Worship, rites, ceremonies and rituals Books

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe contributors demonstrate a high degree of expertise about their subject matter in well-written, theologically nuanced essays that include generous footnotes containing additional commentary ... It would serve as a valuable introductory text and research resource for seminarians and other graduate students who may be interested in learning from an ecumenical array of scholars about the history of theologies of the sacraments in general. -- Anglican Theological ReviewBehold: an instant classic compendium and textbook on the Christian sacraments. Justin Holcomb and David Johnson have created a coup with this beautifully organized, edited, and accessible time-line of essays on the historic disagreements concerning the means of grace, from the earliest days of the Church to the political theologies of today. -- Rev. Dr. Paul F.M. Zahl,Author of Grace in PracticeBrings in many disparate and oftentimes unattended to voices so as to show how central the sacraments have been to the message and growth of the Christian people. It is a work to be welcomed by any student of theology interested in the richness and the diversity of ritual as well as the need to recover the link between worship and sanctity. -- Fr. David Meconi, SJ,Saint Louis UniversityExquisitely written. Brings accessible and powerful insight into the history of sacramental understanding. It should become a new standard text for any graduate or undergraduate students seeking to gain proficiency or acumen in the world of sacramental theology. -- Rev. Henry L Thompson,Dean and President, Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe contributors demonstrate a high degree of expertise about their subject matter in well-written, theologically nuanced essays that include generous footnotes containing additional commentary ... It would serve as a valuable introductory text and research resource for seminarians and other graduate students who may be interested in learning from an ecumenical array of scholars about the history of theologies of the sacraments in general. -- Anglican Theological ReviewBehold: an instant classic compendium and textbook on the Christian sacraments. Justin Holcomb and David Johnson have created a coup with this beautifully organized, edited, and accessible time-line of essays on the historic disagreements concerning the means of grace, from the earliest days of the Church to the political theologies of today. -- Rev. Dr. Paul F.M. Zahl,Author of Grace in PracticeBrings in many disparate and oftentimes unattended to voices so as to show how central the sacraments have been to the message and growth of the Christian people. It is a work to be welcomed by any student of theology interested in the richness and the diversity of ritual as well as the need to recover the link between worship and sanctity. -- Fr. David Meconi, SJ,Saint Louis UniversityExquisitely written. Brings accessible and powerful insight into the history of sacramental understanding. It should become a new standard text for any graduate or undergraduate students seeking to gain proficiency or acumen in the world of sacramental theology. -- Rev. Henry L Thompson,Dean and President, Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry

Read more less

Book SynopsisPresents an ethnography of seven Gullah/Geechee women from the South Carolina lowcountry. This book emphasizes that this communication affirms the women's spiritual faith - which seamlessly integrates Christian and folk traditions - and reinforces their position as powerful culture keepers within Gullah/Geechee society.Trade Review"Talking to the Dead is an incredibly rich study, which will reward both a general readership and readers from a range of disciplinary backgrounds." -- Teresa Zackodnik * Feminist Review *"LeRhonda Manigault-Bryant’s Talking to the Dead is well suited for the novice who is unaware of any of the traditions and religious practices of the Gullah/Geechee.... Because of its emphasis on black women, the ethnography also has much to offer to the black feminist or black womanist scholar, especially one with an interest in African Diasporic culture or African derivative belief systems." -- Constance Bailey * Western Folklore *"While talking to the dead, as well as other less ‘flashy’ Gullah/Geechee practices risk being lost in application, Manigault-Bryant and other third generation scholars have ensured they will not be completely erased through an increasingly sophisticated historiography accounting for the diverse perspectives of African American women in the South Carolina lowcountry." -- Douglas R. Valentine * Religion *"This masterful interweaving of these personal narratives of Gullah/Geechee women with the spiritual practice of talking to the dead, particularly in light of the present-day commodification of Gullah/Geechee culture (offered in the terminating chapter) in South Carolina, is the overall strength of this work.... This book, then, is a must read for advanced students and scholars in these areas of study." -- Margarita Simon Guillory * Religious Studies Review *"...Talking to the Dead is a welcome addition to scholarship on the Gullah/Geechee culture and African American religious practices in general....Most importantly, Talking to the Dead not only lays the groundwork for further investigation into the gender dymanics of longstanding Gullah-Geechee religiosity, but also underscores the fact that no study of African American religion can be complete without a thorough investigation of women as believers, practitioners, and cultural leaders." -- Shannen Dee Williams * Journal of African American History *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Prologue. Talking to the Dead xiii Introduction. Gullah/Geechee Women 1 1. Culture Keepers 24 2. Folk Religion 66 3. "Ah Tulk to de Dead All de Time" 104 4. "Sendin' Up My Timbah" 136 5. Lived Memory 172 Epilogue. Between the Living and the Dead 205 Appendix A. Companion Audio Materials 211 Appendix B. Interview Format and Demographics 213 Notes 217 Select Bibliography 251 Index 267

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review“This excellent book makes a significant contribution to religion and kinship, gender, sexuality, and South Asian studies…. Highly recommended.” -- D. A. Chekki * Choice *“This is a beautifully written and theoretically engaged ethnography about a community whose past has been fraught and whose future lies in the balance. It would be appropriate reading for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses and makes an important contribution to the anthropology of gender, sexuality, kinship, religion, and modernity in India.” -- Cecilia Van Hollen * Medical Anthropology Quarterly *"We must dwell with, as Given to the Goddess gracefully does, the everyday experiences of devotion, exchange, and one’s social relationship to another—human, nonhuman, or even goddess—that make us, quite simply, kin." -- Durba Mitra * GLQ *"Ramberg’s work exemplifies an extraordinary synthesis of animated empiricism and theoretical rigor. It is heartening to mark the arrival of this very important work that signals a critical departure in several ways." -- Priyadarshini Vijaisri * Anthropos *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction: Gods, Gifts, Trouble 1 Part I. Gods 1. Yellamma and Her Sisters: Kinship among Goddesses and Others 39 2. Yellamma, Her Wives, and the Question of Religion 71 Part II. Gifts 3. Tantra, Shakta, Yellamma 113 4. The Giving of Daughters: Sexual Economy, Sexual Agency, and the "Traffic" in Women 142 Part III. Trouble 5. Kinship Trouble 181 6. Troubling Kinship 213 Notes 223 Glossary 247 Bibliography 251 Index 270

Read more less

Book SynopsisMeditation has flourished in different parts of the world ever since the foundations of the great civilizations were laid. It played a vital role in the formation of Asian cultures that trace much of their heritage to ancient India and China. This volume brings together for the first time studies of the major traditions of Asian meditation as well as material on scientific approaches to meditation. It delves deeply into the individual traditions while viewing each of them from a global perspective, examining both historical and generic connections between meditative practices from numerous historical periods and different parts of the Eurasian continent. It seeks to identify the cultural and historical peculiarities of Asian schools of meditation while recognizing basic features of meditative practice across cultures, thereby taking the first step toward a framework for the comparative study of meditation. The book, accessibly written by scholars from several fields, opens with chapt

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisBack by popular demand, the classic JPS Holiday anthologies remain essential and relevant in our digital age. The Sabbath Anthology delves into one of the earliest Jewish institutions - the holiday the prophet Isaiah characterized as ""the day of delight"" - elucidating its history, laws, customs and traditions, religious and ethical insights, and observances in different eras.Trade Review“Throughout my long career as a rabbi, the JPS holiday anthologies have been an essential resource. All the core background is in one place. If I need a holiday story, the anthologies contain a wide range of choices. And sections on celebrations worldwide provide new approaches to festivals.”—Rabbi Steven Bob, author of Jonah and the Meaning of Our Lives “This reissue is good news! I read this rich, varied, and classic series with pleasure and collected the volumes avidly when they first appeared.”—Rabbi Reuven Hammer, author of Akiva: Life, Legend, LegacyTable of ContentsList of Illustrations A Note from the Publisher Preface Acknowledgments BOOK I: THE SABBATH IN PRACTICE THE TRADITIONAL SABBATH THE SABBATH IN THE HOME HOME SERVICE FOR THE SABBATH THE SABBATH HOUR FOR CHILDREN THE SABBATH IN THE SYNAGOGUE THE ‘ONEG SHABBAT THE LAW OF THE SABBATH SABBATH SPICE BOOK II: THE SABBATH IN LITERATURE, ART AND MUSIC THE SABBATH IN THE BIBLE THE SABBATH IN JUDAEO-HELLENISTIC LITERATURE THE SABBATH IN THE TALMUD AND THE MIDRASH THE SABBATH IN MEDIEVAL JEWISH LITERATURE THE SABBATH IN MODERN JEWISH LITERATURE THE SABBATH IN THE SHORT STORY THE SABBATH IN JEWISH POETRY THE SABBATH IN MUSIC THE SABBATH IN ART BOOK III: THE SABBATH IN HISTORY THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SABBATH THE STRUGGLE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE SABBATH THE JEWISH SABBATH AND THE CHRISTIAN SUNDAY SABBATH OBSERVANCE IN THE FAR-FLUNG JEWISH COMMUNITIES MUSIC SUPPLEMENT THE SABBATH SERVICES ZEMIROT GRACE AFTER MEALS ‘ONEG SHABBAT SONGS CANTILLATION MODES ON THE SABBATH Glossary Bibliography Notes

