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Article: Seven Theories of Religion.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Christian Century
- Article date:
- June 19, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 The Christian Century Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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By Daniel L. Pals. Oxford University Press, 294 pp., $13.95 paperback.
DANIEL PALS identifies seven prominent and influential theories of religion and elucidates their meanings and implications. The theories under study are those of E. B. Tylor and James Frazer (constituting a single chapter), Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Mircea Eliade, E. E. Evans-Pritchard and Clifford Geertz. The theories are variously rooted in anthropology, sociology, psychology and psychoanalysis, economic theory and cultural analysis, phenomenology and the history of religions. Together the seven theories offer impressive witness to the power of religion to create meaning, invite ...