Richard Swinburne
- Published in print:
- 1989
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198248491
- eISBN:
- 9780191598555
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198248490.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
When we do good or harm to each other, we acquire merit or guilt; deserve praise or blame, reward or punishment, and may need to make atonement. Others may need to forgive us, or show mercy to us. ...
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When we do good or harm to each other, we acquire merit or guilt; deserve praise or blame, reward or punishment, and may need to make atonement. Others may need to forgive us, or show mercy to us. The first part of this book (Chs. 1–7) is an account of how these moral concepts apply to humans in their dealings with each other. The second part (Chs. 8–12) then applies the results of the first part to reach conclusions about which versions of traditional Christian doctrines that utilize these notions are morally plausible. It considers the doctrines of sin and original sin, redemption, sanctification, Heaven and Hell.Less
When we do good or harm to each other, we acquire merit or guilt; deserve praise or blame, reward or punishment, and may need to make atonement. Others may need to forgive us, or show mercy to us. The first part of this book (Chs. 1–7) is an account of how these moral concepts apply to humans in their dealings with each other. The second part (Chs. 8–12) then applies the results of the first part to reach conclusions about which versions of traditional Christian doctrines that utilize these notions are morally plausible. It considers the doctrines of sin and original sin, redemption, sanctification, Heaven and Hell.
M. A. Aldrich
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789622097773
- eISBN:
- 9789882207585
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789622097773.003.0061
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
The mosaic of Old Peking is complete. The Italian diplomat Daniele Vare struggled with the dilemma of cultural relativism during his postings in Peking. Vare wrote novels set during the Qing and ...
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The mosaic of Old Peking is complete. The Italian diplomat Daniele Vare struggled with the dilemma of cultural relativism during his postings in Peking. Vare wrote novels set during the Qing and Republican eras. One day, he dreamed up a dramatic incident. A Qing official remonstrates against the emperor's willingness to issue a decree for reform. The official submits a memorial protesting the contents of the decree. He is ignored. To persuade the Son of Heaven of the sincerity of his protest, the official mortally stabs himself in the courtyard of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The great divide between Vare and his teacher is described. As Stanley Karnow once quipped to fellow foreign devil Dick Hughes, “the Far East is a university in which no degree is ever granted”.Less
The mosaic of Old Peking is complete. The Italian diplomat Daniele Vare struggled with the dilemma of cultural relativism during his postings in Peking. Vare wrote novels set during the Qing and Republican eras. One day, he dreamed up a dramatic incident. A Qing official remonstrates against the emperor's willingness to issue a decree for reform. The official submits a memorial protesting the contents of the decree. He is ignored. To persuade the Son of Heaven of the sincerity of his protest, the official mortally stabs himself in the courtyard of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The great divide between Vare and his teacher is described. As Stanley Karnow once quipped to fellow foreign devil Dick Hughes, “the Far East is a university in which no degree is ever granted”.
Richard Swinburne
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199283927
- eISBN:
- 9780191712524
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199283927.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
A creed explains how the pursuit of a particular religious way will achieve the goals of that religion. It does that by explaining in what salvation consists (e.g., in what the blessedness of Heaven, ...
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A creed explains how the pursuit of a particular religious way will achieve the goals of that religion. It does that by explaining in what salvation consists (e.g., in what the blessedness of Heaven, or of Nirvana, consists), and how pursuing a certain sort of life will enable you to achieve it (e.g., because if you live such a life, you will go to Heaven or attain Nirvana). This is illustrated by showing how the different items of the Nicene creed have consequences for how we should worship and serve God and thereby mould our characters so that we would be happy in Heaven. One trusts God (and so has faith in the crucial sense) to the extent to which one acts on the assumption that by living in this way God will provide for one the goals of religion.Less
A creed explains how the pursuit of a particular religious way will achieve the goals of that religion. It does that by explaining in what salvation consists (e.g., in what the blessedness of Heaven, or of Nirvana, consists), and how pursuing a certain sort of life will enable you to achieve it (e.g., because if you live such a life, you will go to Heaven or attain Nirvana). This is illustrated by showing how the different items of the Nicene creed have consequences for how we should worship and serve God and thereby mould our characters so that we would be happy in Heaven. One trusts God (and so has faith in the crucial sense) to the extent to which one acts on the assumption that by living in this way God will provide for one the goals of religion.
