This article explores the various uses or – according to some authors, such as the sociologist James Beckford – misuses of the term ‘postsecular’. The variations in its use are indeed so broad that the question is justified whether the terminology as such has much analytical value. The prominence of the ‘postsecular’ in present-day debates in my view primarily indicates the inability among scholars, intellectuals and religious interest groups to come to grips with what – for some at least – (...) is an unexpected presence and resurgence of religion in the public domains of presumably secular societies. The work of the cultural anthropologist Talal Asad shows that the secular does not preclude the religious. All kinds of religious arguments, organizations, and agents are very much present in modern ‘secular’ societies. From this perspective, the emergence of the ‘postsecular’ refers to very real phenomena, most importantly the intertwinement of the secular and the religious. For instance, religious actors do not accept the barriers of secular society and claim a role for religion in public and secular arenas. This insight could be one of the most important driving forces behind the popularity of the term ‘postsecular’ in recent years. (shrink)

This volume offers a critical analysis of one the most ambitious editorial projects of late Victorian Britain: the edition of the fifty substantial volumes of the Sacred Books of the East. The series was edited and conceptualized by Friedrich Max Müller, a world-famous German-born philologist, orientalist, and religious scholar. Müller and his influential Oxford colleagues secured financial support from the India Office of the British Empire and from Oxford University Press. Arie L. Molendijk documents how the series has become a (...) landmark in the development of the humanities-especially the study of religion and language-in the second half of the nineteenth century. The edition also contributed significantly to the Western perception of the 'religious' or even 'mystic' East, which was textually represented in English translations. The series was a token of the rise of 'big science' and textualized the East, by selecting their 'sacred books' and bringing them under the power of western scholarship. (shrink)

What, if anything remains of religion after the demise of traditional theism and the theologies based upon it? What are the consequences of so-called Post-theism for the modern scholarly study of religion (in Religionswissenschaft and philosophical theology or church dogmatics, in the philosophy of religion as well as in the more recent phenomenon of comparitive religious studies)? This volume collects some thirty articles written in honor of Professor Hendrik Johan Adriaanse whose intellectual trajectory, recounted here in extensive personal reflections, has (...) lead to an incisive inquiry into the possibilities of thinking and experiencing "After Theism" (the title of a fundamental article reprinted here). Post-theism : Refraiming the Judeo-Christian Tradition raises this question from three different perspectives : first, by spelling out the historical and intellectual backgrounds that have led to the supposed end of theism as it had been known through the ages; secondly, by discussing the systematic relationship between the disciplines of theology and competing concepts of rationality; and, thirdly, by sketching out the contours of a philosophical thought that ventures beyond the most tenacious classical and modern presuppositions of theism. Along the way, the contributors explore a variety of ways in which the concepts and arguments, imagery and rhetoric of the Judeo-Christian traditions are in need and in the process of being constantly displaced. Henri Krop, Arie L. Molendijk and Hent de Vries teach Philosophy, the history of Christianity, and Metaphysics, respectively, at the Erasmus University, The University of Groningen, and the University of Amsterdam. (shrink)

This article explores Gerardus van der Leeuw’s view of phenomenology of religion. The phenomenological method he defended is basically a hermeneutical approach in which an observer relates personally and even existentially to the “phenomena” (s)he studies in order to determine their essence (Wesensschau). In his anthropology (that reflects on the basic structure of human beings) a similar way of relating to the world is discussed: the “primitive mentality” that is characterized by the “need to participate” (besoin de participation). Both phenomenology (...) and mentalité primitive imply a critique of modern scholarship. This fundamental criticism of the prevailing (historical) approach in the humanities including religious studies explains the growing distance between van der Leeuw and the majority of scholars of religion in the decades after his death in 1950. (shrink)

This article explores Gerardus van der Leeuw’s view of phenomenology of religion. The phenomenological method he defended is basically a hermeneutical approach in which an observer relates personally and even existentially to the “phenomena” (s)he studies in order to determine their essence (Wesensschau). In his anthropology (that reflects on the basic structure of human beings) a similar way of relating to the world is discussed: the “primitive mentality” that is characterized by the “need to participate” (besoin de participation). Both phenomenology (...) and mentalité primitive imply a critique of modern scholarship. This fundamental criticism of the prevailing (historical) approach in the humanities including religious studies explains the growing distance between van der Leeuw and the majority of scholars of religion in the decades after his death in 1950. (shrink)

Even the critics of Dutch Reformed theologian, politician, and publicist Abraham Kuyper acknowledge his great power of oratory. This essay examines the nature of Kuyper's rhetoric in a mythopoetic perspective that sees its inspiration in a romantic understanding of artistic inspiration and vivid representations of reality. Long-term editor of De Standaard, Kuyper's stalwart defence of Calvinism against Modernism drew from the struggles of Dutch history and from his personal history to espouse strong views that are couched in military as well (...) as organic metaphors. His mastery of the psychology of mass communication enabled Kuyper to accomplish many, though not all, of his political goals. (shrink)

Zusammenfassung Das Thema dieses Aufsatzes ist die Art und Weise, in der Religion auf der Weltausstellung 1883 in Amsterdam repräsentiert wurde. Zuerst wird die facettenreiche Komplexität der Weltausstellungen umrissen, um dann den Aufbau der Amsterdamer Kolonial- und Exportausstellung zu beschreiben. Solche Ausstellungen waren heterogene Mischungen aus Erbauung und Unterhaltung, aus nationalem Stolz und internationaler Verbundenheit, aus Bewunderung für die Handarbeit der kolonialen Bevölkerung und westlichem Superioritätsbewußtsein. Die religiöse Dimension der Amsterdamer Ausstellung wird dann besonders anhand der Auseinandersetzungen über den – (...) arabischislamischen – Stil des niederländischen Kolonialgebäudes und an der Art und Weise, in der hier religiöse Objekte der Kolonialvölker zur Schau gestellt wurden, gezeigt. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit gilt weiter der ethnographischen Sektion und den begleitenden wissenschaftlichen Konferenzen. Zum Beispiel begrüßte die Tagung der Orientalisten ohne zu zögern die Eroberung der Kolonien ‘au profit de la science’. Zum Schluß wird – in Anlehnung an das von Michel Foucault geprägte Konzept des Heterotopia – die komplexe Beziehung zwischen Repräsentation und ‘abgebildeter’ Wirklichkeit erkundet. Religion ist nicht an einem bestimmten Ort lokalisiert, sondern “durchdringt” sozusagen das diffuse Ganze der Weltausstellung als solcher. (shrink)

The aim of this contribution is to give a comprehensive and readable account of the first World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893. The Parliament was organised in the context of the Columbian World Exhibition and attracted 150,000 people, according to one of the lenghty reports. Various aspects are addressed: the objectives of the organisers, the character of the various reports of this mega-event, the participation of women, the relationship between the Christian organisers and the representatives of the (...) East, the various – opposing – claims about the superiority of specific forms of religion and culture, the tendency to spiritualize religion, and the role of the emerging field of religious studies versus the ‘interfaith’ character of the Parliament. The participants were convinced of the ultimate meaning of ‘religion’ as a force against indulging in consumerism and materialism. (shrink)