Religious issues and debates Books

Book SynopsisIt all began in June 2005 when Bobby Henderson wrote an open letter to the Kansas School Board proposing a third alternative to the teaching of evolution and intelligent design in schools.Bobby is a prophet of sorts, the spiritual leader of a growing, world-wide group of followers who worship the teachings of The Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM).The FSM appeared to Bobby as a giant ball of spaghetti, with meatballs for eyes, and touched Bobby with His noodly appendage resulting in the revelation that the FSM is the real creator of the universe. The FSM faithful look to Bobby as their prophet and spiritual leader. Shortly after Bobby's revelation a website (www.flyingspaghettimonster.org) came into existence to promote the word. Then came the articles, which were worldwide: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian (UK), Die Welt (Germany), Surprise (Austria), and many others chimed in to report the existence of the FSM. Bobby received letters of support from academics and Ka

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“As an ideological refresher on what the West got right, Shapiro’s book gets the job done.” — The Washington Post Shapiro cavorts through 3,000 years of intellectual history in the span of about 250 pages, offering a perspicuous, “user-friendly” dive into some of our civilization’s biggest ideas. — The Washington Examiner “Ben Shapiro knows the power of his voice. He stands up and fights for what he believes with time-tested ideas. The Right Side of History is thoughtful and well-reasoned - exactly what Shapiro’s critics don’t want you to hear.” — Nikki Haley, former premanent representative of the U.S. Mission of the United Nations

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Book SynopsisExamines how the rabbis of the Talmud read, understood, and used the New Testament Jesus narrative to assert, ultimately, Judaism's superiority over Christianity.Trade ReviewPeter Schafer, Winner of the 2007 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation "Schafer's fine new book should be of interest to a wide audience, and not only to specialists in the field of the historical interaction of Judaism and Christianity in late antiquity (who will be right to devour it)... Schafer's book tells a fascinating story... His great scholarship now provides Jews and Christians interested in developing a new and better relationship with a way to work through many of the hateful things that we have said about each other in the past, but without pretending that this bad past was not as bad as it really was or that it can simply be forgotten... The sources that Schafer adduces are virulent and dangerous, but his analysis of them leaves one unexpectedly full of hope."--David Novak, New Republic "In the talmudic references to Jesus ... Schafer persuasively finds sophisticated 'counternarratives that parody the New Testament stories,' composed by Jews who evinced a precise knowledge of the New Testament. The true accomplishment of Jesus in the Talmud is to show how certain talmudic passages are actually subtle rereadings of the New Testament, 'a literary answer to a literary text.' With considerable skill, Schafer weaves these together until they can be seen to form an intricate theological discourse that prefigures the disputations between Jews and Christians in the Middle Ages."--Benjamin Balint, First Things "Meticulously researched and argued as well as clearly and accessibly written, this most intriguing--albeit radical--book is sure to spark interest, debate, and controversy. An essential purchase for academic religion collections and theological libraries."--Library Journal "In [this] book Schafer has proven himself not only a formidable scholar of ancient and medieval Jewish texts ... but also a talented author from whose hands the text flows like the water to which the rabbis likened the Torah."--Galit Hasan-Rokem, Jewish Quarterly Review "Peter Schafer's Jesus in the Talmud reviews well-trodden territory but derives new and important readings from this familiar evidence. Applying contemporary historiographical methods, Schafer offers a convincing explanation of the talmudic texts about Jesus."--Ruth Langer, Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations "Peter Schafer deserves great merit for having taken up a subject whose reexamination has been overdue for a long time already and that is of major interest to New Testament scholars, Talmudists, and historians of ancient Judaism alike...The great achievement of this book is that it reopens the discussion of texts that are of greatest significance for the study of the relationship of Judaism and Christianity in antiquity and the early Middle Ages. It presents the Jewish intellectual elite in a new light, as active respondents to Christian claims and allegations and forceful combatants in the Christian-Jewish dispute."--Catherine Hezser, Review of Biblical Literature "Schafer's excellent study shows that, by ridiculing fundamental Christian claims, Babylonian Jewry rejected any notion that the old covenant had been superseded by the new, Judaism had nothing for which to reproach itself: its superiority over Christianity was incontestable."--Anthony Phillips, Church Times "Peter Schafer...provides a sophisticated treatment of the subject of Jesus and other figures in the New Testament in Talmudic literature. This subject has a long history, but have never been undertaken with the kind of rigor and sensitivity to contextual factors, including the differences between the evidence available in the Babylonian versus Jerusalem versions...Clear and accessible reading for the non-specialist, this is a careful, scholarly treatment that sets the agenda for future studies"--Jewish Book World "One of the greatest Hebrew scholars, Peter Schafer, published a book on a very controversial and difficult subject--Jesus in the Talmud. Jesus in the Talmud is a work of great value. Although the author declares that the book is not a scholarly treatise, but only a kind of extensive essay, the investigation is thorough and all its theses are excellently and fully argued."--Maciej Tomal, Palamedes "Peter Schafer's Jesus in the Talmud is already being picked up by anti-Semitic Web sites as proof that Judaism harbors blasphemous beliefs about Jesus. Yet, it is an important book by a meticulous scholar, the head of Princeton's Judaic studies program. It is also a truthful book and should be received in a spirit of truthfulness."--David Klinghoffer, Hadassah Magazine "Schafer bases his clearly written and exquisitely informed work on a collection of the fragmented texts about Jesus from the heart of the rabbinic period, a cluster of passages he assembles from material scattered throughout the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds and contemporaneous rabbinic literature. The simple gathering of these newly translated texts in one place makes the book an excellent English-language resource for researchers and laypersons alike."--Stephen Hazan Arnoff, Haaretz "This remarkable monograph is required reading for anyone interested in the reception of the NT in rabbinic literature."--M. J. Geller, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament "[C]ertainly the best modern study of this topic."--Simon Gathercole, Journal for the Study of the New Testament "This is a very interesting book, and the author's arguments are both logical and unique."--W. Pretorius, Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae "Schafer's erudite sailing through the 'sea of Talmud' is evident on every page; and, to the extent his thesis is correct, he relocates Talmudic Jesus tradition from Jesus research in the first century to Jewish-Christian relations in late antiquity."--Michael A. Daise, Journal for the Study of the Historical JesusTable of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Abbreviations xiii Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Jesus' Family 15 Chapter 2: The Son/Disciple Who Turned out Badly 25 Chapter 3: The Frivolous Disciple 34 Chapter 4: The Torah Teacher 41 Chapter 5: Healing in the Name of Jesus 52 Chapter 6: Jesus' Execution 63 Chapter 7: Jesus' Disciples 75 Chapter 8: Jesus' Punishment in Hell 82 Chapter 9: Jesus in the Talmud 95 Appendix: Bavli Manuscripts and Censorship 131 Notes 145 Bibliography 191 Index 203

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Book SynopsisThis is a collection of texts written between the fourth and fourteenth centuries by spiritual masters of the Orthodox Christian tradition. First published in Greek in 1782, the writings were translated into Slavonic and later into Russian.

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Book SynopsisYou can only find out the rights and wrongs by Reasoning never by being rude about your opponent's psychology.' For C. S. Lewis, reason and logic are the sensible way to approach faith and ethics. Much of the 20th century's ills are caused by ill-founded beliefs and opinions.Lewis's original approach remains as vital today as ever. He is able to take the most convoluted subject, turn it side on and shed bright illumination on it. To be able to see along things rather than at them just like a beam of sunlight that invades the darkness of a toolshed is, to Lewis, the way to understanding.Written variously between 1940 and 1962, this collection of essays represents the best of Lewis's considerable wisdom on the great ethical and theological concerns of the day.Trade Review‘Most of us would gladly have given reams of our own work to write a couple of paragraphs as Lewis wrote.’Church of England Newspaper

