Studying religion
Subtitle: an introduction
By: Russell T. McCutcheon.
Publisher: Equinox Pub.; Routledge; Brand: Equinox Publishing
Published: 2007
Place of publication: London; Oakville, CT
Language: eng
Number of pages: 320
ISBN-13: 9781845530112; 9781845530129
Subjects: Religion -- Study and teaching
Description: "While many entry-level resources concentrate on providing detailed descriptions of the world's religions, Studying Religion turns its attention from the data of religion to the analytic skills required of anyone interested in studying the behaviours and institutions that we commonly name as religions. It shifts the focus from describing the exotic or curious religious "Other" to examining scholarly practice itself, and persuades readers that prior attention to their own habits will assist their efforts to study the habits of others." "Although this little book can be used as part of an introductory course (when supplemented by ethnographic materials of the instructor's choosing), and is accessible to interested readers outside the university, it will also be of use in any course in the study of religion, for, despite the topic under study, the same intellectual skills are required to isolate, name, and examine within a comparative context, those collections of human artifacts that strike students as deserving attention. Studying Religion will assist instructors across the academic study of religion to 'set the table' with the descriptive and comparative methods, as well as explanatory theories, on which scholars routinely draw in carrying out their work."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: What is the study of religion?; title: What's in a name?; title: The history of religion?; title: The essentials of religion; title: The functions of religion; title: The public discourse on religion; title: Religion and the insider/outsider problem; title: The resemblance among religions; title: Religion and classification; title: Afterword: The necessary lie : duplicity in the disciplines / by Jonathan Z. Smith.