Skip to main content
  • free

    Life giving resources. Faithfully delivered.

    FREE delivery on orders over £10

  • UK

    Serving over 2 million Christians in the UK

    with Bibles, Books and Church Supplies

  • Church

    Our Buy-Now-Pay-Later accounts used

    by over 4,000 UK Churches & Schools

  • Excellent 4.8 out of 5

    Trustpilot

Varieties of Religious Invention

Founders and Their Functions in History [Paperback]

by Patrick Gray

    • Author

      Patrick Gray

    • Book Format

      Paperback

    • Publisher

      Oxford University Press

    • Published

      November 2015

    Read full description

    Today's Price

    £32.89

    Free delivery icon

    Free UK Delivery


    Available - Usually dispatched within 4 days


    • Paypal
    • Google Pay
    • Apple Pay
    • Visa
    • Mastercard
    • Amex

    Varieties of Religious Invention

    Today's Price £32.89



    Product Description

    Religious controversies frequently center on origins, and at the origins of the major religious traditions one typically finds a seminal figure. Names such as Jesus, Muhammad, Confucius, and Moses are well known, yet their status as "founders" has not gone uncontested. Does Paul deserve the credit for founding Christianity? Is Laozi the father of Daoism, or should that title belong to Zhuangzi? What is at stake, if anything, in debates about "the historical Buddha"? What assumptions are implicit in the claim that Hinduism is a religion without a founder? The essays in Varieties of Religious Invention do not attempt to settle these perennial arguments once and for all. Rather, they aim to consider the subtexts of such debates as an exercise in comparative religion: Who engages in them? To whom do they matter, and when? When is "development" in a religious tradition perceived as "deviation" from its roots? To what extent are origins thought to define the "essence" of a religion? In what ways do arguments about founders serve as a proxy for broader cultural, theological, political, or ideological questions?
    What do they reveal about the ways in which the past is remembered and authority negotiated? As the contributors survey the landscape shaped by these questions within each tradition, they provide insights and novel perspectives about the religions individually, and about the study of world religions as a whole.

    Specification

    • Author

      Patrick Gray

    • Book Format

      Paperback

    • Publisher

      Oxford University Press

    • Published

      November 2015

    • Weight

      296g

    • Page Count

      224

    • Dimensions

      153 x 232 x 18 mm

    • ISBN

      9780199359721

    • ISBN-10

      0199359725

    • Eden Code

      4331755

    More Information

    • Author/Creator: Patrick Gray

    • ISBN: 9780199359721

    • Publisher: Oxford University Press

    • Release Date: November 2015

    • Weight: 296g

    • Dimensions: 153 x 232 x 18 mm

    • Eden Code: 4331755


    Product Q+A

    Ask a Question

    Recently Viewed