| In The Heretical Imperative (1979), Peter Berger posited two types of religiosity: (1) Jerusalem, where the divine is experienced outside of (and separate from) the self and cosmos; and (2) Benares, where the divine is experienced within, or identical with, the self. In The Other Side of God (1981), he added a third type: (3) Mythological Matrix, where the divine is experienced as identical with, or manifesting through, cosmic phenomena. This study traces and compares similar typological schemes in the works of Robert Bellah, Eric Voegelin, Gerhard von Rad, Mircea Eliade, Ninian Smart, Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, Friedrich Heiler, Rudolf Otto, Nathan Soderblom, and Max Weber. Insights drawn from their works are brought together in a critically revised version of the typology where the types are renamed simply as A, B, and C, respectively. It is suggested that underlying Berger's typology of religion are two contrasting epistemologies, labeled here as type A and type B/C, each with its corresponding cognitive and interpretive styles. A tendency to emphasize and reify key distinctions and boundaries is associated with type A epistemology, whereas the opposite tendency of disregarding or dissolving them is associated with type B/C. This perspective is then used to critically examine sociologist Rodney Stark's work on the nature and socio-historical consequences of monotheism. After a critical assessment of the Rational Choice Theory of Religion, it is argued that Stark's picture of religion in general and of monotheism in particular is based upon accentuation of key dichotomies. This indicates Stark's reliance on type A epistemology which is responsible for a hermeneutical asymmetry or lopsidedness in his approach, leading to an unjustified privileging of type A religiosity in his reading of monotheism. It is suggested that the methodological problems in Stark's work are partly related to his ideological commitment to the Weberian version of Western exceptionalism, as well as his desire to legitimize powerful Western institutions on the basis of Christian beliefs. |
