This is one of the first academic books about Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish scholar and preacher, and the civic movement he inspired in Turkey and ultimately throughout the world. The movement is rooted in moderate Islam and is committed to educating youth, fostering interfaith and intercultural dialog, assisting the needy in society and contributing to global peace. Based on interview data and visits to Gulen-inspired institutions, the book describes the movement from a sociological perspective, especially through the lens of social movement theory. It is the first book, grounded in empirical methodology, to describe the movement to a Western audience. It will be of special interest to social scientists interested in religious movements, religious scholars seeking information on Islamic movements and the general public eager to discover a moderate Islam that promotes humanitarian projects.

This new, updated edition of 150 litanies - responsorial prayers of the people for use in the liturgy and other gatherings - draws from a wealth of Anglican and ecumenical material from all parts of the world, and is suitable for most mainline churches. Contents include: Prayer and Worship Prayer and Time Prayer and the World Prayer and the Church Prayer and the Local Community "

Ten essays about what churches are doing that is not "business as usual" in their music ministry. Includes theological and liturgical rationale, basic "how-to" information, and personal testimony to the communal advantages of each ministry, as well as descriptions of alternative/additional worship services that are flourishing across the country. Includes material about contemporary ensembles, jazz, handbells, guitars, synthesizers, electronic music and the emerging church, organs and choirs, youth, amateur, professional instrumentalists, cantors, Taize services, Compline, and the Hip Hop eMass.

Over the past seventy years, World Vision has grown from a small missionary agency to the largest Christian humanitarian organization in the world, with 40,000 employees, offices in nearly one hundred countries, and an annual budget of over $2 billion. While founder Bob Pierce was an evangelist with street smarts, the most recent World Vision U.S. presidents move with ease between megachurches, the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies, and the corridors of Capitol Hill. Though the organization has remained decidedly Christian, it has earned the reputation as an elite international nongovernmental organization managed efficiently by professional experts fluent in the language of both marketing and development. God's Internationalists is the first comprehensive study of World Vision—or any such religious humanitarian agency. In chronicling the organization's transformation from 1950 to the present, David P. King approaches World Vision as a lens through which to explore shifts within post-World War II American evangelicalism as well as the complexities of faith-based humanitarianism. Chronicling the evolution of World Vision's practices, theology, rhetoric, and organizational structure, King demonstrates how the organization rearticulated and retained its Christian identity even as it expanded beyond a narrow American evangelical subculture. King's pairing of American evangelicals' interactions abroad with their own evolving identity at home reframes the traditional narrative of modern American evangelicalism while also providing the historical context for the current explosion of evangelical interest in global social engagement. By examining these patterns of change, God's Internationalists offers a distinctive angle on the history of religious humanitarianism.

Dieses Buch analysiert die Modelle der biblischen Gestalten in der Prosa von Georg Trakl. Fur Trakl gilt die Bibel nicht nur als eine grosse Inspirationsquelle. Sie ist auch als ein standiger Bezugspunkt zu betrachten, der ihn seine eigene Position in der Welt bestimmen lasst. Der Autor untersucht auch die Prosadichtungen, die in formaler Hinsicht den Charakter der Prosa aufweisen. Mit der Aufnahme der Gedichte zielt der Autor nicht nur darauf ab, die behandelte Problematik in moeglichst vollem Umfang darzustellen, sondern auch Trakls Rezeption des Christentums in ihrem chronologischen Verlauf zu erfassen.

God on High examines cannabis-based religious groups in Canada and the United States. These religious groups are on the rise as cannabis use is further decriminalized or legalized. In examining these groups, Laurie Cozad explores the triangular relationships between cannabis, religion, and the law, and the ways in which the shifting discourse of medical science impacts this trio.