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Book SynopsisSheds light on the surprisingly diverse and shared visions for realizing Israel as a democratic Jewish state. Building on Arthur Hertzberg's classic, The Zionist Idea, Gil Troy explores the backstories, dreams, and legacies of more than 170 passionate Jewish visionaries from the 1800s to today.Trade Review"The Zionist Ideas: Visions for the Jewish Homeland–Then, Now, Tomorrow . . . takes a comprehensive approach to unpacking the challenges modern Zionism faces, while simultaneously expanding on the virtues of Jewish self-determination."—Daniel J. Roth, Jerusalem Post"Troy has done an extraordinary job in explaining the Zionist ideas that co-exist within Jewish life. As the subtitle puts it, this book explains the Zionism of the past, the debates going on in the present, and the visions of the future that occupy the minds and hearts of Zionists. Like Hertzberg's original book, it explains and it inspires."—Jack Riemer, Jewish Advocate"Troy has delivered an anthology that will give us plenty to argue about for years to come."—Elliot Jager, Jerusalem Report"Even within our relatively small community, we too often speak to only those who agree with us. No one is better positioned to change this reality than Natan Sharansky, the universally beloved hero of the Jewish people, and Gil Troy, an academic respected equally in Israel and North America, and whose book The Zionist Ideas should be standard fare at every synagogue, JCC, and day school, and given as a gift to every b'nai mitzvah."—Eric Fingerhut, Times of Israel Blog"An excellent cross-section of Zionist thought, ideology and popular culture as well, and a worthy update of Hertzberg's masterpiece. . . . Troy's volume will help us make sense of an increasingly chaotic Zionist world."—Jerome A. Chanes, New York Jewish Week"Reading this is like being on a tour of Zionist thought that Troy is leading us through as he analyzes Zionism's evolution from its early ideology as a national movement to its development of its own."—Reviews by Amos Lassen"The Zionist Ideas is an important update and essential addition to every Jewish studies library. The wealth of ideas found between its pages gives the reader an extraordinary opportunity to explore how his or her own thinking can fit into the spectrum of Zionist thought. Troy's update has revitalized Hertzberg's groundbreaking work and opened a new opportunity for conversation about Zionism and the central place of Israel in Jewish life."—Jonathan Fass, Jewish Book Council"Building on Arthur Hertzberg's classic, The Zionist Idea, Troy explores the backstories, dreams, and legacies of more than 170 passionate Jewish visionaries from the 1800s to today."—Algemeiner"At its core, Troy's anthology is an invitation to readers to consider what it means to be a Zionist, especially in the 21st century."—Jay P. Lefkowitz, Commentary"Instead of replacing Hertzberg, Troy's book will sit neatly on the shelf next to the original. Together, they are the essential primary sources for understanding the complex foundations of Israel and its meaning in the 21st century. Students will be reaching for both of them for a long time to come."—nealgold.netTable of ContentsContents Foreword by Natan Sharansky Acknowledgments Introduction: How Zionism’s Six Traditional Schools of Thought Shape Today’s Conversation Part One. Pioneers: Founding the Jewish State 1. Pioneers: Political Zionism Peretz Smolenskin It Is Time to Plant (1875–77) Let Us Search Our Ways (1881) The Haskalah of Berlin (1883) Leon Pinsker Auto-Emancipation: An Appeal to His People by a Russian Jew (1882) Theodor Herzl The Jewish State (1896) From the Diaries of Theodor Herzl (1895) Third Letter to Baron Hirsch (1895) Max Nordau Zionism (1902) Muskeljudentum, Jewry of Muscle (1903) Jacob Klatzkin Boundaries: Judaism Is Nationalism (1914–21) Chaim Weizmann On the Report of the Palestine Commission (1937) Natan Alterman Shir Moledet (Song of the homeland) (1935) Magash HaKesef (The silver platter) (1947) Albert Einstein Palestine, Setting of Sacred History of the Jewish Race (with Erich Kahler) (1944) 2. Pioneers: Labor Zionism Moses Hess Rome and Jerusalem (1862) bilu bilu Manifesto (1882) Joseph Hayyim Brenner Self-Criticism (1914) Nahman Syrkin The Jewish Problem and the Socialist Jewish State (1898) Ber Borochov Our Platform (1906) Aaron David Gordon People and Labor (1911) Our Tasks Ahead (1920) Rachel Bluwstein My Country (1926) Berl Katzenelson Revolution and Tradition (1934) Rahel Yanait Ben-Zvi The Plough Woman (1931) 3. Pioneers: Revisionist Zionism The Union of Zionists-Revisionists Declaration of the Central Committee of the Union of Zionists-Revisionists (1925) Vladimir Jabotinsky The Fundamentals of the Betarian World Outlook (1934) Evidence Submitted to the Palestine Royal Commission (1937) The Iron Wall ([1923] 1937) Saul Tchernichovsky I Believe (1892) They Say There’s a Land (1923) The Irgun Proclamation of the Irgun Zvai Leumi (1939) Avraham (Yair) Stern Eighteen Principles of Rebirth (1940) Haim Hazaz The Sermon (1942) 4. Pioneers: Religious Zionism Yehudah Alkalai The Third Redemption (1843) Samuel Mohilever Message to the First Zionist Congress (1897) Isaac Jacob Reines A New Light on Zion (1902) Abraham Isaac Kook The Land of Israel (1910–30) The Rebirth of Israel (1910–30) Lights for Rebirth (1910–30) Moshe “Kalphon” HaCohen Mateh Moshe (Moses’s headquarters) (1920) Meir Bar-Ilan (Berlin) What Kind of Life Should We Create in Eretz Israel? (1922) 5. Pioneers: Cultural Zionism Eliezer Ben-Yehudah A Letter of Ben-Yehudah (1880) Introduction to The Complete Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Hebrew (1908) Ahad Ha’am (Asher Zvi Ginsberg) On Nationalism and Religion (1910) The Jewish State and the Jewish Problem (1897) Hayyim Nahman Bialik The City of Slaughter (1903) At the Inauguration of the Hebrew University (1925) Micah Joseph Berdichevski Wrecking and Building (1900–1903) In Two Directions (1900–1903) On Sanctity (1899) Martin Buber Hebrew Humanism (1942) An Open Letter to Mahatma Gandhi (1939) 6. Pioneers: Diaspora Zionism Solomon Schechter Zionism: A Statement (1906) Louis Dembitz Brandeis The Jewish Problem and How to Solve It (1915) Henrietta Szold Letter to Augusta Rosenwald (1915) Horace Mayer Kallen Zionism and Liberalism (1919) Stephen S. Wise Challenging Years (1949) Milton Steinberg The Creed of an American Zionist (1945) Part Two. Builders: Actualizing and Modernizing the Zionist Blueprints 7. Builders: Political Zionism Israel’s Declaration of Independence (1948) David Ben-Gurion The Imperatives of the Jewish Revolution (1944) Speech to Mapai Central Committee (1948) Am Segula: Memoirs (1970) The Law of Return (1950) Isaiah Berlin Jewish Slavery and Emancipation (1953) The Achievement of Zionism (1975) Abba Eban Statement to the Security Council (1967) Teddy Kollek Jerusalem (1977) Chaim Herzog Address to the United Nations General Assembly (1975) Albert Memmi The Liberation of the Jew (1966, 2013) Jews and Arabs (1975) Yonatan (Yoni) Netanyahu Letters from Yoni Netanyahu (1968, 1975) Elie Wiesel One Generation After (1970) A Jew Today (1975, 1978) Natan Sharanksy Fear No Evil (1988) Emmanuel Levinas Politics After (1979) Assimilation and New Culture (1980) Martin Peretz The God That Did Not Fail (1997) 8. Builders: Labor Zionism Golda Meir A Land of Our Own (1973) Address to the United Nations General Assembly (1958) Muki Tsur The Soldiers’ Chat (1967) Amos Oz The Meaning of Homeland (1967) Roy Belzer Garin HaGolan Anthology (1972) The Members of Kibbutz Ketura The Kibbutz Ketura Vision (1994) Yaakov Rotblit Shir LaShalom, A Song for Peace (1969) Leonard Fein Days of Awe (1982) Yitzhak Rabin Our Tremendous Energies from a State of Siege (1994) Shimon Peres Nobel Lecture (1994) Shulamit Aloni I Cannot Do It Any Other Way (1997) 9. Builders: Revisionist Zionism Uri Zvi Greenberg Those Living-Thanks to Them Say (1948) Israel without the Mount (1948–49) Geulah Cohen Memoirs of a Young Terrorist (1943–48) The Tehiya Party Platform (1988) Moshe Shamir For a Greater Israel (1967) The Green Space: Without Zionism, It’ll Never Happen (1991) Menachem Begin The Revolt (1951) Broadcast to the Nation (1948) Statement to the Knesset upon the Presentation of His Government (1977) Yitzhak Shalev We Shall Not Give Up Our Promised Borders (1963) Eliezer Schweid Israel as a Zionist State (1970) The Promise of the Promised Land (1988) Benjamin Netanyahu A Place among the Nations (1993) 10. Builders: Religious Zionism Ben-Zion Meir Chai Uziel Prayer for the State of Israel (1948) On Nationalism (ca. 1940–50) David Edan A Call for Aliyah (ca. 1950) Joseph Ber Soloveitchik Listen! My Beloved Knocks! (1956) Yeshayahu Leibowitz A Call for the Separation of Religion and State (1959) Zvi Yehuda Hakohen Kook On the 19th Anniversary of Israel’s Independence (1967) Abraham Joshua Heschel Israel: An Echo of Eternity (1969) Esther Jungreis Zionism: A Challenge to Man’s Faith (1977) Talma Alyagon-Roz Eretz Tzvi, The Land of Beauty (1976, 2014) Eliezer Berkovits On Jewish Sovereignty (1973) Gush Emunim Friends of Gush Emunim Newsletter (1978) David Hartman Auschwitz or Sinai (1982) The Third Jewish Commonwealth (1985) Commission on the Philosophy of Conservative Judaism Emet V’Emunah: Statement of Principles of Conservative Judaism (1988) Richard Hirsch Toward a Theology of Reform Zionism (2) Ovadia Yosef Oral Torah 14 (1979) 11. Builders: Cultural Zionism Haim Hefer There Were Times (1948) A. M. Klein The Second Scroll (1951) Leon Uris The Exodus Song / This Land Is Mine (1960) Shmuel Yosef Agnon Nobel Prize Speech (1966) Naomi Shemer Jerusalem of Gold (1967) Yehudah Amichai All the Generations before Me (1968) Tourists  (1980) Gershon Shaked No Other Place (1980, 1987) Letty Cottin Pogrebin Deborah, Golda, and Me (1991) Anne Roiphe Generation without Memory (1981) 12. Builders: Diaspora Zionism Arthur Hertzberg Impasse: A Movement in Search of a Program (1949) Some Reflections on Zionism Today (1977) Mordecai M. Kaplan A New Zionism (1954, 1959) Rose Halprin Speech to the Zionist General Council (1950) Jacob Blaustein Statements by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and Mr. Jacob Blaustein on the Relationship between Israel and American Jews (1950, 1956) Simon Rawidowicz Babylon and Jerusalem (1957) Two That Are One (1949) Irving “Yitz” Greenberg Twenty Years Later: The Impact of Israel on American Jewry (1968) Yom Yerushalayim: Jerusalem Day (1988) Eugene Borowitz Twenty Years Later: The Impact of Israel on American Jewry (1968) Herman Wouk This Is My God (1969, 1974) Arnold Jacob Wolf Will Israel Become Zion? (1973) Breira National Platform (1977) Hillel Halkin Letters to an American Jewish Friend: The Case for Life in Israel (1977, 2013) Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin Nine Questions People Ask about Judaism (1975) Alex Singer Alex: Building a Life (1983, 1986, 1996) Blu Greenberg What Do American Jews Believe? A Symposium (1996) Part Three. Torchbearers: Reassessing, Redirecting, Reinvigorating 13. Torchbearers: Political Zionism Michael Oren Jews and the Challenge of Sovereignty (2006) Tal Becker Beyond Survival: Aspirational Zionism (2011) Michael Walzer The State of Righteousness: Liberal Zionists Speak Out (2012) Aharon Barak Address to the 34th World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem (2002) Yael “Yuli” Tamir A Jewish and Democratic State (2) Ze’ev Maghen John Lennon and the Jews: A Philosophical Rampage (2010) Daniel Gordis The Promise of Israel (2012) Leon Wieseltier Brothers and Keepers: Black Jews and the Meaning of Zionism (1985) Irwin Cotler Speech to the United Jewish Communities General Assembly (2006) Gadi Taub In Defense of Zionism (2014) Bernard-Henri Lévy The Genius of Judaism (2017) Asa Kasher idf Code of Ethics (1994) 14. Torchbearers: Labor Zionism Anita Shapira The Abandoned Middle Road (2012) Ephraim Katchalski-Katzir My Contributions to Science and Society (2005) Ruth Gavison Statement of Principles, Gavison-Medan Covenant (2003) Einat Wilf Zionism: The Only Way Forward (2012) Chaim Gans The Zionism We Really Want (2013) David Grossman Speech at Rabin Square (2006) Nitzan Horowitz On the Steps of Boorishness (2013) Alon Tal Pollution in a Promised Land (2002, 2017) Peter Beinart The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment (2010) Ari Shavit Back to Liberal Zionism (2014) A Missed Funeral and the True Meaning of Zionism (2013) Stav Shaffir Knesset Speech (2015) 15. Torchbearers: Revisionist Zionism Yoram Hazony The End of Zionism? (1995) Israel’s Jewish State Law and the Future of the Middle East (2014) Shmuel Trigano There Is No “State of All Its Citizens” (2015, 2017) Israel Harel We Are Here to Stay (2001) Caroline Glick The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East (2014) Ruth Wisse Jews and Power (2007) David Mamet Bigotry Pins Blame on Jews (2006, 2011) The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture (2011) Ze’ev B. “Benny” Begin The Essence of the State of Israel (2015, 2017) Reuven Rivlin Remarks of President Rivlin: Vision of the Four Tribes (2015) Ayelet Shaked Pathways to Governance (2016) 16. Torchbearers: Religious Zionism Daniel Polisar Is Iran the Only Model for a Jewish State? (1999) Benjamin Ish-Shalom Jewish Sovereignty: The Challenges of Meaning, Identity, and Responsibility (2014) Eliezer Sadan Religious Zionism: Taking Responsibility in the Worldly Life of the Nation (2008) Yaacov Medan Statement of Principles, Gavison-Medan Covenant (2003) Yehuda Amital Reishit Tzemichat Ge’ulatenu: What Kind of Redemption Does Israel Represent? (2005) Benjamin “Benny” Lau The Challenge of Halakhic Innovation (2010) Yedidia Z. Stern Ani Ma’amin, I Believe (2005) Leah Shakdiel The Reason You Are Here Is Because You Are a Jew! (2004) Arnold Eisen What Does It Mean to Be a Zionist in 2015? Speech to the 37th Zionist Congress: (2015) Conservative Judaism Today and Tomorrow (2015) David Ellenson Reform Zionism Today: A Consideration of First Principles (2014) 17. Torchbearers: Cultural Zionism Gil Troy Why I Am a Zionist (2008) Yair Lapid I Am a Zionist (2009) Micah Goodman From the Secular and the Holy (2018) Ronen Shoval Herzl’s Vision 2.0 (2013) A. B. Yehoshua The Basics of Zionism, Homeland, and Being a Total Jew (2017) Erez Biton Address at the President’s House on the Subject of Jerusalem (2016) Bernard Avishai The Hebrew Republic (2008) Saul Singer They Tried to Kill Us, We Won, Now We’re Changing the World (2011) Sharon Shalom A Meeting of Two Brothers Who Had Been Separated for Two Thousand Years (2017) Einat Ramon Zionism: A Jewish Feminist-Womanist Appreciation (2017) Adam Milstein Israeliness Is the Answer (2016, 2017) Rachel Sharansky Danziger A New Kind of Zionist Hero (2015, 2017) 18. Torchbearers: Diaspora Zionism Jonathan Sacks Will We Have Jewish Grandchildren? (1994) Alan Dershowitz The Vanishing American Jew (1997) Yossi Beilin His Brother’s Keeper: Israel and Diaspora Jewry in the Twenty-First Century (2) Scott Shay Getting Our Groove Back: How to Energize American Jewry (2007) Donniel Hartman Israel and World Jewry: The Need for a New Paradigm (2011) Yossi Klein Halevi A Jewish Centrist Manifesto (2015) Ellen Willis Is There Still a Jewish Question? I’m an Anti-Anti-Zionist (2003) Theodore Sasson The New American Zionism (2013) Central Conference of American Rabbis A Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism (1999) The World Zionist Organization Jerusalem Program (1951) Jerusalem Program (2004) Source Acknowledgments Sources

