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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Christian & quasi-Christian cults & sects
The 1993 government assault on the Branch Davidian compound near
Waco, Texas, resulted in the deaths of four federal agents and
eighty Branch Davidians, including seventeen children. Whether
these tragic deaths could have been avoided is still debatable, but
what seems clear is that the events in Texas have broad
implications for religious freedom in America.
James Tabor and Eugene Gallagher's bold examination of the Waco
story offers the first balanced account of the siege. They try to
understand what really happened in Waco: What brought the Branch
Davidians to Mount Carmel? Why did the government attack? How did
the media affect events? The authors address the accusations of
illegal weapons possession, strange sexual practices, and child
abuse that were made against David Koresh and his followers.
Without attempting to excuse such actions, they point out that the
public has not heard the complete story and that many media reports
were distorted.
The authors have carefully studied the Davidian movement, analyzing
the theology and biblical interpretation that were so central to
the group's functioning. They also consider how two decades of
intense activity against so-called cults have influenced public
perceptions of unorthodox religions.
In exploring our fear of unconventional religious groups and how
such fear curtails our ability to tolerate religious differences,
"Why Waco?" is an unsettling wake-up call. Using the events at
Mount Carmel as a cautionary tale, the authors challenge all
Americans, including government officials and media
representatives, to closely examine our national commitment to
religious freedom.
Mani, a third-century preacher, healer and public sage from
Sasanian Mesopotamia, lived at a pivotal time and place in the
development of the major religions. He frequented the courts of the
Persian Empire, debating with rivals from the Judaeo-Christian
tradition, philosophers and gnostics, Zoroastrians from Iran and
Buddhists from India. The community he founded spread from north
Africa to south China and lasted for over a thousand years. Yet the
genuine biography of its founder, his life and thought, was in good
part lost until a series of spectacular discoveries have begun to
transform our knowledge of Mani's crucial role in the spread of
religious ideas and practices along the trade-routes of Eurasia.
This book utilises the latest historical and textual research to
examine how Mani was remembered by his followers, caricatured by
his opponents, and has been invented and re-invented according to
the vagaries of scholarly fashion.
The beginnings of the Templar Order are shrouded in mystery. Very
little is known about its foundation, inner workings or its rapid
growth. This lack of knowledge can lead to all sorts of speculation
and, sometimes, bizarre theories. This book - developed from a
conference held on the theme at Emerson College, England - offers
new, well-grounded perspectives that utilize both esoteric and
exoteric sources. From varying points-of-view, the contributors
tackle key questions relating to the forming of the Order and its
aims and intentions. They explore the Knights Templar's spiritual
and historical background, as well as the Order's significance at
the present time and its continuing impulse in the future. With its
broad scope, this stimulating anthology encourages independent,
open-minded enquiry and research. Featuring contributions by: Peter
Tradowsky, Gil McHattie, Horst Biehl, Margaret Jonas, Rolf
Speckner, Sylvia Francke, Simon Cade-Williams, Jaap van der Haar,
Alfred Kon, David Lenker, Peter Snow, Christine Gruwez, Frans
Lutters, Walter Johannes Stein and Siegfried Rudel.
The shocking truth about some of the most disturbing, criminal
cults that have ever existed. How did Charles Manson inspire his
"family" to launch a campaign of murder? What twisted ideology lay
behind horrific events like the Waco Siege, the Aum Shinrikyo's
poison-gas attack on the Tokyo metro, and the mass suicides and
murders of Jonestown? Why did the suicidal adherents of Heaven's
Gate believe doomsday was at hand? How did the idealistic commune
of Rajneeshpuram collapse into shocking controversies, involving
biological terrorism and attempted murder? Cults Uncovered explores
these and many more strange and disturbing factions and sects from
all over the world to expose terrifying stories of manipulation,
coercion, abuse, and murder.
A leading spiritual teacher reveals how Celtic spirituality
-listening to the sacred around us and inside us - can help us heal
the earth, overcome our conflicts, and reconnect with ourselves.
John Philip Newell shares the long hidden tradition of Celtic
Christianity, explaining how this earth - based spirituality can
help us rediscover the natural rhythms of life and deepen our
spiritual connection with God, with each other, and with the earth.
