In The Enticement of Religion, Kees W. Bolle has written an accessible and informative introduction to the basic facts of religion and to the ways scholars and other people have dealt with religion over the centuries. Bolle's central purpose is to provide a serious, in-depth study that will introduce students and other general readers in a way that makes sense of religion and religious events in the world. Part one of the book focuses on the facts of religion and covers such topics as the object and task of the historian of religions, the correct usage of words like faith and tradition, modes of religious expression, and the social and political impact of religion. Bolle raises basic, yet not often discussed, questions such as What is Religion? and What are the Religions of the World? The second part of the book provides a historical survey of Western intellectual approaches to religion. Starting with the Greeks and progressing all the way to the twentieth century, Bolle explores how writers and scholars such as David Hume, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Soren Kierkegaard, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Joseph Conrad, Charles Peguy, and many others have influenced our judgments on religio

Divine Enticement argues for a reconception of theology and it subject matter as modes of seduction, of both body and mind. Theological language as evocation opens onto rereadings of faith, sacrament, ethics, prayer and scripture. The conclusion argues for a sense of theology as calling upon infinite possibility.

“At the deepest level religious traditions determine what goes on between one human being and another, between one community and another, and between human beings and whoever holds power over them.” Kees Bolle’s original, passionate scholarship veered away from things handed down and standard in our thought about religions. In this his final book, he explores how religious paradigms have given rise to particular structures of power, and how religious myths compel particular human actions: the possibility of interpretation, the necessity for recognizing religious forms where they appear, the relationship of secularization and sacredness. And at every turn, Bolle examines the notion that Western intellectuals are nonreligious. He confronts the responsibility “mere” scholarship bears for events—sometimes terrible events—in the real world. We move from David and Nathan to Antigone, from Brahmanism and Buddhism to the familial struggle between Christianity and Islam. The book concludes with Bolle’s striking reflections on how “modern man” has become inherently religious in concurrence with modern manifestations of power. Bolle is a fascinating figure. He loved the immediacy of lessons found in Hasidic stories, and his own thought may be said to approach the wholeness, the immediacy, of religion.

This volume focuses on issues that have only recently come to the forefront of the discipline such as freedom from religion, ordination of homosexuals, apostasy, security and fundamentalism, issues that are linked to the common themes of secularism and globalization. Although these subjects are not new to the academic debate, they have become prominent in law and religion circles as a result of recent and rapid changes in society. The essays in this volume present multiple points of view, facilitate scholars in understanding this evolving discipline and act as a stimulus for further research.This collection gives the reader a sense of the key topics and current debates in law and religion and is of interest to law, politics, human rights, and religion scholars.