Ch 2 The Old Sciences of Religion

Abstract

Before we examine the new sciences of religion, we need to take a quick survey of the old sciences of religion that arose in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By doing so, we will come to recognize the challenges of creating any kind of science of religion. Along the way, we will discover certain patterns of thought and concepts that persist in our contemporary approaches to explaining and understanding religious and spiritual phenomena.

Full text

!
The New Sciences of Religion
Copyright ©William Grassie
Please send corrections, comments, and feedback to
grassie@metanexus.net
!
!
!
!
!
!
Metanexus Imprints
New York, NY
All rights reserved.
First published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2010.
Re-released as a Metanexus Imprint in 2019.
ISBN: 9781070628325
!
!
!
!
Cover!image:!The!dome!of!the!Church!of!the!Holy!Sepulcher,!
Jerusalem.!Photograph!by!Jeff!Lefever!©!2009.!
https://www.lefever.com!

!
!
i!
Table of Contents
Preface'to'the'2019'Edition'........................................................................................'iii!
'
Acknowledgements'.........................................................................................................'ix!
Permissions'......................................................................................................................'xiii!
'
Introduction'........................................................................................................................'1!
PART'ONE:''Religion'from'the'Outside'In'............................................................'19!
!
Chapter!1:!!The!Challenge!of!!Comparative!Religion!................................!21!
Chapter!2:!The!Old!Sciences!of!Religion!........................................................!41!
Chapter!3:!The!Economics!of!Religion!...........................................................!65!
Chapter!4:!The!Evolution!of!Religion!..............................................................!99!
Chapter!5:!!The!Cognitive!Neurosciences!of!Religion!...........................!127!
Chapter!6:!!The!Medicine!of!Religion!...........................................................!153!
PART'TWO:''Religion'from'the'Bottom'Up'.......................................................'181!
!
Chapter!7:!!The!Narratives!of!Religion!........................................................!183!
Chapter!8:!!The!New!Religion!of!Science!....................................................!219!
Chapter!9:!God-By-Whatever-Name!............................................................!257!
Chapter!10:!!Reiterations!and!Reflections!.................................................!289!
'
About'the'Author'.........................................................................................................'301!
Bibliography'..................................................................................................................'303!
!

!
!
41!
Chapter 2:
The Old Sciences of Religion
Before!we!examine!the!new!sciences!of!religion,!we!need!to!take!a!
quick!survey!of!the!old!sciences!of!religion!that!arose!in!the!
nineteenth!and!early!twentieth!centuries.!By!doing!so,!we!will!
come!to!recognize!the!challenges!of!creating!any!kind!of!science!of!
religion.!Along!the!way,!we!will!discover!certain!patterns!of!
thought!and!concepts!that!persist!in!our!contemporary!approaches!
to!explaining!and!understanding!religious!and!spiritual!
phenomena.!!
With!few!exceptions,!nineteenth-!and!early!twentieth-century!
theorists!saw!religion!in!negative!terms,!as!a!set!of!beliefs!and!
practices!that!were!immature,!backward,!superstitious,!irrational,!
and!regressive.!There!is!a!significant!basis!for!these!negative!
assessments!of!religion,!but!this!is!also!a!selective!reading!of!
history.!Most!assumed!that!science!would!somehow!replace!
religion!as!the!Enlightenment!progressed.!Positioning!science!as!
the!antonym!of!religion,!then,!turns!science!into!simply!another!
religion.!
I!begin!this!survey!with!the!eclectic!French!philosopher!
Auguste!Comte!because!many!of!these!ideas!originated!with!him.!
Comte!is!less!known!than!other!early!theorists!of!religion!but!turns!
out!to!be!very!influential!in!this!intellectual!history.!Yet!for!reasons!
we!will!discover!below,!he!does!not!figure!prominently!in!Anglo-
American!philosophy!and!intellectual!history;!nor!does!he!receive!
the!credit!he!deserves!in!the!story!generally!told!of!the!old!sciences!
of!religion.!
!
The$High$Priest$of$Positivism$
!
Isidore!Auguste!Marie!François!Comte!(1798–1857)!was!one!
of!the!more!original!modern!theorists!of!religion.!Comte!directly!
and!indirectly!influenced!a!number!of!other!thinkers,!including!
Ludwig!Feuerbach,!Karl!Marx,!Charles!Darwin,!Sigmund!Freud,!and!
especially!Émile!Durkheim.!Comte!coined!the!term!positivism!to!
identify!science,!and!the!term!stuck!in!what!became!the!Positivist!

!
!
42!
school!in!the!philosophy!of!science,!later!synonymous!with!the!
Vienna!Circle.!Positivism,!or!what!should!more!precisely!be!called!
neopositivism!or!logical!positivism,!persisted!as!an!active!research!
project!in!the!philosophy!of!science!into!the!1950s,!at!which!point!
it!was!widely!rejected!as!impractical!and!unrealistic,!though!a!
number!of!naive!holdouts!remain.
32
!!
Comte!is!also!credited!with!coining!the!word!sociology!to!
identify!a!new!science!of!society.!He!argued!that!the!application!of!
scientific!and!mathematical!principles!to!the!study!and!
management!of!society!promised!enormous!benefits!to!humanity.!
He!understood!sociology!to!be!the!last!and!most!important!
development!in!the!hierarchical!ordering!of!six!fundamental!
disciplines—mathematics,!astronomy,!physics,!chemistry,!biology,!
and!sociology—in!turn.!The!classification!was!hierarchical!and!
emergent.!Mathematics!was!required!to!do!astronomy,!but!
astronomy!could!not!be!reduced!to!mere!mathematics.!Physics!was!
necessary!for!chemistry!to!emerge,!but!chemistry!could!not!be!
reduced!to!mere!physics.!Biology!was!necessary!for!humanity!to!
exist,!but!sociology!could!not!be!reduced!to!mere!biology.!Different!
methods!of!inquiry!were!required!for!different!types!of!science.!
Comte’s!classification!of!the!sciences!accounts!for!their!diversity,!as!
well!as!the!overall!unity!of!the!scientific!enterprise.!We!can!think!of!
Comte!as!one!of!the!first!modern!philosophers!of!science.
33
!!
Comte!was!also!given!to!excess,!so!many!of!his!contemporaries!
and!many!recent!scholars!prefer!to!ignore!him!or!selectively!
acknowledge!him,!much!as!we!honor!Isaac!Newton!today!for!his!
scientific!genius!and!ignore!his!obsessive!fascination!with!
Unitarian!theology,!Kabbalah,!and!the!occult.!Comte!probably!
suffered!from!what!we!today!call!bipolar!disorder!or!manic!
depression.!He!was!twice!hospitalized!for!mental!illness.!He!was!
given!to!grandiosity,!so!we!get!a!grand!theory!of!religion,!history,!
and!society.!Toward!the!end!of!his!career,!he!went!off!the!deep!end!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
32
Michel Bourdeau, “Auguste Comte,” in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Edward N.
Zalta (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University, 2008).
33
Ibid.; Frederick Ferré, Introduction to Positive Philosophy Auguste Comte (New York: Bobbs-
Merrill Company, 1970); Andrew Wernick, Auguste Comte and the Religion of Humanity: The
Post-Theistic Program of French Social Theory (New York: Cambridge University Press,
2001); Henri de Lubac, The Drama of Atheist Humanism, trans. Edith M. Riley and Anne
Englund Nash (San Francisco: Ignatious Press, [1944] 1983); Gertrud Lenzer, “Introduction:
Auguste Comte and Modern Positivism,” in Auguste Come and Positivism: The Essential
Writings, ed. Gertrud Lenzer (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2008).

