BL48.C575

- 1 There is life in the old dog yet: an introduction to contemporary theories of religion Michael Stausberg 1 - 2 Religion as superhuman agency: on E. Thomas Lawson and Robert N. McCauley, Rethinking religion (1990) Steven Engler Mark Quentin Gardiner 22 - 3 Anthropomorphism and animism: on Stewart E. Guthrie, Faces in the clouds (1993) Benson Saler 39 - 4 From need to violence: on Walter Burkert, Creation of the sacred (1996) Gustavo Benavides 53 - 5 Religion as ritual: Roy Rappaport's changing views from Pigs for the ancestors (1968) to Ritual and religion in the making of humanity (1999) Robert A. Segal 66 - 6 Religious economies and rational choice: on Rodney Stark and Roger Finke, Acts of faith (2000) Gregory D. Alles 83 - 7 Religion as communication: on Niklas Luhmann, The religion of society (2000) Peter Beyer 99 - 8 Exotic experience and ordinary life: On Andrew Newberg, Eugene D'Aquili and Vince Rause, Why God Won't go away(2001) Matthew Day 115 - 9 Religion as the unintended product of brain functions in the 'standard cognitive science of religion model': on Pascal Boyer, Religion explained (2001) and Ilkka Pyysiنinen, How religion works (2003) Jeppe Sinding Jensen 129 - 10 Religion as evolutionary cascade: on Scott Atran, In gods we trust (2002) Joseph Bulbulia 156 - 11 Religion as superorganism: on David Sloan Wilson, Darwin's cathedral (2002) Joseph Bulbulia Marcus Frean 173 - 12 Roots in the brain: on David Lewis-Williams and David Pearce, Inside the Neolithic mind (2005) Donald Wiebe 195 - 13 Boundary maintenance: religions as organic-cultural flows: on Thomas Tweed, Crossing and dwelling (2006) Aaron W. Hughes 209 - 14 Theory of religion as myth: on Loyal Rue, Religion is not about God (2005) Hubert Seiwert 224 - 15 New Atheistic approaches in the cognitive science of religion: on Daniel Dennett, Breaking the spell (2006) and Richard Dawkins, The God delusion (2006) Armin W. Geertz 242 - 16 Interventionist practices and the promises of religion: on Martin Riesebrodt, Cultus und Heilsversprechen (2007) Michael Stausberg 264 - 17 Back and forth Michael Stausberg 283 - Index Richard Bartholomew 296

Interest in theories of religion has never been greater. Scholars debate single theoretical approaches in different scholarly journals, while the ‘new atheists’ such as Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett criticize the whole idea of religion. For everyone eager to understand the current state of the field, Contemporary Theories of Religion surveys the neglected landscape in its totality. Michael Stausberg brings together leading scholars of the field to review and discuss seventeen contemporary theories of religion. As well as scholars of religion, it features anthropologists, archaeologists, classicists, evolutionary biologists, philosophers and sociologists. Each chapter provides students with background information on the theoretician, a presentation of the theory’s basic principles, an analysis of basic assumptions, and a review of previous critiques. Concluding with a section entitled 'Back and Forth', Stausberg compares the different theories and points to further avenues of discussion for the future.