Richard Swinburne
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199283927
- eISBN:
- 9780191712524
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199283927.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
Someone is rational in following a certain religious way to attain a certain goal only if he believes that it is more probable that following that way will achieve that goal than that following any ...
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Someone is rational in following a certain religious way to attain a certain goal only if he believes that it is more probable that following that way will achieve that goal than that following any other way will achieve a similar goal (one that has a similar understanding of salvation and Heaven). Which way a person should follow depends both on his judgement of the relative probability of the creeds of rival religions and on his judgement of the worth of the goals which they offer; and everyone should devote much time investigating the claims of different religions and the worth of the different goals which they offer. This will include considering the relative probabilities of different claims to have a revelation, which depend both on the moral plausibility of the purported revelation and on any miraculous authentication it purports to have (for example, the Resurrection of Jesus authenticating his teaching).Less
Someone is rational in following a certain religious way to attain a certain goal only if he believes that it is more probable that following that way will achieve that goal than that following any other way will achieve a similar goal (one that has a similar understanding of salvation and Heaven). Which way a person should follow depends both on his judgement of the relative probability of the creeds of rival religions and on his judgement of the worth of the goals which they offer; and everyone should devote much time investigating the claims of different religions and the worth of the different goals which they offer. This will include considering the relative probabilities of different claims to have a revelation, which depend both on the moral plausibility of the purported revelation and on any miraculous authentication it purports to have (for example, the Resurrection of Jesus authenticating his teaching).
David Quint
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161914
- eISBN:
- 9781400850488
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161914.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter demonstrates how—through a complicated chain of intermediary texts—the depiction of Satan's fall through Chaos in book 2, which invokes the myth of Icarus, and the Son's successful ride ...
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This chapter demonstrates how—through a complicated chain of intermediary texts—the depiction of Satan's fall through Chaos in book 2, which invokes the myth of Icarus, and the Son's successful ride in the paternal chariot of God at the end of the War in Heaven in book 6, which rewrites the story of Phaethon, both trace back to the De rerum natura of Lucretius. They counter the Roman poet's depiction of an Epicurean cosmos ordered by chance and in a constant state of falling through an infinite void—the “vast vacuity” of Chaos. The myths of these highfliers who fall are further countered in Paradise Lost by the motif of poetic flight. The shaping power of poetry itself and the epic high style counteract the specter of a universe without bound and dimension, or of the shapelessness of Death; poetry raises the poet over his fallen condition.Less
This chapter demonstrates how—through a complicated chain of intermediary texts—the depiction of Satan's fall through Chaos in book 2, which invokes the myth of Icarus, and the Son's successful ride in the paternal chariot of God at the end of the War in Heaven in book 6, which rewrites the story of Phaethon, both trace back to the De rerum natura of Lucretius. They counter the Roman poet's depiction of an Epicurean cosmos ordered by chance and in a constant state of falling through an infinite void—the “vast vacuity” of Chaos. The myths of these highfliers who fall are further countered in Paradise Lost by the motif of poetic flight. The shaping power of poetry itself and the epic high style counteract the specter of a universe without bound and dimension, or of the shapelessness of Death; poetry raises the poet over his fallen condition.
Elizabeth Hayes Alvarez
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469627410
- eISBN:
- 9781469627434
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469627410.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
Nineteenth-century America was rife with Protestant-fueled anti-Catholicism. This book reveals how Protestants nevertheless became surprisingly and deeply fascinated with the Virgin Mary, even as her ...
