TY - BOOK ID - 17561634 TI - Claiming knowledge PY - 2004 SN - 900413638X 9789004136380 9786610465286 1423714504 128046528X 9047403371 9781423714507 9789047403371 PB - Leiden Boston Brill DB - UniCat KW - Knowledge, Theory of (Religion) KW - Postmodernism KW - Theosophy. KW - New Age movement. KW - Théorie de la connaissance (Religion) KW - Postmodernisme KW - Théosophie KW - Nouvel Age (Mouvement) KW - Religious aspects. KW - Aspect religieux KW - Aquarian Age movement KW - Cults KW - Social movements KW - Occultism KW - Cosmology KW - Religions KW - Anthroposophy KW - Epistemology, Religious KW - Religious epistemology KW - Religious knowledge, Theory of KW - Religion KW - Theology, Doctrinal KW - Philosophy UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:17561634 AB - This volume deals with the transformation of religious creativity in the late modern West. Its point of departure is a set of esoteric beliefs, from Theosophy to the New Age. It shows how these traditions have adapted to the cultural givens of each successive epoch. The claims of each movement have been buttressed by drawing on various structural characteristics of late modernity. The advance of science has resulted in attempts to claim scientific status for religious beliefs. Globalization has given rise to massive loans from other cultures, but also to various strategies to radically reinterpret foreign elements. Individualism has led to an increasing reliance on experience as a source of legitimacy. The analytical tools applied to understanding religious modernization shed light on changes that are fundamentally reshaping many religious traditions. This publication has also been published in hardback, please click here for details. ER -