Robert C. Fuller
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195146806
- eISBN:
- 9780199834204
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195146808.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book explores the history and present status of unchurched spirituality in the U.S. Nearly 20% of all Americans consider themselves interested in spiritual issues even though they never step ...
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This book explores the history and present status of unchurched spirituality in the U.S. Nearly 20% of all Americans consider themselves interested in spiritual issues even though they never step inside a church or synagogue. Most would describe themselves as spiritual at a personal level, but in some way alienated from organized religion. Today's alternative spirituality is the outgrowth of long‐standing traditions in American religious life. Colonial Americans were astonishingly eclectic in their religious pursuits, availing themselves of sundry magical and occult religious philosophies. In the nineteenth century, a number of metaphysical systems (e.g., Transcendentalism, Swedenborgianism, mesmerism, and spiritualism) penetrated deep into the spiritual vocabulary of middle‐class Americans who were eager to synthesize science and religion into a single vision of the universe. By the early twentieth century, there was already something of an “American tradition” of unchurched spirituality. Diverse interests including alternative medicine, parapsychology, the hidden powers of the unconscious mind, and Asian religions all contributed to the spiritual journeys of those who looked for religious inspiration outside America's established churches. The book concludes by demonstrating that far from the kooky and self‐absorbed dilettantes they are often made out to be, America's unchurched spiritual seekers embrace a mature and dynamic set of beliefs.Less
This book explores the history and present status of unchurched spirituality in the U.S. Nearly 20% of all Americans consider themselves interested in spiritual issues even though they never step inside a church or synagogue. Most would describe themselves as spiritual at a personal level, but in some way alienated from organized religion. Today's alternative spirituality is the outgrowth of long‐standing traditions in American religious life. Colonial Americans were astonishingly eclectic in their religious pursuits, availing themselves of sundry magical and occult religious philosophies. In the nineteenth century, a number of metaphysical systems (e.g., Transcendentalism, Swedenborgianism, mesmerism, and spiritualism) penetrated deep into the spiritual vocabulary of middle‐class Americans who were eager to synthesize science and religion into a single vision of the universe. By the early twentieth century, there was already something of an “American tradition” of unchurched spirituality. Diverse interests including alternative medicine, parapsychology, the hidden powers of the unconscious mind, and Asian religions all contributed to the spiritual journeys of those who looked for religious inspiration outside America's established churches. The book concludes by demonstrating that far from the kooky and self‐absorbed dilettantes they are often made out to be, America's unchurched spiritual seekers embrace a mature and dynamic set of beliefs.
Susan Palmer
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199735211
- eISBN:
- 9780199918577
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199735211.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Since the Age of Enlightenment, France has upheld clear constitutional guidelines that protect human rights and religious freedom. Today, however, intolerant attitudes and discriminatory practices ...
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Since the Age of Enlightenment, France has upheld clear constitutional guidelines that protect human rights and religious freedom. Today, however, intolerant attitudes and discriminatory practices towards unconventional faiths have become acceptable and even institutionalized in public life. This book offers an examination of France's most stigmatized new religions, or sects, and the public management of religious and philosophical minorities by the state. The book tracks the mounting government-sponsored anticult movement in the wake of the shocking mass suicides of the Solar Temple in 1994, and the negative impact of this movement on France's most visible religious minorities, whose names appeared on a “blacklist” of 172 sects commissioned by the National Assembly. Drawing on extensive interviews and field research, the book describes the controversial histories of well-known international NRMs (the Church of Scientology, Raelian Movement, and Unificationism) in France, as well as esoteric local groups. The book also reveals the partisanship of Catholic priests, journalists, village mayors, and the passive public who support La Republique's efforts to control minority faiths—all in the name of “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”.Less
Since the Age of Enlightenment, France has upheld clear constitutional guidelines that protect human rights and religious freedom. Today, however, intolerant attitudes and discriminatory practices towards unconventional faiths have become acceptable and even institutionalized in public life. This book offers an examination of France's most stigmatized new religions, or sects, and the public management of religious and philosophical minorities by the state. The book tracks the mounting government-sponsored anticult movement in the wake of the shocking mass suicides of the Solar Temple in 1994, and the negative impact of this movement on France's most visible religious minorities, whose names appeared on a “blacklist” of 172 sects commissioned by the National Assembly. Drawing on extensive interviews and field research, the book describes the controversial histories of well-known international NRMs (the Church of Scientology, Raelian Movement, and Unificationism) in France, as well as esoteric local groups. The book also reveals the partisanship of Catholic priests, journalists, village mayors, and the passive public who support La Republique's efforts to control minority faiths—all in the name of “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”.
