Matthew Clayton
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199268948
- eISBN:
- 9780191603693
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199268940.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This book defends a particular liberal conception of justice and legitimacy, and applies it to certain issues concerning the upbringing of children. It begins by offering an account of liberal ...
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This book defends a particular liberal conception of justice and legitimacy, and applies it to certain issues concerning the upbringing of children. It begins by offering an account of liberal political morality that draws on the work of Rawls and Dworkin. It then defends the claim that the distribution of childrearing rights should be sensitive to the interests of both children and parents. With respect to the issue of whether it is permissible to impart controversial values to children, a distinction is drawn between shaping children’s political motivations and enrolling them into disputed conceptions of the good. Whereas there is a requirement of liberal legitimacy to foster liberal virtues of civility and reciprocity, the widely held view that the enrolment of children into particular ethical or religious practices is rejected as illegitimate. Finally, the practice of age-based discrimination in the case of the allocation of certain rights, such as the right to vote, is defended and criteria for determining the appropriate age of majority are discussed.Less
This book defends a particular liberal conception of justice and legitimacy, and applies it to certain issues concerning the upbringing of children. It begins by offering an account of liberal political morality that draws on the work of Rawls and Dworkin. It then defends the claim that the distribution of childrearing rights should be sensitive to the interests of both children and parents. With respect to the issue of whether it is permissible to impart controversial values to children, a distinction is drawn between shaping children’s political motivations and enrolling them into disputed conceptions of the good. Whereas there is a requirement of liberal legitimacy to foster liberal virtues of civility and reciprocity, the widely held view that the enrolment of children into particular ethical or religious practices is rejected as illegitimate. Finally, the practice of age-based discrimination in the case of the allocation of certain rights, such as the right to vote, is defended and criteria for determining the appropriate age of majority are discussed.
Randall G. Styers
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195151077
- eISBN:
- 9780199835263
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195151070.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter traces scholarly debates concerning magic first through nineteenth-century theories concerning the origins of religion and then through various twentieth-century attempts by philosophers ...
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This chapter traces scholarly debates concerning magic first through nineteenth-century theories concerning the origins of religion and then through various twentieth-century attempts by philosophers and social scientists to define the nature of religion. As intellectualized and privatized Enlightenment notions of religion came to define the appropriate forms for human relation to the supernatural, magic no longer designated idolatry, Satanism, or sin (as it had in medieval views of witchcraft and sorcery), but a new form of aberrational behavior, a delusion contravening appropriately rationalist, and largely Protestant, piety. Whether theorists have seen magic as designating a category distinct from (and external to) religion or as an internal subset of religion, magic has functioned to demarcate religion's limits and the bounds for appropriate religious behavior in modern liberal society. This chapter traces the normative views of human identity and power animating these scholarly formulations of magic.Less
This chapter traces scholarly debates concerning magic first through nineteenth-century theories concerning the origins of religion and then through various twentieth-century attempts by philosophers and social scientists to define the nature of religion. As intellectualized and privatized Enlightenment notions of religion came to define the appropriate forms for human relation to the supernatural, magic no longer designated idolatry, Satanism, or sin (as it had in medieval views of witchcraft and sorcery), but a new form of aberrational behavior, a delusion contravening appropriately rationalist, and largely Protestant, piety. Whether theorists have seen magic as designating a category distinct from (and external to) religion or as an internal subset of religion, magic has functioned to demarcate religion's limits and the bounds for appropriate religious behavior in modern liberal society. This chapter traces the normative views of human identity and power animating these scholarly formulations of magic.
Randall G. Styers
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195151077
- eISBN:
- 9780199835263
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195151070.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter offers an account of the social and intellectual contexts within which definitions of magic emerged in the modern West, beginning with various early modern philosophical responses to the ...
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This chapter offers an account of the social and intellectual contexts within which definitions of magic emerged in the modern West, beginning with various early modern philosophical responses to the European witchcraft persecutions. Following the Reformation and the Enlightenment, intellectualized and privatized notions of religion gained prominence, particularly in Protestant anti-Catholic polemics. Coupled with this development was the proliferation of capitalism and Western science, both of which assert distinctive forms of mechanistic and rational manipulation of nature. Finally, with the European conquest of much of the non-Western world, the discourse on “primitive” culture came to play a significant role in legitimating colonial conquests and exploitation. In this context, magic came to serve as a particularly pliable tool in efforts to prescribe norms for liberal religious piety, modern scientific rationality, and capitalist social relations.Less
This chapter offers an account of the social and intellectual contexts within which definitions of magic emerged in the modern West, beginning with various early modern philosophical responses to the European witchcraft persecutions. Following the Reformation and the Enlightenment, intellectualized and privatized notions of religion gained prominence, particularly in Protestant anti-Catholic polemics. Coupled with this development was the proliferation of capitalism and Western science, both of which assert distinctive forms of mechanistic and rational manipulation of nature. Finally, with the European conquest of much of the non-Western world, the discourse on “primitive” culture came to play a significant role in legitimating colonial conquests and exploitation. In this context, magic came to serve as a particularly pliable tool in efforts to prescribe norms for liberal religious piety, modern scientific rationality, and capitalist social relations.
