Catharine Cookson
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195129441
- eISBN:
- 9780199834105
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019512944X.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Religious free exercise conflicts occur when religiously compelled behavior (whether action or inaction) appears to violate a law that contraindicates or even criminalizes such behavior. Fearful of ...
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Religious free exercise conflicts occur when religiously compelled behavior (whether action or inaction) appears to violate a law that contraindicates or even criminalizes such behavior. Fearful of the anarchy of religious conscience, the U.S. Supreme Court opted instead for authoritarianism in this church and state matter: The state's need for civil order is conclusively presumed to be achieved by enforcing uniform obedience to generally applicable laws, and thus legislation must trump the human and constitutional right to religious freedom. Rejecting the Court's unthinking rigorism, the book more appropriately views a free exercise case as a conflict of principles or “goods”: the basic constitutional and human right to freedom of conscience and religious freedom versus the societal good furthered and protected by the legislation. The book recommends an alternative analytical free exercise process grounded within the common law tradition as well as social ethics: casuistry. Casuistical reasoning requires a careful analysis of the particulars and factual context of the case, and relies upon analogies and paradigmatic illustrations to get to the heart of the principles at issue. The book furthermore explores the panoply of theories, self‐understandings, typologies, contexts, and societal constructs at play in free exercise conflicts, and in the final chapters applies casuistry to two free exercise situations, spiritual healing methods applied to children, and ingestion of sacramental peyote in Native American Church rituals.Less
Religious free exercise conflicts occur when religiously compelled behavior (whether action or inaction) appears to violate a law that contraindicates or even criminalizes such behavior. Fearful of the anarchy of religious conscience, the U.S. Supreme Court opted instead for authoritarianism in this church and state matter: The state's need for civil order is conclusively presumed to be achieved by enforcing uniform obedience to generally applicable laws, and thus legislation must trump the human and constitutional right to religious freedom. Rejecting the Court's unthinking rigorism, the book more appropriately views a free exercise case as a conflict of principles or “goods”: the basic constitutional and human right to freedom of conscience and religious freedom versus the societal good furthered and protected by the legislation. The book recommends an alternative analytical free exercise process grounded within the common law tradition as well as social ethics: casuistry. Casuistical reasoning requires a careful analysis of the particulars and factual context of the case, and relies upon analogies and paradigmatic illustrations to get to the heart of the principles at issue. The book furthermore explores the panoply of theories, self‐understandings, typologies, contexts, and societal constructs at play in free exercise conflicts, and in the final chapters applies casuistry to two free exercise situations, spiritual healing methods applied to children, and ingestion of sacramental peyote in Native American Church rituals.
Philip Endean
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198270287
- eISBN:
- 9780191683961
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198270287.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Karl Rahner SJ, (1904–84), perhaps the most influential figure in 20th-century Roman Catholic theology, believed that the most significant influence on his work was Ignatius Loyola's Spiritual ...
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Karl Rahner SJ, (1904–84), perhaps the most influential figure in 20th-century Roman Catholic theology, believed that the most significant influence on his work was Ignatius Loyola's Spiritual Exercises. This book casts significant new light on Rahner's achievement by presenting it against the background of the rediscovery of Ignatian spirituality in the middle decades of the 20th century. It offers a fresh and contemporary theological interpretation of Ignatian retreat-giving, illuminating the creative new departures this ministry has taken in the last thirty years, as well as contributing to the lively current debate regarding the relationship between spirituality and speculative theology.Less
Karl Rahner SJ, (1904–84), perhaps the most influential figure in 20th-century Roman Catholic theology, believed that the most significant influence on his work was Ignatius Loyola's Spiritual Exercises. This book casts significant new light on Rahner's achievement by presenting it against the background of the rediscovery of Ignatian spirituality in the middle decades of the 20th century. It offers a fresh and contemporary theological interpretation of Ignatian retreat-giving, illuminating the creative new departures this ministry has taken in the last thirty years, as well as contributing to the lively current debate regarding the relationship between spirituality and speculative theology.
