Comparative religion Books

Book SynopsisComparative Religious Law provides for the first time a study of the regulatory instruments of Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious organisations in Britain in light of their historical religious laws. Norman Doe questions assumptions about the pervasiveness, character and scope of religious laws, from the view that they are not or should not be recognised by civil law, to the idea that there may be a fundamental incompatibility between religious and civil law. It proposes that religious laws pervade society, are recognised by civil law, have both a religious and temporal character, and regulate wide areas of believers'' lives. Subjects include sources of law, faith leaders, governance, worship and education, rites of passage, divorce and children, and religion-State relations. A Charter of ''the principles of religious law'' common to all three Abrahamic faiths is proposed, to stimulate greater mutual understanding between religion and society and between the three faiths themselvesTrade Review'The title does not fully convey the innovative content of the book, which does not merely provide a comparison of Jewish law, Christian churches law, and Islamic law based on the primary sources of these religious legal systems.' Silvio Ferrari, Journal of Church and StateTable of ContentsPreface; Table of abbreviations; Introduction; 1. The laws: communities, sources and functions; 2. The faithful: status, duties and rights; 3. The faith leaders: appointment and functions: 4. The governance of communities: institutions and officers; 5. The resolution of disputes: courts and tribunals; 6. The faith, worship and education; 7. The rites of passage; 8. The family, marriage and children; 9. The property and finance of the faith community; 10. The religion, state and society; Conclusion; Appendix: toward a charter of Abrahamic law; Bibliography: primary sources 1. Jewish materials; 2. Christian materials; 3. Islamic materials; 4. The law of the state: parliamentary legislation, secondary legislation, judicial decisions, charity commission; Secondary sources; Index.

