History of religion Books

Book SynopsisWith the advent of the reformation, concepts of living and dying were profoundly reconfigured. As purgatory disappeared from the spiritual landscape, other paths to the afterlife were rediscovered. Thus, when life draws to a close, the passage to the afterlife becomes a last pilgrimage, a popular early modern metaphor that has received little critical commentary. In a rigorous historical and theological reading, Cyril L. Caspar explores five major English poets - John Donne, Sir Walter Raleigh, George Herbert, Edmund Spenser, and John Milton - to unveil the poetical potential of the last pilgrimage as a life-transcending metaphor.

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Book SynopsisReligious studies have long discussed the comparative notion of "holy" beyond religious, cultural, and linguistic boundaries. In this book, Thomas Jurczyk conducts a diachronic comparison of the meaning and application of two notions and their related word fields that are commonly associated with a broader comparative notion of holy, namely the Ancient Armenian term "surb" and its related words and the English word field associated with "holy". To compare these two semantic fields, his methodological approach operates on the principle of distributional semantics and applies, among others, tools and methods from the field of corpus linguistics.Table of ContentsList of Figures and Tables; Acknowledgements; Introduction; State of Research; Methodology; Data; Examination; Comparison; Conclusion; Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisThe time is come: The Christ of God, once in Jesus of Nazareth, who brought the teachings of the heavens to the people, the teachings of peace, of unity, the all-encompassing immutable law of love, is being rehabilitated on Earth, for the Christ of God was and is abused and brought into discredit by the institutional denominational power structures, using the most infamous ways and means. In this work, the authors extensively examine the various facets of abuse of the name of Jesus, the Christabove all, the distortion and falsification of His original teachings and its devastating consequences for mankind and for all the Earth. A sample from the book:The first Christians lived as Jesus of Nazareth taught: They lived in communities and shared everything with one another. Everyone shared in the work, according to his capabilities. Everyone was equal to everyone else; there were no superiors. Women and men were equal and both had responsible tasks in the communities, for example, as b

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Book SynopsisDie poetische und politische Inszenierung der PfÃlzischen Hochzeit des Jahres 1613 in London.

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Book SynopsisFeatures essays that trace the evolution and development of the pluralistic Indian religious tradition.

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Book SynopsisComprises articles that examine the contribution of women saints from India and abroad. This title discusses the origin of Bhakti according to the author. It is of interest to literary, cultural, religious, and philosophic scholars.

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Book SynopsisWhat happens when an old cultural institution is subjected to marketisation and individualisation? How does the institution do justice to the inner core of its traditions, whilst at the same time keeping up with the demands of its individual users, as well as the marketisation requirements coming from the state and society in general? And, how do these responses affect the way that the institution contributes to the generation of social capital? Taking the Danish Folk Church as their core example, researchers representing different academic disciplines analyse these questions in 17 chapters. The choice to use the Folk Church as the main case for evaluating how old institutions respond is in itself provocative and challenging. The book therefore opens with a discussion of why the Folk Church provides an example of a cultural institution worthy of being analysed in this way. The four main parts of the book elaborate on relevant parts of the history of the Folk Church; the nature of marketisation; of individualisation and of social capital as related to the Folk Church. The book concludes with a discussion of the effects of marketisation and individualisation on cultural institutions like the Folk Church. Cultural institutions must ask themselves what happens to What Money Cant Buy in their response to marketisation and individualisation.

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Book SynopsisBook & CD-ROM. The manuscript AM 429 12mo was written c. 1500 for the use of the nuns at the Benedictine monastery Kirkjubær in southern Iceland, from which it derives its name, Kirkjubæjarbók. The book was probably made in the nearby Augustine monastery, þykkvibær. It comprises ten texts that were translations of Latin legends based on female saints, relating their terrible suffering and later martyrdom. The majority of the female saints were among the most venerated in Iceland. The manuscript is beautifully illustrated, making it unique in an Icelandic context, which may explain why it survived the Reformation. The text is reproduced in a diplomatic version, which on the CD-ROM is accompanied by a normalised version as well as the Latin texts.

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Book SynopsisThe manuscript contains the 259 documents in Latin and medieval Danish which made up the economical foundations for the monastery''s 400 year-old history. This first collected translation of the papal and royal privileges, the court roll and the many deeds of gifts gives an extraordinary insight into a Danish monastery''s national and international relations.

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Book SynopsisThe term religious circles was coined by the World Peace Council (WPC), an organisation that during the Cold War was linked to the propaganda apparatus of the Artheist Communist of the Soviet Union (CPSU). In declassified reports Western intelligence services described the WPC as a Communist Party front organisation. The communists of the former Soviet Union are usually referred to as the Soviets. The Moscow-oriented communist also availed themselves of the Christian Peace Conference (CPC), another important communist front organisation which sought to manipulate Christian churches and the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva. The CPC was dominated by the Soviet controlled Russian Orthodox Church which became a member of the WCC in 1961. A supportive role was played by the former KGB, the Soviet intelligence and security service during the Cold War. Through the CPC and the Russian Orthodox Church the Soviets manipulated the debate in ecumenical circles and the peace movement. Soviet agents helped to draft policy statements on international affairs at WCC Central Committee meetings. These KGB agents were later identified by KGB defector Vasili Mitrokhin. They were Aleksei Buyewsky (agent Kuznetsov) and metropolitan Nikodim (agent Adamant). Nikodim became one of the WCCs six presidents in 1975. I identified Buyevsky as a possible KGB agent in 1977.

