The notion of meaning and salvation in religious studies

As an exercise in hermeneutics this study explores the relation between various concepts of evil and their associated forms of salvation. A definition of salvation is offered in terms of that aspect of the sociology of knowledge which might be called plausibility theory.\nThe major academic traditions of history, sociology, phenomenology, and anthropology of religion are shown to have been concerned with the question of 'meaning' and it is proposed that a general paradigm of meaning has now replaced the nineteenth century evolutionary paradigm. This approach eliminates the necessity of having to adopt theological terms from one religious tradition when studying other traditions. To show that the distinction between world religions and primitive religions is misleading some comparative study and analysis of some African tribal religions, the Sikh, and Mormon religions is presented in terms of the paradigm of meaning. A philosophical consideration of the nature of man is employed throughout the argument to suggest the appropriate level of analysis that each discipline should adopt, and to evaluate the methodological issue of reductionism.