Exploring Religion

by Schmidt, Roger

• ISBN13: 9780534088743
• ISBN10: 0534088740
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-02-27
• Publisher: Cengage Learning

Summary

This topical introduction to the study of religion for undergraduates implements a phenomenological approach.

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
Part I Introducing Religion	1	(116)
Chapter 1 What Is Religion?	3	(26)
Are Humans Inherently Religious?	6	(3)
Problems in Defining Religion	9	(3)
Features That Religions Have in Common	12	(5)
The Functional Features of Religion	12	(2)
The Substantive Features of Religion	14	(2)
The Formal Features of Religion	16	(1)
The Truth of Religion	17	(3)
The Study of Religion: Two Approaches	20	(2)
Purpose and Perspective	22	(3)
Summary	25	(1)
Notes	26	(3)
Chapter 2 The History of Religion	29	(32)
Issues Concerning the Origins of Religion	30	(6)
E.B. Tylor and Animism	31	(1)
Mana: A Preanimistic Stage of Religion?	32	(1)
Emile Durkheim, Sigmund Freud, and Totemism	33	(3)
A Critique of Theories of the Origin of Religion	36	(1)
Issues Concerning the Evolution of Religion	37	(4)
Herbert Spencer and E.B. Tylor	38	(1)
Frazer's Theory of Stages	39	(1)
From Mother Goddess to Father God	40	(1)
A Critique of Evolutionary Theories of Religion	41	(2)
A Neo-Evolutionary Classification of Religions	43	(14)
Primal Religions	44	(4)
Archaic Religions	48	(2)
Classical Religions	50	(3)
Modern Religions	53	(4)
Summary	57	(1)
Notes	58	(3)
Chapter 3 The Holy	61	(26)
Synonyms of the Holy	63	(3)
The Holy as Ultimate	66	(2)
The Holy as Nonordinary	68	(5)
The Mystery of the Holy	68	(1)
The Awesome Power of the Holy	69	(4)
Hierophanies of the Sacred	73	(7)
Time as a Hierophany	74	(2)
Space as a Hierophany	76	(1)
Persons as Hierophanies	76	(2)
Other Hierophanies	78	(2)
Theistic and Nontheistic Traditions	80	(4)
Theistic Traditions	80	(1)
Nontheistic Traditions	81	(1)
Ultimate Focus	82	(2)
Summary	84	(1)
Notes	85	(2)
Chapter 4 The Quest	87	(30)
Ultimate Situations, Ultimate Concerns: The Roots of Religious Experience	90	(5)
Who Am I?	90	(2)
Why Am I Here?	92	(2)
Where Am I Going?	94	(1)
Longing for Liberation: Human Existence as a Voyage of Discovery	95	(3)
Paths of Liberation	98	(8)
The Path of Knowledge	100	(1)
The Path of Action	101	(2)
The Path of Trust	103	(1)
Other Paths of Liberation	104	(2)
Magic and the Quest	106	(6)
Magic and Causation	108	(1)
Types of Magic	108	(3)
The Magical-Religious Quest in the Twentieth Century	111	(1)
Summary	112	(1)
Notes	113	(4)
Part II The Conceptual Dimension of Religion	117	(176)
Chapter 5 Symbolism	119	(24)
Symbols	120	(4)
Multivalent Symbols	121	(1)
Meaning, Context, and Behavior	122	(1)
Religious Symbols	123	(1)
Representational Symbols	124	(1)
Presentational Symbols	125	(8)
Signs	127	(2)
Analogues	129	(2)
Sacraments	131	(2)
The Symbolism of Sacred Rites	133	(3)
Baptism as Presentational Symbol	134	(1)
Baptism as Representational Symbol	134	(2)
Idolatry, Linguistic Confusion, Magic, or Sacrament?	136	(2)
The Symbolic Context and Religious Expression	138	(2)
Summary	140	(1)
Notes	141	(2)
Chapter 6 Speaking and Knowing	143	(38)
The Uses of Language	145	(6)
Affective Language	146	(2)
Directive Language	148	(1)
Informative Language	149	(2)
Scientific Ways of Speaking and Knowing	151	(8)
Characteristics of Science	152	(2)
The Language of Science	154	(1)
The Scientific Study of Religion	154	(2)
Scientific and Religious Beliefs	156	(2)
Limitations of the Scientific Way of Speaking and Knowing	158	(1)
Religious Ways of Speaking and Knowing	159	(17)
Religious Language Is Double-Intentional	160	(2)
Religious Language Is Metaphorical	162	(6)
Religious Language Is Evaluative	168	(2)
Religious Language Is Revelatory	170	(3)
Validation of Religious Models	173	(3)
Summary	176	(1)
Notes	177	(4)
Chapter 7 Sacred Stories	181	(26)
Sacred Stories as Human Creations and Sacred Disclosures	182	(2)
Myths	184	(10)
Origin Myths	187	(4)
Eschatological Myths	191	(3)
Interpreting Myths	194	(3)
Myths as Explanation	194	(1)
Myths as Unconscious Projection	195	(1)
Myths as Validation of the Social Order	196	(1)
Myths as Mediation of Conflicts	196	(1)
Parables	197	(3)
Parables as Evaluative	198	(1)
Parables as Revelatory	198	(2)
Parables as Paradoxical	200	(1)
Sacred History	200	(4)
Summary	204	(1)
Notes	204	(3)
Chapter 8 Scripture	207	(24)
Primary Features of Scripture	209	(3)
