A practical and inspiring approach to tackling our environmental crisis, from a master spiritual teacher. We can heal our earth by choosing a simpler, more fulfilling lifestyle, as trustees of a compassionate universe. Eknath Easwaran presents a penetrating analysis of the spiritual roots of our current predicament and offers a realistic and hopeful way forward. Each of us has a role to play in making wise choices, and each of us can genuinely make a difference. Drawing inspiration and insight from Mahatma Gandhi, Saint Francis, and his own experience of living in the East and the West, Easwaran shows the connections between individual thoughts and actions that move beyond consumerism to the unity of life. Mahatma Gandhi formulated a series of diagnoses of our seemingly perpetual state of crisis, which he called "the seven social sins": knowledge without character, science without humanity, wealth without work, commerce without morality, politics without principles, pleasure without conscience, and worship without self-sacrifice. Easwaran explores each of these diagnoses in turn and presents an alternative hypothesis of who we are and how we fit into the universe. This is ecology as a great adventure, filled with the challenges and rewards of inner growth. Easwaran tells us that "once we open our eyes to cooperation, artistry, thrift, and compassion, we begin to see thousands of little things we can do to help restore the environment - and restore dignity and deeper fulfillment to our own lives." Eknath Easwaran is renowned as a teacher of meditation and for his translations of the Indian scriptures. His writings express timeless spiritual insights and are illustrated by stories from East and West. His books reflect two cultures: India, where he grew up in a self-supporting agrarian village, and the United States, where he taught and lectured for over thirty years. His early experiences of living in harmony with nature, his firsthand acquaintance with Gandhi's India, and his long familiarity with an American audience have resulted in this book: a deeply thoughtful examination of our present situation, and a blueprint for living as trustees of a compassionate universe, in a world that we would want our children and grandchildren to inherit.

This new, updated edition of 150 litanies - responsorial prayers of the people for use in the liturgy and other gatherings - draws from a wealth of Anglican and ecumenical material from all parts of the world, and is suitable for most mainline churches. Contents include: Prayer and Worship Prayer and Time Prayer and the World Prayer and the Church Prayer and the Local Community "

British Chief Rabbis tells how they achieved what, in retrospect, seems almost the impossible. The survival of the Jewish Community in Britain in the last 350 years as an Orthodox body has been an extraordinary story of success against all odds. Most of the credit goes to 22 men who acted as the spiritual leaders of this community.

What is a rule, if it appears to become confused with life? And what is a human life, if, in every one of its gestures, of its words, and of its silences, it cannot be distinguished from the rule?
It is to these questions that Agamben's new book turns by means of an impassioned reading of the fascinating and massive phenomenon of Western monasticism from Pachomius to St. Francis. The book reconstructs in detail the life of the monks with their obsessive attention to temporal articulation and to the Rule, to ascetic techniques and to liturgy. But Agamben's thesis is that the true novelty of monasticism lies not in the confusion between life and norm, but in the discovery of a new dimension, in which "life" as such, perhaps for the first time, is affirmed in its autonomy, and in which the claim of the "highest poverty" and "use" challenges the law in ways that we must still grapple with today.
How can we think a form-of-life, that is, a human life released from the grip of law, and a use of bodies and of the world that never becomes an appropriation? How can we think life as something not subject to ownership but only for common use?

Globally, where faith and political processes share the public space with indigenous populations, religious leaders of tolerant voice, who desire to transcend the conflict that often divides their peoples, are coming forward. Affirming and enabling these leaders is increasingly becoming the focus of the reconciliation efforts of peace builders, both internally and externally to existing conflict. By way of theoretical analysis and documented case studies from a number of countries, Military Chaplains as Agents of Peace considers Religious Leader Engagement (RLE) as an emerging domain that advances the cause of reconciliation via the religious peace building of chaplains: A construct that may be generalized to expeditionary, humanitarian, and domestic operational contexts. An overview of the benefits and limitations of RLE is offered and accompanied by a candid discussion of a number of the more perplexing questions related to such operational ministry: Influence Activities, Information Gathering for Intelligence Purposes, and the Protected (Non-Combatant) Status of Chaplains.

Using an innovative methodological approach combining field experiments, case studies, and statistical analyzes, this book explores how the religious beliefs and institutions of Catholics and Muslims prompt them to be generous with their time and resources. Drawing upon research involving more than 1,000 Catholics and Muslims in France, Ireland, Italy, and Turkey, the authors examine Catholicism and Islam in majority and minority contexts, discerning the specific factors that lead adherents to help others and contribute to social welfare projects. Based on theories from political science, economics, religious studies and social psychology, this approach uncovers the causal connections between religious community dynamics, religious beliefs and institutions, and socio-political contexts in promoting or hindering the generosity of Muslims and Catholics. The study also provides insight into what different religious beliefs mean to Muslims and Catholics, and how they understand those concepts.