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Book SynopsisThe Festpredigten festival sermons were originally published in German in Frankfurt am Main in 1903. A window into the past, they offer a fascinating glimpse of German Jewry at the turn of the century. The author, Isaac Rosenberg, received his semichah at the Rabbiner-Seminar (Hildesheimer) in Berlin in 1888, and graced the synagogue pulpit in the eastern German city of Thorn for twenty-five years. He belonged to a new class of rabbis known as Rabbiner Doktor with Ph.D.s as well as rabbinic ordination. A leader in his community, Dr Rosenberg delivered passionate sermons in impeccable High German sermons that uplifted and inspired rather than rebuked. Yet they contain messages that are as fresh today as they were a century ago. This English volume includes an intriguing introduction by Dr Fred Gottlieb on the history of German- Jewish homiletics and associated controversies.

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Book SynopsisWhen Martin Luther published his 95 Theses in October 1517, he had no intention of starting a revolution. But very quickly his criticism of indulgences became a rejection of the papacy and the Catholic Church emphasizing the Bible as the sole authority for Christian faith, radicalizing a continent, fracturing the Holy Roman Empire, and dividing Western civilization in ways Luther—a deeply devout professor and spiritually-anxious Augustinian friar—could have never foreseen, nor would he have ever endorsed. From Germany to England, Luther’s ideas inspired spontaneous but sustained uprisings and insurrections against civic and religious leaders alike, pitted Catholics against Protestants, and because the Reformation movement extended far beyond the man who inspired it, Protestants against Protestants. The ensuing disruptions prompted responses that gave shape to the modern world, and the unintended and unanticipated consequences of the Reformation continue to influence the very communities, religions, and beliefs that surround us today.How Luther inadvertently fractured the Catholic Church and reconfigured Western civilization is at the heart of renowned historian Brad Gregory’s Rebel in the Ranks. While recasting the portrait of Luther as a deliberate revolutionary, Gregory describes the cultural, political, and intellectual trends that informed him and helped give rise to the Reformation, which led to conflicting interpretations of the Bible, as well as the rise of competing churches, political conflicts, and social upheavals across Europe. Over the next five hundred years, as Gregory’s account shows, these conflicts eventually contributed to further epochal changes—from the Enlightenment and self-determination to moral relativism, modern capitalism, and consumerism, and in a cruel twist to Luther’s legacy, the freedom of every man and woman to practice no religion at all.   With the scholarship of a world-class historian and the keen eye of a biographer, Gregory offers readers an in-depth portrait of Martin Luther, a reluctant rebel in the ranks, and a detailed examination of the Reformation to explain how the events that transpired five centuries ago still resonate—and influence us—today.

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Book SynopsisIn the second of two volumes of this magnificently illustrated cultural history--the tie-in to the PBS and BBC series The Story of the Jews--Simon Schama details the story of the Jewish people, spanning from their expulsion from Spain in the Inquisition across six hundred years to the present day.It is a story like no other: an epic of endurance against destruction, of creativity in the face of oppression, joy amidst grief, the affirmation of life against the steepest of odds.It spans the centuries and the continents--from the Iberian Peninsula and the collapse of “the golden age” to the shtetls of Russia to the dusty streets of infant Hollywood. Its voices ring loud and clear, from the philosophical musings of Spinoza to the poetry written on slips of paper in concentraion camps. Within these pages, the Enlightenment unfolds, a great diaspora transforms a country, a Viennese psychaiatrist forever changes the conception of the human mind.And a great story unfolds. Not--as often imagined--of a culture apart, but of a Jewish world immersed in and imprinted by the peoples among whom they have dwelled, from the Egyptians to the Greeks, from the Arabs to the Christians, from the Soviets to America.Which makes the story of the Jews everyone’s story, too.

