Oxford Handbook of Religion and Emotion

The academic study of religion recently has turned to the investigation of emotion as a crucial aspect of religious life. Researchers have set out in several directions to explore that new terrain and have brought with them an assortment of instruments useful in charting it. This volume collects essays under four categories: religious traditions religious life emotional states and historical and theoretical perspectives. In this book scholars engaged in cutting edge research on religion and emotion describe the ways in which emotions have played a role in Buddhism Christianity Judaism Islam and other religions. They analyze the manner in which key components of religious life -- ritual music gender sexuality and material culture -- represent and shape emotional performance. Some of the essays included here take a specific emotion such as love or hatred and observe the place of that emotion in an assortment of religious traditions and cultural settings. Other essays analyze the thinking of figures such as St. Augustine Soren Kierkegaard Jonathan Edwards Emile Durkheim and William James. This collection offers a range of critical perspectives on the academic study of religion and emotion in the form of syntheses provocations and prospective observations that will inform the work of those already engaged in the field. Taken together the writings included in this handbook serve as an ideal entry point for anyone wishing to familiarize themselves with the new academic study of religion and emotion.