A Call in the Wilderness
“What is this strange thing that I recognise as religion? Why does it seem to play such an integral part in human culture? And why does it frighten and entice me at the same time?”
Throughout history, religion has shaped the conceptions of the world, attitudes to life and civilizations, made existence both ambiguous, multi-faceted and contradictory, but also vivid and meaningful. And regardless of how we feel about religion, it doesn’t appear to be going away. Why is that? What kind of longing does it encompass?
Existence is full of things whose causes and effects we can embrace and understand. But to many it also holds dimensions that are not as easy to grasp, things that defy the secular order of our daily lives: moods, emotions and experiences that seem to indicate something beyond the ordinary, something enchanted and spiritual.
With A Call in the Wilderness, David Thurfjell continues to explore and dissolve the border between religious and secular expressions. It turns into a personal story that moves between different continents, timelines and perspectives, involving both the author’s own experiences as well as myths, rites and power strategies within religious traditions spanning the entire world.
David Thurfjell is a religious historian and a senior lecturer at Södertörn University College. His research involves religion and secularization in contemporary Sweden. His previous book, Spruce Forest People (2020) was shortlisted for the Grand Non-Fiction Prize. He was also named “The Cultural Swede of the Year” by current affairs magazine Fokus in 2021.
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About the book
“What is this strange thing that I recognise as religion? Why does it seem to play such an integral part in human culture? And why does it frighten and entice me at the same time?”
Throughout history, religion has shaped the conceptions of the world, attitudes to life and civilizations, made existence both ambiguous, multi-faceted and contradictory, but also vivid and meaningful. And regardless of how we feel about religion, it doesn’t appear to be going away. Why is that? What kind of longing does it encompass?
Existence is full of things whose causes and effects we can embrace and understand. But to many it also holds dimensions that are not as easy to grasp, things that defy the secular order of our daily lives: moods, emotions and experiences that seem to indicate something beyond the ordinary, something enchanted and spiritual.
With A Call in the Wilderness, David Thurfjell continues to explore and dissolve the border between religious and secular expressions. It turns into a personal story that moves between different continents, timelines and perspectives, involving both the author’s own experiences as well as myths, rites and power strategies within religious traditions spanning the entire world.
