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Thanks for the information on Egypt. :) As for the Jesuits - fascinating (as someone trained by both Jesuits and Dominicans, I believe fortunately in that order - fascinating but off topic so I'll leave it there. Thanks, Janet On 26 January 2013 18:35, James John Bell <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Janet and Christopher, > > Also in missiologist theory there is an attempt to reconcile the fact that > the word “mission” is not in the bible, and similar to how “religion” did > not exist as a separate category, was needed to be generated. > > BTW, the western pop cultural lore on the subject implicates the Jesuits > (“god’s marines”) and their general (“the black pope”) for spreading > concepts of “religion/mission”. They were the boogie men for global > conspiracy in their day similar to what the Freemasons are these days in > pop culture. The Jesuits global military order was forced underground by > the the Pope in 1773, and this event was key in leading Jesuit Adam > Weishaupt to create a secret network to keep their influence alive and > battle their suppression to help restore the order’s power. See, Proofs of > a Conspiracy by John Robison (1798). St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the > Jesuits in 1540, patron saint of soldiers, was implicated as being one of > the alumbrados which was suppressed at the time by the Catholic Church but > the ideas of the alumbrados continued underground for centuries within the > Jesuit order and supposedly influenced the naming of Weishaupt’s > clandestine network.. > > > On 1/26/13 8:40 AM, "janet ifimust" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > 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