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The Lost Pillars of Enoch: When Science and Religion Were One
By Tobias Churton. 2000
Explores the unified science-religion of early humanity and the impact of Hermetic philosophy on religion and spirituality • Investigates the…
Jewish and Egyptian origins of Josephus&’s famous story that Seth&’s descendants inscribed knowledge on two pillars to save it from global catastrophe • Reveals how this original knowledge has influenced civilization through Hermetic, Gnostic, Kabbalistic, Masonic, Hindu, and Islamic mystical knowledge • Examines how &“Enoch&’s Pillars&” relate to the origins of Hermeticism, Freemasonry, Newtonian science, William Blake, and Theosophy Esoteric tradition has long maintained that at the dawn of human civilization there existed a unified science-religion, a spiritual grasp of the universe and our place in it. The biblical Enoch--also known as Hermes Trismegistus, Thoth, or Idris--was seen as the guardian of this sacred knowledge, which was inscribed on pillars known as Enoch&’s or Seth&’s pillars. Examining the idea of the lost pillars of pure knowledge, the sacred science behind Hermetic philosophy, Tobias Churton investigates the controversial Jewish and Egyptian origins of Josephus&’s famous story that Seth&’s descendants inscribed knowledge on two pillars to save it from global catastrophe. He traces the fragments of this sacred knowledge as it descended through the ages into initiated circles, influencing civilization through Hermetic, Gnostic, Kabbalistic, Masonic, Hindu, and Islamic mystical knowledge. He follows the path of the pillars&’ fragments through Egyptian alchemy and the Gnostic Sethites, the Kabbalah, and medieval mystic Ramon Llull. He explores the arrival of the Hermetic manuscripts in Renaissance Florence, the philosophy of Copernicus, Pico della Mirandola, Giordano Bruno, and the origins of Freemasonry, including the &“revival&” of Enoch in Masonry&’s Scottish Rite. He reveals the centrality of primal knowledge to Isaac Newton, William Stukeley, John Dee, and William Blake, resurfacing as the tradition of Martinism, Theosophy, and Thelema. Churton also unravels what Josephus meant when he asserted one Sethite pillar still stood in the &“Seiriadic&” land: land of Sirius worshippers. Showing how the lost pillars stand as a twenty-first century symbol for reattaining our heritage, Churton ultimately reveals how the esoteric strands of all religions unite in a gnosis that could offer a basis for reuniting religion and science.Spiritual Passages
By Benedict J. Groeschel. 1983
Thomas Aquinas: The Basics (The Basics)
By Franklin T. Harkins. 2021
Thomas Aquinas: The Basics is an engaging introduction to the theology of arguably the greatest theologian and philosopher of the…
Middle Ages. The sophistication and complexity of his thought can be daunting for those approaching his work for the first time. Through this lively and accessible book, Harkins provides an entry point to understanding Aquinas’s mature theological thought. As well as giving an overview of Aquinas’s life and written works, this book examines Aquinas’s understanding of: • the nature and purpose of theology; • God’s nature, existence, and operations; • the Trinity; • creation; • evil; • the human person, human happiness, and the virtues; • Christ and salvation; and • the sacraments. Including a useful glossary of key terms, this text is ideal for students and interested non-specialists seeking an understanding of the theology of Aquinas.Reactions To the Law by Minority Religions (Routledge Inform Series on Minority Religions and Spiritual Movements)
By Eileen Barker and James T. Richardson. 2021
Much has been written about the law as it affects new and minority religions, but relatively little has been written…
about how such religions react to the law. This book presents a wide variety of responses by minority religions to the legal environments within which they find themselves. An international panel of experts offer examples from North America, Europe and Asia demonstrating how religions with relatively little status may resort to violence or passive acceptance of the law; how they may change their beliefs or practices in order to be in compliance with the law; or how they may resort to the law itself in order to change their legal standing, sometimes by forging alliances with those with more power or authority to achieve their goals. The volume concludes by applying theoretical insights from sociological studies of law, religion and social movements to the variety of responses. The first systematic collection focussing on how minority religions respond to efforts at social control by various governmental agents, this book provides a vital reference for scholars of religion and the law, new religious movements, minority religions and the sociology of religion.The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Cities (Routledge Handbooks in Religion)
