Comparative religion Books

Book SynopsisHebrew Texts in Jewish, Christian and Muslim Surroundings offers a new perspective on Judaism, Christianity and Islam as religions of the book. Their problematic relation seems to indicate that there is more that divides than unites these religions. The present volume will show that there is an intricate web of relations between the texts of these three religious traditions. On many levels readings and interpretations intermingle and influence each other. Studying the multifaceted history of the way Hebrew texts were read and interpreted in so many different contexts may contribute to a better understanding of the complicated relation between Jews, Christians and Muslims. These studies are dedicated to Dineke Houtman honouring her work as professor of Jewish-Christian relations.

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Book SynopsisIn Common Words in Muslim-Christian Dialogue Vebjørn L. Horsfjord offers an analysis of texts from an international dialogue process between Christian and Muslim leaders. Through detailed engagement with the Muslim dialogue letter A Common Word between Us and You (2007) and a large number of Christian responses to it, the study analyses the dialogue process in the wake of the Muslim initiative and shows how the various texts gain meaning through their interaction. The author uses tools from critical discourse analysis and speech act analysis and claims that the Islamic dialogue initiative became more important as an invitation to Muslim-Christian dialogue than as theological reflection. He shows how Christian leaders systematically chose to steer the dialogue process towards practical questions about peaceful coexistence and away from theological issues.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements 1 Introduction: It Takes Two to Dialogue  1.1 Letters and Conference Statements  1.2 Jordanian Roots  1.3 The Common Word Process and Academia  1.4 Goal: To Understand What These Men are Doing 2 We Muslims and You Christians: A Common Word between us and You  2.1 A Complex Text: Structure and Main Argument  2.2 Textual Forerunners  2.3 A Common Word: A Second Open Letter  2.4 Using Sacred Texts  2.5 Publication, Promotion and Related Dialogue Initiatives  2.6 Muslims and Christians: Construction of Group Identities  2.7 What Does acw Do?  2.8 Conclusion: It Takes Two to Dialogue 3 The First Christian Responses  3.1 Response from David Ford  3.2 Senior Church Leaders Respond  3.3 An Alternative Reading: Michael Nazir-Ali  3.4 Conclusion 4 Roman Catholic Responses  4.1 Catholic-Muslim Dialogue since the Second Vatican Council  4.2 First Official Catholic Responses to acw 74  4.3 Five Substantial Commentaries from Four Scholars  4.4 Catholic-Muslim Dialogue in the Wake of acw 83  4.5 Conclusion 5 The Yale Response: Loving God and Neighbor Together  5.1 An Advertisement in the New York Times  5.2 Interacting with acw: Arguments, Speech Acts, Construals  5.3 Bodily Gestures, but Little Flesh  5.4 Conclusion 6 World Evangelical Alliance: We Too Want to Live in Love, Peace, Freedom and Justice  6.1 The Text and Its Main Arguments  6.2 What wwll Does  6.3 Different Difference  6.4 Interpreting Evangelicals: Beyond Polite Dialogue?  6.5 Conclusion 7 World Council of Churches: Learning to Explore Love Together  7.1 Four Decades of Christian-Muslim Dialogue  7.2 Learning to Explore Love Together: A Resource Document  7.3 Conclusion 8 Rowan Williams: A Common Word for the Common Good  8.1 Background and Context  8.2 The Text and Its Main Arguments  8.3 What the Text Does  8.4 Managing Differences Discursively  8.5 Conclusion 9 Orthodox Church Leaders: Responses from Five Contexts  9.1 Response from Archbishop Mor Eustathius Matta Roham, Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch  9.2 Response from Catholicos Aram i, Armenian Orthodox Church  9.3 Response from the See of Etchmiadzin (The Armenian Orthodox Church)  9.4 Response from Patriarch Alexy ii of Moscow and all Russia  9.5 Response from Archbishop Chrisostomos ii of Cyprus 10 We Muslims and Christians Together: Statements from Dialogue Conferences  10.1 Declaration from the Yale University Conference, July 2008  10.2 Communique from the Cambridge Conference, October 2008  10.3 Declaration from the Catholic–Muslim Forum, November 2008  10.4 Statement from the Geneva Consultation, November 2010  10.5 Conclusion: acw as Proposition and Invitation 11 Lessons  11.1 Making Sense of a Common Word  11.2 Cross-cutting Topics  11.3 Religion and the Religious  11.4 The Myth of Interreligious Dialogue  11.5 A Hermeneutics of Good Will  11.6 Managing Difference – In-groups and Out-groups Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisBased on long-term ethnographic study, this is the first comprehensive work on the Chinese popular religion in Malaysia. It analyses temples and communities in historical and contemporary perspective, the diversity of deities and Chinese speech groups, religious specialists and temple services, the communal significance of the Hungry Ghosts Festival, the relationship between religion and philanthropy as seen through the lens of such Chinese religious organization as shantang (benevolent halls) and Dejiao (Moral Uplifting Societies), as well as the development and transformation of Taoist Religion. Highly informative, this concise book contributes to an understanding of Chinese migration and settlement, political economy and religion, religion and identity politics as well the significance of religion to both individuals and communities.Trade Review"After more than four decades of research, Tan proves to be the most eminent scholar in the field, very well equipped to provide his readers with thorough insights into the fundamental characteristics of Chinese popular religion. The benefits of a long-term perspective are apparent, both in specific areas such as the development of Daoism in Malaysia and in a more general sense, showing how the dynamics of Chinese related religions influence and contribute to the broader context of Malaysian identity-building." – Gabriella Voss, University of Vienna, in Religious Studies, 46.2 (2020).Table of ContentsPreface Technical Notes List of Illustrations 1 Introduction 2 Temples and Local Communities 3 Deities, Speech Groups and Temples 4 Temple Services, Mediums and Temple Promotion 5 Localization and Chinese Religion 6 Pudu: The Hungry Ghosts Festival 7 Religious Organizations and Philanthropy 8 Taoist Religion in Malaysia 9 Conclusion Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn this first volume of Brill Research Perspectives in Theology, the field of comparative theology is mapped with particular attention to the tradition associated with Francis Clooney but noting the global and wider context of theology in a comparative mode. There are four parts. In the first section the current field is mapped and its methodological and theological aspects are explored. The second part considers what the deconstruction of religion means for comparative theology. It also takes into consideration turns to lived and material religion. In the third part, issues of power, representation, and the subaltern are considered, including the place of feminist and queer theory in comparative theology. Finally, the contribution of philosophical hermeneutics is considered. The text notes key trends, develops original models of practice and method, and picks out and discusses critical issues within the field.Trade Review"Paul Hedges should be commended for this critical overview of comparative theology (hereafter, CT), as he deftly weaves together a volume that is both succinct (a mere eighty-nine pages) and loaded with rich analysis." - Joseph immel, Harvard University, in 34 (2022), pp. 102-103.Table of ContentsComparative Theology A Critical and Methodological Perspective Paul Hedges  Abstract  Keywords  Introduction  Part 1: Defining, Exploring, and Mapping a Field  Part 2: Comparative Theology after Religion  Part 3: Discourses on Power and Representation  Part 4: Comparative Theology, Hermeneutics, and Interpretation  Concluding Reflections  Critical Bibliography

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Book SynopsisConspiracy theories are a ubiquitous feature of our times. The Handbook of Conspiracy Theories and Contemporary Religion is the first reference work to offer a comprehensive, transnational overview of this phenomenon along with in-depth discussions of how conspiracy theories relate to religion(s). Bringing together experts from a wide range of disciplines, from psychology and philosophy to political science and the history of religions, the book sets the standard for the interdisciplinary study of religion and conspiracy theories.Trade Review"No one before has undertaken the tremendously important and timely task of compiling a volume, dealing with the relationship between conspiracy theories and religion (...) The book not only examines the intersection of religion and conspiracy theories, but also provides a survey about the global phenomenon of conspiracy theories by discussing examples in different times and cultural environments." - Dominic Bornand, Andrews University Seminary Studies 56, 2018. " As I read the chapters in this volume, I thought about how I might use this material in a course on conspiracy theories and religions. (...) I highly recommend this book for college or university libraries." - W. Michael Ashcraft, Truman State University, Reading Religion, September 15, 2020.Table of ContentsForeword  Michael Barkun List of Authors Introducing the Field: Conspiracy Theory in, about, and as Religion  David G. Robertson, Egil Asprem and Asbjørn Dyrendal Part 1: Explanations 1 Conspiracy Theories and the Study of Religion\s: What we are Talking about, and Why it is Important  Asbjørn Dyrendal, Egil Asprem and David G. Robertson 2 Rational Enchantments: Conspiracy Theory between Secular Scepticism and Spiritual Salvation  Stef Aupers and Jaron Harambam 3 Is a Belief in Providence the Same as a Belief in Conspiracy?  Brian L. Keeley 4 Are Conspiracy Theories a Surrogate for God?  Michael Wood and Karen Douglas 5 A Web of Conspiracy? Internet and Conspiracy Theory  Joseph E. Uscinski, Darin DeWitt and Matthew D. Atkinson Part 2: Correspondences 6 The Satanism Scare in Apartheid South Africa  Nicky Falkof 7 “Trust Me, You Can’t Trust Them”: Stigmatised Knowledge in Cults and Conspiracies  Amanda van Eck Duymaer van Twist and Suzanne Newcombe 8 Popular Music, Conspiracy Culture, and the Sacred  Christopher Partridge 9 Close Companions? Esotericism and Conspiracy Theories  Egil Asprem and Asbjørn Dyrendal 10 The Counter-Elite: Strategies of Authority in Millennial Conspiracism  David G. Robertson Part 3: Locations 11 Buddhism Endangered by Hidden Enemies: Conspiracy Narratives in Sri Lankan Buddhist Present and Past  Sven Bretfeld 12 Buddhist Islamophobia: Actors, Tropes, Contexts  Iselin Frydenlund 13 Islamism and the Instrumentalisation of Conspiracism  Willow J. Berridge 14 Anti-Jewish and Anti-Zionist Conspiracism in the Arab World: Historical and Political Roots  Barbara De Poli 15 A Fantastic People and Its Enemies: An Analysis of an Emerging Albanian Mythology  Cecilie Endresen 16 Was Aristotle an Anti-Semitic Alien? Conspiracy Theory, Ufology, and the Colonisation of the Past in Contemporary Greece  Tao T. Makeeff 17 The Role of Conspiracy Theory in the Aum Shinrikyo Incident  Tsuji Ryutaro 18 Framing of a Conspiracy Theory: The Efendi Series  Turkay Nefes 19 The Third Rome Against the Third Temple: Apocalypticism and Conspiracism in Post-Soviet Russia  Michael Hagemeister 20 Alexander Dugin: Between Eschatology, Esotericism, and Conspiracy Theory  Victor Shnirelman 21 Conspiracy Theories and Neo-Nazism in the Cultic Milieu  Paul Jackson 22 Evil Cult or Persecuted Minority? Conspiracy Theories Surrounding Falun Gong and the Government of the People’s Republic of China  Helen Farley 23 The Messiah is a Salesman, Yet Consumerism is a Con(spiracy): The Church of the SubGenius, Work, and the Pursuit of Slack as a Spiritual Ideal  Carole M. Cusack Afterword: Further Reflections, Future Directions  Egil Asprem, David G. Robertson and Asbjørn Dyrendal Index

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Book SynopsisEvolution, Cognition, and the History of Religion: A New Synthesis comprises 41 chapters that push for a new way of conducting the study of religion, thereby, transforming the discipline into a genuine science of religion. The recent resurgence of evolutionary approaches on culture and the increasing acknowledgement in the natural and social sciences of culture’s and religion’s evolutionary importance calls for a novel epistemological and theoretical framework for studying these two areas. The chapters explore how a new scholarly synthesis, founded on the triadic space constituted by evolution, cognition, cultural and ecological environment, may develop. Different perspectives and themes relating to this overarching topic are taken up with a main focus on either evolution, cognition, and/or the history of religion.

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Book SynopsisHistorically, all societies have used comparison to analyze cultural difference through the interaction of religion, power, and translation. When comparison is a self-reflective practice, it can be seen as a form of comparatism. Many scholars are concerned in one way or another with the practice and methods of comparison, and the need for a cognitively robust relativism is an integral part of a mature historical self-placement. This volume looks at how different theories and practices of writing and interpretation have developed at different times in different cultures and reconsiders the specificities of modern comparative approaches within a variety of comparative moments. The idea is to reconsider the specificities, the obstacles, and the possibilities of modern comparative approaches in history and anthropology through a variety of earlier and parallel comparative horizons. Particular attention is given to the exceptional role of Athens and Jerusalem in shaping the Western understanding of cultural difference.

