Religion and science Books

Book SynopsisThis investigation of religion by greatest psychoanalyst of the twentieth-century explores the role faith can take in the life of man, what it can mean to us and why as a species we are inclined towards it. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThoughtful observers agree that the planetary crisis we now face-climate change; species extinction; the destruction of entire ecosystems; the urgent need for a more just economic-political order-is pushing human civilization to a radical turning point: change or perish. But precisely how to change remains an open question.In Earth-honoring Faith, Larry Rasmussen answers that question with a dramatically new way of thinking about human society, ethics, and the ongoing health of our planet. Rejecting the modern assumption that morality applies to human society alone, Rasmussen insists that we must derive a spiritual and ecological ethic that accounts for the well-being of all creation, as well as the primal elements upon which it depends: earth, air, fire, water, and sunlight. He argues that good science, necessary as it is, will not be enough to inspire fundamental change. We must draw on religious resources as well to make the difficult transition from an industrial-technological age Trade ReviewIn many ways Earth-Honoring Faith resembles an intricate, colorful song played by a vast collection of deft instrumentalists. Rasmussen is a master at tying together a large number of resources and perspectives, each carefully tuned to play the right notes. Persuasively, even lyrically, he has assembled a grand orchestra to inspire deep reflection and animate meaningful practice. * The Christian Century *This book is important, timely, sorely needed and deeply prophetic- delivering a hard, truthful indictment of the world as it is, but also suggesting visionary, hopeful Earth-honoring ways forward... yes, you should, you need , to read this. * Journal of Lutheran Ethics *Larry Rasmussen has once again penned a masterwork uniting ecological ethics and religious practices broadly envisioned. If the Earth is to survive, ethical theory and spiritual praxis are equally vital. Science informs. Religions motivat. A transformation combining these concepts is urgently needed at this moment in time on our planet. * Catholic Books Review *He [Rasmussen] writes extremely well, with elegance and eloquence, and weaves poetry, narrative, and personal stories into a tapestry informed by keen ethical insight and analysis. His treatment of power relations in the economy and of consumerism is masterful. This book is a must for anyone interested in the environment who is not willing to settle for lazy aphorisms and superficial panaceas. * CHOICE *This book is a tour-de-force, bringing together theological reflection and ethical persuasion to argue for the transformation of religions into their ecological phase. Larry Rasmussen is eloquent, comprehensive, and compelling in his articulation of a vision that is sorely needed for our emerging Earth Community. * Mary Evelyn Tucker, Co-Director of the Forum on Religion and Ecology, Yale University *Larry Rasmussen's new work on religious ethics moves from a lyrical homage to the sacred web of life to a searing indictment of the utilitarian use of nature by both capitalist and socialist industrialization. Drawing on mystical, prophetic, and wisdom traditions, Rasmussen shows that a paradigm shift to an ecologically conscious civilization is possible. Inspired by local communities, an earth-honoring faith becomes a song of songs. * Aruna Gnanadason, author of Listen to the Women, Listen to the Earth *Rasmussen argues persuasively that religion needs to stop perceiving nature as the stage for the human salvation drama and view it instead as the locus for experience of the divine. His scholarship is impeccable and his ability to weave together insights from various fields and scholars is exemplary. Earth-honoring Faith is a grand intellectual endeavor that reflects interdisciplinary thinking at its best. * Jim Martin-Schramm, Professor of Religion, Luther College *By writing so lyrically and in open conversation with so many others struggling to create language for this civilizational transition, Larry Rasmussen shows the awkwardness of inherited language and ideas for discussing the new moral world that humanity needs to learn to inhabit. He demonstrates how to make sense of ancient moral traditions in a new context, and how to bend them into a new imagination of the world. This book is a serious contribution to religious ethics. It will be appreciated not only by scholars in the field but by many thinking readers worried about sustainability crises and looking for cultural resources to reshape our shared moral imagination. * Willis Jenkins, author of Ecologies of Grace *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; Prelude ; PART I ; 1 The Creature We Are ; 2 The World We Have ; 3 The Faith We Seek ; 4 The Ethic We Need: Change and Imagination ; 5 The Ethic We Need: Good Theory ; 6 The Ethic We Need: Community Matrix ; 7 The Ethic We Need: Tilling and Keeping ; Interlude ; PART II ; 8 Asceticism and Consumerism ; 9 The Sacred and the Commodified ; 10 Mysticism and Alienation ; 11 Prophetic/Liberative Practices and Oppression ; 12 Wisdom and Folly ; 13 Closing ; Postlude ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisDrawing on scientific research and logical argument James Jones directly confronts the claims that cognitive science can eliminate, or debunk, religion. He provides an accessibly written, persuasive account of why these claims are not convincing.Trade Review[T]his volume will be useful to students and scholars alike interested in deepening their engagement with the field of cognitive approaches to religion and will be a useful addition to course or module materials for students studying in this area. * Paul-François Tremlett, Religion *certainly deserves the attention of the general public, and offers a welcome antidote to the misrepresentations of cognitive science of religion * Tom Uytterhoeven, ESSSAT *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements ; Introduction: A Voice from the Border of Religion and Science ; Chapter One: Explanations -How Science Seeks to Explain Religion ; Chapter Two: Explaining-What does it Mean to Explain Religion? ; Chapter Three: Physicalism-Is a Purely Physicalist Account Compelling? ; Chapter Four: Beyond Physicalism-Mind and Nature ; Chapter Five: Our Pluralistic Universe - Living on the Border of Science and Religion ; Appendix: Sources, References, and Further Discussions ; Bibliography of Sources Used In Preparing the Text

Read more less

Book SynopsisIt is commonly assumed that the creation story of Genesis and its chronology were the only narratives openly available in medieval and early modern Europe and that the discovery of geological time in the eighteenth century came as a momentous breakthrough that shook the faith in the historical accuracy of the Bible. Historians of science, mainstream geologists, and Young Earth creationists alike all share the assumption that the notion of an ancient Earth was highly heterodox in the pre-modern era. The old age of the world is regarded as the offspring of a secularized science.In this book, Ivano Dal Prete radically revises the commonplace history of deep time in Western culture. He argues that the chronology of the Bible always coexisted with alternative approaches that placed the origin of the Earth into a far, undetermined (or even eternal) past. From the late Middle Ages, these notions spread freely not only in universities and among the learned, but even in popular works of meteorology, geology, literature, and art that made them easily accessible to a vernacular and scientifically illiterate public. Religious authorities did not regard these notions as particularly problematic, let alone heretical. Neither the authors nor their numerous readers thought that holding such views was incompatible with their Christian faith. While the appeal of theories centered on the biblical Flood and on a young Earth gained popularity over the course of the seventeenth century, their more secular alternatives remained vital and debated. Enlightenment thinkers, however, created a myth of a Christian tradition that uniformly rejected the antiquity of the world, as opposed to a new secular science ready to welcome it. Largely unchallenged for almost three centuries, that account solidified over time into a still dominant truism. Based on a wealth of mostly unexplored sources, On the Edge of Eternity offers an original and nuanced account of the history of deep time that illuminates the relationship between the history of science and Christianity in the medieval and early modern periods, with lasting implications for Western society.Trade ReviewCalling upon a massive reservoir of evidence that has been hiding in plain sight, this deeply researched and engrossing book not only overturns a long held historical narrative that deep geological time was discovered in the eighteenth century, but also chronicles the formation of that narrative in the crucible of intellectual and political change at the end of the eighteenth century. Dal Prete brilliantly reveals the peaceful coexistence of multiple theories about the age of the earth from the Middle Ages up through the seventeenth century, then their politicization as the new ideology of science asserted eternal war between science and religion, a fable, as Dal Prete lays bare, that has endured up to the present. * Pamela H. Smith, Columbia University *On the Edge of Eternity is an ambitious and provocative rethinking of our understanding of the earth's history from the Middle Ages till the age of Darwin. This superb account of the history of the earth's eternity and the biblical Flood compellingly argues that the earth's antiquity is a very old idea. Widely discussed and debated in medieval and Renaissance Europe, it was an Enlightenment rediscovery rather than discovery. In this engaging and erudite history, Dal Prete invites us to reflect on why we have forgotten the complexity of the past in the invention of deep time in favor of stark and often polemical narratives of science and religion. * Paula Findlen, Stanford University *In this beautifully argued and accessibly written book, Ivano del Prete shows that not only were discussions of earth history a complex and multifaceted affair throughout the millennia before an imagined Enlightenment emancipation, but in actuality it was the new science of the Scientific Revolution that invented Biblical literalism and young earth creationism, not the religious enthusiasts. This brilliantly fresh and insightful history is a must read for anyone wanting to subject our contemporary battle between science and religion to a historical reality check. * J.B. Shank, University of Minnesota *In this erudite and elegant book, Ivano Dal Prete rewrites the history of Western views on the age of the earth. He works as deftly on ancient traditions in philosophy and chronology as on the practical culture of Tuscan miners and merchants, shows that scholars and craftsmen came into active intellectual contact, and brings lost worlds of speculation and exploration back to life. Medieval and Renaissance ideas about earth history were rich and varied, and geological evidence often supported arguments for an eternal world. Before this context, the debates of later centuries, with their multiple efforts to salvage a biblical chronology, take on a radically new meaning. The warfare of science with theology, Dal Prete argues, is not a medieval but a modern phenomenon, born of new commitments, Protestant and Catholic, to biblical authority. * Anthony Grafton, Princeton University *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Note on Terminology Introduction Chapter 1 Footprints in the Dust: The Eternity of the World in the Middle Ages Chapter 2 The Medieval Earth Chapter 3 Vernacular Earths, 1250-1500 Chapter 4 A "Pious" History of the Earth? 1500-1650 Chapter 5 The Rise of Diluvialism, 1650-1720 Chapter 6 The Invention of the History of Deep Time, 1700-1770 Chapter 7 Political Fossils, 1740-1800 Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book takes a bold new look at ways of exploring the nature, origins, and potentials of consciousness within the context of science and religion. Alan Wallace draws careful distinctions between four elements of the scientific tradition: science itself, scientific realism, scientific materialism, and scientism. Arguing that the metaphysical doctrine of scientific materialism has taken on the role of ersatz-religion for its adherents, he traces its development from its Greek and Judeo-Christian origins, focusing on the interrelation between the Protestant Reformation and the Scientific Revolution. He looks at scientists'' long term resistance to the firsthand study of consciousness and details the ways in which subjectivity has been deemed taboo within the scientific community. In conclusion, Wallace draws on William James''s idea for a science of religion that would study the nature of religious and, in particular, contemplative experience. In exploring the nature of consciousness, Trade ReviewWallace has looked carefully at the religious study of consciousness in both East and West, and no one can walk away from this book without a deeper impression of the profound understanding of religious consciousness that religious thinkers and traditions have achieved. The book will thus be welcomed by those who are interested in the phenomenology of religious consciousness as a tool for the cross-cultural study of religious phenomena. For these purposes it is heartily recommended.--The Journal of the American Academy of ReligionThe Taboo of Subjectivity provides a commendable introduction to issues in the relation of science and religion that humanists with an interest in science will find accessible and reasonably persuasive, and its cross-cultural framework offers students of religion a rewarding illustration of comparative work.--The Journal of ReligionThis is a landmark book in consciousness studies in the grand tradition of William James. Indeed it is the kind of book that James would have written had he been updating his writings 100 years on. * Network *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTeaching evolution in the public schools has been a perennial problem in America. From the courthouse in Dayton, Tennessee, in 1925, to modern fights over intelligent design and creation science, evolution and its critics have battled over the role of science and religion in American public life.But the antievolution controversies are not merely political problems. In American Genesis, Jeffrey P. Moran explores the ways in which the evolution struggles also have reverberated beyond the confines of legislatures and courthouses. In addition to offering a careful analysis of antievolutionism''s ideological and strategic development, this wide-ranging social history argues that evolution''s reception has been shaped by four peculiarly American forces: a diverse population, regional divisions, a sometimes shaky Protestant dominance, and a tradition of democratic populism. In each area, the battles over evolution exposed and polarized existing divisions.Using extensive research in newspapers, periodicals, and archives, Moran investigates the critical influence that gender ideals have had in antievolutionism, as well as the complex role women play in modern controversies. Similarly, he analyzes the unexamined relationship between African Americans and antievolution. Moran''s reading of regional differences explains how fundamentalism, a movement born in the North, came to flourish primarily in the South.Throughout the nation, Moran argues, antievolutionist ideology has retained strong continuities from its roots in the early twentieth century, despite its modern packaging as creation science or Intelligent Design. Finally, Moran balances scholars'' understandable focus on the unfamiliar territory of antievolutionism by considering the self-conceptions and preconceptions of modern scientists as activists, teachers, and bystanders in the struggle.Trade ReviewMoran...explores aspects of creationism that receive scant attention elsewhere...A well-written, thoroughly researched, valuable contribution. Highly recommended. * CHOICE *Moran's book has much to offer historians of science who are interested in antievolutionism. Historians of American culture, race, gender, and religion will also profit from reading it. * John M. Lynch, Isis Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; Preface ; Introduction: Darwin Comes to America ; Chapter One: Monkeys and Mothers ; Chapter Two: Regionalism and the Antievolution Impulse ; Chapter Three: Fighting for the Future of the Race ; Chapter Four: Descent with Modification ; Chapter Five: Creationism and the Campus ; Notes ; Index

