Citifying Jesus: The Making of an Urban Religion in the Roman Empire, Emiliano RubensUrciuoli, Tübingen, MohrSiebeck, 2024 (ISBN 9783161623714), x + 309 pp., Hb €139.00
Year: 2025
Type: book-review
Abstract: pilgrims based on their social media contributions, or to build a profile of consumer behaviour, or to assist marketing to potential pilgrims or tourists.For many years, Saudi Arabia has been using IT operations and data collection to manage large-scale crowds and public safety at key locations on the Hajj.Religion scholars will particularly appreciate the representation of fields which use statistics, and mapping, and will find the range of disciplines stimulating.Each chapter has its own copious bibliography, often with more European or Australian sources than North American, which is welcome.The interdisciplinary approach of the book is well placed to address the popularity of non-religious or secular forms of pilgrimage, which exhibit spiritual aspects of the sacred, and places which have a historical longitude of religious interest.Since the authors wrote during the pandemic, many of them consider the study of virtual pilgrimage as a necessary future direction of study.However, this prediction has not been fulfilled, since remote pilgrimage has waned and failed to match the impact of in-person pilgrimage.It is somewhat peculiar that religious studies and theology lack chapters.However, the book amply covers religion by means of research from a wide variety of departments and disciplines.At least for religion scholars who approach the field as a conglomeration of disciplines, the lack of a religion chapter is passable.On the other hand, theology is more of a lacuna since it is conceived as confessional, unlike academic religious studies.Theology faculties at universities today include interreligious dialogue and non-Christian religions and explore religious meaning from within.Participant studies of pilgrimage, by any researcher, will inevitably encounter theological expressions of beliefs.I recommend this volume to scholars and students of religion and theology to showcase the breadth of academic fields active in pilgrimage studies, to highlight new developments, and juxtapose connections between disciplines.
Source: Reviews in Religion and Theology
DOI: 10.1111/rirt.70019
Author: Jolyon G.R. Pruszinski
Institution: Princeton University
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,240
OpenAlex ID: W7091271330
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