!
!
"]!
-.!0-1!+//%,?/!/'!2(%+/%!+!.%)!(%3-4-'.!&'(!09,+.-/;!B+1%6!'.!
12-%.2%5!-.!)0-20!12-%./-1/1!)'936!&9.2/-'.!,920!3-7%!23%(-21!-.!/0%!
c',+.!I+/0'3-2!I09(20K!0%!2'.1-6%(%6!0-,1%3&!/'!B%!/0%!?'?%!'&!
/0-1!.%)!209(20<!C0%!,'//'!'&!/0-1!,':%,%./!)+1!dT':%!+1!+!
?(-.2-?3%!+.6!'(6%(!+1!/0%!B+1-1K!?('4(%11!+1!/0%!4'+3<e!^%!2+33%6!-/!
/0%!I09(20!'&!/0%!f(%+/!$%-.45!-.!)0-20!/0%!f(%+/!$%-.4!)+1!
09,+.-/;5!.'/!f'6<!G.!#PPO5!&'33')%(1!'&!I',/%!-.!/0%!.%)3;!
&'(,%6!c%?9B3-2!'&!$(+=-3!)'936!+66!0-1!Ordem0e0Progresso!/'!/0%!
.%)3;!6%1-4.!$(+=-3-+.!&3+4<!
c+/0%(!/0+.!1%%-.4!I',/%`1!.%)!(%3-4-'.!'&!09,+.-/;!+1!
6-12'..%2/%6!&(',!0-1!%+(3-%(!)'(75!)%!10'936!9.6%(1/+.6!-/!+1!/0%!
3'4-2+3!2'.2391-'.!'&!0-1!-.1-40/1<!^9,+.-/;!&+2%1!+!4(%+/!6-3%,,+!
-.!I',/%`1!+.+3;1-1<!C0%!-.0%(-/%6!(%3-4-'.1!2+.!.'!3'.4%(!B%!
2'.1-6%(%6!/(9%!M+1!V+:-6!^9,%!B%&'(%!0-,!0+6!+(49%6S<!W2-%.2%!
0+6!(%?3+2%6!(%3-4-'.!-.!,+//%(1!'&!/(9/0<!C0%!?('B3%,!-1!/0+/!
(%3-4-'.!-1!:-/+3!/'!/0%!?('?%(!&9.2/-'.-.4!'&!1'2-%/;<!c%3-4-'.1!
?(':-6%!/0%!?1;20'3'4-2+3!+.6!1'2-+3!439%!&'(!+!0+(,'.-'915!
?%+2%&935!+.6!?('692/-:%!1'2-%/;5!%:%.!/0'940!/0%;!+(%!.'/!3-/%(+33;!
/(9%<!c%3-4-'.!?(','/%1!,'(+3-/;!+.6!29(/+-31!+.+(20-1/-2!
/%.6%.2-%1!-.!?%'?3%<!I',/%!B%3-%:%6!/0+/!09,+.-/;!)'936!.'/!
?('4(%11!9.3%11!-/!2'936!-.1/-/9/%!1',%!.%)!(%3-4-'.!/'!&93&-33!/0%1%!
:-/+3!1'2-+3!+.6!?1;20'3'4-2+3!&9.2/-'.1<!c%3-4-'.!-1!6%+6K!3'.4!3-:%!
(%3-4-'.g!
!
The$Three$Stages$of$Cultural$Evolution$
!
I',/%!?('?'1%6!+.6!6%:%3'?%6!+!/0%'(;!'&!293/9(+3!0-1/'(;!+1!
+.!%:'39/-'.+(;!?('2%11!'&!1/+4%6!6%:%3'?,%./15!)0+/!0%!2+33%6!d+!
.+/9(+3!3+)!(%493+/-.4!/0%!?('4(%11!'&!2-:-3-=+/-'.5e
]"
!'.%!'&!/0%!&-(1/!
/%,?'(+35!%:'39/-'.+(;!?+(+6-4,1!91%6!/'!9.6%(1/+.6!0-1/'(;5!
(%3-4-'.5!+.6!1'2-%/;<!>22'(6-.4!/'!/0-1!&'(,93+/-'.5!/0%(%!+(%!/0(%%!
1/+4%1!-.!/0%!%:'39/-'.!'&!(%3-4-'.!+.6!1'2-%/;_/0%!/0%'3'4-2+3!'(!
&-2/-'.+35!/0%!,%/+?0;1-2+3!'(!+B1/(+2/5!+.6!/0%!12-%./-&-2!'(!
?'1-/-:%<
]R
!E:%.!/'6+;!-.!H(+.2%5!%:%(;!120''3!20-36!3%+(.1!/0-1!
&'(,93+/-'.<!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
34
Auguste Comte, “Plans for the Scientific Operations Necessary for Reorganizing Society,” in
The Crisis in Industrial Civilization: The Early Writings of Auguste Comte, ed. Ronald Fletcher
(London: Heinemann, [1822] 1974), 144.
35
Ibid., 134.

!
!
44!
The!theological!stage!of!human!evolution!corresponded!to!
feudalism,!medieval!Catholicism,!and!everything!that!preceded!
these!in!human!history,!all!the!way!back!to!when!humans!were!
“barely!superior!to!that!of!a!society!of!great!apes.”
36
!The!theological!
stage!was!broken!down!in!three!substages—fetishism,!polytheism,!
and!monotheism.!Fetishism!is!the!naïve!anthropomorphization!of!
the!natural!environment,!what!would!later!be!called!animism.!At!
this!stage,!even!inanimate!objects!in!nature!are!attributed!with!
humanlike!personality!and!will.!!
The!supernaturalism!of!the!theological!stage!in!human!
evolution!is!seen!as!a!manifestation!of!an!instinctive!scientific!
impulse.!Humans!have!an!innate!drive!to!observe,!explain,!
understand,!and!control!the!universe!in!which!we!live.!“With!all!its!
imperfections,”!writes!Comte,!“this![supernaturalism]!forms!the!
only!mode!of!connecting!facts!possible!at!that!epoch,”!in!which!
direct!observation!is!enhanced!by!imagination.
37
!Anticipating!
Freud!and!developmental!psychology,!Comte!draws!a!parallel!
between!the!anthropomorphic!and!animistic!tendencies!in!early!
human!civilization!and!our!individual!development!from!childhood!
into!adults.!Thus,!the!maturation!of!civilization!runs!parallel!to!the!
maturation!of!individual!humans!in!the!course!of!their!lives:!
!
[T]he!earliest!advances!of!the!human!intellect!could!not!be!
effected!in!any!other!way!than!the!theological!method,!the!only!
one!susceptible!of!spontaneous!development.!It!alone!
possessed!the!important!property!of!presenting!from!the!
outset!a!provisional!theory,!vague!and!arbitrary,!it!is!true,!but!
direct!and!easy,!which!immediately!grouped!the!primary!facts!
and,!by!cultivating!our!faculties!of!observation,!prepared!the!
advent!of!a!positive!philosophy.
38
!
!
Fetishism!(basically!animism)!slowly!gives!way!to!polytheism,!
which!requires!more-developed!theoretical!constructs!to!account!
for!the!observations.!Sensing!thunder!and!lightning!and!noticing!
the!seasonal!patterns!in!weather!and!stars!in!themselves!are!not!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
36
Comte, “Philosophical Considerations on the Sciences and Savants,” in The Crisis in Industrial
Civilization: The Early Writings of Auguste Comte, ed. Ronald Fletcher (London: Heinemann,
[1825] 1974), 192.
37
Comte, “Plans for the Scientific Operations,” 134.
38
Comte, “Philosophical Considerations,” 185.

!
!
45!
knowledge.!Only!when!humans!attributed!these!natural!
phenomena!to!the!personalities!of!gods!or!spirits!did!they!have!
knowledge!(albeit!false!knowledge).!For!Comte,!this!correlation!of!
observations!and!theory!is!what!constitutes!knowledge.!!
Note!that!the!evolution!of!humanity!through!the!theological!
stage!is!also!a!scientific!evolution.!“The!great!revolution!that!
carried!men!on!from!fetishism!to!polytheism,”!writes!Comte,!“is!
due!to!the!same!mental!causes,!though!they!may!not!be!so!
conspicuous,!that!now!produce!all!scientific!revolutions,!which!
always!arise!out!of!a!discordance!between!facts!and!principles.”
39
!
Polytheism!then!gives!way!to!monotheism!as!a!response!to!
these!discordant!facts!and!principles.!Monotheism!is!a!further!
simplification!and!rationalization!of!the!supernatural!or!theological!
stage!in!human!evolution.!Comte!calls!monotheism!“an!admirable!
simplification!of!theological!philosophy.”!Like!polytheism!before!it,!
monotheism!!
!
reduced!the!action!of!the!chief!supernatural!power,!in!each!
special!case,!to!a!certain!general!direction,!the!character!of!
which!was!unavoidably!vague.!Thus!the!human!mind!was!
authorised,!and!even!strongly!impelled,!to!study!the!physical!
laws!of!each!class!of!phenomena!regarded!as!a!mode!of!action!
of!this!power.
40
!
!
As!humans!progressively!leave!supernatural!explanations!
behind,!humanity!moves!into!the!metaphysical!stage,!in!which!we!
discover!that!the!natural!order!is!governed!by!regular!and!
impersonal!laws.!In!entering!the!metaphysical!stage,!humans!
progressively!dispense!with!supernatural!explanations!and!
attribute!natural!phenomena!to!abstract,!impersonal,!and!law-like!
processes.!We!see!this!in!the!progress!made!in!mathematics!and!
astronomy!in!the!early!modern!period,!in!which!the!laws!of!physics!
were!mathematical!in!form!and!able!to!describe!the!motions!of!the!
planets!and!other!phenomena!with!great!precision.!We!also!see!this!
in!the!advent!of!abstract!metaphysical!concepts!such!as!individual!
human!rights,!which!Comte!opposed!in!favor!of!a!more!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
39
Auguste Comte, The Positive Philosophy, trans. Harriet Martineau (New York: AMS Press,
[1842] 1974), 558.
40
Comte, “Philosophical Considerations,” 185.

