Sacred Dissonance is a thought-provoking study exploring the distinctions between religious identities and cultural boundaries of Jews and Christians. Opposing the notion that all faiths are the same, Anthony Le Donne (a New Testament scholar) and Larry Behrendt (a Jewish lawyer) offer introspective essays on topics such as neighborhood relations, hospitality, and the Holocaust—and provide a model for addressing a difficult past and challenging present.
From ISIS attacks to the conflict between Israel and Palestine, Sacred Fury explores the connections between faith and violence in world religions. Author Charles Selengut looks at religion as both a force for peace and for violence, and he asks key questions such as how “religious” is this violence and what drives the faithful to attack in the names of their beliefs? Revised throughout, the third edition features new material on violence in Buddhism and Hinduism, the rise of ISIS, “lone wolf terrorists,” and more. This up-to-date edition draws on a variety of disciplines to comprehend forms of religious violence both historically and in the present day. The third edition of Sacred Fury is an essential resource for understanding the connections between faith and violence.
The first chapter of Genesis reports that human beings are created in God's own image, but since the blunder of Eve and Adam in the garden of Eden, tragic flaws have been apparent in our spiritual/psychological structure. Consequently, biblical stories abound with examples of spiritual failure. Eve and Adam were grossly disobedient to the authority of their Heavenly Father. Sibling rivalry would have been unusual for children of the first parents, but who would have predicted a family bond so conflicted that Cain would murder his brother Abel. Then there are the foibles of Simon Peter, the rock on whom Jesus would found a church so mighty that the gates of hell would never prevail against it, but Peter was so often fecklessly confused. Consider doubting Thomas succumbing to the demand for empirical proof and therefore experiencing the despair of faithlessness. Even the spiritual giant St. Paul could state, "I do not do the good I want but I do the evil I do not want" (Rom. 7:19). The Sacred Nexus proposes that factual links exist between the spirit of the image of God and the principles of psychology. These connections help explain the human frailty displayed by biblical characters. Furthermore, psychological study examines the development of dysfunctional habituating behaviors, which possess the potential to destroy the spiritual qualities of God's creation. On the other hand, the linkage of psychology with the image of God may produce a relationship that can enhance the creation of Christ-like quality that God has commanded Christians to willfully produce. Ultimately, The Sacred Nexus exposes the consequences of our psychological/spiritual dilemmas by analyzing six sacred links that define the destiny of our immortal souls.
The Routledge Handbook of Religious and Spiritual Tourism provides a robust and comprehensive state-of-the-art review of the literature in this growing sub-field of tourism. This handbook is split into five distinct sections. The first section covers past and present debates regarding definitions, theories, and concepts related to religious and spiritual tourism. Subsequent sections focus on the supply and demand aspects of religious and spiritual tourism markets, and examine issues related to the management side of these markets around the world. Areas under examination include religious theme parks, the UNESCO branding of religious heritage, gender and performance, popular culture, pilgrimage, environmental impacts, and fear and terrorism, among many others. The final section explores emerging and future directions in religious and spiritual tourism, and proposes an agenda for further research. Interdisciplinary in coverage and international in scope through its authorship and content, this will be essential reading for all students, researchers, and academics interested in Tourism, Religion, Cultural Studies, and Heritage Studies.
Of all the Hindu Scriptures, the Bhagavad Gita is the most widely read by Western audiences. Its brevity belies its complexity; as with all sacred texts, the only way to fully understand its teaching is to learn from those who live out a faith based on that text. This book examines five different readings of the Bhagavad Gita, juxtaposing these readings with a Western Protestant Christian response to both the text and the ideas and theology that lie beneath the surface of the text. Written for students and practitioners of interfaith dialogue, it is a resource to enable richer and deeper conversations between Hindus and Christians.
A 2014 Gallup Poll indicated that 26 percent of Americans believe that humans came into existence less than 10,000 years ago, with a much larger 37 percent believing the world was created in six 24-hour days. Those percentages represent around 83 million and 118 million people respectively, suggesting these to be ideas that resonate with a large swath of the population. Given the prevalence of such thinking the question looms, "Is it possible that so many people could be wrong, or is science simply mistaken about some of these matters?" This book is very much about the importance process plays in the conclusions that are reachable, with Jan Long proposing that process itself can answer such questions, doing so in a way that offers credibility. He proposes that process entails a set of well-established rules for how knowledge is acquired, and these can help guide the formation of a sacred construct about beginnings. In the final analysis it is a process that seeks to replace dogmatic thinking with humble and tentative expressions about that which is knowable about the many mysteries of reality that convey to sentient beings, awe and wonder.
