How and what to teach about religion is controversial in every country. The Routledge International Handbook of Religious Education is the first book to comprehensively address the range of ways that major countries around the world teach religion in public and private educational institutions. It discusses how three models in particular seem to dominate the landscape. Countries with strong cultural traditions focused on a majority religion tend to adopt an "identification model," where instruction is provided only in the tenets of the majority religion, often to the detriment of other religions and their adherents. Countries with traditions that differentiate church and state tend to adopt a "separation model," thus either offering instruction in a wide range of religions, or in some cases teaching very little about religion, intentionally leaving it to religious institutions and the home setting to provide religious instruction. Still other countries attempt "managed pluralism," in which neither one, nor many, but rather a limited handful of major religious traditions are taught. Inevitably, there are countries which do not fit any of these dominant models and the range of methods touched upon in this book will surprise even the most enlightened reader. Religious instruction by educational institutions in 53 countries and regions of the world are explored by experts native to each country. These chapters discuss: Legal parameters in terms of subjective versus objective instruction in religion Constitutional, statutory, social and political contexts to religious approaches Distinctions between the kinds of instruction permitted in elementary and secondary schools versus what is allowed in institutions of higher learning. Regional assessments which provide a welcome overview and comparison. This comprehensive and authoritative volume will appeal to educators, scholars, religious leaders, politicians, and others interested in how religion and education interface around the world.

For Centuries, tension has existed between the East and West. There appears to be a hierarchy of cultures with the West perceiving the East as inferior, so much so that it is referred to simply as "the Other." Because today's world is globally interdependent, inter-woven, and integrative, it is pertinent to be open to the cultural, spiritual, and religious understandings of the East. One key concept that links East to the West is Spirit, a basic religious dictum in many world religions. This book examines the striking resemblance between the Eastern concept of Chi and the Western Christian understanding of the Holy Spirit and opens the door for greater communication and dialogue about the Other. As Christianity seeks to renew its role and purpose in North America, this new pneumatology will help strengthen and help build the Reign of God as it embraces, welcomes, and accepts the Other.

The Golden Bough attempts to define the shared elements of religious belief, ranging from ancient belief systems to relatively modern religions such as Christianity. Its thesis is that old religions were fertility cults that revolved around the worship of, and periodic sacrifice of, a sacred king. This king was the incarnation of a dying and reviving god, a solar deity who underwent a mystic marriage to a goddess of the Earth, who died at the harvest, and was reincarnated in the spring. Frazer claims that this legend is central to almost all of the world's mythologies.

In exploring 'Abdu'l-Baha's visits to Britain, Brendan McNamara expands the jigsaw of our knowledge of how "the east came west". More importantly, by exploring the visits through the motives of those that received him, The Reception of 'Abdu'l-Baha in Britain: East Comes West demonstrates that the "cultic milieu" thesis is incomplete. Focusing on a number of well-known Edwardian Protestant reformers, the book demonstrates that the arrival of eastern forms of religions in Britain penetrated more mainstream Christian forms. This process is set within significant developments in the early formation of the study of religions, the rise of science and orientalism. All these elements are shown to be linked together. Significantly the work argues that the advent of World War One changed the direction of new forms of religion leading to a 'forgetfulness' that has lasted until the present time.

On the Sunday following September 11, 2001, Reverend Kenneth Cragg worshipped as usual in his sanctuary, located directly across the street from a Muslim mosque. In a miraculous act of good faith, the Islamic congregation invited the Christian congregation to join them in an introduction to Islam. This introduction inspired Cragg to devote himself to study, in search of the true tenants of Islam. Was Islam really about what the terrorists were saying, or were their beliefs skewed by human agenda? Cragg would soon realize that yes, the terrorists were in error-and that the majority of America believed them. In the hopes of finding a common ground between Christians and Muslims, Cragg introduces "Christians and Muslims: From History to Healing. "In this study, Cragg carefully traces the history of Islam and clarifies the differences between true believers and radical terrorists. His intention is encouragement, for followers of Islam and Christianity alike, to wage war on terror by building strong, shared communities as partners in a peaceful world. Islam is not the enemy; terrorists are the enemy-and their differences are often overlooked. It's time to see Islam for what it is: one of the world's great religions, instead of a front for terrorism.

