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| | Marburg Journal of Religion (April 1996): Michael Pye (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-11) |
 | | This counterpoint, brought about by the very invention of a designation for Shinto, implies that ever since there was "Shinto", historically speaking, there has been the beginning of a reflective consciousness about its nature, at least on the part of a few. |
 | | This found further development in the idea of shinbutsu shugo, for the abstracted conception of "assimilation" (shugo) implies the differentiated positing of shin and butsu (i.e. |
 | | Thus in Japan, as in China and elsewhere, the very fact of religious pluralism proved to be the seedbed of reflection on religion, both from religious standpoints and eventually from non-religious standpoints. |
| www.uni-marburg.de /religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/helsinki.html (7566 words) |
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