John E. Fetzer and the Quest for the New Age
John E. Fetzer and the Quest for the New Age

Author: Brian C. Wilson

Publisher: Wayne State University Press

Published: 2018-08-06

Total Pages: 299

ISBN-13: 081434531X

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John E. Fetzer and the Quest for the New Age is the remarkable story of the spiritual search of one of Michigan’s most successful entrepreneurs, a search that culminated in the Fetzer Institute whose ambitious mission is nothing less than the spiritual transformation of the world. John E. Fetzer and the Quest for the New Age follows the spiritual sojourn of John E. Fetzer, a Michigan business tycoon. Born in 1901 and living most of his life in Kalamazoo, Fetzer parlayed his first radio station into extensive holdings in broadcasting and other enterprises, leading to his sole ownership of the Detroit Tigers in 1961. By the time he died in 1991, Fetzer had been listed in Forbes magazine as one of the four hundred wealthiest people in America. And yet, business success was never enough for Fetzer—his deep spiritual yearnings led him from the Christianity of his youth to a restless exploration of metaphysical religions and movements ranging from Spiritualism, Theosophy, Freemasonry, UFOology, and parapsychology, all the way to the New Age as it blossomed in the 1980s. Author Brian C. Wilson demonstrates how Fetzer's quest mirrored those of thousands of Americans who sought new ways of thinking and being in the ever-changing spiritual movements of the twentieth century. Over his lifetime, Fetzer's worldview continuously evolved, combining and recombining elements from dozens of traditions in a process he called "freedom of the spirit." Unlike most others who engaged in a similar process, Fetzer's synthesis can be documented step by step using extensive archival materials, providing readers with a remarkably rich and detailed roadmap through metaphysical America. The book also documents how Fetzer's wealth allowed him to institutionalize his spiritual vision into a thriving foundation—the Fetzer Institute—which was designed to carry his insights into the future in hopes that it would help catalyze a global spiritual transformation. John E. Fetzer and the Quest for the New Age offers a window into the rich and complex history of metaphysical religions in the Midwest and the United States at large. It will be read with interest by those wishing to learn more about this enigmatic Michigan figure, as well as those looking for an engaging introduction into America's rapidly shifting spiritual landscape.

Genesis Begins Again
Genesis Begins Again

Author: Alicia D. Williams

Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books

Published: 2020-08-18

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 1481465813

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“Reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye.” —The New York Times “One of the best books I have ever read…will live in the hearts of readers for the rest of their lives.” —Colby Sharp, founder of Nerdy Book Club “An emotional, painful, yet still hopeful adolescent journey…one that needed telling.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “I really loved this.” —Sharon M. Draper, author of the New York Times bestseller Out of My Mind This deeply sensitive and “compelling” (BCCB) debut novel tells the story of a thirteen-year-old who must overcome internalized racism and a verbally abusive family to finally learn to love herself. There are ninety-six reasons why thirteen-year-old Genesis dislikes herself. She knows the exact number because she keeps a list: -Because her family is always being put out of their house. -Because her dad has a gambling problem. And maybe a drinking problem too. -Because Genesis knows this is all her fault. -Because she wasn’t born looking like Mama. -Because she is too black. Genesis is determined to fix her family, and she’s willing to try anything to do so…even if it means harming herself in the process. But when Genesis starts to find a thing or two she actually likes about herself, she discovers that changing her own attitude is the first step in helping change others.

Yankees in Michigan
Yankees in Michigan

Author: Brian C. Wilson

Publisher: Discovering the Peoples of Mic

Published: 2008-08-29

Total Pages: 158

ISBN-13:

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Discovering the Peoples of Michigan examines the rich multicultural heritage of the Great Lakes State and explores Michigan's ethnic dynamics. Michigan's rapidly changing historical and social structures have far-reaching implications in such areas as public policy, education, management, and private enterprise. Discovering the Peoples of Michigan reveals the unique contributions that different and often unrecognized communities have made to Michigan's historical and social identity.

Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and the Religion of Biologic Living
Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and the Religion of Biologic Living

Author: Brian C. Wilson

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2014-09-18

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 0253014557

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A biography of the physician and health guru, examining his views on science and medicine as he evolved religiously. Purveyors of spiritualized medicine have been legion in American religious history, but few have achieved the superstar status of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his Battle Creek Sanitarium. In its heyday, the “San” was a combination spa and Mayo Clinic. Founded in 1866 under the auspices of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and presided over by the charismatic Dr. Kellogg, it catered to many well-heeled health seekers including Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, and Presidents Taft and Harding. It also supported a hospital, research facilities, a medical school, a nursing school, several health food companies, and a publishing house dedicated to producing materials on health and wellness. Rather than focusing on Kellogg as the eccentric creator of corn flakes or a megalomaniacal quack, Brian C. Wilson takes his role as a physician and a theological innovator seriously and places his religion of “Biologic Living” in an on-going tradition of sacred health and wellness. With the fascinating and unlikely story of the “San” as a backdrop, Wilson traces the development of this theology of physiology from its roots in antebellum health reform and Seventh-day Adventism to its ultimate accommodation of genetics and eugenics in the Progressive Era. “A well-researched biography that seeks to restore the reputation of the doctor satirized in T. C. Boyle’s novel The Road to Wellville and in the film of the same name. Wilson has done much more than provide a sympathetic biography of the man who headed the once-famous Battle Creek Sanitarium. . . . There’s much here to interest both adherents to and skeptics of today’s alternative and holistic medicines, as well as fans of American history, especially the history of religions.” —Kirkus Reviews “While he may look like a certain Kentucky Fried Colonel, Kellogg was an early advocate of a vegan diet and the intriguing figure behind the famous Battle Creek Sanitarium that paved the way for many contemporary ideas of holistic health and wellness. . . . Wilson’s lively and accessible writing introduces readers to spiritualism, millennialism, the temperance and social purity movements, Swedenborgians, and Mormons. . . . [A] thought-provoking portrait of a charismatic, intelligent medical doctor who never stopped absorbing new information and honing his theories, even when he was faced with disfellowship from his church and ostracism by friends and colleagues.” —ForeWord Reviews “Wilson does an admirable job of portraying how the doctor’s beliefs shifted and adapted over time. . . . Readers with a keen interest in religious history, particularly as it relates to health care, will enjoy this biography the most.” —Library Journal

Christianity
Christianity

Author: Brian Wilson

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 0415211611

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This is a concise survey of the history of Christianity, from its beginnings in late antiquity, through the Reformation in the West, to its present day global status.

Max Lilienthal
Max Lilienthal

Author: Bruce L. Ruben

Publisher: Wayne State University Press

Published: 2011-12-01

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 0814336671

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Explores the life and thought of Rabbi Max Lilienthal, who created a new model for the American rabbinate. When Congregation Bene Israel hired him to come to Cincinnati in 1854, Rabbi Max Lilienthal (1814–82) seized the opportunity to work with his friend Isaac M. Wise. Together, Lilienthal and Wise forged the institutional foundations for the American Reform movement: the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and Hebrew Union College. In Max Lilienthal: The Making of the American Rabbinate, author Bruce L. Ruben investigates the central role Lilienthal played in creating new institutions and leadership models to bring his immigrant community into the mainstream of American society. Ruben’s biography shines a light on this prominent rabbi and educator who is treated by most American Jewish historians as, at best, Wise’s collaborator. Ruben examines Lilienthal’s early career, including how his fervent Haskalah ideology was shaped by tensions within early nineteenth-century German Jewish society and how he tried to implement that ideology in his attempt to modernize Russian Jewish education. After he immigrated to America to serve three traditional New York German synagogues, he clashed with lay leadership. Ruben examines this lay-clergy power struggle and how Lilienthal resolved it over his long career. Max Lilienthal: The Making of the American Rabbinate also details the rabbi’s many accomplishments, including his creation of a nationally recognized private Jewish school and the founding of the precursor to the Central Conference of American Rabbis. He also was the first rabbi to preach in a Christian church. Even more significantly, Ruben argues that Lilienthal created an unprecedented new American model for the rabbinate, in which the rabbi played a prominent role in civic life. More than a biography, this volume is a case study of the impact of American culture on Judaism and its leadership, as Ruben shows how Lilienthal embraced an increasingly radical Reform ideology influenced by a mixture of American and European ideas. Students of German Haskalah and historians of American Judaism and the Reform movement will appreciate this biography that fills an important gap in the history of American Jewry.

