Michael Bergunder
Biographic Data
| ID | 1372901 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michael Bergunder |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michael |
| FAMILY NAME | Bergunder |
| SIGNATURE | BERGUNDER M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Heidelberg University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 42 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 15 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Encounters of the Brahmanical Sanskrit Tradition with Persian Scholarship in the Mughal Empire
Within the scope of global religious history, a Foucauldian genealogical critique makes “history” itself the central focus of inquiry. Genealogy is usually perceived as a methodology for historicizing general concepts within religious studies, which seemingly favours post-nineteenth-century history – something that causes discomfort among pre-colonial researchers. However, this article presents genealogy as a general starting point for any critic…
Navigating Academic Positionality and Eurocentrism in the Definition of Esotericism
Global Religious History in Theory and Practice
“Global religious history” derives its name from the German phrase “globale Religionsgeschichte”. This term articulates an approach that aims to be relevant to the whole field of religious studies, and it encompasses theoretical debates, particularly in the areas of postcolonialism and gender studies. Thus, “Global” embodies, acknowledges, and incorporates all prevalent terms of and the parameters for the global constitution of present-day academ…
Studying Global Pentecostalism
With its remarkable ability to adapt to many different cultures, Pentecostalism has become the world’s fastest growing religious movement. More than five hundred million adherents worldwide have reshaped Christianity itself. Yet some fundamental questions in the study of global Pentecostalism, and even in what we call "Pentecostalism," remain largely unaddressed. Bringing together leading scholars in the social sciences, history, and theology, th…
The Cultural Turn
“Religion” and “Science” within a Global Religious History
The paper argues that the final forging of our current understanding of "religion" and "esotericism" did not take place before the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and that it was a global endeavor right from the beginning. Previous research has not fully appreciated the new situation that arose because of scientific materialism and the challenge presented by conceptions of a general religious history. By focusing on the relationshi…
Persische Gelehrsamkeit und brahmanische Sanskrit-Tradition im Mogulreich
What is Religion
Religious studies cannot agree on a common definition of its subject matter. To break the impasse, important insights from recent discussions about post-foundational political theory might be of some help. However, they can only be of benefit in conversations about “religion” when the previous debate on the subject matter of religious studies is framed slightly differently. This is done in the first part of the article. It is, then, shown on clos…
Experiments with Theosophical Truth
There is strong textual evidence to suggest that M. K. Gandhi's notion of Hinduism, his specific view of Christianity, and his general belief that all religions refer to the same truth were shaped by esotericism, namely the Theosophical Society and the Esoteric Christian Union. The article presents the respective sources, discusses their plausibility, and puts these findings into perspective. This perspective is provided by a global history appro…
Studying Global PentecostalismTheories and Methods
List of Abbreviations Introduction PART ONE. INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES 1. Varieties, Taxonomies, and Definitions Allan Anderson 2. Essentialist and Normative Approaches Andre Droogers 3. The Cultural Turn Michael Bergunder 4. Gender and Power Elizabeth Brusco 5. Conversion Narratives Henri Gooren 6. Pentecostalism and Globalization Birgit Meyer PART TWO. SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES 7. Psychology of Religion Stefan Huber and Odilo W. Huber…
Studying global Pentecostalism
Studying Global Pentecostalism
What is Esotericism? Cultural Studies Approaches and the Problems of Definition in Religious Studies
Founded in 1683 in Leiden, the Netherlands, Brill is a leading international academic publisher in the Humanities, Social Sciences, International Law, and Biology. With offices in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, the USA and Asia, Brill today publishes more than 360 journals and 2,000 new books and reference works each year as well as a large number of databases and primary source research collections
What is Esotericism? Cultural Studies Approaches and the Problems of Definition in Religious Studies
There is an ongoing debate whether esotericism could be a meaningful subject for Religious Studies. The recent history of the academic research into esotericism will be presented and critically discussed, how it has tried to define its subject and how this discussions have reached an impasse. It is proposed that certain theoretical perspectives from cultural studies offer alternative ways in determining a research subject, especially one based on…
Movimiento pentecostal en América Latina
