Revealing® Religion offers students a compelling look at the nature of religion. Revealing Religion assumes no prior experience with or instruction in religion on the part of students, yet helps those who have had a strong religious education to approach the study of religion in a non-threatening way. Examples are drawn from a great variety of religious traditions, and topics of current interest including religion and violence, religion and gender, religion and environmentalism, neuroscientific accounts of religion, and atheism. Revealing® Religion introduces concepts in a sequential fashion—defining religion, describing ways to study religion, exploring theology, psychology of religion, sociology of religion, phenomenology of religion, and anthropology of religion—but the modules can be assigned in whatever order the instructor prefers, as one module does not depend upon another.
Revealing® Religion is designed to convey the maximum amount of information in the most user-friendly manner, and to reinforce learning with interactive exercises and a large bank of review questions. Compared to other introductory religion textbooks, Revealing® Religion is vastly more experiential. Evocative images of religion in practice are presented at the rate of one for every hundred words of text, a ratio that print textbooks cannot begin to match. Contextually placed primary readings—myths from around the world, scriptures illustrating theodicy or religious ethics, and writings by key theorists of religion—lessen the need for adopting additional texts for your introduction to religion course. An extensive, linked, and easily searchable glossary defines key terms in the study of religion. The text is fully narrated, which is a tremendous asset for students with learning differences, auditory learners, and those whose native language is not English.
Revealing® Religion Modules:
- What Is Religion?
- Studying Religion
- The Sacred
- Religious Experience
- Soul, Self & Salvation
- Suffering, Good & Evil
- Religious Communities
- Myth & Scripture
- Ritual & Religious Behaviors
- Sacred Places & Things
- Religious Futures
- Evaluating Religion
Price: $50
What Is Religion?
You Tell Me
- Goals: You Tell Me
- Define Religion
- Your Starting Point
- Now What?
- Is This Religion in Practice?
- Summary: You Tell Me
- Try It: You Tell Me
Marking Boundaries
- Goals: Marking Boundaries
- Difficulties of Definition
- Many Definitions, One Definition
- Religion: Belief in God
- Between Buddhism & Communism
- God Cannot Be the Criterion
- Making God the Criterion
- Relying on Self Definition
- Western Bias
- Creating the Category of Religion
- Monothetic & Polythetic Definitions
- Family Resemblances
- Summary: Marking Boundaries
- Try It: Marking Boundaries
Making Comparisons
- Goals: Making Comparisons
- A Generic Category
- Motivated Comparisons
- Dangers of Comparisons
- Why We Compare Anyway
- Ubiquity of Religion
- Homo Religiosus
- Religious Skeptics
- Religion Outside Institutions
- Inwardness of Religion
- Substantive & Functional Definitions
- Defining Religion, Take Two
- Summary: Making Comparisons
- Try It: Making Comparisons
Studying Religion
How to Study Religion
- Goals: How to Study Religion
- One Topic, Many Disciplines
- Three Approaches
- History of Religions
- Social Scientific Approaches
- Philosophy of Religion
- Theology
- Other Approaches to Religion
- Summary: How to Study Religion
- Try It: How to Study Religion
Insider & Outsider Perspectives
- Goals: Insider & Outsider Perspectives
- What You See & Where You Stand
- Insider Perspective
- Outsider Perspective
- Valuing Insider & Outsider Views
- Outsiders as Translators
- Outsiders & Objectivity
- A Different Kind of Objectivity
- Summary: Insider & Outsider Perspectives
- Try It: Insider & Outsider Perspectives
Ways of Studying Religion
- Goals: Ways of Studying Religion
- Religious Education
- Religious Studies
- Bracketing Faith
- Grammar of Faith
- Different Goals
- Summary: Ways of Studying Religion
- Try It: Ways of Studying Religion
Why Study Religion?
- Goals: Why Study Religion?
- Reasons for Studying Religion
- Religion Motivates Killing & Healing
- Religion Is Pervasive
- Religion Is Hard to Define
- Religion Explains Other Activities
- Religion Is Protean & Pluralistic
- Studying Religion Is Practical
- Religion Is a Scholarly Enterprise
- Summary: Why Study Religion?