Scripture as Revelatory	210	(1)
Scripture as Authoritative	211	(1)
Scripture as Timeless	212	(1)
Sacred Sounds as Holy Writ	212	(2)
Scripture as Closed or Open	214	(1)
Interpreting Scripture	215	(9)
The Historical Interpretation of Scripture	216	(2)
Religious Hermeneutics	218	(2)
A Buddhist Hermeneutic	220	(2)
Christian Interpretations of Scripture	222	(2)
The Truth of Sacred Stories	224	(3)
Summary	227	(1)
Notes	228	(3)
Chapter 9 God	231	(32)
Philosophy	232	(3)
Theology	235	(6)
Natural and Revealed Theology	237	(2)
Doctrines and Authority	239	(2)
Attributes of God	241	(3)
Does God Exist?	244	(13)
The Cosmological Argument	244	(3)
The Ontological Argument	247	(2)
The Teleological Argument	249	(3)
A Pragmatic Justification of Belief in God	252	(2)
The Experiential Argument for God's Existence	254	(3)
Theology as Story	257	(2)
Summary	259	(1)
Notes	260	(3)
Chapter 10 Evil and Human Destiny	263	(30)
Why Must We Suffer?	264	(12)
A Buddhist View of Suffering	266	(4)
A Christian View of Suffering	270	(6)
Does Anything Remain?	276	(11)
Death	276	(4)
Life Beyond Death	280	(7)
Summary	287	(2)
Notes	289	(4)
Part III The Performative and Social Dimensions of Religion	293	(190)
Chapter 11 Holy Communities	297	(40)
Religion and Society	299	(7)
Kinship and Religion	299	(2)
Politics and Religion	301	(1)
Gender and Religion	302	(1)
Class and Religion	303	(1)
Economics and Religion	304	(2)
What Religion Does for and to Society	306	(2)
Types of Religious Associations	308	(9)
Natural Religious Groups	308	(4)
Voluntary Religious Groups	312	(5)
Leadership and Governance of Holy Communities	317	(3)
Founders of Religious Groups	318	(1)
Polities	319	(1)
Religion and Change	320	(6)
Founders and Change	321	(3)
Reform and Renewal in Holy Communities	324	(1)
Conflict and Division	324	(2)
Established and New Religious Groups	326	(7)
Dominant Religious Groups	327	(2)
Minority Religious Groups	329	(3)
Transition from Minority to Dominant Status	332	(1)
Summary	333	(1)
Notes	334	(3)
Chapter 12 Patterns and Varieties of Faith	337	(30)
Faith as Total Response	338	(3)
The Intensity of Faith	341	(2)
Visions, Voices, and Psychomotor Responses	343	(8)
Psychomotor Responses	343	(1)
Visions and Voices	344	(3)
Seeking Visionary and Ecstatic Experiences	347	(1)
Assessing Visionary Phenomena	348	(3)
Serene Ecstasy	351	(1)
Patterns of Faith	351	(11)
Confirming Types of Religious Experience	352	(1)
Saving Types of Religious Experience	353	(1)
Commissioning Types of Religious Experience	354	(1)
Possessional Types of Religious Experience	355	(4)
Mystical Types of Religious Experience	359	(3)
Summary	362	(1)
Notes	363	(4)
Chapter 13 Salvation	367	(24)
Conversion	368	(2)
The Troubled Self	370	(7)
The Origin of the Troubled Self	371	(2)
Conversion of the Troubled Self	373	(4)
Untroubled Selves	377	(3)
Conversion and Declension	380	(1)
Salvation Through Self-Power or Other-Power	381	(4)
Self-Power	381	(1)
Other-Power	382	(3)
Religion's Destructive Face	385	(3)
Summary	388	(1)
Notes	389	(2)
Chapter 14 Features of Holy Rites	391	(30)
Holy Rites as Drama	393	(2)
Primary Features of Holy Rites	395	(18)
Rites as Hierophanies	395	(4)
Rites as Performative	399	(4)
Rites as Repetitive	403	(5)
Rites as Social	408	(5)
Ritual and Antiritual	413	(4)
Summary	417	(1)
Notes	418	(3)
Chapter 15 Types of Holy Rites	421	(34)
The Purposes of Holy Rites	422	(8)
Purification and Supplication	422	(4)
Thanksgiving and Sacrifice	426	(4)
Interpretations of Purity Rules and Sacrifice	430	(4)
Interpretations of Purity Rules	431	(1)
Interpretations of Sacrifice	432	(2)
Rites of Passage	434	(11)
Changes of Status	435	(1)
A Ritual Pattern	435	(1)
Life-Cycle Rites	436	(9)
Calendrical Rites	445	(6)
Seasonal Rites	445	(1)
Periodic Rites	446	(5)
Summary	451	(1)
Notes	452	(3)
Chapter 16 What Is Religion?	455	(28)
Loss of Belief	456	(6)
Pagans and Heretics	457	(2)
Atheists and Agnostics	459	(3)
Loss of Home	462	(4)
The Disinherited	463	(1)
The Dispossessed	463	(3)
Loss of Meaning	466	(4)
The Broken Center and the Death of God	466	(1)
Descent into Hell	467	(3)
Religion and the Growth of Secularism	470	(3)
Humanism: An Alternative to Religion	473	(5)
Atheism	473	(2)
Human-Centeredness	475	(1)
This-Worldliness	476	(2)
Summary	478	(2)
Notes	480	(3)
Appendix	483	(4)
Glossary	487	(8)
Selected Resources	495	(14)
Bibliography	495	(10)
Media Guide	505	(4)
Acknowledgments	509	(2)
Index	511