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Book SynopsisDespite recent ferocious public debate about the likelihood of the existence of God, the most central concept in such arguments remains strangely obscure. What is God? In this written contribution to reasoned discussion, a revered religious thinker clarifies how the word "God" functions in various religious traditions.Trade Review"Hart marshals powerful historical evidence and philosophical argument to suggest that atheists—if they want to attack the opposition's strongest case—badly need to up their game."—Oliver Burkeman, The Guardian". . . there is something evangelical about this study: it is at once both the most valuable discussion of the doctrine of God to have appeared for decades, and a witty, often mordant, defence of Christian belief. . . . The Experience of God is still an outstanding addition to the literature on God, not least for its survey of so many of the world’s great faiths. It is also a fine piece of work of Christian apologetics, and a major contribution to debate on science and religion."—Andrew Davison, Times Literary Supplement"This hugely suggestive book is a lyrical paean to a vital, more capacious understanding of reality, ourselves and God: a timely and gripping invitation to wake up, see the regnant naturalism, and subvert its suffocating hegemony. The text is by turns elegant, curmudgeonly, witty, infuriating, incisive, nostalgic, rhapsodical, explosive, frequently bang on the money – and always stimulating."—Philip McCosker, The Tablet"David Hart can always be relied on to offer a perspective on Christian faith that is both profound and unexpected. In this masterpiece of quiet intellectual and spiritual passion, he magnificently sets the record straight as to what sort of God Christians believe in and why."—Rowan Williams, University of Cambridge"David Hart’s new book is nothing less than astounding. He is liberal, conservative, radical, theological, philosophical, and historical all at the same time – that is his genius. There is no American writing on religion as intelligently, bravely, and originally as Hart."—Conor Cunningham, University of Nottingham"David Bentley Hart’s new book is a feast- stylish and substantial. Bringing together Sanskritic analyses of God’s being with Latin and Greek and Arabic ones, this is a considerable achievement by one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary theology."—Paul J. Griffiths, Duke Divinity School"Writing at a high philosophical level with a sharp sense of humor, Hart argues for an ecumenical Theism. Devastatingly accurate, imaginative, and immensely readable, this is David Bentley Hart’s best book."—Francesca Murphy, University of Notre Dame"Magnificent . . . a book unlike anything done in recent times and one that only Hart could write."—Robert Louis Wilken

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Book SynopsisPacking a powerful punch, this compelling read is an argument against the new atheistsTrade Review'A brilliantly argued re-evaluation of the relation of science and religion, casting welcome new light on today's major debates. A must-read for all reflecting on the greatest questions of life.' -- Alister McGrath, author, Glimpsing the Face of God on God's Undertaker'Recent books touting atheism have been grounded more on dyspepsia than on dispassionate reason. In this book John considers the best, most recent science from physics and biology, and demonstrates that the picture looks far different from what we've been told.' -- Michael Behe, author, Darwin's Black Box, on God's UndertakerTable of ContentsContentsIntroduction 9Chapter 1: Are God and Faith Enemies of Reason and Science? 27Chapter 2: Is Religion Poisonous? 59Chapter 3: Is Atheism Poisonous? 83Chapter 4: Can We be Good Without God? 97Chapter 5: Is the God of the Bible a Despot? 117Chapter 6: Is the Atonement Morally Repellent? 145Chapter 7: Are Miracles Pure Fantasy? 165Chapter 8: Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? 187Chapter 9: Final Reflections 227Notes 233

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Book SynopsisSuitable for scientists, theologians, people of faith and people of no faith, as well as general readers eager to understand the God Debate, this title demolishes the 'superstitious' view of God held by most atheists and agnostics, and offers in its place a revolutionary account of the Christian Gospel.Trade Review"'Terry Eagleton's intervention into the debate sparked by Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion is, by turns, thought-provoking, infuriating, inspiring and very, very funny.' London Review of Books 'a gloriously rumbustious counter-blast to Dawkinsite atheism... paradoxes sparkle throughout this coruscatingly brilliant polemic... This is, then, a demolition job which is both logically devastating and a magnificently whirling philippic... Much of what it says is too true.' Paul Vallely, The Independent 'Eagleton's book began as a series of lectures delivered at Yale University. They must have been a riot... He's fantastically rude all round, about 'Ditchkins', about religion itself... It's terrific polemic.' Melanie McDonagh, Evening Standard"

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Book Synopsis''I don''t believe in God, but I miss Him.'' Julian Barnes'' new book is, among many things, a family memoir, an exchange with his philosopher brother, a meditation on mortality and the fear of death, a celebration of art, an argument with and about God, and a homage to the French writer Jules Renard. Though he warns us that ''this is not my autobiography'', the result is a tour of the mind of one of our most brilliant writers.Trade ReviewBoth fun and funny. It is sharp too, in the sense of painful as well as witty... Barnes dissects with tremendous verve and insight this awesome inevitability of death and its impact on the human psyche. He also tears at your heart * New Statesman *A maverick form of family memoir that is mainly an extended reflection on the fear of death and on that great consolation, religious belief... It is entertaining, intriguing, absorbing...an inventive and invigorating slant on what is nowadays called 'life writing'. It took me hours to write this review because each reference to my notes set me off rereading; that is a reviewer's ultimate accolade -- Penelope Lively * Financial Times *A brilliant bible of elegant despair...that most urgent kind of self-help manual: the one you must read before you die -- Tim Adams * Vogue *Intensely fascinating * The Times *An elegant memoir and meditation. A deep seismic tremor of a book that keeps rumbling and grumbling in the mind for weeks thereafter * Garrison Keillor *

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Book SynopsisA fresh interpretation of Nietzsche's engagement with the work of Paul the Apostle, reorienting the relationship between the two thinkers while embedding modern philosophy within early Christian theology.Trade ReviewWritten in a precise and economical style, crystallizing its points with aphoristic clarity, Nietzsche Versus Paul reconstructs a series of "Christian" moments found throughout the Nietzschean corpus and so reveals a surprisingly consistent, sophisticated, and cunning structure. This contribution goes far beyond the circles of Nietzsche scholarship, where it will certainly be received as a fresh and powerful intervention. Indeed, it is an original conceptualization of atheism, nihilism, secularization, and modernity as well, and will be warmly received by scholars of philosophy and religion, especially, those interested in their intersection. -- Judith Butler, University of California, Berkeley Nietzsche versus Paul is a wonderful, philosophically engaging book, meticulous -- even relentless -- in its argumentation, arresting in its interpretive scope, and dedicated to the surprisingly neglected presence of Christianity in Nietzsche. -- Gil Anidjar, Columbia University A brilliant reconstructive projective which fills a genuine lacuna in recent scholarship in history, philosophy, and theology alike. Nietzsche versus Paul is coherent, well formulated, and of extraordinary importance for all of the larger philosophical and historical discussions which have emerged, surprisingly, to become some of the most pressing 'theory' topics of our time. -- Ward Blanton, University of KentTable of ContentsAcknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. From Dionysian Tragedy to Christianity 2. From Judaism to Christianity 3. Jesus-Christ and the Two Worlds of Early Christianity 4. Paul: The First Christian 5. Science and Art After the Death of God 6. Beyond Modern Temporality Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFifty new prayers from young and old and from folk around the globe - from Glasgow to Cincinnati, from Malawi to Alaska, including well-known Iona Community writers like John Harvey, Ian M. Fraser, Peter Millar, Yvonne Morland, Chris Polhill, Thom Shuman, Brian Woodcock, the Wild Goose Resource Group and many others - A pocketbook of prayers that might be used in a daily discipline, many on the concerns of the Iona Community - poverty and economic justice, welcome and hospitality, interfaith dialogue, church renewal, peacemaking - A prayer book to use in church worship, and to carry in your coat or handbag out into the world: to connect with the still small voice in the midst of the busyness and babble; to root yourself firmly in the Word. There are prayers here for the renewal of global and local community, and for recharging the battery of your mobile phone: ''Either He is the Lord of everything or He is Lord of nothing,'' wrote George MacLeod, founder of the Iona Community. Also includes a helpful ''scrapbook'' of thoughts on prayer from many sources.

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Book SynopsisVery Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring Debates about science and religion are rarely out of the news. Whether it concerns what''s being taught in schools, clashes between religious values and medical recommendations, or questions about how to address our changing global environment, emotions often run high and answers seem intractable. Yet there is much more to science and religion than the clash of extremes. As Thomas Dixon and Adam Shapiro show in this balanced and thought-provoking Very Short Introduction, a whole range of views, subtle arguments, and fascinating perspectives can be found on this complex and centuries-old subject. They explore the key philosophical questions that underlie the debate, but also highlight the social, political, and ethical contexts that have made the tensions between science and religion such a fraught and interesting topic in the modern world. In this new edition, Dixon and Shapiro connect historical concepts such as evolution, the heliocentric solar system, and the problem of evil to present-day issues including the politicization of science; debates over mind, body, and identity; and the moral necessity of addressing environmental change. Ranging from medical missionaries to congregations adopting new technologies during a pandemic, from Galileo''s astronomy to building the Thirty Meter Telescope, they explore how some of the most complex social issues of our day are rooted in discussions of science and religion. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade Reviewa wonderful book * Morteza Hajizadeh, New Books Network *Review from previous edition A rich introductory text...on the study of relations of science and religion. * R. P. Whaite, Metascience *A marvellous book that should be required reading for dogmatic fundamentalists of every persuasion. * Patricia Fara, British Journal for the History of Science *Dixon shows great skill in composing a book which combines coherence and clarity with a strong forward momentum... The interested reader need not hesitate. * Michael Fuller, The Expository Times *Bracing initiation * Observer. *The relationship between science and religion, past and present, is much more varied and more interesting than the popular caricature of conflict. Thomas Dixon gives us the richer picture, and he does it with clarity and verve. This is an ideal introduction to a fascinating subject. * Peter Lipton. University of Cambridge *Thomas Dixon has made a delightful contribution to this OUP series of Very Short Introductions. * Church Times *Table of Contents1: What are science-religion debates really about? 2: Galileo and the philosophy of science 3: God and nature 4: Darwin and evolution 5: Mind and morality 6: The worlds of science and religion References and further reading Index

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Book SynopsisThis is a revised and updated edition of this seminal work on the responses of Islam to the modern world. Starting with the present-day condition of man in the modern world and the dilemma of the present-day Muslim, Seyyed Hossein Nasr discusses the interchange that has continued between Islam and the West over the centuries. The author then proceeds to examine the profound struggle in the Muslim world between the Islamic tradition and Western ideologies and culture concentrating on the present situations in the Arab world, in Iran, in India and in Pakistan.In addition to a new preface, this revised edition of Islam and the Plight of Modern Man includes two new chapters: ''Islam at the Dawn of the Third Christian Millennium'', and ''Reflections on Islam and the West: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow''.