Newell introduces some of Celtic Christianity's leading
practitioners, both saints and pioneers of faith, whose timeless
wisdom is more necessary than ever, including: Pelagius, who shows
us how to look beyond sin to affirm our sacredness as part of all
God's creation, and courageously stands up for our principles in
the face of oppression. Brigid of Kildare, who illuminates the
interrelationship of all things and reminds us of the power of the
sacred feminine to overcome those seeking to control us. John Muir,
who encourages us to see the holiness and beauty of wilderness and
what we must do to protect these gifts. Teilhard de Chardin, who
inspires us to see how science, faith, and our future tell one
universal story that beings with sacredness. By embracing the
wisdom of Celtic Christianity, we can learn how to listen to the
sacred in nature and within one another, but our culture - at the
times even our faiths - have made us forget what each of us already
know deep in our souls but have learned to surpress. Sacred Earth,
Sacred Soul offers a new spiritual foundation for our lives, once
centered on encouragement, guidance, and hope for creating a better
world.
Centuries after the brutal slaughter of the Cathars by papally endorsed Northern French forces,and their suppression by the Inquisiton the medieval Cathars continue to exert a powerful influence on both popular culture and spiritual seekers. Yet few people know anything of the beliefs of the Cathars beyond vague notions that they believed in reincarnation, were vegetarians, were somehow Gnostic, and had some relation to Mary Magdalene. The Lost Teachings of the Cathars explores the history of this Christian dualist movement between the 12th and 14th centuries, offering a sympathetic yet critical examination of its beliefs and practices.
As well as investigating the origin of the Cathars, their relationship to the ancient Gnostics of the early centuries AD and the possibility that they survived the Inquisition in some way, the author also addresses recent renewed interest in Catharism.
Eccentric esotericists initiated a neo-Cathar revival in the Languedoc which inspired the philosopher Simone Weil. The German Otto Rahn, who has been called the real-life Indiana Jones, believed that the Cathars were protectors of the Holy Grail and received support from Heinrich Himmler. Arthur Guirdham, a psychiatrist from the West of England, became convinced that he and a circle of patients had all been Cathars in previous lives.
Tourists flock to the Languedoc to visit Cathar country. Bestsellers such as Kate Mosse's timeslip novel Labyrinth continue to fascinate readers. But what did the Cathars really believe and practice?
Winner of the 2014 Christianity Today Book of the Year First Place
Winner of the Religion Newswriters Association's Non-fiction
Religion Book of the Year The Jesus People movement was a unique
combination of the hippie counterculture and evangelical
Christianity. It first appeared in the famed "Summer of Love" of
1967, in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, and spread like
wildfire in Southern California and beyond, to cities like Seattle,
Atlanta, and Milwaukee. In 1971 the growing movement found its way
into the national media spotlight and gained momentum, attracting a
huge new following among evangelical church youth, who
enthusiastically adopted the Jesus People persona as their own.
Within a few years, however, the movement disappeared and was
largely forgotten by everyone but those who had filled its ranks.
God's Forever Family argues that the Jesus People movement was one
of the most important American religious movements of the second
half of the 20th-century. Not only do such new and burgeoning
evangelical groups as Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard trace back to
the Jesus People, but the movement paved the way for the huge
Contemporary Christian Music industry and the rise of "Praise
Music" in the nation's churches. More significantly, it
revolutionized evangelicals' relationship with youth and popular
culture. Larry Eskridge makes the case that the Jesus People
movement not only helped create a resurgent evangelicalism but must
be considered one of the formative powers that shaped American
youth in the late 1960s and 1970s.
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Besorah
(Hardcover)
Mark S Kinzer, Russell L Resnik
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R1,091
R874
Discovery Miles 8 740
Save R217 (20%)
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Besorah
(Paperback)
Mark S Kinzer, Russell L Resnik
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R702
R576
Discovery Miles 5 760
Save R126 (18%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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In this study of Christian Science and the culture in which it
arose, Amy B. Voorhees emphasizes Mary Baker Eddy's foundational
religious text, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.
Assessing the experiences of everyday adherents after Science and
Health's appearance in 1875, Voorhees shows how Christian Science
developed a dialogue with both mainstream and alternative Christian
theologies. Viewing God's benevolent allness as able to heal human
afflictions through prayer, Christian Science emerged as an
anti-mesmeric, restorationist form of Christianity that interpreted
the Bible and approached emerging modern medicine on its own terms.
Voorhees traces a surprising story of religious origins, cultural
conversations, and controversies. She contextualizes Christian
Science within a wide swath of cultural and religious movements,
showing how Eddy and her followers interacted regularly with
Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists, Catholics, Jews, New
Thought adherents, agnostics, and Theosophists. Influences flowed
in both directions, but Voorhees argues that Christian Science was
distinct not only organizationally, as scholars have long viewed
it, but also theologically, a singular expression of Christianity
engaging modernity with an innovative, healing rationale.
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