Aviad Kleinberg
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231174701
- eISBN:
- 9780231540247
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231174701.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Where we first hear about these senseless senses and realize their many uses.
Where we first hear about these senseless senses and realize their many uses.
Aviad Kleinberg
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231174701
- eISBN:
- 9780231540247
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231174701.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Where outraged iconoclasts and horrified philosophers are told that seeing is believing.
Where outraged iconoclasts and horrified philosophers are told that seeing is believing.
Bryan Rennie
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195394337
- eISBN:
- 9780199777358
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195394337.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter discusses the influence of Eliade’s Romanian Orthodox theological background on his understanding of religion. It particularly considers Eliade’s early (pre-India) writings, the possible ...
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This chapter discusses the influence of Eliade’s Romanian Orthodox theological background on his understanding of religion. It particularly considers Eliade’s early (pre-India) writings, the possible influence of Nae Ionescu and Eliade’s Bucharest friends, and some previously published work on the subject. After establishing a series of consonances or homologies between background and understanding—such as icons as hierophanies—it considers to what extent the former might have determined the latter. Recognizing certain divergences, the conclusion is that Orthodox theology has not exerted a dominating influence upon Eliade in the sense of imposing dogmatic assumptions about the real/sacred upon him. Its ritualistic influence, nonetheless, enabled an understanding of religion that would not have been forthcoming given a different cultural background.Less
This chapter discusses the influence of Eliade’s Romanian Orthodox theological background on his understanding of religion. It particularly considers Eliade’s early (pre-India) writings, the possible influence of Nae Ionescu and Eliade’s Bucharest friends, and some previously published work on the subject. After establishing a series of consonances or homologies between background and understanding—such as icons as hierophanies—it considers to what extent the former might have determined the latter. Recognizing certain divergences, the conclusion is that Orthodox theology has not exerted a dominating influence upon Eliade in the sense of imposing dogmatic assumptions about the real/sacred upon him. Its ritualistic influence, nonetheless, enabled an understanding of religion that would not have been forthcoming given a different cultural background.
Edward Ricketts
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520247048
- eISBN:
- 9780520932661
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520247048.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Trailblazing marine biologist, visionary conservationist, deep ecology philosopher, Edward F. Ricketts (1897–1948) has reached legendary status in the California mythos. A true polymath and a thinker ...
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Trailblazing marine biologist, visionary conservationist, deep ecology philosopher, Edward F. Ricketts (1897–1948) has reached legendary status in the California mythos. A true polymath and a thinker ahead of his time, Ricketts was a scientist who worked in passionate collaboration with many of his friends—artists, writers, and influential intellectual figures—including, perhaps most famously, John Steinbeck, who once said that Ricketts's mind “had no horizons.” This collection, featuring previously unpublished pieces as well as others available for the first time in their original form, reflects the wide scope of Ricketts's scientific, philosophical, and literary interests during the years he lived and worked on Cannery Row in Monterey, California. These writings, which together illuminate the evolution of Ricketts's unique, holistic approach to science, include “Verbatim transcription of notes on the Gulf of California trip,” the basic manuscript for Steinbeck's and Ricketts's “Log from the Sea of Cortez”; the essays “The Philosophy of Breaking Through” and “A Spiritual Morphology of Poetry”; several shorter pieces on topics including collecting invertebrates and the impact of modernization on Mexican village life; and more. This critical biography, with a number of rare photographs, offers a new, detailed view of Ricketts's life.Less
Trailblazing marine biologist, visionary conservationist, deep ecology philosopher, Edward F. Ricketts (1897–1948) has reached legendary status in the California mythos. A true polymath and a thinker ahead of his time, Ricketts was a scientist who worked in passionate collaboration with many of his friends—artists, writers, and influential intellectual figures—including, perhaps most famously, John Steinbeck, who once said that Ricketts's mind “had no horizons.” This collection, featuring previously unpublished pieces as well as others available for the first time in their original form, reflects the wide scope of Ricketts's scientific, philosophical, and literary interests during the years he lived and worked on Cannery Row in Monterey, California. These writings, which together illuminate the evolution of Ricketts's unique, holistic approach to science, include “Verbatim transcription of notes on the Gulf of California trip,” the basic manuscript for Steinbeck's and Ricketts's “Log from the Sea of Cortez”; the essays “The Philosophy of Breaking Through” and “A Spiritual Morphology of Poetry”; several shorter pieces on topics including collecting invertebrates and the impact of modernization on Mexican village life; and more. This critical biography, with a number of rare photographs, offers a new, detailed view of Ricketts's life.
