James Orr says the definition of religion is yet to be fleshed out in a discussion with John Cleese.
Speaking on The Dinosaur Hour with the comedy legend, The Cambridge University professor delved into the topic of religion and its problems in the 21st century.
“Once upon a time, religion didn’t mean anything as something that was just a distinct tradition”, he said.
“Once upon a time, there was no secularism, there was no real religion, everything was loosely Christian.
James Orr spoke to John Cleese
GBNEWS
“It’s only when the West in the Age of Exploration started to learn about these very sophisticated belief systems elsewhere in the world.
“That’s when people started thinking, oh gosh there are other belief systems here, which one is right?”
James Orr spoke to John Cleese
GB NEWS
Orr told Cleese that scholars have been delving into the topic of religion in recent times with the aim of giving it a proper definition.
“There’s been a fascinating treasure hunt the last 50 years among scholars who study religion for the meaning of religion”, he said.
“It turns out, 50 years on, they still can’t quite work out what the definition of a religion is.
“There are all sorts of religions where we want to say ‘that’s definitely a religion’, but they don’t seem to be theistic.
“They don’t really seem to have a God as the object of their worship in the way we understand.
“I think maybe a better way of thinking about it are what are the features of religious belief?
“There are lots of ingredients. There is often a sense of the sacred, something that needs to be set apart around which a society can build itself.
“There’s a ritualistic element, an emotional element.
“There is something to do with the mind, meaning, what satisfies the sense of yearning for some explanation for the way the world is.”