The Death of Sacred Texts

'The Death of Sacred Texts is definitively an important book, well-written, sometimes an outright joy to read, always with comprehensive and very helpful bibliographies to each chapters. The book is both a fine and an inspiring invitation to a neglected field.' Nordic Journal of Religion and Society '... a volume that addresses both the materiality of texts as an important component of the ritual world of each religion as well as key insights into ways in which ritual treatment of the material object inflects the understanding of what is contained therein. Whether one is an anthropologist interested in cross-cultural studies or an historian or religions interested in the development of practices over time, this is a really important book. Indeed, I believe much credit for the richness of the book is to be given to the editor, Kristina Myrvold, since all but one of the essays follow the same format. The structure fosters comparisons and/or connections between chapters, making the book a wonderful tool to think with.' Anthropos 'The essays in this excellent collection provide an introduction to strategies by which Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs address these vexing problems. All the authors recognize the pioneering nature of their studies, and so the essays raise as many questions for further research as they answer. This volume is an important contribution to an expanded understanding of "scripture" and to the ongoing material culture turn in religious studies.' Religious Studies Review '... a welcome and very useful addition to the literature on religious texts. It will be of interest to those working in a range of disciplines, including religious studies, the sociology and anthropology of religion, and theology.' Journal of Contemporary Religion '... the book fills in an important academic gap by encouraging leaving behind solely hermeneutical approaches that analyse the contents of religious texts and taking into account also the social