Read more less

Trade ReviewI have used this book for years * it never fails to engage the students.Nan E. Woodruff, Pennsylvania State University *Excellent for collateral reading in my history and philosophy of education class. * D. Gough, Washington Bible College *An intriguing book well suited to stimulating discussion in an upper-level course. It addresses issues rented to the social and intellectual history of 20th century American. * Daniel B. Murphy, Hanover College *Very valuable in helping students understand the Scopes Trial and modern Creationists. * Lois N. Magner, Purdue University *Very good for supplemental reading in a survey course on religion in America. Lively and stimulating. The book provokes students to get involved. * W. Calvin Smith, University of South Carolina at Aiken *In his brilliant account of the Tennessee 'monkey trial' of 1925, Mr. Ginger gives us a book where history not only records the events of a time but illuminates their significance for all time. * The New Republic *This volume provides a clear, informative and interesting chronicle of the 1925 Scopes trial. It relates the trial to the Zeitgeist of the era. * William Simons, SUNY-Oneonta *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom creationism to The God Delusion, the public dialogue of science and religion either uses the early chapters of Genesis in a naïve and simplistic way or rejects their relevance to contemporary questions. This is reinforced by the myth that Darwin caused a rejection of a literalistic reading of Genesis 1 and from that point most Christian theology lost any confidence in these texts. The truth is far more complex. Jewish and Christian interpretation of the early chapters of Genesis had a long a fruitful history from the earliest times. In the 19th century, many more important issues were at stake than biblical literalism, and there were many different interpretations of how the discoveries of Darwin helped or hindered the reading of the biblical text. Today, theologians are returning to the importance of Genesis as a partner in dialogue with science, gender, and environmental care. As the distinguished authors of the papers in this volume show, far from Darwin burying these ancient tTrade ReviewIt's a strange world when science can be used to dismiss the Bible, or when the Bible can be used to reject science - strange because God's people have long affirmed that the world and the Bible comprise God's Two Books. The challenge, then, is how to read the pages of both faithfully and to discern in their coordinated witness the character and aims of God. For its willingness to take up this challenge, and to do so accessibly and sensibly, Reading Genesis after Darwin is a genuinely important book. In their sketches of how Genesis was read before, during, and after the days of Darwin, these authors demonstrate how people might take the natural sciences seriously and continue to turn to Genesis 1-3 as sacred scripture. * Joel B. Green, author of Body, Soul, and Human Life: The Nature of Humanity in the Bible (2008). *Table of ContentsACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; CONTRIBUTORS; INTRODUCTION; STEPHEN C. BARTON AND DAVID WILKINSON; PART 1: ENGAGING AGAIN WITH THE SCRIPTURES; WALTER MOBERLY; FRANCIS WATSON; ANDREW LOUTH; RICHARD S. BRIGGS; PART 2: UNDERSTANDING THE HISTORY; JOHN ROGERSON; JOHN HEDLEY BROOKE; DAVID BROWN; EXPLORING THE CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE; DAVID WILKINSON; DAVID CLOUGH; JEFF ASTLEY; STEPHEN C. BARTON; ELLEN F. DAVIS; MATHEW GUEST; INDEX OF MODERN AUTHORS

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 2006, scientist Richard Dawkins published a blockbuster bestseller, The God Delusion. This atheist manifesto sparked a furious reaction from believers, who have responded with numerous books of their own. By pitting science against religion, however, this debate overlooks what science can tell us about religion. According to evolutionary psychologist Matt J. Rossano, what science reveals is that religion made us human.In Supernatural Selection, Rossano presents an evolutionary history of religion. Neither an apologist for religion nor a religion-basher, he draws together evidence from a wide range of disciplines to show the valuable--even essential--adaptive purpose served by systematic belief in the supernatural. The roots of religion stretch as far back as half a million years, when our ancestors developed the motor control to engage in social rituals--that is, to sing and dance together. Then, about 70,000 years ago, a global ecological crisis drove humanity to the edge of extincTrade Reviewa valuable book * Bruce Buttler, Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is the first great commentary in the Western European tradition of expounding Aristotle's Metaphysics. Rufus addresses questions such as 'what is truth?' `what is matter?', 'what are numbers?', `how do corruptible and incorruptible substances differ?', and `how do sensible objects act on the soul?'.Table of ContentsAbbreviations Introduction Scriptum in Metaphysicam Aristotelis Proem Liber I Liber II Liber III Liber IV Liber V Liber VI Indices