Emma E. A. Cohen
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195323351
- eISBN:
- 9780199785575
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195323351.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
The Mind Possessed examines spirit concepts and mediumistic practices from a cognitive scientific perspective. Drawing primarily, but not exclusively, from ethnographic data collected ...
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The Mind Possessed examines spirit concepts and mediumistic practices from a cognitive scientific perspective. Drawing primarily, but not exclusively, from ethnographic data collected during eighteen months of fieldwork in Belém, northern Brazil, this book combines fine‐grained description and analysis of mediumistic activities in an Afro‐Brazilian cult house with a scientific account of the emergence and the spread of the tradition's core concepts. The book develops a novel theoretical approach to questions that are of central importance to the scientific study of transmission of culture, particularly concepts of spirits, spirit healing, and spirit possession. Making a radical departure from established anthropological, medicalist, and sociological analyses of spirit phenomena, the book looks instead to instructive insights from the cognitive sciences and offers a set of testable hypotheses concerning the spread and appeal of spirit concepts and possession activities. Predictions and claims are grounded in the data collected and sourced in specific ethnographic contexts. The data presented open new lines of enquiry for the cognitive science of religion (a rapidly growing field of interdisciplinary scholarship) and challenge the existing but outdated theoretical frameworks within which spirit possession practices have traditionally been understood.Less
The Mind Possessed examines spirit concepts and mediumistic practices from a cognitive scientific perspective. Drawing primarily, but not exclusively, from ethnographic data collected during eighteen months of fieldwork in Belém, northern Brazil, this book combines fine‐grained description and analysis of mediumistic activities in an Afro‐Brazilian cult house with a scientific account of the emergence and the spread of the tradition's core concepts. The book develops a novel theoretical approach to questions that are of central importance to the scientific study of transmission of culture, particularly concepts of spirits, spirit healing, and spirit possession. Making a radical departure from established anthropological, medicalist, and sociological analyses of spirit phenomena, the book looks instead to instructive insights from the cognitive sciences and offers a set of testable hypotheses concerning the spread and appeal of spirit concepts and possession activities. Predictions and claims are grounded in the data collected and sourced in specific ethnographic contexts. The data presented open new lines of enquiry for the cognitive science of religion (a rapidly growing field of interdisciplinary scholarship) and challenge the existing but outdated theoretical frameworks within which spirit possession practices have traditionally been understood.
Aaron P. Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199296132
- eISBN:
- 9780191712302
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296132.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
The task of the early Christian apologists was fundamentally one of constructing, maintaining, and manipulating the identities of Christianity and its rivals — Greeks, Jews, Romans, and others. ...
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The task of the early Christian apologists was fundamentally one of constructing, maintaining, and manipulating the identities of Christianity and its rivals — Greeks, Jews, Romans, and others. Eusebius of Caesarea’s Praeparatio Evangelica, written in the early part of the 4th century, is the most comprehensive and sustained attempt in early apologetic literature to represent Christian, Greek, and Jewish ethnic identity as the basis for its defence of Christianity. This book traces the manipulations of ethnicity in Eusebius’ Praeparatio and highlights the implications of such ethnic argumentation for the understanding of Christian-Jewish and Christian-Greek relations, as well as the limits of modern notions of ‘religion’ to early Christian identity. Christianity is seen as a new nation (ethnos) — and at the same time a restoration of the oldest nation, that of the Hebrews — and is distinguished from the other nations of the Greeks, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Jews, and Romans who are all shown to possess inferior ethnic identities. Eusebius’ apologetic argument rests not on a defence of Christian doctrine or belief, but upon a vision of the ancient ethnic landscape, which manipulates national histories and boundaries so as to elevate Christians (as Hebrews) to a level of superiority in their national character and antiquity.Less
The task of the early Christian apologists was fundamentally one of constructing, maintaining, and manipulating the identities of Christianity and its rivals — Greeks, Jews, Romans, and others. Eusebius of Caesarea’s Praeparatio Evangelica, written in the early part of the 4th century, is the most comprehensive and sustained attempt in early apologetic literature to represent Christian, Greek, and Jewish ethnic identity as the basis for its defence of Christianity. This book traces the manipulations of ethnicity in Eusebius’ Praeparatio and highlights the implications of such ethnic argumentation for the understanding of Christian-Jewish and Christian-Greek relations, as well as the limits of modern notions of ‘religion’ to early Christian identity. Christianity is seen as a new nation (ethnos) — and at the same time a restoration of the oldest nation, that of the Hebrews — and is distinguished from the other nations of the Greeks, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Jews, and Romans who are all shown to possess inferior ethnic identities. Eusebius’ apologetic argument rests not on a defence of Christian doctrine or belief, but upon a vision of the ancient ethnic landscape, which manipulates national histories and boundaries so as to elevate Christians (as Hebrews) to a level of superiority in their national character and antiquity.
Randall G. Styers
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195151077
- eISBN:
- 9780199835263
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195151070.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The introduction opens with an exploration of the prominence of magic in the scholarly literature of numerous modern academic disciplines and then offers a broad outline of the distinctive roles ...
