Reconstructing Eliade: Making Sense of Religion - Hardcover

Rennie, Bryan S.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0791427633 ISBN 13: 9780791427637

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 1996

Synopsis

Reconstructing Eliade is a concept-by-concept analysis of the thought of Mircea Eliade and a re-evaluation of his analysis of religion. It illustrates how a thorough familiarity with Eliade's work can produce an interpretation of his thought as systematic, coherent, and fully rational. Part One provides an analysis of the terms of Eliade's understanding of religion--hierophany, the sacred and the dialectic of the sacred and profane, homo religiosus, myths and symbols--and thus of the meaning of religion implied throughout his work. Part Two inspects various problems which arise in light of this analysis, particularly relativism and the role of commitment. Part Three applies this analysis to certain problems--religion in the modern world and Eliade's unfinished analysis of the modern, the postmodern phenomenon, implicit religion, and various related problems in the study of religion. Far from being outmoded and inadequate, Eliade's thought is suggested to be fertile ground for the reconception of religious realities in the contemporary world.

About this title

About the Author

Bryan S. Rennie is Assistant Professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Westminster College.

Edition details

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0791427633
• ISBN 13: 9780791427637
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 293