof
the Six Dynasties becamemore conscious of enquiringthe groundof
one's "natural"self-identityregardlessof the existing "social"identity. In contrastto the previousHan literati'spracticeof circumscribing one's identity within the frameworkof Confucianvirtues like
Ko Hung'sDiscourseof Hsien-Immortality
189
"goodness and morality"(jen-i) and "loyalty and filial submission"

(chung-hsiao),Six Dynasties'literatioften initiateda genuinesearch
For instance,the expressivepoems
for their "natural"self-identity.22
and deeds of JuanChi (A.D. 210-263) andHsi K'ang (A.D. 224-263)
representtheir criticismagainstthe bonds of the existing order and
their attemptto returnto their "trueself." When Juan Chi was accused of transgressingthe Confucianritualby seeing his sister-in-law
as she was returningto herparents'home, and biddingher goodbye,
he replied,"Theriteswerenot set up for the likes of me!"23Likewise,
Hsi K'ang deliberatelycriticizesthe existing hypocriticalConfucian
values because they hinderhis realizationof true humannature:24
The essential featuresof the Six Classics are restraintand guidance;but what
pleases humannatureis following one's desires. Restraintand guidance thus
go against our wishes, where by following our desires we attain the natural.
This being the case, attainmentof the naturaldoes not from the restrainingand
guiding Six Classics, and the root of perfectingone's naturedoes not rely on
the laws and ritualswhich go againstour feeling.25
According to FukunagaMitsuji,both JuanChi's and Hsi K'ang's

self-consciousnessagainstthe existing social orderandfor a liberated
self-identityactuallyreflectedthe Six Dynasties literati'sawakening
from a "false" and illusive self-identitypreviouslydefinedby social
regulation and values. As a result of that sort of awakening, or,
in Fukunaga'sterm, "wisdom"(t'i-kuan), a new culturaltendency
cherishing the "life of solitude"prevailed at that time. Fukunaga
also suggests that once literatiof the Six Dynasties favoreda genuine quest for the ultimateor eternalgroundof their self-identities
by breakingthe bonds of existing social order,their spiritualworld
immediatelyopenedinto the immense worldof Chineseimmortals.26
In this light, the conclusionthat there may have been an effective
affinitybetween the literati'spreoccupationwith their naturalselves
and the prevalenceof the religious discourses of hsien-immortality
in the period of Six Dynastiessounds plausible. In sum, because of
a new culturalconcern,the problemsof how and where one's subjectivity can be trulygroundedand actualizedshape the intellectual
milieu and characteristicsof the Six Dynastiesperiod.
190
Chi-timLai
Thirdly,my culturalcharacterizationof the Six Dynasties cannot

avoid eliciting the then literati'sserious reflectionon the issue of the
transienceof humanlife. Hundredof thousandsdied in the decadesof
disturbancein Chinabeginningat the end of the second century.The
following official reportsevince the amazing decline in population
duringthat period. In A.D.157, an official census put the population
in the later Han period at 10,677,960 households and 56,486,856
individuals.27In A.D. 280, when the WesternChin empire was at
its peak, the populationwas reportedly2,459,840 households and
16,163,863 individuals, only about 1/4 of that of the Han.28Such
a rapiddecline of populationis believed to have continueduntil the
EasternChinperiod. A memorialin A.D. 363 writtenby HuanWen,a
commander-in-chiefof the empire'stroops,statesthat the population
in SouthChinawas even less thanthatof a provinceunderthe Han.29
In addition to the above figures, the concrete picture of the social
disturbanceand of the suffering of the mass by the end of third
centurycan be graspedin the following court-record.
After the reign of EmperorHui (A.D. 290-306) both administrationand culture
declined. By the Yung-chiaperiod (A.D. 307-312) trouble and disturbances
were very wide-spread.FromYung-choueastwardmany sufferedfrom hunger
and poverty. People were sold [as slave]. Vagrantsbecame countless. In the
six provinces of Yu, Ping, Ssu, Chi, Ch'in, and Yung there were a bad plague
of locusts. Grass, trees, and hair of cattle and horses were all eaten up [by
the locusts]. Furthervirulentdisease accompaniedthe famine. Also the people
were murderedby bandits.Theriverswerefilled withfloatingcorpses; bleached
bones covered thefields [emphasismine].30
Since death was a tragic and cataclysmic reality in the people's

daily life duringthatperiod,not surprisingly,it attracteda greatdeal
of attentionand sentimentfrom the literatiof the Six Dynasties.
Among the literati who sentimentallyreflect about their feelings
about and fear of the transience of human life, Wang Hsi-chih
(A.D. 303-361), one of the best knownChinesecalligraphers,is most
famous.31According to Fukunaga,expressions of grief and mourning over the death of his relatives and best friends cover a large
proportionof Wang Hsi-chih's calligraphicscripts.32It is said that
Ko Hung's Discourseof Hsien-lmmortality
191
died of illness, Wang

when his daughter-in-lawand granddaughters
mournedfor them painfully.33And yet, when his best friends died,
Wang reportedthat his paineven reachedinside his five internalviscera (wu-nei).34
Indeed, what Wang has expressed of the bitternessof his dead

friends and family is not only an isolatedvoice, but actuallyreflects
a general culturaltendencyand intellectualanxiety during that period. Literatiof that periodwere characterizedby their sentimental
recognitionof the finitudeof humanlife and the finalityof death. To
furtherexemplify this concern,one might quote Hsi K'ang's poems,
which most profoundlyresonatewith the culturalsentimentof that
period. For instance, one of his poems says, "Life so like a floating abode is briefly manifest, suddenly ended."35Paradoxically,it
was from the issue of humandeathand the recognitionof transience
of human life that the literatiof the Six Dynasties celebratedtheir
drivingwish for liberationfrom fatalism. As a specific culturalphenomenon,theirquestfor a long life and theirdreamof a transcendent
world of hsien-immortalshave few precedents. Such a quest for a
transcendentworld can be exemplifiedby Hsi K'ang's poem:
Man's life so hurried,
heaven and earthso enduring.
A span of one hundredyears,
who termsthis long life?
I long to ascend to the immortals,
cross over to incorruptibility.36
The InterpretativeThemesof Ko Hung's Discourse of

hsien-Immortality
Given its scope andcomplexityin systematizing,rationalizing,and
recreatingthe ancient Chinesereligious traditionsof the nourishing
Ko Hung's Pao-p'u tzu neiof life and the cult of hsien-immortality,
Inner Chapters)is
hereafter
the
tzu,
(Inner
Pao-p'u
Chaptersof
pien
author
The
the
tradition.
of
presents sophisundoubtedlya classic
ticated argumentson a varietyof subjects: (1) proofs of the per se
existence of immortalsand transcendentstate of immortalityof the
192
Chi-timLai
body; (2) stipulationof the accessibilityto the perfect state of long

life to everyone, irrespectiveof one's social status but dependenton
whetherone could study deeply and strenuouslycultivatethe necessary esoteric methods;(3) elaborationof diverse esoteric techniques
leading one to become a hsien-immortal;and (4) descriptionsand
criticism of the diversecontemporaryTaoist discoursesand sects.
In exploring the meanings, identity, and purpose that Ko Hung
recursivelyintends to configurein the Inner Chapters,it is my contention that his discourseof hsien-immoralitybasically recreatesthe
past religious/spiritualtraditionin orderto resolvehis conflictswithin
his social and emotionalmilieu and to configurea new self-identity
in an incongruentperiodof historical/socialtransformation.Notwithstandingthe variety of subjectmattersexpoundedin the twenty total chapters of the Inner Chapters,I shall focus my study on the
self-consciousness and interpretativepositions deployed in his discourse and how they are recursivelydevelopedto resolve Ko Hung's
struggle to change his own destiny and to create a new perfect selfidentity as an "EarthImmortals"(ti-hsien) for himself. In short, I
shall show that the internaldynamicsof his conceptionof "earthimthe dynamics
mortals"precipitateshis discourseof hsien-immortality,
of which-simultaneously doctrinal,social, and emotional-he employed to configureand representhis own ideal identity to himself
and others.
The Basic Assumptionsof Ko Hung's Discourse: The Recognitionof
the Impasse of HumanDeath and the Impossibilityof "Rebirth"
(fu-sheng) after Death
With regard to an individual'sgiven life-span in this world, Ko
Hung'sbeliefs are not muchdifferentfrom otherancientChineseformulationsin the pre-Buddhistperiod. For instance,in the T'ai-ping
ching (Book of the GreatPeace HY 1093), it statesthat the "essence"
(literally,originalor fundamentalroot,pen-ken)of thousandsof creatures originates with the "PrimordialBreath"(yuan-ch'i).37Hence,
humanlife and the materialbody are consideredas essentially constitutedby ch'i, vital breath. Ko Hung shares this understandingof
Ko Hung's Discourse of Hsien-Immortality
193
humanconstitutionand states that: "Manexists in the midst of ch'i,

and ch'i is within man himself. From heaven and earth on to all
creationthere is nothingthat does not requirech'i to stay alive."38
In acceptingthis cosmogonictheory of ch'i, Ko Hung, like his predecessors, assumes that an individual'snormallife-span has already
been predestinedbecausewhen a personis born, a fixed quantityof
ch'i has been assigned to him or her.39That is, the length of one's
life dependsupon how much ch'i one has receivedin takingform in
the womb: "Everyone,similarly,has receiveda variablequantityof
ch'i. Those with much of it are extinguishedslowly; those with little
come to a quick end."40
Moreover,accordingto Ko Hung, one's predestinedlife-span is
normallycut down on accountof the following causes: First,human
beings always do somethingto deplete the originalallotmentof ch'i,
the so-called "breath-deficiency"
(sun-ch'i). In particular,Ko Hung
stressesthatone's excessiveor unregulatedhabitswouldexhaustmost
of the allotted ch'i.41 Second, decrease of vital ch'i is caused by
the sins one commits. It is believed that the gods, ssu-k'uo chih
shen, who are in chargeof humanmisdeedswould accordinglymake
deductionsfrom one's allottedlife-span. Ko Hung elaborateson this
belief, writing,
The gods of heaven and earthwho are in chargeof misdeeds make deductions
frompeople's reckonings(to-suan)accordingto the degreeof theirwrongdoing.
As these reckoningsdecrease,a man becomes poorerand falls ill; frequentlyhe
suffers anxiety. When no more are left, he dies.42
Indeed,this sort of reasoningthat correlatesan individual'sphysical health and allocatedlife-span with moralbehavioris a common
featureformulatedin earlierTaoisttexts duringthe thirdcentury.The
following quotationfrom the Book of the GreatPeace clearly shows
this ancientChinese conceptionof one's predestinedlife-span:
Heaven knows people's large and small wrongdoings.[Gods] will recordthem
in the book of goodness and evil. They are examinedby days and monthsand,
in consequence, [Heaven]makes deductionsfrom people's reckoningsand cut
theirlife-span... When one's reckoningis completelydedluced,one will be put
in the grave, and those uncounteddeductionswill go to one's offspring.43
194
Chi-timLai
Establishedupon a model in which a definite give is always deducted,this understandingof the normalcourseof humanlife appears
to take a pessimistic view of humandestiny. Because of this subtraction from an individual'smortallife-span,Ko Hung lamentedoverthe
transienceof humanlife. His lament,to a certainextent, echoed the
ancient Hebrew poets' rhetoricof lamentationin the Book of Ecclesiastes, saying, "Inthis world man loses one day every day, and like
the buffalo or sheep being led away to the slaughter,every step forwardbrings him nearerto departurein death."44
So saying, Ko Hung
basicallybelieves thatone's normallife-spanhas been predetermined
based upon a definitequantityof receivedvital energies. One's normal course of life is essentiallya fatalisticdance towardsdeath. After
determiningKo Hung'sview on the natureof humanlife as such, the
next importantquestionis how he conceives the meaningsof death,
as well as the world of the afterlife.
Priorto the significantculturalinfluencesby IndianBuddhismupon
the fourth-and fifth-centuryChineseconceptionof mortality,the ancient Chinese usually accept the idea that a person exists on earth
only one time, althoughthere were different religious and philosophical speculationsover the final destiny of souls (hun and p'o)
after one died.45For the latter,two oppositeviews can be instanced:
Wang Ch'ung (A.D. 27-ca. 100) and the Book of the GreatPeace.
Wang Ch'ung, a LaterHan literatus,can be viewed as a representativefigureof Confucianliteratiwho deny any survivalof the "souls
of the dead" (kuei). In his great work, Lun-heng,he stronglyargues
for the view that as soon as a person dies and is buried, both the
body (hsing) and souls (ching and shen) graduallydissolve into the
primalch'i and lose theirindividualidentities. Thus, in termsof the
problemof the afterlife,WangCh'ungabsolutelydenies the idea that
the individualsoul, as well as the body, can survive death.46
Far from this sort of rationalistview on afterlifesuggestedby the
Confucianliterati,the Book of the GreatPeace asserts the existence
of a netherworld,T'ai-yin (literally,the Great Darkness),47wherein
an individual's moral conduct during life has been recorded. The
book also makes it clear thatwhen one dies, he/she will come to the
Ko Hung's Discourse of Hsien-lmmortality
195
T'ai-yin to be examined. With the exception of a small number of

immortals, most of the dead remain forever in the T'ai-yin.
When [the gods of] "belowthe earth"(ti-hsia,anothernamefor T'ai-yin)receive
those new dead, the latterwill be examinedupon theirwrongdoingand the times
when they might have repented.It is based upon this examinationto determine
one's "register"(ming-chi)[in the ti-hsia]; and on accountof the causes of their
wrongdoing,the dead will be accordinglypunished.48
Moreover, regarding the fate of the dead, the Book of the Great
Peace adds that in the T'ai-yin the dead are transformed into different
forms of "spirits of the dead" (kuei), such as the "spirits of happiness"
(lo-yao kuei), the "spirits of suffering" (shou-k'u kuei), the "spirits
of evil" (wu-kuei), and so on.49 In spite of the various forms of the
"souls of the dead," the most crucial underlying assumption is that
the dead are never born again.
In other words, based upon this identification of the indigenous
Chinese conception of a netherworld, it is quite possible to suggest
that the ancient Chinese in the period before the arrival of Buddhism
generally accepted the view that after a person dies, he/she cannot
be reborn on earth again. Even in the Book of the Great Peace, in
discussions of the dead's material body, there is no explicit concept
of "rebirth"(tsai-sheng) after dying,5 with the exception of one inexplicit instance.51 Instead, the book clearly states that everyone can
only live on earth for just one time:
For the matterthat people in this world have to die, this is not a tiny thing. If
one is dead, one can never see sky and earth, sun and moon, one's veins and
bones are tured into dust. The importanceof death means very much. People
who are on this earthcan only receive one time of life, and will not be born
again [afterdeath] (pu-te-ch'ung-sheng).52
Although it is not my interest in this study to examine the possible

conceptual continuity among Wang Ch'ung, the Book of the Great
Peace, and Ko Hung, it is interesting to note that a similar lack of
use of the religious imagination on the concept of "rebirth" (tsaisheng orfu-sheng) is a characteristic of the Inner Chapters as well.53
Ko Hung's belief in the existence of an "Unseen World" sets him
in opposition to Wang Ch'ung's rationalistic view. The former insists
196
Chi-timLai
thatgods, spirits,demons,andimmortalsinhabitthe "otherworld."To

prove this argument,he cites on one occasion a "historical"example
showingthe reappearanceof the "spiritof the dead"of a concubineof
the EmperorWu, which was summonedback by an esoteric master,
Shao Weng.54Pointingto this "historical"instance,he argues,
These are all mattersdealingwith spirits (kuei) and gods (shen), documentedin
our books, thereare manymore clear expositionsof this sort. So if the ignorant
profanepeople (su-jen) still claim that they do not exist, how can they believe
the matterof long-life.55
In spite of this idea of the survivalof the "spiritsof the dead,"the

basic assumptionunderlyingKo Hung'sdiscourseof hsien-immortality
resulted from his lack of imaginationconcerningthe theme of "rebirth"after death. His religious discourse of salvation is uniquely
concerned with the ideas and methods for prolonging life (ch'ang
sheng), avoiding the death, and attainingan eternal life as long as
Heaven and Earth, ratherthan giving any specific thoughts on the
conception of rebirth. In sum, the doctrine of the perfect state of
salvationwhich Ko Hung is most concernedwith is derivedfrom his
denial of the finitudeof deathandthe need to strivefor the attainment
of long life.56
My contentionis basedupon the following threepieces of internal
evidence. First,beginningwith a recognitionthatthereis an absolute
breakbetween life anddeath,Ko Hung, in the InnerChapters,makes
it clear that an individualbody cannot regenerateif the souls (hun
andp'o) departfrom its body. In his words, "Whensome of a man's
hun andp'o departfromthe body, illness ensues;when they all leave
him, a man dies."57Moreimportantly,when an individualdies, "there
would be no returnof the departed,and the decomposed[body]would
not have a chance of rebirth."Knowing this ironic reality of human
finitude,Ko Hung furtherrecommendsthat "thoseliteratiwho want
to know the Tao shouldsincerelymour over it."58
Secondly,Ko Hungsuggeststhatthereis a specificclass of immortals-the "immortalsliberatedfromthe corpse"(shih-chieh-hsien)59who, because of their inabilityto achieve immortalityby immediate
ascension "in full daylight"(pai-jih sheng-t'ien),need to transform
Ko Hung'sDiscourseof Hsien-lmmortality
197
theirmaterialbodies afterthe normalrite of burial.Even so, for him,

these immortalsare "falselydead"(t'o-ssu), or superficiallytake the
form of dying (t'o-chung-mangchih-hsing).60In this sense, mortality and immortality,for him, are two unbridgeablecategories. For
instance, when confrontedthe contradictionin speakingthe "death"
of the immortalsof shih-chieh-hsien,Ko Hung immediatelyadds an
example of "historical"evidence to insist that the "death"is merely
a "false"death. That is to say, what is put into the coffin is just a
cane the immortalhas given the appearanceof a corpse to, while the
real body has alreadygone to live among other immortals.61
Thirdly,if we furthercontrastKo Hung'sconceptof the "liberation
of the corpse"with laterTaoisttexts from the fourthor fifth century,
e.g., the Tzu-yangchen-jennei chuan (Inner Traditionsof the Perfected of Tzu-yang,HY303), the Teng-chenyin-chueh(HY421), and
the Chen-kao(HY 1010), a great shift in the meaning of the term,
"liberationfrom the corpse,"becomes evident. Since those latter
texts had been influencedby the Buddhistdoctrineof the afterlife,a
new understandingof the "liberationfrom the corpse"emerged.For
instance, in the Chen-kao,the immortalsliberatedfrom the corpse
are rankedas the "agent-beneath-the-earth"
(ti-hsia chu-che) in the
underworldof T'ai-yin;and, most importantly,they now undergoa
regenerationprocess towardthe rebirthof their materialbodies.62
In sum, for Ko Hung,the searchfor a perfectstate of salvationhas
first and foremostto assumeand overcomethe seemingly unchangeable fact of humancorporealmortality.Thus, he requireda journey
of departurewhich would completely free the individualfrom the
constraintsof thatmortality.
Ko Hung's New Discourseon hsien-lmmortality:Its Basic
Characteristics
In the accountthat follows, I shall attemptto explicate the basic
and unique characteristicsof Ko Hung's "new"discourse of hsienI shall approachthe conceptualdimensionof the "disimmortality.63
continuity"applaudedin Ko Hung'sdiscourseon two levels. The first
level concernsthe distinctivenessof his discoursefromthe type which
198
Chi-timLai
was celebratedin the 'Treatiseon the Feng and Shen Sacrifices"(in

Shih chi) and the 'Treatise on Chiao Sacrifices"(in Han shu); the
second level concerns the self-understandingand intentionalityembodied in this new discourse of hsien-immortality.Both levels of
analysis depend on a conceptionof historicaldynamismthat situates
Ko Hung's discoursewithin his social and intellectualmilieu.
In considerationof the distinctivecharacteristicsof Ko Hung'sdiscourse on hsien-immortalitywithin the milieu of the Six Dynasties,
Kominami Ichir6 has arguedthat Ko Hung's discourse is already
strippedof imperialideology, which, in the historiographicaldepictions of the emperorsCh'in Shih-huangand Han Wu-ti, adopts the
cult of hsien-immortalityto extend its worldly wealth, honor and
power. Instead, an openness to all who want to learn the ascetic
cult leading to hsien-immortalitycharacterizesKo Hung's religious
discourse. The following analysis of one of earliest Chinese myths
of hsien-ship furtherdemonstratesthe differencebetween such two
differentmodels of hsien-immortality.For the ancient Chinese, the
myths of the 'Three Islandsof Paradise"(san-shen-shanor san-tao),
especially the paradiseof P'eng-lai,could be said to representthe earliest cult of hsien-inmortality.Accordingly,the myths claimed that
immortalslived in far-awayparadises.If a living personcould reach
a paradise,he or she wouldfindthe "drugthatconfersdeathlessness"
(pu-ssu chih-yao).64
In additionto the surfaceaccountof the myths,it is of the greatest
importanceto explore the specific locality within which the myths
of immortalsare deployed. Imperialistdesires and motivationscan
be linked to the search for the "drugthat confers deathlessness"in
the myth of the 'Three Islands of Paradise."For instance, the two
'Treatises"above offer many accounts of how the First Ch'in Emperorand EmperorHan Wu-tienthusiasticallysought the mythological paradise of P'eng-lai. The best known account concerns the
First Ch'in Emperorwho once sent severalthousandof virgin boys
and girls, led by an official named Ts'ui Shih, to the East Sea to
seek the paradiseof P'eng-lai and to procurethe "drugsthat confer
deathlessness."65
Given this account, the ancient Chinese discourse
Ko Hung's Discourseof Hsien-lmmortality
199
of hsien-immortalitythereforedependsheavily upon a mythological

structureof "archaichero,"as well as the humandesirefor a heavenly
"gift"of eternallife. Further,the quests by the First Chin Emperor
andEmperorHanwu-tifor a prolongationof life presentthe historical
contextwithin which the ancientmyths of immortalswere deployed.
As the main idea cherishedby this traditionof hsien-immortality,the
search for the immortalityof the body mainly centers upon heavenly gifts of the "drugthat confers deathlessness"by transcendent
immortalsbelievablyappearingin distantparadises.66
In contrast to this imperial discourse of hsien-immortality,the
"new"discourse expressedin Ko Hung's Inner Chaptersbasically
suggests anotherpath of salvationand perfection. That is, an individual's self-perfectionisonly dependentupon ascetic, mystic, and
ethical behavior. Since it is a new religious discourse supposedly
open to all people, the questfor a prolongedlife is no longerthe preserve of the wealthyand powerful. Emphasizingthis difference,Ko
Hung arguesthat "[Cultivatingthe cult of] hsien-Immortalsrequires
only firm resolutionand high sincerity... The goal can be achieved
And "Oncethe
withouttaking accountof one's talent and ability."67
essentialshave been obtained,anyonecan effect this process without
waitingfor any greattalentsof the sages and worthiesto do so."68
In insisting on the availabilityof this religious knowledge and
path for everyone, it is not surprisingto hear Ko Hung consciously
claiming that the new discourseof hsien-immortalityis outside the
influence of worldly status and wealth. For him, "the secret [of
cultivatingthe Tao for a long life] lies in will-power,not in riches
or high position."69He even strongly states that the path seeking
prolonginglife and the path seeking the imperialclass's power and
wealth are contradictory:
Methodsleadingto immortalsrequirecalm, freedomof action,andobliviousness
of our physical frames;but in the case of princesthe bonging of huge bells and
the thunderingof drumswith theirbooming and rumblingupset their souls and
excite their heartsand minds.70
Accordingly,he thus criticizesthe First Ch'in Emperorand Hanwu-ti as personswho merelyhad a hollow reputationfor seeking the
200
Chi-timLai
cult of hsien-immortality,but never realizedthe realityof cultivating

the Tao.
The following is my furtherelaborationof Ko Hung's self-understandingof the cult of hsien-immortalityand its basic characteristics
in order to support my contention that Ko Hung has recreateda
new discourse of hsien-tradition.First, in regardto the metaphysical ground supportinghis claim for attainingimmortality,it is of
utmost importanceto point out that his discourseis based upon the
naturalprincipleof "metamorphoses"
(pien-hua),the million and one
He considersit the secret principleunderlyingthe
transformations.71
mysteriousdynamismof naturallife. Above all, according to this
principle,the phenomenalworldis not regardedas a closed, final, and
perpetualreality. Instead,an infinite,boundless,and endless "world"
of new things and new life is acclaimedand it will arriveonce the old
one is exhaustedand has passed away. Groundedupon this "natural"
principle, the following quotationdemonstratesKo Hung's faith in
the real existence of a transcendentworld of immortals:
The ordinarypeople merely say that because they see no immortals in this
profane world it is not possible that such things exist. But what is so special
about what our eyes have seen? Why should there be any limit to the number
of marvelous things that exist between sky and earth, within the vastness of
the Unbounded?Throughoutour lives we have a sky over our heads but never
know what is above it; to the end of our days we live on the earthwithoutever
knowing what is below it.72
In additionto this metaphysicalview with respectto the openness

of this world, the beliefs in an endless "worldof metamorphoses"
and "new life" are furthersupportedby the following bit of deductive reasoning. On the basis of daily experiences which demonstrate many instances of naturalmetamorphoses,Ko Hung deduces
that other unknownphenomenaof metamorphosesare also possible,
above all, the humantransformationinto an immortal.In his words,
"By comparingthe slightestclues, big effects becomeknown;on seeing what is alreadythere,one learnsto understandwhat has not yet
been tried."73
Accordingto SanakaS8's count, Ko Hung cited almost
thirtyinstances of naturalmetamorphosisto supportthis deduction.
201
For instance, in one instanceKo Hung writes that a "pheasantturns

into a shen bivalve,"and in anothera "sparrowbecomes a clam."74It
may be added to these examplesthat Ko Hung's metaphysicalpoint
of departurefor liberationis dependentupon a faith in the principle
of metamorphosesin nature,ratherthanbeing basedupon, for example, the theme of universalsuffering(sarvamduhkham)which Indian
religions have assumedto be the conditio sine qua non for generating the desire for emancipation.Instead,he considers the perfect
state of humanemancipationto be a part of the naturalprocess of
metamorphoses.Hence, the transcendentworld of immortalsis not
derived from a mode of complete rejectionor withdrawalfrom the
cosmic circuit. His wish for salvationis not also establishedupon a
conceptionof a "PerfectGod."For him, the plane of salvation,transcendence,and emancipationfrom the bondsof the realityof deathis
derivedfrom the naturalhorizonof an enlargementor transformation
of the present,a liberationfrom one's presentfinite existence.
The second andthe most importantfeatureof Ko Hung'sdiscourse
contendsthat the transcendentmode of immortalityis not something
absolutelyunobtainableandunreachablefor the human. Instead,everyone can become an immortaland achieve a prolongedlife. Immortalsare not a special species (hsien-jenchih wu-chung).75Simply
by means of one's greateffortsin cultivatingthe properesoteric arts,
an individualcan attainliberationfrom this worldlyenslavementand
enter the transcendentmode of immortality.In particular,Ko Hung
claims that the transcendentmode of immortalbeing is not granted
by someone else. That "somethingelse exists" is not due to a distinct gift from the gods or throughsuch religious acts as sacrifice
and prayers. The cult of hsien-immortality,insists he, is a path of
salvationaccessible merely throughone's own acts of learningand
cultivatingthe properesoteric arts. Thus, hsien-immortalsare not
some special species distinctivelyendowedwith long life. The truth
of their achievingimmortalitymerely lies in theirown resolutewillingness to makethe greateffortrequired.As a result,they receivethe
rewardof freedomto ascendto the transcendentworld of immortals.
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Chi-timLai
To furtherillustratethis centralclaim, Ko Hung cites the examples

of the immortalsP'eng Chu and Lao-tzuand arguesthat,
In the case of P'eng and Lao, however, we are still dealing with mere men,
not with creaturesof a differentspecies. It was throughattainingthe Tao that
they enjoy longevity,not throughwhat they were by nature... [Humanbeings]
if they can practicethe same Tao as
possess intelligence (jen-yao-ming-chieh);
did P'eng and Lao; they can achieve the same results.76
The immortalfigure of "Lao-tzu"had been elevated long before

Ko Hung to the statusof the most prominentsage and was even considereda deified god beforeand duringKo Hung's life-time. Consequently,Ko Hung's discursivedepictionof Lao-tzu as merely an ordinaryman who attainedthe deathlessimmortalitymerely by means
of his own efforts deserves a more penetratinglook, especially in
relationto the wider culturalsignificancebroughtby his discourse.
Concerning the deification of the philosopher Lao-tzu, Wang
Ch'ung (A.D. 27-91), for example, pointed out that in his time the
philosopherLao-tzu has already been elevated as a perfected one
(chen-jen)or an immortal(hsien-jen)for his having transcendedthe
normalhumanworld (tu-shih).77Further,by the time of late second
century,accordingto the Hou Han-shu78andthe Lao-tzuming,79Emperor Huan (A.D. 165) and his officials were said to have held the
cult of Lao-tzu, who was veneratedas a heavenlygod named"Lord
Lao" (lao-chun) at the "temples(chi) of Lao-tzu"in the capital of
Lo-yang and the state of Chan.
In addition to the trace of the cult of the deified Lao-tzu at the
court,accordingto a Tun-huangTaoistmanuscriptidentifiedas a late
second centuryreligiousTaoisttext, the Sturaof the Transformation
of Lao-tzu (Lao-tzupien-hua ching),80the deified Lao-tzu had also
been elevated as a personifiedsupremedeity in popularreligion of
amongthe lowest strataof society. The LordLao-tzuwas depictedas
having undergonean unlimitednumberof esoteric transformations.
he becamemanifestto the world and brought
In each transformation,
his people an era of peace.81
Obviously,these explanationsof the deificationof Lao-tzuare antagonisticto Ko Hung'sdiscourseof hsien-immortalitybecauseof his
203
insistence that the attainment of long life results not from supreme
deities but from one's own great efforts. Ko Hung's depiction of
Lao-tzu as a ordinary man in quest of long life actually represents a
new picture of Lao-tzu. In addition to what he has stated in the Inner Chapters, the Shen-hsien chuan (partially accepted as Ko Hung's
work) also expresses this central claim about the ordinariness of Laotzu, saying that he was originally a person born without any divine
nature. The attainment of immortality is plainly a result of his own
human efforts. So, he is named "a person who has attained the Tao"
(te-tao-che). Above all, Ko Hung in the Shen-hsien-chuan wrote the
important reason why he absolutely denies the deification of Lao-tzu:
TaoistadeptsthoughtthatdeifyingLao-tzumightfacilThose narrowed-minded
itate the latergenerationsfollowinghim. However,they do not know this makes
it harderto believe thatthe attainmentof long life can be learned. Why? If you
say Lao-tzu is a man who have attainedthe Tao, then, everyone will try hard
to follow in his steps; however,saying he is a special divine species means that
the attainmentof long life cannotbe learned.82
In sum, Ko Hung's treatment of the discourse on Lao-tzu provides

an exemplary instance of the "discontinuity" of his discourse with
the previous hsien-tradition. This discontinuity is seen as well in Ko
Hung's central claim that, through great effort to learn proper esoteric
arts from an enlightened master (ming-shih), the perfect state of long
life is possible and achievable for all.
What Does Ko Hung Expect: "Earth Immortals" (Ti-hsien)
In addition to the above elaborated conceptual features that constitute Ko Hung's self-understanding of the tradition of hsien-immortality, it is important to reiterate the associated esoteric practice and
techniques, since they are the means by which the transcendent mode
of immortals would be achieved. For Ko Hung, the "proper"esoteric
arts through which one is able to achieve longevity are principally:
(1) "sexual arts of the bedchamber"(fang-chung); (2) "breathcirculation" (hsing-ch'i); (3) "guarding the One" (shou-i); (4) "taking plant
medicine" (fu ts'ao-mu-yao); and (5) "making alchemical elixirs and
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Chi-timLai
golds" (chin-tan). He furtherposits a classifying criterionby claiming that the supremeesoteric art lies in the making of alchemical
elixirs and gold, which is the only way to transcendthe normalhuman world (tu-shih) and to become hsien-immortals.Otherinferior
techniques,at the most, can only extend the life-spanwithoutachieving the transcendentmode of immortalityand ascension to heaven.83
These two essential features-the "conceptualsystem of hsienship" and "esotericmethods"-orchestrateKo Hung's new discourse
of hsien-immortality.In a sense, this religiousdiscoursecan be summarizedas a type of utopianthinkingcombinedwith selected esoteric
arts. However,insteadof discussingthe truth-claimsof his discourse,
in what follows, I shall attemptto penetrateinto the level of intentionality. I shall particularlyfocus on the questionof what Ko Hung
really seeks within the imaginedreligious world of immortals. In
other words, I shall explorewhat sort of idealized identityKo Hung
seeks to develop by renderingsuch a imaginedreligious world.
There is no doubtthat the imaginedcharacterof hsien-immortals
in Ko Hung'sdiscourseof hsienis the most importantrepresentation
an
in
immortality.Hence, analysis depthof the dynamicsconstituting
his conceptionof immortalsand the ideal values Ko Hung pursuesis
crucial for this study.
First, one of the essentialcharacteristicsof Ko Hung's discourseof
hsien-immortalitygoing beyondthe precedingTaoist ones, as found
in the Book of the GreatPeace and the Hsiang-erhchu, is his great
development of the conceptionof "threedistinctive classes of immortals" (san-pien-hsien): (1) "heavenly immortals"(t'ien-hsien);
(2) "earthimmortals"(ti-hsien), and (3) "immortalsof the liberation of the corpse"(shih-chieh-hsien).4Accordingto Ko Hung,their
main difference originatesfrom the variouspaths of cultivationand
methodsfor the achievementof the transcendentmode of immortality
each employed. In his words,
Taoistadeptsof thehighestclass (shang-shih)raisetheirbodies into the void and
are then designated"heavenlyimmortals."Those of the second class (chungshih) resortto the famousmountainsand are designated"earthimmortals."The
205
thirdclass (hsia-shih)sloughsoff the bodyafterdeathandis designated"imof thecorpse."85

mortalsof the liberation
Second, and more significant, is the fact that immortals of each
class are assigned different realms of final destination and different
forms of transcendent manifestation:
Whena first-classprocessoris successful,he ascendsandbecomesan official
in heaven;a secondclassonejoins theotherson mountK'un-lun;
a third-class
oneenjoyslonglife in thisworld.86
Herein, a distinctive variation of Ko Hung's conception of immortals is concealed. For "earthimmortals" and "immortals of the liberation of the corpse," the two previously stated interrelated components
that characterize the ancient Chinese conception of hsien-immortals"heavenly ascension" (sheng-t'ien) and "deathless" (pu-ssu)-are cut
apart. They are no longer two sides of the same coin.87 Although
this conceptual change can be traced back to an earlier period before
Ko Hung's lifetime, as seen in a Han rhapsody (fu) composed by
Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju, the "Rhapsody of Mr. Great Man" (Ta-jen fu),88
the separation of these two essential components configured in the
representation of hsien-immortals is a later development, obviously in
the early Six Dynasties' Taoist literature, e.g., the Shen-hsien chuan,
the Chen-kao, the Han-wu-ti nei-chuan.89
Specifically in Ko Hung's context, on the one hand, the immortals
of the second and third classes are likewise depicted as enjoying the
complete avoidance of death similar to the "heavenly immortals." On
the other hand, instead of ascending to the paradise of T'ai-ching,90
"earth immortals" and "immortals of the liberation of the corpse" are
only allowed to remain and to wander in famous mountains and on
earth. According to this sense, they have already lost the heavenly
gift: flying freely through the air, ascending from earth to heaven and
descending again from heaven to earth, drinking jade juice, tasting
heavenly food, and dwelling in the halls of the beautiful paradise.91
In spite of such a "loss," not enjoying heavenly ascension may not
be so bad according to Ko Hung.
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Chi-timLai
In considerationof the class of "heavenlyimmortals,"Ko Hung

stipulatesthat they are promotedas heavenly officials after arriving
in the paradiseof T'ai-ching.Besides the Inner Chapters,this stipulation is seen in the Shen-hsienchuanas well. In the example of the
immortal,Liu An, it is said that when he had ascendedinto heaven,
he received an official title, namely,san-hsien-jen;92
and the immortal Lu Lii-sheng was said to have been assignedthe heavenlyofficial
title of san-t'ien-t'ai-shang-ssu-kuan.93
Inferringfrom this allocation
of heavenly official positions, Ko Hung deduced that the heavenly
world has a hierarchicalorganization.In other words, in place of a
general belief in an ideal communityin heaven, such as the harmonious communalgroupdescribedin the poem '"he Peach Blossom
Spring,"composedby T'ao Ch'ien (A.D. 365-427), an official institution in the paradiseof T'ai-ch'ingsimilarto this worldlybureaucracy
is mappedout. As a rhetoricaldevice, Ko Hung quotes the following by the immortalP'eng Chu to supporthis claim that hierarchical
rankingand discriminationamongimmortalsthemselvesare likely to
happenin the heavenlyworld:
Old P'eng claimed that in heaven there were so many importantgods holding
offices of higherhonorthatthe newerimmortalsmust hold the meanerpositions.
They must performall sorts of services, and their lot is harderthan before.9
In order to flee from such a heavenly bureaucraticsituation,the

immortalP'eng Chu is quoted as preferringto remain on earth for
more than eight hundredyears, ratherthan immediatelyascending
to paradise. Accordingto anotherexample in the Shen-hsienchuan,
the immortalMr. Pai-shihreacheda similarconclusionand preferred
to stay on earthratherthanjoin the hierarchicalstructurein heaven.
The Shen-hsien chuan also describes how he did not cultivate the
specific kind of esoteric methods that would enable him to ascend
to heaven. Rather,he was simply satisfied with the achieved state
of having become an "earthimmortal"because he believed that a
complete avoidanceof deathhad been fulfilled.95
With such stipulations,Ko Hung's teachingsclearly bring about
a very significant conceptual change from the traditionof hsienimmortality. Not surprisingly,there are idiosyncraticagenda and
207
intentionshinted at therein. If the imagined heavenly world operates like what this worldlybureaucraticsystem does, and if it is also
known that it is such a bureaucracythatthe recluse literatiof the Six
Dynasties,like Ko Hung,soughtto flee from, then it shouldcome as
no surpriseto hearhim proclaimthat "he saw no point in hurryingto
go to heaven... if anothermoreessentialeternalelement-prolonged
life-could have been achieved."96
Such a claim certainlymeansthat,
for Ko Hung, the primaryobjective of prolonginglife takes priority over ascendingto the heavenly world. In supportof his belief,
Ko Kung quotes his masterCheng's teachingto the effect that "long
life" is the supremegoal of the cult of hsien-immortality:
Some immortalsmay mountto heaven and others remainhere on earth. What
mattersis that they all have achievedlong life; they simply make their abodes
whereverthey prefer.97
Therefore, as many modem scholars have already pointed out,

in displaying his desired goal, Ko Hung's new discourse of hsienimmortalitydoes not urge the individualsto become "heavenlyimmortals"but "earthimmortals."98
Ko Hung' discourseprimarilylies
in privileginga temporalsense of eternityand an avoidanceof death;
whereas the spacial sense of ascending to heaven, flying and going
upwardsand downwardsthroughthe air, seems secondary.
An AlternateIdeal Self Identity:Earth Immortals(ti-hsien)vs.
ConfucianSages (sheng-jen)
To some modem scholarsof ancientChinese religion, Ko Hung's
type of quest for a prolongedmateriallife, crystallizedin the ideal
image of the "earthimmortal,"is often discussed as a manifestation
of the human inclinationto enjoy and to extend this world's pleasure as long as possible.9 Otherscholars,such as JosephNeedham,
tend to categorizethis Taoistbelief in materialimmortalityunderthe
rubricof the distinctivenessof the "Chinese"character,namely, the
so-called "this-worldlyorientation"in contrastto an "other-worldly
These two foundationaland yet complementaryviews
salvation."10?
assume a "genealogical"or "universal"structurefor explainingrecursiveculturalphenomenon.However,the problemof identifyinga
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Chi-tim Lai
diachronic structure in this way is that it does not fully meet the need
for a dynamic formulation of how and why evolving practices and
recursive appropriations are developed: one that defines practices as
Taoist vis-a-vis the other cultural options of the day.
In place of that sort of genealogical method, in what follows I
would like to locate Ko Hung's discourse of hsien-immortality within
the context of his idiosyncratic concerns. Out of this methodical
approach, the discursive meaning embedded in that cultural configuration of the celebration of the procurement of deathlessness and
material immortality can be more clearly illuminated.
Ko Hung's description of the required ascetic methods in cultivating the cult of hsien-immortality and his assertion that worldly values
and the ideal world of immortality are incommensurable lead me to
believe that it is unconvincing to consider his discourse as simply a
reflection of the human inclination to seek a "maximum degree of
enjoying this world's pleasure in the future."'01Although Ko Hung's
discourse of hsien-immortality fixes upon the image of the "earth immortal" and takes the perfect state of salvation as simply a continuity
of material life in this world for hundreds of years, these celebrated
ideals are not necessarily caused by the above-mentioned "psychological" factors.102In particular, by emphasizing his readiness and
steadiness in the cultivation of the hsien-immortality cult, Ko Hung
clearly declares that his future life-orientation must be against this
world's values and glories, saying:
I havebrokenall contactwith my nativevillage andquit the glories of ourpresent
world, because I felt obliged to go afar and ascenda famous mountainto finish
my philosophicalessays, and afterwardto preparethe immortalmedicinewith
a view to enjoying long life (ch'ang-sheng). Every member of the profaneis
amazed... [and they] considerme mad. The process of the Tao, however,does
not flourishin the midst of mundaneactivities. If such human activity is not
abandoned,how can an aspiration(chih) such as mine be cultivated?103
To verify Ko Hung's determination to commit himself to an ascetic life and to deny all of this worldly honors and values, a further
detailed biographical study of his life is required. However, the prerequisite of withdrawing from social ties is stressed in Ko Hung's
209
discourse of hsien-immortality.Hence, the general "psychological"

account cannot help explain the depth of meaning and complexity
underlyingKo Hung's religious discourse. Furthermore,it is also
unconvincingto believe that a person would opt for a solitary life
and to cultivateascetic artsbecause of promisesof materialpleasure
in the future.
If the issue is not solvedby this simplisticand generalexplanation,
then the crucialquestionremains:whatkind of idiosyncraticconcern
could motivatea literatuslike Ko Hung to argue"obsessively"for a
possible realizationof immortalityand completeavoidanceof death?
What would compel him to devote himself so completelyto the cultivationof a religiousideal of hsien-immortality?
It is my contentionthat Ko Hung's religious themes of long life
and the complete avoidanceof death bypass a biological or material
sense and, instead,engagein a culturalor symboliclevel of meaning.
To borrowCliffordGeertz'sformulation,the symbolic meaningsof
deathlessnessand hsien-immortalitynot only are models "for"Six
Dynasties literati'slives but also models "of' them.'04That is, the
providesan individualideal that
symbolicworldof hsien-immortality
may look fantasticand literallyimpossible, yet, the symbolic hsienimages are no less useful and constructivein giving meanings to
Ko Hung's life struggleand in forming his personal ideal identity.
For Ko Hung, the ideal of prolonginglife crystallizedin the image
of "earthimmortal"marksa genuine alternativevalue and vision of
life, which is in contrastto the other existing options in his time,
such as Confuciansages, those in power, philosophers,or virtuous
persons. The symbol of the hsien-immortal,by carryinga resolution
of the struggle for overcomingthe impasse of the transienceof human life,'05points to a "higher"representationof an ideal identity.
Not only that, this symbol of ideal identityalso functionsas an individual'sre-constructedpsycho-socialcore, giving an innercoherence
to the individual'sunified senses of continuityin time and mastery
of social experiences,regardlessof the fact that human beings are
always in states of discontentand unfulfillment.
210
Chi-timLai
According to Ko Hung, the hsien-immortalswho can achieve the

