Comparative religion Books

Book SynopsisImages of books appear in art, advertising and commercial logos to symbolize learning, knowledge and wisdom. In religious and secular rituals around the globe, people carry, show, wave, touch and kiss books and other texts, as well as read them. Such images and rituals utilize the iconic dimension of texts. This volume is the first comprehensive survey of iconic books and texts. It traces their development and influence from ancient to modern times and compares their roles in multiple cultures and religious traditions. The twenty-two essays presented here are original, cutting-edge contributions to this new academic field, and will appeal to students and scholars across the study of religions, literature, book history, archives and libraries.Trade ReviewTogether the 22 essays in this volume creatively and effectively draw together different historical epochs, varied religious and cultural traditions and ritual practices, and diverse scholarly methodologies to create a finely woven tapestry depicting the enduring, transcultural, and mutually supportive significances of iconic books and texts. In addition to giving these previously published essays a wider audience, this collection will help foster meaningful cross-disciplinary conversation between readers interested in al aspects of the history of the book.Table of ContentsIntroduction James W. Watts I. Categorizing Iconic Books1. The Three Dimensions of Scriptures James W. Watts 2. "Winged Words": Scriptures and Classics as Iconic Texts William A. Graham, Harvard University 3. Talking about "Iconic Books" in the Terminology of Book History Deirdre C. Stam, Long Island University II. Images and Texts4. The Iconic Book: The Image of the Bible in Early Christian Rituals Dorina Miller Parmenter, Spalding University, Louisville, KY 5. Images to be Read and Words to be Seen: The Iconic Role of the Early Medieval Book Michelle P. Brown, School of Advanced Study, University of London 6. Looking at Words: The Iconicity of the Page S. Brent Plate, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY 7. Between the Textual and the Visual: Borderlines of Late Antique Book Iconicity Zeev Elitzur, Israel Center for Excellence through Education, Jerusalem 8. It Is What It Is (Or Is It?): Further Reflections on the Buddhist Representation of Manuscripts Jacob Kinnard, Iliff School of Theology, Denver 9. The Tell-Tale Iconic Book M. Patrick Graham, Emory University III. Materials and Markets10. Mus h af and the Material Boundaries of the Qur'an Natalia K. Suit, University of North Carolina (PhD candidate) 11. The End of the Word as We Know It: The Cultural Iconicity of the Bible in the Twilight of Print Culture Timothy Beal, Case Western Reserve University 12. Iconic Books from Below: The Christian Bible and the Discourse of Duct Tape Dorina Miller Parmenter 13. Be-Witching Scripture: The Book of Shadows as Scripture within Wicca/Neopagan Witchcraft Shawn Loner, Syracuse University (PhD candidate) IV. Book Rituals14. Engaging with the Guru: Sikh Beliefs and Practices of Guru Granth Sahib Kristina Myrvold, Linnaeus University, Sweden 15. A Birthday Party for a Sacred Text: The Gita Jayanti and the Embodiment of God as the Book and the Book as God Joanne Punzo Waghorne, Syracuse University 16. Possession and Repetition: Ways in which Korean Lay Buddhists Appropriate Scriptures Yohan Yoo, Seoul National University 17. The Bible in British Folklore Brian Malley, University of Michigan V. Power and Scholarship18. The Pride and Prejudice of the Western World: Canonic Memory, Great Books and Archive Fever Karl Ivan Solibakke, Syracuse University 19. Indigenous "Texts" of Inhabiting the Land: George Washington's Wampum Belt and the Canandaigua Treaty Philip P. Arnold, Syracuse University 20. The Gospels as Imperialized Sites of Memory in Late Ancient Christianity Jason T. Larson, The Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, CT 21. Possessing the Iconic Book: Ben Sira as Case Study Claudia V. Camp, Texas Christian University 22. Ancient Iconic Texts and Scholarly Expertise James W. Watts

