Formulation of the Claim
The anthropological approach highlights the similarity of the functions of the sacred across religions.
Explanation
The sacred is understood here through what it accomplishes within religious and social experience, not through its doctrinal form alone. For this reason, the anthropological approach reveals a convergence in its symbolic roles, such as organizing meaning and shaping cohesion within the community.
For Arkoun, this does not mean erasing the differences between religious traditions, but rather shifting attention from the appearance of difference to the structure that makes the sacred an active element in human life. In this sense, comparison becomes a tool for understanding religion as practice and meaning, not merely as a set of separate beliefs.
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This atom falls within the trajectory that uses the anthropological approach to open the study of religion onto a broader horizon than doctrinal or juristic presentation. It meets with Arkoun’s theses that are close to criticizing closed conceptions of religion and linking it to human history and the field of shared meaning among the monotheistic religions.
Limits of the Claim
This atom does not imply the identity of religions or the dissolution of their historical particularities, but rather speaks of a convergence in the functions of the sacred. Nor does it reduce religious experience to a single social dimension; instead, it illuminates one aspect of how it operates within human history.
Brief Evidence Passage
The sacred is understood here through what it accomplishes within religious and social experience, not through its doctrinal form alone. The anthropological approach therefore reveals a convergence in its symbolic functions, such as organizing meaning and shaping cohesion within the community. This does not mean erasing the differences between religions, but rather highlighting the similarity of the functions of the sacred across them.
Related Links
Islamic Thought: Critique and Ijtihad Towards a Comparative History of the Monotheistic Religions