- Try It: Why Study Religion?
The Sacred
What Is Sacred?
- Goals: What Is Sacred?
- Define the Sacred
- Sacred & Profane
- The Holy
- Christocentrism
- Indigenous Religions & the Sacred
- Sacred in Comparative Perspective
- Summary: What Is Sacred?
- Try It: What Is Sacred?
Theism & Nontheism
- Goals: Theism & Nontheism
- Conceptualizing the Divine
- Varieties of Theisms
- Nontheistic Religions
- Monism
- Theistic Religions
- Atheism & Agnosticism
- Summary: Theism & Nontheism
- Try It: Theism & Nontheism
Types of Theisms
- Goals: Types of Theisms
- Monotheistic & Polytheistic Religions
- Animism
- Organizing the Pantheon
- Blending Theisms
- Immanence & Transcendence
- Deism
- Pantheism
- The Divine Within
- Monism & Polytheism
- The One & the Many
- Summary: Types of Theisms
- Try It: Types of Theisms
Supernatural Beings
- Goals: Supernatural Beings
- What Are Supernatural Beings?
- Ancestors, Ghosts & Immortals
- Saints & Founders
- Gurus, Mystics & Prophets
- Deities
- Angels & Spirit Animals
- Demons & Devils
- Tricksters & Culture Heroes
- Fairies & Pixies
- Spirits of Place
- The Visible Sacred
- Summary: Supernatural Beings
- Try It: Supernatural Beings
Religion without Belief
- Goals: Religion without Belief
- Real or Fictional?
- “As If” Belief
- Suspending Disbelief
- Experience without Belief
- Moving Toward Belief
- Provisional Belief
- Role of Religious Training
- Religion as Language
- Role of Belief
- Summary: Religion without Belief
- Try It: Religion without Belief
Proofs of the Existence of God
- Goals: Proofs of the Existence of God
- Belief in God
- Proving the Existence of God
- Ontological Argument
- Cosmological Argument
- Teleological Argument
- Reason & the Existence of God
- Summary: Proofs of the Existence of God
- Try It: Proofs of the Existence of God
Religious Truth
- Goals: Religious Truth
- Rejecting Proofs of the Existence of God
- A Special Kind of Truth
- Experience of the Sacred
- Relying on Authority
- Direct Experience & Proof
- Relative & Local Truths
- Pragmatic Justifications for Belief in God
- Scientific & Religious Truth
- Summary: Religious Truth
- Try It: Religious Truth
Supernatural Beings
- Goals: Supernatural Beings
- What Are Supernatural Beings?
- Ancestors, Ghosts & Immortals
- Saints & Founders
- Gurus, Mystics & Prophets
- Deities
- Angels & Spirit Animals
- Demons & Devils
- Tricksters & Culture Heroes
- Fairies & Pixies
- Spirits of Place
- The Visible Sacred
- Summary: Supernatural Beings
- Try It: Supernatural Beings
Religious Experience
Discerning Religious Experience
- Goals: Discerning Religious Experience
- Peculiar Experiences
- Defining Religious Experience
- Authenticity of Religious Experiences
- Religious Experience & Belief
- Religious Experience & Community
- Consulting Religious Officials
- Experience & Institutional Authority
- Pinning Down Religious Experience
- Summary: Discerning Religious Experience
- Try It: Discerning Religious Experience
Why Religious Experience Matters
- Goals: Why Religious Experience Matters
- Why Scholars Care
- Foundational Experiences
- Seeking Religious Experience
- Commonalities in Religious Experience
- Outsider & Insider Perspectives
- One Experience, Many Words
- Perennialism
- Our Religious Capacity
- Anti-Essentialism
- Studying Religious Experience
- Summary: Religious Experience Matters
- Try It: Why Religious Experience Matters
Trance, Ecstasy & Possession
- Goals: Trance, Ecstasy & Possession
- Range of Religious Experiences
- Dramatic Religious Experiences
- Trance
- Ecstasy
- Inducing Religious Ecstasy
- Spirit Possession
- Demonic Possession
- Summary: Trance, Ecstasy & Possession
- Try It: Trance, Ecstasy & Possession
Prophecy & Revelation
- Goals: Prophecy & Revelation
- Defining Revelation & Prophecy
- Revelation
- Prophecy
- Summary: Prophecy & Revelation
- Try It: Prophecy & Revelation
Mysticism & Epiphany
- Goals: Mysticism & Epiphany
- Mystical Religious Experiences
- Mysticism
- Epiphany
- Summary: Mysticism & Epiphany
- Try It: Mysticism & Epiphany
Interpreting Religious Experience
- Goals: Interpreting Religious Experience
- Categories of Religious Experience
- Monotheism & Monism
- Collapsing Categories
- Two Types
- Many Types
- What Are Religious Experiences?