complete avoidanceof death rarelycome from the social groups of
worthies,emperors,or sages. Hence, he impliesthathsien-immortality
are distinctive "human"ideal values to be pursuedand potentially
achieved by anyone. In the first, in order to differentiatethe ideal
values of hsien-immortalfrom this worldly worthies and powers,
Ko Hung says, "Thosewho attainedimmortalwere almost all poor
and lowly. They were not men of position and power."'06Second,
in placing the ideal of hsien-immortalityout of the reach of imperial
figures,Ko Hung rebukesemperorssuch as the FirstEmperorof the
Ch'in andEmperorHan-wu-ti,who were "models"of seekingfor immortalityin ancientChinesehistoryand literature,by saying, "These
two emperorshad a hollow reputationfor wanting immortality,but
they never experiencedthe reality of cultivatingthe Tao."107Considering his conscious attemptto deny any imperialprivilege away
from the discourse of hsien-immortality,we may conclude that, for
between the value system
Ko Hung, there is an incommensurability
the
cult
of
hsien-immortals
and
the imperialsystem.
the
informing
most
claim
in
Ko
constructingthe hsienimportant
Perhaps, Hung's
immortalsas an ideal identitywith respectto Six Dynastiesliterati's
concern lies in his assertionthat the hsien-immortalis the opposite
of the "Confuciansage." Ko Hung deploys two strategiesin arguing
this.
First, he unprecedentedlyclaims that "A [Confucian]sage does
not necessarily become an hsien-immortal,just as a hsien-immortal
does not necessarily become a sage."'08Thus, he presents these as
distinct models "of' the literati'slife. Moreover,each ideal personal
identity requiresdifferentpaths of cultivation. Specifically for the
cult of hsien-immortality,the values of long life and deathlessness,
which were never properlyaddressedin Confuciandiscourse,are to
be cultivated;hsien-immortalsare representedas an alternatemodel
of ideal human quality. In comparingthis Taoist ideal type with
Confuciansages, Ko Hung.arguesthatthe latterwere poor in the art
of cultivatinglong life. Thus,they could only be regardedas ordinary
persons without any special ontological statusand quality:
211
When [Confucian]sages do not eat, they get hungry;when they do not drink,
they get thirsty... After manyyears they grow old; when harmedthey become
ill. When theirbreathsare exhausted,they die. This means that there are many
things in which they do not differfrom people in general,even thoughthere are
a few things in which they do differ from others.109
In depreciating the Confucian model, for him, even the two most
revered Confucian sages, the Duke of Chou and Confucius, are labelled as having been unable and improbable to achieve the ideal
state of hsien-immortality, since they had not devoted themselves to
the particular religious path of the cultivation of the esoteric arts for
prolonging life."0
In addition to constructing the pursuit of hsien-immortality as an
autonomous path cultivating an idealized personal identity which is
competitive with the Confucian ideali7ed sages, Ko Hung also takes
a bold step to relativize further the then unchallenged and sacred
status of Confucian sages by claiming that they simply represent "a"
type of sage in regard to the art of government. In this way, he
implies that there could have various ideal types of "sages" with
respect to their corresponding cultural activities. In his words, if
"sage" is only a "designation for an outstanding person in any human
endeavor," then, for instance, "the Yellow Emperor and Lao Tan"
were "[both] sages in the art of attaining the Tao," and there are
also "sages of painting," "sages of singing," "sages of military," and
so on."' What perhaps Ko Hung actually means is that within his
discourse of hsien-immortality, the "earth immortal," for example,
is an ideal "sage" comparable to the Confucian model of the sage.
Hence, the idealized personal identity with which he identifies could
no longer be bounded by the traditional Confucian model. The Taoist
"sage" pursues the attainment of long life and overcoming the bonds
of death by cultivating the esoteric cult of hsien-immortality.
Conclusion
To conclude this lengthy discussion of Ko Hung's "new" discourse
concerning hsien-immorality, it is my contention that Ko Hung's construction of the idealized character of hsien-immortals is essentially
212
Chi-timLai
a representationand a productof an intellectualattemptsought by

a particularsocial class of literati. To trace the unique culturalsignificance of such attempt,perhaps,it needs to considerthe different
ultimateconcernsposed by Confucianismand Taoism. As seen from
the analyticalframeworkof modem sociology, classifyingtwo different realmsand focuses of humanexistence: collective and individual,
undoubtedly,Ko Hung'sreligiousdiscourseis certainto celebratethe
individualratherthanthe collective. His idealized"sage"is no longer
satisfiedwith the Confucianclaim giving primacyto collective obligationsand social relationships.In shakingoff these bonds,Ko Hung
says that Taoist sages or immortalspursuea higher goal in the alternative context of individualityand eternity.Essentialto their interest
is the root and groundof theirown subjectivebeing and the questfor
a transcendentself-identity,all of which the Han ideali7e'dConfucian
sage would not touch upon. On accountof this shift of culturalconcern, Ko Hung's discourseof hsien-immortalityintentionallybegins
with a suspension of the considerationof collective and social life.
From that suspension,what he tries to disclose as the eternal"value"
of humanlife is found in the horizonof seeking the ultimateground
of one's own destiny,which has firstand foremostmeantovercoming
the bonds of death and the attainmentof long life. Based upon the
imagined symbolic world of hsien-immortality,he thereforeformed
for himself a new idealizedpersonalidentity. Above all, he stresses
that it is throughthe great efforts and properesoteric methodsthat
everyonecan transcendthe fate of deathand attaina higherlevel of
humanexistence.
Chung Chi College
Chinese Universityof Hong Kong
Hong Kong
LAI
CHI-TIM
213
I Ko
Hung, Pao-p'u tzu nei-p'ien (hereafterPPTNP), in Wang Ming edition,
Pao-p'u tzu nei-pien chiao-shih(Beijing: Chunghua shu chu, 1982), 2: 3b; 10: 6b.
2 This accords with A.C. Graham'sstudy on the date of the "Seven InnerChapters"of the Chuang-tzu,see his Chuang-tzu:The Seven Inner Chaptersand Other
Writingsfrom the Book of Chuang-tzu(London:Allan & Unwin, 1981), 3.
3 The word
"hsien-jen"(immortal)is not found in the Chuang-tzu,but the other
similarwords like "shen-jen"(divineman) and "chen-jen"(perfectedman) are used
in the book to describea similarstate of hsien-transcendence.It is thus possible to
conclude that "shen-jen"actuallyrefers to the ideal characterof divine immortals
(shen-hsien).Moreover,the book'sdescriptionof "shen-jen"that"hedoes not eat the
five grains"belongs to a kind of Taoisttechniquefor attainingimmortality.Further,
the Lieh-tzu ("Huang-tipien") says that "hsien-sheng"(immortals)will serve the
"shen-jen"(divine man) who accordinglylives in the Ku-yi mountain.
4
Chuang-tzu,Ch. 1. The translationis that of A.C. Graham,46.
5 In contrastto Chinese
conceptionof the immortalityof the body, in classical
Westerntradition-Greek and Hellenistic-there was generallya belief in a magical
flight for the separablesoul, leaving the physical bodies and entailing a heavenly
journey. See Ioan P. Culiano,"Ascension,"Death, After Life, and the Soul, Lawerence E. Sullivan,ed. (New York:MacmillanPublishingCompany,1989), 107-116.
6 For such a definitionof ancientChinese conceptionof immortality,see Joseph
Needham,Science and Civilizationin China(herafterSCC),Vol. 5, pt. 2 (Cambridge:
CambridgeUniversityPress, 1974), 94.
7 Shou-wenchieh-tzu(Beijing: Chung-huashu-chu, 1963), 167.
8 See David Hawkes,The Songs of the South: An Anthologyof Ancient Chinese
Poemsby Qu Yuanand OtherPoets(New York:PenguinBooks Ltd, 1985), 191-199.
9
According to Tsuda Saukichi,"Shinsen-shisono kenkyii"(Studies on the Immortals),in Tsuda Saukichizenshu (Tokyo, 1939), 172-333, these two featuresof
the ancient Chinese doctrineof immortalitypossibly originatedfrom differentand
initially separatetraditions.
10Though we assume deathlessnessas an ideal state of immortalityfor ancient
Chinese in the second centuryB.C., Anna Seidel, 'Tokens of Immortalityin Han
Graves,"Numen 29 (1982), 79-122, gives us a more complicatedand challenging
picturethat shows a gap between the theoreticalconstructof the ancient Chinese
ideal of deathlessimmortalityandthe archaeologicalfindingsof the buriedfromthe
replicasof Han toms, e.g., funerarybannersand bronze-mirrors.In particular,she
finds that there were arts depictingthe dead who progressfrom death to heaven.
Moreover,some bronze mirrorsand bannersfound in the Han tombs present the
contemporarylonging for an afterlifethroughdying and then arrivingin the paradise
afterstaying in the tomb. Seidel addsthatthe ancientChineseconceptof immorality
may not only restrictto one ideal mode, which bypasses the state of death.
214
Chi-tim Lai
11KarlMannheim,Ideologyand Utopia (New York: Harvest/HBJBooks, 1985),

193.
12 Ibid., 205.
13 There is still a
prevalentand slightly dogmatic view held by most modem
Chinese scholars arguingthat Ko Hung's concept of immoralityis due to a false
and superstitiousworldview. Wang-ming,for example, is best known to deny this
part of Ko Hung's thoughtby saying, "[He] unceasinglypropagatedthe deathless
of immortals,the possibilityof learningthe way of attainingimmortality,[but]...
such mattersare absolutelyabsurd,ridiculous, and false," in Wang Ming, Pao-p'u
tzu nei-pien chiao-shih, 6. See also Ch'ing Hsi-t'ai, ed., The History of Chinese
Taoism,Vol. 1 (Szechuan,1988), 309.
14The term"MedievalChina"is frequentlyadoptedbothby JapaneseandWestern
sinologists, for example, see KawakatsuYoshio et al., Chi2gokuchuseishi kenkyu
(A Study of the History of Medieval China) (Tokyo: Tokai Daigaku Shuppankai,
1970); and Albert E. Dien, ed., State and Society in Early Medieval China (Hong
Kong: Hong Kong UniversityPress, 1990).
15 For the summaryof this view that the period of medieval China was ruled
by hereditaryaristocracy,see Deenis Grafflin,'The GreatFamily in MedievalSouth
China,"HarvardJournalof AsiaticStudies(HJAS)49 (1981), 65-74, esp. 65-66. See
in State and Society in Early MedievalChina,
also, Albert E. Dien, "Introduction"
1-5.
16 Li Zehou, The Path of Beauty: A Study of Chinese Aesthetics, trans. Gong
Lizeng (Hong Kong: OxfordUniversityPress, 1994), 82.
17 Michael Loewe, "TheReligious and IntellectualBackground,"in Cambridge
History of China, Vol.1: The Chin and Han Empires,221 B.C.-A.D.220,655.
18 Han shu (hereafterHS) (Beijing: Chung Hua Shu chu, 1962), Ch. 22, 1027.
The translationis that of RichardB. Mather,"TheControversyOver Continuityand
NaturalnessDuring the Six Dynasties,"History of Religions (HR) 9 (1969/70), 162.
19 Here, I do not intend to simplify the four centuries history under the Han
empire in terms of stagnation.In fact, Michael Loewe, 'The Religious and Intellectual Background,"649-725, has properlyconceived that during the Han period,
a "continuouslyevolving process of intellectual growth in which new ideas were
suggested." However,the point I want to make clear is that when we comparethe
Six Dynastieswith the Hantherewas a clearly culturalparadigmchangewith respect
to the intellectual'spursuitof Confucianvalue system: Confucianethics and values
were no longer a single dominantforce in the life and society of the Six dynasties.
20 Hou Han shu (herafterHHS) (Beijing: Chung hua shu chu, 1965), Ch. 35,
1211, tells a story abouta highly esteemed Confucianscholar,Cheng-hsuan(A.D.
127-200). He was learnedin both the ancient text (ku-wen) and the modem text
(chin-wen)of the classics. Accordingly,since Chengwas a Confucianscholar,when
he met YuanSao, the then greatgeneral and the latter'sadvisors(ping-k'e),Yuan's
215
ping-k'e did not appreciateCheng-husanas a t'ung-jenand, instead,challengedhim

with many questionswhich had nothingwith the Classics.
21 For instance, Wang Chung(A.D. 27-c.100) refutedan existence of an independentand transcendentrealm. See his Lun-heng(CarefullyWeighedArguments),
especially, the chapterof "Tao-shupien" (the False of the Tao). However,despite
the Confucianliterati's refusal to admit the existence of spirits and gods, it does
not mean that none of the discussionand bibliographybelongingto demonographic
genre were recorded. The recentrecovereddemonographictext from a third century B.C. tomb at Shui-hu-ti,Hupei, demonstratesanotherside of the tale which
is often officially unaddressed. For an introductorystudy of demonograhictexts
recoveredat Shui-hu-ti,see DonaldHarper,"A ChineseDemonographyof the Third
CenturyB.C.'. HJAS45 (1985), 459-498.
22 Yu Ying-shihconsidersthe Wei-Chinperiodas the periodof "thediscoveryof
the individual'"see his "Individualismand the Neo-TaoistMovement'"in Individualism and Holism: Studiesin Confucianand TaoistValues,DonaldMunro,ed. (Ann
Arbor:The Universityof Michigan,CenterFor Chinese Studies, 1985), 121-155.
23 Shih-shuohsin-yii,23: 11, in Shih shuo hsin yii chiao chien, by Hsu chen-o
(Beijing: Chung-huashu chu, 1984).
24
Concerningthe politicalbackgroundof Hsi K'ang's and JuanChi's criticisms
of Confucianvalue-system,manyscholarlylaborhave been done. For instance,see
Donald Holzman,Poetryand Politics: The Life and Worksof Juan Chi (A.D. 210263) (New York: CambridgeUniversityPress, 1976); RobertG. Henricks,PhilosoChina. The Essays of Hsi K'ang (Princeton,
phy andArgumentationin Third-century
N.J.: PrincetonUniversityPress, 1981), esp. "Introduction;"
and T'ang Ch'ang-ju,
WeiChinnan-pei ch'ao shih lung-ts'ung(Peking: San-lienshu tien, 1955), 323-332.
25 Hsi K'ang, "A Refutationof Chang Miao's Essay-People NaturallyDelight
in Learning."The translationis that of RobertG. Henricks,Philosophyand Argumentationin Third-centuryChina: The Essays of Hsi K'ang, 140.
26 FukunagaMitsuji, "Kei Ko ni okerujiga no monda: Kei Ko no seikatsu to
shis6,"Toho gakuh6 32 (1962), 1-68.
27 Chin Shu (hereafterCB)
(Beijing: Chunghua shu chu, 1974), Ch. 14, 414.
28 Ibid.
29 Ibid., Ch. 98. Accordingto YangLien-sheng,"Noteson the EconomicHistory
of the Chin Dynasty,"HJAS9 (1945), 126: 'This statementmay have been an
exaggeration... neverthelessthe emphasisput by contemporarieson the population
problemis significant."
30 Ibid., Ch. 26 ("Shin-ke-chih").The translationis that of Yang Lien-sheng,
"Notes on the Economic Historyof the Chin Dynasty,"181.
31 For a study of WangHsi-chih'svarioussentimentalinclinations,see Fukunaga
Mitsuji's "O Gishi no shis8 to seikatsu"(Wang Hsi-chih's Life and Thought), in
Dokyo shiso shi kenkyu(Tokyo,1987), 319-354.
Chi-tim Lai
216
32
Ibid., 332.
33 Fa-shu
yao-lu, Ch. 10, in Hsieh chin t'ao yuan, t'ao 21.

34 Ibid.
35 Hsi K'ang, EighteenPoemsPresentedto Hsi Hsi on His Entryinto the Army.
of Hsi K'ang's Eighteen
The translationis that of PeterRushton,"AnInterpretation
Poems Presentedto Hsi Hsi on His Entryinto the Army,"Journal of the American
OrientalSociety 99 (1979), 186.
36
Ibid., 180.
37 For instance,T'ai- ping ching (hereafterTPC) states that'Thousandsof living

begin with PrimordialBreath"(in WangMing's edition, T'ai-p'ing ching ho chiao,
(Beijing: Chung Hua Shu chu, 1960), 254), that 'The PrimordialBreath encloses
Heaven, Earth, and the eight points of the compass, by which all these produce"
(78), and that "Heaven,Earth,and Man originatefrom the same PrimordialBreath,
but were then divided into threeentities"(236).
38 PPTNP, 5: b.
39 See Lung-heng,Ch. 18 and TPC,Ch. 36, 40.
40 PPTNP, 13: 2a (JamesR. Ware,Alchemy,Medicine,Religion in the Chinaof
A.D. 320: TheNei P'ien of Ko Hung (Pao-p'u tzu), (Cambridge:MIT Press, 1966),
214.
41 Ibid., 13: 7b. Ko
Hung illustratesthe habits of daily life that deplete one's
internalch'i as follows: "Woundingoccurswhen our thoughtis troubledwith things
for which we lack talent, also when we force ourselves to do lifting without the
requisitestrength. Sadness, decrepitude,uneasiness, and tormentare wounds, as is
also excessive joy..." In sum, any form of emotional, physical, and physiological
strainwould cause one's "breathdeficiency."
42 Ibid., 6: 4b (Ware,115).
43 TPC, Ch. 110, in T'ai-p'ingching ho-chiao, 526.
44 PPTNP, 14: 2b (Ware,228).
45 For the discussion of pre-BuddhistChinese conceptionof life in relationto
Ko Hung's thought, see ShimomiTakao,"Hobokushini okeru itsumin to sennin,"
Toh6 shikyo 29 (1967), 35-52, esp. 42; Tsuzuki Akiko, "Rikuch6jidai ni okeruto
'Ie': Rikuch6d6ky8 keitenwo toshite"(Individualand Familyof the Six Dynasties:
Throughthe Taoist Scriptures),Nagoya daigaku toyoshi kenkyuhokoku 14 (1989),
19-49, esp. 22-25; and KominamiIchir6,"D6ky6 shinko to shisha no kyusai"(The
Beliefs of Taoism and the Salvationof the Dead), Toyogasukenkyi 27 (1988), 74107. For a generaldiscussionof the ancientChineseconceptionof the fate of souls
(hun andp'o) afterlife,see Yu Ying-shih,"Life and immortalityin the mind of Han
China:' HJAS 25 (1964-65), 80-121 and "'O Soul, Come Back!' A Study in the
ChangingConceptionsof the Soul and Afterlife in Pre-BuddhistChina,"HJAS47
(1987), 363-395.
217
46 Lun-heng,Ch. 26 ("Lun-ssup'ien").
47 The
conceptionof T'ai-yinin the TPC supportsthe view that an indigenous
was not directlycausedby the adventof Buddhism
Chineseidea of an "underworld"
in China. See Anna Seidel, "ChineseConcepts of the Soul and the Afterlife,"in
Death, Afterlife,and the Soul, LawrenceE. Sullivan,ed. (New York: Macmillian,
1987), 183-188.
48 TPC, Ch. 40 (In T'ai-p'ingching ho-chiao, 72).
49 Ibid., 73.
50
By comparingthe concept of "rebirth"with the later Taoist texts, Mugitani
Kunio,"Roshi-Sojichuni tsuite"(TheHsiang-erhCommentaryon the Lao-tzu),TohM
gakuho 57 (1982), 94-95, has clearly assertedthis concludingremarkin regardto
the T'ai-p'ing ching.
51 TPC has
only one quotationon the concept of "deliverancefrom the corpse"
in
(shih-chieh) relationto the theme of "rebirth"(fu-sheng)(Ch. 72, 298), that is,
"thedeliverancefrom the corpse"which means "one is rebornafterlife"(ssu-erh-fusherg). Even so, such a state of "death"only means a "false death"(cha-ssu).
52 Ibid.
53 In contrastto the PPTNP,
many popularstories concerningthe "rebirth"of

physical body flourishedin late Six Dynasties' literature,but were compiled later
than Ko Hung's life-time, e.g., the Fa-yuan chu-lin, Ch. 75 (collected in Taisho
Tripitaka,Vol. 53); the Sou-shenchi, Ch. 16; and the Hsi-sou-shen chi, Ch. 4.
54 PPTNP, 2: 9b.
55 Ibid., 2: lOb (Ware,50).
56 For this basic conceptualassumptionunderlyingKo Hung's discourse, see
TsuzukiAkiko, "Rikuch6jidai ni okeru to 'Ie'-Rikuch6 d6ky6 keiten wo toshite,"
22-24.
57 Ibid., 2: 9b (Ware,49).
58 Ibid., 5: lb.
59 Ko
Hung explains the concept of "liberationof the corpse"by saying, "the
one who sloughs off the body afterdeathis designatedas an immortalof 'liberation
from the corpse' (shih-chieh-hsien),"
cf. PPTNP, 2: 9a. For a detaileddiscussionof
the Taoistconceptionof "liberationof the corpse"(shih-chieh),see IsabelleRobinet,
andDeliveranceFromthe Corpsein Taoism,"HR 19 (1979), 37-70,
"Metamorphosis
esp. 57-66; HenriMaspero,Taoismand ChineseReligion,trans. FrankA. Kierman
(Amherst:Universityof MassachusettsPress, 1981), 266-268; MiyakawaHisayuki,
"Doky6 no shinsen kannenno ichi kosatsu: Shikaisenni tsuite" (A Study of the
Conceptof the Immortalsin Taoism with Special Referenceto the ImmortalsLiberated from the Corpse), in MiyakawaHisayuki, Rikuchoshi kenkyu: Shiikyhen
(Kyoto, 1964), 439-458.
60 PPTNP 2: 9a; 12: 6a.
61 Ibid., 2: 9a.
218
62 For that
Chi-tim Lai
concept of rebirthin the t'ai-yin, see Chen-kao (HY 1010), Ch. 4

& 6. For the moral significanceof this shift of understandingthe concept of the
"liberationof the corpse"in the Six Dynasties' society, see Tsuzuki Akiko, "Nanjin
kanmon,kanjin no ronri isha ni tsuite"(The MoralConsciousnessof the Southern
Commonersin the EasternChinPeriod:ThroughScripturesof Shang-ch'ing),Toho
shWkyo78 (1991), 19-50.
63 KominamiIchiro, "'Shinsen den'-Hsin-shinsen-shiso," 145-236, has rightly
arguedthat Ko Hung's discourseshould be analyzedas a "new"one.
64 For a detailed study of the myth of island of P'eng-lai in relationto the quest
for the "drug that confers deathlessness,"sec FukunagaMitsuji, "Hozen setsu no
keisei" (The Formationof the Theoryof the Feng and Shan Sacrificesin Ch'in and
Han Times), in Dokyo shisoshi kenkyui(Tokyo, 1987), 233-238.
65 Shih-chi,Ch. 6 ("Biographyof the First Ch'in Emperor").
66 In the Lu-shih ch'un-chiu,"Shenhsing lun ch'iu jen pien;"the Huai-nan-tzu,
all state an ancient
"Sui-hsing-pien;"and the Shan-haiching's "Hai-wai-nan-ching,"
Chinese belief that in the far distantland, there lived "people who were deathless"
(pu-ssu chih-min)and existed "countrieswhich had no death"(pu-ssuchih kuo).
67 PPTNP, 12: lb.
68 Ibid., 16: 7a.
69 Ibid., 2: 6a.
70 Ibid., 2: 7a.
71 For a discussion of the themeof pien-hua in the Taoist tradition,see Isabelle
Robinet, "Metamorphosisand Deliverance From the Corpse in Taoism,"HR 19
(1979), 37-71, esp. 37-48. And for the philologicalstudy of the wordpien-hua in
the ancientChinese philosophy,see NathanSivin, "Changeand Continuityin Early
Cosmology: The Great Commentaryto the Book of Changes,"in Chiigokukodai
kagaku-shi-ron,YamadaKeiji andTanakaTan,eds. (Kyoto, 1991), 3-41.
72 PPTNP, 2: 3b.
73 Ibid., 7: 5b.
74 SanakaS8, Sengoku. Soshokanno shihk6to gijutsuno kankei(Studiesrelating
[Taoist]Beliefs and Teachingsfrom the WarringStates Period to the Early Sung
[10th cent.]) (Tokyo, 1975), 172.
75 PPTNP, 5: la.
76 Ibid., 3: la.
77 Lun-heng,Ch. 7 ('Tao-hsu-pien").
78 HHS, Ch. 7 ("Huan-ti-chi").
79 Lao-tzuming, in Hung Kua,Li-shih 3: la-4b.
80 For the study of the Lao-tzupien-huaching, see YoshiokaYoshitoyo,Doky6 to
Bukkyo,Vol. 1 (Tokyo, 1959), 2-15; and A. Seidel, 'The Image of the PerfectRuler
in EarlyTaoist Messianism: Lao-Tzuand Li Hung,"HR 9 (1969-70), 222-225.
219
81 A. Seidel,
op. cit., 223.
82 Shen-hsienchuan,Ch. 2.
83 PPTNP, 4: la; 5: 6a; 13: 5b. For a detailed
analysis of these esoteric arts,
see Ch. 2.
84 In neitherthe
Scriptureof the Great Peace nor the Hsiang-erh Commentary
on the Lao-tzu does the concept of the "threeclasses of immortals"appear. Max
Kaltenmark,"The Ideology of the T'ai-p'ing ching,"31, notes that in the Ch. 71
of the book (in T'ai-p'ingching ho chiao, 289) there are nine humancategoriesto
be distinguished. However,the category of "immortals"(hsien-jen) is only listed
as a single category withoutfurtherdifferentiation.Li Feng-muo agrees with this
point and states that the conceptionof three classes of immortalsis not so clearly
developedin the Book of the GreatPeace. The same thingis also seen in the Lao-tzu
hsaing-erhchu. Therein,a single entity of immortalnamedhsien-shihis found;cf.
Jao Tsung-i, Lao-tzuhsiang-erhchu chiao-ch'eng,57-58. For the detailedanalysis
of the origin and developmentof the Taoistconceptionof threeclasses of immortals,
see Li Feng-mao,"Shen-hsiensan-p'inshuo te yuan-shihchi ch'i yen-pien-I Liuch'ao Tao-chiao wei chung-hsinte k'ao-ch'u,"in Han-hsieh lun-wen chi, Vol. 2
(Taipei, 1983), 171-223.
85 PPTNP, 2: 9a.
86 Ibid., 4: 7b.
87 It is noted that such variationtook
place since the later Han. For instance,in
WangCh'ung'sLun-heng,the ancientChinesecharacterfor hsien has been changed
fromf to fllU.The literalmeaningof the latergraphdepicts a man on a mountain.
Accordingto the LaterHan dynastyetymologicaldictionary,Lau Hsi's Shih-ming,
it is said "to reach old age and not die is calledfll, the word also means 'to move,'
that is, to move into the mountains,therefore,the graphis made with two elements,
both man (jen) and mountain(shan)."
88 Shih-chi,Ch. 117 ("Biographyof Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju").
89TsudaSaukichi,"Shinsen-shisono
kenkyfi"181, 270. Thereis also an example
in the Han Wu-tinei-chuan(HY292), saying, the QueenMotherof the West rebukes
EmperorWu "Howcan [you]becomethe trueimmortal(chen-hsien)... [and]if [you]
diligently cultivate [these arts], [you] can transcendto the state of deathlessness"
(emphasismine).
90 PPTNP, 11: 14b.
91 Ibid., 2: 4a; 3: 7a; 10: 6b.
92 Shen-hsienchuan,Ch. 4.
93 Ibid., Ch. 10.
94 PPTNP, 3: 8a.
95 Shen-hsienchuan, Ch. 2.
96 PPTNP, 3: 7b.
97 Ibid., 3: 7b.
220
Chi-tim Lai
98 Cf. Mugitani Kunio, "Skoki d6ky6 ni okeru kyusai shiso," Toky6 bunka57
(1977), 19-63, esp. 36; KominamiIchir6, "'Shinsenden'-Hsinshisen shiso," 205210; and Ofuchi Ninji, Shokino dokyo: Dokyoshino kenkyusono ichi, 199.
99 Tsuda Saukichi, "Shinsen-shis8no kenkyi," 274-278, 318; KominamiIchiro,
Chigoku no shinwa to monogatari,205-209.
100J. Needham, SCC, Vol. 5, pt. 2, 77-113.
101Tsuda Saukichi,"Shinsenshiso no kenkyi," 172.
102
Accordingto PPTNP3: 7b, Ko Hungquotes the masterCheng's saying why
immortaslike P'eng does not opt for being a "heavenlyimmortal,"saying that 'To
out it plainly, those who seek long life merelydo not wish to relinquishthe objects
of their currentdesires." Despite that, it is my contention that such a statement
does not sufficiently explain the motivationalstructureof Ko Hung's dissource of
hsien-immorality.
103Ibid., 4: 17b.
104CliffordGeertz,TheInterpretation
of Cultures(New York:Basic Books, Inc.,
93.
1973),
105For the issue of the transienceof humanlife as the culturalproblemof the
Six Dynasties, see my discussionin the early partof this paper.
106PPTNP, 2: 8a.
107Ibid., 2: 7b.
108Ibid., 12: la.
109Ibid., 12: 4b.
110Ibid., 12: 4a. Besides that reason, Ko Hung also appeals to a principleof
determinismthat the Duke of Chou and Confuciuswere not destinedto attainlong
life. Here, an apparentinconsistencyoccurs in regardto his previousclaim thatthe
hsien immortalsare not special species predeterminedbut createdthroughtheirgreat
efforts to learn.
111Ibid., 12: 2a-b.
BOOK REVIEWS
FRANKWHALING
(Ed.), Theoryand Method in Religious Studies. ContemporaryApproachesto the Studyof Religion-Berlin and New York:
Walterde Gruyter1995(427 p.) ISBN 3-11-014254-6 (pbk.) DM 68.00.
Whaling's two-volume anthology on contemporaryapproachesto the
studyof religionwas firstpublishedin 1984/1985. The new editionpromised
to re-stateand updatedevelopmentsin the study of religion duringthe second half of the twentiethcentury. In spite of very limited updating,the
anthology is still a useful and insightful survey of the methods employed
andthe sub-disciplinesthatdominatethe studyof religion. One is introduced
to the debates and issues raisedin psychology,sociology, anthropologyand
science of religion. The scope of the chaptersis vast, and it is not possible
to deal with each and everyissue raisedin the book. Thereare a numberof
insightfulcontributionslike the impactof the definitionsof religion on analyzing religions in practice(Kehrerand Hardin);the peculiarityof religious
phenomena(Smart);the Westernbias of the study of religion (Oosten);and
the particularfunctionsof religioussystemsin a moder context(van Beek).
I want to single out two importantpoints in this new edition. Barring
minor exceptions like the editor'sintroduction,the contributorsin the anthology have not includedthe latestdevelopmentsin the field. This is a pity
as one would haveexpectedmorein this regard.Forexample,King'scontributionconcludes with a positivenote on Waardenburg's
appealto the issue
of intentionalityin religiousactors. This basically discursiveapproachhas
since been developedextensivelyby anthropologists.A discourse-centred
approachsheds light on the impasse between history and phenomenology
raised by the article.
Whaling's introductionand his contributionentitled "The study of religion in a global context"introducesthe reader to a numberof scholars
to illustratethe fact that the study of society and culture is no longer an
entirely European/Western
project. While this is true, one cannot but notice that the non-Westernscholarshe has chosen all have some inclination
to addressingand re-dressingnormativedimensionsin religion, something
which is entirelyabsentfromthe otherarticles. It seems to me thatWhaling
? Koninklijke
NUMEN,Vol.45
222
Book reviews
has illustratedthat non-Westernscholars in the study of religion have not

yet explored the disciplinaryissues that occupy Westernscholars. The fact
of the matter, as pointed out in Oosten's contributionon anthropological
approachesto the study of religion, is that the discipline is still belaboured
by its past as a Westernattemptto understandnon-Westerncultures.If this
is the fundamentalraisond'etre of the discipline,as positedby Oosten,then
what would be the role of non-Westernscholarsin the field?
Finally, following from the point made above, one would have expected
a greater degree of deliberationand insight into the political and social
context of doing religiousstudies. Whalingtouchedon it when considering
non-Westerncontributionsto the study of religion. The absence of a more
systematicreflectionin a book on theoryand methodcalls for explanation.
It seems thata considerabledegreeof deconstructionneeds to be undertaken
in the study of religion as a discipline.
Departmentof Religious Studies
Rondebosch
7700, South Africa
ABDULKADER
I. TAYOB
HiddenWisdom:Esoteric Traditionsand the Roots of

GUYG. STROUMSA,
ChristianMysticism(Studies in the History of Religions 70)-Leiden:
E. J. Brill 1996 (xii + 195 pp.) ISBN 90-04-10504-2 $70.00.
In his latestbook, a convenientcollectionof previouslypublishedarticles,
Guy Stroumsaexploresthe existenceof esoterictraditionsin the earlyChristianities. He emphasizesthe existenceof such doctrinessince the beginnings
of Christianity,theiroriginsprimarilyout of Judaism,theiradoptionanddevelopmentamongthe gnostics,a consequentdecline of Christianesotericism
alreadybefore the end of the second centuryin light of Christianinclusivity
and, finally, the transformationof the vocabularyof Christianesotericism
into the metaphorsof Christianmysticism.
Centralto Stroumsa'sargumentis, of course, his firstpoint: the existence
of Christianesoteric tradition(s).Stroumsanotes that scholarlydiscussions
of Christianesotericismhave generallyfocussed upon cultic practice,a sociological concernwhich, he suggests, has "weakenedemphasison the 'obBrillNV,Leiden(1998)
? Koninklijke
NUMEN,Vol.45
Book reviews
223
jective' secret" (p. 5). Theremay be good reason that the issue of content
has been slighted, however. The second (pseudo-) Platonic epistle, upon
which Stroumsabuilds much of his argument(pp. 28, 37, 107, 149, 155),
counsels that "[t]he greatestsafeguard[for esoteric contents] is to avoid
writing and to learn by heart"(P1.2 Ep. 314C). Stroumsaemphasizesthat
gnostic apocalypses,for example,often similarlyinsist thatthe secretsbeing
revealedto the readerhave been kept and transmittedonly orally, 'neither
transcribedin a book nor written down' (Apocalypseof Adam, NHC V,
85, ii. 307). And, he notes that such apokruphoiwere characteristicnot
only of gnosticisingtraditionsbut of early Christianliteratureas well. The
problem, of course, is that most of our knowledge of "objectivesecrets"
from antiquityis textual. Stroumsathus concludesthat: [T]he genre itself
seems to have been ratherpopular: there is no better way to publicise a
text than to prohibit its publication,stronglylimit its readership,or insist
that it revealsdeep and heavilyguardedsecrets(p. 155, emphasisadded). It
is this adductivecharacteristicof esotericismthat shifts scholarlyattention
from the claim to "objectivesecrets"to the sociological strategyof making
such claims-a strategythat might be employed equally well by mystical
traditions. Stroumsa,of course, does not deny this strategicdimension of
esotericism (e.g., pp. 1, 149). He does, however,seem to grant the claims
of ancient esotericisman integrityhe disallows modem esotericism,which
he describes as "a pot-pourriof variouselements"(p. 1)-a characterization generally applied to Hellenistic religions under the more pretentious
but no less helpful term"syncretism"(see Stroumsa'sdescriptionof gnostic
mythology as "self-conscious[ly]hybrid,"p. 53).
Stroumsahas establishedthat there likely were Christianesoteric traditions, though the evidence,e.g., the Markan"messianicsecret,"has elicited
other interpretations.Whetherthe "objective"contents of these traditions
were any more significantthanthose of variousmodem "secret"or esoteric
societies is more problematic.Nevertheless,Stroumsahas, in these articles,
consistentlyand compellinglycalled our attentionto a fascinatingaspect of
ancient(as of modern)culture.
The Universityof Vermont
481 Main Street
Burlington,Vermont05405, USA
H. MARTIN
LUTHER
224
Book reviews
How BuddhismBegan: The ConditionedGenesis

F. GOMBRICH,
RICHARD
of the Early Teachings-London and AtlanticHighlands,N.J.: Athlone
1996 (xii, 180 p.) ISBN 0-485-17417-0 (hb.) ?25.00.
The book containesthe five JordanLecturesin ComparativeReligionheld
in 1994 at the London School of Orientaland African Studies: the public
lectureon "Debate,Skill in Means, Allegory and Literalism"(Ch. 1) which
was left in its original oral form only added by some footnotes; and four
slightly revised lecturesheld in seminarson "How, not What: Kammaas
a Reaction to Brahmanism"(Ch. 2), "Metaphor,Allegory, Satire"(Ch. 3),
"Retracingan Ancient Debate: How Insight WorstedConcentrationin the
Pali Canon"(Ch. 4) and "Whowas Afigulimala?"(Ch. 5).
ProfessorGombrichconcentratesbasically on the relationshipbetween
the historicalBuddhaand his doctrinalcontext thus supplementinghis excellent study on the social contextof earlyBuddhism(TheravadaBuddhism,
Londonand New York,1988). Gombrichpresentsa discussionof a number
of technicaltermsand textualproblems,which are mainly based on debates
and discussionsof the Buddhawith otherreligiousteachers,especiallybrahmins. However,the lecturesdeal with ratherseparate,sometimes disparate
subjectsonly loosely relatedto each other,and the (main) title of the book
is not reallyjustified since it lets the readerexpect a more systematicbook.
The chaptersitself are full of insight, deep understandingof the texts, and
brilliantknowledgeof the varioustraditions.The book is writtenin a highly
readablestyle, sometimesfull of wit, free of jargon.
Chapters1-3 pursue the question on how the teachings of the Buddha
emerged from an Upanisadicbackground,in some cases almost literally
(cf. p. 62f. on parallelsbetween the TevijjaSutta and the Brhaddranyaka
Upanisad). After showing that the Buddhare-definedaction (kamma)as
intention, Gombrichconcludes in Ch. 2: "Being lies at the heart of the
Upanisadicworld view, Action lies at the heartof the Buddha's"(p. 48). (It
would be interestingto comparethis analysis with early Samkhyadoctrine,
i.e., the dynamic, but samsaricaspect versus the static, but soteriological
aspect of the Purusa.) Gombrichfurthershows, how this doctrinealmost
cogently leads to ethics: in contrastto the Upanisadic, (early) Buddhist
salvation becomes "a matterof how one lives, not what one is" (p. 62).
Moreover,he demonstrateshow the transferof merit in Buddhismtook the
place which divine graceoccupies in Christianity(p. 57). Chapter5 retraces
an ancientdebate on the questionwhetherEnlightmentis attainablewithout
? Koninklijke
NUMEN,Vol.45
Book reviews
225
mediation. Gombrichshows that Buddhahimself probablynever intended

such a form of Enlightenmentbut thatit might have been introduceddue to
scholastic literalismand the type of debates.
Philology is slow reading.Gombrichdemonstrateshow readingthe texts
with scrutinyreveals implicationsfar beyond the concernedverse of passage. However, he presentsphilological details only to an extent where it
is necessary for the argument. Thus, in the last chapterGombrichgives,
on philological grounds,a surprisinganswer to the so far unsatisfactorily
discussed question who the brigandAfigulimila was, who wore a garland
of his victim's fingersbeforebeeing convertedinto a follower of Buddha's
path. Gombrich'ssolution to the problemis an emendationof Pali mahesi
into maheso (Skt. mahefa) which makes Afigulimila to a kind of "protoSaiva/dakta"(p. 151). Clearly, this reading makes the best sense so far
offered to a difficultverse in the Theragathaand AngulimalaSutta (MN II.
97-105) althoughit createsnew problemsas was aptly remarkedin a letter
to Gombrichby Prof. Alexis Sanderson,which is quotedin fn. 7 on p. 152:
"Thereis no evidence at all among gaiva vratins[initiatedSaiva sectarian
ascetics] at any time of 'sanguaryvows ... victims'." Prof. Gombrich's
emendationhas no manuscriptsupport. Howeverhe thinks it well be accepted as "probable,if not certain"(p. 11). Perhapsit is too good to be true.
No doubt the Buddhaencounteredvariousfearsomebrigandsand ascetics.
Gombrichhimself quotesrelevanttexts (p. 143f.; for an early non-Buddhist
referenceto an ascetic who practisedthe govrata [living and eating like a
cow] one could refer to Mahabharata5.97.14), but the historicalevidence
of somebody who wore a necklace or garlandof fingersculled from living
beings is non-existent.Moreover,why mustthe storyreferto somethingthat
actuallyhad happened?Why could it not be "just"mythological?Certainly
Gombrichopened a fascinatingdiscussion of which one hopes that it will
be continued.
Siidasien-Institut
der UniversitatHeidelberg
Abt. Klassische Indologie
nmNeuenheimerFeld 330
D-69120 Heidelberg
AXELMICHAELS
PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED
Periodicals
Archaeus. Studii de istorie a religiilor,1 (1997), 1.