La idea de este trabajo es permitir que la teología pentecostal se exprese por sí misma. En el centro de atención se encuentran cinco textos (Self, Sepúlveda, Petersen, Johns, Villafañe) referentes a la recepción teológico-liberadora de la Teología de la Liberación latinoamericana. También se encuentran dos conferencias que son más de principios (Spittler, Robeck), lascuales deben ayudar a determinar la posición de la Teología de la Liberación la…
Constructing Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism may be broadly or narrowly defined though, for practical purposes, a broad understanding is preferable. Questions about the origins of Pentecostalism have long been debated: did it spread out to the rest of the world from the USA or were its origins more diffuse? Historiographical problems occur in any account and a solution to these is to see Pentecostalism as a missionary movement, or at least deriving one of its roots from pre-e…
Contested past
During the British colonial regime in the 19th century Western Indologists and missionaries, with the participation of the indigenous scholars who controlled traditional systems of knowledge, formed models for the description of early religious history which was especially inspired by linguistic ideas whose central concept was the so-called 'Aryan immigration' into Northern India. This Orientalist historiography concerning events that lay back se…
What is Religion
Religious studies cannot agree on a common definition of its subject matter. To break the impasse, important insights from recent discussions about post-foundational political theory might be of some help. However, they can only be of benefit in conversations about “religion” when the previous debate on the subject matter of religious studies is framed slightly differently. This is done in the first part of the article. It is, then, shown on clos…
What is Esotericism? Cultural Studies Approaches and the Problems of Definition in Religious Studies
There is an ongoing debate whether esotericism could be a meaningful subject for Religious Studies. The recent history of the academic research into esotericism will be presented and critically discussed, how it has tried to define its subject and how this discussions have reached an impasse. It is proposed that certain theoretical perspectives from cultural studies offer alternative ways in determining a research subject, especially one based on…
Contested past
During the British colonial regime in the 19th century Western Indologists and missionaries, with the participation of the indigenous scholars who controlled traditional systems of knowledge, formed models for the description of early religious history which was especially inspired by linguistic ideas whose central concept was the so-called 'Aryan immigration' into Northern India. This Orientalist historiography concerning events that lay back se…
What is Esotericism? Cultural Studies Approaches and the Problems of Definition in Religious Studies
Founded in 1683 in Leiden, the Netherlands, Brill is a leading international academic publisher in the Humanities, Social Sciences, International Law, and Biology. With offices in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, the USA and Asia, Brill today publishes more than 360 journals and 2,000 new books and reference works each year as well as a large number of databases and primary source research collections
Global Religious History in Theory and Practice
“Global religious history” derives its name from the German phrase “globale Religionsgeschichte”. This term articulates an approach that aims to be relevant to the whole field of religious studies, and it encompasses theoretical debates, particularly in the areas of postcolonialism and gender studies. Thus, “Global” embodies, acknowledges, and incorporates all prevalent terms of and the parameters for the global constitution of present-day academ…
Experiments with Theosophical Truth
There is strong textual evidence to suggest that M. K. Gandhi's notion of Hinduism, his specific view of Christianity, and his general belief that all religions refer to the same truth were shaped by esotericism, namely the Theosophical Society and the Esoteric Christian Union. The article presents the respective sources, discusses their plausibility, and puts these findings into perspective. This perspective is provided by a global history appro…
Contested past
During the British colonial regime in the 19th century Western Indologists and missionaries, with the participation of the indigenous scholars who controlled traditional systems of knowledge, formed models for the description of early religious history which was especially inspired by linguistic ideas whose central concept was the so-called 'Aryan immigration' into Northern India. This Orientalist historiography concerning events that lay back se…
Constructing Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism may be broadly or narrowly defined though, for practical purposes, a broad understanding is preferable. Questions about the origins of Pentecostalism have long been debated: did it spread out to the rest of the world from the USA or were its origins more diffuse? Historiographical problems occur in any account and a solution to these is to see Pentecostalism as a missionary movement, or at least deriving one of its roots from pre-e…
Movimiento pentecostal en América Latina
