Document Type : Original Article
Author
Faculty member of Tarbiat Modares University
Abstract
The essentialist approach to religion is an attempt to challenge the divese approaches to religion which, as external observers and through a reductionist view, have attained an incomplete understanding of religion and put the religious studies in a wrong direction. This endeavor is accomplished through the following steps: first, conceptual analyzing the distinction between essence and quiddity and truth; second, evaluating the main claim and reasons of the essentialist approach opponents, which include atheists, religious intellectuals, and sociologists, to show their shortcomings; and finally presenting some reasons regarding requirements of ‘knowledge’, ‘religion’ and ‘understanding of religion’.
Keywords
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