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Book SynopsisIn Walking on the Pages of the Word of God Aron Engberg explores the religious language and identities of evangelical volunteer workers in contemporary Jerusalem. The volunteers are connected to Christian organizations which consider their work a natural consequence of the biblical promises to Israel and their responsibility to “bless the Jewish people”. Relying on ethnographic data of the discursive practices of the volunteers, the book explores a central puzzle of Zionist Christianity: the narrative production of Israel’s religious significance and its relationship to broader Christian language traditions. By focusing on the volunteers’ stories about themselves, the land and the Bible, Aron Engberg offers a convincing account about how the State of Israel is finding its way into evangelical identities.Trade Review"Readers will discover a wealth of insight in Engberg’s new book, from the formation and functioning of global evangelical networks to religious language and the role Christian Zionists have played in shaping the lived landscape of contemporary Jerusalem. This is an indispensable ethnography, one that promises to make a lasting impact on the interdisciplinary study of Christianity and the social life of scriptures more broadly." — James S. Bielo, Miami University "Based on intensive fieldwork, Aron Engberg provides a vivid portrait of Evangelical volunteers in Israel. For them, living in the Bible Land is not about venerating the past, but its restoration through the State of Israel. The contradictions between prophecy and current life in Israel are resolved through a postponement of understanding, which authenticates action as being a result of God’s agency. Engberg describes this process, fluctuating between the persuasiveness of narrative truth and the limits of human agency, with precision and coherence. In doing so, he provides an empathetic but not romanticized account of Christian Zionism that relates it to broader issues in contemporary Protestantism." — Jackie Feldman, Ben Gurion University of the Negev "Aron Engberg provides a closely observed account of Israel as both contemporary place and complex object of aspiration for Protestant evangelical volunteers. Working through individual encounters and biographies, he brings into conversation two areas of research that have had strangely little to say to each other so far: Christian Zionism, and analysis of the forms and functions of Protestant language ideologies. The result is a hugely engaging text that tells us much about how Jerusalem is lived, imagined, and narrated by powerful advocates for the State of Israel as political and spiritual entity." — Simon Coleman, Chancellor Jackman Professor, University of TorontoTable of ContentsAcknowledgments List of Interviews 1 Introduction   Walking on the Pages of the Word of God   Toward an Ethnography of Christian Zionism   “Christian Zionism”: Belief and Practice    Biblical Literalism    Christian Zionism as Narrative and Process   Meaning, Language, and Narrative    Meaning & Symbol    Language Ideology    Religious Language & Narrative Performance   The Scene in Jerusalem    The Volunteers    Interviews   Self, Land, and Text 2 Evangelical Zionism in Jerusalem   History of the Organizations    Restorationism and Dispensationalism    Jerusalem in the 1970s    Connecting Israel with the Evangelical World    Practical Support and Founding Organizations    Navigating the Socio-Political Space    Covenantal Theology    Going Mainstream    The Ministries Today   At the Embassy 2012 3 Self: Calling, Agency and Transformation   Narratives, Performance, and Transformation   The Calling    “It Wasn’t Our Idea”—Calling and Agency    Suspension of Agency    Narrative Non-Sense Making    Agency in Abeyance   Self-Transformation    Realizing Israel’s Spiritual Significance    Becoming Ruth    Continuous Conversion—Faith Walk   Conclusions 4 Land: Israel, Place and Presence   Space, Place and the “Holy Land”    The “Land of the Bible” and the Evangelical Gaze    Where Miracles Happen    “God’s Fire is in Zion, but His Furnace is in Jerusalem”    The Cosmic Center    A Locative Thrust   Tensions    Another Problem of Presence    Can Israel Fall Apart?    “To Live between the Tensions”   Conclusions 5 Text: Literalism, Prophecy and Authenticity   An Ideology of Literalism   Ambiguities of Prophecy Belief    Prophecy: Past & Present    Prophecy: Future    Bible Prophecy as an Interpretative Tradition   Hebraic Roots of Christian Faith    History and Authenticity    Hebraic and Greek Worldviews    Purification    A Vanguard of Reform   Conclusions 6 Walking on the Pages of the Word of God   Continuities and Discontinuities of Evangelical Zionism    Globalizing Christian Zionism    Contesting Language Ideologies    Alternative Readings of Israel   Walking on the Pages References Index

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Book SynopsisInspired by pragmatism, this book addresses religious plurality with the aim of bringing forth how it may be approached constructively by Christian theology. Accordingly, not doctrine, but practices are focussed in its analyses of interreligious topics. Henriksen argues that engagement with the diversity of religious traditions should be grounded in openness towards the other, and resistance against making others similar to oneself. Accordingly, the book presents a theological approach where interaction between religious practitioners is considered a benefit and a necessity for the positive future of religious traditions. It will be of interest to anyone who is interested in the understanding of religious pluralism from the point of view of Christian theology.Trade Review"Perspective matters! One can approach religious pluralism through fixed sets of doctrinal positions or through critical and self-critical explorations of religious practices and the human relationships which they enable. Henriksen follows the latter path and presents an exciting discussion of the phenomenon of religion and of theology as a relational discipline. Here, the experience of religious otherness inspires mutually critical transformation. This book encourages the reader to retrieve faith, hope and love in our globalising world and to assess the rich contribution of religious traditions for a deeper understanding of God, self and other." — Werner G. Jeanrond, Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Oslo "This well-researched and well-written book makes a compelling argument for the need for Christian inter-religious engagement, with a particular emphasis on religious practices. Henriksen's use of pragmatism keeps the theological analysis focused on human flourishing, and reminds the reader of the rewards that come with doing the hard work of engaging the religious other with honesty and openness." — Kristin Johnston Largen, Professor of Systematic Theology, United Lutheran Seminary "Far too often we see the plurality of religions as a contest of competing systems of belief. By reframing religious plurality through the lens of pragmatism, Henriksen not only opens new vistas on classical theological questions. He also illuminates new ways in which religious life and practice can create bonds between traditions and contribute to transforming the human future." — Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary, World Council of ChurchesTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1 The Other: Hermeneutics of Recognition 2 What Makes a Religion? Experience and Semiosis 3 A Basis for Comparison? On “religious experience” as Universals or Particulars 4 Who is the Other? Categories for Relationships Revisited 5 The Stuff of Religions: Dealing with the Human Condition 6 Salvation in the Context of Religious Practices 7 Truth and Religious Orientations 8 Conflict and the Common Good 9 Coming Together in Reasoning Practice 10 The Trinitarian God and the Diversity of Experiences with Religion Epilogue: Plurality and Unity: Two metaphors for the Future of Religions Literature Index

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Book SynopsisThe religious landscape in Asia has long been diverse, with various forms of syncretic traditions and pragmatic practices continuously having been challenged by centrifugal forces of differentiation. This anthology explores representations and managements of religious diversity in Japan, China, South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and diaspora religions originating in these countries, seen through the lenses of history, identity, state, ritual and geography. In addition to presenting empirical cases, the chapters also address theoretical and methodological reflections using Asia as a laboratory for further comparative research of the relevance and use of 'religious diversity'. Religious Diversity in Asia was made possible by a framework grant from the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation allowing the grant holder (Jørn Borup) and two colleagues (Marianne Q. Fibiger and Lene Kühle) to host a workshop at Aarhus University and to co-arrange workshops in Delhi and Nagoya. We would like to thank professors Arshad Alam and Michiaki Okuyama for hosting these latter workshops at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Nanzan University, and we would like to thank Professor Chong-Suh Kim for the invitation for Jørn Borup to visit Seoul National University. We would also like to extend our gratitude to all the scholars who participated in the workshops and to all the authors we subsequently invited to contribute to our endeavor to create this academically relevant volume.Table of ContentsList of Tables and Figures Notes on Contributors Introduction  Jørn Borup and Marianne Q. Fibiger Part 1: Religious Diversities – Past and Present 1 Religious Diversity on the Korean Peninsula, Past and Present  Don Baker 2 Religious Diversity in Japan  Ugo Dessì 3 The Double-Layered Diversification of Religion in Post-Renovation Vietnam  Chung Van Hoang PART 2: Identities 4 Some ‘Side Effects’ of Religious Diversity: Exploring Religious Conversion in the Indian Secular State  Ayelet Harel-Shalev and Noa Levy 5 The Challenge of Diversity: Evangelical Missionaries and Ethno-Christianity in Reform Era Yunnan  Gideon Elazar 6 From Syncretism to Split: Ethnographic Insights from a Socio-Religious Movement in India  Santosh K. Singh Part 3: Education 7 Religious Diversity with Chinese Characteristics? Meanings and Implications of the Term ‘Religious Diversity’ in Contemporary Chinese Dissertations  Yu Tao and Ed Griffith 8 How Religious Diversity Is Represented and Taught in Asian School Textbooks  Satoko Fujiwara Part 4: Ritual 9 Worshipping Durga(s) Dasara, Durga Puja and the Dynamics of Goddess Worship in a Former Princely State in Odisha, India  Uwe Skoda 10 Religious Diversity and Interreligious Contestations in Sri Lanka: the Encounter between Buddhism and Islam in the Galebandara Cult in Kurunagala  Kalinga Tudor Silva Part 5: Diaspora 11 La Caridad, Oshún, and Kuan Yin in Afro-Chinese Religion in Cuba  Martin A. Tsang 12 Religious Diversity among Asians in Old Diasporas  Jorn Borup and Marianne Q. Fibiger Conclusion  Lene Kühle Index

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Book SynopsisThe editors of Experiments in Empathy: Critical Reflections on Interreligious Education have assembled a volume that spans multiple religious traditions and offers innovative methods for teaching and designing interreligious learning. This groundbreaking text includes established interreligious educators and emerging scholars who expand the vision of this field to include critical studies, decolonial approaches and exciting pedagogical developments. The book includes voices that are often left out of other comparative theology or interreligious education texts. Scholars from evangelical, Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, religiously hybrid and other background enrich the existing models for interreligious classrooms. The book is particularly relevant at a time when religion is so often harnessed for division and hatred. By examining the roots of racism, xenophobia, sexism and their interaction with religion that contribute to inequity the volume offers real world educational interventions. The content is in high demand as are the authors who contributed to the volume. Contributors are: Scott Alexander, Judith A. Berling, Monica A. Coleman, Reuven Firestone, Christine Hong, Jennifer Howe Peace, Munir Jiwa, Nancy Fuchs Kreimer, Tony Ritchie, Rachel Mikva, John Thatanamil, Timur Yuskaev.Trade ReviewAn interfaith relation that is based on emphatic co-learning, drawing inspirations from various religious traditions in co-creating interfaith education in the service of shared humanity and spirituality. A remarkable collection of thoughts and experiences from academics, educators, practitioners and activists in interfaith dialog and relations. - Dr Mohammad Hannan Hassen, Vice Dean, MUIS Academy, Singapore This new volume provides the reader with a rich and nuanced portrait of the current landscape of interreligious education In the United States. The contributors model for us the power and promise of reflective practice in a rapidly-developing field. - Rabbi Or Rose, Director, The Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership Many experts believe that the global religious landscape will change significantly in the next forty years and in North America, demographic changes will continue to increase the religious diversity of its population, creating more religious identities and communities than ever before. The classrooms will become even more religiously diverse in the foreseeable future, and this trend will continue to pose challenges and offer opportunities for theological schools in North America. But there aren’t enough attention and resources to improve inter-religious literacy. The editors of this book did a great job assembling a diverse group of contributors reflecting on interreligious education and pedagogy in North America, and it is indeed a timely contribution that will advance the conversation, help faith leaders to become more literate on this issue, and introduce to the general public the need for interreligious learning for empathetic engagement in our world today. - Uriah Y. Kim, Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley.