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Nineteenth-century America was rife with Protestant-fueled anti-Catholicism. This book reveals how Protestants nevertheless became surprisingly and deeply fascinated with the Virgin Mary, even as her role as a devotional figure who united Catholics grew. Documenting the vivid Marian imagery that suffused popular visual and literary culture, the book argues that Mary became a potent, shared exemplar of Christian womanhood around which Christians of all stripes rallied during an era filled with anxiety about the emerging market economy and shifting gender roles. A range of diverse sources, including the writings of Anna Jameson, Anna Dorsey, and Alexander Stewart Walsh and magazines such as The Ladies’ Repository and Harper’s, reveal that Mary was represented as pure and powerful, compassionate and transcendent, maternal and yet remote. Blending romantic views of motherhood and female purity, the virgin mother’s image enamored Protestants as a paragon of the era’s cult of true womanhood, and even many Catholics could imagine the Queen of Heaven as the Queen of Home. Sometimes, Marian imagery unexpectedly seemed to challenge domestic expectations of womanhood. On a broader level, the book contributes to understanding lived religion in America and the ways it borrows across supposedly sharp theological divides.Less
Nineteenth-century America was rife with Protestant-fueled anti-Catholicism. This book reveals how Protestants nevertheless became surprisingly and deeply fascinated with the Virgin Mary, even as her role as a devotional figure who united Catholics grew. Documenting the vivid Marian imagery that suffused popular visual and literary culture, the book argues that Mary became a potent, shared exemplar of Christian womanhood around which Christians of all stripes rallied during an era filled with anxiety about the emerging market economy and shifting gender roles. A range of diverse sources, including the writings of Anna Jameson, Anna Dorsey, and Alexander Stewart Walsh and magazines such as The Ladies’ Repository and Harper’s, reveal that Mary was represented as pure and powerful, compassionate and transcendent, maternal and yet remote. Blending romantic views of motherhood and female purity, the virgin mother’s image enamored Protestants as a paragon of the era’s cult of true womanhood, and even many Catholics could imagine the Queen of Heaven as the Queen of Home. Sometimes, Marian imagery unexpectedly seemed to challenge domestic expectations of womanhood. On a broader level, the book contributes to understanding lived religion in America and the ways it borrows across supposedly sharp theological divides.
Cecilia A. Hatt (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198270119
- eISBN:
- 9780191600609
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198270119.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
These two pastoral sermons were delivered shortly after the meeting at the Field of Cloth of Gold, at which Fisher was an observer. They deal with the three aspects of the Church: militant, ...
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These two pastoral sermons were delivered shortly after the meeting at the Field of Cloth of Gold, at which Fisher was an observer. They deal with the three aspects of the Church: militant, suffering, and triumphant, and contain observations on Heaven and Purgatory, together with a treatment of community and iustitia. The chapter includes an introduction and commentary with special reference to the influences of St Augustine and St Bernard.Less
These two pastoral sermons were delivered shortly after the meeting at the Field of Cloth of Gold, at which Fisher was an observer. They deal with the three aspects of the Church: militant, suffering, and triumphant, and contain observations on Heaven and Purgatory, together with a treatment of community and iustitia. The chapter includes an introduction and commentary with special reference to the influences of St Augustine and St Bernard.
Paul Russell
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195110333
- eISBN:
- 9780199872084
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195110333.003.0014
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Even commentators who have explicitly argued that the Treatise has little to say on issues of religion generally accept that Hume's discussion of the immateriality of the soul contains an obvious ...
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Even commentators who have explicitly argued that the Treatise has little to say on issues of religion generally accept that Hume's discussion of the immateriality of the soul contains an obvious irreligious message. This chapter's aim, therefore, is not to labor this point (i.e. that Hume's views about the soul, immaterial substance, and personal identity are of irreligious significance), but rather to indicate the specific way in which Hume's arguments on this subject are related to the main debate between theists and atheists during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. These observations show the way in which Hume's arguments on this subject are intimately connected with his wider irreligious aims and objectives throughout the Treatise.Less
Even commentators who have explicitly argued that the Treatise has little to say on issues of religion generally accept that Hume's discussion of the immateriality of the soul contains an obvious irreligious message. This chapter's aim, therefore, is not to labor this point (i.e. that Hume's views about the soul, immaterial substance, and personal identity are of irreligious significance), but rather to indicate the specific way in which Hume's arguments on this subject are related to the main debate between theists and atheists during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. These observations show the way in which Hume's arguments on this subject are intimately connected with his wider irreligious aims and objectives throughout the Treatise.
Paul Russell
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195110333
- eISBN:
- 9780199872084
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195110333.003.0016
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter considers Hume's views on the subject “of liberty and necessity” in light of the relevant debate(s) that situate and structure his own contribution in the Treatise (T, 2.3.1–2). The ...
