This essay examines Quentin Skinner's historicist use of J. L. Austin's speech act theory, corrects and clarifies some ways in which Skinner seems to misapply Austin's categories, and argues that ...

Most modern believers see the success and spread of their religion as the result of spiritual activities such as preaching and conversion. And this is certainly true. But it is equally true that ...

Introduction -- Part I: African connections : historical roots of Afro-Caribbean religions. Yoruba, Fon-Ewe, Ashanti, and Kongo cultural history -- African cultus and functionaries -- Part II: Vodou : ...

Even as a third-generation atheist, I found John Cevette’s insipid moral equivalency between Islam and Christianity in his column “In the name of God” (Tribune, April 15) almost as devoid of ...

"In so far as our American churches share the immediate interests and speak the vernacular of their world, they tend to lose the dispassionateness which pure religion ought to share with pure science, ...

TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online ...