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Book SynopsisJeffrey L. Broughton offers an annotated translation of the Whip for Spurring Students Onward Through the Chan Barrier Checkpoints (Changuan cejin), which he abbreviates to Chan Whip. This anthology, compiled by Yunqi Zhuhong (1535-1615), has served as a Chan handbook in both China and Japan since its publication in 1600. To characterize the Chan Whip as late Ming Chan is inaccuratein fact, it is a survey of virtually the entirety of Chan literature, running from the late 800s (Tang dynasty) to about 1600 (late Ming). The Chan extracts, the bulk of the book, are followed by a short section of extracts from Buddhist canonical works (showing Zhuhongs adherence to the convergence of Chan and the teachings). The Chan extracts deliberately eschew abstract discussions of theory in favor of autobiographical narratives, anecdotal sketches, exhortations, sermons, sayings, and letters that deal very franklysometimes humorouslywith the concrete ups and downs of lived practice. Recent decades haveTrade ReviewBroughton delivers a very well crafted and eruditely annotated translation of the work. Those familiar with literary Chinese will also be happy to see that the original text is annexed. This is an important contribution to the growing body of scholarly translations of seminal Chan literature, deserving a wide readership. * Lukas Pokorny, University of Vienna *The Chan Whip (C. Changuan cejin, K. Songwan chaekchin, J. Zenkan sakushin) is a work that played a major role in the revival of gongan (K. kongan, J. koan) practice that swept the Chan, Son, and Zen schools of Buddhism in East Asia in the seventeenth century, and its influence continues to be felt down to the present. Jeffrey Broughton provides a clear and consistent translation of this inspiring but difficult work, together with a critical apparatus that is well-designed to make it as accessible as possible to a Western audience. Scholars and practitioners alike can benefit greatly from his philological expertise and sensitive interpretations of the material. * T. Griffith Foulk, Professor of Religion, Sarah Lawrence College *Table of ContentsAbbreviations ; Introduction ; Whip for Spurring Students Onward Through the Chan Barrier Checkpoints ; Preface to Whip for Spurring Students Onward Through the Chan Barrier Checkpoints ; Front Collection: The First Gate ; Front Collection: The Second Gate ; Back Collection: Single Gate ; Chinese Text of Changuan cejin ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe Hunter, the Stag, and the Mother of Animals offers an in-depth exploration of the changing traditions of belief in pre-Bronze and Bronze Age North Asia. Esther Jacobson-Tepfer centers her argument on a female deity and her evolution up until the early Iron Age, across a 2,000 year period. Through the art historical and archaeological evidence of the symbolic systems left behind, she traces the progression of the deity from an originating animal mother through her incarnation as the mother of animals, her late embodiment as the guardian of the road to the land of the dead, the transformation of her essential liminality into the structures of predation and, in the form of a predated stag, her subsequent destruction. In detailed commentaries on rock art structures and monuments, Jacobson-Tepfer reconstructs and explores how the deity''s power was embedded in the Janus-faced concept of life/death: how, in all her forms, the deity occupied the threshold between the worlds of humans and Trade ReviewProfessor Jacobson-Tepfer offers to readers her outstanding first-hand knowledge and deep understanding of unique Eurasian civilizations: the societies of ancient hunters, nomadic mounted pastoralists, and their animal symbolism. Archaeology, art history, and the history of religions, including shamanism, are synthesized by using careful scientific theoretical approaches. * Henri-Paul Francfort, Director of the French Archaeological Mission in Central Asia. *The Hunter, the Stag, and the Mother of Animals is an important book not only in terms of its value as a scientific treatise nonpareil but also as an elegant exploration of the prehistoric human mind with implications far beyond the geographical and temporal focus of Jacobson-Tepfer's study. Her lucid, informative and entertaining writing is complemented by superb illustrations, including world-class photographs contributed by her husband, world-renowned photographer, Gary Tepfer. * John W. Olsen, University of Arizona *this assessment of long-muted societies is an inspired triumph of dedicated scholarship and an inspirational work of art in its own right. It may well remain the most revealing interpretation of ancient rock art in South Siberia until the stones themselves begin to speak with human voices. * E. J. Vajda, CHOICE *This lavishly illustrated book is highly recommended to anyone interested in rock art, standing stones, the material manifestation of myth, the archaeology of North Asia, sacred landscapes and the archaeology of belief. * Paul Taçon, Time & Mind *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations: Maps, Figures ; Preface ; Chapter One: The Transformation of Image, Object and Belief in Prehistoric North Asia ; Chapter Two: The Appearance of the Animal Mother ; Chapter Three: The Persistence of Liminal Beings ; Chapter Four: The Mother of Animals ; Chapter Five: The Emergence of Pictorial Narrative ; Chapter Six: Intimations of Death and Transformation ; Chapter Seven: The End of Naturalism in Nomadic Art ; Chapter Eight: The Pivot Between Life and Death ; Chapter Nine: Traces of Ancient Beliefs ; Chapter Ten: The Archaeology of Belief ; Appendix: The Dating of Rock Art ; List of Abbreviations ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisCatholic priest and radical social critic Ivan Illich is best known for books like Deschooling Society and Medical Nemesis that skewered the dominant institutions of the West in the 1970s. Although commissioned in 1961 by American bishops to run a missionary training center in Cuernavaca, Mexico, Illich emerged as one of the major critics of the missionary movement. As he became a more controversial figure, his center evolved into CIDOC (Centro Intercultural de Documentación), an informal university that attracted a diverse group of intellectuals and seekers from around the world. They came to Illich''s center to learn Spanish, to attend seminars, and to sit at the feet of Illich, whose relentless criticism of the Catholic Church and modern Western culture resonated with the revolutionary spirit of the times. His 1967 article, The Seamy Side of Charity, a harsh attack on the American missionary effort in Latin America, and other criticisms of the Church led to a trial at the Vatican inTrade ReviewHartch captures Illich's rare intellect and passion- as well as his Catholic faith- without succumbing to the ideological commentary that mars so many analyses of one of Western culture's most incisive social critics. I strongly recommend this book to young readers who seek an introduction to Illich, as well as to those like me who thought they already knew him. * Timothy Matovina, author of Latino Catholicism: Transformation in America's Largest Church *Illich was an enigmatic Catholic figure, a polymath who saw himself as a prophet of revolution. He viewed missionaries as tools of cultural occupation, saw schooling as detrimental to real education, and the medical system as harmful to health. Along the way he denounced the Church hierarchy as a betrayal of Christ, was suitably tried for heresy only to turn the tables on his inquisitors. Yet he left a large footprint that Hartch has traced with diligence and care. * Lamin Sanneh, author of Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity *Todd Hartch, a prolific analyst of religious cultures and institutions of Latin America, provides a thoroughly original and engrossing interpretation of the life of Ivan Illich, one of the region's most provocative social thinkers of the second half of the twentieth century. By focusing on Illich's priestly calling, which endured long after he abandoned his public ministry, and by decoding the often-camouflaged theological underpinnings of Illich's thought and action, Hartch provides an illuminating portrait of one of the last century's most influential, yet misunderstood, critics of western modernity and the Catholic Church. * Gilbert M. Joseph, Farnam Professor of History and International Studies, Yale University *Well researched and accessibly written, this is an important study of a major late-20th-century social critic. * D. Jacobsen, CHOICE *Table of ContentsAbbreviations ; Acknowledgments ; Introduction ; 1. Wrong Man for the Job ; 2. The Center for Intercultural Formation ; 3. Battle for Influence ; 4. Liberating Mission ; 5. Crisis ; 6. Decline of the Missionary Initiative ; 7. CIDOC ; 8. Breaking the Spell ; 9. Grammar of Silence ; Conclusion ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIn Calvin's Company of Pastors, Scott Manetsch examines the pastoral theology and practical ministry activities of Geneva's reformed ministers from the time of Calvin's arrival in Geneva until the beginning of the seventeenth century.Trade Review[an] exceptional study ... Manetsch has delivered a compelling account of the clerical culture of Reformed Geneva in a work of substantial interest for early modern social and religious historians. * Graeme Murdock, European History Quarterly *This is a work of first class scholarship * David Gibson, Evangelicals Now *Full of fresh scholarship (including analysis of records never examined closely), Calvin's Company of Pastors is a fascinating read. * The Gospel Coalition *This is a quite superb book. It is not only outstanding as a well-written piece of original historical research. It is also most informative concerning the reasons why Reformed and Presbyterian churches came to think about the ministry in the ways they do. Buy it. * Reformation21 *A masterful work, this volume is rich in providing a comprehensive look at the work of ministry in the emerging Reformed church, and for chronicicling the commitment and care of pastors who sought to lead the church in living that was faithful to scripture. * Sixteenth Centuty Journal *In this rich and illuminating book, Scott Manetsch introduces readers to the fascinating cast of characters who served as Geneva's ministers from 1536-1609. By carefully combining social history with historical theology, Manetsch probes the connection between pastoral theology and concrete practice among these ministers, presenting a marvelous portrait of Genevan pastoral life in Calvin's day and afterward. Lucidly written, this book is a treasure for exploring pastoral identity in the Reformation context. * J. Todd Billings, Associate Professor of Reformed Theology, Western Theological Seminary *Calvin's Company of Pastors is an engaging and exhilarating synthesis of the prodigious research conducted in the Genevan archives for the past fifty years. Manetsch artfully describes everyday church life in the wake of the Reformation but does so through the eyes of three generations of pastors. We thereby learn through details both amusing and poignant just what it was like to accept a call to the pastorate, even as we discover ways in which Calvin did and did not shape the later course of the Genevan church. The book is a compelling introduction to Calvin and his memorable successors as well as a significant contribution to the history of pastoral theology. * John L. Thompson, author of Reading the Bible with the Dead: What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis that You Can't Learn from Exegesis Alone *Scott Manetsch joins an innovative group in broadening our perspective on the Swiss Reformation, looking beyond Calvin to see how the Reformer's spiritual heirs and followers sustained and modified his legacy in Geneva and surrounding villages. All who are interested in Calvin and Reformed studies will want to absorb the riveting information gathered here concerning the Genevan ministers' class background, education, economic status, marital choices, weekly work assignments, living conditions, hardships, disciplinary fervor, and vulnerability. * Susan Karant-Nunn, Regents' Professor of History and Director of the Division for Late Medieval and Reformation Studies, University of Arizona *the best book of its kind ... contains a wealth of information * Robert McCollum, Reformed Theological Journal *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; Abbreviations ; Introduction ; Chapter One: Geneva and Her Reformation ; Chapter Two: The Company of Pastors ; Chapter Three: Vocation and Ordination ; Chapter Four: The Pastor's Household ; Chapter Five: Pastoral Rhythms ; Chapter Six: The Ministry of the Word ; Chapter Seven: The Ministry of Moral Oversight ; Chapter Eight: Pastors and their Books ; Chapter Nine: The Ministry of Pastoral Care ; Epilogue ; Notes ; Appendix ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisHinduism has two major roots. The more familiar is the religion brought to South Asia in the second millennium BCE by speakers of Aryan or Indo-Iranian languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family. Another, more enigmatic, root is the Indus civilization of the third millennium BCE, which left behind thousands of short inscriptions in a forgotten pictographic script. Discovered in the valley of the Indus River in the early 1920s, the Indus civilization had a population estimated at one million people, in more than 1000 settlements, several of which were cities of some 50,000 inhabitants. With an area of nearly a million square kilometers, the Indus civilization was more extensive than the other key urban cultures of the time, in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Yet, after almost a century of excavation and research the Indus civilization remains little understood. What language did the Indus people speak? How might we decipher the exquisitely carved Indus inscriptions? What deities diTrade Review"Written with scholarly rigor and great erudition, this volume will be warmly received by supporters of the views that the Indus Valley script is a proto-Dravidian language and that continuities exist between IVC and Hinduism. Highly recommended."--CHOICE "A highly innovative and welcome volume, bringing together the linguistic and archaeological evidence for the cultures that underlie Hinduism. Asko Parpola is uniquely well qualified to undertake this, through his major research on the Vedas and Vedic ritual and on the Indus Civilization, combined with an excellent understanding of the archaeological evidence beyond India itself. No one interested in any of these fields can afford to miss it." --J.L. Brockington, Emeritus Professor of Sanskrit, University of Edinburgh; Vice President, International Association of Sanskrit Studies "The Roots of Hinduism is undoubtedly a major contribution -- like Parpola's earlier book on deciphering the Indus script -- to the understanding of the Indus civilisation, the Aryan migrations into India, and the development of Hinduism." --Current World ArchaeologyTable of ContentsPreface ; Introduction ; 1. Defining 'Hindu' and 'Hinduism' ; 2. The early Aryans ; 3. Indo-European linguistics ; 4. The Indus civilization ; 5. The Indus religion and the Indus script ; Part I: The Early Aryans ; 6. Proto-Indo-European homelands ; 7. Early Indo-Iranians on the Eurasian steppes ; 8. The BMAC of Central Asia and the Mitanni of Syria ; 9. The Rigvedic Indo-Aryans and the D?sas ; 10. The Asvins and Mitra-Varuna ; 11. The Asvins as funerary gods ; 12. The Atharvaveda and the Vratyas ; 13. The Kuru kingdom and the great epics ; Part II: The Indus Civilization ; 14. The language of the Indus civilization ; 15. Fertility cults in folk religion ; 16. Astronomy, time-reckoning and cosmology ; 17. Dilmun, Magan and Meluhha ; 18. Royal symbols from West Asia ; 19. The Goddess and the buffalo ; 20. Early Iranians and 'left-hand' Tantrism ; 21. Religion in the Indus script ; Conclusion ; 22. The prehistory of Indo-Aryan speech and Aryan contributions to Hinduism ; 23. Harappan religion in relation to West Asia and later South Asia ; 24. Retrospect and prospect ; Bibliographical notes ; References ; Index

