The word “Hindu” was derived from the land name, “the Hindustan”, but what is its true religion and the founding father of it. Since hundreds of years whole Globe has been identifying Hinduism as the religion of Hindustan or India. And nobody is certain about the Founding Father of this religion and religious text.
Name after River Indus or Sindhu
Eight Theories of Religion
Why do human beings believe in divinities? Why do some seek eternal life, while others seek escape from recurring lives? Why do the beliefs and behaviors we typically call “religious” so deeply affect the human personality and so subtly weave their way through human society? Revised and updated in this second edition, Eight Theories of Religion considers how these fundamental questions have engaged the most important thinkers of the modern era. Accessible, systematic, and succinct, the text examines the classic interpretations of religion advanced by theorists who have left a major imprint on the intellectual culture of the twentieth century. The second edition features a new chapter on Max Weber, a revised introduction, and a revised, expanded conclusion that traces the paths of further inquiry and interpretation traveled by theorists in the most recent decades.
Eight Theories of Religion, Second Edition, begins with Edward Burnett Tylor and James Frazer–two Victorian pioneers in anthropology and the comparative study of religion. It then considers the great “reductionist” approaches of Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkheim, and Karl Marx, all of whom have exercised wide influence up to the present day. The discussion goes on to examine the leading challenges to reductionism as articulated by sociologist Max Weber (new to this edition) and Romanian-American comparativist Mircea Eliade. Finally, it explores the newer methods and ideas arising from the African field studies of ethnographer E. E. Evans-Pritchard and the interpretive anthropology of Clifford Geertz. Each chapter offers biographical background, theoretical exposition, conceptual analysis, and critical assessment. This common format allows for close comparison and careful evaluation throughout. Ideal for use as a supplementary text in introductory religion courses or as the central text in sociology of religion and courses centered on the explanation and interpretation of religion, Eight Theories of Religion, Second Edition, offers an illuminating treatment of this controversial and fascinating subject.
It is a fact that the world today is very religious. One needs only to examine how many religions there are as opposed to the single direction of “Atheism” to see this. Many feel that the tendency towards some sort of faith is proof for the existence of God. Many claim to derive great power from their religious practices. Many believe that their specific belief system is the only truth and that the whole world should be converted to their view Read the rest of this entry »