Religion : what it is, how it works, and why it matters / Christian Smith.

"Drawing on the philosophy of critical realism and personalist social theory, Christian Smith answers key questions about the nature, powers, workings, appeal, and future of religion. He defines religion in a way that resolves myriad problems and ambiguities in past accounts, explains the kinds...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Smith, Christian, 1960- (Author)
Format: Ebook
Language:English
Published: Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2017]
Subjects:
Online Access:Click here to view this book
Description
Summary:"Drawing on the philosophy of critical realism and personalist social theory, Christian Smith answers key questions about the nature, powers, workings, appeal, and future of religion. He defines religion in a way that resolves myriad problems and ambiguities in past accounts, explains the kinds of causal influences religion exerts in the world, and examines the key cognitive process that makes religion possible. Smith explores why humans are religious in the first place--uniquely so as a species--and offers an account of secularization and religious innovation and persistence that breaks the logjam in which so many religion scholars have been stuck for so long."--Provided by the publisher.
Physical Description:1 online resource (x, 277 pages : illustrations)
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:1400887984
9781400887989
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