Stephen Backhouse
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199604722
- eISBN:
- 9780191729324
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199604722.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society, Philosophy of Religion
The book draws out the critique of Christian nationalism that is implicit throughout the thought of Søren Kierkegaard, an analysis that is inseparable from his wider aim of reintroducing Christianity ...
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The book draws out the critique of Christian nationalism that is implicit throughout the thought of Søren Kierkegaard, an analysis that is inseparable from his wider aim of reintroducing Christianity into Christendom. ‘Christian nationalism’ refers to the set of ideas in which belief in the development and superiority of one's national group is combined with, or underwritten by, Christian theology and practice. The book examines the nationalist theologies of H. L. Martensen and N. F. S. Grundtvig, important cultural leaders and contemporaries of Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard's response to their thought forms the backbone of his own philosophical and theological project, namely his attempt to form authentic Christian individuals through the use of ‘the moment’, ‘the leap’ and ‘contemporaneity’. This Kierkegaardian critique is brought into conversation with current political science theories of religious nationalism, and is expanded to address movements and theologies beyond the historical context of Kierkegaard's Golden Age Denmark. The implications of Kierkegaard's approach are undoubtedly radical and unsettling to politicians and church leaders alike, yet there is much to commend it to the reality of modern religious and social life. As a theological thinker keenly aware of the unique problems posed by Christendom, Kierkegaard's critique is timely for any Christian culture that is tempted to confuse its faith with patriotism or national affiliation.Less
The book draws out the critique of Christian nationalism that is implicit throughout the thought of Søren Kierkegaard, an analysis that is inseparable from his wider aim of reintroducing Christianity into Christendom. ‘Christian nationalism’ refers to the set of ideas in which belief in the development and superiority of one's national group is combined with, or underwritten by, Christian theology and practice. The book examines the nationalist theologies of H. L. Martensen and N. F. S. Grundtvig, important cultural leaders and contemporaries of Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard's response to their thought forms the backbone of his own philosophical and theological project, namely his attempt to form authentic Christian individuals through the use of ‘the moment’, ‘the leap’ and ‘contemporaneity’. This Kierkegaardian critique is brought into conversation with current political science theories of religious nationalism, and is expanded to address movements and theologies beyond the historical context of Kierkegaard's Golden Age Denmark. The implications of Kierkegaard's approach are undoubtedly radical and unsettling to politicians and church leaders alike, yet there is much to commend it to the reality of modern religious and social life. As a theological thinker keenly aware of the unique problems posed by Christendom, Kierkegaard's critique is timely for any Christian culture that is tempted to confuse its faith with patriotism or national affiliation.
Stephen Jay Gould
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195310726
- eISBN:
- 9780199785179
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310726.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Stephen Jay Gould is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of Wonderful Life, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory, Rocks of Ages, The Mismeasure of Man, and many other books. He is known ...