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe publication is both interesting for scholars dealing with the LDS church, its history, and teachings and for all those trying to gain insight into recent developments in medicine and bioethics and their relation to religion. * Franz Winter, Religious Studies Review *This book can show Mormons the permitted spaces of medicine and what medicine should profoundly signify, informing both medical practice and patient experience. * P. Rodriguez del Pozo, CHOICE *The publication is both interesting for scholars dealing with the LDS church, its history, and teachings and for all those trying to gain insight into recent developments in medicine and bioethics and their relation to religion. * Franz Winter, Religious Studies Review Vol 48.4 *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction: Moral Realities of Latter-day Saint Ethics Chapter 1. Faith, Medicine, and Healing Chapter 2. Creating Life: New Conceptions Chapter 3. The Wisdom of Prevention Chapter 4. Back to the Future: Genes, Disease, and Future Generations Chapter 5. Gifts of Life: Organ and Tissue Donation Chapter 6. Born Dying Chapter 7. Dying Well: Life Endings and Medical Assisted Death Chapter 8. Public Bioethics: Abortion and Medical Marijuana Epilogue. An LDS Case for Universal Health Care Appendix A. LDS Ecclesiastical Statements on Biomedical Ethics Issues Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this ground-breaking study of the Jewish reception of the Copernican revolution, Jeremy Brown examines four hundred years of Jewish writings on the Copernican model. Brown shows the ways in which Jews ignored, rejected, or accepted the Copernican model, and the theological and societal underpinnings of their choices.Throughout New Heavens and a New Earth are deft historical studies of such colorful figures as Joseph Delmedigo, the first Jewish Copernican and a student of Galileo; Tuviah Cohen, who called Copernicus the Son of Satan; Zelig Slonimski, author of a collection of essays on Halley''s Comet; and contemporary Jewish thinkers who use Einstein''s Theory of Relativity to argue that the Earth does not actually revolve around the sun. Brown also provides insightful comparisons of concurrent Jewish and Christian writings on Copernicus, demonstrating that the Jewish reception of Copernicus was largely dependent on local factors and responses.Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1 - Nicolas Copernicus and His Revolution Chapter 2 - The Talmudic View of the Universe Chapter 3 - David Gans and the First Mention of Copernicus in Hebrew Literature Chapter 4 - The First Jewish Copernican: Rabbi Joseph Solomon Delmedigo Chapter 5 - ''Copernicus Is the Son of Satan.'' The First Jewish Rejections of Copernicus Chapter 6 - David Nieto and Copernicanism in London Chapter 7 - The Jewish Encyclopedias Chapter 8 - The Eighteenth Century. Jews and Copernicus in the Newtonian Era Chapter 9 - ''I Have Written a Book For the Young People.'' David Friesenhausen's Mosdot Tevel Chapter 10 - The Nineteenth Century: Copernicus Without Hesitation Chapter 11 - ''Let Copernicus and a Thousand Like Him Be Removed From the World.'' Reuven Landau's Rejection Chapter 12 - The Modern Period Chapter 13 - Relativity and Contemporary Jewish Geocentrists Chapter 14 - Conclusions Appendix Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Scribes of Sleep analyzes the dream journals of seven remarkable people -- Aelius Aristides, Myoe Shonin, Lucrecia de León, Emanuel Swedenborg, Benjamin Banneker, Anna Bonus Kingsford, and Wolfgang Pauli -- and employs an interdisciplinary approach to shed light on their meanings, drawing on data science, depth psychology, and religious studies.Table of ContentsI. Seven Dreamers and their Journals 1. Aelius Aristides: Devotee of the Healing God 2. Myoe Shonin: Extreme Visionary 3. Lucrecia de Leon: Prophet of an Empire's Doom 4. Emanuel Swedenborg: Mystical Scientist 5. Benjamin Banneker: Mapping the Heavens 6. Anna Kingsford: Spiritual Dynamo 7. Wolfgang Pauli: Quantum Physicist/Depth Psychologist II. Discovering Patterns of Content 8. Digital Methods of Analyzing Dreams 9. Baseline Patterns in Dream Content 10. Anomalous Patterns in Dream Content III. Interpreting Psychological Meaning 11. Psychoanalysis 12. Archetypal Psychology 13. Cultural Psychology IV. Exploring Dimensions of Religiosity 14. Individualism 15. Mysticism 16. Pluralism Conclusion Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book draws on both scientific insights and spiritual wisdom to help the reader focus on what is of value in helping them decide what makes for a good life. In using evidence from psychology, sociology, philosophy, theology, and other disciplines, it helps readers think through choices about what the good life consists of.Trade ReviewThis book offers a very broad panorama about many areas and fields, and an updating for those persons less informed about developments in a vast range of subjects and areas that know a growing production and new insights in the last few years. * Luis Oviedo, Reviews in Science, Religion and Theology *This is an important and necessary book, and one that not only inspires but informs about that central topic * Reviews in Science, Religion and Theology, March 2022 *This is a book for a general reader who already suspects that the 'scientism' (the belief that science alone can establish truth) of the so -- called new atheists is flawed. … The authors identify three crucial, interrelated dimensions of flourishing: the material, the relational and the transcendent. … Their inclusive approach to a wide variety of academic disciplines, tempered in the end by a strong appeal to transcendence, has much to be recommended. * Robin Gill, Theology *This is a book for a general reader who already suspects that the 'scientism' (the belief that science alone can establish truth) of the so-called new atheists is flawed... [The authors] inclusive approach to a wide variety of academic disciplines, tempered in the end by a strong appeal to transcendence, has much to be recommended. * SAGE Perspectives Theology, January 2022 *The struggle for human beings to integrate a thoughtful understanding of the world as described by science and an ambitious hope of human flourishing as described by philosophy or faith is one at which humans have largely failed over the last three hundred years. This book is a major step in the right direction. It is very serious about science and very serious about human beings and their hopes and fears. I warmly commend it for a careful and thoughtful provocation towards a deeper commitment to the flourishing of human beings and of the creation. * Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury *The theme of this highly readable and enlightening book is broad and ambitious. It's the product of the authors' deep engagement with science, ethics and religion, and analyses the requisites for a fulfilled life, highlighting those that too often elude politicians and economists. The text is enlivened with historical allusions and quotations. It offers a wise perspective that's much needed as individuals and societies contend with the anxieties of the present era. * Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, former President of the Royal Society *In this magisterial book, Andrew Briggs and Michael Reiss address one of the most fundamental issues confronting humanity—human flourishing. Drawing on science and religion, they examine it from the perspective of the material, relational and spiritual. What emerges are profound insights into meaning, purpose, truth, and the reason for being. This book should be read by anyone interested in what it is to be human. * Colin Mayer, Peter Moores Professor of Management Studies, University of Oxford *What enables the good life? Material goods? Supportive relationships? Transcendent purpose? In this state-of-the-art synopsis, scientist Andrew Briggs and bioethicist Michael Reiss weave these and other threads into the fabric of human thriving. With a breath-taking sweep of scholarship that draws insights from multiple disciplines, they illuminate a path toward meaningful well-being and sustainable joy. * David Myers, Professor of Psychology, Hope College, author of The Pursuit of Happiness *A sophisticated and much-needed and insightful integration of science and humanity. As an economist I am embarrassed by my profession's stunted characterisation of humanity as 'Homo economicus', which shrivels us to hedonistic consumers. In reality, as Professors Briggs and Reiss demonstrate, we thrive from morally-guided agency that transcends ourselves and our time on Earth. In this time of uncertainty and pessimism, it is a hopeful guide to meaningful lives. * Sir Paul Collier, Blavatnik School of Government, author of The Future of Capitalism *In a world where human flourishing seems somewhat more elusive and abstract than ever, Professors Briggs and Reiss capture the many dimensions of human flourishing in the 21st century. In doing so, they give us reason to hope and to work toward a world where all people flourish. This is a delightful and uplifting treatise on what it means to be human. * Heather Templeton Dill, President, John Templeton Foundation *In Human Flourishing: Scientific insight and spiritual wisdom in uncertain times, acclaimed scholars Andrew Briggs and Michael Reiss provide insight for navigating a world of uncertainty and complexity to find more meaning, purpose, and happiness all around us. Using a combination of science and ancient wisdom, they demonstrate why love is essential for human flourishing. * Arthur C. Brooks, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, and The New York Times bestselling author *For those of my generation, who grew up with post-war austerity, the twenty-first century promised an era of unparalleled human flourishing. But it was a mirage. Material wealth has led to problems of disparity, over-consumption and climate catastrophe. Social media has produced alienation and a retreat from shared values. Democracy and common decency look increasingly fragile. We have entered a strange new era in which extraordinary promise is coupled with a burgeoning sense of insecurity and uncertainty. Science, the powerful facilitator of progress, also threatens our undoing. In this lucid and comprehensive analysis, Andrew Briggs and Michael Reiss carefully examine the rich tapestry of religious, cultural and scientific factors that define our current predicament, and offer a message of hope, a way ahead founded on that familiar, yet too-often elusive, human quality - love. * Paul Davies, Director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, Arizona State University *This book by Briggs and Reiss covers questions that are of critical importance to everyone everywhere: How do we understand human life? What is human flourishing? How do we flourish? The book's rich insights and comprehensive scope will be of benefit to all readers. It provides a roadmap to flourishing in this life, and beyond. * Tyler J. VanderWeele, Loeb Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Human Flourishing Program, Harvard University *In the midst of a great pandemic, unprecedented poverty, and natural disasters alongside never-before-seen development of new technologies and great wealth, nothing could be more important than wrestling with what it really means for humans to flourish. Here, Briggs and Reiss provide a comprehensive, synthetic and highly readable book that addresses this topic head on. It is the kind of book that should be read and re-read. * Elaine Howard Ecklund, Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences, Rice University *As I read this book, Modest Mussorgsky's wonderful Pictures at an Exhibition started playing in my mind. The same sense of multiple perspective, overt spaciousness with periodic attention to intense detail, yet a persistent crescendo in continuity of purpose emerges in this elegant and comprehensive tour of a rich and pan-disciplinary subject. Briggs and Reiss have given a compelling introduction to human flourishing, and show us why, though discussed since the ancient world, it has become ever more pressing in our own times. * Tom McLeish, Professor of Natural Philosophy, University of York *... especially comprehensive in its coverage. Individually, we can all contribute to the good common life, and this book provides a deeply reflective consideration of what this means in increasingly uncertain times. * David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer, 2022/2 *Individually, we can all contribute to the good common life, and this book provides a deeply reflective consideration of what this means in increasingly uncertain times. * David Lorimer, The Summer *Table of Contents1. Dimensions and Pillars of Human Flourishing Part I. Dimensions of Human Flourishing 2. The Material Dimension 3. The Relational Dimension 4. The Transcendent Dimension Part II. Pillars of Human Flourishing 5. Truth 6. Purpose 7. Meaning Part III. Changing Contexts of Human Flourishing 8. Limits to Predictability 9. Religion and Human Flourishing 10. Human Flourishing in an Age of Technology ConclusionDLActionable love 11. Human Flourishing Fuelled by Love Picture Credits and Sources Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisAlister E. McGrath provides a fresh and engaging account of the origins, development, and abiding importance of Christian doctrine. The book explores why Christianity developed doctrines in the first place, and why doctrines continue to be vital to the present and future of Christian communities.Table of ContentsPreface 1: On the Origins of Christian Doctrine 2: Theorizing the Identity of Christ: On Early Christian Doctrinal Development 3: The Functions of Christian Doctrine 4: The Three Worlds of Christian Doctrine: Theoretical, Objective, and Subjective 5: Seeing the Face of God: On the Doctrine of the Incarnation 6: Doctrine: Ontological Disclosure and Coordinating Framework 7: The Doctrine of Salvation: Coherence, Comprehensiveness, and Theological Mapping Conclusion Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisOne of the pioneers of the cognitive science of religion, adds insight to the interdisciplinary discussion in this provocatively titled work .... McCauley''s work is erudite, precise, well argued.-Library JournalThe battle between religion and science, competing methods of knowing ourselves and our world, has been raging for many centuries. Now scientists themselves are looking at cognitive foundations of religion--and arriving at some surprising conclusions. Over the course of the past two decades, scholars have employed insights gleaned from cognitive science, evolutionary biology, and related disciplines to illuminate the study of religion. In Why Religion is Natural and Science Is Not, Robert N. McCauley, one of the founding fathers of the cognitive science of religion, argues that our minds are better suited to religious belief than to scientific inquiry. Drawing on the latest research and illustrating his argument with commonsense examples, McCauley argues that religion has existTrade ReviewWhy Religion Is Natural and Science Is Not provides a powerful new paradigm to explore the relationship between science and religion. * Journal of Religion *Table of ContentsChapter One ; Natural Cognition ; Chapter Two ; Maturational Naturalness ; Chapter Three ; Unnatural Science ; Chapter Four ; Natural Religion ; Chapter Five ; Surprising Consequences ; References

