Patterns in comparative religion
Mircea Eliade, Rosemary Sheed (Translator)
"This book deals with a twofold problem: first, what is religion and, secondly, how far can one talk of the history of religion?" Thus Mircea Eliade, Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago, states the purpose of this unusual and comprehensive study. Central to his argument is the belief that religious phenomena must be studied as religious—that is, efforts to explain religion solely in terms of its sociological, economic, linguistic, or artistic functions are necessarily incomplete and false. The study of the history of religion, he declares, should not be approached without a thorough understanding of the purpose and significance of a number of religious forms. Eliade presents and interprets a wealth of religious data and discusses the variety of social and cultural patterns they reflect. Sky gods, the moon and its mystique, the symbolism of water and women, the sun and sun-worship, the function of myths, are among the subjects he treats with clarity and authority."-Publisher
Print Book, English, [1958]
Sheed & Ward, London, [1958]