Through the use of thought-provoking case studies, summaries, and review questions, this introductory level text shows students how to engage in the academic, objective study of religion and helps instructors address some of the typical problems they encounter when introducing students to the study of religion. Kessler guides students through an unbiased and varied study of religious beliefs and practices such as sacred power, myths and rituals, religious art, the p… More >>
Studying Religion: An Introduction Through Cases
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#1 by Robin E. Navidi on January 26, 2010 - 12:12 pm
The book turned out to be great, just what was needed for my class at 1/2 the price from the college bookstore.
no problems
Rating: 5 / 5
#2 by Elf_Friend on January 26, 2010 - 1:50 pm
Anyone who has studied religion and attempted to classify it knows the difficulty of the task; there are few categorizations which do any faith justice, without excluding the rest. This field, like Culture Studies, is notoriously vague, distinct only in priority and negation. Therefore it is hardly suprising that Kessler’s Introduction Through Cases suffers not from a lack of organization, but from a well-structured sense of chaotic misemphasis. One can hardly keep one’s feet for the flitting from faith to faith, topic to topic. This is not the text to use if you wish for a layman’s read, or an introduction to religions of the world. It is clear that Kessler knows his material exceeding thoroughly, but he just doesn’t make the effort at clarity and introduction that an “Introduction” should have. Read it through, and create your own notes on the generous lists of typologies and interpretive styles; for the learned in the field, this might be a nice summary/articulation of your acedemic fodder. But for the rest of us, this is a tough introduction to the study unless it comes with a teacher, to a student gifted in the creation of outlines.
For a personable (and generous) introduction to the major religions of the world, read Huston Smith’s “The World’s Religions”.
Please let me know if this review was helpful to you.
Rating: 3 / 5