1st Edition

Introducing Religion Essays in Honor of Jonathan Z.Smith

By Willi Braun, Russell T. McCutcheon Copyright 2008
    524 Pages
    by Routledge

    524 Pages
    by Routledge

    The study of religion encompasses ordinary human social practice and is not limited to the extraordinary or divine. 'Introducing Religion' brings together leading international scholars in the field of religious studies to examine religion as integral to everyday social practice. The book establishes a theoretical framework for the study of religion to analyse prayer, ritual, science, morality and politics in relation to the world's major religions. It will be of interest to students of theory and method in religious studies seeking a clear introduction to the multifaceted nature of religion.

    PrefaceIntroducing SmithRussell T. McCutcheonCargo Cult Science and the Study of Religions:Genealogy in an Age of GlobalizationGregory D. AllesRedescribing Ma alas:A Test Case in Bodh Gay , IndiaJames B. AppleThe Gospel of Mark as Reflection on Exile and IdentityWilliam E. Arnal"Map-maker, Map-maker, Make Me a Map":Redescribing Greco-Roman 'Elective Social Formations'Richard S. AscoughBelief: A Classificatory Lacuna and Disciplinary "Problem"Catherine BellAn Occasion for ThoughtRon CameronComparing Prayer: On Science,Universals, and the Human ConditionArmin W. GeertzOn How Making Differences Makes a DifferenceJeppe Sinding JensenDeconstructing the Eliadean Paradigm: SymbolDarlene M. JuschkaComparison: Categories, Methods, and MischiefsKaren KingInsiders and Outsiders:Studying Hinduism Non-Religiously?P. Pratap KumarSmith, Derrida, and AmosFrancis LandyImagination Bound and UnboundE. Thomas LawsonTelling the Truth Can Be Dangerous BusinessGary LeaseFinding One's Place:Magic, Science, Religion, and InterdisciplinarityChristopher LehrichIs it Meaningful to Speak of a Greco-Roman Diaspora Judaism?A Case Study in Taxonomical Issues in the Study of Ancient JudaismJack LightstoneThink Globally, Get Death Threats Locally:The Politics of Studying HinduismJ. E. LlewellynSacred Persistence?Burton MackReader as Producer:Jonathan Z. Smith on Exegesis, Ingenuity, ElaborationTomoko MasuzawaWhat Do Rituals Do? And How Do They Do It?Cognition and the Study of ReligionLuther H. MartinRe: PaulMerrill P. MillerRabbi JeremiahJacob NeusnerMaps, Genealogy, and Difference:Towards Recognition of Our Ambulatory NatureLieve OryeHominibus vagis vitam:The Wandering of Homo Hellenisticusin an Age of TransformationPanayotis PachisConnecting With Evolutionary Models:New Patterns in Comparative Religion?William E. PadenWhat a Difference Theory MakesHans H. PennerThe Ontology of ReligionStanley StowersComparing Law Comparing ReligionWinnifred Fallers SullivanThe Scientific Study of Religion and Its Cultured DespisersDonald WiebeIntroducing ReligionWilli Braun

    Biography

    Willi Braun is Professor of Religion in the Department of History and Classics at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Russell T. McCutcheon is Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama.