Deep History, Secular Theory: Historical and Scientific Studies of Religion

Luther H. Martin

Published by De Gruyter 2014

Deep History, Secular Theory

Historical and Scientific Studies of Religion

Luther H. Martin

Volume 54 in the series Religion and Reason

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614515005

Overview
Contents

About this book

Over the course of his career, Luther H. Martin has primarily produced articles rather than monographs. This approach to publication has given him the opportunity to experiment with different methodological approaches to an academic study of religion, with updates to and different interpretations of his field of historical specialization, namely Hellenistic religions, the subject of his only monograph (1987). The contents of this collected volume represent Martin's shift from comparative studies, to socio-political studies, to scientific studies of religion, and especially to the cognitive science of religion. He currently considers the latter to be the most viable approach for a scientific study of religion within the academic context of a modern research university. The twenty-five contributions collected in this volume are selected from over one hundred essays, articles, and book chapters published over a long and industrious career and are representative of Martin's work over the past two decades.

Author / Editor information

Luther H. Martin, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.

Reviews

"[...] Deep History, Secular Theory excels as a crucial asset in the emergent field of cognitive historiography and will undoubtedly help to firmly set the coordinates of a renovated scientific study of human culture/s and religion/s."
Leonardo Ambasciano: Journal of Cognitive Historiography, Vol 3, No 1-2 (2016): 201-203

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Foreword Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	v
Acknowledgements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Introduction: Auto-methodological Reflections Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. The Academic Study of Religion: A Theological or Theoretical Undertaking? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	12
2. The Academic Study of Religions during the Cold War: A Western Perspective Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	22
3. Secular Theory and the Academic Study of Religion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
4. Of Religious Syncretism, Comparative Religion and Spiritual Quests Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
5. To Use “Syncretism,” or Not to Use “Syncretism”: That is the Question Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	54
6. Comparison Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	66
7. Comparativism and Sociobiological Theory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	80
8. Akin to the Gods or Simply One to Another? Comparison with Respect to Religions in Antiquity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	94
9. Secrecy in Hellenistic Religious Communities Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	107
10. The Anti-Individualistic Ideology of Hellenistic Culture Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
11. Rationalism and Relativity in History of Religions Research Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
12. Evolution, Cognition, and History Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
13. Does Religion Really Evolve? (And What Is It Anyway?) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
14. Religion and Cognition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	182
15. The Promise of Cognitive Science for the Study of Early Christianity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	202
16. Globalization, Syncretism, and Religion in Western Antiquity: Some Neurocognitive Considerations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
17. What Do Rituals Do (and How Do They Do It)? Cognition and the Study of Ritual Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	240
18. The Deep History of Religious Ritual Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	254
19. Performativity, Narrative, and Cognition: “Demythologizing” the Roman Cult of Mithras Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	272
20. Cognitive Science, Ritual, and the Hellenistic Mystery Religions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	298
21. Why Christianity Was Accepted by Romans but Not by Rome Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	308
22. Aspects of Religious Experience among the Hellenistic Mystery Religions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	323
23. The Uses (and Abuse) of the Cognitive Sciences for the Study of Religion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	336
24. The Future of the Past: The History of Religions and Cognitive Historiography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	343
Author Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	358
Subject Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	362

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Academics; Institutes; Libraries
Pages
- Front matter: 12
- Main content: 364
Keywords: History of religions; historiography; scientific study of religion; Hellenisitc religions

eBook

Published: May 21, 2014
ISBN: 9781614515005

Hardcover

Published: April 14, 2014
ISBN: 9781614516194