!
!
46!
communitarian!ethics!of!society!as!a!kind!of!superorganism.!The!
individual!was!merely!a!part!of!this!large!whole.!Comte!understood!
the!metaphysical!stage!to!correspond!with!the!period!of!European!
history!beginning!with!the!Protestant!Reformation!through!the!
French!Revolution,!a!period!of!war!and!anarchy.!
!
A$Functional$Account$of$Religion$
!
It!is!important!to!understand!what!distinguishes!Comte!from!
his!predecessor,!the!English!philosopher!David!Hume!(1711–
1776).!Both!agreed!that!in!light!of!science!and!philosophy,!religion!
must!now!be!thought!of!as!untrue.!Comte,!however,!argued!that!
religion!was!a!necessary!stage!in!the!development!of!science,!so!he!
has!some!appreciation!of!the!evolutionary!role!played!by!religion!
as!a!protoscience.!Unlike!Hume,!Comte!also!argued!that!religion!
played!a!necessary!role!in!the!evolution!of!civilization!by!providing!
social!harmony.!Religion!might!become!intellectually!obsolete,!but!
the!social!and!psychological!functions!of!religion!in!society!were!as!
vital!as!ever!to!the!future!well-being!of!any!successful!society:!
!
[N]o!real!and!coherent!society!can!form!and!maintain!itself!
except!under!the!influence!of!some!system!of!ideas,!fitted!to!
surmount!the!opposition!of!individualising!tendencies,!always!
so!strong!at!the!outset,!and!to!make!these!concur!in!
maintaining!a!settled!order.”
41
!
!
One!trajectory!of!Comte’s!analysis!leads!to!Hume’s!explanation!
of!religion!as!pseudoscience,!now!superseded!by!real!science.!The!
other!trajectory!leads!to!the!conclusion!that!the!psychological!and!
social!functions!of!religion!need!to!be!carried!on!in!some!new!way!
in!the!future.!Theological!philosophy,!even!though!it!is!factually!
wrong,!nevertheless!plays!an!important!social!role.!“To!it!
[theological!philosophy],”!Comte!writes,!“we!must!naturally!ascribe!
the!original!establishment!of!all!social!organization.”
42
!
Comte!was!enthusiastic!about!the!potential!for!science!to!
improve!human!life,!to!take!control!of!nature,!including!our!human!
nature.!Through!a!“positive”!science,!we!could!bend!nature!toward!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
41
Ibid., 187.
42
Ibid.

!
!
47!
our!will!to!improve!the!human!condition.!However,!he!also!
perceived!a!great!threat!to!progress!in!the!rising!individualism,!
self-centeredness,!and!anarchistic!tendencies!of!humanity!
throughout!the!metaphysical!stage!into!his!own!time:!
!
[T]he!existing!disorder!is!abundantly!accounted!for!by!the!
existence,!all!at!once,!of!three!incompatible!philosophies—the!
theological,!the!metaphysical,!and!the!positive.!Any!one!of!
these!might!alone!secure!some!sort!of!social!order;!but!while!
the!three!co-exist,!it!is!impossible!for!us!to!understand!one!
another!upon!any!essential!point!whatever.
43
!
!
He!might!as!well!be!describing!the!current!world!of!globalization,!
clashing!civilizations,!and!culture!wars.!Social!harmony!requires!a!
unifying!worldview!and!internalized!moral!motivations!in!which!
“the!parts!.!.!.!converge!towards!the!general!order!from!which!they!
always!tend!naturally!to!deviate.”!Society!can!allocate!rewards!and!
punishments!to!promote!social!harmony,!but!without!the!moral!
means!to!regulate!the!opinions!and!will!of!individuals,!centrifugal!
tendencies!will!tear!society!apart.!Civilization!requires!a!
“continuous!state!of!sacrifice”!in!which!each!person!must!
experience!“a!certain!degree!of!sacrifice!without!which!it!could!not!
maintain!itself,!having!regard!to!the!opposition!of!individual!
tendencies,!which!is,!in!some!degree,!absolutely!inevitable.”
44
!Here,!
too,!Comte!anticipates!Freud!in!noting!that!the!repression!of!sexual!
passions!is!a!necessary!sacrifice!for!enjoying!the!benefits!of!
civilization.
45
!
Religions!function!throughout!human!evolution!to!unite!
societies.!Comte!writes!critically!of!his!own!time!and!perhaps!
prophetically!about!our!own:!
!
Minds,!no!longer!united!by!any!real!bond,!diverge!on!all!
essential!points,!with!that!license!which!unregulated!
individualism!must!produce.!Hence!the!entire!absence!of!
public!morality;!the!universal!spread!of!egotism;!the!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
43
Comte, Positive Philosophy, 36.
44
Auguste Comte, “Considerations on the Spiritual Power,” in The Crisis of Industrial
Civilization: The Early Essays of Auguste Comte, ed. Ronald Fletcher ( London: Heinemann,
[1826] 1974), 236.
45
Ibid., 241.

!
!
48!
preponderance!of!considerations!purely!material;!and,!as!a!last!
inevitable!consequence,!corruption!erected!into!a!system!of!
government,!as!being!the!only!kind!of!order!applicable!to!a!
population!become!deaf!to!all!appeals!made!in!the!name!of!a!
general!ideal!and!alive!only!to!the!voice!of!private!interest.
46
!
!
Born!in!1798,!Comte!was!a!child!of!postrevolutionary!France.!
The!anarchy!unleashed!by!the!metaphysical!stage!in!the!evolution!
of!European!history!was!part!of!the!problem!he!sought!to!solve!in!
his!program!of!positivism.!For!Comte,!the!metaphysical!stage!in!
human!history!lacked!a!constructive!social!potential.!It!was!
necessarily!anarchistic!and!destructive,!albeit!more!true!than!the!
earlier!theological!stages!in!human!history.!The!metaphysical!stage!
is!perhaps!best!represented!in!the!rallying!cry!of!the!French!
Revolution—Liberté,0Egalité,!and!Fraternité.!Note!that!these!
abstract!concepts!embraced!by!the!masses!were!seen!by!Comte!as!
leading!to!the!Reign!of!Terror!and!the!Napoleonic!Wars.!
!
The$New$Religion$of$Science$
!
Late!in!his!life,!Comte!published!a!four-volume!work!entitled!
System0of0Positive0Polity!(1851–54).!The!subtitle!is!“Treatise!on!
Sociology:!Instituting!the!Religion!of!Humanity.”!The!project!of!
creating!a!new!religion!based!on!science,!a!religion!of!and!for!
humanity,!prefigures!much!of!the!ideological!antipathy!toward!
religion!and!fervor!for!science!that!intellectuals!displayed!in!the!
ensuing!century.!In!Comte’s!view,!humanity!needs!to!heal!the!
fissure!between!our!cognitive!lives,!informed!by!modern!science,!
and!our!affective!lives,!informed!by!our!loves!and!passions.!“The!
Order!based!on!reality!was!unable!to!satisfy!the!emotions!so!well!
as!the!Order!based!on!fictions.”
47
!The!answer!lies!in!attaching!our!
affections!to!humanity!as!the!“Great!Being.”!A!belief!in!progress!and!
humanism!can!replace!what!was!believed!to!be!an!antiquated!belief!
in!God!as!the!unifying!social!ideal,!all!the!more!so!because!the!new!
sciences!and!technology!promised!a!stream!of!continued!discovery!
and!technological!improvements!in!our!lives.!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
46
Comte, “Philosophical Considerations,” 199.
47
Comte, System of Positive Polity, or Treatise on Sociology: Instituting the Religion of
Humanity, trans. Frederic Harrison, 3 vols., vol. 2 (New York: B. Franklin, [1852] 1968), 47.