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The introduction opens with an exploration of the prominence of magic in the scholarly literature of numerous modern academic disciplines and then offers a broad outline of the distinctive roles magic plays in this literature. Modern debates over magic turn on competing views of the nature of human subjectivity and the relation of the individual to society and to the material world. Scholars have used these debates as a site at which to articulate--and to challenge--norms for life in modernity.Less
The introduction opens with an exploration of the prominence of magic in the scholarly literature of numerous modern academic disciplines and then offers a broad outline of the distinctive roles magic plays in this literature. Modern debates over magic turn on competing views of the nature of human subjectivity and the relation of the individual to society and to the material world. Scholars have used these debates as a site at which to articulate--and to challenge--norms for life in modernity.
Mark D. Regnerus
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195320947
- eISBN:
- 9780199785452
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320947.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Americans remain deeply ambivalent about teenage sexuality. Many presume that such uneasiness is rooted in religion. This book tackles such questions as: how exactly does religion contribute to the ...
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Americans remain deeply ambivalent about teenage sexuality. Many presume that such uneasiness is rooted in religion. This book tackles such questions as: how exactly does religion contribute to the formation of teenagers' sexual values and actions? What difference, if any, does religion make in adolescents' sexual attitudes and behaviors? Are abstinence pledges effective? Who expresses regrets about their sexual activity and why? The book combines analyses of three national surveys with stories drawn from interviews with over 250 teenagers across America. It reviews how young people learn, and what they know about sex from their parents, schools, peers, and other sources. It examines what experiences teens profess to have had, and how they make sense of these experiences in light of their own identities as religious, moral, and responsible persons. The author's analysis discovers that religion can and does matter. However, the analysis finds that religious claims are often swamped by other compelling sexual scripts. Particularly interesting is the emergence of what the author calls a “new middle class sexual morality”, which has little to do with a desire for virginity but nevertheless shuns intercourse in order to avoid risks associated with pregnancy and STDs. And strikingly, evangelical teens aren't less sexually active than their non-evangelical counterparts, they just tend to feel guiltier about it. In fact, the analysis finds that few religious teens have internalized or are even able to articulate the sexual ethic taught by their denominations. The only-and largely ineffective-sexual message most religious teens are getting is: “don't do it until you're married”. Ultimately, the author concludes, religion may influence adolescent sexual behavior, but it rarely motivates sexual decision making.Less
Americans remain deeply ambivalent about teenage sexuality. Many presume that such uneasiness is rooted in religion. This book tackles such questions as: how exactly does religion contribute to the formation of teenagers' sexual values and actions? What difference, if any, does religion make in adolescents' sexual attitudes and behaviors? Are abstinence pledges effective? Who expresses regrets about their sexual activity and why? The book combines analyses of three national surveys with stories drawn from interviews with over 250 teenagers across America. It reviews how young people learn, and what they know about sex from their parents, schools, peers, and other sources. It examines what experiences teens profess to have had, and how they make sense of these experiences in light of their own identities as religious, moral, and responsible persons. The author's analysis discovers that religion can and does matter. However, the analysis finds that religious claims are often swamped by other compelling sexual scripts. Particularly interesting is the emergence of what the author calls a “new middle class sexual morality”, which has little to do with a desire for virginity but nevertheless shuns intercourse in order to avoid risks associated with pregnancy and STDs. And strikingly, evangelical teens aren't less sexually active than their non-evangelical counterparts, they just tend to feel guiltier about it. In fact, the analysis finds that few religious teens have internalized or are even able to articulate the sexual ethic taught by their denominations. The only-and largely ineffective-sexual message most religious teens are getting is: “don't do it until you're married”. Ultimately, the author concludes, religion may influence adolescent sexual behavior, but it rarely motivates sexual decision making.
James Jones
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195335972
- eISBN:
- 9780199868957
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335972.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Islam
Religiously motivated terrorism is a religious phenomenon; thus the psychology of religiously motivated terrorism is the psychology of religion. For many decades the author of this book has been ...
