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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Alternative belief systems > Humanist & secular alternatives to religion
This book reflects the wide-spread belief that the twenty-first century is evolving in a significantly different way to the twentieth, which witnessed the advance of human rationality and technological progress, including urbanisation, and called into question the public and cultural significance of religion. In this century, by contrast, religion, faith communities and spiritual values have returned to the centre of public life, especially public policy, governance, and social identity. Rapidly diversifying urban locations are the best places to witness the emergence of new spaces in which religions and spiritual traditions are creating both new alliances but also bifurcations with secular sectors. "Postsecular Cities" examines how the built environment reflects these trends. Recognizing that the 'turn to the postsecular' is a contested and multifaceted trend, the authors offer a vigorous, open but structured dialogue between theory and practice, but even more excitingly, between the disciplines of human geography and theology. Both disciplines reflect on this powerful but enigmatic force shaping our urban humanity. This unique volume offers the first insight into these interdisciplinary and challenging debates. The relationship between religion and politics is both fascinating and challenging, and recent years have seen substantial changes in the way this relationship is studied.
Enlightenment is not something that can just be handed to you. The closest thing to it that you can receive are thoughts and questions that can lead you inward in the search for meaning. What Does That Mean? is full of thoughts and questions that do just that. Some insights you may have thought of and then forgotten, and others you may have experienced but simply haven't appreciated. An old saying asserts that the value of a book is not in what it says but rather in what it does. What Does That Mean? is one of those books that will have a lifetime impact on all who read it. The book squarely faces the many inconsistencies held in our systems of belief, from the sciences to psychic phenomena. Eldon Taylor is willing to speak out without reservation, and without avoiding any so-called sanctities. The result is absolutely thought-provoking at every level, as this work addresses the meaning of life and the ultimate "humanness" of the human being. If you have ever questioned the nature of life, the power of the mind, unexplained events, and other mysteries, you will find this book totally riveting. Throughout these pages, Eldon shares life experiences that will lead you to revelations about your own life. Perhaps this book's greatest value is that it assists you in remembering who you really are and thereby places you firmly back on the path to personal enlightenment. English writer and poet Joseph Addison, said, "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." If that is the case, then this book is the perfect workout to enrich your thinking. You may not always like what you read, but you will always find the depth of thought wholly provocative.
From the very beginning James Joyce's readers have considered him as a Catholic or an anti-Catholic writer, and in recent years the tendency has been to recuperate him for an alternative and decidedly liberal form of Catholicism. However, a careful study of Joyce's published and unpublished writings reveals that throughout his career as a writer he rejected the church in which he had grown up. As a result, Geert Lernout argues that it is misleading to divorce his work from that particular context, which was so important to his decision to become a writer in the first place. Arguing that Joyce's unbelief is critical for a fuller understanding of his work, Lernout takes his title from Ulysses, "I believe, O Lord, help my unbelief. That is, help me to believe or help me to unbelieve?," itself a quote from Mark 9: 24. This incisive study will be of interest to all readers of Joyce and to anyone interested in the relationship between religion and literature. >
The authentic spiritual quest is marked not by certainties but by
questions and doubt. "How To Be An Agnostic" explores the wonder of
science, the ups and downs of being 'spiritual but not religious, '
the insights of ancient philosophy, and God, the biggest question.
""A robust defense of the God of the Bible...This is a book for
serious thinkers who wish to make God real in a world that has
forgotten its Creator and Maker." ""-- Joni Eareckson Tada"
The arbitrary persecution of Christians, perpetrated by atheists, has gone on long enough. It is totally, completely and utterly unfair that Christians receive this constant barrage from atheists who base their attacks on what they think Christians believe. With this in mind, this book analyses the sermons and articles of some of the most prominent Christians in America (and those other inconsequential 'non-American' countries). Using facts, evidence and logic - and a dash of toilet humor - this book directly eviscerates the statements and claims made by these 'Christian Leaders' - these fishers of men and shepherds of 'sheeple'. The only reason you would still call yourself Christian after reading this book is if your name is Christian, which is regrettable, but understandable (though you should really consider changing your name). Blind faith is not a virtue, it's a delusion.
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!
Mathieu Courville begins by examining Said's own reflections on
his life, before moving on to key debates about Said's work within
Religious Studies and Middle Eastern Studies, and his relationship
to French critical theorists.
