Wilfred Cantwell Smith (July 21, 1916 – February 7, 2000) was a Canadian
Islamicist,
comparative religion
Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...
scholar, and
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...
minister. He was the founder of the
Institute of Islamic Studies at
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Univer ...
in Quebec and later the director of
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
's
Center for the Study of World Religions. The ''Harvard University Gazette'' said he was one of the field's most influential figures of the past century.
In his 1962 work ''The Meaning and End of Religion'' he notably questioned the modern sectarian concept of
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...
.
Early life and career
Smith was born on 21 July 1916 in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, to parents Victor Arnold Smith and Sarah Cory Cantwell. He was the younger brother of
Arnold Smith and the father of
Brian Cantwell Smith
Brian Cantwell Smith is a philosopher and cognitive scientist working in the fields of cognitive science, computer science, information studies, and philosophy, especially ontology.
His research has focused on the foundations and philosophy ...
. He primarily received his secondary education at
Upper Canada College
Upper Canada College (UCC) is an elite, all-boys, private school in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as the country's most prestigious preparatory school, and has produce ...
.
Smith studied at
University College, Toronto
University College, popularly referred to as UC, is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, created in 1853 specifically as an institution of higher learning free of religious affiliation. It was the founding member of the university ...
, receiving a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
degree with honours in
oriental languages circa 1938. After his thesis was rejected by the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, supposedly for its
Marxist
Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...
critique of the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was him ...
, he and his wife Muriel Mackenzie Struthers spent seven years in pre-independence
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
(1940–1946), during which he taught
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
and
Islamic history
The history of Islam concerns the political, social, economic, military, and cultural developments of the Islamic civilization. Most historians believe that Islam originated in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th century CE. Muslims ...
at
Forman Christian College
Forman Christian College is an private liberal arts university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was founded in 1864 and is administered by the Presbyterian Church. The university follows an American-style curriculum.
Founded in 1864 by America ...
in
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...
.
In 1948 he obtained a
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
degree in oriental languages at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
, after which he taught at
McGill McGill is a surname of Scottish and Irish origin, from which the names of many places and organizations are derived. It may refer to:
People
* McGill (surname) (including a list of individuals with the surname)
* McGill family (Monrovia), a promin ...
, founding in 1952 the university's
Institute of Islamic Studies. From 1964 to 1973 Smith taught at
Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...
. He left Harvard for
Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus in Saint John, New Brunswick. Dalhousie offer ...
in
Halifax,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
, where he founded the Department of Religion. He was also among the original editorial advisors of the scholarly journal ''
Dionysius
The name Dionysius (; el, Διονύσιος ''Dionysios'', "of Dionysus"; la, Dionysius) was common in classical and post-classical times. Etymologically it is a nominalized adjective formed with a -ios suffix from the stem Dionys- of the name ...
''. In 1978 he returned to Harvard. In 1979 he received an honorary doctorate from
Concordia University
Concordia University (French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...
. After his retirement from Harvard in 1984, he was appointed a senior research associate in the Faculty of Divinity at
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
, University of Toronto, in 1985.
Death and legacy
Smith died on 7 February 2000 in Toronto. His papers are preserved in Special Collections and Archives at the University Library at
California State University, Northridge
California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...
.
Views on religion
In his best known ''The Meaning and End of Religion: A New Approach to the Religious Traditions of Mankind'' (1962), Smith examines the concept of "religion" in the sense of "a systematic religious entity, conceptually identifiable and characterizing a distinct community".
[ Quoted in .] He concludes that it is a misleading term for both the practitioners and observers and it should be abandoned in favour of other concepts. The reasons for the objection are that the word 'religion' is "not definable" and its noun form ('religion' as opposed to the adjectival form 'religious') "distorts reality". Moreover, the term is unique to the Western civilization; there are no terms in the languages of other civilizations that correspond to it. Smith also notes that it "begets bigotry" and can "kill piety". He regards the term as having outlived its purpose.
Smith contends that the
concept
Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs.