!
!
49!
The!Church!of!the!Great!Being!was!modeled!after!Roman!
Catholicism!albeit!without!Christ.!In!Comte’s!church,!humanity,!
progress,!and!science!were!to!be!worshiped!and!celebrated.!We!
needed!to!link!our!emotional!affections!to!our!cognitive!insights.!
Comte!was!a!utopian!thinker,!not!only!in!his!project!of!creating!a!
new!religion!from!science!but!also!in!a!deeper!sense.!He!
understood!the!human!perception!of!time!to!be!order!past!>!future!
>!present,!because!it!is!our!understanding!and!experience!of!the!
past!and!our!expectations!and!exertions!toward!the!future!that!give!
rise!to!our!transitory!present!circumstances.!The!present,!Comte!
argued,!“a!vague!and!fleeting!span!which!fills!the!interval!between!
two!immensities!of!duration,!and!binds!them!together!.!.!.!,!can!only!
be!properly!conceived!with!the!aid!of!the!two!extremes!which!it!
unites!and!separates.”
48
!
!
A$New$Calendar$for$a$New$Age$
!
One!of!Comte’s!more!fanciful!proposals!was!the!creation!of!a!
new!calendar!for!the!new!age!of!positivism!(1848),!which!he!
developed!in!great!detail.!We!need!to!put!this!in!historical!context,!
remembering!that!the!world!was!still!divided!on!whether!to!use!the!
Julian!calendar!or!the!Gregorian!calendar.!Postrevolutionary!
France!had!also!adopted!a!new!calendar,!the!French!Revolutionary!
Calendar,!which!the!government!used!from!1793!through!1805!and!
briefly!revised!in!1871.!Comte’s!Positivist!Calendar!at!least!had!the!
advantage!of!using!a!simpler!and!more!logical!structure!and!later!
became!the!model!for!the!“International!Fixed!Calendar”!promoted!
in!the!early!twentieth!century.!
The!Positivist!Calendar!has!thirteen!months!of!twenty-eight!
days’!duration.!Each!month!has!four!seven-day!weeks!beginning!
with!Monday,!so!the!days!of!the!month!always!fall!on!the!same!
weekday.!Thus,!Friday!would!always!be!the!fifth,!twelfth,!
nineteenth,!or!twenty-sixth!day!of!the!month.!There!would!never!
be!a!Friday!the!thirteenth,!because!the!thirteenth!day!would!always!
fall!on!a!Saturday.!An!intercalary!day!was!included!at!the!end!of!
each!year!and!another!at!the!end!of!each!leap!year.!The!Positivist!
Calendar!is!a!perennial!calendar;!it!is!the!same!every!year.!Like!the!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
48
Ibid., 296.

!
!
50!
French!Revolutionary!Calendar,!it!began!counting!years!in!1789,!
the!year!of!the!Revolution.!So!the!year!2009!is!the!year!220!in!the!
Positivist!Calendar.!
All!fine!and!well,!except!that!there!were!no!“Mondays”!and!no!
“Fridays”!in!the!Positivist!Calendar,!as!the!days!of!the!week!
changed!with!each!week!of!each!month.!What!made!Comte’s!
Positivist!Calendar!bizarre!was!that!he!named!the!thirteen!months!
after!heroes!in!human!history,!each!month!dedicated!to!a!theme!
and!each!day!of!the!month!dedicated!to!an!exemplar!of!that!theme.!
Inspired!by!the!many!holidays!in!the!Roman!Catholic!liturgical!
calendar!dedicated!to!saints,!Comte!created!a!new!liturgical!
calendar!dedicated!to!the!heroes!of!human!progress!taken!from!all!
nations!and!ages.!!
The!first!month!is!Moses.!The!thematic!focus!is!the!initial!
theocracy.!The!twenty-eight!days!of!the!month!of!Moses!are!
Prometheus,!Hercules,!Orpheus,!Ulysses,!Lycurgus,!Romulus,!
Numa,!Belus,!Seostris,!Menu,!Cyrus,!Zoroaster,!the!Druids,!Buddha,!
Fo-Hi,!Lao-Tsu,!Meng-Tseu,!Theocracts!of!Tibet,!Theocrats!of!Japan,!
Mano-Capac,!Confucius,!Abraham,!Samuel,!Solomon,!Isaiah,!St.!John!
the!Baptist,!Haroun!al-Raschid,!and!Muhammad.!The!Sabbath!
festival!days!of!the!month!of!Moses!would,!thus,!celebrate!Numa!
(the!mythic!king!of!early!Rome),!Buddha,!Confucius,!and!
Muhammad.!
The!second!month!is!the!month!of!Homer,!dedicated!to!ancient!
poetry.!The!major!festival!days!were!dedicated!to!Aeschylus,!
Phidias,!Aristophanes,!and!Virgil.!The!third!is!the!month!of!Aristotle!
and!is!dedicated!to!the!heroes!of!ancient!philosophy.!The!fourth!
month!is!Archimedes,!its!theme!ancient!science.!The!fifth!month!is!
Caesar,!with!the!theme!military!civilization.!The!sixth!month!is!
Saint!Paul,!dedicated!to!Catholicism.!The!seventh!month!is!
Charlemagne,!and!the!theme!is!feudal!civilization.!The!eighth!
month!is!Dante,!the!theme!being!modern!epic!poetry.!The!ninth!
month!is!Gutenberg,!the!theme!modern!industry.!The!tenth!month!
is!Shakespeare!(modern!drama),!the!eleventh!Descartes!(modern!
philosophy),!and!the!twelfth!Frederick!(modern!polity).!And!the!
thirteen!month,!dedicated!to!modern!science,!the!culmination!of!
civilization’s!advance,!is!named!Bichat!after!the!French!physician!
Marie!François!Xavier!Bichat!(1771–1802).!Major!festivals!were!to!
be!held!on!the!seventh,!fourteenth,!twenty-first,!and!twenty-eighth!

!
!
51!
days!of!the!month!of!Bichat!in!honor!of!Galileo!Galilei,!Isaac!
Newton,!Antoine!Lavoisier,!and!Franz!Joseph!Gall.!In!all,!thirteen!
major!and!365!minor!heroes!of!human!civilization!are!honored,!
mostly!men,!with!some!minor!saints!thrown!in!for!leap!years.
49
!!
The!purpose!of!the!Positivist!Calendar,!as!in!the!Church!of!the!
Great!Being,!is!to!promote!“sound!training!in!positive!thought”!and!
to!awaken!“perpetual!feelings!of!veneration!and!gratitude”!and!
“enthusiastic!admiration!of!the!Great!Being,!who!is!the!Author!of!all!
these!conquests,!be!they!in!thought,!or!be!they!in!Action.”
50
!
We!in!the!twenty-first!century!also!seek!to!venerate!the!great!
heroes!of!science!and!civilization:!witness!the!recent!celebrations!
of!Charles!Darwin,!the!iconic!image!of!Albert!Einstein,!or!the!aura!
surrounding!winners!of!the!Nobel!Prize.!Science!needs!its!
exemplars!no!less!than!religion!needs!its!saints.!
!
Comte’s$Long$Shadow$
!
Many!of!his!contemporaries!and!many!modern-day!scholars!
draw!a!sharp!distinction!between!Comte’s!early!and!late!works,!the!
“good”!Comte!and!the!“bad”!Comte.!They!recognize!originality!and!
brilliance!in!his!early!works!and!criticize!the!late!Comte,!rejecting!
the!grandiosity!and!absurdity!of!his!efforts!to!create!a!new!religion!
of!and!for!humanity.!The!English!philosopher!John!Stuart!Mill!
(1806–1873)!made!this!argument!explicit!in!his!book!Auguste0
Comte0and0Positivism!(1865).
51
!!
I!choose!to!introduce!the!old!sciences!of!religion!by!reviewing!
the!work!of!Comte!in!part!because!of!this!grandiosity.!Any!science!
of!religion!is!a!grand!proposition.!Comte!has!provided!a!theory!of!
religion!from!which!others!borrowed!mightily.!By!briefly!
examining!Comte,!we!encounter!most!of!the!themes!that!would!
dominate!nineteenth-!and!early!twentieth-century!approaches!to!
the!scientific!study!of!religion.!
First,!we!note!an!evolutionary!theory!of!religion!and!society!
developing!in!stages,!moving!from!animism!to!polytheism!to!
monotheism!to!secularism.!As!civilization!developed,!especially!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
49
Richard McCarty, “Comte’s Positivist Calendar,” East Carolina University,
http://personal.ecu.edu/mccartyr/pos-cal.html.
50
Comte, System of Positive Polity, 45.
51
John Stuart Mill, Auguste Comte and Positivism (Project Gutenberg, 1865).