"There are no God-forsaken places, just church-forsaken places." -Jon Fuller, OMF International Jonathan Brooks was raised in the Englewood neighborhood on the south side of Chicago. As soon as he was able, he left the community and moved as far away as he could. But through a remarkable turn of events, he reluctantly returned and found himself not only back in Englewood but also serving as a pastor ("Pastah J") and community leader. In Church Forsaken, Brooks challenges local churches to rediscover that loving our neighbors means loving our neighborhoods. Unpacking the themes of Jeremiah 29, he shows how Christians can be fully present in local communities, building homes and planting gardens for the common good. His holistic vision and practical work offers good news for forgotten people and places. And community stakeholders and civic leaders will rediscover that churches are viable partners in community transformation in ways that they may never have considered. God has always been at work in neglected neighborhoods. Join Pastah J on this journey and discover new hope for your community.

Heideggers Ontologie endet beim "Aufgang des Heiligen", in dessen "Huld" das Seiende "die Gewahr findet, zu sein". Ist dies nicht eine schoepferische Liebe? Und ist nicht sie schon immer der Referenzpunkt alles Bleibenden? Die Untersuchung verbindet die Seinsfrage mit dem christlichen Kern. Sie harmonieren ausgezeichnet, ist doch dem einen Weite, dem anderen Substanz gegeben. Profiteur ist ein Sein, das zum Mysterium geraten war. Das Sein in Relation ist wieder ein begreifbares, - das real Existierende, das nach seiner Bejahung fragt. Der Autor wendet die bekannte Frage, ob Heideggers Philosophie christlich sei, dahin, ob die getrennten Konfessionen es denn sind. Denn was sie predigen - das neue Sein der Liebe und Versoehnung - will auch gelebt sein. Wann wird die Theorie ihren oekumenischen Praxistest bestehen? Ein Christentum, das mit sich selbst ins Reine kommt, wird auch seiner Seins-Verantwortung gerecht.

A riveting work reflecting on the characteristics of Gregorian chant that have attracted the attention of so many: its permanence, beauty, and history, as well as its liturgical, sacred, and philosophical qualities.

Apostolizitat und Einheit sind zentrale Themen der OEkumene. Epheserbrief-Textanalyse und grundliche Untersuchung des Zustandes der damaligen Kirche versuchen Integrationsfahigkeit in der gespalteten Kirche zu finden. Geschichte, Entwicklung und heutige Situation der Thomaschristenheit werden selbstkritisch dargestellt. Der Beitrag des Vatikanum II gilt als Chance und Wendepunkt fur die Orientalischen Kirchen und lasst Perspektiven fur eine moegliche Zukunft erkennen.

The Catholic Church has gone through more change in the last sixty years than in the previous six hundred. These changes have caused a significant shift in the future outlook of Catholic higher education as the United States has developed a culture that has grown less receptive to religious traditions and practices. Drawing upon his extensive experience, James Heft lays out the current state of Catholic higher education and what needs to be done to ensure that Catholicism isn't fazed out of the educational system. Heft analyzes the foundational intellectual principles of Catholic Higher Education, and both the strengths and weaknesses of the present day system in order to look at possibilities for its future. Drawing upon both history and current cultural trends, The Future of Catholic Higher Education critiques the secularization thesis, explores the role of bishops, theologians, dissent, the sensus fidelium, the role of women and freedom of conscience, the relationship between theology and religious studies, hiring practices and curricular designs. Using the image of the "open circle," Heft advances a vision of the catholic university that is neither a "closed circle" of only Catholics nor a "market place of ideas with no distinctive mission." His "open circle" is one that fosters the Catholic intellectual tradition by including scholars of many religions, rooting Catholic social thought in Catholic doctrine, defending academic freedom and the mandatum.