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Book SynopsisWhy is there suffering, sickness and death? Why is no corner of human life and society immune from egotism, fear, tyranny, betrayal and guilt? What was God thinking when he allowed evil to come into existence?Drawing on the worldview of Rudolf Steiner, the author explains that the roots of evil lie with angelic beings. Schroeder discusses evil's prehistory in heaven and shows how the polarity of two kinds of evil, with good as a balance between them, manifests itself in earthly history, and in the areas of education, work, human relationships, sexuality, religion and technology.With the increased influence of evil in today's world, Schroeder considers how prayer, meditation and angelic guidance through reincarnation give us the possibility to overcome evil in all its forms.Trade Review'This book is most certainly the immensely useful and enlightening creation of a mature and wise anthroposophist. My partner read this book before I did and remarked upon how it was both enormously challenging to read and yet also almost un-put-down-able. It is difficult to imagine a stronger recommendation than this.'-- Richard House, New View'Explains Rudolf Steiner's philosophy of evil and shows how evil can be overcome and transformed -- there is an interesting chapter on evil in fairytale.'-- Scientific & Medical Network Review

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Book SynopsisTo many, the problem of evil and suffering constitutes by far the most serious objection to mainstream religious belief. For all its starkness and salience, though, the dilemma is also widely misinterpreted. That visceral feelings often dominate discussion is understandable on one level. But this can displace the clearer-headed thinking needed to shed greater light on the subject. In this brief but broad-ranging book, Rupert Shortt shows that belief in a divine Creator is much more coherent intellectually than many sceptics suppose. Basic misconceptions about core aspects of Judaism, Christianity and Islam can in turn spawn still greater caricatures of subjects including divine power. Having cleared the ground, Shortt goes on to discuss the nature of evil from a classical Abrahamic standpoint and how Christian resources in particular offer guidance in an area where raw emotion, conceptual thTrade ReviewRupert Shortt is clear and incisive in this new work of theodicy -- Iain McGilchrist'One of the most cogent writers of our day' -- Peter Sedgwick'Beguiling' -- Julia Neuberger'Deep theological knowledge and spiritual discernment' -- John Barton'Wise, informed and immensely thoughtful' -- Alister McGrathA stunning challenge to the casual atheism of our age -- Angela TilbyHis arguments are powerful -- Bishop Erik VardenThe book succeeds in presenting a reasoned case for holding fast to the reality of God, as Christianity understands it, and not shirking from the troubling existence of suffering. -- Mark Vernonintelligent and lucid -- Melanie McDonagha profoundly helpful book -- Timothy RadcliffeUnlike most participants in this lively debate, Rupert Shortt hasn't decided the answer before asking the question . . . After all, evil and suffering are not a problem to be fixed but a mystery to be entered. -- Sam WellsShortt has an admirable gift for making the obscure lucid, for chasing away confusions, and for saying a great deal in a small space without sacrifice of substance or profundity -- David Bentley HartRupert Shortt gets to grips with this philosophical, theological, pastoral and human conundrum incisively but sensitively -- Fr Alban McCoyThe Hardest Problem contains hard thought, emotional honesty and keen awareness of the issues. * TLS *This is an immensely attractive exposition of Christian faith, accessible to a wide readership, and ideal for discussion groups on these topics. * Church Times *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“As an ideological refresher on what the West got right, Shapiro’s book gets the job done.” — The Washington Post Shapiro cavorts through 3,000 years of intellectual history in the span of about 250 pages, offering a perspicuous, “user-friendly” dive into some of our civilization’s biggest ideas. — The Washington Examiner “Ben Shapiro knows the power of his voice. He stands up and fights for what he believes with time-tested ideas. The Right Side of History is thoughtful and well-reasoned - exactly what Shapiro’s critics don’t want you to hear.” — Nikki Haley, former premanent representative of the U.S. Mission of the United Nations

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Book SynopsisThe Catholic and Orthodox churches have been divided for nearly a thousand years. The issues that divide them are weighty matters of theology, from a dispute over the Nicene Creed to the question of the authority of the Pope. But while these issues are cited as the most important reasons for the split, they were not necessarily the issues that caused it. In Beards, Azymes, and Purgatory A. Edward Siecienski argues that other, seemingly minor issues also played a significant role in the schism. Although rarely included in modern-day ecumenical dialogues, for centuries these other issues--the beardlessness of the Latin clergy, the Western use of unleavened bread in the Eucharist, and the doctrine of Purgatory--were among the most frequently cited reasons for the dispute between East and West. Disagreements about bread, beards, and the state of souls after death may not, at first, appear to be church-dividing issues, but they are the nevertheless among the reasons why the church today is Trade ReviewHaving published monographs on the Filioque and the Papacy, the most famous issues that divided East and West, Edward Siecienski now displays his mastery of the biblical, patristic, medieval, and modern literature on a trilogy of other issues that bitterly opposed medieval Greeks and Latins. Taking a broad chronological approach, yet with exceptional sensitivity to nuance, Siecienski offers a major contribution to Christian history that even the most obstinate will find ecumenically moving. * Chris Schabel, co-author of The Cistercian Hermann Zoestâs Treatise on Leavened and Unleavened Bread *Siecienski offers a thoroughly researched and thoroughly readable explanation of why seemingly small differences of custom and interpretation have mattered so much in past theological controversies. In doing so, he helps illuminate historical dynamics in Christian thought that still influence and divide communities of faith to this day. * Christopher Oldstone-Moore, author of Of Beards and Men: The Revealing History of Facial Hair *A. Edward Siecienski's erudite book offers a fresh perspective on the centuries-old and still existing schism between the Latin West and the Byzantine East. His choice of topics and analysis of sources underscores what deserves more attention in research and also in ecumenical dialogue today: that in addition to theological and ecclesiological conflicts, it is the extra-theological factors that have always been of great importance in the relations between East and West. * Andrea Riedl, editor of Tractatus contra Graecos *Siecienski moves seamlessly across centuries of debate and controversy in this fascinating book, exploring issues that have been often neglected or underestimated in the study of Latin-Byzantine relations. Rich in detail, very readable, and spiced with occasional irony, his narrative is a fruit of meticulous research evaluating a great amount of source material and providing sharp insights into historiography. * Yury P. Avvakumov, University of Notre Dame *This work successively deals with three controversies whose importance in the rupture between East and West it recalls, although they have lost their acuity after the Council of Florence: the abandonment of the wearing of beards by Latin clerics... The author shows what was the ancient discipline, how it was able to evolve especially in the West and what were the arguments exchanged when the estrangement of the two partners led to the controversy and finally how they manifest themselves today . But this work also of course gives food for thought on the process of development of controversies and on their obsolescence. In this sense, his work goes beyond the now less significant character of these three debates, even if the question of purgatory and especially of indulgences, which is linked to it, remains an object of disagreement. * The Istina 2023/2 *Beards, Azymes, and Purgatory is an invitation to better understand the past, not just for the sake of the past, but ideally for the sake of constructing a better future. * Eugene R. Schlesinger, Living Church *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Part I - Beards Chapter 1: Beards in the Biblical and Patristic Tradition Chapter 2: Beards in the East-West Polemic Part II - Azymes Chapter 3: Bread and Leaven in the Biblical and Patristic Tradition Chapter 4: The Azyme Debate: The Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries Chapter 5: The Azyme Debate: The Fourth Crusade to the Modern Era Part III - Purgatory Chapter 6: Purgatory in the Biblical and Patristic Tradition Chapter 7: Purgatory in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries Chapter 8: Purgatory from Ferrara-Florence to Modern Times

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Book SynopsisProtestant orientations to work and economics have shaped wider American culture for several centuries. But not all strands of American Protestantism have elevated secular work to the highest echelons of spiritual significance. This book surveys the efforts of a religious movement within white Protestant fundamentalism and its neo-evangelical successors to make work matter to God.Today, bearing the name the faith and work movement, this effort puts on display the creative capacities of religious and lay leaders to adapt a faith system to the changing social-economic conditions of advanced capitalism. Building from the insights and theory of Max Weber, Andrew Lynn draws on archival research and interviews with movement leaders to survey and assess the surging number of new organizations, books, conferences, worship songs, seminary classes, vocational programming, and study groups promoting classically Protestant and Calvinist ideas of work and vocation. He traces these efforts back to eTrade ReviewIn these days when almost everything about American evangelicalism is controversial, this well-researched, fair-minded book about the evangelical 'faith and work' movement is a welcome contribution. Andrew Lynn has provided a great deal for supporters of the movement, its critics, and all who worry about the moral malaise present in the marketplace to ponder. * Robert Wuthnow, author of Why Religion Is Good for American Democracy *The faith at work movement is an ongoing and evolving social movement, not a flash in the pan or a passing fad. Andrew Lynn brings us a strong contribution to the growing number of scholarly studies of the surprisingly diverse nature of the faith at work movement. Lynn's provocatively titled Saving the Protestant Ethic focuses on and brings us fresh insights into the conservative evangelical Protestant wing of the movement, whose search for meaning and purpose drives their economic activity. * David W. Miller, Princeton University Faith & Work Initiative *This brief summary surely fails to capture the depth and breadth of Lynn's extraordinary descriptive project. He does a masterful job of separating the different theological threads that are woven together by the faith and work movement and contextualizing them in socioeconomic terms. Adherents of re-integrating theology will find the portrait of themselves and their views recognizable...What Lynn's book demonstrates above all is that the faith and work movement has not fallen far from the creative class tree...No one wants to go back to the fundamentalist work ethic. Everyone wants their Monday to matter to God. * Charlie Clark, FareForward *This book represents an impressive achievement, drawing on a multidisciplinary array of deft ethnographic interviews, attentive participant observations, profound understanding of emic group discourse, impressive historical primary sources, nimbly enhanced and refined sociological theory, and quantitative analysis. * Religious Studies Review *Saving the Protestant Ethic explores the faith and work movement within contemporary American Evangelicalism...Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part One: The Rise of the Evangelical Faith and Work Movement Chapter One: More Than Toil Chapter Two: The Fundamentalist Work Ethic Chapter Three: The Making of a Movement Chapter Four: The Four Evangelical Theologies of Work Part Two: Contours, Contingencies, and Contending Interests Chapter Five: Whose Work Matters to God? Chapter Six: From the Christian Right to the Corporate Right Chapter Seven: From Culture Wars to Cultural Stewardship Chapter Eight: On Roads Not (Yet) Taken Acknowledgements Appendix A: Research Methods

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Book SynopsisFor decades, Mark Juergensmeyer has been studying the rise of religious violence around the world, including groups like ISIS and Christian militias that have been involved in acts of terrorism. Over the years he came to realize that war is the central image in the worldview of virtually every religious movement engaged in violent acts. Behind the moral justification of using violence are images of great confrontations of war on a transcendent scale. God at War explores the dark attraction between religion and warfare. Virtually every religious tradition leaves behind it a bloody trail of stories, legends, and images of war, and most wars call upon the divine for blessings in battle. This book finds the connection between religion and warfare in the alternative realities created in the human imagination in response to crises both personal and social. Based on the author''s thirty years of field work interviewing activists involved in religious-related terrorist movements around the world, this book explains why desperate social conflict leads to images of war, and why invariably God is thought to be engaged in battle.Trade ReviewThis short book, based on lectures delivered in several venues, will be of interest to anyone interested in religious violence and should be accessible to intermediate and advanced students as well. * Eugene V. Gallagher, Nova Religio *God at War, although a slim book, is of large importance * Janet M. Powers, Religion *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Why Do We Think About War? Chapter 1: The Odd Appeal of War Chapter 2: War as Alternative Reality Chapter 3: Religion as Alternative Reality Chapter 4: The Marriage of War and Religion Chapter 5: Can Religion Cure War?

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

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Book SynopsisAmericans have long believed that the private lives of their politicians are important indicators of their fitness to lead and of their ability to defend and uphold American values. For many, a sex scandal renders a person ineligible, or at the very least questionably qualified, for public service. In Compromising Positions, Leslie Dorrough Smith questions the assumption that sex scandals are really about sex-- that is, that they are primarily concerned with the discovery of sexual misconduct. She argues that they are, instead, a form of cultural storytelling that uses racial and gendered symbols to create a collective sense of national worth and strength.Smith shows that sex scandals involve the use of four very powerful social tools--gender, race, politics, and religion-- that together create a rhetoric about what America is, who is eligible to formally represent it, and what types of symbolic religiosity such leaders must display to legitimize their power. Americans tend to condemn or excuse the sexual misdeeds of their politicians depending on the degree to which the individual in question reinforces evangelical interpretations of American values and a Christian nation. Such values include not just moral integrity, but strength, courage, and conquest. As a consequence, sex scandals are less likely to occur in cultural moments when the public is open to reading a politician''s moral lapse as a symbolic form of national dominance. Put simply, when a leader is perceived as strong, domineering, and necessary for national health, many people will find ways either to overlook his illicit sexual behavior or somehow read it as an American act.Trade ReviewCompromising Positions is for anyone interested in moving beyond shock at the hypocrisy of American Evangelicalism's sexual politics to understanding whose interests are served, and how, through the seeming contradictions of its discourses. * Elaine Schnabel, American Religion *Leslie Dorrough Smith has once again offered readers a masterpiece of critical scholarship, drawing attention to how coverage of and debate over public sex scandals function to legitimate contested national narratives and particular visions of white, hetero-masculinity. I know of few scholars capable of presenting sophisticated, counterintuitive, and complex arguments with this level of clarity, precision, and accessibility. This book should be of interest to scholars who study whiteness, masculinity, nationhood, or evangelical Christianity, or who simply are invested in the future of US politics. * Craig Martin, St. Thomas Aquinas College *In Compromising Positions, Smith demonstrates that religious sex scandals are about far more than religion and sex. Through deft rhetorical analysis, she reveals how gender, race, and nationalism determine which politicians fall from grace and which survive to see another election cycle. * John A. Schmalzbauer, Missouri State University *With her characteristic combination of humor and incisive analysis, Leslie Dorrough Smith offers a cool-headed consideration of the scripts and stages actors use to perform public moral outrage about sex scandals in US political theater. Paying particular attention to codifications of race and gender in these performances, Compromising Positions brilliantly responds to media echo chambers by asking its readers to slip into something a little less comfortable. * K. Merinda Simmons, University of Alabama *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Sex Scandals, National Fantasies, and the Stories We Tell Chapter 1 - Scandal: The Story of Wayward Men (featuring a full cast, with special guest star, Donald Trump) Chapter 2 - Religion: The Story of Right and Wrong (featuring Mark Foley and Roy Moore) Chapter 3 - Sex: The Story of Feminists and Whores (featuring Anita Hill and Paula Jones) Chapter 4 - Nation: The Story of American Values (featuring Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, and John Edwards) Chapter 5 - Media: The Story of Just Desserts (featuring Anthony Weiner and Arnold Schwarzenegger) Chapter 6 - Epilogue: Brett Kavanaugh and the Contradictions of American Masculinity (featuring Brett Kavanaugh, Christine Blasey Ford, Anita Hill, and Clarence Thomas, with a role reprisal by Donald Trump)