Sexuality, Religion and the Sacred is a thoughtful collection of bisexual, polysexual and pansexual scholarship on religion and spirituality. It examines how religious and spiritual traditions address sexuality, whilst also exploring the ways in which bisexually-, polysexually-, and pansexually-active people embrace religious and spiritual practice. The volume offers a comprehensive analysis of these prevalent themes by focusing on five main areas of discussion: Christian and Unitarian Discourses; Indigenous and Decolonizing Spiritual Discourses; Feminist Spiritual Discourses; Buddhist Discourses; and Neo/Pagan Discourses. Sexuality, Religion and the Sacred offers an accessible yet scholarly treatment of these topics through a collection of critical essays by academics of theology, humanities, cultural studies and social sciences, as well as sexology professionals and clergy from various faith and spiritual traditions. It gives readers an insight into the intersection of sexualities and spiritualities, and attempts to disrupt this very dichotomy through its careful consideration of a wide variety of discourses. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Bisexuality.

Practical theology has outgrown its traditional pastoral paradigm. The articles in this handbook recognize that faith, spirituality, and lived religion, within and beyond institutional communities, refer to realms of cultures, ritual practices, and symbolic orders, whose boundaries are not clearly defined and whose contents are shifting. The International Handbook of Practical Theology offers insightful transcultural conceptions of religion and religious matters gathered from various cultures and traditions of faith. The first section presents 'concepts of religion'. Chapters have to do with considerations of the conceptualizing of religion in the fields of 'anthropology', 'community', 'family', 'institution', 'law', 'media', and 'politics' among others. The second section is dedicated to case studies of 'religious practices' from the perspective of their actors. The third section presents major theoretical discourses that explore the globally significant diversity and multiplicity of religion. Altogether, sixty-one authors from different parts of the world encourage a rethinking of religious practice in an expanded, transcultural, globalized, and postcolonial world.

Although numerous studies of religious rituals have been conducted by religious studies scholars, anthropologists, sociologists, and psychologists, it is rare to find a work that brings scholars from different disciplines together to discuss the similarities and differences in their research. This book represents contributions by leading scholars from several disciplines that show the diversity of approaches to religious rituals, while also providing cross-disciplinary perspectives on this topic.

The goals of the chapters are to consider where the field currently stands in understanding religious rituals and what novel ideas can improve our knowledge about these practices; and furnish innovative applications of theory by discussing particular examples which are drawn from the authors? fieldwork. The chapters cover Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, and Islamic rituals, thus providing a view of how ritual practices vary across the globe, but also how they share some important characteristics.

Controversies over how to define the word "religion" have persisted for decades. It is a term of art and of academic study, but also one of governance, technologies, and of networks; it is a concept whose diversity is often its own worst enemy. "Religion" is as much a fuzzy set of conceptualizations and generalizations about a range of human activities as it is an authorizing system of persons, ideas, and practices. What is Religion?: Debating the Academic Study of Religion invites readers to eavesdrop on scholarly debates over the limits of, and uses for, a word commonly used but infrequently defined in a precise manner. This volume takes the temperature of the modern field of Religious Studies by inviting a diverse group of scholars to offer their own substantive contribution that builds on the shared opening prompt, "Religion is...". Their essays document the current state of the field and its various sub-fields, assess the progress that has been made over the past generation, and propose new directions for future work. Seventeen of the international field's leading scholars show how they work with each other's definition, or, sometimes, the lack of a definition. Of interest to students, scholars, and general readers alike, What is Religion? will provoke debate and provide insights into the state of the field.

As a religious tradition of the "East," Islam has often been portrayed as "other" to the Western Traditions of Judaism and Christianity. The essays in this collection use the underlying allegiance to scripture in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity to underscore the deep affinities between the three monotheistic traditions at the same time that respect for differences between the traditions are preserved. The essays are unique in attempting to bring together both contemporary academic and traditional scholarship on scriptural texts to heal the rift between tradition and the contemporary world.

The Golden Bough attempts to define the shared elements of religious belief, ranging from ancient belief systems to relatively modern religions such as Christianity. Its thesis is that old religions were fertility cults that revolved around the worship of, and periodic sacrifice of, a sacred king. This king was the incarnation of a dying and reviving god, a solar deity who underwent a mystic marriage to a goddess of the Earth, who died at the harvest, and was reincarnated in the spring. Frazer claims that this legend is central to almost all of the world's mythologies.

As the basic questions of social structure were elucidated there came a quickening of interest among social anthropologists in the study of religion. Chapters in this book include: * Religion as a Cultural System (Clifford Geertz) * Colour Classification in Ndembu Religion (Victor W. Turner) * Religion: Problems of Definition and Explanation (Melford E. Spiro) * Fathers, Elders and Ghosts in Edo Religion (R.E. Bradbury) * Territorial Groupings and Relgion among the Iraqw (Edward H. Winter). First published in 1966.