Trent Pomplun
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195377866
- eISBN:
- 9780199869466
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195377866.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This chapter begins in 1715 as Ippolito Desideri and his traveling companion Manoel Freyre make their way across the great deserts of Western Tibet in the company of a mixed Mongol‐Tibetan caravan. ...
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This chapter begins in 1715 as Ippolito Desideri and his traveling companion Manoel Freyre make their way across the great deserts of Western Tibet in the company of a mixed Mongol‐Tibetan caravan. It introduces readers to Ignatius Loyola, the Jesuits, and their religious institutions and devotes special attention to the Jesuits' own emphasis on images and image‐production in iconography, in literature, and in meditation. It also provides the historical context necessary to understand Desideri's own fantasies about Tibet and Tibetans.Less
This chapter begins in 1715 as Ippolito Desideri and his traveling companion Manoel Freyre make their way across the great deserts of Western Tibet in the company of a mixed Mongol‐Tibetan caravan. It introduces readers to Ignatius Loyola, the Jesuits, and their religious institutions and devotes special attention to the Jesuits' own emphasis on images and image‐production in iconography, in literature, and in meditation. It also provides the historical context necessary to understand Desideri's own fantasies about Tibet and Tibetans.
Diana G. Tumminia
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195156829
- eISBN:
- 9780199784806
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019515682X.003.0015
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This essay explores the cultural ethos and uses of meaning in the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA), a relatively new religion that displays a syncretistic postmodern assortment of ...
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This essay explores the cultural ethos and uses of meaning in the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA), a relatively new religion that displays a syncretistic postmodern assortment of religious traditions and spiritual innovation: Christianity, Sant Mat practices, and typical esoteric pursuits found in New Age groups. The controversial side of MSIA lies in its awkward relations with the wider society; as such, the analysis provides an insider’s portrait and outsider’s assessment of what is unproductively labeled a “cult”.Less
This essay explores the cultural ethos and uses of meaning in the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA), a relatively new religion that displays a syncretistic postmodern assortment of religious traditions and spiritual innovation: Christianity, Sant Mat practices, and typical esoteric pursuits found in New Age groups. The controversial side of MSIA lies in its awkward relations with the wider society; as such, the analysis provides an insider’s portrait and outsider’s assessment of what is unproductively labeled a “cult”.
Michael Peppard
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300213997
- eISBN:
- 9780300216516
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300213997.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
The eastern and northern walls of the baptistery feature the main artistic program, which is a procession of women. This chapter surveys and challenges the usual identification and interpretation of ...
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The eastern and northern walls of the baptistery feature the main artistic program, which is a procession of women. This chapter surveys and challenges the usual identification and interpretation of these female figures. While the traditional interpretation of them as the women at the tomb of Christ on Easter morning has arguments to support it, the preponderance of evidence supports our recovering an old counter-proposal, which identifies them as virgins at a wedding. When biblical, artistic, and ritual sources are read with this in mind, the singular importance of marriage motifs in early Syrian Christianity becomes clear. The closest artistic comparanda from Syria render a biblical wedding procession—that of Jesus’ Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins—with the same iconography as the figures on Dura’s walls. In addition, the motif of spiritual marriage at initiation in a “bridal chamber” was very prominent in proximate textual traditions. That being said, ritual texts and homilies from the fourth century begin to show metaphorical interference between imagery of weddings and funerals, and so polysemic interpretations of this procession are certainly warranted. The marriage motif dominates, but does not completely subordinate, the notions of death and resurrection at initiation.Less
The eastern and northern walls of the baptistery feature the main artistic program, which is a procession of women. This chapter surveys and challenges the usual identification and interpretation of these female figures. While the traditional interpretation of them as the women at the tomb of Christ on Easter morning has arguments to support it, the preponderance of evidence supports our recovering an old counter-proposal, which identifies them as virgins at a wedding. When biblical, artistic, and ritual sources are read with this in mind, the singular importance of marriage motifs in early Syrian Christianity becomes clear. The closest artistic comparanda from Syria render a biblical wedding procession—that of Jesus’ Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins—with the same iconography as the figures on Dura’s walls. In addition, the motif of spiritual marriage at initiation in a “bridal chamber” was very prominent in proximate textual traditions. That being said, ritual texts and homilies from the fourth century begin to show metaphorical interference between imagery of weddings and funerals, and so polysemic interpretations of this procession are certainly warranted. The marriage motif dominates, but does not completely subordinate, the notions of death and resurrection at initiation.
