Most social scientists endorse some version of the claim that participating in collective rituals
promotes social cohesion. The systematic testing and evaluation of this claim, however, has …

In religious studies, theory and method research has long been embroiled in a polarized
debate over scientific versus theological perspectives. Ronald L. Grimes shows that this …

Whether upheld as heroic or reviled as terrorism, people have been willing to lay down their
lives for the sake of their groups throughout history. Why? Previous theories of extreme self …

“The Anthropology of Christianity is a very fine and stimulating set of essays, framed
elegantly by a terrific introductory piece by Fenella Cannell and a thoughtful, thought …

In recent years, the cognitive approach to the study of culture in general and of religious
phenomena in particular has gained increasing support in the academic study of religion …

A study of the religious system of Mithraism, one of the'mystery cults' popular in the Roman
Empire contemporary with early Christianity. Roger Beck describes Mithraism from the point …

So far religion has been seen as cause for dramatic developments in the history of cities, it
has contributed to the monumentalisation of centres and or has given importance to ex …

Understanding Greek Religion is one of the first attempts to fully examine any religion from a
cognitivist perspective, applying methods and findings from the cognitive science of religion …

Cognitive science of religion (CSR) brings theories from the cognitive sciences to bear on
why religious thought and action is so common in humans and why religious phenomena …

Ethnographic, historical, archaeological and experimental work suggests the existence of
two basic clusters of ritual dynamics or 'modes of religiosity'—a low-frequency, high-arousal …