Varieties of Religious Invention: Founders and Their Functions in History

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Patrick Gray (Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Rhodes College)

Varieties of Religious Invention

Founders and Their Functions in History

Patrick Gray (Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Rhodes College)

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
19 November 2015

Comparative religion; Religious issues & debates; History of religion; Religious & spiritual leaders

"At the origins of the major religious traditions one typically finds a seminal figure. Names such as Jesus, Muhammad, Confucius, and Moses are well known, yet their status as ""founders"" has not gone uncontested. Does Paul deserve the credit for founding Christianity? Is Laozi the father of Daoism, or should that title belong to Zhuangzi? What is at stake, if anything, in debates about the historical Buddha? What assumptions are implicit in the claim that Hinduism is a religion without a founder? The essays in Varieties of Religious Invention do not attempt to settle these perennial arguments. Rather, they consider the subtexts of such debates as an exercise in comparative religion: Who engages in them? To whom do they matter, and when? To what extent are origins thought to define the essence of a religion? When is development in a religious tradition perceived as deviation from its roots? In what ways do arguments about founders serve as proxies for broader cultural, theological, political, or ideological questions? What do they reveal about the ways in which the past is remembered and authority negotiated? Surveying the landscape shaped by these questions within each tradition, the authors provide insights and novel perspectives about the individual religions, and about the study of world religions more generally."

Edited by: Patrick Gray (Associate Professor of Religious Studies Associate Professor of Religious Studies Rhodes College)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 152mm, Width: 231mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 304g
ISBN: 9780199359721
ISBN 10: 0199359725
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 19 November 2015
Audience: College/higher education , A / AS level , Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Patrick Gray is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. He has published five books on the Bible, the history of biblical interpretation, and Hellenistic philosophy, including Opening Paul's Letters: A Reader's Guide to Genre and Interpretation.

Reviews for Varieties of Religious Invention: Founders and Their Functions in History

By examining the 'founders' of various religious traditions, this book helps us to better understand both those individual traditions and the connections between them. It is an especially useful resource for those who are interested in comparative theology. --Amir Hussain, Professor of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University