2012/11/15 by Aaron W. Hughes · 62 citations
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Religion and Society Interactions #Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices #Halal products and consumer behavior #Scholarship #Islam #Judaism #Christianity #Set (abstract data type) #Order (exchange) #Comparative religion #Sociology #Epistemology #Environmental ethics #Political science #Genealogy #Religious studies #History #Law #Philosophy #Computer science #Theology
paper · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199934645.001.0001
published in Oxford University Press eBooks (Oxford University Press)
openalex publication_date 2012/11/15 · openalex created_date 2022/05/12 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Abstract Recent years have witnessed the emergence of a virtual cottage industry in all things "Abrahamic." Directly proportionate to the rise of religious exclusivism, perhaps best epitomized by the attacks of 9/11 and the current problems plaguing the Middle East and Afghanistan, there has been a real desire both to find and map a set of commonalities between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This is often done, however, not for the sake of scholarship, but interfaith dialogue. Recently, however, the term "Abrahamic religions" has been used with exceeding frequency in the academy. We now regularly encounter academic books, conferences, and even positions (including endowed chairs) devoted to the so-called "Abrahamic religions." Often lost in contemporary discussions of "Abrahamic religions" is a set of crucial questions: whence does the term "Abrahamic religions" derive? Who created it and for what purposes? What sort of intellectual work is it perceived to perform? In order to answer these and related questions, the book examines the creation and dissemination of this category. Part genealogical and part analytical, this study seeks to raise and answer questions about the appropriateness and usefulness of employing "Abrahamic religions" as a vehicle for understanding and classifying data. In so doing, this book can be taken as a case study that examines the construction of categories within the academic study of religion, showing how the categories we employ can become more an impediment than an expedient to understanding.