How Does an Atheist Respond to the Question, What Is the Purpose of Life? For a Christian, it is faith that gives their life purpose. In his best-selling book The Purpose Driven(TM) Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?, Rick Warren says, "You must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose." But as a non-believer, your purpose resides in yourself; it is yours alone to discover and develop. It's about choosing to live your own life for your own reasons. No one can dictate your purpose. You decide. This book will help you understand and appreciate why freely choosing to help and cooperate with others is the true path to finding purpose. Life does not need purpose: Purpose needs life. To punctuate this point, The Good Atheist includes inspiring biographies of humanity's true heroes--men and women who did not waste their lives as slaves to a God, but rather found purpose in enhancing life on this Earth for all of us.
Scholars from various disciplines worked together to present the first interdisciplinary book to address the issue of Islam, secularism and globalization. The book has a clear structure which represents its interdisciplinary approach: the first section addresses the philosophical and historical discussion about Islam and secularism; the second section discusses the topic from an ethnographical and social anthropological viewpoint; and the final section addresses Islam, secularism and globalization from a political viewpoint. This unique collection not only offers innovative research and new material, it also provides empirical examples and theoretical debates, and could therefore also be used as a textbook for courses on Islam, globalization, anthropology, politics, sociology and law.
This is an authoritative guide to contemporary debates and issues in the sociology of religion providing a clear examination of classical secularization and the post-secularization paradigm. "Secularization and Its Discontents" provides an illuminating overview of major current debates in the sociology of religion, exploring changing patterns of religious practice in the West during the past 150 years. Examining classical secularization theory as well as modified versions that allow for difference between national and social contexts, Rob Warner also explores the proposed post-secularization paradigm, as well as its close offshoot, rational choice theory. Possibilities for a spiritual revolution and the feminisation of religion are scrutinised, and also theories of the durability of conservative religion. The author goes on to develop a new interpretation of resilient religion from an analysis of 21st century trends in religious participation. These are categorised as entrepreneurial and experiential-therapeutic, before the volume finally focuses upon individual identity construction through autonomous religious consumption. This book provides a clear and penetrating overview of theoretical frameworks and develops a new theoretical synthesis derived from fresh examination of empirical data, and will be of interest to academics and students in religious studies, practical theology and the sociology of religion.
This is an authoritative guide to contemporary debates and issues in the sociology of religion providing a clear examination of classical secularization and the post-secularization paradigm. "Secularization and Its Discontents" provides an illuminating overview of major current debates in the sociology of religion, exploring changing patterns of religious practice in the West during the past 150 years. Examining classical secularization theory as well as modified versions that allow for difference between national and social contexts, Rob Warner also explores the proposed post-secularization paradigm, as well as its close offshoot, rational choice theory. Possibilities for a spiritual revolution and the feminisation of religion are scrutinised, and also theories of the durability of conservative religion. The author goes on to develop a new interpretation of resilient religion from an analysis of 21st century trends in religious participation. These are categorised as entrepreneurial and experiential-therapeutic, before the volume finally focuses upon individual identity construction through autonomous religious consumption. This book provides a clear and penetrating overview of theoretical frameworks and develops a new theoretical synthesis derived from fresh examination of empirical data, and will be of interest to academics and students in religious studies, practical theology and the sociology of religion.
The New Atheist Novel is the first study of a major new genre of contemporary fiction. It examines how Richard Dawkins's so-called 'New Atheism' movement has caught the imagination of four eminent modern novelists: Ian McEwan, Martin Amis, Salman Rushdie and Philip Pullman. For McEwan and his contemporaries, the contemporary novel represents a new front in the ideological war against religion, religious fundamentalism and, after 9/11, religious terror: the novel apparently stands for everything freedom, individuality, rationality and even a secular experience of the transcendental that religion seeks to overthrow. In this book, Bradley and Tate offer a genealogy of the New Atheist Novel: where it comes from, what needs it serves and, most importantly, where it may go in the future. What is it? How does it dramatise the war between belief and non-belief? To what extent does it represent a genuine ideological alternative to the religious imaginary or does it merely repeat it in secularised form? This fascinating study offers an incisive critique of this contemporary testament of literary belief and unbelief.
Leading Joyce scholar, Geert Lernout, argues that Joyce's work can only be fully understood in the context of his unbelief. From the very beginning James Joyce's readers have considered him as a Catholic or an anti-Catholic writer, and in recent years the tendency has been to recuperate him for an alternative and decidedly liberal form of Catholicism. However, a careful study of Joyce's published and unpublished writings reveals that throughout his career as a writer he rejected the church in which he had grown up. As a result, Geert Lernout argues that it is misleading to divorce his work from that particular context, which was so important to his decision to become a writer in the first place. Arguing that Joyce's unbelief is critical for a fuller understanding of his work, Lernout takes his title from "Ulysses", 'I believe, O Lord, help my unbelief. That is, help me to believe or help me to unbelieve?', itself a quote from Mark 9:24. This incisive study will be of interest to all readers of Joyce and to anyone interested in the relationship between religion and literature.