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Book SynopsisIn Untouchable Bodies, Resistance, and Liberation, Joshua Samuel constructs an embodied comparative theology of liberation by comparing divine possessions among Hindu and Christian Dalits in South India. Critiquing the problems inherent in prioritizing texts when studying religious traditions, Samuel calls for the need to engage in body and people centered interreligious learning. This comparative theological reading of ecstatic experiences of the divine in Dalit bodies in Hinduism and Christianity brings out the powerful liberative potential inherent in the bodies of the oppressed, enabling us to identify alternative modes of resistance and new avenues of liberation among those who are dehumanized and discriminated, and to find deeper and meaningful ways of speaking about God in the context of oppression.Trade Review"Samuel’s book is provocative, insightful, and generative. With its bridge-building methodology, it enriches Dalit theology and comparative theology, honors the subtly powerful resistance of India’s “outcastes,” and provides glimmers of hope for further liberation." Andrew Ronnevik, Ph.D. Student, Baylor University, in: Reading Religion, June 2021. "This comparative theological reading of ecstatic experiences of the divine in Dalit bodies in Hinduismand Christianity brings out the powerful liberative potential inherent in the bodies of the oppressed, enabling us to identify alternative modes of resistance and new avenues of liberation among those who are dehumanized and discriminated, and to find deeper and meaningful ways of speaking about God in the context of oppression." in: Salzburger Theologische Zeitschrift, Volume 24.2 (2020). "Samuel's work, in the end, is a most refreshing theological treatise. This book is a must-read." Sunder John Boopalan, Assistant Professor Biblical and Theological Studies, Canadian Mennonite Universrity, in: The Ecumenical Review, Volume 72.5 (2020). This book is an example of Comparative Theology at its best. Through a careful, particularized, and personal (he is himself a Dalit) analysis and comparison, Samuel illustrates how the oppressed bodies of both Hindu and Christian “untouchable” Dalits of South India have become sacraments of liberation that, in their diversity, reflect and enhance each other. For both students and scholars -- illuminating and inspiring. – Paul F. Knitter, Paul Tillich Emeritus Professor of World Religions and Theology, Union Theological Seminary, NY I love this book. It is refreshing and honest, a painstakingly argued inquiry into the possibility of a comparative Hindu and Christian theology centered on the Dalit experience of the untouchable, outcaste body. Based on extensive surveys of prior literature, as well as his own ethnographic work in Tamil Nadu, Samuel proposes that the embodied experience of divine possession is a “kairos moment,” a means of Dalit hope and liberation, not only for Christians but also for Hindus. The generosity of such theological inclusivity is explosive. As a scholar of Hindu goddesses I must take this seriously. – Rachel Fell McDermott, Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Barnard College Untouchable Bodies, Resistance, Liberation is a weighty and absorbing book that carefully observes and creatively interprets Spirit-possessed Dalit bodies as they re-signify power relations though rituals of defiance, catharsis, subversion, and empowerment. Dr. Samuel discerningly and imaginatively draws from an eclectic crowd of theorists to exegete the manner in which subjugated bodies express everyday emancipatory truths through divine possession in Christian and Hindu Dalit communities. The fruition of Dr. Samuel’s labor is a sensitively embedded and ingeniously construed comparative theology of liberation. – Sathianathan Clarke, Bishop Sundo Kim Chair of World Christianity, Wesley Theological Seminary "Samuel (...) contributes a fresh approach by using a more 'complex' multi-layered strategy to adress the problem of oppression using theology, anthropology and history." Adrianus Yosia, Indonesian Journal of Theology 10, no. 1 (July, 2021)Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Part 1 Dalit Bodies and Divine Possessions Introduction: a Comparative Theology from a Dalit Perspective 1 Toward a Comparative Theology of Liberation  1 Comparative Theology   1.1 Interrogating Comparative Theology   1.2 Prioritization of Texts    1.2.1 Lingering Western/Christian Supremacy    1.2.2 Disregarding Agency of Faith Communities    1.2.3 Perpetuation of Hierarchies  2 Dalit Theology   2.1 New Directions in Dalit Theology    2.1.1 Binarism    2.1.2 Identitarianism    2.1.3 Christian-Centrism  3 A Comparative Theology of Liberation from a Dalit Perspective    3.1.1 People Centered Theology    3.1.2 Non-Othering Theology    3.1.3 Comparative Liberation Theology 2 Dalit Body—the Untouchable Sacrament  1 The Dalit Body   1.1 Bodies That ‘Don’t’ Matter   1.2 Disciplining the Bodies  2 Theological Significance of the Dalit Body   2.1 Body in Christianity   2.2 Sacramentality of the Dalit Body  3 Choosing a Category for Comparison   3.1 Divine Possessions as Vague Comparative Category Part 2 Divine Possessions among Hindu and Christian Dalits 3 Dalits and Hinduism  1 Dalit Religion and Hinduism   1.1 The Modern Birth of Hinduism   1.2 The Unity of Traditions within Hinduism   1.3 Distinct Features of Dalit Religion  2 Hindu Dalit Goddesses   2.1 Goddess(es) of Hinduism   2.2 Paraiyar Goddesses  3 Dalit Goddesses and Liberation   3.1 The Ambivalence of the Goddess(es) and Its Impact on Liberation Theology 4 Divine Possessions among Hindu Dalits  1 Divine Possessions: an Overview   1.1 Divine Possessions   1.2 Types of Possessions    1.2.1 Enduring Possessions    1.2.2 Temporary Possessions  2 Divine Possessions: a Closer View   2.1 Preparing for the Possessions   2.2 Experience of Being Possessed  3 Divine Possessions: Inferences and Interpretations   3.1 Not ‘Possession’ but Grace   3.2 Interweaving of Traditions   3.3 Background of the Possessed Devotees   3.4 Sexual Ambiguity   3.5 Body and Collective Memories   3.6 Liberative Elements in Possessions 5 Dalit Christianity and Theology  1 Dalit Christianity   1.1 The Beginnings    1.1.1 Rajanaiken of Tanjore (1700–1771)    1.1.2 Maharasan Vedamanickam of Travancore (1772–1827)   1.2 Mass Movements   1.3 Dalit Christianity Today  2 Dalit ‘God-Talk’   2.1 The ‘Broken’ God   2.2 Problematizing Dalit God-Talk   2.3 New Trends in Dalit Theology: Re-Turning to the Body 6 Divine Possessions among Christian Dalits  1 Holy Spirit Possessions   1.1 Praise as Preparation   1.2 Receiving the Spirit   1.3 Interpreting Holy Spirit Possessions   1.4 After Holy Spirit Anointing, It Is Bible Time  2 Embodied Divine Mediation through Avi Kattu  3 Divine Embodiment through Sacraments  4 Christian Divine Possessions: Prospects and Possibilities   4.1 Centering the Body   4.2 Dalit Religious Elements   4.3 Divine-Human Agency   4.4 Possibilities of Resistance and Liberation   4.5 Reimagining Evil Part 1 Possessions as Kairos: an Embodied Constructive Theology 7 Divine Possessions as Dalit Resistance  1 Paraiyar Dalit Religion  2 Comparing Hindu and Christian Possessions   2.1 Setting   2.2 Experiences of the Devotees   2.3 Role of the Divine  3 Possession as Liberation   3.1 Bodies That Want to Be Mattered   3.2 Looking beyond Protests   3.3 Hidden Transcripts and Infra Politics   3.4 Divine Possession as Dalit Resistance: Reimagining Liberation   3.5 Possessions as Alternative Resistance 8 Envisioning an Embodied Comparative Theology of Liberation  1 Possessions as Kairos   1.1 Kairos   1.2 Paul Tillich’s Conceptualization of Kairos   1.3 Possessions as Kairoi in/of the Margins   1.4 Re-Visioning Kairos Using Divine Possessions  2 Toward an Embodied Theology of Kairos   2.1 Christ and Kairoi   2.2 Spirit Christology   2.3 Spirit Christology and Religious Diversity   2.4 The Untouchable God in Untouchable Bodies: a Constructive Theological Imagination    2.4.1 Possessions as Untouchable Divine Immanence    2.4.2 Possessions as Transgressive Creativity    2.4.3 Possessions as Empowering Be(Com)ing 9 Epilogue: Marginalized Bodies and Comparative Theology  1 Re-Visioning Comparative Theology from and at the Margins   1.1 Beyond Texts to Bodies   1.2 Beyond Borders to Living at the Boundaries  2 Some Confessions and Justifications  3 Looking Ahead Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn The European Encounter with Hinduism Jan Peter Schouten offers an account of European travellers coming into contact with the Hindu religion in India. From the thirteenth century on, both traders and missionaries visited India and encountered the exotic world of Hindus and Hinduism. Their travel reports reveal how Europeans gradually increased their knowledge of Hinduism and how they evaluated this foreign religion. Later on, although officials of the colonial administration also studied the languages and culture of India, it was – contrary to what is usually assumed – particularly the many missionaries who made the greatest contribution to the mapping of Hinduism.Trade ReviewThe European Encounter with Hinduism in India is a masterful reflection on Western visitors to India from Marco Polo on, and then too on the colonial era missionary encounters with Hindu texts, practices, and believers. Sensitive to political as well as religious issues, Schouten introduces a wide range of materials very ably, and at every point offers insights into the views and strategies of missionary scholars and educated colonial officials. Readers are prompted to take a new and long view on how the West discovered India, and inevitably to reassess our current political, cultural and religious reactions to the great traditions of Hindu India. - Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Professor of Comparative Theology, Harvard University. In the history of European contact with India, Roberto de Nobili takes pride of place. This Jesuit was a towering figure; he learned Sanskrit, studied the Veda’s, and wore Brahmin dress (described in rich detail in this book). By doing so, he tried to reach the highest caste in India and started telling the story of the ‘fifth Veda’, the gospel. He created a dilemma for the Christian churches by accepting the caste system (that still exists until today, even though it is perhaps less influential than several centuries ago). The Christian churches in India struggled to integrate Indian culture into their Christian liturgy. They rightly argued that in the guise of Christian mission, colonialism dictated Western habits and should therefore not be seen as universally binding. The Protestant missionaries in India, were convinced of the idolatrous nature of Hinduism. But even they were forced to acknowledge Indian culture as a valid incentive for the Churches in India. As an expert in Hinduism and Christian theology, Jan Peter Schouten is the perfect author to write about the confrontation between Europe and India. - Marcel Poorthuis, Professor of Interreligious Dialogue, Tilburg University.Table of Contents Acknowledgements IX  List of Illustrations XI  Introduction  1A Functioning Temple  2A Long History of Encounter  3The Prehistory of Dialogue  4Terminological Relativisation  1The First Visitors: Marco Polo and the Franciscan Friars  1Beyond Byzantium  2The Mongol Advance  3Marco Polo  4People with Dog’s Heads  5A Strange Culture  6A Separate Caste  7The Friars Speak  8Odoric  9Another Civilisation in View  2Knowledge is Power: Nicolò de’ Conti and Jan Huygen van Linschoten  1Traders Make their Way to India  2A Penitent Apostate  3A Corporate Spy in Action  4A Humanistic Work  5Feasts  6Shocking Religious Phenomena  7A Dutchman in a Portuguese City  8Caste Hierarchy  9Religious Customs and Religious Faith  10Monotheism  11An Unknown World  3A Foreign Culture Baptised: The Jesuits Roberto de Nobili and Thomas Stephens  1Travels to Asia  2Jesuits in Mission  3A Promising Young Man  4In the Capital  5A Christian Sannyāsī  6De Nobili’s Appeal for Brahmins  7Opposition from the Church  8Local Customs  9Conversion and Accomodatio  10Affinity with Hinduism?  11Caste as a Stumbling Block  12De Nobili as an Example?  13Thomas Stephens in Goa  14The Purāṇa  4Dutch Ministers in the VOC: Rogerius and Baldaeus  1The Oldest Manual  2Pastor and Missionary  3Rogerius’ Career in the East  4Study on Hinduism  5Sources  6An Honest Report  7The Structure of the Book  8An Appealing Book  9Baldaeus and Mythology  10Sources  11Refutation  12Other Ministers  5A Pietistic Preacher in Danish Territory: Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg  1A Danish Undertaking  2Pietistic Germans  3Preaching in Tamil  4Sources of Language and Religion  5The “Malabar Correspondence”  6On the Path to Salvation?  7Systematic Work  6A Disappointed Missionary: Abbé Dubois  1Reading for the Curious  2A Costly Manuscript  3Missionaries in Turbulent Times  4A Hindu among the Hindus  5Mission Impossible?  6A Manual  7Inclusion of the Lower Castes  8Contamination  9Reincarnation  7British Government Officials: John Muir and Nascent Indology  1The East Indian Company  2An Influential Translation  3A Learned Society  4The Serampore Trio  5‘Little Britain’ in a Foreign Society  6The Christian Faith Disseminated  7Writing in Sanskrit  8Divine Properties  9Hindus Respond to the Challenge  10Other Research into Hinduism  8The Image of the East in the West: Nineteenth- century British India in Fiction and Travel Reports  1Romantic Orientalism  2The First Detective Novel  3Emily Eden: A Lady Travelling in a Strange Land  4Mary Carpenter: A Visitor in Search of Renewal  5D.C. Steyn Parvé: Fear of Rebellion in the Colonies  6Willam Urwick: A Reflective Tour  7A Princely Picture of India: Prince Bojidar  9Missionaries from Switzerland: The Basel Mission in South India  1A Minister Honoured  2On the Road in a Mission Field  3A New Beginning  4Church in India—An Indian Church?  5Mapping a Language  6Examining the Liṅgāyats  7In Search of a Point of Contact  8An Exceptional French Swiss  9Back in Europe  10To America  11The Brahmanical Culture  12Pantheism and the Vedas  10Reflections  1A Fascinating Country  2Wondrous Phenomena  3A Major Stumbling Block  4Minor Stumbling Blocks  5Languages  6A Broad Interest  7Another Religious Structure and Culture  8Idols and Monotheism  9Plurality and Colourfulness  10Nascent Dialogue  Bibliography  Glossary  Index of Names

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Book SynopsisNarrative Cultures and the Aesthetics of Religion presents the aesthetics of narrativity in religious contexts by approaching narrative acts as situated modes of engaging with reality, equally shaped by the immersive character of the stories told and the sensory qualities of their performances. Introducing narrative cultures as an integrative framework of analysis, the volume builds a bridge between classical content-based approaches to narrative sources and the aesthetic study of religions as constituted by sensory and mediated practices. Studying stories in conjunction with the role that performative acts of storytelling play in the cultivation of the senses, the contributors explore the efficacy of storytelling formats in narrative cultures from ancient times until today, in regions and cultures across the globe.Trade Review“Readers interested in any aspect of religious narrative, embodiment, and performance are sure to find this volume important and thought provoking. By foregrounding sensory and aesthetic experience, the contributors to this volume productively expand the possibilities of thinking about the work of narrative in religious studies. The book should also be praised for the impressive diversity of material covered.” Gregory M. Clines. Trinity University, Narrative Cultures and the Aesthetics of Religion 52, 2020Table of ContentsContents Preface Dirk Johannsen, Anja Kirsch and Jens Kreinath List of Figures Notes on Contributors Narrative Cultures and the Aesthetics of Religion: An Introduction Dirk Johannsen and Anja Kirsch Encounters: Vernacular Religious Storytelling 1 One Ritual—Many Stories: On Making Sense of a Hindu Ritual Brigitte Luchesi 2 Narrating Spirit Possession Katharina Wilkens 3 How to Sense a Ghost: On the Aesthetics of Legend Traditions Dirk Johannsen 4 Studying Religions as Narrative Cultures: Angel Experience Narratives in the Netherlands and Some Ideas for a Narrative Research Program for the Study of Religion Markus Altena Davidsen and Bastiaan von Rijn Identities: Narrating and Counter-Narrating Gods and People 5 Feeling Narrative Cultures: Analyzing Emotions in Religious Narratives with Examples from Old-Babylonian Ninurta Myths Laura Feldt 6 Aztec Pictorial Narratives: Visual Strategies to Activate Embodied Meaning and the Transformation of Identity in the Mapa de Cuauhtinchan No. 2 Isabel Laack 7 Transmedial Narrative Cultures: Upanishadic Spirituality in the Indian Tele-Serial ``Upanishad Ganga'' Annette Wilke 8 Storytelling and Mediation: The Aesthetics of a Counter-Narrative of Atheism in South India Stefan Binder Arts: Narrative Craft Beyond Words 9 Braiding Ropes, Weaving Baskets: The Narrative Culture of Ancient Monasticism Ingvild Sælid Gilhus 10 Immersing in the World of Radha and Krishna: Visual Storytelling in the Context of Religious Practice Caroline Widmer 11 Foundational Narratives in Chan/Zen Buddhism and the Observation of the Ineffable: Two ``Public Cases'' (gong'an/kōan) of the Gateless Barrier of Chan Lineage Martin Lehnert 12 Poetic Imagination in Scientific Practice: Grand Unification as Narrative Worldmaking Arianna Borrelli 13 What Happens When the Story Is Told? Reflections on the Aesthetics of Narrative Worldmaking and Aesthetic Sensation—Afterthoughts Jens Kreinath Index