- Summary: Interpreting Experience
- Try It: Interpreting Religious Experience
Explaining Religious Experience
- Goals: Explaining Religious Experience
- Origins of Religious Experience
- Psychology of Religious Experience
- Religious Experience & Natural Selection
- Religion as a Spandrel
- Religion & the Brain
- Summary: Explaining Religious Experience
- Try It: Explaining Religious Experience
Soul, Self & Salvation
What Is the Self?
- Goals: What Is the Self?
- Do You Have a Soul?
- Out-of-Body Experiences
- Locating the Soul
- A Religious Question
- The Self
- Wanting to Be Special
- Popol Vuh
- Androids & Cyborgs
- Human Self: Particular & General
- Summary: What Is the Self?
- Try It: What Is the Self?
What Is the Human Situation?
- Goals: What Is the Human Situation?
- Disease, Old Age, Death
- Not What I Signed Up For
- The Human Condition
- Problem with the Self
- Anxiety & Alienation
- Transcendence
- Summary: What Is the Human Situation?
- Try It: What Is the Human Situation?
Sick Souls & the Healthy Minded
- Goals: Sick Souls & the Healthy Minded
- Untouched by the Human Condition
- The Healthy Minded
- Walt Whitman
- Sick Souls
- Salvation & Sanctification
- Religion for the Healthy Minded
- Giving Purpose
- True Self
- Vision Quest
- Living on in Memory
- Arriving at the End of Life
- Summary: Sick Souls & Healthy Minded
- Try It: Sick Souls & the Healthy Minded
Salvation & Liberation
- Goals: Salvation & Liberation
- Is Salvation the Central Religious Goal?
- Saved from What?
- Conversion
- Salvation in Christianity
- Buddhist Liberation
- The Sacred & Liberation
- The Proper Place for People
- Secular Solutions
- Complete versus Limited Salvation
- Summary: Salvation & Liberation
- Try It: Salvation & Liberation
Paths to Liberation
- Goals: Paths to Liberation
- Techniques for Approaching Liberation
- Path of Action
- Path of Faith
- Path of Devotion
- Path of Knowledge
- Path of Contemplation
- Path of Asceticism
- Summary: Paths to Liberation
- Try It: Paths to Liberation
Life After Death
- Goals: Life After Death
- Religion & Death
- Can the Self Continue After Death?
- Way Stations
- This World, Physical Body
- This World, Spiritual Body
- Other World, Physical Body
- Other World, Spiritual Body
- Reincarnation
- Merging with the Infinite
- Rejoining the Earth
- Summary: Life After Death
- Try It: Life After Death
Suffering, Good & Evil
Good People, Bad Things
- Goals: Good People, Bad Things
- Problem of Unearned Suffering
- Natural & Moral Evil
- Defining Theodicy
- Scientific Explanations
- Existential Explanations
- Providing Meaning
- The Azande
- Nontheistic & Theistic Theodicies
- Types of Theodicy
- Summary: Good People, Bad Things
- Try It: Good People, Bad Things
The Fault Lies with Humans
- Goals: The Fault Lies with Humans
- Garden of Eden
- Punishment for Sin
- Multiple Theodicies
- Karma
- Misapprehension of Reality
- Vedanta Philosophy
- Christian Science
- Evil in the Dao
- Summary: The Fault Lies with Humans
- Try It: The Fault Lies with Humans
The Bigger Picture
- Goals: The Bigger Picture
- Putting Suffering in Correct Context
- Free Will
- Pedagogical Theodicy
- Participation Theodicy
- Chinese Participation Theodicies
- Secular Participation Theodicies
- Summary: The Bigger Picture
- Try It: The Bigger Picture
Eschatological Theodicies
- Goals: Eschatological Theodicies
- The Eschaton
- The Messianic Ideal
- Christian Millennialism
- Heaven’s Gate
- Cargo Cults
- Judgment Day
- Particular Judgment
- Moksha & Nirvana
- Afterlife & End Times
- Summary: Eschatological Theodicies
- Try It: Eschatological Theodicies
Supernatural Evil
- Goals: Supernatural Evil
- Blame the Devil
- Two Types of Supernatural Evil
- Dualistic Theologies
- Zoroastrian Theology
- Manichaeism
- Gnosticism
- Scientology
- Dualism & Theodicy
- Intermediate Supernatural Evil
- Satan
- Summary: Supernatural Evil
- Try It: Supernatural Evil
Don’t Ask Why
- Goals: Don’t Ask Why
- Sovereignty of God
- Book of Job
- Why Ask Why?
