The Quest: History and Meaning in ReligionIn The Quest Mircea Eliade stresses the cultural function that a study of the history of religions can play in a secularized society. He writes for the intelligent general reader in the hope that what he calls a new humanism "will be engendered by a confrontation of modern Western man with unknown or less familiar worlds of meaning." "Each of these essays contains insights which will be fruitful and challenging for professional students of religion, but at the same time they all retain the kind of cultural relevance and clarity of style which makes them accessible to anyone seriously concerned with man and his religious possibilities."—Joseph M. Kitagawa, Religious Education |
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American ancestors ancient Andrew Lang animals antagonism anthropologists Aranda archaic Australian beginning belief century Christianity complex conception constitute cosmic cosmogonic myth cosmos Coyote creation creative Creator cult Dayak death deus otiosus discipline discovery divine documents dualism Durkheim earth Eliade especially Ethnology example experience fact Frazer Freud Georges Dumézil gods grasp Guarani heaven hermeneutics hieros gamos historian of religions Ibid idea important Indian Indo-European initiation initiatory interpreted ligion literary Mänäbush Max Müller meaning messianic Métraux Mircea Eliade mode modern monograph Müller mythical mythology Nimuendaju nostalgia origin paradisiacal Paris Pettazzoni phenomenology philosophers polarities primitive religion primordial problem R. W. B. Lewis religious represents revealed rites ritual role sacred history Schaden scholars shamans significant social society sociology soul spiritual structure symbolism theme theologians theory tion totality totemic traditional translation tribes Trickster Tupi-Guaranis Twins understand universe Urmonotheismus Werner Müller Western Wilhelm Schmidt York