Dissertation Writers: Why, according to Nye, is it important to look beyond canonical texts in the study of religion, to those woven into other cultural outlets? 

Dissertation Writers: Why, according to Nye, is it important to look beyond canonical texts in the study of religion, to those woven into other cultural outlets?

1. According to Nye, what is the problem with making “belief” central to the study of religion? In what ways might doing so reflect Christian biases in the study of religion?

2. According to Nye, in what ways do the the theories of Feuerbach, Marx, and Freud, along with cognitive approaches to the study of religion, exhibit reductionism?

3. According to Nye, what are some different ways in which the term “belief” can be used or understood?

4. Why, according to Nye, can’t belief and practice be separated?

5. Nye discusses eight particular ways of looking at rituals. Summarize and discuss each of these. Note: this will require a longer than normal answer, and is worth 50 points of the total.

6. Why, according to Nye, is it important to look beyond canonical texts in the study of religion, to those woven into other cultural outlets?

7. What are some of the issues that arise in translation? How do our presuppositions impact translations?

8. What does Nye mean when he says that “reading is not necessarily a neutral activity, but happens within a sphere of political relations”? Explain.