- Parable of the Poisoned Arrow
- Summary: Don’t Ask Why
- Try It: Don’t Ask Why
Demoting God
- Goals: Demoting God
- Theodicies of Protest & Process
- The Brothers Karamazov
- The Trial of God
- A Partly-Powerful God
- Process Theodicy
- A Sad but Fortunate Accident
- Summary: Demoting God
- Try It: Demoting God
Religion & Ethics
- Goals: Religion & Ethics
- Ethics & Metaethics
- Ethics without Religion
- Religion & Ethics as Inseparable
- Religion without Ethics
- Content of Religious Ethics
- Justifying Ethics
- Motivating Morality
- Handling Moral Failure
- Summary: Religion & Ethics
- Try It: Religion & Ethics
Types of Religious Ethics
- Goals: Types of Religious Ethics
- Classifying Religious Ethics
- Divine Command Ethics
- Natural Law, Cosmic Law
- Deontological Ethics
- Teleological Ethics
- Virtue Ethics
- Mixing Types
- Summary: Types of Religious Ethics
- Try It: Types of Religious Ethics
Religious Communities
Religion & Society
- Goals: Religion & Society
- Religion from the Outside
- Buildings, Activities, Organizations
- Communal Religious Activity
- Religion Around Us
- Civil Religion
- The Public Inside the Private
- The Language of Thought
- Relationship with the Divine
- Social Dimension of Religion
- Summary: Religion & Society
- Try It: Religion & Society
Durkheim’s View of Religion
- Goals: Durkheim’s View of Religion
- Durkheim on Religion
- Evolution of Human Religion
- Totemism
- Religion Equals Society
- Durkheim: Sacred & Profane
- Criticisms of Durkheim
- Berger’s Sociology of Knowledge
- Summary: Durkheim’s View of Religion
- Try It: Durkheim’s View of Religion
Ethnic Religions
- Goals: Ethnic Religions
- Ethnic & Voluntary Religions
- Ethnic Religions & Rites of Passage
- Ethnic Religions & Kinship
- The Sphere of Religion
- Conversion in Ethnic Religions
- Voluntarism in Ethnic Religions
- Summary: Ethnic Religions
- Try It: Ethnic Religions
Voluntary Religions
- Goals: Voluntary Religions
- Beyond Ethnic Religion
- Conversion in Voluntary Religions
- Ethnicity in Voluntary Religions
- Choice in Voluntary Religions
- Kinship & Outreach in Voluntary Religions
- Sects
- Classifying Sects
- Voluntary Associations
- Summary: Voluntary Religions
- Try It: Voluntary Religions
Development of Religions
- Goals: Development of Religions
- Life Cycle of a Religion
- Charismatic Authority
- Abuses of Charismatic Authority
- Routinization of Charisma
- Founders & Structures
- After the Death of the Founder
- Paths to Preserve Charisma
- Charisma in Ritual & Scripture
- Mainstream Religious Change
- Summary: Development of Religions
- Try It: Development of Religions
Religion & Government
- Goals: Religion & Government
- Religion & the State
- Religion Over State
- Divine Rulers
- Islamic Theocracies
- Christian Theocracies
- Negotiating State & Religion
- State Over Religion
- State Religion
- Separation of Religion & State
- Summary: Religion & Government
- Try It: Religion & Government
Religious Institutions
- Goals: Religious Institutions
- Types of Religious Institutions
- Other Religious Associations
- Policing Boundaries
- The Big Umbrella
- The Tight Community
- Schisms
- Other Divisions
- Hybridity & Religious Syncretism
- Great Tradition, Little Tradition
- Summary: Religious Institutions
- Try It: Religious Institutions
Myth & Scripture
What Is Myth?