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This chapter considers Hume's views on the subject “of liberty and necessity” in light of the relevant debate(s) that situate and structure his own contribution in the Treatise (T, 2.3.1–2). The primary concern is to show that, contrary to the orthodox view, Hume's arguments on this subject are highly relevant to problems of religion as Hume and his contemporaries understood and debated them. More specifically, Hume's necessitarianism is both metaphysically and methodologically a core part of his entire (Hobbist) project to establish a secular, scientific account of moral life. Related to this, one of the central lessons of Hume's discussion of free will in the Treatise, as it concerns his more extended views about the nature and conditions of moral responsibility, is that these are issues that we can make sense of only within the fabric of human nature and human society.Less
This chapter considers Hume's views on the subject “of liberty and necessity” in light of the relevant debate(s) that situate and structure his own contribution in the Treatise (T, 2.3.1–2). The primary concern is to show that, contrary to the orthodox view, Hume's arguments on this subject are highly relevant to problems of religion as Hume and his contemporaries understood and debated them. More specifically, Hume's necessitarianism is both metaphysically and methodologically a core part of his entire (Hobbist) project to establish a secular, scientific account of moral life. Related to this, one of the central lessons of Hume's discussion of free will in the Treatise, as it concerns his more extended views about the nature and conditions of moral responsibility, is that these are issues that we can make sense of only within the fabric of human nature and human society.
Glyn Davis
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748637782
- eISBN:
- 9780748670864
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748637782.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Nominated for four Oscars, Far from Heaven earned rave reviews and won widespread cultural and critical recognition. A knowing and emotionally involving homage to the films of Douglas Sirk, this film ...
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Nominated for four Oscars, Far from Heaven earned rave reviews and won widespread cultural and critical recognition. A knowing and emotionally involving homage to the films of Douglas Sirk, this film is a key text in the canon of American independent cinema. This book offers a detailed and perceptive study of Haynes' film, with each chapter centred on a topic crucial for understanding Far from Heaven's richness and seductive pleasures (authorship, melodrama, queerness). The film is also positioned in relation to the rest of Todd Haynes' work, the New Queer Cinema movement, and the history of US independent cinema.Less
Nominated for four Oscars, Far from Heaven earned rave reviews and won widespread cultural and critical recognition. A knowing and emotionally involving homage to the films of Douglas Sirk, this film is a key text in the canon of American independent cinema. This book offers a detailed and perceptive study of Haynes' film, with each chapter centred on a topic crucial for understanding Far from Heaven's richness and seductive pleasures (authorship, melodrama, queerness). The film is also positioned in relation to the rest of Todd Haynes' work, the New Queer Cinema movement, and the history of US independent cinema.
Yuri Pines
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691134956
- eISBN:
- 9781400842278
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691134956.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This introductory chapter offers some insights into the durability of the Chinese political system. In particular, the chapter attributes the Chinese imperial experience from that of other comparable ...
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This introductory chapter offers some insights into the durability of the Chinese political system. In particular, the chapter attributes the Chinese imperial experience from that of other comparable polities elsewhere to the empire's exceptional ideological prowess. The Chinese empire, as the chapter shows, was an extraordinarily powerful ideological construct, the appeal of which to a variety of political actors enabled its survival even during periods of severe military, economic, and administrative malfunctioning. Moreover, the chapter provides a number of arguments against merely reducing Chinese political culture to this peculiar historical trajectory. To conclude, the chapter lays out the three main goals to be accomplished in this volume, as well as some notes on references and translations.Less
This introductory chapter offers some insights into the durability of the Chinese political system. In particular, the chapter attributes the Chinese imperial experience from that of other comparable polities elsewhere to the empire's exceptional ideological prowess. The Chinese empire, as the chapter shows, was an extraordinarily powerful ideological construct, the appeal of which to a variety of political actors enabled its survival even during periods of severe military, economic, and administrative malfunctioning. Moreover, the chapter provides a number of arguments against merely reducing Chinese political culture to this peculiar historical trajectory. To conclude, the chapter lays out the three main goals to be accomplished in this volume, as well as some notes on references and translations.
Yuri Pines
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691134956
- eISBN:
- 9781400842278
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691134956.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter considers how China has maintained the sustainability of a unified empire, and more importantly, its regeneration after periods of division. It proposes that the answer should be sought ...