MonumentaNipponica,52 (1997), 3 + 4.
Religio. Revue pro religionistiku,5, 1 (1997), 1 + 2.
37 (1997), 1
HISTORYOF RELIGIONS,
Steve M. Wasserstrom,MarilynRobinsonWaldman
WendyDoniger, Sita and Helen, Ahalya and Alcmena:A ComparativeStudy
Jane Simpson,Io as SupremeBeing: IntellectualColonizationof the Maori
Book Reviews
37 (1997), 2
OFRELIGIONS,
HISTORY
Giulia SfameniGasparro,Ugo Bianchi: 13 October1922-1995 April 14
Robert Wessingand Roy E. Jordan, Death at the Building Site: Construction
Sacrificein SoutheastAsia
Paul C. Johnson,Kicking,Stripping,and Re-Dressinga Saint in Black: Visions
of Public Space in Brazil'sRecent Holy War
and Atmastuti:Self-Assertionand Impersonation
George Thompson,Ahamnklra
in the Rgveda
Book Reviews
9 (1997), 3
INTHESTUDY
OFRELIGION,
& THEORY
METHOD
Lars Albinus, Discourse analysis within the study of religion: Processes of
change in ancientGreece
Responses:
Peter Richardson,Correct,but only barely: Donald Wiebe on religion at the
Universityof Toronto
NUMEN, Vol. 45
Publicationsreceived
227
George Englebretsen,Religious discourse and Sommers' theory of truth: A

responseto Hans H. Penner
MiriamPeskowitz,Emptyfields and the romanceof the Holy Land: A response
to MarianneSawicki's"archaeology"of Judaism,gender,and class
anti-Semite,
Reply: MarianneSawicki,Havingbeen outedas a crypto-Christian
can one say "shalom"?
Book Reviews
5 (1997), 1
FORRELIGIONSWISSENSCHAFT,
ZEITSCHRIFr
Der Engel Pfau. Zum Selbstverstandnisder Yezidi
Ursula Spuler-Stegemann,
Stefan Pierre-Louis,Mahikari:Ritualund Heilung in einerjapanischenNeuen
Religion
in der ReligionswissenGregor Ahn, Eurozentrismenals Erkenntnisbarrieren
schaft
BurkhardGladigow, Polytheismus. Akzente, Perspektivenund Optionender
Forschung
Books
(Listing in this section does not precludesubsequentreviewing)
Lippiello, Tizianaand RomanMalek (Eds.), "Scholarfrom the West". Giulio Aleni S.J. (1582-1649) and the Dialogue between Christianityand China. Jointly
publishedby FondazioneCiviltaBresciana,Brescia and the MonumentaSerica
Institute,SanktAugustin(Annali,FondazioneCivilta Bresciana,vol. 9/ Monumentasericamonographseries,vol. 42)-Nettetal: SteylerVerlag,1997, 671 p.,
DM 120.00, ISBN 3-8050-0386-2(hb.).
Werblowsky,R.J. Zwi, Magie, Mystik, Messianismus. VergleichendeStudien zur
Religionsgeschichtedes Judentumsund des Christentums. Hrsg. von Gary
mit HermannSimonund AndreasNachama.Haskala,
Smithin Zusammenarbeit
fur
WissenschaftlicheAbhandlungen,hrsg. vom Moses Mendelssohn-Zentrum
Olms
New
York:
Studien,3-Hildesheim, Zirich,
Georg
europaisch-jUdische
Verlag, 1997, 272 p., DM 68.00, ISBN 3-487-10318-4 (cloth).
Kehl-Bodrogi, Krisztina/BarbaraKellner-Heinkele/Anke Otter-Beaujean(Eds.),
SyncretisticReligious Communitiesin the Near East. CollectedPapersof the
InternationalSymposium"Alevismin Turkeyand ComparableSyncretisticReligious Communinitiesin the Near East in the Past and Present,"Berlin, 14-17
April 1995. Series: Studiesin the Historyof Religions (NUMENBook Series),
ed. by H.G. Kippenbergand E.T. Lawson, vol. 76-Leiden, New York,Koln:
E. J. Brill, 1997, 255 p., US$ 100,00, ISBN 90-04-10861-0 (cloth).
228
Publications received
Parkhill,Thomas C., WeavingOurselvesinto the Land. Charles GodfreyLeland,

"Indians,"and the Studyof NativeAmericanReligions. SUNY Series in Native
AmericanReligions, ed. by KennethM. Morrison-Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1997, 238 p., $19.95, ISBN 0-7914-3454-0 (pbk.).
Lacovara,Peter, The New KingdomRoyal City-London and New York: Kegan
Paul InternationalLtd., 1997, 202 p., ?85.00, ISBN 0-7103-0544-3 (cloth).
Nanji, Azim (Ed.), MappingIslamic Studies. Genealogy,Continuityand ChangeBerlin and New York: Moutonde Gruyter,1997, 270 p., DM 198.00, ISBN
3-11-014187-6 (cloth).
Mudimbe,V.Y.,Tales of Faith. Religion as Political Performancein CentralAfrica.
Series: School of OrientalandAfricanStudies,JordanLecturesin Comparative
Religion, 18-London and Atlantic Highlands,NJ: The Athlone Press, 1997,
231 p., ?25.95, ISBN 0-485-17418-9 (cloth).
Dillon, Matthew, Pilgrims and Pilgrimagein Ancient Greece-London and New
York: Routledge, 1997, 308 p., ?40.00, ISBN 0-415-12775-0 (cloth).
Torrance,Thomas E., God and Rationality-Edinburgh:T & T Clark, 1997, 216 p.,
?13.95, ISBN 0-567-08582-1 (pbk.).
Torrance,Thomas F., Space,Time and Incarnation-Edinburgh:T & T Clark,1997,
92 p., ?9.95, ISBN 0-567-08583-X (pbk.).
Davies, W. D. and Dale C. Allison, Jr., A Critical and Exegetical Commentary
on The Gospel Accordingto Saint Matthew,vol. 3, Series: The International
CriticalCommentary,ed. by J.A. Emerton,C.E.B.CranfieldandG.N. StantonEdinburgh:T & T Clark,1997, 789 p., ?39.95, ISBN 0-567-08518-X (cloth).
Fabre-Vassas,Claudine,The SingularBeast. Jews, Christians,andthe Pig. Translated
from French by Carol Volk-New York: Columbia University Press, 1997,
401 p., US$ 40.00, ISBN 0-231-10366-2 (cloth).
Das, Rahul Peter, Essays on Vaisnavismin Bengal-Calcutta: Firma KLM Private
Limited, 1997, 111 p., Rs. 220.00, ISBN 81-7102-082-8 (cloth).
Beltz, Walter (Ed.), Die Folgen der Krevlzzge fiir die orientalischenReligionsKolloquiumvom 16.-18.10.1996in Halle/Saale.
gemeinschaften.Internationales
22-Halle: Martin-Luther-UniversiHallescheBeitrtge zur Orientwissenschaft,
206
far
Institut
Orientalistik,
tat,
1996,
p. (pbk.).
229
Klimkeit, Hans-Joachim(Ed.), Vergleichenund Verstehenin der Religionswissenschaft. Vortrige der Jahrestagungder DVRG vom 4. bis 6. Oktober 1995
in Bonn. Series: Studies in OrientalReligions, ed. by WaltherHeissig and
Hans-JoachimKlimkeit,vol. 41-Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz,1997, 200 p.,
ISBN 3-447-03904-3 (paper).
Briick, Michael von and WhalenLai, Buddhismusund Christentum. Geschichte,
Konfrontation,Dialog-Munchen: C.H. Beck Verlag,1997, 805 p., DM 78.00,
ISBN 3-406-42646-8 (cloth).
Michaels,Axel (Ed.),KlassikerderReligionswissenschaft.VonFriedrichSchleiermacher bis MirceaEliade-Mtinchen: C.H. Beck Verlag,1997, 427 p., DM 48.00,
ISBN 3-406-42813-4 (pbk.).
Nesselrath,Heinz-Giinther(Ed.), Einleitungin die griechischePhilologie. Series:
and Leipzig: B. G. Teubner
Einleitungin die Altertumswissenschaft-Stuttgart
Verlagsgesellschaft,1997, XVI + 773 p., ISBN 3-519-07435-4 (cloth).
Mahony,William K., The ArtfulUniverse. An Introductionto the Vedic Religious
Imagination.SUNY Series in Hindu Studies,ed. by WendyDoniger-Albany,
NY: State Universityof New YorkPress, 1998, 325 p., $21.95, ISBN 0-79143580-6 (pbk.).
Quinn, Jr., William W., The Only Tradition. SUNY Series in WesternEsoteric
Traditions,ed. by David Appelbaum-Albany, NY: State University of New
YorkPress, 1997, 384 p., $24.95, ISBN 0-7914-3214-9 (pbk.).
Broek, Roelof van den and WouterJ. Hanegraaff(Eds.), Gnosis and Hermeticism
from Antiquityto Moder Times. SUNY Series in WesternEsotericTraditions,
ed. by David Appelbaum-Albany, NY: State Universityof New York Press,
1998, 402 p., $24.95, ISBN 0-7914-3612-8 (pbk.).
Williams,Paul, The ReflexiveNatureof Awareness.A TibetanMadhyamakaDefence-Richmond, Surrey: CurzonPress, 1998, 268 p., ?40.00, ISBN 0-70071030-2 (hb.).
Keown,Damien V., CharlesS. Prebishand WayneR. Husted(Eds.), Buddhismand
HumanRights-Richmond, Surrey:CurzonPress, 1998, 239 p., ?40.00, ISBN
0-7007-0954-1 (hb.).
230
Blackstone,KathrynR., Womenin the Footstepsof the Buddha. Strugglefor Liberation in the Therigatha-Richmond,Surrey:CurzonPress, 1998, 185 p., ?40.00,
ISBN 0-7007-0962-2 (hb.).
Baumgarten,Albert I., The Flourishingof Jewish Sects in the MaccabeanEra: An
Interpretation.Supplementsto the Journalfor the Study of Judaism,vol. 55Leiden, New York, Koln: E. J. Brill, 1997, 240 p., US$ 84.00, ISBN 90-0410751-7 (cloth).
Henten,Jan Willem van, The MaccabeanMartyrsas Savioursof the Jewish People.
A Study of 3 and 4 Maccabees.Supplementsto the Journalfor the Studyof Judaism, vol. 57-Leiden, New York,Koln: E. J. Brill, 1997, 346 p., US$ 115.00,
ISBN 90-04-10976-5 (cloth).
Pearson,BirgerA., The Emergenceof ChristianReligion. Essays on EarlyChristianity-Harrisburg, PA: TrinityPress International,1997, 241 p., US$ 19.00,
ISBN 1-56338-218-0 (pbk.).
Attias, Jean-Christophe(Ed.), De la conversion.Collection: Patrimoines.Religions
du Livres-Paris: Les tditions du Cerf, 1997, 328 p., FF 195.00, ISBN 2-20405649-9 (pbk.).
Gampel, Benjamin R. (Ed.), Crisis and Creativityin the SephardicWorld 13911648. Paperspresentedat a Conferenceheld in November 1992-New York:
(cloth); US$ 36.00, ISBN 0-231-10923-7 (pbk.).
Howe, John, ChurchReformand Social Changein Eleventh-CenturyItaly. Dominic
of SoraandHis Patrons.The MiddleAges Series- Philadelphia,PA:University
of PennsylvaniaPress, 1997, 220 p., US$ 37.50, ISBN 0-8122-3412-X (cloth).
Jensen,Jeppe Sinding andLutherH. Martin(Eds.), Rationalityand the Studyof Religion. Acta Jutlandica,72:2, Theology Series, 19-Aarhus: AarhusUniversity
Press, 1998, 221 p., $24.95, ISBN 87-7288-692-7 (cloth).
Toorn,Karel van der (Ed.), The Image and the Book. Iconic Cults, Aniconism,and
the Rise of Book Religion in Israel and the Ancient Near East. Contributions
to Biblical Exegesis and Theology, 21-Leuven: Peeters, 1997, 271 p., BEF
1240.00, ISBN 90-6831-983-3 (pbk.).
231
Hubbard,Jamie and Paul Swanson(Eds.), Pruningthe Bodhi Tree. The Stormover

CriticalBuddhism.NanzanLibraryof Asian Religion and Culture-Honolulu:
University of Hawai'i Press, 1997, 515 p., US$ 45.00, ISBN 0-8248-1908-X
(cloth); US$ 22.95, ISBN 0-8248-1949-7 (pbk.).
Casadio, Giovanni, Vie gnostiche all'immortaliti Collana: Letteraturacristiana
antica-Brescia: EditriceMorcellina, 1997, 109 p., L 20.000, ISBN 88-3721648-3 (pbk.).
Loader,William R.G., Jesus' Attitudetowardsthe Law. A Study of the Gospels.
WissenschaftlicheUntersuchungenzum Neuen Testament2. Reihe, vol. 97Tilbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1997, 563 p., DM 128.00, ISBN 3-16-146517-2
(pbk.).
Assmann, Aleida and Jan Assmann(Eds.), Schleier und Schwelle. Geheimnisund
Offentlichkeit.ArchlologiederliterarischenKommunikation
V, 1, ed. by Aleida
and JanAssmann,in connectionwith Alois Hahnand Hans-JiirgenLiisebrinkMinchen: WilhelmFinkVerlag,1997, 333 p., DM 78.00, ISBN 3-7705-3096-9
(paper).
Sundermann,Werner,Der Sermonder Seele. Eine Lehrschriftdes 6stlichen Manichaiismus.Editionder parthischenund soghdischenVersionmit einem Anhang
von PeterZieme: "DietiirkischenFragmentedes 'Sermonsder Seele'" Berliner
Turfantexte,vol. 19-Turnhout: Brepols, 1997, 189 p. + 47 plates, ISBN 2503-50635-6 (cloth).
Stausberg,Michael, FaszinationZarathushtra.Zoroasterund die EuropaischeReligionsgeschichteder FriihenNeuzeit. ReligionsgeschichtlicheVersucheund
Vorarbeiten,ed. by FritzGraf,Hans G. Kippenbergand LawrenceE. Sullivan,
vol. 42, 1 + 2-Berlin and New York:Moutonde Gruyter,1998, 1084 p., DM
470.00, ISBN 3-11-0149591(cloth).
Religions in Contact. Selected Proceedingsof the Special IAHR Conference,held
in Bmo, August 23-26, 1994. Editedby Iva Dole.alova, Bretislav Horynaand
Dalibor Papousek. Publishedby the Czech Society for the Study of Religions
in an cooperationwith the Institutefor the Studyof Religions of the Facultyof
Arts of the MasarykUniversity,Bro-Bmo: DaTaPrint,1996, 228 p., ISBN
80-901823-2-1 (pbk.).
232
Juliane Schober (Ed.), Sacred Biographyin the BuddhistTraditionsof South and

SoutheastAsia-Honolulu: Universityof Hawai'iPress, 1997, 366 p., US$ 49.00,
ISBN 0-8248-1699-4 (cloth).
Hirota,Dennis, No Abode. The Recordof Ippen. Publishedin associationwith The
Institute of BuddhistCulturalStudies, RyukokuUniversity, Kyoto, and The
Centerfor ContemporaryShin BuddhistStudies, Instituteof BuddhistStudies,
Berkeley-Honolulu: Universityof Hawai'i Press, 1997, 182 p., US$ 32.00,
ISBN 0-8248-1978-0 (cloth);US$ 17.95, ISBN 0-8248-1997-7 (pbk.).
Kieschnik,John, The EminentMonk. BuddhistIdeals in MedievalChinese Hagiography.KurodaInstitute:Studiesin East Asian Buddhism-Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1997, 219 p., US$ 27.00, ISBN 0-8248-1841-5 (pbk.).
V., The Mahabharata.An English VersionBased on SeNarasimhan,Chakravarthi
lected Verses. Series: Recordsof Civilization:Sources and Studies, vol. 71New York: ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1997, 254 p., US$ 20.00, ISBN 0-23111055-3 (pbk.).
Love Song of the Dark Lord. Jayadeva'sGitagovinda. Edited and translatedby
BarbaraStoler Miller, with a new forewordby John StrattonHawley. Series:
Translationsfrom the Asian Classics-New York: ColumbiaUniversityPress,
1997, 125 p., US$ 17.00, ISBN 0-231-11097-9 (pbk.).
Choksy,JamsheedK., Conflictand Cooperation.ZoroastrianSubalternsandMuslim
Elites in Medieval IranianSociety-New York: Columbia University Press,
1997, 207 p., USS 46.00, ISBN 0-231-10684-X (cloth).
Geels, Antoon, Subudandthe JavaneseMysticalTradition.NordicInstituteof Asian
Studies MonographSeries, vol. 76-Richmond, Surrey: CurzonPress, 1997,
262 p., ?30.00, ISBN 0-7007-0623-2 (cloth).
Pickering,John (Ed.), The Authorityof Experience.Essays on Buddhismand Psychology. Curzon Studies in Asian Philosophy-Richmond, Surrey: Curzon
Press, 1997, 252 p., ?40.00, ISBN 0-7007-0450-7 (cloth); ?14.99, ISBN 07007-0455-8 (pbk.).
Oddie, Geoffrey A. (Ed.), Religious ConversionMovementsin South Asia: Continuities and Change, 1800-1900. Religion & Society in South Asia SeriesRichmond,Surrey: CurzonPress, 1997, 231 p., ?40.00, ISBN 0-7007-0472-8
(cloth).
233
Glazier,Stephen D. (Ed.), Anthropologyof Religion. A Handbook-Westport,CT:

GreenwoodPress, 1997, 542 p., ?79.95, ISBN 0-313-28351-6 (cloth).
Karow,Yvonne, DeutschesOpfer.KultischeSelbstausloschungauf den Reichsparteitagen der NSDAP-Berlin: AkademieVerlag, 1997, 301 p., DM 78.00, ISBN
3-05-003140-9 (cloth).
Reschika,Richard,MirceaEliade zur Einfiihrung-Hamburg:JuniusVerlag, 1997,
215 p., DM 24.80, ISBN 3-88506-960-1 (pbk.).
Waldenfels, Hans, Gottes Wortin der Fremde. Theologische VersucheII. Series:
Begegnung, vol. 5-Bonn: Verlag Norbert M. Borengasser, 1997, 525 p.,
DM 65.00, ISBN 3-923946-30-9 (cloth).
Verzeichnis der Orientalistennachlasse
in deutschen Bibliotheken und Archiven.
Compiled by LudmillaHanisch. Hallesche Beitrage zur Orientwissenschaft,
23-Halle: Martin-Luther-Universitat,
Institutfiir Orientalistik,1997, 101 p.
(pbk.).
Hedin, Dag, Phenomenologyand the Making of the World. Studia Philosophiae
Religionis, vol. 19-Uppsala: Uppsala University (Distributor:Almqvist &
Wiksell), 1997, 136 p., ISBN 91-22-01771-2 (pbk.).
Vaughan-Lee,Llewellyn,The FaceBefore I was Born. A SpiritualAutobiographyInverness,California:The GoldenSufi Center,1998, 310 p., US$ 14.95, ISBN
0-9634574-9-7 (pbk.).
Hultkrantz,Ake, The Attractionof Peyote. An Inquiryinto the Basic Conditionsfor
the Diffusion of the Peyote Religion in North America. StockholmStudies in
ComparativeReligion,vol. 33-Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International,
1997, 233 p., SEK 191.00, ISBN 91-22-01712-7 (pbk.).
Cox, James L. (Ed.), Rites of Passagein ContemporaryAfrica Interactionbetween
Christianand African TraditionalReligions. Series: Religion in ContemporaryAfrica-Fairwater, Cardiff:CardiffAcademicPress, 1998, 259 p., ?15.95,
ISBN 1-899025-06-5(pbk.).
Kugel,JamesL., The Bible As It Was-Cambridge, MA/London:HarvardUniversity
Press, 1997, 680 p., ?23.50, ISBN 0-674-06940-4 (cloth)., ?11.50, ISBN 0945454-12-0 (pbk.).
234
OrientaliasacraurbisRomae. Dolichenaet Heliopolitana.Recueil d'etudesarchdologiques et historico-religieusessur les cultes cosmopolitesd'originecommag6nienne et syrienne, ed. by GloriaM. Bellelli and Ugo Bianchi. Studia Archaeologica, vol. 84-Roma: "L'ERMA"di Bretschneider,1997, 617 p., ISBN
88-7062-933-2 (cloth).
OBSERVATIONS ON THE SCHOLARLY STUDY OF

RELIGIONS AS PURSUED IN SOME MUSLIM COUNTRIES1
JACQUESWAARDENBURG
Summary
The article examines the study of religions at scholarly institutionsin Muslim
countries.As far as Islam and Islamic thought is concerned,both traditionaland
overly ideological approachesare problematicfrom a scholarlypoint of view. With
regardto the study of religions other than Islam, interestinginitiatives have been
taken in several countries.Difficultieson a practicallevel include a lack of good
handbooksin the "Islamic"languages,while books publishedin the West are mostly
too expensiveto acquire.Trainingin the languagesof the variousreligiousScriptures
is virtuallyabsent.Historyof religionsor religious studies have rarelybeen institutionalized.The studyof some religionsis seriouslyhandicappedby politicalconflicts.
Among the positivedevelopmentsat presentis, first,the increasedinterestin "religions" among studentsand the generalpublic. The historical,anthropologicaland
sociological researchcarriedout in several Muslim countriespays attentionto the
social role of religion.A numberof Muslimstudentsenrolledat Westernuniversities
take courses in religions.
The conclusion contendsthat the medieval traditionof Muslim studies of other
religionscould be a source of inspirationfor the future.What is still much needed
are competentstaff, materialfacilities, a positive climate for intellectualpursuits,
technicaltrainingin the study of texts, facts and meanings,and mentaltrainingfor
the pursuitof scholarlytruthare needed.While perhapsacting as catalysts,Western
models should not enjoy absolute authority.The author considers the pursuitof
knowledgewhich is useful both to Muslimsand to the scholarlycommunityat large
as most important.
From 15 till 18 June 1988 the IAHR organized a small conference

in Marburg on the development and institutional setting of our discipline in different areas of the world.2 Papers were read about the
study of religions in African and Asian countries, in a Catholic and a
Jewish environment, and also in a Muslim context. A Muslim speaker
remarked that, fundamentally, Islam as a religion does not object to
this kind of studies.3
NUMEN, Vol. 45
236
Jacques Waardenburg
The present paperis meantas a contributionto the same subject,

leavingaside the historyof Muslimviews of otherreligions.4I confine
myself to makinga preliminaryexplorationof the present-daysetting
of the scholarlystudyof religionas it exists in today'sMuslimcultural
area.5I take here the scholarlystudy of religion in its broadestsense:
textual studies, the history of religions, comparativestudies, social
scientific studies and what I call "researchinto meaning"including
hermeneuticaland semiotic approaches.6
I shall here surveysuccinctlythe scholarlystudy of Islam, of other
religions, and of religion in the perspectiveof the social sciences
as it is pursued in at least some Muslim countries.7I leave aside
philosophicallyorientedworkin which otherreligions are referredto
butnot closely studied.In conclusionI shall mentionsome incentives
for the study of religions that can be found in the Islamic cultural
tradition.In a time of encounter- ratherthanclash- of civilizations
this traditionshouldbe continuedto the benefitof scholarshipin our
field, carriedout by Muslims and non-Muslimsalike.
1. The Studyof the Islamic Religious and CulturalTradition
ThroughoutMuslim civilization, all typically Islamic institutions
of learninghave always given much attentionto Islamic thoughtand
its history,mainly throughthe study of relevantArabic texts.8This
Islamicthoughtis primarilyreligiousthought,such as the studyof the
Qur'anand its commentaries(tafsir), the study of Tradition('ilm alhadith),the studyof IslamicLaw or Shari'a(fiqh),scholastictheology
(kaldm),and also mystical thought (tasawwuf. But it also includes
philosophicaland scientificthoughtwithin the frameworkof Islamic
civilization, such as Aristotelianfalsafa, Iranianishraq philosophy
and cosmological doctrine.9
The textualstudyof religiousthoughthas of course always been at
the centerof studyin mosquesor in the traditionalIslamiceducational
institutions(madrasas).These generallydisappearedwhen university
institutionswere established.10Withinmodem universitiesthis study
is concentratedin the Facultiesof Shari'a.I Although they concentrateon the study of religiousLaw and its sourcessuch as Qur'anand
The ScholarlyStudyof Religions in Some MuslimCountries 237

hadiths,they also addressdisciplineslike uisl al-din (principles,i.e.
methodology of religious studies) and kalam (scholastic theology).
Islamic thought can also be studied in a less traditionaland more
detachedway in the Arts Faculties,for instance in Departmentsof
Arabiclanguageand literature,philosophyor history.12Since World
WarII, besides the regularuniversities,some new institutionshave
been founded in orderto promotecritical historicalresearchon Islamic thought, such as the ResearchInstituteof the TurkishEncyclopedia of Islam in Istambul'3,the Instituteof Islamic Studies at
the HamdardUniversityin New Delhi14and the Royal Academy of
Islamic Researchin Amman.15
For the last half centurythe study of Islamic thoughthas become
increasinglyrelevantfor present-dayMuslim reorientationstowards
Islam including what is called re-Islamization.Institutionsof a new
kind have been establishedwith the more ideological aim of training studentsin the spiritof Islam. This happenedfirst on a national
level.16In the second place several "internationalIslamic universities" were created, for instance in Islamabadand Kuala Lumpur,
which attractstudentsfrom manyMuslim countries.These "Islamic"
universitiesbase themselveson religious principlesand seek to integratethe variousdisciplineswithin an Islamicwordview,comparable
with Catholicor Protestantuniversitiesaimingat such an integration
A thirdkindof institution
withina Catholicor Protestantworldview.17
in the USA at Hemdon,
has
been
established
in
this
sense
working
Virginia,near Washington.'8A fourth example is the International
Instituteof Islamic Thoughtand Civilizationwhich is establishedin
KualaLumpur,which offers internationalscholarshipsfor graduate
studiesand researchfacilities.
Althoughstudiesbasedon an Islamicworldviewmay takeideological forms, there are deepermotivationswhich must be recognized.
Religious studies nowadays,in Third Worldcountriesand not only
there, are often motivatedby the researcher'sor student'sdesire to
rediscoverand appropriatehis or her own religious and culturalheritage. Such studiesare then fundamentallystudiesof one's own religion, cultureandcivilizationof which one maybearwitness to others.
238
Jacques Waardenburg
Religious studies then lead to a new knowledgeand understandingof

one's own roots. They oftenalso fostera betterknowledgeof the truth
and values of one's own religion, and possibly a new interpretation
and betterpracticeof it.19
Although such a motivationis spiritual,it may become narrower
and acquirean ideologicalorientation.In this case, Islam itself may
then be thought of as the best of all ideological systems. Ideological orientationscan mobilize people but they can also lead to intellectual subservience when certain issues cannot be questioned.
They can also lead, however, to a more critical relationshipbetween the "ideologists"on the one hand and those in power on the
other.20
Most Muslim countriesat presenthave some sort of official ideology which assigns Islama specificplace in society, andoften supports
a kind of "official"or "officialized"version of Islam. Consequently,
Islamic educationin the stateinstitutionsof these countrieswill be in
the spiritof that ideology or official versionof Islam. The varietynot
only of the structureof traditionand forms of modernizationin Muslim societies but also of theirpolitical organizationaccountslargely
for the variety of ways in which Islam is presentedin the different
Muslim states. This is particularlytrue for "Islamic"states, such as
SaudiArabia,Iran,PakistanandSudan,which base themselveson the
Shari'a,though they interpretit differently.It has consequencesnot
only for the contentsbutalso for the way in which Islamicstudiesare
organi7edin present-dayMuslimcountries.21It also has its effects on
the way in which not only Islam but also other religions are studied,
or can be studied. Yet, notwithstandingvarious non-scholarlypressures to which Islamic studies are exposed in a numberof Muslim
countries,there are always scholars, teachers and studentswho are
less concernedwith politics than with the search for truth.
2. The Studyof ReligionsOtherthan Islam
Medieval Islamic civilizationcould be proud of scholars like alBirini (973-after1050)22and al-Shahrast5ni(1086-1153)23who were
The ScholarlyStudyof Religionsin Some Muslim Countries 239

"medieval"scholarsof religions,but eminentones and in the case of
al-Biruni,of recognizedgenius. The following centuries, however,
show a lack of interestin the study of other religions than Islam.
Whatis the presentsituation?24
Books on OtherReligions
At presentthereis a certainrenewalof interestin this field. People
with a universityeducation,studentsbut also a broaderpublic ask for
informationabout otherreligions. In a numberof Muslim countries
popularbooks on other religions, especially the monotheisticones,
are on sale in Arabic,Turkish,Indonesianand otherlanguages.They
are sometimestranslatedfromWesternlanguages,sometimesdirectly
writtenin the languageconcerned;nearly all of them pass judgment
on otherreligions.25As far as I could ascertain,most of these books
directly(in often bluntterms)or indirectlymake it clear to the reader
that Islam is the only true religion, and the true alternativeto the
other religions that are described.This is the general startingpoint
from which the religionsare approached,but a distinctionshouldbe
made. On the one hand there are what may be called apologetic,
polemical and ideologicalaccounts.26On the other hand books also
exist on religions other than Islam which are more descriptiveand
passjudgmentonly at the end andin a rationalway. Some informative
books breathingan atmosphereand style of tolerancehave seen the
light for instancein Indonesiaand Turkey.27
Teachingand Research
Althoughteachingandresearchon otherreligions thanIslammust
be called modest, some interestinginitiativeshave been taken. The
ResearchInstituteof the TurkishEncyclopediaof Islam pays attention to the historyof religions.At the beginningof 1998 a chairfor
the study of the three monotheisticreligions was establishedat the
Universityof Rabat, with the cooperationof Unesco. Researchon
ancient religions of the Near East is being planned by Prof. 'Abd
240
Jacques Waardenburg
al-Majid al-Charfiin the Faculty of Arts in Manouba,at the University of Tunis. In Lebanonseveral universities,Christian,Muslim
or otherwise, now offer courses in the field of history of religions.
and Indonesia29universitieshave teaching
In countrieslike Turkey28
of
in
the
history religions.In Malaysiaand Pakistanthereis
positions
some teaching of comparativereligion at universities.Some universities in Muslim sub-SaharanAfrican countrieshave Departmentsof
Religion where Christianity,Islam and local traditionalreligions are
taught.In most Muslim countries,however,as in many other Third
Worldcountries,the field of Religious Studiesor Historyof Religions
has not yet been institutionalized.This happensearlierin countries
which have multifaithsocieties than in countrieswith homogeneous
Muslim societies.
LibraryResources
The library facilities in these countriesare under great financial
pressure,so that books on otherreligions are often dispensedwith. It
is painful to see that librarieswhich were reasonablywell equipped
throughoutthe 1950s and 1960s deterioratedsharplyin the 1970s.30
At present,hardlyany good books in English, not to speak of other
western languages,on historyof religions are availablein the bookshops and librariesof these countries,simply because of lack of hard
currency.31One could think of offering a gift of scholarlybooks in
the field. Another initiativewould be to make availabletranslations
of some importantreligioustexts of otherreligions into the language
of the country,possibly with commentsby an adherentof the religion
concerned.32One can also think of adaptinga Westernintroduction
to the study of religions.In this way a new kind of "textbooks"of
history of religions could be designed.
Teachingof Languages
As far as languageteachingis concerned,ancientIndianlanguages
like Sanskritor Pali are taughtin a numberof universitiesin India.It
would be of interestto know if they are also taughtin some Muslim

universitiesin the Indiansubcontinent.Thereis instructionin ancient
Egyptianat the Universityof Cairo,and in Accadianat the University
of Bagdad,but it is difficultto know to what extent ancientreligious
texts are studiedthere.Biblical Hebrewis taughtat severaluniversities, for instanceat those of Cairoand Rabat.It used to be possibleto
study ancient and middle Persian texts -
besides Arabic ones -
of
religions like Mazdaismand also Manicheism33at the Universityof

It would be importantto know where in Muslimcountries
Teheran.34
Syriac, ancientGreekand Latinare taught.
The Studyof Christianity,Judaismand Hinduism
The "heavenly"religions, which are consideredto have been revealed, receive particularattentionin Muslim writings;this is especially trueof Christianity.A numberof books, for instance,havebeen
publishedin Arabic on Jesus, the Gospels and especially the early
history of Christianity.These subjects are nearly always presented
within the parametersof the Qur'anicdata on them, but sometimes
In Iranfromthe 1870s on,
Qur'anicandBiblicaldataarecompared.35
a
there
has
been
tradition
of
more
however,
independentwritingon
Christianity,largely in responseto the Christianmissions, to which
severaloutstandingauthorshave contributed.36
Recentlysome studieshaveappearedin Arabic,TurkishandFrench
on medievalIslamic polemicalliteratureagainstChristianity.37
Such
works may serve new polemicalpurposesbut they may also offer a
reassessmentof the medievalpositions and a fresh considerationof
the relationshipbetweenthe two religions.38
Besides studies like those mentioned,addressedto readerswith a
moreopen mind,a wide-spreadpopularandoften rathercheapkindof
polemicalliteratureagainstChristianitycontinuesto exist. Since they
are writtenin Arabic,Turkish,Persianand Urdu, these writingsare
not well knownin the West.39They fall outside our subject.Muslims
who want simply to obtain informationabout Christianityand do
not know foreign languagesmust be ratherat a loss with only the
availableliteratureto go on. An attitudeof dialoguewith adherentsof
242
Jacques Waardenburg
otherfaithsmay at least lead to betterinformationandmay encourage

the study of otherreligions, includingChristianity.40
Present-daybooks aboutJudaismand Hinduism,in so far as I have
been able to verify, are almost exclusively polemical, especially as
far as the political use of these religions afterWorldWarII is concerned. Zionism, for instance,is consideredas a political outgrowth
of Judaism and viewed as a religious phenomenon.41By comparison, Muslim refutationsof Hinduismare less extreme.42There are
instances,on the other hand, of Muslim researcherswilling to learn
either Hebrew or Sanskritin order to study Judaismor Indianreligions. To what extent the results of their work have been published
or disseminatedin other ways is difficultto know.
Studyin the West
Giventhe overallsituationin Muslimcountriesin the field, students
wantingto studyotherreligionsand culturesmay be advisedto enroll
in Westernuniversities.They require, however, besides substantial
financialmeans,a capacityfor intellectualadaptationand the courage
to pursuestudiesin a secularclimate.Well-knownstudyprogramsin
religion operateat presentfor instance at the School of Orientaland
AfricanStudies in London,and at HarvardUniversityin Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
Christianityand Muslim-Christianrelations can be studied at a
specializedinstitutionconnectedwith the Universityof Birmingham,
which offers instructionup to the PhD level, with the participation
of both Muslim and Christianteaching staff.43An older institution
exists at Hartford,Connecticut,which now cooperateswith Temple
University.44In Lebanonan Institutd'EtudesIslamo-Chretiennesis
attachedto the (Catholic)St JosephUniversityin Beirut,and a Center
for ChristianMuslimStudies(Centred'EtudesChristianoIslamiques)
has been establishedat the (Orthodox)Universityof Balamandnear
Tripoli, also with the participationof both Muslim and Christian
teaching staff. Interestamong Muslims in the study of Christianity
has certainly been growing under the impact of the Muslim-Christian
dialogue.45

3. The Studyof Religion in the Perspectiveof the Social Sciences
A promising perspectivefor Muslim studies of religion is that
of sociological and anthropologicalresearchon contemporaryMuslim societies. This kind of research startedin the colonial period
and was largely conditionedby the political interests at the time.
French ethnographersand sociologists did fieldwork in North and
sub-SaharanAfrica,46while English speakinganthropologistsdid researchin Muslim countrieswhich were part of the British empire.47
Since independencethis traditionhas been taken up critically and
then furtherdevelopedby Muslim researchersof the countriesconcered. When studyingtheirsocieties they have not necessarilytaken
religion as their main focus but they have been interestedin its role
in society.
The developmentof the social sciences in AfricanandAsian countries was encouragedby scholarsfrom France,Britainand the USA.
Severalresearchinstitutionswere createdsuch as the Centred'Etudes
et de RecherchesEconomiqueset Sociales (CERES)in Tunis,which
organizednumerousinternationalcolloquia and publisheda number
of studies on Tunisian,North African and Mediterraneansubjects.
Recently,however,it closed down. Associationsfor the Studyof Sociology have been foundedin the Maghreband at the conferences
organizedevery two years by the InternationalSociety for the Sociology of Religion severalNorthAfricansociologists have contributed
paperson Islam as a social factor in North African societies and in
the Arab world in general.
Sociological researchwhich takes into accountIslamic structures,
life styles andcustomsis also carriedout in Egypt.The Social Studies
ResearchCenterat the AmericanUniversityof Cairo has produced
for instanceinterestingpublicationson women and family life in the
countrywhich have not been withoutrelevancefor issues like family
planning.For a numberof years Unesco has had a Social Science
ResearchOffice in Cairo.In Lebanonthe social sciences have been
developedat the AmericanUniversityof Beirut.They arestill sparsely
represented,however,at universitiesin Muslim countries, and not
244
Jacques Waardenburg
only because of financialconstraints.Much interestin social change

and developmenthas political implications,and as a rule, researchers
have been cautiouswhen religious issues are at stake.48
The situationseems to be simplerin historicalresearch.Mention
should be made of currentresearchinterestin the social history of
Muslim countries, which pays attentionto the role of religion in
Muslim societies and relationshipsbetween Muslim and other communities.This researchwhich pays attentionto religionis developing
in countrieslike Egypt, Lebanonand India,where differentreligious
and culturaltraditionshave met and where the study of social history is rewardingfor the history of religions and their interaction.
For instance, a whole range of studies have been carriedout on Islam and society in the Indiancontext, where the history of Muslim
communitiesand their relationswith Hindu communities,including
communalstrife, has attractedthe attentionof IndianMuslim scholars. The British and Americantraditionof combininghistoricaland
social science researchhas had an importantimpacthere on the study
of religiousinstitutionsand movementsin theirprecise historicaland
social contexts.In the Near East increasingattentionis being paid to
the study of the historyof Christiancommunitiesin relationto their
Muslim environment.49
The impact of the study of religion in the perspectiveof the social sciences may be much more fundamentalstill. Muslim social
historians,sociologists and anthropologistscan direct their attention
profitablyto problems which have been neglected by mainstream
Westernscholarshipon religion. The West indeed seems to have had
a nearly innate tendencyeither to idealize and spiritualizereligion
and religiousconcernsor to take an overallcriticalattitude- sometimes ideologically inspired- towardsthem. The very suspicionof
the West and its religion which has grown in Muslim countriesin
the course of the 20th centurymay perhapsbear scholarlyfruits.In
due course it could very well lead to researchon ChristianityandJudaismin theirvarioussocial contextsin Europeand elsewherewhich
would throw new light on the various social roles of the Christian
and Jewishreligions.50
The ScholarlyStudyof Religionsin Some MuslimCountries 245

4. FurtheringMuslimScholarlyInterestin the Studyof Religions
Apart from researchersand students,wider circles of people ask
increasinglyfor reliableinformationaboutreligions, in particularthe
living ones. The mediaundoubtedlyawakeninterestin othercultures
but lack the means to respondto this interestadequately.This raises
the question of how to make good generalbooks on other religions
availableand how to arriveat good teachingof the subjectin universities and schools.
Moreover,increasingcontactswith people of otherfaithshavedone
muchto correctold imagesandstereotypes.Readingwhatthe Qur'an
says aboutChristiansandJews and developingone's ideas aboutthat
is one thing. Inquiringhow they live and what they say about their
beliefs is something else; it belongs to the category of empirical
knowledgewhich can be reviewedand extended.51
Interestand researchin this field can be enhanced by scholarly
working groups, internationalsymposia and colloques. The themes
culture"and "Euro-Arabdialogue",for instance,
of "Mediterranean
have broughttogetherEuropeanand Muslim researchersat a number
of meetings in which the studyof religions was part of the program.
But there are also more abstractconceptsin Muslim culturethatcan
awakeninterestin otherreligionsamong Muslims. An idea like that
of the "heavenlyreligions"suggests a kind of communalitybetween
Muslims,ChristiansandJews and encouragesfurtherstudy of Christianity and, probablyat some later time, Judaism.
Similarly,the notion of a pluralityof existing religions and the
growingawarenessof living in pluralsocieties with the need for adherents of differentreligions to work togetheris gaining groundin
Muslim countriestoo. This is particularlythe case in those countries which have always had a varietyof religions, like Indonesiaor
Lebanon,or where cooperationbetween Muslims and Christianshas
become a matterof survival,like Nigeria or Sudan. Such countries
could see an interestin developingthe scholarly study of religions
for pragmaticreasons.52
Perhapsan analogy may be drawn between Europeanand Muslim civilization as far as the beginningsof scholarly interestin our
246
Jacques Waardenburg
field are concerned. Just as Europe had culturaltraditionslike the

