Like religion itself, the study of religion is here said to be an object of engagement and debate in the modern world with the arrival of novel perspectives, redefined concerns, altered tasks, new methodologies, and new agendas in a postcolonial and globalized world. In that light, scholars from Europe, the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia present a range of proposals for the shape of the discipline, and diverse perspectives on questions facing the field. The ten papers and short responses to them consider subjectivity and objectivity, the relationship between theology and religious studies, methodological questions, and the changing landscape of the discipline. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
This volume brings together divergent voices in religious and theological studies for a conversation about the proper objects, methods, and goals for the study of religion in the twenty-first century.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION: WHITHER THE STUDY OF RELIGION?, Slavica Jakelic and Lori
Pearson
THE STUBBORN PERSISTENCE OF RELIGION: SOME POST-SECULAR REFLECTIONS,
Friedrich Wilhelm Graf
Response to Friedrich Wilhelm Graf, Peter Berger
THE STUDY OF RELIGIONS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, Hans Kippenberg
The History of Religions and the Study of Religions: A Response to Hans
Kippenberg, Christoph Schwöbel
DIFFERENCE AND COHERENCE IN THE WORLDWIDE STUDY OF RELIGIONS, Michael Pye
Response to Michael Pye, Robert Cummings Neville
GLOBALIZATION AND THE FUTURE STUDY OF RELIGION, Bryan Turner
Response to Bryan Turner, Adam Seligman
THE PROPER OBJECT OF THE STUDY OF RELIGION: WHY IT IS BETTER TO KNOW SOME OF
THE QUESTIONS THAN ALL OF THE ANSWERS, Ivan Strenski
Problems, Questions, and Curiosities: A Response to Ivan Strenski, Elizabeth
Castelli
DIVERSITY AND THE STUDY OF MYSTICISM, Steven Katz
Response to Steven Katz, Francis X. Clooney
ENGENDERING THE STUDY OF RELIGION, Elizabeth Clark
Agency and Evidence in Feminist Studies of Religion: A Response to Elizabeth
Clark, Amy Hollywood
DETRADITIONALIZING THE STUDY OF RELIGION, Paul Heelas
Response to Paul Heelas, Ann Braude
RETRADITIONALIZING THE STUDY OF RELIGION: THE CONFLICT OF THE FACULTIES:
THEOLOGY AND THE ECONOMY OF THE SCIENCES, John Milbank
Theology or Religious Studies? The Future of Religious Studies: A Response to
John Milbank, Paul Morris
ERNST TROELTSCH AND THE FUTURE STUDY OF RELIGION, Trutz Rendtorff
Response to Trutz Rendtorff, Sarah Coakley
APPENDIX: Congress 2000 Parallel Sessions and Panels
INDEX
Slavica Jakeli, Ph.D. (1997) Boston University, is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Center on Religion and Democracy, University of Virginia. She has edited (with J. Varsoke) Crossing Boundaries: From Syria to Slovakia, (IWM, Vienna 2003). Lori Pearson, Th.D. (2002) Harvard University, is Assistant Professor of Religion at Carleton College. She has published various articles on Ernst Troeltsch.
