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Western Religion

A DIVINE AND SUPERNATURAL LIGHT

A DIVINE AND SUPERNATURAL LIGHT

By: Edwards a M, Johnathan
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One the the many sermons of colonial American Theologian and clergyman Jonathan Edwards. This is a representative Sermon of the depth and breadth of Jonathan Edwards as he preached in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1733. The text of this edition is based upon the first edition, printed in Boston in 1734 by Kneeland and Green.
A SORROWFUL JOY

A SORROWFUL JOY

By: Raboteau, Albert J
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Description: Albert Raboteau was born into a Catholic family in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, three months after his father was shot and killed by a white man. It was during the 1940s, when blacks couldn't swim at the same beach as whites, when the priest gave communion to white Catholics first and made others wait. In a moving account of his life, Raboteau tells how the boy grew into a man, married, became a success as a college administrator, then learned sorrow, lost his way and had to start over again. His is an American spiritual journey that is redolent of sacramental Christianity marking the sacredness of time, place, and community. The journey brought him to a conversation that reconciled him to his own past, including his religious heritage, his African roots, and his family members. In the end his spiritual quest became a journey home, to a human circle that opened to him and brought him to God. Endorsements: ""If you want to see why Albert Raboteau is among the most elegant writers now contemplating the most important things, begin with his brief spiritual autobiography, A Sorrowful Joy. Next read the epilogue A Fire in the Bones. Then return to Slave Religion, the book for which he is famous, and you will understand why it first moved you as deeply as it did."" --Jeffrey Stout, author of Blessed Are the Organized About the Contributor(s): Albert J. Raboteau is the Henry W. Putnam Professor of Religion at Princeton University. The text of this book was originally delivered as a Harold M. Wit Lecture at Harvard University Divinity School.
ABRAHAM

ABRAHAM

By: Feiler, Bruce
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Noting Abraham as a shared patriarchal figure common to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the author recounts his visits to war zones, ancient shrines, and other locations to trace Abraham's life from an interfaith perspective.
ABRAHAM MIGUEL CARDOZO SELECTED

ABRAHAM MIGUEL CARDOZO SELECTED

By: Cardozo, Abraham Miguel
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Here is a fascinating and unusual addition to the acclaimed Classics of Western Spirituality(TM)series. Abraham Miguel Cardozo (1627-1706) was born to a Marrano family in Spain and raised as a Catholic. After fleeing Spain at age 22, he returned to Judaism and educated himself in rabbinics and Kabbalah. A physician by trade, Cardozo became a believer in the self-proclaimed Messiah Sabbatai Zevi. In later years he thought himself a truer Messiah, one who would redeem the Jewish people and the entire world. A subtle and lucid theologian, Cardozo combined rabbinic learning, his Catholic training and a budding awareness of Eastern religions into a remarkable theory of comparative religion that he set forth in his treatise, This Is My God and I Will Praise Him, which appears in its entirety here. Included as well are slightly abridged texts of his apology for Sabbatai Zevi's apostasy (Epistle to the Judges of Izmir), and his lengthy autobiographical letter written near the end of his life, and the magical and messianic portions of his treatise Israel, Holiness to the Lord. An introduction provides rich background information on Cardozo's life and travels, and the meaning and context of his writings. Never before translated into English, or any language, Cardozo will hold great appeal for persons interested in Judaism, mysticism and early modern history, as well as for spiritual seekers, particularly those looking for some unorthodox variant of their current tradition. +
ACROSS THE WORLDS OF ISLAM

ACROSS THE WORLDS OF ISLAM

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Muslim people are found all over the world. Most live outside the Middle East, from Asia to the Americas. The vast majority of contemporary Muslims are not fluent in Arabic, and speakers of languages such as Persian, Urdu, and Turkish have made essential contributions to Islamic history and culture. However, typical courses on Islam tend to downplay areas beyond the Middle East, focusing on Arabic texts and elite theological and doctrinal arguments.

