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BOOK REVIEWS URSULA KING (Ed.), Turning Points In BOOK REVIEWS URSULAKING (Ed.), Turning Points in Religious Studies. Essays in Honour of Geoffrey Parrinder. Edinburgh: T & T Clark 1990 (X + 330 p.) ISBN 0-567-09564-9 £ 19.95 The twenty-eight essays contained in this volume are divided into three parts. We shall concentrate here on Part II, "Turning points in the development of some academic subjects and themes" (ca. 100 p.), which consists of three sections entitled Indian religions, African religions and Significant themes. Each of the ten chapters of this Part II offers a short history of research in the area concerned, some pertinent problems and "turning points" in recent research, and a short bibliography. In the section on The Study of Indian Religions F. Hardy, in dealing with Hinduism, sees as a turning point a fundamental reorientation of the rela- tionship of the empirical Indian religions with the Vedas and the prescrip- tive Dharmashastras. He draws attention to the discovery in the sixties of the presence of truly monotheistic movements in Indian history, with abstract philosophical and theological writings which have to be distin- guished clearly from texts that emerged from meditation and mystical experience. It also has become clear that there have been trends in Hin- duism throughout history challenging the religious establishment, just as there have been so many regional religious cultures which rejected certain mainstream religious ideas. P. Williams, in treating Buddhism, distinguishes the "turning point" of the destruction of Tibetan Buddhism and so many of its precious manu- scripts in 1959 and during the Cultural Revolution, but also in the work of 6migr6 Tibetan scholars in making Tibetan texts better known abroad. He points to recent revisions of the early history such as the dating of the Buddha's life, the "schisms" due to discords concerning monastic rule, the explanation of Mahayana Buddhism's probable origin, and a better knowledge of the doctrines of Madhyamaka and about the Buddha nature. E. Nesbitt draws attention to the presentday expansion of Sikh studies and its relevance, in particular for the large Sikh community in Britain which is estimated at some 300.000 persons. In the section on The Study of African Religions South of the Sahara, the four contributions are complementary to each other. R. Shaw traces the main phases of study of "traditional" African religions: the "missionary" 275 approach, the "theological" normative categories of African cultural nationalism, and the empirical study of African religions in their own right. Anthropological approaches have developed similarly: from surveys and ahistorical functional analysis to questions of meaning (E.E. Evans- Pritchard, V. Turner), with a shift from imposing rational order from outside (R. Horton, structuralism) toward paying attention to experience and the "moral knowledge" of the people concerned (W. James). Subse- quently R.I.J. Hackett concentrates on new religious movements in Africa, which have grown amazingly. They are characterized by a quest for freedom from external authority and tradition, a structural mobility, a pragmatic spirituality and a growing global orientation. The next two chapters are again complementary. A. Hastings, dealing with Christianity in Africa, traces the successive interests of researchers and sounds a warning about the increasing absence of means to study African Christianity properly at the present. P.B. Clarke, treating Islam in sub-Saharan Africa, describes as a "turning point" in research the assembling, over the last forty years, of source materials for the history of Islam, in particular in West Africa, in local documentation centers. Besides historical studies, much research on local Muslim communities and their interpretations and applications of Islam has been carried out by social scientists. Clarke indicates a serious lack of comparative studies on Muslim-Christian relations in Africa. This holds true for such relations elsewhere too. In the section devoted to The Study of Significant Themes, K. Ward discusses the philosophical study of truth and dialogue in religion. D. Hay and P. Moore devote two excellent chapters to modern empirical research on religious experience (especially at the Alistair Hardy Research Centre, Oxford) and recent developments in the study of mysticism. In Part III, "Pointers to New Directions" (ca. 50 p.), John R. Hinnels stresses the fundamental role of the study of the arts "in any attempt to understand religions" (p. 270). Ursula King, in "Religion and gender" pleads for revision of current religious studies through feminist theory and gender analysis, which can influence favorably not only the concepts and methods used in religious studies but also religious thinking and practice. Kim Knott shows the importance of computing in religious studies research and teaching. In his "Concluding Reflections: Religious studies in global perspective", Ninian Smart takes a stock of presentday religious studies and pleads for establishing a "World Academy of Religion" open to worldwide communication between all sorts of bodies concerned with religion. .
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