- Goals: What Is Myth?
- Defining Myth
- Myth as Falsehood
- Demeter & Persephone
- Oral & Written
- Many Versions, One Story
- Ganesh
- Identifying Myth
- Summary: What Is Myth?
- Try It: What Is Myth?
Myth & Belief
- Goals: Myth & Belief
- Are Myths True?
- Metaphorical Truth
- Factual Truth
- Juggling Truth Claims
- Changing Evaluations
- Myths: Ours & Theirs
- Myths as Foolish
- Myth & Religious Studies
- Summary: Myth & Belief
- Try It: Myth & Belief
Interpreting Myth
- Goals: Interpreting Myth
- Evaluating Myth
- Theories of Myth
- Myth as Social Charter
- Myth as Ritual
- Myth as Structured Thought
- Myth as Psychological Tool
- Myth as Divine Encounter
- Modern & Secular Myths
- Myth & Politics
- Summary: Interpreting Myth
- Try It: Interpreting Myth
Types of Myth
- Goals: Types of Myth
- Categorizing Myths
- Cosmogonic Myths
- Creation Ex Nihilo
- Earth Diver Creation Myths
- Emergence Creation Myths
- Cosmic Egg Myths
- Divine Sacrifice Myths
- World Parent Myths
- Legends, Sagas, Epics, Folk Tales
- Noncosmogonic Myths
- Summary: Types of Myth
- Try It: Types of Myth
What Is Scripture?
- Goals: What Is Scripture?
- Sacred Texts
- From Oral to Written
- Effect of Orality
- Significance of Literacy
- Scripture as an Anchor
- Varieties of Scripture
- Role of Scripture in Society
- Summary: What Is Scripture?
- Try It: What Is Scripture?
Forming a Canon
- Goals: Forming a Canon
- Canon Formation
- Pali Canon
- Christian New Testament
- Adi Granth
- Open & Closed Canons
- Changing Canons
- Torah, Tanakh, Talmud
- Sruti & Smrti
- Quran & Hadith
- Summary: Forming a Canon
- Try It: Forming a Canon
Interpreting Scripture
- Goals: Interpreting Scripture
- Divine & Human Authorship
- Revelation & Controversy
- Necessity of Interpretation
- Translation as Interpretation
- Reading Scripture Backward & Forward
- Rules for Interpretation
- Hermeneutics
- Hermeneutics & Nonwestern Scriptures
- Summary: Interpreting Scripture
- Try It: Interpreting Scripture
Uses of Scripture
- Goals: Uses of Scripture
- Transmitting Tradition
- Beyond Reading
- Devotion, Prayer, & Meditation
- Hidden Meanings in Scripture
- Divination with Scripture
- Scriptural Religions
- Summary: Uses of Scripture
- Try It: Uses of Scripture
Ritual & Religious Behaviors
Defining Ritual
- Goals: Defining Ritual
- What Is Ritual?
- Rituals Are Actions
- Repeated & Scripted
- One-Time Ritual
- Embodied & Performative
- Speech Acts
- Ritual & Community
- Nature, Culture & Ritual
- What Makes Ritual Religious?
- Types of Religious Ritual
- Summary: Defining Ritual
- Try It: Defining Ritual
Purification
- Goals: Purification
- Purity Rituals
- Dirt
- Social Rules
- Disorder
- Order
- Ritual Cleansing
- Ritual Rejuvenation
- Summary: Purification
- Try It: Purification
Sacrifice
- Goals: Sacrifice
- Understanding Sacrifice
- Types of Sacrifice
- Blood Sacrifice
- Killing Animals Humanely
- Sacrifice as Atonement
- The Scapegoat Mechanism
- Human Sacrifice
- Sacrifice as Offering
- Summary: Sacrifice
- Try It: Sacrifice
Magic, Medicine & Divination
- Goals: Magic, Medicine & Divination
- What Is Magic?
