Meta-Religion - Religion and Power in World History

"While many textbooks treat 'world religions' in an apolitical way, as if each religion were a path for individual seekers after wisdom and not a discourse intimately connected with the exercise of power, Laine's book treats religion and politics as halves of the same whole, and he traces their relationship from the days of Alexander the Great to the secularists of modern Europe, with stops in classical India, China, and the Islamic world"--Provided by publisher.

Summary

Treats religion and politics as halves of the same whole, tracing their relationship from the policies of Alexander the Great to the ideologies of modern Europe secularists, with stops in classical India, China, and the Islamic world. This book features images and maps that bring the narrative to life.

Report

This is a challenging and sophisticated revisioning of the standard introduction to world religions textbook. Covering a broad sweep of time and place, the book takes seriously a societys actual world building, of which religions are a central part, and describes well how they are managed by the state. - Andrew O. Fort, Professor of Religion at Texas Christian Univeristy

Product details

• Authors: James W. Laine, Laine James W.
• Publisher: University Of California Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 25.02.2015
• EAN: 9780520281370
• ISBN: 978-0-520-28137-0
• No. of pages: 304
• Dimensions: 150 mm x 230 mm x 18 mm
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; RELIGION / History, HISTORY / World, comparative religion, RELIGION / Comparative Religion, General & world history, History of Religion, General and world history