They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by ...
of religion, rather than being a universally valid category as is generally supposed, is a peculiarly European
construct of recent origin. Religion, he argues, is a static concept that does not adequately address the complexity and flux of religious lives. Instead of the concept of religion, Smith proffers a new conceptual apparatus: the dynamic dialectic between ''cumulative tradition'' (all historically observable rituals, art, music, theologies, etc.) and ''personal faith''.
Smith sets out chapter by chapter to demonstrate that none of the founders or followers of the world's major religions had any understanding that they were engaging in a defined system called religion. The major exception to this rule, Smith points out, is
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
which he describes as "the most entity-like." In a chapter titled "The Special Case of Islam", Smith points out that the term Islam appears in the
Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...
, making it the only religion not named in opposition to or by another tradition. Other than the prophet
Mani
Mani may refer to:
Geography
* Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia
* Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad
* Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece
* Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshina ...
, only the prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
was conscious of the establishment of a religion. Smith points out that the
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
language does not have a word for religion, strictly speaking: he details how the word ''din'', customarily translated as such, differs in significant important respects from the European concept.
The terms for major world religions today, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shintoism, did not exist until the 19th century. Smith suggests that practitioners of any given faith do not historically come to regard what they do as ''religion'' until they have developed a degree of cultural self-regard, causing them to see their collective spiritual practices and beliefs as in some way significantly ''different'' from the ''other''. Religion in the contemporary sense of the word is for Smith the product of both
identity politics
Identity politics is a political approach wherein people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, social class, or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these i ...
and
apologetics
Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and ...
:
One's own "religion" may be piety and faith, obedience, worship, and a vision of God. An alien "religion" is a system of beliefs or rituals, an abstract and impersonal pattern of observables.
A dialectic ensues, however. If one's own "religion" is attacked, by unbelievers who necessarily conceptualize it schematically, or all religion is, by the indifferent, one tends to leap to the defence of what is attacked, so that presently participants of a faith – especially those most involved in argument – are using the term in the same externalist and theoretical sense as their opponents. Religion as a systematic entity, as it emerged in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, is a concept of polemics and apologetics.
By way of an
etymological
Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words and ...
study of ''religion'' (, in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
), Smith further contends that the term, which at first and for most of the centuries denoted an attitude towards a relationship between
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
and ''man'', has through conceptual slippage come to mean a "system of observances or beliefs", a historical tradition which has been institutionalized through a process of
reification. Whereas ''religio'' denoted personal
piety
Piety is a virtue which may include religious devotion or spirituality. A common element in most conceptions of piety is a duty of respect. In a religious context piety may be expressed through pious activities or devotions, which may vary among ...
, ''religion'' came to refer to an
abstract entity
In metaphysics, the distinction between abstract and concrete refers to a divide between two types of entities. Many philosophers hold that this difference has fundamental metaphysical significance. Examples of concrete objects include plants, h ...
(or
transcendental signifier) which, Smith says, does not exist.
He argues that the term as found in
Lucretius
Titus Lucretius Carus ( , ; – ) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem ''De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, and which usually is translated into E ...
and
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
was internalized by the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
through
Lactantius
Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius (c. 250 – c. 325) was an early Christian author who became an advisor to Roman emperor, Constantine I, guiding his Christian religious policy in its initial stages of emergence, and a tutor to his son Cr ...
and
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
. During the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
it was superseded by the term ''faith'', which Smith favours by contrast. In the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
, via the
Christian Platonist Marsilio Ficino
Marsilio Ficino (; Latin name: ; 19 October 1433 – 1 October 1499) was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a reviver of ...
, ''religio'' becomes popular again, retaining its original emphasis on personal practice, even in
John Calvin
John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...
's ''Christianae Religionis Institutio'' (1536). During 17th-century debates between Catholics and
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
s, religion begins to refer to an abstract system of beliefs, especially when describing an oppositional structure. Through the
Enlightenment this concept is further reified, so that by the nineteenth century
G. W. F. Hegel defines religion as ''Begriff'', "a self-subsisting transcendent idea that unfolds itself in dynamic expression in the course of ever-changing history ... something real in itself, a great entity with which man has to reckon, a something that precedes all its historical manifestation".