!
!
52!
through!science!and!technology,!people!would!come!to!recognize!
religion!as!superstition.!In!basic!outline,!this!staged!evolutionary!
account!of!religion!would!be!adopted!by!the!British!anthropologists!
E.!B.!Tylor!(1832–1917)!and!James!George!Frazer!(1854–1941),!
among!many!others.!
52
!!
Second,!we!note!in!Comte!a!dynamic!relationship!between!
cultural!ideas!and!cultural!structures,!for!instance!between!the!
religion!and!the!political!economy!of!a!society.!The!ideas!and!
structure!of!a!society!evolve!together!in!patterned!ways.!In!basic!
outline,!we!now!have!pieces!of!the!accounts!of!religion!offered!by!
both!Karl!Marx!(1818–1883)!and!Max!Weber!(1864–1920).!We!will!
return!to!these!two!thinkers!shortly.!
Third,!we!have!discovered!in!Comte!a!theory!of!religion!that!
draws!parallels!between!the!historical!development!of!civilizations!
and!the!psychological!maturation!of!individual!humans.!Early!
human!societies!are!thought!of!as!childlike!with!their!magical!
thinking,!while!contemporary!scientific!civilization!is!thought!of!as!
adultlike!with!its!mature!realism.!This,!of!course,!prefigures!some!
of!the!ideas!about!religion!and!psychology!offered!by!Sigmund!
Freud!(1856–1939)!and!repeated!by!some!evolutionary!
psychologists!today.
53
!We!will!come!back!to!Freud!later!in!this!
chapter.!
Fourth,!we!discover!in!Comte!the!kernel!of!a!substantive!
definition!of!religion.!Religion!was!understood!to!be!
supernaturalism,!that!is,!the!belief!in!supernatural!beings!or!
powers.!Religion!was!set!up!as!an!imaginative!protoscience,!an!
early!attempt!to!explain!natural!phenomena.!As!science!progresses,!
it!necessarily!challenges!religious!myths.!This!definition!of!religion!
as!“supernaturalism”!dominates!the!old!sciences!of!religion.!We!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
52
This analysis of Comte’s significance in ten points in the thinking of other nineteenth- and early
twentieth-century theorists of religion draws on primary-source material as well as the
following books: Daniel L. Pals, Eight Theories of Religion, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2006); Eric J. Sharpe, Comparative Religion: A History, 5th ed. (Chicago, IL:
Open Court Publishing, 1986); J. Samuel Preus, Explaining Religion: Criticism and Theory
from Bodin to Freud, ed. Terry Godlove, Texts and Translation Series, American Academy of
Religion (Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1996); and Ronald Fletcher, ed. The Crisis of Industrial
Civilization: The Early Essays of Auguste Comte (London: Heinemann Educational
Books,1974).
53
Sigmund Freud, Totem and Taboo (New York: Prometheus Books, [1918] 2000); Freud, Future
of an Illusion ([1927]); Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents (New York: W.W. Norton,
[1930] 1961).

!
!
53!
find!it!explicitly!articulated!by!Tylor!and!Frazer!but!also!assumed!
by!Marx,!Freud,!and!many!others.!!
Fifth,!Comte!introduced!the!concept!of!anthropomorphization!
of!gods!and!God!as!a!kind!of!alienation!from!our!true!human!
potential.!We!attribute!to!imagined!divinities!superhuman!powers!
and!qualities!when!it!is,!in!fact,!humans!who!possess!these!superior!
powers!and!superior!qualities,!if!only!we!would!apply!ourselves.!
This,!of!course,!anticipates!the!theory!of!religion!as!alienation!
articulated!by!Ludwig!Feuerbach!(1804–1872)!and!adopted!whole!
cloth!by!Marx.
54
!
Sixth,!Comte!developed!a!hierarchical!and!emergent!
understanding!of!the!scientific!disciplines.!He!classified!the!six!
fundamental!sciences!as!mathematics,!astronomy,!physics,!
chemistry,!biology,!and!sociology.!At!the!top!of!this!hierarchy!was!
sociology!because!it!dealt!with!the!most!recent!and!most!complex!
natural!phenomena—humans!and!their!societies.!Comte!
understood!there!to!be!a!dynamic!relationship!between!the!
adjacent!levels!in!this!hierarchy,!but!he!was!not!arguing!for!a!
thoroughgoing!reductionism.!He!did,!however,!argue!that!
mathematics!was!important!throughout!the!sciences!and!imagined!
the!possibilities!of!quantitative!studies!in!the!human!sciences.!He!
also!developed!a!nuanced!understanding!of!the!relationship!
between!observation!and!theory.!So,!in!Comte,!we!find!the!early!
articulation!of!a!comprehensive!philosophy!of!science,!a!program!
that!would!concern!philosophers!and!scientists!right!up!until!
today.!Note!that!the!primary!preoccupation!of!the!philosophy!of!
science!is!defining!the!boundaries!of!what!counts!as!science!and!
what!is!not!science!(e.g.,!religion).
55
!We!will!return!to!these!issues!
in!chapter!nine.!
Seventh,!Comte!gives!us!a!functional!account!of!religion.!
Religions!arose!and!persisted!in!human!civilization!because!they!
helped!bind!together!the!parts!(individual!humans)!and!the!whole!
(the!functional!society).!Take!away!religion,!and!the!centrifugal!
tendencies!of!our!selfish!and!sensuous!egos!would!result!in!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
54
Ludwig Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity, trans. George Eliot (New York: Harper
Torchbooks, 1843 [1957]); Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Basic Writings on Politics and
Philosophy, ed. Lewis S. Feuer (New York: Doubleday, 1959).
55
J. H. Brooke, Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press,1999); Richard Boyd, Philip Gasper, and J. D. Trout, eds., The Philosophy of
Science (Cambridge, MA, and London: MIT Press,1991).

!
!
54!
anarchy,!chaos,!and!collapse.
56
!Religions!were!not!true,!according!
to!Comte,!but!they!were!useful.!They!served!to!internalize!the!
mores!of!a!society!in!individuals,!promoting!moral!restraints!on!
behavior!and!harmonious!cooperation!within!society.!This!leads!us!
directly!to!the!theory!of!religion!articulated!by!Émile!Durkheim!
(1858–1917),!who!saw!religion!as!“a!unified!system!of!beliefs!and!
practices!.!.!.!which!united!into!one!single!moral!community!called!a!
Church,!all!those!who!adhere!to!them.”
57
!Comte!also!anticipates!
Freud!by!identifying!society’s!need!to!repress!individual!sexual!
passions!if!civilization!is!to!thrive.!!
With!this!insight!about!the!secular!utility!of!religion!comes!a!
great!dilemma!for!the!Enlightenment!project,!a!dilemma!that!
Comte!recognized!and!addressed.!If!religion!is!useful!and!necessary!
for!society,!then!somehow!it!would!need!to!be!reinvented!in!the!
modern!age!of!science.!Comte’s!functional!account!of!religion!leads!
to!a!broadening!of!our!definition!and!the!recognition!that!beliefs!
and!practices!that!we!might!not!normally!think!of!as!religion!can!
serve!“religious!functions”!in!society.!Here,!Comte!anticipates!the!
theoretical!work!of!the!American!anthropologist!Clifford!Geertz!
(1926–2006),!who!argued,!for!instance,!that!Communism!
functioned!like!a!religion!in!the!former!Soviet!Union.
58
!We!will!
return!to!Geertz!in!the!section!“Pragmatism!and!the!Study!of!
Religion,”!later!in!this!chapter.!
The!ninth!innovation!we!can!find!in!Comte!is!the!germs!of!
what!would!later!be!called!secularization!theory.!Civilization!
evolves!through!stages.!As!science,!economic,!and!educational!
levels!around!the!world!increase,!it!was!predicted!that!societies!
would!increasingly!dispense!with!the!old-time!religions.!Academics!
throughout!much!of!the!twentieth!century!believed!in!
secularization!theory,!although,!as!we!can!see,!religion!is!back!with!
a!vengeance!at!outset!of!the!twenty-first!century.!!
Finally,!we!encounter!in!Comte!a!utopian!program!of!
progressive!humanism!and!progressive!science.!Comte!makes!
explicit!what!has!often!been!assumed.!Science!supersedes!religion,!
not!just!in!matters!of!truth!but!also!in!matters!of!faith.!Many!in!the!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
56
In Plato’s Republic we get a similar account of religion in the need for a Noble Lie to motivate
the service and sacrifice of the Guardians.
57
Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, trans. Joseph Ward Swain (New
York: The Free Press, [1912] 1915), 44.
58
Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Harper, 1973).