Read more less

Book SynopsisDuring the sixteenth century, no part of the Christian West saw the development of a more powerful and pervasive astrological culture than the very home of the Reformation movement--the Protestant towns of the Holy Roman Empire. While most modern approaches to the religious and social reforms of that age give scant attention to cosmological preoccupations, this study argues that astrological concepts and imagery played a key role in preparing the ground for the evangelical movement sparked by Martin Luther in the 1520s, as well as in shaping the distinctive characteristics of German evangelical culture over the following century. Spreading above all through cheap printed almanacs and prognostications, popular astrology functioned in paradoxical ways. It contributed to an enlarged and abstracted sense of the divine that led away from clericalism, sacramentalism, and the cult of the saints; at the same time, it sought to ground people more squarely in practical matters of daily life. The art gained unprecedented sanction from Luther''s closest associate, Philipp Melanchthon, whose teachings influenced generations of preachers, physicians, schoolmasters, and literate layfolk. But the apocalyptic astrology that came to prevail among evangelicals involved a perpetuation, even a strengthening, of ties between faith and cosmology, which played out in beliefs about nature and natural signs that would later appear as rank superstitions. Not until the early seventeenth century did Luther''s heirs experience a crisis of piety that forced preachers and stargazers to part ways. Astrology and Reformation illuminates an early modern outlook that was both practical and prophetic; a world that was neither traditionally enchanted nor rationally disenchanted, but quite different from the medieval world of perception it had displaced.Trade ReviewFor most sixteenth-century Lutherans, the stars were a God-given text that complemented the Bible, a text that mirrored both the divine order of the world and its imminent disintegration. Robin Barnes has argued convincingly that we cannot properly understand the historical realities of the Reformation unless we open our eyes to this aspect of their faith. * William R. Shea, Fides et Historia *Astrology and Reformation will be an enjoyable and instructive resource for every scholar of the long 16th century. * Eugene D. Hill, Religion *Table of ContentsContents ; Acknowledgments ; A Note on Sources ; Introduction ; 1. From Athens to Augsburg ; 2. Mathematics and the Sacred ; 3. The Flood ; 4. The Campaign against Superstition ; 5. Confessional Constellations ; 6. Fate and Faith ; 7. Centrifugal Forces ; Postscript ; Literature ; Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisViolence has always played a part in the religious imagination, from symbols and myths to legendary battles, from colossal wars to the theater of terrorism. The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Violence surveys intersections between religion and violence throughout history and around the world. The forty original essays in this volume include overviews of major religious traditions, showing how violence is justified within the literary and theological foundations of the tradition, how it is used symbolically and in ritual practice, and how social acts of violence and warfare have been justified by religious ideas. The essays also examine patterns and themes relating to religious violence, such as sacrifice and martyrdom, which are explored in cross-disciplinary or regional analyses; and offer major analytic approaches, from literary to social scientific studies. The contributors to this volume---innovative thinkers who are forging new directions in theory and analysis related to religioTrade ReviewThe authors of the volume's forty essays, who represent many disciplines including religion, anthropology, sociology, and political science, among others, offer a variety of ways of construing and explaining that relationship in both tradition-specific and cross-cultural contexts. The volume is thus a good resource for teaching as well as for brief introductions to the history of religion and violence in multiple traditions and to theories of religion and violence from multiple disciplines. * Rosemary Kellison, Religious Studies Review *With The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Violence, editors Mark Juergensmeyer, Margo Kitts, and Michael Jerryson have released a timely collection that provides a welcome guide to the emerging field of studies in violence and religion. * Phil Rose, Journal of Contemporary Religion *Table of ContentsContributors ; Introduction: "The Enduring Relationship of Religion and Violence" - Mark Juergensmeyer, Margo Kitts, and Michael Jerryson ; Part I: Overview of Religious Traditions ; 1. Hindu: "Violence and Nonviolence at the Heart of Hindu Ethics" - Veena Das ; 2. Buddhist: "Buddhist Traditions and Violence" - Michael Jerryson ; 3. Sikh: "Sikh Traditions and Violence" - Cynthia Keppley Mahmood ; 4. Jewish: "Religion and Violence in the Jewish Traditions" - Ron Hassner and Gideon Aran ; 5. Christian:"Religion and Violence in Christian Traditions" - Lloyd Steffen ; 6. Islamic: "Muslim Engagement with Injustice and Violence"- Bruce Lawrence ; 7. African: "African Traditional Religion and Violence" - Nathalie Wlodarczyk ; 8. Pacific Island: "Religion and Violence in Pacific Island Societies" - Andrew Strathern and Pamela J. Stewart ; 9. Chinese: "Violence in Chinese Religious Traditions" - Meir Shahar ; Part II: Patterns and Themes ; 10. Evil: "The Religious Problem of Evil" - James Aho ; 11. Sacrifice: "Sacrifice/Human Sacrifice in Religious Traditions" - David Carrasco ; 12. Martyrdom: "Martyrdom in Islam" - David Cook ; 13. Self Mutilation: "Starvation and Self Mutilation in Religious Traditions" - Liz Wilson ; 14. Apocalypse: "Apocalyptic Religion and Violence" - Jamel Velji ; 15. Sacred War: "Cosmic War in Religious Traditions" - Reza Aslan ; 16. Genocide: "Genocide and the Religious Imaginary in Rwanda" - Christopher Taylor ; 17. Terrorism: "Terrorism as Performance Violence" - Mark Juergensmeyer ; 18. Torture: "Christianity and Torture" - Karen King ; 19. Just War: "Just War and Legal Restraints" - John Kelsay ; 20. Abortion: "Religiously Motivated Violence in the Abortion Debate" - Julie Ingersoll ; 21. Contested Sites: "Conflicts over Sacred Ground" - Ron E. Hassner ; 22. Political Violence: "Religion and Political Violence" - Monica Toft ; 23. Death Rituals: "Rituals of Death and Remembrance" - Susumu Shimazono and Margo Kitts ; 24. Violent Death: "Violent Death in Religious Imagination" - Margo Kitts ; Part III: Analytic Approaches ; 25. Sociology: "Religion and Violence from a Sociological Perspective" - John R. Hall ; 26. Anthropology: "Religion and Violence from an Anthropological Perspective" - Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern ; 27. Psychology: "Religion and Violence from a Psychological Perspective" - James W. Jones ; 28. Political Science: "Religion and Violence from a Political Science Perspective"- Daniel Philpott ; 29. Literary Theory: "Religion and Violence from Literary Perspectives" - Margo Kitts ; 30. Theology: "Religion and Violence from Christian Perspectives" - Charles Kimball ; Part IV: New Directions ; 31 Sacrifice: "Sacrificial Violence: A Problem in Ancient Religions" - Walter Burkert ; 32. Cities: "Cities as One Site for Religion and Violence" - Saskia Sassen ; 33. Armageddon: "Armageddonin Christian, Sunni and Shi'a Traditions" - Michael Sells ; 34. Phenomenal Violence: "Phenomenal Violence and the Philosophy of Religion" - Hent de Vries ; 35. Constructions of Evil : "The Construction of Evil and the Violence of Purification" - David Frankfurter ; 36. Mimetic Theory: "Mimetic Theories of Religion and Violence" - Wolfgang Palaver ; 37. Scarcity: "Religion and Scarcity: A New Theory for the Role of Religion in Violence" - Hector Avalos ; 38. Evolutionary Theory: "Ritual, Religion, and Violence: An Evolutionary Perspective" - Candance S. Alcorta and Richard Sosis ; 39. Rites of Terror: "Divergent Modes of Religiosity and Armed Struggle" - Harvey Whitehouse, with Brian McQuinn ; 40. Sociotheology: "A Sociotheological Approach to Understanding Religious Violence" - Mark Juergensmeyer and Mona Sheik ; Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisWilliam Bainbridge contends that the worlds of massively multiplayer online roleplaying games provide a new perspective on the human quest, one that combines the arts and simulates most aspects of real life. The quests in gameworlds also provide meaning for human action, in terms of narratives about achieving goals by overcoming obstacles.Trade RevieweGods may serve as a helpful reference for those researching online gaming, religious symbols, or considering a literary analysis of gaming environments. * Daniel B. Shank, Sociology of Religion *Table of ContentsChapter 1: Disbelief ; Chapter 2: The Culture Game ; Chapter 3: Deities ; Chapter 4: Souls ; Chapter 5: Priests ; Chapter 6: Shrines ; Chapter 7: Magic ; Chapter 8: Morality ; Chapter 9: Cults ; Chapter 10: Death ; Chapter 11: Quests ; Appendix: The Gameworlds