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Religiously motivated terrorism is a religious phenomenon; thus the psychology of religiously motivated terrorism is the psychology of religion. For many decades the author of this book has been working in the discipline of the psychology of religion as both a professor of religious studies and a practicing clinical psychologist. Here he applies that work to the topic of religious terrorism, addressing it from both perspectives. Both the clinician’s concern with the dynamics of individual personalities and the scholar’s knowledge of the diversity and complexity of the religious life enter into this book. This book analyzes the psychological dynamics involved in religiously motivated violence and discusses how understanding those dynamics can contribute to understanding both the psychology of religion and contemporary, religiously motivated terrorism. In the literature on this topic there is a paucity of discussion of both of these factors—the psychodynamics of religious terrorism and the religious aspect itself. This dual perspective on a topic of obvious interest and importance is unique to this book. Besides the psychology of religiously motivated terrorism, chapters include contemporary terrorism as seen from multiple perspectives, Islamic terrorism in the context of world religions, Aum Shrinkyo, American apocalyptic Christianity, what this perspective tells us about religion, and religious responses to terrorism.Less
Religiously motivated terrorism is a religious phenomenon; thus the psychology of religiously motivated terrorism is the psychology of religion. For many decades the author of this book has been working in the discipline of the psychology of religion as both a professor of religious studies and a practicing clinical psychologist. Here he applies that work to the topic of religious terrorism, addressing it from both perspectives. Both the clinician’s concern with the dynamics of individual personalities and the scholar’s knowledge of the diversity and complexity of the religious life enter into this book. This book analyzes the psychological dynamics involved in religiously motivated violence and discusses how understanding those dynamics can contribute to understanding both the psychology of religion and contemporary, religiously motivated terrorism. In the literature on this topic there is a paucity of discussion of both of these factors—the psychodynamics of religious terrorism and the religious aspect itself. This dual perspective on a topic of obvious interest and importance is unique to this book. Besides the psychology of religiously motivated terrorism, chapters include contemporary terrorism as seen from multiple perspectives, Islamic terrorism in the context of world religions, Aum Shrinkyo, American apocalyptic Christianity, what this perspective tells us about religion, and religious responses to terrorism.
Curtis J. Evans
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195328189
- eISBN:
- 9780199870028
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195328189.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book is about the crucial role that black religion has played in the United States as an imagined community or a united nation. The book argues that cultural images and interpretations of ...
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This book is about the crucial role that black religion has played in the United States as an imagined community or a united nation. The book argues that cultural images and interpretations of African American religion placed an enormous burden on black religious capacities as the source for black contributions to American culture until the 1940s. Attention to black religion as the chief bearer of meaning for black life was also a result of longstanding debates about what constituted the “human person” and an implicit assertion of the intellectual inferiority of peoples of African descent. Intellectual and religious capacities were reshaped and reconceptualized in various crucial historical moments in American history because of real world debates about blacks' place in the nation and continuing discussions about what it meant to be fully human. Only within the last half century has this older paradigm of black religion (and the concomitant assumption of a genetic deficiency in “intelligence”) been challenged with any degree of cultural authority. Black innate religiosity had to be denied before sufficient attention could be paid to actual proposals about black equal participation in the nation, though this should not be interpreted as a call for insufficient attention to the role of religion in the lives of African Americans and other ethnic groups.Less
This book is about the crucial role that black religion has played in the United States as an imagined community or a united nation. The book argues that cultural images and interpretations of African American religion placed an enormous burden on black religious capacities as the source for black contributions to American culture until the 1940s. Attention to black religion as the chief bearer of meaning for black life was also a result of longstanding debates about what constituted the “human person” and an implicit assertion of the intellectual inferiority of peoples of African descent. Intellectual and religious capacities were reshaped and reconceptualized in various crucial historical moments in American history because of real world debates about blacks' place in the nation and continuing discussions about what it meant to be fully human. Only within the last half century has this older paradigm of black religion (and the concomitant assumption of a genetic deficiency in “intelligence”) been challenged with any degree of cultural authority. Black innate religiosity had to be denied before sufficient attention could be paid to actual proposals about black equal participation in the nation, though this should not be interpreted as a call for insufficient attention to the role of religion in the lives of African Americans and other ethnic groups.
Steven Heine and Dale Wright (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195367645
- eISBN:
- 9780199777181
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195367645.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Zen Masters contains ten articles by prominent scholars about the most significant “product” of the Zen tradition—the life and teachings of the masters or patriarchs who have made this ...
