θρησκεία

From the study of James 1:27

Range of meaning

Religious observance, worship as it is practised: rites, ceremonies, cultic acts (cultic meaning to do with temple worship and sacrifice), the outward side of devotion. It can also name a religious system as a body of practice ("our religion", Acts 26:5). It does not mean "belief system" or "worldview" in the modern sense. Its emphasis is on what you do in worship.

Against the English

English "religion" today often means a set of beliefs, an institution, or (in some church talk) empty human ritual as opposed to a real relationship with God. The Greek word is about worship carried out in practice. In itself it is neither positive nor negative.

How it drifted

Since the Enlightenment, "religion" in English has come to mean a category of belief systems ("world religions") or private conviction. In the twentieth century some popular Christian speech made "religion" a negative word. Neither sense matches the Greek.

Used elsewhere in the period

Herodotus uses it of Egyptian rites (2.18, 2.37). Wisdom of Solomon 14:18, 27 uses it of idol worship. 4 Maccabees 5:7, 13 calls Jewish practice "the religion of the Jews". Josephus uses it often for Jewish worship and the temple service. Philo (The Worse Attacks the Better 20–21) criticizes people who count ritual washings and costly sacrifices as θρησκεία while their lives are impure, which is a close parallel to James. In the NT: Acts 26:5 (Paul's Pharisaic "religion"), Col 2:18 ("worship of angels").

From the study of James 1:26

Range of meaning

θρησκεία means the outward practice of worship: cult, rites, ceremonies, religious observance, and by extension a people's religious way of life. θρησκός is the matching adjective, 'devout, scrupulous about worship'. The words describe what you do toward God or the gods, not mainly an inner attitude or a system of beliefs. They are neutral: the practice can be true or false, sincere or hollow.

Against the English

Modern English 'religious' and 'religion' usually suggest an organised belief system, or sometimes, negatively, stiff formalism as opposed to 'real faith'. James's word is narrower and more concrete: practised worship and piety. It is neither a dismissive term nor a word for inner belief.

How it drifted

From the Enlightenment onward, 'religion' came to mean an abstract category of belief systems (Christianity, Islam and so on). Some recent Christian rhetoric has also turned 'religion' into a negative word set against 'relationship'. Neither sense is in James.

Used elsewhere in the period

Josephus uses θρησκεία often for Jewish worship and Temple practice (e.g. Antiquities 1.222; 4.74). Fourth Maccabees (5:7, 13) uses it for Jewish observance of the Law. Wisdom of Solomon 14:18, 27 uses it for idol worship. In Acts 26:5 Paul calls Pharisaism 'the strictest party of our thrēskeia', and Colossians 2:18 speaks of the 'worship (thrēskeia) of angels'. Philo (That the Worse Attacks the Better 21) warns against treating ritual observance as if it were real holiness, which is close to James's point. θρησκός itself is very rare; this verse is among its earliest known literary uses.

From the study of Colossians 2:18

Range of meaning

Religious worship as practised: cultic acts, ritual observance, rites. It is the outward, performed side of religion.

Against the English

KJV "worshipping of angels" and modern "worship of angels" are fine as wording. The English, though, settles an ambiguity the Greek leaves open: is the worship given TO angels or done BY angels?

Used elsewhere in the period

Wisdom 14:27 uses it with a genitive of the object ("the worship of idols"). Josephus (Ant. 12.253) and 4 Macc 5:7, 13 use it with a genitive of the worshipper ("the religion of the Jews"). James 1:26–27 and Acts 26:5 use it of a group's religious practice.