'The Heathen in His Blindness ... ' : Asia, the West and the Dynamic of Religion
Today, most intellectuals agree that (a) Christianity has profoundly influenced western culture; (b) members from different cultures experience many aspects of the world differently; (c) the empirical and theoretical study of both culture and religion emerged within the West. The present study argues that these truisms have implications for the conceptualization of religion and culture. More specifically, the thesis is that non-western cultures and religions differ from the descriptions prevalent in the West, and it is also explained why this has been the case. The author proposes novel analyses of religion, the Roman 'religio', the construction of 'religions' in India, and the nature of cultural differences. Religion is important to the West because the constitution and the identity of western culture is tied to the dynamic of Christianity as a religion
Numen Book Ser, v. 64
1 online resource (579 pages)
9789004378865, 9004378863
1090999499
Intro; 'THE HEATHEN IN HIS BLINDNESS ... ': ASIA, THE WEST AND THE DYNAMIC OF RELIGION; CONTENTS; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; INTRODUCTION; I. SOME PUZZLES AND PROBLEMS; 1.1. On Some Strange Sentiments; 1.2. About Mystery and Mystifications; II. ""NOT BY ONE AVENUE ONLY ... ; 2.1. On the Cobbled Streets of Pagan Rome . . .; 2.1.1. Romans and Their 'Religio'; 2.1.2. From Demonstratio Evangelica . . .; 2.1.3 ... to Praeparatio Evangelica; 2.2 ... En Route to De Civitate Dei; 2.2.1. ""Will the True Pagan Stand Up, Please?; 2.2.2. From Augustine to Calvin and Beyond III. THE WHORE OF BABYLON AND OTHER REVELATIONS3.1. A Modern Photo Album; 3.1.1. What is 'Modern' about the Sexual Liberation?; 3.1.2. The Heathens and their lrreligion; 3.1.3. Snapshots Superimposed; 3.2. All Roads Lead to Rome; 3.2.1. Some Four Reference Points; 3.2.2. On the Eve of a Reasonable Age; 3.3. ""What has Paris to do With Jerusalem?; 3.3.1. On the Banks of the Seine; 3.3.2. About the Pagans and the Primitives; IV. MADE IN PARIS, LONDON, AND HEIDELBERG; 4.1. Evangelical Quandaries; 4.1.1. A Conceptual Quandary; 4.1.2. A Social Quandary; 4.2. The Oriental Renaissance 4.2.1. 'Vile Hindus'? The Other Face of the Coin4.2.2. Buddha, the Saviour of People; 4.3. A Conceptual Interregnum; V. REQUIEM FOR A THEME; 5.1. A Methodological Consideration; 5.2. The Metaphysical Speculations; 5.2.1. Angst, Nature and Man; 5.2.2. Fear Theory and Fear from Theories; 5.3. The Psychological Speculation; 5.4. On Explaining Religion; VI. ""SHALL THE TWAIN EVER MEET?; 6.1. A New Development and Some New Concerns; 6.1.1. Development on Two Levels; 6.1.2. Grouping the Concerns; 6.2. A Pagan Prosecution of Christianity; 6.3. A Christian Persecution of Paganism 6.3.1. Delineating Some Protestant Themes6.3.2. Tracing the Themes Further; 6.4. ""J'Accuse; VII. ""GUILTY AS CHARGED, MY LORDS AND LADIES?; 7.1. The Prosecution's Case; 7.1.1. ""Tell Me, Sonadanda, Who is a Brahmin?; 7.1.2. ""Tell Me Again, Brother Jacob, Who is Religious?; 7.1.3. ""Who is Religious, Dear Reader, Who Secular?; 7.2. ""The Prosecution Rests, M'Lords ... ; 7.2.1. Raising a Problem; 7.2.2. A Problem Illumined; 7.2.3. ""What Say You, The Jury, Guilty or Not Guilty?; 7.3. About One Half of An Argument; VIII. A HUMAN TRAGEDY OR THE DIVINE RETRIBUTION? 8.1. Because the Story Must Go On8.1.1. What is the Dispute About?; 8.1.2. "" ... De Gustibus Non Disputandum ... ; 8.1.3. Interminable Disputations; 8.1.4. Classificatory Problems; 8.1.5. A Confusion of Issues; 8.1.6. On the Nature of a Meta-Problem; 8.2. Switching the Tracks; 8.2.1. ""Religion is ... ; 8.2.2 ... What Christianity, Islam, and Judaism Are; 8.2.3. Linguistic Constraints Elaborated; 8.3. ''Thou Shalt Resist Temptation ... ; 8.3.1. Misunderstandings and Temptations; 8.3.2. From a Simple Answer to a Complex Query; IX. ""BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO SEEK ..
9.1. The Epistemology of Intolerance