Michel de Certeau, Luce Giard, and Michael B. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226209135
- eISBN:
- 9780226209272
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226209272.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter explores the relationship between poetry and prose (or discursivity) in the writings of John of the Cross. Other aspects of this relationship are beauty versus history and the gift of ...
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This chapter explores the relationship between poetry and prose (or discursivity) in the writings of John of the Cross. Other aspects of this relationship are beauty versus history and the gift of the Word versus the “work of the negative” (Hegel). Certeau’s hypothesis is that in the case of John of the Cross it is a question of “articulating time with what escapes it.” The result is a specific kind of spiritual history: the relationship between history and “that which speaks” (i.e., spirit). Poetry, unlike discursive prose, is originary (sui generis). Hence the eight prose chapters “expounding” the eight verse stanzas of Ascent of Mount Carmel are not to be thought of as a “commentary” in the modern literary sense. The same applies to the Spiritual Canticle, which makes up the subject matter of the bulk of this chapter, with particular emphasis on the Prologue.Less
This chapter explores the relationship between poetry and prose (or discursivity) in the writings of John of the Cross. Other aspects of this relationship are beauty versus history and the gift of the Word versus the “work of the negative” (Hegel). Certeau’s hypothesis is that in the case of John of the Cross it is a question of “articulating time with what escapes it.” The result is a specific kind of spiritual history: the relationship between history and “that which speaks” (i.e., spirit). Poetry, unlike discursive prose, is originary (sui generis). Hence the eight prose chapters “expounding” the eight verse stanzas of Ascent of Mount Carmel are not to be thought of as a “commentary” in the modern literary sense. The same applies to the Spiritual Canticle, which makes up the subject matter of the bulk of this chapter, with particular emphasis on the Prologue.
Tom W. N. Parker
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184430
- eISBN:
- 9780191674259
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184430.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter discusses the work of Henry Constable, in particular his Diana and Spiritual Sonnets which exhibit a formal influence from the proportional form and sequence of Astrophil and Stella. ...
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This chapter discusses the work of Henry Constable, in particular his Diana and Spiritual Sonnets which exhibit a formal influence from the proportional form and sequence of Astrophil and Stella. Aware of Sidney's sonnet sequence, Constable emulated the former's metrical sequence into his poetry. His sonnet sequences reflect the proportional form distinguishable in Phillip Sidney's poetry. The resonance in Constable's structural element and proportional aspect is believed to be caused by his intimate reading of Phillip Sidney's Astrophil and Stella or by his encounter with one of Sidney's close acquaintances or with his brother Robert Sidney.Less
This chapter discusses the work of Henry Constable, in particular his Diana and Spiritual Sonnets which exhibit a formal influence from the proportional form and sequence of Astrophil and Stella. Aware of Sidney's sonnet sequence, Constable emulated the former's metrical sequence into his poetry. His sonnet sequences reflect the proportional form distinguishable in Phillip Sidney's poetry. The resonance in Constable's structural element and proportional aspect is believed to be caused by his intimate reading of Phillip Sidney's Astrophil and Stella or by his encounter with one of Sidney's close acquaintances or with his brother Robert Sidney.
