TY - JOUR
T1 - Religion and axiality: theological reflections on Robert N. Bellah's Axial Age hypothesis
AU - Gregersen, Niels Henrik
N1 - Abstract
The article addresses controversial questions related to Robert N. Bellah’s Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age (2011), and the sequel, The Axial Age and its Consequences (2012). Discussed is the difference between the macro-historical hypothesis of an axial age and more abstract aspects of axiality. Critical questions are raised about whether Bellah’s theory of the emergence of religion in play and ritual does not underestimate the
cognitive functions of pre-axial religion. Finally, Bellah’s project raises questions
as to the creative transitions taking place in post-axial epochs, not least due to the development of canonical traditions in the first centuries CE, and to the emergence of concepts of autonomous individuals in early modernity.
PY - 2017/2/1
Y1 - 2017/2/1
N2 - The article addresses controversial questions related to Robert N. Bellah's Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age (2011), and the sequel, The Axial Age and its Consequences (2012). Discussed is the difference between the macro-historical hypothesis of an axial age and more abstract aspects of axiality. Critical questions are raised about whether Bellah's theory of the emergence of religion in play and ritual does not underestimate the cognitive functions of pre-axial religion. Finally, Bellah's project raises questions as to the creative transitions taking place in post-axial epochs, not least due to the development of canonical traditions in the first centuries CE, and to the emergence of concepts of autonomous individuals in early modernity.
AB - The article addresses controversial questions related to Robert N. Bellah's Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age (2011), and the sequel, The Axial Age and its Consequences (2012). Discussed is the difference between the macro-historical hypothesis of an axial age and more abstract aspects of axiality. Critical questions are raised about whether Bellah's theory of the emergence of religion in play and ritual does not underestimate the cognitive functions of pre-axial religion. Finally, Bellah's project raises questions as to the creative transitions taking place in post-axial epochs, not least due to the development of canonical traditions in the first centuries CE, and to the emergence of concepts of autonomous individuals in early modernity.
U2 - 10.1017/s0036930616000478
DO - 10.1017/s0036930616000478
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0036-9306
VL - 70
SP - 61 – 73.
JO - Scottish Journal of Theology
JF - Scottish Journal of Theology
IS - 1
M1 - 4
ER -