Read more less

Book SynopsisApocalyptic AI, the hope that we might one day upload our minds into machines or cyberspace and live forever, is a surprisingly wide-spread and influential idea, affecting everything from the world view of online gamers to government research funding and philosophical thought. In Apocalyptic AI, Robert Geraci offers the first serious account of this cyber-theology and the people who promote it.Drawing on interviews with roboticists and AI researchers and with devotees of the online game Second Life, among others, Geraci illuminates the ideas of such advocates of Apocalyptic AI as Hans Moravec and Ray Kurzweil. He reveals that the rhetoric of Apocalyptic AI is strikingly similar to that of the apocalyptic traditions of Judaism and Christianity. In both systems, the believer is trapped in a dualistic universe and expects a resolution in which he or she will be translated to a transcendent new world and live forever in a glorified new body. Equally important, Geraci shows how this worldviTrade ReviewScholars interested in the intersection of popular science and religion will likely find Geraci's work helpful. Portions of the book, especially the chapter on virtual reality and video games, would also be appropriate for the undergraduate classroom. * Journal of Religion and Popular Culture *Robert Geraci's thoughtful examination of technology-based quests for transcendence offers a serious look at apocalyptic scenarios that, while remaining for now in the realm of science fiction, nonetheless claim significant cultural influence. I don't know when we will see robots with human-like intelligence, but our longing for them, and what that says about us, is what Geraci's book helps us understand. * David S. Touretzky, Research Professor of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; Introduction ; Chapter 1. Apocalyptic AI ; Chapter 2. Laboratory Apocalypse ; Chapter 3. Transcending Reality ; Chapter 4. "Immaterial" Impact of the Apocalypse ; Chapter 5. The Integration of Religion, Science, and Technology ; Appendix One ; Appendix Two ; Notes ; References ; Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe question typically asked about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is whether it works. However, an issue of equal or greater significance is why it is supposed to work. The Healing Gods: Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Christian America explains how and why CAM entered the American biomedical mainstream and won cultural acceptance, even among evangelical and other theologically conservative Christians, despite its ties to non-Christian religions and the lack of scientific evidence of its efficacy and safety.Before the 1960s, most of the practices Candy Gunther Brown considers-yoga, chiropractic, acupuncture, Reiki, Therapeutic Touch, meditation, martial arts, homeopathy, anticancer diets-were dismissed as medically and religiously questionable. These once-suspect health practices gained approval as they were re-categorized as non-religious (though generically spiritual) health-care, fitness, or scientific techniques. Although CAM claims are similar to religious Trade ReviewDr. Brown gives religious people of all faiths a very useful and learned approach to complementary and alternative medicine and how to integrate it with their spirituality and healing practices * Herbert Benson, MD, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School *Table of ContentsAbbreviations ; Introduction: Why is Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Supposed to Work? ; 1. Is CAM Religious? ; 2. Yoga: I Bow to the God within You ; 3. Is CAM Christian? ; 4. I Love My Chiropractor! ; 5. Does CAM Work, and is it Safe? ; 6. Acupuncture: Reclaiming Ancient Wisdom ; 7. How did CAM become Mainstream? ; 8. Energy Medicine: How Her Karma Ran over His Dogma ; Conclusion: Why does it Matter if CAM is Religious (and not Christian)-even if it Works? ; Bibliography ; Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisExplores the overlap and shift between theistic and naturalistic science through a parallel study of two major scientific figures: James Clerk Maxwell, a devout Christian physicist, and Thomas Henry Huxley, the iconoclast biologist who coined the word agnostic.Trade Review"An innovative perspective on late nineteenth-century British science. Stanley provides a nuanced, sensitive, and firmly grounded understanding of both Huxley and Maxwell, and one that not only undermines the conflict thesis but also provides the reader with a deeper understanding of the interrelations between science and religion. An impressive achievement!" (Geoffrey Cantor, University of Leeds)"

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhen Pope Francis recently answered Who am I to judge? when asked about homosexuality, he ushered in a new era for the Catholic church. A decade ago, it would have been unthinkable for a pope to express tolerance for homosexuality. Yet shifts of this kind are actually common in the history of Christian groups. Within the United States, Christian leaders have regularly revised their teachings to match the beliefs and opinions gaining support among their members and larger society. Mark A. Smith provocatively argues that religion is not nearly the unchanging conservative influence in American politics that we have come to think it is. In fact, in the long run, religion is best understood as responding to changing political and cultural values rather than shaping them. Smith makes his case by charting five contentious issues in America's history: slavery, divorce, homosexuality, abortion, and women's rights. For each, he shows how the political views of even the most conservative Christians evolved in the same direction as the rest of society-perhaps not as swiftly, but always on the same arc. During periods of cultural transition, Christian leaders do resist prevailing values and behaviors, but those same leaders inevitably acquiesce-often by reinterpreting the Bible-if their positions become no longer tenable. Secular ideas and influences thereby shape the ways Christians read and interpret their scriptures. So powerful are the cultural and societal norms surrounding us that Christians in America today hold more in common morally and politically with their atheist neighbors than with the Christians of earlier centuries. In fact, the strongest predictors of people's moral beliefs are not their religious commitments or lack thereof but rather when and where they were born. A thoroughly researched and ultimately hopeful book on the prospects for political harmony, Secular Faith demonstrates how, over the long run, boundaries of secular and religious cultures converge.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisDuring the Victorian period, the practice of science shifted from a religious context to a naturalistic one. It is generally assumed that this shift occurred because naturalistic science was distinct from and superior to theistic science. Yet as Huxley's Church and Maxwell's Demon reveals, most of the methodological values underlying scientific practice were virtually identical for the theists and the naturalists: each agreed on the importance of the uniformity of natural laws, the use of hypothesis and theory, the moral value of science, and intellectual freedom. But if scientific naturalism did not rise to dominance because of its methodological superiority, then how did it triumph? Matthew Stanley explores the overlap and shift between theistic and naturalistic science through a parallel study of two major scientific figures: James Clerk Maxwell, a devout Christian physicist, and Thomas Henry Huxley, the iconoclast biologist who coined the word agnostic. Both were deeply engaged in the methodological, institutional, and political issues that were crucial to the theistic-naturalistic transformation. What Stanley's analysis of these figures reveals is that the scientific naturalists executed a number of strategies over a generation to gain control of the institutions of scientific education and to reimagine the history of their discipline. Rather than a sudden revolution, the similarity between theistic and naturalistic science allowed for a relatively smooth transition in practice from the old guard to the new.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe conflict between science and religion seems indelible, even eternal. Surely two such divergent views of the universe have always been in fierce opposition? Actually, that's not the case, says Peter Harrison: our very concepts of science and religion are relatively recent, emerging only in the past three hundred years, and it is those very categories, rather than their underlying concepts, that constrain our understanding of how the formal study of nature relates to the religious life. In The Territories of Science and Religion, Harrison dismantles what we think we know about the two categories, then puts it all back together again in a provocative, productive new way. By tracing the history of these concepts for the first time in parallel, he illuminates alternative boundaries and little-known relations between them thereby making it possible for us to learn from their true history, and see other possible ways that scientific study and the religious life might relate to, influence

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"God, Science, and Self advances contemporary work in Islamic thought and religious studies by introducing a hermeneutics of modernity that has the potential to reshape analyses of modern thought and its relation to religious reflection." Randi Rashkover, College of William & Mary and author of Nature and Norm: Judaism, Christianity, and the Theopolitical Problem"God, Science, and Self broadens the study of Iqbal in particular, and modern Islamic thought in general, demonstrating a modern, anti-colonial project that deserves to be revisited in the current context." Abdulkader Tayob, University of Cape Town“A powerful and philosophically robust exploration of Muhammad Iqbal’s masterpiece Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam.” Journal of World Philosophies

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"God, Science, and Self advances contemporary work in Islamic thought and religious studies by introducing a hermeneutics of modernity that has the potential to reshape analyses of modern thought and its relation to religious reflection." Randi Rashkover, College of William & Mary and author of Nature and Norm: Judaism, Christianity, and the Theopolitical Problem"God, Science, and Self broadens the study of Iqbal in particular, and modern Islamic thought in general, demonstrating a modern, anti-colonial project that deserves to be revisited in the current context." Abdulkader Tayob, University of Cape Town“A powerful and philosophically robust exploration of Muhammad Iqbal’s masterpiece Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam.” Journal of World Philosophies