Patricia Q Campbell
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199812295
- eISBN:
- 9780199919390
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199812295.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
A ritual regularly performed at a Tibetan-based Buddhist centre in Toronto, Canada, highlights the process of negotiating meaning in Western Buddhist Centres. The Offering to the Spiritual Guide is a ...
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A ritual regularly performed at a Tibetan-based Buddhist centre in Toronto, Canada, highlights the process of negotiating meaning in Western Buddhist Centres. The Offering to the Spiritual Guide is a ritual regularly performed at Chandrakirti Centre, part of an international organization whose members are Westerners from non- Buddhist backgrounds. This detailed rite, which is intended to generate a special relationship between participants and their guru-deity, is often attended by participants who are entirely unfamiliar with the tradition or its cosmologies. Consultants contend that it is not important to understand the meaning or meanings of the rite in order to participate in it. Participation, in fact, appears to be more significant than comprehension. The Offering to the Spiritual Guide is explored here through performance theory, using a series of metaphors connecting rites to other kinds of performance or enactment. Although it has some limitations for understanding the meditative elements of the rite, performance theory highlights two significant elements in which the meanings of the rite are being negotiated: ritual identity and ritual action. Interview data indicates that, while some participants negotiate their relationship to the guru-deity through the rite, others are negotiating more basic meanings concerning their participation.Less
A ritual regularly performed at a Tibetan-based Buddhist centre in Toronto, Canada, highlights the process of negotiating meaning in Western Buddhist Centres. The Offering to the Spiritual Guide is a ritual regularly performed at Chandrakirti Centre, part of an international organization whose members are Westerners from non- Buddhist backgrounds. This detailed rite, which is intended to generate a special relationship between participants and their guru-deity, is often attended by participants who are entirely unfamiliar with the tradition or its cosmologies. Consultants contend that it is not important to understand the meaning or meanings of the rite in order to participate in it. Participation, in fact, appears to be more significant than comprehension. The Offering to the Spiritual Guide is explored here through performance theory, using a series of metaphors connecting rites to other kinds of performance or enactment. Although it has some limitations for understanding the meditative elements of the rite, performance theory highlights two significant elements in which the meanings of the rite are being negotiated: ritual identity and ritual action. Interview data indicates that, while some participants negotiate their relationship to the guru-deity through the rite, others are negotiating more basic meanings concerning their participation.
Christian W. Troll and C.T.R. Hewer (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780823243198
- eISBN:
- 9780823243235
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823243198.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
This book captures the autobiographical reflections of twenty-eight Christians who were amongst those who, in the wake of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and initiatives of the World Council of ...
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This book captures the autobiographical reflections of twenty-eight Christians who were amongst those who, in the wake of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and initiatives of the World Council of Churches, committed their lives to the study of Islam and to practical Christian-Muslim relations in new and irenic ways. They record what drew them into the study of Islam, how their careers developed, what sustained them in this work and salient milestones along the way. These men and women come from a dozen nationalities and across the spectrum of the Western Church. Their accounts take us to twenty-five countries and into all the branches of Islamic studies: Qur'an, Hadith, Shari'a, Sufism, philology, theology and philosophy. They range in age from late-forties to late-nineties and so have a wealth of experience to share. They give fascinating insights into personal encounters with Islam and Muslims, speak of the ways in which their Christian traditions of spiritual training formed and nourished them, and deal with some of the misunderstandings and opposition that they have faced along the way. In an analytical conclusion, the editors draw out themes and pointers towards future developments. Such a constellation has not existed before and will not be seen again for at least half a century. Theirs is a unique generation and this is their considered contribution to the state of Christian-Muslim engagement today.Less
This book captures the autobiographical reflections of twenty-eight Christians who were amongst those who, in the wake of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and initiatives of the World Council of Churches, committed their lives to the study of Islam and to practical Christian-Muslim relations in new and irenic ways. They record what drew them into the study of Islam, how their careers developed, what sustained them in this work and salient milestones along the way. These men and women come from a dozen nationalities and across the spectrum of the Western Church. Their accounts take us to twenty-five countries and into all the branches of Islamic studies: Qur'an, Hadith, Shari'a, Sufism, philology, theology and philosophy. They range in age from late-forties to late-nineties and so have a wealth of experience to share. They give fascinating insights into personal encounters with Islam and Muslims, speak of the ways in which their Christian traditions of spiritual training formed and nourished them, and deal with some of the misunderstandings and opposition that they have faced along the way. In an analytical conclusion, the editors draw out themes and pointers towards future developments. Such a constellation has not existed before and will not be seen again for at least half a century. Theirs is a unique generation and this is their considered contribution to the state of Christian-Muslim engagement today.