This book offers an inclusive view of the diversity and complexity of the many worlds of Islam, investigating ethics and aesthetics as much as scriptures and theology. By paying attention to Muslims who are socially, culturally, doctrinally, or politically marginalized, it provides a comprehensive and all-embracing vision of the religion and its many interrelated communities. Contributors from a range of personal and intellectual backgrounds explore the capaciousness of Muslim identities, helping readers achieve a broader understanding of the past, present, and future of the Muslim world. This book includes communities such as the Nation of Islam and Alevi Muslims, and it goes beyond rituals like prayer and fasting to consider a wider array of practices, such as tattooing.

Across the Worlds of Islam is at once student-friendly and cutting-edge, written with both introductory courses and general readers in mind. Examining Muslim identity and practice from the perspective of the margins, it offers nuanced portraits of Muslim life across geographic and sectarian divisions.

AGAINST THE ACADEMICIANS & THE TEACHER

AGAINST THE ACADEMICIANS & THE TEACHER

By: Augustine
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These new translations of two treatises dealing with the possibility and nature of knowledge in the face of skeptical challenges are the first to be rendered from the Latin critical edition, the first to be made specifically with a philosophical audience in mind, and the first to be translated by a scholar with expertise in both modern epistemology and philosophy of language.

AGAINST THE ACADEMICS: ST. AUGUSTINE'S CASSICIACUM DIALOGUES, VOLUME 1

AGAINST THE ACADEMICS: ST. AUGUSTINE'S CASSICIACUM DIALOGUES, VOLUME 1

By: Augustine, Saint
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A fresh, new translation of Augustine's inaugural work as a Christian convert

"Lively, engaging and accurate translations. . . . There is much in this dialogue and Foley's presentation of it for contemporary readers to take seriously."--Erik Kenyon, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

The first four works written by St. Augustine of Hippo after his conversion to Christianity are the remarkable "Cassiciacum dialogues." In this first dialogue, expertly translated by Michael Foley, Augustine and his interlocutors explore the history and teachings of Academic skepticism, which Augustine is both sympathetic to and critical of. The dialogue serves as a fitting launching point for a knowledge of God and the soul, the overall subject of the Cassiciacum tetralogy.

AL-GHAZALI'S PATH TO SUFISM: HIS DELIVERANCE FROM ERROR AND FIVE KEY TEXTS

AL-GHAZALI'S PATH TO SUFISM: HIS DELIVERANCE FROM ERROR AND FIVE KEY TEXTS

By: Al-Ghazali, Abu Hamid Muhammad
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This text has long been recognized as not only an Islamic classic, but also as a great spiritual autobiography of one of the world's greatest religious thinkers. It is the narrative of how one dedicated seeker of true knowledge and salvation, having probed various systems of thought and differing paths of learning and enlightenment, discovered the peace of the inner life and discipline of mystical spirituality.
AL-QURAN TR. AHMED ALI

AL-QURAN TR. AHMED ALI

By: Ali, Ahmed
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This bilingual edition of the Qur'an, the Holy Book of Islam, was first published in the United States in 1988. Ahmed Ali, the distinguished Pakistani novelist, poet, critic, and diplomat, presents this elegant and poetic translation in a contemporary and living voice. On each page, the original Arabic and the translated English sit side by side, encouraging the reader to draw from both texts. Professor Ali also includes notes where necessary, providing the full meaning of each word and phrase. This accessible volume is truly essential for both scholars and followers of Islam.

