'Religion' and the religions in the English Enlightenment
By: Peter Harrison.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1990
Place of publication: Cambridge [England]; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 277
Subjects: Religion -- Study and teaching -- England -- History -- 17th century.; Religion -- Study and teaching -- England -- History -- 18th century.; Enlightenment -- England.; England -- Intellectual life -- 17th century.; England -- Intellectual life -- 18th century.; England -- Religion -- 17th century.; England -- Religion -- 18th century.
Description: The origin of the modern perception of religion can be traced to the Enlightenment. This book shows how the concepts of "religion" and "the religions" arose from controversies in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England. The birth of "the religions," conceived of as sets of beliefs and practices, created a new science of religion in which the various "religions" could be studied and impartially compared. Harrison gives a detailed historical picture of the emergence of this concept and how it led to the discipline of comparative religion.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [242]-267) and index.