By Katie Day and Elise M. Edwards. 2021
Like an ecosystem, cities develop, change, thrive, adapt, expand, and contract through the interaction of myriad components. Religion is one…
of those living parts, shaping and being shaped by urban contexts. The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Cities is an outstanding interdisciplinary reference source to the key topics, problems, and methodologies of this cutting-edge subject. Representing a diverse array of cities and religions, the common analytical approach is ecological and spatial. It is the first collection of its kind and reflects state-of-the-art research focusing on the interaction of religions and their urban contexts. Comprising 29 chapters, by a team of international contributors, the Handbook is divided into three parts: Research methodologies Religious frameworks and ideologies in urban contexts Contemporary issues in religion and cities Within these sections, emerging research and analysis of current dynamics of urban religions are examined, including: housing, economics, and gentrification; sacred ritual and public space; immigration and the refugee crisis; political conflicts and social change; ethnic and religious diversity; urban policy and religion; racial justice; architecture and the built environment; religious art and symbology; religion and urban violence; technology and smart cities; the challenge of climate change for global cities; and religious meaning-making of the city. The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Cities is essential reading for students and researchers in religious studies and urban studies. The Handbook will also be very useful for those in related fields, such as sociology, history, architecture, urban planning, theology, social work, and cultural studies.Jonathan Z. Smith on Religion: Essays By Jonathan Z. Smith (Key Thinkers in the Study of Religion)
By Christopher I. Lehrich. 2021
Jonathan Z. Smith (1938–2017) was unquestionably one of the most important and influential voices of critical reflection within the academic…
study of religion in the last century. His work explored the nature and history of religious phenomena across cultures—from ancient Jewish practices to Maori cults, from early Christianity to mass suicide in the twentieth century—while critiquing the assumptions underlying the very category of "religion." This important volume offers the first full critical assessment of the influence of Jonathan Z. Smith’s thought on the subject of religion. Christopher I. Lehrich systematically examines and develops a critical overview that will assist others in engaging more fully with Smith’s scholarship. This book is an essential reading for students and scholars interested in the work of Jonathan Z. Smith as well as the history of religion more broadly.Monotheism and the Rise of Science (Elements in Religion and Monotheism)
By J. L. Schellenberg. 2020
This Element traces the effects of science's rise on the cultural status of monotheism. Starting in the past, it shows…
how monotheism contributed to science's rise, and how, returning the favour, science provided aid and support, until fairly recently, for the continuing success of monotheism in the west. Turning to the present, the Element explores reasons for supposing that explanatorily, and even on an existential level, science is taking over monotheism's traditional roles in western culture. These reasons are found to be less powerful than is commonly supposed, though the existential challenge can be made effective when framed in an unusual and indirect manner. Finally, the Element considers how the relationship between science's high standing and the status of monotheism might appear in the future. Could something like monotheism rise again, and might science help it do so? The Element concludes that an affirmative answer is possible.Coping with Cancer: DBT Skills to Manage Your Emotions--and Balance Uncertainty with Hope
By Marsha M. Linehan, Elizabeth Cohn Stuntz. 2021
This compassionate book presents dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), a proven psychological intervention that Marsha M. Linehan developed specifically for the…
impossible situations of life--and which she and Elizabeth Cohn Stuntz now apply to the unique challenges of cancer for the first time. *How can you face the fear, sadness, and anger without being paralyzed by them? *Is it possible to hold on to hope without being in denial? *How can you nurture supportive relationships when you have barely enough energy to take care of yourself? Learn powerful DBT skills that can help you make difficult treatment decisions, manage overwhelming emotions, speak up for your needs, and tolerate distress. The stories and collective wisdom of other cancer patients and survivors illustrate the coping skills and show how you can live meaningfully, even during the darkest days.The Indecent Theologies of Marcella Althaus-Reid: Voices from Asia and Latin America (Gender, Theology and Spirituality)
