Challenging Religious Studies

In the last ten years or so, most theology departments in British universities have developed into Departments of Religious Studies in which Christian theology is but one subject of study. Yet, this has not meant that Christian theology no longer has a voice. John Atherton, now Visiting Professor in Religion, Ethics and Economics at Chester University has focused much of his attention over the past few years on the study of wellbeing and the role of religion within it. In this monograph, he draws together the results of his research and outlines how religious studies as a discipline has to change if it wants to take account of religion in all its complexity. The book’s topic is the emerging pursuit of human flourishing as an increasingly shared goal across religious and secular networks. This focus, including in its changing contexts, is heightened by growing interest in the nature and role of religion’s contribution to such progressive change. It also acts as a case study into how religious studies can be reformulated in constructive conversation with other disciplines, including economics, psychology and sociology. This therefore allows it to be used by traditional Theology and Religious Studies Departments at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, by other related disciplines engaging wellbeing agendas, and by growing public policy interest in improving religious literacy.