Claiming knowledge : strategies of epistemology from theosophy to the New Age / by Olav Hammer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hammer, Olav.

Series:

Studies in the history of religions ; 90.

Numen book series. Studies in the history of religions, 0169-8834 ; v. 90

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Knowledge, Theory of (Religion).

Postmodernism--Religious aspects.

Postmodernism.

Theosophy.

New Age movement.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (569 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This volume deals with the transformation of religious creativity in the late modern West. Its point of departure is a set of esoteric beliefs, from Theosophy to the New Age. It shows how these traditions have adapted to the cultural givens of each successive epoch. The claims of each movement have been buttressed by drawing on various structural characteristics of late modernity. The advance of science has resulted in attempts to claim scientific status for religious beliefs. Globalization has given rise to massive loans from other cultures, but also to various strategies to radically reinterpret foreign elements. Individualism has led to an increasing reliance on experience as a source of legitimacy. The analytical tools applied to understanding religious modernization shed light on changes that are fundamentally reshaping many religious traditions. This publication has also been published in hardback, please click here for details.

Contents:

Preliminary Material

Introduction

Some Theoretical Preliminaries

Some Esoteric Positions: A Historical Sketch

The Appeal to Tradition

Scientism as a Language of Faith

Narratives of Experience

A Case Study: Reincarnation

Coda

List of Sources

References

Index of Names

Index of Subjects

Studies in the History of Religions Numen Book Series.

Notes:

Originally published: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2001.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-280-46528-X

9786610465286

1-4237-1450-4

90-474-0337-1

OCLC:

191039435

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789047403371 DOI