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Book SynopsisBased on long-term ethnographic study, this is the first comprehensive work on the Chinese popular religion in Malaysia. It analyses temples and communities in historical and contemporary perspective, the diversity of deities and Chinese speech groups, religious specialists and temple services, the communal significance of the Hungry Ghosts Festival, the relationship between religion and philanthropy as seen through the lens of such Chinese religious organization as shantang (benevolent halls) and Dejiao (Moral Uplifting Societies), as well as the development and transformation of Taoist Religion. Highly informative, this concise book contributes to an understanding of Chinese migration and settlement, political economy and religion, religion and identity politics as well the significance of religion to both individuals and communities.Trade Review"After more than four decades of research, Tan proves to be the most eminent scholar in the field, very well equipped to provide his readers with thorough insights into the fundamental characteristics of Chinese popular religion. The benefits of a long-term perspective are apparent, both in specific areas such as the development of Daoism in Malaysia and in a more general sense, showing how the dynamics of Chinese related religions influence and contribute to the broader context of Malaysian identity-building." – Gabriella Voss, University of Vienna, in Religious Studies, 46.2 (2020).Table of ContentsPreface Technical Notes List of Illustrations 1 Introduction 2 Temples and Local Communities 3 Deities, Speech Groups and Temples 4 Temple Services, Mediums and Temple Promotion 5 Localization and Chinese Religion 6 Pudu: The Hungry Ghosts Festival 7 Religious Organizations and Philanthropy 8 Taoist Religion in Malaysia 9 Conclusion Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn Reimagining Zen in a Secular Age André van der Braak offers an account of the exciting but also problematic encounter between enchanted Japanese Zen Buddhism and secular Western modernity over the past century, using Charles Taylor’s magnum opus A Secular Age as an interpretative lens. As the tenuous compromises of various forms of “Zen modernism” are breaking down today, new imaginings of Zen are urgently needed that go beyond both a Romantic mystical Zen and a secular “mindfulness” Zen. As a Zen scholar-practitioner, André van der Braak shows that the Zen philosophy of the 13th century Zen master Dōgen offers much resources for new hermeneutical, embodied, non-instrumental and communal approaches to contemporary Zen theory and practice in the West.Table of Contents AcknowledgementsXI  Introduction  1 Beyond Buddhist Modernism  2 Reimagining Zen in the West  3 Cross-cultural Hermeneutics  4 A Secular Age  5 Outline of This Book Part 1: Zen and the Immanent Frame 1 Zen Transmissions and Reimaginings  1 Reimagining Indian Buddhism as Chinese Chan  1.1 Sudden Enlightenment versus Gradual Cultivation  1.2 Beyond Language versus within Language  1.3 Koan Practice versus Silent Illumination  2 Reimagining Chinese Chan as Japanese Zen  3 Zen Imaginings in the West  4 Discussion 2 A Secular Age  1 Introduction  2 Fullness  3 Beyond Subtraction Stories  4 Disenchantment  5 The Buffered Self  6 The Immanent Frame  7 A Three-Cornered Battle  8 Discussion 3 Cross Pressures in the Immanent Frame  1 The General Malaise of Immanence  2 Enlightenment as a New Form of Fullness  3 Disenchantment versus Re-enchantment  4 Beyond Transcendence and Immanence  5 Open versus Closed Zen Practice  6 Discussion Part 2: Zen Modernism 4 Universalization: Zen as Universal Mysticism  1 The Birth of Buddhism as a World Religion  2 Universal Zen  3 Pure Experience  4 Criticizing the Universality of Pure Experience  5 Against Perennialism: Criticism of Universal Mysticism  6 Zen as Non-mysticism  7 Back to Language: Dōgen’s Mystical Hermeneutics  8 Zen Meditation as Universal Dharma Practice  9 Discussion 5 Psychologization: The Zen Experience  1 Psychologization  2 Disenchanting the Bodhisattvas  3 Questioning the Zen Experience  4 Beyond Religious Experience  5 Going Beyond Excarnation and the Buffered Self  6 Dōgen’s Embodied Realization  7 Discussion 6 The Therapeutic Turn: Zen as Therapy  1 From Conversion to Healing  2 The Reaffirmation of Ordinary Life  3 Zen and the Affirmation of Ordinary Life  4 Dōgen on the Affirmation of Ordinary Life  5 The Medicalization of the Moral  6 Instrumentalization versus No Gain  7 Discussion 7 The Rise of Expressive Individualism: Zen as Global Spirituality  1 The Rise of Expressive Individualism  2 Personal Spirituality versus Communal Religious Practice  3 Religious Belonging  4 Zen Belonging in the West  5 Pure Zen versus Buddhist Zen  6 Zen Ritual as Communal Practice  7 Discussion Part 3: Beyond Zen Modernism 8 Batchelor’s Secular Buddhism  1 The Search for the Human Buddha  2 Beyond Karma  3 Reimagining Enlightenment  4 Discussion 9 Reimagining Emptiness: Toward a Subtler Language of Fullness  1 The Kyoto School  2 Śūnyatā as Zen Fullness  3 Nishitani and Śūnyatā201  4 Hisamatsu and Oriental Nothingness  5 Masao Abe  6 David Loy’s New Buddhist Path  7 Deconstructing Enlightenment: Beyond Transcendence and Immanence  8 Evolution: A New Enchanted Buddhist Worldview  9 Ethics: Reimagining the Bodhisattva Path  10 Discussion 10 Engaging Dōgen’s Zen  1 Back to Buddhist Scriptures  2 An Enchanted Zen  3 Zen Fullness as Ongoing Practice-Realization  4 From Individual Pure Zen to Communal Bodhisattva Zen  5 Dōgen’sShushōgi227  6 Repenting and Eliminating Bad Karma  7 Receiving Precepts and Joining the Ranks  8 Making the Vow to Benefit Beings  9 Discussion  10 The Future of Zen Literature Index

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Book SynopsisIn previous studies of South Asian Tantric ritual, scholars tend to focus on one region or context. For the first time, Tantra, Ritual Performance and Politics in Nepal and Kerala: Embodying the Goddess-clan offers a comparative approach to Tantric mediumship as observed in two locales: Navadurgā rituals in Bhaktapur, Nepal, and Teyyāṭṭam in North Kerala. In this book, Matthew Martin advances a new theory of ritual, which spotlights the way dancer-mediums embody medieval goddess-clans and ancestor deities, through offerings of food and sacrifice, that synchronize their denizens with the land in spiralling web-like ritual networks. Uniquely interdisciplinary in style, this study synthesizes cultural history, ethnography, and theory to explore the continuities – historical, societal, and political – that characterize these ritual traditions across the subcontinent.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures Abbreviations Style, Format, and Interview Transcriptions Introduction: Methodology and Context  1 Folk Śākta Performances: Sovereignty, Goddesses, and Macro-Clans  2 Teyyāṭṭam and Navadurgā Compared: The Research Process  3 Methodological Orientations  4 Fieldwork Locations & Informant Introductions  5 Contextual Background Part 1 1 Introducing the Southern Case Study—Teyyāṭṭam, Northern Malabar, Kerala  1 Ancestors, Land, and Divinities (Teyyam) in Northern Kerala  2 Lineages, Clans, and Ritual Kinship  3 Blood Sacrifices, Offerings, and Swords  4 Cosmology, Metaphysics, and Textual History  5 Caste Identities, Politics, and Performance in North Malabar 2 Introducing the Northern Case Study—Navadurgā, Bhaktapur, Nepal  1 Hindu-Buddhist Tantra in Newar Society: The Case of Bhaktapur  2 Bhaktapur City: Blood Symbols, Goddess-Clan, Space, and Society  3 Monsoon, Power, and the Goddess-Clan: Banmala Dancer-Mediums during the Ritual Cycle  4 Blood Sacrifice, Mohani, and the Navadurgā Cycle  5 Cosmology, Tantric Texts, and Newar Hinduism in Bhaktapur  6 Politics and Caste Structures in Bhaktapur Part 2 3 Dancer-Medium Communities and Ritual Kinship  1 Introduction  2 Dancer-Medium Communities: Teyyāṭṭam and Navadurgā  3 Teyyāṭṭam  4 Navadurgā  5 Conclusion 4 History and Assimilation in Tantric Cosmology  1 Introduction  2 Teyyāṭṭam  3 Navadurgā  4 Conclusion 5 Sacrifice, Earth Cycles, and Self-Reflexive Affect  1 Introduction  2 Teyyāṭṭam  3 Navadurgā  4 Conclusion 6 Politics, Ritual Performance, and Caste  1 Introduction  2 Marxist-Influenced Politics and Ritual Performance in Postcolonial South Asia  3 Teyyāṭṭam  4 Navadurgā  5 Conclusion Conclusion  1 Teyyāṭṭam and Navadurgā Compared: Revisited  2 Dancer-Medium Communities and Ritual Kinship  3 History and Metaphysical Underlays of Folk Śākta Ritual  4 Blood Sacrifice and Self-Reflexive Affect  5 Politics and Caste Structure Glossary of Key Terms Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn exploring ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visits to Britain, Brendan McNamara expands the jigsaw of our knowledge of how “the east came west”. More importantly, by exploring the visits through the motives of those that received him, The Reception of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Britain: East Comes West demonstrates that the “cultic milieu” thesis is incomplete. Focusing on a number of well-known Edwardian Protestant reformers, the book demonstrates that the arrival of eastern forms of religions in Britain penetrated more mainstream Christian forms. This process is set within significant developments in the early formation of the study of religions, the rise of science and orientalism. All these elements are shown to be linked together. Significantly the work argues that the advent of World War One changed the direction of new forms of religion leading to a ‘forgetfulness’ that has lasted until the present time.Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgments 1 Introduction  1 “East Comes West”  2 ʿAbdu’l-Bahá and the Baháʾí Faith  3 Documenting Missionary Travels  4 Protestant Discourse  5 Recovering the Obscure  6 Sources and Materials  7 Orientalism  8 Forgetting the Past  9 A New World  10 The View from Where 2 Religious and Intellectual Milieu  1 Comparative Religion  2 Foundations  3 Joseph Estlin Carpenter  4 Political and Cultural Resonance  5 The Cult of Omar  6 Narratives Subjoined  7 Conclusion 3 Establishing Parameters for East-West Encounters: Chicago and Oxford  1 Filter and Grid  2 Third International Congress for the History of Religions  3 Oxford  4 Cheyne’s Cosmology  5 Conclusion 4 The Curious: the Celtic Dimension to Pre-First World War Religious Discourse  1 Dean’s Yard  2 Tudor Pole’s Quest  3 The Celtic Revival  4 Discovering ʿAbdu’l-Bahá  5 Conclusion 5 New Protestant Theodocies: R.J. Campbell, “the Disturber of Our Comfortable Peace”  1 The New Theology  2 One of the Great Let Downs of the World  3 Uncharted Dimensions of Early 20th Century Protestant Discourse  4 Implications for the Religious Field  5 Conclusion 6 ʿAbdu’l-Bahá in Britain  1 What Was Understood  2 In London  3 At Westminster  4 Indirect Admonishment  5 Missionary Reaction  6 Conclusion 7 The Elision of Memory: Forgetting Aspects of Early Twentieth Century Discourse  1 Now Time and Afterlife  2 A Dialectic of Rejection and Fascination  3 Religion and War  4 Religious Reformers at War  5 Conclusion Appendix 1: Significant Baháʾí Dates Appendix 2: Arabic Notation in The Christian Commonwealth Appendix 3: Tudor Pole, Campbell and the Glastonbury Cup Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis volume explores Chinese religions on a global stage so as to challenge the traditional dichotomy of the western global and the Chinese local, and to add a new perspective for understanding religious modernity globally. Contributors from four different continents aim at applying a social scientific approach to systematically researching the globalization of Chinese religions.Trade Review"This nicely edited publication is a most welcome addition to the literature on immigrant Chinese religions. It helps to complement previous research on Chinese religions in the global North that have thus far mainly focused on North America." - Ugo Dessì, University of Vienna, in: Chinese Religions going Global Volume 11, 2021

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Book SynopsisIn A Need for Religion: Insecurity and Religiosity in the Contemporary World Francesco Molteni tries to answer one of the broadest questions for scholars of religion: why is religiosity declining in developed countries? He does so by inspecting all the different nuances of the insecurity theory, which links the feeling of security typical of modern societies with the diminished need for religion as source of reassurance, support and predictability. In this respect, he notes that much of the evidence is far less clear than expected and that secularization processes are at an advanced stage only in a rather small group of worldwide countries.Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements List of Figures, Tables and Maps 1 Introduction  1 Why the Need to Study Insecurity and Religiosity?  2 A Guide for This Book  3 Methodology and Appendices 2 The Broad Frame of Secularization Theory  1 The Sociological Roots of Secularization Theory  2 Alternative Approaches  3 The Post-secularism  4 Modernity and Modernizations: How to Simplify the Complex  5 One Secularization, More Secularizations  6 Different Levels of Interpretation  7 Which Secularization? 3 Insecurity Theory in Sociological Literature  1 The Sociological Roots of Insecurity Theory  2 Insecurity Theory as a Macro-theory to Explain Religious Decline  3 Insecurity Theory as a Micro-theory to Explain Religious Change   3.1 Religiosity as a Social Buffer   3.2 Religiosity as an Economic Buffer   3.3 Religiosity as a Psychological or Cognitive Buffer  4 Religious Coping and Religious Resources 4 A Look at the World: The Empirical Bases of Insecurity Theory  1 Towards a More Robust Exploration  2 Steps in Modernization 5 Exploring Relations: Does Insecurity Matter?  1 Are Religious People Happier?  2 Does Religiosity Mitigate Losses in Life-satisfaction?  3 Are Insecure People More Likely to Be Religious?  4 Disentangling the Mechanisms: One Insecurity, More Insecurities 6 Bringing Back Individuals: Do Negative Events Foster Religiosity?  1 A Longitudinal Panel Study for Germany and the United Kingdom  2 Testing the Mechanisms of Individual Change  3 The (Non) Effect of Life-threatening Events 7 Moving into the Longitudinal: Changes in Insecurity and Secularization  1 Towards a Model for Explaining Religious Change  2 Conceptualizing Insecurity and Its Effect on Religiosity  3 Longitudinal Argumentations and Cross-sectional Data  4 Insecurity Theory: More Static Than Dynamic 8 Insecurity and Religious Change: Facts, Facets and Notes of Caution  1 Europe as Exception or Example?  2 Religious Evolution in Asia, Africa and South America   2.1 Asia   2.2 Africa   2.3 South America  3 Same Path, Different Positions 9 Conclusions: The Triggering Role of Insecurity  1 Insecurity and Religious Decline: What Do We Know and What Should We Know?  2 From Observation to Understanding  3 Final Remarks Appendix 1: Studying Religion with Quantitative Methods: A Toolbox  1 Globalization of Surveys  2 Individual and Aggregate Relations – Reasoning Multilevel  3 Causality and Associations  4 Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Relations  5 Multidimensionality Appendix 2: Data, Methods and Tables  1 The Surveys  2 The Techniques  3 The Tables Bibliography Author Index Thematic Index

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Book SynopsisAlthough science was originally broadly conceptualized as a systematic, rigorous activity to produce trustworthy knowledge, psychologists adopted a single philosophy of science and strictly enforced natural science as the only proper “scientific” psychology. Qualitative research has been part of modern psychology from the beginning, but it was obscured for nearly a century as positivist epistemology came to dominate the field. Building culturally robust and intelligible theories capable of responding more effectively to complex problems faced by a rapidly changing world calls for openness in methodological diversity. Deeply rooted in a hermeneutic tradition, cultural psychology has challenged the appropriateness of seeking reductive knowledge because higher mental processes such as religious beliefs, values, and choices are bound by historical and cultural context. As greater interdisciplinary integration and methodological innovations are necessary to keep psychology of religion relevant, narrative inquiry has emerged as a promising integrative paradigm.Table of ContentsIntegrating Psychology, Religion, and Culture The Promise of Qualitative Inquiry  Jenny H. Pak Abstract Keywords  1 Introduction: History of Qualitative Inquiry, Psychology and Religion  2 The Human Sciences: A Call for Methodological Pluralism  3 Review of Qualitative Research in Psychology of Religion  4 Cultural Psychology, Religion, and Narrative Inquiry  5 Conclusion: Towards Theoretical and Methodological Diversity in American Psychology of Religion  Acknowledgements  References

