Bryan Rennie – författare

Drawing from sources including the ethology of art and the cognitive science of religion this book proposes an improved understanding of both art and religion as behaviors developed in the process of human evolution. Looking at both art and religion as closely related, but not identical, behaviors a more coherent definition of religion can be formed that avoids pitfalls such as the Eurocentric characterization of religion as belief or the dismissal of the category as nothing more than false belief or the product of scholarly invention.The book integrates highly relevant insights from the ethology and anthropology of art, particularly the identification of "the special" by Ellen Dissanayake and art as agency by Alfred Gell, with insights from, among others, Ann Taves, who similarly identified "specialness" as characteristic of religion. It integrates these insights into a useful and accurate understanding and explanation of the relationship of art and religion and of religion as a human behavior. This in turn is used to suggest how art can contribute to the development and maintenance of religions.The innovative combination of art, science, and religion in this book makes it a vital resource for scholars of Religion and the Arts, Aesthetics, Religious Studies, Religion and Science and Religious Anthropology.

September 11 and the subsequent War on Terror continues to cast a long shadow over the world. Religion, Terror and Violence brings together a group of distinguished scholars from a range of backgrounds and disciplines to explore the claim that acts of violence – most spectacularly the attack of September 11, 2001 and the international reaction to it – were intimately linked to cultural and social authorizing processes that could be called 'religious.' This book provides a nuanced but incisive insight into the reaction of the discipline of religious studies to the post 9/11 world.

September 11 and the subsequent War on Terror continues to cast a long shadow over the world. Religion, Terror and Violence brings together a group of distinguished scholars from a range of backgrounds and disciplines to explore the claim that acts of violence – most spectacularly the attack of September 11, 2001 and the international reaction to it – were intimately linked to cultural and social authorizing processes that could be called 'religious.' This book provides a nuanced but incisive insight into the reaction of the discipline of religious studies to the post 9/11 world.

Provides a coherent and defensible interpretation of Eliade's thought which allows less familiar readers to approach Eliade with a greater clarity and precision. Foreword by Mac Linscott Ricketts, a leading translator of Eliade's writings.Reconstructing Eliade is a concept-by-concept analysis of the thought of Mircea Eliade and a re-evaluation of his analysis of religion. It illustrates how a thorough familiarity with Eliade's work can produce an interpretation of his thought as systematic, coherent, and fully rational. Part One provides an analysis of the terms of Eliade's understanding of religion—hierophany, the sacred and the dialectic of the sacred and profane, homo religiosus, myths and symbols—and thus of the meaning of religion implied throughout his work. Part Two inspects various problems which arise in light of this analysis, particularly relativism and the role of commitment. Part Three applies this analysis to certain problems—religion in the modern world and Eliade's unfinished analysis of the modern, the postmodern phenomenon, implicit religion, and various related problems in the study of religion. Far from being outmoded and inadequate, Eliade's thought is suggested to be fertile ground for the reconception of religious realities in the contemporary world.

A unique consideration of the work of Mircea Eliade highlighting scholarship from outside the Anglophone world.2008 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title The International Eliade brings together contributors from beyond the Anglo-American milieu to consider the work of Mircea Eliade. Significant new insights and information concerning Eliade, his past, and potential applications of his thought are provided by scholars from Romania, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Norway, France, Argentina, India, Korea, Japan, and Québec, Canada. Intended as a balanced consideration of Eliade's significance, the collection recognizes the restrictions and shortcomings of his work, and gives the English-language reader access to research in Eliade studies being done in a global arena.

A unique consideration of the work of Mircea Eliade highlighting scholarship from outside the Anglophone world.2008 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title The International Eliade brings together contributors from beyond the Anglo-American milieu to consider the work of Mircea Eliade. Significant new insights and information concerning Eliade, his past, and potential applications of his thought are provided by scholars from Romania, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Norway, France, Argentina, India, Korea, Japan, and Québec, Canada. Intended as a balanced consideration of Eliade's significance, the collection recognizes the restrictions and shortcomings of his work, and gives the English-language reader access to research in Eliade studies being done in a global arena.

Drawing from sources including the ethology of art and the cognitive science of religion this book proposes an improved understanding of both art and religion as behaviors developed in the process of human evolution. Looking at both art and religion as closely related, but not identical, behaviors a more coherent definition of religion can be formed that avoids pitfalls such as the Eurocentric characterization of religion as belief or the dismissal of the category as nothing more than false belief or the product of scholarly invention.The book integrates highly relevant insights from the ethology and anthropology of art, particularly the identification of "the special" by Ellen Dissanayake and art as agency by Alfred Gell, with insights from, among others, Ann Taves, who similarly identified "specialness" as characteristic of religion. It integrates these insights into a useful and accurate understanding and explanation of the relationship of art and religion and of religion as a human behavior. This in turn is used to suggest how art can contribute to the development and maintenance of religions.The innovative combination of art, science, and religion in this book makes it a vital resource for scholars of Religion and the Arts, Aesthetics, Religious Studies, Religion and Science and Religious Anthropology.

The Romanian writer Mircea Eliade is best known in the English-speaking world as an influential Historian of Religion, author of such works as The Sacred and the Profane and The Myth of the Eternal Return. However, Eliade’s body of work is much broader, and throughout his life he kept the world of fiction and mysticism very close to his heart. Starting at the age of fourteen, Eliade continuously produced works of fiction alongside his academic work.This volume consists of six of his best short stories, taken from over a 30-year period, starting in 1959 with A Fourteen-Year-Old Photograph – the tale of a distance healing in which the patient claims miracle while the healer admits artifice - and including perhaps his most famous short story, the time-shifting At the Gypsies, and culminating with In the Shadow of a Lily, the last story Eliade is known to have written. Each of these stories is dense with allusions and interwoven with connections and references drawn from the imagination and vast knowledge of a great man. Who knows what secrets they may conceal? One thing is for sure - they will repay repeated close reading, but will also charm on the first encounter.