Renaissance,Humanismand Enlightenmentfrom which this interest could develop in the 18th century,the Muslim civilization has a
similarculturaltraditionfrom the medievalperiod.Just as in Europe
textual and historical studies broughtnew insights about the Bible,
early Christianityand Judaism,in the Muslim civilizationmany texts
are still waiting to be edited. And the social sciences can explore
the role of religion in society.Just as in Europethe interestin other
culturesand religions was enhancedby the voyages of discoveryand
increasing interculturalcontacts from the 17th century on, Muslim
countrieshave been experiencingstill more thoroughgoinginterculturalcontactssince the 19thcentury.Couldreputedmedievalscholars
not be a sourceof inspirationfor
such as al-Birini and al-Shahrastani
researchersfrom a Muslimbackground?PerhapsWesternscholarship
could be a catalystin this process.53
The developmentof scholarlyrigourin the study of religions, Islam as well as others,demandshoweverconsiderableeffort, whether
the studyis textual,historical,or social scientific.Technicaland mental trainingis essential for anyone seriously investigatinglanguages,
texts, historicalfacts and social structuresof whateverreligion.Apart
from this, I see two obstacles to the developmentof the study of
religions in the Muslim worldwhich must be surmounted.
The first is the adage that Islam is the final and true religion.
Whetherthis is true or not cannotbe decided by scholarship;in fact,
the study of religionsmodestlyputs the questionof the ultimatetruth
of these religions betweenbrackets(epoche). However,the saying itself has an unfortunateimpact.54It distractsattentionfromthe obvious
fact thatthereare otherpeople thanMuslims and otherreligionsthan
Islam, and thatthey all are worthknowing.But the saying also poses
a serious question to scholarsin general. Why should one botherto
study other religions and cultures?What can be the significanceor
social relevance of knowing cultures and religions other than one's
own? And if one attachesthe highest value to the truthof one partic-

ular religion -
Islam or another one -,
why should one do scholarly
researchabout others?
The second obstacleis the fact thatIslam has become increasingly
politicized during the last decades. Just as the Christianchurches
have theirown "official"interpretations
of Christianityand may even
claim infallibility, most Muslim countries have their "official"interpretationsof Islam, apartfrom those given by differentMuslim
movementsand groups.All of this standsin the way of a fair study
of differentorientationswithin Islam. An empiricaland potentially
of Islammay thusbecomepolitically
criticalinterestin interpretations
suspect.It may also makethe study of otherreligions seem dubious.
Showing too much interestin Christianitymay be perceivedas the
result of having too little faith in Islam. And the fact that Judaism
and Hinduismare seen as imbuedwith political dynamitedoes not
facilitatetheir impartialstudy in a Muslim context.55
The broaderpoliticalcontextis not withoutrelevancefor this kind
of studies. The last fifty years, for instance, have been much more
favorablefor Muslim studies of Christianityand Muslim-Christian
relationsin the past and present than for such studies of Judaism.
Peace in the MiddleEastwouldfacilitatethe studyof Muslim-Jewish
relationsin historyandcomparativestudies,for instance,of religious
of the Scripturesand othernormativetexts.
Law or the interpretations
There is a real need for studies in depth not only of relationships
between the threemonotheisticreligions throughouthistorybut also
of relationshipsbetweenMuslim, Christianand Jewish communities,
especially their religious aspects in history and at the presenttime.
Given the natureand magnitudeof the task, such studies should be
made in cooperationbetweenresearchersof differentbackgrounds.
The study of religionsis a demandingfield of researchin its own
right. Where living religions are concerned,it requiresan openness
for scholarlyencounterand debate, and freedom of thoughtand expression.Such attitudesshouldbe promotedinstitutionallyand maintainedby all researchers.
248
Jacques Waardenburg
It is too soon to assess to what extentMuslim studentsin the West

take advantageof the opportunityto familiarizethemselves with the
studyof Islam as well as of religionsin generalas it is practicedthere.
The same holds truefor the way in which they will later convey their
knowledge to their countriesof origin. Much depends on whether,
and how, Muslim studentsuse the facilities existing there and whom
they happento meet. Most importantperhapsis whetheror not they
see in our studies a dangeror, on the contrary,a way to truthas well
as an intellectualand humanenrichment.56
Departementinterfacultaired'histoire
et de sciences des religions
Universit6de Lausanne,BFSH 2
Switzerland
CH-1015 TLausanne,
JACQUESWAARDENBURG
I A firstdraftof this
paperwas readat the 17thInternationalCongressof History
of Religions held in Mexico City, 5th to 12th August 1995. Prof. Peter Antes made
some helpful suggestions on an earlier version of this text. For relevant Persian,
Arabic and TurkishreferencesI am indebtedto Isabel Stiimpel-Hatami,Mohanna
Haddadand GerardGroc.
2 The conference was entitled 'The InstitutionalEnvironmentof the Study of
Religion."The papers under discussion were contained in the Conference Guide.
Most of them were publishedin MichaelPye (Ed.), MarburgRevisited.Institutions
and Strategiesin the Studyof Religion.Marburg:diagonal-Verlag,1989, 164 p.
3 This observationwas madeby Prof. MahmoudZakzoukfrom al-AzharUniversity. He added, with referenceto p. 109:6, thatthereis a Qur'anicbasis for studying
not only the "celestial religions"of the ahl al-kitdb(Judaismand Christianity)but
other religions as well. See MarburgRevisited,pp. 144-147. Prof. Azim A. Nanji
was also in favorof the studyof otherreligionsandreferredto p. 5:48, postulatinga
multifaithworld. See MarburgRevisited,pp. 147-9. In the broaderdiscussionwhich
followed, the need for personalandinstitutionalcooperationbetween scholarsinside
and outside the Muslim world was stressed.See MarburgRevisited,pp. 153-6.
4 See J.
Waardenburg(Ed.), MuslimPerceptionsof Other Religions throughout
History. New York: Oxford UniversityPress, 1999 (in the press). Compareby the
same, Islam et Sciences des Religions. Huit leConsau College de France. Paris:
Les Belles Lettres, 1998 (In particularPart Two: Approchesmusulmanesd'autres
religions).
5 This article is based on books writtenin "Islamic"
languages, some books and
articles in "Western"languages,and on oral informationacquiredat random.It is
The Scholarly Study of Religions in Some Muslim Countries 249

a continuationof my contributionto the Marburgconferenceof 1988, "Religious
Studies in the Muslim World,"which appearedin the ConferenceGuide (pp. 4966). ComparePeter Antes, "Religious Studies in the context of Islamic culture,"
MarburgRevisited,pp. 143-156. No bibliographyexists of 19th and 20th century
Muslimstudiesof otherreligions.It would be worthtracingdoctoraldissertationsin
Westernlanguageswrittenby MuslimauthorsconcerningotherreligionsthanIslam.
CompareNote 23.
6 Forthis divisionsee J. Waardenburg,
Des dieuxqui se rapprochent.Introduction
des
science
la
Laboret Fides, 1993; idem, Pera
Geneve:
religions.
systbmatique
der
Echter
Religionswissenschaft.Wiirzburg:
spektiven
Verlag & Altenberge:Oros
1993.
Verlag,
7 More detailedresearchinto publicationsin Arabic,Turkishand other"Islamic"
languagesis neededto cast light on relevantnew findingsby Muslimscholars.Apart
frommore scholarlywork, a mass of more popularreligiouswritingson Islam exist
in all Muslim countries.
8 These institutionshave a
long history.By way of introduction,see J. Waardenburg,"Some InstitutionalAspects of Muslim HigherEducationand theirRelationto
Islam,"Numen, 12 (1964), pp. 96-138. On the historyof Islamic educationsee e.g.
AhmadShalaby,History of MuslimEducation.Karachi,1979. CompareSyed Ali
Ashraf,New Horizons in MuslimEducation.Cambridge,1985.
9 A comprehensiveview of the history of Islamic thoughtin this wider sense
by a numberof Muslim authorsis given, for instance, in M.M. Sharif (Ed.), A
History of Muslim Philosophy.WithShort Accounts of Other Disciplines and the
Modem Renaissancein MuslimLands, 2 vols. Wiesbaden:Harrassowitz,1963 and
1966. On ishrdqphilosophysee the works of HenryCorbin.On cosmological doctrine,see Seyyed Hossein Nasr,An Introductionto Islamic CosmologicalDoctrines.
Cambridge:HarvardUniversityPress, 1964.
10TraditionalIslamic educationhad its own system of schooling and preparing
futureimams of greatermosques,teachersof religion,judges, Islamic scholars,etc.
Most famous perhapsis al-Azharin Cairo, which became a state universitywith
faculties other than the "Islamic"ones in 1961. On al-Azharsee A. Chris Eccel,
Egypt,Islam, and Social Change.Al-Azharin Conflictand Accomodation.Berlin:
KlausSchwarzVerlag, 1984.
11In
Turkeythese facultiesare called Facultiesof Theology.Seven of them have
chairsof historyof religions.
12Departmentsof Arabiccan includethe studyof the Qur'antext;departmentsof
Philosophymay give attentionto the history of Islamic thought,schools of Western
thought,and sometimescertaindoctrinesof otherreligionssuch as Christianity;departmentsof Historycan treatthe history of Islamic civilizationbut sometimesalso
ancientcivilizationsand religions.This is the case, for instance,at the Universityof
250
Jacques Waardenburg
Cairowherecriticalscholarshipon the Qur'antext developedfromMuhammadKhalafallih in the late 1940s up to Nasr Abi Zaid (at presentattachedto the University
of Leiden).
13When a new TurkishEncyclopediaof Islam (IsldmAnsiklopedisi)was planned
in the early 1980s a ResearchInstitute(TiirkiyeDiyanet VakfiJsldmAratirmalan
Merkezi,tSAM) was establishedin Istanbulto prepareit. Juniorresearchersattached
to this Institute are encouragedto pursue doctoral and post-doctoralresearch, if
necessaryabroad.It has some 150 researcherson its staff and the Encyclopediahas
about 2000 collaborators,inside and outside Turkey.The first volume appearedin
1988; volume 16 appearedin 1997. In the meantimea gigantic libraryis being built
up. This is one of the largestprojectsof Islamic studiesknown to me; it is carefully
plannedand executed with discipline.
14 Hamdard
Universityin New Delhi started as a private universitybut later
became a state university.Its Instituteof Islamic Studies has a rich collection of
manuscripts,most of which are waiting to be studied.
15 This is the Al al-baytFoundation,devoted to researchon Islamic civilization.
It also pays attentionto Muslim-Christianrelations.
16Severalinstitutionsof Islamicstudieshave been establishedon a nationallevel.
In Pakistan,the Instituteof Islamic Research was founded at the beginningof the
1960s, with FazlurRahmanas its first Director.It was originallymeantto function
as an advisory body to the government;at present it is part of the International
Islamic University in. Islamabad.In Indonesia, the first State Institutefor Islamic
Studies(IAIN) was foundedin 1960; a reportshows thatin 1985 therewere 14 such
Instituteswith 84 Facultiesaltogether.A numberof graduatestudentshave been sent
to the Universityof Leidenand McGill Universityin Montrealfor furthertraining.
17This is called the IslamiTation
of knowledge.This program,launchedby Ismi'il
Raji al-Faruqi,strives to develop a specifically Islamic epistemology and to study
economics, anthropology,educationand social sciences in general on the basis of
Islamicpremises.See AbQSulaymanand 'AbdulHamid,eds., Islamizationof Knowledge. General Principles and WorkPlan, 2nd ed. Hemdon, Va., 1989. See also the
article"Fllu^rtion:The Islamizationof Knowledge"by AkbarS. Ahmedin The Oxford Encyclopediaof the ModemIslamic World(New York:OxfordUniversityPress,
1995), Vol. 1, pp. 425-428. Fora thoroughstudy,see Leif Stenberg,TheIslamization
of Science. Four MuslimPositionsDeveloping an Islamic Modernity(Lund Studies
in Historyof Religions, Vol. 6). Lund, Universityof Lund, 1996.
18 This institutionwas foundedby the late Isma'il Raji al-Fariqi with funding
from Saudi Arabia.
19 For examples of religiousstudies to rediscoverone's own religious heritage
in Africa and China, see MarburgRevisited(mentionedin Note 2), pp. 99-141. The
remarkis valid not only for quantitativelysmall religions such as the traditional
African religions but also for the larger religions. History of religions in China is

largely the study of Chinese religions, in Japanlargely that of Buddhism,etc. In
many countries - includingfor many people in the West today - the ideal of
studying far-away"foreign"religions now takes second place to that of studying
one's own "religioussystem"in which one can become more or less involved.
20 Throughouthistory,Islamiceducationalinstitutionshave upheldthe tradition
of keeping a certain aloofness from immediate political interests. This has been
possible because of their financialindependenceas waqf institutions.In Iran the
traditionalShi'i religiousinstitutions,for instance in Qum, still retainthis financial
independence,which allowed them, for instance, to take a critical attitudeto the
secularizingpolicies of the Shah.The Shi'i institutionsin Najaf and Karbala(Iraq)
enjoyedindependenceuntil the 1970s.
21 In the
past, teachersand students throughoutthe Muslim world were very
mobile; studentsused to travelin orderto study with reputedscholars.This pattern
has been revived in a differentform with the establishmentof internationalIslamic
universitiesbesides the Azhar Universityin Cairo and the universitiesof Ryadh,
Mecca and Medinain Saudi Arabia,all of them offering scholarshipsto thousands
of studentsfrom manycountries.
22 Abu'l-Rayhanal-Birini is
especiallyknownfor his Kitdbta'rlkhal-hind('The
Kitdb
or
of
tahqfqma li'l-hind min maqala maqbulafi'l-'aql aw
history India")
mardhala("Ascertainingof statementsto be accordedintellectualacceptanceor to
be rejected concerningIndia"),translatedunder the title of Alberuni'sIndia. An
account of the religion,philosophy,literature,geography,chronology,astronomy,
customs, laws and astrology of India about A.D. 1030 by EdwardCarl Sachau
(London:KeganPaul, Trench,Tribner, 1914. ReprintNew Delhi: S. Chand,1964).
He wrote a numberof scientificworks,innovatingat the time, some of which testify
to his preciseknowledgeof the religiouscalendars,festivals,etc. of differentpeoples,
includingChristians.
23 Abi'l-Fath al-Shahrastiniis
especially knownfor his Kitdbal-milalwa'l-nihal
("Bookof religionsand systemsof belief"), translatedinto Frenchunderthe title of
Livredes religions et des sectes by Daniel Gimaret,Jean Jolivet and Guy Monnot,
2 vols. Leuven and Paris:Peetersand Unesco, 1986 and 1993. He also wroteon the
Islamicreligious sciences, in particularkalam.
24
Muslimwritingson otherreligions:
'Twentieth-century
Comp.J. Waardenburg,
A proposedtypology,"in Proceedingsof the 10th Congressof the UnionEuropdenne
des Arabisantset Islamisants(Edinburgh9-16 September1980), ed. by RobertHillenbrand(Edinburgh,1982,pp. 107-115);the same, "ReligiousStudiesin the Muslim
world,"ConferenceGuide(The InstitutionalEnvironmentof the Study of Religion,
ConferenceMarburg,15-18June1988),pp. 49-66; the same, "MuslimischesInteresse
in Loyaan anderenReligionenim soziopolitischenKontextdes 20. Jahrhunderts,"
litdtskonfliktein der Religionsgeschichte.Festschriftfir Carsten Colpe (Wiirzburg:
Konigshausen& Neumann,1990), pp. 140-152. See also Note 4.
252
Jacques Waardenburg
On the history of the study of history of religions in Turkeysee HikmetTanyu,

'Tiirkiye'dedinler tarihi'nintarihgesi,"Ankara Universitesiildhiyat FakultesiDergisi, vol. 8 (1961), pp. 109-124;MustafaErdem,"Tiirkiye'dedintertarihisahasinda
yapllrmnlisansiistiitezlertizerinedusiinceler,"Turkiye1. Dinler TarihiArastirmalan
Sempozyumu(24-25 Eylil 1992). Samsun 1992, pp. 83-95.
25 A few
examples of books writtenby Muslim authorsmay be given:
Arabic:
MuhammadAbu Zahra, Muhddaratfi'l-nasrdnyya. Tabhathufi'lIn
adwdr allati marrat 'alaihd 'aqd'id al-nasard wa-fi kutubihimwa-fi majdmi'ihim
al-mvmqaddasa
wa-firaqihim("Lectureson Christianity,treatingthe stages through
which the dogmas of Christianityhave passed, theirBooks, their EcumenicalCouncils and their divisions"). Cairo: Dar al-kitib al-'arabi, 1949) and Al-diydndtalqadima('The ancient religions").Cairo:Dar al-fikral-'arabi, 1965. The first book
seeks to be informativebut it representsthe traditionalIslamicview of Christianity
and is still authoritative.Muhsin al-'Abid, Madkhalfi ta'rtkhal-adydn ("Introduction to the history of religions").Sousse: Dir al-kitab, 1973. A large work which
discusses the value of otherbeliefs and practicesis Hasan Khglid,Mawqifal-isldm
min al-wathaniyyawa'l-yahadiyyawa'l-nasrdniyya("Islam'sattitudeto paganism,
Judaismand Christianity").Beirut:Ma'hadal-inma' al-'arabi,1986.
In Turkish:Gunay Tiimer & AbdurrahmanKiiqitk,Dinler Tarihi("The history
of religions").Ankara:Eyltil, 3rd ed. 1997, 472 p. and Hilmi Yavuz, Dinler Tarihi
Ansiklopedisi.("Encyclopediaof the History of Religions").Istanbul,1976, 720 p.
to the historyof
See also Kir?at Demirci,Dinler TarihininMeseleleri ("Introduction
religions").Istanbul,InsanYaymlan, 1997, 100 p. In librariesone can still find the
"classical"work of the German(non-Muslim)scholarAnnemarieSchimmel,Dinler
TarihineGirij ("Introductionto the historyof religions").Ankara,1955, 260 p.
In Persian: MuhammadJavad Mashkur,Khuldsa-i adydn dar tarikh-i dinhi-i
buzurg.3rd ed. Teheran:Intishfirt-i sharq, 1989.
In Indonesian:H. Abu Ahmadi,Perbandinganagama. ("Thestudy of religions").
Jakarta:RinekaCipta, 1970 with severalreprints,and A. MuktiAli, Ilmuperbandingan agama ('The scholarlystudy of religions").Yogyakarta:YayasanNida, 1975.
26 Ahmad Shalabi,Muqdranatal-adydn('The comparisonof religions").Cairo:
Maktabatal-nahdaal-haditha.It containsfour volumes:al-Masihrya("Christianity")
(1960), al-lsldm ("Islam")(1961), Adydnal-hind al-kubrd:al-hindawiya,al-jayniya,
al-badhiya("Thegreatreligionsof India:Hinduism,JainismandBuddhism")(1964),
and al-Yahadiya("Judaism")(1965). It has been reprintedseveral times, and translated into Indonesian,Urduand Turkish.
27 Such studies have been made especially by students of Prof. Mukti Ali in
Yogyakarta.I have not yet found similarempiricaldescriptive"phenomenological"
accountsof religiousphenomenain otherMuslim countries.In TurkeyHikmetTanyu
and his disciples establishedhistoryof religions as a discipline.CompareNote 23.

28 When the Facultyof Theology was establishedat the Universityof Ankarain
1949, it compriseda chairof historyof religions.Prof. AnnemarieSchimmeltaught
there from 1954 until 1959.
29 The State Institutes for Islamic Studies have Departments of Comparative
Religion in their Facultyof Ushuluddin(Principlesof religion). The Universityof

Yogyakartahas a teachingprogramof comparativereligion initiatedby Prof. Mukti
Ali; it takes also initiativesin the field of interreligiousdialogue. CompareNotes 39
and 51.
30 The Libraryof the Instituteof Islamic Researchfor example, now attached
to the InternationalIslamicUniversityin Islamabad,acquiredmany books on comparativereligion in its first decade,duringthe 1960s. After the departureof Fazlur
Rahmanacquisitionsin this field virtuallystopped.
31 There are exceptions,however,such as the libraryof the ResearchInstitute
of the Turkish Encyclopediaof Islam in Istanbul (See Note 13). The libraryof
the InternationalInstituteof Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC)in Kuala
Lumpurhas a good collectionof books on the differentworldreligions.It succeeded
in acquiringpartof BertoldSpuler'spersonallibrary.
32 One might also thinkof translatingsome of the volumes of the series "Spirituality of Mankind"into at least one orientallanguage,retainingsome of the texts
in the originallanguage.
33 See for instancethe monumentalcollection of Arabic texts on Manicheism
edited and studiedby S.H. Taqizadehand Ahmad Ashgir al-Shiraizi,Mdn va din-i
a ("Maniand his religion").Teheran,1935/1956.
34 The religion of Zarathustra
has always arousedcuriosity and interestamong
Iranianintellectualsas partof the nationalheritage.
35 See Hugh P. Goddard,MuslimPerceptionsof Christianity.London:GreySeale
Books, 1996. See also his bibliography"WorksaboutChristianityby EgyptianMuslim Authors, 1940-1980,"The MuslimWorld80 (1990), pp. 251-277.
36 See Isabel
Stiimpel-Hatami,Das Christentumaus der Sicht zeitgenossischer
iranischerAutoren.Eine UntersuchungreligionskundlicherPublikationenin persischer Sprache.Berlin:KlausSchwarz,1996.
37 In Arabic:'Abdal-Majidal-Sharfi,
Al-fikral-isldmifi'l-radd 'aid 'l-nasardild
nihdyatal-qarn al-rdbi' al-'dshir ("Islamic thoughtin its refutationof Christians
up to the end of the 4th / 10th century").Tunis: Al-dir al-thnisiyyali'l-nashrand
Algiers: Al-mu'assasaal-wataniyyali'l-kitib, 1986. The conclusion was translated
into Frenchby R. Caspar,"Pourune nouvelle approchedu christianismeparla pensee
musulmane,"Islamochristiana13 (1987), pp. 61-77. Compare,by the same author:
a l'6poque m6di6vale,"Studia Religiosa Helvetica,
"Poldmiquesislamo-chr6tiennes
JahrbuchVol. 1 (Bernetc.: PeterLang, 1995), 261-274.
254
Jacques Waardenburg
In Turkish:MehmetAydin,Misliimanlann hiristiyanligakarsi yazdigi reddiyeler

ve tartismakonulan ('The refutationswrittenby MuslimsagainstChristiansand the
subjectsof their disputes").Konya:Seluk Oniversitesibaslmevi, 1989.
In French:Ali Bouamama,La litteraturepol6miquemusulmanecontre le christianismedepuis ses originesjusqu'au XIlIe siacle. Algiers: Entreprisenationaledu
livre, 1988.
38 A contributionin this sense is the PhD Dissertationby GhulamHaiderAasi,
"'Muslim Understandingof OtherReligions'. An Analytical Study of Ibn Hazm's
Kitdbal-fasl f al-milal wa-al-ahwd' wa al-nihal,"submittedat Temple University
in 1986 (XII + 452 p.). Dr. Aasi preparedhis dissertationunder the late Professor
Isma'il R. al Faruqi, one of the first Muslim scholars to develop the project of
an "Islamic"science of religionable to contributeto interreligiousdialogue. See his
article"Historyof Religions. Its Natureand Significancefor ChristianPFucationand
the Muslim-Christian
Dialogue',Numen,12 (1965), pp. 35-95. Al Fiarqi wrotea long
study ChristianEthics (Montreal:McGill UniversityPress, 1967). Here he studies
New Testamentandpatristicdatain detail,to judge theseaccordingto Islamiccriteria.
Apartfromthe fact thatthe authorneglects for instance20th centuryChristianethical
thinking,his study is an evaluative,not an empiricalone. Given this orientationit
is regrettablethat he does not go into the ethical dimension of Muslim-Christian
cooperationand dialogue. Fundamentally,the book asserts coLfroLtationbetween
Islam and Christianity,even in mattersof ethics.
39 The other way round,one must add that the presentationof Christianityby
Westernersin these languageshas often been of a rathercheap apologeticalnature
too. Christianpolemical literatureagainst Islam has mostly been ratherblinkered.
40 This is certainly the case in Indonesia where interfaithdialogue has been
officiallyencouragedfor the last thirtyyears. An "Institutefor the Studyof Religious
Harmony"was founded in Yogyakartain 1993; in 1995 a new periodicalsaw the
light, Religiosa. IndonesianJournal on Religious Harmony,publishedby the State
Instituteof Islamic Studies in Yogyakarta.CompareNote 51.
41 MohannaY.S. Haddad,Arab Perspectivesof Judaism A Studyof Image Formation in the Writingsof MuslimArab Authors,1948-1978. Doctoral dissertation,
Universityof Utrecht, 1984, XXII + 564 pp. This study makes clear how much the
interestin other religions is conditionedby contextualfactors. In case of political
conflict, a distortedview of the religion of the other partyarises, especially if this
religionplays a role in the conflict.
42 See for instance for positive statementsaboutHinduism,RasheeduddinKhan,
"TowardsunderstandingHinduism:Reflections of some eminent Muslims,"in his
book BewilderedIndia. Identity,Pluralism,Discord. New Delhi: Har-AnandPublications, 1995, Chapter8 (pp. 153-192).
43 Centre for the
Study of Islam and Christian-MuslimRelations, Selly Oak
Colleges, Birmingham,U.K. The Centrewas foundedin 1975.

44 The Duncan Black MacdonaldCenterfor the Study of Islam and ChristianMuslimRelationsat HartfordSeminary,Hartford,CT, U.S.A.
45 See for instanceMuslimcontributionsin Islamochristiana,an annual(Catholic)
publicationdevotedto dialogueon an intellectualandspirituallevel andpublishedby
the PontificalInstituteof Arabicand Islamic Studies in Rome since 1975. See also
contributionsby Muslims publishedin The Muslim World(since 1910) and Islam
Relations(since 1990).
and Christian-Muslim
46 For instanceOctaveDepontand Xavier Coppolani,Les confreriesreligieuses
musulmanes.Algiers: A. Jourdain,1897.
47 One thinks of the many studiesby John SpencerTriminghamaboutIslam in
Africa.
48 There are exceptionstoo. The Centerof Political and StrategicStudies of the
Egyptianjournalal-Ahrampublishedin 1995 a largeReporton the religioussituation
in Egypt (Taqrnral-Hala 'l-dnmiyyafi
Misr) of some 389 pages, with preciousdetails
of official and non-officialreligiousinstitutions,movementsand groups. This is an
example of what I mean by the social sciences contributionof Muslim researchers
on religion.
49 There is a clear trend
among present-dayMuslim Arab historiansto see and
describe the history of the Christiancommunitieswithin the broaderArab history.
This is in sharpcontrastto an earlier"confessional"historiography.
50 Muslim researchers,
perhapsless distractedby excessive specializationand
what may be called scientificprecisionengineering,may display a capacity to put
forwarda more comprehensiveview of the roles of particularreligions in specific
situations.This couldenhancethe studyof the role of religionas an overallmotivation
of people and groups of people, which leads to their transformation.It could also
enhancethe study of the social and political strategiesin which a particularreligion
is used for otherpurposesthanpurelyreligious ones. This social science perspective
can of course be taken by any scholar but it seems to us that Muslim scholars
can make a special contributionsince they are more familiarwith linkages between
socio-politicaland religiousaction.They may also be more sensitive to the positive
fruitsof such linkages.
51 The two can also be combined. One
example ist the work of the MuslimChristianResarch Group GRIC (Groupede RecherchesIslamo-Chretien),a team
of Muslim and Christianscholarsworking together.Thanks to their efforts, three
substantialpublicationssaw the light: The Challengeof the Scriptures.Maryknoll,
NY:Orbis, 1989, the originalFrencheditionof whichappearedin 1987;Foi etjustice.
Un difi pour le christianismeet l'islam. Paris:Centurion,1993, and Pluralismeet
laicitd. Chretienset musulmansproposent.Paris:Bayard/Centurion,1996.
52 On the study of religionsin Indonesia,see Karel A. Steenbrink,"The Study
of ComparativeReligion by IndonesianMuslims,"Numen,Vol. 37 (1990), pp. 141167. Could a countrylike Indonesia,for instance,knownfor its efforts on behalf of
256
Jacques Waardenburg
dialogue, not organize,in cooperationwith the IAHR, a workshopor conferenceof

Muslim scholarsworkingin the field of the scholarlystudy of religions?
53 This does not
imply that the present-dayEuropeanor Americanstudy of reas the only model possible. The birth of the study of
considered
should
be
ligion
linked
was
in
closely to 19th centuryculturaland social conditions
religion Europe
and 19th centuryforms of religion. And the situationwas differentin the different
countries,for instanceFrance,England,Germany,Switzerlandand the Netherlands.
For a generaloverview see Eric J. Sharpe,ComparativeReligion.A History.Second
edition La Salle, Il.: Open CourtPublishers, 1986. For the beginningsof the history of religions see Hans G. Kippenberg,Die Entdeckungder Religionsgeschichte.
Religionswissenschaftund Modene. Minchen: C.H. Beck Verlag, 1997. For relations with GermanProtestanttheology,see SigurdHjelde,Die Religionswissenschaft
und das ChristentumEine historischeUntersuchungiiber das Verhaltnisvon Religionswissenschaft& Theologie.Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994. For relationswith French
Catholictheology,see HenryPinardde la Boullaye,L'Etudecompareedes religions.
Essai critique. 2 vols. Paris:Beauchesne, 1922 and 1925. For relationswith orthodox Judaism,see Julius Carlebach(Ed.), Wissenschaftdes Judentums.Anfdngeder
Judaistikin Europa.Darmstadt:WissenschaftlicheBuchgesellschaft,1992.
One must makea distinctionbetweenthe situationof Muslimresearchersworking
in the various Muslim countriesand that of those working in the West. Certainly
in the case of the latter,there is no reason a priori why researchersof a Muslim
backgroundshould not work alongsideresearchersof a Christian,Buddhistor other
background.It seems to me thatthe proof of true scholarshipwill lie in its capacity
to detachitself- in the studyof Islambut also in religiousstudiesgenerally- from
its specificallyWesterncontextwhile maintainingscholarlydiscipline.It is because
of the universalvalidity of its rationaland empiricalfindings,and not becauseof its
adherenceto particularlyWesternnorms and values, that the study of religionsas a
disciplinewill be takenseriouslyby Muslim and othernon-Westernresearchers.This
will also encouragecooperationbetweenresearchersof differentbackgrounds;as far
as Islam is concerned,Muslimand non-Muslimresearchersneed to work together.
54 The same remarkshouldbe made about the
impactof similarclaims by other
religionsand ideologies. Whethersuch claims arerightor wrongis a differentmatter,
what we want to argue is that they stand in the way of careful empiricalresearch
and are a burdenon scholars.Even if researcherswantto devote themselvesto study
for the sake of scholarlyknowledgeand truth,they always work in a culturaland
social climate which hardlyappreciatesand certainlydoes not encourageinnovative
knowledgeof other religions or ideologies, whetherIslam, Judaism,Christianityor
any other.Absolutizingdiscoursesare a burdenon a scholar'smind!
55 Just as in the Muslimstudyof Judaismand
Christianitya problemis presented
by the fact thatthe Qur'in gives some valuejudgmentswhich are positivethoughnot
empirical,in the study of theAsianreligionslike Buddhismor Hinduismthe problem

is reversed.The Islamic traditionhas given a very negative evaluation,accusing
them of atheism or polytheism.Neither positive nor negative general evaluations
from whateversourceshouldimpingeon the empiricalstudyof religions as they are
constructedand lived.
56 The authorwill be gratefulfor supplementaryinformationabout the study of
religions as pursuedin Muslim countries.
THE STRUCTURE OF FRENCH ROMANTIC HISTORIES OF

RELIGIONS
ARTHURMCCALLA
Summary
This articleanalyzesthe historiesof religions of Louis de Bonald, AntoineFabre
d'Olivet, Pierre-SimonBallanche,and Ferdinandd'Eckstein. Ratherthan offer yet
anotherdefinition of Romanticism,it seeks to establish a frameworkby which to
Frenchhistories of religionsthat
renderintelligiblea set of early nineteenth-century
have been largely ignoredin the historyof the study of religion. It establishestheir
mutual affinity by demonstratingthat they are built on the common structuralelements of an essentialist ontology,an epistemology that eludes Kantianpessimism,
and a philosophyof historythatdepictsdevelopmentas the unfoldingof a preexistent
essence accordingto an a priori pattern.Consequentupon these structuralelements
we may identify five characteristicsof French Romantichistories of religions:organic developmentalism;reductionism;hermeneuticof harmonies;apologeticintent;
and reconceptualizationof Christiandoctrine. Romantic histories of religions, as
are at once a chapterin the
syntheses of traditionalfaith and historical-mindedness,
and
in
the
of
of
the
of
history religious thought.
study religion
history
This article analyzes the histories of religions of Louis de Bonald

(1754-1840), Antoine Fabre d'Olivet (1767-1824), Pierre-Simon Ballanche (1776-1847), and Ferdinand d'Eckstein (1790-1861). It establishes their mutual affinity by demonstrating that they are constructed
on parallel conceptions of ontology, epistemology, and philosophy of
history. It is on the presence of these common structural elements,
rather than the fact that they are set out in works published in France
between 1796 and 1829, that I place these histories of religions together. I do not, therefore, wish to argue that these four thinkers
belong together in every respect. They attended rival salons, and diverge considerably in their attitudes toward, inter alia, Catholic orthodoxy, the Restored Bourbon monarchy, and the literary batailles of the
period. The Catholic Traditionalist Bonald and the Illuminist Fabre
NUMEN, Vol. 45
FrenchRomanticHistories of Religions
259
d'Olivet,moreover,are usually excludedfrom studiesof literaryRomanticismand appearhedgedaroundwith qualificationsin studiesof

Romanticreligious thought.'I groupthese four histories of religion
underthe rubricRomanticbecausethey were constructedin the intellectualcontextcreatedby the two fundamentallate eighteenth-century
intellectualrevolutions:the historicizationof culturein the wake of
Herder,and the epistemologicalpessimism arising from Kant's restrictionof scientificknowledgeto the phenomenalworld of appearances and his denial of the possibility of rationalknowledge of the
noumenalworldof ultimatetruth.My intentis not to offer yet another
definitionof Romanticismbut to establisha frameworkby which to
Frenchhistories
renderintelligible a set of early nineteenth-century
been
the
that
have
in
of religions
largelyignored
historyof the study
of religion.
Louis de Bonald
Bonald, along with Joseph de Maistre and the early Felicit6 de
Lamennais,was the great protagonistof the Catholic Traditionalist
reactionagainst the doctrinesof the FrenchEnlightenment.Linking
the ProtestantReformation,the Enlightenment,and the FrenchRevolution in an unholy trinity of cause and effect, Bonald identified
rationalismand individualismas the enemies of religious truthand
socio-political stability.He devoted his life to the propositionthat
the sole bulwarkagainstboth intellectualand social anarchyis the
authorityof the Catholicchurch.2
Bonald built his system - which proceeds from point to point,
in the fashion of scholasticlogic - on the fundamentalpropositions
that human ideas, values, beliefs, etc. derive not from reflectionon
innate ideas, as Enlightenmentthinkershad argued, but from language, and that language,in turn,is not a humaninventionbut was
revealedto earliesthumanityby God. This primitiverevelation- the
first,and basis of all subsequent,humanknowledge- carriedwith it
awarenessof a superiorbeing, and from this awarenessfollowed the
rudimentsof religionandsociety.Transmissionof primitiverevelation
260
ArthurMcCalla
from generationto generationconnects humanityto God and human

beings to each other,therebyformingthe basis of both religioustruth
theand social order.3Bonald'sTraditionalismis bothan authoritarian
ory of society and an anti-rationalisttheoryof knowledge.It teaches
that whenever humanity,seduced by rationalismand individualism,
cuts itself off from the authorityof inheritedTraditionit falls into
errorand anarchy.Epistemologically,the idea of primitiverevelation
and its transmissionallows Bonald to elude Kantianepistemological
pessimism and establishcertainknowledge of the divine order in a
mannercommensuratewith the faculties of fallen humanity.
Since Bonald identifiesreligion and society his philosophyof history incorporatesa historyof religions.The startingpoint of Bonald's
history of religions is the principleof universality,which in turn is
a corollaryof primitiverevelation.All peoples possess the elementary religious sentimentsof God and the immortalityof the soul because primitiverevelationis the universalinheritanceof humanity.4
These sentiments comprisenaturalreligion (or patriarchalreligion,
as Bonald alternativelycalls it). Bonald drawson the scholasticdefinition of "nature"in order to distinguishthe true sense of natural
religion from the perversionsit has undergoneat the hands of Enlightenmenttheorists of religion. Deriving "nature"from the verb
naitre ["to be bom"], Bonald glosses the etymology: "a being is
born for an end, and with the means of reaching it; this end and
these means comprise its nature".5In accord with this teleological
definitionof "nature"Bonald's naturalreligion is "natural"not because it arises from the innate capacities of humanity(the errorof
Enlightenmenttheorists) but because, as the force that raises humanity from a state of ignorance toward the fulfilment of its being, it is the religion appropriateto the earliest stage of human
development.6
If all peoples receive throughprimitiverevelationthe same natural religion what accountsfor the diverse beliefs and practices of
the various religions of the world? Although Bonald distinguishes
between idolatry and paganism- idolatry is the false worship of
God; paganism is the worship of false gods7 - he attributesthe
261
"absurditiesand abominations"of both to the corruptionof natural

religion throughthe exercise of the imagination.8Bonald finds the
properdevelopmentof naturalreligion in Judaismand Christianity:
"naturalreligion is the seed of the Judaicreligion, and the Christian
or revealedreligionis the development,the perfecting,the fulfilment
of the Judaicreligion".9
The organicmetaphorof the growthof a seed is Bonald'spreferred
expressionof the teleologicaltheory of developmentexemplifiedby
his history of religions:"Truth,like humanityand like society, is a
seed that developsby the successionof time and generations,always
old in its beginnings,always new in its successive developments".'0
Truthcan both developand be eternalbecause for Bonald, as for the
scholasticsfrom whom he derivedthe image, a seed can develop in
only one way, the way intrinsicallydeterminedby its final cause."lA
corollaryof this organicconceptionof developmentis that the fully
developedform of somethingdisplays nothing that was not already
containedembryonicallyin its earlierforms.Bonalddoes not hesitate
to draw out the implicationsfor religion: "All the beliefs belonging
to Christianityand all the practicesof its worship,derivingfrom the
awarenessof the mediator,were implicitly containedin patriarchal
religion,where the mediatorwas announced,andfigured in Judaism,
wherethe mediatorwas expected".'2Bonald'sconstructionof natural
religion, Judaism,and Christianityas what he alternativelycalls the
three sequentialages of monotheismor the religion of the unity of
God historicizesthe venerableChristianpracticeof a figuralreading
of the Old Testamentand classical Antiquity.13
AntoineFabre d'Olivet
Fabred'Olivet'sIlluminism,set out in a series of works published
between 1813 and 1824,'4belongs to the esoterictraditionof thought
thatin its moder westernform derivesaboveall fromJakobBoehme
(1575-1624). Boehme's theosophydepicts creationas the emanated
self-manifestationof God. A Fall at the spirituallevel producesthe
physical universe, and a second Fall - that of primordialAdam,
262
ArthurMcCalla
who was created with a radiantbody of light - separateshumanity from God and incarnatesit in the physical universe.Light from
the spiritualworld is invisibly active in the sunlight of our world,
just as the spiritualnatureof creation remainspresent, though hidden, at the heart of the physical world. The lluminist cosmos is
therebya universe of mirrorsand correspondences.It is the cosmic
task of humanityto restorecreationto its originalspiritualstate, and
in so doing restoreits own eternalnature.Restorationis possible because the Fall has obscuredbut not entirelyblocked our perception
of the divine light pervadingthe universe. Our intellectual'5nature
respondsto the divine light by means of the imagination(imaginatio), a supra-rationalepistemologicalfaculty that permits access to
differentlevels of realitythroughthe use of mediationssuch as symbolic images. Imagination,in Boehme's phrase,is the "eye of fire"
that sees through the world of appearancesto the spiritualworld
within.'6
Fabred'Olivet's Illuministdramais played out in a Boehmistcosmos in which divine emanationbathes the universein divine forces
and humanity,created as primordialAdam, is a spiritualbeing of
greatpower.Fabreidentifiesiinfallenhumanitywith the Will, which,
along with Providence and Destiny, is one of the three powers, or
cosmogonic principles,of the universe.While the Fall has obscured
this gloriousidentity,Fabred'Olivet insists thatthe humanessence is
distinctfrom lower essences and that thereis no continuitybetween
the naturalworld and humanity.Fallen humanitydisplaysa triplenature, at once body, soul, and spirit, and lives a triple life, instinctive,
passionate [animique], and intellectual (i.e., spiritual).These three
lives, when they are fully developed,intermingleand are confounded
into a fourth, or volitive, life. Throughthe exercise of the volitive
life, which is proper to it, humanitygraduallyreintegratesprimordial Adam and raises itself to the reattainmentof its cosmogonic
status.Humanity's(future)achievementof this statusis the prerequisite for the reestablishmentof harmonyamongthe threecosmogonic
principlesof Providence,Will, and Destiny. The reestablishmentof
cosmogonic harmony,in turn, will create, replicatingon the macro-
263
cosmic level the fourthlife of humanity,a fourthpower that is the

very image or mirrorof divinityand the realizationof Fabre'sversion
of Illuministreintegration.17
Fabred'Olivet'sepistemology,ratherthansimplyreassertingBoehme's teaching on imaginatio,takes up and purportsto refute Kant's
epistemologicalpessimism.Fabre's argumentis based on the fundamental lluminist distinctionbetween rationalityand reason. Rationality, he says, is a secondaryfaculty that correspondsto soul,
the middle term of the triplenatureof humanityas body, soul, and
spirit;reason,or intellectuality,is a principalfacultythatcorresponds
to spirit, the highest term of our triple nature. Fabre argues that
Kant misled himself because, confusing rationalitywith intellectuality,he failed to understandthe spiritualnatureof reason.The result
of Kant's erroris a philosophythat first strips humanityof its spiritual faculties, then attemptsto grasp spiritualtruthswith a faculty
incommensuratewith them, and finally, the attempthaving necesFabre,
sarily failed, declaresthe spiritualtruthsto be unknowable.18
in short, overcomes Kant's epistemological pessimism by redefining reason as an intuitivefacultycapableof graspingthe ontological
Absolute.19
Humanitymay be a powerin the cosmos, but since the Fall it is a

poweronly in germ.Throughthe interactionof humanitywith Fabre
d'Olivet'sothertwo cosmogonicpowers,ProvidenceandDestiny,humanity must develop its potentialas the growth of a plant unfolds
whatis containedin its seed.20This is not a casual analogy (no analogy is casual to an Illuminist).The essences of all species, including
humanity'sontologicallyuniqueessence, were placedin themby God
at the creation.Becausethe will of a being correspondsto its essence,
individualsand species alike develop- that is, progressivelyrealize
the externalcharacteristicsappropriateto theiressences - by means
of the repeatedexerciseof the will:
It is by its efficientvolitivefaculty,emanatedfrom its principle,that each being
conforms to its externalappearance.Naturalistswho have claimed that a tiger
is a tiger because its teeth,claws, stomach,intestinesconformin a certainway
have spoken frivolouslyand withoutlearning.... A tiger has these teeth, these
ArthurMcCalla
264
claws, this stomach,these intestinesbecauseit is a tiger, that is to say, because

its efficient volitive faculty has so constitutedit.21
Humanity,although distinct from all other creaturesby its participationin Divinity, undergoesthe same process of development
of its preexistentessence: "humanityis a divine seed that develops
by the reaction of its senses. Everythingis innate in it".22In 1824
Fabred'Olivet organi7eda groupof disciples into a sect, Theodoxie
universelle.Fabre cast his cult in the form of a masonic lodge except that, in a strikingexemplificationof the shift from a mechanistic to an organic worldview,he replacedthe traditionalmasonic
and architecturalsymbolism and paraphernaliawith substitutesderivedfrom agriculture.The humansoul, he taughthis followers, is a
seed that requirescultivationto blossom.23Fabred'Olivet finds authorityfor his fundamentalimage of the seed in the Hebrew Bible
(albeit in the theosophicversion of Moses' teachinghe himself "restored"in La Languehebraiquerestituee).The firstword of Genesis,
bereshith,accordingto Fabre,ought not be translated"in the beginning"butrather"inprincipio","inprinciple","inpotential".Creation
signifies not the act of bringingsomethinginto being out of nothing
but a process of bringingsomethingfrom potentialbeing into actual
being.24
History,as disclosed by the organicmetaphorof the seed, is for

