Secret cousins : Analogies in the construction of religious authority through "science" in Maurice Bucaille and Claude Vorilhon (Raël)

Bigliardi, Stefano (author): Lund University,Lunds universitet,Centrum för Mellanösternstudier (CMES),Samhällsvetenskapliga institutioner och centrumbildningar,Samhällsvetenskapliga fakulteten,Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES),Departments of Administrative, Economic and Social Sciences,Faculty of Social Sciences

(creator_code:org_t)

University of California Press, 2016
2016
English 25 s.
In: Nova Religio. - : University of California Press. - 1092-6690 .- 1541-8480. ; 20:2, s. 34-58

Related links:: http://dx.doi.org/10...; show more...; https://lup.lub.lu.s...; https://doi.org/10.1...; show less...

Abstract Subject headings

In this paper I discuss the work of two French authors who advocate a "scientific" exegesis of sacred scriptures: physician Maurice Bucaille (1922-1998) and religious leader Claude Vorilhon (alias Raël, b. 1946). Bucaille argues that the Qur'an's divine origin is demonstrated by its accuracy about natural phenomena and "scientific facts," whereas the Bible does not stand up to "scientific" examination. Vorilhon supposedly received a revelation regarding the creation of humanity by an alien race, the Elohim. Part and parcel of such revelation is a biblical exegesis that identifies, in numerous passages of the Old and New Testaments, allusions to the Elohim's technological interventions in the history of humanity. I argue here that despite apparent differences, these textual strategies - blending "science" and scriptures - display substantial similarities, and that they are influenced by narrative and philosophical patterns deeply rooted in French culture.

About the subject

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