The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion

Explore a rigorous but accessible guide to contemporary approaches to the study of religion from leading voices in the field

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion delivers an expert and insightful analysis of modern perspectives on the study of religion across the humanities and the social sciences. Presupposing no knowledge of the approaches examined in the collection, the book is ideal for undergraduate students who have yet to undertake extensive study in the humanities or social sciences.

The book includes perspectives from those in fields as diverse as globalization, cognitive science, the study of emotion, law, esotericism, sex and gender, functionalism, terror, the comparative method, modernism, and postmodernism. Many of the topics covered in the book clearly hail from religious studies, while others are grounded in other areas of academia.

All of the chapters contained within are written by recognized authors who show how their chosen discipline contributes to the understanding of the phenomenon of religion. This book also includes topics like:

• A comprehensive exploration of multiple approaches to religious study, including anthropology, economics, literature, phenomenology, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and theology
• A review of various topics germane to the study of religion, including the study of the body, cognitive science, the comparative method, death and the afterlife, law, magic, music, and myth
• A selection of subjects touching on modern trends in extremism and violence, including chapters on terror and violence, fundamentalism, and nationalism
• A discussion of the influence of modernism and postmodernism in religion

Ideal for undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students in humanities and social science programs taking courses on religion and myth, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion will also earn a place in the libraries of specialists working in the fields of Religious Studies, Theology, Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Political Science, History, and Philosophy.

Robert A. Segal is Sixth Century Chair in Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen. He is also Honorary Professor at the University of Essex and Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Vienna. 

Nickolas P. Roubekas is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Vienna. 

List of Contributors

Introduction

Robert A. Segal

PART I: APPROACHES

1. Anthropology of Religion

Fiona Bowie

2. Economics of Religion

Rodney Stark

3. Literature and Religion

Eric Ziolkowski

4. Phenomenology of Religion

Thomas Ryba

5. Philosophy of Religion

Charles Taliaferro

6. Psychology of Religion

Roderick Main

7. Sociology of Religion

Titus Hjelm

8. Theology

Ian S. Markham

PART II: TOPICS

9. Body

Yudit Kornberg Greenberg

10. Cognitive Science

Jesper Sørensen

11. Comparative Method

Paul Roscoe

12. Death and Afterlife

Douglas J. Davies

13. Emotion

Tony Milligan

14. Esotericism

Karl Baier

15. Ethics

G. Scott Davis

16. Functionalism

Robert A. Segal

17. Fundamentalism

Henry Munson

18. Globalization

Michael Wilkinson

19. History

Robert A. Yelle

20. Law

Winnifred Fallers Sullivan

21. Magic

Kocku von Stuckrad

22. Modernism and Postmodernism

Paul-François Tremlett

23. Music

Guy L. Beck

24. Myth

Robert A. Segal

25. Nationalism

Mark Juergensmeyer

26. Pilgrimage

Simon Coleman

27. Ritual

Catherine Bell and Jens Kreinath

28. Science

Ralph O’Connor

29. Secularization

Steve Bruce

30. Sex and Gender

Ivan Strenski

31. Terror and Violence

Lorne L. Dawson

Index 

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