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This chapter considers how China has maintained the sustainability of a unified empire, and more importantly, its regeneration after periods of division. It proposes that the answer should be sought primarily in the realm of ideology. The idea that “All-under-Heaven” (tianxia) should be unified under the aegis of the single monarch predated the imperial unification of 221 BCE and directly contributed to it. As this chapter demonstrates, it became the true cornerstone of traditional Chinese political culture, and decisively shaped political dynamics during ages of unity and fragmentation alike. Although in the course of imperial history the quest for unity had to be qualified to accommodate domestic and foreign political realities, it was never essentially compromised. Indeed, it may be argued that this belief remains the single most important legacy of the traditional political culture well into present day.Less
This chapter considers how China has maintained the sustainability of a unified empire, and more importantly, its regeneration after periods of division. It proposes that the answer should be sought primarily in the realm of ideology. The idea that “All-under-Heaven” (tianxia) should be unified under the aegis of the single monarch predated the imperial unification of 221 BCE and directly contributed to it. As this chapter demonstrates, it became the true cornerstone of traditional Chinese political culture, and decisively shaped political dynamics during ages of unity and fragmentation alike. Although in the course of imperial history the quest for unity had to be qualified to accommodate domestic and foreign political realities, it was never essentially compromised. Indeed, it may be argued that this belief remains the single most important legacy of the traditional political culture well into present day.
Glyn Davis
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748637782
- eISBN:
- 9780748670864
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748637782.003.0006
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Queer fans of Todd Haynes might have been searching for the director's usual politics. His career has hovered between melodramas focused on female protagonists and those centred on men. Despite the ...
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Queer fans of Todd Haynes might have been searching for the director's usual politics. His career has hovered between melodramas focused on female protagonists and those centred on men. Despite the best efforts of the gay/queer directors who sent a flurry of melodramas into cinemas in the first years of the twenty-first century, attempting to revive the genre, it remains mostly elusive on the big screen. His film undertakes seriously a large number of substantial questions — about authorship, about the persistence or loss of melodrama as a genre, about the queerness of particular narrative devices, and so on. Far from Heaven is genuinely unique and idiosyncratic. It is perhaps this uniqueness that most clearly marks Far from Heaven as a truly independent film.Less
Queer fans of Todd Haynes might have been searching for the director's usual politics. His career has hovered between melodramas focused on female protagonists and those centred on men. Despite the best efforts of the gay/queer directors who sent a flurry of melodramas into cinemas in the first years of the twenty-first century, attempting to revive the genre, it remains mostly elusive on the big screen. His film undertakes seriously a large number of substantial questions — about authorship, about the persistence or loss of melodrama as a genre, about the queerness of particular narrative devices, and so on. Far from Heaven is genuinely unique and idiosyncratic. It is perhaps this uniqueness that most clearly marks Far from Heaven as a truly independent film.
James R. Lewis
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195156829
- eISBN:
- 9780199784806
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019515682X.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This essay examines the Order of the Solar Temple, focusing on founder Joseph Di Mambro. His idiosyncracies provide keys for understanding the Solar Temple’s dramatic final “transit.” The focus on Di ...
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This essay examines the Order of the Solar Temple, focusing on founder Joseph Di Mambro. His idiosyncracies provide keys for understanding the Solar Temple’s dramatic final “transit.” The focus on Di Mambro then feeds into a broader analysis of the three primary suicide cults examined by contemporary scholars: the People’s Temple, the Solar Temple, and Heaven’s Gate. It is argued that millennialism and external provocation are not as central for understanding suicide groups as previous analysts have suggested. Instead, a leader with failing health along with other factors characteristic of intensive religious groups are more important in predicting which groups are predisposed to suicide.Less
This essay examines the Order of the Solar Temple, focusing on founder Joseph Di Mambro. His idiosyncracies provide keys for understanding the Solar Temple’s dramatic final “transit.” The focus on Di Mambro then feeds into a broader analysis of the three primary suicide cults examined by contemporary scholars: the People’s Temple, the Solar Temple, and Heaven’s Gate. It is argued that millennialism and external provocation are not as central for understanding suicide groups as previous analysts have suggested. Instead, a leader with failing health along with other factors characteristic of intensive religious groups are more important in predicting which groups are predisposed to suicide.
George D. Chryssides
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195156829
- eISBN:
- 9780199784806
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019515682X.003.0016
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This essay examines the worldview of the Heaven’s Gate in terms of the concept of postmodernity. After the mass suicide of 1997, the group provoked controversy as an example of a “suicide cult” ...