In the emerging fields of religious and interreligious peacebuilding, the question of monitoring and evaluation is a challenging, yet necessary process. The need to develop comprehensive yet fitting evaluation models for religious and interreligious peacebuilding is not only important for donor interests, but also critical as a means of documenting and learning for peacebuilders themselves. Theories and best practices in monitoring and evaluation have become prevalent in many fields, yet the amount of literature on evaluating intercultural and, especially, religious and interreligious projects remains scant in comparison. This volume offers a unique contribution that not only looks at several of the challenges and implications faced by religious and interreligious peacebuilders but also provides concrete examples of new models and tools for monitoring and evaluating religious and interreligious peacebuilding projects. In doing so, this volume serves as a tool and point of reference for individuals and organizations developing and implementing interreligious dialogue and peacebuilding projects.

Can religions be compared? For decades the discipline of religious studies was based on the assumption that they can. Postmodern and postcolonial reflections, however, raised significant doubts. In social and cultural studies the investigation of the particular often took precedence over a comparative perspective. Interreligious Comparisons in Religious Studies and Theology questions whether religious studies can survive if it ceases to be comparative religion. Can it do justice to a globalized world if it is limited on the specific and turns a blind eye on the general? While comparative approaches have come under strong pressure in religious studies, they have started flourishing in Theology. Comparative theology practices interfaith dialogue by means of comparative research. This volume asks whether theology and religious studies are able to mutually benefit from their critical and constructive reflections. Can postcolonial criticism of neutrality and objectivity in religious studies create new links with the decidedly perspectival approach of comparative theology? In this collection scholars from theology and religious studies discuss the methodology of interreligious comparison in the light of recent doubts and current objections. Together with the contributors, Perry Schmidt-Leukel and Andreas Nehring argue that after decades of critique, interreligious comparison deserves to be reconsidered, reconstructed and reintroduced.

Dr. Klein follows up his full-length books, "Through the Name of God, " anew road to the origin of Judaism and Christianity and "In the Shadow ofthe Pulpit, " an anecdotal autobiography, coauthored with his wife, Ann.

In "From Mount Sinai to the Catskill Mountains" Dr. Klein provides a mirror image of religion in America in the beginning of the twenty-first century through reflecting on the relevance of the Ten Commandments and the aspirations of the Standards for religious practice to guide the institutionsand their congregants. Although these Standards are intended for onesegment of the American religious community, through the lenses of Dr.Klein's microscope it becomes clear how wide the gap is between theaspiration of Standards and the state of religious practices at the time whenclergy and religion are under strict scrutiny.

The first two parts of this book present four detailed historical studies, filled with Geertzian "thick description," of the encounters of Christianity and Buddhism (universal religions with a high quotient of "transcendence") with various primal religious traditions ("biocosmic" or "immanentist") of the Asian-Pacific region, namely, Aboriginal Australia and Melanesia (Christianity) and Sri Lanka and Japan (Buddhism). In each case, the encounters represented a failure of the "great" traditions. In the third, constructive and theological part of the book, the author shows how an acknowledgement of these failures may provide a back door to dialogue.

In Religious Stories in Transformation: Conflict, Revision and Reception, the editors present a collection of essays that reveal both the many similarities and the poignant differences between ancient myths in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and modern secular culture and how these stories were incorporated and adapted over time. This rich multidisciplinary research demonstrates not only how stories in different religions and cultures are interesting in their own right, but also that the process of transformation in particular deserves scholarly interest. It is through the changes in the stories that the particular identity of each religion comes to the fore most strikingly.

Horse of Karbala is a study of Muharram rituals and interfaith relations in three locations in India: Ladakh, Darjeeling, and Hyderabad. These rituals commemorate an event of vital importance to Shia Muslims: the seventh-century death of the Imam Husain, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the battlefield of Karbala in Iraq. Pinault examines three different forms of ritual commemoration of Husain’s death--poetry-recital and self-flagellation in Hyderabad; stick-fighting in Darjeeling; and the “Horse of Karbala” procession, in which a stallion representing the mount ridden in battle by Husain is made the center of a public parade in Ladakh and other Indian localities. The book looks at how publicly staged rituals serve to mediate communal relations: in Hyderabad and Darjeeling, between Muslim and Hindu populations; in Ladakh, between Muslims and Buddhists. Attention is also given to controversies within Muslim communities over issues related to Muharram such as the belief in intercession by the Karbala Martyrs on behalf of individual believers.