By Hugo Córdova Quero, Lisa Isherwood. 2021
This book celebrates the legacy of theologian Marcella Althaus-Reid (1952‑2009), and her particular influence in Asia and South America. Her…
work has served as a significant source of inspiration to many scholars, ministers, and activists challenging heteronormative theologies, but her sudden death in 2009 cut short the nascent and elegant theological thought for which she so valued. Contributors to this book succinctly investigate aspects of the vast work of Althaus-Reid by discussing issues of gender, race, and sexuality in Asia and South America, utilising the liberation, queer and indecent theologies she espoused. Each chapter demonstrates how her legacy is alive and thriving today, but also points towards to the potential future impact of her prolific theological output. By highlighting the ground-breaking work of Althaus-Reid, this book will serve as a key reference for scholars of Liberation, Queer and Indecent Theology, as well as Asian and Latinx religions.Psychological Knowledge and Practices in Brazilian Colonial Culture (Latin American Voices)
By Marina Massimi. 2020
This book examines the complexities of the colonization of the territory that is now Brazil and its shaping of psychological…
knowledge and practice. It reveals the rich network of cultural practices that were formed through the appropriation of elements of Jesuit Catholicism and the blending with elements of the cultures of native, African and Lusitanian populations present in the territory, and how psychological concepts and practices emerged and circulated between the sixteenth and the late eighteenth centuries, long before the establishment of psychology as a modern science. The volume summarizes the research program developed by the author over 38 years of academic activity through which she contributed to expand the field of historical studies in psychology by investigating how psychological concepts and practices were produced in cultural and historical contexts different from the European and North American societies where scientific psychology developed in the 19th and 20th centuries. Psychological Knowledge and Practices in Brazilian Colonial Culture will be of interest not only to historians of psychology, but also to professional psychologists working with culturally diverse populations who seek to understand how psychological concepts and phenomena are shaped by culture. By doing so, the book intends to contribute to the development of a psychology better prepared to deal with cultural diversity in an increasingly multicultural world. “Massimi’s book will now form an important foundation of English-language scholarship about the psychological and cultural impact of colonization on subjugated peoples. She has, of course, made many such contributions in Portuguese. It is to be hoped that much of her work will be translated into English so that more scholars may benefit from the richness of her insights.” – Excerpt from the Foreword by Dr. Wade E. Pickren.This book offers a re-evaluation of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, the prominent Italian Renaissance philosopher and prince of Concord. It…
argues that Pico is part of a history of attempted concordance between philosophy and theology, reason and faith. His contribution is a syncretist theological philosophy based on Christianity, Platonism, Aristotelianism and Jewish Kabbalism. After an introduction, Chapter 2 discusses Pico’s career, his power-relations and his work, Chapters 3 and 4 place his three pillars of Platonism, Aristotelianism and Kabbalism in their historical context, examines shared histories, and introduces the scholars around Pico who contributed so much in each of these traditions (introducing, for example, Christian Kabbalism), including exploring Pico's complex relationship with Marsilio Ficino. Chapter 5 examines the problems of concordance within Pico’s cosmology and metaphysics, including the question of God and the role of the Intellect. Chapter 6 describes Pico’s ‘exceptionalist’ version of the mystical ascent as an individualized ascetic experience. Pico eschews the contemporary desire to use a renewed christian thinking or christian-classical metaphysics to change the world (towards a Golden Age or a 'second coming') to present a personal path to God, with no return to the world.The Bhagavad Gita
By Juan Mascara. 1962
The eighteen chapters of The Bhagavad Gita (c. 500 b.c.), the glory of Sanskrit literature, encompass the whole spiritual struggle…
