Olav Hammer (born 1958) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

professor at the

University of Southern Denmark The University of Southern Denmark ( da, Syddansk Universitet, lit=South Danish University, abbr. SDU) is a university in Denmark that has campuses located in Southern Denmark and on Zealand. The university offers a number of joint programmes in ...

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

working in the field of

history of religion The history of religion refers to the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BC). The prehistory of religion involves th ...

Career

Hammer has written four books in

and one monograph ''Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age'' (2001) in English.

LIBRIS LIBRIS (Library Information System) is a Swedish national union catalogue maintained by the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia ...

record fo
Olav Hammer
/ref> This volume, which was also Hammer's

doctoral dissertation A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

in 2000 at

Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Kocku von Stuckrad Kocku von Stuckrad (born 6 April 1966) is a German scholar of religious studies. He specialises in the European history of religion and the academic study of Western esotericism. Biography Kocku von Stuckrad was born in Kpando, Ghana on 6 Apri ...

, Brill 2007), ''The Invention of Sacred Tradition'' (with James R. Lewis, Cambridge UP 2007), ''Alternative Christs'' (Cambridge UP 2009), ''Cambridge Companion to New Religious Movements'' (with

Mikael Rothstein Mikael Rothstein (born 8 May 1961) is an associate professor of religious history at the University of Copenhagen in Copenhagen, Denmark. Rothstein earned his PhD in 1993 and became a Lector at the University of Copenhagen in 2001.Bente Clausen ...

, Cambridge UP 2012), and ''Western Esotericism in Scandinavia'' (with Henrik Bogdan, Brill 2016). He was from 2009 to 2016 one of two executive editors of the journal ''

Numen Numen (plural numina) is a Latin term for "divinity", "divine presence", or "divine will." The Latin authors defined it as follows:For a more extensive account, refer to Cicero writes of a "divine mind" (''divina mens''), a god "whose numen ever ...

''. In 2002 the title of in Sweden was bestowed on Hammer (an honor which could best be translated as "Public educator of the year"), by the society

Föreningen Vetenskap och Folkbildning Vetenskap och Folkbildning (Swedish: literal translation "Science and Popular Enlightenment", English: The Swedish Skeptics' Association), abbreviated as VoF, is a Swedish skeptics' association. It was founded in 1982 with the purpose to raise th ...

"for his balanced and pedagogical books about the history of

new religions A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or th ...

and the causes behind people's beliefs in

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or falsifiability, unfa ...

Awards

* 2002

References

External links

Official websiteUniversity profile webpage (archived)
Swedish historians of religion Swedish non-fiction writers University of Southern Denmark faculty Researchers of new religious movements and cults Lund University alumni 1958 births Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Western esotericism scholars Swedish scholars and academics {{Sweden-historian-stub