La idea de este trabajo es permitir que la teología pentecostal se exprese por sí misma. En el centro de atención se encuentran cinco textos (Self, Sepúlveda, Petersen, Johns, Villafañe) referentes a la recepción teológico-liberadora de la Teología de la Liberación latinoamericana. También se encuentran dos conferencias que son más de principios (Spittler, Robeck), lascuales deben ayudar a determinar la posición de la Teología de la Liberación la…
Studying Global PentecostalismTheories and Methods
List of Abbreviations Introduction PART ONE. INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES 1. Varieties, Taxonomies, and Definitions Allan Anderson 2. Essentialist and Normative Approaches Andre Droogers 3. The Cultural Turn Michael Bergunder 4. Gender and Power Elizabeth Brusco 5. Conversion Narratives Henri Gooren 6. Pentecostalism and Globalization Birgit Meyer PART TWO. SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES 7. Psychology of Religion Stefan Huber and Odilo W. Huber…
Studying global Pentecostalism
Studying Global Pentecostalism
What is Esotericism? Cultural Studies Approaches and the Problems of Definition in Religious Studies
Founded in 1683 in Leiden, the Netherlands, Brill is a leading international academic publisher in the Humanities, Social Sciences, International Law, and Biology. With offices in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, the USA and Asia, Brill today publishes more than 360 journals and 2,000 new books and reference works each year as well as a large number of databases and primary source research collections
What is Esotericism? Cultural Studies Approaches and the Problems of Definition in Religious Studies
There is an ongoing debate whether esotericism could be a meaningful subject for Religious Studies. The recent history of the academic research into esotericism will be presented and critically discussed, how it has tried to define its subject and how this discussions have reached an impasse. It is proposed that certain theoretical perspectives from cultural studies offer alternative ways in determining a research subject, especially one based on…
What is Religion
Religious studies cannot agree on a common definition of its subject matter. To break the impasse, important insights from recent discussions about post-foundational political theory might be of some help. However, they can only be of benefit in conversations about “religion” when the previous debate on the subject matter of religious studies is framed slightly differently. This is done in the first part of the article. It is, then, shown on clos…
Experiments with Theosophical Truth
There is strong textual evidence to suggest that M. K. Gandhi's notion of Hinduism, his specific view of Christianity, and his general belief that all religions refer to the same truth were shaped by esotericism, namely the Theosophical Society and the Esoteric Christian Union. The article presents the respective sources, discusses their plausibility, and puts these findings into perspective. This perspective is provided by a global history appro…
“Religion” and “Science” within a Global Religious History
The paper argues that the final forging of our current understanding of "religion" and "esotericism" did not take place before the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and that it was a global endeavor right from the beginning. Previous research has not fully appreciated the new situation that arose because of scientific materialism and the challenge presented by conceptions of a general religious history. By focusing on the relationshi…
Persische Gelehrsamkeit und brahmanische Sanskrit-Tradition im Mogulreich
Studying Global Pentecostalism
With its remarkable ability to adapt to many different cultures, Pentecostalism has become the world’s fastest growing religious movement. More than five hundred million adherents worldwide have reshaped Christianity itself. Yet some fundamental questions in the study of global Pentecostalism, and even in what we call "Pentecostalism," remain largely unaddressed. Bringing together leading scholars in the social sciences, history, and theology, th…
The Cultural Turn
Global Religious History in Theory and Practice
“Global religious history” derives its name from the German phrase “globale Religionsgeschichte”. This term articulates an approach that aims to be relevant to the whole field of religious studies, and it encompasses theoretical debates, particularly in the areas of postcolonialism and gender studies. Thus, “Global” embodies, acknowledges, and incorporates all prevalent terms of and the parameters for the global constitution of present-day academ…
Encounters of the Brahmanical Sanskrit Tradition with Persian Scholarship in the Mughal Empire
Within the scope of global religious history, a Foucauldian genealogical critique makes “history” itself the central focus of inquiry. Genealogy is usually perceived as a methodology for historicizing general concepts within religious studies, which seemingly favours post-nineteenth-century history – something that causes discomfort among pre-colonial researchers. However, this article presents genealogy as a general starting point for any critic…
Navigating Academic Positionality and Eurocentrism in the Definition of Esotericism
Philosophy (13 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Epistemology (8 works) · Religious studies (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Philosophy (6 works) · Religion and Society Interactions (6 works) · Religion, Society, and Development (6 works) · Christian Theology and Mission (5 works) · Pentecostalism and Christianity Studies (5 works)