Religion: Narrating Religion

Manser, Martin

<p><em>Religion: Sources, Perspectives, and Methodologies</em> serves as a primer to the study of religion. By employing literature, film, art, history, and other disciplines, the approximately 22 thematic chapters begin with a brief history of the modern practice, segue into religion and the social sciences, continues with chapters on gnosticism, material culture, studies of myths and rituals, which serve as introductions to the subfields covered in the succeeding nine volumes in the series. Targeting undergraduates as well as the educated lay reader, <em>Religion: Sources, Perspectives, and Methodologies</em> introduces themes of subsequent volumes in the series as well as a selection of additional topics (e.g., environment, medicine, poetry). Chapters are written by eminent scholars, are peer reviewed, include illustrations, and offer bibliographies to encourage further research. The volume concludes with a glossary and a comprehensive index.

<p><em>Religion: Social Religion</em> is broken into four parts: psychology of religion, sociology of religion, anthropology of religion, and the historical method. Each section will start with an overview of the discipline, then cover the originative figures who shaped the field, followed by a historical and contemporary view of the field, and concluding with the major criticisms, debates, and future of the field. Targeting undergraduates as well as the educated lay reader, <em>Religion: Social Religion</em> introduces the study of religion through the lens of social science. Chapters are written by eminent scholars, are peer reviewed, include illustrations, and offer bibliographies to encourage further research. The volume concludes with a glossary and a comprehensive index.

<p>Composed of twenty-two thematic chapters, <em>Embodied Religion</em> orients students and scholars to the critical study of religion, gender, sexuality, and the body. The introduction and first section provide a foundational overview of key terms, topics, and questions for such scholarly work. In the second section, essays examine the multiple and complex ways that various traditionsâ from Hinduism to Christianity to Paganismâ seek to regulate and celebrate embodiment and desire. A final section examines relevant theoretical approaches, including ethnography, phenomenology, queer studies, and disability studies. The volume also includes bibliographies filmographies, images, a glossary, and a comprehensive index, all of which aid the reader in exploring this rich, rewarding, and relevant field.<br />

Kripal, Jeffrey

<p><em>Religion: Secret Religion</em> is part of the Macmillan Interdisciplinary Handbooks series dedicated to the study of religion. Composed of twenty-four thematic chapters, this volume looks at the margins of religion or religious texts and traditions that are not considered authoritative by orthodox communities. The volume is broken down into three sections that correspond with different classifications of religion in the margins: gnosticism, with its focuses on knowledge of a transcendent God who is the source of life and the human spirit&#x3b; esotericism, with its focus on private religion kept from the public and critical of orthodoxy&#x3b; and mysticism, with its focus on immediate contact with the ultimate reality. Each classification will be explored historically and comparatively to give the reader a more rounded understanding. The volume also includes bibliographies, filmographies, images, a glossary, and a comprehensive index, all of which aid the reader in exploring this rich, rewarding, and relevant field.<br />