The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion

by Segal, Robert A.

• ISBN13: 9780631232162
• ISBN10: 0631232168
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-02-03
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This prestigious Companion offers the most comprehensive survey to date of the study of religion. Featuring a team of international contributors, and edited by one of the most widely respected scholars in the field, The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion provides an interdisciplinary and authoritative guide to the subject. Examines the main approaches to the study of religion: anthropology, the comparative method, economics, literature, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and theology. Also covers a diverse range of topical issues, such as the body, fundamentalism, magic, and new religious movements Consists of 24 essays written by an outstanding team of international scholars Reviews, within each chapter, an outline of a particular subfield and traces its development up to the present day Debates how the discipline may look in the future Represents all the major issues, methods and positions in the field Features an accessible alphabetical structure.

Author Biography

Robert A. Segal is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen. His previous publications include Joseph Campbell: An Introduction (1987), Theorizing about Myth (1999), The Myth and Ritual Theory (ed., Blackwell, 1998), and Hero Myths: A Reader (ed., Blackwell, 2000). He is also the European Editor of Religion.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	ix
Introduction	xiii
Robert A. Segal
Part I: APPROACHES	1	(210)
Anthropology of Religion	3	(22)
Fiona Bowie
The Comparative Method	25	(22)
Paul Roscoe
Economics of Religion	47	(22)
Rodney Stark
Literature and Religion	69	(22)
Stephen Prickett
Phenomenology of Religion	91	(32)
Thomas Ryba
Philosophy of Religion	123	(24)
Charles Taliaferro
Psychology of Religion	147	(24)
Roderick Main
Sociology of Religion	171	(22)
Grace Davie
Theology	193	(18)
Ian Markham
Part II: TOPICS	211	(220)
Body	213	(16)
Richard H. Roberts
Death and Afterlife	229	(10)
Douglas J. Davies
Ethics	239	(16)
G. Scott Davis
Fundamentalism	255	(16)
Henry Munson
Heaven and Hell	271	(14)
Jeffrey Burton Russell
Holy Men/Holy Women	285	(10)
Lawrence S. Cunningham
Magic	295	(14)
Gustavo Benavides
Modernity and Postmodernity	309	(12)
Colin Campbell
Mysticism	321	(16)
Jeffrey J. Kripal
Myth	337	(20)
Robert A. Segal
Nationalism and Religion	357	(12)
Mark Juergensmeyer
New Religious Movements	369	(16)
Lorne L. Dawson
Pilgrimage	385	(12)
Simon Coleman
Ritual	397	(16)
Catherine Bell
Secularization	413	(18)
Steve Bruce
Consolidated Bibliography	431	(34)
Index	465