- Magic as Technology
- Magic versus Ritual
- Medicine
- Divination
- Shamanism
- Witchcraft
- Summary: Magic, Medicine & Divination
- Try It: Magic, Medicine & Divination
Seasonal & Commemorative Rituals
- Goals: Seasonal & Commemorative Rituals
- Marking Time
- Harvest Festivals
- New Year Festivals
- Myth of the Eternal Return
- Commemorative Rituals
- Seasonal & Commemorative
- Calendar of Commemorations
- Content of Commemorative Rituals
- Summary: Seasonal & Commemorative
- Try It: Seasonal & Commemorative Rituals
Rites of Passage
- Goals: Rites of Passage
- Ritualizing the Life Cycle
- Initiation
- Liminality
- Reintegration
- Learning a New Identity
- Wearing a New Identity
- The Liminal Phase
- Rites of Passage: Social Functions
- Summary: Rites of Passage
- Try It: Rites of Passage
Interpreting Ritual
- Goals: Interpreting Ritual
- Orthodoxy & Orthopraxy
- Empty Ritual
- Myth & Ritual, Ritual & Myth
- Functionalism
- Ritual: Social Functions
- Control & Power
- Ritual: Psychological Functions
- Purpose of Ritual
- Summary: Interpreting Ritual
- Try It: Interpreting Ritual
Sacred Places & Things
Sacred Space
- Goals: Sacred Space
- Religion & the Senses
- Creating Sacred Space
- Temporary Sacred Space
- Boundaries of Sacred Space
- Preparing to Enter Sacred Space
- What Makes Space Sacred?
- Axis Mundi
- Summary: Sacred Space
- Try It: Sacred Space
Sacred Buildings
- Goals: Sacred Buildings
- Types of Sacred Buildings
- Shrines
- Relics & Tombs
- Stupas
- Shrines for Worship & Pilgrimage
- Commemorative Shrines
- Secular Shrines
- Temples
- Congregational Meeting Places
- Miniatures of Sacred Buildings
- Summary: Sacred Buildings
- Try It: Sacred Buildings
Sacred Time
- Goals: Sacred Time
- Structuring Time
- Day
- Week
- Month
- Year
- A Lifetime
- Linear & Cyclical Time
- Positive & Negative Views of Time
- Summary: Sacred Time
- Try It: Sacred Time
Signs & Symbols
- Goals: Signs & Symbols
- Signs
- Signs Are Arbitrary
- Natural Signs
- Symbols
- Visual Symbols
- Multivalence
- Representational Symbols
- Natural Signs & Presentational Symbols
- Carl Jung: Archetypal System
- Summary: Signs & Symbols
- Try It: Signs & Symbols
Sacred Images
- Goals: Sacred Images
- Depicting the Sacred
- Representation in Judaism
- Representation in Islam
- Aniconic Impulse
- Iconic Impulse
- Iconic Impulse: Hinduism
- Iconic Impulse: Buddhism & Daoism
- Iconic Impulse: Christianity
- Nonrepresentational Imagery
- Summary: Sacred Images
- Try It: Sacred Images
Sacred Objects
- Goals: Sacred Objects
- Useful Things
- Music & Religion
- Sacred Books
- Sacred Foods
- Amulets
- Sacred Clothing
- Universe of Sacred Objects
- Summary: Sacred Objects
- Try It: Sacred Objects
Religious Futures
Secularization
- Goals: Secularization
- Defining Secularization
- Religion & Science
- Religion & Modernity
- Secularization: Good or Bad?
