Religion and beliefs Books

Book SynopsisThis masterful survey of world religions presents a clear and concise portrait of the history, beliefs, and practices of Eastern and Western religions. The authors, both respected scholars of world religions, have over 50 years of combined teaching experience. Their book is accessibly written for introductory classes, can be easily adapted for one- or two-semester courses, and employs a neutral approach for broad classroom use. The third edition has been revised throughout, with updated material on the history and contemporary configurations of each tradition and new sections addressing gender, sexuality, and the environment. It also includes effective sidebars, photographs, timelines, charts, calendars, glossaries, and a spelling guide. Online resources through Baker Academic's Textbook eSources include Powerpoint/Keynote slides, new maps and videos, and a large question bank of multiple-choice test questions (available to professors upon request).Table of ContentsContentsMaps and Illustrations1. Studying World Religions2. Ancient ReligionsWestern Religions3. Judaism4. Christianity5. IslamEastern Religions6. Hinduism7. Buddhism8. Jainism9. Sikhism10. Chinese Religions11. Japanese Religions12. Other Religions and Major Religious SubgroupsSpelling GuideIndex

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Book SynopsisThis textbook offers a comprehensive introduction to the world's religions, including history, beliefs, worship practices, and contemporary expressions. Charles Farhadian, a seasoned teacher and recognized expert on world religions, provides an empathetic account that both affirms Christian uniqueness and encourages openness to various religious traditions. His nuanced, ecumenical perspective enables readers to appreciate both Christianity and the world's religions in new ways. The book highlights similarities, dissimilarities, and challenging issues for Christians and includes significant selections from sacred texts to enhance learning. Pedagogical features include sidebars, charts, key terms, an extensive glossary, illustrations, and about a dozen maps. This book is supplemented with helpful web materials for both students and professors through Baker Academic's Textbook eSources. Resources include self quizzes, discussion questions, additional further readings, a sample syllabus, and a test bank.Table of ContentsContents1. The Persistence of Religion2. Hinduism3. Buddhism4. Jainism5. Sikhism6. Taoism and Confucianism7. Judaism8. Christianity9. Islam10. New Religious MovementsGlossaryIndex

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Book SynopsisNeopaganism is the fastest growing new religion in the West. Between the World: Readings in Contemporary Neopaganism provides an engaging and well-rounded introduction to this often misunderstood spiritual tradition.This provocative new volume breaks away from the negative doomsday cult focus of existing books on new religious movements and provides a clear focus on feminist spirituality, women and religion, and goddess worship. It offers a spiritual context for paganism and introduces the ""language"" of paganism and earth religions. This book examines contemporary paganism — not just the ""streams"" from the 1970s and 1980s, but also the increasingly important ""streams"" of Druidry and Heathenry.For the first time ever, this book unites essential readings by leading academics and well-known practitioners from all over the world, including Canada. It features the work of Starhawk, Ronald Hutton, Michael York, Graham Harvey, Helen A. Berger, and Wendy Griffith, alongside contemporary Canadian scholars including Lucie Marie-Mai DuFresne, Lori G. Beaman, and Barbara Jane Davy.Trade ReviewThis is a very important anthology to publish. No other anthology addresses Canadian Paganism to this extent. This volume certainly reflects the need to address the growing popularity of Paganism as a new religious movement in Canada."" - Chris Klassen, Wilfrid Laurier UniversityTable of Contents Introduction Part I: The Voices That Inspired Chapter 1: Charge of the Goddess - Doreen Valiente Chapter 2: Sacred Narratives - Starhawk Chapter 3: I Am a Pagan - Selena Fox Chapter 4: A Religion without Converts - Margot Adler Chapter 5: Why Women Need the Goddess: Phenomenological, Psychological, and Political Reflections - Carol P. Christ Part II: Introduction to Nature or Earth Religions Chapter 6: We Cast Our Circles Where the Earth Mother Meets the Sky Father - Sarah Pike Chapter 7: Definitions and Expressions of Nature Religion in Shamanic Traditions and Contemporary Paganism - Barbara Jane Davy Chapter 8: Paganism as a World Religion - Michael York Part III: Contemporary Neopaganism and Witchcraft Chapter 9: Druidry - Graham Harvey Chapter 10: To the Tribe Let There Be Children Born - Helen A. Berger Chapter 11: Wicked Witches of the West: Exploring Court Treatments of Wicca as a Religion - Lori G. Beaman Chapter 12: In Defence of Magic: Philosophical and Theological Rationalization - Tanya Luhrmann Chapter 13: Witch Wars: Factors Contributing to Conflict in Canadian Witchcraft Communities - Sian Ried Chapter 14: Constructing Identity and Divinity: Creating Community in an Elder Religion within a Postmodern World - Jenny Blain Chapter 15: Weaving a Tangled Web? Pagan Ethics and Issues of History, ""Race,"" and Ethnicity in Pagan Identity - Ann-Marie Gallagher Part IV: Feminist Spirituality and Goddess Worship Chapter 16: Mother and Goddess: The Ideological Force of Symbols - Lucie Marie-Mai DuFresne Chapter 17: The Embodied Goddess: Feminist Witchcraft and Female Divinity - Wendy Griffin Chapter 18: Finding a Goddess - Ronald Hutton Chapter 19: The Roots of Feminist Spirituality - Cynthia Eller Chapter 20: The Colonial Mythology of Feminist Witchcraft - Chris Klassen

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Book SynopsisReflections on the past and future of a long-standing communityTrade Review"This book is even more essential now than when these voices were first heard. It deals with a movement that is so much a symbol of American hope that it's in a class by itself. I strongly recommend Voices from the Catholic Worker."—Studs TerkelTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introductory Notes Part I: History 1. In the Beginning Was Joe Zarrella * Alice Zarrella * John Cort * Justine Murphy * Nina Polcyn Moore * Florence Weinfurter * Sr. Ruth Heaney * Dorothy Gauchat * Julian Pleasants * Mary Jane Pleasants * Dr. Arthur Falls * Ed Marciniak * Jim O'Gara * Joan O'Gara * Tom Cornell * Jim Forest * Bill Griffin * Tom Lewis * Willa Bickham * Daniel Marshall * John Cooper * Barbara Blaine * Catherine Morris 2. The Word Ade Bethune * Joe Zarrella * Alice Zarrella * Jeannette Noel * Tom Cornell * Pat Jordan * Jim Forest * Gary Donatelli * Peggy Scherer * Brian Terrell * Jane Sammon * Jeff Dietrich * Patty Burns * Scott Schaeffer-Duffy * Mary Kay Meyer 3. Memories of Dorothy Day Joe Zarrella * Alice Zarrella * Jane Sammon * Ade Bethune * John Cort * Michael Harrington * Bob Tavani * Tom Cornell * Jim Forest * Jim O'Gara * Brian Terrell * Judith Malina * Fr. Richard McSorley * Terry Rogers * Mary Lathrop * Catherine Morris * Chris Delany * Dan Delany * Jim Eder * Kathe McKenna * Kathleen Jordan * Pat Jordan * Robert Ellsberg 4. Memories of Peter Maurin Mike Garvey * Joe Zarrella * Alice Zarrella * Michael Harrington * John Cort * Jim O'Gara * Brian Terrell * Gary Donatelli * Chris Montesano * Daniel Marshall * Sr. Ruth Heaney 5. Memories of Ammon Hennacy Florence Weinfurter * Pat Murray * Mary Murray * Fr. Bernie Gilgun * Julian Pleasants * Michael Harrington * Mike Garvey * Tom Cornell * Mary Lathrop * Pat Coy * Utah Phillips 6. The Ideals of One's Youth: Michael Harrington An Interlude: Singing Old Songs Part II: The Work 7. Coming and Becoming: Stories of Conversion Richard Cleaver * Gary Donatelli * Brian Terrell * Marc Ellis * Tom Cornell * Kathleen Jordan * Pat Jordan * Teka Childress * Don Timmerman * Robert Ellsberg * Lynn Lassalle-Klein * Jim Levinson * Jonathan Kirkendall * Bob Imholt * Linda Greenwald * Chris Montesano * Donna Domiziano * Fr. Bernie Gilgun * Patty Burns * Claire Schaeffer-Duffy * Gayle Catinella 8. Hospitality: A Roundtable Discussion John Williams * Fr. Richard McSorley * Brian Terrell * Betsy Keenan * Kassie Temple * Barbara Blaine * Bob Tavani * Jeff Dietrich * Catherine Morris * Fr. Jack Keehan * Kathe McKenna * Frank Walsh * Kathy Shuh-Ries * John Cooper * Debbie McQuade * Gayle Catinella * Jeannette Noel * John Mahoney * Donna Domiziano * Charles Walzem * Tom Cornell * Dennis Coday * Margaret Quigley Garvey * Gary Donatelli * Richard Cleaver * Mary Kay Meyer * Larry Ray-Keil * Teka Childress * Jonathan Kirkendall 9. Protest and Resistance: A Roundtable Discussion Karl Meyer * Chuck Quilty * Pat Coy * Sr. Anna Koop * Jane Sammon * Brian Terrell * Betsy Keenan * Sue Frankel-Streit * Mary Aileen Schmeil * Willa Bickham * Steve Soucy * Sr. Char Madigan * Mary West * Jim Forest * Tina Sipula * Chuck Trapkus * Fr. Tom Lumpkin * Scott Schaeffer-Duffy * Jeff Dietrich * Paul Magno * Marcia Timmel * Darla Bradley * Tom Lewis 10. Paper Cranes and Fighter Planes: Kathleen Rumpf of Syracuse, New York 11. Workers Who Are Scholars Meg Hyre * Angela Jones * Mark White * Chris Montesano * Catherine Morris * Pat Jordan * Eileen Egan * John Cooper * Fr. Tom Lumpkin * Jane Sammon * Jerry Ebner * Tina Sipula * Jim Forest 12. Harvest of Dreams: Catholic Worker Farms: A Roundtable Discussion Jim Eder * Bob Tavani * Chris Shepherd * Ed Forand * Chris Montesano * Sr. Anna Koop * Brian Terrell * Betsy Keenan * Jim Levinson * Gayle Catinella * Jim O'Gara 13. The Mother House, New York Jane Sammon * Ed Forand * Gary Donatelli * Tom Cornell * Jo Roberts Part III: Living Together 14. Community: A Roundtable Discussion Tina Sipula * Darla Bradley * Fr. Jack Keehan * Pat Jordan * Jim Eder * Gary Donatelli * Jim Kelly * Chuck Matthei * Kathe McKenna * Catherine Morris * Charles Walzem * Brian Terrell * Jane Emerson * Don Timmerman * Sue Frankel-Streit * Ed Forand * Bill Griffin * Chris Montesano * Joan Montesano * Teka Childress * Pat Coy * Larry Purcell * Dick Dieter * Maggie Louden * Joe Zarrella * Fr. Richard McSorley * Jeff Dietrich * Karl Meyer 15. Families in the Worker Marcia Timmel * Paul Magno * Terry Bennett-Cauchon * Lynn Lassalle-Klein * Bob Lassalle-Klein * Justine Murphy * Monica Cornell * Tom Cornell * Pat Jordan * Kathleen Jordan * Kathy Shuh-Ries * Patti McKee * Jim Levinson * Louise Cochran * David Specht * Claire Pearson * Claire Schaeffer-Duffy * Scott Schaeffer-Duffy * Chuck Quilty * Tom Lewis * Chris Montesano * Joan Montesano 16. Catholic Worker Kids Kate Walsh * Kenna Lee Meyer * Becky Delany * Joachim Zwick * Chris Shepherd Illustrations Part IV: Doing the Work 17. Miracles at Martin's: Martin de Porres in San Francisco Carole Arett * Charlie 18. Snapshots: Larry Purcell of Redwood City, California 19. The Logic of Grace: Davenport, Iowa Mike Garvey * Margaret Quigley * Garvey Bob Chaps 20. A Family Affair: The Cordaros of Des Moines Angela Cordaro * Fr. Frank Cordaro * Tom Cordaro 21. Inner City Solitude: Virginia Druhe of St. Louis 22. Uptown: St. Francis of Assisi in Chicago Fr. Jack Keehan * Jim Eder * Denise Plunkett * Mark Miller 23. Light and Shadow: David Stein of Chicago 24. Laughter and Learning: Angelus House in Toronto Charlie Angus * Lauren Griffin 25. Unity and Diversity: Syracuse Communities Dorothy Day House * Unity Kitchen * Unity Acres in Orwell 26. Across the Country San Jose, California * Las Vegas, Nevada * Orange County, California * Waterbury, Connecticut * Chicago, Illinois: St. Catherine of Genoa * Washington, D.C. * Alderson, West Virginia * Phoenix, Arizona * Houston, Texas * Bloomington, Illinois * Boston, Massachusetts An Interlude: Spinning a Web Part V: The Catholic Worker 27. Spirituality: A Roundtable Discussion Jim Forest * Fr. Mike Baxter * Larry Ray-Keil * Louise Cochran * Fr. Tom Lumpkin 28. The Worker and the Church: A Roundtable Discussion Fr. Frank Cordaro * Gary Donatelli * Bill Griffin * Steve Soucy * Pat Coy * Marc Ellis * Kassie Temple * Eileen Egan * Fr. Richard McSorley * Chris Delany * Margaret Quigley Garvey * Mike Garvey 29. The Controversy over Homosexuality Chris Montesano * Gary Donatelli * Peggy Scherer * Bill Griffin * David Buer * Jonathan Kirkendall * Larry Ray-Keil * Richard Cleaver * Gary Olivero * Barbara Blaine * Fr. Bernie Gilgun 30. Abortion Marcia Timmel * Fr. Frank Cordaro * Sr. Char Madigan * Sr. Anna Koop 31. Feminism, the Worker, and the Church: A Roundtable Discussion Sr. Char Madigan * Joan Montesano * Maggie Louden * Ellen Rehg * Darla Bradley * Claire Schaeffer-Duffy * Sr. Anna Koop * Gary Olivero * Barbara Blaine * Terry Bennett-Cauchon * Tina Sipula Epilogue Appendix A: Persons Interviewed Appendix B: Houses of Hospitality Appendix C: 1992 Aims and Means of the Catholic Worker Movement Select Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe eighteenth-century Scottish empiricist David Hume has been regarded as a notorious enemy of religion. Still, his discussion of religion is systematic, sophisticated, and sustained. Focusing mainly on two of Hume's works, the relatively neglected "Natural History of Religion" and the more widely read "Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion", Keith Yandell analyzes Hume's treatment of a subject that he described as "a riddle, an enigma, an inexplicable mystery." In so doing, he explores the relationships between Hume's philosophy of religion and his general philosophy. Hume's "evidentialism," applied to religion, can be summed up by saying that it is unreasonable to accept a religious belief unless one has evidence for it.Since, it is also Hume's view that there is no evidence for any religious belief, he concludes that no one is ever reasonable in accepting a religious belief. Yandell examines the explanations that Hume gave for such acceptance in "Natural History of Religion". Addressing the "Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion", he compares Hume's views to those of such authors as Herbert of Cherbury and Bishop Joseph Butler, traces changes in Hume's theory of meaning, and discusses the ontological and cosmological arguments and Hume's treatment of the problem of evil. Yandell then considers other lesser known writings by Hume that are relevant to his philosophy of religion. Keith E. Yandell is Professor of Philosophy and South Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.Trade Review"Yandell has put us all in his debt for the care with which he has examined the writings of one of the most influential critics of religion."—Journal of Theological Studies"[Yandell] offers an interpretation of Hume's philosophy of religion and examines its foundations critically. The sweep of coverage and the author's control of his material are impressive. This is a readable and informative study which no one interested in Hume's views on religion can afford to neglect."