Metaphysics, cosmology, tradition, symbolism.

A contribution to the methodology of religious studies, this work discusses using comparison to provide mutual illumination among religious traditions while avoiding the problem of assimilating one tradition to another.

Well-known scholars in the study of religions bring up to date and elucidate the discussion on the three most debated approaches in comparative religion, namely, the hermeneutical approach, the explanatory or cognitivist approach, and the critical approach. The approaches and methods of studying religion are disputed in an outspoken and challenging way, critically and radically arguing pros and cons. This work is unique, unrivalled, and full of essential insights into the dialogue of today and of the challenges of tomorrow.

In this book Oddrun M. H. Bråten set out to utilise and test her methodology for comparative religious education. This synthesises two sets of ideas. The first includes supranational, national and subnational processes. Formal supranational processes refer to international (educational) policymaking in international organisations. Informal supranational processes include secularisation, pluralisation and globalisation. Subnational processes refer to variations between regions within a country. The second set of ideas concerns the societal, institutional, instructional and experiential levels of curriculum. They are affected by supranational, national and subnational processes. In discussing the societal level, attention needs to be given to the histories of religion, state and school in each country. Research at the institutional level involves analysis of relevant policy documents and legislation in each country, while research at the instructional level involves analysis of how teachers interpret, plan and teach the curriculum, while the experiential level researches how students interact with one-another and with teachers to develop their understanding. A third set of ideas includes Bråten's use of Schiffauer and collaborators' concepts of social/national imaginary and civil enculturation. These concepts help in grasping the historical and sociological depth of national traditions. This publication is a groundbreaking study in the methodology of comparative religious education and the author won the award for Outstanding Research Student of 2009-2010 in the field of education at the University of Warwick.

It was Max Müller who coined the famous motto of the comparative study of religion "He who knows one, knows none." Since its first beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century, the history of religions has always somehow invoked comparative insights as its very raison d'être. The nature of these insights has been under constant debate and at times, scepticism and devastating critique of the more pretentious comparative projects made regionally specialized studies seem the only legitimate enterprise within the discipline. The fact remains, however, that the major general issues addressed by historians of religions are rooted in considerations of a comparative nature. The dossier of papers from an international conference held at the University of Copenhagen discusses tradition as well as new approaches to the fundamental issues of the aim, scope and validity of comparative studies in history of religions. No longer bound to monolithic visions of history and human nature, these papers critically explore the limits and the roles of comparison in the study of religion.

William A Graham, a leading international scholar in the field of Islamic Studies, gathers together his selected writings under three sections: 1.History and Interpretation of Islamic Religion; 2.The Qur'an as Scripture, and 3. Scripture in the History of Religion. Each section opens with a new introduction by Graham, and a bibliography of his works is included. Graham's work in Islamic studies focuses largely on the analysis and interpretation of the religious dimensions of ritual action, scriptural piety, textual authority/revelation, tradition, and major concepts, such as grace and transcendence. His work in the comparative history of religion has focused in particular on the 'problem' of scripture as a cross-cultural religious phenomenon that is more complex than simply 'sacred text'. This invaluable resource will be of primary interest to students of the Islamic tradition, especially as regards Qur'anic piety, Muslim 'ritual' practice, and fundamental structures of Islamic thought, and to students of the comparative history of religion, especially as regards the phenomenon of 'scripture' and its analogs.