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Best First Book Prize of the American Society of Church HistoryNamed a Society for U. S. Intellectual History Notable Title in American Intellectual HistoryThe story of liberal religion in the twentieth century, Matthew S. Hedstrom contends, is a story of cultural ascendency. This may come as a surprise-most scholarship in American religious history, after all, equates the numerical decline of the Protestant mainline with the failure of religious liberalism. Yet a look beyond the pews, into the wider culture, reveals a more complex and fascinating story, one Hedstrom tells in The Rise of Liberal Religion. Hedstrom attends especially to the critically important yet little-studied arena of religious book culture-particularly the religious middlebrow of mid-century-as the site where religious liberalism was most effectively popularized. By looking at book weeks, book clubs, public libraries, new publishing enterprises, key authors and bestselTrade ReviewThis is a useful contribution to the study of American religion in the twentieth century. * Theology *Hedstrom makes historians view liberal religion beyond institutional criteria of church or denominational growth and decline ... a thoroughly researched and engaging monograph. * Church History *I came away from Hedstrom s book with a rich understanding of the culture of midcentury liberal religion ... Hedstrom has set an exciting agenda for future scholars. * The Journal of Religion *Outstanding ... extraordinarily interesting. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Thoughtful and erudite. * Christian Century *This description of the marriage of liberal religion and publishing in the US in the 20th century fuses a deep familiarity with historical archives, sensitivity to the movement of American religious practices, and insightful interpretations of texts and images ... Recommended. * CHOICE *Belongs on the to-read list. * Richmond Times-Dispatch *Hedstrom's terrific study suggests that there is much more to the story of religious liberalism in twentieth and twenty-first-century America than the numerical decline of mainline Protestant churches. * American Historical Review *Perceptive and compelling. Hedstrom offers a creative spin on a familiar story. * The Journal of American History *An original and eye-opening study, planting liberal religion in the wider history of liberalism, including its middlebrow culture of print. Hedstrom shows how liberal religion keeps renewing itself by sidling up to secular culture, and by welcoming wave after wave of refugees from orthodoxy on the one hand and agnosticism on the other, all of them drawn to the premise of liberal spirituality that science and religion make excellent bedfellows. * Richard Fox, Professor of History, University of Southern California *Smart, innovative, and fascinating ... Hedstrom tells a compelling story. He masterfully blends important theoretical insights with an engaging narrative ... This is an excellent, well-written, and transformative study that scholars will be wrestling with for years to come. * Register of the Kentucky Historical Society *Hedstrom's work is highly recommended to students of American religions, those interested in the history of the book, twentieth-century historians, and scholars of spirituality. * Textual Cultures *Hedstrom shows that the prevailing values of liberal Protestantism were widely disseminated through mass-market, 'middlebrow' books during the middle decades of the twentieth century, influencing ostensibly secular domains of popular culture in ways that no previous scholar has established. This is a strikingly original, crisply argued contribution to cultural and religious history. * David A. Hollinger, Preston Hotchkis Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley *Hedstrom dexterously knots together several cultural threads: liberal Protestantism, middlebrow reading habits, corporate publishing, popular psychology, and seeker spirituality. The expectation that the right religious books-mystical, adventuresome, psychologically attuned, and affordable-would arrest modernity's dissolutions was perhaps another instance of liberal Protestantism's unrequited optimism, but Hedstrom makes a compelling case for just how potent this publishing mission was from the 1920s through the 1940s and beyond. * Leigh Eric Schmidt, Edward Mallinckrodt University Professor, Washington University in St. Louis *In this engrossing study, Matthew Hedstrom provides nothing less than a series of revelations * about the construction of liberal religion, the circulation of books, and indeed the making of modern spiritual selves. Hedstrom's work will reshape historians' understanding of religion in 20th-century America. For those who wish to push the historical analysis, this book will also invite new questions about liberal religion in 2013 and beyond.Lauren F. Winner, Assistant Professor of Christian Spirituality, Duke Divinity School *Hedstrom brilliantly describes some of the unforseen results of this new complicity between religion and consumer culture. * The Journal of Unitarian Universalist History *In the modern age of mass-culture and commoditization, liberal religious intellectuals reasoned that the consumption of good books could make a far-reaching contribution to the spiritual formation of American readers. Matthew Hedstrom delivers a deeply thoughtful and thoroughly researched study that urges us to recognize how liberal religion used mass-culture rather than just sneered at it, and to think hard about reading and spirituality today. The legacy of liberal religion is larger than we might have thought. * David Morgan, Professor of Religion, Duke University *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Chapter 1: Enlarging the Faith: Books and the Marketing of Liberal Religion in a Consumer Culture ; Chapter 2: The Religious Book Club: Middlebrow Culture and Liberal Protestant Seeker Spirituality ; Chapter 3: Publishing for Seekers: Eugene Exman and the Religious Bestsellers of Harper & Brothers ; Chapter 4: Religious Reading Mobilized: The Book Programs of World War II ; Chapter 5: Inventing Interfaith: The Wartime Reading Campaign of the National Conference of Christians and Jews ; Chapter 6: Religious Reading in the Wake of War: American Spirituality in the 1940s ; Conclusion ; Archival Collections ; Notes ; Index

