The Religion Toolkit A Complete Guide to Religious Studies

by Morreall, John; Sonn, Tamara

• ISBN13: 9781405182461
• ISBN10: 1405182466
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-11-07
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This complete overview of religious studies provides students with the essential knowledge and tools they need to explore and understand the nature of religion.Covers the early development of religion, with overviews of major and minor religions from Islam to Scientology Considers recent developments including secularization; the relationship between religion and science; and scientific studies on religion, health, and mystical experience Uses humor throughout, allowing students to remain open-minded to the subject Explains what it means to study religion academically, and considers the impact of the study of religion on religion itself Contains numerous student-friendly features including photos, maps, time lines, side bars, historical profiles, and population distribution figures Provides classroom users with a lively website including questions, quizzes, extra material, and helpful primary and secondary sources

Author Biography

John Morreall is Professor of Religious Studies at the College of William and Mary. He has published widely in the philosophy of religion, and on the comic dimensions of world religions. His book Comedy, Tragedy, and Religion (1999) won the Choice Outstanding Academic Book 2000. He is also the author of Comic Relief: A Comprehensive Philosophy of Humor (2009), published by Wiley-Blackwell.

Tamara Sonn is the Wm. R. Kenan Distinguished Professor of Humanities in the Department of Religious Studies at the College of William and Mary. Her books include Comparing Religions through Law: Judaism and Islam (with J. Neusner, 1999) and Islam: A Brief History, 2nd edition (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010). She was senior editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Islam (2003), and associate editor of The Islamic World Past and Present (2004). She is currently an editor of Oxford Islamic Studies Online, and of Encyclopedia of the Islamic World (2009). In addition, Sonn is editor-in-chief of Oxford Bibliographies Online: Islamic Studies, and co-editor-in-chief of Wiley-Blackwell's Religion Compass.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Prepare To Be Surprised

The Tools

An Overview of Religion: Making Sense of Life

Explaining Suffering and Evil

Explaining Death

Ghosts

Resurrection

Souls

Reincarnation

The Importance of Order

Order Out of Chaos

Order and Predictability: Eschatology, Prophecy, Divination

Social Order

Group Identity

Ethics/Morality and Law

Authority and Power

The Role of Ritual

Conclusion

3

The Relationship between Philosophy and Theology

Two Kinds of Christian Theology

Scriptural (Biblical) Studies and the Impact of the Printing Press

Baruch Spinoza

William Robertson Smith: Historical Criticism

The Rise of Modernity and New Academic Disciplines:Oriental Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, and Psychology

Max Mller: Oriental Studies and Religion

Edward Burnett Tylor: Anthropology and Religion

James Frazer: Evolution and Religion

Negative Views of Religion

Karl Marx: Religion and the Opiate of the Masses

Sigmund Freud: Religion and Neurosis

Sociology of Religion

Emile Durkheim: Modernization Theory

Max Weber: The Protestant Ethic

Conclusion

4

Back to Philosophy

Analytic Philosophy: Antony Flew

Phenomenology and Religious Studies

Rudolf Otto

Mircea Eliade

Philosophy of Religion

John Hick

William Lane Craig

Anthropology of Religion

Clifford Geertz

Mary Douglas

Sociology of Religion

Peter L. Berger

Robert N. Bellah

Psychology of Religion

Wiliam James

Carl Jung

Conclusion

Using the Tools: Surveying World Religions

5

Prehistoric Traditions

Animism and Anthropomorphism

Death Rituals

Fertility Goddesses

Hunting Rituals

Shamans

Ancient Religions, Oral Religions

The Neolithic Revolution, Patriarchy, and the Rise of Historic Religions

Conclusion

6

Judaism

The Torah, the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament

The History and Teachings of Judaism

1

2

3

The Enlightenment

The Development of Reform Judaism

Conservative Judaism

Reconstructionist Judaism

The Rituals of Judaism

Judaism Today

Christianity

The History and Teachings of Christianity

1

2

The Institutionalization and Politicization of Christianity

Eastern and Western Christians

The Western/Roman Church

The Eastern Orthodox Churches

3

Christian Rituals

Christianity Today

Islam

The History and Teachings of Islam

1

Early History: The Life of Muhammad and the Rashidun Caliphs

3

The Modern Period: Reform and Recovery

Islamic Rituals

Major Divisions Today

The Impact of Religious Studies on the Western Monotheisms

Biblical Studies

1

2

Theology

1

Gustavo Gutierrez

Farid Esack

2

Judith Plaskow

Rosemary Radford Ruether

Amina Wadud

Conclusion

Two Traditions of India: Hinduism and Buddhism

Hinduism and Buddhism

Hinduism

1

Indus Valley Civilization (3,000-1,500 BCE)

The Aryans and the Vedas (1,500-600 BCE)

The Mystical Worldview of the Upanishads

Classical Hinduism

The Ramayana

The Mahabharata

The Puranas

The Laws of Manu

2

3

Buddhism

History and Teachings of Buddhism

Understanding the Four Noble Truths

The Ethics of "Awakening"

The Core of All Buddhist Traditions

The Development of the Three Main Traditions

Theravada (Hinayana)

Mahayana

Vajrayana

2

3

Conclusion: Religious Studies and Indian Traditions

8

The Tao, Yin and Yang

The History of Chinese Religious Thought

1

The Zhou Period (12th-3rd c. BCE)

Confucius

Taoism

Buddhism in China

1

2

Chinese Folk Traditions

Chinese Traditions Today

9

What Makes a "World Religion"?

Zoroastrianism

1

2

Shinto

1

2

Baha'i

1

2

Scientology

1

2

3

Wicca

1

2

The Traditions of the Seneca

1

2

Conclusion: To Be or Not To Be a Religion?

10

Can We Define Religion?

Secularization?

1

2

Resurgent Islam

Resurgent Religion in the U.S.?

Secularization in Europe

Religion Revisited

Other Issues

1

2

Religion and Physical Health

Religion and Mental Health

Does Prayer Work?

Brain Science and Mystical Experience

Conclusion: Another Surprise?

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