Read more less

Book SynopsisBack by popular demand, the classic JPS Holiday anthologies remain essential and relevant in our digital age. The Rosh Hashanah Anthology is designed to make the religious impact and commemoration of the Jewish New Year meaningful as both a solemn and a festive day. Its significance, history, and messages are embodied in the great treasures of Jewish classical writings.Trade Review“Throughout my long career as a rabbi, the JPS holiday anthologies have been an essential resource. All the core background is in one place. If I need a holiday story, the anthologies contain a wide range of choices. And sections on celebrations worldwide provide new approaches to festivals.”—Rabbi Steven Bob, author of Jonah and the Meaning of Our Lives “This reissue is good news! I read this rich, varied, and classic series with pleasure and collected the volumes avidly when they first appeared.”—Rabbi Reuven Hammer, author of Akiva: Life, Legend, LegacyTable of ContentsList of Illustrations A Note from the Publisher Preface Acknowledgments 1 ROSH HASHANAH IN THE BIBLE 2 ROSH HASHANAH IN POSTBIBLICAL WRITINGS 3 ROSH HASHANAH IN TALMUD AND MIDRASH 4 ROSH HASHANAH IN MEDIEVAL JEWISH LITERATURE 5 ROSH HASHANAH IN JEWISH LAW 6 SELECTED PRAYERS 7 THE SCRIPTURAL READINGS 8 THE SHOFAR 9 THE SYMPBOLIC CEREMONY OF TASHLIKH 10 ROSH HASHANAH PARABLES 11 HASIDIC TALES AND TEACHINGS 12 ROSH HASHANAH IN MODERN PROSE 13 ROSH HASHANAH IN ART 14 THE MUSIC OF THE ROSH HASHANAH LITURGY 15 ROSH HASHANAH IN MANY LANDS 16 ROSH HASHANAH IN POETRY 17 ROSH HASHANAH IN THE SHORT STORY 18 ROSH HASHANAH GREETING CARDS 19 THE CULINARY ART OF ROSH HASHANAH 20 ROSH HASHANAH MISCELLANY 21 CHILDREN’S STORIES FOR ROSH HASHANAH 22 CHILDREN’S POEMS FOR ROSH HASHANAH 23 NEW YEAR PROGRAMS Notes Glossary of Rosh Hashanah Terms Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisBack by popular demand, the classic JPS Holiday anthologies remain essential and relevant in our digital age. Drawing on Jewish creativity from hundreds of sources and describing Yom Kippur observances in various lands and eras, The Yom Kippur Anthology vividly evokes the vitality of this holiday throughout history and its significance for the modern Jew.Trade Review“Throughout my long career as a rabbi, the JPS holiday anthologies have been an essential resource. All the core background is in one place. If I need a holiday story, the anthologies contain a wide range of choices. And sections on celebrations worldwide provide new approaches to festivals.”—Rabbi Steven Bob, author of Jonah and the Meaning of Our Lives “This reissue is good news! I read this rich, varied, and classic series with pleasure and collected the volumes avidly when they first appeared.”—Rabbi Reuven Hammer, author of Akiva: Life, Legend, Legacy Table of ContentsList of Illustrations A Note from the Publisher Preface Acknowledgments I YOM KIPPUR IN THE BIBLE II. YOM KIPPUR IN POSTBIBLICAL WRITINGS III. YOM KIPPUR IN TALMUD AND MIDRASH IV. YOM KIPPUR IN MEDIEVAL JEWISH LITERATURE V. YOM KIPPUR IN JEWISH LAW VI. SELECTED PRAYERS VII. THE PARADOX OF KOL NIDRE VIII. THE MUSIC OF THE YOM KIPPUR LITURGY IX. HASIDIC TALES AND TEACHINGS X. YOM KIPPUR IN MODERN PROSE XI. YOM KIPPUR IN ART XII. YOM KIPPUR IN MANY LANDS XIII. YOM KIPPUR IN POETRY XIV. YOM KIPPUR IN THE SHORT STORY XV. PRE-YOM KIPPUR FEASTING XVI. YOM KIPPUR MISCELLANY XVII. CHILDREN’S STORIES FOR YOM KIPPUR XVIII. CHILDREN’S POEMS FOR YOM KIPPUR Notes Glossary of Yom Kippur Terms Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisBack by popular demand, the classic JPS Holiday anthologies remain essential and relevant in our digital age. The Sukkot and Simhat Torah Anthology offers new insight into the Festival of Ingathering and the Festival of Rejoicing in the Law by elucidating the two festivals' background, historical development, and spiritual truths for Jews and humankind.Trade Review“Throughout my long career as a rabbi, the JPS holiday anthologies have been an essential resource. All the core background is in one place. If I need a holiday story, the anthologies contain a wide range of choices. And sections on celebrations worldwide provide new approaches to festivals.”—Rabbi Steven Bob, author of Jonah and the Meaning of Our Lives “This reissue is good news! I read this rich, varied, and classic series with pleasure and collected the volumes avidly when they first appeared.”—Rabbi Reuven Hammer, author of Akiva: Life, Legend, Legacy Table of ContentsList of Illustrations A Note from the Publisher Preface Acknowledgments SUKKOT IN THE BIBLE SUKKOT IN POSTBIBLICAL WRITINGS SUKKOT IN TALMUD AND MIDRASH SUKKOT IN MEDIEVAL JEWISH LITERATURE SUKKOT AND SIMHAT TORAH IN JEWISH LAW SUKKOT AND SIMHAT TORAH LITURGY HASIDIC TALES AND TEACHINGS SUKKOT AND SIMHAT TORAH IN MODERN PROSE SUKKOT AND SIMHAT TORAH IN ART THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FESTIVAL THE SUKKAH THE FOUR SPECIES SUKKOT AND SIMHAT TORAH IN MANY LANDS SUKKOT AND SIMHAT TORAH IN POETRY SUKKOT AND SIMHAT TORAH IN THE SHORT STORY SUKKOT AND SIMHAT TORAH MISCELLANY SUKKOT AND SIMHAT TORAH HUMOR THE FESTIVAL DELICACIES CHILDREN’S STORIES FOR SUKKOT AND SIMHAT TORAH POEMS FOR CHILDREN PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES DANCES FOR SUKKOT AND SIMHAT TORAH MUSIC FOR SUKKOT AND SIMHAT TORAH Notes Glossary of Sukkot and Simhat Torah Terms Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisDelves into the stories and messages of Hanukkah as they have unfolded in Jewish literature over the past two thousand years: biblical intimations of the festival, post-biblical writings, selections from the Talmud and midrashim, excerpts from medieval books, home liturgies, laws and customs, observances in different nations, stories and poems, art, and recipes.Trade Review“Throughout my long career as a rabbi, the JPS holiday anthologies have been an essential resource. All the core background is in one place. If I need a holiday story, the anthologies contain a wide range of choices. And sections on celebrations worldwide provide new approaches to festivals.”—Rabbi Steven Bob, author of Jonah and the Meaning of Our Lives “This reissue is good news! I read this rich, varied, and classic series with pleasure and collected the volumes avidly when they first appeared.”—Rabbi Reuven Hammer, author of Akiva: Life, Legend, LegacyTable of ContentsList of Illustrations A Note from the Publisher Preface Acknowledgments HANUKKAH AND ITS HISTORY HANUKKAH IN THE BIBLE HANUKKAH IN POSTBIBLICAL WRITINGS HANUKKAH IN TALMUD AND MIDRASH THE MEDIEVAL SCROLL OF THE HASMONEANS HANUKKAH IN JEWISH LAW HANUKKAH IN MODERN PROSE HANUKKAH IN ART A HANUKKAH DRAMA HANUKKAH IN MANY LANDS HANUKKAH IN POETRY HANUKKAH IN THE SHORT STORY HANUKKAH ODDITIES HANUKKAH SIDELIGHTS THE HANUKKAH CUISINE CHILDREN’S STORIES FOR HANUKKAH CHILDREN’S POEMS FOR HANUKKAH HOME SERVICE FOR HANUKKAH HANUKKAH PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES DANCES FOR HANUKKAH MUSIC FOR HANUKKAH Notes Glossary of Hanukkah Terms Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisPope Benedict XIV Lambertini (r. 1740–58) was one of the driving forces behind the Italian Enlightenment of the eighteenth century. His campaign to reconcile faith and empirical science, re-launch a dialogue between the Church and the European intellectual community, and expand papal patronage of the arts and sciences helped restore Italy’s position as a center of intellectual and artistic innovation.Benedict XIV and the Enlightenment offers a broad and nuanced assessment of Benedict’s engagement with Enlightenment art, science, spirituality, and culture. The collection’s essays, written by international experts in the field, cover topics ranging from Benedict’s revisions to the Church’s procedures for beatification and sanctification to his patronage of women scientists and mathematicians at the university in Bologna, his birthplace.Trade Review'Accompanied by a wonderful set of colour plates, this book remarkably succeeds in its attempt to read the ambiguities and nuances of the "Catholic Enlightenment" through the figure of Benedict XIV. Historians of science will find an abundance of materials to work on the relationships between Catholicism and the science on a global scale in the early modern period.' -- Paolo Savoia Metascience 24 October 2016Table of ContentsPreface by Rebecca Messbarger Introduction by Christopher M. S. Johns Part I: Benedict XIV, Women and Progressive Catholicism 1. Marta Cavazza: Benedict's Patronage of Learned Women 2. Paula Findlen: The Pope and the Englishwoman: Benedict XIV, Jane Squire, the Bologna Academy, and the Problem of Longitude 3. Stephanie Kirk: Benedict XIV and New World Convent Reform Part II: Faith and Medicine in Catholic Enlightenment 4. Rebecca Messbarger: The Art and Science of Human Anatomy in Benedict's Vision of the Enlightenment Church 5. Gianna Pomata: The Devil's Advocate Among the Physicians: What Prospero Lambertini Learned from Medical Sources 6. Fernando Vidal: Modernizing the Miraculous Body in Prospero Lambertini's De Servorum Dei Part III: Benedict's Response to Challenges to Church Authority 7. John L. Heilbron: Benedict XIV and the Natural Sciences 8. Maurice Finocchiaro: Benedict XIV and the Galileo Affair: Liberalization or Carelessness? 9. Maria Pia Donato: Reorder and Restore: Benedict XIV, the Index and the Holy Office Part IV: Theology, Tradition and Institutions in the Era of Enlightened Catholicism 10. Maria Teresa Fattori: Lambertini's Treatises and the Cultural Project of Benedict XIV: Two Sides of the Same Policy 11. Roberto Rusconi: Benedict XIV and the Holiness of Popes in the First Half of the Eighteenth Century 12. Peter Bjorn Kerber: Vicar of Christ and Alter Christus: Benedict XIV's Della S. Messa Part V: Benedict XIV's Transformation of the Public Sphere 13. Paola Giuli: Prospero Lambertini and the Accademia degli Arcadi (1694-1708) 14. Carole Paul: Benedict XIV's Enlightened Patronage of the Capitoline Museum 15. Christopher M. S. Johns: Papal Diplomacy and the Catholic Enlightenment: Benedict XIV's Caffeaus in the Quirinal Gardens Part VI: Art and Architecture Across Italy and the World 16. Jeffrey Collins: Pedagogy in Plaster: Ercole Lelli and Benedict XIV's Gipsoteca at Bologna's Instituto delle Scienze e delle Arti 17. Kristina Kleutghen: The Art Ethnicity and Empire: Jesuit Art in China during the Papacy of Benedict XIV 18. Tommaso Manfredi: Academic Practice and Roman Architecture during the Reign of Benedict XIV