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA pleasure to read. Buddhadharma Stimulating. Nature An excellent presentation of what can happen when intelligent, open minds sit down together with the goal of mutual understanding and betterment. -- Sameet Kumar PsyCritiquesTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. How Real Are the Elementary Particles? 2. The Emergence of Complexity; and an Interview with Matthieu Ricard 3. Toward the Complexity of Life 4. How Life Unfolds; and an Interview with Richard Gere 5. The Magic of the Human Genome and Its Ethical Problems; and an Interview with His Holiness the Karmapa 6. From Consciousness to Ethics 7. Last Words About the Mind and Life Institute Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA pleasure to read. Buddhadharma Stimulating. Nature An excellent presentation of what can happen when intelligent, open minds sit down together with the goal of mutual understanding and betterment. -- Sameet Kumar PsyCritiquesTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. How Real Are the Elementary Particles? 2. The Emergence of Complexity; and an Interview with Matthieu Ricard 3. Toward the Complexity of Life 4. How Life Unfolds; and an Interview with Richard Gere 5. The Magic of the Human Genome and Its Ethical Problems; and an Interview with His Holiness the Karmapa 6. From Consciousness to Ethics 7. Last Words About the Mind and Life Institute Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisMaps Buddhists' efforts to rethink their traditions through science in the initial decades of the twentieth century.Trade ReviewUsing science as an ideological marker of modernity, Hammerstrom presents an astute discussion of the ongoing relationship, rhetorical and otherwise, between various understandings of Buddhism and science. -- David McMahan, Franklin & Marshall College Through impeccably conducted research, Hammerstrom provides a sorely needed comprehensive history of how Chinese Buddhists shaped their own scientific epistemology. -- Rebecca Nedostup, Brown University Hammerstrom contributes to the ongoing study of science and religion by giving us a view of their relationship from a non-Western perspective. Utilizing newly available archives of Buddhist periodicals, he shows that early twentieth-century Chinese Buddhists had different issues with science than those that routinely vex Western religions. The Science of Chinese Buddhism provides a wide field of previously unavailable data that will expand the theoretical conversation for many years to come. -- Charles B. Jones, Catholic University of America Erik Hammerstrom masterfully reveals the ways Chinese Buddhist intellectuals of Republican China reconfigured Buddhism to make it compatible with science and modernity, as well as argued for Buddhism's superiority to them. With fascinating stories and a meticulous analysis, Hammerstrom's book is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand Buddhism's makeover as the paradigm of science dawned over East Asia. -- Hwansoo Ilmee Kim, Duke University [The Science of Chinese Buddhism] breaks new ground... Hammerstrom's scholarship is detailed and thorough... Recommended. Choice An important work that will be used and cited for a long time to come. Religious Studies ReviewTable of ContentsPreface Introduction 1. The Historical Context 2. Views on the Physical Universe 3. Empiricism and the Means for Verification 4. The Nature of Mind 5. Ethics, Science, and Society 6. Science and Self-Cultivation Epilogue Notes Glossary Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis anthology combines dozens of English-language translations of premodern Buddhist texts with contextualizing introductions by leading international scholars in Buddhist studies, history of medicine, and a range of other fields.Trade ReviewC. Pierce Salguero's Buddhism and Medicine is an amazingly rich and comprehensive collection of studies of texts and observed practices from all over the Asian lands where Buddhism's manifestations made extensive contributions to the cultures. This book is a remarkable labor of scholarship and dedication-I cannot recommend it highly enough for anyone interested in Buddhism, the history of medicine, and the mutually fruitful interaction of the Asian medicine traditions and Western biomedical tradition that is happening all around us today. -- Robert Thurman, Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies, Columbia University This is a most unusual project. It will be a unique and valuable resource, both for students of Buddhism and for students of the history of medicine. There has never been anything like it in any language. -- Victor Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, University of Pennsylvania A welcome addition to studies involving the healing traditions connected with Buddhism in South, Southeast, and East Asia. It will appeal to students of Buddhism, Asian medicine, and, importantly, the history of medicine. -- Kenneth Zysk, University of CopenhagenTable of ContentsTable of Contents AcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsIntroductionDoctrinal Considerations1. Illness, Cure, and Care: Selections from the Pāli Canon, by Dhivan Thomas Jones2. The Healing Potential of the Awakening Factors in Early Buddhist Discourse, by Anālayo 3. Curing/Curating Illness: Selections from the Chapter on the “Sufferings of Illness” from A Grove of Pearls from the Garden of Dharma, by Alexander O. Hsu4. Understanding the Dosa: A Summary of the Art of Medicine from the Sūtra of Golden Light, by C. Pierce Salguero5. Fetal Suffering in the Descent Into the Womb Sūtra, by Amy Paris Langenberg6. Health and Sickness of Body and Mind: Selections from the Yogācāra-bhūmi, by Dan Lusthaus7. Overcoming Illness with Insight: Kokan Shiren’s Treatise on the Nature of Illness and Its Manifestations, by Edward Drott8. Karma in the Bathhouse: The Sūtra on Bathing the Sangha in the Bathhouse, by C. Pierce Salguero9. Liberating the Whole World: Sudhana’s Meeting with Samantanetra from the Sūtra of the Entry Into the Realm of Reality, by William J. GiddingsHealing and Monastic Discipline10. Medical Practice as Wrong Livelihood: Selections from the Pāli Discourses, Vinaya, and Commentaries, by David Fiordalis11. Nuns, Laywomen, and Healing: Three Rules from a Sanskrit Nuns Disciplinary Code, by Amy Paris Langenberg12. Stories of Healing from the Section on Medicines in the Pāli Vinaya, by David Fiordalis13. Rules on Medicines from the Five-Part Vinaya of the Mahīśāsaka School, by C. Pierce Salguero14. Food and Medicine in the Chinese Vinayas: Daoxuan’s Emended Commentary on Monastic Practices from the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, by J. E. E. Pettit15. Toilet Care in Buddhist Monasteries: Health, Decency, and Ritual, by Ann Heirman and Mathieu Torck16. Health Care in Indian Monasteries: Selections from Yijing's Record of the Inner Law Sent Home from the Southern Seas, by Christoph KleineBuddhist Healers17. Two Sūtras on Healing and Healers from the Chinese Canon, by Marcus Bingenheimer18. The Buddha Heals: Past and Present Lives, by Phyllis Granoff19. The Buddha's Past Life as a Snakebite Doctor: The Visa-vanta Jātaka, by Michael Slouber20. The Training and Treatments of an Indian Doctor in a Buddhist Text: A Sanskrit Biography of Jīvaka, by Gregory Schopen21. A Selection of Buddhist Healing Narratives from East Asia, by C. Pierce Salguero22. The Buddha and the Bath Water: How the Bodhisattva Gyōki Founded Koya Temple, by D. Max Moerman23. Esoteric Ritual Remedies: Kūkai’s Cures for Emperor Kōnin, by Pamela Winfield24. “The Grief of Kings Is the Suffering of Their Subjects”: A Cambodian King's Twelfth-Century Network of Hospitals, by Peter D. Sharrock and Claude JacquesHealing Rites25. Help for the Sick, Dying and Misbegotten: A Sanskrit Version of the Sūtra of Bhaisajyaguru, by Gregory Schopen26. The Sūtra on the Dhāranī of the Vast, Complete, and Unobstructed Great Compassion of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara with a Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes, by William J. Giddings27. Tantric Medicine in a Buddhist Proto-Tantra, by Michael Slouber28. Healing Dhāranīs: A Collection of Medieval Spells from the Taishō Tripitaka, by C. Pierce Salguero29. Seals of the Bodhisattva: A Buddhist Talismanic Seal Manual from Dunhuang, by Paul Copp30. “The Ritual Altar of Kundalī Vajra for Treating Illnesses” from the Collected Dhāranī Sūtras, by Josh Capitanio31. Curing with Karma and Confession: Two Short Liturgies from Dunhuang, by Stephen F. Teiser32. Childbirth in Early Medieval Japan: Ritual Economies and Medical Emergencies in Procedures During the Day of the Royal Consort’s Labor, by Anna Andreeva33. The Ox-Bezoar Empowerment for Fertility and Safe Childbirth: Selected Readings from the Shingon Ritual Collections, by Benedetta Lomi34. The Verses on the Victor’s Armor: A Pāli Text Used for Protection and Healing in Thailand, by Justin Thomas McDaniel35. Selections from a Mongolian Manual of Buddhist Medicine, by Vesna A. WallaceMeditation as Cure and Illness36. Healing Sicknesses Caused by Meditation: “The Enveloping Butter Contemplation” from the Secret Essential Methods for Curing Meditation Sickness, by Eric Greene37. Healing with Meditation: “Treating Illness” from Zhiyi’s Shorter Treatise on Śamatha and Vipaśyanā, by C. Pierce Salguero38. Getting Sick Over Nothing: Hyesim and Hakuin on the Maladies of Meditation, by Juhn Ahn39. Buddhist Method as Medicine: The Chan Materia Medica and its Ming Dynasty Elaboration, by Robban Toleno40. Tantric Meditations to Increase the Forces of Life: Making Manifest the Three Deities of Longevity, by Matthew T. Kapstein41. Rangjung Dorjé’s Key to the Essential Points of Wind and Mind, by Douglas Duckworth42. Treating Disorders of the Subtle Winds in Tibetan Buddhism, by Todd P. Marek and Charles Jamyang Oliphant of Rossie43. How to Deal with Wind Illnesses: Two Short Meditation Texts from Buddhist Southeast Asia, by Andrew Skilton and Phibul ChoompolpaisalHybridity in Buddhist Healing44. Correlative Cosmology, Moral Rectitude, and Buddhist Notions of Health: Selections from the Sūtra of Trapusa and Bhallika, by Ori Tavor45. Apotropaic Substances as Medicine in Buddhist Healing Methods: Nāgārjuna’s Treatise on the Five Sciences, by Dominic Steavu46. Dung, Hair, and Mungbeans: Household Remedies in the Longmen Recipes, by Michael Stanley-Baker and Dolly Yang47. “The Mysterious Names on the Hands and Fingers”: Healing Hand Mnemonics in Medieval Chinese Buddhism, by Marta Hanson48. Selections on Illness Divination from Bodhidharma’s Treasure of the Palm, by Stephanie Homola49. Buddhist Health, Diet, and Sex Advice in Ancient Korea, by Don Baker and Hyunsook Lee50. Vessel Examination in the Medicine of the Moon King, by William A. McGrath51. Moxibustion for Demons: Oral Transmission on Corpse-Vector Disease, by Andrew MacomberBuddhism in the Medical Traditions52. “Indian Massage” from Sun Simiao’s Prescriptions Worth a Thousand in Gold, by Michael Stanley-Baker53. Sun Simiao on Medical Ethics: “The Perfect Integrity of the Great Physician” from Prescriptions Worth a Thousand in Gold, by Nathan Sivin54. Using the Golden Needle: Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva’s Ophthalmological Treatise and Other Sources in the Essentials of Medical Treatment, by Katja Triplett55. Buddhism in Chosōn Dynasty Medical Compilations, by Kang Yeonseok and Taehyung Lee56. Determining Karmic Illness: Kajiwara Shōzen’s Treatment of Rai/Leprosy in His Book of the Simple Physician, by Andrew Goble57. Selections from Miraculous Drugs of the South, by the Vietnamese Buddhist Monk-Physician Tue Tinh, by C. Michele Thompson58. The Dong Nhân Pagoda and the Publication of Mister Lazy’s Medical Encyclopedia, by Leslie E. de Vries59. An Abhidhamma Perspective: Causes of Illness in a Burmese Buddhist Medical System, by Pyi Phyo Kyaw60. Jewels in Medicines: On the Processing and Efficacy of Precious Pills According to the Four Treatises, by Barbara Gerke and Florian Ploberger61. The Final Doubt and the Entrustment of Tibetan Medical Knowledge, by Barbara Gerke and Florian Ploberger62. Did the Buddha Really Author the Classic Tibetan Medical Text? A Critical Examination from The Lamp to Dispel Darkness, by Janet GyatsoAppendix: Geographical Table of ContentsGlossaryReferencesList of ContributorsIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhy and how religion should be freed from a reliance on supernaturalism.Trade ReviewIn this highly accessible work, Steven Cahn, a leading philosopher of our generation, exposes-in brilliant and vivid ways-the irrationality of the classical defenses of theism. Notwithstanding the book's devastating takedown of religious faith, Cahn argues for the potential benefits of living a religious life and engaging in religious ritual. This work is a must-read for anyone struggling with whether religion can withstand the scrutiny of contemporary analytical philosophy. The ideas in this clever, colorful, and enjoyable book might very well change your life. I know it did mine. -- Dov Weiss, Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign A lively and lucid book. Even theists will acknowledge that Cahn has built a clever, accessible and formidable case. -- David Shatz, Ronald P. Stanton University Professor of Philosophy, Ethics, and Religious Thought, Yeshiva University Cahn's discussion engagingly examines each point from a commitment to the methods of scientific inquiry. We also receive something else: a thoughtful conception of how to live. Cahn engages us rationally and, in the process, inspires. -- Peter Markie, Curators' Distinguished Teaching Professor, University of Missouri The book's primary contribution lies in its distinctive clarity and accessibility. Given all the attention lately to religious conviction and its (alleged) importance for morality, citizenship, patriotism, and civilization as such, there is need for this short, concise, but impactful book making the case against God's existence but allowing for the goodness of a religious life. -- Robert Talisse, W. Alton Jones Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Vanderbilt UniversityTable of ContentsPreface 1. Proving the Existence of God? 2. Philosophical Proofs and Religious Commitment 3. The Problem of Evil 4. The Problem of Goodness 5. The Moriarty Hypothesis 6. Dummy Hypotheses 7. The Appeal to Faith 8. Skepticism About Faith 9. The Theodicy Trap 10. The Problem of Meaning 11. Miracles 12. God Without Religion 13. Playing the Odds 14. Why Worship God? 15. Religions 16. Religion Without God 17. Heaven and Hell 18. Life Without God 19. A Religious Life About the Author Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhy and how religion should be freed from a reliance on supernaturalism.Trade ReviewIn this highly accessible work, Steven Cahn, a leading philosopher of our generation, exposes-in brilliant and vivid ways-the irrationality of the classical defenses of theism. Notwithstanding the book's devastating takedown of religious faith, Cahn argues for the potential benefits of living a religious life and engaging in religious ritual. This work is a must-read for anyone struggling with whether religion can withstand the