What is Religious Knowledge?

He Religious knowledge Is one that is based on a dogma, a belief accepted without rationing or scientific discussion.

In religious knowledge the person and the reality that surrounds him, related to something higher, a divinity, is conceived. This allows people to faithfully believe in something that can not be verified.

Another characteristic of this type of knowledge is that it is based on written or oral tradition and, sooner or later, becomes normative, that is, it produces rules, norms and values ​​that must be fulfilled without any questioning. It also generates rituals and actions that refer to a sacred being.

On the other hand, religious knowledge offers the opportunity to explain the events of life from a sacred and supernatural perspective to order and harmonize our world.

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Science and religious knowledge

In all human cultures, religious belief appears although its biological basis is the subject of debate in fields as diverse as the Evolutionary Psychology , Anthropology, genetics and cosmology.

However, little is known about the neural basis of religiosity. The studies of Cognitive neuroscience Have focused their efforts on neural correlates of unusual and extraordinary religious experiences while clinical studies have focused on the Religious manifestations Pathological conditions.

Hyperreligiosity in patients with Epilepsy of the temporal lobe Motivated the first theories that link religiosity with Limbic areas And temporary brain , While the executive aspects and the prosocial roles of the religion diverted the investigations towards the frontal lobes.

Analytical studies have shown that Social cognition Is closely linked with religious belief.

For results like these, science today is focusing on whether religious belief is related to specific patterns of brain activation.

However, there is a tendency to separate scientific knowledge from religious knowledge. This tendency has detractors and followers.

Among the detractors, is Delisle Burn, who in his text What is Religious Knowledge? Makes a whole philosophical argument as to why both types of knowledge should be considered valid and radically linked.

Neuroscience studies on religious experience

In the field of Neuroscience There are several investigations that have tried to find physical, physiological, scientific evidence about the religious experience.

Genetics of religiosity

Studies of twins at the University of Minnesota in the United States suggest that there is a genetic contribution to the likelihood of church attendance or the tendency to have self-transcendent experiences.

In fact, it has been stated that there is a genetic determination of the wiring of the brain in the service of religiosity.

However, this also seems to be related to non-religious self-transcendence, self-forgetfulness, or other non-religious psychological and social domains.

Religious experience produced or induced by hallucinogenic drugs

In the context of religious rituals, Hallucinogenic substances Of various types are often present to facilitate ecstatic and mystical states, including altered perception of reality and self, mood enhancement, visual and auditory hallucinations, and so on.

Neurological disorder and religious experiences

The relationship between brain function and religious experiences is also evidenced in cases of brain disease or injury.

In a small group of patients Epilepsy , The intense religious fear, ecstasy or feelings of divine presence occur as a consequence of the abnormal electrical activity of the brain that constitutes the aura that leads to a convulsion .

Even though these cases are rare, they are frequent enough to generate speculation.

Something similar has also been found in case of patients Schizophrenic . Or, conversely (reduced religiosity), in patients with Parkinson's disease .

Magnetic Stimulation of the Brain and a"Sense of Presence"

In one experiment, the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) applied on the right temporal lobe in non-epileptic individuals resulted in reports of a"sense of presence"that some religiously described (eg, the presence of God or angels).

Neuroimaging during religious states

Current neuroimaging studies suggest that religious states and beliefs are associated with identifiable changes in the distribution of brain activity.

All these investigations open the way to philosophical and theological questions such as: What is the nature of human religiosity? Is religion a product of biological or cultural evolution? In order to answer such questions, the approach must be based on theology and philosophy.

Incarnation of religiosity

Research on the neuroscience of religious experience shows that the activity of the body is a necessary part of religious life. The role of the soul or spirit can neither be affirmed nor refuted by science until this moment.

Reductionism against emergentism

Reductionism posits that religion is nothing more than physiology. While emergentism argues that human religiosity arises from the nature of the organization of physical systems (eg, neurons), and is causal in the sense that it is the organization of the whole system that interacts with the social world And physical.

From this review it follows that religion is a complex sociocultural construction that encompasses a great variety of group and individual activities, events, attitudes, behaviors and experiences, so that an appropriate neuroscience of religion must be equally diverse.

Shared religious knowledge Y. Individual religious knowledge

Any belief system is based on a body of semantic knowledge and, in the case of religious belief, that body of semantic knowledge is the doctrine, or set of concepts about agents and supernatural entities that believers accept as real.

This doctrine has abstract linguistic content, being specific of the different religions institutionalized, in addition to that is transmitted culturally.

Another source of religious knowledge is knowledge of events that come from explicitly religious personal experiences (such as prayer or participation in ritual), but also from multiple social and moral events influenced by religion.

This means that religious knowledge draws on both sources: doctrine and personal experience. In addition, the adoption and application of religious beliefs is influenced by the emotions and goals of the individual.

Personal knowledge of an individual is usually based on the shared knowledge of his family and the culture that surrounds him, so it is natural that tradition has a major impact on the formation of a person's religious knowledge.

However, the experiences of the individual also end up influencing the formation, consolidation or validation of that knowledge.

But ultimately, religion is a shared knowledge because communal ceremonies and traditions play a cohesive role in the community of believers of the same religion.

Knowledge shared in a religion is the basis of that religion: rules, traditions, ancient prophecies, moral code and cultural / historical antecedents.

References

1. Alba María (2015). RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS. Retrieved from: mariaalbatok.wordpress.com.
2. Dimitrios Kapogiannis et al. (2009). Cognitive and neural foundations of religious belief. Retrieved from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
3. Burns, C. Delisle (1914). International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Apr., 1914), pp. 253-265. Published by The University of Chicago Press. What is Religious Knowledge?
4. [Links] Characteristics of knowledge. Recovered from: teoriasdelapsicologiaucv.blogspot.com.
5. Religious knowledge systems. Retrieved from: theoryofknowledge.net.
6. Wilkins, Pete (2017). Neuroscience and Religious Faith in International Society for Science & Religion (ISSR). Retrieved from: issr.org.uk.
7. A hard tackle from Zepeda Rojas to Roberto Carlos. (2015, September 4). Intuitive, religious, empirical, philosophical and scientific knowledge. Definition, characteristics and relevance. Retrieved from gestiopolis.com.