Hagiography and Religious Truth Case Studies in the Abrahamic and Dharmic Traditions

The hagiographic materials from the world's religions can tell us much about the beliefs and practices of the people, yet the limited degree to which hagiography has been used as an instrument for understanding diverse religious traditions is surprising. Hagiography and Religious Truth provides a clearer understanding of the ways hagiography functions to disclose truth for practitioners and suggests various ways that these underexploited sources enrich our comprehension of broader issues in religious studies.

This volume provides a much-needed cross-cultural and interreligious comparison of saints' lives, iconography, and devotional practices. The contributors show that hagiographic sources can in fact be “truths of manifestation,” which function as vehicles for prefiguring, configuring, and refiguring religious, social, and cultural life. The editors argue that some meanings simply cannot be communicated effectively through historical-critical methodologies. By exploring how hagiography functions throughout several of the world's religious traditions, this volume illustrates how various modes of hagiography articulate religious ideas and uniquely represent conceptions of sanctity.

Rico Monge is Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, University of San Diego, USA.
Rachel Smith is Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, Villanova University, USA.
Kerry P. C. San Chirico is Assistant Professor of Interfaith and Inter-religious Studies, Villanova University, USA.

1. Introduction: Saints, Truth, and the 'Use and Abuse' of Hagiography, Rico G. Monge, Associate Professor of Theology & Religious Studies, University of San Diego, USA and Lauren Horn Griffin, Doctoral Candidate, University of California Santa Barbara, USA
Part I: Representing Sanctity: Figurations of Holiness
2. Between Myth and History: Does the Historiographic study of Hagiography Entail Immunity to Enchantment? Peter C. Bouteneff, Professor of Systematic Theology, St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, USA
3. Representing Saints and Bodhisattvas: Visual Hagiography in Byzantine Christianity and Vajrayana Buddhism, Thomas Cattoi, Associate Professor of Christology and Cultures, Santa Clara University, USA
4. Gender and Spiritual Truth in Tibetan Hagiographical Literature: Reading the Lives of Niguma, Sarah Harding, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Naropa University, USA
5. The Transmission of Islamic Virtues in Sufi Hagiography: The Case of Haci Bektas Veli, Vernon J. Schubel, Professor of Religious Studies, Kenyon College, USA
Part II: Configuring Sanctity: Hagiographic Narrative, Saintly Bodies, and Conceptions of Holiness
6. Turning Tomb to Temple: Hagiography, Sacred Space, and Ritual Activity in a Thirteenth-Century Hindu Shrine, Mark McLaughlin, Visiting Instructor of Hinduism, College of William and Mary, USA
7. Facilitating Reconciliation through the Liturgical Services of John Maximovich: A Modern Orthodox Saint, Nicholas Denysenko (Loyola Marymount University),
8. Islamic King-slaves in South Africa: Shrines, Ritual, & Resistance, Bahar Davary, Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, University of San Diego, USA
9. From Legend to Flesh and Bone: Hagiography and Ritual Embodiment in Tibetan Buddhism, Joel S. Gruber, Doctoral Candidate, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Part III: Refiguring Sanctity: Developments, Appropriations, and Refashionings
10. Hidden and Manifest: The Hagiographic Traditions of Two Hindu Reformers, Ramdas Lamb Associate Professor of Religion, University of Hawaii, USA
11. The Life of Saint Winefride in Early Modern England: Hagiography and Religious Reform, Lauren Horn Griffin, Doctoral Candidate, University of California-Santa Barbara, USA
12. Khrist Bhaktas in India: Emergent Hagiography in a Hybrid Hindu-Catholic Religious Community, Kerry P. C. San Chirico, Assistant Professor of Religion, University of Hawai?i at Manoa, USA
13. Hagiography as History: Communal Truths and Formulated Imperial Identities in John of Ephesus's Lives of the Eastern Saints, Todd French, Assistant Professor of Religion, Rollins College, USA
14. Afterword: Francis X. Clooney, Parkman Professor of Divinity, Harvard Divinity School, USA
Bibliography
Index

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