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Book SynopsisMarianne Moyaert is Professor and Chair of Comparative Theology and the Hermeneutics of Interreligious Dialogue at the VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She is also guest lecturer at the KU Leuven, Belgium, teaching Jewish-Christian Relations. Joris Geldhof is Professor of Liturgical Studies and Sacramental Theology at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium. He is the director of the Liturgical Institute in Leuven, Belgium.Trade ReviewRitual, Participation and Interreligious Dialogue is a superb collection of essays addressing with boldness and acuity three turns in modern theology and the study of religion: the turn to religious practice in all its forms as a topic of study, attention to what people actually do, as distinct from theologies and rules about what ought to happen; sensitivity to the interplay of practice and theology, each influencing the other; [and] a new sensitivity to the phenomenon of interreligious participation in religious practice … this timely and valuable volume helps us to move forward in addressing a key phenomenon of this century. * Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies *In this important book, contributors from many parts of the world and of different faiths share their experiences and reflections. * Faith and Freedom *Moyaert and Geldhof are to be congratulated on bringing together a timely and excellent volume on the topic of ritual participation. Covering theoretical and theological issues as well as case studies from a range of traditions and global perspectives it really will be a landmark work in this area. Scholars and students in interreligious studies and cognate fields will be using this volume for its insights and building upon it for further research for many years, if not decades, to come. The range of perspectives and the depth of analysis and insight contained in its pages are what make it stand out as a contribution towards what is still a young and underexplored field, and will set a very high benchmark for anyone following in their wake. -- Paul Hedges, Associate Professor of Interreligious Studies, Nanyang Technological University, SingaporeA superb collection of critical reflections on the possibility and limits of interreligious ritual participation. It provides an excellent complement to the work that is ongoing in the area of interreligious studies. -- Catherine Cornille, Professor of Comparative Theology, Boston College, USATable of Contents1. Introduction: Exploring the Phenomenon of Interreligious Ritual Participation, Marianne Moyaert Part I: Philosophical, Theological and Phenomenological Observations 2. On Doing What Others Do: Intentions and Intuitions in Multiple Religious Practice, S. Mark Heim (Andover Newton Theological School, USA) 3. Bowing before Buddha and Allah? Reflections on Crossing over Ritual Boundaries, Maria Reis Habito (Elijah Interfaith Institute, USA) 4. Enlightened Presuppositions of (Spiritually Motivated) Cross-Ritual Participation, Walter Van Herck (University of Antwerp, Belgium) 5. Religion Is as Religion Does: Interfaith Prayer as a Form of Ritual Participation, Douglas Pratt (University of Birmingham, UK) 6. Interreligious Ritual Participation: Insights from Inter-Christian Ritual Participation, Martha Moore-Keish (Columbia Theological Seminary, USA) Part II: Muslim and Christian-Muslim Perspectives 7. Receiving the Stranger: A Muslim Theology of Shared Worship, Timothy Winter (Wolfson College, Cambridge, UK) 8. Interreligious Prayer between Roman Catholic Christians and Muslims, Gavin D’Costa (University of Bristol, UK) 9. Back-and-Forth Riting: The Dynamics of Christian-Muslim Encounters in Shrine Rituals, Bagus Laksana (Sanata Dharma University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia) Part III: Christian and East Asian Religious Perspectives 10. Offering and Receiving Hospitality: The Meaning of Ritual Participation in the Hindu Temple, Anantanand Rambachan (Saint Olaf College, USA) 11. Towards an Open Eucharist, Richard Kearney (Boston College, USA) 12. The Practice of Zazen as Ritual Performance, André van der Braak (VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands) 13. Theorizing Ritual for Interreligious Practice, James W. Farwell (Virginia Theological Seminary, USA) Part IV: Jewish and Jewish-Christian Perspectives 14. Transgressing and Setting Ritual Boundaries: A Puzzling Paradox, Rachel Reedijk (VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands) 15. Mourning the Loss of My Daughter: The Failure of Inter-Faith Bereavement Rituals, Anya Topolski (Centre for Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy, Belgium) 16. Parameters of Hospitality for Interreligious Participation: A Jewish Perspective, Ruth Langer (Boston College, USA) 17. Epilogue: Inter-riting as a Peculiar form of Love , Joris Geldhof (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium) Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIntroduction Afro-Caribbean Spirituality: A Hatian Case Study - Karen McCarthy Brown Voudou in Haiti: Way of Life and Mode of Survival - Claudine Michel African Interpretations of the Christian Vodou Cross - Leslie G. Desmangles Resisting Freedom: Cultural Factors in Democracy: The Case for Haiti - Patrick Bellegarde-Smith "The Jew" in the Haitian Imagination: Pre-Modern Anti-Judaism the Post-Modern Caribbean - Elizabeth A McAlister The Song of Freedom: Vodoun, Conscientization and Popular Culture in Haiti - Gerdes Fleurant Water in their Eyes, Dust on their Land: Heat and Illness in a Haitian Town - Pierre Minn "I am Going to See Where My Oungan Is": The Artistry of a Haitian Vodou Flagmaker - Anna Wexler How Hougans Use the Light from Distant Stars - LeGrace Benson The Haiti-New Orleans Vodou Connection: Zora Neale Hurston as Initiate Observer - Richard Brent TurnerTrade Review"Les invisibles are the powers that have sustained Haitians through centuries of exploitation, impoverishment, and terror. This collection of essays by leading scholars has the great merit of showing how Vodou works as a healing force that thoroughly penetrates Haitian culture and social life. From ritual temple to street festival, from song and dance to art and literature, from democracy to social justice, from Haiti to New Orleans, each essay addresses a different aspect of Vodou's living presence. Assembled together in this volume, they constitute a vital whole that provides broad access to a living religion and way of life that has all too often been maligned and misunderstood." - Patrick Taylor, Chair of the Division of Humanities, York University, editor of Nation Dance: Religion, Identity and Cultural Difference in the Caribbean "The essays of this exceptional volume throw clear, cool water on a parched terrain. Many readers will emerge from Vodou in Haitian Life and Culture with a fresh vision of the world's oldest - and most maligned - spirituality. The book's contributors, both budding and accomplished scholars from multiple disciplines, honor the Haitian people who bravely nurture Vodou and weave it through every strand of their lives. Ayibobo to Claudine Michel and Patrick Bellegarde-Smith!" - Lois Wilcken, Ph.D., author of The Drums of Vodou "The collection makes a valuable contribution to the field, and it should draw much interest among scholars and students of Caribbean religions." - Eugenio Matibag, Associate Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Iowa State UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction Afro-Caribbean Spirituality: A Hatian Case Study - Karen McCarthy Brown Voudou in Haiti: Way of Life and Mode of Survival - Claudine Michel African Interpretations of the Christian Vodou Cross - Leslie G. Desmangles Resisting Freedom: Cultural Factors in Democracy: The Case for Haiti - Patrick Bellegarde-Smith "The Jew" in the Haitian Imagination: Pre-Modern Anti-Judaism the Post-Modern Caribbean - Elizabeth A McAlister The Song of Freedom: Vodoun, Conscientization and Popular Culture in Haiti - Gerdes Fleurant Water in their Eyes, Dust on their Land: Heat and Illness in a Haitian Town - Pierre Minn "I am Going to See Where My Oungan Is": The Artistry of a Haitian Vodou Flagmaker - Anna Wexler How Hougans Use the Light from Distant Stars - LeGrace Benson The Haiti-New Orleans Vodou Connection: Zora Neale Hurston as Initiate Observer - Richard Brent Turner

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Book SynopsisMáire Byrne is Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Old Testament Theologyat Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy, Ireland, and the Pontifical University in Maynooth, Ireland.Table of Contents1. Interfaith Dialogue and Comparative Theology; 2. Names and Naming; 3. Names of God in the Hebrew Bible; 4. Names of God in the New Testament; 5. 99 Most Beautiful Names of Allah; 6. Comparative Theologies and the Names of God; Bibliography; Index.

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