Religious Studies and the Goal of Interdisciplinarity


Book Description

This book offers a survey of the development of interdisciplinarity in religious studies within academia and offers ways for it to continue to progress in contemporary universities. It examines the use of the term ‘interdisciplinary’ in the context of the academic study of religion and how it shapes the way scholarly work in this field has developed. The text uses two main elements to discuss religious studies as a field. Firstly, it looks at the history of the development of religious studies in academia, as seen through an interdisciplinary critique of the university as an epistemological project. It then uses the same interdisciplinary critique to develop a foundation for a 21st-century hermeneutic, one which uses the classical concepts reprised by that interdisciplinary critique and retools the field for the 21st century. Setting out both the objects of religious studies as a subject and the techniques used to employ the study of those objects, this book offers an invaluable perspective on the progress of the field. It will, therefore, be of great use to scholars of research methods within religious studies.




Theology as Interdisciplinary Inquiry


Book Description

Can a neuroscientist help a theologian interpret a medieval mystical text? Can a historian of religion help an anthropologist understand the effects of social cooperation on human evolution? Can a legal scholar and a theologian help each other think about how fear of God relates to respect for the law? In this volume leading scholars in ethics, theology, and social science sum up three years of study and conversation regarding the value of interdisciplinary theological inquiry. This is an essential and challenging collection for all who set out to think, write, teach, and preach theologically in the contemporary world. CONTRIBUTORS: John P. Burgess Peter Danchin Celia Deane-Drummond Agustín Fuentes Andrea Hollingsworth Robin W. Lovin Joshua Mauldin Friederike Nüssel Mary Ellen O'Connell Douglas F. Ottati Stephen Pope Colleen Shantz Michael Spezio




Understanding World Religions


Book Description

Globalization and high-speed communication put twenty-first century people in contact with adherents to a wide variety of world religions, but usually, valuable knowledge of these other traditions is limited at best. On the one hand, religious stereotypes abound, hampering a serious exploration of unfamiliar philosophies and practices. On the other hand, the popular idea that all religions lead to the same God or the same moral life fails to account for the distinctive origins and radically different teachings found across the world’s many religions. Understanding World Religions presents religion as a complex and intriguing matrix of history, philosophy, culture, beliefs, and practices. Hexham believes that a certain degree of objectivity and critique is inherent in the study of religion, and he guides readers in responsible ways of carrying this out. Of particular importance is Hexham’s decision to explore African religions, which have frequently been absent from major religion texts. He surveys these in addition to varieties of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.




Literature and Theology


Book Description

This book explores current trends in the interdisciplinary study of literature and theology - an area of academic activity that has developed dramatically in the past twenty years. The field of study originated from the impetus to embrace the richness of imaginative resources in theological reflection and was stimulated by the re-emergence of the sacred in contemporary theory. Since the mid '90s critical theory has undergone a number of significant transformations, theology has become a subject of public concern and the boundaries between sacred and cultural texts have become increasingly unstable. This book brings together the work of leading scholars in the field with that of emerging voices. Offering an important resource for the growing number of postgraduate courses exploring the relation between religion and culture in the contemporary context, this book delineates current trends in interdisciplinary debate as well as tracing emerging configurations.




The Shaping of Rationality


Book Description

This book arises out of a deep fascination with the relationship between human intelligence and rationality, and with how our fragile but uniquely human ability to be rational invariably affects our everyday lives as well as our involvement with faith, theology, and the spectacular scientific achievements of our time. After carefully analyzing the notion of rationality and examining how the skill of rationality is being challenged by postmodern culture, J. Wentzel van Huyssteen argues that it is precisely the problem of rationality that holds the key to understanding the complex forces shaping the radically different domains of religion and science today.




Research Handbook on Interdisciplinary Approaches to Law and Religion


Book Description

Following 9/11, increased attention has been given to the place of religion in the public sphere. Across the world, Law and Religion has developed as a sub-discipline and scholars have grappled with the meaning and effect of legal texts upon religion. The questions they ask, however, cannot be answered by reference to Law alone therefore their work has increasingly drawn upon work from other disciplines. This Research Handbook assists by providing introductory but provocative essays from experts on a range of concepts, perspectives and theories from other disciplines, which can be used to further Law and Religion scholarship.




Religious Education


Book Description

The role of Religious Education in secondary schools is the subject of national and international debate. This book examines the current debates surrounding RE and puts forward a new approach to teaching the subject that is non-faith based and focused on conceptual enquiry and the development of a clear pedagogy. The book is based on the Living Difference learning model developed in Hampshire and adopted in other parts of the UK, which is sparking international discussion and provides an effective approach to implementing the new secondary curriculum. The chapters include examinations of: religious education and the curriculum an interdisciplinary approach to religious education the significance of pedagogy and learners’ development planning, progression, assessment and delivery specific case studies and examples of good practice in schools theoretical grounding and the future of RE the effects of globalisation, post-modernity and multiculturalism. Providing a basis for developing thinking about Religious Education, its place in the curriculum and how it can be delivered effectively in schools, this book is essential reading for tutors, students and teachers.




Between Magic and Religion


Book Description

Between Magic and Religion represents a radical rethinking of traditional distinctions involving the term 'religion' in the ancient Greek world and beyond, through late antiquity to the seventeenth century. The title indicates the fluidity of such concepts as religion and magic, highlighting the wide variety of meanings evoked by these shifting terms from ancient to modern times. The contributors put these meanings to the test, applying a wide range of methods in exploring the many varieties of available historical, archaeological, iconographical, and literary evidence. No reader will ever think of magic and religion the same way after reading through the findings presented in this book. Both terms emerge in a new light, with broader applications and deeper meanings.




Stepping Back and Looking Ahead: Twelve Years of Studying Religious Contact at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg Bochum


Book Description

This book includes a collection of articles by leading researchers on the topic of religious contact in the study of religion. Resulting from the final conference of the Käte Hamburger Kolleg "Dynamics in the History of Religions"–one of the largest research initiatives in the interdisciplinary study of religion worldwide in recent years (2008-2020)—this book encapsulates the twofold aim of this conference: first, to "step back" and reflect upon the merits and challenges of studying religious dynamics as a result of intra-, inter-, and extra-religious contact, and second "to look beyond" and pave ways for future approaches to study religion as a social phenomenon.




African American Religious Studies


Book Description

Gayraud S. Wilmore is Professor of Church History and Afro-American Religious Studies at The Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia. He has published numerous articles and booksl including Black Witness to the Apostolic Faith, David Shannon, co-ed.; Black and Presbyterian: The Heritage and the Hope; and Last Things First. Professor Wilmore is the recpicient of the Bruce Klunder Award of the Presbyterian Interracial Councils (1969), the Sward of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Harlem (1971), and various honorary degrees.