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Zen Masters contains ten articles by prominent scholars about the most significant “product” of the Zen tradition—the life and teachings of the masters or patriarchs who have made this kind of Buddhism the most renowned in the world. In contrast to most other forms of Buddhism, sacred literature in Chan or Zen primarily consists of religious biographies, or stories about the lives of Zen masters. The emergence of these narratives, often in anecdotal style, concerning the practices and teachings of the patriarchs in the late Tang and early Song dynasties in China provided new and vivid models for what it meant to be awakened. Iconic images of these often irreverent, blasphemous patriarchs spread quickly, and became the basis of a new school that rose to prominence throughout East Asia. The focus of these collected essays is a critical examination of the “image” of the Zen master as it has been projected over the past millennium, in both classic literature and the lives of modern examples, in order to capture a sense of the history and evolutionary quality of narratives about Zen patriarchs. What it means to be a Zen master is something that changes over time and is related to social context. The masters are selected from different historical periods and geographical areas, ranging from medieval China to early modern Japan and contemporary America. Essays in this volume highlight which elements of Zen identity came into focus during various periods of history, and attempt to show how each of these factors stands in relations to earlier and later Zen personalities. The audience for this volume will include both specialists and more general readers. The potency of the Zen master’s image is so far-reaching that there will be an enthusiastic readership from all quarters of interest in Buddhism and in the image of sainthood more generally. Teachers of comparative religion, those analyzing diverse images of spiritual practice, and instructors of the history of the Buddhist tradition will be able to use this volume for classroom purposes. Practitioners of Zen will find the volume particularly helpful in their efforts to imagine and engage what Zen enlightenment means for understanding human behavior and comportment.Less
Zen Masters contains ten articles by prominent scholars about the most significant “product” of the Zen tradition—the life and teachings of the masters or patriarchs who have made this kind of Buddhism the most renowned in the world. In contrast to most other forms of Buddhism, sacred literature in Chan or Zen primarily consists of religious biographies, or stories about the lives of Zen masters. The emergence of these narratives, often in anecdotal style, concerning the practices and teachings of the patriarchs in the late Tang and early Song dynasties in China provided new and vivid models for what it meant to be awakened. Iconic images of these often irreverent, blasphemous patriarchs spread quickly, and became the basis of a new school that rose to prominence throughout East Asia. The focus of these collected essays is a critical examination of the “image” of the Zen master as it has been projected over the past millennium, in both classic literature and the lives of modern examples, in order to capture a sense of the history and evolutionary quality of narratives about Zen patriarchs. What it means to be a Zen master is something that changes over time and is related to social context. The masters are selected from different historical periods and geographical areas, ranging from medieval China to early modern Japan and contemporary America. Essays in this volume highlight which elements of Zen identity came into focus during various periods of history, and attempt to show how each of these factors stands in relations to earlier and later Zen personalities. The audience for this volume will include both specialists and more general readers. The potency of the Zen master’s image is so far-reaching that there will be an enthusiastic readership from all quarters of interest in Buddhism and in the image of sainthood more generally. Teachers of comparative religion, those analyzing diverse images of spiritual practice, and instructors of the history of the Buddhist tradition will be able to use this volume for classroom purposes. Practitioners of Zen will find the volume particularly helpful in their efforts to imagine and engage what Zen enlightenment means for understanding human behavior and comportment.
Gary Delany DeAngelis and Warren G. Frisina (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195332704
- eISBN:
- 9780199868155
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195332704.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Teaching the Daode Jing (DDJ) was written for non‐specialist faculty who are including the DDJ in a widening group of courses in Asian studies, religion, philosophy, history, humanities ...
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Teaching the Daode Jing (DDJ) was written for non‐specialist faculty who are including the DDJ in a widening group of courses in Asian studies, religion, philosophy, history, humanities and political science. It provides up‐to‐date information on contemporary scholarship and detailed discussion of classroom strategies that have been successfully employed in a variety of teaching environments. Contributors include well‐known scholars of Daoism such as Livia Kohn, Norman Girardot, Robert Henricks, Russell Kirkland, Hans‐Georg Moeller and Michael LaFargue. In addition, there are essays by Eva Wong (Daoist practitioner), David Hall (philosophy), Gary DeAngelis (mysticism), and a jointly written essay on pedagogical strategies by Judith Berling, Geoffrey Foy, and John Thompson (Chinese religion). Their essays address questions such as: Should we capitalize on popular interest in the DDJ in our classrooms? Which, among the many translations and scholarly approaches ought we to use? Is it appropriate to think of the DDJ as a religious text at all? There are several times in many of the essays where the attention to concrete classroom practice is brought clearly into focus. Thus, readers will find several specific tips that can be used in their own classrooms.Less
Teaching the Daode Jing (DDJ) was written for non‐specialist faculty who are including the DDJ in a widening group of courses in Asian studies, religion, philosophy, history, humanities and political science. It provides up‐to‐date information on contemporary scholarship and detailed discussion of classroom strategies that have been successfully employed in a variety of teaching environments. Contributors include well‐known scholars of Daoism such as Livia Kohn, Norman Girardot, Robert Henricks, Russell Kirkland, Hans‐Georg Moeller and Michael LaFargue. In addition, there are essays by Eva Wong (Daoist practitioner), David Hall (philosophy), Gary DeAngelis (mysticism), and a jointly written essay on pedagogical strategies by Judith Berling, Geoffrey Foy, and John Thompson (Chinese religion). Their essays address questions such as: Should we capitalize on popular interest in the DDJ in our classrooms? Which, among the many translations and scholarly approaches ought we to use? Is it appropriate to think of the DDJ as a religious text at all? There are several times in many of the essays where the attention to concrete classroom practice is brought clearly into focus. Thus, readers will find several specific tips that can be used in their own classrooms.
Jeffrey L. Richey (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195311600
- eISBN:
- 9780199870707
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195311600.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
Teaching Confucianism presents pedagogically oriented essays that are informed by the latest scholarship, as well as practical experience in the religious studies and theology classroom, attentive to ...
