Comparing Religions

Jeffrey J. Kripal is the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University. His most recent publications include The Superhumanities: Historical Precedents, Moral Objections, New Realities and The Flip: Who You Are and Why It Matters. Ata Anzali is an Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at Middlebury College. His current research focuses on the social and intellectual history of religious thought in modern Iran. He has a special interest in mystical and fundamentalist movements. He is the author of Mysticism in Iran: the Safavid Roots of a Modern Concept. Erin Prophet is an Assistant Instructional Professor in the Department of Religion at the University of Florida. Among her publications are “Charisma and Authority in New Religious Movements” in the Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Volume II. Andrea R. Jain is a Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University, the editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, and the author of Selling Yoga: From Counterculture to Pop Culture and Peace Love Yoga: The Politics of Global Spirituality. Her areas of research include religion and capitalism, global spirituality, and theories of religion. Stefan Sanchez is a PhD candidate at Rice University’s Department of Religion. Their research focuses on themes of personal identity and conceptions of nature in Latin American and Indigenous American philosophy and mysticism.

• Prologue: “Welcome to the Future” xviiA Comment on the Cover Image and the Paintings xxviList of Illustrations xxviiAcknowledgments … and Color xxxiPart I Prehistory, Preparation, and Perspective 1Introduction: Beginnings 31 If Horses Had Hands: Comparative Practices in Global History 92 From the Bible to the Buddha: Recent History of the Modern Practice 473 The Magic of Comparison: Reflexivity and Some Related Skills 87Part II Comparative Acts 1234 Telling and Performing the World: The Creative Functions of Myth and Ritual 1255 The Super Natural: Religion, Nature, and Science 1616 Seed and Soil: Sex, Race, and the Bodies of Religion 1997 Transmitting the Power: Charisma, Society, Technology 2398 Angels, Aliens, and Art: The Imagination and the Paranormal 2759 The Human as Two: Soul, Salvation, and the End of All Things 313Part III Putting It All Together Again 34910 Faithful Rereadings: Exclusivism, Inclusivism, Pluralism, and Justice 35311 Rational Rereadings: Masters of Suspicion, Classical and Contemporary 38912 Reflexive Rereadings: Looking at the Looker 427Epilogue: The Moonshot 465Glossary 469Index 483