Review of the collective monograph “Occult Roots Of Religious Studies: On The Influence Of Non-Hegemonic Currents On Academia Around 1900” (Berlin-Boston, De Gruyter, 2021)

Abstract

А review examines the collective monograph “Occult Roots Of Religious Studies: On The Influence Of Non-Hegemonic Currents On Academia Around 1900” (Berlin-Boston, De Gruyter, 2021). The book hypothesizes that the foundations of religious studies, in addition to Positivist and Christian theological paradigms, also absorb the paradigm of Esotericism. The authors rightly demonstrate that leading religious scholars, archaeologists, and other scholars of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were either actively interested in esotericism, or even belonged to esoteric worldview themselves, becoming members of the Theosophical Society or other esoteric organizations of the time. This approach is important for the history of religious studies, as it allows you to notice patterns that have not previously received much attention, in particular, the popularity of comparative religious studies, attempts to combine science and religion in a universal worldview.