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Book SynopsisIn Theologising with the Sacred ‘Prostitutes’ of South India, Eve Rebecca Parker theologises with the Dalit women who from childhood have been dedicated to village goddesses and used as ‘sacred’ sex workers. Parker uses ethnographic, anthropological, theological, hermeneutical and historical research and analysis in order to critically engage with the lived religiosity and daily struggles of the dedicated women, known as devadāsīs. In doing so, she works towards an Indecent Dalit Liberation Theology that challenges systems of oppression and cultures of impunity, including casteism, sexism, classism and a history of socio-political and religious marginalisation. The result is a profound theologising of struggle and resistance with the sexual narratives of the oppressed.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures Introduction  1 The Context for Theologising: Dalit Self, Gender and Identity  2 Hinduism, the Caste System and the ‘Untouchables’  3 The Touchable Untouchables: From Feminist to Dalit Womanist  4 Developing a Methodology for Theologising with Devadāsīs  5 The Book 1 Meeting Mathamma: Sacred ‘Prostitute’ and Mother Goddess  1 Situating the Devadāsīs  2 The Devadāsī and the Politics of Her Body  3 Dalit Reform, the Devadāsī and Her Devi  4 Dedicated to the Goddess  5 The Mother Goddess Mathamma  6 A Goddess of Pain, Blood and Discharge  7 Sacred Sexuality and the Demand for Decency  8 From Goddess to ‘Slut’: Locating a Devadāsī Theology 2 What Theology Hides Under the Sari of a Sacred Sex Worker?  1 Towards Theologising with Mathamma  2 Indian Theology and the Brahmin Christ  2 The Bhakti Movement: A Subaltern Voice of Resistance  3 The Dalit Revolutionists Impact on Indian Christian Theology  4 Dalit Liberation Theology  5 Jesus Is Dalit: The Dukkha of the Dalits Is One with Christ  6 Dalit Religiosity in Dalit Christian Theological Discourse  7 Gendered Bodies and Multiple Marginalities in Dalit Theology 3 A Body Theology of the Thrice Marginalised  1 Dalit Women Resistance: Ja Bhim!  2 The Voice of Dalit Women in Dalit Theology  3 The Dalit Womanist Christ  4 Dalit Feminist/Womanist Hermeneutics  5 The Missing Voice of the Indecent in Dalit Theology  6 Boundary Crossing with the Sexual Stories of the Oppressed 4 Liberating Scriptures Whores with the Devadāsīs  1 Bringing Metaphors to Life through Dalit Womanist Hermeneutics  2 Through the Lens of the Devadāsī to the Bodies of Oholah and Oholibah  3 Tortured Concubines and ‘Christ the Decent Woman’  4 The Prostitute at Christ’s Feet with Her Matted Hair: A Model of Resistance  5 From Sinful Woman to Prophetic ‘Prostitute’: A Theology from Indecent Bodies  6 Liberating the “Whore” in Dalit Theological Discourse 5 Towards an Indecent Dalit The(a)ology with the Silenced Goddess  1 The Re-Birth of the Goddess in Dalit Theologising  2 A Tali around her Neck and a Bible in her Hand: Indecent Religious Hybridity in the South Indian Village  3 Jesus and the Goddess: Towards a Dalit The(a)ological Christology  4 Jesus in the South Indian Village  5 Towards an Indecent Dalit Christology  6 The Dalit Christa’s Kin-dom to Come  7 From Dalit Theology to Indecent Dalit Theology Bibliography  Primary Sources Index of Subjects Index of Names

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Book SynopsisThis volume is a collection of studies of various religious groups in the changing religious markets of China: registered Christian congregations, unregistered house churches, Daoist masters, and folk-religious temples. The contributing authors are emerging Chinese scholars who apply and respond to Fenggang Yang’s tricolor market theory of religion in China: the red, black, and gray markets for legal, illegal, and ambiguous religious groups, respectively. These ethnographic studies demonstrate a great variety within the gray market, and fluidity across different markets. The volume concludes with Fenggang Yang reviewing the introduction of the religious market theories to China and formally responding to major criticisms of these theories.

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Book SynopsisIn times of crises, be it about climate change, the pandemic corona virus, or democratic struggles, there is an unwaning interest worldwide in the end of times and related themes such as apocalypticism, messianism, and utopianism. This concerns scholarship and society alike, and is by no means limited to the religious field. The present volume collates essays from specialists in the study of apocalyptic and eschatological subjects. With its interdisciplinary approach, it is designed to overcome the existing Euro-centrism and incorporate a broader perspective to the topic of end time expectations in the Christian Middle Ages as well as in East Asia and Africa. Contributors include: Gaelle Bosseman, Wolfram Brandes, Matthias Gebauer, Jürgen Gebhardt, Vincent Goossaert, Klaus Herbers, Matthias Kaup, Bernardo Bertholin Kerr, Thomas Krümpel, Richard Landes, Zhao Lu, Rolf Scheuermann, and Julia Eva Wannenmacher.Table of ContentsList of Figures and Tables The End(s) of Time(s): An Introduction  Hans-Christian Lehner Part 1 1 Christian Perspectives on History, Eschatology, and Transcendence in the Latin Christian Middle Ages  Klaus Herbers 2 Byzantine Predictions of the End of the World in 500, 1000, and 1492 AD  Wolfram Brandes 3 The Great Peace and the Ends of Time in Early Imperial China  Zhao Lu 4 Tibetan Buddhist Dystopian Narratives and their Pedagogical Dimensions  Rolf Scheuermann 5 Ragnarök: Prophecies and Notions of the End Time in Old Norse Religion  Thomas Krümpel 6 An Overview of Bahá’í Eschatology, in a Tapestry of Five Strands  Bernardo Bertholin Kerr Part 2 7 Beatus of Liebana and the Spiritualized Understanding of Apocalypse in Medieval Iberia  Gaelle Bosseman 8 Muhammad, Mahdi, Antichrist: Muslims in Joachim of Fiore’s Apocalyptic Eschatology  Julia Eva Wannenmacher 9 The Infernal Trinity as Passivized Pacemaker of Salvation History: Satan’s Particular Eschatological Activity in Anonymus Bambergensis’ Tracts De semine scripturarum and De principe mundi  Matthias Kaup Part 3 10 Competing Eschatological Scenarios during the Taiping War, 1851–1864  Vincent Goossaert 11 The Messianic Quest for an Earthly Paradise in the Modern Era of Revolution  Jürgen Gebhardt 12 Indigenous Millennialism: Murabitun Sufism in the Black African townships of South Africa  Matthias Gebauer 13 Apocalyptic Millennialism: The Most Powerful, Volatile, Imaginary Force in Human History  Richard Landes Index

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Book SynopsisIn A Comparative History of Catholic and Aš‘arī Theologies of Truth and Salvation Mohammed Gamal Abdelnour analytically and critically compares the historical development of the Catholic theologies of truth and salvation with those of its Islamic counterpart, Ašʿarism. The monograph moves the discussion from individual theologians to theological schools with a view to helping consolidate the young field of Comparative Theology. It serves two types of readers. First, the specialist who wants to dig deeper into the two traditions parallelly. Second, the generalist who may not have the time to become thoroughly familiar with every aspect of Christian-Muslim theologies. Both readers will come out with a holistic understanding of the development of Christian and Muslim theologies of truth and salvation; a holistic understanding that increases the appetite of the former and quenches that of the latter. Despite the holistic nature of the monograph, attention is duly paid to the specificities of each tradition in a deep and profound manner.Trade Review"Abdelnour’s volume is a very welcome contribution to this scholarly genre. As for overall purpose, he considers his work a ‘map for students of Christian-Muslim relations’, and it can play that role admirably. It will make a very useful centre-piece for such a course, providing adequate context and detail to introduce students with at least a general background in religious studies and theology to the book’s complex topic and investigative premises. Abdelnour’s generous bibliography will supply numerous possibilities for additional teaching material useful for both instructor and students." - John Renard, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations (14 July 2021). "This book is a significant and original piece of research on an important subject. Mohammed Gamal excelled in studying Islamic Theology at al-Azhar University in Cairo, but then had the wider vision and motivation to compare the teachings of Islam with Christianity on one key theme, salvation, the ultimate hope of the faithful in both traditions, though differently expressed. His deep and intelligent historical study of Islamic and Christian sources gives the work a doubly authentic and balanced picture. This book offers a leading example for Muslims, Christians and other scholars of theology and interfaith studies to build on." - Muhammad Abdel Haleem, Professor of Islamic Studies, SOAS, University of London "This is a most substantial and original contribution to inter-faith conversation - an insightful comparative study of the central issue of how diverse schools of thought within Christianity and Islam understand "salvation", and how they think about the limits of the holy or chosen community. It builds on wide and deep familiarity with primary sources in both traditions, addressing both theological and sociological questions, and offers a particularly vivid and expert account of debates within the Islamic world. It will make a unique contribution to Christian-Muslim understanding and will do much to nurture a more sophisticated grasp of the rich internal variety of both religious discourses."- Rowan Williams, Honorary Professor of Contemporary Christian Thought, University of Cambridge "Gamal provides an instructive guide to Catholic and Aš‘arī theologies of truth and salvation. His intimate familiarity with both traditions, his sympathetic and intelligent observations throughout, and his tracing of their similarities and differences reveal fascinating structural similarities in the way that the greatest minds and theological schools in each tradition tackle the issues. Gamal, writing from within Islam, also tentatively indicates constructive and faithful steps forward. This is comparative theology at its best." - Gavin D'Costa, Professor of Catholic Theology, University of Bristol "Examining salvation in the Catholic and Ash’arite traditions, this monograph nuances the major shifts of interpretation that have taken place from their formative periods up to modern times. It dextrously addresses seminal questions as to whether and how someone from without a particular tradition might achieve salvation, simultaneously highlighting how theology responds to the historical contexts in which it is embedded. The author’s singular capacity to appraise authoritatively both the Catholic and Asharite traditions leads to powerful conclusions on issues that are vitally relevant today." - Dr Erica C.D. Hunter, Senior Lecturer Eastern Christianity and Associate Dean of Research, SOAS, University of LondonTable of ContentsTransliteration and Dating Acknowledgements Introduction  1 The Importance of the Subject  2 The State of the Field   2.1 Rifat Atay   2.2 Mohammad H. Khalil   2.3 Esra A. Dag  3 Critical Evaluation and Objectives of the Monograph  4 Methodology (from Theology of Religions to Comparative Theology)  5 Methodical Concerns   5.1 Important Qualifications and Limitations   5.2 Periodization and Structure   5.3 Overview of the Monograph 1 The Early Catholic Theology of Salvation  1 The Salvation Epistemology of the Early Church Fathers   1.1 St. Paul (d. c. 64/67)   1.2 The Inclusivist School    1.2.1 Justin Martyr (d. 165)    1.2.2 Irenaeus (d. c. 180/90)    1.2.3 Clement of Alexandria (d. c. 215)    1.2.4 Origen (d. c. 253)   1.3 The Exclusivist School    1.3.1 Ignatius (d. c. 117)    1.3.2 Tertullian (d. c. 240)    1.3.3 Cyprian (d. 258)   1.4 Augustine and the Consolidation of Exclusivism  2 Soteriology of the Early Church Fathers   2.1 The Apokatastasis   2.2 Christ’s Descent into Hell 2 Early Aš‘arite Theology of Salvation (Hadith-Based Theology)  1 Early Aš‘arite Epistemology of Intra-Muslim Salvation  2 Early Aš‘rite Intra-Muslim Soteriology  3 Early Aš‘arite Epistemology of Inter-Religious Salvation  4 Early Aš‘arite Inter-Religious Soteriology  5 Early Aš‘arites and the Question of Intercession  6 Conclusion and Comparison 3 St. Thomas Aquinas’ Theology of Salvation  1 Aquinas’ Epistemology of Salvation  2 Aquinas’ Soteriology  3 Thomistic Influence on Later Theologians 4 Abu Hamid al-Gazali’s Theology of Salvation (Sunnah-Based Theology)  1 Al-Gazali’s Theology of Intra-Muslim Salvation  2 Al-Gazali’s Theology of Inter-Religious Salvation   2.1 Al-Gazali and the Question of Intercession   2.2 Can Non-Muslims be Called Mu’minun “Believers”?   2.3 Good Deeds vs. Correct Faith  3 The Aš‘arite Theology of Salvation after al-Gazali  4 Conclusion and Comparison 5 Salvation in Modern Catholicism (Massignon, Rahner and Vatican II)  1 The Impact of Massignon’s Theology of Religions on Vatican II   1.1 Massignon the Person and Islam   1.2 Massignon the Scholar and Islam   1.3 Massignon and Vatican II  2 Karl Rahner and Anonymous Christians   2.1 Rahner’s Context and Theory   2.2 Is there an Islamic Parallel to Rahner’s Theory?    2.2.1 The Receptive Interpretation    2.2.2 The Proactive Interpretation    2.2.3 The Conflictive Interpretation    2.2.4 Critical Evaluation 6 Modern Aš‘arite Theology of Salvation (Al-Azhar and the Quran-Based Theology)  1 Muhammad ‘Abduh’s Theology of Salvation   1.1 ‘Abduh’s Theology of Intra-Muslim Salvation   1.2 ‘Abduh’s Theology of Inter-Religious Salvation    1.2.1 ‘Abduh and the Question of Intercession    1.2.2 Concluding Remarks  2 Sh. Mahmud Šaltut and the Question of Salvation   2.1 Šaltut’s Theology of Intra and Inter-religious Salvation  3 Sh. ‘Abd al-Halim Mahmud’s Theology of Salvation   3.1 Halim’s Theology of Muslim Denominations   3.2 Halim’s Theology of Religions   3.3 Comparisons and Conclusions Conclusions and Recommendations  The Way Forward Glossary of Key Terms Citation Method and Abbreviated Arabic Titles Bibliography  Arabic Sources  English Sources  Online Sources Index

