Trúc Lâm Buddhism in Vietnam
Its History, Development, and Legacy
In the thirteenth century, King-Monk Trần Nhân Tông founded the Trúc Lâm Thiền (Chan/Zen) sect. During the Golden Age in Vietnamese Buddhist history, the sect flourished under three patriarchs with renowned Thiền masters. Unfortunately, the Trúc Lâm sect faded over the following centuries, and Thiền Buddhism in Vietnam, for the most part, disappeared. In the late twentieth century, a growing new religious movement led by Thích Thanh Từ, a Pure Land monk, called for a restoration of Trúc Lâm Thiền Buddhism. Who is Thích Thanh Từ? How and why did…
In the 13th century, the Trúc Lâm Zen sect flourished, then faded into obscurity for centuries. How and why was it revived in the 20th century? This book analyzes the history of this forgotten sect and examines its modern revival, reform, and traditions.
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Custodians of Purity
An Anthropological Study into the Mystical World of the Brahma Kumaris
Dive into the mystical world of the Brahma Kumaris with this compelling book that integrates anthropological rigour with a personal quest for spiritual truth. Drawing on extensive field research and rich personal narrative, Tamasin Ramsay explores purity as a transformative force, an ideal and an everyday practice. Through the experiences of four women, she examines how the concept of purity influences their lives and transcends cultural boundaries: their stories of struggle, revelation, and resilience highlight the impact of purity in fostering profound self-respect and peace. More than an academic…
This book integrates anthropological rigour with a personal quest for truth. Through the stories of four women in the Brahma Kumaris, it explores purity as a transformative force, revealing a path to profound self-respect, peace, and spiritual authenticity.
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Mysticism and Narcissism
A Personal Reflection on Changes in Theology during My Life as a Cenacle Nun
Mysticism and Narcissism details the exceptional personal narrative of a long-serving Cenacle nun during a time of particular historical significance for the Catholic Church. The book’s unique and original approach is highlighted by its application of psychoanalytic theory to questions of theological and Marian identity and relationality, exploring narcissism and mysticism within the context of religious life. In addition, it provides an excellent historical resource for the study of women’s religious orders in the twentieth century and in analysing the impact of Vatican II on the self-understanding…
This personal narrative of a long-serving Cenacle nun applies psychoanalytic theory to questions of theological and Marian identity and relationality, and is an historical resource for the study of women’s religious orders in the twentieth century.
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Polls show almost half of US adults believe that Earth is only 10,000 years old, whereas scientists consider our planet to be 4.56 billion years old. Examining these conflicting views illuminates aspects of the perceived conflict between religion and science, and helps us understand the battles between “evolutionist” and “creationist” advocates. This book examines how we approach knowledge, and how we look at certainty. It disentangles the threads of the traditional knowledge we are taught from the knowledge we gain from our own investigation of truth. It argues that nature,…
While many believe Earth is 10,000 years old, science confirms it is 4.56 billion. This book examines the perceived conflict between religion and science, arguing that nature and scripture derive from a single source. Their harmony is essential for the progress of humanity.
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Creation, Sin and Reconciliation
Reading Primordial and Patriarchal Narrative in the Book of Genesis
This volume considers aspects of the Book of Genesis; as the first book of the Torah, and hence of the Bible, its position is unique, especially in its provision of the foundational stories of Creation, the emergence of mankind, and the beginning of human society. Through close reading of chapters 1–11, 32–33 and 37–50 (the beginning, middle and end of Genesis), with consideration of the language, style and possible implications of the text, this approach explores the fundamental themes of Berishit and the enduring relevance of its powerful…
Through a close reading of chapters 1–11, 32–33 and 37–50, Letellier investigates the unique position of the Book of Genesis in its provision of the foundational stories of Creation and the emergence of mankind, paying particular attention to the language and style of the text.
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This book brings together researchers to discuss and apply different methodologies to biblical texts and their relevance for feminist and gender studies. It represents, on the one hand, a continuation of the discussions that have been put to the test by the pioneers of feminist and gender studies, but on the other, introduces new theories and approaches to take the debate further and to challenge accepted biblical interpretations and ideologies that reinforce patriarchal domination and injustice. The volume offers proof that feminist theory has not lost its appeal to young…
This book applies new feminist and gender methodologies to biblical texts. It continues pioneering discussions while introducing new theories to challenge accepted interpretations and ideologies that reinforce patriarchal domination and injustice.
