Ann Taves is professor of religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and past president of the American Academy of Religion. Her books include "Fits, Trances, and Visions: Experiencing Religion and Explaining Experience from Wesley to James" (Princeton).

Winner of the 2010 Distinguished Book Award, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2010 "Taves' masterful work shows us the way between the extremes of particularism and the errors of decontextualized essentialist analyses of experiences deemed religious."--Patrick McNamara, Institute for the Biocultural Study of Religion "The theory that Taves proposes will rank among the very best because of its clarity and coherence of argument, its concise terms and substantive concepts, and its potential for stimulating research and writing in the field of religious studies... This book is clearly written, intellectually stimulating, and theoretically exciting."--Choice "[F]ascinating... [A] superb achievement that connects the study of religion to other disciplines... The book ... will serve as a benchmark in the field of religious studies for many years to come."--Luke Penkett, Ministry Today "Anyone remotely interested in the topic of religious experience will find this a worthwhile book... [S]mart, fair, and well-informed theoretical reflections, like Taves', when theologically read, can at least help to sort out some of the issues involved and, if nothing else, provide cautionary reminders of the immense potential for human-driven idolatry, even sometimes in the name of worship of the true God."--Christian Smith, Books & Culture "[T]his is a must-read volume for anyone serious about analyzing religious experience. Without being in any sense the final word, it definitely furthers the field."--James V. Spickard, Sociology of Religion "[Taves's] book is valuable both as a survey of the state of the field for each of these topics and for offering a constructive proposal in each arena. Especially valuable is Taves's engagement with the literature on cognitive science, psychology, and neuroscience, as these fields are gaining influence in the academy as a whole and are increasingly becoming relevant to humanistic disciplines."--Stephen S. Bush, Journal of Religion "By providing an inventive and relatively accessible set of ... building blocks, [Taves] allows those of us who study religion and religious practices to do so within manageable, malleable and happily imaginative frameworks--something so important to many mired in the same old trough. Replete with charts and illustrations that clarify these building blocks even more, Taves' work is a particular boon to any interested in examining the 'specialness' of liturgical experiences with fresh eyes."--Edward Foley, Worship "Taves speaks and thinks across a broad chasm: she labors skillfully, logically, and methodically to hammer out a set of analytical tools and theoretical vocabularies that will allow scholars of religion to converse with the sciences, in particular with cognitive scientists and neuroscientists."--Jennifer Scheper Hughes, Anglican and Episcopal History "Taves' study is important in the discourse of the phenomenon of religion, but also in the conversation between faith and science. It clearly illustrates how difficult a task it is to study religion without losing the value of that which is believed and understood as being the sacred."--G. A. Duncan, Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae

• List of Illustrations and Tables ix Acknowledgments xi Preface xiii Introduction: The Problem of "Religious Experience" 3 Experiences Deemed Religious 8 Previous Work 9 The Argument 12 Why an Attributional Approach Is Better 14 Chapter One: Religion: Deeming Things Religious 16 The Sui Generis and Ascriptive Models of "Religious Experience" 17 Deeming Things Religious 22 Special Things and Things Set Apart 28 Setting up Research 48 Conclusion: A Four-Fold Matrix 53 Chapter Two: Experience: Accessing Conscious Behavior 56 Clarifying the Concept 58 Accessing Experience 63 Representation and Experience Revisited 73 Conclusion 86 Chapter Three: Explanation: Attributing Causality 88 Attribution Theory: An Overview 90 An Attributional Theory of Religion 94 Four Levels of Analysis and Attribution 111 Conclusion 118 Chapter Four: Comparison: Constructing an Object of Study 120 Comparing Experiences 121 Specifying a Point of Comparison 126 Comparing Simple and Composite Formations 129 Imagination and Reality 156 Conclusion: Religions: A Building-Block Approach 161 Building Blocks 162 Religions as Composite Formations 164 Implications 165 Appendixes Appendix A: General Attribution Theory of Religion 169 Appendix B: Personal Accounts of Stephen Bradley and William Barnard 172 Appendix C: Preliminary Thoughts on the Elaboration of Composite Formations 176 Glossary 181 Works Cited 183 Name Index 203 Subject Index 207

Ann Taves is professor of religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and past president of the American Academy of Religion. Her books include "Fits, Trances, and Visions: Experiencing Religion and Explaining Experience from Wesley to James" (Princeton).

