A 216-page hardcover book that makes the case for women in the Catholic priesthood - even though the hierarchy of the Church has traditionally opposed the idea, based largely on their belief that Christ wanted a male-only priesthood for all time. The author, a renowned theologian, disputes that ultra-conservative viewpoint and explains why it is in the Church's best interest to ordain women.

Glossolalia (paranormal speaking in tongues) and zenolalia (paranormal speaking in allegedly foreign languages) are features of many sub-cultures and religions. The most obvious example is Pentecostalism, where every believer in many denominations is expected to speak in tongues at least once - the gift in other cultures being limited to individuals, shamans and mediums. This book, first published in 1978, surveys the practice of 'speaking in tongues' in anthropology, Christianity and spiritualism, and provides an analysis of the psychological, theological and linguistic considerations of the phenomenon.

Motherhood, Spirituality and Culture explores spiritual skills that may assist women in changes, challenges and transformations undergone through the transition to motherhood. This study comprises rich, qualitative data gathered from interviews with 11 mothers. Results are analysed by constructing seven unique maternal narratives that elucidate and give voice to the mothers in their transition by in depth exploration of six themes emerging from the analysis. Overall discussion ranges across such realities as: * desires, expectations and illusions for mothering; * birth and spiritual embodied experiences of mothering; * instinctual knowing; identity and crisis, and connections of motherhood; * changes and transformations undergone through motherhood. This study presents a unique framework for qualitative studies of spirituality within motherhood research; by weaving together transpersonal psychology, humanistic psychology, spiritual intelligence and the spiritual maternal literature.This book will appeal to all women who have transitioned to motherhood. It willalso be of assistance to professionals who wish to approach any aspect of maternity care and support from a transpersonal perspective. It will also provideunique insights for academics and postgraduate students in the fields of anthropology, psychology, psychotherapy and feminism studies.

Whether you are a businessperson, a homemaker, a student, or a head of state, author Myles Munroe explains how you can make your dreams and hopes a living reality. Your success is not dependent on the state of the economy or what the job market is like. You do not need to be hindered by the limited perceptions of others or by a lack of resources. Discover time-tested principles that will enable you to fulfill your vision no matter who you are or where you come from. You were not meant for a mundane or mediocre life. You do not exist just to earn a paycheck. Revive your passion for living. Pursue your dream. Discover your vision--and find your true life.

Death lies at the beginning of the Arab uprisings, and death continues to haunt them. Most narratives about the 'Arab Spring' begin with Mohammed Bouazizi, a Tunisian fruit vendor who set himself on fire. Egyptian protesters in turn referred to Khaled Said, a young man from Alexandria whom the police had beaten to death. This book places death at the centre of its engagement with the Arab uprisings, counterrevolutions, and their aftermaths. It examines martyrdom and commemoration as performative acts through which death and life are infused with meaning. Conversely, it shows how, in the making, remembering, and erasing of martyrs, hierarchies are (re)produced and possible futures are foreclosed. The contributors argue that critical anthropological engagement with death, martyrdom, and afterlife is indispensable if we want to understand the making of pasts and futures in a revolutionary present. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology.

This book analyses the development of Sufism in Ottoman Egypt, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Examining the cultural, socio-economic and political backdrop against which Sufism gained prominence, it looks at its influence in both the institutions for religious learning and popular piety. The study seeks to broaden the observed space of Sufism in Ottoman Egypt by placing it within its imperial and international context, highlighting on one hand the specificities of Egyptian Sufism, and on the other the links that it maintained with other spiritual traditions that influenced it. Studying Sufism as a global phenomenon, taking into account its religious, cultural, social and political dimensions, this book also focuses on the education of the increasing number of aspirants on the Sufi path, as well as on the social and political role of the Sufi masters in a period of constant and often violent political upheaval. It ultimately argues that, starting in medieval times, Egypt was simultaneously attracting foreign scholars inward and transmitting ideas outward, but these exchanges intensified during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as a result of the new imperial context in which the country and its people found themselves. Hence, this book demonstrates that the concept of 'neosufism' should be dispensed with and that the Ottoman period in no way constituted a time of decline for religious culture, or the beginning of a normative and fundamentalist Islam. Sufism in Ottoman Egypt provides a valuable contribution to the new historiographical approach to the period, challenging the prevailing teleology. As such, it will prove useful to students and scholars of Islam, Sufism and religious history, as well as Middle Eastern history more generally.

