History of Religious Thought

Author: Mircea Eliade
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features:
The History of Religious Thought was translated and published by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press. The translator is Mircea Eliade from the United States, translated by Yan Kejia and others from the Religious Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. This book is one of the representative works of the famous Western religious historian Mircea Eliade (1907—1986), comprehensively reflecting the research achievements of Western religion in the 20th century. Mircea Eliade was born on March 9, 1907, in a military family in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. His father, Gheorghe Eliade, was a captain and a Moldovan, known for being melancholic, poetic, and inclined to metaphysics; his mother was an Oltoman, known for loving adventure, being energetic, and enjoying horseback riding. The different personalities of his parents had a dual influence on Eliade. Eliade was competitive, sensitive, and poetic, but sometimes he would fall into despair and melancholy. During his middle school years, Eliade was passionate about science popularization and dreamed of "dealing with scientific problems in a literary form," while his interest in religion, oriental studies, and mysticism grew increasingly. In 1925, after graduating from high school, he studied at the Department of Literature and Philosophy at the University of Bucharest. From 1928 to 1931, he studied Indian yoga and Upanishads in India while diligently learning Sanskrit. The three years in India became an extremely valuable part of his academic career. Eliade was prolific in literary creation, and as a academic novelist, his academic focus remained on religious studies. After World War II until 1955, Eliade lived in Paris, France, during which time his religious studies reached a peak. He published a series of religious works in French, including Typology of Religious Consciousness, The Universe and History, The Myth of Eternal Return, Yoga: Death and Freedom, and Shamanism. These works nearly covered all important areas of 20th-century religious studies, quickly establishing him as a renowned religious historian in the international academic community. In 1956, Eliade was invited as a visiting professor to the United States to deliver the Haskell Lectures at the University of Chicago. The following year, he became the director of the Department of Religious Studies and a professor at the University of Chicago. Together with his colleagues, he transformed the Chicago Theological Seminary into an internationally renowned center for religious history research, forging an inseparable bond between Eliade and the discipline of American religious history. In 1961, he edited and published the first issue of The History of Religious Thought, which became an important journal for religious studies in the Americas. In the 1980s, Eliade's academic reputation soared, and he served as the editor-in-chief of The Encyclopedia of Religion. Unfortunately, he passed away on April 22, 1986. Exactly one year after his death, the 16-volume Encyclopedia of Religion was officially published. This work, involving hundreds of scholars from around the world, including Chinese scholars, marked a perfect conclusion to Eliade's academic career. As a discipline, the history of religion should not only depict the development of various religious phenomena in history but also reveal the structure of religion in space and its significance for humanity. Eliade emphasized that a religious scholar is not only a historian but also a phenomenologist. Eliade also placed particular importance on the significance of "the history of religion" research for modern society. This book comprehensively showcases the development of various complex religious phenomena in human history. Eliade paid special attention to the innovative religious thoughts that played a significant role in human development, highlighting how people, in the face of deep crises, used religious innovation to explain, overcome, and resolve these crises. However, Eliade emphasized that any innovative religious thought did not arise out of thin air but was based on certain traditional religious ideas. Eliade extensively absorbed and integrated the research findings of master-level religious scholars in specialized religious fields in the 20th century. He also paid special attention to some religious thoughts that were overlooked by previous religious historians, greatly enriching people's understanding of the diversity and complexity of religion. This book is divided into three volumes. The first volume outlines the religious concepts of ancient civilizations, including Paleolithic times, Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, Greece, Anatolia, Palestine, and Iran. The second volume narrates the development of Chinese religion, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity. The third volume discusses the emergence and development of Islam, the intellectual ferment during the Reformation period of Christianity, the evolution of medieval Jewish theological thought, and the basic development of Tibetan religion in China. Each volume includes a lengthy "Research Status: Problems and Progress. Critical Bibliography," listing existing books and primary sources on relevant religious topics, along with concise and insightful reviews. These bibliographies serve as both references for further study and an overview of Western 20th-century religious research achievements and trends. The History of Religious Thought is one of the representative works of the famous Western religious historian Mircea Eliade (1907—1986) and a monumental work that comprehensively reflects the research achievements of Western religion in the 20th century. As the preface to the Chinese translation, this article will provide an introduction to Eliade's academic career, his religious thought, research methods, and the content and structure of The History of Religious Thought.