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewCourses on topics ranging from religion and law to religious protest to general surveys of American religion will be enriched by the inclusion of this exciting text. * Spencer Dew, Wittenberg University/The Ohio State University, Religious Studies Review *Speak of the Devil is a must-read for scholars of religion. Laycock rightly frames TST (The Satanic Temple) as provoking consequential questions of classification, religious freedom, and national belonging. * Dusty Hoesly, Religion, Vol 52, no.1 *Speak of the Devil ranks its author among influential scholars of contemporary Satanism ... Laycock's work is likely to appeal to both scholars and a broader audience by presenting a fluent, readable, and properly contextualized analysis of the development of The Satanic Temple. * Miroslav Vrzal, Ivona Vrzalová, Religio *Recommended. * C.H. Lippy, emeritus, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, CHOICE *Joseph Laycock has written an outstanding treatment of one of the most misunderstood new religious movements...The book is well-written and impeccably documented. In addition to producing a fine introduction to TST, Laycock introduces us to a host of important contemporary cultural theorists, religion scholars, and legal experts working at the interface of politics and religion. This book will be valuable to anyone who teaches world religions/new religious movements, or anyone seeking to understand legal issues related to religion in the public square. * Jonathan P. Case, Evangelical Missions Quarterly *Laycock's book produces several contributions to the field. His survey of satanic history and its use in popular discourse reveals the extent to which the satanic affinity for performance traces back to earlier Church of Satan figures such as Anton LaVey but also the political activism, militant reactionism, and moral sensationalism of conservative Christians * William Chavez, Reading Religion *This volume is highly recommended. Its sections on the history of Satanism and TST may not be of interest to all Christians, but surely to those interested in a study of new religious movements, and Satanism in particular. Even for those who have no interest in Satanism or TST, and who find such subjects off-putting, the discussion of TST's challenges to our assumptions about religion, religious free-dom, and religious pluralism make this an important addition to select Christian libraries. * John W. Morehead, Cultural Encounters: A Journal for the Theology of Culture *Laycock's Speak of the Devil is a valuable contribution to the study of modern Satanism and will be of great interest especially to those studying new religious movements, religion in America, and issues of church and state in the United States. Clearly written and well organized, the book would be ideal for graduate seminars not only for its content, but also for its expert blending of history and ethnography in its portrait of an oft-reviled minority religion. * Brian C. Wilson, Western Michigan University, Nova Religio *Table of ContentsPrologue 1. The Day Satan Came to Oklahoma 2. Origins and History of The Satanic Temple 3. Satanic Schisms 4. The Satanic Reformation 5. Religion or Trolls? 6. Satanic Bake Sales 7. "Taking Equality Too Far" Conclusion Bibliography Notes Index

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Book SynopsisFor millennia, people have used the Bible as a touchstone on important social and political questions, and rightly so. But many use the Bible simply as a weapon to wield against opponents in a variety of debates--without knowing what the Bible actually says about the issue in question. In The Bible Now, two respected biblical scholars tell us carefully what the Bible says or does not say about a wide range of issues--including homosexuality, abortion, women''s status, capital punishment, and the environment. In fascinating passages that shed new light on some of today''s most passionate disputes, the authors reveal how the Bible is frequently misunderstood, misquoted, mistranslated, and misused. For instance, those who quote the Bible in condemning homosexuality often cite the story of Sodom, and those who favor homosexuality point to David''s lament over the death of Jonathan. But as the authors show, neither passage is clearly about homosexuality, and these texts do not offer solid fTrade ReviewA refreshingly no-nonsense, authorative work. * Robert A. Segal, Times Higher Education *Richard Friedman and Shawna Dolansky make a fresh contribution to some very stale debates * John Barton, Times Literary Supplement *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Chapter 1: Homosexuality ; Chapter 2: Abortion ; Chapter 3: Women's Status ; Chapter 4: Capital Punishment ; Chapter 5: The Earth ; Epilogue

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Book SynopsisIn the last fifteen years a controversial new theory of the origins of biological complexity and the nature of the universe has been fomenting bitter debates in education and science policy across North America, Europe, and Australia. Backed by intellectuals at respectable universities, Intelligent Design Theory (ID) proposes an alternative to accepted accounts of evolutionary theory: that life is so complex, and that the universe is so fine-tuned for the appearance of life, that the only plausible explanation is the existence of an intelligent designer. For many ID theorists, the designer is taken to be the god of Christianity. Niall Shanks has written the first accessible introduction to, and critique of, this controversial new intellectual movement. Shanks locates the growth of ID in the last two decades of the twentieth century in the growing influence of the American religious right. But as he shows, its roots go back beyond Aquinas to Ancient Greece. After looking at the historTrade Review[A] cogent and well-argued alarum...Shanks deftly skewers the scientific pretensions of intelligent design creationists. * Science *

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Trade ReviewThis smart, well-executed set of essays should interest not only tacticians of counterinsurgency warfare but anyone seeking to understand how politicized religion confronts the practical dilemmas of struggling for power. * Jack Snyder, Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Relations, Columbia University *Table of ContentsContributors ; 1. Counterinsurgency and the Problem of Sacred Space ; 2. The Golden Temple: A Tale of Two Sieges ; 3. A Mosque, a Shrine, and Two Sieges ; 4. The Battle for the Soul of Pakistan at Islamabad's Red Mosque ; 5. Fighting for the Holy Mosque: The 1979 Mecca Insurgency ; 6. Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Iraq's Sacred Spaces ; 7. Iron Fists Without Velvet Gloves: The Krue Se Mosque Incident and Lessons in Counterinsurgency for the Southern Thai Conflict ; 8. Conclusion: Counterinsurgency in Sacred Spaces

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Book SynopsisBuddhism has played a significant role in the current global rise in religious nationalism and violence, but the violent aspects of Buddhist tradition have been neglected in the outpouring of academic analyses and case studies of this disturbing trend. This book offers eight essays examining the dark side of a tradition often regarded as the religion of peace. The authors note the conflict between the Buddhist norms of non-violence and the prohibition of the killing of sentient beings and acts of state violence supported by the Buddhist community (sangha), acts of civil violence in which monks participate, and Buddhist intersectarian violence. They consider contemporary and historical cases of Buddhist warfare from a wide range of traditions - Tibetan, Mongolian, Japanese, Chinese, Sri Lankan, and Thai - critically examining both Buddhist textual sources justifying violence and Buddhist actors currently engaged in violence. They draw not only on archival material but interviews with thTrade ReviewThe book...presents a uniquely Buddhist "heart of darkness" * Katherine Wharton, Times Literary Supplement *Table of Contents1. Buddhism and War ; 2. Making Merit through Warfare ; 3. Sacralized Warfare: The Fifth Dalai Lama and the Discourse of Religious Violence ; 4. Corporal Punishment during Mongolia's Theocratic Period ; 5. A Buddhological Critique of 'Soldier Zen' in Wartime Japan ; 6. Buddhist Monks in China during the Korean War ; 7. Sermons to Soldiers in the Sri Lankan Army ; 8. Militarizing Buddhism: Violence in Southern Thailand ; Concluding Remarks: Afterthoughts

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Book SynopsisStorming Zion offers a compelling explanation for the growing trend of state raids on new and nontraditional religious communities. Stuart Wright and Susan Palmer base their study on a massive data set documenting 116 government raids over the last six decades, primarily in Western countries.Trade ReviewThe book's analysis of expanded government raiding of NRMs in France is a solid addition to ongoing discussions over religious pluralism, laïcité and French church–state relations, and European counter-extremism policy. * Brian Auten, Religious Studies Review *Table of ContentsPreface ; Chapter 1. Government Raids on Religious Communities ; Chapter 2. Countermovement Mobilization and Government Raids ; Chapter 3. The Twelve Tribes ; Chapter 4. The Family International/Children of God\ ; Chapter 5. Branch Davidians ; Chapter 6. The United Nuwaubian Nation ; Chapter 7. The Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints ; Chapter 8. The Church of Scientology ; Chapter 9. Raids in France ; Chapter 10. Exploring the Causes and Consequences of Raids on NRM Communities ; Notes ; References ; Index