Winner of the 2010 Distinguished Book Award, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2010 "Taves' masterful work shows us the way between the extremes of particularism and the errors of decontextualized essentialist analyses of experiences deemed religious."--Patrick McNamara, Institute for the Biocultural Study of Religion "The theory that Taves proposes will rank among the very best because of its clarity and coherence of argument, its concise terms and substantive concepts, and its potential for stimulating research and writing in the field of religious studies... This book is clearly written, intellectually stimulating, and theoretically exciting."--Choice "[F]ascinating... [A] superb achievement that connects the study of religion to other disciplines... The book ... will serve as a benchmark in the field of religious studies for many years to come."--Luke Penkett, Ministry Today "Anyone remotely interested in the topic of religious experience will find this a worthwhile book... [S]mart, fair, and well-informed theoretical reflections, like Taves', when theologically read, can at least help to sort out some of the issues involved and, if nothing else, provide cautionary reminders of the immense potential for human-driven idolatry, even sometimes in the name of worship of the true God."--Christian Smith, Books & Culture "[T]his is a must-read volume for anyone serious about analyzing religious experience. Without being in any sense the final word, it definitely furthers the field."--James V. Spickard, Sociology of Religion "[Taves's] book is valuable both as a survey of the state of the field for each of these topics and for offering a constructive proposal in each arena. Especially valuable is Taves's engagement with the literature on cognitive science, psychology, and neuroscience, as these fields are gaining influence in the academy as a whole and are increasingly becoming relevant to humanistic disciplines."--Stephen S. Bush, Journal of Religion "By providing an inventive and relatively accessible set of ... building blocks, [Taves] allows those of us who study religion and religious practices to do so within manageable, malleable and happily imaginative frameworks--something so important to many mired in the same old trough. Replete with charts and illustrations that clarify these building blocks even more, Taves' work is a particular boon to any interested in examining the 'specialness' of liturgical experiences with fresh eyes."--Edward Foley, Worship "Taves speaks and thinks across a broad chasm: she labors skillfully, logically, and methodically to hammer out a set of analytical tools and theoretical vocabularies that will allow scholars of religion to converse with the sciences, in particular with cognitive scientists and neuroscientists."--Jennifer Scheper Hughes, Anglican and Episcopal History "Taves' study is important in the discourse of the phenomenon of religion, but also in the conversation between faith and science. It clearly illustrates how difficult a task it is to study religion without losing the value of that which is believed and understood as being the sacred."--G. A. Duncan, Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae

• List of Illustrations and Tables ix Acknowledgments xi Preface xiii Introduction: The Problem of "Religious Experience" 3 Experiences Deemed Religious 8 Previous Work 9 The Argument 12 Why an Attributional Approach Is Better 14 Chapter One: Religion: Deeming Things Religious 16 The Sui Generis and Ascriptive Models of "Religious Experience" 17 Deeming Things Religious 22 Special Things and Things Set Apart 28 Setting up Research 48 Conclusion: A Four-Fold Matrix 53 Chapter Two: Experience: Accessing Conscious Behavior 56 Clarifying the Concept 58 Accessing Experience 63 Representation and Experience Revisited 73 Conclusion 86 Chapter Three: Explanation: Attributing Causality 88 Attribution Theory: An Overview 90 An Attributional Theory of Religion 94 Four Levels of Analysis and Attribution 111 Conclusion 118 Chapter Four: Comparison: Constructing an Object of Study 120 Comparing Experiences 121 Specifying a Point of Comparison 126 Comparing Simple and Composite Formations 129 Imagination and Reality 156 Conclusion: Religions: A Building-Block Approach 161 Building Blocks 162 Religions as Composite Formations 164 Implications 165 Appendixes Appendix A: General Attribution Theory of Religion 169 Appendix B: Personal Accounts of Stephen Bradley and William Barnard 172 Appendix C: Preliminary Thoughts on the Elaboration of Composite Formations 176 Glossary 181 Works Cited 183 Name Index 203 Subject Index 207

Ann Taves is professor of religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and past president of the American Academy of Religion. Her books include "Fits, Trances, and Visions: Experiencing Religion and Explaining Experience from Wesley to James" (Princeton).

