Theorizing Religions Past

Preface
Harvey Whitehouse & Luther Martin
The Wedding Of Psychology, Ethnography & History: Methodological Bigamy Or Tripartite Free Love?
E. Thomas Lawson (Western Michigan University)
Toward A Scientific History Of Religions
Luther Martin
The Archaeological Evidence

From Ohalo To atalhoyuk: The Development Of Religiosity During The Early Prehistory Of Western Asia, 20,000-7,000 BC
Stephen Mithen (Reading University)
No Need To Write This Down: Primary Emergence Of The Doctrinal Mode In The Fifth And Fourth Millenia In Southwestern Iran
Karen Johnson (University Of Michigan)
Graeco-Roman Antiquity

Old And New In Roman Religion: A Cognitive Account
Douglass L. Gragg (Emory University)
Four Men, Two Sticks, And A Whip: Image And Doctrine In Mithraic Ritual
Roger Beck (University Of Toronto)
Syncretism And The Interaction Of Modes Of Religiosity: A Formative Perspective In “Gnostic Christian” Movements In Late Antiquity
Anita Leopold (Aarhus University)
Christian Traditions

Testing The Two Modes: Some Observations About Medieval Christianity
Anne Clark (University Of Vermont)
Modes Of Religiosity And Changes In Popular Religious Practices At The Time Of The Reformation
Theodore Vial (Virginia Wesleyan College)
Modes Of Religiosity And Types Of Conversion In Medieval Europe And Modern Africa
Ulrich Berner (University Of Bayreuth)
Corrupt Doctrine And Doctrinal Revival: On The Nature And Limits Of The Modes Theory
Ilkka Pyysiainen (University Of Helsinki)
Critical Discussion

Critical Reflections On The “Modes Of Religiosity” Argument
Donald Weibe (University Of Toronto)
Theorizing Religions Past
Harvey Whitehouse

Additional Info
Historians bound by their singular stories and archaeologists bound by their material evidence don’t typically seek out broad comparative theories of religion. But recently Harvey Whitehouse’s modes of religiosity theory has been attracting many scholars of past religions. Based upon universal features of human cognition, Whitehouse’s theory can provide useful comparisons across cultures and historical periods even when limited cultural data is present. In this groundbreaking volume scholars of cultures from prehistorical hunter-gatherers to 19th century Scandinavian Lutherans evaluate Whitehouse’s hypothesis that all religions tend toward either an imagistic or a doctrinal mode depending on how they are remembered and transmitted. Theorizing Religions Past provides valuable insights for all historians of religion and especially for those interested in a new cognitive method for studying the past