Table of Contents -- CHAPTER 1: Religion: a First Approach 13 -- 1. Religion, Evolution and Imagination 13 -- 2. Religion: a First Attempt at Delineating the Domain 18 -- CHAPTER 2: Old and New Models 21 -- 1. Introduction 21 -- 2. The Phenomenology of Religion According to the Founders 21 -- 3. Ninian Smart or a Critical Comparative Phenomenology of Religion 25 -- DIFFERENT 0: Science and Religion: Where Do I Stand? 35 -- 1. On What Science Is 35 -- 2. On Science and Religion 37 -- CHAPTER 3: Religion, Identity and Learning Processes 39 -- 1. New Beacons 39 -- 2. Identity Dynamics 41 -- 3. Identity and Learning 44 -- 4. The Example Once More 46 -- 5. The Root Forms of Religion 47 -- CHAPTER 4: General Concepts and Terms 49 -- 1. Introduction 49 -- 2. Terminology 49 -- 3. Theism, Deism, Atheism and Agnosticism 53 -- 4. Holism, Transcendence and Immanence 55 -- 5. Esoterism and Exoterism 58 -- 6. Subdisciplines 63 -- CHAPTER 5: Cosmology and Religion 65 -- 1. Cosmology and Religion: Different, but Related 65 -- 2. Sacred, Profane and Symbolic 68 -- 3. Cosmologies 71 -- 4. A Scientific Study of Religion: a Second Attempt 78 -- 5. An Anthropological View on Humans: Agents Using Speech Acts 81 -- CHAPTER 6: Religious Action 85 -- 1. Introduction 85 -- 2. Ceremony and Festivity 87 -- 3. Sacred Sociopolitical Actions 91 -- 4. Ritual, Sacred Drama and Shamanistic Actions 92 -- 5. Rites of Passage 98 -- 6. Religious Action and the Study of Religion 101 -- 7. Religious Action, Identity and Learning 102 -- Different 1: Birth and Baptism. A View of an Anthropologist and Atheist 105 -- 1. Birth and Name-giving 105 -- 2. Baptism: the Christian Feast of Name-giving 107 -- 3. Beliefs and Ceremonial Elaboration 108 -- 4. An Atheist Reflection 109 -- Conclusion 112 -- CHAPTER 7: Religious Language 113 -- 1. Introduction 113 -- 2. Symbol 114 -- 3. Silence 116.

4. Direct Communication 116 -- 5. Indirect Communication: the Myth 120 -- 6. On the Status and Use of Myths 128 -- 7. Religious Language, Learning and Identity 130 -- CHAPTER 8: Complex Religious Phenomena 131 -- 1. Sacredness 131 -- 2. The Holy, the Sacred 133 -- 3. Sacralizers 135 -- 4. Magic 139 -- 5. Conclusion and Remarks 144 -- CHAPTER 9: Religious Ways of Learning 147 -- 1. Initiation 147 -- 2. Compassion and Understanding 149 -- 3. Sacrifice as a Religious Learning Process 153 -- 4. Divination as a Religious Learning Process 157 -- 5. Religious Experience and Mysticism 160 -- 6. Learning Traditions 163 -- 7. Education 165 -- Different 2: Genesis in the Bible. The Creation of Heaven and Earth 169 -- The Origin Myth of the Navajo: The Age of Beginning 170 -- CHAPTER 10: Religious Artifacts 173 -- 1. Cole's Theory of Artifacts 173 -- 2. Primary Artifacts: Concrete Objects 174 -- 3. Secondary Artifacts 181 -- 4. Tertiary Artifacts 185 -- 5. Actions of Manipulation of Artifacts 197 -- CHAPTER 11: Politics, Ethics and Fundamentalism 203 -- 1. Political and Institutional Context 203 -- 2. Moral and Political Aspects and Religious Activities 205 -- 3. Politics and Religious Activity 212 -- 4. Fundamentalism 218 -- CHAPTER 12: Atheistic Religiosity? 227 -- 1. Atheistic Religiosity/Religious Atheism 228 -- 2. Some Former Explorations 231 -- 3. Is there a Message? 238 -- Bibliography 241.