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Book SynopsisFrom false idols and graven images to the tombs of kings and the shrines of capitalism, the targeted destruction of cities, sacred sites and artefacts for religious, political or nationalistic reasons is central to our cultural legacy. This book examines the different traditions of image-breaking in Christianity and Islam as well as their development into nominally secular movements and paints a vivid, scholarly picture of a culture of destruction encompassing Protestantism, Wahhabism, and Nationalism. Beginning with a comparative account of Calvinist Geneva and Wahhabi Mecca, The Politics of Iconoclasm explores the religious and political agendas behind acts of image-breaking and their relation to nationhood and state-building. From sixteenth-century Geneva to urban developments in Mecca today, The Politics of Iconoclasm explores the history of image-breaking, the culture of violence and its paradoxical roots in the desire for renewal. Examining these dynamics of nationhood, technology, destruction and memory, a historical journey is described in which the temple is razed and replaced by the machine.Table of ContentsContents List of Illustrations ix Note on Transliteration xi Acknowledgements xiii Introduction 1 PART I: THE PROTOTYPES 1 Calvinism and Iconoclasm 23 2 Wahhabism and Iconoclasm 59 PART II: THE CASES 3 The French Revolution and Iconoclasm 95 4 The Bourgeois City and Iconoclasm: Venice 111 5 World War Two and Iconoclasm 125 6 The Balkan Wars and Iconoclasm 145 7 Islamic Iconoclasm Today 165 Conclusion 179 Notes 185 Bibliography 219 Index of Key Names 233

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Book SynopsisThis book presents a new examination of ethical dictum 'The Golden Rule' exploring its formulation and significance in relation to the world's major religions. The Golden Rule: treat others as you would like to be treated. This ethical dictum is a part of most of the world's religions and has been considered by numerous religious figures and philosophers over the centuries. This new collection contains specially commissioned essays which take a fresh look at this guiding principle from a comparative perspective. Participants examine the formulation and significance of the Golden Rule in the world's major religions by applying four questions to the tradition they consider: What does it say? What does it mean? How does it work? How does it matter?Freshly examining the Golden Rule in broad comparative context provides a fascinating account of its uses and meaning, and allows us to assess if, how and why it matters in human cultures and societies.Trade ReviewReview in Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol.25, no.2, 2010.Neusner, Chilton, and their colleagues maintain a focused discipline on opening the conversation, entering the exploration, and generating questions for further study. One exits a reading of The Golden Rule with an expansive awareness of how the golden Rule starts with and extends beyond concern for self-dignity, invites expansive application beyond local kith and kin, invokes anticipatory action over simple reactive reciprocity, and urges people toward honor of the other and unitive human care. -- Anglican Theological Review"After reading this collection, there can be little doubt that this powerful rule has had an enormous influence in shaping religious beliefs throughout the centuries and around the world. This study lends credence to the principle that religions have at their core certain overarching concepts that emphasize basic ethical teachings and that instruct believers to act morally and honorably." --Jewish Book World, Winter 2009 * Jewish Book World Quarterly Review *Table of ContentsPreface; 1. Introduction: Parsing Reciprocity: Questions for the Golden Rule, William Scott Green (University of Miami, USA); 2. The Golden Rule in Ancient Israelite Scripture, Baruch A. Levine (New York University, USA); 3. Alternatives to the Golden Rule: Social Reciprocity and Altruism in Early Archaic Greece, Carolyn Dewald (Bard College, USA); 4. The Golden Rule in Graeco-Roman Religion and Philosophy, Robert Berchman (Dowling College, USA). 5. The Golden Rule in Classical Judaism, Jacob Neusner (Bard College, USA); 6. The Golden Rule in Zoroastrianism, Mahnaz Moazami (Columbia University, USA); 7. The Golden Rule in Earliest Christianity, Bruce D. Chilton (Bard College, USA); 8. The Golden Rule as the Law of Nature, from Origen to Martin Luther, Olivier du Roy (French National Center for Scientific Research, Paris); 9. The Golden Rule in Islam, Emil Homerin (University of Rochester, USA); 10. The Golden Rule in Buddhism [I], Kristen Scheible (Bard College, USA); 11. The Golden Rule in Buddhism [II], Charles Hallisey (University of Wisconsin, USA); 12. A Hindu Golden Rule in Context, Richard Davis (Bard College, USA); 13. The Golden Rule in Confucianism, Mark A. Csikszentmihalyi (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA); 14. Conclusion, William Scott Green (University of Miami, USA).

