Jesus and Addiction to Origins: Towards an Anthropocentric Study of Religion

This collection of essays argues for an anthropocentric, human-focused study of religious practices, inserting studies of the New Testament and non-canonical texts into the anthropocentric study of religion. It aims to approach these texts as human documents deriving from situations that were themselves all too human, with useful applications for readers working outside Christian origins.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 216 pages
Publication date: 10 November 2020
Publisher: Equinox Publishing Ltd

This collection of essays constitutes an extended argument for an anthropocentric, human-focused, study of religious practices. The basic premise of the argument, offered in the opening section, is that there is nothing special or extraordinary about human behaviors and constructs that are claimed to have uniquely religious status and authority. Instead, they are fundamentally human, and so the scholar of religion is engaged in nothing more or less than studying humans across time and place and all their complex existence—that includes creating more-than-human beings and realities. As an extended and detailed example of such an approach, the second part of the book contains essays that address practices, rhetoric, and other data in early Christianities within Greco-Roman cultures and religions. The underlying aim is to insert studies of the New Testament and non-canonical texts, most often presented as biblical studies, into the anthropocentric study of religion proposed in the opening section. For a general reading of modern biblical scholarship makes clear the assumption that the Christian Bible is a sacred text whose principal raison d'être is to stand, fetish-like, as the foundational and highest authority in matters moral, ritual, or theological; how might we instead approach the study of these texts if they are nothing more or less than human documents deriving from situations that were themselves all too human? Braun's Jesus and Addiction to Origins seeks to answer just that question—doing so in a way that readers working outside Christian origins will undoubtedly find useful applications for the people, places, and historical periods that they study.

Introduction:
The study of religion has long been dominated by an anthropocentric perspective, which emphasizes the human-centered nature of religious practices and beliefs. This perspective has led to a focus on the unique characteristics of religious phenomena and the belief that they are somehow separate from the rest of human experience. However, there is a growing movement within the field of religious studies that challenges this anthropocentric approach and seeks to understand religion in a more holistic and comprehensive way.

The Argument:
The basic premise of this argument is that there is nothing special or extraordinary about human behaviors and constructs that are claimed to have uniquely religious status and authority. Instead, these behaviors and constructs are fundamentally human and so the scholar of religion is engaged in nothing more or less than studying humans across time and place and all their complex existence—that includes creating more-than-human beings and realities.

Examples:
To illustrate this point, the author offers an extended example of such an approach by examining practices, rhetoric, and other data in early Christianities within Greco-Roman cultures and religions. The author argues that these practices and constructs are not unique to Christianity but are rather part of a broader human tradition of religious expression and practice. The author also suggests that the study of these texts should be approached in a way that recognizes their human origins and their role in shaping the broader human experience.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, this collection of essays constitutes an extended argument for an anthropocentric, human-focused, study of religious practices. The basic premise of the argument is that there is nothing special or extraordinary about human behaviors and constructs that are claimed to have uniquely religious status and authority. Instead, these behaviors and constructs are fundamentally human and so the scholar of religion is engaged in nothing more or less than studying humans across time and place and all their complex existence—that includes creating more-than-human beings and realities. By adopting an anthropocentric approach, scholars can gain a more comprehensive understanding of religion and its role in shaping human history and culture.

Weight: 336g
Dimension: 155 x 233 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781781799437