Vocabulary for the Study of Religion

Get access Subject: Religious Studies
Edited by: Robert A. Segal & Kocku von Stuckrad.

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The Vocabulary for the Study of Religion offers a unique overview of critical terms in the study of religion(s). This first dictionary in English covers a broad spectrum of theoretical topics used in the academic study of religion, including those from adjacent disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, historiography, theology, philology, literary studies, psychology, philosophy, cultural studies, and political sciences.

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Race / Racism

(2,684 words)

Author(s): Amy Ansell
Abstract: Race refers to the idea that human populations can be divided into meaningful sub-populations based on biological conformity. The criteria have changed from skin color and crude anatomical …

Radicalism

(3,220 words)

Author(s): Paul McLaughlin
Abstract: Radicalism is a familiar yet largely unclarified concept. Much can be said about the connotations, etymology, and history of the term, but the outstanding demand is for adequate conceptual …

Rapture

(1,150 words)

Author(s): Crawford Gribben
Abstract: The “rapture” is an eschatological concept, paralleling the Christian doctrine of resurrection, that has evolved from its origins in nineteenth-century Britain and Ireland to dominate large…
Date: 2014-09-16

Rationality

(4,523 words)

Date: 2014-09-16

Reception Theory

(3,348 words)

Author(s): James L. Machor
Abstract: Developing primarily in the fields of literary and cultural studies and the history of the book, reception theory asserts that the interpretive activities of readers explain and in many way…

Reductionism / Anti-reductionism

(4,415 words)

Author(s): Robert Segal
Abstract: This entry discusses several conventional views in religious studies: that “religionists,” as I call those in the tradition of Mircea Eliade, have a monopoly on the study of religion; that …

Reincarnation

(2,305 words)

Author(s): Axel Michaels
Abstract: Reincarnation means the belief in…

Relativism

(3,374 words)

Author(s): Hugo Strandberg
Abstract: Relativism is a term standing for many different positions. The relativist claims that one thing (e.g. truth) is re…

Religion, Classification / Types of

(9 words)

Classification / Types of Religion

Religion, Concept of

(5 words)

Concept of Religion

Religion, Definitions of

(5 words)

Definitions of Religion

Religion, Measurements of

(5 words)

Measurements of Religion

Religion, Origins of

(5 words)

Origins of Religion

Religion, Secular

(3 words)

Secular religion

Revelation

(1,966 words)

Author(s): Benson Fraser
Abstract: Four uses of the term revelation are considered. The first usage is “general revelation,” which was commonly used before the Enlightenment. Since the Enlightenm

Revitalization Movement

(1,188 words)

Author(s): Alice Beck Kehoe
Abstract: The concept of “revitalization movement” was present…
Date: 2014-09-16