scrutiny of contemporary analytical philosophy. The ideas in this clever, colorful, and enjoyable book might very well change your life. I know it did mine. -- Dov Weiss, Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign A lively and lucid book. Even theists will acknowledge that Cahn has built a clever, accessible and formidable case. -- David Shatz, Ronald P. Stanton University Professor of Philosophy, Ethics, and Religious Thought, Yeshiva University Cahn's discussion engagingly examines each point from a commitment to the methods of scientific inquiry. We also receive something else: a thoughtful conception of how to live. Cahn engages us rationally and, in the process, inspires. -- Peter Markie, Curators' Distinguished Teaching Professor, University of Missouri The book's primary contribution lies in its distinctive clarity and accessibility. Given all the attention lately to religious conviction and its (alleged) importance for morality, citizenship, patriotism, and civilization as such, there is need for this short, concise, but impactful book making the case against God's existence but allowing for the goodness of a religious life. -- Robert Talisse, W. Alton Jones Professor and Chair of Philosophy at Vanderbilt UniversityTable of ContentsPreface 1. Proving the Existence of God? 2. Philosophical Proofs and Religious Commitment 3. The Problem of Evil 4. The Problem of Goodness 5. The Moriarty Hypothesis 6. Dummy Hypotheses 7. The Appeal to Faith 8. Skepticism About Faith 9. The Theodicy Trap 10. The Problem of Meaning 11. Miracles 12. God Without Religion 13. Playing the Odds 14. Why Worship God? 15. Religions 16. Religion Without God 17. Heaven and Hell 18. Life Without God 19. A Religious Life About the Author Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisNoted ecotheologian and feminist philosopher of religion Catherine Keller reads the feedback loop of political and ecological depredation as secularized apocalypse. She calls for dissolving the opposition between the religious and the secular in favor of a broad planetary movement for social and ecological justice.Trade ReviewHow is a political theology of the earth distinctive? It resists the hegemony of those theologies (and post-theologies) organized around divine omnipotence, absolute sovereignty, and human dominion over the earth. Doing so, it can now mine rich veins in traditions that explore liveliness beyond the human and human entanglements with a multifaceted, morphing earth. In this inspiring book Keller calls upon eco-activists to explore the spiritual affinities between us, as we foment energies needed to respond to the Anthropocene. An indispensable book for today! -- William E. Connolly, author of Facing the Planetary: Entangled Humanism and the Politics of SwarmingIn this brilliant, wonderfully evocative, and beautifully written book, one of the very best theologians in the world today engages seculareligious currents in political theology to remarkable effect. Her theology of divine entanglement counters a political theology of the exception in a thoroughgoing way: anthropic exceptionalism, for example, comes completely undone. Its apophatic dimensions, meanwhile, steer clear of the certainties of optimism or despair to offer a hope without guarantees in the face of climate crisis. No one can question the way social justice and ecological sustainability are inextricably linked after reading Keller’s political theology of the earth. -- Kathryn Tanner, author of Christianity and the New Spirit of CapitalismThe political, the earth, their theology, encapsulated in a meditation mindful of the unmined mind-bending darkness of the deep, a calming call to think, an urgent call to act in the face of the darkness of planetary peril, all in a lyrical, profoundly theological—make that theopoetic—voice. What else is that than a new book by Catherine Keller? What more could we ask for? -- John D. Caputo, coauthor of After the Death of GodInto this contracted spacetime of racist convulsion, ecological disaster, and nuclear machismo, Keller drops a political theology that both introduces and breaks open the field. Framed as a transdisciplinary triptych, Political Theology of the Earth summons an enraged, counter-creative swarm to counter the politics of exception with multifarious practices of inception. -- Mary-Jane Rubenstein, author of Pantheologies: Gods, Worlds, MonstersWith marvelous economy and scholarly brilliance, Catherine Keller offers here the beauty and complexity of her practical wisdom. It is no easy thing to guide others into uncertainty and unsaying as modes of theological and political understanding, let alone an activism that takes seriously the truly vulnerable in and of the earth. This book is an indispensable introduction to political theology, one in which our understanding of divinity can be neither reduced to human politicking nor exempted from the urgent crises of our time. -- Laurel C. Schneider, author of Beyond Monotheism: A Theology of MultiplicityIn Political Theology of the Earth, Catherine Keller, one of the most brilliant and creative theologians alive, opposes the more traditional notion of political theology as dealing with the sovereign exception with her alternative political theology of a messianic ecosocial inception. In doing so, she takes the next step of integrating the important discourses of political theology with the critical ecological situation of the planet. More profoundly, she does this as a theologian, even though most scholars who write about political theology tend to be non-theologians. This is one of the most important works I have read. -- Clayton Crockett, author of Radical Political TheologyPerhaps only Catherine Keller could publish a work of political, theology, process theology, and eco-theology that is also highly readable. Keller is our era’s poet theologian, modeling a way to push through academic jargon and out the other side with prose that pops. For this reason alone, it’s worth picking up this book. . . . Keller makes one of the most compelling cases yet for a progressive theology that doesn’t recede with the overtaking of secularity but is more precisely revealed in the undertaking of it. -- Clint Schnekloth * The Christian Century *Keller's political theology of the Earth is breathtaking in the scope of the resources it draws upon and the depths of its analysis...Just read it, and when you fail, enfold yourself into the cosmic process and read it again. That's certainly what I'm going to do. -- Marian Ronan * National Catholic Reporter *[A] galvanizing new book... -- Marion Ronan, New York Theological Seminary * National Catholic Reporter *Keller argues that there is a way of thinking with the resources of Christianity that allows one to hope. * Reading Religion *Recommended. * Choice *[Political Theology of the Earth] calls upon eco-activists to explore the spiritual affinities between us in order to respond to the emergencies of the Anthropocene. This is surely an evocative and thought-provoking book particularly in the current times when the globe faces threats and ideological warfare of various kinds be it terrorism, racism, casteism and gender violence or popular resistance against tyrannical governments among such others. * Aigne Journal *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsBeginning1. Political: Sovereign Exception or Collective Inception2. Earth: Climate of Closure, Matter of Disclosure3. Theology: “Unknow Better Now”Apophatic AfterwordNotesIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book offers a new direction for scholarship on science and religion that centers social, political, and ecological concerns. Featuring a diverse array of contributors, it draws on three vital schools of thought: critical race theory, feminist and queer theory, and postcolonial theory.Trade ReviewCritical Approaches to Science and Religion is a marvelous advance of interdisciplinary scholarship that charts foundational themes for interpreting the cultural dimensions of science and religion. The authors elucidate epistemological tensions and methodological resonances to inform future scholarship. This is essential reading for scholars across multiple disciplines. -- Sylvester A. Johnson, coeditor of Religion and US Empire: Critical New HistoriesI will return repeatedly to this volume to think with these diverse authors. Their disciplinary languages are not mine although they attentively converse with my discipline of Critical Indigenous Studies, among others. I am eager for vital conversations that I and others will have with these ideas that feed my radical hope for the implosion of the white and settler supremacist worldview. In order to live better with one another in this world, we need this conversation. -- Kim TallBear, author of Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic ScienceWith its inclusion of vital perspectives from critical race theory, feminist and queer theory, and postcolonial and Indigenous studies, this volume transforms the conversation about religion and science by making issues of difference central to these discussions. These essays are invaluable. -- Randall Styers, author of Making Magic: Religion, Magic, and Science in the Modern WorldA joyful intellectual exercise. I highly recommend this book. You likely won’t agree with all of it—perhaps even none of it. But you will nevertheless be changed by the experience of reading it. * Reviews in Science, Religion, and Theology *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction, by Myrna Perez Sheldon, Terence Keel, and Ahmed RagabPart I. ValuesIntroduction, by Terence Keel, Ahmed Ragab, and Myrna Perez Sheldon1. Scripture of False Smiles: Scholarship and Lying with Erving Goffman, by Kathryn Lofton2. Nihilism, Race, and the Critical Study of Science and Religion, by Terence Keel3. A Feminist Theology of Abortion, by Myrna Perez Sheldon4. Can Originalism Save Bioethics?, by Osagie K. ObasogiePart II. BoundariesIntroduction, by Myrna Perez Sheldon, Terence Keel, and Ahmed Ragab5. Spiriting the Johnstons: Producing Science and Religion Under Settler Colonial Rule, by Tisa Wenger6. Dark Gods in the Age of Light: The Lightbulb, the Japanese Deification of Thomas Edison, and the Entangled Constructions of Religion and Science, by Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm7. Questioning the Sacred Cow: Science, Religion, and Race in the United States and India, by Cassie Adcock8. “And God Knows Best”: Knowledge, Expertise, and Trust in the Postcolonial Web-Sphere, by Ahmed RagabPart III. NarrativesIntroduction, by Ahmed Ragab, Terence Keel, and Myrna Perez Sheldon9. Secular Grace in the Age of Environmentalism, by Erika Lorraine Milam10. Performing Polygenism: Science, Religion, and Race in the Enlightenment, by Suman Seth11. Out of Africa: Where Faith, Race, and Science Collide, by Joseph Graves Jr.Part IV. CoherenceIntroduction, by Ahmed Ragab, Terence Keel, and Myrna Perez Sheldon12. Kānaka Maoli Voyaging Technology and Geography Beyond Colonial Difference, by Eli Nelson13. Speculation Is Not a Metaphor: More than Varieties of Cryobiological Experience, by Joanna Radin14. Maroon Science: Knowledge, Secrecy, and Crime in Jamaica, by Katharine Gerbner15. Obeah Simplified? Scientism, Magic, and the Problem of Universals, by J. Brent CrossonConclusion, by Myrna Perez Sheldon, Terence Keel, and Ahmed RagabIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book offers a new direction for scholarship on science and religion that centers social, political, and ecological concerns. Featuring a diverse array of contributors, it draws on three vital schools of thought: critical race theory, feminist and queer theory, and postcolonial theory.Trade ReviewCritical Approaches to Science and Religion is a marvelous advance of interdisciplinary scholarship that charts foundational themes for interpreting the cultural dimensions of science and religion. The authors elucidate epistemological tensions and methodological resonances to inform future scholarship. This is essential reading for scholars across multiple disciplines. -- Sylvester A. Johnson, coeditor of Religion and US Empire: Critical New HistoriesI will return repeatedly to this volume to think with these diverse authors. Their disciplinary languages are not mine although they attentively converse with my discipline of Critical Indigenous Studies, among others. I am eager for vital conversations that I and others will have with these ideas that feed my radical hope for the implosion of the white and settler supremacist worldview. In order to live better with one another in this world, we need this conversation. -- Kim TallBear, author of Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic ScienceWith its inclusion of vital perspectives from critical race theory, feminist and queer theory, and postcolonial and Indigenous studies, this volume transforms the conversation about religion and science by making issues of difference central to these discussions. These essays are invaluable. -- Randall Styers, author of Making Magic: Religion, Magic, and Science in the Modern WorldA joyful intellectual exercise. I highly recommend this book. You likely won’t agree with all of it—perhaps even none of it. But you will nevertheless be changed by the experience of reading it. * Reviews in Science, Religion, and Theology *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction, by Myrna Perez Sheldon, Terence Keel, and Ahmed RagabPart I. ValuesIntroduction, by Terence Keel, Ahmed Ragab, and Myrna Perez Sheldon1. Scripture of False Smiles: Scholarship and Lying with Erving Goffman, by Kathryn Lofton2. Nihilism, Race, and the Critical Study of Science and Religion, by Terence Keel3. A Feminist Theology of Abortion, by Myrna Perez Sheldon4. Can Originalism Save Bioethics?, by Osagie K. ObasogiePart II. BoundariesIntroduction, by Myrna Perez Sheldon, Terence Keel, and Ahmed Ragab5. Spiriting the Johnstons: Producing Science and Religion Under Settler Colonial Rule, by Tisa Wenger6. Dark Gods in the Age of Light: The Lightbulb, the Japanese Deification of Thomas Edison, and the Entangled Constructions of Religion and Science, by Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm7. Questioning the Sacred Cow: Science, Religion, and Race in the United States and India, by Cassie Adcock8. “And God Knows Best”: Knowledge, Expertise, and Trust in the Postcolonial Web-Sphere, by Ahmed RagabPart III. NarrativesIntroduction, by Ahmed Ragab, Terence Keel, and Myrna Perez Sheldon9. Secular Grace in the Age of Environmentalism, by Erika Lorraine Milam10. Performing Polygenism: Science, Religion, and Race in the Enlightenment, by Suman Seth11. Out of Africa: Where Faith, Race, and Science Collide, by Joseph Graves Jr.Part IV. CoherenceIntroduction, by Ahmed Ragab, Terence Keel, and Myrna Perez Sheldon12. Kānaka Maoli Voyaging Technology and Geography Beyond Colonial Difference, by Eli Nelson13. Speculation Is Not a Metaphor: More than Varieties of Cryobiological Experience, by Joanna Radin14. Maroon Science: Knowledge, Secrecy, and Crime in Jamaica, by Katharine Gerbner15. Obeah Simplified? Scientism, Magic, and the Problem of Universals, by J. Brent CrossonConclusion, by Myrna Perez Sheldon, Terence Keel, and Ahmed RagabIndex