Moshe Sluhovsky
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226472850
- eISBN:
- 9780226473048
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226473048.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Early Christian monastic spiritual practices of self-formation became increasingly popular in late medieval and early modern Catholicism. Now, for the first time in the history of Christian ...
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Early Christian monastic spiritual practices of self-formation became increasingly popular in late medieval and early modern Catholicism. Now, for the first time in the history of Christian spirituality, religious orders, first and foremost among them Franciscans and Jesuits, trained devout people, men and women, lay and religious, in practices of meditation, introspection, and subjectivization. Thousands, if not ten of thousands of lay people now acquired techniques of self examination that enabled them to pursue life goals and transform themselves. The book examines four of the major spiritual practices of the period, traces their history, diffusion, and the challenges they presented to clerical authority. Spiritual direction and general confession, two of the practices of self-formation discussed in the book, served as safety belts to guarantee that practitioners remained subjected to the teachings of the church. But spiritual exercises, general examination of conscience, and general confession supplied practitioners with techniques of self-construction and self -affirmation. Using insights from Michel Foucault's later work on practices of truth-telling and subjectivization, the book proposes the first systematic investigation of the complexity of subjectivization in early modern Catholicism as both a mechanism of self-formation and of subjugationLess
Early Christian monastic spiritual practices of self-formation became increasingly popular in late medieval and early modern Catholicism. Now, for the first time in the history of Christian spirituality, religious orders, first and foremost among them Franciscans and Jesuits, trained devout people, men and women, lay and religious, in practices of meditation, introspection, and subjectivization. Thousands, if not ten of thousands of lay people now acquired techniques of self examination that enabled them to pursue life goals and transform themselves. The book examines four of the major spiritual practices of the period, traces their history, diffusion, and the challenges they presented to clerical authority. Spiritual direction and general confession, two of the practices of self-formation discussed in the book, served as safety belts to guarantee that practitioners remained subjected to the teachings of the church. But spiritual exercises, general examination of conscience, and general confession supplied practitioners with techniques of self-construction and self -affirmation. Using insights from Michel Foucault's later work on practices of truth-telling and subjectivization, the book proposes the first systematic investigation of the complexity of subjectivization in early modern Catholicism as both a mechanism of self-formation and of subjugation
Timothy Larsen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199570096
- eISBN:
- 9780191725661
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199570096.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History, Biblical Studies
This conclusion offers shorter explorations of three additional traditions. The biblical preoccupation of both Christian and anti-Christian Spiritualists is tracked through the pages of the Spiritual ...
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This conclusion offers shorter explorations of three additional traditions. The biblical preoccupation of both Christian and anti-Christian Spiritualists is tracked through the pages of the Spiritual Magazine and Human Nature. The Jewish novelist Grace Aguilar is revealed to have a commitment to the Bible akin to the Protestant notion of sola scriptura. An examination of the works of the Brethren writer Emily Gosse demonstrates that this new religious movement was founded on being even more biblical than existing denominations. Following these three case studies some of the common themes that have emerged across the volume are highlighted, including a surprisingly widespread commitment to daily Bible reading, household scriptural readings, and a devotional engagement with the Bible.Less
This conclusion offers shorter explorations of three additional traditions. The biblical preoccupation of both Christian and anti-Christian Spiritualists is tracked through the pages of the Spiritual Magazine and Human Nature. The Jewish novelist Grace Aguilar is revealed to have a commitment to the Bible akin to the Protestant notion of sola scriptura. An examination of the works of the Brethren writer Emily Gosse demonstrates that this new religious movement was founded on being even more biblical than existing denominations. Following these three case studies some of the common themes that have emerged across the volume are highlighted, including a surprisingly widespread commitment to daily Bible reading, household scriptural readings, and a devotional engagement with the Bible.