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Book SynopsisThis book argues that two conflicting styles of nationalist imagination led to the violent rending of Cyprus in 1974 and sustained that division over decades. Based on research in both southern and northern Cyprus, the work demonstrates how the conflict emerged through the Cypriot's encounters with modernity under British colonialism, and through a consequent re-imagining of the body politic in a new world in which Cypriots were defined as part of a European periphery. Rebecca Bryant demonstrates how Muslims and Christians were transformed into Turks and Greeks, and what it meant epistemologically, ontollogically and politically when they were.Trade Review'A timely and welcome contribution.' - Middle Eastern Studies

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Book SynopsisIs what, or whether, one believes the significant religious question? Although the religious communities differ in belief, how much do they really differ in faith? Do two people who assert a particular statement of belief necessarily share the same faith? Written by a highly respected scholar in the field of comparative religion, these issues are directly addressed in this investigation of the personal quality of faith, and its relationship to the concept of belief.Table of ContentsThe Buddhist instance - faith as atheist?; the Islamic instance - faith as theocentric; a Hindu contribution - Sraddha; "Credo" and the Roman Catholic church - baptism, St. Thomas Aquinas, Vatican I, the 20th century, Varia; the English word "believe"; conclusion - faith as generically human, belief and understanding, the intellectual dimension of faith.

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Book SynopsisToday the concept of "believing" is generally considered to be of central significance to one's faith. Smith traces the history of "believing" through a discussion of religious belief from a modern philosophical and linguistic perspective; an assessment of the history of the words "belief" and "believe"; as well as through the study of biblical passages. Smith's comprehensive enquiry reveals that this emphasis on its importance is a relatively modern phenomenon.Table of ContentsI. The Meaning of Religious Statements: Comments on a Debate. II. The Modern History of "Believing": The Drfit Away from Faith III. The Bible: Belief as Non-Scriptural Notes and References General Index Index of Biblical Passages Index of Some Significant Hebrew and Greek Terms.

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Book SynopsisCovering all the major religious traditions, from Christianity to Confucianism, this authoritative text presents all the understanding, comparative analysis, and philosophical insight necessary for an informed understanding of the meaning of life in the different world faiths.

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Book SynopsisEdited by two of the most prominent names in interfaith dialogue, this is an introduction to the complex relationships between Christianity and the other world faiths. Featuring essays from some of the key thinkers in the Christian faith. It covers both Catholic and Protestant approaches, and features all the rival points of view, including the uncompromising absolutism of Karl Barth and Pope John Paul II, the more ecumenical approaches of Karl Rahner and Hans Kung, and the religious pluralism of Wilfred Cantwell Smith and John Hick, among others.Table of ContentsKarl Barth - The Revelation of God as the Abolition of Religion. Karl Rahner - Christianity and the Non-Christian Religions. Vatican II - Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions. Wilfred Cantwell Smith - The Christian in a Religiously Plural World. Aloysius Pieris - The Place of Non-Christian Religions and Cultures in the Evolution of Third World Theology; Leslie Newbigin - The Christian Faith and the World Religions. Hans K ng - Is There One True Religion? An Essay in Establishing Ecumenical Criteria. Paul Knitter Christian Theology of Liberation and Interfaith Dialogue. John Hick - The Theological Challenge of Religious Pluralism. J rgen Moltmann - Dialogue or Mission?; Christianity and the Religions in an Endangered World. Pope John Paul II - Address of the Holy Father to the Congregation or the Doctrine of the Faith, together with extracts from that Congregation's "Dominus Jesus" - On the Unity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church.