Hindu Mysticism provides an engaging introduction to the various mystical traditions that evolved over the centuries in India, including the sacrificial (Vedic), Upanishadic, Yogic, Buddhist, Classical Bhakti (Devotional) and Popular Bhakti. Given its sweeping scope, the text also serves as a useful overview to Indian thought for newcomers to this ancient philosophical and spiritual tradition.

This book falls naturally into two parts: each of which is really complete in itself, though they are in a sense complementary to one another. Whilst the second and longest part contains a somewhat detailed study of the nature and development of man's spiritual or mystical consciousness m the first is intended rather to provide an introduction to the general subject of mysticism. Exhibiting it by turns from the point of view of metaphysics, psychology, and symbolism, it is an attempt to gather between the covers of one volume information at present scattered amongst many monographs and texts books written in divers tongues, and to give the student in a compact form at least the elementary facts in regard to each of those subjects which are most closely connected with the study of the mystics.

Oraciones poderosamente honestas para cada desafio en su vida. Sabemos que Dios esta ahi para nosotros. El nos llama y nos anima a confiar nuestros problemas y preguntas a Su cuidado. Pero muchos de nosotros luchamos por plasmar nuestro dolor, deseos y esperanzas en palabras. En este libro de poderosas oraciones, el doctor Charles Stanley, pastor respetado internacionalmente y autor de exitos de ventas, lo ayuda a iniciar conversaciones con Dios de una manera transparente, honesta y humilde que profundizara su relacion con Cristo y sanara su corazon. Cuando las emociones nos abruman Cuando la vida es dolorosamente dificil Cuando otros necesitan nuestra intercesion en oracion Cuando Dios nos encomienda con llamamientos especificos . . . y mas Llena de conocimiento sobre como escuchar y caminar con Dios, cada oracion esta disenada para adaptarse a su situacion unica. Pero mas que eso, estas oraciones fueron escritas para llevarlo mas a la presencia de Dios, permitirle sentir las impresiones del Espiritu Santo y ayudarlo a obedecer mientras el Senor lo guia en el camino que debe seguir. Como escribe el Dr. Stanley: "El proposito de este libro es que escuche a Jesus, que lo conozca mejor y lo ame mas en el area precisa donde esta resistiendo la tormenta". When You Don't Know What to Pray Powerfully honest prayers for every challenge in your life. We know God is there for us. He calls to us and encourages us to entrust our troubles and questions to His care. But so many of us struggle with translating our pain, desires, and hopes into words. In this book of powerful prayers, internationally respected pastor and bestselling author Dr. Charles Stanley helps you start conversations with God in a transparent, honest, and humble way that will deepen your relationship with Christ and heal your heart. When emotions overwhelm us When life is painfully difficult When others need our prayerful intercession When God tasks us with specific callings . . . and more Full of insight on listening to and walking with God, each prayer is designed to be customized to your unique situation. But more than that, these prayers were written to draw you further into the presence of God, allow you to sense the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and help you obey as the Lord guides you in the way you should go.

Practical Mysticism in Islam and Christianity offers a comparative study of the works of the Sufi-poet Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207-1273) and the practical teachings of the German Dominican, Meister Eckhart (c1260-1327/8). Rumi has remained an influential figure in Islamic mystical discourse since the thirteenth century, while also extending his impact to the Western spiritual arena. However, his ideas have frequently been interpreted within the framework of other mystical, philosophical, or religious systems. Through its novel approach, this book aims to reformulate Rumi's practical mysticism by employing four methodological principles: a) mysticism is a coherent structure with mutual interconnection between its parts; b) the imposition of alien structures to interpret any particular mysticism damages its inward coherency; c) practical mysticism consists of two main parts, namely practices and stages; and d) the proper use of comparative methodology enables a deeper understanding of each juxtaposed system. Eckhart's speculative mysticism, which differs from and enjoys similarities with the love-based mysticism of Rumi, provides a "mirror" that highlights the special features of Rumi's practical mysticism. Such comparison also allows a deeper comprehension of Eckhart's practical thought. Offering a critical examination of practical mysticism, this book is a valuable resource for students and scholars of Islamic studies, comparative mysticism, and the intellectual history of Islam.

