The Cambridge Companion to Religious Studies

Informative and provocative, this book introduces readers to debates in the contemporary study of religion and suggests future research possibilities.

Robert A. Orsi (Edited by)

9780521883917, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 December 2011

442 pages, 13 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.5 x 2.8 cm, 0.72 kg

'… an excellent addition to a college or university library that supports religious studies, cultural studies or social anthropology …' Christine Love-Rodgers, Reference Reviews

The Cambridge Companion to Religious Studies is both informative and provocative, introducing readers to key debates in the contemporary study of religion and suggesting future research possibilities. A group of distinguished scholars takes up some of the most pressing theoretical questions in the field. What is a 'religious tradition'? How are religious texts read? What takes place when a religious practitioner stands before a representation of gods or goddesses, ghosts, ancestors, saints, and other special beings? What roles is religion playing in contemporary global society? The volume emphasizes religion as a lived practice, stressing that people have used and continue to use religious media to engage the circumstances of their lives. The volume's essays should prove valuable and interesting to a broad audience, including scholars in the humanities and social sciences and a general readership, as well as students of religious studies.

Introduction Robert A. Orsi
Part I. Religion and Religious Studies: The Irony of Inheritance: 1. On sympathy, suspicion, and studying religion: historical reflections on a doubled inheritance Leigh E. Schmidt
2. Thinking about religion, belief and politics Talal Asad
3. Special things as building blocks of religions Ann Taves
4. The problem of the holy Robert A. Orsi
Part II. Major Theoretical Problems: 5. Social order or social chaos Michael J. Puett
6. Tradition: the power of constraint Michael L. Satlow
7. The text and the world Anne M. Blackburn
8. On the role of normativity in religious studies Thomas A. Lewis
9. Translation Martin Kavka
10. Material religion Matthew Engelke
11. Theology and the study of religion: a relationship Christine Helmer
Part III. Methodological Variations: 12. Buddhism and violence Bernard Faure
13. Practicing religions Courtney Bender
14. The look of the sacred David Morgan
15. Reforming culture: law and religion today Winnifred Fallers Sullivan
16. Sexing religion R. Marie Griffith
17. Constituting ethical subjectivities Leela Prasad
18. Neo-Pentecostalism and globalization Marla Frederick
19. Religious criticism, secular critique, and the 'critical study of religion': lessons from the study of Islam Noah Salomon and Jeremy F. Walton.

Subject Areas: Religious issues & debates [HRAM], Religion: general [HRA], Religion & beliefs [HR]