The Western Epistemic Tradition and the Scientific Study of Religion

This book provides an account of how a science of religion emerged from the devotional, catechetical, theological, and philosophical forms of ‘religious studies’ that generally characterized Western scholarship for some 2500 years. The purpose of this new science, like that of the natural and social sciences, was to seek objective knowledge about religious thought and behaviour for its own sake.

This book is intended for introductions to the study of religions or introductions to methods & theory in the study of religion.