From devastating natural disasters to deadly highway accidents, tragedies occur every day around the world and in our own lives. As we face death, grief, loss, we become angry and our faith is tested as we ask, "Is God really in control?"Navigator author Jerry Bridges helps answer that question positively in this topical Bible study, offering comfort and hope by exploring the greater purposes and character of God.- Includes discussion questions- Can be used by men, women, and teens

It felt as though every nerve in my body was popping. Imagine large strong hands slowly applying pressure while breaking a family-size package of uncooked, dry spaghetti. I was the spaghetti. Breaking down one piece at a time. This is how Juanita Rasmus begins the wise, frank, and witty account of what she later called "The Crash" and what her counselor labeled "a major depressive episode." This experience landed Juanita, a busy pastor, mother, and community leader, in bed. In addition to exhaustion and depression, on the spiritual front she experienced a dark night of the soul. When everything in her life finally came to a stop, she found that she had to learn to be-with herself and with God-all over again. Pastor Juanita writes from her life with kind attention to the life of the reader. She offers both practical and spiritual insights but never pat answers. If you are longing for a trustworthy companion through dark days, this book is here for you. Each chapter includes life-giving spiritual practices to help you discover your own new ways of being.

In Integrative Spirituality, Patrick J. Mahaffey elucidates spirituality as a developmental process that is enhanced by integrating the teachings and practices of multiple religious traditions, Jungian depth psychology, and contemplative yoga. In the postmodern world of religious pluralism, Mahaffey compellingly argues that each of us must fashion a unique path to wholeness which integrates aspects of life and of the self that have become disconnected and disowned. Integrative Spirituality uniquely conjoins four components: exemplary religious pluralists from three traditions, individuation, the forms of contemplative Hindu yoga that have been successfully transmitted to the West, and a presentation of two models for integrating psychological growth and spiritual awakening. The book presents pioneering practitioners in each field who exemplify how we may fashion our own approach to integrating both spiritual awakening and psychological development and delineates an array of spiritual practices that integrate the somatic, psychological, interpersonal, and spiritual aspects of life. Ultimately, Mahaffey contends that integrative spirituality is a mode of being that fully embraces the divinity inherent in each of us and in the world. Integrative Spirituality will be essential reading for academics and students of Jungian and post-Jungian studies, transpersonal and Jungian psychology, and religious studies and contemplative education. It will also be of interest to analytical and depth psychologists in practice and in training, and to anyone seeking a greater understanding of spirituality, psychological growth, religious traditions, individuation, and contemplative yoga.

At the time when existentialism was a dominant intellectual and cultural force, a number of commentators observed that some of the language of existential philosophy, not least its interpretation of human existence in terms of nothingness, evoked the language of so-called mystical writers. This book takes on this observation and explores the evidence for the influence of mysticism on the philosophy of existentialism. It begins by delving into definitions of mysticism and existentialism, and then traces the elements of mysticism present in German and French thought during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The book goes on to make original contributions to the study of figures including Kierkegaard, Buber, Heidegger, Beauvoir, Sartre, Marcel, Camus, Weil, Bataille, Berdyaev, and Tillich, linking their existentialist philosophy back to some of the key concerns of the mystical tradition. Providing a unique insight into how these two areas have overlapped and interacted, this study is vital reading for any academic with an interest in twentieth-century philosophy, theology and religious studies.

Through 40 daily meditations, Paul David Tripp reminds readers that hope is not a feeling, object, or place, but a person-Jesus Christ.

