'Religion' and the Religions in the English Enlightenment

by Peter Harrison

The origin of the modern perception of religion can be traced to the Enlightenment. This book shows how the concepts of "religion" and "the religions" arose from controversies in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England. The birth of "the religions," conceived of as sets of beliefs and practices, created a new science of religion in which the various "religions" could be studied and impartially compared. Harrison gives a detailed historical picture of the emergence of this concept and how it led to the discipline of comparative religion.

Genres: Religion, History

288 pages, Paperback

First published May 2, 1990

About the author

Australian Laureate Fellow and Director of the Centre of the History of European Discourses at the University of Queensland (born 1955)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Ha...


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