Fabre d'Olivet the progressiveunfolding of what is alreadyin humanityas its essence. The result is a teleological philosophyof history,in which the consequencesof humanity'sconstitutivemetaphysical principles are played out in time and space. Fabre's Histoire
philosophiquedu genre humain(1824) sketches the developmentof
humanitythroughthe interactionof its Will with the other two cosmogonic powers, Providenceand Destiny, over 12,000 years of history.Fabreinsists thathistoryis meaningfulonly when it is explicitly
subordinatedto metaphysics:"It is at once ridiculousand odious to
claim to trace the routeof humanhistorywithoutbeing perfectlyinstructedabout the place from wherehumanitydeparted,aboutwhere
it tends, and the object of its voyage".25
265
In Les Vers dores de Pythagore (1813) Fabre d'Olivet offers a

three-foldclassificationof religions.The goal of all initiationsand of
all religions,he says, is union with God. This experienceis not only
extremelyrare but also ineffable.For such experiencesto be communicatedthey must be transformedinto myths, rationaldoctrines,
and sensibleforms.Becausesuch an act of transformation
necessarily
introducesillusions, logical contradictions,and misleadingimagery,
silence was imposed on the initiatesof Antiquity.Nevertheless,the
variousreligions of the world are particulartransformationsof the
unitiveexperienceeffectedby a founderof genius. Such a legislateur
theocrate or sage thdosophegives sensible form to spiritualtruths,
therebymaking accessible to the masses what otherwise would be
restrictedto a tiny elite. Religions differ, despite having the same
goal of unity with Divinity,because their variousfounderschose to
translatethe spiritualtruthsinto distinctmyths,doctrines,andsensible
forms.26The diversityof religions,however,can be orderedinto three
classes. Fabre insists that, correspondingto the triple natureof humanity(intellectual,rational,instinctual),Divinity can be envisaged
in only threeways:tritheism(threegods or one god in threepersons),
dualism, and polytheism.Tritheistreligions arise when Divinity reveals itself to the spiritualfaculty of humanintelligence underthe
emblem of the universalternary(Providence,Will, Destiny). Fabre
identifies as tritheistreligions in which three deities are dominant,
includingthe religionsof India(Brahma,Vishnu,Rudra)and Greece
and Rome (Jupiter,Neptune,and Pluto), as well as those thatfeature
three principalmodificationsof the same God, as in, accordingto
his interpretation,the religions of China, Japan,Tibet, and various
Buddhist sects. Dualist religions arise when Divinity reveals itself
to the rationalfacultiesof humanityas a naturalor ethical dualism.
While pure examples of dualist religion are rare - Zoroastrianism
and Manichaeism- it freely mixes with tritheismand polytheism.
Polytheistreligions arise when Divinity reveals itself to the instinctual faculties of humanityby means of materialimages. Polytheism,
in its diverse forms the religion of the common people all over the
world, is both the cradle and the tomb of the higher religions of
266
ArthurMcCalla
dualism and tritheism.While it can lead to the knowledge of natural principles(dualism),it can also choke off all spiritualawareness
under the riotous growth of materialimagery,therebyprecipitating
All positive religions
entire peoples into idolatryand superstition.27
encounteredin the world are either a pure form or a combination
of tritheism,dualism,or polytheism.Just as, however,Fabreteaches
that the full developmentof the triplenatureof humanityproducesa
fourth,or volitive life, so he posits the existence of a fourthform of
religion that is foundedon the absoluteunity of God. Divinity considered in the volitive unity of humanityproduces union with God
- the ineffable experienceof contemplativesand mystics.28Volitive
religion correspondsto the experience of initiates in all historical
periods.
If Les Versdordsde Pythagoreclassifies religions accordingto the
facultiesof humanity,Histoirephilosophiquedu genre humainrelates
the historyof religions to the historicaldevelopmentof humanitytowardreintegrationthroughthe interactionof its Will with Providence
and Destiny. Histoirephilosophique,Fabreremarksin its "Dissertation introductive",is built on the distinctionbetween the forms of
religions, political doctrines,etc. and their essences. Forms are dependenton exigencies of time and place; essences are homogenous,
demonstrating"theexistenceof a greatUnity,an eternalsource,from
which everythingflows".29Near the end of the second volume Fabre
states that the forms of the various religions derive from Destiny
and Will, whereas their essences are always Providential.While it
is true that religion has often been the cause of strife, this is solely
the result of conflict between forms of religion, which are properly
political conflicts. In their Providentialessences all religions derive
from and point to the same divine unity,whose terrestrialexpression
-
theocratic world empire -
is the goal to which history, including
the historyof religions,is moving as the culminationof the historical

phase of the reintegrationof primordialAdam.30Between these two
passagesthe bulk of Histoirephilosophiquedu genre humainoutlines
an evolution of religions. Fabredepicts a series of providentialreligions, each revealedby a "divineman"or hommeprovidentiel,which
267
human egoism and ambition(the misuse of the Will) successively

distortinto superstitionand cruel rituals,necessitatingthe adventof
anotherhommeprovidentielbearinga new revelation.Hommesprovidentiels (first, the Druid Ram, then, inter alia, Krishna,Orpheus,
Moses, Buddha,Jesus, Muhammad)are instrumentsProvidenceuses
to guide wilful humanityalong the right path. The history of religions unfoldsfrom the worshipof the starsand ancestorsthroughthe
religions of Europe,Asia, and the Near East towardthe culmination
of history in a theocraticworld governmentas the pure expression
of Providence.Progressis not continuous;there are many setbacks
and ages of decadence (superstition).But this is all part of the developmentof humanitybecause the goal is spiritualeducation,and
catastropheis often a betterteacherthancomfort.31
The shift from a taxonomy of religions in Les Vers dores de
Pythagore to the history of religions in Histoire philosophiquedu
genre humain reflects in part the sense of historical evolution that
Fabre d'Olivet acquired,accordingto Cellier, during the Bourbon
It was not, however,somethingentirelynew,butmerely
Restoration.32
a matterof applyingto historythe organictheoryof developmentalreadycontainedin his early theosophicalworks. Behind the exoteric
historyof religions,or the beliefs commensuratewith a given stage of
spiritualdevelopmentreachedby the masses, lies a perennialhidden
teachingreservedfor initiatesalone.33Initiationdiscloses the drama
of the reintegrativeprocess, the end and meaning of the unfolding
of history. Eventuallythe two will converge in the consummation
of history and the reintegrationof primordialAdam. The history of
religions is the playing out in time, and the content of initiationis
the revelationof, the metaphysicalprinciplesof Fabre'sown theosophy.
Pierre-SimonBallanche
The intellectualcareerof the deeply, if heterodoxically,Catholic
Ballanchebeganunderthe influenceof Josephde MaistreandBonald.
Ballanche,however,influentiallymodifiedTraditionalismby adding
268
ArthurMcCalla
to it an element of social progressivism.His work also displays familiaritywith a wide rangeof esoteric thought,not least thatof Fabre
d'Olivet, whom he knew personally.34
Ballanche believed that the divine order underlyingthe material
universeis discerniblethroughthe complementarymediationsof primitive revelationand symbolicimagination.The symbolic imagination
of the poet, penetratingthe essence of beings and things, intuitsspiritual truthsand translatestheminto materialform.35Ballanche'sconception of the poet-seer -
as in his own Vision d'Hebal (1831) -
is
a version of the fundamentalRomanticconvictionthat poetic imagination transcendshistoricaldivisions and sees into the permanent
life of things.36Within Ballanche's thought,however, the symbolic
imaginationof the inspiredpoet is not the only, or even the principal,
source of humanity'sknowledgeof the divine order.Ballancheholds
that remnantsof prelapsariandirect contact with God survivedthe
Fall. This primitiverevelation(which is not, as for Catholic Traditionalists,a postlapsariangift that compensatesfor the loss of direct
contactwith God, but rathera partialsurvivalof thatoriginalcontact)
contains the spiritualtruthsof the natureand end of humanityand
the providentiallaw governinghistory.The content of primitiverevelationhas been transmittedthroughan unbrokenchain of initiations
down the ages.
The spiritualtruthsof Ballanche's primitiverevelationcomprise
a philosophy of history,in which, as indicatedby the titles of Ballanche'smajorworks,Institutionssociales (1818) and Essais de Palingenesie sociale (1827-1831 [unfinished]),the social orderreceives
prideof place. Social palingenesis,or social evolution,is the sequence
of births,deaths,and rebirthsof societies throughoutthe centuriesof
humanhistory.Eachnew stageof social evolutioneffects the initiation
of a greaterproportionof humanityinto knowledgeof the primitive
revelationand full participationin religion and society. Changesin
social orderare traumaticand often violent since the birthof a new
orderrequiresthe deathof the old.37While each social evolutionary
advance,then, must be won at the price of suffering,such suffering
has a purpose: it is the means by which humanityexpiates origi-
269
nal sin. Social evolution will culminatein full religious and social
equalityfor all humanity.This religio-socialutopia,which Ballanche
believes to be close at hand,will markthe completionof the terrestrialphase of the rehabilitationof humanityfromthe Fall.38Ballanche
worked out his theory of salvationwithin and by means of the social order in response to the cataclysmic event of his generation,
the French Revolution.39Once in possession of the law governing
history Ballanche discernedit in all the ancient cosmogonies under
which primitiverevelationwas transmittedthroughinitiation.
While rehabilitationfrom the Fall is achievedby means of social
evolution Ballanche in no way supposes that the historicalprocess
effects a changein humannature:"thehumanrace is one and identical to itself from its origin to the present;it will be so until the end.
Its faculties are in no way successive.Thatwhich it is, it has always
been, it will always be".40Humanity,in short, consists of a single
essence that unfolds over time: "the human essence does not need
to detach itself from an inferioressence in orderto become its true
self; the evolution of the human race is containedwithin itself'.41
Like Bonald and Fabred'Olivet,Ballancheholds thatone mustknow
the metaphysicaltruthsof the origin and end of humanitybefore
one can understandhistory as the unfolding of the humanessence.
By insisting that history is fully intelligible only in light of the law
of social palingenesisBallanche subordinatesthe empiricaldata of
historyto an a priori structure.Ballanche'sworks, in which philosophy of historyandthe symbolicintuitionof poets harmonizebecause
both perceive the same divine order throughthe mediationof material forms, make explicit the relation between Romanticphilosophy
of historyand Romanticpoetics.
Ballanche'sphilosophyof history encompassesthe historyof religions. The mythologiesand religions of the ancientworld are variations on an ideal, universalmythology,which is itself nothingother
than an allegorizedaccount of the operationof social palingenesis
in humanity'sremote past.42The Saturn-Jupiter-Bacchus
sequence
of divinities in classical mythology,for example, correspondsto the
sequenceof social ordersactuallyundergonein ancienthistory.43Re-
270
ArthurMcCalla
vealed religion, in turn, continues the process of the unfolding of

social palingenesis.Ballanchedeclaresthatthe Christiandoctrinesof
religiousequalityandcharitymarkan epochaltransitionin the historical processbecausethey makereligioustruththe potentialpossession
of all humanityand substitutecooperationfor violence as the agent
of social change. The gradualextension of these religious principles
into the civil sphereis the ongoing task of the centuriesafterChrist.44
Christianity,however,is not something totally new in the world.
In accord with his understandingof developmentas the unfolding
of a preexistentessence BallancheidentifiesChristianityas the fully
evolved form of the universalreligion that has been unfolding since
earliesttimes: "we will discoverlater that only Christianitycan procure for us this full emancipation,object of so many desires, hidden
in the depths of so many general beliefs; hence, once again, ChrisChristianityis the religion
tianityis the true religionof humanity".45
it
is
able
to achieve the full develbecause
of humanity
by humanity
opment of its nature.While historical Christianityfully manifested
true religion (the principleof religious equality)for the first time its
content was already known in Antiquity because it was contained
in the primitive revelationtransmittedin the ancient cosmogonies.
Hence, those initiatedinto the ancient cults possessed knowledgeof
the spiritualtruthsof the natureand end of humanity,includingthe
providentiallaw governing history.Ballanche's history of religions
continuesBonald'shistoricizationof the typologicalapproachto pagan myth, butpushesit into heterodoxy.Since the social evolutionary
workof rehabilitationoccurswithinthe historicalprocess Christ'spagan analoguesdo not merelypoint to Christ,they actively commence
the work of rehabilitation;the process of redemptionbegins before
the manifestationof the archetype.
Ballanchecarefullydistinguishesbetween the religions of the ancient world and what he calls "the general traditionsof the human
race". The general traditionspreserve and transmitthe memory of
what God intendedhumanityto be and guide its rehabilitationby
providingthe peoples of the world with the truthnecessary to each
stage of theirdevelopmentand in a form relativeto theircapacities.46
271
Ballanchepresentsthe generaltraditionsas the true naturalreligion:

"I understandhere faith in an extended sense, soaring above all the
religions and referringonly to what I call the general traditions,the
universalreligion of the human race".47His critique of Enlightenment conceptionsof naturalreligion could have come from Bonald's
pen: they fail to perceivethatrevelationis the foundationof religion
and society.4 The religionsof the ancientworld arose when the general traditionswere modifiedby local conditions. Though they are
thus corruptionsof the generaltraditionsall religions contain some
reflectionof divine truthbecause the traditionshave been obscured
over time but neverentirelyperverted.49
Even false dogmas, such as
are
metempsychosis, merelydisfiguredtruths.50Institutionssociales,
in which BallanchedescribesGreekpolytheismas "the absoluteemandlamentsthe harmdone to truereligion
pire of the imagination"51
by stories of the gods' dissolutebehaviour,bears traces of Bonald's
critique of the imaginationas the source of polytheism. Yet, more
commonly, Ballanche maintainsthat all myths are allegories that,
correctly interpreted,yield truth.52This contradiction,which arises
fromhis amalgamof Traditionalismand lluminism,disappearsin the
worksof Palingenesiesociale, in which "themysteriesof Christianity
are hidden in all cosmogonies".53Conversely,the general traditions
comprisea christianismeanterieur.54
Ferdinandd'Eckstein
Eckstein was born in Copenhageninto a merchantfamily newly
convertedfrom Judaismto Lutheranism.He studied at the University of Heidelberg,wherehe absorbedthe Germanhistorico-symbolic
approachto the historyof religions directlyfrom FriedrichCreutzer
himself, learnedSanskrit,andgenerallythrewhimself into the Oriental Renaissance.In Rome in 1809 Ecksteinconvertedto Catholicism
underthe influenceof FriedrichSchlegel, whom he hadmet thereand
who reenforcedthe sense of the importanceof history and philology
for religious reflectionthat he had already acquiredfrom Creutzer.
Ecksteinarrivedin Francein 1816 as an administratorin the service
of the King of Austriain the aftermathof the defeat of Napoleon.He
272
ArthurMcCalla
soon abandonedadministrativework, having become convinced that

he had a mission to provideCatholicismwith a philosophyof history.
Eckstein settled in Paris in 1818 and henceforthdevoted himself to
scholarship.From 1819 to 1822 he studied the collection of Indic
manuscriptsat the Biblioth6queNationalein the hopes of extracting
the content of the primitiverevelationfrom what he consideredthe
most ancient language of Antiquity.From 1823 onwards Eckstein
publishedextensively in both scholarlyand popularperiodicals.His
passionateadvocacy of the religions and languages of India earned
him the nickname"baronSanskrit'.55
FromJanuary1826 to December1829 Ecksteinpublishedhis own
journal, Le Catholique,modeled on J.J. von Gorres' Katholik,as a
showcasefor the preliminarystudiesof whatwas to be his greatwork
-
never written -
on the world's religions. Eckstein admired and
promotedin Le Catholiquethe Traditionalisthistory of religions.56

Nevertheless, he consideredthe work of Bonald and his followers
(notablyLamennaisandAugustinBonnetty)to be inadequatebecause
their dependenceon historicalrecordsleft uninvestigatedmost peoples of the world, aboveall those of remotesttimes. Happily,Eckstein
announces,new methodscapableof exploringthe fullness of history
-
linguistics, philology, and mythography -
have been developed in
Le Catholique,in fact, synthesizesthe historico-symbolic

Germany.57
of
history religions of Eckstein'sGermanteachersand the Catholic
Traditionalismhe encounteredin France.
Ecksteinpublishednumerousstudiesin Le Catholiquedemonstrating the existence of a universalprimitiverevelation,or naturalreligion, by which God revealedto early humanityreligious truths:"Our
point of departureis a primitiverevelation,basis of natural religion.
By naturalreligion.. .we understanda real andpositive manifestation
of Divinity in which it revealsitself to primitivehumanityas creator
of the heavensand the earth,in which it unveilsthe mysteriesof Genesis, and at the same time the more hidden mysteries of the divine
nature,..".58 This natural religion included anticipation of a saviour:
'There is joined to it the expectationof a Saviourof the world who

From the postulate
will rehabilitatefallen and corruptedhumanity".59
273
of primitiverevelationEcksteinestablishesthe now familiarcorollary

of the unity of religions: "A single revelationembracedthe entire
human race; idolatrycorruptedit without extinguishingit. That is
what India, China,Persia,Egypt teach us: the holy truthfinds itself
strengthened [by evidence] from all places".60 So fundamental is the
principle of unity to Eckstein'sthoughtthat he enshrinedit as the

subtitleof Le Catholique:"A periodicalin which the universalityof
humanknowledge is treatedfrom the point of view of the unity of
doctrine".61
Unity of doctrine, however, does not exclude development.Le
Catholiquecontains a history of religions because, on the organic
model of developmenttaken over from Traditionalism,naturalreligion unfolds accordingto a preexistentpattern:"Fromthis universal
identityof religions it follows that humanityis one, that knowledge
is one, that there is only a single history of humanity,only a single developmentof it is possible..".62 Naturalreligion, despite degeneratingat times into idolatryand paganism,63develops through
Judaismto its fulfilmentin Christianity,"the perfect belief in the
incarnationof the divine Word,by which the human race recovers
its heavenly fortress. Christianityis a truly human philosophy".64
Christianityconfirmsand fulfils primitiverevelation'spromise that
the humanrace will rise from the Fall by the expiatorysacrificeof
the Messiah.65
ForEckstein,as for Bonaldand Ballanche,organicdevelopmentalism implies thatChristianitymerelyunfoldswhatwas alreadypresent
in the religions of Antiquity:"Since Catholicismis the truth,it must
be the eternal truthand, as such, it must be eternally revealed. It
is said with reason that it is as old as the world. In fact, it is the
primitivelyrevealed religion; it is the naturalreligion, founded on
the principleof the revelationof God in the universeand in the human race".66 Since Christianityparticipatesin primitivewisdom as
its highest expressionEcksteinargues that the ancient religions are
compatible with -
indeed essentially identical to -
Christianity: "Is
it not known that thereexists in all primitivebeliefs, no matterhow

degeneratedthey may be, and particularlyin Asiatic doctrines,near-
274
ArthurMcCalla
est to the cradleof the humanrace, a foundationof truthsrevealedby

Threeyears
traditionthatmay be calledpre-CatholicCatholicism?".67
with
meantime
become
in
the
and
Ballanche,
later,
friendly
having
Ecksteinborrowedhis new friend's term to underscorethe unity of
religions:"One must excavatein the antiquitiesof paganismin order
to recoverthere this anteriorChristianity,this Christianitythatis not
yet fulfilled but that exists in hope and works itself deeply into the
destinies of ancient nations".68Eckstein'selision of Ballanche'sdistinction between the general traditionsand the positive religions of
Antiquitypermits him to use the principleof religious unity to glorify the religions of India as participatingin truth,whereas Bonald
had used the same principleto glorify Catholicismas the source of
all truth.This bold inversionopened Eckstein to charges of "IndoChristianity"both from outragedCatholicsand from philologistsand
Protestantswho accusedhim of attemptingto reestablishtheological
doctrineunderthe guise of scholarship.69
The Structureof FrenchRomanticHistories of Religions
FrenchRomantichistoriesof religion,while not identical,arebuilt
on the common structuralelements of an essentialist ontology, an
epistemology that eludes Kantianpessimism, and a philosophy of
history that depicts developmentas the unfolding of a preexistent
essence accordingto a determinedpattern.
The ontologicalAbsoluteof Bonald,Ballanche,and Ecksteinis the
God of Christianorthodoxy;for Fabred'Olivetit is the emanationist
Divinity of Boehmist theosophy.
Romanticism'sepistemologicalsignatureis its refusalto acceptthe
Kantiandisjunctionbetween the phenomenaland noumenalworlds.
Romanticsclaim to grasp,directlyor mediately,the ontologicalAbsolute throughprimitiverevelationand/oran intuitivefaculty (imaginationor a reconceptualizedreason).70Bonald'sattributionof a negative efficacy to the imaginationruns counterto its privilegedepistemological function for Illuminists and Romantics.71Bonald here
shows his continuity with the classicism of the eighteenth century,
275
for which, equally in its freethinking,Deist, and orthodoxChristian

guises, imaginationcorruptsthe true light of reason.72Primitiverevelation serves for CatholicTraditionaliststhe epistemologicalfunction that the imaginationdoes for Illlminists and Romantics.Fabre
d'Olivet's epistemologyis the imaginatioof the Boehmist tradition,
reconceptualizedas philosophicalintuitionin responseto Kant. The
disagreementbetweenFabred'Olivetand Bonald over innateideas is
a consequenceof the contradictionbetween Illuministemanationist
and Traditionalistex nihilo doctrinesof creation.For Fabred'Olivet
innate ideas exist because, and are a sign, of our ontological participationin Divinity. Bonald's denial of innate ideas, originallydirectedagainstEnlightenmentrationalism,derivesfrom his insistence
that the absolute ontological distinctionbetween God and humanity demands that all humanknowledge of spiritualtruth come externallyfrom revelation.Ballanche,who rejects emanationismeven
thoughhis universeis in many ways the cosmos of correspondences
of the Illuministtradition,assertsthat primitiverevelationand symbolic imaginationare complementarymediationsbetween humanity
and the divine order.Eckstein derives knowledge of the divine order by the applicationof a symbolic hermeneuticsto the traces of
primitiverevelationthatsurvivein the languagesand mythologiesof
Antiquity.
The philosophies of history of our four thinkers are variations

on a teleological organic developmentalismin which the preexistent essence of humanityunfolds accordingto an a priori pattern.
Bonald depicts the essence of humanitygiven in primitiverevelation
as unfolding in history accordingto a teleological developmentalism analogous to the scholasticcorrelationof the growth of a seed
to its final cause. Eckstein builds on the Catholic Traditionalistelements of primitiverevelationand organic developmentalism.Ballanche modifies Traditionalismby insisting on the importanceof social institutionsand crises for the unfolding of the human essence
and by discoveringthe law governinghistoryin history itself. Fabre
d'Olivet interpretshistoryas the unfoldingof the metaphysicalprinciples contained in the human essence through the exercise of its
276
ArthurMcCalla
volitive principle.All four philosophies of history,in combiningan

epistemologythatgraspseternalspiritualrealityandan organicdevelopmentalismaccordingto which essences unfold over time, express
an antinomybasic to Romanticthought:they affirmthe existence of
eternalideas while at the same time assertingthe meaningfulnessof
history.These synthesesof traditionalfaith andhistorical-mindedness
remindus thathistoricizingthoughtbegan not as a move towardsecularizationbut as an attemptto find meaning in history.The great
Romantic dream, as Leon Cellier has said, was to spiritialize.the
idea of progress.73
Consequentupon these structuralelements we may identify five
characteristicsof FrenchRomantichistories of religions.
Romantichistoriesof religionssub(1) Organicdevelopmentalism.
ordinatetheirempiricaldatato a teleological organicdevelopmentalism accordingto which the preexistentessence of humanityunfolds
accordingan a priori pattern.They purportto provideempiricalcorroborationof the metaphysicalorderunderlyinghistory.
(2) Reductionism.By interpretingtheir empiricaldata in light of
a teleological organic developmentalismRomantichistories of religions reducethe multiplicityof religious phenomenaempiricallyencounteredin the world to a single, unified transcendentorder.74The
principle of unity is more importantin graspingthe natureof Romantichistoriesof religionsthana distinctionbetween Christianand
non-Christian.The orthodoxChristianhistoryof religionsof Bonald,
the heterodox histories of religions of Ballanche and Eckstein,and
the non-Christianhistoryof religions of Fabred'Olivet are not irreducibly opposed, as were Catholic,Deist, andphilosopheversionsof
comparativereligion duringthe eighteenthcentury,but, as the web of
friendshipsamongtheirauthorsattests,parallelapproachesgrounded
on the universalityof religious truthguaranteedby the authorityof
Tradition.75
(3) Hermeneuticof harmonies.The historicizationof figurism,by
which pagan religions are read as imperfect but harmoniousparallels with the Christianrevelation,representsa new kind of analogical
hermeneutics.The correspondingidea of an "anteriorChristianity"
FrenchRomanticHistoriesof Religions
277
vastlyexpandedthe corpusof whatcouldbe consideredsacredtexts.7

The next generationof Romanticpoets, on the model of Ballanche,
extended the categoryof sacredtexts to include their own inspired
epics of the regenerationof humanity.77
(4) Apologeticintent.Since all religionsare stages in the unfolding
of religious truththey point to and confirmthe Christianrevelation
(or theosophy,in the case of Fabred'Olivet)as the full expressionof
that truth.Enlightenmentcritics, invertingthe early modem practice
of explaining parallelsbetween the Bible and mythologies as evidence that the latter originatedas plagiarismof the former,7 used
comparativereligion to attackthe uniquenessand authorityof Christianityby showingthatotherreligionsteach the Christiandoctrines.79
The orthodox late eighteenth-centuryreaction to these attacks defendedrevealedChristianityas the sole true religion and condemned
all other religions as false since they did not know the true God.80
This defense of Christianitycorrespondsto the Cartesiantheology
dominantin French seminariesat the time. Romantic histories of
religions combat both Enlightenmentcritics of Christianityand the
Cartesianrationalismof the theologiansby reconceptualizingnatural
religion as primitiverevelationand substitutingthe idea of development for degenerationand/orcorruptionas the explanationfor both
the multiplicityand the similarityof the world's religions (although
degenerationand corruptionare retainedto explain paganismsthat
are judged to fall outside the line of development).The shift from
eighteenth-centuryphilosophicsyncretismto Romantichistories of
religions, made possible by the revolutionin historical-mindedness,
revalorizesChristianityas truereligionwhile accountingfor parallels
with other religions.
(5) Reconceptualizationof Christiandoctrine. Romantichistories
in the contextof earlynineteenth-century
of religionsreconceptuali7e,
intellectual,social, and political life, the Christiandoctrinesof revelation, providence,theodicy,eschatology,and soteriology.Romantic
historiesof religions are at once a chapterin the historyof the study
of religion and in the historyof religious thought.
278
ArthurMcCalla
Impactof FrenchRomanticHistories of Religions

French Romantic histories of religions, built as they are on the
structuralelements of an essentialistontology, an epistemologythat
eludes Kantianpessimism, and a philosophy of history that depicts
developmentas the unfoldingof a preexistentessence accordingto
a determinedpattern, are part of the Romantic quest for alternatives to Enlightenmentempiricism and rationalism.As such, they
correspondto GermanRomanticapproachesto the study of religion,
most notablythe philosophiesof religion of F.W.J.von Schellingand
FriedrichSchleiermacherand the histories of religions of Schelling
and FriedrichCreutzer.Neo-Romanticismhas been a powerfulcurrent within twentieth-centurystudy of religion. And yet we must
allow that the neo-Romanticismof NathanSoderblom,Rudolf Otto,
FriedrichHeiler,Gerardusvan der Leeuw,WilliamBredeKristensen,
Paul Tillich, and othersis primarilyindebtedto the GermanRomantics and to the philosophyof religion. For the impact of the French
Romantichistoriesof religionsdiscussedin this articlewe must look
to the fortunesof the concept of Tradition.
Bonald's Catholic Traditionalisthistory of religions was takenup
by F6licit6 de Tamennais(1782-1854). Lamennaisdevotedthe third
and fourth volumes of his widely read Essai sur l'indifferenceen
matierede religion (1817-1823) to compiling historicalevidencefor
the existence of a primitiverevelationand its transmissionthrough
the ages. Following Lamennais'lead, the disciples and friendswho
formedthe Mennaisianmovementpublishednumerousworksdemonstratingthe universalityof the Catholic revelation. Notable among
these is Des Doctrinesphilosophiquessur la certitude(1826) of the
abbe Philippe Gerbet.
Eckstein'sLe Catholiqueceased publicationshortlybeforethe July
Revolutionof 1830, just as Lamennaiswas abandoningCatholicTraditionalismfor a liberalCatholicism.In the years that followed Eckstein passed into obscuritywhile Lamennais'increasingradicalism
lost him his group of followers and eventually carriedhim outside
the Churchaltogether.Nevertheless,the cessation of Le Catholique
279
and the dissolution of the Mennaisianmovementdid not spell the

end of CatholicTraditionalisthistoryof religions.Thatthis was so is
largelythe resultof the activityof the lay Catholic,AugustinBonnetty
(1798-1879). Underthe inspirationof both the early Lamennaisand
EcksteinBonnettyfoundedin 1830 the Annalesde philosophiechretienne.This journal,which lasted into the twentiethcentury,indefatigably compiled evidence from the latest discoveriesof the historical
sciences for a primitiverevelationidentical in content to Christianity. Its articles on the history of religions were presentedunderthe
rubricsof 'Traditions"and 'Traditionsprimitives".Catholic Traditionalisthistory of religionsdeclined with the rise of Neo-Thomism
and the concomitantcriticismof Traditionalismwithin the Catholic
Church.It was formallycondemnedin 1870.
Another trajectoryof the concept of Traditionin the nineteenth
In the 1830s and 1840s French
centuryis religioushumanitarianism.
thinkerssuch as PierreLeroux(1797-1891) and EdgarQuinet(18031875) developedBallanche'sfusion of traditionalismand social progress in a mannerthat gave pride of place to humanityand this life.
Leroux'sand Quinet'sreligioushumanitarianisms
reject originalsin,
the divine origin of Christianity,and the expectationof a spiritual
afterlife,while retainingthe ideas of the preexistenceof souls, life as
a series of expiations,terrestrialprogressas both social and spiritual,
the successive unfoldingof a single revelation,and the value of ancient traditions.Justas Ballanche'sphilosophyof historycontaineda
containhishistory of religions, so these religious humanitarianisms
tories of religions (althoughQuinet is more explicit about this than
Leroux)predicatedon the idea that humanity,in the course of its intellectual,social, and spiritualdevelopment,supersedesoutwornreligions. Quinetdramatisedthis idea in his 1833 prose epic, Ahasverus,
before presentingit in a 1839 course of lectures,dedicatedto Ballanche, on the historyof religions.The lectureswere publishedas Le
G6nie des religions(1841).
Fabre d'Olivet's direct influence on the study of religion is negligible, but he representsan importantstage in the developmentof
the perennialistversionof the Traditionalistapproachto the study of
280
ArthurMcCalla
religion. The comparativereligions work of twentieth-centuryperennialists such as Rene Gu6non,FrithjofSchuon, Huston Smith, and
Seyyed Hossein Nasr is organizedaroundthe concept of an esoteric
Tradition.There is a sophia perennis - of superhumanorigin, not
invented by humanitybut received - that lies imperfectly recognized at the centreof all religionsandgives them whatevertruththey
possess. Depending on the temperamentof the specific perennialist
in question,all or some of the world's exotericreligions are praised
as access ports, or condemnedas obstacles, to the esoteric sophia
perennis.The standardof comparisonamongthe exotericreligionsis
fidelity or transparencyto this esoteric Tradition.In contrastto Romantic versions of traditionalism,twentieth-centuryperennialismis
hence, it practicescomparativereligion in the mananti-evolutionary;
ner of Renaissanceand Baroqueprisca theologianssuch as Athanasius Kircherin place of history of religions in the mannerof Fabre
d'Olivet. The rejectionof evolutionon the part of twentieth-century
perennialistsreflects the post-Romantictransformationof historical
analysis into a scientific, secular discipline. Fabre d'Olivet, and nluminism generally,neverthelesstransmittedthe idea of an esoteric
Traditioninto the modem period.
Departmentfor the Study of Religion
Universityof Toronto
123 St. George Street
Toronto,Ontario,M5S 2E8, Canada
ARTHURMCCALLA
1 On the
complicationsof defining "FrenchRomanticism",see D.G. Charlton,
"TheFrenchRomanticMovement"in The FrenchRomantics,2 vols, ed. D.G. Charlton (Cambridge:CambridgeUP, 1984), 9-21.
2 On Bonald,see
DoctrineandAction
JacquesGodechot,TheCounter-Revolution:
1789-1804 (Princeton:PrincetonUP, 1971), 96-102; BernardM.G. Reardon,Liberalism and Tradition:Aspectsof CatholicThoughtin Nineteenth-Century
France(CamGengembre,La Contra-Revolution
bridge:CambridgeUP, 1975), 43-53; and G&rard
ou l'histoire disesperante (Paris:Imago, 1989).
3 Bonald,
Lgislation primitiveconsidereedans les dernierstempspar les seules
lumieresde la raison (1802) in Oeuvrescompletes, 3 vols. (Paris: Migne, 1859),
1:1175-1176.
French Romantic Histories of Religions

4
281
Availing himself of the characteristicand fundamentalTraditionalistequation

of universalitywith truth,Bonaldassertsthat the ubiquityof the sentimentsof God
and the immortalityof the soul provesthe existenceof theirobjects.Bonald,Theorie
du pouvoir politique et religieuse dans la societ, ddmontr6epar raisonnementet
par l'histoire (1796) in-Oeuvrescompletes,3 vols. (Paris:Migne, 1859), 1:457.
5 Bonald,
Ldgislationprimitivein Oeuvrescompletes 1:1126. "Naturevient de
nattre,natura,de nasci: un etre nait pour une fin, et avec les moyens d'y parvenir;
cette fin et ces moyens composentsa nature."
6 Bonald, L.gislation primitivein Oeuvrescompletes1:1165, 1171.
7 Bonald, Theoriedu
pouvoir in Oeuvrescompletes,1:521.
8 Bonald,L6gislationprimitivein Oeuvrescompletes,1:1177.
9 Bonald, Theoriedu pouvoir in Oeuvrescompletes,1:482;see also 1:523. "[L]a
religion naturelleest le germe de la religion judaique,et la religion chr6tienneou
r6v6eleest le d6veloppement,le perfectionnement,I'accomplissementde la religion
judaique."
10 Bonald, Lgislation primitive in Oeuvres
completes, 1:1199-1200. "Ainsi la
v6rit6est, comme l'homme et comme la societ6, un germe qui se d6veloppepar la
succession des temps et des hommes, toujoursanciennedans son commencement,
toujoursnouvelle dans ses d6veloppementssuccessifs."
11 George Boas, FrenchPhilosophiesof the RomanticPeriod (Baltimore:Johns
HopkinsUP, 1925), 73.
12 Bonald,Ldgislationprimitivein Oeuvrescompletes,1:1233. 'Toutes les croyances propres au christianisme,et toutes les practiquesde son culte, d6rivantde
la connaissancedu mediateur,etaient implicitementcontenuesdans la religion patriarchale,oi le mediateuretait annonce, et elles etaient figur6esdans la religion
judaique,oh le m6diateuretait attendu."
13 On FrenchRomanticuses of figurism,see FrankPaul Bowman,"TheTheory
of Harmonies"in FrenchRomanticism:Intertextualand InterdisciplinaryReadings
(Baltimore:Johns HopkinsUP, 1990), 125-154, esp. 130-135.
14 The basic study is Leon Cellier, Fabre d'Olivet. Contributiona letude des
aspects religieuxdu romantisme(Paris:Nizet, 1953).
15In the esoterictradition"intellectual"refersto a
supra-rational
facultyin which
the dualities of discursivethought are transcendedin a unity. The corresponding
knowledgeis often designatedas "gnosis".
16PierreDeghaye,"JacobBoehme and His Followers"in AntoineFaivreand Jacob Needleman, eds., Moder Esoteric Spirituality(New York:Crossroad,1992),
214-229; Antoine Faivre, Access to WesternEsotericism (Albany: SUNY Press,
1994), 10-13.
17Fabred'Olivet,Histoirephilosophiquedu genre humain,2 vols. (Paris:1824;
reprintedParis:L'Age d'homme, 1974), 1:22-35;Cellier,Fabred'Olivet, 265, 271.
282
18 Fabre
ArthurMcCalla
d'Olivet,Les Versdordsde Pythagore(Paris:1813; reprintedParis:l'Age

d'homme, 1978), 304-318.
19 Fabre d'Olivet's
attemptto elude Kant's epistemological pessimism correvon Schelling's philosophicalnotion of a transcendental
to
F.WJ.
sponds closely
communicates
with the PureActualityof the Godhead.The
that
or
intuition
insight
we
the immense influenceon Scheling's later
once
recall
is
less
affinity
surprising
thought of Boehmist theosophy via FriedrichChristophOetinger and Franz von
Baader.Cf. also Samuel TaylorColeridge'sdistinction(itself inspiredby Schelling)
between understandingand reason.
20 Fabred'Olivet, Histoire
philosophique,1:46-48.
21 Fabre d'Olivet, La
Langue hibraique restitueeet la veritable sens de mots
hebreux rdtabli et prouvd par leur analyse radicale, 2 vols. (Paris: 1815-1816;
reprintedLausanne:l'Age d'homme, 1975), 2:202. "C'est par sa facult6 volative
efficiente, 6mandede son principe,que tout etre se conformea l'extcrieur.Les naturalistes qui ont pretenduque le tigre 6tait tigre, parce qu'il avait des dents, des
griffes, un estomac,des boyaux,conformesd'une telle maniereont parlele6grement
et sans science.... Le tigre a ces dents, ces griffes, cet estomac, ces boyaux parce
qu'il est tigre;c'est-a-direparce que sa faculte volitive efficiente le constituetel."
22 Fabred'Olivet, Histoirephilosophique,1:88. "[L]'hommeest un germe divin
qui se ddveloppepar la raction de ses sens. Tout est inn6 en lui."
23 Fabred'Olivet outlinedthe
teachingsof his sect in La VraiMafonnerie et la
Celeste culture(firstpublishedin 1953, 6d. Leon Cellier [Grenoble:Presses universitairesfrancaises]).See Cellier,Fabred'Olivet, 312-321.
24 Cellier, Fabred'Olivet, 154-155.
philosophique,1:44. "IIest Ala fois ridiculeet odieux
de pretendrelui tracerune routesans etre parfaitementinstruitedu lieu d'oi il part,
du but oi il tend, et de l'objet de son voyage."
26 Fabred'Olivet, Versdores de
Pythagore,356-361.
27 Fabred'Olivet, Versdors de
Pythagore,361-366.
28 Fabred'Olivet, Versdores de
Pythagore,366-368.
philosophiquedu genre humain,1:3-4. "...l'existence
d'une grandeUnite, source etemelle d'oh tout d6coule".
philosophiquedu genre humain,2:400-409.
31 See the summaryin Cellier,Fabred'Olivet, 277-284.
32 Cellier,Fabre d'Olivet, 273.
33 See PierreAlbouy,La Creationmythologiquechez VictorHugo (Paris:J. Corti,
1985), 38.
34 On Ballanche,see ArthurMcCalla,A Romantic
Historiosophy:ThePhilosophy
of Historyof Pierre-SimonBallanche(Leiden, Boston & Koln: EJ. Brill, 1998).
35 Ballanche, Essais de
Palingndisie sociale: Orphee (1829) in Oeuvrescompletes, 6 vols. (Paris: 1833; reprintedGeneve: Slatkine, 1967), 6:82-83.
283
36 See Jerome J. McGann, The Romantic

Ideology: A Critical Investigation
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983), 100-101. On Ballanche's poetics,

see A.J.L. Busst, "Ballancheet le poete voyant"in Romantisme4 (1972): 84-101
and Paul Benichou,Le Sacre de l'ecrivain (Paris:J. Corti, 2nd ed. 1985), 164-166.
37 Ballanche,Institutionssociales (1818) in Oeuvrescompletes,2:45.
38 Ballanche, Essais de Palingenesiesociale: Prolegomenes(1827) in Oeuvres
completes,4:55, 123.
39 Ballanche,Proldgomenesin Oeuvrescompletes,4:179-180.
40 Ballanche, Prolegomanesin Oeuvrescompletes, 4:386-387. "Ainsi le genre
humainest un et identiqueAlui-memedepuis son originejusqu'a la fin. Ses facultes
ne sont point successives.Ce qu'il est, il l'a toujoursete, il le sera toujours."
41 Ballanche, Prolegomenesin Oeuvrescompletes, 4:387. "Ainsi l'essence humaine n'a besoin de se d6gagerd'une essence inferieure,pour parvenira etre ce
qu'elle est: 1'evolutionde la race humaineest en elle-meme."
42 Ballanche,Orpheein Oeuvrescompletes,5:5.
43 Ballanche,
Orphdein Oeuvrescompletes,5:153-154.
44 Ballanche,Proldgomenesin Oeuvrescompletes,4:63-65.
45Ballanche,
Proldgomenesin Oeuvrescompletes,4:184-185. "Cettepleine6manicde
ipation,objet tantde voeux, cach6esau fond de tantde croyancesg6enrales,nous
trouveronsplus tardque le christianismeseul peut nous la procurer,et que des-lors,
encoreune fois, le christianismeest la v6ritablereligion de l'humanite."
46 Ballanche,Orpheein Oeuvrescompletes,6:146.
47 Ballanche,Prolegomdnesin Oeuvrescompletes,4:368. "[J]'entendsici la foi
dans un sens 6tendu,planantau-dessusde toutes les religions, pour ne s'appliquer
qu'k ce que j'appelle les traditionsg6enrales,la religion universelledu genre humain".
48 Ballanche,Prolegomenesin Oeuvrescompletes,4:368-369.
49 Ballanche,
Prolegomnes in Oeuvrescompletes,4:114.
0 Ballanche,
Prolegomenesin Oeuvrescompletes,4:329.
51 Ballanche,Institutionssociales in Oeuvres
completes,2:181.
52 For
example,Institutionssociales in Oeuvrescompletes,2:282.
53 Ballanche, Orphdein Oeuvrescompletes,5:185. "Les
myst6resdu christianisme sont caches dans toutes les cosmogonies".See also Prolegomenesin Oeuvres
completes,4:155.
54 Ballanche,Orpheein Oeuvrescompletes,6:60, 268, 280.
55 The basic sourcefor Ecksteinis Nicolas Burtin,Un semeurdes idees au
temps
de la restauration:Le barond'Eckstein(Paris:Boccard, 1931). See also Raymond
Schwab, The OrientalRenaissance:Europe's Rediscoveryof India and the East,
1680-1860, trans.Gene Patterson-Blackand Victor Reinking(New York:Columbia
UP, 1984), 259-273 andJean-ReneDerr6,Lamennais,ses amis et le mouvementdes
idees d l'dpoqueromantique,1824-1834 (Paris:Klincksieck,1962), 115-167.
284
56 Eckstein, Le
ArthurMcCalla
Catholique1 (1826): 8, quotedin Burtin, Un semeur des idees,

224.
57 See the passages fromLe Catholiquegatheredin Burtin,Un semeurdes idees,
230-235.
58 Eckstein,Le Catholique4 (1826): 558, quotedin Burtin,Un semeurdes idees,
238. "Notrepoint de departest une rdevlationprimitive, fondementde la religion
naturelle.Parreligion naturelle...nous entendonsune manifestationr6elle et positive
de la Divinite, se montranti l'homme primitifcomme creatricedu ciel et de la terre,
alors qu'elle lui d6voile les mysteresde la Genese, et en meme temps les mysteres
plus cach6s de la naturedivine...".
59 Eckstein, Le
Catholique13 (1829): 444, quoted in Burtin, Un semeur des
idees, 239. "I1 y a une r6v6lationprimitive,une religion patriarcale,une religion
de la nature. I s'y est joint l'annonce d'un Sauveur du monde, pour rehabiliter
l'humanit6d6chue et corrollpue."
60 Eckstein,Le
Catholique9 (1828): 341, quotedin Burtin,Un semeurdes iddes,
240. "Une seule revelationa embrassetout le genrehumain;l'idolatriel'a cotronipu
sans l'etouffer.C'est ce que nous apprendrontl'Inde, la Chine, la Perse, l'Egypte:
de toutes partsla verite sainte se trouverafortifiee."
61
"Ouvragep6riodiquedans lequel on traitede l'universalitedes connaissances
humainessous le point de vue de l'unite de doctrine."
62 Eckstein,Le Catholique11 (1828): 137, quoted in Burtin,239-240. "De cette
identite universelle des religions, une consequence s'impose, c'est que l'humanite
est une, que la science est une, qu'il n'y a qu'uneseule histoirede l'humanite,qu'un
seul developpementlui est possible...".
63 Eckstein,Le Catholique13 (1829): 444, quotedin Burtin,Un semeurdes iddes,
239.
64 Eckstein,Le Catholique4 (1826): 559, quotedin Burtin,Un semeurdes id&es,
239. "...la croyance parfaitea l'incarnationdu Verbe divin, par laquelle le genre
humaina rctrouv6son pointd'appuidansle ciel. Le christianismeest une philosophie
vraimenthumaine."
65 Eckstein,Le
Catholique3 (1826): 133, quotedin Burtin,Un semeurdes idees,
241.
66 Eckstein,Le
Catholique3 (1826): 133, quotedin Burtin,Un semeurdes idees,
241. "Lecatholicismeetantla verite,ne peut etre la veriteetemelle et, commetelle, il
doit etre etemellementrevele. On a dit avec raisonqu'il etait vieux comme le monde.
En effet, il est la religion primitivementrevelee; il est la religion naturelle,fondee
sur le principede la revelationde Dieu dans l'universet dans le genre humain."
67 Eckstein,Le Catholique3 (1826): 171, quotedin Burtin,Un semeurdes idees,
242. "[N]e sait-on pas...qu'il existe dans toutes les croyancesprimitives,quelques
dans les doctrinesasiatiques,les plus
degenereesqu'elles soient,et particuli6rement
285
voisines du berceaudu genrehumain,un fond de verit6srev6eles de tradition,qu'on

pourraitappelerle catholicismeanterieurau catholicisme?"
68 Eckstein, Le Catholique15 (1829): 183, quoted in Burtin, Un semeur des
idies, 235. "^ faut donc fouillerdans les antiquit6sdu paganismepour y retrouver
ce christianismeantnrieur,ce christianismenon accompli,mais existanten esp6rance,
et s'enlan9antprofondementdans les destin6esdes nationsanciennes."
69 See Schwab,OrientalRenaissance,269-271.
70
Among Romanticsthe distinctionbetween imaginationand a reconceptilali7ed
reasonis often only a matterof words:
... Imagination,which, in truth,
Is but anothername for absolutepower
And clearestinsight,amplitudeof mind,
And Reason in her most exaltedmood.
WilliamWordsworth,The Prelude(1799-1805), Bk. 14: 11.189-192.
71 The literatureon epistemologicalstatus of the imaginationin literaryRomanticismis extensive.Fundamentalstudies include Ren6 Wellek, "The Conceptof
'Romanticism'in LiteraryHistory"in ComparativeLiterature1 (1949): 147-172
and M.H. Abrams,NaturalSupernaturalism:Traditionand Revolutionin Romantic
Literature(New York:Norton, 1971).
72 How was my Heartencrustedby the World?
O how self-fetter'dwas my grovellingSoul?
How, like a Worm,was I wraptroundand round
In silken thought,which reptileFancy spun,
Till darken'dReasonlay quite clouded o'er...
EdwardYoung,Night Thoughts(1742), Bk. 1: 1. 155-159.
73 Cellier,Fabred'Olivet,403.
74 "'Reductionistic'is almost invariablyused as a derogatoryterm in much of
the literatureon religion, where it denotes those sorts of explanationsthat do not
resort to transcendence.Such usage wrongly implies that only the 'reductionists'
have explanationsfor religion,while the antireductionistsmodestly do not. Such is
not the case. Antireductionists,
rather,have a differentexplanation."J. SamuelPreus,
ExplainingReligion: Criticismand Theoryfrom Bodin to Freud(New Haven:Yale
UP, 1987), ix n.2.
75 See Cellier,Fabred'Olivet,406.
76 Bowman,"TheTheoryof Harmonies"in FrenchRomanticism,127.
77 For example, Edgar Quinet,Ahasverus (1833), Alphonse de Lamartine,La
Chuted'un ange (1838), and VictorHugo, La Lgende des siecles (1859-1883). See
HerbertJ. Hunt,TheEpic in Nineteenth-Century
France(Oxford:Blackwell, 1941).
78 See Henri Pinardde la Boullaye, L'Etude compardedes religions, 2 vols.
(Paris:G. Beauchesne,1922): 1:176-225.
286
Arthur McCalla
79 For example, Nicolas-Antoine Boulanger, L'Antiquitddevoilde par ses usde Volney, Les Ruines des empires (1791), and
ages (1766), Constantin-Franqois
Charles-FrangoisDupuis, L'Originde tous le cultes, ou Religion universelle(an II
[1795]). See Joscelyn Godwin, The TheosophicalEnlightenment(Albany: SUNY
Press, 1994), 33-37.
80 See Godwin, TheosophicalEnlightenment,37.
CONTRADICTION AND THE MERIT OF GIVING IN INDIAN