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Book SynopsisThis volume outlines the approaches to human rights and responsibilities within the different world religions. Featuring contributions from over 15 scholars, the book covers such key issues as women's rights, the role of international law, and responsibility for the environment. It also includes a "Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the World's Religions", presented at the third Parliament of the World Religions.Trade Review"an important contribution in many fields." * Studies in Religion *"a stimulus to debate about how to reach a universal view of human rights and responsibilites." * Epworth Review *"Ward's insights and hopes offer a stimulating antidote to the bad press that religion widely (and, sadly, too often deservedly) suffers from at present." * Epworth Review *"This is a brilliant collection on a very important theme. Buy now!" * Expository Times *"an important contribution to an unavoidable debate" * British Journal of Religious Education *

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Book SynopsisThis volume approaches the topic of mobility in Southeast Europe by offering the first detailed historical study of the land route connecting Istanbul with Belgrade. After this route that diagonally crosses Southeast Europe had been established in Roman times, it was as important for the Byzantines as the Ottomans to rule their Balkan territories. In the nineteenth century, the road was upgraded to a railroad and, most recently, to a motorway. The contributions in this volume focus on the period from the Middle Ages to the present day. They explore the various transformations of the route as well as its transformative role for the cities and regions along its course. This not only concerns the political function of the route to project the power of the successive empires. Also the historical actors such as merchants, travelling diplomats, Turkish guest workers or Middle Eastern refugees together with the various social, economic and cultural effects of their mobility are in the focus of attention. The overall aim is to gain a deeper understanding of Southeast Europe by foregrounding historical continuities and disruptions from a long-term perspective and by bringing into dialogue different national and regional approaches.

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Book Synopsis In pre-modern religions in the geographical context of Asia we encounter unique scripts, number systems, calendars, and naming conventions. These can make Western-built technologies – even tools specifically developed for digital humanities – an ill fit to our needs. The present volume explores this struggle and the limitations and potential opportunities of applying a digital humanities approach to pre-modern Asian religions. The authors cover Buddhism, Christianity, Daoism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism and Shintoism with chapters categorized according to their focus on: 1) temples, 2) manuscripts, 3) texts, and 4) social media. Thus, the volume guides readers through specific methodologies and practical examples while also providing a critical reflection on the state of the field, pushing the interface between digital humanities and pre-modern Asian religions into new territory.

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Book SynopsisThis volume of the series "Key Concepts in Interreligious Discourses" investigates the roots of the concept of "body" in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The Body and being a created being stands in the focus of all the thre major monotheistic faiths. It is not just by the christian idea of man's likeness to God that indicates that the human body is a central object of religious thinking, both culturally and theologically charged. Here, the body stands in the crossfire of terms like "pure" and "unpure", "sacred" and "profane", "male" and "femal". And besides the theological controversies, everyday experiences like sexuality, gender equality and how to dispose of the own body (and that of others) are undoubtly recent and highly contentious discussion points in the debate of a peaceful living together of different religions and cultures.The volume presents the concept of "body" in its different aspects as anchored in the traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It unfolds commonalities and differences between the three monotheistic religions as well as the manifold discourses about peace within these three traditions. The book offers fundamental knowledge about the specific understanding of the body in each one of these traditions, their interdependencies and their relationship to secular world views.

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Book SynopsisThis volume of the series "Key Concepts in Interreligious Discourses" investigates the roots of the concept of "soul" in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The human soul fascinates not only believers in the three monotheistic faiths. Believing in an immortal entitiy, surpassing body, materia and their temporality and thus seeming to be closer to the creator that the mere body was and remains to be a vividly discussed theme in theological and practical debates. Even our secular, postreligious environment is unable to disengage from the key concept of the soul. Numerous proverbs, undefined concepts and hopes prove this fact. Asking for the soul means asking fundamental questions like life after death and therefor asking for one of the most fundamental and uniting hopes of human beings, be they secular or religious.The volume presents the concept of "soul" in its different aspects as anchored in the traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It unfolds commonalities and differences between the three monotheistic religions as well as the manifold discourses about peace within these three traditions. The book offers fundamental knowledge about the specific understanding of the soul in each one of these traditions, their interdependencies and their relationship to secular world views.