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Pantokrator
An Introduction to Orthodoxy
Although most people think of Greek philosophy as “Western”, its religion is commonly referred to as “Eastern”. For those who have not spent time in countries where Orthodox Christianity is the dominant religion, it can seem exotic and alien. Even those who visit these countries can come away with little understanding of it. Pantokrator: An Introduction to Orthodoxy helps those unfamiliar with Orthodoxy to become acquainted with the history of the Orthodox Church, what it teaches, how it is structured, and how it differs from other churches. There is also…
For those who find Orthodox Christianity exotic, this book introduces its history, teachings, and structure. It explores church architecture and monastic life, with a detailed account of Mount Athos and its Pantokrator monastery.
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Artemis and Diana in Ancient Greece and Italy
At the Crossroads between the Civic and the Wild
This book is a collection of studies about the Greek and Roman goddesses—Artemis and Diana—who ruled creatures of the wild. Although they arose separately in Greek and Roman cultures, they were often treated as equivalent. These goddesses had the power of giving birth, health and death. Diana’s temples were built at places where three roads meet, writes Servius (ad Aen. IV.511), outside the city itself, and so they were common, safe meeting places which belonged to no one but were the sites for federal councils, hosted by the…
This book is a collection of studies about the Greek and Roman goddesses Artemis and Diana, rulers of the wild. Though often treated as equivalent, they held the power of giving birth, health, and death, and were associated with wild animals and the different phases of life.
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The last one hundred years has seen unimaginable technological progress transforming every aspect of human life. Yet we seem unable to shake a profound unease with the direction of modern technology and its ideological siblings, global capitalism and massive consumption. Philosophers such as Marcuse, Borgmann and especially Heidegger, have developed important analyses of technological society, however in this book David Lewin argues that their ideas have remained limited either by their secular context, or by the narrow conception of religion that they do allow. This study guides the reader along…
Despite unimaginable technological progress, we feel a profound unease. While philosophers have analyzed technological society, their secular ideas are limited. This book argues that where philosophy ends, a religious discourse is needed to articulate our ultimate concerns.
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We live in an over-sexualised culture where sex and sexuality have become part of the public domain. This sexual revolution challenges Judeo-Christian and Islamic norms and boundaries. As such, sexuality education is a sensitive and extremely important issue, and its current implementation in schools has raised public concerns. This book explores the subject, contextualising it within the matrix of Islamic beliefs and practices. Islam binds sexuality and sexual education to a moral grid with rights and obligations, justice and equity. There is a dominant discourse and stereotype around ‘Islamic sexuality’,…
In an over-sexualised culture, sexuality education is a sensitive and important issue. This book dispels the myth that sexuality is a taboo in Islam, exploring the subject within the matrix of Islamic beliefs and its moral grid of rights, obligations, justice, and equity.
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This insightful volume represents the “hands-on” experience in the world of academia of two Jewish scholars, one of Orthodox background and the other a convert to the Jewish faith. As a series of separate but interrelated essays, it approaches multiple issues touching both the historical Jesus (himself a pious Jew) and the modern phenomenon of Messianic Judaism. It bridges the gap between the typically isolated disciplines of Jewish and Christian scholarship and forges a fresh level of understanding across religious boundaries. It delves into such issues as the nature and…
Two Jewish scholars explore the historical Jesus and Messianic Judaism, bridging the gap between Jewish and Christian scholarship. This series of essays forges a new understanding across religious boundaries, turning serious research into a means for vital interfaith discourse.
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This book provides a nuanced picture of the notions of body and soul held by the peoples of Europe through the soul concepts associated with the Judeo-Christian tradition and other religions and denominations; and the alternative traditions preserved alongside Christianity in folklore collections, linguistic and literary records. The studies also emphasize the connections between these notions and beliefs related to death and the dead, as well as questions of communication between the human world and the spirit world. The essays here focus on the roles notions of the soul and…
This book explores European notions of body and soul, drawn from Judeo-Christian tradition and folklore. It examines the connections between these notions and beliefs about death, the dead, and communication between the human and spirit worlds.
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Restoring the Balance
Using the Qur’an and the Sunnah to Guide a Return to the Prophet’s Islam
Restoring the Balance is a penetrating reflection upon the reality of Islam in the modern world. Addressing a myriad of pressing issues that impact Muslims in the East, West, North, and South, it tackles topics that are both difficult and troubling, threading its way through a mine-field of religious, cultural, and ideological issues with courage, balance, caution, and concern. In a world of extremes, which pits religious fundamentalists against radical reformists, it calls upon Muslims to maintain the middle ground, using the Qur’an and the Sunnah to guide…
Morrow presents a penetrating reflection upon the reality of Islam in the modern world, addressing a myriad of pressing issues that impact Muslims in the East, West, North, and South, topics that are both difficult and troubling.