The two volumes of Prayer Book Parallels are aids to the study of the development of the American book from as many points of view as possible. They include liturgical texts and related historical documents. Volume One contains the texts of the public services of the American Church arranged in parallel columns--from the colonial period to the present--to enable comparative study. The two volumes are of great value to seminarians, clergy, church historians, and anyone interested in the development of the present Prayer Book. (702 pp)

Shrines to Living Men in the Ming Political Cosmos, the first book focusing on premortem shrines in any era of Chinese history, places the institution at the intersection of politics and religion. When a local official left his post, grateful subjects housed an image of him in a temple, requiting his grace: that was the ideal model. By Ming times, the "living shrine" was legal, old, and justified by readings of the classics. Sarah Schneewind argues that the institution could invite and pressure officials to serve local interests; the policies that had earned a man commemoration were carved into stone beside the shrine. Since everyone recognized that elite men might honor living officials just to further their own careers, premortem shrine rhetoric stressed the role of commoners, who embraced the opportunity by initiating many living shrines. This legitimate, institutionalized political voice for commoners expands a scholarly understanding of "public opinion" in late imperial China, aligning it with the efficacy of deities to create a nascent political conception Schneewind calls the "minor Mandate of Heaven." Her exploration of premortem shrine theory and practice illuminates Ming thought and politics, including the Donglin Party's battle with eunuch dictator Wei Zhongxian and Gu Yanwu's theories.

These simple and inviting reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict take as their starting point our search for wholeness in a world that is fragmented and increasingly polarized. Many people today struggle to balance the demands of professional and personal lives, and find little satisfaction or peacefulness in either. Yet the ancient wisdom of St. Benedict offers a clear and helpful pathway that leads directly to healing, transformation and new life.

Written in de Waal's inimitable style, this book is for old friends of the Rule of St. Benedict and novices alike. Holding up segments of the Rule, de Waal's meditations on Benedict's words illuminate the wisdom of the Rule not only for those of Benedict's time, but for all of us today as well.

"Tessas deep intimacy with Teresa of Avila . . . creates an invitational space for readers of any tradition (or none) to enter into their own transformational relationship with the wild woman of Avila."Mirabai Starr. This fresh, upbeat, and deftly profound book joyfully reconnects the fullness of our lives and the depth of our prayer. Much more than yet another book about a great saint who once was, it actually rekindles something of St. Teresas outrageous spiritual impulse for contemporary readers, particularly those who describe themselves as "spiritual, not religious." Tessa Bielecki is the author of several books on St. Teresa of Avila, as well as a former Abbess. "

Lebende Heilige sind Personen, die zu Lebzeiten von ihren Zeitgenoss*innen verehrt wurden und wundertatig waren. Bis heute waren sie nur ausnahmsweise Gegenstand der Forschung. Ausgehend von sozialkonstruktivistischen Ansatzen und aktuellen Ergebnissen der Ritualforschung fragt der Autor nach dem Weg der Inszenierung lebender Heiliger und ihren gesellschaftlichen Funktionen. Verschiedene Akte symbolischer Kommunikation wie die Demonstration von Demut und Armut durch armliche Kleidung oder ausgiebiges Fasten werden ebenso behandelt wie die Funktion der Heiligen als Lehrer*innen und Mahner*innen, Friedensstifter oder Missionare. Entscheidend fur ihre Etablierung und fur die Wahrnehmung ihrer Funktionen sind ihre Wunder, die als ritualisierte symbolische Handlungen gedeutet werden.

Ob im Norden, Suden, Westen oder Osten - uberall in der Bundesrepublik, OEsterreich und der Schweiz sind Ordensgemeinschaften beheimatet. Es sind Institutionen, die als Zentren der Einkehr, der Spiritualitat und der tatigen Nachstenliebe in einem Netzwerk von Klosterorten und -statten wirkten. Bis in das Reformationsjahrhundert spielten sie in Mittel- und Norddeutschland auch fur die soziale Entwicklung eine beachtliche Rolle und gaben nachhaltige Initiativen fur Kultur, Wissenschaft und Barmherzigkeit. Dieser Band beschaftigt sich nun insbesondere mit der suddeutschen Klosterlandschaft. Dabei rucken Schwerpunkte aus Kultur, Religion, Politik und Umwelt in den Fokus.