Understanding Belief: Some Qualitative Evidence
The purpose of this paper is to explore the question of religious belief by bringing in some qualitative evidence about the meaning of religious behaviors and ideas. Whereas mainstream cognitive approaches to the study of belief have traditionally focused their attention on the memorability of relig...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2014
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| In: |
Journal of empirical theology
Year: 2014, Volume: 27, Issue: 2, Pages: 199-213 |
| Further subjects: | B
Belief
ethnography
meaning
metonymy
ritual
symbolism
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | The purpose of this paper is to explore the question of religious belief by bringing in some qualitative evidence about the meaning of religious behaviors and ideas. Whereas mainstream cognitive approaches to the study of belief have traditionally focused their attention on the memorability of religious ideas, the problem of meaning has been somehow left unexamined. New approaches have emphasized the role of the so-called “Credibility-Enhancing Displays” in the actual production of religious beliefs. But still there is no clear explanation as to what makes those displays enhance credibility. With the help of data coming from an ethnographic research conducted in an Irish Catholic community, this paper attempts to address the question of religious belief by turning it into a question of meaning, of the transmission of religious meanings and of the constitution of religious beliefs through meaning-producing practices. |
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| ISSN: | 1570-9256 |
| Contains: | In: Journal of empirical theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15709256-12341300 |