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Book SynopsisThe focus of Through Your Eyes: Religious Alterity and the Early Modern Western Imagination is the (mostly Western) understanding, representation and self-critical appropriation of the "religious other" between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Mutually constitutive processes of selfing/othering are observed through the lenses of creedal Jews, a bhakti Brahmin, a widely translated Morisco historian, a collector of Western and Eastern singularia, Christian missionaries in Asia, critical converts, toleration theorists, and freethinkers: in other words, people dwelling in an 'in-between' space which undermines any binary conception of the Self and the Other. The genesis of the volume was in exchanges between eight international scholars and the two editors, intellectual historian Giovanni Tarantino and anthropologist Paola von Wyss-Giacosa, who share an interest in comparatism, debates over toleration, and history of emotions.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures Notes on Contributors Introduction: The “Religious Other” through Early Modern Eyes  Giovanni Tarantino and Paola von Wyss-Giacosa 1 Confessionalisation in Jewish Culture? Creedal Moments from the Middle Ages through the Late Eighteenth Century  Talya Fishman 2 Silencing the Other: Eknath’s Hiṇdu-Turk Saṁvād and Thomas Stephens’ Discurso sobre a vinda de Jesu Christo  Ananya Chakravarti 3 Seeing Oneself through the Eyes of a Morisco: The European Translations of Miguel de Luna’s Historia verdadera del Rey d. Rodrigo  Fernando Rodríguez Mediano 4 Through the Eyes of Idolatry: Pignoria’s 1615 Argument on the Conformità of Idols from the West and East Indies with Egyptian Gods  Paola von Wyss-Giacosa 5 The Religious Other as Perceived by the Chinese and by Early Western Missionaries  Paul A. Rule 6 Radical Attitudes towards the Religions of Siam in Early Eighteenth-Century French Thought  Rolando Minuti 7 What Is Left of Religion after Christianity Unveiled? D’Holbach’s Perspectives  Knut Martin Stünkel 8 Through African Eyes: Eighteenth-Century Black Atlantic Authors Confront Christianity  Vincent Carretta 9 From Labelling and Ridicule to Understanding: The Novelty of Bernard and Picart’s Religious Comparatism  Giovanni Tarantino Afterword: Cannibalism and History  Daniel Barbu Index

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Book SynopsisKing David if one of the most central figures in all of the major monotheistic traditions. He generally connotes the heroic past of the (more imagined than real) ancient Israelite empire and is associated with messianic hopes for the future. Nevertheless, his richly ambivalent and fascinating literary portrayal in the Hebrew Bible is one of the most complex of all biblical characters. This volume aims at taking a new, critical look at the process of biblical creation and subsequent exegetical transformation of the character of David and his attributed literary composition (the Psalms), with particular emphasis put on the multilateral fertilization and cross-cultural interchanges among Jews, Christians and Muslims.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Transliteration Notes on Contributors The Variety of Davids in Monotheistic Traditions   An Introduction  Marzena Zawanowska 1 David in History and in the Hebrew Bible  Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanò part 1: The Images of David in Medieval Jewish, Muslim and Christian Sources 2 David the Pious Musician in Midrashic Literature and Medieval Muslim Sources  Sivan Nir 3 The Weeping King of Muslim Pietistic Tradition   David in the Kitāb al-waraʿ of ʿAbd al-Malik b. Ḥabīb (d. 238/853) and in Earlier Islamic Sources  Mateusz Wilk 4 David and the Temple of Solomon according to the Arabic Commentaries of Yefet ben ʿEli the Karaite on the Books of Kings and Chronicles  Yair Zoran 5 David as Warrior, Leader, and Poet in Medieval Hebrew Poetry of al-Andalus   Shmuel ha-Nagid’s Self-Portrait as “The David of His Age”  Barbara Gryczan 6 David in Judah Halevi’s Book of the Kuzari   A Reconciliation Project  Marzena Zawanowska 7 Saint Louis as a New David and Paris as a New Jerusalem in Medieval French Hagiographic Literature  Jerzy Pysiak 8 Male Friendship in Medieval Latin Literature   David and Jonathan  Ruth Mazo Karras part 2: The Psalter of David in Monotheistic Traditions 9 David the Prophet in Saʿadya Gaon’s Commentary on Psalms and Its Syriac and Karaite Contexts  Arye Zoref 10 Psalms to Reason, Psalms to Heal   The Scriptures in Early Rūm Orthodox Treatises  Miriam Lindgren Hjälm 11 Images of David in Several Muslim Rewritings of the Psalms  David R. Vishanoff 12 David’s Psalter in Christian Arabic Dress   ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Faḍl’s Translation and Commentary  Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala 13 King David and the Psalter in Ethiopian Cultural Setting  Witold Witakowski 14 David’s Psalms in Eastern European Karaite Literature  Zsuzsanna Olach part 3: David and His Women: The Cross-Religious Reception Exegesis of the Bathsheba Narrative 15 The Four Wives of David and the Four Women of Odysseus   A Comparative Approach  Daniel Bodi 16 Josephus’ Retelling of the David and Bathsheba Narrative  Michael Avioz 17 Our Mother, Our Queen   Bathsheba through Early Jewish, Christian and Muslim Eyes  Diana Lipton and Meira Polliack 18 God’s Master Plan   The Story of David and Bathsheba in Some Early Syriac Commentaries  Orly Mizrachi 19 Ibn Kaṯīr’s (d. 774/1373) Treatment of the David and Uriah Narrative   The Issue of Isrāʾīliyyāt and the Syrian School of Exegesis  Marianna Klar part 4: Reinventing David in Early Modern and Modern Religious Thought and Literature 20 “David Was Secretly a Woman”   King David as a Messianic Topos in the Teaching of Jacob Frank  Jan Doktór 21 Davidic Narratives in the Contemporary Roman Catholic Liturgical Readings  Elżbieta Łazarewicz-Wyrzykowska 22 The Reception of David and Michal in Twentieth and Twenty-First-Century Literature  Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer Index

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Book SynopsisProfessor Geo Widengren (1907–1996), holder of the chair in History of Religions and Psychology of Religions at Uppsala University between 1940 and 1973, is one of Sweden’s best-known scholars in the field of religious studies. His involvement in the start of the IAHR and publications on topics such as the phenomenology of religions, Iranian studies and Middle Eastern Religions make Widengren one of the founding fathers of the History of Religions as an academic discipline. This volume pays tribute to Widengren’s academic achievements and critically discusses his work in light of the latest academic findings and research.Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors part 1: Thesis and International Work 1 Geo Widengren: A Portrait of a Swedish Historian of Religions  Göran Larsson 2 Hebrew Laments in the Light of Mesopotamian Material  Göran Eidevall 3 Professor Geo Widengren, IAHR Vice-President 1950–1960, IAHR President 1960–1970, IAHR Honorary Life Member 1996  Tim Jensen and Satoko Fujiwara part 2: Iranian Cultures, Languages and Religions 4 Geo Widengren and the Study of Iranian Religion  Anders Hultgård 5 The Eclipse of Geo Widengren in the Study of Iranian Religions  Albert de Jong 6 “King and Saviour”: Geo Widengren’s Early Contributions (1938–1955) to the History of Iranian Religions  Mihaela Timuş part 3: A Phenomenological Approach 7 Geo Widengren and Swedish Phenomenology of Religion versus Italian Comparative Historical Typology  Giovanni Casadio 8 The World of Religion: A Reevaluation of Geo Widengren’s Phenomenology of Religion  Clemens Cavallin part 4: Method, Criticism and a Public Intellectual 9 The Reception and Criticism of Geo Widengren in the Nordic Countries: The Debate over the Origin of Religion  René Gothóni and Göran Larsson 10 Before the Bible: Middle-Eastern Religions and the Origins of Christianity in the Works of Geo Widengren  Christer Hedin 11 Tor Andræ and Geo Widengren: Perspectives and Purposes of the Study of the History of Religions  Jan Hjärpe 12 Africa and America Revisited: A Critical Analysis of Widengren’s Comparative Method  Daniel Andersson Part 5: Manichaeism and Gnosticism 13 Widengren, Gnosticism, and the Religionsgeschichtliche Schule  Einar Thomassen 14 Geo Widengren and Manichaeism  Chiara O. Tommasi Part 6: Postscript 15 Geo Widengren as Researcher and Public Intellectual: A Meta-Reflection  Göran Larsson Appendix A: Letters between Raffaele Pettazzoni and Geo Widengren (1948–1959) Appendix B: Letters between Helmer Ringgren, Geo Widengren and Ugo Bianchi (1959–1970) Geo Widengren’s Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn A Christian-Muslim Comparative Theology of Saints: The Community of God’s Friends, Hans A. Harmakaputra focuses on a question that emerges from today’s multi-faith context: “Is it possible for Christians to recognize non-Christians as saints?” To answer affirmatively, he offers a Christian perspective on an inclusive theology of saints through the lens of comparative theology that is based on the thought of Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim theologians: Karl Rahner, Jean-Luc Marion, Elizabeth Johnson, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Paul Tillich, and Ibn Arabī’. As a result of this interreligious comparison, three theological constructs emerge: (1) saints as manifestations and revealers of God’s self-communication, (2) the hiddenness of saints, and (3) saints as companions. These theological constructs redefine and reconfigure Christian understanding of saints on one hand, and on the other hand provide theological reasoning to include non-Christians in the Christian notion of the communion of saints.Trade Review“The Community of God’s Friends is an intriguing book not least because of its stated goals, chief among which is an attempt to “enrich” Christian understanding regarding the “communion of saints” by exploring ideas from “across” the religious and denominational divide, but also for its organic style of unpacking the issues involved. Harmakaputra is firmly grounded in the Protestant tradition and here he masterfully facilitates a conversation between perspectives from his own tradition and those from the Roman Catholic and Muslim traditions. By applying the comparative theology lens, the author is able to expand the scope of discourse to include interdisciplinary considerations. In other words, it will be useful for the specialist in religious studies and yet it also off ers ideas for engaging in interfaith dialogue for the general reader.” – Irfan A. Omar, Associate Professor Theology, Marquette University "Dr. Harmakaputra’s work of comparative theology offers an inclusive theology of saints grounded in the thought of Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim theologians. His scholarship is truly impressive, displaying a great familiarity with and a masterful grasp of Catholic and Protestant theology of sainthood and Islamic theology of prophethood, especially in the Sunni and Sufi traditions. I strongly recommend this book for courses on interreligious dialogue and to those interested in a comparative understanding of Christian and Muslim concepts of sainthood and prophethood." – Peter C. Phan, The Igancio Ellacuria, S.J. Chair of Catholic Social Thought, Georgetown University "The inclusive theology of saints developed by Hans Harmakaputra with the help of Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim sources is comparative theology at its best: it offers an impressive solution for an important problem of contemporary systematic theology with considerable practical effects, it offers a convincing and understandable way of reception of non-Christian sources, and it develops a thought-provoking, stimulating systematic idea in a wide ecumenical horizon.“ – Klaus Von Stosch, Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Bonn.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction  1 Why Saints?  2 Reconfiguring Saints and Sainthood: The Quest for an Inclusive Christian Theology of the Saints  3 Disciplinary Framework: Comparative Systematic Theology  4 Limits of the Study  5 Structure 1 Contemporary Catholic Discourse on Theology of Saints  1 Canonization, Intercessory Roles, and Moral Exemplars:Three Features of the Saints in Catholic Teaching  2 Saints as Tangible Manifestations of God’s Grace in History:Karl Rahner’s Theology of Saints  3 Remembering the Saints as Friends of God and Prophets:Elizabeth Johnson’s Feminist Perspective on the Saints  4 The Invisibility of the Saint According to Jean-Luc Marion 2 Contemporary Protestant Discourse on Theology of Saints  1 Protestant Reformers’ Criticism of the Veneration of Saints  2 Contemporary Protestant Churches’ Approach to Saints  3 Contemporary Theological Approaches to a Theology of Saints   3.1 A Worldly Saint: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and His Thoughts on Sainthood   3.2 Saints as Embodiments of Ultimate Reality: Paul Tillich and His Notion of Saintliness and Sanctification 3 Friends of God and Sainthood in Islam: An Introduction  1 Clarification of the Key Terms Related to Sainthood  2 Signs of Awliya Allah: A Phenomenological Approach to Muslim Saints   2.1 Reductionist and Relativistic Approaches to Sainthood   2.2 Approaching Sainthood as a Tradition in Islam   2.3 Miraculous Deeds as the Signs of a Wali: The Case of Abdurrahman Wahid  3 Friends of God in the Qur’an and Hadith: A Textual Approach  4 Formulation of Sainthood in the Early Period of Sufism:A Theological Approach   4.1 Al-Junayd: Saints as Models for Believers   4.2 Hakim al-Tirmidhi: Sainthood and the Seal of the Saints 4 Friends of God and Sainthood According to IBN ‘Arabi  1 Clarification of Ibn ?Arabi’s Key Concepts   1.1 Oneness of Being   1.2 The Human and the Perfect Human   1.3 The “God Created in Beliefs”  2 The Realm of the Walaya   2.1 The Relationship of Sainthood to Prophethood and Messengerhood   2.2 The Universality of Walaya  3 The Saints as the Heirs of the Prophets  4 The “Hiddenness” of Saints 5 Saints as Manifestations and Revealers of God’s Self-Communication  1 The Universality of God’s Self-Communication   1.1 Grace as the Self-Communication of God   1.2 Anonymous Christians   1.3 From Anonymous Christians to Saints  2 The Particularity of God’s Self-Communication   2.1 The Role of Jesus Christ in God’s Universal Self-Communication   2.2 Hidden Saints as Many Mediations  3 Towards the Recognition of Hidden Saints   3.1 Hidden Saints as the Mystics of Everyday Life   3.2 Universal Paths for Realizing God’s Grace   3.3 Saints as Revealers of New Modes of God’s Grace 6 The Hiddenness of Saints  1 Banality and Holiness: Sanctity as Liminal Space   1.1 “He Who Eats Food and Walks in the Markets”: Saints in the World   1.2 Worldly Saints: Sanctification as the Journey in the Liminal Space  2 “Only a Saint Can Recognize Another Saint”: A Phenomenology of Sainthood   2.1 “The One Who Blames Oneself”: The Malamiyya According to Ibn ?Arabi   2.2 Hiddenness as a Mark of Sainthood  3 “He Who Sees You Sees Me”: The Transparency and Mediating Role of a Saint   3.1 Friends of God as Mediations between God and Human Beings   3.2 Saints as Icons of the Invisible God 7 Saints as Companions  1 Reinvigorating the Communion of Saints: The Significance of the Companionship Paradigm   1.1 The Paradigm of Companionship and Its Significance   1.2 The Seal of the Muhammadan Saints and the Problem of Hierarchy  2 Expanding the Boundaries of the Communion of Saints   2.1 Friends of God and Cloud of Witnesses as Primary Metaphors of the Companionship Paradigm   2.2 Reconfiguring the Concept of Intermediation of the Saints  3 Following in the Footsteps of the Friends of God   3.1 The Intersections of Memory, Hope, and Praxis   3.2 Multiple Paths of Holiness   3.3 Encountering the Hidden Christ through Praxis 8 Approaching Saints: An Inclusive Christian Theology of Saints in Practice  1 An Inclusive Christian Theology of Saints: Three Theological Constructs  2 The Vox Populi Approach to Sainthood: Weaving Remembrance and Imitation   2.1 The Vox Populi and the Catholic Canonization of Saints   2.2 Protestantism and the Vox Populi Approach to the Communion of Saints  3 Recognizing Saints Interreligiously: Two Case Studies   3.1 Frans van der Lugt, SJ   3.2 Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur)   3.3 Encountering the Hidden Christ through Praxis  4 Redefining Sainthood: Saints as “Sign-Events”  5 Remembering Gives Rise to Practice Conclusion  1 Three Theological Constructs  2 Types of Learning in Comparative Theology  3 Further Directions Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn A Need for Religion: Insecurity and Religiosity in the Contemporary World Francesco Molteni tries to answer one of the broadest questions for scholars of religion: why is religiosity declining in developed countries? He does so by inspecting all the different nuances of the insecurity theory, which links the feeling of security typical of modern societies with the diminished need for religion as source of reassurance, support and predictability. In this respect, he notes that much of the evidence is far less clear than expected and that secularization processes are at an advanced stage only in a rather small group of worldwide countries.Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements List of Figures, Tables and Maps 1 Introduction  1 Why the Need to Study Insecurity and Religiosity?  2 A Guide for This Book  3 Methodology and Appendices 2 The Broad Frame of Secularization Theory  1 The Sociological Roots of Secularization Theory  2 Alternative Approaches  3 The Post-secularism  4 Modernity and Modernizations: How to Simplify the Complex  5 One Secularization, More Secularizations  6 Different Levels of Interpretation  7 Which Secularization? 3 Insecurity Theory in Sociological Literature  1 The Sociological Roots of Insecurity Theory  2 Insecurity Theory as a Macro-theory to Explain Religious Decline  3 Insecurity Theory as a Micro-theory to Explain Religious Change   3.1 Religiosity as a Social Buffer   3.2 Religiosity as an Economic Buffer   3.3 Religiosity as a Psychological or Cognitive Buffer  4 Religious Coping and Religious Resources 4 A Look at the World: The Empirical Bases of Insecurity Theory  1 Towards a More Robust Exploration  2 Steps in Modernization 5 Exploring Relations: Does Insecurity Matter?  1 Are Religious People Happier?  2 Does Religiosity Mitigate Losses in Life-satisfaction?  3 Are Insecure People More Likely to Be Religious?  4 Disentangling the Mechanisms: One Insecurity, More Insecurities 6 Bringing Back Individuals: Do Negative Events Foster Religiosity?  1 A Longitudinal Panel Study for Germany and the United Kingdom  2 Testing the Mechanisms of Individual Change  3 The (Non) Effect of Life-threatening Events 7 Moving into the Longitudinal: Changes in Insecurity and Secularization  1 Towards a Model for Explaining Religious Change  2 Conceptualizing Insecurity and Its Effect on Religiosity  3 Longitudinal Argumentations and Cross-sectional Data  4 Insecurity Theory: More Static Than Dynamic 8 Insecurity and Religious Change: Facts, Facets and Notes of Caution  1 Europe as Exception or Example?  2 Religious Evolution in Asia, Africa and South America   2.1 Asia   2.2 Africa   2.3 South America  3 Same Path, Different Positions 9 Conclusions: The Triggering Role of Insecurity  1 Insecurity and Religious Decline: What Do We Know and What Should We Know?  2 From Observation to Understanding  3 Final Remarks Appendix 1: Studying Religion with Quantitative Methods: A Toolbox  1 Globalization of Surveys  2 Individual and Aggregate Relations – Reasoning Multilevel  3 Causality and Associations  4 Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Relations  5 Multidimensionality Appendix 2: Data, Methods and Tables  1 The Surveys  2 The Techniques  3 The Tables Bibliography Author Index Thematic Index