of a human soul. Its three central themes--love, light, and life--arise from the symphonic vision of God in all things and of all things in God.The Palgrave Handbook of Global Mormonism
By R. Gordon Shepherd, A. Gary Shepherd, Ryan T. Cragun. 2020
This handbook explores contemporary Mormonism within a global context. The authors provide a nuanced picture of a historically American…
religion in the throes of the same kinds of global change that virtually every conservative faith tradition faces today. They explain where and how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has penetrated national and cultural boundaries in Latin America, Oceania, Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as in North America beyond the borders of Mormon Utah. They also address numerous concerns within a multinational, multicultural church: What does it mean to be a Latter-day Saint in different world regions? What is the faith’s appeal to converts in these places? What are the peculiar problems for members who must manage Mormon identities in conjunction with their different national, cultural, and ethnic identities? How are leaders dealing with such issues as the status of women in a patriarchal church, the treatment of LGBTQ members, increasing disaffiliation of young people, and decreasing growth rates in North and Latin America while sustaining increasing growth in parts of Asia and Africa?Navigating the Future: Traditioned Innovation for Wilder Seas
By L. Gregory Jones, Andrew P. Hogue. 2021
Traditioned innovation is a habit of being and living that cultivates a certain kind of moral imagination shaped by storytelling…
and expressed in creative, transformational action. Moral imagination is about character, which depends on ongoing formation that takes place in friendships and communities that embody traditions and that are sustained by institutions.There is no quick-fix or set of techniques that will create a mindset of traditioned innovation. But we do believe that you can learn to cultivate it by Becoming immersed in an imaginative engagement with the story of God told through Scripture Learning from exemplary institutions, communities, and people practicing traditioned innovation. Discovering new skills for integrating character formation and dense networks of friendships, communities and institutions into your leadership and life.Navigating the Future will explore stories and tips for cultivating traditioned innovation that will stimulate your thinking and inspire your imagination for more faithful and fruitful living along with the cultivation of more vibrant, life-giving institutions.The Yoga Sutras Of Patañjali: A New Edition, Translation, And Commentary
By Edwin Bryant. 2009
Written almost two millennia ago, Patañjali's work focuses on how to attain the direct experience and realization of the purusa:…
the innermost individual self, or soul. As the classical treatise on the Hindu understanding of mind and consciousness and on the technique of meditation, it has exerted immense influence over the religious practices of Hinduism in India and, more recently, in the West. Edwin F. Bryant's translation is clear, direct, and exact. Each sutra is presented as Sanskrit text, transliteration, and precise English translation, and is followed by Bryant's authoritative commentary, which is grounded in the classical understanding of yoga and conveys the meaning and depth of the su-tras in a user-friendly manner for a Western readership without compromising scholarly rigor or traditional authenticity. In addition, Bryant presents insights drawn from the primary traditional commentaries on the sutras written over the last millennium and a half.Founding God’s Nation: Reading Exodus
By Leon R Kass. 2020
In this long-awaited follow-up to his 2003 book on Genesis, humanist scholar Leon Kass explores how Exodus raises and then…
answers the central political questions of what defines a nation and how a nation should govern itself. Considered by some the most important book in the Hebrew Bible, Exodus tells the story of the Jewish people from their enslavement in Egypt, through their liberation under Moses&’s leadership, to the covenantal founding at Sinai and the building of the Tabernacle. In Kass&’s analysis, these events began the slow process of learning how to stop thinking like slaves and become an independent people. The Israelites ultimately founded their nation on three elements: a shared narrative that instills empathy for the poor and the suffering, the uplifting rule of a moral law, and devotion to a higher common purpose. These elements, Kass argues, remain the essential principles for any freedom-loving nation today.How to Fight Racism: Courageous Christianity and the Journey Toward Racial Justice
By Jemar Tisby. 2021
Racism is pervasive in today's world, and many are complicit in the failure to confront its evils. Jemar Tisby, author…
