Full Description
To what extent is religion inherently textual? What might the term 'textual' mean in relation to religious faith and practice? These are the two key questions addressed by the eleven thought-provoking essays collected in this volume. Accounts of the content and structure of sacred texts are commonplace. The rather more adventurous aim of this book is to disclose (within the context of religion) the various ways in which meaning can be read of more or less obviously sacred writing and from discourses such as the body, the built and natural environment, drama and ritual.
Contents
Contents: Foreword, James A. Beckford; Reading Religion in Text and Context: an introduction, Peter Collins and Elisabeth Arweck; Catholicism and freedom: Dignitatis humanae - the text and its reception, James Sweeney; The left behind series as sacred text?, Malcolm Gold; Secularization: human rights and sacred texts, Paul Chambers; Relics and 'Baraka': devotion to the Prophet Muhammad among Sufis in Nottingham, UK, Ian G. Williams; Text and context in Sikkim, India, Vibha Arora; Making a joyful noise: the multiple forms and functions of music in modern revivalism, Nancy A. Schaefer; Reinventing Melchizedek: interpretations of traditional religious texts in the seminary context, Ewan Ingleby; Reading religious architecture, Peter Collins; Textuality and embodiment among charismatic Christians, Simon Coleman; The case of the left hand: the location of religion in an everyday text, Kim Knott; Index.