RELIGIONS
TORKELBREKKE
Summary
The gift has been an importantfocus of researchon Indiansociology and religion.
However,almost all researchhas been confinedto the Hindutradition.I believe we
can shed new light on religious giving if we focus on common themes in the main
religionsof the sub-continent.In this articleI look at the textualtraditionson giving
in Hinduism,Buddhismand Jainism. My thesis is that these traditionssharebasic
contradictionsin their ideas of giving. There is, firstly,a contradictionbetween the
gift as a sacrifice and a charitablegift and, secondly, a contradictionbetween the
merit associated with giving as originatingfrom the qualititesof the recipientand
from the intentionof the donor. These two contradictionsare interlinked.Initially,
they seem to threatenthe institutionof giving to the religious renouncer.If giving
can be perceivedas an act of charitywherethe meritaccruesfromthe rightintentions
behind the act, there is no more reason to give to the renouncerthan to anybody
else. However,it seems that the contradictionalso has been used to make giving to
renouncersa priori meritorious.Whenthe gift is perceivedas a sacrificeto a worthy
monk the merit accrues from the qualities of the recipient,but when there are no
worthyrecipientsaroundthe meritaccruesfrom the right intentionof the donor.
Gifts to Brahmins have been the focus of scholarly work on Indian

religion, especially in anthropology. The most puzzling character of
the gift in an Indian setting is its ambiguity. Several writers have
pointed out that the Brahmin is reluctant to receive gifts. Manu
has a long list of hells with telling names - "Excessively burning",
"Crushing", "Iron Spike", "Forest of Sword Leaves" etc. - that the
unlucky Brahmin must visit if he were to accept gifts from the wrong
person.' The trouble with the gift for the Brahmin is that it forms unwanted bonds of dependency vis-k-vis the king, M. Mauss observed
in his classic study.2But it is more to it than that. From the recipient's
point of view the gift is potentially poisonous. The gift contains impurity, according to the writers who followed the Dumontian paradigm.
NUMEN, Vol. 45
288
TorkelBrekke
Heestermanargued that the Brahmin officiant in Vedic times took

over the death-impurityof the patronby acceptinggifts, but thatthis
role was fundamentallychangedthroughthe individuali7ationof the
ritual.3J. Parrysays thatthe Brahminsof Benaresbecomeliving sewers as they receive the death-impurityof mournersconveyed in the
gift.4 The poison in the gift is really inauspiciousness(nasubh),says
G.G. Rahejain an importantchallenge to the Dumontiansociology
of hierarchy based on impurity (agauca).5 Thus, new generations of
sociologists and anthropologistsshowed thatMauss had been unable

to account for the uniquenessof the Indiangift because he did not
grasp the peculiarmetaphysicsof impurityor inauspiciousness.
In volume 44 of this journalA. Michaels embarkedon a critique
of these writers "in an attemptto partiallyrehabilitateMauss."6He
wished to question the prominenceof theories of impurityby comparingthe gastrictheoriesof giving (danadharma)with the theories
of greetings (abhivadanadharma).
Greetings,so his argumentwent,
makebondsof dependencyandmay convey defilementjust like gifts.
If it really is the defilementof the gift that makes it so problematic,
then similarrules and reservationsshould have developedfor greetings. The fact that they have not - greetings are, on the contrary,
always reciprocated- goes to falsify the theorythatit is defilement
which makes the gift troublesome.Instead,Michaels suggested,the
gift is not returnedand barely accepted because both recipientand
donor strive towards an otherworldlyattitudeof altruisticgenerosity which is an ascetic virtue. It is not clear to me, however,that
the ascetic spirit with its questioningof earthlypossessions, which
Michaels sees as the backgroundto religious giving, actuallycan be
ascribedto the most importantdonors: the merchants,townsmenand
commonpeople supportingBrahminsand monks. The householders'
donationsdo not imply soteriologicalconcerns. On the contrarythey
are motivatedby a desirefor meritwhich is, strictlyspeaking,a thisworldly currency. Giving away possessions in order to earn merit
is a perfectly rationalactivity. I do believe, however,that Michaels
is right in drawingattentionaway from the metaphysicsof the gift
and towardsthe motivationalbasis for giving. This will also be the
Contradictionand the Meritof Giving in Indian Religions 289

general approachof the present article. Furthermore,I believe, as
Michaels also pointedout, thatin orderto illuminatethese aspectsof
giving we need to devotemoreattentionto non-Brahminicalsources.
A very substantialpartof what has been writtenon gifts in Indian
religionis exclusivelyconcernedwith gifts to Brahmins.I believe that
we would get a betterunderstandingof the ideology that surrounds
gift-giving in Indiaif we reali7ztthat there are common themes containedin the texts- I am primarilyconcernedwith literarytraditions
- of differentreligionsin the sub-continent.There is a tendencyin
the researchon Indianreligionto ignore such common themes. I believe that this tendencyis detrimentalto our understandingof importanttopics. Hinduism,Buddhismand Jainismhave a lot in common.
They sharea generalworld-viewwhereideas of rebirth,karma,merit
and moksa are centralconcepts. For example,as I will discuss later,
the idea of merit-makingwas essentiallythe same among donorsof
Hindu, Buddhist and Jain affiliationduring the late Gupta period.
Many writers seem to be afraidto violate the uniquenessof any one
traditionby makinggeneralconjectures.Of course, local differences
aboundand should receive due attentionby ethnographersand historians. But the commonthemes should not be ignoredeither. Here
the historian of religion has an importantfunction in the study of
India. By choosing an approachwhere fundamentalideas are compared across the boundariesof specific religious traditionswe may
be able to illuminatepuzzlingissues of scholarshipfrom new angles.
Gift-givingis such an issue.
It is alreadyclear,then,thatthis articleis a statementof methodin
the study of religion as well as an attemptto add to our understanding of the religious gift in India. The thesis I wish to put forward
here is that the world-viewshared by the traditionsof renouncers
in India -
Brahmins, Buddhists and Jains -
contains fundamental
contradictionswhich threatento surface in the ritual of giving and

receiving. As becameclear from the brief referencesto some of the
earlier researchthis general statementis not original. To be more
specific, there are two contradictionsI wish to discuss here. Firstly,
thereis a contradictionin how the relationshipbetween the giver and
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the recipientis perceived.On the one hand,the gift is seen as a sacrifice and the renouncerhas takenthe place of the gods on earth. On
the other hand, it is seen as a charitablegift and the renounceris a
beggar. Secondly, thereis a contradictionconcerningthe fundamental ethics of giving. On the one hand, the qualities of the recipient
are thoughtto determinethe merit of the gift. On the other hand,
the intentionof the giver is supposed to determinethe merit earned.
These two contradictionsare interlinked. They may threatento underminethe relationshipbetween the renouncerand the householder.
If it is the intention behind the gift that determinesits results for
the giver there is no reasonto distinguishbetween differenttypes of
recipients. Why, then, should anyone give to the renouncer?On the
otherhand,these contradictionsseem to have been used creativelyto
invest all gifts with merit. When the gift is seen as a sacrificethe
excellent qualities of the recipientsare in the foreground.When the
gift is seen as charityit is the good intentionsof the giver which are
highlighted. The good qualititesof the recipientensure the merit in
an act of sacrifice whereasthe bad qualities of the recipientdo not
affect the meritin an act of charity.Gifts areneverin vain if the giver
can switch between the two alternativemerit-makingmechanismsas
he pleases.
Gift-givingin Indianreligioncould be brokendown and analysed
in at least five parts. This is what the two main Jaintraditionstendto
do. They distinguishbetween the recipient (patra),the giver (datr),
the thing given (datavya,dravya),the mannerof giving (danavidhi)
and the result of giving (danaphala).7I wish to illuminatethe relationship between the recipientand the giver. Therefore,I will limit
my studyto these two factors.I will refrainfrom going into the metaphysics of the thing given and engage in discussions about whether
the giver gives part of himself in the gift and what sort of substance
or quality may be conveyed.
My mainmaterialwill be some centralworkson giving in Buddhist
and Hindu literature: firstly, Pili Buddhist texts, like the Khandhakas of the Vinaya Pitakas, the Dakkhinavibhangasutta
and the
Petavatthu;secondly, the Dharmagastras,the Dharmasitrasand the
Contradictionand the Merit of Giving in IndianReligions
291
and the Bhagavadgitaof the Mahabharata;

thirdly,
Anugasanaparvan
I will look at some ideas aboutgiving in Jainismmainlythroughsecondarymaterial.I will also use inscriptionsto some extent and draw
on relevantethnographicmaterial. By looking at these texts I only
wish to illuminatethe contradictionsmentionedabove and I have no
intentionof presentingan exhaustiveanalysisof the vast Indianliteratureon giving, a surveyof which can be found in P.V.Kane's study
of the Dharnnasstraliterature.
The Giver
Firstly,I will takea brieflook at the giver in a Buddhistsetting. In
theory,the membersof the Samghaare superiorto the lay personin
every way and they deserve unconditionalrespectand support. The
lay person'spotentialpowervis-a-vis the monks is suggestiveof the
ambiguousnatureof their relationship. The Buddhistliteraturein
Pali has a numberof differentaccounts that show how lay people
havebeen in a positionto influencenot only individualdescisions of
the monks, but the whole structureof the BuddhistSamgha.8This
powerderivesfromthe monks'dependencyon the supportof the laity.
For instance, in the MahavaggaX there is a story about a monk of
Kosambiwho is suspendedfor a certainoffence. The monk does not
accept his punishmentand a group of monks takes his side against
the groupthathas suspendedhim and a disputearisesin the Samgha.
There are attemptsto solve the disputewithin the Samrgha,and the
Buddhais drawninto the problems,but the matteris not settled until the lay-followers of Kosambialso flex their muscles against the
Sam.gha.They decide to put pressureon the trouble-makingmonks
by withdrawingall theirrespect and offerings. From the Pali literature it is clear that this kind of pressurefrom lay people had to be
taken seriously. When in Mahavagga1.43 (MV from now) a thief
goes forth among the monks,people talk negativelyaboutthis.9The
Samgha is forcedto reactto the criticismfrom the laity becausethey
are materiallydependenton them. In MV 11.2the monks gatheron
the fourteenth,fifteenthand eighth days of the half month. People
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come up to them to hearDhammabut the monks sit in silence. People get angryand ask how the monkscan sit in silence like dumbpigs
(mugasfkhara). To meet the negative feedback, the Buddha orders
the monksto reciteDhamma.In MV 1.25monksgo begging wrongly
dressedandthey aregreedyandeat in an unbecomingmanner.People
react to their bad behaviour,and because of their negativereactions
the Buddhaallows preceptors.In MV 1.32 the monks behave badly
when their preceptorsgo away or die. They are subject to critisism
and the Buddha allows teachersin order to meet the criticism. In
the MV II monks walk aroundduringall seasons includingthe rains,
tramplingdown crops and grasses and destroyingmany little creatures. People react to this and as a consequencethe Buddhamakes
rules for life during the rainy season. This sequence of events is
repeatedagain and againin the Khandhakaswith the standardphrase
"Peoplelooked down upon, criticized,spreadit about, saying: 'How
can these recluses, sons of the Sakyans...etc."' 10The point is that
there appearsfrom the Pali texts to have been a constant pressure
from the laity on the monks to behave accordingto the rules. The
tension between givers and recipientsalso seems to be a prominent
featureof TheravadaBuddhistsociology of modem times. To persistentlyserve a class of humanbeings as semi-gods and watch them
live in luxury and ease while oneself toils in the fields must lead to
ambivalencetowardsthe monks, M. Spiro observedaboutBuddhism
in Burma."
It is clear that the giver has certainpowers vis-a-vis the recipients
in Indianreligions. Communitiesof renouncersare dependenton the
society for theirsubsistenceand the householdersor lay people arein
a positionto withdrawsupportif the recipientdoes not satisfy certain
criteria. On the other hand, the giver too must have certain qualities. Texts on giving from the Hindu, Buddhist,and Jain traditions
emphasizethat the personwho gives alms must have the correctattitude towardsthe recipient.The Digambarashave establisheda set of
qualitiesthat should be presentin a worthygiver of gifts. These are:
faith (graddha)which meansconfidencein the resultsof the donation,
devotion (bhakti)which means love for the virtues of the recipient,
293
contentmentor joy in giving (tusti), zeal (sattva) in giving, disinterestednessor lack of desire for worldly rewards(lobhaparityaga),
patience (ksamn).12The Svetambarashave several differentlists of
qualitiesin a giver. Among the qualities given by one such list, in
we find the word aparibhavitvd. This word
the Tattvarthabhasya,
is from the root pari-bhu which carries meanings like be superior
with abto, subdue, despise etc. Williams translatesaparibh&vitvd
sence of condescensiontowards the recipient.13In other words, the
giver should have a frameof mind where he does not think of himself as superiorto the recipient. The condescensionwhich naturally
arises in the charitabledonor towardsthe beggar would undermine
the structureof the relationshipbetween monk and lay person if it
were allowed to exist and be expressed.
Why does the giver give gifts? Indianreligions share a belief in
rebirth. When a living being dies, some part of it does not disappear with the physical body, but is rebornin a new state. If one has
acquiredmerit,in Pali punna, one is rebornas a humanbeing or as
a god in a world of gods, devaloka. If one has acted badly and not
acquiredmerit, one is rebornas a lower life-form or in a dreadful
hell. Therefore,it is importantto earn merit. In Buddhisttexts there
is often said to be threeways of doing this: ddna, giving, sila, good
conductandbh4vand,contemplation.Each of these is a puhiakiriyavatthu,a thing which leads to merit. Admittedly,the issue of merit
is not always explicitly broughtout in Buddhistmaterialon giving.
has collected over 1200 inscriptionsin Ceylon made
S. Paranavitana
between the 300 B.C. and 100 A.D. registeringdonations,often of
caves, to the Samgha. Here donors give their names and often their
relationto a memberof the Order. However, no mention is made
of the desire to make merit. If they say anythingat all about their
motivationthe donorssimply state that they give gifts for the benefit of the Samgha.14Respect for and devotion towardsthe Buddhist
Samghais undoubtedlyan importantmotivationalfactor. Still, it is
reasonableto say that the idea of merit-makingis the metaphysical
foundationof such donations.
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The giver gives in order to acquiremerit. Acquiringmerit may

lead to a favourablerebirth. However, in order to attain salvation
in a real sense, one must, firstly, be reborn in the state of a human being, where neitherpain nor pleasureis too overwhelmingto
contemplatesalvation,and secondly,follow the right practice. This
cannotbe done as a householder.The Buddhasaid: "Vaccha,thereis
no householderwho, withoutabandoningthe fetterof householdship,
To aton the dissolutionof the body has made an end of suffering."15
tain Nirvanaone must firstof all become a monk or nun.16However,
says the Buddha,a very large numberof householdershave gone to
heaven on the dissolutionof the body. In the numerousinscriptions
recordinggrantsof land to Brahminsduringthe late fifth centurythe
merit acquiredfrom the gifts are thoughtto "erecta ladder leading
Another standardphrase accomto heaven (svargasopanapaikti)."'7
the
that
donation
is
is given for the increase of the
panying grants
merit (punya) for mother,father and self and in order to obtain a
reward(phala) both in this world and in the next.'8 Often grantsof
land are thought to ensure sixty thousandyears in heaven for the
giver, but merit is never thoughtof as leading to complete salvation.
Against the ethics of merit and favourablerebirthstandsthe path of
the uncompromisingsalvation-seeker.Whereasthe lay person needs
to do good acts, the ascetic aims at doing nothing. The essential
questionof what doing nothingreally means is answeredin different
ways by differentreligions in India. Throughsome form of ascetic
practicethe monk or renouncercan stop the influx or generationof
new karma and get rid of karmawhich has been accumulatedfrom
earlieraction. To the ascetic meritis basically no betterthan demerit
because both ties him to samsdra. The medievalJain authorKunda
Kundasaid: "A gold fetter binds a person as much as an iron one.
Similarilygood or bad deeds performedbind the soul."19
Let us look briefly at some Jain ideals of giving to illuminatethe
differencebetween the ethics of the lay personand the ascetic. It has
been noted that there is a paradoxinvolved in the way that Jains
practice the ddnavrata, the vow of giving.20When ostentatiously
donating costly gifts, wealthy Jains seem to be breakingthe vow
Contradictionand the Meritof Giving in Indian Religions
295
of aparigraha, non-attachmentto worldly possessions, J. Reynells

suggested.21K.R. Normanhas picked up this topic and triedto show
thatno paradoxis involved.2Thereis no canonicalinjunctionagainst
giving openly, he says. One could also point out that severalprominent Jain authorshave listed ostentatiousgiving as the practice of
a good layman. As R. Williams has shown, this is the case. In
Digambaraclassificationsof giving, dana or datti, the concept of
samadatti,gifts to equals, is one type.23According to the medieval
JainteacherJinasena,the celebratedauthorof the Mahapurana,
samadatti is the giving away of gifts such as land, gold, horses, elephants,
chariotsand daughtersto a recipientwho is equal to oneself in terms
of status and piousness. Another medieval Jain author,Asadhara,
distinguishesbetweengifts that are made for the sake of one's wellbeing in a futurelife and gifts that are made for one's well-being in
this life. To the last categorybelong the flashy gifts such as gold,
The distinctionsbetween almsgivhorses,elephantsand daughters.24
ing and ostentatiousgiving are not clear-cut.There is no reasonwhy
an ostentatiousact of giving should be less meritoriousas long as
the giver has the qualitiesthat are required;among which are, adHemacandra,who sets the standardsfor
mittedly,disinterestedness.25
with
his Yogasastra,also seems to prescribe
sravakdcdra
Svetdmbara
lavishness.
a certaindegree of
If one does not sow wealth openly
and constantlyone cannot achieve the right conduct, he says.26As
J.E. Cort has pointed out, it seems that we can get a deeper understandingof Jain giving if we realize that there is an alternative
ideologicalframeworkthatcentreson well-being and balancedliving
in society,including,of course,piousnessand almsgiving,ratherthan
isolation and moksa.27
Giving producesmeritfor the giver. However,in some Buddhist
texts we aretold thatit is possibleto transferto othersthe meritwhich
is earnedby giving to the Samgha. This is illustratedby the story
of Nandain the Petavatthu.Nanda was the wife of the householder
Nandasenawho lived in a village not far from Savatthi. Nandawas
irreligiousand disrespectfultowardher husband,and when she died,
she was reborn as a peti, an ugly and suffering ghost. One day
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Nandasena meets the ghost who had been his wife in a previous
life. At first, the widowerdoes not recognize his beloved behindthe
terribleappearanceof the peti, but when she tells him her story,he
wishes to lead her home and give her food and clothes and let her
see her children. However,Nandaknows thather husbandwould not
be able to help her in a directway.
"Whatis given by your hand into mine does not profitme. But as regardsthe
monks,who are aboundingin themoralprecepts,free frompassion,andlearned,/
Regale them with food and drinkand transferto me the benefitof the gift. Then
I shall be happy,blest in the fulfilmentof all desires."28
Nandasena follows his wife's advice and makes abundantgifts

to the monks and transfersthe merit to Nanda. As a result she is
able to come out of the world of petas and join her husbandand
enjoy food and wear clothes. The practice of merit transference
clearly contradictsthe Buddhisttheory of karmawhich says that an
individualis totally responsiblefor all his acts and must bear their
consequencesalone. One's fate after death cannot be influencedby
others,accordingto canonicalBuddhism.
It is the same for Hindu cosmology. According to Manu: "A
living creatureis born alone and alone he dies; he alone reaps the
benfits of good deeds and the consequences of bad deeds."29Still,
we find the practiceof merittransferenceabundantlydocumentedin
Hindu sources. We have a large numberof inscriptionsfrom the
late fifth century or the late Gupta period, collected by J.F. Fleet,
recordinggrants of land to Brahmins. The motivationbehind the
donationsare often explicitly stated and are essentially the same as
in Buddhist and Jain sources. One MaharajaHastin has recordeda
numberof grantsof land to Brahminsand he always gives the same
motivationfor doing so: he wishes to increase the merit of himself
and of his parents.30The MaharajaJayanathagives the same reasons
for giving grants of land to Brahmins. It is for the increase of his
and for the benefit of the feet of
own merit (svapunyabhivrddhaye)
the Lord (Bhagavatpada),i.e. Visnu. One Dhanyavisnusays that he
has built a temple to Visnu the Boar in order to increase the merit
of his parents.31One Matrchetasays that he has built a stone-temple
297
to the Sun in order to increase the religious merit of himself and

his parents.But religiousmeritcan not only be transferredover one
generation.Almost all the recordsof grantsof land to Brahminsstate
that the merit which is producedby a gift of land is not exclusive
to the original donor but is sharedby all his predecessorsin so far
as they do not reclaimthe land, in which case they go to hell for an
extendedperiod.32
The Jains have alwaysinsisted that acts and their fruitsare exclusively the responsibilityof the individual.In the words of the tenth
centuryacarya Amitagati:"Exceptfor karmaearnedfor oneself by
oneself, no one gives anythingto anyone."33
Accordingto P. Jaini,the
Jainshave been able to keep out practicesthatcontradictthe individual idea of karmasuch as srCddhaand transferenceof merit.34Why
did the practice creep into Buddhism? It has been suggested that
the transferenceof merit in TheravadaBuddhismwas a borrowing
from Mahayanadoctrinewherebodhisattvascan save othersby their
enormousstore of merit35Accordingto R. Gombrich,however,the
practiceof merittransferenceoriginatedout of emotionalneeds to escape the responsibilityof orthodoxkarmadoctrine. By transferring
merit one could improvethe situationof dead relatives, and one's
own state after death could be influencedin the same way. When
dead relatives received merit, they were thought to say thankyou;
anumodati. Orthodoxwriterswished to integratethe practicewith
the laws of karma. They said thatin realityno merit was transferred
and the dead did not give thanks;they simply rejoiced in the good
deed. Anumodanameantrejoicingnot thanking.36However,the orthodox solution does not necessarilydestroy all hopes that one can
influence the karma of others. When one can rejoice in the good
deeds of other people to the extent that one is rebornas a god, what
does it matterthat one cannotreally give gifts of merit? This seems
to be the attitudeamongmanyTheravadaBuddhistsof today.
The Recipient
The first lay-followersof the Buddhawere the two merchantsTripusaandBhallikawho chancedto pass by the place wherethe Buddha
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was sitting right afterhis enlightenment When Tripusaand Bhallika

presentedthe Buddhawith food, it was for their welfare,benefitand
arthayahitiya sukhaya)says
happinessfor a long time (dirgharatram
the Catusparisatsutra.Moreover,the Buddhaacceptedthe alms for
When receiving alms, the
the welfare of beings (hitayapr-anin&m).
the
laity the opportunityof earning
Samghadoes the favourof giving
merit. Under special circumstances,the Samgha may refuse to accept the alms of a lay-follower.In CullavaggaV.20 the beggingbowl
is turnedupside down on the lay-followerLicchavi Vaddha,and he
is suspendedfrom eating with the Samgha. He has lied about the
chastityof the venerableDabbathe Mallian and the Buddhadecides
the properreaction. It is Anandawho informsthe transgressorabout
his punishment.37The Buddha has decreed that if a layfollower is
possessed of certain bad qualities, the monks should turn the begging bowl on him, in other words, they shall refuse to accept alms
from him. This means thathe cannot earnmerit, and one can easily
imaginethat it also means social disgrace. Evidently,the turningupside down of the begging bowl on a layfollowerwas quite a penalty,
for when Anandatold Vaddhaaboutthe decision of the Samgha,the
poor man faintedand fell on that very spot. Fortunatelyfor the Licchavi, the Buddha allows the monks to turn uprightthe bowl on a
lay-follower.38
The renouncers,whetherHindu,Buddhistor Jain,often seem to be

undersome sort of obligationto accept the gifts presentedto them.
In order not to accept there must be some fault in the giver or the
gift that makes the giving valueless or harmful. The opportunityto
give is at the same time an opportunityto invest in the futurefor the
donor. What is given is thoughtto increase manyfold either in this
life or in the next. In the HinduDhannasastraliteratureas well as in
thereis often some sort of associationbetween
the Anugasanaparvan
what is given and what is receivedlateras a result of the gift. If one
gives a lamp, one may get good eyesight in the next life; if one gives
a pair of sandals, one may get an excellent vehicle for travelling;if
one gives food, one will get to eat in the world beyond;if one gives
the gift of non-injuryto beings, one will enjoy excellent healthetc.
299
Gifts are investments,and theirinterestratesmay be extremelyhigh,

if we are to believe Brahminand monk writers.
But in spite of the obligationto receive gifts, a recurringtheme in
the behaviourand the ideology of the recipientis an initial unwillingness to accept. Here we touch on the fundamentalambiguityof
the institutionalizedgiving. MarcelMauss observed:
"Therecipientputs himselfin a positionof dependencevis-a-vis the donor.This
is why the Brahminmust not 'accept' gifts, and even less solicit them, from
the king, and would demeanhimself if he did anythingother than take gifts."
(Mauss 1993: 59).
For the Brahminthe gift is dangerousto accept, Mauss says, because of the bonds that are establishedin the gift. The same danger
is found in Buddhismand Jainism. The monks do not solicit gifts,
they only put themselvesin a position where it is convenientto give
them food. There is a constantneed to maintainthe fiction that the
Brahmin,the ascetic or the monk is not dependenton the householderand that the asymmetryin the relationshipbetween giver and
recipientis the naturalthing. The recipientreluctantlyaccepts what
is offeredas a favourto the giver. Laidlawobservesthatfor the Jains
the giving to the renouncerdoes not really take place. By denying
thatsupatradan,gift to the good recipient,is a dan, the householder
frees the renouncerfrom any dependency.39
We saw that the giver is expectedto possess certainqualities. The
same is the case for the recipient.In his expositionof the Samghathe
writerBuddhaghosaexplains that a gift is something
great.BBuddhist
with
thoughtsof the next world.40The wish and the possibility
given
of aquiringmerit for the next world by giving to monks is the basis
for the institutionof almsgiving. The idea of the Buddhistmonks
and the Samgha as a field of merit (punniiakkhetta)
is found in a
numberof Pali texts,bothcanonicalandpost-canonical.In the Patika
Suttantathe Buddha says that the Order should be respected and
reveredand given gifts andhomage;it is the world'sunsurpassedfield
of merit.41Likewise, in the SafigitiSuttantathe Samghais described
as the world's unsurpassedfield of merit.42In the first story of the
Petavatthuthe field of merit, embodied in one monk, provides the
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opportunityto achieve a good rebirthin a seemingly mechanistic

manner.Here the elder Moggnllanasees a thief
and straightforward
who is about to be executed. In order to save him from rebirthin
hell, the monk approachesthe thief and accepts a gift of sweetmeat
and waterfrom him, and because Moggallanais an unsurpassedfield
of merit the thief is rebornin a world of gods. According to the
Petavatthu,the Buddhaexplainedhow this is possible in the following
manner: "Like unto fields are the Arhans;the givers are like unto
farmers;resemblingseed is the gift; from this is producedfruit."43
Buddhaghosaexplainedthe meaning of the concept of field of merit
in his chapteron the Samgha.44He says that the Samgha is called
Theworld'sunsurpassedfieldof meritbecausethe Samghais a place
wherethe meritof the worldcan grow. Justas the field wherethe king
or his councillorsows rice or barley is called the rice or barleyfield
of the king, in the same way the Samghais a field for the growingof
merit. The Jainsalso havethe idea of the Orderof monksas a field of
uses
merit. Accordingto R. Williamsthe earlyJainauthorHaribhadra
The great
the termksetra in this sense twice in his Dharmabindhu.45
medievalwriterHemacandraenumeratesseven ksetras in which the
laymanshould sow his wealth. These are Jain images, Jain temples,
Jain scriptures,monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen.
The lay personcan sow deeds in the field of merit,butthe qualityof
the soil determinesthe harvest. In TheravadaBuddhismthe qualities
of the recipient of a gift are often said to determinethe merit that
the gift produces for the donor. For a gift to be efficient in terms
of merit, the monks should first of all be of pure conduct. There is
also the idea that the longer a person has been a monk, the greater
is the merit producedfrom giving him alms. The CullavaggaIV
is concerned with questions of purity and dignity of the Samgha
in the eyes of monks and lay-people. For instance, one story tells
about a group of monks who are constantlyoffered inferiorfood by
householdersbecause they are newly ordainedand of little merit.
One day these monks go to a meal and the householdergiving the
meal makes them sit on the porch and gives them only brokenrice
301
and sour gruel. Naturally,the newly ordainedmonks are not happy

abouttheir treatment.
the Buddhadistinguished
Accordingto the Dakkhinavibhafigasutta
between gifts to individualsand to the Sam.gha.46
Gifts to individuals (patipuggalikadakkhina)are of fourteentypes. The first type is
to a Tathagataand the last type is to those who have been reborn
as animals(tiracchanagata).Between these two extremesthere are a
numberof differentindividualsto which one may donate. Gifts given
to those rebornas animalsincreasea hundredfold,whereasa gift to
a Tathagatais meritoriousbeyondexpression.The same hierarchyof
recipientsand merit are found in moder Burmese Bulddhism.The
feeding of a hundreddogs is equivalentin meritto feeding one human
being, the feeding of one lay person is equivalentto one novice, a
hundrednovices equalsone monketc.47In the Dakkhinavibhafigasutta
donationsto the Samghaare of seven types. These are distinguished
by three criteria: whetherthe Buddhais the leader of the Sarmgha
or the donation takes place after his death, whether one gives to
the whole Samgha or only to parts of it, and whetherit is given to
monks or nuns. Never is a gift to an individualof greaterfruit (mathan a gift to the Samghaas a whole. But, says the
happhalataram)
same text, gifts can be given by worthydonors to unworthyrecipients because the gift is purifiedor hallowed (visujjhati)by the giver
(dayaka). Even if a gift is given by an unworthydonor to an unworthyrecipient,it is still fruitful,says the Buddha. Here we are at
the heartof the ideology of gift-giving. The Dakkhinavibhafigasutta
uses the contradictoryideas of merit-makingto show that gifts are
meritoriousunderall circumstances.
In Jainismtherehave been differentopinions on the question,but
in generalJainsuse a fivefoldclassificationof recipientsset out by the
medievalwritersAmrtacandra,
Amitagati,Vasunandinand Akadhara.
In theirlist the best recipientis the Jainascetic, the next best is a Jain
laymanwho is on his way up the scale of religiousrealizationwhichat
some pointends in monkhood,the least satisfactoryrecipientis a nonpractisinglaymanwho has the rightbelief, a poorrecipientis a person
of righteouslife but withoutthe right belief and the wrong recipient
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is a person devoid of both right belief and good conduct.4 Another

importantJain author,Somadeva,has a list of different recipients
based on what aspect of the religion they specialize in. Astrologers
and specialistsin practicalsciences is one type, oratorsand debaters
and writersis anothertype etc.
A similarhierarchicalorderof gift and meritis foundin Hinduism.
Manusays "A gift to a non-priestyields the basic (reward);to someone who says he is a priest,double;to a teacher,a hundredthousand
(times);and to one who has crossedto the far shoreof the Veda,endless (reward).For a small or greatrewardfor a gift is obtainedafter
deathaccordingto the particularqualitiesand the amountof faith of
the recipient."49This is a basic themein the Dharmasastraliterature.
The Yajnavalkyasmrti
says that both asceticism (tapas) and learning
(vidya) must be presentfor a personto be worthyof a gift. A person
who lacks eithermustnot acceptdonations.50Rightlearningandright
conduct seem to be two general qualities that should be presentin
the recipientof a gift in Hinduthought. Manu says that a king must
in an ascetic
ascertainthe presenceof learningand virtue (Srutavrtta)
are
the
must
these
realm.
If
in his
qualities present, king
protecthim
in every way, like a fatherprotectsa son.5'When the king has confiscatedthe propertyof criminals,he may choose to give it to a Brahmin
Like
who is possessed of learningand virtue (Srutavrttopapanna).52
the sower who sows seed in barrensoil reapsno harvest,so the donor
who gives the offeringto someoneignorantof the Rg Vedaobtainsno
fruit.53Manuhas long lists of those who are unworthyof offerings.54
Bhismatells Yudhisthirathata priestof the sacIn the Mahabharata
a
rifice (rtvij), family priest(purohita),a teacher,a disciple, relatives
and kinsmencan be consideredworthyof worshipand honourif they
Other
are furnishedwith learningand virtue (Srutavrttopasamhita).55
importantqualitiesin a recipient,accordingto Bhisma, are absence
of anger (akrodha),truthfulnessin words (satyavacana),non-injury
self-control(dama),sincerety(irjava), absenceof
to beings (ahimpsa),
malice (adroha),absenceof pride(natimana),modesty(hri),patience
(titiksa),asceticism(tapas)andtranquility(sama). A personwho has
these qualities is consideredto be the right recipient (pitra).56The
Contradictionand the Merit of Giving in Indian Religions
303
qualityof ahimsi is often said to be a necessaryquality of a worthy

recipient of gifts in the Anusasanaparvan.Non-injuryto others is
associatedwith one's own health.57Moreover,the acceptingof gifts
is surroundedby a numberof rules. If one accepts gifts withoutobservingthese rules, it will have disastrousconsequences. "If he does
not know the rules regardingthe law for acceptingmaterialobjects,a
wise man shouldnot accept(gifts), even if he is faintingwith hunger.
An ignorantman who goes about accepting gold, land, a horse, a
cow, food, clothing, sesame seeds and clarifiedbutteris reducedto
ashes, as if he were wood."58
Spirosays thatthe Burmesehave reversedthe relationshipbetween
donorand recipientin thatthe merit in giving derives from the spiritual qualities of the recipient,not from the qualities of the donor.59
As we have seen this is no reversalor innovation,but is an essential
aspectof the idea of givingin Buddhism,Jainismand Hinduism.Perhapsthe most telling examplesof this are foundin storiesin Buddhist
literaturewhere thieves and murderersare rebornin heavenbecause
they give gifts to prominentmembersof the Samgha.
Sacrificeand Charity
From the above we may conclude that there is a large number
of rules pertainingto the giving and the receiving of gifts in Indian
religion. But there also emerges a fundamentalambiguity. On the
one hand, the gift is a sacrifice and the giver has an obligation to
performit. If the monks or the ascetics, who have taken the place
of the gods on earth,refuse to accept the gift, it has negativeconsequences for the donor. On the other hand, the renounceris a poor
beggarwho is completelydependenton the charityof householders.
As T. Trautmannhas suggested, gifts can be imagined in two fundamentallyopposite ways. On the one hand, the gift can be seen as
going upwardsto superiorbeings. On the otherhand, it can be seen
as going downwardsto dependants.60
The paradigmaticaction in the Vedic worldview was the sacrifice, yajiia. The most importantsacrificeswere complex and timeconsuming.The relationshipbetweenthe king andthe priest,between
304
TorkelBrekke
the sponsor and the sacrificer,was likewise the paradigmaticsocial

relationshipin ancientIndia.The Purohitafunctionedas the alterego
of the king in Vedic religion,H. Oldenbergsuggested.61Throughthe
merit acquiredby the correctperformanceof the Vedic sacrificethe
sacrificermade for himself, in additionto worldly benefits, a loka,
in the Atharvavedaoften called a sukrtdmloka - the sphereor condition of those who have earnedthe rewardsof well-performedrites
-
or a sukrtasya loka -
the sphere of ritual and religious merit.62
The substantivesukrtamdenotesthe merit,the positive resultsof the

correctperformanceof the sacrifice. 'This idea runs thereforein the
ritual sphere of Vedism parallelwith - or it is in this sphere the
predecessorof - what in latertimes when the doctrineof transmigrationhas fully developedis, with a derivativeof the same root kr-,
called a man's good karman..."63Thus, in Vedic religion correctritual was the means to makemerit. This would soon change, however.
and repeateddeath was fully develWhen the idea of transmigration
oped the idea of completerelease from the cycle of rebirthcame to
be the ultimate soteriologicalgoal and at the same time the Vedic
sacrifice lost its significance.Perhapsaroundthe middle of the first
millenniumB.C., theretook place significantchanges in the conception of the sacrifice. The MundakaUpanisadattacksthe Vedic ideas
of ritual. "Deeming sacrificesand gifts as the best, the imbeciles
know nothingbetter."64
However,wise people know, as the Kausitaki
when
one breathes,speech is offered in breath
that
Upanisad says,
and when one speaks,breathis offered in speech. "It is becausethey
knew this that people in ancient times refrainedfrom offering the
The fire of the Vedic sacrificesburnsinside the
daily fire sacrifice."65
ascetic and it is there thatthe real sacrifices are performed.The ascetic, samnyasin,is one who takesthe sacredfire from the hearthand
places it within himself. "By placing the sacred fire within himself,
a twice born person should adopt the life of mendicancy"says the
Samvartasmrti.66
Withthe rise of BuddhismandJainismthe real sacrificecame to be

the gifts to the orderof monksinstead of the traditionalBrahminical
the Brahmin Ki]tadantaapproaches
rituals. In the KOtadantasutta
Contradiction and the Merit of Giving in Indian Religions
305
the Buddha to learn about sacrifices. The Buddha tells him about
bloodless sacrifices. Almsgiving and the building of monasteries are
much better in terms of merit and easier to perform than the traditional
sacrifices of the Brahmins, the Buddha asserts.67 This idea is also
found in Hindu thought. Manu says "What is offered as an oblation
in the mouth of a priest is better than daily fire sacrifices; it is never
spilt, dropped or destroyed."68But how can the giving of food to
religious specialists be a substitute for sacrifice to the gods? Marcel
Mauss believed that in almsgiving humans have taken the place of
the gods. But, as he also observed, the giving of alms has a double
nature:
"Almsare the fruitsof a moralnotion of the gift and of fortuneon the one hand,
and of a notion of sacrifice,on the other. Generosityis an obligation,because
Nemesis avenges the poor and the gods for the superabundanceof happiness
and wealth of certainpeople who should rid themselvesof it."69
We have moved our focus to another aspect of gift-giving which

has been little commented on in connection with Indian religion:
charity. This topic is often met with in the Dharmasastra literature.
The Atrismrti prescribes charity thus: "He who gives food during
famine (durbhiksa); he who gives gold in a prosperous time (subhiksa); and he who gives water in a forest fares gloriously in the celestial regions."70The Samvartasmrti says: "By an intelligent person,
seeking his own well-being, these gifts and others should be made
specially unto the poor, the blind and other distressed persons."71
Giving for charity has a long tradition in Jainism. The practice of
giving to the needy regardless of religious and social affiliation is
karunaddna, the gift of charity. The medieval Digambara writer Vasunandin says that one should give not only to monks, but to the very
young and the very old, the blind, the dumb, the deaf, strangers from
another land and to the sick.72Asadhara, another medieval Digambara
writer, prescribes the giving of food, water and medicines regardless
of faith. The greatest of all medieval Jain authors, Hemacandra,
also says that charity should be practiced toward those who have
fallen into evil circumstances.73 The karunaddna found in Jainism
is closely related to another important religious vow of the religion,
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TorkelBrekke
the ahimsdvrata,the vow of non-violence, and to the abhayadcna,

the gift of no-fear, which is an importantaspect of ahimsa. The
lists the gift of no-fear (abhaya)among gifts that
Yajfiavalkyasmrti
makes the giver happy (sukhi bhavet).74The Haritasmrtiprescribes
the vow of abhaya, non-fear,towardsall beings for the person who
is about to become a sa.mnydsin.75The Brhaspatismrtiprecribesthe
protection of life (jivaraksana). Beauty, prosperity and good health
are the fruits of ahimsd,it says.76

