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Books > Religion & Spirituality > General > History of religion
This book tells the story of the Prophet Muhammad as an inspirational role model for anyone who wants to be extraordinary.
You will learn how Muhammad shaped his personality as a child, dealt with the universal challenges of adolescence while a teenager, and then emerged as a leader in his community as a young adult. The book deliberately avoids the language of historical narration used in typical biographies of the Prophet in favor of a more informal, down-to-earth approach.
In this book, the reader will get a completely different view of Muhammad and hopefully will see how Muhammad addressed our own daily challenges, inspiring us to excel in confronting these challenges.
Marriage has not always meant just one man and one woman. For much
of human history, over much of the globe, the most common
alternative was polygamy: marriage involving more than one spouse.
Polygamy, or plural marriage, has long been an accepted form of
union in human societies, involving people living on every
continent. However, polygamy has come to symbolize a problematic,
even "barbaric," form of marriage that is often labeled as
"backwards," less modern and progressive, embodying the oppression
of women by men. In Polygamy: A Very Short Introduction, Sarah M.
S. Pearsall explores what plural marriages reveal about the inner
workings of marriage and describes the controversies surrounding
it. The book emphasizes the diversity of historical polygamist
societies, from the Shi'ite Muslims and Wendat men who practiced
short-term marriages to the Mixteca, Maori, Inca, Algonquin, and
Marta indigenous people of North America and the Pacific Islands,
as well as medieval Irish kings, rulers of the Kingdom of Buganda
in east Africa, and residents of the Ottoman Empire. Pearsall also
explains the Old Testament origins of polygamy in the book of
Genesis, making note of vocal Protestant defenders of the practice
such as Martin Luther and John Milton, and the divides within
Christianity that led to Joseph Smith's establishment of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) and the Mormons'
fight throughout the 19th-century under his successor Brigham
Young's leadership to freely practice plural marriage. Polygamy: A
Very Short Introduction looks at how polygamous domestic and sexual
relationships have influenced larger dynamics of power, gender,
rank, race, and religion in societies all over the world, while
also attempting to untangle the paradox of female constraint and
liberty for women who advocated for polygamy, arguing that plural
marriage offered security and stability rather than restraint for
women. In balancing an explanation of the many complexities and
misunderstandings of plural marriage, the book reveals how polygamy
continues to have an influence on society today.
Women's Economic Writing in the Nineteenth Century is the first
comprehensive collection of women's economic writing in the long
nineteenth century. The four-volume anthology includes writing from
women around the world, showcases the wide variety and range of
economic writing by women in the period, and establishes a
tradition of women's economic writing; selections include didactic
tales, fictional illustrations, poetry, economic theory, social
theory, reports, letters, novels, speeches, dialogues, and
self-help books. The anthology is divided into eight themed
sections: political economy, feminist economics, domestic
economics, labor, philanthropy and poverty, consumerism, emigration
and empire, and self-help. Each section begins with an introduction
that tells a story about women writers' relationship to the section
theme and then provides an overview of the selections contained
therein. Women's Economic Writing in the Nineteenth Century
demonstrates just how common it was for women to write about
economics in the nineteenth century and establishes important
throughlines and trajectories within their body of work.
This four-volume collection presents a range of documents related
to aspects of the constitutional history of the United Kingdom
(UK), covering the ‘long’ nineteenth century. It examines
material dating from the period of the American and French
revolutions through to the advent of an equal franchise for men and
women. During the long nineteenth century, the country passed
through immense socio-economic changes. It underwent internal
strains involving its multinational composition. It became the
dominant global power, then saw that position become subject to
various challenges. These tendencies helped generate sustained and
wide-ranging controversy about how the country should govern
itself. They also helped produce a series of important changes in
the nature of the constitution. At the outset of the long
nineteenth century, only a tiny proportion of the population were
allowed to vote; and an hereditary monarch remained an active
political figure. By the end, democratic ideas and practices had
achieved ascendancy. Yet in other ways, the constitution retained
some long-established characteristics. The purpose of these volumes
is to support research into and understanding of these tendencies.