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Book SynopsisThe present volume of Key Concepts in Interreligious Discourses offers a fascinating insight into the history, the main ideas and current developments in economic thought from the perspective of the three major monotheistic faiths Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The reader encounters topics such as price control in rabbinic Judaism, Christian monks elaborating the foundations of modern accounting, and the latest innovations in Islamic banking. Each article has been written by a renowned expert on the subject and offers a historical overview over the development of the concept, the theological and philosophical principles in the Holy Scriptures of each faith, an outline of the practical application of the concept in the present, its significance for the future, and many more.

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Book SynopsisOn the seventh day, God rested and thus completed his creation. Likewise, man should rest on the seventh day and every seven years leave the fields fallow to rest. If you like, a divine economic and environmental programme is encountered here. "Subdue the earth" is not to be misunderstood as a mandate to subjugate and exploit, but on the contrary as a call to preserve God's "very good" creation. Its current explosiveness illustrates precisely this fundamental relationship. Even secular circles now speak of the "integrity of creation" as a matter of course. And in Muslim countries, scholars and activists are preparing to launch a "green Islam", based of course on Quranic principles. At the same time, faith communities and churches with their commitment to nature and to a just world of work are moving into the concrete focus of public attention and are serious players in the current discourse. Reason enough, then, to get to the bottom of the concept of "environment" in the world religions. How do religions position themselves on the ecological question? What are the foundations of their decisions? And can they make a significant contribution to the current problem and to the enquiries of many people?

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Book SynopsisThe dawn of the modern age posed challenges to all of the world’s religions – and since then, religions have countered with challenges to modernity. In Religious Responses to Modernity, seven leading scholars from Germany and Israel explore specific instances of the face-off between religious thought and modernity, in Christianity, Judaism and Islam.As co-editor Christoph Markschies remarks in his Foreword, it may seem almost trivial to say that different religions, and the various currents within them, have reacted in very different ways to the “multiple modernities” described by S.N. Eisenstadt. However, things become more interesting when the comparative perspective leads us to discover surprising similarities. Disparate encounters are connected by their transnational or national perspectives, with the one side criticizing in the interest of rationality as a model of authorization, and the other presenting revelation as a critique of a depraved form of rationality. The thoughtful essays presented herein, by Simon Gerber, Johannes Zachhuber, Jonathan Garb, Rivka Feldhay, Paul Mendes-Flohr, Israel Gershoni and Christoph Schmidt, provide a counterweight to the popularity of some all-too-simplified models of modernization.

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Book Synopsis Ancient authors debated proper verbal and non-verbal signs as representations of divinity. These understanding of signs were based on ideas drawn from language and thus limited due to a their partial understanding of the multi-functionality of signs. Charles S. Peirce’s semiotics, as adapted by anthropological linguists including Michael Silverstein, better explains the contextual linkages ("performativity") of ancient religious signs such as divine names. Sign meaning is always dependent on processes of interpretation and is always open to reinterpretation. Focusing on these processes permits a more detailed analysis of the ancient evidence. Examples are drawn from ancient Israelite verbal and non-verbal divine representation, the apostle Paul’s linguistic letter/spirit model, Christian debates about the limits of language to best represent the deity, Josephus’ aniconic advertisement of Jewish rites, the multi-layered divine representations in the Dura-Europos synagogue, the diverse "performativity" of Jewish ascent liturgies, and—the single modern example—the role of art at Burning Man. Divine representation is the basis for ritual efficacy even as sign meaning is a constant source of contention.

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