!
!
55!
nineteenth!and!twentieth!centuries!adopted!faith!in!science!as!a!
kind!of!secular!salvation!story.
59
!Science!has!certainly!extended!
and!enhanced!human!life;!science!has!certainly!extended!and!
enhanced!our!understanding!of!the!universe!and!ourselves.!The!
kinds!of!technologies!that!science!has!bestowed!on!humanity!today!
would!have!been!unimaginable!to!Comte!and!his!contemporaries!
200!years!ago.!Today,!we!fly!around!in!airplanes!at!35,000!feet,!
complaining!about!bad!food!and!uncomfortable!seats,!when!the!
whole!concept!would!have!been!unbelievable!in!the!nineteenth!
century.!Tools!that!we!take!for!granted,!like!the!Internet!and!cell!
phones,!would!have!appeared!to!our!ancestors!as!magic.!!
Of!course,!science!and!technology!have!also!brought!new!
dangers!such!as!nuclear!war,!antibiotic-resistant!diseases,!
environmental!carcinogens,!and!anthropogenic!climate!change.!
And!while!we!may!be!more!powerful!than!our!ancestors,!it!is!not!
clear!in!the!killing!fields!of!the!twentieth!century!that!we!have!
become!better!people!in!any!moral!sense.!In!Comte’s!progressive!
science-based!humanism!we!see!prefigured!the!utopian!
transformation!of!society!envisioned!by!Marx!and!others.!Of!
course,!one!of!the!reasons!we!today!are!less!optimistic!is!that!
Communism!and!other!utopian!movements!have!failed!to!
transform!human!nature.!Indeed,!the!very!utopian!drive!helped!to!
create!many!of!the!great!tragedies!of!the!twentieth!century.!
Perhaps!other!Promethean!tragedies!lie!before!us,!enabled!by!
science!and!our!frail!humanity.!Science!may!have!given!us!powers!
we!would!have!better!lived!without,!so!our!faith!in!science!will!
have!been!misplaced.!On!the!whole,!though,!from!my!own!limited!
vantage!point,!I!would!enthusiastically!endorse!Comte’s!notion!of!
progress!through!science,!at!least!some!kinds!of!progress.!Comte!
can!be!seen!as!one!of!the!early!prophets!of!our!age.!His!philosophy!
became!the!default!ideology!of!elite!European!and!American!
universities!in!the!twentieth!century!with!the!disestablishment!of!
the!Protestant!establishments!in!most!of!those!same!universities.
60
!!
!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
59
Mary Midgley, Science as Salvation: A Modern Myth and Its Meaning (New York: Routledge,
1994).
60
George M. Marsden, Soul of the American University: From Protestant Establishment to
Established Nonbelief (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996); David A. Hollinger,
Science, Jews, and Secular Culture: Studies in Mid-Twentieth-Century American Intellectual
History (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996).

!
!
56!
Reductionism$in$the$Science$of$Religion$
!
One!of!the!things!that!distinguishes!Comte!from!those!who!
followed!is!the!role!of!reductionism!in!their!theories!of!religion.!
Comte!was!not!a!strict!reductionist,!whereas!others,!in!particular!
Marx!and!Freud,!proposed!reductionistic!accounts!of!religion.!Let!
us!briefly!examine!each!in!turn.!
Karl!Marx!argued!that!the!economic!system!was!foundational!
in!understanding!human!society.!If!the!economic!system!changed,!
then!everything!about!society—the!legal!system,!the!educational!
system,!the!family!system,!and!also!religious!beliefs!and!
institutions—would!all!change!with!the!economy.!Marx!used!the!
metaphor!of!a!house!with!its!foundation!and!the!superstructure!
built!on!top!of!this!base.!Economics!was!privileged!in!Marx’s!view!
because,!through!the!economic!system,!humans!got!the!necessities!
of!survival.!Change!the!economic!base,!that!is,!the!modes!of!
production,!and!everything!in!the!superstructure!would!have!to!
change!as!well.!!
Medieval!economy!was!based!on!feudal!estates!owned!by!
nobility!and!agricultural!labor!provided!by!peasants.!In!Marx’s!
understanding,!this!feudal!economic!system!gave!rise!to!the!
institution!and!beliefs!of!the!Catholic!Church.!With!the!rise!of!
middle-class!merchants,!guilds,!and!industrialization!in!early!
capitalism,!Catholicism!progressively!gave!way!to!Protestantism.!
Marx!developed!the!idea!of!alienation!and!false!consciousness.!
Belief!in!God!was!a!fantasy,!akin!to!children’s!believing!in!Santa!
Claus,!and!resulted!in!humans!being!alienated!from!their!true!
potential!to!become!creative!laborers.!Marx!famously!referred!to!
religion!as!“the!opium!of!the!masses”!because!it!promoted!docility!
among!terribly!oppressed!workers!in!the!growing!industrial!cities!
in!Europe.!Thus,!religion!was!reduced!to!an!expression!of!
economics.!To!the!extent!that!Marx!was!on!to!something!true!about!
religions,!we!would!expect!profound!changes!in!religions!in!the!
twenty-first!century!based!on!the!current!globalized!economic!
system!of!production.!
Sigmund!Freud!was!also!a!reductionist,!believing!that!religion!
was!an!unhealthy!illusion,!but!he!rejected!Marx’s!theories!as!overly!
optimistic!about!human!capacities!to!lead!moral!lives!in!
harmonious!cooperation!with!others.!For!Freud,!the!base!or!

!
!
57!
foundation!of!human!society!is!the!instincts!and!structures!of!the!
human!psyche;!the!human!brain!is!shaped!by!millennia!of!evolution!
and!the!necessity!of!survival!and!reproduction.!Note!that!Freud!
shares!with!Marx!a!materialist!understanding!of!psychosocial!
causation!and!that!Freud!is!influenced!by!Charles!Darwin!in!
emphasizing!survival!and!reproduction!as!the!biological!backdrop!
imprinted!in!the!structures!of!our!brain.!Freud!understood!there!to!
be!an!eternal!struggle!between!our!individual!instincts!for!sex,!
food,!and!aggression!and!the!needs!of!society!to!control!our!
instincts.!Fulfilling!our!instinctual!desires!makes!us!content!but!
renders!life!short!and!brutish,!full!of!deadly!competition.!Denying!
our!instinctual!desires,!as!required!by!civilization,!makes!us!
miserable!but!renders!life!orderly!and!luxurious.!Freud!understood!
religion!to!be!one!of!the!ways!that!society!programmed!the!
“superego”—the!internalized!“should”—with!the!guilt!that!
regulates!the!instinctual!“id.”!He!understood!belief!in!God!to!be!a!
form!of!“infantile!regression.”!Humanity!creates!God!in!our!own!
image!(not!the!reverse)!to!have!an!imaginary!protective!parent-
figure!in!our!psyche!to!comfort!and!control!us!in!adult!life.!!
!
Deconstructing$the$Base-Superstructure$
!
Early!social!theorists!on!religion!all!used!some!version!of!
Marx’s!base-superstructure!model!of!causation,!though!they!may!
not!have!used!the!exact!terms.!Some!natural!or!material!factor!that!
determines!the!beliefs!and!behaviors!of!individuals—economics!for!
Marx,!the!human!psyche!for!Freud,!society!for!Durkheim—is!
foundational.!Religion!is!created!and!determined!by!other!forces;!it!
is!not!itself!a!cause.!When!the!foundation!changes,!so!too!changes!
what!is!built!on!top—in!this!case,!religion.!The!early!Freud!was!
more!optimistic!about!the!Enlightenment!project.!He!believed!that!
if!we!could!understand!the!origins!of!religion!in!human!history,!we!
might!better!take!control!over!it;!hence!his!book!Totems0and0
Taboos0(1918).!Without!necessarily!crediting!Comte,!all!adopted!a!
progressive!view!of!increased!secularization!as!a!good!that!
resulted!from!economic!and!scientific!development.!The!later!
Freud!was!less!optimistic.!He!had!lived!through!World!War!I!and!
saw!the!clouds!of!another!great!conflict!building!at!the!end!of!his!
life!in!exile!from!Austria!because!of!the!Nazis.!He!did!not!really!

