Myths and Utopias, Critics and Caretakers

This chapter presents a more direct challenge to Bruce Lincoln’s work, arguing that a purely critical method is ultimately insufficient and that a balanced approach to the study of religion also requires space for hope—that is, the hope for a possible future of the sort found in utopian narratives. Examining a wide range of narrative forms, from folktales and legends to utopian and dystopian myths, the chapter makes a strong case for the importance of humanistic scholarship in the twenty-first century. This would include not only the critical interrogation of religious narratives that Lincoln advocates but also a more hopeful exploration of the ways in which these narratives can open new ways of imagining the future.