Susan Starr Sered
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195104677
- eISBN:
- 9780199853267
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195104677.003.0014
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
Can we expect to find that female-dominated religions not only reflect women's identities (for example, as mothers), but also actively serve their interests? Women, like men, join religious groups ...
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Can we expect to find that female-dominated religions not only reflect women's identities (for example, as mothers), but also actively serve their interests? Women, like men, join religious groups and perform religious rituals for fundamentally religious reasons. In most contexts in which female-dominated religions occur, individual women have some amount of free choice. Women's religions are rarely the only available religious option. Social deprivation and personal crises undoubtedly lead some individuals to seek a “better” or more convincing belief system—one that more adequately explains why things are the way they are. Many kinds of non-religious organizations can meet women's needs for social interaction, group support, networking, empathy, even healing, yet it does seem that religious organizations have a unique role—even in terms of meeting women's secular needs and furthering women's secular interests. This connection has been made explicit by Spiritual Feminists.Less
Can we expect to find that female-dominated religions not only reflect women's identities (for example, as mothers), but also actively serve their interests? Women, like men, join religious groups and perform religious rituals for fundamentally religious reasons. In most contexts in which female-dominated religions occur, individual women have some amount of free choice. Women's religions are rarely the only available religious option. Social deprivation and personal crises undoubtedly lead some individuals to seek a “better” or more convincing belief system—one that more adequately explains why things are the way they are. Many kinds of non-religious organizations can meet women's needs for social interaction, group support, networking, empathy, even healing, yet it does seem that religious organizations have a unique role—even in terms of meeting women's secular needs and furthering women's secular interests. This connection has been made explicit by Spiritual Feminists.
Keith E. McNeal
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813037363
- eISBN:
- 9780813042121
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813037363.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
This chapter focuses upon Shango as a popular Afro-Creole tradition, considering its social organization, ritual structure, and complex pantheon, as well as its symbolism, material culture, and ...
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This chapter focuses upon Shango as a popular Afro-Creole tradition, considering its social organization, ritual structure, and complex pantheon, as well as its symbolism, material culture, and patterns of performance. It emphasizes the personal flexibility and on-the-ground dynamism of Orisha Worship as a subaltern religious form, probing its overlapping and complex interrelations with Christianity, Spiritual Baptism, Kabba, and Hinduism.Less
This chapter focuses upon Shango as a popular Afro-Creole tradition, considering its social organization, ritual structure, and complex pantheon, as well as its symbolism, material culture, and patterns of performance. It emphasizes the personal flexibility and on-the-ground dynamism of Orisha Worship as a subaltern religious form, probing its overlapping and complex interrelations with Christianity, Spiritual Baptism, Kabba, and Hinduism.
Claude F. Jacobs
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195167962
- eISBN:
- 9780199850150
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195167962.003.0021
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Among African Americans, there exists a wide variety of religious beliefs regarding health, illness, and healing. Many Spiritual churches arose in the early 20th century and are characterized by ...