Read more less

Book SynopsisHonorable Mention, 2019 Barbara T. Christian Literary Award, given by the Caribbean Studies AssociationWinner, 2017 Clifford Geertz Prize in the Anthropology of Religion, presented by the Society for the Anthropology of Religion section of the American Anthropological AssociationFinalist, 2017 Albert J. Raboteau Prize for the Best Book in Africana Religions presented by the Journal of Africana ReligionsAn examination of the religious importance of food among Caribbean and Latin American communitiesBefore honey can be offered to the Afro-Cuban deity Ochún, it must be tasted, to prove to her that it is good. In African-inspired religions throughout the Caribbean, Latin America, and the United States, such gestures instill the attitudes that turn participants into practitioners. Acquiring deep knowledge of the diets of the gods and ancestors constructs adherents' identities; to learn to fix the gods' favorite dishes is to be seTrade ReviewReligion in the Kitchenis the product of Pe´rez longstanding interest in the religious phenomena of Black Atlantic communities, and builds on a number of prior projects, revisiting, revising, and creating a thoughtful and fascinating ethnographic text . . . [W]ill fascinate both the academic community and the interested layperson. * Journal of Religious History *[A] major contribution to the scholarship of Black Atlantic traditions, bringing much needed attention to cooking, talking, and the women and gay men who do both . . . With an accessible introduction and opening chapters, Pe´rezs careful, erudite analysis offers methodological direction and a theoretical vocabulary for all scholars interested in the intersection of everyday practice with religious subject formation. * Nova Religio *[W]ell crafted, theoretically engaging, and insightful . . . Pérez adroitly maps those interstitial spaces often historically relegated solely to women and their labor. This book provides a rare view into the liminal space of the Lucumí cloister and the coded dialogues therein . . . By queering her analysis inReligion in the Kitchen, Pérez substantively and subtly illuminates the temple-house communitys cohesion across its various subject positions . . . The role and signification of who cooks, what they cook, for whom they are cooking, who gets to eat and why suddenly opens up new avenues for inquiry and analysis under Pérezs gaze. * Food, Culture & Society *Chapter three is my favorite in the book . . . a prime example of Geertzs model of thick description as applied to religion and food. Readers will no doubt find themselves comparing Pe´rezs work to that of Karen McCarthy Brown (2001) inMama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn, which has become a classic in the field. Pe´rezs questions and conclusions are different than Browns, but I suspect that likeMama Lola, Pe´rezs Religion in the Kitchen will become a go-to book for the study of Afro-Caribbean traditions in the USA. * Material Religion *With clear description and sharp analysis Pérez highlights ways in which cookingand its related activities such as conversationis the stuff of religious engagement and a symbol of connection between humanity and divinity. Anyone concerned with better understanding how ordinary spaces and practices take on religious significance will value this book. -- Anthony Pinn, Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religion, Rice UniversityA deeply researched, contextually rich and ambitious intervention into the literature on Black Atlantic religions. While most scholars of Santería and other Black Atlantic traditions have focused on initiation as the paradigmatic site where religious values are inculcated and religious subjects are `reborn, Pérez directs her attention to a more prosaicand unjustly overlookedsetting: the kitchen. By cooking for the orishas, Pérez asserts, participants are themselves being cooked; that is, they are being socialized into the complex world of Santería aesthetics and ethics. In focusing on the informal spaces and behind-the-scenes work so fundamental to the molding of religious subjects and the perpetuation of Black Atlantic religious forms, Pérez opens up a whole world. Compelling as an ethnography and theoretically astute, Religion in the Kitchenoffers a thought-provoking analysis of how religious norms are internalized and reproduced. A stunning achievement. -- Kelly E. Hayes, author of Holy Harlots: Femininity, Sexuality and Black Magic in BrazilReligion in the Kitchenby Elizabeth Pérez is a stunning achievement, both for its methodological sophistication and its timely focus . . . Situating her analysis within multiple academic venues, including anthropology, history, and the arts, Pérez engages a methodological turn that is of inestimable value to scholars of religion. How fitting that a text about cooking and conversation sets a special place at the table for Africana traditions . . .Religion in the Kitchenis hearty and satisfying fare, served with academic rigor, the 'special sauce' for acuity and balance in the study of religion. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Here is a new approach to the syncretic black religions of the Atlantic world. Though Pérez's research site was a Cuban Lucumi (also called Santería) temple in Chicago, her insights and conclusions apply far beyond . . . Research on the aesthetics of everyday life is burgeoning everywhere and not only in philosophy, as this fine example demonstrates. * Choice *Pérez's reorientation of seemingly mundane gastronomical activities towardreligiousfunctionality in an effort to present a different approach to the study of Black Atlanticreligionmakes this book invaluable to scholars and students interested in African diasporicreligionsand anthropology/history ofreligion. * Religious Studies Review *A pleasure to read. The lucid writing … illuminates the spaces in the back of the house, where so much of the crucial work of making food and making family takes place. -- New West Indian Guide