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This essay examines the worldview of the Heaven’s Gate in terms of the concept of postmodernity. After the mass suicide of 1997, the group provoked controversy as an example of a “suicide cult” equivalent to the People’s Temple, the Branch Davidians, and the Solar Temple. However, a closer look at the radical physicalistic interpretation of the Book of Revelation presented by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles shows that the actions undertaken make sense in light of the group’s worldview. The group’s idiosyncratic use of science fiction and Christianity also parallels the construction of meaning in a postmodern society.Less
This essay examines the worldview of the Heaven’s Gate in terms of the concept of postmodernity. After the mass suicide of 1997, the group provoked controversy as an example of a “suicide cult” equivalent to the People’s Temple, the Branch Davidians, and the Solar Temple. However, a closer look at the radical physicalistic interpretation of the Book of Revelation presented by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles shows that the actions undertaken make sense in light of the group’s worldview. The group’s idiosyncratic use of science fiction and Christianity also parallels the construction of meaning in a postmodern society.
Caroline Franklin
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198112303
- eISBN:
- 9780191670763
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198112303.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
In his lyrical dramas, Manfred, Cain, and Heaven and Earth, Lord Byron both used and subverted the Christian genre of the morality play, placing a male everyman protagonist between the forces of evil ...
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In his lyrical dramas, Manfred, Cain, and Heaven and Earth, Lord Byron both used and subverted the Christian genre of the morality play, placing a male everyman protagonist between the forces of evil and good, which contend for his soul. As in the political plays, Byron interrogates the dualism of modern Western consciousness: the perceived opposition between reason and sentiment, and the association of the former with masculinity and the latter with femininity. Astarte and Adah are therefore aligned with community values which have to be rejected by the defiant male individualist. In Heaven and Earth, Byron experiments with heroines who are simultaneously idealised for their capacity for selfless love and yet reviled for their sexual sinfulness. Such feminine stereotypes are common enough. What makes Anah and Aholibamah so interesting is that they are centre-stage of the mythological drama, representing mankind. Throughout these three plays, the concepts of masculinity and femininity are constantly interrogated and reassessed.Less
In his lyrical dramas, Manfred, Cain, and Heaven and Earth, Lord Byron both used and subverted the Christian genre of the morality play, placing a male everyman protagonist between the forces of evil and good, which contend for his soul. As in the political plays, Byron interrogates the dualism of modern Western consciousness: the perceived opposition between reason and sentiment, and the association of the former with masculinity and the latter with femininity. Astarte and Adah are therefore aligned with community values which have to be rejected by the defiant male individualist. In Heaven and Earth, Byron experiments with heroines who are simultaneously idealised for their capacity for selfless love and yet reviled for their sexual sinfulness. Such feminine stereotypes are common enough. What makes Anah and Aholibamah so interesting is that they are centre-stage of the mythological drama, representing mankind. Throughout these three plays, the concepts of masculinity and femininity are constantly interrogated and reassessed.
Candida R. Moss
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780300179767
- eISBN:
- 9780300187632
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300179767.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This book is an exploration of what the New Testament has to say about the nature of resurrected bodies. It argues that previous scholarship and tradition has been shaped by Pauline discussions of ...
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This book is an exploration of what the New Testament has to say about the nature of resurrected bodies. It argues that previous scholarship and tradition has been shaped by Pauline discussions of glorious bodies and has failed to appreciate the diverse and disorienting range of opinions about the nature of the resurrected body. Drawing upon previously unexplored evidence in ancient medicine, philosophy, and culture, this book both revisits central texts – such as the resurrection of Jesus – and mines virtually ignored passages in the Gospels to show how the resurrection of the body addresses larger questions about identity and the self.Less
This book is an exploration of what the New Testament has to say about the nature of resurrected bodies. It argues that previous scholarship and tradition has been shaped by Pauline discussions of glorious bodies and has failed to appreciate the diverse and disorienting range of opinions about the nature of the resurrected body. Drawing upon previously unexplored evidence in ancient medicine, philosophy, and culture, this book both revisits central texts – such as the resurrection of Jesus – and mines virtually ignored passages in the Gospels to show how the resurrection of the body addresses larger questions about identity and the self.
Richard Landes
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199753598
- eISBN:
- 9780199897445
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199753598.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter looks at the postmodern version of tribal cargo cults, namely various contemporary UFO beliefs covering a range of millennial variants from transformative (aliens will descend with ...