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Teaching Confucianism presents pedagogically oriented essays that are informed by the latest scholarship, as well as practical experience in the religious studies and theology classroom, attentive to various settings within which religious material is taught, and sensitive to both expert (e.g., those in Confucian studies) and lay (e.g., those with no background in Asian studies who nonetheless are charged with teaching Asian traditions) audiences. The volume includes reflections by scholars in all arenas of Confucian studies: specialists in early Chinese thought (dealing with the “historical Confucius” and early texts such as The Analects), historians of medieval and late imperial China (addressing the ways in which the Confucian tradition helped shape Chinese popular culture and social history), and scholars of contemporary Confucian thought and practice (discussing how Confucian orientations underlie and inform civic and familial traditions in East Asia and throughout the East Asian diaspora).Less
Teaching Confucianism presents pedagogically oriented essays that are informed by the latest scholarship, as well as practical experience in the religious studies and theology classroom, attentive to various settings within which religious material is taught, and sensitive to both expert (e.g., those in Confucian studies) and lay (e.g., those with no background in Asian studies who nonetheless are charged with teaching Asian traditions) audiences. The volume includes reflections by scholars in all arenas of Confucian studies: specialists in early Chinese thought (dealing with the “historical Confucius” and early texts such as The Analects), historians of medieval and late imperial China (addressing the ways in which the Confucian tradition helped shape Chinese popular culture and social history), and scholars of contemporary Confucian thought and practice (discussing how Confucian orientations underlie and inform civic and familial traditions in East Asia and throughout the East Asian diaspora).
Gerald R. McDermott (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195373431
- eISBN:
- 9780199871681
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195373431.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Many books have been published on Jonathan Edwards (1703-58), widely regarded as the greatest American theologian. Some are by experts who typically write only for fellow specialists. Others are by ...
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Many books have been published on Jonathan Edwards (1703-58), widely regarded as the greatest American theologian. Some are by experts who typically write only for fellow specialists. Others are by popular authors who are unaware of recent scholarly discoveries. This book contains chapters based on the latest research on the subject of Edwards and the result is an introduction to North America’s most important religious mind on subjects he considered vitally important: revival, Bible, typology, aesthetics, literature, preaching, philosophy, and world religions. It also includes a survey of his life and career, extended reflections on his relevance to today’s church and world, and much more.Less
Many books have been published on Jonathan Edwards (1703-58), widely regarded as the greatest American theologian. Some are by experts who typically write only for fellow specialists. Others are by popular authors who are unaware of recent scholarly discoveries. This book contains chapters based on the latest research on the subject of Edwards and the result is an introduction to North America’s most important religious mind on subjects he considered vitally important: revival, Bible, typology, aesthetics, literature, preaching, philosophy, and world religions. It also includes a survey of his life and career, extended reflections on his relevance to today’s church and world, and much more.
Thomas B Dozeman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195367331
- eISBN:
- 9780199867417
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195367331.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This book is an initial response to the call of the World Council of Churches for renewed theological reflection on the biblical roots of ordination to strengthen the vocational identity of the ...
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This book is an initial response to the call of the World Council of Churches for renewed theological reflection on the biblical roots of ordination to strengthen the vocational identity of the ordained and to provide a framework for ecumenical dialogue. It is grounded in the assumption that the vocation of ordination requires an understanding of holiness and how it functions in human religious experience. The goal is to construct a biblical theology of ordination, embedded in broad reflection on the nature of holiness. The study of holiness and ministry interweaves three methodologies. First, the history of religions describes two theories of holiness in the study of religion — as a dynamic force and as a ritual resource — which play a central role in biblical literature and establish the paradigm of ordination to Word and Sacrament in Christian tradition. Second, the study of the Moses in the Pentateuch and the formation of the Mosaic office illustrate the ways in which the two views of holiness model ordination to the prophetic word and to the priestly ritual. And, third, canonical criticism provides the lens to explore the ongoing influence of the Mosaic office in the New Testament literature.Less
This book is an initial response to the call of the World Council of Churches for renewed theological reflection on the biblical roots of ordination to strengthen the vocational identity of the ordained and to provide a framework for ecumenical dialogue. It is grounded in the assumption that the vocation of ordination requires an understanding of holiness and how it functions in human religious experience. The goal is to construct a biblical theology of ordination, embedded in broad reflection on the nature of holiness. The study of holiness and ministry interweaves three methodologies. First, the history of religions describes two theories of holiness in the study of religion — as a dynamic force and as a ritual resource — which play a central role in biblical literature and establish the paradigm of ordination to Word and Sacrament in Christian tradition. Second, the study of the Moses in the Pentateuch and the formation of the Mosaic office illustrate the ways in which the two views of holiness model ordination to the prophetic word and to the priestly ritual. And, third, canonical criticism provides the lens to explore the ongoing influence of the Mosaic office in the New Testament literature.
Elaine Howard Ecklund
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195392982
- eISBN:
- 9780199777105
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195392982.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Americans support science as well as religion—but these two things are often at odds. In the wake of recent controversies about teaching intelligent design and the ethics of embryonic-stem- cell ...