ALBERT & THOMAS/SELECTED WRITINGS

ALBERT & THOMAS/SELECTED WRITINGS

By: Thomas, Frederic
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"...a milestone in American religious publishing." New Catholic World In one series, the original writings of the universally acknowledged teachers of the Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, Jewish, Islamic and Native American traditions have been critically selected, translated and introduced by internationally recognized scholars and spiritual leaders. ALBERT AND THOMAS-SELECTED WRITINGS translated, edited, and introduced by Simon Tugwell, O.P. preface by Leonard E. Boyle, OP "He who is the preeminent cause of all that the mind understands is not any of the objects of our understanding." Albert the Great (1200-1280) This volume contains writings by two thirteenth-century Dominicans, both canonized saints, both doctors of the Church: Saint Albert the Great, patron saint of natural scientist, and the "common doctor," Saint Thomas Aquinas. Both are famous for their contributions to philosophy and theology, but they are also, in different ways, both important in the history of spirituality. In particular, Saint Thomas' huge common sense gives his message an abiding value which can be appreciated by ordinary Christians, trying to practice their faith, as well as by people who are concerned with more sophisticated attempts to articulate and understand their religion. The editor of the volume, Simon Tugwell, OP, has supplied a full biographical introduction to each of the two saints, and an introduction to relevant aspects of their thought, so that this book serves as a real invitation to those who are unfamiliar with them, as well as making a contribution to the scholarly study of their lives and works. +
ALCHEMY OF HAPPINESS TR. FIELD

ALCHEMY OF HAPPINESS TR. FIELD

By: Al-Ghazali, Abu Hamid
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God has sent on earth prophets to teach men the prescription of happiness. This alchemy may be briefly described as turning away from the world to God, and its constituents are the knowledge of self., the knowledge of God, the knowledge of this world as it really is, and the knowledge of the next world as it really is.

"This man, if ever any have deserved the name, was truly a 'divine, ' and he may be justly placed on a level with Origen, so remarkable was he for learning and ingenuity, and gifted with such a rare faculty for the skilful and worthy exposition of doctrine. All that is good, noble, and sublime that his great soul had compassed he bestowed upon Muhammadanism, and he adorned the doctrines of the Koran with so much piety and learning that, in the form given them by him, they seem, in my opinion, worthy the assent of Christians. Whatsoever was most excellent in the philosophy of Aristotle or in the Sufi mysticism he discreetly adapted to the Muhammadan theology; from every school he sought the means of shedding light and honour upon religion; while his sincere piety and lofty conscientiousness imparted to all his writings a sacred majesty. He was the first of Muhammadan divines." -- Dr. August Tholuck

AMONG THE GENTILES: Greco Roman Religion and Christianity

AMONG THE GENTILES: Greco Roman Religion and Christianity

By: Johnson, Luke Timothy
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An acclaimed scholar presents a bold new interpretation of the relationship between Greco-Roman religion and Christianity.

The question of Christianity's relation to the other religions of the world is more pertinent and difficult today than ever before. While Christianity's historical failure to appreciate or actively engage Judaism is notorious, Christianity's even more shoddy record with respect to "pagan" religions is less understood. Christians have inherited a virtually unanimous theological tradition that thinks of paganism in terms of demonic possession, and of Christian missions as a rescue operation that saves pagans from inherently evil practices.

In undertaking this fresh inquiry into early Christianity and Greco-Roman paganism, Luke Timothy Johnson begins with a broad definition of religion as a way of life organized around convictions and experiences concerning ultimate power. In the tradition of William James's Variety of Religious Experience, he identifies four distinct ways of being religious: religion as participation in benefits, as moral transformation, as transcending the world, and as stabilizing the world. Using these criteria as the basis for his exploration of Christianity and paganism, Johnson finds multiple points of similarity in religious sensibility.

Christianity's failure to adequately come to grips with its first pagan neighbors, Johnson asserts, inhibits any effort to engage positively with adherents of various world religions. This thoughtful and passionate study should help break down the walls between Christianity and other religious traditions.

AN EDUCATED MAN: A Dual Biography of Moses and Jesus

AN EDUCATED MAN: A Dual Biography of Moses and Jesus

By: Rosenberg, David
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A magisterial project: a dual biography of the preeminent figures of Judeo-Christian civilization overturning conventional views of Moses and Jesus as humble men of faith.