This book traces the journey of Mahatma Gandhi, from being a simple and truth-seeking human being, a satyarthi, to a committed, conscious and social human being, a satyagrahi. It specifically looks at this critical transformation during the time Gandhi was in South Africa. The central argument of the book is that Gandhi evolved from being a satyarthi to a satyagrahi in South Africa. Subsequently in India, he consolidated his orientation with an emphasis on praxis, by developing his ideas as instruments for social and individual struggles. Marked by a series of events, this period was an intense quest of self-realization and understanding, and shows his journey from being Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to being Mahatma Gandhi. The book discusses various elements of Gandhian thought and praxis - morality, wisdom, non-violence, truth, social justice, dharma, trusteeship, education, sarvodaya, Hind Swaraj, swadeshi, and social service - and interprets the relevance of Gandhi's thought in the modern world by highlighting its unique significance for social transformation and change. Lucid and accessible, the book will be useful to scholars and researchers of Gandhi studies, Indian political thought, modern Indian history, and political studies.

Here is a new permanent easy-to-use Sunday Missal that gives all the Mass texts for a three-year cycle. A special feature of this Edition is the very large type for the Readings and large bold print for the peoples' responses.

The Purpose of this history of Cardinal Richelieu is to show the living personality of the man - to show it evolving, reacting to and acted on by other personalities - and to portray the conditions in France as he found them and transformed them. Within such a narrow compass it is not possible to give full particulars of the sources on which this biography is based. It is a remarkable fact that in French literature apart from works by the cardina;'s contemporaries, there is no biography of Richelieu, and the great work projected by Gabriel Hanotaux has been left uncompleted.

This book formulates a new theological approach to the study of religion in gaming. Video games have become one of the most important cultural artifacts of modern society, both as mediators of cultural, social, and religious values and in terms of commercial success. This has led to a significant increase in the critical analysis of this relatively new medium, but theology as an academic discipline is noticeably behind the other humanities on this subject. The book first covers the fundamentals of cultural theology and video games. It then moves on to set out a Christian systematic theology of gaming, focusing on creational theology, Christology, anthropology, evil, moral theology, and thanatology. Each chapter introduces case studies from video games connected to the specific theme. In contrast to many studies which focus on online multiplayer games, the examples considered are largely single player games with distinct narratives and 'end of game' moments. The book concludes by synthesizing these themes into a new theology of video games. This study addresses a significant aspect of contemporary society that has yet to be discussed in any depth by theologians. It is, therefore, a fantastic resource for any scholar engaging with the religious aspects of digital and popular culture.

The life of the Sixth Dalai Lama does not end with his supposed death at Kokonor in November 1706, on the way to Beijing, and an audience with the Manchu Emperor Kangxi. This book, the so-called Hidden Life, presents a very different Tsangyang Gyamtso, neither a louche poet nor a drinker, but a sober Buddhist practitioner, who chose to escape at Kokonor and to adopt the guise of a wandering monk, only appearing some years later, after many fantastical and mystical adventures, in what is today Inner Mongolia, where he oversaw monasteries and lived as a Buddhist teacher. The Hidden Life was written by a Mongolian monk in 1756, ten years following the death of the lama, his spiritual teacher, whom he identifies as Tsangyang Gyamtso, and in whose identity as the Sixth Dalai Lama he clearly has complete faith. However, as one might imagine, there is nowadays no agreement among the wider Tibetan, Mongolian and Tibetological scholarly community as to whether this man was a charlatan or deluded, or whether he was indeed the Sixth Dalai Lama. The text is divided into four parts. The first part gives an account of the background and birth of the Sixth Dalai Lama, while the opening section of the second part (which is in direct speech, dictated by the lama) continues on, through the political intrigue in Lhasa at the end of the seventeenth century, to the lama's escape at Kokonor. The remainder of the second part consists of a visionary narrative, in which the lama travels through Tibet and Nepal, and in which he encounters divine figures, yetis, zombies and a man with no head, all of which is presented as fact. The third and longest part is an account of the final thirty years of the lama's life, and his activity in Mongolia as an influential Buddhist teacher, including a lengthy and moving description of his death. The final part includes a list of his students and, most interestingly perhaps, a theological and philosophical justification for the coexistence of the Sixth and Seventh Dalai Lamas.

