Patterns in Comparative Religion

I have spent a very long time reading all of the books of Mircea Eliade. This book represents his writing as well as any other. It isn't the easiest to get into, but I recommend all of his books and this is no exception. It is true that he has a tendency to get repetitive, and he does at times over-generalize, but only in his own cautious way. Even considering this, scholarship hasn't been kind to the exceptional Eliade. Having spent years studying his work, I have some insights into these controversies.The first, and most important, is related to his involvement in his youth in a far-right political movement, the Iron Guard. This is very troubling. It's beyond disappointing that he never unequivocally disavowed this activity. However, all of the evidence available in his work shows him to be equally interested in and sympathetic to the Hebrew religion as he is to all religions from all times, places and cultures. In fact, he is very insightful on this topic.Secondly, his scholarship has been challenged on two fronts. First, that he holds more recent and advanced religions in general and Christianity in particular to be superior to the more primitive and archaic religions. That is, that he supports an outmoded sense of "progress" which emphasizes the West. While there does indeed seem to be a certain theme of progress running through his work, and we can find some passages and chapters that corroborate this notion, there are far more passages that support a universal appreciation and even assessment of all religions. Actually, the idea of progress being tied closely to an historical value, he seems to find little or no positive value in historical events and developments. Eliade seems to believe that both extremes are simultaneously and paradoxically true in some complex manner that he could never fully explicate. Lastly, there is the question of his methods and motives. Wouter J. Hanegraaff, whom I respect, seems to believe that Eliade has "no methodology." What it really boils down to, in my thought, is that Eliade is a scholar but nonetheless one motivated by personal religious feeling, a thing frowned upon and perhaps becoming extinct in academia. Scholem, Corbin, Jonas are guilty of the same thing, but it brings passion to their work, like Eliade. This in turn, in Eliade's case, ties into the final issue, whether his work is more scholarly or rather theological and apologetic. I will leave this up to the reader to decide. Thank you.

This book is a neat summation of a career, which, taken as a whole, was an amazing feat of a lifetime that will probably never be repeated again. Academia in Eliade's day was an agon of turbo charged minds who still possessed an elegant, old-style scholarly erudition. Thinking was the flower of a massive global system that could cull the best and brightest from hundreds of millions of Europeans and afford to keep them fed and comfortable, amidst enormous libraries with works collected from the biggest empires the world had known. But this discourse was still flush with confidence and hadn't yet passed into the closed, self-referential pedantry and nauseous over-specialization we often see today.This time, furthermore, was one of tremendous discovery and enthusiasm over this entire world of religions that couldn't even have been imagined before. It was a time that was witnessing--well, the few who cared to notice were witnessing--the destruction of literally thousands of ancient traditions--ancient worlds. There was a palpable feeling that we had to learn from and save some glimmer of their meaning not only to preserve mankind's heritage, but also to, perhaps, learn the truths that would save us from ourselves. Something of the zeal of this quest in captured in "Youth Without Youth," a book and movie also to be highly recommended as a commentary on the pursuit that guided Eliade's life.Eliade was one of the most Erudite thinkers in history, being familiar with the whole range of western sources from Homer and the bible to the latest results of phenomenological research, along with an admirable attention paid to the folk traditions of Europe. He had also read much of what was available from the entire rest of the world. The range of source material that Eliade had access to by his mastery of European and ancient languages was astounding.In this book its almost like he has taken a whole truckload of source materials and anthropology books, drew a mind map of the contents on a five story tall white board, and then condensed the contents into the size of a single book.

Eliade was the grandfather of comparative religion studies. He was prepared to run against many anthropological studies and ideas, that were clearly out of date. His focus included many aspects of the ideas of the collective unconscious, I say this because he included archetypes in many of his statements. To anyone familiar with anthropology, this will be a refreshing overview of the groundbreaking ideas and philosophies that finally cracked the shell that held a strangle hold on Anthropology that began with simplistic studies of cultures that began with the leisure class in Britain and the U.S. in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He is still the great man of Human Studies,as well as being a deep thinker on these issues. His passion for this aspect of Anthropology, comes through in his work.Even those who are very familiar with his work will want to own this book.....If they don't already!Be aware that this is a scholary book, but is not out of range for the interested reader.

This book was published first in English in 1958, so it is presenting early 20th century thinking. I was looking for specific details on ancient religious practices in Greece and Rome and didn't find many specifics. It is more of a philosophical ramble deep and wide across the world trying to knit some sort of philosophy of religions. I would consider it of historical interest mostly.

I've learned a lot. A slow read - best for serious and perhaps academic interests

I have reread the Myth of Eternal Return and Sacred and the Profane, somehow though, in this book I couldn't catch the earth shaking vision that the others did for me.

B+

This the last book my son has asked for. It was Also Impressive. He is working on his degree and stated that this was the Best of the 3 has has read. THANX !! [email protected]

I'd like this book because it's very important for my study, on the other side it's difficult to find it.Many thanks for your help