History and Vulnerability: A Response to Levene and Furey

Author: Rein, Nathan

Source: Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, Volume 20, Number 4, 2008 , pp. 399-406(8)

Publisher: BRILL

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Abstract:

The articles by N. Levene (writing on St. Anselm's Proslogion) and C. Furey (on Thomas More's Utopia) in this volume offer a nuanced critical perspective on historicist tendencies in the study of religion. While insisting on the importance of seeing primary texts as embedded in their historical context, both propose that scholars simultaneously seek to maintain an element of openness and vulnerability to the voices of the past. This can serve as a counterweight to the typical historicist strategy of debunking and unmasking the past's pretensions to authoritative discourse.

Keywords: RELIGION; METHOD; HISTORY; HISTORICISM; CRITICISM; THEORY; THEOLOGY

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157006808X371860

Affiliations: 1: Ursinus College, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Olin 220, Collegeville, PA 19426

Publication date: 2008-11-01