This book presents cutting-edge research and theory in the emerging field of the indigenous psychology of religion. Its authors examine the influence of colonization and illustrate the use of novel research methodologies utilised in studies with communities in India, Korea, China, Indonesia, America, and Poland. Whereas Western psychology has traditionally viewed religion through an institutional lens and from a Euro-American perspective, this book aims to facilitate an understanding of indigenous spiritualities on their own terms and from the indigenous people's lived experience. In doing so, the contributors seek to support indigenous communities in the recovery of their voice, original vision, and ancient practices, and to follow their yearning as echoed in T. S. Eliot's words: "In my beginning is my end." The book is replete with examples of this recovery of indigeneity in, for example, Chinese notions of harmony and resilience; cultural differences in hearing the voice of the divine; the influence of animism on Christians in Korea; and in savoring the bereavement of loved ones. This novel collection presents fresh insights for students and scholars of the psychology of religion, indigenous studies, cultural psychology, and anthropology.

The phenomenological method in the study of religions has provided the linchpin supporting the argument that Religious Studies constitutes an academic discipline in its own right and thus that it is irreducible either to theology or to the social sciences. This book examines the figures whom the author regards as having been most influential in creating a phenomenology of religion. Background factors drawn from philosophy, theology and the social sciences are traced before examining the thinking of scholars within the Dutch, British and North American "schools" of religious phenomenology. Many of the severe criticisms, which have been leveled against the phenomenology of religion during the past twenty-five years by advocates of reductionism, are then presented and analyzed. The author concludes by reviewing alternatives to the polarized positions so characteristic of current debates in Religious Studies before making a case for what he deems a "reflexive phenomenology."

The aim of this study is to present, as far as possible, a general description of the theory of the sign and signification in Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD), with a view to its evaluation and implications for the study of semiotics. Accurate studies for subject, discipline, and significance have not yet given an organic and systematic vision of Augustine's theory of the sign. The underlying aspiration is that such an endeavour will prove to be beneficial to the scholars of Augustine's thought as well as to those with a keen interest in the history of semiotics. The study uses Augustine's own accounts to investigate and interpret the philosophical problem of the sign. The focus lies on the first decade of Augustine's literary production. The De dialectica, is taken as the terminus ad quo of the study, and the De doctrina christiana is the terminus ad quem. The selected texts show an explicit engagement with poignant discussion on the nature and structure of the sign, the variety of signs and their uses. Although Augustine's intention never was to establish a theory of meaning as an independent field of study, he largely employed a theory of signs. Thus, Augustine's approach to signs is intrinsically meaningful.

The first English translation of his work, The Withholding Power, offers a fascinating introduction to the thought of Italian philosopher Massimo Cacciari. Cacciari is a notoriously complex thinker but this title offers a starting point for entering into the very heart of his thinking. The Withholding Power provides a comprehensive and synthetic insight into his interpretation of Christian political theology and leftist Italian political theory more generally. The theme of katechon - originally a biblical concept which has been developed into a political concept - has been absolutely central to the work of Italian philosophers such as Agamben and Eposito for nearly twenty years. In The Withholding Power, Cacciari sets forth his startlingly original perspective on the influence the theological-political questions have traditionally exerted upon ideas of power, sovereignty and the relationship between political and religious authority. With an introduction by Howard Caygill contextualizing the work within the history of Italian thought, this title will offer those coming to Cacciari for the first time a searing insight into his political, theological and philosophical milieu.

The Reading Augustine series presents concise, personal readings of St. Augustine of Hippo from leading philosophers and religious scholars. John Rist takes the reader through Augustine's ethics, the arguments he made and how he arrived at them, and shows how this moral philosophy remains vital for us today. Rist identifies Augustine's challenge to all ideas of moral autonomy, concentrating especially on his understanding of humility as an honest appraisal of our moral state. He looks at thinkers who accept parts of Augustine's evaluation of the human condition but lapse into bleakness and pessimism since for them God has disappeared. In the concluding parts of the book, Rist suggests how a developed version of Augustine's original vision can be applied to the complexities of modern life while also laying out, on the other hand, what our moral universe would look like without Augustine's contribution to it.

The Palgrave Handbook of Radical Theology is the definitive guide to radical theology and the commencement for new directions in that field. For the first time, radical theology is addressed and assessed in a single, comprehensive volume, including introductory and historical essays for the beginner, essays on major figures and their thought, and shorter articles on various themes, concepts, and related topics. This book is a seminal work for the radical theology movement. It clarifies origins and demonstrates the exigency and utility of current figures and issues. A useful and essential guide for newcomers and veterans in the field, this volume serves as both a reference work and an introduction to omitted or forgotten topics within contemporary discussions.