A Comparative Study of Religious
Experience in Britain and China
Experience in Britain and China
A Comparative Study of Religious Experience in Britain
and China
The John
Templeton Foundation awarded a grant of £335,000, which ran from 2004 to
2007, for a comparative study of religious experience in Britain and China,
to enable Professor Paul Badham and Professor Xinzhong Yao, at the Alister
Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre at Lampeter, to undertake the
research at the Ian Ramsey Centre, University of Oxford.
The main finding of the Religious Experience Research Centre since its
establishment in 1969 is just how widespread religious experience is in
Western society. But to understand fully the nature and significance of
religious experience for humanity, it is necessary to extend the study
to non-western cultures and to examine whether or not comparable results
can be achieved there. The situation in China provided an excellent research
case because its understanding of religion has always been different from
the way religion has been perceived in Western cultures, and because of
its diverse religious expressions in Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, Christianity
and semi-religions such as qigong and folk practices.
The administration of the project was based at the Ian Ramsey Centre in
Oxford. Professor Paul Badham and Professor Xinzhong Yao, two of the directors
of the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre, became senior
fellows of the Ian Ramsey Centre and worked there with Professor Keith
Ward and Professor John Hedley Brooke in evaluating the data from China.
Professor Yao also maintained close links with the Institute for Chinese
Studies in Oxford. Professors Badham and Yao took the leading role in researching
religious experience and the comparative study of religious experiencing
in modern Britain and China, as well as assisting in the organization of
an International Colloquium and coordinating the translation of English
papers into Chinese and Chinese materials into English.
The John
Templeton Foundation awarded a grant of £335,000, which ran from 2004 to
2007, for a comparative study of religious experience in Britain and China,
to enable Professor Paul Badham and Professor Xinzhong Yao, at the Alister
Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre at Lampeter, to undertake the
research at the Ian Ramsey Centre, University of Oxford. The main finding of the Religious Experience Research Centre since its
establishment in 1969 is just how widespread religious experience is in
Western society. But to understand fully the nature and significance of
religious experience for humanity, it is necessary to extend the study
to non-western cultures and to examine whether or not comparable results
can be achieved there. The situation in China provided an excellent research
case because its understanding of religion has always been different from
the way religion has been perceived in Western cultures, and because of
its diverse religious expressions in Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, Christianity
and semi-religions such as qigong and folk practices.The administration of the project was based at the Ian Ramsey Centre in
Oxford. Professor Paul Badham and Professor Xinzhong Yao, two of the directors
of the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre, became senior
fellows of the Ian Ramsey Centre and worked there with Professor Keith
Ward and Professor John Hedley Brooke in evaluating the data from China.
Professor Yao also maintained close links with the Institute for Chinese
Studies in Oxford. Professors Badham and Yao took the leading role in researching
religious experience and the comparative study of religious experiencing
in modern Britain and China, as well as assisting in the organization of
an International Colloquium and coordinating the translation of English
papers into Chinese and Chinese materials into English.