- Failure of the Secularization Thesis
- Religious Change, Not Religious Decline
- Areas of Secularization
- The Good Old Days
- Future of Religion
- Summary: Secularization
- Try It: Secularization
Fundamentalism
- Goals: Fundamentalism
- Looking Toward the Past
- Fundamentalism Defined
- Beginnings of Christian Fundamentalism
- Inerrancy of Scripture
- The Moral Majority
- Fundamentalism & Evangelicalism
- Fundamentalism Outside Christianity
- Islamic Revivalism
- Future of Fundamentalism
- Summary: Fundamentalism
- Try It: Fundamentalism
Globalization
- Goals: Globalization
- Religious Pluralism
- Religious Tolerance
- Religious Intolerance
- Religion & Nationalism
- Learning about Other Religions
- Adapting Religious Belief & Practice
- Summary: Globalization
- Try It: Globalization
Violence & Religion
- Goals: Violence & Religion
- Religion & Violence: Perfect Together?
- Is Religion Inherently Violent?
- Secular versus Religious Violence
- Crusade, Just War, Pacifism
- Examples of Holy War
- Examples of Just War
- Examples of Pacifism
- Summary: Violence & Religion
- Try It: Violence & Religion
Gender & Religion
- Goals: Gender & Religion
- How Gender & Religion Interact
- Symbolic Gender
- Gender in Practice
- Women in Hinduism
- Women in Buddhism
- Women in Judaism
- Women in Christianity
- Women in Islam
- Feminist Approaches to Religion
- Gender & Religion in the Future
- Summary: Gender & Religion
- Try It: Gender & Religion
Environmentalism & Animal Rights
- Goals: Environmentalism & Animal Rights
- The Ecological Crisis
- Use of Animals
- At Home in Nature
- Mind/Body Distinction
- Human Beings, the Crown of Creation
- Variation within Religions
- Religions & the Ecological Crisis
- Summary: Environmentalism
- Try It: Environmentalism & Animal Rights
New Religious Movements
- Goals: New Religious Movements
- New & Old Religions
- Sources for New Religions
- Millennialism & Apocalypticism
- Unification Movement
- Universalist Religions
- Baha’i
- Neopaganism
- Goddess Religions & Wicca
- New Age Religions
- Summary: New Religious Movements
- Try It: New Religious Movements
Evaluating Religion
Religion Is Good
- Goals: Religion Is Good
- Assessing Religion
- Friedrich Schleiermacher
- Friedrich Max Muller
- Rudolf Otto
- Phenomenology
- One World, One Religion
- Hans Kung
- Good by Definition
- Summary: Religion Is Good
- Try It: Religion Is Good
Religion Is Bad
- Goals: Religion Is Bad
- What’s Wrong with Religion?
- Religion & the Status Quo
- The Opiate of the People
- Religion as Epiphenomenon
- Max Weber & the Protestant Ethic
- Sigmund Freud
- Summary: Religion Is Bad
- Try It: Religion Is Bad
Religion Is False
- Goals: Religion Is False
- Types of Atheism
- Atheism & Belief
- David Hume
- The New Atheists
- Richard Dawkins
- Daniel Dennett
- Christopher Hitchens
- Sam Harris
- Summary: Religion Is False
- Try It: Religion Is False
Religion Is Functional
- Goals: Religion Is Functional
- Religion Is Neither Good nor Bad
- Religion Is Both Good & Bad
- How Does Religion Function?
- Bronislaw Malinowski
- Function & Dysfunction
- What Kind of Function?
- Cognitive Functions of Religion
- Making Evaluations
- Summary: Religion Is Functional
- Try It: Religion Is Functional
About the Author: Cynthia Eller, Ph.D.
Cynthia Eller has taught religious studies at Claremont Graduate University, Pitzer College, Claremont McKenna College, Montclair State University, Yale Divinity School, and Princeton University. She has written numerous books in the fields of women and religion, ethics, and women’s studies, including Living in the Lap of the Goddess: The Feminist Spirituality Movement in America (Boston: Beacon Press, 1995) and The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory: Why an Invented Past Won’t Give Women a Future (Boston: Beacon Press, 2000).
Like all religious studies faculty, Dr. Eller hopes to draw her students into an appreciation of the elements of a wide swath of religions and instill a desire in her students to explore religion and its study further through upper-division classes. In Revealing World Religions and Revealing Religion, she has developed digital texts that convey basic concepts and subject matter, illustrate lived religion in a compelling way, and reinforce learning in ways unavailable with a printed text. These courseware titles are a new kind of textbook for a new generation of learners.