The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781472453983, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivative 4.0 license. Experiences of hearing the voice of God (or angels, demons, or other spiritual beings) have generally been understood either as religious experiences or else as a feature of mental illness. Some critics of traditional religious faith have dismissed the visions and voices attributed to biblical characters and saints as evidence of mental disorder. However, it is now known that many ordinary people, with no other evidence of mental disorder, also hear voices and that these voices not infrequently include spiritual or religious content. Psychological and interdisciplinary research has shed a revealing light on these experiences in recent years, so that we now know much more about the phenomenon of "hearing voices" than ever before. The present work considers biblical, historical, and scientific accounts of spiritual and mystical experiences of voice hearing in the Christian tradition in order to explore how some voices may be understood theologically as revelatory. It is proposed that in the incarnation, Christian faith finds both an understanding of what it is to be fully human (a theological anthropology), and God's perfect self-disclosure (revelation). Within such an understanding, revelatory voices represent a key point of interpersonal encounter between human beings and God.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "A smart, wise, often side-splittingly funny master class in seeking God. Any spiritual seeker--from atheist to professional religious--will cherish this bravura tome from one of our great spiritual guides, in the lineage of C. S. Lewis, Henri Nouwen, Thomas Merton, Gandhi, and Mother Teresa. Hallelujah & amen!"--Mary Karr, author of Lit and The Liar's Club One of America's most beloved spiritual leaders and the New York Times bestselling author of The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything and Jesus: A Pilgrimage teaches anyone to converse with God in this comprehensive guide to prayer. In The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, Father James Martin included a chapter on communicating with God. Now, he expands those thoughts in this profound and practical handbook. Learning to Pray explains what prayer is, what to expect from praying, how to do it, and how it can transform us when we make it a regular practice in our lives. A trusted guide walking beside us as we navigate our unique spiritual paths, Martin lays out the different styles and traditions of prayer throughout Christian history and invites us to experiment and discover which works best to feed our soul and build intimacy with our Creator. Father Martin makes clear there is not one secret formula for praying. But like any relationship, each person can discover the best style for building an intimate relationship with God, regardless of religion or denomination. Prayer, he teaches us, is open and accessible to anyone willing to open their heart.

This book compiles some of the finest writings of Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) - the nationalist, visionary, poet-philosopher. It reflects the range, depth and outreach of the moral, intellectual and spiritual vision of this versatile and multifaceted genius. It aims at providing, at one place, access to the key concepts, tenets, and the spirit of the extraordinary range of texts authored by him. Although concretely grounded in contemporary times - with its location in a specific socio-cultural matrix - this work projects a body of writings that is certain to have lasting value. In particular, the compilation brings forth Sri Aurobindo's social vision and his role as a cultural critic: his views on ethnicity, his exposition of the key role language plays in the formation of communitarian identities, his crucial understanding of self-determination which has incidentally become an important aspect of human rights discourse today. Situating the writings in a specific intellectual, spiritual and historical context, this collection will enable readers to appreciate the overall vision of Sri Aurobindo, in what can be conceived as a caravan of history of ideas in terms of a common heritage of humankind, and recent developments in theory and disciplinary practice, especially those pertaining to consciousness and future studies.

This devotional is an outpouring of affirmation, praise, gratitude, love, and celebration by and for African-American women of all backgrounds and experiences.

Helps readers identify their personal vocation, or special way of being, so that they may reach out more effectively to others. Elaborates on the connection between personal vocation and the Spiritual Exercises.

Through 40 daily meditations, Paul David Tripp reminds readers that God's love is always available to them, even through the darkest and loneliest circumstances.

The experiences of an ordinary man on the pilgrim's path are charted in this narrative that walks along the Camino Frances to the shrine of Saint James at Santiago de Compostela and then on to Finisterre, the westernmost point of Spain. The history of the Camino is recounted, as well as several of the myths, legends, and miracle stories that have become attached-and given special meaning-to this itinerary. Emphasizing that personal myths are an essential part of this lore, this chronicle also includes stories from the confraternity of the pilgrims, people from all corners of the world who visit this walk for a great diversity of reasons, but all of whom leave having experienced the same miracle-that this pilgrimage will play a defining role in their lives.

"Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ."--Deitrich Bonhoeffer" Get ready to explore a faith that does not separate salvation from discipleship, but embraces the seamless journey from conversion to transformation. In "Choose the Life," discipleship expert Bill Hull breaks new ground, challenging what we've made of the gospel. He believes that the Great Commission has more to do with spiritual depth than strategies and structures. Jesus is calling us to choose the life of thinking as he thought, living as he lived, loving as he loved, ministering as he ministered, and leading as he led. Anything less is Christ-less Christianity. "This book is worth the price simply for Bill's elegant, comprehensive, penetrating five-fold definition of what a disciple is."--Brian McLaren, author of "A New Kind of Christian" "Bill Hull reminds us that being a Christian and being Christlike are synonymous. "Choose the Life" pinpoints the missing pieces of contemporary discipleship and delivers a compelling call to become a community of obedient, transparent disciples."--Judith Hougen, assistant professor of English, Northwestern College "Bill takes seriously the challenge to believe, live, love, serve, and lead like Jesus."--Alan Andrews, U. S. director, The Navigators "Through the experiences of his own journey Bill Hull challenges and, I believe, effectively guides us to see our lives formed through obediently following Jesus as opposed to a myriad of hollow options."--Bill Thrall, founding partner, Leadership Catalyst, Inc.