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Paganism and Its Discontents
Enduring Problems of Racialized Identity
Proponents of racist interpretations of pre-Christian Norse-Germanic spiritualities have claimed to be preserving “heritage,” while others belonging to the contemporary Heathen movements have moved to distance themselves from “volkish” thinking. Long-simmering just beneath the surface of American Paganism, racialized Heathenry was on full display in 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The contributions to this volume delineate between two communities that are using shared symbolism for widely different purposes. The book will serve to broaden understanding of the narratives in play here, resulting in mitigation of the rising tide of hate and…
While some use Norse spirituality to promote racist ideologies, many contemporary Heathens reject this thinking. This book delineates between two communities using shared symbols for widely different purposes to help mitigate the rising tide of hate and racialized identity.
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Studies of conflict in medieval history and related disciplines have recently come to focus on wars, feuds, rebellions, and other violent matters. While those issues are present here, to form a backdrop, this volume brings other forms of conflict in this period to the fore. With these assembled essays on conflict and collaboration in the Iberian Peninsula, it provides an insight into key aspects of the historical experience of the Iberian kingdoms during the Middle Ages. Ranging in focus from the fall of the Visigothic kingdom and the arrival of…
Beyond wars and feuds, these essays bring other forms of conflict and collaboration in medieval Iberia to the fore. They provide insight into the Iberian kingdoms by looking at cross-ethnic, interreligious, and intra-communal relations, from hostility to fruitful cohabitation.
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Darwinism and Natural Theology
Evolving Perspectives
Can Christianity be reconciled with Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection? What relevance do the biological sciences have to religious thought? Does Christian theology have anything to offer when it comes to formulating scientific hypotheses? These questions are among those explored in this collection of essays arising from a meeting of the UK Science and Religion Forum held in Cambridge to mark the bicentenary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species. The volume brings together contributions from a distinguished group of…
Can Christianity be reconciled with Darwin’s theory of evolution? This collection of essays by distinguished scholars explores this question through the lens of natural theology, covering historical, philosophical and theological perspectives.
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This book is a US-based, prophetic-themed, “race” and culture-focused work which will serve to foster discussion on several important topics for Christians seeking to live out their faith in this present socio-political era. The foundational belief underlying this book is that we are living in an era of unique possibilities for the church to begin to make second-order changes in our views of Christianity, the church universal, and the real life applications of theological concepts of evil and spiritual warfare as they apply to the struggles of this time…
This prophetic, race-focused work is for Christians seeking to live out their faith today. Racism, the elephant in the room, now sits at the altar of our churches. This book argues we are at a critical time for action and gives educational and theological suggestions.
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The Constant and Changing Faces of the Goddess
Goddess Traditions of Asia
The Constant and Changing Faces of the Goddess: Goddess Traditions of Asia contains essays written by established scholars in the field that trace the multiplicity of Asian goddesses: their continuities, discontinuities, and importance as symbols of wisdom, power, transformation, compassion, destruction, and creation. The essays demonstrate that while treatments of the goddess may vary regionally, culturally, and historically, it is possible to note some consistencies in the overall picture of the goddess in Asia. The book provides a comprehensive treatment of the goddess, culminating in the selections that draw from…
Essays trace the multiplicity of Asian goddesses as symbols of wisdom, power, transformation, and creation. This volume draws from Indian, Nepali, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese traditions, a scope seldom found in other works.
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Regulating Freedom of Religion
From the United Nations to the European Court of Human Rights
Freedom of Religion—declared in Art. 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)—concerned not only individuals, but included the moral right of religious communities to manifest religion in public. The International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights (1966/1976) made it a legal right and added an article that allowed states to restrict that freedom, provided it violates national laws and public order. This article resulted in an ongoing process of legal proceedings. The Human Rights Committee of the UN and the European Court of Human Rights have made…
International human rights declarations empowered religious communities, making them powerful social and political actors. This book investigates the rulings that shaped these rights, exploring the paradox of religion’s power in a secular, globalizing world.
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The Contribution of Cornelio Fabro to Fundamental Theology
Reason and Faith
This book offers a fresh theological perspective on faith by exploring its gnoseological and metaphysical foundations. It recovers the existential aspects of faith by engaging with the thought of Descartes, Hume, Kant, Fichte, Hegel, Heidegger, and the Christian existentialism of Kierkegaard. This study is informed by the dynamic Thomistic lens developed by Cornelio Fabro (1911-1995), one of the most original twentieth-century commentators on Thomas Aquinas and a preeminent specialist on Kierkegaard and the phenomenon of militant modern atheism. In harmony with the guidelines presented by John Paul II in number…
Explore faith’s metaphysical and existential roots through the dynamic Thomism of Cornelio Fabro. This dialogue with Kierkegaard and modern thought affirms the human being’s essential openness to the Absolute.
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