Reading Religion in Text and Context: Reflections of Faith and Practice in Religious Materials

by Collins,Peter; Arweck,Elisabeth

• ISBN13: 9780754654827
• ISBN10: 0754654826
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-06-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

To what extent is religion inherently textual? What might the term 'textual' mean in relation to religious faith and practice? These are the two key questions addressed by the eleven thought-provoking essays collected in this volume. Accounts of the content and structure of sacred texts are commonplace. The rather more adventurous aim of this book is to disclose (within the context of religion) the various ways in which meaning can be read off more or less obviously sacred writing and from discourses such as the body, the built and natural environment, drama and ritual.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	vii
List of Contributors	ix
Foreword	xiii
James A. Beckford
1 Reading Religion in Text and Context: An Introduction	1	(16)
Peter Collins and Elisabeth Arweck
2 Catholicism and Freedom: Dignitatis Humanae — the Text and its Reception	17	(17)
James Sweeney
3 The Left Behind Series as Sacred Text?	34	(16)
Malcolm Gold
4 Secularization: Human Rights and Sacred Texts	50	(15)
Paul Chambers
5 Relics and ' Baraka': Devotion to the Prophet Muhammad among Sufis in Nottingham, UK	65	(18)
Ian G. Williams
6 Text and Context in Sikkim, India	83	(20)
Vibha Arora
7 Making a Joyful Noise: The Multiple Forms and Functions of Music in Modern Revivalism	103	(17)
Nancy A. Schaefer
8 Reinventing Melchizedek: Interpretations of Traditional Religious Texts in the Seminary Context	120	(17)
Ewan Ingleby
9 Reading Religious Architecture	137	(20)
Peter Collins
10 Textuality and Embodiment among Charismatic Christians	157	(12)
Simon Coleman
11 The Case of the Left Hand: The Location of Religion in an Everyday Text	169	(16)
Kim Knott
Index	185