Pervert’s Progress
Pervert’s Progress

Author: Joseph Weigel

Publisher: WestBow Press

Published: 2024-04-01

Total Pages: 191

ISBN-13:

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Why is it that we aren’t supposed to be able to know what a man or woman is today and why are children being deceived about these basic categories? Pervert’s Progress answers these and a host of other questions. This book traces the intellectual roots of Queer Theory from Marx to more recent figures like Herbert Marcuse and Michelle Foucault and the development of sex education is explored all the way back to Alfred Kinsey and his pedophilic experiments. Finally, the occult origins and orientation of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) are examined. But it doesn’t end in despair. By drawing from some of the most foundation works of the West, including those of both Athens and Jerusalem, a path of hope is provided.

Enjoying Religion
Enjoying Religion

Author: Frans Jespers

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2018-08-15

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 1498555020

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“Enjoying religion” seems to be a contradiction because religion is generally perceived as a serious or even suppressive phenomenon. This volume is the first to study the increase of enjoying religion systematically by presenting eleven new case studies, occurring on four continents. The volume concludes that in our late modern secular societies the enjoyment of religion or of its loose elements is growing. In particular when scholars concentrate on “lived religion” of ordinary people, the cheerful experiences appear to prevail. Many people use pleasant (elements of) religion to add meaning to their lives, to find spiritual fulfillment or a way to salvation, and to experience belonging to a larger unity. At the same time, diverse cultural dynamics of late modern society such as popular culture, commercialization, re-enchantment, and feminization influence this trend of enjoying religion. In spite of secularization, playing with religion appears to be attractive.

Theology Without Walls
Theology Without Walls

Author: Jerry L. Martin

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-10-01

Total Pages: 355

ISBN-13: 0429671547

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Thinking about ultimate reality is becoming increasingly transreligious. This transreligious turn follows inevitably from the discovery of divine truths in multiple traditions. Global communications bring the full range of religious ideas and practices to anyone with access to the internet. Moreover, the growth of the nones and those who describe themselves as spiritual but not religious creates a pressing need for theological thinking not bound by prescribed doctrines and fixed rituals. This book responds to this vital need. The chapters in this volume each examine the claim that if the aim of theology is to know and articulate all we can about the divine reality, and if revelations, enlightenments, and insights into that reality are not limited to a single tradition, then what is called for is a theology without confessional restrictions. In other words, a Theology Without Walls. To ground the project in examples, the volume provides emerging models of transreligious inquiry. It also includes sympathetic critics who raise valid concerns that such a theology must face. This is a book that will be of urgent interest to theologians, religious studies scholars, and philosophers of religion. It will be especially suitable for those interested in comparative theology, inter-religious and interfaith understanding, new trends in constructive theology, normative religious studies, and global philosophy of religion.

The American Blockbuster
The American Blockbuster

Author: Benjamin Crace

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2022-10-18

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 1440877815

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Providing an indispensable resource for students and general readers, this book serves as an entry point for a conversation on America's favorite pastime, focusing in on generational differences and the evolution of American identity. In an age marked by tension and division, Americans of all ages and backgrounds have turned to film to escape the pressures of everyday life. Yet, beyond escapism, popular cinema is both a mirror and microscope for our collective psyche. Examining the films that have made billions of dollars through a new lens reveals that popular culture is a vital source for understanding what it means to be an American. This book is divided into four sections, each associated with a different generation. Featuring such era-defining hits as Jaws, Back to the Future, Avatar, and The Avengers, each section presents detailed film analyses that showcase the consistency of certain American values throughout generations as well as the constant renegotiation of others. Ideal for any cinephile, The American Blockbuster demonstrates how complex and meaningful even the summer blockbuster can be.