Symbolic Thought and Religious Knowledge

Abstract

Recent anthropological and psychological studies suggest a distinctive mode of symbolic thinking which questions the structure of Piaget's scheme and which raises important theological issues. Here Sperber's key hypothesis that symbolic data of diverse kinds are integrated into a single system within the individual is applied in two directions: that of religious experience and biblical interpretation, and that of exposure to new ritual phenomena and comparative religion.

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Notes on contributors

Douglas Davies

The Revd. Dr Douglas Davies has a background both in social anthropology and theology. He teaches at Nottingham University's Department of Theology, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD.