Religion and beliefs Books

Book SynopsisA provocative study in contemporary sociology and the first full-scale account of Roman Catholic fundamentalism, The Smoke of Satan offers new insight into the Catholic Church and explores the nature of religion in society.Trade ReviewCuneo has given us a witty, even hilarious, and sometimes frightening study of the inner workings, the theological convictions, and the major gripes of three different 'factions' of the Catholic right... Sparkling with irony, he provides his readers with a clear picture of the deep divisions occurring in the right-wing of the Church. America Cuneo uses the Second Vatican Council and the seismic shift it unleashed as a framework for vivid profiles of the Church's unnoticed players-Catholic fundamentalists. His well-researched, eye-opening book shows them to be a fascinating and, at times, bizarre and disturbing subgroup, whom even faithful Catholics would have a hard time embracing. With crisp and concise writing, Cuneo uses colorful anecdotes to shine a light on a mostly unknown part of the church. -- Diego Ribadeneira Boston Globe Here are feverish critics who regard the Catholic bishops as milquetoasts on sexual ethics and abortion. Here are poor souls whose distress over changes in traditional doctrine and liturgy has flowered into true night gardens of conspiracy theory... Cuneo is a sympathetic reporter... but he also reports nuttiness as nuttiness. -- Peter Steinfels New York Times Book Review A winning ethnography. Kirkus Reviews The Smoke of Satan dispels the haze around a world that is unfamiliar to many. Cuneo's book is well worth the time. Fort Worth Star-Telegram The Smoke of Satan is a fascinating look into a series of subcultures within and adjacent to Roman Catholicism-subcultures which are probably unfamiliar to most sociologists and researchers of religion... Cuneo does an excellent job of distinguishing the fundamental differences that separate the world views of each of these groups, as well as the internal factions into which each is fragmented. Sociology of Religion Cuneo is admirably thorough in his investigation of this [Catholic] netherworld. -- Garry Wills New York Review of Books Readers caught by the title of Michael Cuneo's new study of traditional-minded Catholics will not be disappointed. Juicy exposes of strange religious compounds reminiscent of Waco and scholarly inquiries into the cult mentality of modern separatists fill six well-researched chapters... Lurid details of the most bizarre beliefs are recounted, to Cuneo's credit, without sarcasm. Crisis A Fellini-like religious landscape. Trouw Cuneo provides a fascinating glimpse not only into these movements and the attraction they hold for a growing number of Catholics, but also into the appeal that apocalyptic thinking can have for the marginalized and disenfranchised. Millennial Stew Everett Hughes remarked forty years ago that everything, sociologically speaking, has happened in and to Catholicism. Since the Second Vatican Council, it has happened again. Michael Cuneo leaves no doubt about that. -- Andrew Greeley Contemporary Sociology

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a unique and new perspective on the formative years of rabbinic Judaism and will be essential reading for all students of the Talmud.Trade ReviewThis well organized, well written, fascinating, broad ranging, carefully argued book reconstructs the cultural milieu of the rabbinic academy that produced the Babylonian Talmud (Bavli). Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter 2004 A picture of the inner life of rabbinic academies in late-antique Babylonia (now Iraq)... This book is important for all libraries with collections in Judaic or ancient religion. Choice 2004 [Rubenstein's] style of writing is remarkably clear and deserves special recognition... His familiarity with the aggadot he analyzes, his precise translations, and his clear analysis make the book a pleasure to read. His historical conjectures and reconstructions make it a must. -- Joshua Kulp Journal of Biblical Literature 2004 Rubenstein remains a dynamic, productive scholar, whose future works should be looked forward to with anticipation and interest. -- Sacha Stern Journal of Jewish Studies 2004Table of ContentsPreface and AcknowledgmentsAbbreviations and ConventionsTractatesIntroduction1. The Rabbinic Academy2. Dialectics3. Violence4. Shame5. Lineage and Rabbinic Leadership6. Wives7. Elitism: The Sages and the Amei ha'arets8. Conclusion: The Legacy of the StammaimNotesSelected BibliographyGeneral IndexSource Index

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Book SynopsisIn this fascinating piece of scholarly detective work, biblical scholar Savina J. Teubal peels away millenia of patriarchal distortion to reveal the lost tradition of biblical matriarchs.Trade Review“Teubal’s ‘lost tradition’ rejects victimization in favor of female empowerment, reevaluates social values and shows how both Sarah and Hagar merit prestige in their own right, not merely as receptacles of Abraham’s seed.” * Bible Review *

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Book Synopsis“No other publication in the twentieth century has upended antiquated theological notions, truncated political ideas, and socially constructed racial fallacies like Jesus and the Disinherited. Thurman’s work keeps showing up on the desk of anti-apartheid activists, South American human rights workers, civil rights champions, and now Black Lives Matter advocates.” –Rev. Otis Moss III, author of Blue Note Preaching in a Post-Soul World and senior pastor at Trinity United Church of ChristA commemorative edition of the work that inspired Martin Luther King Jr. and helped shape the civil rights movementIn this beautiful gift edition of the classic theological treatise, complete with a place-marker ribbon and silver gilded edges, celebrated theologian and religious leader Howard Thurman (1899–1981) revolutionizes the way we read the gospel. Thurman lifts Jesus up as a partner in the pain of the oppressed and reveals th

