Religions in Practice: An Approach to the Anthropology of Religion

by John R. Bowen

Book Overview

Examines religious practices from an anthropological perspective Religions in Practice, 6/e, offers an issues-oriented perspective on everyday religious behaviors - prayer, sacrifice, initiation,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0205795250
• ISBN13: 9780205795253
• Release Date: May 2010
• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Length: 257 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

textbook anthropological approach to religion

John Bowen, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, wrote this as a college textbook for anthropology of religion. For this it is excellent. It is also really good for lay readers looking for an introduction to this field. It includes a review of religious studies theories from Hegel and Edward Tylor to Clifford Geertz. It includes examples from many religious traditions commonly studied--Catholicism, Islam, Judaism, Umbanda, Native American traditions, Cargo cults, Japanese New Religions, Quakers, Mormonism, Hinduism; a good breadth indeed.His chapters are: 1) Elements and Theories of Religion; 2) Doctrine and Practice in Tension; 3) Transitions in Life and Death; 4) Extending Our Powers: "Magic" and Healing; 5) Explaining Misfortune: Witchcraft and Sorcery; 6) Sacrifice Contested; 7) Prohibitions and Boundaries; 8) Objects, Images, and Worship; 9) Sacred Speech and Divine Power; 10) Places and Pilgrims; 11) Religious Authority and Religious Movements; 12) The Place of Religions in Modern Nation-States.The book is expensive, so unless you find it used or really want it, I wouldn't buy it. But I really wanted it, and wasn't at all disappointed.