Clergy are pillars of local religious communities, and Roman Catholic priests are perhaps the quintessential examples of pastors functioning as political elites. The political science literature demonstrates that priests (indeed, clergy more generally) are well-positioned to influence the faithful, even if this influence is somewhat inconsistent. At their core, priests are opinion leaders and representatives of their church to both the faithful and their local communities. But exactly how Catholic priests determine the political acts and attitudes associated with their elite role remains a puzzle. We suggest it is the product of an interactive institutional, social, and psychological milieu, the complexity of which has not been fully assessed in the extant literature. Though some might prefer to think of priests as profiles in courage operating above the political fray, the institutional and personal realities of priest life often forces them to deal with the political realm. In doing so, priests are variably responsive to different principals, or reference groups, that represent specific dimensions of their professional context. Drawing on a series of randomized experiments on samples of Roman Catholic priests in the US and Ireland, we find that priests cognitively draw on varying professional and personal cues in responding to their employer's institutional preferences. Furthermore, how priests represent their church's political preferences to parishioners appears to be a matter of individual-level discretion.

First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Marriage can bring the best of times and the worst of times. But open and honest communication makes all times better. Alice and Bob Fryling offer married couples a chance to enhance their marriages. They help readers learn crucial skills such as how to make decisions together and how to resolve conflict. Then they apply these skills to tough marital issues like sex, spiritual growth, disappointment and money. Each chapter contains helpful advice, questions for discussion between husbands and wives, and suggested reading.

Studies how the literary elements in the Qur'an function in conveying its religious message effectively. Analyses of language in the Qu'ran, its style, its structural composition, its aesthetic characteristics, its rhetorical devices, its imagery, and the impact of these elements and their significance. Also studies individual suras and Muslim appreciations of the literary aspects of the Qur'an.

Down through the years, those who have been close to God have met with him daily. The Quiet Time Companion can help you begin and make the most of your own daily meetings with God. Offering a fresh approach to Bible study each week (with eleven different approachs in all), this book will help keep your quiet times stimulating and challenging. You'll learn a variety of Bible study skills that will last a lifetime With The Quiet Time Companion you'll gain a thorough overview of the whole Bible as you move through two years of structured and unstructured meetings with God. Each week you'll find five Bible studies designed to occupy about twenty minutes daily. These include whole book studies overviewing major themes detailed studies of short passages topical studies on important aspects of the Christian life character studies of fascinating people in the Bible word studies of key biblical concepts You'll also find suggestions for activities and projects to give you a change of pace each weekend. Divided into eight sessions of thirteen weeks each, The Quiet Time Companion can also be used easily by small groups and Sunday school classes. Here is a great opportunity to get started meeting with God every day.

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The perfect gift for high school graduates, also available on the iPhone as an eBook.

In this 365-Day devotional, Joyce Meyer, #1 New York Times bestselling author, helps readers achieve a more confident, joyful life by growing closer in their relationship with God. Everyday life can be demanding; it's easy to become distracted by so many things that seem important. But in order to lead a fulfilling life, you have to make time daily for what's most important--your relationship with God. In Closer To God Each Day, Joyce Meyer, #1 New York Times bestselling author, outlines practicals ways to develop your intimacy with God. Joyce shares powerful Scripture and personal illustrations that will help you experience the peace that is gained through closeness with Him. You'll be inspired each day to make better decisions, live more effectively, and lead the joyful life God has planned for you.

"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered." --G.K. Chesterton As even a brief exposure to the New Testament will show, the Christian life is a life of adventure. Every aspect is full of energy and light. Yet too often we stop at one point of interest--evangelism, spiritual disciplines, social justice--and go no further. Interweaving stories from a summer vacation, Jerry Sittser shows how our lives can include all God has in mind for us. In a book that is fun and challenging, Sittser restores wholeness to the adventure of Christian living.