!
!
58!
think!that!the!foundation,!the!human!psyche,!to!be!all!that!mutable.!
So!Freud!leaves!us!simply!stuck!with!the!dilemma!described!in!his!
book!Civilization0and0Its0Discontents!(1930)!and!its!dark!
premonition!about!the!violent!chaos!about!to!be!unleashed!in!
Enlightenment!Europe.
61
!
The!German!sociologist!Max!Weber!wrote!The0Protestant0Ethic0
and0the0Spirit0of0Capitalism0(1905)0partly!as!a!rebuttal!to!Marx.!The!
point!was!to!reverse!Marx’s!causal!relationship!between!base!and!
superstructure,!to!take!religion!out!of!the!realm!of!the!
superstructure!and!put!it!into!that!of!the!foundation!as!a!driver!of!
economic!change.!Weber!argued!that!the!values!of!worldly!
asceticism,!independence,!and!self-discipline!nurtured!by!
Protestant!Christianity,!particularly!Calvinism,!played!a!central,!
albeit!unintended,!role!in!the!development!of!European!capitalism.!
He!contrasted!this!with!the!influence!of!Catholicism.!In!other!
writings,!Weber!argued!that!the!religions!of!China,!India,!and!the!
Muslim!world!were!antithetical!to!the!rationalities!and!sensibilities!
of!modern!capitalism.
62
!!
Today,!most!social!theorists!would!reject!the!base-
superstructure!model!as!too!simplistic,!although!there!remains!a!
natural!tendency!toward!the!self-importance!ascribed!to!one’s!own!
pet!theory.!It!is!not!clear!anymore!what!is!foundational!and!what!is!
the!causally!dependent!variable!since!everything!reciprocally!
affects!everything!else.!Religions,!like!humans,!are!complex!and!
dynamic.!!
Today,!most!informed!social!theorists!are!also!forced!to!reject!
secularization!theory.!Religions!are!on!the!rise!throughout!the!
world,!in!spite!of!dramatic!economic!growth!and!scientific!advance.!
It!is!hard!to!deny!the!fact,!even!if!one!wishes!it!were!not!so.!
!
The$Anathema$of$the$University$
!
What!is!important!to!note!at!this!stage!of!our!discussion!is!that!
the!social!sciences—psychology,!sociology,!and!anthropology—
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
61
Freud, Totem and Taboo; Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents.
62
Maximillian Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons, [1905] 1958); Weber, The Sociology of Religion, trans. Ephraim Fischoff
(Boston, MA: Beacon Press, [1922] 1963); Weber, The Religion of India, trans. Hans Gerth and
Don Martindale (Glencoe, IL: Free Press, [1920] 1958); Weber, The Religion of China, trans.
Hans Gerth (Glencoe, IL: Free Press, [1920] 1951).

!
!
59!
were!largely!founded!by!thinkers!who!took!for!granted!that!there!
was!no!truth!content!or!value!to!religions,!that!religions!were!
irrational,!superstitious,!regressive,!and!dysfunctional.!They!all!
bought!into!Comte’s!vision!that!the!natural!trajectory!of!human!
civilization!was!toward!secularization!and!away!from!religion.!As!
societies!became!more!economically!and!scientifically!developed,!
they!would!forsake!these!“childish”!beliefs!and!adopt!scientific!
attitudes!and!worldviews.!To!use!psychological!terminology,!the!
social!sciences!were!founded!with!a!lot!of!animus!toward!religion,!
so!it!is!little!wonder!that!the!faith!factor!is!the!forgotten!variable!in!
much!of!the!social!sciences!in!the!decades!that!followed,!as!these!
sciences!and!their!respective!guilds!within!the!university!
developed,!expanded,!and!evolved.!!
It!is!not!an!overstatement!to!say!that!the!modern!research!
universities!were!founded!with!an!explicit!agenda!of!getting!rid!of!
religion.!Andrew!Dickson!White,!the!founding!president!of!Cornell!
University,!expressed!this!sentiment!in!his!1896!book!A0History0of0
the0Warfare0of0Science0with0Theology0in0Christendom.
63
!The!religious!
virtue!of!spiritual!enlightenment!was!turned!upside!down!by!the!
Enlightenment.!Perhaps!we!can!laugh!about!this!as!a!backhanded!
proof!of!Freud’s!Oedipal!complex.!In!this!case,!the!“father!to!be!
killed”!was!the!religious!institution!that!created!the!modern!
university!in!the!first!place,!that!is,!the!medieval!church!and!its!
Protestant!offspring.!Freud!met!a!similar!fate!as!the!“father!of!
psychology”!and!is!largely!denied!and!displaced!within!his!own!
guild.!!
In!any!case,!there!is!a!lot!of!ideological!and!emotional!baggage!
here.!Science,!most!would!agree,!needs!to!be!first!descriptive,!not!
prescriptive.!Because!of!the!ideological!baggage!of!scientism,!
disciplines!such!as!sociology,!psychology,!and!anthropology!have!
largely!not!developed!an!adequate!descriptive!phenomenology!of!
religion!and!spirituality.!Instead,!the!founders!of!these!disciplines!
and!their!intellectual!descendants!have!dismissively!sought!to!put!
religion!neatly!into!an!intellectual!box,!a!single,!simplistic!paradigm!
by!which!it!could!be!dismissed.!
!
!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
63
Andrew Dickson White, A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom
(Project Gutenberg, 1896).

!
!
60!
Pragmatism$in$the$Study$of$Religion$
!
One!important!exception!in!the!antireligious!trend!among!
social!scientists!was!the!American!psychologist!William!James!
(1842–1910).!James!is!regarded!as!a!pioneer!in!the!philosophical!
movement!known!as!pragmatism!and!the!psychological!movement!
known!as!functionalism,!the!latter!owed!in!part!to!Auguste!Comte.!
James!argued!that!the!truth!of!a!belief!or!practice!is!established!a!
posteriori!by!its!practical,!functional!consequences!in!someone’s!
life.!If!belief!in!God!leads!to!a!healthy!and!constructive!life,!then!it!
could!be!understood!as!true!for!all!practical!purposes.!The!
individual’s!experiences!and!the!lived!consequences!of!those!
experiences!are!proof!enough!of!the!“truth”!of!religion.!In!Varieties0
of0Religious0Experience!(1902),!James!developed!a!
phenomenological!approach!to!religion,!taking!first-person!
accounts!of!religious!experiences!of!numerous!historical!persons!at!
face!value,!adopting!an!attitude!of!positive!agnosticism!toward!the!
larger!truth!claims,!and!looking!toward!the!functional!and!practical!
consequences!of!those!beliefs,!practices,!and!experiences!in!the!
individual’s!life.
64
!!
Another!more!recent!advocate!of!a!pragmatic!and!functionalist!
approach!to!the!study!of!religion!was!Clifford!Geertz,!who!helped!
complete!the!story!of!the!old!sciences!of!religion!by!more!fully!
laying!out!the!dissenting!approach!already!articulated!by!Durkheim!
and!James.!!
Geertz!did!extensive!fieldwork!in!Indonesia!and!North!Africa.!
Much!like!a!detective!uncovering!some!hidden!and!complicated!
truth,!he!sought!to!understand!how!religious!beliefs,!practices,!and!
relationships!function!within!a!society.!He!called!his!method!“thick!
description.”!In!his!1973!classic!The0Interpretation0of0Culture,!
Geertz!offers!a!stunning!definition!of!religion:!
!
Religion!is:!(1)!a!system!of!symbols!which!acts!to!(2)!establish!
powerful,!pervasive,!and!long-lasting!moods!and!motivations!
in!people!by!(3)!formulating!conceptions!of!a!general!order!of!
existence!and!(4)!clothing!these!conceptions!with!such!an!aura!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
64
William James, Varieties of Religious Experience (New York: Macmillian, [1902] 1961).

