According to scientific knowledge, the first humans (Homo sapiens, the knowledgable ones) came out of Africa 200 000 years ago. These early humans were just like us moderns in basic […]
Erwin Ramsdell Goodenough (1893-1965) was a scholar of the history of religion who specialized in early Christianity and the religions of the Hellenistic period. Like a number of other theorists, […]
Most of the world’s major religions evolved out of the ancient civilizations and often have their foundations in the folk traditions that preceded them. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, for example, […]
What are some foundational reasons for studying religion? There are several such reasons of which some, this post will attempt to show, can be both academic as well as personal. […]
Sigmund Freud, neurologist and the father of psychoanalytic theory, is well remembered for his unique contributions to therapy and understanding the mind. His work as a psychologist required that he […]
Feminist Religious Studies Feminist religious Studies is a relatively new branch within the academic study of religion (religious studies) less than half a century old. It consists of academic scholars, […]
Edward Burnett Tylor (1832-1917) was a British anthropologist and the father of cultural anthropology. He conceived influential theories of cultural evolution, inspired by Charles Darwin (1809-1882), some of which include […]
Raffaele Pettazzoni (1883-1959) was an Italian scholar, historian of religion, and president of the International Association for the History of Religions (1950-1959) notable for his study of divine omniscience. Pettazzoni […]
German theologian and philosopher Rudolf Otto (1869-1937) was an influential theorist within the historical development of religious studies. He is well-known for his idea of religious experience as being the […]
The phenomenology of religion is a methodological approach to religion (as a phenomenon) which searches for patterns of religious experiences or practices across traditions. This includes a concentration on religion’s […]