By reanimating the biographies of Moses and Jesus in their historical context, Rosenberg reads their narrative as a cultural--rather than religious--endeavor. He charges that Moses and Jesus were "educated" men, steeped in the literature and scholarship of their day. There were no old or new testaments for them, only a long history of writing and writers. When scholars and clergy quote Moses and Jesus, they routinely neglect to inform us that Jesus is quoting the Hebrew Bible, often in the manner that Moses quoted Egyptian medical texts. The remarkable ability of both men to recall and transform a wide range of sources is overlooked. Where did they get these profound educations? Part biography, part critical analysis, An Educated Man challenges us to envision what defines "an educated man or woman" today--and how understanding religious history is crucial to it. Rosenberg offers a sympathetic approach to why we need Judeo-Christianity--and ultimately convinces us that the life of Jesus is unthinkable without the model of Moses before him.

ANCIENT JEWISH MYSTICISM

ANCIENT JEWISH MYSTICISM

By: Dan, Joseph
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This book describes the history of Jewish mysticism, introducing the wide-ranging and varied mystic writings known collectively as the "Heikhalot" and the "Merkavah" literature, with its description of mystic spiritual elevations, and meetings between the mystics and superior beings-and even with God. Explains Jewish mysticism's relationships to parallel streams of thought, both within and outside Judaism.
ANGELA OF FOLIGNO/COMPLETE WORKS

ANGELA OF FOLIGNO/COMPLETE WORKS

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The Classics of Western Spirituality(TM)series, which has inspired many less-successful imitations over the years, has fulfilled its promise and given us an invaluable resource of the soul. The Catholic Historical Review In one series, the original writings of the universally acknowledged teachers of the Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, Jewish and Islamic traditions have been critically selected, translated and introduced by internationally recognized scholars and spiritual leaders. ANGELA OF FOLIGNO-COMPLETE WORKS translated, with an introduction by Paul Lachance, O.F.M. preface by Romana Guarnieri Suddenly, a divine word sounded in my soul: "My love for you has not been a hoax." These words struck me a mortal blow. For immediately the eyes of my soul were opened and I saw that what he had said was true. I saw his acts of love, everything that the Son of God had done, all that he had endured in life and in death-this suffering God-man-because of his inexpressible and visceral love. Seeing in him all the deeds of true love, I understood the perfect truth of what he had said, that "his love for me had not been a hoax," but that he had loved me with a most perfect and visceral love. I saw, on the other hand, the exact opposite in myself, because my love for him had never been anything but playing games, never true. Angela of Foligno (c. 1248-1309) "The superabundant one," "the saint of the double abyss," "the queen of the explorers of the beyond," "the one who lies," "the bedded, swooning saint," "the teacher of theologians"--thus have various commentators characterized the Blessed Angela of Foligno, one of the most outstanding, yet still too little known, representatives of the Franciscan and Christian mystical tradition. The dramatic story of Angela's passionate love affair with the "suffering God-man," how she is transformed and led into the deep abysses of the Trinitarian life, is recorded in the Memorial, the first part of her Book, which she dictated to her Franciscan scribe and confessor, Brother Arnaldo. The searing intensity of her account is unmatched in mystical literature. After her immersion in the fathomless depths of the Trinity, Angela emerged as a spiritual mother, gathering around her a network of disciples. The second part of her Book, the Instructions, contains her teachings in the form of letters and exhortations to her spiritual progeny, along with accounts of further visions and locutions, a testament, and an epilogue. This is the first translation into English of Angela's Book in its entirety. The translation is based on the new critical edition of the Latin text. A comprehensive introduction sets it in the context of the times, and summarizes Angela's inner journey, spirituality, and influence. +
ANGELIC MISTAKES

ANGELIC MISTAKES

By: Lipsey, Roger
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In the last decade of his life, while living as a hermit-monk in dialogue with the world, Thomas Merton created a body of visual art that has remained largely unknown and little studied in the nearly forty years since his death. With this book, Merton's art at last moves out of the shadows to be appreciated for what it is: a revealing expression of his state of mind and heart in the 1960s, and a visual correlative to his mature works of spiritual writing such as New Seeds of Contemplation and Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander. Roger Lipsey provides a fascinating analysis of the simple and striking images and their significance in Merton's journey. He find in them resonances with Asian calligraphy and American abstract expressionism, and relates them to the influence of Merton's wide circle of friends, which included such diverse figures as the Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain, the poet Czeslaw Milosz, the Zen scholar D. T. Suzuki, and the artist Ad Reinhardt--among many others.

