Religion: The Modern Theories - Hardcover

Kunin, Seth D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 080187727X ISBN 13: 9780801877278

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003

Synopsis

Over the course of the twentieth century, thinkers from Marx and Weber to Freud, Jung, and Campbell have transformed the way we understand the religious experience. Within the field of religious studies, various intellectual approaches―from feminism to phenomenology―have further shaped the ways in which scholars examine rituals, symbols, and belief systems. In Religion: The Modern Theories, Seth D. Kunin provides an accessible yet comprehensive introduction to the social-scientific theories of religion that developed during the twentieth century, explaining the most significant theories of religion and their precursors.

Kunin begins with a detailed discussion of the century's major theorists of religion, their ideas, and their influence, among them Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Freud, Jung, and Otto. He next explores how various disciplines―sociology, psychology, phenomenology, gender studies, and anthropology―have affected the study of religion. Kunin then analyzes the constituent elements of religion itself: ritual, symbolism, and myth. Throughout, the author emphasizes the need to question and reassess accepted theories and definitions of religion, and he concludes with suggestions for framing new definitions of religion that provide more culturally sensitive and open-ended ways of understanding.

About this title

About the Author:

Seth D. Kunin is the head of the School of Divinity, Religious Studies, and Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen. He is coeditor of A Companion to Religious Studies and Theology; editor of Judaism: Themes in Religious Studies; and author of God's Place in the World and The Logic of Incest: A Structural Analysis of Hebrew Mythology.

Review:

This introductory textbook is both challenging and rewarding. It covers in three parts a wider span of academic disciplines than is usually the case. Useful as an undergraduate text, though many a new postgraduate would do well to read it for an overview of religious studies.

(Douglas J. Davies, University of Durham)

A splendid textbook for an undergraduate course in religion and eminently accessible to the sophisticated lay reader. A significant contribution to the field and a major contribution to the teaching of religion.

(Neil Gillman, Jewish Theological Seminary of America)

Provides a concise, instructive survey of scholarly efforts over the past century to frame a general theory of religion.

(Journal of Religion)

About this edition

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 080187727X
• ISBN 13: 9780801877278
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256