In the Image of God: A Feminist Commentary on the Torah is a unique blend of traditional Judaism and radical feminism and is a groundbreaking commentary on the Bible, the central document of Jewish life. Using classical Jewish sources as well as supplementary material from history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, ancient religion, and feminist theory, Judith Antonelli has examined in detail every woman and every issue pertaining to women in the Torah, parshah by parshah. The Torah is divided into fifty-four portions; each portion, or parshah, is read in the synagogue on the Sabbath (combining a few to make a yearly cycle of readings). This book is modeled on that structure; hence there are fifty chapters, each of which corresponds to a parshah. One may, therefore, read this book from beginning to end or use it as a study guide for the parshah of the week. The reader will discover in these pages that the Torah is not the root of misogyny, sexism, or male supremacy. Rather, by looking at the Torah in the context in which it was given, the pagan world of the ancient Near East, it becomes clear that far from oppressing women, the Torah actually improved the status of women as it existed in the surrounding societies. Not only does this book refute the common feminist stereotype that Judaism is a 'patriarchal religion' but it also refutes the sexism found in Judaism by exposing it as sociological rather than 'divine law.'

40 Devotions for Knowing Who You Are and Whose You Are Far too many of us drift through life, grasping for occasional clues to our God-given purpose and identity. But it doesn't have to be this way. As a child of God, you can live from your identity instead of constantly searching for it. This 40-day devotional was written to help close the gap between wherever you find yourself now and the life you were created to enjoy. Each devotion explores both a facet of who God is and what that particular facet means for your transformation as his son or daughter. With keen insights from Scripture, encouraging reflections and declarations, and daily actions you can take to live out what you're learning, these devotions will unlock what has been placed inside of you so you can flourish in your God-given identity.

This book examines science fiction's relationship to religion and the sacred through the lens of significant books, films and television shows. It provides a clear account of the larger cultural and philosophical significance of science fiction, and explores its potential sacrality in today's secular world by analyzing material such as Ray Bradbury's classic novel The Martian Chronicles, films The Abyss and 2001: A Space Odyssey, and also the Star Trek universe. Richard Grigg argues that science fiction is born of nostalgia for a truly 'Other' reality that is no longer available to us, and that the most accurate way to see the relationship between science fiction and traditional approaches to the sacred is as an imitation of true sacrality; this, he suggests, is the best option in a secular age. He demonstrates this by setting forth five definitions of the sacred and then, in consecutive chapters, investigating particular works of science fiction and showing just how they incarnate those definitions. Science Fiction and the Imitation of the Sacred also considers the qualifiers that suggest that science fiction can only imitate the sacred, not genuinely replicate it, and assesses the implications of this investigation for our understanding of secularity and science fiction.

Based on Charles Bryant's bestselling book, Rediscovering Our Spiritual Gifts, Penn has developed a workbook that helps leaders guide participants through a seven-week study endeavor of discovering their spiritual gifts. Designed to be a companion resource for Bryant's book, this workbook offers a basic understanding of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

An interfaith collection of prayers, blessings, and poems offering comfort and hope to the healthcare workers that give so much. The COVID-19 pandemic has left few of us unaffected, but our healthcare workers have borne the brunt of its impact. Chaplains and clergy across all lines of faith have ministered to those caregivers through prayers and blessings. This curated collection of interfaith prayers, blessings, and poems was written by those who minister to healthcare workers. It's a beautiful resource that those who work on our medical front lines can carry with them or keep at their workstations for daily inspiration. It can also be used by chaplains and pastors who offer support to medical personnel. Many of the prayers were written to meet specific needs during the pandemic, yet they speak to the shared grief and hope we all have carried as we continue to navigate this extraordinary time. Contributors include The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, Rev. Barbara Crafton, Catherine Meeks, Jennifer Grant, Rev. Ineda Pearl Adesanya, and Rev. Gayle Fisher-Stewart.

Built space is both a physical entity as well as a socially and historically constructed place. It constantly interacts with human beings, affecting their behavior, thinking, and feeling. Doing religious work in a particular environment implies acknowledging the surroundings to be integral to theology itself. The contributors to this volume view buildings, scriptures, conversations, prayers, preaching, artifacts, music and drama, and built and natural surroundings as contributors to a contextual theology.

