Comparative religion Books

Book SynopsisThe Wana people of Morowali accept the experiences of pain, illness and loss and transform them into something positive: rituals that celebrate life, friendship and the community. Through fieldwork with the Wana people of Morowali, Central Sulawesi, Giorgio Scalici shows how music serves as a connection between the human world and the hidden world of spirits and emotion.By examining rituals such as the momago, the main Wana healing ritual, and the kayori, the funeral, this book investigates how music is used by the Wana to heal people, control emotions, reinforce the sense of community and to mark the cultural death of the community member. In this study, music transforms the pain of loss into a playful event that heals the community and assures its future.This book will be of interest to the wider academic study of religion, anthropology and ethnomusicology as it looks as at funerals as healing rituals for the community which lead the living and the dead through critical times.

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Book SynopsisYudit Kornberg Greenberg is the George D. and Harriet W. Cornell Endowed Chair and Professor of Religion and Founding Director of the Jewish Studies Program at Rollins College, USA. Her publications include The Body in Religion: Crosscultural Perspectives (Bloomsbury, 2017), and The Routledge Handbook of Religion and the Body (2023).Benjamin E. Zeller is Professor and Chair of Religion at Lake Forest College, USA. Zeller chairs the Religion and Food AAR program unit, serves as co-general editor of Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, and his publications include Religion, Food, and Eating in North America (2014) and The Bloomsbury Companion to New Religious Movements (Bloomsbury, 2014).

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Book SynopsisThe Wiley-Blackwell Companion to World Christianity presents a collection of essays that explore a range of topics relating to the rise, spread, and influence of Christianity throughout the world.Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors ix Abbreviations xxi 1 Introduction 1Lamin Sanneh and Michael J. McClymond I. Historical Section 19 A. The Roots (50–1750 ce) 2 Jewish and Hellenic Worlds and Christian Origins 21John J. Collins 3 The “Triumph” of Hellenization in Early Christianity 32Wendy Elgersma Helleman 4 Ancient Eastern Christianity: Syria, Persia, Central Asia, and India 43Scott W. Sunquist 5 Christianity and the European Conversions 54Tomás O’Sullivan 6 Byzantium and Islam in the Mediterranean World 67James C. Skedros 7 The Medieval Synthesis: Religion, Society, and Culture 78Joseph P. Huffmann 8 Early Modern Missions and Maritime Expansion 96Felipe Fernandez-Armesto 9 Bibles, Printing, Books, Churches 107Lori Ferrell 10 The Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Reformation 119Jeffrey Klaiber B. Issues in the Modern Period (1750–2000 ce) 12911 The Legacy of Christendom 131Philip Jenkins 12 Slavery, Antislavery, and Christianity: Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean 142Christopher Schmidt-Nowara 13 Medicine, Agriculture, and Technology in the Missionary Enterprise 153Christopher H. Grundmann 14 Schools and Education in the Missionary Enterprise 166Norman Etherington 15 Conversion, Converts, and National Identity 176J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu 16 Church and State Relations in the Colonial Period 190Brian Stanley 17 Ideologies, the Quest for a Just Society, and Christian Responses 200Govert Buijs 18 The Ecumenical Movement: Why Violence, Why Not Peace? 218Jan van Butselaar 19 Vatican II: Renewal, Accommodation, Inculturation 231Peter C. Phan 20 Christian Revival and Renewal Movements 244Michael J. McClymond II. Thematic Section 263 21 Bible Translation, Culture, and Religion 265Lamin Sanneh 22 Christianity and Interreligious Encounters 282Martin Ganeri 23 Women in Church, State, and Society 302Angelyn Dries 24 Worship, Liturgy, Sacraments 318Geoffrey Wainwright 25 Freedom, Persecution, and the Status of Christian Minorities 330John Witte, Jr. and M. Christian Green 26 Christianity and “Western Classical” Music (1700–2000) 350David Martin 27 Music in the Newer Churches 359Brian Schrag 28 Visual Arts in World Christianity 368Volker Küster 29 Church Architecture Worldwide since 1800 386David R. Bains 30 Charismatic Gifts: Healing, Tongue-Speaking, Prophecy, and Exorcism 399Michael J. McClymond 31 Changing Uses of Old and New Media in World Christianity 419Jolyon Mitchell and Jeremy Kidwell 32 Global Evangelical and Pentecostal Politics 432Paul Freston III. Christianity Since 1800: An Analysis by Regions and Traditions 449 33 The Middle East and North Africa, I: Egypt and North Africa 451George Berbary 34 The Middle East and North Africa, II: Christians in the Ottoman Empire and in Bilad al-Sham 458Souad Slim 35 African Christianity: Historical and Thematic Horizons 468Lamin Sanneh 36 Christianity in Western Europe 488Simon Coleman 37 Russia and Eastern Europe 500Scott M. Kenworthy 38 Latin America and the Caribbean 511Stephen Dove 39 North America 523Amanda Porterfield 40 South Asia 535Chandra Mallampalli 41 China 546Daniel H. Bays 42 Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Southeast Asia 561J. Nelson Jennings, Yong Kyu Park, and Antolin V. Uy 43 Christianity in Australia and Oceania (ca. 1800–2000) 575Stuart Piggin and Peter Lineham 44 The Historical Development of Christianity in Oceania 588Manfred Ernst and Anna Anisi 45 Roman Catholicism since 1800 605Thomas P. Rausch 46 Orthodoxy and Eastern Christianity 617John A. McGuckin 47 Anglicanism 628Kevin Ward 48 Protestantism 641Alister McGrath 49 Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity 653Allan H. Anderson 50 Indigenous and Vernacular Christianity 664Michèle Miller Sigg, Eva M. Pascal, and Gina A. Zurlo IV. Expansion and Secularization: A Demographic and Statistical Analysis 683 51 The Transmission of Christian Faith: A Reflection 685Andrew Walls 52 The Demographics and Dynamics of the World Christian Movement 699Todd M. Johnson 53 Christianity in Europe and North America: Decline, Transition, or Pluralization? 719David Martin Index 733

