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Introduction

Phenomenology as a Method for Exploring Religious Experience

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2024

Christina M. Gschwandtner
Affiliation:
Fordham University, New York
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Summary

Ways of Living Religion provides a philosophical analysis of different types of religious experience – ascetic, liturgical, monastic, mystical, devotional, compassionate, fundamentalist – that focuses on the lived experience of religion rather than reducing it to mere statements of belief or doctrine. Using phenomenology, Christina M. Gschwandtner distinguishes between different kinds of religious experiences by examining their central characteristics and defining features, as well as showing their continuity with human experience more broadly. The book is the first philosophical examination of several of these types, thus breaking new ground in philosophical thinking about religion. It is neither a confessional treatment nor a reduction of the lived experience to psychological or sociological phenomena. While Gschwandtner’s treatment focuses on Christian forms of expression of these different types, it opens the path to broader examinations of ways of living religion that might enable scholars to give a more nuanced account of their similarities and differences.

Type
Chapter
Information
Ways of Living Religion
Philosophical Investigations into Religious Experience
, pp. 1 - 13
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • Introduction
  • Christina M. Gschwandtner, Fordham University, New York
  • Book: Ways of Living Religion
  • Online publication: 07 March 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009476812.002
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  • Introduction
  • Christina M. Gschwandtner, Fordham University, New York
  • Book: Ways of Living Religion
  • Online publication: 07 March 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009476812.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Christina M. Gschwandtner, Fordham University, New York
  • Book: Ways of Living Religion
  • Online publication: 07 March 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009476812.002
Available formats
×