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Americans support science as well as religion—but these two things are often at odds. In the wake of recent controversies about teaching intelligent design and the ethics of embryonic-stem- cell research, greater understanding between scientists and the general religious public is critical. What is needed is a balanced assessment of the middle ground that can exist between science and religion. Science vs. Religion: What Do Scientists Really Think? is the definitive statement on this timely, politically charged subject. After thousands of hours spent talking to the nation’s leading scientists, Elaine Howard Ecklund argues that the American public has widespread misconceptions about scientists’ views of religion. Few scientists are committed secularists. Only a small minority actively reject and work against religion. And many are themselves religious. The majority are whom she calls spiritual pioneers, who desire to link their spirituality with a greater mission for the work they do as scientists. In the current climate, even scientists who are not religious recognize that they must engage with religion as they are pressed by their students to respond to faith in the classroom—what Ecklund calls environmental push. Based on a survey and interviews with scientists at more than 20 elite U.S. universities, Ecklund’s book argues that other scientists must step up to the table of dialogue and that American believers must embrace science again. Both science and religion are at stake if any less is done.Less
Americans support science as well as religion—but these two things are often at odds. In the wake of recent controversies about teaching intelligent design and the ethics of embryonic-stem- cell research, greater understanding between scientists and the general religious public is critical. What is needed is a balanced assessment of the middle ground that can exist between science and religion. Science vs. Religion: What Do Scientists Really Think? is the definitive statement on this timely, politically charged subject. After thousands of hours spent talking to the nation’s leading scientists, Elaine Howard Ecklund argues that the American public has widespread misconceptions about scientists’ views of religion. Few scientists are committed secularists. Only a small minority actively reject and work against religion. And many are themselves religious. The majority are whom she calls spiritual pioneers, who desire to link their spirituality with a greater mission for the work they do as scientists. In the current climate, even scientists who are not religious recognize that they must engage with religion as they are pressed by their students to respond to faith in the classroom—what Ecklund calls environmental push. Based on a survey and interviews with scientists at more than 20 elite U.S. universities, Ecklund’s book argues that other scientists must step up to the table of dialogue and that American believers must embrace science again. Both science and religion are at stake if any less is done.
Jacqueline Mariña
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199206377
- eISBN:
- 9780191709753
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199206377.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This concluding chapter stresses the importance of Schleieramacher's achievement for contemporary thought about both ethics and the relation between ethics and religion. Contemporary issues such as ...
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This concluding chapter stresses the importance of Schleieramacher's achievement for contemporary thought about both ethics and the relation between ethics and religion. Contemporary issues such as religious violence and fundamentalism are discussed.Less
This concluding chapter stresses the importance of Schleieramacher's achievement for contemporary thought about both ethics and the relation between ethics and religion. Contemporary issues such as religious violence and fundamentalism are discussed.
Korie L. Edwards
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195314243
- eISBN:
- 9780199871810
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195314243.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book looks at how churches attempt to realize Dr. King's dream of racial integration. Recognizing that race is central to the organization of American life, the book situates race theory at the ...
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This book looks at how churches attempt to realize Dr. King's dream of racial integration. Recognizing that race is central to the organization of American life, the book situates race theory at the heart of understanding the cultural and social dynamics of racially integrated congregations and how they attract and retain members. The book, focusing on black–white interracial churches, argues that for these organizations to sustain a racially diverse congregation they must primarily appeal to whites. African‐Americans will need to affirm whites' religious and cultural predilections to retain white membership and bear the brunt of the sacrifices required to make racial integration work. In the end, interracial churches end up reproducing the racial structures they purport to oppose. The compelling stories that unfold in this book expose the tenuous nature of interracial churches and the barriers they need to overcome to realize the dream.Less
This book looks at how churches attempt to realize Dr. King's dream of racial integration. Recognizing that race is central to the organization of American life, the book situates race theory at the heart of understanding the cultural and social dynamics of racially integrated congregations and how they attract and retain members. The book, focusing on black–white interracial churches, argues that for these organizations to sustain a racially diverse congregation they must primarily appeal to whites. African‐Americans will need to affirm whites' religious and cultural predilections to retain white membership and bear the brunt of the sacrifices required to make racial integration work. In the end, interracial churches end up reproducing the racial structures they purport to oppose. The compelling stories that unfold in this book expose the tenuous nature of interracial churches and the barriers they need to overcome to realize the dream.
Ara Paul Barsam
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195329551
- eISBN:
- 9780199870110
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195329551.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Albert Schweitzer maintained that the idea of “Reverence for Life” came upon him on the Ogowe River as an “unexpected discovery, like a revelation in the midst of intense thought.” While Schweitzer ...
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Albert Schweitzer maintained that the idea of “Reverence for Life” came upon him on the Ogowe River as an “unexpected discovery, like a revelation in the midst of intense thought.” While Schweitzer made numerous significant contributions to an incredible diversity of fields —medicine, music, biblical studies, philosophy and theology — he regarded Reverence for Life as his greatest contribution and the one by which he most wanted to be remembered. Yet this concept has been the subject of a range of distortions and misunderstandings, both academic and popular. This book provides a new interpretation of Schweitzer's reverence and shows how it emerged from his studies of German philosophy, Indian religions, and his biblical scholarship on Jesus and Paul. By throwing light on the origin and development of Schweitzer's thought, we are led to a closer appreciation of the contribution that reverence makes to current ethical concerns. Life‐centered ethics — in the broadest sense — has continued to flourish, though Schweitzer's pioneering contribution is often overlooked. Not only did he help put the issue on the moral agenda, but, most significantly, he also provided much sought after philosophical and theological foundations. Schweitzer emerges from this critical study of his life and thought as a remarkable individual who should rightfully be regarded as a moral giant of the 20th‐century.Less
Albert Schweitzer maintained that the idea of “Reverence for Life” came upon him on the Ogowe River as an “unexpected discovery, like a revelation in the midst of intense thought.” While Schweitzer made numerous significant contributions to an incredible diversity of fields —medicine, music, biblical studies, philosophy and theology — he regarded Reverence for Life as his greatest contribution and the one by which he most wanted to be remembered. Yet this concept has been the subject of a range of distortions and misunderstandings, both academic and popular. This book provides a new interpretation of Schweitzer's reverence and shows how it emerged from his studies of German philosophy, Indian religions, and his biblical scholarship on Jesus and Paul. By throwing light on the origin and development of Schweitzer's thought, we are led to a closer appreciation of the contribution that reverence makes to current ethical concerns. Life‐centered ethics — in the broadest sense — has continued to flourish, though Schweitzer's pioneering contribution is often overlooked. Not only did he help put the issue on the moral agenda, but, most significantly, he also provided much sought after philosophical and theological foundations. Schweitzer emerges from this critical study of his life and thought as a remarkable individual who should rightfully be regarded as a moral giant of the 20th‐century.
