Comparing Religions is a next-generation textbook which expertly guides, inspires, and challenges those who wish to think seriously about religious pluralism in the modern world. A unique book teaching the art and practice of comparing religions Draws on a wide range of religious traditions to demonstrate the complexity and power of comparative practices Provides both a history and understanding of comparative practice and a series of thematic chapters showing how responsible practice is done A three part structure provides readers with a map and effective process through which to grasp…mehr
Comparing Religions is a next-generation textbook which expertly guides, inspires, and challenges those who wish to think seriously about religious pluralism in the modern world.
A unique book teaching the art and practice of comparing religions Draws on a wide range of religious traditions to demonstrate the complexity and power of comparative practices Provides both a history and understanding of comparative practice and a series of thematic chapters showing how responsible practice is done A three part structure provides readers with a map and effective process through which to grasp this challenging but fascinating approach The author is a leading academic, writer, and exponent of comparative practice Contains numerous learning features, including chapter outlines, summaries, toolkits, discussion questions, a glossary, and many images Supported by a companion website (available on publication) at www.wiley.com/go/kripal, which includes information on individual religious traditions, links of other sites, an interview with the author, learning features, and much moreHinweis: Dieser Artikel kann nur an eine deutsche Lieferadresse ausgeliefert werden.
Jeffrey J. Kripal is the J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University. His most recent publications include Mutants and Mystics: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal (2011); Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred (2010); Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion (2007); and The Serpent's Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion (2007).
Inhaltsangabe
An Important Note to the Instructor xi
A Comment on the Cover Image and the Paintings xv
List of Illustrations xvi
Acknowledgments xx
Part I Prehistory, Preparation, and Perspective 1
Introduction: Beginnings 3
1 Comparative Practices in Global History: If Horses Had Hands 9
The Comparative Practices of Polytheism 11
The Comparative Practices of Monotheism: Early Judaism 16
The Comparative Practices of Monotheism: Early Christianity 20
The Comparative Practices of Monotheism: Early Islam 27
The Comparative Practices of Asia: Hinduism 33
The Comparative Practices of Asia: Sikhism 36
The Comparative Practices of Asia: Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism in China 38
The Tough Questions 39
2 Western Origins and History of the Modern Practice: From the Bible to Buddhism 43
Deep Upstream: Mystical Humanists, Protesters, Rationalists, and Romantics 44
Mid-Upstream: "Not as Moses Said," or the Biblical Beginnings of Critical Theory 54
Just Upstream: Colonialism and the Modern Births of Spirituality and Fundamentalism 58
The Immediate Wake: Counterculture, Consciousness, Context, and Cosmopolitanism 67
The Tough Questions 73
3 The Skill of Reflexivity and Some Key Categories: The Terms of Our Time Travel 77
The History of Religions 79
Patterns of Initiation 82
The Humanities: Consciousness Studying Consciousness 85
Cultural Anthropology and Initiation Rites 88
Working Definitions and Their Histories 89
The Uncertainty Principle: The Insider-Outsider Problem (and Promise) 103
Religious Questions as Ultimate Concerns 105
The Tough Questions 106
Part II Comparative Acts 109
4 The Creative Functions of Myth and Ritual: Performing the World 111
Myth: Telling the Story Telling Us 113
Ritual: Acting Out the Story Acting Us 116
Patterns in Myth 120
Patterns in Ritual 125
Comparative Practice: The Awakened One and the Great Hero in Ancient India 133
Beginning a Toolkit 138
The Tough Questions 139
5 Religion, Nature, and Science: The Super Natural 143
Religion and Contemporary Science 145
The Paradox of the Super Natural 146
Food and Purity Codes: "You Are What You Eat" 149
New Directions: Space Exploration, Dark Green Religion, and Popular Culture 154
Comparative Practice: The Human Plant 164
The Toolkit 172
The Tough Questions 173
6 Sex and the Bodies of Religion: Seed and Soil 177
In the Beginning ... 178
The Social Body: Sexuality, Gender, and Sexual Orientation 181
Sex and Transgression 188
Super Sexualities 192
The Sexual Ignorance of the Religions 195
Comparative Practice: The Two Ann(e)s 198
The Toolkit 204
The Tough Questions 205
7 Charisma and the Social Dimensions of Religion: Transmitting the Power 209
Charisma and Community 211
The Institutionalization of Charisma: Passing on the Charge 215
Patterns of Special Institutions 221
The Miracle and the Saint: Signs of the (Im)possible 226
Comparative Practice: The Flying Saint and the Levitating Medium 229
The Toolkit 234
The Tough Questions 235
8 The Religious Imagination and Its Paranormal Powers: Angels, Aliens, and Anomalies 239
System and Anomaly: Paranthropology 241
The Sixth Super Sense 244
The Imaginal: Not Everything Imagined Is Imaginary 249