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Stephen Jay Gould is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of Wonderful Life, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory, Rocks of Ages, The Mismeasure of Man, and many other books. He is known for his theory of punctuated equilibrium, stating that the equilibrium of a species is punctuated by episodes of change that are relatively rapid in geological time, and for his analysis of the “relationship” between science and religion, which he suggested should be a cordial non-relationship. He called this scheme of contented co-existence non-overlapping magisteria or NOMA. Gould’s peace-making efforts have not met with widespread approval and, in fact, have been widely criticized. However, Gould has correctly noted that science and religion do occupy two very different spheres of human experience. He is also known in popular culture for his appearance on The Simpsons and his enthusiasm for baseball.Less
Stephen Jay Gould is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of Wonderful Life, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory, Rocks of Ages, The Mismeasure of Man, and many other books. He is known for his theory of punctuated equilibrium, stating that the equilibrium of a species is punctuated by episodes of change that are relatively rapid in geological time, and for his analysis of the “relationship” between science and religion, which he suggested should be a cordial non-relationship. He called this scheme of contented co-existence non-overlapping magisteria or NOMA. Gould’s peace-making efforts have not met with widespread approval and, in fact, have been widely criticized. However, Gould has correctly noted that science and religion do occupy two very different spheres of human experience. He is also known in popular culture for his appearance on The Simpsons and his enthusiasm for baseball.
Andrew R. Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195321289
- eISBN:
- 9780199869855
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195321289.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter attends more closely to the competing ways of constructing and drawing on the past that each type of jeremiad employs. The chapter opens with a consideration of the U. S. Supreme Court's ...
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This chapter attends more closely to the competing ways of constructing and drawing on the past that each type of jeremiad employs. The chapter opens with a consideration of the U. S. Supreme Court's decision in Abington v. Schempp(1963), which outlawed public school prayer. It goes on to explore the uses of the past in traditionalist jeremiads, focusing on traditionalist appeals to nostalgia and an American Golden Age. The progressive jeremiad looks to the past as well, seeking to renarrate founding principles in language appropriate to changing times. Thus the progressive jeremiad is not concerned so much with the way “things really were” in the past, and even less in casting the future into the mold of the past. But the progressive jeremiad's past, containing such a powerful founding promise, is equally constructed, and equally mythic. Both types of jeremiads construct a past in accord with their fundamental political values and agenda, and in doing so call forth critical counternarratives from their political opponents.Less
This chapter attends more closely to the competing ways of constructing and drawing on the past that each type of jeremiad employs. The chapter opens with a consideration of the U. S. Supreme Court's decision in Abington v. Schempp(1963), which outlawed public school prayer. It goes on to explore the uses of the past in traditionalist jeremiads, focusing on traditionalist appeals to nostalgia and an American Golden Age. The progressive jeremiad looks to the past as well, seeking to renarrate founding principles in language appropriate to changing times. Thus the progressive jeremiad is not concerned so much with the way “things really were” in the past, and even less in casting the future into the mold of the past. But the progressive jeremiad's past, containing such a powerful founding promise, is equally constructed, and equally mythic. Both types of jeremiads construct a past in accord with their fundamental political values and agenda, and in doing so call forth critical counternarratives from their political opponents.
Christopher McKnight Nichols
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195342536
- eISBN:
- 9780199867042
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195342536.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter examines three important strands of progressive thought in the late nineteenth century to reveal the tensions between ideas about progress, religion, and science, and resulting ...
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This chapter examines three important strands of progressive thought in the late nineteenth century to reveal the tensions between ideas about progress, religion, and science, and resulting predictions about America's religious future. This chapter first delineates a populist‐secular group of thinkers, exemplified by Robert Ingersoll, “the great agnostic” proponent of freethinking, whose prophecies blended the older jeremiad form with a heightened emphasis on atheistical science and Enlightment rationality. The second strand of thought explored in this chapter came from the ranks of progressive intellectuals, represented in part by the powerful pragmatic philosophy of religion developed by William James in his book, Varieties of Religious Experience. Finally, this chapter argues for a third diverse group comprised largely of ministers and social gospel activists, such as Walter Rauschenbusch, who attempted to reform the nation along explicitly Christian lines.Less
This chapter examines three important strands of progressive thought in the late nineteenth century to reveal the tensions between ideas about progress, religion, and science, and resulting predictions about America's religious future. This chapter first delineates a populist‐secular group of thinkers, exemplified by Robert Ingersoll, “the great agnostic” proponent of freethinking, whose prophecies blended the older jeremiad form with a heightened emphasis on atheistical science and Enlightment rationality. The second strand of thought explored in this chapter came from the ranks of progressive intellectuals, represented in part by the powerful pragmatic philosophy of religion developed by William James in his book, Varieties of Religious Experience. Finally, this chapter argues for a third diverse group comprised largely of ministers and social gospel activists, such as Walter Rauschenbusch, who attempted to reform the nation along explicitly Christian lines.