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Book SynopsisDuring his 2009 inaugural speech, President Obama described the United States as a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus--and nonbelievers. It was the first time an American president had acknowledged the existence of this rapidly growing segment of the population in such a public forum. And yet the reasons why more and more people are turning away from religion are still poorly understood. In Faith No More, Phil Zuckerman draws on in-depth interviews with people who have left religion to find out what''s really behind the process of losing one''s faith. According to a 2008 study, so many Americans claim no religion (15%, up from 8% in 1990) that this category now outranks every other religious group except Catholics and Baptists. Exploring the deeper stories within such survey data, Zuckerman shows that leaving one''s faith is a highly personal, complex, and drawn-out process. And he finds that, rather than the cliché of the angry, nihilistic atheist, apostates are life-afTrade ReviewEveryone knows, deep down, that there is a conflict between reason and faith-between having good reasons for what one believes and having bad ones. This conflict finds its most poignant expression in the lives of men and women who have lost their belief in God despite their best efforts to maintain it. Faith No More offers a fascinating look at these lives, and at the myriad ways in which thoughtful people can come to their senses." * Sam Harris, author of the New York Times bestsellers The Moral Landscape, Letter to a Christian Nation, and The End of Faith *With Faith No More Philip Zuckerman has given us a fascinating look at how individual contemporary Americans raised in various religions awakened out of a belief in the supernatural. His care in not rounding all these up into any facile overarching theories is itself almost supernatural, and yet in this careful reporting of their stories he manages to offer a great deal of insight. It is a wonderfully informative and provocative study and should be read by everyone interested in the real experience of religion and irreligion." * Jennifer Michael Hecht, author of Doubt: A History *Faith No More helps us understand the diverse routes people take to irreligiosity and the dilemmas they face in a culture that often condemns them. Far from being kneejerk atheists, it turns out that the most secular Americans have actually spent a lot of time wrestling with their faith. Documenting their journeys and placing them in sociological context, this book establishes Phil Zuckerman as one of the most sophisticated analysts of secularity today. * Arlene Stein, Professor of Sociology, Rutgers University *This could-be-dry content proves immensely engaging becuase of Zuckerman's jargin-free exposition and his seamless incorporation of interview material rendered apparently verbatim-verbal tics("like,""you know," etc) and all-in the manner of a good documentart film. * Ray Olson, Booklist *Zuckerman's writing is engaging and straightforward, which makes for enjoyable reading...[Faith No More] is laudable for its rich interview data, readability, and insight into the lived experiences of American apostates. * Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion *This is an absorbing book that puts flesh on the bones of recent identifiable trends in American nonbelief and, in turn, profoundly questions the assumption of a 'spiritual turn' in Western societies. Moreover, it provides distinctive insights into the complexities of belief, nonbelief, doubt and scepticism. * Social Forces *Zuckerman here builds on his previous work which examined 'Society without God,' that is, Nordic countries which rank amongst the least religious places in the world. In this book he combines qualitative interviews and rich descriptions to produce an interesting and well written book. * Catholic Books Review *The interview data are valuable for research on irreligion in America. The book will probably be enjoyed most by readers who, like Zuckerman's subjects, have lost their religion. These readers are likely to feel encouraged that they are not alone, that it takes courage to do what they have done, and that life can be good without religion. * Sociology of Religion *well written and engaging read that sheds light on the stories, emotions, thoughts, experiences and struggles of men and women in the United States who have left faith and religious involvement for a more secular life... * Patrick Mitchel, Evangelical Quarterly *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Chapter One: Mother was an Exorcist ; Chapter Two: Stopped Making Sense ; Chapter Three: Misfortune ; Chapter Four: To be Mormon, or Not to Be ; Chapter Five: Sex and Secularity ; Chapter Six: Others ; Chapter Seven: Jail, Food Stamps, and Atheism ; Chapter Eight: The Apostate Worldview ; Chapter Nine: All in the Family? ; Chapter Ten: How and Why People Reject Religion ; Conclusion ; Appendix: Research Methods and Sample Characteristics ; Notes ; References ; Index

