Wilfred Cantwell Smith
(1916-2000)
Born in Toronto, Wilfred Cantwell Smith graduated in 1938 with his undergraduate
degree at the University of Toronto, studying oriental
languages. He carried out theological studies in England working with,
among others, the famous Islamicist H. A. R. Gibb (1895-1971)--one of
the editors of the famous Encyclopedia of Islam. During most of
the years of World War II (1940-45), Smith was in India with the Canadian
Overseas Missions Council, teaching on such topics as the history of India
and of Islam. (He was also ordained in 1944.) After the war he returned
to school, earning his Ph.D. in 1948 at Princeton University. Widely known
for his work on Islam, especially his commitment to cross-cultural comparison,
Smith is perhaps better known for his work on methodology (that is, his
studies on how one ought to go about studying religions), his interest
in developing a global theology of religious pluralism, as well as his
administrative work in helping to establish/revive centers for pursuing
the academic study of religion in general, or Islam in particular (e.g.,
at McGill University, in Montreal, at Harvard University, and at Dalhousie
University, in Halifax). Although his interests were clearly driven by
theological assumptions, Smith is remembered as being among the first
to study the history of the category "religion"--a term that,
he argued (in the tradition of Schleiermacher),
inadequately named both the outer, "cumulative tradition" as
well as the inner experience of "faith in transcendence" that
prompted, and was eventually institutionalized in, various outward expressions.
Major Works
Islam in Modern History (1957)
The Meaning and End of Religion: A New Approach to the Religious Traditions
of Mankind (1963)
Belief and History (1977)
Faith and Belief (1979)
Toward a World Theology: Faith and the Comparative History of Religion
(1981)
What is Scripture: A Comparative Approach (1993)
Quotation
"For I would proffer this as my second proposition: that no statement
about a religion is valid unless it can be acknowledged by that religion's
believers. I know that this is revolutionary, and I know that it will
not be readily conceded; but I believe it to be profoundly true and important.
It would take a good deal more space than is here available to defend
it at length; for I am conscious of many ways in which it can be misunderstood
and of many objections that can be brought against it which can be answered
only at some length. I will only recall that by 'religion' here I mean
as previously indicated the faith in men's hearts."
- Wilfred Cantwell Smith, "Comparative Religion: Whither and Why,"
The History of Religions: Essays in Methodology (1959)
Select Web Resources on Smith
Review
Essay on the Work of Wilfred Cantwell Smith, by Angela Jagger
"Wilfred
Cantwell Smith: In Memoriam" Harvard University Gazette
"In
Memoriam: Wilfred Cantwell Smith," by Willard G. Oxtoby
"Thoughts
on Wilfred Cantwell Smith" by Amir Hussain
"W.
C. Smith Remembered," Salwa Ferahian
Secondary Literature on Smith and Religion
Frank Whaling (ed.), The World's Religious Traditions: Current Perspectives
in Religious Studies. Essays in Honour of Wilfred Cantwell Smith.
T & T Clark, 1984.
Eric J. Sharpe, Comparative Religion: A History, pp. 282-285. Open
Court Press, 1986.
Walter H. Capps, Religious Studies: The Making of a Discipline,
pp. 311-315. Fortress Press, 1995.
Kenneth Cracknell (ed.), Wilfred Cantwell Smith Reader. Oneworld
Publications, 2001.
Peter Slater, "Smith, Wilfred Cantwell," The Encyclopedia
of Religion, 2nd edition. vol. 12, pp. 8450-8451. Macmillan Reference
USA, 2005.