2009 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Action and its abstraction in early Christianity
| Project/Area Number |
19720018
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
Religious studies
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| Research Institution | Nanzan University |
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Principal Investigator |
YANAGISAWA Tami Nanzan University, 人文学部, 准教授 (20407620)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2006 – 2009
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| Keywords | キリスト教 / 身体 / 行為 |
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| Research Abstract |
My research is to examine an applicability of the empirical science to the comprehension of the religious literature, especially Gospels and Christian literature. In my opinion, Jesus' ability to affect the self image of discriminated people was a result of his concrete social performances, which effectively challenged the current power hierarchy. However, in the process of theological interpretation and canonization, his activities underwent inevitable conceptualization, and their psychological effects came to be seen as independent of his concrete deeds and of the social and historical context in which they took place. Based on this hypothesis, by applying the results of contemporary philosophy and modern empirical science such as ecological psychology or neuroscience, I try to redefine the religious experiences written in these texts as mere body performances and its effects. As a result, the 'neighborly love,' that is one of the principal concepts of the Christian doctrine, can be explained by a coupling or a combination of the concrete act of approaching and of the emotion which are brought about by that act. Moreover, the "forgiveness" or "conversion" is not just an "inner" experience but also can be explained as a concrete reconstruction of the real environment.
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