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Book SynopsisNear-death experiences are known around the world and throughout human history. They are sometimes reported by individuals who have revived from a period of clinical death or near-death and they typically feature sensations of leaving the body, entering and emerging from darkness, meeting deceased friends and relatives, encountering beings of light, judgment of one''s earthly life, feelings of oneness, and reaching barriers, only to return to the body. Those who have NDEs almost invariably understand them as having profound spiritual or religious significance.In this book, Gregory Shushan explores the relationships between near-death experiences, shamanism, and beliefs about the afterlife in traditional indigenous societies in Africa, North America, and Oceania. Drawing on historical accounts of the earliest encounters with explorers, missionaries, and ethnologists, this study addresses questions such as: Do ideas about the afterlife commonly originate in NDEs? What role does culture play in how people experience and interpret NDEs? How can we account for cross-cultural similarities and differences between afterlife beliefs? Though NDEs are universal, Shushan shows that how they are actually experienced and interpreted varies by region and culture. As the historical documents reveal, in North America, they were commonly valorized, and attempts were made to replicate them through shamanic rituals. In Africa, however, they were largely considered aberrational events with links to possession or sorcery. In Oceania, Micronesia corresponded more to the African model, while Australia had a greater focus on afterlife journey shamanism. Polynesia and Melanesia showed an almost casual acceptance of the phenomenon as reflected in numerous myths, legends, and historical accounts.This study examines the continuum of similarities and differences between NDEs, shamanism, and afterlife beliefs in dozens of cultures throughout these regions. In the process, it makes a valuable contribution to our knowledge about the origins of afterlife beliefs around the world and the significance of related experiences in human history.Trade ReviewShushan's comprehensive comparative study of neardeath experiences from Native American, Oceanian, and African traditions features accounts by explorers and ethnologists from the sixteenth to twentieth century. Shushan provides compelling evidence of a persistent core of imagery and experience in NDE from a variety of times and cultures. * Melissa Conroy, Religious Studies Review *The book should be of interest not only to scholars of NDEs, but also to ethnographers and scholars of the anthropology or sociology of death. * Jennifer Uzzell, Mortality *A fundamental book for all those interested in religious expressions related to after-life and post-mortem, this volume will surely remain a milestone in the study of what Shakespeare precipitously called "the undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveller returns" (Hamlet, 3,1). After all, some travellers, so it seems, have trodden there. * Davide Torri, Shaman *For researchers and graduate students, Shushan does an admirable job explaining the challenges of comparing exceptional experience, and demonstrates subtlety and nuance as he compares and contrasts Indigenous NDE in North America, Africa, and Oceania. Readers will be challenged by the breadth of methodological concerns Shushan examines, and by his careful thesis regarding how we can study the power of NDE within the organization of cultural knowledge surrounding the fundamental human concern with the significance of death. * Mary L. Keller, Reading Religion *Gregory Shushan has produced the most important scholarly work on near-death experiences in the last thirty years He describes the process by which, despite regular attempts to marginalize its power, the NDE has been perhaps the most important shaper of religious creativity in human history. This is a journey and an argument as fascinating and as engrossing as the social history of mankind itself. * From the foreword by Allan Kellehear, 50th Anniversary Professor, End of Life Care, University of Bradford *Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions is a tour de force. By comparing recorded cases from North America, Africa, and Oceania, Shushan presents a compelling argument for the centrality of Near-Death Experiences to the development of religious ideas across time and culture. Any future discussions of NDEs and the origins of religion will need to take Shushan's major contribution into account. * Fiona Bowie, founding member of the Afterlife Research Center *Gregory Shushan's new book provides a uniquely insightful and provocative analysis of near-death experiences that documents their formative influence on worldwide beliefs about an afterlife. His ethnological perspective results in a more comprehensive understanding of NDEs than a purely biological or psychological model can provide, and suggests that afterlife beliefs are rooted not in culture but in the universal human experience of NDEs. This book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand NDEs and their role in society. * Bruce Greyson, Carlson Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, Division of Perceptual Studies, University of Virginia *This is a remarkable survey of near death experiences gathered from reports across the world. Interested readers will be amazed at the data reported by the author in this erudite and intelligent inquiry. * Gavin Flood, Professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion, Oxford University *Shushan's comprehensive comparative study of near-death experiences from Native American, Oceanian, and African traditions features accounts by explorers and ethnologists from the sixteenth to twentieth century. Shushan provides compelling evidence of a persistent core of imagery and experience in NDE from a variety of times and cultures. * Melissa Conroy, Religious Studies Review *<"Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions provides a detailed examination of NDEs throughout history and across cultures. It explores relationships among NDEs, shamanic traditions, and beliefs after the afterlife, and it shows that NDEs are experienced differently depending on region and culture. By significantly expanding our understanding of NDEs, we find that the experiential phenomenon is well-recognized worldwide, but how it is interpreted * the meaning of an NDEis not universal and is strongly shaped by culture.>Parapsychological Association *Table of ContentsForeword by Allan Kellehear Acknowledgements I. Exploring Near-Death Experiences Across Cultures II. North America III. Africa IV. Oceania V. Interpretations, Implications, and Conclusions Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisTexts after Terror offers an important new theory of rape and sexual violence in the Hebrew Bible. While the Bible is filled with stories of rape, scholarly approaches to sexual violence in the scriptures remain exhausted, dated, and in some cases even un-feminist, lagging far behind contemporary discourse about sexual violence and rape culture. Graybill responds to this disconnect by engaging contemporary conversations about rape culture, sexual violence, and #MeToo, arguing that rape and sexual violence - both in the Bible and in contemporary culture - are frequently fuzzy, messy, and icky, and that we need to take these features seriously. Texts after Terror offers a new framework informed by contemporary conversations about sexual violence, writings by victims and survivors, and feminist, queer, and affect theory. In addition, Graybill offers significant new readings of biblical rape stories, including Dinah (Gen. 34), Tamar (2 Sam. 13), Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11), Hagar (Gen. 16), Daughter Zion (Lam. 1-2), and the unnamed woman known as the Levite''s concubine (Judges 19). Texts after Terror urges feminist biblical scholars and readers of all sorts to take seriously sexual violence and rape, while also holding space for new ways of reading these texts that go beyond terror, considering what might come after.Trade ReviewThe volume moves beyond the usual feminist approaches to these stories and, as such, is bound to stimulate further discussion and reflection. * ERYL W. DAVIES, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament *...this is a book pushes at the issues it raises in ways that linger, and that alone may commend it. * Sandra Gravett, Appalachian State University, Society of Biblical Literature *Her ultimate conclusion is compelling: feminist readings of texts should be seeking to find ways to contend with stories of sexual violence in the Bible rather than simply retelling difficult stories. * M. M. Veeneman, CHOICE Connect, Vol. 59 No. 8 *In Texts After Terror, Graybill models a way of reading biblical texts that honors and reveals their complexity, and provides the next generation of feminist scholars, and really all biblical readers, a way to continue to engage critically and authentically with many of the Bible's most disturbing narratives. * Dr. Amy Kalmanofsky, Dean of List College and the Kekst Graduate School, The Jewish Theological Seminary *Texts after Terror is a daring and devastating tour de force — raising new questions, evoking new feelings, and proposing new relations for what else and what comes after multiple forms of sexual harm. With characteristic wit and anger, breadth and incision, brilliance and ambivalence, Rhiannon Graybill takes biblical interpretation beyond the depressingly low bar of consent toward other possibilities. Grappling with these texts and their violences requires staying with their manifest troubles and refusing their redemption or recuperation. In this and many other ways, Texts after Terror is as unsettling as it is indispensable. * Joseph Marchal, Professor of Religious Studies, Ball State University *Rhiannon Graybill shows herself a worthy inheritor of feminist biblical scholarship to build upon, poke holes in, push further, and complexify how rape tales have been read. Her "unhappy readings" of these tales take up feminist, queer, and strands of other theorization about sex, rape, rape culture, and power by reading through literature to situate the tales in the persistent misogyny that sadly still marks our own times. * Steed Vernyl Davidson, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, McCormick Theological Seminary *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Reading Sexual Violence 1. Fuzzy, Messy, Icky: How to Read a Rape Story 2. The Edges of Consent: Dinah, Tamar, and Lot's Daughters 3. Narrating Harm in the Bathsheba Story: Predation, Peremption, and Silence 4. Rape and Other Ways of Reading: Hagar and Sarah in the Company of Women 5. A Grittier Daughter Zion: Lamentations and the Archive of Rape Stories 6. Sad Stories and Unhappy Reading Conclusion: After Terror Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn a world where not everyone believes in God, ''blasphemy'' is surely a concept that has passed its use-by-date. And yet blasphemy (like God and religion) seems to be on the rise. In this Very Short Introduction Yvonne Sherwood asks why this should be the case, looking at factors such as the increased visibility of religious and racial minorities, new media, and engines of surveillance (which are far more omniscient than the old gods could ever be), and the legacies of colonial blasphemy laws. Throughout, Sherwood uncovers new histories, from the story of accidentally blasphemous cartoons, to the close associations between blasphemy, sex, and birth control. She also argues that blasphemy itself involves an inherent contradiction in imagining the divine as an entity that must be revered above all, yet also a being that could possibly be hurt by anything that happens in the merely human sphere. Unpicking some of the most famous cases of blasphemy, Sherwood also looks at obscure instances, asking why some ''blasphemies'' have become infamous, while others have disappeared.Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Table of Contents1: Introduction: 'Blasphemous' crucifixions 2: Blasphemy in scarequotes 3: Blasphemy in religion 4: Blasphemy in law 5: Blasphemy and minorities 6: Blasphemy and media References and Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisSince OUP''s publication in 2000 of Michael Emerson and Christian Smith''s groundbreaking study, Divided by Faith (DBF), research on racialized religion has burgeoned in a variety of disciplines in response to and in conversation with DBF. This conversation has moved outside of sociological circles; historians, theologians, and philosophers have also engaged the central tenets of DBF for the purpose of contextualizing, substantiating, and in some cases, contesting the book''s findings. In a poll published in January 2012, nearly 70% of evangelical churches professed a desire to be racially and culturally diverse. Currently, only around 8% of them have achieved this multiracial status. To an unprecedented degree, evangelical churches in the United States are trying to overcome the deep racial divides that persist in their congregations. Not surprisingly, many of these evangelicals have turned to DBF for solutions. The essays in Christians and the Color Line complicate the research findiTrade ReviewChristians and the Color Line does a fantastic job in advancing the conversation and provoking more critical thought. * Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion *Table of ContentsTable of Contents ; Foreword ; Contributors ; Acknowledgments ; Introduction ; Chapter One ; "Neoevangelicalism and the Problem of Race in America" ; Chapter Two ; "Healing the Mystical Body: Catholic Attempts to Overcome the Racial ; Divide in Chicago, 1930-1960" ; Chapter Three ; "'Glimmers of Hope': Progressive Evangelical Leaders and Racism, ; 1965-2000" ; Chapter Four ; "'Buttcheek to Buttcheek in the Pew': Interracial Relationalism at a ; Mennonite Congregation, 1957-2010" ; Chapter Five ; "Still Divided by Faith? Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race ; in America, 1977-2010" ; Chapter Six ; "Worshipping to Stay the Same: Avoiding the Local to Maintain Solidarity" ; Chapter Seven ; "Beyond Body Counts: Sex, Individualism, and the Segregated Shape ; of Twentieth-Century Evangelicalism" ; Chapter Eight ; "Color-Conscious Structure-Blind Assimilation: How Asian-Americans ; can Unintentionally Maintain the Racial Divide" ; Chapter Nine ; "Knotted Together: Identity and Community in a Multiracial Church" ; Chapter Ten ; "Much Ado About Nothing? Rethinking the Efficacy of Multiracial ; Churches for Racial Reconciliation" ; Theological Afterword ; "The Call to Blackness in American Christianity"

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Book SynopsisThe Bible is the most influential book in Western history. As the foundational text of Judaism and Christianity, the Bible has been interpreted and reinterpreted over millennia, utilized to promote a seemingly endless run of theological and political positions. Adherents and detractors alike point to different passages throughout to justify wildly disparate behaviors and beliefs. Translated and retranslated, these texts lead both to unity and intense conflict. Influential books on any topic are typically called bibles. What is the Bible? As a text considered sacred by some, its stories and language appear throughout the fine arts and popular culture, from Shakespeare to Saturday Night Live. In Michael Coogan''s eagerly awaited addition to Oxford''s What Everyone Needs to Know series, conflicts and controversies surrounding the world''s bestselling book are addressed in a straightforward Q&A format. This book provides an unbiased look at biblical authority and authorship, the Bible''s influence in Western culture, the disputes over meaning and interpretation, and the state of biblical scholarship today. Brimming with information for the student and the expert alike, The Bible: What Everyone Needs to Know is a dependable introduction to a most contentious holy book.Trade ReviewWill be useful for those with Protestant Christian theological interests. * Meredith J. C. Warren, Theological Journal Modern Believing *very well done, and the book will serve its intended readership well. * KEITH BEECH-GRÜNEBERG, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament *Admiration and gratitude should be equally widespread for Coogan's ability to be at once clear, concise, and convincing. Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers. * L. J. Greenspoon, Creighton University, CHOICE *Table of Contents1. What is the Bible? 2. Why are Bibles different? 3. What is in the Bible? 4. Who wrote the Bible? 5. How can the Bible be studied? 6. Is the Bible true? 7. How has the Bible influenced Western culture? 8. What is not in the Bible? 9. Why is the Bible such an important book? Timeline of principal biblical events and characters Index

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Book SynopsisMartyrdom is not only a sharply contested term and act, but it has a long history of provoking controversy. One person''s ''martyr'' is another''s ''terrorist'', and one person''s ''martyrdom operation'' is another''s ''suicide bombing''. Suicide attacks have made recurring questions about martyrdom more pertinent to current discussions. What is martyrdom? Why are some people drawn towards giving up their lives as martyrs? What place does religion play in inciting and creating martyrs? How are martyrs made? Why are some martyrs and martyrdoms remembered more than others? How helpful is the distinction between active and passive martyrdoms? In order both to answer such questions and to understand the contemporary debates about martyrdom, it is helpful to consider its diverse roots. In this Very Short Introduction, Jolyon Mitchell provides a historical analysis to shed light on how the concept and practice of martyrdom has evolved, as well as the different ways in which it is used today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Contesting martyrdom ; 2. Thinking martyrdom ; 3. Remembering martyrdom ; 4. Romanticising martyrdom ; 5. Touching martyrdom ; 6. Reforming martyrdom ; 7. Politicizing martyrdom ; 8. Conclusion: The end of martyrdom

