Religious Process

Religious Process
Author: Kunal Chakrabarti
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2018-03-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780199482542

This book traces the evolution of a process of interaction between Brahmanism and the indigenous social groups of Bengal during the early medieval period. Following the logic of cultural negotiation implicit in the Puranas composed composed in Bengal, the book unravels a pattern that governed this relationship of recirpocity, contestation and domination. Two significant methodoligical issues have been addressed--the manner in which didactic Sanskritic texts can be read for the reconstruction of early Indian history and the application of anthropological models, such as great and little traditions, to such texts for a more comprehensive understanding of the Indian culture continuum. The book focuses on Bengal, but cultural negotiations refers to a fundamental civilizational pocess common to most regions in India, and as such has wider relevance.

Religion Explained

Religion Explained
Author: Pascal Boyer
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 406
Release: 2007-03-21
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 046500461X

Many of our questions about religion, says the internationally renowned anthropologist Pascal Boyer, were once mysteries, but they no longer are: we are beginning to know how to answer questions such as "Why do people have religion?" and "Why is religion the way it is?" Using findings from anthropology, cognitive science, linguistics, and evolutionary biology, Boyer shows how one of the most fascinating aspects of human consciousness is increasingly admissible to coherent, naturalistic explanation. And Man Creates God tells readers, for the first time, what religious feeling is really about, what it consists of, and how it originates. It is a beautifully written, very accessible book by an anthropologist who is highly respected on both sides of the Atlantic. As a scientific explanation for religious feeling, it is sure to arouse controversy.

Comparing Religions, a Limitative Approach

Comparing Religions, a Limitative Approach
Author: Johannes Gerhardus Platvoet
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 378
Release: 1982
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9789027931702

Since its founding by Jacques Waardenburg in 1971, Religion and Reason has been a leading forum for contributions on theories, theoretical issues and agendas related to the phenomenon and the study of religion. Topics include (among others) category formation, comparison, ethnophilosophy, hermeneutics, methodology, myth, phenomenology, philosophy of science, scientific atheism, structuralism, and theories of religion. From time to time the series publishes volumes that map the state of the art and the history of the discipline.

Understanding Other Religious Worlds

Understanding Other Religious Worlds
Author: Judith A. Berling
Publisher: Orbis Books
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2004-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1570755167

"This book articulates a learning process to help educators improve approaches to other religious traditions. Understanding Other Religious Worlds distinguishes between learning facts about other religions and understanding them and their followers in a wholistic manner. Berling argues that incorporating the religious "other" in one's own Christian identity is integral to living an authentic Christian life."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The Sociology of Religion

The Sociology of Religion
Author: Malcolm B. Hamilton
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2012-06-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1134976259

This clear introduction to the sociology of religion combines a discussion of key theorists with a modern emphasis on the diversity of religious beliefs and practices. Malcolm Hamilton's expanded second edition brings the discussion fully up-to-date, and extends its material on secularization and religious sects, giving a broad comparative view. Drawing on the insights of history, anthropology and sociology, he surveys classic and contemporary theory to give a full picture of the variety and scope of theoretical perspectives.

Why Politics Needs Religion

Why Politics Needs Religion
Author: Brendan Sweetman
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Total Pages: 251
Release: 2010-07-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0830877754

Can relligion and politics mix? Many voices reply, "No way!" Yet in this provocative and timely book, Brendan Sweetman argues against this charge and the various sophisticated arguments that support it. As we witness the clash of religious and secular worldviews he claims that our pluralistic democratic society will be best served when the faith elements of secularism are acknowledged and the rational elements of religious arguments are allowed to inform the momentous debates taking place in the public square. In fact, Sweetman contends that "politics needs religion if it is to be truly democratic, concerned with fairness among worldviews, equality and a vigorous public discussion."

Religious Conversion

Religious Conversion
Author: Sarah Claerhout
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2022-05-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1000571130

This book re-examines the issue of religious conversion, which has been a site of conflict in India for several centuries. It discusses wide-ranging themes such as conversion, education, and reform in colonial India; the process and practices of conversion in Christian Europe; Gandhi, conversion, and the equality of religions; perspectives from Hindu nationalism, secularism, and religious minorities; religious freedom and the limits of propagating religion; and conversion in constitutional law, commissions, and courts, to chart new directions for research on religion, tradition, and conversion. Tracing developments from the 19th-century colonial era to contemporary times, the book analyses cultural background frameworks and the origins of religious conversion and its conceptualisation in Western Christianity. It further delves into how Indian culture and its traditions have shaped responses to conversion. Part of the Critical Humanities Across Cultures series, this book will be useful to scholars and researchers of critical humanities, religion, cultural studies, sociology of religion, comparative religion, philosophy, anthropology, theology, Indology, history, politics, postcolonial studies, critical theory, and South Asian studies.

Understanding Religious Conversion

Understanding Religious Conversion
Author: Lewis Ray Rambo
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 268
Release: 1993-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780300065152

Looking at a wide variety of religions, this work offers an exploration of religious conversion. The phenomena is approached from a variety of disciplines, including psychology, sociology, theology and anthropology.

The World's Religions

The World's Religions
Author: Peter B. Clarke
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 806
Release: 2009-05-07
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1135211000

This comprehensive volume focuses on the world's religions and the changes they have undergone as they become more global and diverse in form. It explores the religions of the world not only in the regions with which they have been historically associated, but also looks at the new cultural and religious contexts in which they are developing. It considers the role of migration in the spread of religions by examining the issues raised for modern societies by the increasing interaction of different religions. The volume also addresses such central questions as the dynamics of religious innovation which is evidenced in the rise and impact of new religious and new spirituality movements in every continent.