Ninian Smart
Roderick Ninian Smart (6 May 1927 – 29 January 2001) was a British academic and philosopher of religion renowned for pioneering the secular study of religions as a distinct academic discipline separate from theology.[1][2] Born in Cambridge to Scottish parents and educated at the University of Glasgow and Queen's College, Oxford, Smart held teaching positions at institutions including the University of London, University of Birmingham, and Banaras Hindu University before becoming the founding Professor of Religious Studies at Lancaster University in 1967.[3][4] He later served as Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was named Faculty Research Lecturer, the institution's highest faculty honor.[3][5] Smart's most influential contribution was his development of a phenomenological framework for comparative religion, encapsulated in the "seven dimensions of religion"—doctrinal/philosophical, mythological, ethical, ritual, experiential/emotional, legal, and social—which provided a multidimensional tool for analyzing religious traditions empirically and without normative bias.[1][6] A prolific author of over 30 books, he advanced theories in the philosophy of religion, comparative ethics, and religious education, emphasizing neutral, descriptive approaches to global faith traditions.[7][8] His work fostered interdisciplinary religious studies programs worldwide and influenced secular curricula by prioritizing phenomenological observation over confessional advocacy.[9][10]Early Life and Education
Family and Childhood
Roderick Ninian Smart was born on May 6, 1927, in Cambridge, England, to Scottish parents William M. Smart, an astronomer and mathematician, and Isabel Carswell Smart, a poet.[8][1][2] The family soon relocated to Glasgow, Scotland, in 1937, following William Smart's appointment as Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow.[11][6] Smart grew up in an intellectually oriented household, with his father and two elder brothers all pursuing academic careers as professors.[12][13][14] This environment exposed him to scholarly discussions from an early age, amid the cultural and Protestant religious norms of mid-20th-century Scotland, including Scottish Episcopalian influences.[8] His childhood coincided with the onset of World War II, though specific personal impacts from the conflict on his early worldview remain undocumented in primary accounts.[15] During these formative years, Smart attended the Glasgow Academy, a preparatory school that reinforced the family's emphasis on education within a stable, middle-class setting shaped by Scottish academic traditions.[6][3]Formal Education and Influences
Ninian Smart pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of Glasgow, focusing on classics and philosophy, which he had begun prior to his military service during World War II.[16] After demobilization as a captain, he completed this degree around 1949–1950, laying a foundation in analytical reasoning and historical texts that later informed his approach to religious phenomena.[16] Securing a scholarship, Smart then attended The Queen's College at the University of Oxford starting in 1948, where he continued studies in classics, ancient history, and philosophy before shifting to postgraduate work in Sanskrit and Pali languages.[6] [17] At Oxford, he engaged with the prevailing analytic philosophy tradition, including figures like Gilbert Ryle, whose emphasis on ordinary language and conceptual clarification encouraged Smart's initial application of logical scrutiny to theological concepts rather than accepting them dogmatically.[18] This period marked Smart's transition from confessional theology toward a phenomenological method in religious studies, driven by post-war disillusionment with ideological absolutes and a preference for empirical description over prescriptive doctrine.[19] His exposure to linguistic analysis at Oxford prompted a critical stance against reductionist secularism in philosophy of religion, instead advocating neutral observation of religious expressions as cultural worldviews, distinct from evaluative judgments.[9]Academic and Professional Career
Key Appointments and Institutions
Smart began his academic career with lectureships in the history and philosophy of religion at the University of London following his early post at Aberystwyth, positions that allowed him to introduce phenomenological methods into British higher education during the 1950s, laying groundwork for secular analysis over confessional approaches.[1] In 1961, he was appointed the first H.G. Wood Professor of Theology at the University of Birmingham, serving until 1967, where he advanced non-theological perspectives within a traditionally doctrinal department by emphasizing comparative and empirical study of religious phenomena.[2] [15] From 1967 to 1982, Smart served as the founding Professor of Religious Studies at Lancaster University, where he established Britain's first dedicated department of the discipline, prioritizing objective, cross-cultural comparison of religions through empirical observation rather than theological advocacy, which institutionalized secular religious studies in the UK amid post-war secularization trends.[2] [4] In 1976, he became the inaugural J.F. Rowny Professor in the Comparative Study of Religions at the University of California, Santa Barbara, dividing his time between there and Lancaster until his UK retirement, a role that extended his influence into American academia during the 1980s rise in multicultural curricula and non-sectarian scholarship.[3] [1] He retired from UCSB in 1998 as professor emeritus.[3]International Lectures and Visiting Roles
Smart undertook several visiting professorships in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s, including at Yale University, the University of Wisconsin, and Princeton University, where he lectured on comparative religion and the phenomenological study of worldviews.[13] These roles enabled him to engage American academic audiences with his dimensional framework for analyzing religious phenomena, emphasizing empirical observation over normative judgments.[6] In Asia, Smart held visiting positions at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India; Bangalore University, India; and the University of Hong Kong, applying his methods to local religious traditions through lectures that highlighted experiential and social dimensions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Chinese folk practices.[13] These engagements facilitated cross-cultural adaptations of his approach, drawing on direct fieldwork to illustrate ritual and doctrinal variations without imposing Western categories.[8] He also served as visiting professor at the University of Queensland in Australia and the University of Otago in New Zealand, delivering talks that extended his worldview analysis to indigenous and settler religious dynamics in the region.[13] Additionally, Smart contributed to international conferences, such as the Gifford Lectures in Scotland, where he explored transcendental pluralism and symbolic identities across global traditions.[1] These forums promoted empirical data-sharing on religious expressions, fostering dialogue among scholars from diverse methodological backgrounds.[17]Public Engagement and Activism
Smart served as director of the Schools Council's Secondary Project on Religious Education starting in 1969, a role that directly influenced British educational reforms by producing Working Paper 36: Religious Education in Secondary Schools in 1971.[20][21] This document advocated a non-confessional, multi-faith curriculum grounded in phenomenological description, emphasizing empirical study of religions' doctrinal, ethical, and experiential dimensions to promote understanding amid growing pluralism.[22] The project's outputs shaped subsequent agreed syllabuses and textbooks, contributing to the 1970s paradigm shift from Christian-centric instruction to neutral exploration of world religions in state schools, with lasting effects on policy through the 1980s.[23] In interfaith contexts, Smart endorsed efforts toward descriptive mutual understanding between traditions, viewing such engagements as practical means to reduce conflict without requiring theological convergence.[24] He participated in broader public discourse on religious coexistence, drawing from his comparative expertise to highlight religions' complementary insights, as evidenced by his self-identification with elements of both Buddhism and Episcopalianism while rejecting exclusive truth claims.[24] This stance prioritized empirical dialogue over prescriptive ecumenism, aligning with his push for educational neutrality to foster societal harmony in diverse settings. Smart critiqued ideological secularism in public forums by insisting on religion's verifiable, causal persistence in human motivation and culture, urging that secular ideologies be analyzed alongside religious ones to avoid distorted worldviews.[25] His interventions, including writings and project leadership, challenged reductive secular narratives that dismissed faith's empirical roles, advocating instead for curricula that empirically map both religious and non-religious commitments to inform policy on pluralism.[23] This positioned religion as a neutral subject of study essential for realistic civic education, countering biases toward secular hegemony without promoting relativism.[22]Honors, Awards, and Recognitions
Smart was awarded honorary doctorates from several universities in recognition of his contributions to the comparative study of religions. These included an honorary Doctor of Letters from Lancaster University in 1995,[26] a Master of Arts honoris causa from the University of Stirling in 1986,[27] and an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow.[28] He received a total of six or seven such degrees, with additional honors from institutions including Loyola University Chicago in 1970 and the University of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka.[6] In 1995, Smart was elected president of the International Association for the History of Religions, a position he held until 2000, reflecting international acknowledgment of his influence in the field of religious studies.[29]Retirement, Final Years, and Death
Smart retired from his position as the J.F. Rowny Professor in the Comparative Study of Religion at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1998, after serving full-time there from 1989 onward and part-time earlier.[6][30] As an emeritus professor, he maintained an active scholarly presence, engaging with colleagues and continuing intellectual contributions until shortly before his death.[3] Following retirement, Smart relocated permanently to Lancaster, England, where he had previously held a professorship.[7] He died unexpectedly on January 29, 2001, at age 73, from a massive stroke suffered the previous night, at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.[7][15] No prior chronic health decline is documented in accounts of his final months, and his passing occurred mere days after his return to the United Kingdom.[10] He was survived by his wife, Libushka, and three children, with a fourth having predeceased him in childhood.[4]Core Scholarly Contributions
The Seven Dimensions of Religion
Ninian Smart articulated the seven dimensions of religion as an analytical framework to dissect the empirical structures of religious traditions, emphasizing observable patterns in human religious behavior across cultures rather than abstract theological claims. Developed in his scholarly works of the 1970s, such as explorations in comparative religion, the model identifies recurring functional elements that contribute to the coherence and persistence of religions, drawing from direct examination of practices and expressions in diverse societies like ancient India and medieval Europe.[31][32] This approach prioritizes causal insights into how these dimensions interlink to sustain belief systems, for instance, by linking ritual actions to social cohesion or doctrinal formulations to ethical norms, based on historical and ethnographic evidence rather than unverifiable inner experiences.[33] The dimensions are:- Practical and ritual: Encompassing ceremonies, worship practices, and daily observances, such as Hindu puja rituals involving offerings to deities or Christian sacraments like the Eucharist, which serve to enact and reinforce communal bonds through repeated, observable actions.[31]
- Experiential and emotional: Involving personal feelings, mystical encounters, and emotional responses, evidenced in phenomena like Sufi ecstatic dances or Buddhist meditative states reported in primary accounts from practitioners across Asia and the Middle East.[31]
- Narrative and mythical: Comprising stories, legends, and foundational tales that convey origins and values, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh in Mesopotamian traditions or the Genesis narratives in Judaism, which provide explanatory frameworks for natural and moral orders.[31]
- Doctrinal and philosophical: Focusing on systematic beliefs, creeds, and intellectual articulations, exemplified by the Nicene Creed in Christianity (formulated in 325 CE) or the Four Noble Truths in Buddhism, which offer rational structures for interpreting reality.[31]
- Ethical and legal: Addressing moral codes, laws, and behavioral prescriptions, as seen in the Ten Commandments of Judaism (dating to circa 13th century BCE) or Sharia principles in Islam, which guide conduct and resolve conflicts within communities.[31]
- Social and institutional: Pertaining to organizational structures, leadership, and group dynamics, such as the hierarchical clergy in Catholicism or monastic sanghas in Theravada Buddhism, which institutionalize authority and collective identity.[31]
- Material: Including physical artifacts, architecture, and symbols, like the Kaaba in Mecca (reconstructed multiple times since the 7th century CE) or Tibetan mandalas, which tangibly embody and propagate religious ideas through enduring objects.[31][32]