But the centerpiece of the book is the art itself, presented in a portfolio of thirty-four representative pieces that reflect the changing themes and methods of Merton's work. Each is accompanied by selections from his writings from the 1960s that reflect the inward and outward territories Merton was exploring in the period when these remarkable images were created.

ANGELIC SPIRITUALITY

ANGELIC SPIRITUALITY

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What is it about angels that so fascinates us, inspires us and makes us want to know more about them? Now, in this thoroughly intriguing Classic of Western Spirituality(TM) that is sure to have wide appeal, translator and editor Steven Chase introduces readers to the rich and varied tradition of angels in the lives of men and women. Drawing on works from a variety of medieval writers from roughly the 4th to the 13th centuries, he explores the extensive landscape of angels in medieval Christian devotion and, for the benefit of modern readers, retrieves a very rich vein in the Christian spiritual tradition. Section One explores issues in angelic spirituality ranging from metaphysical speculation to practical, formative, devotional and contemplative themes as developed in the works of, among others, Augustine, Bernard of Clairvaux and Gregory the Great. Section Two offers selections from medieval commentaries that explore angelic spirituality in the light of symbolic theology, the moral life, contemplation, aesthetics and mystical consciousness. Angelic Spirituality: --contributes to establishing solid evidence of Christian angelic spirituality that goes beyond popular interest --reintroduces a forgotten Christian spiritual tradition --will interest everyday readers as well as scholars +
APPROACHING THE QU'RAN W/CD

APPROACHING THE QU'RAN W/CD

By: Sells, Michael
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Approaching the Qur'án is a major event in religious publishing. Professor Michael Sells has captured the complexity, power, and poetry of the early suras of the Qur'án, the sacred scripture of Islam. In this second edition, Sells introduces important new translations of suras and a new preface that addresses the ongoing controversy over teaching about Islam and the Qur'an in American universities. Approaching the Qur'án presents brilliant translations of the short, hymnic suras associated with the first revelations to the Prophet Muhammad. Most of these early revelations appear at the end of text and are commonly reached only by the most resolute reader of existing English translations. These suras contain some of the most powerful, prophetic and revelatory passages in religious history. They offer the vision of a meaningful and just life that anchors the religion of one-fifth of the world's inhabitants. Approaching the Qur'án is enriched by inclusion of free downloadable audio recordings of Quranic reciters, allowing readers an opportunity to hear the Qur'án in its original form. The book includes Sells' Introduction to the Qur'án, commentaries of the suras, a glossary of technical terms, and chapters discussing the sound nature and gender aspects of the Arabic text.
ARCHAIC ROMAN RELIGION 2

ARCHAIC ROMAN RELIGION 2

By: Duma(c)Zil, Georges
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The second of two volumes discussing archaic Roman religion. From the study of texts, inscriptions, and archaeology of Roman sacred places, this volume traces the formation of archaic Roman religion from Indo-European sources through the development of the rites and beliefs of the Roman republic. The author describes a religion that was not only influenced by other religions, but influenced them as well, in mutual efforts to distinguish one nation from another. Even so, certain continuities were sustained in order to achieve a religion that crossed generations and ways of life. The worship of certain gods became the special concerns of certain parts of society, all of which needed attention to assure Rome's success in war, civil administration, and the production of food and gooods.
ARK BEFORE NOAH: DECODING THE STORY OF THE FLOOD