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This chapter looks at the postmodern version of tribal cargo cults, namely various contemporary UFO beliefs covering a range of millennial variants from transformative (aliens will descend with salvific cargo) to paranoid cataclysmic (they will either destroy or enslave us). The chapter looks at some UFO movies (The Day the Earth Stood Still, Close Encounters of the Third Kind). It then considers three real-life cases of UFO beliefs: the apocalyptic incident provoked by Orson Welles radio production of The War of the Worlds, the mass suicide of Heaven's Gate; and a long study of the Raelians, an ongoing UFO cult in Montreal. It concludes with a discussion of the inherent paranoia involved in believing that, unbeknownst to us, aliens have already landedLess
This chapter looks at the postmodern version of tribal cargo cults, namely various contemporary UFO beliefs covering a range of millennial variants from transformative (aliens will descend with salvific cargo) to paranoid cataclysmic (they will either destroy or enslave us). The chapter looks at some UFO movies (The Day the Earth Stood Still, Close Encounters of the Third Kind). It then considers three real-life cases of UFO beliefs: the apocalyptic incident provoked by Orson Welles radio production of The War of the Worlds, the mass suicide of Heaven's Gate; and a long study of the Raelians, an ongoing UFO cult in Montreal. It concludes with a discussion of the inherent paranoia involved in believing that, unbeknownst to us, aliens have already landed
Richard Swinburne
- Published in print:
- 1989
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198248491
- eISBN:
- 9780191598555
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198248490.003.0013
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter is concerned with the fates in the afterlife (traditionally called Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, and Limbo) that a good God would allocate to different humans. The totally corrupt have freely ...
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This chapter is concerned with the fates in the afterlife (traditionally called Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, and Limbo) that a good God would allocate to different humans. The totally corrupt have freely chosen to become so, and it would be an unwarranted imposition for God to give them any other character; hence, if God keeps them alive, their happiness can consist only in low‐level enjoyment. God will give to the sanctified (in company with each other) the (un‐merited) Beatific Vision of himself; and good pagans are to be included in this group. God may award (temporarily or permanently) intermediate fates to those with characters not fully formed.Less
This chapter is concerned with the fates in the afterlife (traditionally called Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, and Limbo) that a good God would allocate to different humans. The totally corrupt have freely chosen to become so, and it would be an unwarranted imposition for God to give them any other character; hence, if God keeps them alive, their happiness can consist only in low‐level enjoyment. God will give to the sanctified (in company with each other) the (un‐merited) Beatific Vision of himself; and good pagans are to be included in this group. God may award (temporarily or permanently) intermediate fates to those with characters not fully formed.
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195108231
- eISBN:
- 9780199853441
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195108231.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Although the crisis of the relationship between man and the world of nature on the scale observable today first began in the West where modernism was born, it is now global and demands an inquiry ...
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Although the crisis of the relationship between man and the world of nature on the scale observable today first began in the West where modernism was born, it is now global and demands an inquiry beyond the borders of the Western tradition and the history of the attack against that tradition in modern times. Any inquiry into the question of the relation between religion and the order of nature, one that wishes to address the crucial issues emanating from the present-day environmental crisis, needs to cross the frontiers of various spiritual universes and journey from the Heaven and Earth of a single human collectivity to the many Heavens and Earths of the several “humanities” constituting present-day global humanity as such. To understand the relation of religion to the order of nature on a global scale, rather than from the perspective of a single tradition, it is necessary to understand the meaning of the order of nature or the “Earth” in the context of various religions.Less
Although the crisis of the relationship between man and the world of nature on the scale observable today first began in the West where modernism was born, it is now global and demands an inquiry beyond the borders of the Western tradition and the history of the attack against that tradition in modern times. Any inquiry into the question of the relation between religion and the order of nature, one that wishes to address the crucial issues emanating from the present-day environmental crisis, needs to cross the frontiers of various spiritual universes and journey from the Heaven and Earth of a single human collectivity to the many Heavens and Earths of the several “humanities” constituting present-day global humanity as such. To understand the relation of religion to the order of nature on a global scale, rather than from the perspective of a single tradition, it is necessary to understand the meaning of the order of nature or the “Earth” in the context of various religions.