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Book SynopsisRabbi on the Ganges: A Jewish-Hindu Encounter is the first work to engage the new terrain of Hindu-Jewish religious encounter.The book offers understanding into points of contact between the two religions of Hinduism and Judaism. Providing an important comparative account, the work illuminates key ideas and practices within the traditions, surfacing commonalities between the jnana and Torah study, karmakanda and Jewish ritual, and between the different Hindu philosophic schools and Jewish thought and mysticism, along with meditation and the life of prayer and Kabbalah and creating dialogue around ritual, mediation, worship, and dietary restrictions. The goal of the book is not only to unfold the content of these faith traditions but also to create a religious encounter marked by mutual and reciprocal understanding and openness.Trade ReviewBrill’s serious, respectful treatment of the Jewish-Hindu encounter in Rabbi on the Ganges provides much needed breathing room for Jewish lay readers to think about Hinduism with a respected Modern Orthodox Jewish writer who clearly cherishes his experience. . . . Brill approaches Hinduism with an appreciative eye, looking not to debunk, but to find riches. . . The riches in Rabbi on the Ganges are many, and the text also points to places for further, important developments for Jewish readers interested in Hinduism. . . . We can only speculate what the world Judaism of today would like if the majority of the Jewish diaspora had settled in Southeast Asia, or in India in particular. It is a tantalizing thought experiment, through which Brill would be a most enjoyable guide. * Journal of Interreligious Studies *This work is the best comparative analysis ever of Jewish and Hindu philosophy and religious thought. Brill knows his Jewish sources impeccably, and with skilled observations of daily life and engaging dialogues with Hindu thinkers and texts, we accompany him on his journey. This is a groundbreaking dialogue, and through Brill’s appreciative eyes Hindus and Jews will come to understand both the other and themselves in a new way. It has my highest recommendation. -- Nathan Katz, Distinguished Professor, Emeritus, Florida International UniversityThe late Swami Dayananda Saraswati declared Hinduism and Judaism to be the two fountainheads of Religion in our world—the one of the Abrahamic traditions and the other of the Dharmic religions. Yet for the most part in the course of history, the two have remained foreign to one another.In recent times this has changed dramatically, not least of all reflected in the fact that India is frequently the preferred destination of young Israeli Jews. However serious attempts to understand the religious world of the other have been rare. Alan Brill’s book is an impressive pioneering work in this regard and will enable those familiar with Jewish teaching to gain a serious comprehensive understanding of Hindu religious thought, practice, and devotion. Moreover the clarity and insights he provides will enlighten not only Jews, but all those who wish to gain understanding of the rich wisdom and forms of Hindu religious life. -- David Rosen, International Director of Interreligious AffairsBrill succeeds in juxtaposing a comprehensive introduction to Hindu history, thought, and practice with personal reflections drawn from his experiences in India. A Highly readable contribution to the growing field of Indo-Judaic studies, and an invitation to further Hindu-Jewish dialogue. -- Yudit Kornberg Greenberg, George D. and Harriet W. Cornell Endowed Chair of Religion, Rollins CollegeRabbi, professor, traveler, storyteller, spiritual seeker, all of these roles have woven together to enable an outstanding achievement: Alan Brill's Rabbi on the Ganges. This book serves both as an introduction to Hinduism and also as a comparative study of Hinduism and Judaism. Brill has an ability to sift between the essential and the trivial that allows this introduction to be significant and meaningful, exploring the history of Hinduism and its variety of denominations and philosophies.Despite the enormous amount of information, the book doesn't feel dense but rather very readable. In terms of the comparison to Judaism, there are insights both relating to the rituals and practices of these religions but also the deep spiritual teaching. Brill also shows parallel developments in both religions, such as regarding the status of women and responses to modernity.One of the most significant messages of the book is showing how the contemporary Jewish view of Hinduism is based on a Hinduism of antiquity rather than the Hinduism of today. For me, this book has been transformative, and I believe that it will form a basis for a fruitful relationship between Judaism and Hinduism. -- Rabbi Yakov Nagen, senior educator Otniel YeshivaTable of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgments Encountering Hinduism From A Jewish Perspective Vedic Worldview Darshan-Philosophies Hindu Denominations Hindu Texts and Piety Godliness Worship Karma-Kanda Modernity Epilogue: The Malida Offering BibliographyAbout the Author

