In Search of the Sacred: Anthropology and the Study of Religions (Themes in Religious Studies) [Hardcover]

Clinton Bennett (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0304336815 | ISBN-13: 978-0304336814 | Publication Date: June 1996

This text traces the growth and development of two related disciplines, anthropology and the study of religions. Locating these disciplines within the intellectual climate of the 19th century, the study considers the contributions of scholars such as James George Frazer, F. Max Muller, Emile Durkheim, Mary Douglas and Clifford Geertz, within an historical framework. The author argues that both anthropologists and students of religion have abandoned an objective approach in favour of personal engagement with their subjects, replacing observation with conversation, monologue with dialogue, a text-based with people-based approach. He reveals how each discipline has influenced the other both in terms of methodology and by the provision of data. The book also explores the criticism levelled at both disciplines that they have aided colonial domination of the developing world.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Clinton Bennett teaches Religious Studies at the State University of New York at New Paltz, and at Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 218 pages
• Publisher: Continuum Intl Pub Group (Sd) (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0304336815
• ISBN-13: 978-0304336814
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,715,469 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Clinton Bennett was awarded the PhD in Islamic Studies by Birmingham University in 1990. He also holds the M.Ed. from Oxford and his undergraduate degree in Theology from Manchester University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and of the Royal Anthropological Institute and uses ethnography in his research. He is especially interested in how sensitive but critical issues in Religious Studies can be explored without causing offense to religious insiders. He is a specialist in the study of Islam with a focus on modern Muslim thinkers and movements. An ordained Baptist minister, he has worked as a missionary in Bangladesh, as co-pastor of a multi-racial inner city congregation, on the staff of the British Council of Churches and as a College and University chaplain and teacher. He has written nine books. He has combined academic study of Islam with participation in interfaith dialogue, serving on several World Council of Churches committees. He has advised local mosques, chaired school governing bodies and represented an NGO at the UN. He currently teaches at the State University of New York at New Paltz. His homepage is www.clintonbennett.net