ARK BEFORE NOAH: DECODING THE STORY OF THE FLOOD

By: Finkel, Irving
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When a small, peculiar, palm-sized clay tablet made its way to the desk of Irving Finkel, Assyriologist and Assistant Keeper at the British Museum, Finkel could hardly believe his luck. What he discovered was a missing piece in the story of Noah and the Ark. In this captivating, absorbing work of scholarship, Finkel, a world authority on ancient Mesopotamia, leads the reader on a detective hunt for the prototype of Noah's Ark--from cuneiform wedges to bundles of reeds, from ancient Babylon to modern Iraq, Finkel reveals new information on the origin of the Babylonian Flood story which pre-dates the biblical deluge, including the surprising size and shape of the boat itself, and even where it came to rest. New to this edition, Finkel puts the "Ark Tablet" to the test in building a modern version of the ship. Throughout, The Ark Before Noah takes us on an adventurous voyage of discovery, opening the door to an enthralling world of ancient voices and historical lore.

ART OF BIBLE TRANSLATION

ART OF BIBLE TRANSLATION

By: Alter, Robert
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From the recipient of the National Jewish Book Award for Lifetime Achievement, a "hugely entertaining and irreverent" (Adam Gopnik, New Yorker) account of the art of translating the Hebrew Bible into English

In this brief book, award-winning biblical translator Robert Alter offers a personal and passionate account of what he learned about the art of Bible translation during the two decades he spent completing his own English version of the Hebrew Bible. Showing why the Bible and its meaning can be brought to life in English only by re-creating the subtle and powerful literary style of the original text, Alter discusses the principal aspects of biblical Hebrew that any translator should try to reproduce: word choice, syntax, word play and sound play, rhythm, and dialogue. In the process, he provides an illuminating and accessible introduction to biblical style that also offers insights about the art of translation far beyond the Bible.

ART OF PRAYER

ART OF PRAYER

By: Chariton, Igumen
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A spiritual anthology drawn from the Greek and Russian traditions, concerned in particular with the most frequently used and best loved of all Orthodox prayers--the Jesus Prayer. Texts are taken chiefly from the letters of Bishop Theopan the Recluse, along with many other writers.

ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM

ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM

By: Gracian, Baltasar
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This perennially popular book of advice on how to achieve personal and professional success is valued for its timeless insights on how to make one's way in the world. Written in the seventeenth century by a Spanish Jesuit scholar, these teachings are strikingly modern in tone and address universal concerns such as friendship, morality, managing emotions, and effective leadership. The Art of Worldly Wisdom is for anyone seeking to combine ethical behavior with worldly success.

This edition of The Art of Worldly Wisdom includes an informative introduction by Willis Barnstone, Distinguished Professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature at Indiana University. Barnstone, a noted translator, critic, and poet, explores Gracián's background and places him within his historical and literary context.

ATHEIST DELUSIONS: the Christian Revolution and its Fashionable Enemies

ATHEIST DELUSIONS: the Christian Revolution and its Fashionable Enemies

By: Hart, David Bentley
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Among all the great transitions that have marked Western history, only one--the triumph of Christianity--can be called in the fullest sense a "revolution"

"Hart has the gifts of a good advocate. He writes with clarity and force, and he drives his points home again and again. He exposes his opponents' errors of fact or logic with ruthless precision."--Anthony Kenny, Times Literary Supplement

In this provocative book one of the most brilliant scholars of religion today dismantles distorted religious "histories" offered up by Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and other contemporary critics of religion and advocates of atheism. David Bentley Hart provides a bold correction of the New Atheists' misrepresentations of the Christian past, countering their polemics with a brilliant account of Christianity and its message of human charity as the most revolutionary movement in all of Western history.

Hart outlines how Christianity transformed the ancient world in ways we may have forgotten: bringing liberation from fatalism, conferring great dignity on human beings, subverting the cruelest aspects of pagan society, and elevating charity above all virtues. He then argues that what we term the Age of Reason was in fact the beginning of the eclipse of reason's authority as a cultural value. Hart closes the book in the present, delineating the ominous consequences of the decline of Christendom in a culture that is built upon its moral and spiritual values.