of the award-winning The Color of Compromise, believes we need to move beyond mere discussions about racism and begin equipping people with the practical tools to fight against it.How to Fight Racism is a handbook for pursuing racial justice with hands-on suggestions bolstered by real-world examples of change. Tisby offers an array of actionable items to confront racism in our relationships and in everyday life through a simple framework--the A.R.C. Of Racial Justice--that helps readers consistently interrogate their own actions and maintain a consistent posture of anti-racist action. This book is for anyone who believes it is time to stop compromising with racism and courageously confront it.Tisby roots the ultimate solution to racism in the Christian faith as we embrace the implications of what Jesus taught his followers. Beginning in the church, he provides an opportunity to be part of the solution and suggests that the application of these principles can offer us hope that will transform our nation and the world. Tisby encourages us to reject passivity and become active participants in the struggle for human dignity across racial and ethnic lines. Readers of the book will come away with a clear model for how to think about race in productive ways and a compelling call to dismantle a social hierarchy long stratified by skin color.Art and Faith: A Theology of Making
By Makoto Fujimura. 2020
From a world-renowned painter, an exploration of creativity&’s quintessential—and often overlooked—role in the spiritual life "Makoto Fujimura is the rare…
artist whose life has something of the same purifying and galvanizing force of his work. His new book brings those two elements—life and art—even closer together, and is a real tonic for our atomized time." —Christian Wiman Conceived over thirty years of painting and creating in his studio, this book is Makoto Fujimura&’s broad and deep exploration of creativity and the spiritual aspects of &“making.&” What he does in the studio is theological work as much as it is aesthetic work. In between pouring precious, pulverized minerals onto handmade paper to create the prismatic, refractive surfaces of his art, he comes into the quiet space in the studio, in a discipline of awareness, waiting, prayer, and praise. Ranging from the Bible to T. S. Eliot, and from Mark Rothko to Japanese Kintsugi technique, he shows how unless we are making something, we cannot know the depth of God&’s being and God&’s grace permeating our lives. This poignant and beautiful book offers the perspective of, in Christian Wiman&’s words, &“an accidental theologian,&” one who comes to spiritual questions always through the prism of art.The Challenges of Resolving the Israeli–Palestinian Dispute: An Impossible Peace?
By Bren Carlill. 2021
This book explains why the Israeli–Palestinian dispute is so difficult to resolve by showing that it consists of multiple distinct…
conflicts. Because these tend to be conflated into a single conflict, attempts at peace have not worked. Underpinned by conflict theory, observations of those involved and analyses of polling data, the book argues that peace will not be possible until each of the dispute’s distinct conflicts are managed.Early chapters establish a theoretical framework to explain and define the different conflicts. This framework is then applied to the history of the dispute. The actions and perceptions of Israelis and Palestinians make sense when viewed through this framework. The Oslo peace process is examined in detail to explain how and why each side’s expectations were not met. Ultimately, lessons in ways to build a future viable peace are drawn from the failures of the past.The New Testament in Antiquity: A Survey of the New Testament Within Its Cultural Contexts
By Gary M. Burge, Lynn H. Cohick, Gene L. Green, Burge. 2007
The New Testament in Antiquity is a textbook for college and seminary students penned by three evangelical scholars with over…
fifty years of combined experience in the classroom. Their challenge was to build a text that would be engaging, academically robust, richly illustrated, and relevant to the modern student. This book strikes a balance between being accessible to all students and challenging them to explore the depths of the New Testament within its cultural worlds. The New Testament in Antiquity carefully develops how Jewish and Hellenistic cultures formed the essential environment in which the New Testament authors wrote their books and letters. It argues that knowing the land, history, and culture of this world brings remarkable new insights into how we read the New Testament itself. Numerous sidebars provide windows into the Jewish, Hellenistic, and Roman worlds and integrate this material directly with the interpretation of the literature of the New Testament. This is an ideal introductory text for classroom use, with ample discussion questions and bibliographies.