The "So-Called History" of the Study of Religion

Author: Orsi, Robert¹

Source: Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, Volume 20, Number 2, 2008 , pp. 134-138(5)

Publisher: BRILL

Key:

- Free Content

- New Content

- Subscribed Content

- Free Trial Content

Abstract:

While it is the case that Christian values and priorities (in particular, Protestant Christian ones) were fundamental in the making of the modern discipline of religious studies, scholars of religion have struggled within and against this inheritance over the past two centuries in their work of understanding other religions. Western religious scholarship developed in a worldwide circulation of comparisons and commentaries that even within discrepancies imperial power included interlocutors from elsewhere. Nor was the "West" itself singular. Religious studies practitioners today inherit a polyvalent tradition of scholarship that offers rich theoretical possibilities amid its ironies.

Keywords: RELIGION; HISTORIOGRAPHY; WORLD RELIGIONS; RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1163/157006808X283552

Affiliations: 1: Northwestern University, Departments of Religion and History

The full text electronic article is available for purchase. You will be able to download the full text electronic article after payment.

$25.00 plus tax Refund Policy