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Book SynopsisPietism is increasingly recognized as the most important movement in Protestant Christianity since the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Simply put, early Protestant reformers were concerned with reforming the doctrine and beliefs of Christians whereas the Pietiest leaders were concerned with reforming the lives and behavior of Christians. This, coupled with other disagreements, led to calls for separation, which in turn gave rise to the movement best described as radical Pietism. German Radical Pietism introduces the English reader to the research of the major contemporary scholar of radical Pietism, Hans Schneider. Originally appearing in the comprehensive study of the history of Pietism that appeared in the 1990s, Schneider''s research considers historical treatment of the major figures, movements, and ideas of the radical wing of German Pietism in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. These developments are set in their historical and social contexts, thereby providiTrade ReviewGerald MacDonald has made a significant contribution to the study of Christian history. -- Craig D. Atwood * Journal Of Moravian History *This translation is a most welcome addition to the growing scholarly literature available in English on this important topic. For newcomers to the study of Pietism and for scholars interested in the Pietist roots of the Brethren, Quaker, and Methodisttraditions, the bibliography alone is worth the price of the book.... * Religious Studies Review, December 2009 *Schneider (church history, U. of Marburg) tracks the development of German Pietism in the seventeenth century and its influence in the eighteenth on a number of leading thinkers in a range of reform movements within the Protestant contingent. He tracks pietism's geographical and theological shifts (his chapters on the Philadelphian movement in Germany are particularly interesting) and notes efforts at reconciliation with the mainstream, details splits and schisms, some of which depended on charismatic leaders, and describes new research that indicates there are two models of contemporary pietism based on the structures set by Hirsch and Schmidt. * Reference and Research Book News, November 2007 *This translation is a most welcome addition to the growing scholarly literature available in English on this important topic. For newcomers to the study of Pietism and for scholars interested in the Pietist roots of the Brethren, Quaker, and Methodist traditions, the bibliography alone is worth the price of the book. * Religious Studies Review, December 2009 *Table of ContentsPart 1 Foreword Part 2 Series Editor's Preface Part 3 Translator's Note Part 4 List of Abbreviations Part 5 Part I: German Radican Pietism in the Seventeenth Century Chapter 6 1 The Roots, Origin, and Terminology of Radical Pietism Chapter 7 2 Outline of the Developments in the Seventeenth Century Part 8 Part II: German Radical Pietism in the Eighteenth Century Chapter 9 3 The Petersens and the Early Period of the Philadelphian Movement in Germany Chapter 10 4 Reconciliation with the Church? Arnold-Horch-König Chapter 11 5 The Separatists in Wittgenstein and in the Wetterau Chapter 12 6 Divergent Expressions Chapter 13 7 Berleburg and the Late Flowering of the Philadelphian Movement Part 14 Part III: German Radical Pietism in Recent Research Chapter 15 8 Historical Development of the Terminology Related to Pietism Chapter 16 9 Two Interpretive Models and Their Implications for Radical Pietism Research: Hirsch and Schmidt Chapter 17 10 Hirsch and Schmidt Reprise: Fundamental Problems, State of Research Part 18 Bibliography Part 19 Name Index Part 20 Subject Index

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Book SynopsisFrom renowned EWTN host and author Benedict Groeschel, this is a profound discussion of the stages of spiritual growth. Of special note is the way Groeschel identifies four distinct approaches to God (as Beauty, Truth, the Good, and the One) and shows how each leads to a different kind of spiritual path or pilgrimage.

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Book SynopsisWhat is ethics all about? In this book Herbert McCabe suggests that it is about loving, obeying laws and talking to people. In doing so, he offers an introduction to ethical thinking for anyone with a serious interest in moral philosophy. He does so as someone who writes with a Christian audience in mind. Most of his arguments, however, do not presuppose a believing Christian readership.Trade Review"That may be about to change with the republication of two of his early books, Law, Love and Language and God Matters, and the posthumous publication of a collection of essays, God Still Matters, and a book of sermons, God, Christ and Us.... McCabe's theology merits attention not only because of its wit...but also because of the care and precision with which he treats difficult questions....McCabe's approach to ethics helps us ask these kinds of questions.... God, Christ and Us contained 27 sermons that are worthy models for preachers, who stand on the front lines of theological discourse." -Christian Century, 1/25/05

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Book SynopsisIn Laugh Again, readers will discover ways to live in the present, say 'no' to negativism, and realize that, while no one's life is perfect, joy and humor can be inspirational.

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Book SynopsisIn Restless, Jennie Allen explores practical ways to identify the threads of your life and how to intentionally weave them together. She explains how your gifts, passions, places, and relationships aren’t random; they’re deliberate and meaningful. And your suffering---it’s possible it has produced the very thing you want to give back to the world.

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Book SynopsisReissue with new introduction of hardback edition of classic anthology of Anglo-Saxon poetry and prose.The Anglo-Saxon World introduces the Anglo-Saxons in their own words - their chronicles, laws and letters, charters and charms, and above all their magnificent poems. Most of the greatest surviving poems are printed here intheir entirety: the reader will find the whole of Beowulf, The Battle of Maldon, and the haunting elegiac poems. Here is a word picture of a people who came to these islands as pagans, subscribing to the Germanic heroic code, and yet within 200 years had become Christian to such effect that England was the centre of missionary endeavour and, for a time, the heart of European civilisation.Kevin Crossley-Holland places the poems and prose in context with his skilful interpretation of the Anglo-Saxon world; his translations have been widely acclaimed, and of Beowulf Charles Causley has written 'the poem has at last found its translator'. The many illustrations draw onthe splendours of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts and jewellery and a wealth of archaeological finds. KEVIN CROSSLEY-HOLLAND is a poet and writer who takes a particular interest in the middle agesand in traditional tale: in addition to his translations from the Anglo-Saxon, he is also the author of versions of the Norse myths.Table of ContentsHeroic poems; laws; the Anglo-Saxon chronicle; elegies; exploration; epic; the kingdom of God; greetings in Christ; Christian poems; example and exhortation; I saw a strange creature...; charters, tracts and wills; charms and remedies; allegory; sermon; destiny.

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