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Dear Christopher, I find this fascinating, and enlightening. I've read that this is also the case for ancient Egypt - that "religion" did no exist as a separate category. Is that the case (she asks, thinking that there are those here who are likely to know)? (I've changed the title to reflect the question, I hope that's ok). Thanks, Janet On 26 January 2013 16:16, Christopher I Lehrich <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Such distinctions can be read into sources, but at base the generalizable > category "religion" in anything resembling the modern sense does not > manifest in the west until the 16th century, and its formation as a > category also entails dramatic reformulations of the much older category > "magic". I can't speak to Islamic materials, but I would note here that > Chinese materials, linguistically or conceptually, do not present anything > akin to the western "religion" as category until European missionary > activity makes it necessary to generate a term for translation; for > example, the modern Mandarin zōngjiaò is clearly an attempt to render > Christian missionary terminology. I am not aware of a generalizable > "religion"-like category outside the west that did not arise in similar > circumstances, though obviously I don't claim comprehensive knowledge. > > Useful here are Talal Asad, Genealogies of Religion; J.Z. Smith, > "Religion, Religions, Religious," Tomoko Masuzawa, The Invention of World > Religions; Guy Stroumsa, A New Science. > > Chris Lehrich > > Christopher I. Lehrich > Assistant Professor, Boston University > Vice President, North American Association for the Study of Religion > > -- Dr. Janet Goodall Research Fellow Institute of Education University of Warwick Coventry CV4 8EE Review of Best Practice in Parental Engagement: https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/RSG/AllPublications/Page1/DFE-RR156 Warwick Page: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wie/staff/teaching-research/janet_goodall