Read more less

Book SynopsisHonorable Mention, 2019 Barbara T. Christian Literary Award, given by the Caribbean Studies AssociationWinner, 2017 Clifford Geertz Prize in the Anthropology of Religion, presented by the Society for the Anthropology of Religion section of the American Anthropological AssociationFinalist, 2017 Albert J. Raboteau Prize for the Best Book in Africana Religions presented by the Journal of Africana ReligionsAn examination of the religious importance of food among Caribbean and Latin American communitiesBefore honey can be offered to the Afro-Cuban deity Ochún, it must be tasted, to prove to her that it is good. In African-inspired religions throughout the Caribbean, Latin America, and the United States, such gestures instill the attitudes that turn participants into practitioners. Acquiring deep knowledge of the diets of the gods and ancestors constructs adherents' identities; to learn to fix the gods' favorite dishes is to be seTrade ReviewReligion in the Kitchenis the product of Pe´rez longstanding interest in the religious phenomena of Black Atlantic communities, and builds on a number of prior projects, revisiting, revising, and creating a thoughtful and fascinating ethnographic text . . . [W]ill fascinate both the academic community and the interested layperson. * Journal of Religious History *[A] major contribution to the scholarship of Black Atlantic traditions, bringing much needed attention to cooking, talking, and the women and gay men who do both . . . With an accessible introduction and opening chapters, Pe´rezs careful, erudite analysis offers methodological direction and a theoretical vocabulary for all scholars interested in the intersection of everyday practice with religious subject formation. * Nova Religio *[W]ell crafted, theoretically engaging, and insightful . . . Pérez adroitly maps those interstitial spaces often historically relegated solely to women and their labor. This book provides a rare view into the liminal space of the Lucumí cloister and the coded dialogues therein . . . By queering her analysis inReligion in the Kitchen, Pérez substantively and subtly illuminates the temple-house communitys cohesion across its various subject positions . . . The role and signification of who cooks, what they cook, for whom they are cooking, who gets to eat and why suddenly opens up new avenues for inquiry and analysis under Pérezs gaze. * Food, Culture & Society *Chapter three is my favorite in the book . . . a prime example of Geertzs model of thick description as applied to religion and food. Readers will no doubt find themselves comparing Pe´rezs work to that of Karen McCarthy Brown (2001) inMama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn, which has become a classic in the field. Pe´rezs questions and conclusions are different than Browns, but I suspect that likeMama Lola, Pe´rezs Religion in the Kitchen will become a go-to book for the study of Afro-Caribbean traditions in the USA. * Material Religion *With clear description and sharp analysis Pérez highlights ways in which cookingand its related activities such as conversationis the stuff of religious engagement and a symbol of connection between humanity and divinity. Anyone concerned with better understanding how ordinary spaces and practices take on religious significance will value this book. -- Anthony Pinn, Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religion, Rice UniversityA deeply researched, contextually rich and ambitious intervention into the literature on Black Atlantic religions. While most scholars of Santería and other Black Atlantic traditions have focused on initiation as the paradigmatic site where religious values are inculcated and religious subjects are `reborn, Pérez directs her attention to a more prosaicand unjustly overlookedsetting: the kitchen. By cooking for the orishas, Pérez asserts, participants are themselves being cooked; that is, they are being socialized into the complex world of Santería aesthetics and ethics. In focusing on the informal spaces and behind-the-scenes work so fundamental to the molding of religious subjects and the perpetuation of Black Atlantic religious forms, Pérez opens up a whole world. Compelling as an ethnography and theoretically astute, Religion in the Kitchenoffers a thought-provoking analysis of how religious norms are internalized and reproduced. A stunning achievement. -- Kelly E. Hayes, author of Holy Harlots: Femininity, Sexuality and Black Magic in BrazilReligion in the Kitchenby Elizabeth Pérez is a stunning achievement, both for its methodological sophistication and its timely focus . . . Situating her analysis within multiple academic venues, including anthropology, history, and the arts, Pérez engages a methodological turn that is of inestimable value to scholars of religion. How fitting that a text about cooking and conversation sets a special place at the table for Africana traditions . . .Religion in the Kitchenis hearty and satisfying fare, served with academic rigor, the 'special sauce' for acuity and balance in the study of religion. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Here is a new approach to the syncretic black religions of the Atlantic world. Though Pérez's research site was a Cuban Lucumi (also called Santería) temple in Chicago, her insights and conclusions apply far beyond . . . Research on the aesthetics of everyday life is burgeoning everywhere and not only in philosophy, as this fine example demonstrates. * Choice *Pérez's reorientation of seemingly mundane gastronomical activities towardreligiousfunctionality in an effort to present a different approach to the study of Black Atlanticreligionmakes this book invaluable to scholars and students interested in African diasporicreligionsand anthropology/history ofreligion. * Religious Studies Review *A pleasure to read. The lucid writing … illuminates the spaces in the back of the house, where so much of the crucial work of making food and making family takes place. -- New West Indian Guide

Read more less

Book SynopsisWinner of the 2022 Gustave O. Arlt Award in the Humanities, award by by the Council of Graduate SchoolsExplores the role of jazz celebrities like Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and Mary Lou Williams as representatives of African American religion in the twentieth centuryBeginning in the 1920s, the Jazz Age propelled Black swing artists into national celebrity. Many took on the role of race representatives, and were able to leverage their popularity toward achieving social progress for other African Americans. In Lift Every Voice and Swing, Vaughn A. Booker argues that with the emergence of these popular jazz figures, who came from a culture shaped by Black Protestantism, religious authority for African Americans found a place and spokespeople outside of traditional Afro-Protestant institutions and religious life. Popular Black jazz professionalssuch as Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and Mary Lou Williamsinherited religious authority though they were not Trade ReviewBooker offers a fresh and innovative perspective on twentieth-century African American religious history and culture by highlighting how Black jazz professionals functioned as “race representatives” in American public life and as agents in shaping and transforming the landscape of African American religious life. Mobilizing a host of unconventional sources for religious studies, Lift Every Voice and Swing presents a fascinating and original portrait of the dynamic relationship between popular culture and Black religious life. -- Judith Weisenfeld, author of New World A Coming: Black Religion and Racial Identity during the Great MigrationIn this vividly imagined, carefully researched, and musically written book, Vaughn Booker argues for jazz as the vector by which African American spiritual authority moved beyond black church life to saturate all of American culture, and from there to command the shape, feel, and sound of the long twentieth century. A book this fresh about religion in the lives and works of Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Mary Lou Williams would by itself be a remarkable achievement. But Lift Every Voice and Swing is more: a demonstration of the power of their artistry to move and change the world. -- Tracy Fessenden, Director of Strategic Initiatives in the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, Arizona State UniversityLift Every Voice and Swing is entirely original and groundbreaking. By way of incisive archival research and superb cultural analysis, Vaughn A. Booker has shown that there was a religiosity to the creation of jazz music and that some jazz musicians, such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Mary Lou Williams, represented alternative sources of spiritual authority and religious ways of being throughout the long twentieth century. Convincingly overturning notions of the innate secularity of jazz, Booker has provoked a powerful rethinking of African American religious history and the means by which we tell that history. -- Wallace Best, Princeton UniversityWhile Booker is an unconventional music researcher, readers benefit from his lifting up of the unspoken, unsung, and unswung flows of multi-faceted, religious jazz lives…His expansive inclusion of various types of texts makes our reading of these great figures richer by amplifying the musical meaning found in their envoiced and religio-socially swinging lives. * American Religion *Booker’s fluency in religious and music history is formidable. His book is dense with ideas expressed in prose that will reward both scholars and general readers with an interest in twentieth-century religion, American music, African American studies, and history. * The Journal of African American History *