The Daksasmrtisays thatthe nine sacredworks are giving food to
the manes, the deities, humanbeings, the poor,helpless, the ascetics,
In other words, the gods,
the father,the motherand the preceptor.77
the ascetics and the poor are all essentiallyin the same boat because
they dependon charityfrom humanswho have wealth to give away.
Accordingto Manu, ddnadhannais divided into sacrifice and charity, it is aistikpaurtika.7In his commentaryon Manu4.5 Medhatithi
says thata gift given throughcompassion(karuna)cannotbe counted
Such remarkssuggest that the experts on
as part of ddnadharma.79
had
dharmnnasastra problemswith integratingthe differentstrandsof
thoughtthat came togetherin the giving of gifts. The blending of
ideas of sacrifice and charitycan be found throughoutthe literature
on giving. In the beginningof the Anu~asanaparvan
Yudhisthiraasks
finds
the
in
where
one
the
sacrifice
Bhisma
or the chargreatestfruit;
itable gift. What gives the highest reward;thatwhich is given on the
sacrificialplatform(antarvedyam)or thatwhich is given out of kindness (anrSamsatyaor -ta)? However, Bhisma refuses to distinguish
between gifts and sacrifices. He says that by doing an act of giving (danakarma),one must think of oneself as performinga sacrifice
(ista).80The ApastambaDharmasltrais explicit in its identification
of gift-giving and sacrifice:
'This receptionof guests is an everlasting(grauta)-sacrifice
(yajfia)offered by
the householderto Prajapati.The fire in the stomachof the guest (represents)the
Ahavaniya,(the sacredfire) in the house of the host representsthe Grhapatya,
the fire at which the food for the guest is cooked (represents)the fire used for
cooking the sacrificialviands (the Daksinagni):'81
307
The Apastamba Dharmasitra continues with a detailed account

of symmetries between the different parts of food-offering and the
sacrifices. The different actions during the meal given to a guest
have exact parallels in the different actions during the sacrifice, just
like the three fires of the sacrifice have their parallels in the fires of
the stomach of the guest and the fires in the house of the host.
"Food (offered to guests) which is mixed with milk procures the reward of an
Agnistomasacrifice,food mixed with clarifiedbutterprocuresthe rewardof an

Ukthya,food mixed with honey the rewardof an Atiratra,food accompaniedby
meat the rewardof a DvadaSAha,
(food and) waternumerousoffspringand long
life. ... When he gives food in the morning;at noon and in the evening, (these
gifts) are the Savanas(of thatsacrificeofferedto Prajipati).When he rises after
his guest has risen(to depart),thatact representsthe Udavasiniy isti (of a Vedic
sacrifice). When he addresses(the guest) kindly, that kind address(represents)
the Daksina. When he follows (his departingguest, his steps represent)the
steps of Visnu. When he returns (after having accompanied his guest), that (act
represents) the Avabhrtha, (the final bath performed after the completion of a
sacrifice.)"82
The sacrifice and the giving of food are identical in terms of merit.
The same idea is found in the Vasista Dharmasutra, but here the body
of a Brahmin is the sacrificial fire. When food is offered in the mouth
of the Brahmin, this is the same as giving the sacrificial victim to
the flames. "A Brahman is a fire."83Again we are given a long
list of parallels and symmetries between the gift to a Brahmin and
a sacrifice. The body of the Brahmin is the altar, his mouth is the
Ahavaniya fire, the fire in his abdomen is the Garhapatya fire, and
the Daksinagni is in his navel, the sense organs are sacrificial vessels
etc.84 Manu also says that the mouth of a priest is the fire in which
one should offer sacrifices.85The Anusasanaparvan 152.19 says that
a Brahmin is a god and the Satapatha Brhmana says that there are
two kinds of gods: those in heaven and the Brahmins. Sacrifice is
divided in two: oblations to gods and fees to Brahmins.86
The blending of sacrifice and charity is seen in practice in Asoka's
accounts of his own work for the propagation of dharma. In the fifth
rock edict of Kalsi Asoka says that he has established a completely
new office in his state; that of the Mahamtntra.The Mahamatras are
308
TorkelBrekke
occupiedwith promotingdharmaand in charitablework throughout

the kingdom.87In a numberof rock-inscriptionsAgokalists supportof
sramanasand brahmanastogetherwith supportof the aged andother
types of charity,like kindnessto slaves and non-injuryto animals.88
We can also see the blendingof these ideas in inscriptionsrecording
grantsof land to Brahminsin the Guptaperiod. One donorsays that
the wealth (dhana) formerlygiven to Brahminsis like the remains
of offerings to gods (nirmilya).89For this reason no good and sane
man would take such wealth back and we may infer that this is the
reasonwhy the discontinuationof a grantis associatedwith extreme
accumulationof demerit.
In conclusion, there are two differentstrandsof ideas connected
with the religious gift in Indianreligion, both Hinduism,Buddhism
and Jainism. On the one hand giving is sacrifice. The giver is a
humbleservantwhereasthe recipientis a god or, in a gods place, an
ascetic, who is deservingof gifts and does the devotee a favourby
accepting. On the other hand giving is charity. The recipientis a
poor beggar who must be kept alive by the wealthy householder.
Merit and Intention
The sacrifice, especially in the Buddhistand Jain ideologies, became the ritualgiving to the orderof monks or nuns and this giving
was essentially the same as charity.It was the intentionof the giver
that was the importantaspect of giving because the intentionproduced merit. The ethic of intentionis prominentin the majorIndian
religions. The locus classicus for this ethic is the Bhagavadgitawhere
Krsnatells Arjunanot to worryabouthis acts as long as his intentions
are right. But the Bhagavadgitadoes not escape the contradictions
inherentin the ideas of giving. On the one hand it emphasizesintention. It applies the ontology of the three gunas to both sacrificeand
almsgivingand in both activitiesit is exactly the same qualitiesthat
distinguishthe sdttvikafrom the rajasa and tdmasa.90In the sacrifice
the desire to taste its fruits is the heart of the matterand, likewise,
in giving alms it is the expectationto get somethingin returnwhich
Contradictionand the Meritof Giving in IndianReligions
309
determinesthe qualityof the act. When somethingis given in order

to repay somebodyor in orderto enjoy the fruits of the act (pratyupakarirtha phalamuddigyava) then the act is of rdjasaquality. On
the other hand, however,the Bhagavadgit&
sees the sacrifice as the
hub of a reciprocalrelationshipbetween gods and men. Gods and
men sustainone another.In returnfor sacrificethe gods give the food
of one's desire (istn bhogan),while if you enjoy their gifts without
giving anythingin returnyou are a simple thief.91For the Buddhists
the basic causes of kammawere greed, hate and delusion; lobha,
dosa and moha. "Monks,there are these three originatingcauses of
action. What three? Greed,hate and delusion,"says the Buddha.92
To free oneself from the entanglementsof kammaone must strikeat
the mentalityof the actor. It is the intentionsof the actor which is
the motor in the continuedproductionof kammaand of continued
existence. This is also the case with giving. As regardsthe laity and
theirwish for a favourablerebirth,it is not the giving of alms in itself
which is meritoriousandproducesfruits,but the intentionbehindthe
In Jainism,the natureof
acts, says the commentatorDhammapala.93
karma is radicallydifferentfrom that of Buddhism. Still, it is the
mentalitybehindthe act thatdeterminesits results. For the Jainsit is
the passions that makethe soul receptiveto kanna. The passionsanger,pride, deceptionandgreedbecamea standardset - work as a
kind of glue on the soul to which the substanceof karmacan stick.94
Karmicdust would still be drawnto the soul but would not stick to
it were the soul not moistenedby the passions.95In the words of the
sixth centuryauthorJinabhadra:"Forit is the intentionwhich is the
deciding factor,not the externalact."96
But if this were the case, a lay personcould theoreticallygive anything to anyoneandearnmeritas long as the intentionbehindthe act
was right. Why should anyone donate to monks, nuns or Brahmin
renouncerswhen they could earn their merit anywhereelse? There
were two ways in whichthe religiousspecialistscould arguethatgiving to them would be more meritoriousthan giving to anyone else.
Firstly,they could say thatthereis a quantitativedifferencebetween
the gift to the religious specialist and any other person. All living
310
TorkelBrekke
beings would theoreticallyhave a place on a scale of merit where

the monk is on the top end. Secondly, they could say that there is
a qualitativedifferencebetween giving to a religious specialist and
to any other being. The first of these two solutions is based on the
assumptionthattherearecertainqualitiesin the recipientwhich determine the efficiency of the donation.We have seen abovethatthis is a
commonview in BuddhistP&liliteratureand in the ethnographicdata
on modem TheravadaBuddhismas well as in Hindu Dharmasastra
literatureand medievalJain texts on giving. The second of the two
solutions is based on a fundamentaldifferencein the motivationof
the giver. Medhatithion ManuIV.5 says thatthe real ddna andpratigraha, giving and accepting, does not include donations made out
of compassion.97J. Gondahas summedup this view thus: "Whatis
given out of pity or sympathyis not, the same authorityobserves,
conducive to transcendentalresults, because it does not fulfill the
In Ceylon, R. Gombrichwas told by Buddhist
conditionsof dana."98
monks that there are two kinds of giving: that which is motivatedby
respect (gaurava)and thatwhich is motivatedby pity (anukampava).
The first variantis exemplifiedby a gift to the Samgha, the second
by a gift to a beggar.9 The first, of course, is the best in terms of
merit. Among Jains of modem Jaipurthe ideas of intentionand the
qualitiesof the recipientare mixed up to make a heterogenouslist of
gifts (dan).'l?There are five types of gifts, the Jains say. These are:
1. the gift of fearlessness,2. a gift to a worthy recipient, 3. a gift
given out of compassion,4. a gift given out of duty, 5. a gift given to
earnfame. Laidlawobservesthatthe classificatoryprinciplesthatunderlie this list are divergent.The most importantkind of gift, the gift
to a worthyrecipient,eithera Jain renounceror an idol, is classified
accordingto the recipient,whereas the three last gifts are classified
accordingto the motivationof the giver. The principlesproducing
merit for the giver are completely differentin the two cases. On the
one handthereis the qualityof the recipient,on the otherhandthere
is the emphasis on intention. We may note that Hemacandradistinguishedbetweengifts motivatedby devotion(bhakti)andcompassion
(dayayi).101
Contradictionand the Merit of Givingin IndianReligions
311
In practice,both of these solutionscontradictthe basic assumption

that the intentionbehindthe act determinesits fruits. Theoretically,
perhaps,the second variantcould avoidthis contradictionby insisting
thatthe fundamentaldifferenceof giving to religiousspecialistson the
one handand giving to any otherbeing on the otherarises only from
the differencein motivation.However,in the cases I haveencountered
the explanationof the differencealways involves references to the
qualitites of the recipient. The ethic of intention clashes with the
theoriesof merit-making.
I havelookedat two sets of ideas aboutactionandretributionwhich
are fundamentalto the world-viewof Indianreligions but which are
incompatible.This incompatibilitysurfacesin the act of almsgiving.
On the one hand we have the belief that the intentionbehind an act
of giving determinesits merit. On the other hand there is the idea
that thereis a gradedor radicaldifferencein termsof meritbetween
giving to membersof a groupof religious specialiston one side and
to all other beings on the other. The philosophythat classifies recipients accordingto meritis an ideology servingthe interestsof the
religious specialists. The aspiratonsto dominationof this class rests
on this ideology. If people do not believe in the special meritof giving to the renouncers,the renouncerwill not receive alms. This has,
of course, been clear to monks and Brahminsand they have worked
to keep the ideology alive and gloss over its clash with the ethics of
intention. By this I do not mean to say that they themselves have
not believed in their ideology. Applying the theories of Anthony
Giddens we can identify two main ways in which the ideology of
the religious specialistsgives legitimacyto the social structureof the
relevantsocieties.102Firstly,the ideology of the religious specialists
representsits sectional interestsas universalones. By assuming a
subordinatepositionand giving the religious specialistalms the giver
really serves his own interestsaccordingto the teachings of rebirth
and merit-making.Secondly,the ideology denies or transmutesthe
existence of contradictionin their world-viewby splitting the interests of the religious specialistand the householderinto two different
spheres. The householdershould try to make merit by giving alms,
312
TorkelBrekke
whereasmerit-makingis not in the interestof the religious specialist.

Neitheris the monk really interestedin the wealth bestowed on him
by the householder. The values of monkhood and householdership
are incommensurable.Consequently,contradictionsdo not exist and
conflictshouldnot arise. As Dumontobservedthe gift is an exchange
of materialobjects with no real value for spiritualgoods.103
Conclusion
I startedthe article by saying that there is a common ideology
surroundingthe gift in the main religious traditionsof India and that
we should try to understandthis ideology across these traditions. I
also said that there is a tendency in the study of Indian religions
to shun generalizationsacross differenttraditionseven though Hinduism,JainismandBuddhismsharea fundamentalworld-viewwhich
is sometimesbest understoodthrougha comparativeapproach.
The thesis of the article was that there is a common ideology
of the gift in the Hindu, Bulddhistand Jain traditionsand that this
commonideology containstwo fundamentalcontradictions.The first
contradictionconcernsthe imageryof gift-giving. On the one hand,
the gift is seen as a sacrifice. On the other hand, it is seen as an
act of charity.The secondcontradictionconcernedthe motivationfor
giving. On the one hand,the qualitiesof the recipientdeterminesthe
meritachievedby the gift. On the otherhand,it is the intentionbehind
the giving which is important.These two contradictionsgo together.
If the giving is seen as a sacrifice, the qualities of the recipientare
naturallythe focus of attention.If the gift is charity,the intentionof
the givercomes to the fore. These contradictionsmay, theoreticallyat
least, underminethe relationshipbetweenrenouncerandhouseholder.
However,it is interestingto note thatthese contradictionsalso can be
used to interpretall gift-givingin a positive way. In times when there
are no worthy recipientsthe pious layman can earn merit by giving
with the right intention,accordingto TheravadaBuddhistideology.
In the future there will be monks in yellow robes who are of bad
conduct(dussila) and of evil disposition(papadhamma)who will be
313
given gifts for the sake of the Samgha, the Buddha says. Even then
the gift will be of immeasurable worth.104The Dakkhinavibhangasutta
concludes its exposition of gifts by listing possible combinations of
worthy and unworthy donors and recipients. When the worthy donor
gives to the unworthy recipient great fruit grows from the act. The
giver purifies or hallows the gift (sa dakkhina diyakato visujjhati),
it is said. When the unworthy donor gives to the worthy recipient
great fruit grows from the act. Now, the recipient purifies the gift
(sa dakkhini patiggahakato visujjhati). When the unworthy donor
gives to the unworthy recipient there is great fruit although the gift is
hallowed by neither. We must suppose, then, that it is the act in itself
that is meritorious in this case. Finally, when the worthy donor gives
to the worthy recipient the donation is, of course, fruitful. The giver
always has a choice, it seems, between focusing on the qualitites of
the recipient or his or her own right intentions. Giving, then, becomes
meritorious a priori.
Wolfson College
GB-Oxford OX2 6UD
TORKELBREKKE
I Manu 4.87-91.
Doniger,W. and Smith, Brian K. (1991). The Laws of Manu,
Middlesex. Penguin,p. 82.
2 Mauss, Marcel 1993. The Gift. Translatedby W.D. Halls. Forewordby Mary
Douglas. London.
3 Heesterman,J.C. (1963). "Brahmin,Ritualand Renouncer."Wiener
Zeitschrift
fir die KundeSiid- und Ostasiens,Band 7, 1963, p. 3 and 14-16.
4
Parry,J.J. (1994). Death in Banaras. Cambridge,p. 123. See also Parry,
Jonathan(1986). "The Gift, the Indian Gift and the 'Indian Gift'". Man: The
Journalof the RoyalAnthropologicalInstitute,21.
5 Raheja,GloriaGoodwin(1988). The Poison in the Gift. Chicago and London.
6 Michaels,Axel (1997). "Giftand ReturnGift, Greetingand ReturnGreetingin
India. On a ConsequentialFootnoteby MarcelMauss."Numen44, p. 252.
7 Williams,R. 1983. Jaina Yoga.A Surveyof the Mediaevalsravak&cdras.Delhi.
Motilal Banarsidass,p. 150. For a differentsix-fold classificationbelonging to the
Hindutraditionsee Kane, vol. 2, partII, p. 843.
314
TorkelBrekke
8 Brekke, Torkel 1997. "The Early Samgha and the Laity." Journal of the
InternationalAssociation of BuddhistStudies, forthcoming.
9 The term
going forth is a translationof Pabbajd. It is a technical termwhich
refersto the first of the two stages in the admissionto the Samghathe second stage
being the full ordination,upasampadd.Pabbaja (or pravrajydin Sanskrit)can be
used in a more general sense referringto the adoptionof the ascetic life.
10manussdujjhayantikhfyantivipdcenti:kathamhi nima samandSakyaputtiya.
..
1 Spiro, M.E. 1984. Buddhismand Society. Berkeley and Los Angeles. CaliforniaUniversityPress, p. 415.
12 Williams,
op.cit., p. 153.
13 ibid.
14 Paranavitana,S. (1970).
Archaeological Survey of Ceylon. Inscriptionsof
Ceylon,vol. 1, Ceylon.
15 The Middle
Length Discourses of the Buddha. A New Translationof the
MajjhimaNikiya. BhikkhuNanamoliand BhikkhuBodhi. Boston, 1995, p. 588589. MajjhimaNikaya, edited by V. Trenckner. Oxford, 1948. Vol. 1, p. 483.
The Kathavatthuagrees that it is impossible to attain salvation as a householder.
See Points of Controversy.Shwe Zan Aung and Mrs. Rhys Davids. London, 1979,
p. 157-158.
16 Although, accordingto the CullavaggaX, the Buddha initially refusedwhen
his foster-mother,Pajapati,asked him to let women obtain the going forth, several
passages from other texts testify that women were seen as capable of attaining
Nirvana. For instance, the nun Samghamittiachieved salvationat the age of fiftynine (Mahavamsa,XX.48ff.) Samghamittawas the daughterof AMokaand the sister
of Mahinda.She went to Sri Lankaafterher brother,bringinga branchof the Bodhi
tree, in orderto establishthe Orderof nuns in the island.
17 Fleet, J.F. (1888). CorpusInscriptionumIndicarum,vol. III, Inscriptionsof
the early GupyaKings and their successors. Calcutta,pp. 93ff.
18 ibid., 179 and 189.
p.
19 Shri
AcharyaKundaKunda.Samayasara.With translationand commentaries
by J.L. Jain. Delhi, 1990, p. 92.
20
Reynell, Josephine(1985). "Renunciationand Ostentation."CambridgeAnthropology,vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 20-33.
21 ibid.
22 Norman,K.R. (1991). "Therole of the

layman accordingto the Jain canon."
The Assemblyof Listeners. Editedby Michael Carrithersand CarolineHumphrey.
Cambridge,pp. 31-39.
23 Williams, R.
(1983). Jaina Yoga. A Surveyof the Mediaeval Sravakdcdras.
Delhi, p. 163ff.
24 ibid.
25 ibid., p. 153.
315
26 Cort,JohnE. (1991). "TwoIdealsof the Svetambar

MUrtipijakJainLayman."
Journalof IndianPhilosophy19, pp. 394 and 395 and footnotes 11 and 14.
27 ibid.,
pp. 391-420.
28 Petavatthu:Stories the
of
Departed Translatedby H.S. Gehman. The Minor
the
Pali
Canon.
Oxford, 1993, p. 36 (second part).
Anthologiesof
29 Manu,4.240. Translatedby WendyDoniger and BrianK. Smith, TheLaws of
Manu, Middlesex 1991, p. 96.
30 matipittroratmanadcha
punyibhivrddhaye.Fleet, J.F. (1888). Corpus Invol.
ll,
Inscriptionsof the early Gupya Kings and their
scriptionumIndicarum,
successors. Calcutta,pp. 93-112.
31 ibid., 158-161.
p.
32 A
large number of the records of grants of land quote a verse from the
Mahibhirata to explain the significanceof their gift. Typically they say "Andit
has been said by Vylsa, the arrangerof the Vedas - The giver of land abides in
heaven for sixty thousandyears; (but) the confiscator(of a grant), and he who assents (to an act of confiscation),shall dwell for the same numberof years in hell! O
Yudhistira,best of kings, carefullypreserveland that has previouslybeen given to
the twice-bom;(verily) the preservation(of a grant)is more meritoriousthanmaking a grant! The earthhas been enjoyedby many kings, commencingwith Sagara;
whosoeverat any time possesses the earth,to him belongs, at that time, the reward
(of this grantthat is now made, if he continuesit)!"
33
Quotedin Jaini,P.S. (1980). "Karmaand the Problemof Rebirthin Jainism."
In Karmaand the Problemof Rebirthin Classical Indian Traditions. Edited by
WendyDoniger O'Flaherty.Berkeley,p. 235.
34 ibid.
35Bechert,H. (1992). "Buddha-field
andtransferof meritin a Theravadasource."
Indo-IranianJournal35, pp. 95-108. Whetheror not TheravadaBuddhismborrowed
the idea of transferenceof meritfromMahayana,H. Bechertis rightin remindingus
thata monk may have followedMahayinateachingswhile belongingto a Hinayana
school in terms of Vinaya. It is monasticaldiscipline, not philosophy,which makes
the importantdividing lines between different Buddhist communities. However,
that Mahayanismwas suppressedin Ceylon later, is clear from the accountsof the
Mah&vamsa.
36 Gombrich,Richard(1972). "'Merit transference'in Sinhalese Buddhism:a
case study of the interactionbetween doctrine and practice."History of Religions,
11, pp. 203-219.
37 Anando...VaddhamLicchavir etad avoca: samghenate avuso Vaddhapatto
nikkujjitoasambhogo'si sarpghena'ti...
38anujdndmibhikkhaveimehiatthah'angehi samanndgatassaupdsakassapattam
ukkujjitum.
TorkelBrekke
316
39 Laidlaw,James (1995). Richesand Renunciation.Oxford,p. 316.

40 Dakkhindtipana paralokamsaddahitvdddtabbaddnamvuccati. The VisuddhiMagga of Buddhaghosa. Edited by C.A.F. Rhys Davids. London, 1920, vol. 1,
p. 220.
41 ....anuttaram puniia-kkhettam
lokassdti. Dighi Nikaya xxiv, 1,6. The Digha
J.
Estlin
Edited
Nikaya.
Carpenter.Oxford, 1947. Translation:Dialogues of the
by
and C.A.F.Rhys Davids, partiii, p. 11.
T.W.
translated
Buddha,
by
42 Digha Nikaya xxxiii, 1.l.xiv. Translationvol. 4, p. 219.
43 Petavatthu:Stories the
of
Departed. Translatedby H.S. Gehman. The Minor
Pali
the
Canon.
Oxford,
1993, p. 2-3 (second part).
Anthologiesof
44 The
of
Vsuddhi-Magga Buddhaghosa Editedby C.A.F. Rhys Davids. London, 1920, vol. 1, p. 220. Germantranslationin Visuddhi-Maggaoder der Wegzur
Reinheit. Ubersetztvon Nyanatiloka,Konstanz,1952, p. 258.
45 Williams,
op.cit., p. 165.
46
Dakkhinvibhaiigasutta,MajjhimaNikiya, edited by Lord Chalmers. London, 1951, p. 253ff. Translation:FurtherDialogues of the Buddha,London, 1927,
p. 299ff.
47
Spiro, op.cit, p. 109.
48 Williams, op.cit., p. 152.
49 Manu, 7.85-6. Translatedby WendyDoniger and Brian K. Smith, The Laws
of Manu, Middlesex 1991.
50
1.200-202.
Yajfnavalkyasmrti
51 Manu 7.135. Edited J.
by Jolly. London, 1887.
52 Manu 9.245.
53 Manu 3.142.
54 3.150ff.
5s
37.6.
Anusasanaparvan
56 Anusasanaparvan
37.8-9.
57 ...arogyamahimsay&Anusasanaparvan
57.19.
58 Manu, 4.187-8, Translatedby WendyDoniger and Brian K. Smith, The Laws
of Manu, Middlesex 1991, p. 91.
59
Spiro, op.cit., p. 106-7.
60 Trautmann,T.R. (1981). Dravidiankinship. Cambridge,p. 285.
61
Oldenberg,H. (1894). Die Religion des Veda.Berlin, p. 377.
62
Gonda, J. (1966). Loka -
World and Heaven in the Veda. Amsterdam, p. 130.
63 ibid., p. 125-126.
64 Mundaka
Upanisad1.2.10. Olivelle, p. 270.
65 Kausitaki
Upanisad2.5. Olivelle, p. 208.
66 agnimatmanisamsthapyadvijahpravrajitobhavet. Samvartasmrti102. Edited
and translatedby ManmathNath Dutt, New Delhi 1978, p. 344.
317
67
Rhys Davids, vol. II, p. 182.
68 Manu 7.84. Translated
by WendyDoniger and Brian K. Smith, The Laws of
Manu,Middlesex 1991.
69 ibid.
70 Translatedin Dutt, 325. The

p.
English has been slightly shortenedby me.
71 Samvartasmrti
translated
in
Dutt, p. 343.
91,
72 Williams,
op.cit., p. 157.
73 ibid.
74 Yajiiavalkyasmrti
with commentaryBalakridaof Vigvarupicharya.Editedby
M.T. GanapatiSastri. New Delhi, 1982, p. 142.
75 Haritasmiti6.5.
76
71.
Brhaspatismrti
77 Daksasmrti3.8-14, Translatedin Dutt, 443.
p.
78 Manu 4.227.
79 Kane, vol. 2,
part 1, p. 116.
80
Anuasanaparvan60.9.
81The
2.3.7.1-10. TheSacredLaws of theAryas. TransApastambaDharmasutra
lated by Georg Biihler.Delhi, 1965, partII, p. 116-117.
82 ibid.
83 VasistaDharmasitra30.2. TheSacredLaws the

of
Aryas. Translatedby Georg
Biihler. Delhi, 1965, partI, p. 138.
84 ibid.
85 Manu 3.98.
86 Kane, vol. 2,
partI, p. 118 and vol. 2, part 11, p. 840.
87
CorpusInscriptionumIndicarum,vol. 1, Inscriptionsof ASoka. New Edition
E.
by Hultzsch,Oxford, 1925, p. 33-34.
88 See for instancethe
eighth,ninthand eleventhrock-inscriptionsof Kalsi, ibid.,
37-38.
p.
89 Fleet,
op.cit., p. 180 and 190.
90 Bhagavadgita17.20-22.
91
Bhagavadgita3.11-12.
92
AnguttaraNik&ya1.134. Translationp. 117.
93Dhammapila.Elucidationof the IntrinsicMeaningSo Namedthe Commentary
on the Peta-Stories. Translatedby U Ba Kyaw. Edited and Annotatedby Peter
Masefield. London, 1980, p. 10.
94 Dundas, Paul (1992). The Jains. London.
Routledge, p. 84. Schubring,
Walther(1962). TheDoctrineof the Jainas. Delhi, p. 174.
95 Jaini,P.S. (1974). TheJaina Path of Purification.Delhi, p. 112.
96 Quotedin Laidlaw,James(1995). Riches and Renunciation.Oxford,p. 193.
97 Kane vol. 2, part 1, p. 116.
318
Torkel Brekke
98 Gonda, Jan (1975). "'Gifts' and 'Giving' in the Rgveda." Selected Studies,
vol. 4, Leiden, p. 134.
99 Gombrich,RichardF. (1971). Precept and Practice. TraditionalBuddhismin
the RuralHighlands of Ceylon. Oxford,p. 248-9.
100See Laidlaw,op.cit, p. 296ff.
101Cort,JohnE. (1991). "TwoIdealsof the gvetimbarMurtipujakJainLayman."
Journalof Indian Philosophy 19, pp. 394 and 395.
102ibid., 193ff.
p.
103Dumont,op.cit., p. 117.
104Dakkhinavibhangasutta,
MajjhimaNikaya, edited by Lord Chalmers. London, 1951, p. 253ff. Translation:FurtherDialogues of the Buddha,London, 1927,
p. 299ff.
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ApastambaDharmaadstra.Editedandtranslatedby ManmathNath Dutt. New Delhi
1978.
Brekke,Torkel(1997). 'The Early Samgha and the Laity."Journal of the International Association of BuddhistStudies 20, 2, pp. 7-33.
Catu,parisatsatra.Waldschmidt,Ernst (1952). Das Catusparisatsutra.Eine kanonische Lehrschriftiber die Begriindungder buddhistischenGemeinde.Textin
Sanskritund Tibetisch,verglichenmit dem Pali nebst einer Obersetzungder
chinesischenEntsprechungim Vinayader Mulasarvastivtdins.Berlin.
Carrithers,Michael and Humphrey,Caroline(eds.) (1991). TheAssemblyof Listeners. Jains in Society. Cambridge.
Cort, John E. (1995). "DefiningJainism: Reform in the Jain Tradition."The 1994
Roop Lal Jain Lecture.Toronto.
Cort, John E. (1991). 'Two Ideals of the SvetimbarMartipujakJain Layman."
Journal of Indian Philosophy 19, pp. 391420.
Deo, S.B. (1956). History of Jain Monachism. FromInscriptionsand Literature.
Poona.
Dhammapada.Edited and translatedby S. Radhakrishnan.Oxford 1992.
Dhammapala.Elucidationof the IntrinsicMeaningSo Named the Commentaryon
the Peta-Stories. Translatedby U Ba Kyaw. Edited and Annotatedby Peter
Masefield. London 1980.
Dialogues of the Buddha(Digha Nikaya). Translatedby T.W.Rhys Davids. London
1977.
Dighanikaya.Edited by T.W.Rhys Davids and Estlin Carpenter.
Dtpavamsa.Edited by HermannOldenberg.London 1879.
Doniger,W. and Smith, BrianK. (1991). The Laws of Manu. Middlesex. Penguin.
319
Dumont, Louis (1980). Homo Hierarchicus. Complete Revised English Edition.

Translated by Mark Sainsbury, Louis Dumont and Basia Gulati. Chicago and
London. The University of Chicago Press.
Dundas, Paul (1987-88). 'The Tenth Wonder: Domestication and Reform in Medieval svetimbara Jainism." Indologica Taurinensia. Vol. XIV, pp. 182-194.
Dundas, Paul (1992). The Jains. London. Routledge.
Fleet, J.F. (1888). Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarwn, vol. III, Inscriptions of the early
Gupya Kings and their successors. Calcutta.
Gautama Dharmafdstra. Edited and translated by Manmath Nath Dutt. New Delhi
1978.
Giddens, Anthony (1979). Central Problems in Social Theory. Cambridge.
Gombrich, Richard F. (1971). Precept and Practice. Traditional Buddhism in the
Rural Highlands of Ceylon. Oxford.
Gombrich, Richard F. (1972). "'Merit transference' in Sinhalese Buddhism: a case
study of the interaction between doctrine and practice." History of Religions
11, pp. 203-219.
Gonda, Jan (1975). "'Gifts' and 'Giving' in the Rgveda" Selected Studies, vol. 4,
Leiden.
Heesterman, J.C. (1963). "Brahmin, Ritual and Renouncer." Wiener Zeitschrift fiir
die Kunde Sid- und Ostasiens, Band 7, 1963.
Jain Sitras. Translated by H. Jacobi. Delhi 1964.
Jaini, P.S. (1980). "Karma and the Problem of Rebirth in Jainism." In Karma and the
Problem of Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions. Edited by Wendy Doniger
O'Flaherty. Berkeley.
Jaini, P.S. (1974). The Jain Path of Purification. Delhi.
Kane, Pandurang Vaman (1974). History of Dharmafdstra. Vol. 2. Poona.
Laidlaw, James (1995). Riches and Renunciation. Oxford.
Lath, Mukund (1991). "Somadeva Suri and the question of Jain identity." In Carrithers, Michael and Humphrey, Caroline (eds.) (1991). The Assembly of
Listeners. Jains in Society. Cambridge, pp. 19-39.
Mahdvamsa. Edited by Wilhelm Geiger. London 1908.
Mahavamsa. Translated by Wilhelm Geiger. London 1964.
Majjhima Nikdya. Edited by V. Trenckner. Oxford 1948.
Majjhima Nikdya. Translated by I.B. Homer. London 1957.
Mauss, Marcel (1993). The Gift. Translated by W.D. Halls. Foreword by Mary
Douglas. London. Routledge.
Mdnava Dharmafdstra. Edited and translated by Manmath Nath Dutt. New Delhi
1978.
Mdnava Dharmafdstra. Translated by Wendy Doniger and Brian K. Smith. The
Laws of Manu. Middlesex 1991.
320
TorkelBrekke
Michaels,Axel (1997). "GiftandReturnGift, GreetingandReturnGreetingin India.

On a ConsequentialFootnoteby Marcel Mauss."Numen3, 44, pp. 242-269.
Norman,K.R. (1991). "The role of the layman accordingto the Jain canon." The
Assemblyof Listeners. Editedby Michael Carrithersand CarolineHumphrey.
Cambridge,pp. 31-39.
Oldenberg,H. (1894). Die Religiondes Veda. Berlin.
Paranavitana,S. (1970). ArchaeologicalSurveyof Ceylon. Inscriptionsof Ceylon,
vol. 1, Ceylon.
Parry,Jonathan(1986). 'The Gift, the IndianGift and the 'IndianGift'". Man: The
Journalof the Royal AnthropologicalInstitute,21.
Points of Controversy.Shwe Zan Aung and Mrs. Rhys Davids. London 1979.
Raheja,GloriaGoodwin (1988). The Poison in the Gif. Chicago and London.
Reynell, Josephine(1985). "Renunciationand Ostentation."CambridgeAnthropology, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 20-33.
Samantapdsddika.The Inception of Discipline and the Vinaya Nidina. Translation and Edition of the Bahiranidinaof Buddhaghosa'sSamantapasadika
by
N.A. Jayawickrama.Vol. 1. London 1962.
Sangave,Vilas A. (1959). Jain Community.A Social Survey.Bombay.
Schubring,Walther(1962). The Doctrine of the Jains. Delhi.
Shri AcharyaKunda Kunda. Samayasara. With translationand commentariesby
J.L. Jain. Delhi 1990.
Spiro, M.E. (1984). Buddhismand Society. Berkeley and Los Angeles. California
UniversityPress.
The MiddleLengthDiscourses of the Buddha. A New Translationof the Majjhima
Nikiya. BhikkhuNanamoliand BhikkhuBodhi. Boston 1995.
Theragathaand Therig&thi. Edited by HermannOldenbergand RichardPischel.
London 1966.
Theragatha.Translatedby Mrs. Rhys Davids. London 1913.
Therigatha.Translatedby Mrs. Rhys Davids. London 1932.
Trautmann,T.R. (1981). Dravidiankinship. Cambridge.
Upanisads.Translatedby PatrickOlivelle. Oxfordand New York 1996.
Uvasagadasoo.Editedand translatedby A.F.R. Hoernle. Calcutta1890.
Bombay.
VijayaDharmaSlri (1920). JaintattvadigdarSana.
VinayaPitakam Edited by HermannOldenberg. Vol. 1-5, London and Edinburgh
1879-1883.
VinayaPitakam. Translatedby I.B. Homer, London and Edinburgh1942-1966.
Williams, R. (1983). Jain Yoga. A Surveyof the MediaevalSrdvakacaras.Delhi.
Motilal Banarsidass.
YtjniavalkyaDharmasastra. Edited and translatedby ManmathNath Dutt. New
Delhi 1978.
BOOK REVIEWS
Luc BRISSON,
Orpheeet l'Orphismedans l'Antiquitegreco-romaine.Collected studies series, 476 - Aldershot:Variorum1995 (viii + 301 p.)
ISBN 0-86078453-3 US $87.50 (pbk.).
Among recent studies on Orphismwhich have followed the discoveryof
new evidence, a special positionmust be accordedto the reflectionsof Luc
Brisson. He has dedicatednumerousessays to the later Orphicliterature,
but above all he has attempteda comprehensiveinterpretation
of the Orphic
while
still
recent
has not
which,
contributions,
considering
phenomenon
abandonedthe rules of an acquiredprudence.These essays, spanningan arc
from 1985 to 1992, are now collected in the volume Orpheeet l'Orphisme
dans l'Antiquitegrdco-romaine,precededby an introductionwhich traces
theirunitarytheme.
The guiding threadof the book is the attemptto put the survivingfragments back into the context that is rightfullytheir own, in the conviction
that they obtain coherence only in terms of the philosophical system in
which they are embraced,notwithstandingthe antiquitythatit is possible to
recognize in this or that element.
As is well-known, the bulk of the direct evidence on Orphismcomes
down to us from the later Neoplatonists. It was a naturaltendency of the
Neoplatoniststo read Plato in a theologicalkey and to base the validityof
their reading, wheneverpossible, on illustratingPlatonic expressionswith
quotationsfrom the Orphicpoems. Hence, Brisson points out the risk for
someone who attemptsto read Plato in the mirrorof possible Orphicinfluences"to interpretPlato beginningfrom an alreadyPlatonizedOrphism"
(P. 5).
Neverthelessthe discoveryof the DerveniPapyrus,which has established
the datingof some elementsof the RhapsodicTheogoniesto the fourthcenturyB.C., has re-openedthe questionthat long seemed to have been closed
with the sceptical critiqueof Wilamowitzand Linforth(cf. on this subject
the recentStudieson the DerveniPapyrus,ed. A. Laks and G.W.Most, Oxford 1997). The datingof the OrphicTheogoniesis once again fundamental
as a key in which to read numerousPlatonicpassages, and more generally,
? Koninklijke
NUMEN,Vol.45
322
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as a frameworkfor a correct statement of the problem of the origins of

philosophy(at least in the morphologicalview advancedby Cornfordof a
mirroringof logical and religious structures).
M.L. West in The OrphicPoems (Oxford, 1983) has been the first to
attempta reconstructionof the Orphic theogony commentedupon in the
Derveni Papyrus. His exempligratia begins with the reign of Zeus, has
its centralmoment in the second world-ordercarriedout by Zeus after the
kataposisof Phanes, and reassumesthe firstcosmogonicalorderin four divine generations:Phanes-Gea-Ouranos-Kronos.
Despite whatmightwell be
expected,however,Westdoes not take this theogonicrisumdbackto the earliest attestedversion (the theogony of Eudemusmentionedby Damascius).
Instead,in reconstructingthe events precedingthe reign of Zeus on the basis
of the RhapsodicTheogonywhich began with Chronos,he singles out two
versions in the early tradition:an older one datingto the sixth century(the
ProtogonosTheogony,prototypeof the DerveniTheogony) havingChronos
as its principle, and a more recent one (the Eud.mian), which "madethe
originof thingsfromNight."These two versionswould be at the basis of the
cyclical Theogonies that,in turn,with the HieronymianTheogony(a 'modernized' elaborationof the ProtogonosTheogony) would come togetherin
the Rhapsodies.
West'sgenealogicallabyrinth(six theogonicversions in comparisonwith
the three enucleatedby Ker following Damascius)is impossibleto verify.
This puts Brisson in a good position to oppose the theogonicmultiplication
with the individuationof a minimumcriterionof orientation.On the basis
of the change of the first principle, which producesthe cosmic Egg (Nyx
or Chronos)- a changeinvolvinga shifting of the logical axis - Brisson
distinguishesbetween a traditiondating back probablyto the fifth century
B.C. andthe poems to whichthis traditioncouldhave given rise in successive
epochs.
The first four theogonies distinguishedby West (theogonies of Protogonos, of Derveni, of Eudemus,Cyclical theogonies), are tracedback to a
uniqueversionknownin the Greekworldbetweenthe fifth andsixth century
B.C. Of this all thatwe know is thatNight had a cosmogonicpriority,while
its outcome in the anthropogonywould be completely hypothetical.In this
case Linforth'sconclusionswould remainindisputable.
This earliest version would be the basis of the new two versions (the
Rhapsodicand the Hieronomynian),essentially distinguishableby the substitutionof Night with Chronos.Of these two the second (whereChronosis
Book reviews
323
bornfrom the waterand the materialof which the earthis composed)would

not be other than an ulteriorremouldingof the first,undertakento assurea
coincidencebetween Orpheus,Homer,and Hesiod on the question of first
principles(this thesis has been confirmedin his Chronosin ColumnXII of
the Derveni Papyrusin Studieson Derveni Papyrus,cit., pp. 149-165). In
this way the theogonicstemmaof Westis completelyoverturned:the model
placed by him at the origin shifts at the opening of the Christianera; the
derivationRhapsodies- HieronomynianTheogonyis reversed.The resemblanceof the IranianZrvanAkarana(EndlessTime) to the OrphicChronos
ageraos (Ageless Time), which for West (revisitingEisler) must guarantee
the antiquityof the ProtogonosTheogony,is in contradiction,accordingto
Brisson, for the early period with all the surviving references, of which
the testimony of Eudemus,who clearly distinguishedthe arche of the Orphics from that of the Magi, can be taken as recapitulation.Furthermore,
the customaryproof from Pindar(01. II, 17) to the contested fragmentof
Pherecydes(B1DK) appearsto Brissonfragile and unfounded.
The task of the researchis then to find, on anotherhistoricallevel, the
concrete link that can explain the theoreticalhomology singled out in the
two figures. Brissonfindsit in the MithraicAion-saeculum,the lion-headed
deity which borrowedmany features from the Persian Zrvan and which
sharedits iconographicrepresentationwith the OrphicPhanes. This leads
him to place between the end of the first centuryand the beginningof the
secondthe renewalof Orphism,on whichMithraismin full expansionwould
have exertedits influence. This date would permitexplainingthe presence
in the Rhapsodies of Stoic, Neo-Pythagorean,Middle-Platonicelements.
Finally,it would permitunderstandingwhy Neoplatonists,from Iamblicus
to Proclus,found in it tracesof a prefigurationof their own system.
Of the two poles between which Orphichermeneuticsoscillate - the
hypothesisof a unitarytraditionwhose broadlines it is possible to recognize from the archaicperiod, and the resumptionof the full-edged Orphic
mythologyin a laterepoch - Brisson orientshimself towardsthe second:
the possibility of reconstructingthe earliestmythologicalsubstratumis met
with substantialscepticism. Also, the anthropogony,which in its extreme
formulationappearsonly in the later Neoplatonistsbut has generallybeen
consideredthe necessaryoutcome of Orphicreligion from its beginning,is
limitedto the theologicalreformrealizedby the Rhapsodies,while the motif of human goodness and divinity,inheritedby the consubstantialitywith
Dionysus, is ascribedexclusivelyto Olympiodorus.The tale of the birthof
324
Book reviews
mankindfrom the ashesof the Titans,which fixes in an unexceptionableway

the cosmic dualismpresentin the humandrama,would really be the mystical interpretationof an alchemicoperation,createdad hoc by Olympiodorus
in his commentaryto the Phaedo, in orderto explain the unlawfulnessof
suicide: 'Therefore suicide is forbidden,not because ... we wear the body
as a kind of shackle ... but it is forbiddenbecause our bodies belong to
Dionysus;we are, in fact, a partof him, being made of the soot of the Titans
who ate his flesh" (OlympiodorusI, 3 - Westerink).
The competencewithwhichBrissonmoves amongthe Hellenisticsources
makes his argumentextremelypersuasive. The impression,however, remains that in some way the weight of the convergenceof the indirectevidence is undervalued.
Universitadi Salerno
Via Posillipo, 40
80123 Napoli, Italy
GIULIANA
SCALERA
MCCLNTOCK
Die Entdeckungder Religionsgeschichte.ReligionsHANSG. KIPPENBERG,

