A rich source for comparative studies of the 'body', and of its relation to society.

1. Introduction: religion and the body Sarah Coakley; Part I. Contemporary Western Perspectives: Secularism and the Body: 2. The body in Western society: social theory and its perspectives Bryan S. Turner; 3. Remarks on the anthropology of the body Talal Asad; 4. The soul's successor: philosophy and the 'body' Mary Midgley; Part II.The Western Religious Inheritance: Judaism and Christianity on the Body: 5. The body in Jewish worship: three rituals examined Louis Jacobs; 6. 'My helper and my enemy': the body in Greek Christianity Kallistos Ware; 7. The body in Western Catholic Christianity Andrew Louth; 8. The image of the body in the formative phases of the Protestant Reformation David Tripp; Part III. Beyond the West: Eastern Religious Traditions and the Body: 9. Zoroastrianism and the body Alan Williams; 10. Medical and mythical constructions of the body in Hindu texts Wendy Doniger; 11. The body in Theravada Buddhist monasticism Steven Collins; 12. Some Mahayana Buddhist perspectives on the body Paul Williams; 13. The Taoist body and cosmic prayer Michael Saso; 14. Perceptions of the body in Japanese religion Michael Pye; 15. 'I take the dress off the body': Eros in Sufi literature and life Annemarie Schimmel; 16. The body in Sikh tradition Eleanor Nesbitt.