Religious beliefs and practices have shaped fashion, media, war, colonization, enslavement, and abolition, legislation and law enforcement, marriage practices, the economy, literacy and education, and the way people think about themselves and others. Religions are fundamental to human lives. They shape all we know, and they are some of the most powerful forces shaping knowledge, the arts, and technology. They are also a source of hope, and of terror and violence.
The 19th century saw a number of developments that prepared the ground for modern study of Religion. The growth of historical and archaeological research and the rise of anthropology and other social sciences meant that many more cultures could be studied. The emergence of comparative approaches helped to clear away some of the obscurity that had surrounded religion before, and it became possible to develop a definition of religion that did not depend on belief in an unusual reality.
In addition, scholars began to focus more attention on the psychological dimensions of religion. This was prompted in part by the work of philosophers such as Friedrich Engels and Ludwig Feuerbach who developed theories that looked at religion as a projection of human aspirations. This approach was further clarified by the development of a theory of symbolic interaction based on the work of German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel, and by advances in understanding of the nature of ritual and myth.
Despite these developments, much remains hazy about what it means to be religious. The fact that people can interpret their actions religiously in so many different ways (scrupulously, generously, ecstatically, zealously, prayerfully, sacrificially, puritanically, and ritualistically) is a sign of the complexity of the concept. It is also a reminder that religion is far more than just institutions and practices: it is the inner sentiments that underlie them all.