Read more less

Book SynopsisWinner of the 2022 Gustave O. Arlt Award in the Humanities, award by by the Council of Graduate SchoolsExplores the role of jazz celebrities like Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and Mary Lou Williams as representatives of African American religion in the twentieth centuryBeginning in the 1920s, the Jazz Age propelled Black swing artists into national celebrity. Many took on the role of race representatives, and were able to leverage their popularity toward achieving social progress for other African Americans. In Lift Every Voice and Swing, Vaughn A. Booker argues that with the emergence of these popular jazz figures, who came from a culture shaped by Black Protestantism, religious authority for African Americans found a place and spokespeople outside of traditional Afro-Protestant institutions and religious life. Popular Black jazz professionalssuch as Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, and Mary Lou Williamsinherited religious authority though they were not Trade Review"Booker offers a fresh and innovative perspective on twentieth-century African American religious history and culture by highlighting how Black jazz professionals functioned as “race representatives” in American public life and as agents in shaping and transforming the landscape of African American religious life. Mobilizing a host of unconventional sources for religious studies, Lift Every Voice and Swing presents a fascinating and original portrait of the dynamic relationship between popular culture and Black religious life." -- Judith Weisenfeld, author of New World A Coming: Black Religion and Racial Identity during the Great Migration"In this vividly imagined, carefully researched, and musically written book, Vaughn Booker argues for jazz as the vector by which African American spiritual authority moved beyond black church life to saturate all of American culture, and from there to command the shape, feel, and sound of the long twentieth century. A book this fresh about religion in the lives and works of Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Mary Lou Williams would by itself be a remarkable achievement. But Lift Every Voice and Swing is more: a demonstration of the power of their artistry to move and change the world." -- Tracy Fessenden, Director of Strategic Initiatives in the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, Arizona State University"Lift Every Voice and Swing is entirely original and groundbreaking. By way of incisive archival research and superb cultural analysis, Vaughn A. Booker has shown that there was a religiosity to the creation of jazz music and that some jazz musicians, such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Mary Lou Williams, represented alternative sources of spiritual authority and religious ways of being throughout the long twentieth century. Convincingly overturning notions of the innate secularity of jazz, Booker has provoked a powerful rethinking of African American religious history and the means by which we tell that history." -- Wallace Best, Princeton University"While Booker is an unconventional music researcher, readers benefit from his lifting up of the unspoken, unsung, and unswung flows of multi-faceted, religious jazz lives…His expansive inclusion of various types of texts makes our reading of these great figures richer by amplifying the musical meaning found in their envoiced and religio-socially swinging lives." * American Religion *"Booker’s fluency in religious and music history is formidable. His book is dense with ideas expressed in prose that will reward both scholars and general readers with an interest in twentieth-century religion, American music, African American studies, and history." * The Journal of African American History *

Read more less

Book SynopsisShari?a and Life examines the degree of individual discretion and flexibility Muslims apply when reconciling the challenges of everyday life with their religious beliefs.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations and Tables Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration Introduction 1. The Religious Law of Muslim Minorities 2. Across a Wasati-Salafi Spectrum 3. The Mustafti is the Mufti 4. There’s Shariʿa, and There’s Life 5. A Mission with Few Missionaries Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisDrawing on five years of field studies in pragmatic- and dogmatic-inclined mosques across Europe, Shari?a and Life explores how Muslims engage with shari?a norms in general, and specifically with the challenges they face as Muslims living in majority non-Muslim societies. The book examines how fatwas (advice on shari?a-related matters) are quested, negotiated, paraphrased, contested, or ignored in mosques, on the internet, and elsewhere. It also analyses individual strategies, external to religio-legal discourse, through which Muslims mitigate conflicts between interpretations of shari?a and everyday life. Among the issues discussed in the book are financial transactions, education, the workplace, sports, electoral participation, Christmas greetings, proselytizing, and the legitimacy of choosing to live in a non-Muslim country. Shifting the focus from the authors and texts of fatwas to their recipients, Shari?a and Life gives voice to those often left voiTable of ContentsList of Illustrations and Tables Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration Introduction 1. The Religious Law of Muslim Minorities 2. Across a Wasati-Salafi Spectrum 3. The Mustafti is the Mufti 4. There’s Shariʿa, and There’s Life 5. A Mission with Few Missionaries Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume brings together an ecumenical team of scholars to present key theological concepts related to worship to help readers articulate their own theology of worship. Contributors explore the history of theology's impact on worship practices across the Christian tradition, highlighting themes such as creation, pneumatology, sanctification, and mission. The book includes introductions by N. T. Wright and Nicholas Wolterstorff. A forthcoming volume will address the historical foundations of worship.Table of ContentsContentsPreface by the Editors Khalia J. Williams and Mark A. LamportSeries Introduction Nicholas WolterstorffIntroduction N. T. WrightPart 1: Biblical Practices of Worship: Exegetical and Biblical Theology1. Old Testament and Worship Andrew E. Hill2. New Testament and Worship Pheme PerkinsPart 2: Theological Principles of Worship: Systematic and Historical Theology3. Creation and Worship W. David O. Taylor4. God and Worship Don E. Saliers5. Humanity and Worship Ronald T. Michener6. Christology and Worship Bruce T. Morrill7. Pneumatology and Worship Khalia J. Williams8. Eschatology and Worship Maurice Lee9. Ecclesiology and Worship Rhodora E. Beaton10. Mission and Worship Eugene R. Schlesinger11. Mystery and Worship Ivana Noble12. Sanctification and Worship Lizette Larson-MillerPart 3: Cultural Possibilities for Worship: Practical and Apologetical Theology13. Cultural Considerations and Sacred Significance of Time in Worship Anne McGowan14. Ecology and Worship Teresa Berger15. Individualism and Community within Worship Practices E. Byron (Ron) Anderson16. Secularization and Worship James K. Wellman Jr.17. Christian Worship in the Context of Other World Religions Peter C. PhanEpilogue: Pursuing a Theology of Worship Martyn PercyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisScholars tend to call them 'rites of passage'. Most people prefer to speak of them as life cycle events or milestones. Jews like to speak of simchas, when there's something (a birth, bar or bat mitzvah, or wedding, for example) to celebrate. Whatever we call them and however we commemorate them, these are key moments for individuals and for the families and communities of which they are a part. This volume offers new insights into rituals as old as the Hebrew Bible and as new as the twenty-first century in contexts as familiar as the American Midwest and as exotic as Karaism. In the process, they examine and frequently affirm some of the rituals that have traditionally been associated with these events. At the same time, readers are invited to cast a critical eye on the ways in which these customs have developed in recent years. The authors, who include congregational leaders as well as scholars, also affirm the need to expand or enhance existing ceremonies to include groups whose needs have not traditionally been addressed. These groups include women and children with disabilities. In this way, the articles in this volume are of practical value for those seeking to transform their own religious experiences or those of their community.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn his comparative study of four Tamil resettlements, Clothey examines the rituals that have traveled with these South Indian communities - Hindu, Muslim, and Christian - and how these practices perpetuate or modify the heritages these groups claim for themselves in their new environs. Clothey looks specifically at settlements in the cities of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Singapore; Mumbai, India; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Describing such settlements as communities living on boundaries, Clothey explores how their existence illustrates divisions between ethnic, local, and global identities; between generations; and between imagined pasts and uncertain futures. He contends that one of the most visible ways expatriated communities negotiate these boundaries is through the use of ritual - the building of shrines and temples, the use of festivals and performances, and the enactment of ancient ceremonies.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWomen Mystics and Sufi Shrines in India combines historical data with years of ethnographic fieldwork to investigate women's participation in the culture of Sufi shrines in India and the manner in which this participation both complicates and sustains traditional conceptions of Islamic womanhood. Kelly Pemberton's fieldwork offers an assessment of the contemporary circumstances under which a woman may be recognized as a spiritual authority or guide--despite official denial of such status--and an examination of the discrepancies between the commonly held belief that women cannot perform in the public setting of shrines and her own observations of women doing precisely that. She demonstrates that the existence of multiple models of master and disciple relationships have opened avenues for women to be recognized as spiritual authorities in their own right. Specifically Pemberton explores the work of performance, recitation, and ritual mediation carried out by women connected with Sufi orders through kinship and spiritual ties, and she maps shifting ideas about women's involvement in public ritual events in a variety of contexts, circumstances, and genres of performance. She also highlights the private petitioning of saints, the Prophet, and God performed by poor women of low social standing in Bihar Sharif. These women are often perceived as being exceptionally close to God yet are compelled to operate outside the public sphere of major shrines.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFamily devotions can be hard to schedule and plan--and doing so in a meaningful way can be especially difficult during the days and weeks leading up to Christmas. As you guide your family through this season, Anticipating His Arrival helps you and your family remember his first advent on Christmas and prepare for his second coming, celebrating and anticipating both events.Each day's Scripture reading includes discussion questions with accompanying responses to make it easy for you to engage the themes of preparation, anticipation, joy, and incarnation throughout the season of Advent. The reading schedule--which begins the first Sunday of Advent and ends on Christmas Day--has been adapted from the Revised Common Lectionary and includes devotions for all three years in the liturgical cycle, with every year drawing on the Synoptic Gospels.Trade ReviewHaving used Anticipating His Arrival around the dinner table with my family, I look forward to making use of it again this year and am delighted to see this devotional in print for a wider audience. Too often, devotionals centered around the Christmas season lack the anticipatory nature that Advent is meant to invoke. Brannan's cycle of preparation, anticipation, joy, and incarnation--combined with a rich selection of passages that span the width of the Scriptures--makes this a devotional that will serve and enrich many families. --H. Daniel Zacharias, Ph.D., assistant professor of New Testament studies, Acadia Divinity College"During the time of Advent, many people reflect on the coming of the Lord and His incarnation. In Anticipating His Arrival, Rick Brannan has thoughtfully reflected upon OT and NT Bible passages that will surely stir the hearts and minds of God's people. This family guide is an easy and brief way to prepare for the Advent season by being led through Bible passages and thoughtful questions on select Scriptures. Using the Revised Common Lectionary, families are guided through this devotional material for a three-year lectionary cycle. This will become a wonderful addition to the traditions of my family each year."--Shawn J. Wilhite, assistant professor of Christian studies, California Baptist University

