The Expansion and Contraction of Religious Knowledge
E706444
The Expansion and Contraction of Religious Knowledge is a seminal work of Islamic philosophy that argues religious understanding is historically contingent, evolving, and distinct from immutable divine revelation.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| The Expansion and Contraction of Religious Knowledge canonical | 1 |
| essay "The Evolution and Devolution of Religious Knowledge" | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T8047768 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: The Expansion and Contraction of Religious Knowledge Context triple: [Abdolkarim Soroush, notableWork, The Expansion and Contraction of Religious Knowledge]
-
A.
An Analysis of Religious Belief
An Analysis of Religious Belief is a 19th-century work of religious criticism by John Russell, Viscount Amberley, examining the origins, validity, and social impact of religious doctrines.
-
B.
The Making of Religion
The Making of Religion is a scholarly work by Andrew Lang that examines the origins and development of religious beliefs, myths, and practices from an anthropological and comparative perspective.
-
C.
An Historian’s Approach to Religion
An Historian’s Approach to Religion is a work by Arnold J. Toynbee in which he examines the development and role of religions within the broader patterns of world history and civilizations.
-
D.
Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam
Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam is a seminal work of anthropology and religious studies in which Talal Asad critically examines how modern concepts of “religion” and secular power emerged through specific Christian and Islamic historical formations.
-
E.
Three Essays on Religion
Three Essays on Religion is a posthumously published collection of philosophical essays by John Stuart Mill that critically examines religious belief, theism, and the role of religion in moral life.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: The Expansion and Contraction of Religious Knowledge Target entity description: The Expansion and Contraction of Religious Knowledge is a seminal work of Islamic philosophy that argues religious understanding is historically contingent, evolving, and distinct from immutable divine revelation.
-
A.
An Analysis of Religious Belief
An Analysis of Religious Belief is a 19th-century work of religious criticism by John Russell, Viscount Amberley, examining the origins, validity, and social impact of religious doctrines.
-
B.
The Making of Religion
The Making of Religion is a scholarly work by Andrew Lang that examines the origins and development of religious beliefs, myths, and practices from an anthropological and comparative perspective.
-
C.
An Historian’s Approach to Religion
An Historian’s Approach to Religion is a work by Arnold J. Toynbee in which he examines the development and role of religions within the broader patterns of world history and civilizations.
-
D.
Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam
Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam is a seminal work of anthropology and religious studies in which Talal Asad critically examines how modern concepts of “religion” and secular power emerged through specific Christian and Islamic historical formations.
-
E.
Three Essays on Religion
Three Essays on Religion is a posthumously published collection of philosophical essays by John Stuart Mill that critically examines religious belief, theism, and the role of religion in moral life.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
philosophical book
ⓘ
work of Islamic philosophy ⓘ |
| addresses |
limits of religious authority
ⓘ
methodology of interpreting religious texts ⓘ relationship between religion and science ⓘ relationship between tradition and modernity ⓘ |
| argues |
divine revelation is fixed while human understanding changes
ⓘ
no human interpretation of revelation is absolutely final ⓘ religious knowledge can contract when interpretations are revised or abandoned ⓘ religious knowledge can expand with new insights ⓘ religious knowledge evolves over time ⓘ religious knowledge is a human, fallible enterprise ⓘ religious knowledge is distinct from immutable divine revelation ⓘ religious knowledge is influenced by cultural context ⓘ religious knowledge is influenced by historical context ⓘ religious knowledge is influenced by philosophical frameworks ⓘ religious knowledge is influenced by scientific developments ⓘ religious understanding is historically contingent ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | Iran ⓘ |
| critiques |
conflation of divine revelation with human interpretation
ⓘ
view that religious understanding is timeless and unchanging ⓘ |
| distinguishesBetween |
immutable divine revelation
ⓘ
mutable human religious understanding ⓘ |
| epistemicStatusOfText | treats scripture as divine but interpretations as human ⓘ |
| hasConcept |
distinction between religion and religious knowledge
ⓘ
dynamic interpretation of scripture ⓘ epistemic relativity in religious understanding ⓘ fallibility of religious scholars ⓘ historicity of religious knowledge ⓘ interaction between religion and modernity ⓘ |
| influencedField |
Islamic hermeneutics
ⓘ
linked to:
Islamic exegesis
Islamic reformist discourse ⓘ contemporary Islamic thought ⓘ philosophy of religion in the Muslim world ⓘ |
| languageOfWork | Persian ⓘ |
| mainTopic |
Islamic philosophy of religion
ⓘ
linked to:
Islamic philosophy
religious epistemology ⓘ theory of religious knowledge ⓘ |
| positionOnKnowledge |
religious knowledge is historically situated
ⓘ
religious knowledge is subject to critique and revision ⓘ religious knowledge is theory-laden ⓘ |
| positionOnRevelation | revelation is perfect but human understanding is imperfect ⓘ |
| religiousBranch | Shia Islam ⓘ |
| religiousTradition | Islam ⓘ |
| supports |
ongoing ijtihad in Islamic thought
ⓘ
plurality of interpretations within Islam ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: The Expansion and Contraction of Religious Knowledge Description of subject: The Expansion and Contraction of Religious Knowledge is a seminal work of Islamic philosophy that argues religious understanding is historically contingent, evolving, and distinct from immutable divine revelation.
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
Reason, Freedom, and Democracy in Islam
→
hasPart
→
essay "The Evolution and Devolution of Religious Knowledge"
ⓘ
linked to: The Expansion and Contraction of Religious Knowledge