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Book SynopsisThe Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion draws on the expertise of an international team of scholars providing both an entry point into the sociological study and understanding of religion and an in-depth survey into its changing forms and content in the contemporary world. The role and impact of religion and spirituality on the politics, culture, education and health in the modern world is rigorously discussed and debated. The study of the sociology of religion forges interdisciplinary links to explore aspects of continuity and change in the contemporary interface between society and religion. Using a combination of theoretical, methodological and content-led approaches, the fifty-seven contributors collectively emphasise the complex relationships between religion and aspects of life from scientific research to law, ecology to art, music to cognitive science, crime to institutional health care and more. The developing character of religion, irreligion and atheism and the impacTrade ReviewThis handsome book... is particularly welcome and should find a place in every well-stocked library, both academic and other... I particulary like the mix of experienced and younger scholoars who have been brought together in this volume and applaud the successful attempt to escape from a study of religion informed by Western, primarily Christian, notions of religion. A further question follows from this. Seriously confronting the realities of religion in the twenty-first century makes new demands on social science, which itself emerged from a similar (i.e., Western) context. To what extent, then, can these demands be met within the parameters of the sociology of religion as we know this? Peter Clarke's meticulously edited volume not only underlines the question, but indicates a way forward. He is to be warmly congratulated. * Grace Davie, Theology *The contributors of these chapters have been chosen from an impressive pool of top international academics in the field. Not only has the editor done a great job in finding leading academics to write on the most topical issues, but also all the contributors have written a very informative piece, using the most recent data and theories. All the chapters are a delight to read...This is an impressive volume that will delight the student as much as the erudite in the field. All the academic libraries should order this volume as it will soon become an essential reference to any subject in the sociology of religion. It is a must for anyone who calls himself/herself a sociologist of religion to have a copy of this book on his/her bookshels. * Adam Possamai, Australian Religion Studies Review *Table of ContentsI: THEORY: CLASSICAL, MODERN AND POSTMODERN; I: METHOD; III: RELIGION AND RELATED SPHERES: MORALITY, SCIENCE, IRRELIGION, ART AND SEXUALITY; IV: RELIGION AND THE STATE, THE NATION, THE LAW; V: GLOBALISATION AND ITS RELIGIOUS EFFECTS; VI: STANDARD OR MAINSTREAM RELIGION; VII: THE REPRODUCTION AND TRANSMISSION OF RELIGION; VIII: NEW RELIGION, NEW SPIRITUALITY AND IMPLICIT RELIGION; XI: ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES; X: TEACHING THE SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

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Book SynopsisIn recent decades, reception history has become an increasingly important and controversial topic of discussion in biblical studies. Rather than attempting to recover the original meaning of biblical texts, reception history focuses on exploring the history of interpretation. In doing so it locates the dominant historical-critical scholarly paradigm within the history of interpretation, rather than over and above it. At the same time, the breadth of material and hermeneutical issues that reception history engages with questions any narrow understanding of the history of the Bible and its effects on faith communities.The challenge that reception history faces is to explore tradition without either reducing its meaning to what faith communities think is important, or merely offering anthologies of interesting historical interpretations. This major new handbook addresses these matters by presenting reception history as an enterprise (not a method) that questions and understands tradition Trade Reviewan important, valuable contribution to its subject * Eric Ziolkowski, Relegere: Studies in Religion and Reception *a rich collection of different and often very valuable materials on the reception history of the Bible. Among the articles some are real treasures * Ulrich Luz, Journal of Theological Studies *This volume is most certainly timely and highly pertinent to recent developments within biblical studies ... a welcome addition * R. I. Kueh, Journal of Ecclesiastical History *Table of ContentsPART ONE; PART TWO; HERMENEUTICAL AND HISTORICAL ISSUES; HEBREW BIBLE; NEW TESTAMENT

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Book SynopsisThe Theology of Jonathan Edwards is the first survey of the religious thought of America''s theologian--Jonathan Edwards--that draws on all of his writings, now available in a 73-volume online Yale critical edition. In 48 chapters, McClymond and McDermott, two of the world''s leading Edwards scholars, treat topics in Edwards''s thought that have rarely been analyzed in depth, and never in coordination with a close analysis of the rest of his theology. Such topics include the implications of his doctrine of the Trinity for the divide between Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy, his enduring appeal among both conservative and liberal Protestants, his ecclesial and sacramental theologies, his conflicted relationship with the history of Calvinism, the cultural-historical and comparative-religious turn he made toward the end of his career (as the leading colonial thinker on the topic of world religions), the appeals to his ideas in nineteenth- and twentieth-century debates over Methodist, HolinTrade ReviewThis whopping book is without doubt the Big Mac of Jonathan Edwards studies. ... Writing clearly and accessibly, but also authoritatively and yet modestly, they compare their product to the sections of a symphony orchestra, or to a series of viewing stations of both the explored and yet to-be-explored interior of Edwards's writings. * Paul Helm, Journal of Ecclesiastical History *very impressive book on the theology of one of the greatest minds ever given to God's church. Those with an interest in Edwards certainly must get a copy. Ministers or serious-minded Christians would also be well served by having this excellent volume. * William M. Schweitzer, Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology *Table of ContentsPart One: Introduction: Historical, Cultural, and Social Contexts ; Chapter One: Overture to a Symphony ; Chapter Two: Jonathan Edwards: A Theological Life ; Chapter Three: Edwards's Intellectual Context ; Chapter Four: Edwards's Spirituality ; Chapter Five: The Question of Development: Did Edwards Change? ; Part Two: Topics in Edwards's Theology ; Section One: Methods and Strategies ; Chapter Six: Beauty and Aesthetics ; Chapter Seven: Metaphysics ; Chapter Eight: Typology: Scripture, Nature, and All of Reality ; Chapter Nine: Revelation: Scripture, Tradition, and Reason ; Chapter Ten: Apologetics ; Chapter Eleven: Biblical Exegesis ; Chapter Twelve: The Concept of a History of Redemption ; Section Two: The Triune God, the Angels, and Heaven ; Chapter Thirteen: God as Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit ; Chapter Fourteen: The End of God in Creation ; Chapter Fifteen: Providence and History ; Chapter Sixteen: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ ; Chapter Seventeen: The Role of the Holy Spirit ; Chapter Eighteen: The Angels in the Plan of Salvation ; Chapter Nineteen: Heaven is a World of Love ; Section Three: Theological Anthropology and Divine Grace ; Chapter Twenty: The Affections and the Human Person ; Chapter Twenty-one: Edward's Calvinism and Theology of the Covenants ; Chapter Twenty-two: Free Will and Original Sin ; Chapter Twenty-three: Salvation, Grace, and Faith: An Overview ; Chapter Twenty-four: Conversion: A Divine and Supernatural Light ; Chapter Twenty-five: Justification and Sanctification ; Chapter Twenty-six: The Theme of Divinization ; Chapter Twenty-seven: The Theology of Revivals ; Section Four: Church, Ethics, Eschatology, and Society ; Chapter Twenty-eight: The Church ; Chapter Twenty-nine: Edwards On (and In) the Ministry ; Chapter Thirty: The Sacraments: Baptism and the Lord's Supper ; Chapter Thirty-one: The Voice of the Great God: A Theology of Preaching ; Chapter Thirty-two: Public Theology, Society, and America ; Chapter Thirty-three: True Virtue, Christian Love, and Ethical Theory ; Chapter Thirty-four: Edwards On (and In) Missions ; Chapter Thirty-five: Eschatology ; Chapter Thirty-six: Christianity and Other Religions ; Part Three: Legacies and Affinities: Edwards's Disciples and Interpreters ; Chapter Thirty-seven: Selective Readings: Edwards and the New Divinity ; Chapter Thirty-eight: Mixed Reactions: Princeton and Andover Seminaries, and Nineteenth-Century American Culture ; Chapter Thirty-nine: New Beginnings: The Twentieth Century Recovery of Edwards's Theology ; Chapter Forty: Interpretations, I: Edwards and Modern Philosophy ; Chapter Forty-one: Interpretations, II: Edwards and the Reformed Tradition ; Chapter Forty-two: Interpretations, III: Edwards and the Revival Tradition ; Chapter Forty-three: Interpretations, IV: Edwards and the Catholic and Orthodox Traditions ; Chapter Forty-four: Interpretations, V: Edwards and Contemporary Theology ; Chapter Forty-five: Conclusion: Edwards as a Theological Bridge ; Index

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Book SynopsisMark Amstutz offers a groundbreaking exploration of the rise, evolution, and crucial impact of Evangelicals on American foreign affairs. In the nineteenth century, Protestant missionaries spearheaded global engagement by serving throughout the world. They gained fluency in foreign languages, developed knowledge about distant societies, and increased cross-cultural awareness. They also played a vital role in advancing human dignity by teaching and modeling values, building schools and clinics, and creating institutions that nurtured civil society. In view of their important role in global affairs, Amstutz argues, Evangelicals can be regarded as America''s first internationalists. When modernists gained control of Protestant denominations at the turn of the twentieth century, traditional Protestants responded by creating a Fundamentalist movement that gave precedence to spiritual life but neglected social and political concerns. Four decades later, orthodox believers sought to restore thTrade ReviewAn excellent overview of the often surprising and unexpected multidimensional paths of evangelica perspectives on US foreign Policy. * M. S. Hill, Choice, *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; PART I ; 1. Christianity and Foreign Policy ; 2. The Nature and Rise of Evangelicalism ; 3. The Genesis of Evangelical Global Engagement: The Missionary Movement ; 4. The Political Ethics of Evangelicals ; PART II ; 5. Evangelicals and Global Poverty ; 6. Evangelicals and U.S. Foreign Policy Towards Israel ; 7. The Rise of Evangelical Foreign Policy Advocacy ; 8. Shortcomings of Evangelical Foreign Policy Advocacy ; 9. Towards a More Effective Evangelical Global Engagement ; Notes ; Index

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Book SynopsisControversial megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll proclaimed from a conference stage in 2013, I know who made the environment and he's coming back and going to burn it all up. So yes, I drive an SUV. The comment, which Driscoll later explained away as a joke, highlights what has been a long history of religious anti-environmentalism. Given how firmly entrenched this sentiment has been, surprising inroads have been made by a new movement with few financial resources, which is deeply committed to promoting green religious traditions and creating a new environmental ethic. To Care for Creation chronicles this movement and explains how it has emerged despite institutional and cultural barriers, as well as the hurdles posed by logic and practices that set religious environmental organizations apart from the secular movement. Ellingson takes a deep dive into the ways entrepreneurial activists tap into and improvise on a variety of theological, ethical, and symbolic traditions in order to issue

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Book SynopsisOffers an account of religion and society in nineteenth-century America. Exploring the eruptions of religion in New York's penny presses, the budding fields of anthropology and phrenology, and Moby-Dick, this book challenges the strict separation between the religious and the secular that remains integral to discussions about religion.Trade Review"Imaginative and rewarding, this is an exemplary instance of interdisciplinary historical inquiry. A brilliant, groundbreaking book." (John Corrigan, Florida State University)"

