Resilience and Consilience in the Science of Religion(s)

In the preface to the recent Festschrift in honor of Armin W. Geertz, the editors state that “in recent years consilience has become a catchword for designating the attempt to increasingly bring the natural and behavioural sciences into closer dialogue with the humanities,” adding that historians of religions and cognitivists need to “engage in conversation with each other, as well as dialogue with colleagues in all neighbouring disciplines.” Should consilience dictate the agenda for future scholarship in the science of religion(s), or should hermeneutics and history still provide resilience against the “scientification of religion?” This review essay aims to contribute to this current debate.