This work fills the gap for a much needed analytical philosophical work articulating and defending agnosticism as a critique of both theism and atheism. "The Errors of Atheism" is a response to the glaring gap that exists in the analytical philosophical literature on the problem of whether or not God exists. While on the one hand there is the large body of work by orthodox Christian theists such as Alvin Plantinga and Richard Swinburne, and relatively few atheists like Kai Nielsen who challenge certain orthodox Christian theistic arguments and analysis, there is on the other hand a lack of analytical philosophical work articulating and defending agnosticism as a critique of both theism and atheism. Corlett argues that the conceptual depths of theism must be explored beyond orthodoxy in order to re-open the debate about whether or not God exists. "The Errors of Atheism" is a piece of analytical philosophy of religion that seeks to disrupt the prevalent way of thinking about the problem of God amongst atheists and theists alike. Philosophy of religion has been dominated by well-intentioned analytical philosophers, most all of whom presuppose various traditional Christian doctrines and thus do not take non-orthodox theism seriously, and by a few atheists who also presume that orthodox Christian theism is the only theism worth addressing. Professor Corlett, however, argues that the truth lies somewhere between these two positions.
French philosopher Henri Bergson produced four major works in his lifetime, the second of which, "Matter and Memory," is a philosophical and complex nineteenth century exploration of human nature and the spirituality of memory. In this work, Bergson investigates the function of the brain, and opposes the idea of memory being of a material nature, lodged within a particular part of the nervous system. He makes a claim early in this essay that Matter and Memory "is frankly dualistic," leading to a careful consideration of the problems in the relation of body and mind. His theories on sense, dualism, pure perception, concept of virtuality and famous image of the memory cone often make Bergson's essay a confusing and challenging existentialist work. However, the years of research and extensive pathological investigations spent in preparation for this and other essays have gained Bergson great distinction as a brilliant, though unjustly neglected, theorist and philosopher.
In this book, former Yeshiva student turned secularist Bruce Ledewitz proposes a Reformation in secular thinking. He shows that in opposition to today's aggressive Atheism, religious sources are necessary if secularism is to promote fulfilling human relationships and peaceful international relations. Amid signs that secularism is growing in unhealthy ways, Ledewitz proposes a new secular way to live, in which elements of religion, humanism, and materialism are combined to create something at once quite old and startlingly new. http: //www.hallowedsecularism.org/
Put two contrarians together and shake well. -Christianity Today The gloves come off in this electric exchange, originally hosted by Christianity Today, as leading atheist Christopher Hitchens (author of God Is Not Great) and Christian apologist Douglas Wilson (author of Letter from a Christian Citizen) go head-to-head on this divisive question. The result is entertaining and provocative-a glimpse into the ongoing debate.
This is the second volume to appear in an edition that will be the
first complete, critical, and annotated English translation of all
of Nietzsche' s work. Volume 2: Unfashionable Observations,
translated by Richard T. Gray, was published in 1995. The edition
is a new English translation, by various hands, of the celebrated
Colli-Montinari edition, which has been acclaimed as one of the
most important works of scholarship in the humanities in the last
quarter century. The original Italian edition was simultaneously
published in French, German, and Japanese.
The Meaning of the Creative Act is a seminal work for Nikolai Berdyaev. It adumbrates a number of crucially important themes that he develops in his later works, notably creative freedom as an essential element of human life and human creativeness as complementary to God's creativeness. Berdyaev's aim is to sketch out an "anthropodicy," a justification of man (as opposed to a theodicy, a justification of God); man is to be justified on the basis of his creative acts, inasmuch as he is a creature who is also a co-creator in God's work of creation. This is how Berdyaev puts it: "God awaits from us a creative act."
"Honest story of personal devastation, healing and spiritual
search. Wonderful blending: personal narrative, life lessons,
poetry and philosophy, river and ocean as one; river of life
flowing into the ocean. -"Brother Satyananda Self-Realization
Fellowship
From the "New York Times" bestselling author of "American Fascists"
and the NBCC finalist for "War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning"
comes this timely and compelling work about new atheists: those who
attack religion to advance the worst of global capitalism,
intolerance and imperial projects.
This is the second volume to appear in an edition that will be the
first complete, critical, and annotated English translation of all
of Nietzsche' s work. Volume 2: Unfashionable Observations,
translated by Richard T. Gray, was published in 1995. The edition
is a new English translation, by various hands, of the celebrated
Colli-Montinari edition, which has been acclaimed as one of the
most important works of scholarship in the humanities in the last
quarter century. The original Italian edition was simultaneously
published in French, German, and Japanese. |
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