!
!
61!
of!factuality!that!(5)!the!moods!and!motivations!seem!uniquely!
realistic.
65
!
!
Try!this!definition!out!the!next!time!you!go!to!church!or!
synagogue,!to!temple!or!mosque.!This!is!not!how!one!normally!
thinks!of!religion,!especially!not!one’s!own.!An!adequate!definition!
of!religion,!however,!needs!to!embrace!a!great!variety!of!beliefs!and!
practices,!most!of!them!quite!foreign!to!you!in!the!taken-for-
granted!comfort!of!your!own!“primary!subculture.”!Geertz!gives!us!
a!phenomenological!definition!of!religion.!It!talks!about!“systems!of!
symbols”!and!“moods!and!motivations,”!but!it!does!not!try!to!
prejudge!the!content!of!the!beliefs,!practices,!and!values.!Theistic,!
polytheistic,!pantheistic,!animistic,!and!nontheistic!religions!are!all!
included.!There!is!no!hierarchical!ranking!of!religions!nor!any!
progressive!evolutionary!development!of!religions!implied!in!the!
definition.!!
Geertz’s!definition!does!not!use!the!word!supernatural.!The!
typical!move!in!the!social!sciences!is!to!define!religion!as!some!
belief!in!or!relationship!with!“supernatural!agents.”!Tylor,!one!of!
the!founders!of!cultural!anthropology,!defines!religion!as!belief!in!
“spiritual!beings.”
66
!The!Swiss-German!anthropologist!Walter!
Burkert!defines!religion!as!a!“tradition!of!serious!communication!
with!powers!that!cannot!be!seen.”
67
!The!anthropologist!Scott!Atran!
defines!religion!as!belief!in!“supernatural!agents,”
68
!while!the!
anthropologist!Pascal!Boyer!says!that!religion!“is!about!the!
existence!and!causal!powers!of!nonobservable!entities!and!
agencies”!and!later!“supernatural!matters.”
69
!These!can!all!be!
referred!to!as!substantive!definitions!of!religion.!The!use!of!the!
concept!“supernatural”!imports!many!metaphysical!assumptions!at!
the!outset!and!precludes!by!definition!the!possibilities!that!
religions!may!intuit!and!infer,!discern!and!discover,!something!
empirically!real!and!ontologically!profound!about!the!universe!as!a!
whole!and!human!life!within!the!universe.!I!am!happy!to!grant!that!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
65
Geertz, Interpretation of Cultures, 90.
66
E. B. Tylor, Religion in Primitive Culture (New York: Harper Torchbooks, [1871] 1958), 9.
67
Walter Burkert, Creation of the Sacred: Tracks of Biology in Early Religion (Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 1996), 177.
68
Scott Atran, In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2002), 4.
69
Pascal Boyer, Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought, 7, 307.

!
!
62!
most!religious!stories!are!“supernatural”!and!that!these!cannot!be!
understood!as!anything!but!imaginative!myths.!These!mythologies,!
however,!may!point!toward!a!deeper!insight!about!the!human!
condition!and!a!transcendent!reality!that!are!empirically!and!
philosophically!justified.!In!this!view,!“God”!is!real!and!works!only!
through!“natural”!processes.
70
!Religions!of!the!world!would,!then,!
represent!millennia!of!empirical!research!about!this!ultimate!
reality,!and!the!findings!of!this!research!have!been!well!tested!and!
winnowed!in!the!received!traditions—Judaism,!Christianity,!Islam,!
Hinduism,!Buddhism,!Confucianism,!Taoism,!and!so!forth.!Today,!
the!received!traditions!need!to!be!retested!and!reinterpreted!in!
dialogue!with!contemporary!science,!but!there!is!no!reason!to!
suppose!that!they!will!be!refuted!and!rejected!whole!cloth,!no!
reason!to!throw!“God”!and!the!baby!out!with!the!bathwater.!This,!
at!least,!is!a!hypothesis!that!we!should!not!rule!out!by!importing!a!
metaphysical!dichotomy!at!the!outset!between!“naturalism”!and!
“supernaturalism”!in!our!very!definitions!of!science!and!religion.!
This!will!be!the!topic!of!part!2!of!this!book,!when!I!take!a!bottom-
up!approach,!working!from!contemporary!science!toward!religious!
truth!claims.!
Rather!than!beginning!with!a!substantive!definition!of!religion,!
I!will!side!with!the!phenomenological!approach!articulated!by!
Geertz!so!as!to!temporarily!avoid!a!complicated!discussion!of!the!
philosophy!of!science!and!possible!metaphysics!derived!therefrom.!
I!realize!that!we!cannot!avoid!this!discussion!if!we!are!to!entertain!
seriously!the!possibility!that!religions!are!in!some!sense!true,!
profoundly!true,!as!they!themselves!all!claim!to!be.!!
Important!for!our!discussion!also!is!that!Geertz’s!definition!
includes!things!that!we!do!not!normally!think!of!as!religions.!For!
instance,!there!is!an!entire!chapter!in!his!book!about!how!
Communism!functioned!in!the!Soviet!Union!as!a!form!of!religion.!
The!inclusiveness!of!Geertz’s!definition!of!religion,!however,!is!also!
considered!to!be!its!weakness.!Nothing!is!excluded.!Baseball,!
football,!and!other!sporting!obsessions!can!take!on!the!
characteristics!of!a!religion,!which!is!not!a!surprise!to!most!
baseball!fanatics.!Political!movements!and!parties!take!on!some!of!
the!same!characteristics.!Western!Europe!no!longer!seems!so!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
70
See for instance, Stephen M. Kossyln, “A Science of the Divine,” Edge,
http://www.edge.org/q2006/q06_9.html#kosslyn.

!
!
63!
secular!if!environmentalism!and!other!political!causes!can!also!
function!like!a!religion!for!many!of!their!followers.!With!Geertz’s!
definition,!my!daughter’s!Suzuki!violin!classes!start!looking!like!a!
strange!cult.!!
And!as!already!noted,!when!some!enthusiasts!of!science!see!
science!as!a!substitute!for!religion,!science!is!turned!into!scientism,!
that!is,!another!faith!among!many!with!its!own!“systems!of!
symbols”!and!“moods!and!motivations.”!Indeed,!scientism!can!be!
seen!to!offer!its!own!secular!apocalyptic-prophetic!narratives,!as!
well!as!its!own!secular!salvation!story.!We!see!this,!for!instance,!in!
the!apocalyptic!fears!of!climate!change!or!the!utopian!promises!of!
transhumanism.
71
!We!see!this!also!in!the!extremism!of!the!New!
Atheists—Dawkins,!Dennett,!Harris,!Hitchens,!and!others—who!
mirror!the!fundamentalism!of!religious!extremists!in!their!
righteous!anger!and!narrow!analysis.
72
!
Remember!that!this!phenomenological!approach!to!the!study!
of!religion!is,!at!the!outset,!primarily!concerned!not!with!the!truth!
claims!of!religions!(or!scientism)!but!with!accurate!descriptions!
and!analyses!of!how!beliefs!and!practices!function!for!individuals!
and!groups!and!what!pragmatic!benefits!ensue!or!not!in!what!
contexts.!It!can!be!illuminating!to!see!“religion”!in!some!of!the!least!
expected!places.!Indeed,!if!religion!is!a!human!universal,!then!we!
should!expect!to!see!it!everywhere,!reinvented!and!repackaged!in!
secular!guises!all!around!us.!This!renders!the!scientific!study!of!
“religion”!more!difficult!but!also!much!more!compelling.!
!
! !
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
71
For background on transhumanism, see Nick Bostrom et al., “H+: Transhumanism Answers Its
Critics,” Metanexus Institute, https://metanexus.net/h-defense-posthuman-dignity/
. For a critique of transhumanism, see Hava Tirosh-Samuelson et al., “Special Issue on
Transhumanism,” Metanexus Institute, https://metanexus.net/h-engaging-transhumanism-
critical-historical-perspective/.
72
For an excellent analysis of these authors, see John Haught, God and the New Atheism: A
Critical Response to Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens (Louisville, KY: Westminister John Knox
Press, 2008).