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisCan we understand worship in a way that transcends style, relevance, and aesthetics? Taking into account the most contested issues of the "worship wars," prominent New Testament scholar Edith Humphrey shows how the act of entering into God's presence is central to all true Christian worship. Regardless of worship style, when we come into God's presence, we praise God alongside angels and with the whole of creation. Seeking to reclaim the forgotten theme of worship as entry into God's presence, Humphrey shows its prominence in the Bible, providing an accessible but thorough study of the Old and New Testaments. She analyzes key moments in church history to show how worship developed in Eastern and Western churches. She also draws insights from healthy worshiping communities around the globe. The book offers practical guidance to worship directors, pastors, thoughtful lay readers, and students with regards to balanced and faithful worship.Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Crisis of Corporate Worship and the Life of the Church1. "Teach Us to Pray": What Is Worship, and Where Does Corporate Worship Fit?2. "Praise God in His Sanctuary": Worship as Entrance in the Old Testament3. "In Spirit and in Truth": Entrance in the New Testament4. "From You Comes . . . Praise": Traditional Liturgies of the East5. "In the Great Congregation": Traditional Liturgies of the West6. "Your Church Unsleeping": Expressions of Worship Today7. "That Your Prayers Not Be Hindered": Avoiding Pitfalls in Corporate WorshipConclusion: "To Sing Is a Lover's Thing"GlossaryIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe issue of baptism has troubled Protestants for centuries. Should infants be baptized before their faith is conscious, or does God command the baptism of babies whose parents have been baptized? Popular New Testament scholar Scot McKnight makes a biblical case for infant baptism, exploring its history, meaning, and practice and showing that infant baptism is the most historic Christian way of forming children into the faith. He explains that the church's practice of infant baptism developed straight from the Bible and argues that it must begin with the family and then extend to the church. Baptism is not just an individual profession of faith: it takes a family and a church community to nurture a child into faith over time. McKnight explains infant baptism for readers coming from a tradition that baptizes adults only, and he counters criticisms that fail to consider the role of families in the formation of faith. The book includes a foreword by Todd Hunter and an afterword by Gerald McDermott.Table of ContentsContentsForeword by Todd HunterPreface: A Letter1. Our Baptism: First Six Words2. Baptism: Church and Family3. Presentation and Commitments4. The Three Great Themes of Our Baptism5. The Bible and Infant Baptism6. The Act of Baptism7. My Personal TestimonyAfterword by Gerald McDermottIndexes

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is volume VI of the multivolume reference on all known aspects of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman cults and rituals. ThesCRA delivers both a sweeping overview and an in-depth investigation from Homeric times (1000 BCE) to late Roman times (AD 400). Illustrated scholarly articles in English, French, Italian, and German treat such topics as processions, sacrifices, libations, dedications, purification, initiation, divination, prayer, asylum, oaths, maledictions, banquets, music, dance, cult places, cult statues, and cult implements. In Volume VI, Stages and Circumstances of Life, fifty-five authors discuss various life stages, health, sustenance, craft production, economics, travel, public and private life, guilds, priesthoods, priestly colleges and other institutions, law, diplomacy, and war.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is volume VII of the multivolume reference on all known aspects of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman cults and rituals. ThesCRA delivers both a sweeping overview and an in-depth investigation from Homeric times (1000 BCE) to late Roman times (AD 400). Illustrated scholarly articles in English, French, Italian, and German treat such topics as processions, sacrifices, libations, dedications, purification, initiation, divination, prayer, asylum, oaths, maledictions, banquets, music, dance, cult places, cult statues, and cult implements. Volume VII, Festivals and Games, explores festivals and religious links to neighbouring societies.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is a new addition to the multivolume reference on all known aspects of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman cults and rituals. "ThesCRA" delivers both a sweeping overview and an in-depth investigation from Homeric times (1000 BCE) to late Roman times (AD 400). Illustrated scholarly articles in English, French, Italian, and German treat such topics as processions, sacrifices, libations, dedications, purification, initiation, divination, prayer, asylum, oaths, maledictions, banquets, music, dance, cult places, cult statues, and cult implements. The forty-one authors of this latest volume write about public and private life, guilds, priesthoods, colleges and other institutions, law, diplomacy, war, festivals, and religious links to neighbouring societies.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis builds on the foundation of Guy L. Beck's earlier work, Sonic Theology: Hinduism and Sacred Sound, which described the theoretical role of sound in Hindu thought. Sonic Liturgy continues the discussion of sound into the realm of Hindu ritual and musical traditions of worship.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Shurāt Legends, Ibādī Identities, Adam Gaiser explores the origins and early development of Islamic notions of martyrdom and of martyrdom literature. He examines the catalogs or lists of martyrs (martyrologies) of the early shurāt (Khārijites) in the context of late antiquity, showing that shurāt literature, as it can be reconstructed, shares continuity with the martyrologies of earlier Christians and other religious groups, especially in Iraq, and that this powerful literature was transmitted by seventh– century shurāt through their successors, the Ibādiyya. Gaiser examines the sources of poems and narratives as quasi-historical accounts and their application in literary creations designed to meet particular communal needs, in particular, the need to establish and shape identity.Gaiser shows how these accounts accumulated traits—such as all-night prayer vigils, stoic acceptance of death, and miracles-—of a wider ascetic and apocalyptic literature in the eighth century, including martyrdom narratives of Eastern Christianity. By establishing focal points of piety around which a communal identity could be fashioned, such accounts proved suitable for use in missionary activity in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Gaiser also documents the reshaping of these narratives for more quietist purposes: emphasizing moderated rather than violent action, diplomacy, and respect for other Islamic sects as also being monotheistic, rather than condemning them as sinful.Along with refashioning narratives, Gaiser details the Ibādī efforts to compile collections into genealogies, both biographical dictionaries and lineages of the true faith linking individuals and communities to local saints and martyrs. He also shows how this more nuanced history led to the formation of rules and authorities governing the shurāt. Employing rarely examined manuscript materials to shed light on such processes as identity formation and communal boundary maintenance, Gaiser traces the course by which this martyrdom literature and its potentially dangerous implications came to be institutionalized, contained, and controlled.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisWithin the past 10 years ‘Religious Tourism’ has seen both economic and education-sector growth on a global scale. This book addresses the central role of religious tourism and interrelationships with other aspects of pilgrimage management. It provides practical applications, models and illustrations and looks at secular and sacred spaces on a global stage. The second edition sees the introduction of a new structure and the addition of new international case studies. It is an invaluable reference for academics, students and practitioners and is a timely text on the future of faith-based tourism and pilgrimage.Table of ContentsPart I: Concepts In Religious Tourism And Pilgrimage Management 1: Introduction to Sacred or Secular Journeys 2: Politics, Policy and the Practice of Religious Tourism 3: Sacred Sites and the Tourist: Sustaining Tourism Infrastructures for Religious Tourists and Pilgrims - a UK Perspective 4: The Globalization of Pilgrimage Tourism? Some Thoughts from Ireland 5: Religious Tourism for Religious Tolerance 6: Pilgrimage, Diversity and Terrorism Part II: Motivation And Experience Of Religious Sites 7: Motivations for Religious Tourism, Pilgrimage, Festivals and Events 8: Exploring Pilgrimage and Religious Heritage Tourism Experiences 9: Sacred Pilgrimage and Tourism as Secular Pilgrimage 10: Social Network Tools as Guides to Religious Sites 11: Stakeholders and Co-creation in Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Part III: International Case Studies 12: Case Study 1: Pilgrimage Experience and Consumption of Travel to the City of Makkah for the Hajj Ritual 13: Case Study 2: Religious Tourism Experiences in South East Asia 14: Case Study 3: Nordic Pilgrimage to Israel: A Case of Christian Zionism 15: Case Study 4: The Consumption and Management of Religious Tourism Sites in Africa 16: Case Study 5: Ashura and its Commemoration in Ireland: A 'Proxy' Pilgrimage Experience 17: Case Study 6: Revisiting Religious Tourism in Northern Portugal 18: Case Study 7: From Disaster to Religiosity: República de Cromañón, Buenos Aires, Argentina 19: Case Study 8: Pilgrimages toward South Lebanon:Holy Places Relocating Lebanon as a Part of the Holy Land 20: Case Study 9: The Creation of the Cults of SS Paul and Publius in Early Modern Malta 21: Case Study 10: Takaful: To Explore the Market Need for Hajj Travel Insurance