AWAKENED ONES

AWAKENED ONES

By: Obeyesekere, Gananath
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While a rational consciousness grasps many truths, Gananath Obeyesekere believes an even richer knowledge is possible through a bold confrontation with the stuff of visions and dreams. Spanning both Buddhist and European forms of visionary experience, he fearlessly pursues the symbolic, nonrational depths of such phenomena, reawakening the intuitive, creative impulses that power greater understanding.

Throughout his career, Obeyesekere has combined psychoanalysis and anthropology to illuminate the relationship between personal symbolism and religious experience. In this book, he begins with Buddha's visionary trances wherein, over the course of four hours, he witnesses hundreds of thousands of his past births and eons of world evolution, renewal, and disappearance. He then connects this fracturing of empirical and visionary time to the realm of space, considering the experience of a female Christian penitent, who stares devotedly at a tiny crucifix only to see the space around it expand to mirror Christ's suffering. Obeyesekere follows the unconscious motivations underlying rapture, the fantastical consumption of Christ's body and blood, and body mutilation and levitation, bridging medieval Catholicism and the movements of early modern thought as reflected in William Blake's artistic visions and poetic dreams. He develops the term "dream-ego" through a discussion of visionary journeys, Carl Jung's and Sigmund Freud's scientific dreaming, and the cosmic and erotic dream-visions of New Age virtuosos, and he defines the parameters of a visionary mode of knowledge that provides a more elastic understanding of truth. A career-culminating work, this volume translates the epistemology of Hindu and Buddhist thinkers for western audiences while revitalizing western philosophical and scientific inquiry.

BATTLE FOR GOD

BATTLE FOR GOD

By: Armstrong, Karen
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In the late twentieth century, fundamentalism has emerged as one of the most powerful forces at work in the world, contesting the dominance of modern secular values and threatening peace and harmony around the globe. Yet it remains incomprehensible to a large number of people. In The Battle for God, Karen Armstrong brilliantly and sympathetically shows us how and why fundamentalist groups came into existence and what they yearn to accomplish.

We see the West in the sixteenth century beginning to create an entirely new kind of civilization, which brought in its wake change in every aspect of life -- often painful and violent, even if liberating. Armstrong argues that one of the things that changed most was religion. People could no longer think about or experience the divine in the same way; they had to develop new forms of faith to fit their new circumstances.

Armstrong characterizes fundamentalism as one of these new ways of being religious that have emerged in every major faith tradition. Focusing on Protestant fundamentalism in the United States, Jewish fundamentalism in Israel, and Muslim fundamentalism in Egypt and Iran, she examines the ways in which these movements, while not monolithic, have each sprung from a dread of modernity -- often in response to assault (sometimes unwitting, sometimes intentional) by the mainstream society.

Armstrong sees fundamentalist groups as complex, innovative, and modern -- rather than as throwbacks to the past -- but contends that they have failed in religious terms. Maintaining that fundamentalism often exists in symbiotic relationship with an aggressive modernity, each impelling the other on to greater excess, she suggests compassion as a way to defuse what is now an intensifying conflict.

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Karen Armstrong's Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life.

BEELZEBUB'S TALES TO HIS GRANDSON

BEELZEBUB'S TALES TO HIS GRANDSON

By: Gurdjieff, G I
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A landmark exploration of the human condition with the goal of bringing self-awareness in one's daily life

With Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, G. I. Gurdjieff intended to "destroy, mercilessly . . . the beliefs and views about everything existing in the world." This novel beautifully brings to life the visions of humanity for which Gurdjieff has become esteemed. Beelzebub, a man of worldly (and other-worldly) wisdom, shares with his grandson the anecdotes, personal philosophies, and lessons learned from his own life.The reader is given a detailed discussion of all matters physical, natural, and spiritual, from the creation of the cosmos to man's teleological purpose in the universe. This edition of Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson--the first single-volume paperback to appear in English--restores the original, authoritative translation.