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Book SynopsisThe present volume sets Swahili religious tracts available in Kenya and Tanzania in their context. The book starts with an overview of tracts in Swahili from the 19th century to the present day, an examination of Swahili as a religious language, and an introduction to Swahili versions of the Bible and Qurʾān. Chesworth then introduces the range of tracts currently available, examining eight in detail. In particular he considers how they present scripture in order to promote their own faith, Islam or Christianity, whilst denigrating the ‘other’. Finally, the volume discusses the impact from modern media on these tracts.Table of ContentsForeword List of Tables, Figures and Maps 1Introduction  1 Start of Interest in Tracts  2 Interaction and Outreach of the Two Faiths  3 Data Collection  4 Background of Islam and Christianity in Kenya and Tanzania  5 Demography  6 Kenya  7 Tanzania  8 Islam  9 Christianity  10 Relations between Christians and Muslims  11 ‘Crusades’ and Mihadhara  12 Christian Outreach  13 Muslim Outreach  14 Mjadala (Discussion)  15 Tracts  16 Historical Background to Tracts  17 Collection of Tracts  18 Criteria for Selection of Tracts  19 Categories of Selected Tracts  20 Outline of Book Part 1: Tracts and Translation in East Africa 2Early Christian Tracts in East Africa  1 The First Christian Tracts in East Africa  2 Support from SPCK and RTS for Work in East Africa  3 SPCK  4 RTS and Msafiri  5 UMCA  6 W.E. Taylor and Raha Isiyo Karaha 3Christian Tracts in East Africa during the Twentieth Century  1 Tracts from Lutheran Missionary Societies in Deutsch Ostafrika  2 Christian Outreach at the End of the Colonial Period  3 Planning for the Future  4 Christian Outreach Post-Independence 4Muslim Tracts in East Africa during the Twentieth Century  1 Muslim Outreach at the Time of Independence  2 New Methods of Muslim Outreach 5Swahili as a Religious Language  1 Introduction  2 Standardising Swahili  3 Christian Missionaries’ Translational Labours Part 2: Muslim and Christian Tracts 6Tracts in Current Circulation in East Africa  1 Criteria for Selection of the Tracts to Be Examined  2 Purpose of Composition  3 Language of Composition  4 The Use of Scripture  5 Analysis of Selected Tracts  6 The Original Language of Composition  7 Title and Subject Matter  8 Authors of Tracts  9 Use of Scripture 7Using Scripture to Refute the Other’s Faith  1 Uislamu Katika Biblia  2 Isa (Yesu Kristo) Ndani ya Kurani na Biblia 8Jesus in the Qurʾān Al-Māʾida (5):112–20  1 Maisha ya Nabii Isa (Alahais Salam)  2 Hapana! Dini ya Kristo Haijabatalishwa 9Testimonies of Converts  1 Kwa Nini Niliacha Ukristo na Nikawa Muislamu  2 Kutafuta Uhakika 10Teaching Those of Your Own Faith  1 Uislamu ni Njia Sahihi ya Maisha  2 Je Roho Mtakatifu ndiye yule Msaidizi? 11Concluding Remarks Appendix 1: Passages from Different Versions of the Bible and Qurʾān Appendix 2: Copy of Sisi ni Wasomaji wa kudumu … (We Are Constant Readers), with English Translation Glossary Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisSince psychology and religion share the same ground in terms of providing explanations about the human being, many religious teachings also contain psychological descriptions. Islamic civilization, which has existed in vast geographies for centuries, offers unique sources to explain human feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Scientific Western psychology has asserted important theories and researches in understanding human beings. Today, Western psychology needs to be enriched with new perspectives to make more comprehensive explanations about people with different cultural backgrounds. Written by Sevde Düzgüner, this book is the product of an effort to discuss the human model of Islam and the human theories of psychology with a complementary approach. This book recommends methodological points that must be considered while studying both fields. It also attempts to draw a a road map for further studies by determining the areas where Islamic psychology could contribute to Western psychology.Table of ContentsContents Abstract Keywords  1 A Short History of Western Psychology  2 A Short History of Islamic Psychology  3 How to Combine Western and Islamic Psychologies  4 Complementary Views of Western and Islamic Psychologies  5 Conclusion  Acknowledgments  References

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Book SynopsisIn American Christian Programmed Quaker Ecclesiology, Derek Brown argues that American Christian Programmed Quakerism has inherited a practical and pragmatic ecclesiology at the expense of an ontological understanding of the church. Inspired by the work of Gerben Heitink, Brown proposes a normative, deductive, ontological ecclesiology based on the biblical concept of koinonia, which would act as a 'foundational' model for future confessional, empirical, and practical efforts. To help form the proposed ecclesiology, Brown explores the ecclesiological views of George Fox and Robert Barclay, the adoption of the pastoral system, and the emergence of the Evangelical Friends Church. The ecclesiological writings of Miroslav Volf, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Hans Küng, Jennifer Buck, and C. Wess Daniels are also surveyed.

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Book SynopsisIs the Sublime Sustainable? introduces the key points of debate around the sublime while opening new avenues for future inquiry, especially through its comparative aesthetics approach. In it, you will discover how thinking on the sublime emerged historically and then engage with the recent critical scholarship on the topic, including from the fields of theology, philosophy, and literature. The critiques of the sublime are then expanded in dialogue with perspectives from Japanese aesthetics and art, shaping the argument that what is needed today is a sublime that enriches human lives by cultivating profound, participative relationships.Trade ReviewContents Note on Translations Acknowledgments Abstract Keywords  Introduction: Questioning the Sublime and Standing before a Waterfall  1 Locating the Sublime in the Euro-American Context  2 Sustaining Depth: Critiquing the Sublime with Theological Aesthetics  3 Preserving Particularity: Critiquing the Sublime with Environmental Aesthetics  4 Cultivating Participation: Critiquing the Sublime with Critical Theory  Conclusion: toward an Everyday Sublime Bibliography

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Book SynopsisChristian-Muslim Relations, a Bibliographical History 21 (CMR 21), covering South-western Europe in the period 1800-1914, is a further volume in a general history of relations between the two faiths from the 7th century to the early 20th century. It comprises a series of introductory essays and the main body of detailed entries. These treat all the works, surviving or lost, that have been recorded. They provide biographical details of the authors, descriptions and assessments of the works themselves, and complete accounts of manuscripts, editions, translations and studies. The result of collaboration between numerous new and established scholars, CMR 21, along with the other volumes in this series, is intended as a fundamental tool for research in Christian-Muslim relations. Section Editors: Ines Aščerić-Todd, Clinton Bennett, Luis F. Bernabé Pons, Jaco Beyers, Emanuele Colombo, Lejla Demiri, Martha T. Frederiks, David D. Grafton, Stanisław Grodź, Alan M. Guenther, Vincenzo Lavenia, Arely Medina, Diego Melo Carrasco, Alain Messaoudi, Gordon Nickel, Claire Norton, Reza Pourjavady, Douglas Pratt, Charles Ramsey, Peter Riddell, Umar Ryad, Cornelia Soldat, Charles Tieszen, Carsten Walbiner, Catherina Wenzel.Table of ContentsContents Foreword  ix Abbreviations  xvi Essays Alain Messaoudi, Introduction: Perceptions of Islam in France during the 19th century  3 Luis F. Bernabé Pons, Introduction: Iberia 1800-1914  17 Emanuele Colombo and Vincenzo Lavenia, Introduction: Italy before and after Unification: Islam, Orientalism, Colonialism  24 Radha Dalal, Nineteenth-century French photography and European impressions of Ottoman lands  55 Alejandro García-Sanjuán, Memories of al-Andalus in 19th-century Spain  70 Clinton Bennett, Orientalism and the Orient as other  80 France Constantin-François Volney Sarga Moussa 97 Jean Potocki Émilie Klene 109 Denon Patrice Bret 123 Antoine-Isaac Silvestre de Sacy John Chesworth 132 Comte de Forbin Rose-Marie Le Rouzic 139 Ignatius Mouradgea d’Ohsson Yaser Gün 149 François Rene de Chateaubriand Pierre Glaudes 162 Astolphe de Custine Alain Guyot 185 Eusèbe de Salle Alain Messaoudi 194 Edgar Quinet Florence Fix 201 Joseph Marin Adolphe Noël des Vergers Annliese Nef 207 Caussin de Perceval Renaud Soler 215 Albert de Biberstein Kazimirski Mouhamadoul-Khaly Wélé 220 Gérard de Nerval Guy Barthèlemy 229 Louis-Pierre-Eugène Amélie Sédillot Renaud Soler 242 Gustave Dugat Alain Messaoudi 249 Alexandre Dumas (père) Anne-Marie Callet-Bianco 256 Victor Hugo Franck Laurent 267 Jules Barthélemy Saint-Hilaire Florence Fix 300 Nicolas Perron Alain Messaoudi 310 Garcin de Tassy Marc Gaborieau 321 Gustave Flaubert Taro Nakijima 327 Pacifique-Henry Delaporte Renaud Soler 342 Ernest Renan Birgit Schäbler 347 Gustave Le bon Alain Messaoudi 362 Guy de Maupassant Francis Lacoste 371 Jane and Marcel Dieulafoy Eve Gran-Aymerich 385 Henry de Castries Daniel Rivet 400 Dictionaries and encyclopaedias produced by Christian institutions Claude Prudhomme 409 French missionary journals Claude Prudhomme 425 Catholic scholarly journals Claude Prudhomme 434 Edouard Montet Alain Messaoudi 442 Bernard Carra de Vaux Emmanuel Pisani 451 Iberia Frei João de Sousa Isabel Drumond Braga 467 Manuel de Santo Tomás de Aquino Luis F. Bernabé Pons 473 Ali Bey el Abbassi Jan Loop 478 Adolfo de Rivadeneyra José F. Cutillas 486 Italy and Malta Giovanni Mariti Felicita Tramontana 497 La riforma dell’Alcorano Gian Mario Cazzaniga 502 Baldassarre II Odescalchi David Armando 513 Giovanni Battista Casti David Armando 517 Giuseppe Vella Alessandro Vanoli 523 Giuseppe Calza Luca Berardi 529 Francesco Rovira Bonet Marina Caffiero 532 Paolino da S Bartolomeo Sabina Pavone 538 Felice Caronni Valerio Vittorini 546 Simone Assemani Arianna D’Ottone and Bruno Callegher 552 Filippo Pananti Valerio Vittorini 560 Michelangelo Lanci Elisabetta Benigni 564 Paolo Della Cella Elisabetta Serafini 570 Attilio Belzoni Valerio Vittorini 575 Jean-Emile Humbert Francesca Sofia 580 Salvatore Morso Alessandro Vanoli 585 Giovanni Battista Rampoldi Roberto Tottoli 588 Giovanni Battista Baldelli Boni Federico Stella 591 Amalia Nizzoli Elisabetta Serafini 596 Giovanni Antonio Vassallo William Zammit 603 Vincenzo Calza Federico Stella 608 Giacomo Bossi Edoardo Tortarolo 613 Michelangelo Celesia Federico Stella 616 Giuseppe Sapeto Francesco Surdich 622 Cristina di Belgiojoso Valerio Vittorini 629 Andrea Zambelli Roberto Tottoli 635 Felice de Angeli Bruno Pomara 640 Giuseppe Anaclerio Elisabetta Serafini 645 Michele Amari Alessandro Vanoli 650 Rocco da Cesinale Michele Camaioni 661 Domenico Cerri Giovanni Frulla 667 Pietro Valerga Elisabetta Benigni 673 Jacopo Bernardi Felicita Tramontana 679 Vincenzo d’Avino Federico Stella 684 Alberto Guglielmotti David Armando 691 Renzo Manzoni Giovanni Canova 695 Antonio Stoppani Nicola Verderame 703 Alessandro D’Ancona Valentina Sagaria Rossi 707 Bartolomeo Lagumina Federico Stella 715 Angelo De Gubernatis Francesca Bellino 721 Emilio Salgari Masturah Alatas 727 Lupo Buonazia Francesca Bellino 736 Carlo Alfonso Nallino Valentina Sagaria Rossi 740 Ugo Mioni Tommaso Caliò 751 Aldobrandino Malvezzi Vincenzo Lavenia 756 Enrico Cerulli Gianfrancesco Lusini 769 Leone Caetani Andrea Trentini 773 Contributors  783 Index of Names  000 Index of Titles  000