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book covers the ideological motives and religious perceptions behind travel to sites prescribed with sanctity in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It covers sites that have drawn pilgrims and religious tourists to them for hundreds of years, and seeks to provide an understanding of the complex world of religiously motivated travel. Beginning with contemporary perspectives of pilgrimage across these religions, it then discusses management aspects such as logistics, infrastructure, malevolent behaviour and evangelical volunteers. This book: - Provides a collection of new, contemporary perspectives on pilgrimage. - Reviews the ideological motives, history, mental health, and religious perceptions of tourism to holy cities. - Contains practical applications, models and illustrations of religious tourism and pilgrimage management from a variety of international and academic perspectives. Written by subject experts, this book addresses cultural sustainability for researchers and practitioners within religious tourism, religious studies, geography and anthropology.Table of Contents1: Western Holy Cities and Places – An Introduction Part I: Western Pilgrimage to Holy Cities in Judaism, Christianity and Islam 2: Judaism – Jewish and Israeli Pilgrimage Experience: Constructing National Identity 3: Christianity – Contemporary Christian Pilgrimage and Traditional Management Practices at Sacred Sites 4: Christanity- Christian Pilgrimage to Sacred Sites in the Holy Land: A Swedish Perspective 5: Islam – Contemporary Perspectives 6: Islam – Spiritual Journey in Islam: the Qur’anic Cognitive Model Part II: Managing Pilgrimage Sites in Holy Cities 7: Pilgrimage Policy Management: Between Shrine Strategy and Ritual Improvisation 8: The Management of Pilgrims with Malevolent Behaviour in a Holy Space: a Study of Jerusalem Syndrome 9: Logistics at Holy Sites 10: Protestants and Pilgrimages: the Protestant Infrastructure in Jerusalem 11: The Impact of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’s Campaign on Yezidi Religious Structures and Pilgrimage Practices 12: Evangelical Volunteers in Israel as Long-term Pilgrims: Ambassadors for the Kingdom Part III: Closing Words 13: Redeeming Western Holy Places and Contested Holy Cities -: Appendix – Discussion Points

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis second Lent resource from the author of The Naturalist and the Christ explores Christian understandings of "salvation" in a five-part study course based on the film The Way. Starring Martin Sheen as a bereaved father, this soulful and uplifting film observes a group of pilgrims walking the Way of St James to Santiago de Compostela. As it follows their journey of inner transformation, the course examines biblical accounts and images of salvation - past, present and future - and addresses the questions: What are we saved from? What are we saved for? Who can be saved? What do we have to do to be saved? How are we saved?

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe invitation to worship God is the highest privilege of human beings - a privilege squandered by sinful rebellion, but also gloriously restored to us through the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Biblical worship is a response to God's revelation of himself, empowered by the Holy Spirit, which finds expression in every aspect of human life and experience. At the same time, there is a great deal of music and song in the Bible. Music is a wonderful gift of God in creation, and there is every reason to embrace its riches and harness its power responsibly for the glory of God and the blessing of his people. However, Christians have often been divided over the theology and practice of worship, with differing views about spiritual gifts, the place of liturgy, priorities attached to various functions of the church, the weight given to congregational and 'whole-life' worship, and the role and style of music. While many of these areas are touched on in John Risbridger's excellent exposition, his intention is not to court controversy, but simply to allow Scripture to speak, in the hope of establishing as much common ground as possible. He follows a loosely trinitarian structure, in which the main sections explore the connection between worship and the purpose of the Father, the supremacy of the Son and life of the Holy Spirit. Each section concludes with two chapters on the Psalms, in which we hear a variety of 'voices', and learn to join their distinctive song.

Read more less

Book Synopsis‘All Scripture is breathed out by God …’ (2 Timothy 3:16). From Paul’s epistles the divine inspiration of Scripture may be confidently affirmed, as well as its corollary attributes. However, on turning to Jesus and the Gospels, it is hard to find an explicit approach like Paul’s. Matthew Barrett argues that Jesus and the apostles have just as convictional a doctrine of Scripture as Paul or Peter, but it will only be discovered if the Gospels are read within their own canonical horizon and covenantal context. The nature of Scripture presupposed by Jesus and the Gospel writers may not be addressed directly, but it manifests itself powerfully when their words are read within the Old Testament’s promise–fulfilment pattern. Nothing demonstrates Scripture’s divine origin, divine authorial intent and trustworthiness more than the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the advent of the Son of God, the Word has become flesh, announcing to Jew and Gentile alike that the covenant promises Yahweh made through the Law and the Prophets have been fulfilled in the person and work of Christ.Trade ReviewIn a wide-ranging discussion, Matthew Barrett explores [biblical theology] from the perspective of the Gospels, deploying interesting and stimulating insight that will certainly be picked up and developed by many pastors and theologians. Jesus himself ties together the old and new covenants. He fulfills the Scriptures, but effectively does so only by being obedient to them. The dynamic casts fresh light not only on Christ, but on the Scriptures themselves. * D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, USA *