BEGINNING OF DESIRE: Reflections on Genesis

BEGINNING OF DESIRE: Reflections on Genesis

By: Zornberg, Avivah Gottlieb
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NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD WINNER - A brilliant interpretation of familiar biblical narratives that "deserves to be the most widely read book on the Bible in years, perhaps decades." (Jewish Exponent).

Since its publication in 1995, The Beginning of Desire has opened new pathways in the reading of the Bible. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg's innovative use of midrash, literature, philosophy, and psychoanalysis draws deeply upon the familiar biblical narratives to produce interpretations that are at once startlingly beautiful and completely authentic. Illuminating the tensions that grip human beings as they search for an encounter with God, Zornberg gives us a brilliant analysis of the stories of Adam and Eve; Noah; Abraham and Sarah; Isaac and Rebecca; Jacob, Rachel, and Leah; and Joseph and his brothers.

BERULLE/FRENCH SCHOOL SELECTED WRI

BERULLE/FRENCH SCHOOL SELECTED WRI

By: De Berulle, Pierre
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The Classics of Western Spirituality(TM) series has itself become the acknowledged 'classic' in English for the study of Western spirituality." Jorge Floria BÉRULLE AND THE FRENCH SCHOOL-SELECTED WRITINGS edited with an introduction by William M. Thompson translation by Lowell M. Glendon, S.S. preface by Susan A. Muto "This new opinion, which has little following in the science of the stars, is useful and should be followed in the science of salvation. For Jesus is the sun which is immovable in his greatness and which moves all other things. Jesus is like his Father. Seated at his right hand, he is immovable like him and moves all things. Jesus is the true center of the world and the world should be in continuous movement towards him. Jesus is the Sun of our souls and from him we receive every grace, every light, and every effect of his power." Pierre de Bérulle (1575-1629) The seventeenth century was the period of transition between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. It witnessed the rise of the great European powers, the beginnings of modern science and the myriad inventions that changed age-old ways of life. It saw Copernicus and Newton, Harvey and Galileo, Bacon and Descartes. During its course, the New World was settled and the Old reshaped. Seventeenth-century France saw the application of the new spirit of exploration and analysis to matters of the soul. Pierre de Bérulle, John Eudes, Jean-Jacques Olier and Mother Madeleine de Saint-Joseph left an indelible mark on the history of Christian spirituality in the West. Much of our current understanding of "spirituality" had its beginnings with these authors. In his penetrating and probing introduction, Professor William M. Thompson presents the French school as a creative response to the challenge of the modern age that dawned with the seventeenth century. He shows how these authors created a "science of the saints" that blended metaphysical speculations with flights of mystical love. Their fascination with the intersection between human and divine experience unlocked for them the true meaning of humanity and focused their attention on the mystery of the Incarnation as a sublime mystery of adoration and service. This volume is a comprehensive introduction to the spirituality of seventeenth-century France, containing, among others, selections from Bérulle's Discourse on the State and Grandeurs of Jesus, Madeleine de Saint-Joseph's Spiritual Letters, Jean-Jacques Olier's Introduction to the Christian Life and Virtues, and John Eudes's The Life and Kingdom of Jesus in Christian Souls. +
Best Spiritual Writing 2013

Best Spiritual Writing 2013

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A new volume of the critically acclaimed spiritual writing series, with an introduction by bestselling author Stephen Prothero

Boasting an impressive selection of personal essays, articles, and poems by today's leading luminaries, "The Best Spiritual Writing 2013" captures our nation's spiritual pulse and offers readers an opportunity to explore the most nourishing writings on spirituality published in the past year. As in previous editions, Philip Zaleski draws from a wide range of journals and magazines to build an anthology of stimulating works by some of the nation's most esteemed writers such as Adam Gopnik, Edward Hirsch, and Melissa Range. The result is a book, ideal for gift giving, that will appeal to religious thinkers, atheists, and people of all faiths and beliefs.