Anatomy of the Sacred: An Introduction to Religion
For one-semester, undergraduate courses in Introduction to Religion and Comparative Religion, and more advanced courses dealing with issues in the theoretical study of religion. This comprehensive introduction to the nature and variety of religious phenomena, belief, and practice (1) explores the issues in religious studies, (2) examines the universal forms of religious experience, (3) offers a cross-cultural study of a broad range of classic types of religious belief and practice in terms of the seven basic concepts of a religious world view, and (4) surveys the challenges faced by religions today.Table of Contents:Anatomy of the Sacred: An Introduction to Religion, 6th EditionPART I) THE STUDY OF RELIGION:1) What is Religion?2) Ways of Studying Religion PART II) UNIVERSAL FORMS OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE AND EXPRESSION3) The Sacred and the Holy 4) Sacred Symbol, Myth, and Doctrine5) Sacred Ritual 6) Sacred Scripture 7) Society and the Sacred: The Social Formations and Transformations of ReligionPART III) UNIVERSAL COMPONENTS OF A RELIGIOUS WORLDVIEW 8) Deity: Concepts of the Divine and Ultimate Reality 9) Cosmogony: Origins of the Natural and Social Order 10) Views of the Human Problem 11) Theodicy: Encountering Evil12) Ethics: Patterns of Moral Action13) Soteriology: Ways and Goals of Salvation and LiberationPART IV) THE SACRED AND THE SECULAR IN MODERNITY14) Secularization - New Religious Revitalization Movements - Contemporary Religious Fundamentalism15) Contemporary Challenges to Traditional Religion: The Status and the Roles of Women - Relations between Religion and the State