Richard Swinburne
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199283927
- eISBN:
- 9780191712524
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199283927.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
Different theologians give different accounts of the kind of faith that is necessary for the practice of a religion such as Christianity. For some it is simply belief that there is a God (and that he ...
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Different theologians give different accounts of the kind of faith that is necessary for the practice of a religion such as Christianity. For some it is simply belief that there is a God (and that he has done various actions); for others it is trust in God. This book analyses the nature of belief and trust, and considers when belief and trust are rational. It concludes that the practice of a religion requires a faith which involves both trust and belief, but a fairly weak kind of belief. The book reaches this conclusion by analysing the purposes for practising a religion — the rendering of due worship and obedience to God, and the attainment of salvation for oneself and others. Someone's religious practice is rational in so far as he or she has reason for believing that practising his or her religion is the best way to achieve these purposes, and that these purposes are greatly worthwhile.Less
Different theologians give different accounts of the kind of faith that is necessary for the practice of a religion such as Christianity. For some it is simply belief that there is a God (and that he has done various actions); for others it is trust in God. This book analyses the nature of belief and trust, and considers when belief and trust are rational. It concludes that the practice of a religion requires a faith which involves both trust and belief, but a fairly weak kind of belief. The book reaches this conclusion by analysing the purposes for practising a religion — the rendering of due worship and obedience to God, and the attainment of salvation for oneself and others. Someone's religious practice is rational in so far as he or she has reason for believing that practising his or her religion is the best way to achieve these purposes, and that these purposes are greatly worthwhile.
Kenneth Holloway
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195371451
- eISBN:
- 9780199870653
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195371451.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
The Guodian manuscripts were buried with the teacher of the heir apparent to the Chu throne. The tomb was closed around 300 BCE shortly before one of the most significant period-defining events in ...
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The Guodian manuscripts were buried with the teacher of the heir apparent to the Chu throne. The tomb was closed around 300 BCE shortly before one of the most significant period-defining events in ancient history, the Qin conquest of China. Unseen for two millennia, before their discovery in October 1993, these manuscripts challenge many assumptions about Chinese religion, philosophy, and Confucianism. Guodian texts are interested in unity, but this is not surprising from a time when many were becoming concerned that the First Emperor would soon succeed in his campaign of conquest. What is surprising is that in this time of crisis, unity could continue to be described as achievable only through individual empowerment. In the Guodian, the most important function of government is to assist in the harmonization of state and family relations. It sees the relationship between these two entities—the family and the collection of families that ultimately constitute the state—as being inherently problematic; they are conflicting social groupings. The Guodian posits an interesting solution: state and family disharmony can be overcome by developing a hybrid government that employs both meritocratic and aristocratic methods. The latter emphasize rulership that is based on the family and humanity; the former emphasize meritocratic methods that promote the good of the state and righteousness. This new understanding illuminates central issues of government, religion, and philosophy in early China that were overlooked prior to the discovery of Guodian.Less
The Guodian manuscripts were buried with the teacher of the heir apparent to the Chu throne. The tomb was closed around 300 BCE shortly before one of the most significant period-defining events in ancient history, the Qin conquest of China. Unseen for two millennia, before their discovery in October 1993, these manuscripts challenge many assumptions about Chinese religion, philosophy, and Confucianism. Guodian texts are interested in unity, but this is not surprising from a time when many were becoming concerned that the First Emperor would soon succeed in his campaign of conquest. What is surprising is that in this time of crisis, unity could continue to be described as achievable only through individual empowerment. In the Guodian, the most important function of government is to assist in the harmonization of state and family relations. It sees the relationship between these two entities—the family and the collection of families that ultimately constitute the state—as being inherently problematic; they are conflicting social groupings. The Guodian posits an interesting solution: state and family disharmony can be overcome by developing a hybrid government that employs both meritocratic and aristocratic methods. The latter emphasize rulership that is based on the family and humanity; the former emphasize meritocratic methods that promote the good of the state and righteousness. This new understanding illuminates central issues of government, religion, and philosophy in early China that were overlooked prior to the discovery of Guodian.