The Bloomsbury Companion to New Religious Movements covers key themes such as charismatic leadership, conversion and brainwashing, prophecy and millennialism, violence and suicide, gender and sexuality, legal issues, and the portrayal of New Religious Movements by the media and anti-cult organisations. Several categories of new religions receive special attention, including African new religions, Japanese new religions, Mormons, and UFO religions. This guide to New Religious Movements and their critical study brings together 29 world-class international scholars, and serves as a resource to students and researchers. The volume highlights the current state of academic study in the field, and explores areas in which future research might develop. Clearly and accessibly organised to help users quickly locate key information and analysis, the book includes an A to Z of key terms, extensive guides to further resources, a comprehensive bibliography, and a timeline of major developments in the field such as the emergence of new groups, publications, legal decisions, and historical events.
This edited volume brings together scholars from across disciplines to examine the relationship between religion and alcohol. It examines the historical, social, ritual, economic, political, and cultural relationship between religion and alcohol across time periods and around the world. Twelve chapters are tied together by two major themes: first, gender identity, and its intersection with religion and alcohol; second, identity construction in religious communities, demonstrating how alcohol can be used as a distinguishing factor for religious, ethnic, and national identity. A key focus of the volume is how alcohol can bridge and divide the point at which the sacred and secular meet. With its interdisciplinary approach and engaging style, this book is an essential resource for undergraduate and graduate students in religion departments and appeals to scholars of material culture, food, and alcohol. Additionally, the book is of interest to professionals in the alcohol industry, particularly those involved in microbrewing and winemaking, who are interested in understanding the historical and cultural contexts of their craft.
Can drugs be used intelligently and responsibly to expand human consciousness and heighten spirituality? This two-volume work presents objective scientific information and personal stories aiming to answer the question. The first of its kind, this intriguing two-volume set objectively reports on and assesses this modern psycho-social movement in world culture: the constructive medical use of entheogens and related mind-altering substances. Covering the use of substances such as ayahuasca, cannabis, LSD, peyote, and psilocybin, the work seeks to illuminate the topic in a scholarly and scientific fashion so as to lift the typical division between those who are supporters of research and exploration of entheogens and those who are strongly opposed to any such experimentation altogether. The volumes address the history and use of mind-altering drugs in medical research and religious practice in the endeavor to expand and heighten spirituality and the sense of the divine, providing unbiased coverage of the relevant arguments and controversies regarding the subject matter. Chapters include examinations of how psychoactive agents are used to achieve altered states in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism as well as in the rituals of shamanism and other less widely known faiths. This highly readable work will appeal to everyone from high school students to seasoned professors, in both the secular world and in devoted church groups and religious colleges.
Pilgrimage beyond the Officially Sacred: Understanding the Geographies of Religion and Spirituality in Sacred Travel examines the many ways in which pilgrimage engages with sacredness, delving beyond the officially recognized, and often religiously conceived, pilgrimage sites. As scholarship examining the lived experiences of pilgrims and tourists has demonstrated, pilgrimage need not be religious in nature, nor be officially sanctioned; rather, they can be 'hyper-meaningful' voyages, set apart from the everyday profane life—in a word, they are sacred. Separating the social category of 'religion' from the 'sacred,' this volume brings together a multidisciplinary group of scholars employing perspectives from anthropology, geography, sociology, religious studies, theology, and interdisciplinary tourism studies to theorize sacredness, its variability, and the ways in which it is officially recognized or condemned by power brokers. Rich in case studies from sacred centers throughout the world, the contributions pay close attention to the ways in which pilgrims, central authorities, site managers, locals, and other stakeholders on the ground appropriate, negotiate, shape, contest, or circumvent the powerful forces of the sacred. Delving ‘beyond the officially sacred,’ this collective examination of pilgrimages—both well-established and new, religious and secular, authorized and not—presents a compelling look at the interplay of secular powers and the transcendent forces of the sacred at these hyper-meaningful sites. Providing a blueprint for how work in the anthropology and geography of religion, and the fields of pilgrimage and religious tourism, may move forward, Pilgrimage beyond the Officially Sacred will be of great interest to an interdisciplinary field of scholars. The chapters were originally published as a special issue in Tourism Geographies.
