Neither cryptotheology nor sociological reductionism: contributions to the epistemological debate of the Sciences of Religion in Brazil

A theoretical-political conflict within the Sciences of Religion in Brazil has been built over the past few decades. On the one hand, there are approaches close to philosophy, theology and phenomenology, where authors such as Otto, Tillich and Eliade are references. On the other hand, approaches in a social scientific perspective, when authors such as Durkheim, Weber and Bourdieu constitute the parameter. This polarization, while heightens spirits, at the same time, is an inauspicious panorama for the consolidation of the area. Accusations of "cryptotheology" and "sociological reductionism" flow from both sides. The tendency is for a disciplinary and ideological shutdown that allows neither dialogical horizons nor the identity construction of the Sciences of Religion among the other human sciences. One possibility to overcome such polarization consists in understanding the discipline as being composed of two complementary moments, one systematic and the other historical. It is an understanding that arises at the beginning of the European Science of Religion and can shed light on the current Brazilian debate. Supporting this conception, an empathetic attitude towards the religious phenomenon remains necessary on the part of the researchers.