Smith concludes by arguing that the term religion has now acquired four distinct senses:
# personal piety (e.g. as meant by the phrase "he is more religious than he was ten years ago");
# an overt system of beliefs, practices and values, related to a particular community manifesting itself as the ''ideal'' religion that the theologian tries to formulate, but which he knows transcends him (e.g. 'true Christianity');
# an overt system of beliefs, practices and values, related to a particular community manifesting itself as the ''empirical phenomenon'', historical and sociological (e.g. the Christianity of history);
# a generic summation or universal category, i.e. ''religion in general''.
''The Meaning and End of Religion'' remains Smith's most influential work. The
anthropologist of religion and
postcolonial scholar Talal Asad has said that the book is a modern classic and a masterpiece.
Works
* ''Modern Islam in India: A Social Analysis'' (1943, 1946, 1963), Victor Gollancz, London,
* ''The Muslim League, 1942–1945'' (1945) Minerva Book Shop, 57 p.
* ''Pakistan as an Islamic State: Preliminary Draft'' (1954), Shaikh Muhammad Ashraf, 114 p.
* ''Islam in Modern History: The tension between Faith and History in the Islamic World'' (1957), Princeton University Press 1977 paperback:
* ''The Meaning and End of Religion: A New Approach to the Religious Traditions of Mankind'' (Macmillan, 1962), Fortress Press 1991 paperback:
* ''The Faith of Other Men'' (1963), Dutton, . from seven
CBC radio
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
talks
* ''Questions of Religious Truth'' (1967), Scribner
* ''Religious Diversity: Essays'' (1976), HarperCollins paperback:
* ''Belief and History'' (1977), University of Virginia Press 1986 paperback:
* ''On Understanding Islam: Selected Studies'' editor, (1981), The Hague: Mouton Publishers: , Walter De Gruyter Inc. hardcover: , paperback: , 2000 reprint:
* ''Scripture: Issues as Seen by a Comparative Religionist'' (1985)
Claremont Graduate School
The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges which includes five undergraduate ( Pomona College, Claremont McKenna C ...
, 22 p., no ISBN
* ''Towards a World Theology: Faith and the Comparative History of Religion'' (1989) Macmillan paperback: , Orbis Books 1990 paperback:
* ''What Is Scripture? A Comparative Approach'', Fortress Press 1993:
* ''Patterns of Faith Around the World'', Oneworld Publications 1998:
* ''Faith and Belief'', Princeton University Press 1987: , Oneworld Publications 1998:
* ''Believing'', Oneworld Publications 1998:
* ''Wilfred Cantwell Smith Reader'' (2001), Kenneth Cracknell editor, Oneworld Publications,
* "Wilfred Cantwell Smith. A Chronological Bibliography", compiled by Russell T. McCutcheon, in Michel Despland, Gerard Vallée (eds.), ''Religion in History. The Word, the Idea, the Reality'', Waterloo, Ontario, Wilfrid Laurier University Press 1992, pp. 243–252.
See also
*
Religious pluralism
Religious pluralism is an attitude or policy regarding the diversity of religious belief systems co-existing in society. It can indicate one or more of the following:
* Recognizing and tolerating the religious diversity of a society or coun ...
*
Universalism
Universalism is the philosophical and theological concept that some ideas have universal application or applicability.
A belief in one fundamental truth is another important tenet in universalism. The living truth is seen as more far-reaching th ...
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
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Further reading
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External links
Memorial from Harvard University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Wilfred Cantwell
1916 births
2000 deaths
McGill University faculty
Religion academics
Harvard University faculty
People from Toronto
Religious pluralism
Universalism
Essentialism
Presidents of the American Academy of Religion
Princeton University alumni
Religious studies scholars
University of Toronto alumni
Upper Canada College alumni
Officers of the Order of Canada