This definitive study brings together the thought of Romanian religious scholar Mircea Eliade with that of Canadian philosopher and theologian Bernard Lonergan to identify the general structure of religious knowing. Applying Lonergan's fourfold levels of consciousness as an interpretive framework, the author elicits a clearer understanding of Eliade's theories of the sacred by treating four principle themes: the experience of the sacred; the sacred as expressed in religious symbols; the fundamental reality of the sacred; and life in the sacred as religious transformation, ritual, and mystical personalities. In addition, the book addresses the relationship between theology and religious studies as distinct but complimentary disciplines, and the interdisciplinary foundations for cooperation among the world's religions.

John D. Dadosky is Assistant Professor of Theology at Regis College.