Book Review: A Short Comparative History of Religions

1952 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-77
Author(s):  
Winston Crawley
1991 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-421
Author(s):  
Ghulam-Haider Aasi

History of Religions in the WestA universal, comparative history of the study of religions is still far frombeing written. Indeed, such a history is even hr from being conceived, becauseits components among the legacies of non-Western scholars have hardly beendiscovered. One such component, perhaps the most significant one, is thecontributions made by Muslim scholars during the Middle Ages to thisdiscipline. What is generally known and what has been documented in thisfield consists entirely of the contribution of Westdm scholars of religion.Even these Western scholars belong to the post-Enlightenment era of Wsternhistory.There is little work dealing with the history of religions which does notclaim the middle of the nineteenth century CE as the beginning of thisdiscipline. This may not be due only to the zeitgeist of the modem Wstthat entails aversion, downgrading, and undermining of everything stemmingfrom the Middie Ages; its justification may also be found in the intellectualpoverty of the Christian West (Muslim Spain excluded) that spans that historicalperiod.Although most works dealing with this field include some incidentalreferences, paragraphs, pages, or short chapters on the contribution of thepast, according to each author’s estimation, all of these studies are categorizedunder one of the two approaches to religion: philosophical or cubic. All ofthe reflective, speculative, philosophical, psychological, historical, andethnological theories of the Greeks about the nature of the gods and goddessesand their origins, about the nature of humanity’s religion, its mison dsttre,and its function in society are described as philosophical quests for truth.It is maintained that the Greeks’ contribution to the study of religion showedtheir openness of mind and their curiosity about other religions and cultures ...


1958 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-441
Author(s):  
Herbert C. Jackson

1950 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 534-535
Author(s):  
H. C. Goerner

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 165
Author(s):  
Nicola Maria Gasbarro

Esta contribuição analisa a perspectiva atual do comparativismo a partir de pressupostos metodológicos (Pettazzoni) e das conclusões (Sabbatucci) da História das Religiões Italiana. A consciência histórica e crítica da dissolução da noção universal de “religião” interroga-se sobre as possibilidades metodológicas dadas pela Antropologia Estrutural, para repensar o objeto intelectual da comparação histórico-religiosa. A noção de “ordem das ordens” pode nos ajudar a compreender as “religiões” dos outros por conta de seu sentido simbólico e de sua função como conduta prática e existencial. A História das Religiões pode levar a uma História Comparada das Civilizações; portanto, a necessidade civil é evidente. Palavras-chave: História das religiões, Antropologia, História Comparada Abstract This paper analyzes the current comparative perspective based upon methodological presuppositions (Pettazzoni) and points of arrival (Sabbatucci) in the History of Religions in Italy. Critical and historical consciousness of the dissolution of the universal notion of “religion” reflects on the methodological possibilities provided by Structural Anthropology in order to think the subject of intellectual historic-religious comparison over. The notion of “order of orders” may help our understanding of the “religions” of others through their symbolic meaning and function of practical and existential conduct. The History of Religions may thus lead to a Comparative History of Civilizations; therefore, the need for preparedness is evident. Keywords: History of Religions; Anthropology; Comparative History.


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