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Book SynopsisDespite all the hype surrounding the New Atheism, the United States remains one of the most religious nations on Earth. In fact, 95% of Americans believe in God--a level of agreement rarely seen in American life. The greatest divisions in America are not between atheists and believers, or even between people of different faiths. What divides us, this groundbreaking book shows, is how we conceive of God and the role He plays in our daily lives. America''s Four Gods draws on the most wide-ranging, comprehensive, and illuminating survey of American''s religious beliefs ever conducted to offer a systematic exploration of how Americans view God. Paul Froese and Christopher Bader argue that many of America''s most intractable social and political divisions emerge from religious convictions that are deeply held but rarely openly discussed. Drawing upon original survey data from thousands of Americans and a wealth of in-depth interviews from all parts of the country, Froese and Bader trace America''s cultural and political diversity to its ultimate source--differing opinions about God. They show that regardless of our religious tradition (or lack thereof), Americans worship four distinct types of God: The Authoritative God--who is both engaged in the world and judgmental; The Benevolent God--who loves and helps us in spite of our failings; The Critical God--who catalogs our sins but does not punish them (at least not in this life); and The Distant God--who stands apart from the world He created. The authors show that these four conceptions of God form the basis of our worldviews and are among the most powerful predictors of how we feel about the most contentious issues in American life. This updated edition includes a new preface and afterword in which the authors reflect on their goals in writing this book, and explore trends that have developed since the initial publication. America''s Four Gods provides an invaluable portrait of how we view God and therefore how we view virtually everything else.Trade Review"America's Four Gods is an outstanding exposé on what exactly people mean when they talk about God. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how people think and feel about God."--Andrew Newberg, M.D., author of Why We Believe What We Believe "A tour de force showing what Americans believe about God and how it shapes their behavior. This path-breaking work forces us to move beyond the ill-defined labels of religious liberals and conservatives to understand how images of God move people to action." -- Roger Finke, Professor of Sociology & Religious Studies, Penn State UniversityTable of ContentsPreface ; Introduction: Why God? ; 1. America's Four Gods ; 2. God, Self, and Society ; 3. God and Morals ; 4. God and Science ; 5. God and Mammon ; 6. God and Evil ; 7.The Future of God ; Afterword ; Postscript: The God Questionnaire ; Appendix: Research Methods ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisJourney Back to God explores Origen of Alexandria''s creative, complex, and controversial treatment of the problem of evil. It argues that his layered cosmology functions as a theodicy that deciphers deeper meaning beneath cosmic disparity. Origen asks: why does God create a world where some suffer more than others? On the surface, the unfair arrangement of the world defies theological coherence. In order to defend divine justice against the charge of cosmic mismanagement, Origen develops a theological cosmology that explains the ontological status and origin of evil as well as its cosmic implications. Origen''s theodicy hinges on the journey of the soul back to God. Its themes correlate with the soul''s creation, fall and descent into materiality, gradual purification, and eventual divinization. The world, for Origen, functions as a school and hospital for the soul where it undergoes the necessary education and purgation. Origen carefully calibrates his cosmology and theology. He portTrade ReviewScott's book on Origenian theodicy constitutes an important instrument for the study of this fascinating area and the religious phenomenon more broadly, for which the author should be wholeheartedly congratulated * Doru Costache, St Cyril's Coptic Orthodox Theological College, The Journal of Religious History *Theologically astute and historically informed... [S]tudents in both theology and patristics will find the book informative and worthwhile. * Religious Studies Review *Journey Back to God focuses...on the manner in which one of the early church's greatest intellectuals vindicated God amidst the horrors of evil and suffering...[The book] is an argument crafted not only out of history but also out of generous measures of theory and philosophy...Scott helps us understand how a towering figure in the Greek patristic tradition wrestled with the same conundrum. * Marginalia Review of Books *An erudite review... Scott himself achieves more originality when he defines theodicy as a navigation for which the charts are furnished by experience... Scott is none the less better than his word. * Journal of Theological Studies *Mark Scott focuses upon the problem of evil as an instructive perspective from which to assess the full range of Origen's views. Placed in a speculative and cosmic narrative they are primarily designed as pastoral guidance, and they are not so much a solution to the problems of human suffering and sinfulness as a set of speculations enabling humans to navigate their way toward God with hope and freedom. * Rowan A. Greer, Professor of Anglican Studies Emeritus, Yale Divinity School *By arguing that Origen does not so much explain away our pain and suffering as provide a spiritual map that helps us move forward through it, Mark Scott gives us a book on a major early Christian theorist on a topic of perennial value that will be of great interest to a wide variety of readers. * Paul R. Kolbet, author of Augustine and the Cure of Souls: Revising a Classical Ideal *Scott skillfully navigates his way through Origen's treatment of the complex issues surrounding the presence of evil, suffering, and death in a world held to be created by a good, omniscient, and omnipotent God. He shows that Origen, one of the most important and controversial figures of the early Church, uses an overarching framework of pedagogy to hold all these elements together, not without tension and ambiguity, but in a way that provides insights still valuable today. * V. Rev. Dr. John Behr, Dean, St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary *This volume offers a well-written and clear tracing of Origen's treatment of the problem of evil...