Publisher's Synopsis
This collection of papers on a common theme forms another step in the joint authors' long-term program of tightening the bonds between the study of religion and the social sciences. Scholars of texts require the perspective and the rigor, in interpreting those texts as religious documents, of social science, and scholars of social science, with their acutely contemporary focus, need the long view afforded by ancient texts and religious cultures accessible only or mainly in writing.