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Book SynopsisThe Power of Parables documents the surprising ways in which Jewish and Christian parables bridge religion with daily life. This 2019 conference volume rediscovers the original power of parables to shock and affect their audience, which has since been reduced by centuries of preaching and repetition. Not only do parables enhance the perspective on Scripture or the kingdom of heaven, they also change the sensory regime of the audience in perceiving the outer world. The theological differences in their applications appear secondary in view of their powerful rhetoric and suggest a shared genre.Table of ContentsContents Abbreviations Contributors Introduction  Eric Ottenheijm, Marcel Poorthuis and Annette Merz Part 1: Parables and Realism 1 Genres of Parables: A Cognitive Approach  Gerd Theissen 2 A Parable of the Lost Temple? Archaeology, Intertextuality, and Rhetoric in Matt 21:33−46  Eric Ottenheijm and Boaz Zissu 3 Whom Do You Invite to the Table? Connections between the Dropsical Guest and the Meal Parables in Luke 14:1–24  Bart J. Koet 4 Parable and Ritual in Changing Contexts  Adiel Kadari 5 Sorting out “New and Old” (Matt 13:52) as Changing Money: Rabbinic and Synoptic Parables on Scriptural Knowledge  Eric Ottenheijm 6 The Rabbinic Mashal and the Ancient Fable: Prospects for a Changing Perspective  Justin David Strong Part 2: Parables and Application 7 Parables between Folk and Elite  Tal Ilan 8 Money and Torah in Early Christian and Early Rabbinic Parables  Lieve M. Teugels 9 On Fields, the Poor Human Condition, and the Advantage of One Teacher: Four Rabbinic Parables in Avot de Rabbi Nathan  Marcel Poorthuis 10 Honouring Human Agency and Autonomy: Children as Agents in New Testament and Early Rabbinic Parables  Annette Merz and Albertina Oegema 11 Father’s Child: Fatherhood in the Rabbinic Parables of Song of Songs Rabbah  Tamar Kadari 12 Why Are Biblical Verses Not Quoted in Parables? A Cultural-Cognitive Explanation  Ronit Nikolsky 13 Moses’s Prayer and the Nimshal as Scriptural Mosaic  Arnon Atzmon Part 3: Parables and Social Reality 14 Metaphors, Parables, and the Bildfeld  Petra von Gemünden 15 Jesus’s Parables Create Collective Identity: Parables of Growth through the Lens of Social Identity Theory  Ruben Zimmermann 16 Host and Guests: Some Features of the Eschatological Banquet in Rabbinic Parables and Gospels  Reuven Kiperwasser 17 New Testament and Rabbinic Slave Parables at the Intersection between Fiction and Reality  Catherine Hezser 18 Parables between Realism and Ideology  Anders Martinsen 19 Building a Fence Around the Vineyard: The Shepherd of Hermas’s Fifth Parable in Light of Comparative Parable Research  Martijn J. Stoutjesdijk 20 The Land of Israel as Diasporic Topos in Rabbinic Parables  Constanza Cordoni Index of Ancient Sources Index of Modern Authors Index of Names and Subjects

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Book SynopsisDialogue participants demonstrate strong motivations for contributing to interreligious dialogue, based on a firm belief that encountering the other generates understanding – the contact thesis. Interreligious dialogue meets with both suspicion and cynicism: the former because it may result in loss of identity, and the latter because important issues may be ignored. The hitherto unanswered question is how Jewish-Christian-Muslim dialogue affects the identities of its participants. In this study Rachel Reedijk analyses identity construction in an interreligious context against the backdrop of the dominant either/or discourse regarding religious diversity – and, for that matter, multiculturalism – in Western society. The conceptual framework of this study is constituted by the debate on essentialism and constructivism in the social sciences. She argues that, under the right circumstances, interreligious dialogue can move beyond polemics and apologetics and prepare the ground for understanding in the dual sense of prejudice reduction and interreligious hermeneutics.Table of ContentsForeword Introduction Dialogue Organisations and Dialogue Documents Authentic Dialogue: A Contradiction in Terms? Truth-Claiming and Truth-Finding Transgressing and Setting Ritual Boundaries Understanding and Being Understood Dialogues about Dialogue: the Meta-level A Both/And Theory of Jewish Christian Muslim Dialogue Literature Consulted Index of Hebrew and Arabic terms Index of Names Appendix I Appendix II Tables

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Book SynopsisThinking the Divine in Interreligious Encounter seeks to take seriously our questions of cross-cultural and inter-religious dialogue on God or the Divine: How can the Divine be named and thought as Europe finds itself in midst of cross-cultural processes of a global nature and as religions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism come into the foreground in the West? What are some of the major shifts in Christian theology, as it recognizes that peoples of non-Christian faith traditions name and think the Divine in ways that differ from and sometimes conflict with Europe’s dominant religion(s) and secular culture? Together with “Naming and Thinking God in Europe Today” and “Post-colonial Europe in the Crucible of Cultures” (Rodopi 2007), this volume allows us to discover opportunities for a multivalenced reflection on God or the Divine that achieves mutual intelligibility without surrendering to a dogmatic untranslatability or a crude relativism.Table of ContentsIntroduction Norbert Hintersteiner: God in Translation: Crosscultural and Interreligious Theologies Cross-Cultural Translations Siegfried Wiedenhofer: Catholic Tradition and Transmission in Crisis Virgilio Elizondo: Mestizaje Theology and Its Promise to Culture Elochukwu Uzukwu: Re-Evaluating God-Talk from an African Perspective Anne Kull: Transitions, Travels, and Reframings of Concepts, Metaphors, and People Joseph Maïla: Identity, Violence, and Religion in Contemporary Conflicts Interreligious Engagements Leo D. Lefebure: Thinking the Divine in Interreligious Encounter: Biblical Trajectories and Christian Tradition Anne-Marie Reijnen: Protestants and Jews after the Shoah: Confessing God and the Son of God amidst the Shambles of European History Sidney H. Griffith: Doing Christian Theology in Islamic Terms: Unity and Trinity of God in Early Christian-Muslim Dialogue Leonhard Hell: Speaking of the One and Triune God in Times of Interreligious Dialogue Remus Rus: An Orthodox Christian View of the World Religions: Reading Dumitru Staniloae Encounters with Asian Religions Heike Franke: The Crucifixion of Christ in Indo-Islamic Painting Jacques Scheuer: Exploring the Hindu Universe and Coming Home Marcus Schmücker: The Experience of Faith in the Christian and Indian Traditions Dennis Gira: Impact of Buddhism on God-Talk in Europe Raquel Bouso Garcia: Transcendence and the Absolute in Buddhist-influenced Contemporary Japanese thought John D’Arcy May: Absolute Nothingness or Dynamic Emptiness: God and the ‘Cult of Nothingness’ in Buddhist-Christian Dialogue Epilogue Robert J. Schreiter: Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue about God Revisited List of Contributors

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Book SynopsisYoung people have to make their own way in the world; they have to give meaning to and find meaning in their lives. This is the field of religious education, which is provided by parents, religious leaders, or teachers of religion and worldviews. One of the most important challenges is to educate children in their own religion, emphasizing that religion’s tolerant and peaceful side and to teach children about the beliefs of other traditions. An even more important challenge is to teach them to live together in peace and justice. This volume deals with religious education in Christianity and Islam in specific countries. Scholars in religious education need to know more about the ways in which Muslims and Christians perceive and practice their respective forms of religious education and explore methods that help young people develop their religious identity in accordance with their tradition—and also meet with comrades from other traditions, as the two young Gambian and Dutch women shown on the cover do. This volume explores the field of Christian and Islamic education. Muslim and Christian scholars from Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Indonesia, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands describe various aspects of religious education at school, at home, in the mosque and church, via the media and in peer groups. The papers were presented and discussed at an authors’ conference at VU University Amsterdam, organized in close collaboration between the staff of its Centre of Islamic Theology and other scholars in religious education, and the Islamic Universities League in Cairo. The authors describe actual processes of education, reflect on religious identity formation and respect for other people and the influences from home, school, mosque, and church, the media and “the street.”Table of ContentsStella El Bouayadi‐van de Wetering, Siebren Miedema, and Henk Vroom: Introduction Mualla Selçuk: How Does the Qur’an See “The People of the Book”? An Example of the Communicative Model of Islamic Religious Education Ina ter Avest: Playful Encounter: Teachers, Young Children, and the Encounter with “the O/other” Alma Lanser‐van der Velde: Parental Religious Education Dihyatun Masqon Ahmad: The Dynamics of the Pondok Pesantren: An Islamic Educational Institution in Indonesia Stella El Bouayadi‐van de Wetering: Islamic Education of Muslim Children at Home and in the Mosque Friedrich Schweitzer: Religious Education at Home and in the Church: Religious, Social, and Personal Development Goedroen Juchtmans: Mediating the Sacred: A Ritual Perspective on Christian Education Rima Nasrallah: The Multicolored Robe: Christian Education in Lebanon. A Cumbersome Blessing Bahaeddin Budak and Stella El Bouayadi‐van de Wetering: Muslim Youth Cry Out for Help! Gerdien Bertram‐Troost and Siebren Miedema: Christian Education in the Netherlands Arslan Karagül: Islamic Religious Education in the Dutch Context: Searching for a Model for Effective Religious Education between Principles and Practice M. Fatih Genç, Ina ter Avest, and Siebren Miedema: Religious Education in Two Secular Multicultural Societies: A Comparison of the Turkish and Dutch Systems Hussein Bashir Mahmoud and Stella El Bouayadi‐van de Wetering: Islamic and Religious Education: Egyptian Primary and Secondary Schools Manfred L. Pirner: Peer Group and Media Influence on Young People in their (Non‐)Religious Development: A Christian Perspective Nabil Alsamaloty and Stella El Bouayadi‐van de Wetering: The Influence of Friends on the Ideas and Behavior of Young People Wolfram Weisse: Religious Education and the Values of Dialogue and Respect: Results of the REDCo Project Redbad Veenbaas: Values and Norms of Young Muslim People in the Netherlands Stella El Bouayadi‐van de Wetering, Siebren Miedema, and Henk Vroom: Epilogue: Differences, Commonalities, and Questions for Further Research General Index Contributors

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Book SynopsisLooking Beneath the Surface explores Arab-Islamic and Western perspectives on medical ethical issues: genetic research and treatment, abortion, organ donation, and palliative sedation and euthanasia. The contributions in this volume discuss the state of the (medical) art, the role of laws, counseling, and spiritual counseling in the decision-making process. The different approaches to the ethical issues, ways of moral reasoning, become clear in these contributions, especially the role of tradition for Islam and the importance of autonomy for the West. Beneath the differences, however, the reader will also discover common values, such as the role of dignity and the value of life, and similar practices. Some of the main differences are sociocultural in nature, rather than religious as such. Well-known experts in the fields of medicine and ethics have contributed to this volume from different religious and secular backgrounds. The book offers a carefully written introduction and final chapter on intercultural comparisons. Looking Beneath the Surface is more than a collection of writings on issues in medical ethics: it helps the reader to compare different paradigms of accountability and moral reasoning.Table of ContentsPreface Introduction: Looking Beneath the Surface: Commonalities and Differences between Islamic and Western Perspectives in Medical Ethics Marzouk Aulad Abdellah: The Sources of Islamic Ethics and Fiqh Martina C. Cornel: Genetic Medicine: Facts and Moral Issues from a Western Perspective Ahmed Ragaa A. Ragab and Gamal Serour: Can Facts about Genetic Research Play a Role in Moral Reasoning? Muslim Perspectives Pascal Borry, Marieke Teeuw, and Martina C. Cornel: Genetic Testing and Counseling in the Case of Consanguinity: Facts, Ethical and Legal Consequences Oka Storms and Edien Bartels: “Notre huile est dans notre farine”: An Exploration into the Meaning of Consanguinity in Northern Morocco against the Backdrop of the Medical Risk of Disabled Offspring Ayman M. Nassar, Serag El Din Mansour, and Gamal I. Serour: The Treatment of Embryos from an Islamic Perspective Egbert Schroten: The Moral Status of the Human Embryo: Christian Perspectives and the Impact of New Technologies Leo P. ten Kate: Reflections on Termination of Pregnancy for Genetic or Nongenetic Congenital Disorders Guido de Wert: Treatment of the Embryo: Facts and Moral Questions Moustafa H. Hegab: Abortion: Medical and Moral Aspects in Islamic Perspectives Ahmed Ragai El‐Gindi: Human Organ Transplantation K. Schipper, M. Ghaly, and T.A. Abma: Receiving a Donor Organ and Muslims in Europe: Theological and Intercultural Dimensions Theo A. Boer: Palliative Sedation: An Exploration from a Christian Ethical Point of View Arslan Karagül: Islamic Care Ethics between Law and Conscience Mostafa Salem: The Islamic Legal System vis‐à‐vis Euthanasia and Organ Transplantation Arend Soeteman: The Right to Moral Independence and its Meaning for Medical Issues Petra Verdonk and Hendrik M. Vroom: Observations and Comparisons Index of Subjects Index of Names Contributors

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