Explanation of the Sacred - Multi-Perspective Religious Studies

Author: Peyton
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: What interpretive perspectives do people generally adopt when explaining religion? How do various observational frameworks construct vastly different objects of observation? This book delves into these questions in depth. Its theme is not that everything is "just" interpretation, but rather the interpretation of the various data produced by interpretation. The author believes that as a scholar, his task is to foster various centers of ideas to help study the global patterns of religion and to contribute to the methodology of religious studies. To establish a methodology for cross-cultural comparative religious studies and to provide multiple pathways for understanding the relationship between the universal, cross-cultural continuity of religion and cultural specificity—this book represents the author's efforts to achieve this goal. It has been well-received by numerous universities in the United States and around the world, becoming a required reading for relevant disciplines.
What interpretive perspectives do people generally adopt when explaining religion? How do various observational frameworks construct vastly different objects of observation? This book delves into these questions in depth. Its theme is not that everything is "just" interpretation, but rather the interpretation of the various data produced by interpretation. The author believes that as a scholar, his task is to foster various centers of ideas to help study the global patterns of religion and to contribute to the methodology of religious studies. To establish a methodology for cross-cultural comparative religious studies and to provide multiple pathways for understanding the relationship between the universal, cross-cultural continuity of religion and cultural specificity—this book represents the author's efforts to achieve this goal. It has been well-received by numerous universities in the United States and around the world, becoming a required reading for relevant disciplines.