Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 45 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
Life Arts    H2'ed 11/27/21

Robert N. Bellah on Religion in Big History (REVIEW ESSAY)

By       (Page 1 of 5 pages)   No comments
Message Thomas Farrell
Become a Fan
  (22 fans)

Walter Ong
Walter Ong
(Image by josemota from flickr)
  Details   DMCA

Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) November 27, 2021: Berkeley's distinguished sociologist of religion Robert N. Bellah's 775-page magnum opus Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age (Harvard University Press, 2011) constructs an evolutionary Big History account in which to situate Karl Jasper's account of the ancient axial age (roughly, the first millennium BCE) in which four operationally defined and explained religions (roughly, symbol systems about the beyond) emerged: (1) in ancient Israel; (2) in ancient Greece; (3) in ancient China; and (4) in ancient India. For Bellah, both Christianity and Islam are beyond the scope of his investigation.

Bellah's book is exemplary. His writing is admirably lucid as he weaves together various strands of thought to produce his nuanced account of religion, broadly conceived as about the beyond, in the context of Big History. I am thankful that Bellah (1927-2013; Ph.D. in sociology and Far Eastern Languages, Harvard University, 1955) had the leisure necessary to research and write such an ambitious and comprehensive book.

Karl Jasper's book about the axial age is The Origin and Goal of History, translated by Michael Bullock (Yale University Press, 1953; orig. German ed., 1949).

Bellah does indeed eventually devote a chapter to each of those four distant ancient developments in the so-called axial age:

(1) Chapter 6: "The Axial Age I: Introduction and Ancient Israel" (pages 265-323);

(2) Chapter 7: "The Axial Age II: Ancient Greece" (pages 324-398);

(3) Chapter 8: "The Axial Age III: China in the Late First Millennium BCE" (pages 399-480); and

(4) Chapter 9: "The Axial Age IV: Ancient India" (pages 481-566).

However, to prepare the reader for his more highly specific discussions of those four distant ancient developments, Bellah provides the reader with the following discussions:

A "Preface" (pages ix-xxiii; followed by "Acknowledgments" [pages xxv-xxvii]);

Chapter 1: "Religion and Reality" (pages 1-43);

Chapter 2: "Religion and Evolution" (pages 44-116);

Chapter 3: "Tribal Religion: The Production of Meaning" (pages 117-174);

Chapter 4: "From Tribal to Archaic Religion: Meaning and Power" (pages 175-209);

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Thomas Farrell Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Thomas James Farrell is professor emeritus of writing studies at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD). He started teaching at UMD in Fall 1987, and he retired from UMD at the end of May 2009. He was born in 1944. He holds three degrees from Saint Louis University (SLU): B.A. in English, 1966; M.A.(T) in English 1968; Ph.D.in higher education, 1974. On May 16, 1969, the editors of the SLU student newspaper named him Man of the Year, an honor customarily conferred on an administrator or a faculty member, not on a graduate student -- nor on a woman up to that time. He is the proud author of the book (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Was the Indian Jesuit Anthony de Mello Murdered in the U.S. 25 Years Ago? (BOOK REVIEW)

Who Was Walter Ong, and Why Is His Thought Important Today?

Celebrating Walter J. Ong's Thought (REVIEW ESSAY)

More Americans Should Live Heroic Lives of Virtue (Review Essay)

Hillary Clinton Urges Us to Stand Up to Extremists in the U.S.

Martha Nussbaum on Why Democracy Needs the Humanities (Book Review)

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend