Jeffrey J. Kripal  
Chair and J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religious Studies
Comparing Religions: A Textbook Initiation

Building on the groundwork laid by his 2008-09 Mellon Seminar “Comparison in Theory and Practice,” and in collaboration with scholars and graduate students across the state of Texas, Kripal a next-generation textbook on comparative religion, in which he aims to foreground comparative practice itself, situating the religions themselves in the background to be discussed in historical relation to one other. The textbook adopts the tripartite structure of the initiation ritual: separation (creating a safe place for critical thinking), transition (a “liminal” state defined by paradox and ambiguity), and incorporation (settling into a tentative set of answers).