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat is the sabbath? A weekly day of rest and worship. People of all ages are discovering that the sabbath is a gift from God – a blessing that brings a renewed awareness of who God is and who we are as his beloved children. These studies will help you to learn more about what the sabbath is and how to practise it. Come and discover God’s gift of rest. With more than 130 titles, the LifeBuilder Bible Studies series delivers sound biblical content and raises thought-provoking questions. It provides a unique Bible study experience for individuals and groups.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIdeal for individuals or groups seeking a deeper understanding of the Christmas story and its links with the Hebrew Bible, Pathway to the Stable offers a twenty-first century introduction to the people and places central to the story of the birth of Jesus, with reference to the promises of the Old Testament and its setting in the contemporary Jewish and Roman worlds. 'In this rich and rewarding series of studies, Ivor Rees has taken us deep into the biblical world in order to show us once more the glory of the coming of Our Lord, the nativity and childhood of Jesus Christ.' Revd. D. Densil Morgan, Professor of Theology, University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Read more less

Book SynopsisReviewing peace and reconciliation, secular pilgrimages, and international perspectives on sacred journeys, this book offers the reader an opportunity to encounter multiple voices and viewpoints on one of the most ancient practices of humankind. With an estimated third of all international travellers now undertaking journeys anticipating an aspect of transformation (the hallmark of pilgrimage), this book includes both spiritual and non-spiritual voyages, such as journeys of self-therapy, mindfulness and personal growth. It also: - Provides a multidisciplinary perspective, covering themes such as gender, human rights, equality, the environment, peace, history, literature, and politics - Reflects the rich diversity and multiple meanings of pilgrimage through an international writer team spanning four continents - Includes case studies of pilgrimage in action from around the world An innovative and engaging addition to the pilgrimage literature, this book provides an important resource for researchers of religious tourism and related subjects.Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Many Voices of Pilgrimage and Reconciliation Part I: Peace, Human Rights and Justice Chapter 1: Pilgrimages and Peace-Building on the Global Stage Chapter 2: Pilgrimages of Transformation and Reconciliation: Maori and Pakeha Walking Together in Aotearoa New Zealand Chapter 3: ‘Sheaves of Corn in an Autumn Field’: The ‘Hungry’ Walk to Delphi Lodge Chapter 4: (Re)Walking Stories: Pilgrimage, Pedagogy and Peace Chapter 5: Pilgrimage, Bhakti and Identity: A Study of Maharashtrian Vari Part II: Reconciliation Within Chapter 6: Circling Centre, Finding Our Way Home:Circumambulation Pilgrimages around Iona, Mount Tamalpais and Labyrinths Chapter 7: Pilgrimage and Reconciliation: Crossing Boundaries to Transcend Them Chapter 8: A Yogic Journey: Exploration of Yoga Practice and Philosophy Chapter 9: Pilgrimage Walking as Green Prescription Self-Therapy? Chapter 10: The Social Self on Pilgrimage: Intercession and Mediation Part III: Religious and Secular Perspectives Chapter 11: Let Us Be Human: Wittgenstein and Philosophical Pilgrimage Chapter 12: The Pilgrimage to the Mausoleum of Sidi Shaykh Chapter 13: Travel and/or Pilgrimage as Inquiry and Introspection: A Personal Narrative of an Atheist Chapter 14: The Pilgrim’s Two Economies: Greek Convent Pilgrimage and Economic Crisis Chapter 15: ‘My Heart Wouldn’t Accept the Advice’: Paths to Self and Community in Alevi Poetry

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book reviews tourist motivations for making religious or spiritual journeys, and the management aspects related to them. It explores sacred journeys across both traditional religions such as Christianity and Islam, and newer forms of pilgrimage, faith systems and quasi-religious activities such as sport, music and food. Demonstrating to the reader the intrinsic elements and events that play a crucial role within the destination management process, it provides a timely re-assessment of the increasing interconnections between religion and spirituality as a motivation for travel. The book: - Includes applications, models and illustrations of religious tourism and pilgrimage management for converting theory into good practice; - Addresses theories of motivation and why travel to religious destinations has increased; - Explores key learning points from a selection of international case study perspectives. Providing researchers and students of tourism, religious studies, anthropology and related subjects with an important review of the topic, this book aims to bridge the ever-widening gap between specialists within the religious, tourism, management and education sectors.Table of ContentsPART 1: INTRODUCTION TO SPIRITUAL AND SACRED JOURNEYS 1: Introduction to Spiritual and Religious Journeys 2: The Role of Ritual in Sacred Journeys 3: Motivations of the Pilgrim to Attend the Annual Pilgrimage of Hajj 4: Islamic Motivation for Tourism and Contradictions of the American Tradition 5: From Spiritualism to a New Paradigm in Tourism: Spiritual Tourism and Motivations PART 2: MANAGING MOTIVATIONAL ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS 6: The Selfie in Islamic Pilgrimages as a Communication Tool in Hajj and Umrah 7: Spiritual Motivation for Religious Tourism Destinations 8: Pilgrim Tourist Motivations in Religious Heritage, Culture and Art 9: Diminishing Religious Cultural Heritage of Holy Makkah and Medina due to Commercialization of the Sacred Event 10: Managing the Physical Environment of the Sacred Tourist Destination PART 3: INTERNATIONAL CASE STUDIES OF SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS 11: Motivations to Visit Sacred Historical Objects: the Lindisfarne Gospels’ Visit to Durham 2013 – a Sacred Journey? 12: Visiting with a Mission(ary) – Engaging with Stakeholders at New Zealand Heritage Sites 13: The Pilgrim Goes to the Festival: Changes in Daily Life Caused by the Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Abadia in Romaria, Brazil 14: Managing Catholic Churches and Sacred Sites for Protestant Visitors to Malta 15: The Ancient Wisdom and Motivation of Shams-i Tabrezi or Analogy of Contemporary Systems Science and Shams-i Tabrezi Ancient Wisdom 16: Inbound and Outbound Religious Tourism in Turkey 17: Walking the Way of St James: Spiritual Journeys to the Cathedrals of Sport

Read more less

Book SynopsisAfter a close encounter with death, Tom Morton realised he needed a change of pace and perspective. He decided to become the only independent funeral celebrant on the remote Shetland Islands, an unusual new profession that would lead him on an extraordinary journey into the world of the dead. In a vivid narrative that reveals the fascinating realm of the unspoken – from extraordinary undertakers and death cafés, to pilgrimages and taboos – Tom quickly learns that death and speaking for the dead requires you to think on your feet and often take a magpie approach to faith and philosophy. From Humanism to hymns, Theravada Buddhism to Star Wars theology, he discovers the importance of ritual, humour, and the empowering act of trying to find words for something beyond language itself. This is an accessible and thought-provoking guide to celebrating mortality. When grief must be an inevitable part of life, Tom shows how we can mourn together in a way that feels appropriate to the life of the one who has passed on, and ultimately cultivate a healthy attitude to our own eventual demise. Trade Review"This is an extraordinary and important book, both vitally topical and essentially timeless." - Stuart Maconie"At the beginning, I’m happy to be drawn gently in, by about half way through, I’m starting to realise that, not only is this entertaining, but it’s important, and by the end I know it’s vital." - Tim Hayward

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe heart of the biblical understanding of idolatry, argues Gregory Beale, is that we take on the characteristics of what we worship. Employing Isaiah 6 as his interpretive lens, Beale demonstrates that this understanding of idolatry permeates the whole canon, from Genesis to Revelation. Beale concludes with an application of the biblical notion of idolatry to the challenges of contemporary life.

Read more less

Book SynopsisHoping to rediscover his deeper purpose, Rijumati, an English Buddhist teacher and businessman, embarked on a journey into the unknown: a round-the-world trip by land and sea that became a kind of pilgrimage. Months - and many crises - later he returned with new reverence for ordinary people and places, a sense of veneration for nature's wonders and a profound gratitude for being human. Part travel diary and part record of a spiritual journey, these pages evoke the sacred, remote places encountered in the outer world alongside the 'inner terrain' that unfolded along the way. If you have ever felt the call of the open road, longed to travel as a form of self-discovery, or just wanted to know how to stay sane whilst getting a visa stamp in Kazakhstan, then Pilgrimage to Anywhere is for you.Trade ReviewRijumati's long journey took him through many countries, cultures, and climates, and he writes with veracity and verve about the places he passed through and the diverse people he met. Once you have started on this book you will find it difficult to put it down. (Sangharakshita, author of The Rainbow Road and Facing Mount Kanchenjunga)

Read more less