They will enable readers to approach concepts such as democracy and
constitutional change from a critical standpoint, evaluating
existing interpretations and encouraging the consideration of
possible different conclusions. The collection will encourage
consideration of matters such as paths that were not taken, what
resistance there was to change, how particular outcomes came about,
and the compromises involved. It will also facilitate comparison
between constitutional ideals and realities.
A glorious illustrated history of sixteen of the world's greatest
cathedrals, interwoven with the extraordinary stories of the people
who built them. 'An impeccable guide to the golden age of
ecclesiastical architecture' The Times 'Vivid, colourful and
absorbing' Dan Jones 'An epic ode to some of our most beautiful and
beloved buildings' Helen Carr The emergence of the Gothic in
twelfth-century France, an architectural style characterized by
pointed arches, rib vaults, flying buttresses, large windows and
elaborate tracery, triggered an explosion of cathedral-building
across western Europe. It is this remarkable flowering of
ecclesiastical architecture that forms the central core of Emma
Wells's authoritative but accessible study of the golden age of the
cathedral. Prefacing her account with the construction in the sixth
century of the Hagia Sophia, the remarkable Christian cathedral of
the eastern Roman empire, she goes on to chart the construction of
a glittering sequence of iconic structures, including Saint-Denis,
Notre-Dame, Canterbury, Chartres, Salisbury, York Minster and
Florence's Duomo. More than architectural biographies, these are
human stories of triumph and tragedy that take the reader from the
chaotic atmosphere of the mason's yard to the cloisters of power.
Together, they reveal how 1000 years of cathedral-building shaped
modern Europe, and influenced art, culture and society around the
world.
Reclaiming an Evangelical History of Activism In recent years,
there has been renewed interest by evangelicals in the topic of
biblical social justice. Younger evangelicals and millennials, in
particular, have shown increased concern for social issues. But
this is not a recent development. Following World War II, a new
movement of American evangelicals emerged who gradually increased
their efforts on behalf of justice. This work explains the
important historical context for evangelical reengagement with
social justice issues. The authors provide an overview of
post-World War II evangelical social justice and compassion
ministries, introducing key figures and seminal organizations that
propelled the rediscovery of biblical justice. They explore
historical and theological lessons learned and offer a way forward
for contemporary Christians.
The Great and Holy War offers the first look at how religion
created and prolonged the First World War. At the one-hundredth
anniversary of the outbreak of the war, historian Philip Jenkins
reveals the powerful religious dimensions of this modern-day
crusade, a period that marked a traumatic crisis for Western
civilization, with effects that echoed throughout the rest of the
twentieth century.
The war was fought by the world's leading Christian nations, who
presented the conflict as a holy war. Thanks to the emergence of
modern media, a steady stream of patriotic and militaristic
rhetoric was given to an unprecedented audience, using language
that spoke of holy war and crusade, of apocalypse and Armageddon.
But this rhetoric was not mere state propaganda. Jenkins reveals
how the widespread belief in angels and apparitions, visions and
the supernatural was a driving force throughout the war and shaped
all three of the major religions--Christianity, Judaism and
Islam--paving the way for modern views of religion and violence.
The disappointed hopes and moral compromises that followed the war
also shaped the political climate of the rest of the century,
giving rise to such phenomena as Nazism, totalitarianism, and
communism.
Connecting numerous remarkable incidents and characters--from
Karl Barth to Carl Jung, the Christmas Truce to the Armenian
Genocide--Jenkins creates a powerful and persuasive narrative that
brings together global politics, history, and spiritual crisis as
never before and shows how religion informed and motivated
circumstances on all sides of the war.
Families are living stories. They tell us where we came from, guide
us as we live our lives, and help us see who we could become.
Especially priceless are the lives and words of those who came
before us.
Christ-followers from earliest times to the present enrich us
with their insight and inspiring examples. In the face of
political, social and theological challenges, these saints lived
lives faithful to the gospel story.
The Book of Saints The Middle Era is a devotional gateway to
the thoughts and insights of church leaders, teachers, and
spiritual mentors who lived between the early fourth and early
fifteenth century. Living in a world of change, conflict, and
controversy, these saintly persons have much to say to us today.
Their words and life stories, along with prayers and Scripture
selections, are brought together in this book to inspire and
challenge us to a life of love and holiness, the great themes of
our family story.
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