—James King, Northern Illinois University"[Yandell] has unearthed the underlying philosophical significance of [the Natural History]. That by itself is an important achievement and a valuable scholarly contribution. Yandell's discussion of the issues in Hume's better known writing is intrinsically important as well as constitution a significant deepening of our approach to issues in Hume's philosophy of religion. It is a tribute to Yandell's stature as a philosopher that he is able to return to ground which has been so frequently ploughed and still give us new insights and a more perceptive understanding of Hume's method and his results.... It is an original and illuminating reading of a number of major issues in Hume's philosophy."—Marvin Fox, Brandeis UniversityTable of ContentsPreface Abbreviations Introduction Part I: The Natural History of Religion 1. The Content of the Natural History Hume's Theory of Religious Belief * Hume's Apparent Approval of the Design Argument * The Secondary Status of the Propensities to Religious Belief * Hume on Religion and Morality * Religion and Human Nature * Part Twelve of the Dialogues * Verbal Dispute in Dialogue Twelve * Philo's Confession of Faith 2. The Treatise Repetition of the Natural History Pattern of Explanation The Skeptical Prologue * Belief in an External World: Humean Constancy * Belief in an Enduring Self * Principles of Association as Propensities, Causality Included * The Treatise Explanations and the Natural History Explanation * Conflict Concerning the External World * Conflict Concerning Enduring Numerically Identical Selves 3. Religious Belief as a Danger to Human Nature A Further Similarity * Natural Beliefs * Basic Propensities * Religion and Human Nature Again * Human Nature * Hume and Calvin on Human Nature * The Rights of Reason and the Rights of Religion 4. Hume's Account of Persons as Propensity Bearers Two Models of Human Nature * The Appendix Summary * The Soul or Person * Meaning * Do Simple Perceptions Endure? * Substances * Identity * Time * A Brief Look Backward * An Example of the 'Real Connections Among Perceptions' View * Self-Awareness * Observability and Transparency * Foundationalism * Certainty and Personal Identity * Transparency and Real Connections * Why We Believe in Personal Identity * Memory and Personal Identity * Agency and Morality * Summary of the 'Real Connection' Line of Reasoning * Conclusion 5. Hume's Explanation of Religious Belief A Brief Review * The Elements of Hume's Explanation * A Critique of Hume's Strategy * The Critique Assessed * Religious Experience and Hume's Explanation * Elements of an Argument from Religious Experience * A Principle of Experiential Evidence * Social Science Explanations and the Argument from Religious Experience Part II: Hume's Discussion of Natural Theology 6. Hume's Evidentialism Hume and Radical Religious Evidentialism * Bishop Butler on Probable Evidence 7. Hume's Theory of Meaning Incomprehensibility * An Introduction to Ineffability * Ineffability: Another Look * Divine Incomprehensibility and Negative Theology * Meaning, Verification, and the Designer Hypothesis * Incomprehensibility Again 8. Design, Causality, and Purpose The Causal Principle and the Causal Maxim (Dialogues, Part Two) * Theism and the Dialogues * The Design Argument: Initial Formulation * On Proportioning Degrees of Belief and Evidence * Arguments from Experience * Inductive Arguments and Lawlike Connections * Inductive Argument and Argument by Analogy * The Design Argument and Postulation of Theoretical Entities * Relevant versus Irrelevant Properties * The Fallacy of Composition * Opposing Analogies * Is the Universe a Thing? * Being Designed and Having a Purpose 9. Inductive Arguments and Analogical Arguments Cleanthes' Attempt to Avoid Philo's Critique (Dialogues, Part Three) * Inductions from Single Cases * Review and Prospect * A Two-Stage Design Argument * Argument by Analogy to Properties of the Universe's Designer * The