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"A wonderfully well-conceived and integrated collection that advances almost single handedly the discussion of religion and extinction. These rigorous essays by leading scholars are painful but vital reading as they direct our attention again and again to specific species, including our own. Certain to be of interest across the environmental humanities, this volume in its methodological variety and thematic diversity will shape the field."—Peter Manley Scott, University of Manchester"The solutions to the problems of climate change, loss of places, and mass extinction cannot be found in better science and greener technology alone. As the essays in this volume so clearly argue, we must also address our basic desires, dreams, hopes, and despairs, in order to stay connected to the earth and fellow earthlings, and in order to work toward healing our planetary ills."—Whitney Bauman, Florida International University

Read more less

Book SynopsisHuman-caused extinctions have never been so prominent in our political and cultural landscape. Extinction and Religion is a collection of wide-ranging chapters that explore the implications for religious faith and experience as it relates to a sixth mass extinction in Earth's history. Further it seeks to answer the question as to how religious and spiritual practices are shaping responses to the crisis?Edited by Jeremy H. Kidwell and Stefan Skrimshire, this collection aims to set a new postsecular agenda, articulating the questions, challenges, and ways forward for thinking about religion in an age of mass extinction rather than provide responses from world religions in isolation. It covers subjects such as the multitude of challenges posed by mass extinction to beliefs about the future of humanity, death and the afterlife, the integrity of creation, and the relationship between human and nonhuman life. Wide ranging and incisive, Extinction and Religion amply demonstrates the many waTrade Review"A wonderfully well-conceived and integrated collection that advances almost single handedly the discussion of religion and extinction. These rigorous essays by leading scholars are painful but vital reading as they direct our attention again and again to specific species, including our own. Certain to be of interest across the environmental humanities, this volume in its methodological variety and thematic diversity will shape the field."—Peter Manley Scott, University of Manchester"The solutions to the problems of climate change, loss of places, and mass extinction cannot be found in better science and greener technology alone. As the essays in this volume so clearly argue, we must also address our basic desires, dreams, hopes, and despairs, in order to stay connected to the earth and fellow earthlings, and in order to work toward healing our planetary ills."—Whitney Bauman, Florida International University

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn illuminating overview of the development, benefits, and importance of ritual in everyday life, written by a leading cognitive anthropologist.The Hidden Powers of Ritual is an engaging introduction to ritual studies that presents ritual as an evolved form of human behavior of almost unimaginable significance to our species. Every day across the globe, people gather to share meals, brew caffeinated beverages, or honor their ancestors. In this book, Bradd Shore, a respected anthropologist, reaches beyond familiar “big-R” rituals to present life’s humbler, overshadowed moments, exploring everything from the Balinese Pelebon to baseball to family Zoom sessions in the age of Covid to the sobering reenactment rituals surrounding the Moore’s Ford lynchings. In each ritual, Shore shows how our capacity to ritualize behavior is a remarkable part of the human story.Encompassing both the commonly unlabeled “interaction rituals” studied by sociologists and the symbolically elaborated sacred rituals of religious studies, Shore organizes his conception around detailed case studies drawn from international research and personal experience, weaving scholarship with a memoir of a life encompassed by ritual. A probing exploration that matches breadth with accessibility, The Hidden Powers of Ritual is a provocative contribution to ritual theory that will appeal to a wide range of readers curious about why these unique repetitive acts matter in our lives.

Read more less