[it] rewards the attentive reader far beyond expectation * Heythrop Journal *Table of ContentsPreface ; Acknowledgments ; Introduction ; Chapter 1: Theodicy as Navigation: Toward a Theoretical Paradigm ; Chapter 2: Framing Questions: God and Evil in Paradox ; Chapter 3: Paradise Lost: Pre-existence, the Fall, and the Origin of Evil ; Chapter 4: The Physician of Souls: Suffering as Remedial Punishment ; Chapter 5: Theology of Ascent: The Journey of the Soul to Perfection ; Chapter 6: Journey's End: The Triumph of Good and Universal Salvation ; Conclusion ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisKevin M. Watson offers the first in-depth examination of an essential early Methodist tradition: the band meeting, a small group of five to seven people who focused on the confession of sin in order to grow in holiness. Watson shows how the band meeting, which figured significantly in John Wesley''s theology of discipleship, united Wesley''s emphasis on the importance of holiness with his conviction that Christians are most likely to make progress in the Christian life together, rather than in isolation.Demonstrating that neither John Wesley''s theology nor popular Methodism can be understood independent of each other, Watson explores how Wesley synthesized important aspects of Anglican piety (an emphasis on a disciplined practice of the means of grace) and Moravian piety (an emphasis on an experience of justification by faith and the witness of the Spirit) in his own version of the band meeting. Pursuing Social Holiness is an essential contribution to understanding the critical role oTrade ReviewThis is a brilliant study of one of the foundational institutions of eighteenth-century Methodism. Early Methodism was at its heart a community event. The bands, along with the class meetings, were what bound Methodist societies together. Anyone who wants to understand the rise of Methodism should give this account careful consideration. This is a book we have long needed. * John Wigger, Professor, Department of History, University of Missouri *Watson's work on the band meeting is the definitive history of this practice of small-group confession within eighteenth-century English evangelicalism. Watson not only demonstrates the importance of this practice for the revival and the Wesleyan notion of 'social holiness' in the eighteenth century, but also outlines the reasons for its decline in the nineteenth century. This is a must-have for scholars of Methodism and eighteenth-century religious history. * Scott Kisker, Professor of Church History, United Theological Seminary *This groundbreaking study offers the most detailed account to date of band meetings in early Wesleyan Methodism. Watson first demonstrates the distinctive synthesis of Anglican and Moravian precedents in John Wesley's mature model for the bands. He then engages a range of primary sources to provide a richly textured account of the practice of bands through the eighteenth century. Highly recommended. * Randy L. Maddox, William Kellon Quick Professor of Wesleyan Methodist Studies, Duke Divinity School *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements ; List of Abbreviations ; Introduction ; 1. Forerunners of the Early Methodist Band Meeting ; 2. John Wesley's Structure and Theology of Discipleship ; 3. The Bands as a Key to the Distinctive Wesleyan Synthesis of Anglican and Moravian Piety ; 4. "The Band Was of Great Service to Me": Early Popular Methodist Experience of the Band Meeting (ca. 1739 - ca. 1765) ; 5. "We Had a Heaven among Us": Transition in the Popular Practice of the Bands (ca. 1766 - ca. 1801) ; Conclusion ; Appendices ; A. Fetter Lane Rules (I) (1738) ; B. Fetter Lane Rules (II) (1738) ; C. "Rules of the Band Societies" (1738) ; D. "Directions Given to the Band Societies' (1744) ; E. "A Method of Confession drawn up by Mr Whitefield, for the Use of the Women belonging to the Religious Societies - Taken from the Original, under Mr Whitefield's own Hand" (1739) ; F. Excerpt from William Seward's Manuscript Diary on the Importance and Method of Band Meetings (1740) ; G. "The Method of Mr. Westlay Band Meetings," Samuel Roberts Excerpt from Manuscript Volume ; H. Of the Right Method of Meeting Classes and Bands, in the Methodist-Societies by the Late Mr. Charles Perronet ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisIn this book, Frances Courtney Kneupper examines the apocalyptic prophecies of the late medieval Empire, which even within the sensational genre of eschatological prophecy stand out for their bitter and violent nature. In addition to depicting the savage chastisement of the clergy and the forcible restructuring of the Church, these prophecies also infuse the apocalyptic narrative with explicitly German elements-in fact, German speakers are frequently cast as the agents of these stirring events in which the clergy suffer tribulations and the Church hierarchy is torn down.These prophecies were widely circulated throughout late medieval German-speaking Europe. Kneupper explores their significance for members of the Empire from 1380 to 1480, arguing that increased literacy, the development of strong urban centers, the drive for reform, and a connection to the imperial crown were behind their popularity. Offering detailed accounts of the most significant prophecies, Kneupper shows how they fit into currents of thought and sentiment in the late medieval Empire. In particular, she considers the relationships of German prophecy to contemporary discourses on Church reform and political identity. She finds that eschatological thought was considered neither marginal nor heretical, but was embraced by a significant, orthodox population of German laypeople and clerics, demonstrating the importance of popular eschatological thought to the development of a self-conscious, reform-minded, German-identified Empire on the Eve of the Reformation.Trade ReviewKneupper's book is a brilliant, engaging and most-needed analysis of a relatively reduced but influential corpus of late medieval literature that contributes to the understanding of the religious and political genesis of the Protestant Reform. * Carme Font Paz, Comitatus *The Empire at the End of Time should find an eager readership among historians of the late Middle Ages and the early Reformation, but also among readers curious to learn more about Christian apocalyptic traditions. * Jesse Spohnholz, Reading Religion *Kneupper treats her subject with admirable care and precision. * John Watkins, The American Historical Review *By showing more concretely and in greater detail than ever before the ways in which the spread of anticlerical and apocalyptic prophecies went hand in hand with an emerging sense of what it meant to be German, Kneupper's work makes a significant contribution to our understanding of late medieval culture. Scholars in early modern studies, including those who focus on the Reformation era, can gain valuable insights here as well. * Robin B. Barnes, Renaissance Quarterly *Table of ContentsMap Acknowledgments Preface Introduction SECTION ONE: CONTEXT 1 Audience and Reception SECTION TWO: INDIVIDUAL PROPHECIES OF LATE MEDIEVAL GERMAN-SPEAKING EUROPE 2 The Gamaleon Prophecy 3 The Letter of Brother Sigwalt 4 The Auffahrt Abend Prophecy 5 The Wirsberger Letters SECTION THREE: THEMES IN LATE MEDIEVAL GERMAN PROPHECY 6 The Church and Clergy in Prophetic Thought 7 German Identity in Prophetic Thought CONCLUSION Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C Notes Bibliography Index

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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