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Summary
Summary
Sacrifice - ranging from the sacrifice of virgins to circumcision to giving up what is most valued - is essential to all religions. Could there be a natural, even biological, reason for these practices? Something that might explain why religions of so many different cultures share so many rituals and concepts? This book explores the possibility of natural religion - a religious sense and practice naturally proceeding from biological imperatives.
Reviews (2)
Choice Review
Burkert (classics, Univ. of Zurich) seeks to account for two traits of religion, its ubiquity and its persistence. The argument begins with sacrifice as both social and biological--an instinctive program activated during conditions of danger or anxiety that allows one member of a group to be sacrificed for the sake of the whole. It continues with narrative--the story of the quest for food to insure the survival of a species or a group. Then Burkert moves to hierarchy--the sense of higher and lower that orders societies. The next premise concerns exchange of gifts and the reciprocity it assumes--a rational strategy for ordering society that is supported by religious traditions. The final step concerns communication--the capacity of societies to make sense to and for themselves. The conclusion is that religion is a "tradition of serious communication with powers that cannot be seen," offering "coherence, stability, and control within this world." This book is a brilliant comparative account of the social and biological functions of religion throughout human history; philosophically, scientifically, and historically interesting, it is a book for libraries, scholars, and all students of religion. General; undergraduate through professional. L. J. Alderink; Concordia College
Library Journal Review
Like earlier works (e.g., Greek Religion (LJ 9/1/85) from the well-respected Burkert, this book uses ancient religions to learn more about what is fundamental in all religions today, but it also looks at animal behavior as a potential signpost as to why human religion is structured as it is and why it is common to all human development. Burkert postulates that basic animal instincts may underlie sacrifice, rituals of hierarchy, the idea of guilt, and even gift exchange. He does not say that the religions that developed were preordained in a Kantian sense but that they were likely outcomes of biological tendencies. To support this thesis, he demonstrates themes that are common across various religions and then presents a biological parallel. Burkert presents a very interesting, if not convincing, history of religious practice. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.Eric D. Albright, Galter Health Sciences Lib., Northwestern Univ., Chicago (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Preface |
| Culture in a Landscape: Situating Religion |
| Beyond Culture |
| Sociobiology? |
| A Common World: Reduction and Validation |
| Escape and Offerings |
| Finger Sacrifice |
| Biology, Fantasy, and Ritual |
| Castration and Circumcision |
| Scapegoats |
| Life for Life |
| The Core of a Tale |
| "Caught up in Tales" |
| The Propp Sequence: The Quest |
| From Biological Programs to Semantic Chains |
| The Shaman's Tale |
| The Initiation Tale: The Maiden's Tragedy |
| Hierarchy |
| The Awareness of Rank |
| Rituals of Submission |
| The Strategy of Praise |
| Two-Tiered Power |
| The Language of Power: The Envoy |
| Guilt and Causality |
| Religious Therapy and the Search for Guilt |
| Present Sufferings |
| The Foundation of Cults |
| The Mediators: Risks and Opportunities |
| Explanatory Models: Fetters, Wrath, Pollution |
| The Reciprocity of Giving |
| Le don in Perspective |
| Giving in Religion |
| Genealogy of Morality? |
| Failing Reciprocity: Religious Criticism |
| Failing Reciprocity: The Facts of Ritual |
| Gift and Sacrifice |
| Aversion and Offerings: From Panic to Stability |
| The Validation of Signs: A Cosmos of Sense |
| Accepting Signs: Divination |
| Decision through Signs: The Ordeal |
| Creating Signs: Territory and Body |
| Language Validated: The Oath |
| Conclusion |
| Abbreviations |
| Notes |
| Bibliography |
| Index |