J. Rixey Ruffin
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195326512
- eISBN:
- 9780199870417
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326512.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
By the middle of the 1790s Bentley was arrayed against classical liberalism in both its Christian and its economic forms. Those forms had in fact come together in a newly powerful symbiosis, both in ...
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By the middle of the 1790s Bentley was arrayed against classical liberalism in both its Christian and its economic forms. Those forms had in fact come together in a newly powerful symbiosis, both in the tangible sense of the Federalist Party and in the ideological sense of encouraging a mutually beneficial confluence of self‐defined morality, wealth, and divine pleasure. If Birmingham in 1791 and then the embargo in 1794 had begun the schism between Bentley and his liberal peers, Thomas Paine's Age of Reason finalized it. Bentley was not a deist, but Christian naturalism was ontologically no different than deism. So he was lumped in with Paine as a threat to Christianity by supernaturalists who themselves had decided to put aside their soteriological differences and unite against the philosophical threat. The second half of the decade brought more radicalism yet, most notably the writings of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, just when Federalist fears and their resultant sedition laws aimed more suspicion yet at men like William Bentley. By 1800, a defensive Bentley's transformation from classical liberal to republican was complete.Less
By the middle of the 1790s Bentley was arrayed against classical liberalism in both its Christian and its economic forms. Those forms had in fact come together in a newly powerful symbiosis, both in the tangible sense of the Federalist Party and in the ideological sense of encouraging a mutually beneficial confluence of self‐defined morality, wealth, and divine pleasure. If Birmingham in 1791 and then the embargo in 1794 had begun the schism between Bentley and his liberal peers, Thomas Paine's Age of Reason finalized it. Bentley was not a deist, but Christian naturalism was ontologically no different than deism. So he was lumped in with Paine as a threat to Christianity by supernaturalists who themselves had decided to put aside their soteriological differences and unite against the philosophical threat. The second half of the decade brought more radicalism yet, most notably the writings of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, just when Federalist fears and their resultant sedition laws aimed more suspicion yet at men like William Bentley. By 1800, a defensive Bentley's transformation from classical liberal to republican was complete.
Angela M. Lahr
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195314489
- eISBN:
- 9780199872077
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195314489.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The dawning of the nuclear age brought premillennial speculation about the imminent end of the world that altered the evangelical assessment of the relationship between religion and science. ...
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The dawning of the nuclear age brought premillennial speculation about the imminent end of the world that altered the evangelical assessment of the relationship between religion and science. Eschatological beliefs about the potential impact of nuclear weapons blended with secular apocalypticism that even influenced American Cold War foreign policy. Simultaneously, evangelicalism's embrace of anticommunism in the early Cold War helped lead to the subculture's integration into the mainstream culture.Less
The dawning of the nuclear age brought premillennial speculation about the imminent end of the world that altered the evangelical assessment of the relationship between religion and science. Eschatological beliefs about the potential impact of nuclear weapons blended with secular apocalypticism that even influenced American Cold War foreign policy. Simultaneously, evangelicalism's embrace of anticommunism in the early Cold War helped lead to the subculture's integration into the mainstream culture.
April D. DeConick
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780231170765
- eISBN:
- 9780231542043
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231170765.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Gnosticism is a countercultural spirituality that forever changed the practice of Christianity. Before it emerged in the second century, passage to the afterlife required obedience to God and king. ...