Winner of the 2010 Distinguished Book Award, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2010 "Taves' masterful work shows us the way between the extremes of particularism and the errors of decontextualized essentialist analyses of experiences deemed religious."--Patrick McNamara, Institute for the Biocultural Study of Religion "The theory that Taves proposes will rank among the very best because of its clarity and coherence of argument, its concise terms and substantive concepts, and its potential for stimulating research and writing in the field of religious studies... This book is clearly written, intellectually stimulating, and theoretically exciting."--Choice "[F]ascinating... [A] superb achievement that connects the study of religion to other disciplines... The book ... will serve as a benchmark in the field of religious studies for many years to come."--Luke Penkett, Ministry Today "Anyone remotely interested in the topic of religious experience will find this a worthwhile book... [S]mart, fair, and well-informed theoretical reflections, like Taves', when theologically read, can at least help to sort out some of the issues involved and, if nothing else, provide cautionary reminders of the immense potential for human-driven idolatry, even sometimes in the name of worship of the true God."--Christian Smith, Books & Culture "[T]his is a must-read volume for anyone serious about analyzing religious experience. Without being in any sense the final word, it definitely furthers the field."--James V. Spickard, Sociology of Religion "[Taves's] book is valuable both as a survey of the state of the field for each of these topics and for offering a constructive proposal in each arena. Especially valuable is Taves's engagement with the literature on cognitive science, psychology, and neuroscience, as these fields are gaining influence in the academy as a whole and are increasingly becoming relevant to humanistic disciplines."--Stephen S. Bush, Journal of Religion "By providing an inventive and relatively accessible set of ... building blocks, [Taves] allows those of us who study religion and religious practices to do so within manageable, malleable and happily imaginative frameworks--something so important to many mired in the same old trough. Replete with charts and illustrations that clarify these building blocks even more, Taves' work is a particular boon to any interested in examining the 'specialness' of liturgical experiences with fresh eyes."--Edward Foley, Worship "Taves speaks and thinks across a broad chasm: she labors skillfully, logically, and methodically to hammer out a set of analytical tools and theoretical vocabularies that will allow scholars of religion to converse with the sciences, in particular with cognitive scientists and neuroscientists."--Jennifer Scheper Hughes, Anglican and Episcopal History "Taves' study is important in the discourse of the phenomenon of religion, but also in the conversation between faith and science. It clearly illustrates how difficult a task it is to study religion without losing the value of that which is believed and understood as being the sacred."--G. A. Duncan, Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae

• List of Illustrations and Tables ix Acknowledgments xi Preface xiii Introduction: The Problem of "Religious Experience" 3 Experiences Deemed Religious 8 Previous Work 9 The Argument 12 Why an Attributional Approach Is Better 14 Chapter One: Religion: Deeming Things Religious 16 The Sui Generis and Ascriptive Models of "Religious Experience" 17 Deeming Things Religious 22 Special Things and Things Set Apart 28 Setting up Research 48 Conclusion: A Four-Fold Matrix 53 Chapter Two: Experience: Accessing Conscious Behavior 56 Clarifying the Concept 58 Accessing Experience 63 Representation and Experience Revisited 73 Conclusion 86 Chapter Three: Explanation: Attributing Causality 88 Attribution Theory: An Overview 90 An Attributional Theory of Religion 94 Four Levels of Analysis and Attribution 111 Conclusion 118 Chapter Four: Comparison: Constructing an Object of Study 120 Comparing Experiences 121 Specifying a Point of Comparison 126 Comparing Simple and Composite Formations 129 Imagination and Reality 156 Conclusion: Religions: A Building-Block Approach 161 Building Blocks 162 Religions as Composite Formations 164 Implications 165 Appendixes Appendix A: General Attribution Theory of Religion 169 Appendix B: Personal Accounts of Stephen Bradley and William Barnard 172 Appendix C: Preliminary Thoughts on the Elaboration of Composite Formations 176 Glossary 181 Works Cited 183 Name Index 203 Subject Index 207