The invention of sacred tradition / edited by James R. Lewis and Olav Hammer.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Lewis, James R.

Hammer, Olav.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion.

Spiritual life.

Physical Description:

xi, 306 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Summary:

The dictionary definition of tradition refers to beliefs and practices that have been transmitted from generation to generation; however, "tradition" can rest simply on the claim that certain cultural elements are rooted in the past. Claim and documented historical reality need not overlap. In the domain of religion, historically verifiable traditions coexist with recent innovations whose origins are spuriously projected back into time. This book examines the phenomenon of "invented traditions" in religions ranging in time from Zoroastrianism to Scientology, and geographically from Tibet to North America and Europe. The various contributions, together with an introduction that surveys the field, use individual case studies to address questions such as the rationale for creating a historical tradition for one's doctrines and rituals; the mechanisms by which hitherto unknown texts can enter an existing corpus; and issues of acceptance and skepticism in the reception of dubious texts.

Contents:

Introduction / Olav Hammer and James R. Lewis

Scientology, scripture and sacred tradition / Mikael Rothstein

'He may be lying but what he says is true': the sacred tradition of Don Juan as reported by Carlos Castaneda, anthropologist, trickster, guru, allegorist / Charlotte E. Hardman

The invention of sacred tradition: Mormonism / Douglas J. Davies

Antisemitism, conspiracy culture, Christianity, and Islam: the history and contemporary religious significance of the 'Protocols of the learned elders of Zion' / Christopher Partridge and Ron Geaves The invention of a counter-tradition: the case of the North American anti-cult movement / David G. Bromley and Douglas E. Cowan

'Heavenly deception'? Sun Myung Moon and 'Divine principle / George D. Chryssides

'Forgery' in the New Testament / Einar Thomassen

Three phases of inventing Rosicrucian tradition in the seventeenth century / Susanna Åkerman

A name for all and no one: Zoroaster as a figure of authorization and a screen of ascription / Michael Stausberg

The peculiar sleep: receiving The Urantia book / Sarah Lewis

Ontology of the past and its materialization in Tibetan treasures / Holly Gayley

Pseudo-Dionysius: the mediation of sacred traditions / Kevin Corrigan and Michael Harrington

Spurious attribution of the Hebrew Bible / Philip R. Davies

Inventing paganisms: making nature / Graham Harvey.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780521864794

0521864798

OCLC:

154706390