wissenschaftund Modere-Munich: C.H. Beck 1997 (342 p.) ISBN:
3-406-42882-7 (pbk.) DM 39.80.
During the last decade scholarshave become increasinglyaware of the
fact that the culturalprocess of modernitycauses changes not only in religious attitudesand behaviourbut also with regardto the academicstudy
of religions. Writingthe history of religions is not a mere collection and
presentationof given datathat can be right or wrong. The presentationof
a religious story leaves the safe harbourof "facts"and develops into an act
of creativitythat reflectsthe personalmeaningof the scholar.This meaning
is involved in and boundto a culturaldiscourseaboutreligion and history.
This is the point were Hans G. Kippenbergdepartsfrom when he tells
the (meta-) story of "the discoveryof the history of religions". He rightly
observes that the usualway of presentingthe developmentof Religionswissenschaft as an academicbranchfails to recognize the interlacingof the
culturalsetting with the scholarlytheories and methods. Kippenbergtakes
the periodbetween 1850 and 1920 to demonstratehow the discoveryof ancient cultures,the decipheringof previouslyunknownscriptsor the process
of disenchantmentshapedthe young Religionswissenschaft.Following the
? Koninklijke
NUMEN,Vol.45
Book reviews
325
discoursesof philology,anthropologyand sociology the authorshows how

people became awareof the importantrole religious attitudesplayed in the
history of mankind. The discoveries "were all counted as witnesses to a
past, estrangedculturethat lies before, in, beside or underthe presentcivilization"(p. 10). Thusthe historyof religionsbecame a meansto detectthe
hiddenforces underlyingthe processof culture. And philosophyof religion
became the historyof religions.
This book is an importantcontributionto the actualdiscussionof modernity and postmodernitythat has reached the academic study of religions.
It is intelligentlywrittenand fun to read. In the last chapterKippenberg
appliesthe resultsof his studyin a wider methodologicalcontextandraises
the questionwhetherto acknowledgethe qualityof fiction in the writingof
historydoes automaticallymean to hold it totally contingentor subjective.
The obviousprocessof hypothesesandfalsificationin the theoryof religions
shows that this is not the case. Still the dilemmaof relativismlurksin the
backgroundand needs furtherconsideration. Kippenbergsketches various
possible solutions but a detailedanalysis of that importantquestionis beyond the scope of his study. His task is to give a vivid historicaldescription
of the phenomenon.The discussionis worthbeing carriedon.
UniversitatBremen
Stg. Religionswissenschaft,FB 9
Postfach330440
D-28334 Bremen
KOCKU
VONSTUCKRAD
XNYINGZHANG,and MICHAEL
PYE (Eds.), Religion
DAI, KANGSHENG,
and Modernizationin China: Proceedingsof the Regional Conference
of the InternationalAssociationfor the History of Religions Held in
Beijing, China,April 1992. Cambridge:Roots and Branches(for the
Associationfor the Historyof Religions) 1995 (8 + 346 p.),
International
ISBN 0-9525772-0-8 (pbk.),$22.00.
Communistpartiesin powergenerallyview religiousorganizationsas rivals and religious adherenceas a perverselyvoluntarycontinuationof the
very feudalbehaviorwhose necessity Communismhas pledgedto eradicate.
With a remarkablevarietyof religious traditionsdatingback millenniaand
a currentresurgenceof religious practice, official China cannot overlook
? Koninklijke
NUMEN,Vol.45
326
Book reviews
the obvious daily evidencethatreligion continuesto play an importantpart

in Chinese life. Caught in this dilemma, the Chinese governmentis understandablyambivalentaboutthe study of religion. For these reasons,the
principalvalue of this volumeis that a conferenceon religion did take place
in China and that there is a book recordingit.
Particularlygiven its title, this is somethingof a strangebook. Most of
the non-Chinesecontributionsto the volume give accounts or make statements which have been made before by the same author or others; less
than half concern religion in China. Most of the Chinese contributionsare
somewhatcircumspectin coverageof subjectand mode of expression;most
of these, too, tend to be general,sometimes theological, statementsrather
than discussions of religionin China. The ostensible subject-religion and
modernizationin China-remains a difficult subject for open discussion.
(Stated simply, the unmentionedreality behind this topic is that China is
being successfully modernizedthrough Communism,but on a base that
was launched with substantialaid from Christianmissionaries,whose institutionaland disciplinaryinfluence persists.) Although historically and
currentlya formidableforce, 'Chinese popularreligion' gets only sporadic
mention. State Communismis the direct heir of state Confucianism,and
neitherof these "rationalist"
ideologies easily brooksthe exuberantand very
distractingaesthetic that an intimateand omnivorouspolytheismprovides.
(To the excruciatingembarrassmentof governmentand intellectuals,Mao
Zedong is now consideredby many to be a god, and, there have even been
attemptsto erect temples to him.) Importantscholars who have provided
substantialinsights into Chinese religion were not present at the conference (X. Ma, B. Han, L. Thompson,J. Ching, D. Sommer,D. Overmyer,
R. Taylor, S. Cahill, to note just a few). While occasionally mentioned
(most prominentlyin connectionwith Manichaeismby LutherMartin),syncretism,which is the overwhelmingleitmotifof Chinese religion, gets scant
attention.
These and other similarlacunaewould be substantialdefects in a purely
scholarly volume whose purposewas to add incrementallyto our general
understandingof religion in China. But this was not a gatheringof China
specialists all of whom know each other's work intimately,but an initial
get-acquaintedmeeting of a disparategroupof scholars,mostly generalists,
who did not know each othereither as people or as minds, and who were
largelyignorantof each other'swork. At the recordof thatkind of meeting,
the thirty-fivepieces collectedhere offer some interestinggems, albeitfrom
Book reviews
327
somewhatobliquelycut stones,which are scatteredrandomlythroughoutthe

book. An interestinginstanceis Dusan Luzny's account of the popularity
in the renewed Czech Republic of the Dalai Lama, Hare Krishna,yoga
and martialarts, suggesting that the 'turningEast' which has long been
documentedfor WesternEuropeand North is presentin EasternEuropeas
well. Anotheris MichaelPye's acute observationthat it is the non-Chinese
who exaggeratethe 'harmony'that they see in Chinese religion because of
theirignoranceof historicalperiodsof conflict.
However,most of the hidden gems of this book are to be found in the
implicationsof the Chinesecontributors.Statedin much differentways, the
separatepapersby X. Huang,X. Zhuo, Y. Chen, and G. He, collectivelyencompasstwo themeswhichhavebeen centralto the domesticmodernization
debatethroughoutthe pasttwo centuries:the need to preservethe uniqueness
of Chinese cultureand the need for a spiritualcorrectiveto the consuming
materialismwhich accompaniesthe prosperitybroughtby modernization.
Y. Chen's conclusionthatTaoistefforts to adaptto modernChinese society
'shouldbe based only on Chinaitself, [and]it should neverplace its hopes
on foreign aid or copy the Europeanand Americanmodel' (110) is much
sharperthanZ. Chen'scommentson the unifyingof the Protestantchurches
in China, but for both it is China at the center. X. Huang speaks historically, but leads directlyinto X. Zhou's insistence that 'modernizationitself
generatesproblemsthat increasethe needfor religion' (43, italics original),
to which G. He agrees in his section on 'The Need for Religion in Modernization'(pp. 277-328). Because too many of our China watchershave
been political scientists,the profoundand widespreadlongingsthat underlie
sporadicattemptsat eradicating'spiritualpollution' and preservingChina's
soul are too easily interpretedshallowly in termsof organizationalpolitics.
When it is finally analyzedin all of its complexity,the initial popularityof
the devastatingGreatProletarianCulturalRevolution(1966-1976), is certain to be found in a commonChinese sense that 'Moder China' as both a
spiritualand physicalrealityhas yet to be definedand is yet to assertitself.
Departmentof ComparativeReligion
WesternMichigan'University
Kalamazoo,MI 49008, U.S.A.
TIMOTHY
LIGHT
328
Book reviews
in collaboration with ANNEMARE

AL S. ASANIand KAMALABDEL-MALEK,
SCHIMMEL,
CelebratingMuhammad.Imagesof the Prophetin Popular
Muslim Poetry. Columbia: Universityof South CarolinaPress, 1995

(xv + 126 p.) ISBN 1-57003-050-2 (hc.) $34.95.
There have been innumerablestudies about the historical Muhammad
of seventh-centuryArabia. WorksaboutMuhammad'sspiritualrole in the
lives of pious Muslims throughthe ages, however,are few and far between.
Therefore,this book about"celebratingMuhammad:Imagesof the Prophet
in PopularMuslim Poetry"is to be welcomed.
First the prologue(pp. 1-9) and then the introduction(pp. 10-15, written
by AnnemarieSchimmel)acquaintnon-specialistreaderswith basic notions
about God, prophethoodand the venerationof the ProphetMuhammadin
Islam. The two partswhich follow deal with the venerationin two different
partsof the Muslim world, i.e., the Indiansubcontinentand Egypt. Part 1
(pp. 19-45) is abouttwo Indianpoets, namely 'Abdur-Ra'if Bhatti(d. 1752),
whose work was heavily influencedby the ruralfolk traditionsof the Sind
region, and secondly Muhsin Kakorawi(d. 1905), who belonged to the
sophisticatedurbancultureof NorthernIndia.
Part2 (pp. 49-74) examines a ballad in colloquial EgyptianArabic, describingthe Prophet'stradingjourneyto Syria and his marriageto Khadija.
One version of this ballad was publishedby Enno Littmannin 1950 (Mohammedim Volksepos. Ein neuarabischesHeiligenlied). Finally, an epilogue (pp. 75-80, writtenin collaborationwith AnnemarieSchimmel) and
two appendixesare given. Appendix1 (pp. 81-106) containsselectedpoems
translatedfrom Sindhi and Urdu and colloquial EgyptianArabic, whereas
Appendix 2 (pp. 107-109) describes some of the literaryforms employed
for composingpoetry in praiseof Muhammad.
KamalAbdel-Malekrightly criticizes "the excessive preoccupationwith
the texts" of Arab and Westernscholars "ratherthan the local contexts"
(p. 51). Yet the actual use of the poetry is lacking in this book. We are
told, for example, that the Egyptianballad has a strong anti-Christianand
anti-Jewish"us-versus-them"
dichotomy. Furthermoreit presentsa Christlike image of Muhammad(pp. 60-64). However,questionspertainingto the
backgroundof this balladand its functiontoday in Cairoare not asked.
? Koninklijke
NUMEN,Vol.45
Book reviews
329
This small book of an introductorynaturewhets the reader'sappetitefor

more.
Institutfur Ethnologie
Westf.Wilhelms-UniversititMiinster
StudtstraBe21
D-48149 Miinster
WERINGA
EDWIN
Travellerin Space. In Searchof FemaleIdentityin Tibetan

JUNECAMPBELL,
Buddhism London:The Athlone Press 1997 (225 p.) ISBN 0-48511494-1 (hb.) ?17.95.
This is certainlyone of the most importantbooks on TibetanBuddhism
which has been written in the last years. Starting from her own rather
traumaticexperience as a "secret consort"of a very high Tibetan lama,
Kalu Rinpoche, the authormanages not to remain within self-pity but to
of Tibetansociety a very clear, innovative
drawfrom her insider-knowledge
and convincinganalysisof the hierarchicalsystem of Tibet. She shows that
at the basis of TibetanBuddhisthierarchythere is a twofold exclusion of
women:
1. None but one of the many genealogies of so-called tulkus (i.e., consciously rebornhierarchslike e.g. the Dalai Lama, who is consideredto be
of the sameenlightenedperson),includesany females,
the 14threincarnation
and, moreover,every boy being recogni7Pd as a reincarnationhas to leave
his motheras a very small child (startingfrom aboutthree years of age) to
be educatedin the purelymale society of the monasteries.Therebythe boys
are deprivedof theirmothersat a much too early age while the women are
deprivedof their functionas mothers,which is partof their female identity
as well as of their importancefor society.
2. Tantricritualpracticesallow celibate monks from a certaingrade of
their spiritualdevelopmentonwardsto take a female consort secretly (i.e.,
while publiclyremainingcelibate)in orderto do the most advancedreligious
practicesleading to enlightenmentaccordingto Tantricdoctrine. Since the
woman does not have the right to speak to anybodyabout this secret relationship, she is totally dependenton the lama and does not have the same
right as the lama himself to teach her tantricexperiencesto others, especially to other women. So again the whole system, while being based on
? Koninklijke
NUMEN,Vol.45
330
Book reviews
the cooperationof women, does not in the least acknowledgetheirpartin it,

leave alone give them a position in the hierarchy.Tantricsexuality,which
is meant to be a voluntaryand mutualreligious practiceof two advanced
disciples,has been changedin Tibetto somethingvery nearto sexual instrumentali7ationif not misuse of the woman. Furthermorethe authorshows
thatseveralotherbasic assumptionsof TantricBuddhisttheoryand practice
are androcentricand do not cope with the spiritualneeds of women even in
areaswhere the social and psychologicalbackgroundof men and women is
different.
The book alreadybegan to incite discussions among Westernadepts of
TibetanBuddhism who find themselves more clearly now than before in
the need of rethinkinghow much of Tibetanreligion they want to adopt:
its very effective meditationmethods and liberationpath only or together
with it also the partlyrathersuppressiveand inegalitarianreligioushierarchy
which some lamas do consider to be inseparablefrom the teachings even
when the latterare being practisedin a Westernculturalcontext.
Some ratherspeculativeor even erroneouspassages(thereis no convincing evidence for the existence of the alleged prehistoricfemale predecessor
"Manipadma"of the BodhisattvaAvalokite?varain Chapter3; the etymology of Skt .ddkiniis surelyconnectedwith the sky, since BuddhistSanskrit
texts deriveit from the verbalroot dl- "to fly" and explainit as dkdsagamini
"female sky-goer", cf. Adelheid Herrmann-Pfandt,
Ddkinms:Zur Stellung
und Symbolikdes Weiblichenim tantrischenBuddhismus,Bonn, 1992, 115)
do not in the least diminishthe merit of this book, which shouldbe readby
all those being interestedeither in traditionalTibet, in Women'sStudies in
Religion or in the fascinatingprocess by which TibetanBuddhismis being
integratedinto Westernculture.
Europabadstr.1
D-35041 Marburg/Lahn
ADELHEID
HERRMANN-PFANDT
PUBLICATIONSRECEIVED
Periodicals
MonumentaNipponica,53 (1998), 1.
Historyof Religions, 37 (1998), 3
Bruce Lincoln,Rerwitingthe GermanWarGod: GeorgesDum6zil,Politics and
Scholarshipin the Late 1930s
HughB. Urban,The Tormentof Secrecy:EthicalandEpistemologicalProblems
in the Study of EsotericTraditions
David McMahan,Orality,Writing,and Authorityin South Asian Buddhism:
VisionaryLiteratureand the Strugglefor Legitimacyin the Mahayana
Book Reviews
Method& Theoryin the Studyof Religion, 10 (1998), 1
Ann Baranowski,A psychologicalcomparisonof ritualand musical meaning
Michael P. Levine,A cognitive approachto ritual:New method or no method
at all?
Responses:
Robert N. McCauleyand E. Thomas Lawson, Interactionismand the nonobviousness of scientifictheories:A responseto Michael P. Levine
Michael P Levine,Rejoinderto Lawson and McCauley
Hans Penner,Letterto the Editors
Review Symposium(WalterBurkert,The Creationof the Sacred)
Books
(Listingin this section does not precludesubsequentreviewing)
Olson, Carl, The IndianRenouncerand PostmodernPoison. A Cross-CulturalEncounterSeries:New Perspectivesin PhilosophicalScholarship.TextsandIssues,
7-New York/Washington/Baltimore/Bern/ Frankfurtam Main/ Berlin/ Vienna/ Paris:PeterLang, 1997, 367 p., DM 100.00, ISBN 3-8204-3022-(cloth).
NUMEN, Vol. 45
342
Gessel, Ben H.L. van, Onomasticonof the Hittite Pantheon.Series: Handbookof

OrientalStudies, 1. Abt.: The Near and MiddleEast, ed. by H. Altenmiiller,B.
Hrouda,B.A. Levine, R.S. O'Fahey,K.R. Veenhof,C.H.M. Versteegh,vol. 33,
Part 1 and 2-Leiden, New York,Koln, E. J. Brill, 1998, 1069 p., US$ 256.00,
ISBN 90-04-10809-2 (cloth).
Miller, Timothy (Ed.), America'sAlternativeReligions. SUNY Series in Religious
Studies, ed. by HaroldCoward-Albany, NY, State Universityof New York
Press, 1998, 474 p., $24.95, ISBN 0-7914-2398-0 (pbk.).
Merkur,Dan, The EcstaticImagination.PsychedelicExperiencesandthe Psychoanalysis of Self-Actuali7ation-Albany,NY, State University of New York Press,
1998, 226 p., $19.95, ISBN 0-7914-3606-3 (pbk.).
Watts, Dorothy, Religion in Late Roman Britain.Forces of Change-London and
New York,Routledge, 1998, 208 p., ?45.00, ISBN 0-415-11855-7 (cloth).
Blundell, Sue and MargaretWilliamson(Eds.), The Sacred and the Feminine in
AncientGreece-London andNew York,Routledge,1998, 192 p., ?12.99, ISBN
0-415-12663-0 (pbk.).
Laursen,John Christianand CaryJ. Nederman(Eds.), Beyond the PersecutingSociety. Religious TolerationBefore the Enlightenment-Philadelphia,PA, University of PennsylvaniaPress, 1998, 288 p., ISBN 0-8122-1567-2 (pbk.).
Ridgeon, Lloyd V.J., 'Aziz Nasafi. CurzonSufi Series-Richmond, Surrey,Curzon
Press, 1998, 234 p., ?14.99, ISBN 0-7007-1914-0 (pbk.).
McCalla, Arthur,A RomanticHistoriosophy.The Philosophy of History of PierreSimonBallanche.Series:Brill'sStudiesin IntellectualHistory,vol. 82-Leiden,
New York, Koln, E.J. Brill, 1998, 464 p., US$ 152.50, ISBN 90-04-10967-6
(cloth).
Slingerhand,H. Dixon, ClaudianPolicymakingand the EarlyImperialRepressionof
Judaismat Rome. SouthFloridaStudies in the History of Judaism,vol. 160Atlanta, Georgia, ScholarsPress, 1997, 283 p., $69.95, ISBN 0-7885-0425-8
(cloth).
Burkert,Walter,KlassischesAltertumund antikesChristentum.Series: Hans-Lietzmann-Vorlesungen,1-Berlin and New York,Walterde Gruyter,1996, 52 p.,
DM 28.00, ISBN 3-11-015543-5 (pbk.).
343
Zinser,Hartmut,Der Marktder Religionen-Miinchen, Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1997,

176 p., DM 38.00, ISBN 3-7705-3257-0 (pbk.).
Blazquez, Jose Maria,Intelectuales,ascotasy demonios al final de la antigiiedadMadrid,EdicionesCitedra, 1998, 566 p., ISBN 84-376-1499-6 (pbk.).
Vitalone,Mario,The PersianReviyat "Ithoter'.ZoroastrianRitualsin the Eighteenth
Century.Series:IstitutoUniversitarioOrientale,Dipartimentodi Studi Asiatici,
Series Minor,XLIX-Napoli, Gallo, 1996, 301 p.
Pietri, Charles,ChristianaRespublica.llements d'une enquete sur le christianisme
antique.3 vol. Series: Collectionde l',cole Francaisede Rome, 234-Rome,
,cole Francaisede Rome, 1997, 1684 p., ISBN 2-7283-0382-7 (pbk.).
Diez de Velasco, Francisco,Termalismoy religi6n.La sacralizaci6ndel aguatemnal
en la PeninsulaIbericay el norte de Africa en el mundo antiguo. 'Ilu.Revista
de Cienciasde las Religiones,MonograffasNumero1, 1998-Madrid, Servicio
de publicacionesUniversidadComplutense,1998, ISSN 1138-4972 (pbk.).
Doniger, Wendy,The Implied Spider.Politics and Theology in Myth-New York,
(cloth).
Lopez, Jr., Donald S., Prisonersof Shangri-La.TibetanBuddhismand the WestChicago and London,The Universityof Chicago Press, 1998, 283 p., ?19.95,
ISBN 0-226-49310-5 (cloth).
Rigopoulos,Antonio, Dattitreya.The ImmortalGuru,Yogin, and Avatira.A Study
of the Transformativeand Inclusive Characterof a Multi-FacetedHindu Deity. SUNY Series in Religious Studies, ed. by Harold Coward-Albany, NY,
State Universityof New YorkPress, 1998, 342 p., $29.95, ISBN 0-7914-36969 (pbk.).
Pearson,Joanna,RichardsH. Robertsand GeoffreySamuel (Eds.), NatureReligion
Today.Paganismin the ModernWorld-Edinburgh,EdinburghUniversityPress,
1998, 222 p., ?12.95, ISBN 0-7486-1057-X (pbk.).
Frosen,Jaakko(Ed.), Early HellenisticAthens Symptomsof a Change.Papersand
Monographsof the FinnishInstituteat Athens,vol. VI-Helsinki, Foundationof
the FinnishInstituteat Athens,1997, 226 p. + XVI plates,ISBN 951-95295-7-8
(pbk.).
344
Poirier,Vronique, Ashk6nazeset S6farades.Une 6tudecompa6eede leurs relations

en Franceet en Israel(annees 1950-1990)-Paris, Les editions du Cerf, 1998,
312 p., FF 195.00, ISBN 2-204-05802-5 (pbk.).
Lev8que,Pierre,Bestias, dioses y hombres.El imaginariode las primerasreligiones.
Series:Arias montano,vol. 22-Huelva, Servicio de PublicacionesUniversidad
de Huelva, 1997, 226 p., ISBN 9-788488-751492 (pbk.).
NEW APPOINTMENTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL

ASSOCIATION FOR THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS (IAHR)
ARMINW. GeK'IZ
General Secretary of the IAHR
During May 22-25, 1998 approximately120 scholarsfrom Europeand
elsewherein the worldconvergedon the old city of Hildesheim,just southof
Hannover,to discuss the "Historyof Religions in Europe".The conference
was designatedan IAHRRegionalConferenceand was hostedby one of the
vice-presidentsof the IAHR, Prof. Dr. Dr. Peter Antes, from the Seminar
fiir Religionswissenschaftat the Universityof Hannover.
The conference was formulatedin relation to the coming international
world fair EXPO 2000 to be held in Hannoverand its surroundings.The
EXPO 2000 has the theme "Mankind-Nature-Technology"
(see the website:
and
because
the
events
already announcedare
http://www.EXP02000.de),
was
or
it
the
of
hope the conferenceorgapurely technological ecological,
nizer that historiansof religions could contributeinsights on the theme in
relationto religion. The conferencewas a greatsuccess both professionally
and socially, the latter especially due to the fact that Hildesheim held a
colorful city festival that same weekend.
Froman organi7ational
pointof view, the IAHR was stronglyrepresented
at the conference,not the least due to the financialefforts of Peter Antes.
The resultwas thatthe ExecutiveCommitteeof the IAHRmet in its entirety
for the firsttime since the elections in Mexico City in 1995. Furthermore,a
large numberof delegateswere presentat the meeting of the International
Committeeof the IAHR, which is its democraticbody. Both bodies functioned effectively and creativelyon a numberof issues and events, and the
resultswill be announcedin detail in the next IAHRBulletin as well as the
IAHRBulletin Supplement.This short reportconcerns three importantannouncements.The firstannouncementconcernsthe changeof the managing
editors of Numen. As is well-known,Numen is the official journal of the
IAHR.The managingeditors,Prof. Hans G. Kippenberg(Bremen)and Prof.
E. ThomasLawson (Kalamazoo),act on behalf of an internationaleditorial
board consisting of the Executive Committeeof the IAHR. The Editorial
? Koninklijke
NUMEN,Vol.45
332
Announcement
Boardmeets in conjunctionwith the annualExecutiveCommitteemeetings

in orderto receive a reportfrom the managingeditors and to discuss matters of policy. The IAHR appointsthe managingeditorsin agreementwith
the Publisher,E.J. Brill, for a periodof five years, renewablefor a second
period of five years, after which new editors shall be appointed.The managing editors edit the journal and act as sole representativesof the IAHR
in all dealings with regardto the publicationof the journal.The managing
editors are chosen for their knowledge of the activities of the IAHR and
commitmentto its stated goals; their scholarly standingin the field; a senior position which allows some flexibility,access to facilities, and time to
travel;some possibility of delegatingsubordinatetasks; previous editorial
experience;proven record of helpful collaborationwith others; ability to
work to d^a1lines;excellent commandof English and some knowledge of
otherlanguages;and awarenessof currentdebatesin the study of religion.
The IAHR has attemptedto introducean alternatesuccession of editorial
appointmentsto ensure that only one editor retires at the end of each five
yearperiod,andthe presenteditorsgraciouslyagreedto extendtheirtermsof
office a numberof yearsago in orderto make an alternatesuccessionprocess
possible. However,after carefuldeliberationsbetween the ExecutiveCommittee,the managingeditorsand E.J. Brill, it was unanimouslydecidedthat
both of the presenteditorswill retireat the XVIIIthQuinquennialCongress
of the IAHR in Durban,South Africa on August 5-12, 2000. By then, Prof.
Hans G. Kippenbergwill have given us twelve years of service and Prof.
E. Thomas Lawson ten years. Their skill and editorialproficiencyhas left
an indelibleimpressionon the IAHRand has met with widespreadacclaim.
Numenis the flagshipof the IAHR. It has a proudtraditionof qualityand
internationalcoverage, and both Prof. Kippenbergand Prof. Lawson have
carriedthis traditiononwardas well as kept the journalin tune with current
developmentsin our subject.
The ExecutiveCommitteeis happyto announcethe appointmentof ProfessorEinarThomassen,Universityof Bergen,Norway,andProfessorMichel
Despland, ConcordiaUniversity,Montreal, Canadaas the new managing
editors of Numen. Their formal period of appointmentis for the five year
period of 2000-2005, and duringthe coming two years up to the Durban
Congress,the practicaltransferof editorialprocedureswill be effectuated.
All manuscriptsand other mattersthat concern the issues appearingfrom
2000 (XLVII/3)should be sent to the incoming managingeditors.
Announcement
333
EinarThomassenis a graduateof Bergenand St. Andrewsand has taught

at the universitiesof Bergen,Uppsalaand Oslo. In 1993 he became professor in the historyof religionsat the Universityof Bergen.EinarThomassen
servedas secretaryof the NorskReligionshistoriskForening(NRF) 1990-94,
andhas been its presidentsince 1994. He has servedas head of the Institute
of Classics, Russianandthe Historyof Religionsat the Universityof Bergen
since 1995. His mainfields of interestare early Christianityand gnosticism,
and Islam, especiallyIslamicmysticism.He has publishedLe TraiteTripartite (1989), Den filologiske vitenskap(1990, with Odd EinarHaugen),and
TheLettersofAhmad b. Idris (1993, with Berd Radtke).His interestsalso
includehermeneutictheory,canonicity,orthodoxyand heresy,ritualtheory,
and religious educationin schools. While committedto the continuedimportanceof classical fields and methods in the history of religions, he is
also an advocate of philosophicallyand sociologically informedtheoretical awarenessin the discipline.He is currentlypreparinga monographon
Valentiniangnosticism, a text book on Christianityfor history of religions
students,and a source book on the majorreligions for religious education
teachersin Norwegianprimaryschools. Prof. Thomassen'saddressis Departmentof the Historyof Religions, Universityof Bergen, 0isteinsgate 3,
N-5007 Bergen, Norway (e-mail:Einar.Thomassen@krr.uib.no).
Michel Desplandis a graduateof Lausanneand HarvardUniversitiesand
has been teachingat ConcordiaUniversity,Montr6al,Quebec,since 1966. He
has servedamongthingsas presidentof a Soci&6tqu6b6coisepourl'6tudede
la religion (SQtR). He is the authorof books on the philosophyof religion:
Kanton Historyand Religion(1973) and TheEducationof Desire. Plato and
the Philosophyof Religion (1985). His work on the history of the concept
of religion (La Religion en Occident.tvolution des idees et du vecu, 1979,
1988) led him to furtherstudieson 19th centuryFrance.One of its dimensions has been a plea for the use of literaryevidence and for new strategies
in writing modem religious history (Readingan Erased Code. FrenchLiterary Aesthetics and RomanticReligion, 1994). Another dimensionis the
explorationof the historyof the disciplinedstudy of religion:togetherwith
LouisRousseau,Les sciences religieusesau Qudbecdepuis1972 (1988), and
La traditionfranfaise en sciences religieuses (1991). Another publication
thatis forthcomingis Les sciences religieusessous la Monarchiede Juillet.
Prof.Despland'saddressis D6partementdes sciences religieuses,Universit6
Concordia,1455, boulevardde Maisonneuveouest, Montreal,Quebec,H3G
1M8 Canada(e-mail:desplan@vax2.concordia.ca).
334
Announcement
The Executive Committeeformally recognized at its meeting in Turku

in 1997 the need for a separateReviews Editor. Since 1990, Dr. Brigitte
Luchesi at the Universityof Bremen has done an excellent job in that capacity. Therefore,the ExecutiveCommitteeformally appointedDr. Brigitte
Luchesi for a five yearperiodas Reviews Editor(1998-2003) at its meeting
in Hildesheim. Brigitte Luchesi was born in Vienna, Austriaand grew up
in Germany.After earninga degreein sociology at the Universityof Frankfurt/Main(1969), she movedto Berlin for furthertrainingin Jewish Studies,
Religious Studies and Social Anthropology.She completedher Ph.D. in Social Anthropologyin 1982. She taught at the Institutefor Jewish Studies,
Free UniversityBerlin,between 1970 and 1975 and at the Institutefor Social
Anthropology,Berlin, from 1980 until her move to Bremenin 1989 where
she took up an appointmentin the Departmentof Religious Studies at the
Universityof Bremen.Her fields of academic interestinclude Hindu Religions, Social Anthropologyof Religion and Visible Religion. Since 1978
she has undertakenregularfieldtripsfirst to Bangladeshand then to North
India to study local forms of religiosity, especially among Hindu women.
Since 1990 she has assistedthe editorsof Numenin publishingthe journal,
and she has also served as treasurerof the Deutsche Vereinigungfur Religionsgeschichte(DVRG).Heraddressis UniversitatBremen,Fachbereich9,
Postfach330440, D-28334 Bremen,Germany(e-mail:luchesi@religion.unibremen.de).
We welcome this new team and wish them all the best.
The final importantannouncementto be made concernsthe appointment
of a new treasurerof the IAHR. Since his election in Mexico City in 1995,
ProfessorDonald Wiebe at TrinityCollege, Universityof Toronto,Canada
has served faithfullyas the treasurerof the IAHR. Duringthe International
Committeemeeting in Hildesheim,however,he announcedthathe was retiring from that office for reasonsof health.Donald Wiebe has been a leading
figurein the IAHR andat IAHRevents for severaldecades.His unwavering
intellectualstatureandhis wisdom in organizationalmattershave long been
sourcesof inspirationto all of us. We are all gratefulfor his service through
the years. The sadnessof his leaving the Executive Committeeis, however,
off-set by the fact that he will continue to be a source of inspirationand
debate in futureIAHR events.
The constitutionof the IAHR states in article4.c thatin the event of the
resignationof any servingofficer,a suitablereplacementmay be nominated
by the Executive Committeeuntil the next quinquennialcongress. After
Announcement
335
deliberatingon the matter,the Executive Committeeasked ProfessorGary

Lease at the Universityof Californiain SantaCruz,USA, if he wouldtakeup
the job as treasureruntilDurban2000. Because of his scholarlyand organizationaltalentsas well as his continuedsupportof the IAHR,it is the considered opinionof the ExecutiveCommitteethatProf. Lease would be a fitting
officerof the IAHR.Prof.Leasegraciouslyagreedto acceptthe appointment.
Gary Lease was born in Hollywood, Californiaand is professorof History of Consciousnessat the Universityof California,SantaCruz,wherehe
has served as chairof ReligiousStudies, Historyof Consciousnessand EnvironmentalStudies.He has also served as Associate Chancellorand Dean
of Humanities.GaryLease took his doctoratein 1968 at the Universityof
Munich in the history of theology. His extensive publicationsare concentratedin the historyof religiousthoughtin 19th and 20th centuryGermany
(editions of Harnackand Sohm; articles on religion and National Socialism; GermanJ,idaism,especiallyin his book "OddFellows" in the Politics
of Religion: Modernism,National Socialism, and GermanJudaism,Berlin
1995; a book-lengthbiographyand study of Hans-JoachimSchoeps); late
religioushistory (articlesand essays on Mithraism;
antiquityMediterranean
the book Tracesof Early EgyptianMonasmonasticism,
including
Egyptian
ticism, Claremont1991; NearEasternarchaeology);and theoriesof religion
(articles and essays as well as a forthcomingbook on religion and historiographicaltheories;religion and politics; religion as ideology and cultural
artifact).Among other organizations,he is a memberof the AmericanResearchCenterin Egypt(ARCE);AmericanSociety for the Studyof Religion
(ASSR), of which he is its currentsecretary;InternationalAssociation for
Coptic Studies (IACS);and the North AmericanAssociationfor the Study
of Religion (NAASR), of which he is its currentexecutive secretary.His
addressis MerrillCollege, Universityof California,SantaCruz,CA 95064,
USA (e-mail: rehbock@cats.ucsc.edu).
The Executive Committeewelcomes Prof. Lease and looks forwardto
workingwith him.
ARMINW. GEERTZ
Dept. of the Study of Religion
Main
Universityof Aarhus,
Building
DK-8000 AarhusC, Denmark
e-mail: geertz@teologi.aau.dk
11/religionswissenschaft/iahr)
(http://www.uni-marburg.de/fb
ANNOUNCEMENT
18th Quinquennial Congress of the International Association
for the History of Religions
5-12 August, 2000, Durban, South Africa
Callfor Panels and Papers
CongressTheme:The Historyof Religions: Originsand Visions
The InternationalAssociationfor the History of Religions (IAHR) is an
internationalbody of nationaland regionalsocieties for the academicstudy
of religion. It is a memberof the Conseil internationalde la philosophie
et des sciences humaines (CIPSH) under UNESCO. Throughits regional
and internationalcongresses it brings together scholars from around the
world to discuss, debate and exchange views on their subject. The Executive Committeeof the IAHR met in August 1997 in Turku,Finlandand
unanimouslydecided to hold its XVIIIthCongressin the year 2000 in Durban, South Africa.The Departmentof Science of Religion at the University
of Durban-Westville,in co-operationwith key membersof the Association
for the Study of Religion in SouthernAfrica, has been requestedto host the
event. This upcomingCongressin August 2000 is significantfor a number
of reasons.First,it will be the firstIAHR congress ever held on the African
continent.Second, the IAHR Congressin the year 2000 will coincide with
the 50th anniversaryof the foundingof the IAHR in Amsterdam.Third,it
will also markthe 100th anniversaryof scientific congresses in the History
of Religions.
Several questions arise as the year 2000 draws near. First, it will be
appropriateto take stock and reflect on where we as an internationalbody
of scholars engaged in a common scholarly enterpriseare coming from.
What are the central themes, the importantempirical areas, the debated
issues and the sharedapproachesthat have carriedus to this point in time?
In which parts of the world have we succeeded and why? How has the
history of religions contributedto educationaland culturaldevelopmentin
? Koninklijke
NUMEN,Vol.45
Announcement
337
general? Second, it will also be appropriateto discuss directions for the

future.In what ways does increasingglobalisationchange the natureof the
subjectof our study?What methodologicaland theoreticalapproachesare
most approptiateto these challenges?Is the history of religions capableof
dealingwith these new developments,and is the IAHR doing what it can in
these respects?Are we trulyengaged in a common endeavour?
The DurbanCongressseeks in particularto promotethe cross-cultural,interdisciplinary,comparativistand criticalstudy of religion,as well as newer
and neglected areas of research,ratherthanjust the tradition-specificsections which have characterisedprevious congresses. There is also a concer to examine, whereverappropriate,the links between the theoretical,
methodological,empirical,and pedagogical aspects of our field of study.
To this end, a numberof panels and symposia are alreadybeing planned
on religious edication, multiculturalism,the political economy of religious
studies, fieldwork,texts and textuality,comparativism,globalisation,syncretism,millennialism,shamanism,spirituality,religion and humanrights,
civil society, media, cyberspace,diaspora,materialand expressiveculture,
gender,ecology, healing,literature,cognition,culturalstudies,tourism,etc.
Severalof these themes will highlight the rich diversityof religious traditions in Africa, not least South Africa, and the heritageof several decades
of Africanscholarshipon the study of religion.
KeyDates
1. Proposalsfor panels, symposia and roundtablesto reach the Secretariaton or before 30 November 1998.
2. Proposalsfor individualpapersto reach the Secretariaton or before
31 March 1999.
3. Accepted proposalswill be notifiedby 30 June to 31 August 1999.
4. All participantswhose proposals have been accepted should preregisteron or before 31 December 1999 in orderto be on the programme.No exceptionswill be made in this regard.
5. Final registrationmaterialswill be sent to pre-registeredparticipants
by 30 April 2000.
6. All requestsfor the Reduced RegistrationFee (for participantsfrom
countrieswith weakercurrencies)must arriveat the Secretariatwith
appropriatedocumentationon or before 31 December 1998.
338
Announcement
7. On site registrationonly for participantswho are not presentingpapers.

AcademicProgramme
1. Keynoteaddresses
The keynote addressesare given by distinguishedscholarswho are invited
by the CongressAcademic ProgrammeCommittee.
2. Plenarysessions
Plenarysessions consist of responsesby a panel of expertsto the keynote
addresses.
3. Panels
Panels consist of three panelists (possibly four) with a panel conveneras
the chair.The durationis 2 hours.The proposalshould contain the title of
the panel, the names and institutionalaffiliationsof the panelists,and a 150
word abstractof the topic. The proposalshould be sent by the convener.
Note: convenersmay decide to leave panels partiallyopen to allow for later
submissionsonce the panel is advertized.
4. Symposia
Groupsof scholarsengaged in a particularprojectwhich will likely lead
to publicationmay submit a proposalfor a symposium.It is expected that
these groupswill circulatetheirpapersfor discussionpriorto the congress.
The proposal should contain the title of the symposium, the names and
institutionalaffiliationsof panelists (if possible), and a 150 word abstract
of the topic. The durationof the symposiumis 2 hours.Additionalsessions
can be arranged.
5. Roundtablesessions
Roundtablesessions consist of a maximumof 10 participantsarounda
table.These are meantfor more detaileddiscussionamongscholarson their
respectiveresearchprojects.Space for these sessions is limited. Proposals
for these sessions should consist of the title of the paper, full name and
institutionalaffiliationof the presenter,anda 150 wordabstract.Those whose
proposalsare acceptedare stronglyurgedto send 10 copies of the complete
paperin advancefor circulationamongthose who registerfor the roundtable
sessions.Scholarsareencouragedto advertisetheirown proposedroundtable
sessions to ensure maximumparticipation.
Announcement
339
6. IndividualPapers
Every attemptwill be made to organiseindividualpapers into coherent
sessions. In any given session therewill be threepaperslasting 90 minutes.
Proposalsfor individualpapersshould consist of the title of the paper,full
name and institutionalaffiliationof the presenter,and a 150 word abstract.
Exhibitors'Information
Book sellers, publishers,and others are invited to exhibit their products
at the congresssite. Those who wish to exhibit books, computers,software,
etc., shouldcontactthe Secretariatfor detailsregardingthe exhibition.Space
is limited and thereforewe encourageprospectiveexhibitorsto book well
in advance.Please contactthe addressbelow for more details.
Guidelinesfor Submission
Furtherdetails on Durbanand the Congress (e.g. accomodation,travel,
tourism,etc.) may be found on the Congresswebsite at
<http://www.udw.ac.za/iahr>
Questionsregardingpaneland paperproposalsmay be directedto Professor RosalindI.J. Hackett(Chair,CongressAcademicProgrammeCommittee) at <rhackett@utk.edu>
Panelproposalswill be postedearly 1999 to encouragepapersubmissions.
Individualpapersmay be submittedindependentof any panel, but wherever
possible shouldreflectthe congresstheme.
All final panel and papersubmissions,and questionsregardingthe organizationof the congress,shouldbe sent to:
Prof. P. Kumar
Directorof the IAHR Congress
PO Box 1376
UmhlangaRocks
Durban4320, South Africa
Tel: 027-31-562-9461;027-31-562-9416
Fax: 027-31-562-9945
E-mail: velia@iafrica.com
CongressWebsite:http://www.udw.ac.za/iahr
340
Announcement
Reminder Due date for panel proposals is 30 November 1998 and for
papers,30 April 1999.
Departmentof Science of Religion
Universityof Durban-Westville
PrivateBag X54001
Durban4000, South Africa
PRATAPKUMAR

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INI'ERNATIONALREVIEW FOR THE

Guy G. Stroumsa,Hidden Wisdom: Esoteric Traditionsand the

110, 226, 341

a retrievalsystem, or transmittedin anyform or by any means, electronic,

THE RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OF GLOBAL SOCIETY:

Religion, World Religions, and Globalization

The foundationsof this critiqueare multiple. First, the academic

The Religious System of Global Society

religion and the religions are mattersof practicalconsensus, not of

ical, legal, economic, scientific, educational,and medical systems.

The Religious System of Global Society

The view begins withthe idea thatthe exceedinglycomplexprocess

The ReligiousSystemof Global Society

The ReligiousSystemof Global Society

category of action or way of communicatingwhich manifests itself

instancea modem economy. This system centreson the exchangeof

The Religious System of Global Society

Here cannotbe the place to defend in any detail the contemporary

The ReligiousSystemof Global Society

yielded states and not the state, so the emergingWesternreligious

Roman church above all throughits sacraments.Differentiationon

TheReligiousSystemof Global Society

relativizationand identificationby setting up Christianityas but one

In spite of this ambiguityor even weakness, the imperialproject

less still a recognizablesystem. The categoryof religionas a distinct

The ReligiousSystemof Global Society

for, found, and helped revive broaderinterestin Hindu (and other)

Religion, his admirersbelieved, was one area in which India had

The ReligiousSystemof Global Society

like the others,has undergonevarioustransformations

The ReligiousSystemof Global Society

other forms of extra-humanagency. Here we have not resistanceto

The ReligiousSystemof Global Society

developedas subsystemsin the global political system. As with the

of observation that is part of the actual formation and reproduction

The ReligiousSystemof Global Society

A final question concernsthe possibilities of new subsystemsof

Those who say that it is inappropriate

comparativereligions,historyof religions, the academic

The Religious System of Global Society

cannotbe the basis of a theoryof religionbecauseexchangeis the centrepieceof the

Harrison,Peter (1990) 'Religion'and the Religions in the English Enlightenment.

The Religious System of Global Society

Thapar,Romila (1989) "ImaginedReligious Communities?AncientHistoryand the

SAMARITAN TABERNACLE DRAWINGS

The Mosaic Tabernacle plays an important role in the Samaritan

Samaritan Tabernacle Drawings

more recent times, both traditionsproduceddrawingsof their sacra

Samaritan Tabernacle Drawings

extantsamples. It will be based on a study of all known specimens,

Samaritan Tabernacle Drawings

;1lM rlnx lnp

n 'Ty aral 'v (sic) 'pi? ''n y> xi on,sn,

Samaritan Tabernacle Drawings

Isaac b. Sadaqa of the ytrnh family, the artist of the engraving

As mentionedabove, one of the drawingsis believed to date from

Tabernacle;one of themcontainsalso a stone on which the Holy Ark

In additionto this stylisticconsideration,thereare the inscriptions

Purvis believes that it is possible that the drawingsby Jacob ben

early 16th cent. Samaritanmanuscriptsafterthe early 16th cent. are

Samaritan Tabernacle Drawings

In tryingto date the traditionof SamaritanTabernacleillustrations,