ABSTRACT
Power is certainly invoked in surveys so as to include the functional theory of Karl Marx as an early example of how to study religion, one that puts emphasis on the means of production and systems of exchange/valuation and thereby highlights, among other things, the suppression of the proletariat. However, when the word “power” is used in the study of religion—or at least in its more traditional variations—it can be employed as a descriptive term for that which is claimed to emanate from the sacred. Power, in theology not unlike some parts of the study of religion, tends to refer to God’s power, largely avoiding any investment in either politics and/or ideology. One of the most prominent scholars in the field of religion to consistently draw attention to issues of power and authority in a sophisticated manner is Bruce Lincoln.