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Book SynopsisReligion Today introduces students to key concepts in religious studies through a compelling problem-solving framework. Each chapter opens with a contemporary case study that helps students engage in current religious issues, explore possible solutions to difficult religious problems today, and learn key themes and concepts in religious studies.To enhance student learning, a free Student Study Guide is available for download from Rowman & Littlefield. The Study Guide features chapter summaries, definition quizzes for students to test themselves on key terms, and possible learning activities.

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Book SynopsisReligion Today introduces students to key concepts in religious studies through a compelling problem-solving framework. Each chapter opens with a contemporary case study that helps students engage in current religious issues, explore possible solutions to difficult religious problems today, and learn key themes and concepts in religious studies.To enhance student learning, a free Student Study Guide is available for download from Rowman & Littlefield. The Study Guide features chapter summaries, definition quizzes for students to test themselves on key terms, and possible learning activities.

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Book SynopsisAfrican cults and religions enrich all aspects of Cuba's social, cultural and everyday life, and encompass all ethnic and social groups. Politics, art, and civil events such as weddings, funerals, festivals and carnivals all possess distinctly Afro-Cuban characteristics. Miguel Barnet provides a concise guide to the various traditions and branches of Afro-Cuban religions. He distinguishes between the two most important cult forms - the Regla de Ocha (Santeria), which promotes worship of the Oshira (gods), and the traditional oracles that originated in the old Yoruba city of Ile-Ife, which promote a more animistic worldview. Africans who were brought to Cuba as slaves had to recreate their old traditions in their new Caribbean context. As their African heritage collided with Catholicism and with Native American and European traditions, certain African gods and traditions became more prominent while others lost their significance in the new Afro-Cuban culture. This book, the first systematic overview of the syncretization of the gods of African origin with Catholic saints, introduces the reader to a little-known side of Cuban culture.Trade ReviewDirector of the Fernando Ortiz Foundation in Havana Cuba, and author of ""Biography of a Runaway Slave,"" Barnet explores the mythology and practices of Afro-Cuban religious movements. He illuminates the complex pantheon of deities worshipped in each tradition and examines the rituals, music, and dance of each in clear, straightforward manner. He also compares and contrasts Cuban practices, with those in the African homelands and of these religions."" -- Library Journal ""Very Good""--Today's Books

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Book SynopsisAfrican cults and religions enrich all aspects of Cuba's social, cultural and everyday life, and encompass all ethnic and social groups. Politics, art, and civil events such as weddings, funerals, festivals and carnivals all possess distinctly Afro-Cuban characteristics. Miguel Barnet provides a concise guide to the various traditions and branches of Afro-Cuban religions. He distinguishes between the two most important cult forms - the Regla de Ocha (Santeria), which promotes worship of the Oshira (gods), and the traditional oracles that originated in the old Yoruba city of Ile-Ife, which promote a more animistic worldview. Africans who were brought to Cuba as slaves had to recreate their old traditions in their new Caribbean context. As their African heritage collided with Catholicism and with Native American and European traditions, certain African gods and traditions became more prominent while others lost their significance in the new Afro-Cuban culture. This book, the first systematic overview of the syncretization of the gods of African origin with Catholic saints, introduces the reader to a little-known side of Cuban culture.Trade ReviewDirector of the Fernando Ortiz Foundation in Havana Cuba, and author of ""Biography of a Runaway Slave,"" Barnet explores the mythology and practices of Afro-Cuban religious movements. He illuminates the complex pantheon of deities worshipped in each tradition and examines the rituals, music, and dance of each in clear, straightforward manner. He also compares and contrasts Cuban practices, with those in the African homelands and of these religions."" -- Library Journal ""Very Good""--Today's Books

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Book Synopsis

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