Understanding Religion (Study in Theology)

By Eric J. Sharpe

Clears the ground for students who are setting out to understand, rather than just to practice, religion. It discusses, among other things, the relationship between commitment to a particular tradition and the quest for intellectual understanding of religion "in the round", "holiness" as an identifying aspect of religion, functional "modes" of religion, and finally some questions connected with the
secularization process.
Assuming throughout that theology and religious studies ought not to be seen as competing approaches, but as sources for complementary insights, it offers the student a fundamental introduction to an important area of inquiry.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0715617354
• ISBN13: 9780715617359
• Release Date: November 1997
• Publisher: Bristol Classical Press
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Informative, thoughtful, and interesting

This little book is really a long essay on what is involved in understanding a religion. It has an almost conversational tone, as he talks about the various topics that arise in teaching students. Well, they are the same topics that arise for their professors or, for that matter, for any of us: religious experience, religious institutions and authorities, religion and culture, and so forth. These topics are discussed with a point of view that balances a sympathy for religion (and perhaps even a religious commitment) with scholarly distance. The reader learns the lay of the land in contemporary religious studies from a thoughtful, engaging tour guide. Sharpe is good company.