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Gnosticism is a countercultural spirituality that forever changed the practice of Christianity. Before it emerged in the second century, passage to the afterlife required obedience to God and king. Gnosticism proposed that human beings were manifestations of the divine, unsettling the hierarchical foundations of the ancient world. Subversive and revolutionary, Gnostics taught that prayer and mediation could bring human beings into an ecstatic spiritual union with a transcendent deity. This mystical strain affected not just Christianity but many other religions, and it characterizes our understanding of the purpose and meaning of religion today.
In The Gnostic New Age, April D. DeConick recovers this vibrant underground history to prove that Gnosticism was not suppressed or defeated by the Catholic Church long ago, nor was the movement a fabrication to justify the violent repression of alternative forms of Christianity. Gnosticism alleviated human suffering, soothing feelings of existential brokenness and alienation through the promise of renewal as God. DeConick begins in ancient Egypt and follows with the rise of Gnosticism in the Middle Ages, the advent of theosophy and other occult movements in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and contemporary New Age spiritual philosophies. As these theories find expression in science-fiction and fantasy films, DeConick sees evidence of Gnosticism’s next incarnation. Her work emphasizes the universal, countercultural appeal of a movement that embodies much more than a simple challenge to religious authority.Less
Gnosticism is a countercultural spirituality that forever changed the practice of Christianity. Before it emerged in the second century, passage to the afterlife required obedience to God and king. Gnosticism proposed that human beings were manifestations of the divine, unsettling the hierarchical foundations of the ancient world. Subversive and revolutionary, Gnostics taught that prayer and mediation could bring human beings into an ecstatic spiritual union with a transcendent deity. This mystical strain affected not just Christianity but many other religions, and it characterizes our understanding of the purpose and meaning of religion today.
In The Gnostic New Age, April D. DeConick recovers this vibrant underground history to prove that Gnosticism was not suppressed or defeated by the Catholic Church long ago, nor was the movement a fabrication to justify the violent repression of alternative forms of Christianity. Gnosticism alleviated human suffering, soothing feelings of existential brokenness and alienation through the promise of renewal as God. DeConick begins in ancient Egypt and follows with the rise of Gnosticism in the Middle Ages, the advent of theosophy and other occult movements in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and contemporary New Age spiritual philosophies. As these theories find expression in science-fiction and fantasy films, DeConick sees evidence of Gnosticism’s next incarnation. Her work emphasizes the universal, countercultural appeal of a movement that embodies much more than a simple challenge to religious authority.
Mark Regnerus and Jeremy Uecker
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199743285
- eISBN:
- 9780199894741
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199743285.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter explores the dynamics of young adults’ sexual relationships, offering a clearer picture of how young Americans pick their sexual partners, how long those relationships ...
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This chapter explores the dynamics of young adults’ sexual relationships, offering a clearer picture of how young Americans pick their sexual partners, how long those relationships last, how slowly or quickly sex is introduced, and how they negotiate sex within their relationships. The chapter draws on an economic theory of sexual relationship formation and navigation, which helps explain why sexual double standards remain remarkably robust. Attention is paid to the phenomenon of “friends with benefits,” including how such relationships tend to form, with whom, and how they end. In their romantic relationships, many emerging adults make unwanted sexual requests of their partners. What do they ask for? And how do their partners evaluate such requests? This provides a segue into a discussion of online pornography, which is now nearly ubiquitous and tolerated within the vast majority of young adult relationships.Less
This chapter explores the dynamics of young adults’ sexual relationships, offering a clearer picture of how young Americans pick their sexual partners, how long those relationships last, how slowly or quickly sex is introduced, and how they negotiate sex within their relationships. The chapter draws on an economic theory of sexual relationship formation and navigation, which helps explain why sexual double standards remain remarkably robust. Attention is paid to the phenomenon of “friends with benefits,” including how such relationships tend to form, with whom, and how they end. In their romantic relationships, many emerging adults make unwanted sexual requests of their partners. What do they ask for? And how do their partners evaluate such requests? This provides a segue into a discussion of online pornography, which is now nearly ubiquitous and tolerated within the vast majority of young adult relationships.
