Contemporary Views on Comparative Religion - In Celebration of Tim Jensen’s 65th Birthday - Peter Antes
1. The Magic and Drudgery in J.Z. Smith's Theory of Comparison
Contemporary Views on Comparative Religion - In Celebration of Tim Jensen’s 65th Birthday - Peter Antes
Ivan Strenski [+]
University of California Riverside (retired)
Ivan Strenski was the Holstein Family and Community Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California, Riverside, until his retirement in 2015.
Description
Jonathan Z. Smith has gained considerable notoriety for popularizing the phrase ‘in comparison a magic dwells.’ But, this assertion remains largely unanalyzed, despite it’s remarkable currency in discussions of comparison. I shall argue that Smith’s notion of comparison is largely undeveloped, leading to the corresponding undeveloped and unsophisticated conceptions of comparison in the study of religion.