The view of the environment in which religion is practiced as integrated with theology represents not just a new theme but also a necessity if one is to understand religion's own depth. Reflections about space and place and how they reflect and affect religious experience provide a challenge and an urgent necessity for theology. This is particularly important if religious practitioners are to become aware of how theology is given expression in the existential spatiality of life. Can space set theology free? This is a challenging question, one that the editor hopes can be answered, at least in part, in this volume.

The diversity of theoretical concepts in aesthetics, cultural theory, and architecture are not regarded as a problem to be solved by constructing one overarching dominant theory. Instead, this diversity is viewed in terms of its positive potential to inspire discourse about theology and aesthetics. In this discourse, theology does not need to become fully dependent on one or another theory, but should always clearly present its criteria for choosing this or that theoretical framework. This volume shows clearly how different modes of design in sacred spaces capture a sense of the religious.

Are you ready to enter the dance of becoming fully alive? Have you ever wondered, if we have the God of heaven and earth living inside us, why aren't we experiencing more in life? Why aren't we seeing more transformation in ourselves, or in others for that matter? What does it look like to have "Jesus in me" anyway, as an individual and also as a woman? These are the questions life coach and pastor Terri Sullivant was asking herself when God answered her in a profound, life-changing way. The Divine Invitation provides a pathway to find what your heart deeply longs for in every area of life. It's a metaphor showing the way for every woman to enter the dance of becoming fully alive. Learning this dance is about developing a relationship with Jesus, like two people dancing skillfully and gracefully. It's about becoming so entwined with the thoughts, words, emotions, and behaviors of Jesus that the two of you are one. You find that this deep connection transcends all of life, enabling you to live joyfully and freely, come what may.

Ayahuasca, Ritual and Religion in Brazil examines the emergence of religious groups in the Brazilian Amazon who constitute their systems of ritual, myth and principles around the use of a psychoactive brew known by diverse names, one of which is the Quechua term ayahuasca. Although the study of these religious movements has seen much development in recent decades there are still few publications in English, especially in the area of anthropology. This collection, containing many articles previously published only in Portuguese, explains the research conducted in Brazil. It shows a representative sample of the main types of approaches that have been used and also offers an overview of the historical development of this field of research in Brazil, especially from the perspective of the human sciences. This volume makes explicit what the study of the ayahuasca religions can contribute to classical and contemporary issues in anthropology. It presents a varied set of ethnographic approaches employed in the initial mapping of this phenomenon, establishing its historical and cultural origins. It also provides a basis to develop future work on these religions, both in their original contexts and in their expansion throughout Brazil and the world.

Dietrich von Hildebrand contributed to the Catholic tradition's increased recognition of conjugal love in marriage in the early twentieth century, and, as Kevin Schemenauer argues in Conjugal Love and Procreation, von Hildebrand's work remains relevant to contemporary Catholic thought as well. While some argue that this German Catholic philosopher and theologian neglected the role of procreation in marriage, this book shows that von Hildebrand's writings on reverence and superabundant finality contribute to a contemporary understanding of the significance of procreation within marriage. Schemenauer analyzes von Hildebrand's integration of conjugal love and procreation, showing him to be an insightful and parallel voice to the that of John Paul II. His thorough exploration of von Hildebrand's writings reveals not only how conjugal love and openness to new life are essential to marriage, but also how essential the role of procreation is to the conception of conjugal love.

George G. Higgins and the Quest for Worker Justice: The Evolution of Catholic Social Thought in America is a comprehensive and fascinating examination of the Catholic Church's involvement in social issues from the late 19th to the end of the 20th century through the lens of the life, career, writings, and ministry of the legendary Monsignor Higgins. Inspiring to both the clergy and laity, Msgr. George G. Higgins put a human face on the institutional commitments of the Church, advocated the role of the laity, remained loyal to the vision of the Second Vatican Council, and took the side of the working poor in his movement with organized labor. Much more than a limited biography, author John O' Brien offers a sweeping history of the "social questions" facing America over the past 100 years, the thought behind one of the leading figures in the worker justice movement, and a moving application of the rich heritage of Catholic Social Thought.