What are religious studies? What is theology? And what is their relationship to each other? In the light of such theoretical and methodological questions this historical inquiry asks what characterizes the study of Christianity within comparative religion--as distinguished from that of Christian theology? In the three main sections of the book representative texts from the history of comparative religion--including Schleiermacher and some other theological forerunners in the 19th century--are analyzed from a methodological and a material point of view. On this basis an answer is sought...

At an international symposium in Norway, the 100 years' anniversary of the academic study of religion was celebrated. This volume contains the papers that were presented at this conference. A major part of the papers deals with the situation of this discipline around the turn of the last century, focussing especially on the work of the Dutch-Norwegian scholar W. Brede Kristensen (1867-1953) and on other founding fathers in the Scandinavian countries. Other contributors discuss methodological questions relating to the idea of a phenomenology of religion. Furthermore, an attempt is made to...

English summary: Sigmund Mowinckel (1884-1965) is said to have been one of the most influential Old Testament scholars of the 20th century. In the first part of this book, Sigurd Hjelde describes his biography, primarily the history of his academic career, whereas in the second part he provides insights into the various aspects of his life's work. He focuses on his studies of the biblical Psalms, which he did on the basis of a consistent 'cult historical' approach and which was expressed most prominently in the frequently discussed theory of an annual enthronement festival for Yahweh in...