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Among African Americans, there exists a wide variety of religious beliefs regarding health, illness, and healing. Many Spiritual churches arose in the early 20th century and are characterized by their combination of elaborate rituals, highly aesthetic sanctuaries, intensely emotional services of worship, openness to women ministers, and eclectic belief system. Drawing on Roman Catholicism, Pentecostalism, 19th-century Spiritualism, New Thought, and African religious concepts that were incorporated into what is known as Voodoo or hoodoo in the United States, the Spiritual churches have created ritual spaces in which people can combine features of these religions in a variety of ways. A part of what attracted people to the Spiritual churches in the early days, and continues to do so now, is their reputation for healing and prophecy. Today's leaders of the Spiritual churches are men and women who often are recognized as “prophets,” “divine healers,” or “spiritual advisers”.Less
Among African Americans, there exists a wide variety of religious beliefs regarding health, illness, and healing. Many Spiritual churches arose in the early 20th century and are characterized by their combination of elaborate rituals, highly aesthetic sanctuaries, intensely emotional services of worship, openness to women ministers, and eclectic belief system. Drawing on Roman Catholicism, Pentecostalism, 19th-century Spiritualism, New Thought, and African religious concepts that were incorporated into what is known as Voodoo or hoodoo in the United States, the Spiritual churches have created ritual spaces in which people can combine features of these religions in a variety of ways. A part of what attracted people to the Spiritual churches in the early days, and continues to do so now, is their reputation for healing and prophecy. Today's leaders of the Spiritual churches are men and women who often are recognized as “prophets,” “divine healers,” or “spiritual advisers”.
JOHN BINNS
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198269342
- eISBN:
- 9780191683626
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198269342.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter discusses other sources of information on monastic life in Palestine during the Byzantine period. It considers the lives of four saints including Theognius, Theodosius, Chariton, and ...
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This chapter discusses other sources of information on monastic life in Palestine during the Byzantine period. It considers the lives of four saints including Theognius, Theodosius, Chariton, and Gerasimus. All of these are related in some way to the works of Cyril of Scythopolis. It examines John Moschus' Spiritual Meadow, a collection of reminiscences and anecdotes written after Cyril's The Lives of the Monks of Palestine. This chapter also discusses the Life of George of Choziba, which deals with the spirituality of the desert during the Persian conquest of Jerusalem.Less
This chapter discusses other sources of information on monastic life in Palestine during the Byzantine period. It considers the lives of four saints including Theognius, Theodosius, Chariton, and Gerasimus. All of these are related in some way to the works of Cyril of Scythopolis. It examines John Moschus' Spiritual Meadow, a collection of reminiscences and anecdotes written after Cyril's The Lives of the Monks of Palestine. This chapter also discusses the Life of George of Choziba, which deals with the spirituality of the desert during the Persian conquest of Jerusalem.
Nadieszda Kizenko
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780823285792
- eISBN:
- 9780823288755
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823285792.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
As regards the sacrament of penance in Russia there are both quasi-fundamentalist tendencies and those offering the potential to move away from fundamentalism. On the one hand, one sees strict ...
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As regards the sacrament of penance in Russia there are both quasi-fundamentalist tendencies and those offering the potential to move away from fundamentalism. On the one hand, one sees strict literalism, an emphasis on purity, and the desire to return to a previous ideal from which advocates believe members have strayed (e.g., confession before communion, confession to a spiritual elder). On the other hand, it is important to note that the post-communist Russian attempts to return to or to revive authentic confession were mediated by the very context in which the “recovery” occurred. Russian “fundamentalism” as regards confession and communion was the reconfiguration of the original meaning of the Russian practice of confession. Additionally, diversity of opinion has not been altogether rejected, and other confessional practices, in particular written confession, signal that new forms altogether might arise. In short, although the Russian Orthodox Church after the fall of communism approached confession in a way that might seem to be fundamentalist, the presence of diverse opinions and practices suggests that the potential for moving away from fundamentalism is there as well.Less
As regards the sacrament of penance in Russia there are both quasi-fundamentalist tendencies and those offering the potential to move away from fundamentalism. On the one hand, one sees strict literalism, an emphasis on purity, and the desire to return to a previous ideal from which advocates believe members have strayed (e.g., confession before communion, confession to a spiritual elder). On the other hand, it is important to note that the post-communist Russian attempts to return to or to revive authentic confession were mediated by the very context in which the “recovery” occurred. Russian “fundamentalism” as regards confession and communion was the reconfiguration of the original meaning of the Russian practice of confession. Additionally, diversity of opinion has not been altogether rejected, and other confessional practices, in particular written confession, signal that new forms altogether might arise. In short, although the Russian Orthodox Church after the fall of communism approached confession in a way that might seem to be fundamentalist, the presence of diverse opinions and practices suggests that the potential for moving away from fundamentalism is there as well.
