The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion

Explore a rigorous but accessible guide to contemporary approaches to the study of religion from leading voices in the field

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion delivers an expert and insightful analysis of modern perspectives on the study of religion across the humanities and the social sciences. Presupposing no knowledge of the approaches examined in the collection, the book is ideal for undergraduate students who have yet to undertake extensive study in the humanities or social sciences.

The book includes perspectives from those in fields as diverse as globalization, cognitive science, the study of emotion, law, esotericism, sex and gender, functionalism, terror, the comparative method, modernism, and postmodernism. Many of the topics covered in the book clearly hail from religious studies, while others are grounded in other areas of academia.

All of the chapters contained within are written by recognized authors who show how their chosen discipline contributes to the understanding of the phenomenon of religion. This book also includes topics like:

• A comprehensive exploration of multiple approaches to religious study, including anthropology, economics, literature, phenomenology, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and theology

• A review of various topics germane to the study of religion, including the study of the body, cognitive science, the comparative method, death and the afterlife, law, magic, music, and myth

• A selection of subjects touching on modern trends in extremism and violence, including chapters on terror and violence, fundamentalism, and nationalism

• A discussion of the influence of modernism and postmodernism in religion

Ideal for undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students in humanities and social science programs taking courses on religion and myth, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion will also earn a place in the libraries of specialists working in the fields of Religious Studies, Theology, Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Political Science, History, and Philosophy.

Auteur

Robert A. Segal is Sixth Century Chair in Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen. He is also Honorary Professor at the University of Essex and Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Vienna.

Nickolas P. Roubekas is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Vienna.

Contenu

List of Contributors viii

About the Editors x

Introduction xi
Robert A. Segal

Part I Approaches 1

1 Anthropology of Religion 3
Fiona Bowie

2 Economics of Religion 25
Rodney Stark

3 Literature and Religion 44
Eric Ziolkowski

4 Phenomenology of Religion 65
Thomas Ryba

5 Philosophy of Religion 93
Charles Taliaferro

6 Psychology of Religion 113
Roderick Main

7 Sociology of Religion 135
Titus Hjelm

8 Theology 152
Ian S. Markham

Part II T opics 169

9 Body 171
Yudit Kornberg Greenberg

10 Cognitive Science 184
Jesper Sorensen

11 Comparative Method 197
Paul Roscoe

12 Death and Afterlife 209
Douglas J. Davies

13 Emotion 219
Tony Milligan

14 Esotericism 229
Karl Baier

15 Ethics 241
G. Scott Davis

16 Functionalism 253
Robert A. Segal

17 Fundamentalism 265
Henry Munson

18 Globalization 277
Michael Wilkinson

19 History 289
Robert A. Yelle

20 Law 302
Winnifred Fallers Sullivan

21 Magic 315
Kocku von Stuckrad

22 Modernism and Postmodernism 325
Paul-Francois Tremlett

23 Music 335
Guy L. Beck

24 Myth 348
Robert A. Segal

25 Nationalism 361
Mark Juergensmeyer

26 Pilgrimage 371
Simon Coleman

27 Ritual 382

Part I by Catherine Bell -- Part II by Jens Kreinath

28 Science 400
Ralph O'Connor

29 Secularization 414
Steve Bruce

30 Sex and Gender 429
Ivan Strenski

31 Terror and Violence 440
Lorne L. Dawson

Index 451