Most Plausible Analogy or Model * Miscellaneous Topics * (A10) and Ultimate Explanations 10. Design Arguments and Multiple Models Ramifications of and Alternatives to the Designer Hypothesis (Dialogues, Part Four) * More Ramifications of the Designer Hypothesis (Dialogues, Part Five) * Alternatives to the Designer Hypothesis Again (Dialogues, Part Six) * The Universe, Vegetables, and Animals (Dialogues, Part Seven) * Various Models for Understanding Universal Order Again * Alternative Models for Explaining Universal Order (Dialogues, Part Eight) 11. Other Theistic Arguments Demea's a Priori Arguments (Dialogues, Part Nine) * The Notion of Necessary Existence * The Universe and Necessity * Explanation and Infinite Series * Philonian Determinism 12. Evil, Happiness, and Goodness Religion and Fear (Dialogues, Part Ten) * Hedonism * The Equivocation Argument * The Equivocation Argument Assessed * Happier Possible Persons? * Means and Ends * The Argument of Epicurus * The Argument of Epicurus Assessed * Omnibenevolence and the Phenomena 13. Evil, Prediction, and Probability The Prediction Argument (Dialogues, Part Eleven) * Is Evil a Priori Unlikely? * The Aquinas Line * The Leibniz Line * Determinism and Responsibility * Disanalogies between God and Human Agents * Direct and Indirect Causation * The Consistency Question * Philo's Four Causes * Philo's Four Circumstances * The Four Circumstances Argument * Evil and Probability Part III: Further Humeana 14. Superstition, Enthusiasm, Suicide, and Immortality Of Superstition and Enthusiasm * On Suicide * Immortality * Metaphysical Arguments * Moral Arguments * Physical Arguments * Ethical Arguments * The Pre-Dialogues Dialogue 15. Miracles What Is a Miracle? * Miracles and "Extraordinary" Events * Miracles and the Stormy History of Science * Miracles and Epistemology * Hume's Argument Appraised * Hume's Subsidiary Arguments * Some Comments about the Subsidiary Arguments * Hume's Main Position on Miracles * Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisLeftist Christians and radical politics in American historyTrade Review"This meticulously researched study....discusses a varied array of movements, organizations, and activists, many largely unstudied, who sought to aid the poor and oppressed through Christian social action....[This] thoughtful, lucid book will engage not only historians but also theologians, ethicists, political scientists, sociologists, indeed anyone interested in the convergence of religion and politics in the United States."—Journal of American History"Religion and Radical Politics is a helpful analysis of several chapters in American a religious history....built around a series of biographical sketches that explore the lives of people such as Terence Powederly, Frances Willard, Mother Jones, George Washington Woodbey, Claude Williams, Howard Kester, Harry F. Ward, A.J. Juste, and Dorothy Day. ...[It] is a remarkably strong book."—Journal of Church and State"A major contribution to American history and to Christian ethics. It will be controversial in the best way, raising questions which are the right questions, at least right for those who care for a democracy of human rights, universal participation, and social justice."—David J. O'Brien, College of the Holy CrossTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. Nineteenth-Century Labor Radicalism: The Christian Labor Union and the Knights of Labor 2. Religion, Women, and Politics: Feminism, Class, and Labor 3. The Fractured Vision of Christians and Socialists: The Realities of Class and the Invisibility of Race 4. Radical Politics and Southern Prophets: The Struggle for Racial Equality 5. The Great Evasion: Religion, Marxism, and the Politics of Nonviolence Conclusion Notes Index

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