The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion Blackwell Companions to Religion The Blackwell Companions to Religion series presents a collection of the most recent scholarship and knowledge about world religions. Each volume draws together newly commissioned essays by distinguished authors in the field, and is presented in a style which is accessible to under- graduate students, as well as scholars and the interested general reader. These volumes approach the subject in a creative and forward-thinking style, providing a forum in which leading scholars in the field can make their views and research available to a wider audience. Published The Blackwell Companion to Judaism Edited by Jacob Neusner and Alan J. Avery-Peck The Blackwell Companion to Sociology of Religion Edited by Richard K. Fenn The Blackwell Companion to the Hebrew Bible Edited by Leo G. Perdue The Blackwell Companion to Postmodern Theology Edited by Graham Ward The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism Edited by Gavin Flood The Blackwell Companion to Political Theology Edited by Peter Scott and William T. Cavanaugh The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism Edited by Alister E. McGrath and Darren C. Marks The Blackwell Companion to Modern Theology Edited by Gareth Jones The Blackwell Companion to Christian Ethics Edited by Stanley Hauerwas and Samuel Wells The Blackwell Companion to Religious Ethics Edited by William Schweiker The Blackwell Companion to Christian Spirituality Edited by Arthur Holder The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion Edited by Robert A. Segal Forthcoming The Blackwell Companion to the Qur’a¯n Edited by Andrew Rippin The Blackwell Companion to the Bible and Culture Edited by John Sawyer The Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic Thought Edited by Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity Edited by Ken Parry The Blackwell Companion to the New Testament Edited by David Aune The Blackwell Companion to Catholicism Edited by James J. Buckley The Blackwell Companion to the Bible and Literature Edited by Christine Joynes, Rebecca Lemon, Emma Mason, John Roberts and Christopher Rowland The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion Edited by Robert A. Segal © 2006 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd except for editorial material and organization © 2006 by Robert A. Segal; except for Chapter 18 © 2006 Jeffrey J. Kripal BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Robert A. Segal to be identified as the Author of the Editorial Material in this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 2006 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd 1 2006 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Blackwell companion to the study of religion / edited by Robert A. Segal. p. cm.—(Blackwell companions to religion) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-631-23216-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-631-23216-8 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Religion. I. Segal, Robert Alan. II. Series. BL48.B53 2006 200¢.7—dc22 2005015487 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 11 on 13.5 pt Photina by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd, Hong Kong Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall The publisher’s policy is to use permanent paper from mills that operate a sustainable forestry policy, and which has been manufactured from pulp processed using acid-free and elementary chlorine-free practices. Furthermore, the publisher ensures that the text paper and cover board used have met acceptable environmental accreditation standards. For further information on Blackwell Publishing, visit our website: www.blackwellpublishing.com Dedicated to John Clayton (1943–2003) – colleague, friend, and the original editor of this Companion Contents List of Contributors ix Introduction xiii Robert A. Segal Part I: APPROACHES 1 1. Anthropology of Religion 3 Fiona Bowie 2. The Comparative Method 25 Paul Roscoe 3. Economics of Religion 47 Rodney Stark 4. Literature and Religion 69 Stephen Prickett 5. Phenomenology of Religion 91 Thomas Ryba 6. Philosophy of Religion 123 Charles Taliaferro 7. Psychology of Religion 147 Roderick Main viii CONTENTS 8. Sociology of Religion 171 Grace Davie 9. Theology 193 Ian Markham Part II: TOPICS 211 10. Body 213 Richard H. Roberts 11. Death and Afterlife 229 Douglas J. Davies 12. Ethics 239 G. Scott Davis 13. Fundamentalism 255 Henry Munson 14. Heaven and Hell 271 Jeffrey Burton Russell 15. Holy Men/Holy Women 285 Lawrence S. Cunningham 16. Magic 295 Gustavo Benavides 17. Modernity and Postmodernity 309 Colin Campbell 18. Mysticism 321 Jeffrey J. Kripal 19. Myth 337 Robert A. Segal 20. Nationalism and Religion 357 Mark Juergensmeyer 21. New Religious Movements 369 Lorne L. Dawson 22. Pilgrimage 385 Simon Coleman 23. Ritual 397 Catherine Bell 24. Secularization 413 Steve Bruce Consolidated Bibliography 431 Index 465 Contributors Catherine Bell, Hanley Professor of Religious Studies, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, USA Gustavo Benavides, Associate Professor, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, USA Fiona Bowie, Senior Lecturer and Head of Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Bristol, UK, and Senior Research Fellow, Carter G. Woodson Institute for African American and African Studies, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA Steve Bruce, FBA, FRSE, Professor of Sociology and Head, School of Social Science, University of Aberdeen, Scotland Colin Campbell, Professor of Sociology, University of York, UK Simon Coleman, Professor of Anthropology, University of Sussex, UK x LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Lawrence S. Cunningham, John A. O’Brien Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA Grace Davie, Professor of Sociology, University of Exeter, UK Douglas J. Davies, Professor in the Study of Religion, University of Durham, UK G. Scott Davis, Lewis T. Booker Professor of Religion and Ethics, University of Richmond, Virginia, USA Lorne L. Dawson, Associate Professor of Sociology and Chair, Department of Religious Studies, University of Waterloo, Canada Mark Juergensmeyer, Professor of Sociology and Religious Studies and Director, Global and International Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA Jeffrey J. Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religious Studies, Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA Roderick Main, Lecturer in Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, Colchester, UK Ian Markham, Dean of Hartford Seminary and Professor of Theology and Ethics, Hartford, Connecticut, USA Henry Munson, Professor of Anthropology, University of Maine, Orono, USA Stephen Prickett, FAHA, FEA, Margaret Root Brown Professor of English and Director, Armstrong Browning Library, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA Richard H. Roberts, Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies, University of Lancaster, UK, and Honorary Professor of Religious Studies, University of Stirling, Scotland Paul Roscoe, Professor of Anthropology, University of Maine, Orono, USA Jeffrey Burton Russell, Professor Emeritus of History, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA Thomas Ryba, Notre Dame Theologian in Residence and Adjunct Professor of Philosophy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS xi Robert A. Segal, Professor of Theories of Religion, University of Lancaster, UK Rodney Stark, University Professor of the Social Sciences, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA Charles Taliaferro, Professor of Philosophy, St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, USA Introduction Robert A. Segal What Makes Religious Studies a Discipline? What is meant by calling religious studies a discipline? According to one view, religious studies, to qualify as a discipline or a field, must have a dis- tinctive method. Yet most disciplines harbor no distinctive method. Many either share a method – notably, the so-called “scientific method” – or else employ a variety of methods – for example, quantitative as well as qualita- tive approaches or textual analysis as well as fieldwork. Still, does religious studies possess a method of its own? Many of the classical defenders of religious studies as a discipline invoke phenomenology as the distinctive method of the discipline. In his entry in this Companion on the phenom- enology of religion, Thomas Ryba expertly works out the goal of this approach to religion. But at least as practiced, phenomenology of religion amounts to no more than data gathering, if also the classification of the data gathered. In other words, the touted method of religious studies turns out to be taxonomy. And it is taxonomy at the descriptive level. It is the classification of professedly religious beliefs, practices, and objects. xiv ROBERT A. SEGAL If a discipline must have a distinctive method, and if data gathering and classification are all that religious studies offers, then the field is on shaky grounds. Not only are data gathering and classification common to all other fields, but the other fields that claim