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Book SynopsisThe Holy Spirit has become an object of greater attention in Trinitarian theology, and indeed in the broader life of the Church, since the rise of Pentecostalism at the beginning of the twentieth century. Different understandings of the Holy Spirit have had different impacts on worship; here, Elizabeth Welch examines four surprising overlaps in the thought of two radically different traditions of the church about the relationship between the Holy Spirit and worship. These traditions are represented by John Owen, from seventeenth-century England, and John Zizioulas, from contemporary Greece. Welch explores in turn the common themes of the personal and relational nature of the triune God, the immediacy of the encounter with God through the Holy Spirit in worship, the role of the Holy Spirit in leading people into truth, and the transformative nature of worship that draws people into sharing God''s purpose for the world. In each, the insights of Owen and Zizioulas shed new light on the onTrade ReviewThis timely and scholarly book deepens ecumenical thinking about the connection between the Holy Spirit and the church's worship. Elizabeth Welch reveals unexpected convergences between John Owen (Reformed) and John Zizioulas (Orthodox), widely separated in time and in ecclesial tradition, in her dynamic, relational, and transformative theology of the Holy Spirit in worship. Both liturgy and theology will be enriched by the study of this book. Paul Avis, Durham University and University of Exeter Throughout this book, Elizabeth Welch makes fresh and stimulating connections. She writes persuasively about the meeting of Christian West and Christian East in the rich theology of the Holy Spirit and of worship developed by the seventeenth-century Puritan John Owen and the contemporary Orthodox theologian John Zizioulas. Through this sharply focused study, she illuminates central ecclesiological themes common to East and West. This is an original, thought-provoking, and profoundly irenic book. Nicholas Sagovsky, King's College London What connects a seventeenth-century English Puritan with a twenty-first-century Greek Orthodox theologian? The Holy Spirit! Elizabeth Welch's analysis of pneumatology in John Owen and John Zizioulas reveals unexpected convergence between the two thinkers. Insightful and stimulating, there is much here which promotes the quest to renew Christian worship and reinvigorate ecumenical dialogue. Robert Pope, Westminster College, Cambridge, United Kingdom In a post-denominational era, where the momentum of the church seems to have shifted to the 'new' and 'pentecostal' churches, Dr. Welch's book is an important contribution to the contemporary ecumenical discussion about the place and work of the Holy Spirit in the worship of the church and a reminder of the significance of the historic discussions to that debate." John Burgess, retired minister and training officer of the United Reformed Church In my opinion it is still the case that the latter has far too little emphasis, especially in Protestant services. I am therefore happy with this pneumatological attention to the liturgy and find it very commendable that the author also empahasises this in one (special) reformed 'father'. At the same time I think that the pneumatological reflection in this book are undeveloped. Owen and Zizioulas and their diverse contexts and positions demand so much from the author, that a pneumatological approach to worship in the primer remains. It would be great if Welch came soon time takes us into the next layers of paint. Klaas Bom In KERK EN THEOLOGIE 74.3 (2023), pp317-318.Table of ContentsForeword by Ben Quash Preface Acknowledgments 1. The Holy Spirit and Worship: Setting the Scene 2. Owen's and Zizioulas's Trinitarian Foundations 3. The "Dynamic Recovery" of the Holy Spirit in Owen and Zizioulas 4. The Significance of Worship for Owen and Zizioulas 5. The Quadrilateral, Part One: The Holy Spirit and the Trinity - Personal and Relational Understanding 6. The Quadrilateral, Part Two: The Holy Spirit Encountered in Worship - Immediacy, Mediation, and Otherness 7. The Quadrilateral, Part Three: "The Spirit Will Guide You into All the Truth" 8. The Quadrilateral, Part Four: Worship in the Power of the Holy Spirit - The Nature of Transformation 9. The Holy Spirit and Worship: Ecumenical Implications Appendix: Contents of Goold's edition of John Owen's Works Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisT.F. Torrance''s Conflict and Agreement in the Church gathers together his most influential essays and articles on topics relating to ecumenism. Himself involved heavily in the ecumenical movement, he wrote that ''ours must be the task of learning together again how to confess, like the early Church, faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and God in all its breadth and length and height and depth, and therefore in the overflowing love of God.'' Out of this conviction grew a comprehensive doctrine of the Church ''in which our differences are lost sight of because they are destroyed from behind by a masterful faith in the Saviour of men.''In this second volume, Torrance''s thought on inter-denominational cooperation in light of the Church''s mission is presented. He begins by suggesting that ''the lines of conflict and agreement in the Church coincide less and less with the frontiers of the historic communions''. This opens the door for greater union between those communion, but also exposes s

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Book SynopsisA century ago Canada was considered to be a Christian nation and the vast majority of Canadians claimed they were devoutly religious. But some vigorously resisted the dominance of Christianity. Towards a Godless Dominion explores both anti-religious activism and the organized opposition religious unbelievers faced from Canada in the 1920s and ’30s.Trade Review“Engaging, insightful, well-written, and solidly researched. Elliot Hanowski adds a new dimension to our understanding of religion and irreligion in twentieth-century Canada. The book further expands our knowledge of the religious spectrum in Canadian society, importantly deflecting attention away from the historic mainstream churches and beliefs.” David B. Marshall, University of Calgary and author of Secularizing the Faith: Canadian Protestant Clergy and the Crisis of Belief, 1850–1940“Towards a Godless Dominion reminds us that repression works. Elites remain as ready and able as ever to stifle the kinds of speech that they find threatening. It takes courage or at least eccentricity to resist them.” Literature Review of Canada

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Book SynopsisA century ago Canada was considered to be a Christian nation and the vast majority of Canadians claimed they were devoutly religious. But some vigorously resisted the dominance of Christianity. Towards a Godless Dominion explores both anti-religious activism and the organized opposition religious unbelievers faced from Canada in the 1920s and ’30s.Trade Review“Engaging, insightful, well-written, and solidly researched. Elliot Hanowski adds a new dimension to our understanding of religion and irreligion in twentieth-century Canada. The book further expands our knowledge of the religious spectrum in Canadian society, importantly deflecting attention away from the historic mainstream churches and beliefs.” David B. Marshall, University of Calgary and author of Secularizing the Faith: Canadian Protestant Clergy and the Crisis of Belief, 1850–1940“Towards a Godless Dominion reminds us that repression works. Elites remain as ready and able as ever to stifle the kinds of speech that they find threatening. It takes courage or at least eccentricity to resist them.” Literature Review of Canada

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Book SynopsisThis volume analyzes changing relationships between religion and national identity in the course of European integration. Examining elite discourse, media debates and public opinions across Europe over a decade, it explores how accelerated European integration and Eastern enlargement have affected religious markers of collective identity. Trade Review“This is a book that traces, conceptually, theoretically and empirically, the impact of EU institutions on identity – and more specifically, religious identity. Much of the strength of the book derives from a research design that combines rich analysis of individual case studies with the identification of broad patterns and common themes. … editors have contributed to our understanding of the ways in which EU integration has shaped the development of national – and mainly religious – identity in different member states.” (Daphne Halikiopoulou, Religion and Society in Central and Eastern Europe, Vol. 9 (1), 2017)“This book sets out to redress the neglect of religion as an element of collective identities in the study of European integration from 1990–2010. … it makes a valuable contribution to the study of the entanglement of religion with national identities as they are effected by the processes of European integration. Hopefully this will provide a solid foundation for further research in this area, incorporating other cases, engaging with greater varieties of religion and encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration and debate.” (Liam Sutherland, Nations and Nationalism, Vol. 22 (4), October, 2016)Table of Contents1. Religion, Nationalism and European Integration Introduction; Matthias Koenig and Wolfgang Knöbl 2. The (Fragile) Normalization of German Identity within Europe; Willfried Spohn 3. Changing Frameworks of National Identity in Post-communist Poland; Miko?aj Lewicki and S?awomir Mandes 4. Greek Identity and Europe Entanglements and Tensions; Effie Fokas and Evangelos Karagiannis 5. Turkey in Europe, Europe in Turkey History, Elites, and the Media; Levent Soysal, Saime Özçürümez and Ça?la Diner 6. Religious Dimensions of National and European Identities: Evidence from Cross-national Survey Research; Sabine Trittler, Slawomir Mandes and Matthias Koenig 7. Varieties of Religious Nationalism; Matthias Koenig and Wolfgang Knöbl

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Book SynopsisReligion, Theory, Critique is an essential tool for learning about theory and method in the study of religion. Leading experts engage with contemporary and classical theories as well as non-Western cultural contexts. It is the first textbook which seeks to engage discussion of classical approaches with contemporary cultural and critical theories.Trade ReviewCovering an important and impressive range of theoretical approaches and critical engagement, this sophisticated book will be a useful resource for serious scholars of religion as well as those working in related fields such as anthropology, sociology of religion, and psychology of religion. -- Hugh Urban, Ohio State University Once driven by a comparative method on the trail of timeless universals, the academic study of religion is today an entirely different beast: a newer generation is far more sensitive to viewpoint, theory, and the practical implications of scholarship itself. Religion, Theory, Critique offers a set of state-of-the-art essays that keep in sight both the study of religious people as well as those who classify them as religious. It therefore sets the table for scrutinizing the entire field-including our tools and our assumptions. -- Russell McCutcheon, University of Alabama This volume will quickly become essential to undergraduate and graduate 'theory and method' courses, as well as a range of 'religion and culture' courses and graduate student reading lists. -- M. Gail Hamner, Syracuse UniversityTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments 1. The Copernican Turn in the Study of Religion, by Richard King Part 1: Historical Foundations/Genealogies 2. Nominalist "Judaism" and the Late-Ancient Invention of Religion, by Daniel Boyarin 3. Bible/Religion/Critique, by Ward Blanton and Yvonne Sherwood 4. Hegel: On Secularity and the Religion-Making Machine, by Arvind Mandair 5. Friedrich Max Muller and the Science of Religion, by Lourens van den Bosch 6. Classic Comparative Theology and the Study of Religion, by Hugh Nicholson 7. Religion, Religious Studies, and Shinto in Modern Japan, by Jun'ichi Isomae Part 2: The Enlightenment Critique of Religion 8. David Hume on Religion, by Randall Styers 9. Feuerbach on Religion, by Jay Geller 10. Nietzsche: Life, Works, Reception, by Tyler Roberts 11. Sigmund Freud on Religion, by Volney Gay 12. Karl Marx on Religion, by Terry Rey 13. "Religion" in the Writings of the New Atheists, by Tina Beattie Part 3: Religion Beyond the West 14. Indigenous African Traditions as Models for Theorizing Religion, by Edward P. Antonio 15. Zongjiao and the Category of Religion in China, by Ya-pei Kuo 16. Islamic D?n as an Alternative to Western Models of "Religion", by Ahmet T. Karamustafa 17. Translation, by Arvind Mandair Part 4: Religion as Experience 18. The Psychology of Religion, by Jeremy Carrette 19. William James and the Study of Religion: A Critical Reading, by Jeremy Carrette and David Lamberth 20. Rudolf Otto and the Idea of the Holy, by Gregory Alles 21. Jung on Religion, by Volney Gay 22. Religion and the Brain: Cognitive Science as a Basis for Theories of Religion, by Ilkka Pyysiainen 23. A Critical Response to Cognitivist Theories of Religion, by Steven Engler and Mark Quentin Gardiner Part 5: Religion, Language, and Myth 24. "Religion" in Anglo-American (Analytical) Philosophy of Religion, by Ludger Viefhues-Bailey 25. Structuralist Linguistics and Structuralist Theories of Religion, by Volney Gay 26. Imagining, Manufacturing, and Theorizing Myth: An Overview of Key Theories of Myth and Religion, by Daniel Dubuisson Part 6: Religion/Society/Culture 27. The Origins of the Sociology of Religion: The Problem of "Religion" and "Religions" in Classical Sociology, by Bryan S. Turner 28. Contemporary Social Theory and Religion: The Misconstrual of Religion in Theories of "Second" Modernity, by Simon Speck 29. Classical Anthropological Theories of Religion, by Randall Styers 30. Defining Religion: Geertz and Asad, by Jon P. Mitchell 31. Religion, Media, and Cultural Studies, by Richard Fox Part 7: Religion, Ritual, and Action 32. Classic Ritual Theories, by Ulrike Brunotte 33. The Myth-Ritual Debate, by Ulrike Brunotte 34. From Ritual to Ritualization, by Jon P. Mitchell 35. Religion and Theories of Action, by Kocku von Stuckrad Part 8: The Phenomenology of Religion and Its Critics 36. Phenomenology of Religion: The Philosophical Background, by Charles E. Scott 37. The Phenomenology of Religion, by James L. Cox 38. Mircea Eliade, by Gregory Alles 39. Critical Responses to Phenomenological Theories of Religion: What Kind of Category Is "Religion"?, by William Arnal 40. Critical Religion: "Religion" Is Not a Stand-Alone Category, by Timothy Fitzgerald Part 9: Religion and Contemporary European Thought 41. Post-Marxism and Religion, by Nelson Maldonado-Torres 42. Pierre Bourdieu on Religion, by Terry Rey 43. Jacques Derrida on Religion, by Ellen Armour 44. Foucault and the Study of Religion, by Jeremy Carrette 45. Contemporary Continental Philosophy and the "Return of the Religious", by Randall Styers Part 10: Religion, Gender, and Sexuality 46. Feminist Approaches to the Study of Religion, by Darlene Juschka 47. French Feminism and Religion, by Morny Joy 48. Queer Theory Meets Critical Religion: Are We Starting to Think Yet?, by Naomi R. Goldenberg Part 11: Religion, Coloniality and Race 49. Religion, Modernity, and Coloniality, by Nelson Maldonado-Torres 50. Apartheid Comparative Religion in South Africa, by David Chidester 51. Theorizing Race and Religion: Du Bois, Cox, and Fanon, by William David Hart 52. Black Cultural Criticism, the New Politics of Difference, and Religious Criticism, by Victor Anderson 53. Theorizing Black Religious Studies: A Genealogy, by Victor Anderson Part 12: Religion/Nation/Globalization 54. Religion and Violence, by William T. Cavanaugh 55. Religion and Economy, by Gregory Alles 56. Globalization and Religion, by Jeremy Carrette List of Contributors Index

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