The Hindu thinker Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) was and remains an important figure both within India, and in the West, where he was notable for preaching Vedanta. Scholarship surrounding Vivekananda is dominated by hagiography and his (mis)appropriation by the political Hindu Right. This work demonstrates that Vivekananda was no simplistic pluralist, as portrayed in hagiographical texts, nor narrow exclusivist, as portrayed by some modern Hindu nationalists, but a thoughtful, complex inclusivist. The book shows that Vivekananda formulated a hierarchical and inclusivistic framework of Hinduism, based upon his interpretations of a four-fold system of Yoga. It goes on to argue that Vivekananda understood his formulation of Vedanta to be universal, and applied it freely to non-Hindu traditions, and in so doing, demonstrates that Vivekananda was consistently critical of 'low level' spirituality, not only in non-Hindu traditions, but also within Hinduism. Demonstrating that Vivekananda is best understood within the context of 'Advaitic primacy', rather than 'Hindu chauvinism', this book will be of interest to scholars of Hinduism and South Asian religion and of South Asian diaspora communities and religious studies more generally.

There is a revival of interest by economists in ethical issues and beliefs, and by moral philosophers and theologians in economics. This book is intended to make a contribution to this cross-fertilisation of ideas. Rodney Wilson has undertaken an extensive survey of Jewish, Christian and Muslim views on economics, and reviewed the rapidly expanding business ethics literature from a religious perspective. The juxtaposition of the work of theologians and moral philosophers with that of economists results in some interesting comparisons.

Ten essays about what churches are doing that is not "business as usual" in their music ministry. Includes theological and liturgical rationale, basic "how-to" information, and personal testimony to the communal advantages of each ministry, as well as descriptions of alternative/additional worship services that are flourishing across the country. Includes material about contemporary ensembles, jazz, handbells, guitars, synthesizers, electronic music and the emerging church, organs and choirs, youth, amateur, professional instrumentalists, cantors, Taize services, Compline, and the Hip Hop eMass.

Communication theory provides a compelling way to understand how people of faith can and should work together in today's tumultuous world. In A Communication Perspective on Interfaith Dialogue, fifteen authors present their experiences and analyses of interfaith dialogue, and contextualize interfaith work within the frame of rhetorical and communication studies. While the focus is on the Abrahamic faiths, these essays also include discussion of Hinduism and interracial faith efforts. Each chapter incorporates communication theories that bring clarity to the practices and problems of interfaith communication. Where other interfaith books provide theological, political, or sociological insights, this volume is committed to the perspectives contained in communication scholarship. Interfaith dialogue is best imagined as an organic process, and it does not require theological heavyweights gathered for academic banter. As such, this volume focuses on the processes and means by which interfaith meaning is produced.

This book is an international comparative study of the British, German and French military chaplains during the First World War. It describes their role, position and daily work within the army and how the often conflicting expectations of the church, the state, the military and the soldiers effected these. This study seeks to explain similarities and differences between the chaplaincies by looking at how the pre-war relations between church, state and society influenced the work of these army chaplains.

What makes Methodist worship "Methodist" or "Wesleyan?" How do Methodists evaluate emerging forms of worship in light of their own liturgical heritage? This book considers these questions by bringing to light the work and significance of three Methodist liturgists who have until now received precious little scholarly focus: Thomas O. Summers (1812-1882), Nolan B. Harmon (1892-1993), and James F. White (1932-2004). Exploring each one's contribution to the Methodist movement, it evaluates their continuing legacies as scholars and practitioners of Methodist worship. Importantly, the work of all these men occurred during times of cultural change, which gave rise to new ways of worship within the landscape of American Methodism. Addressing them in chronological order, this study shows how each figure enacted liturgical reform and renewal by drawing from the liturgical textual tradition inherited directly from John Wesley's Sunday Service of the Methodist in North America as well as the hymnody of Charles Wesley. It also demonstrates how they sought to inculturate the Wesleyan liturgical tradition in the midst of these significant changes. Evaluating historic and emerging trends in Methodist liturgical praxis, this is a book that will be of great interest to scholars of Methodism, the History of Religion, Liturgical Studies and Theology.

John J. Fitzgerald addresses here one of life's enduring questions - how to achieve personal fulfillment and more specifically whether we can do so through ethical conduct. He focuses on two significant twentieth-century theologians - Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and Pope John Paul II - seeing both as fitting dialogue partners, given the former's influence on the Second Vatican Council's deliberations on the Jews, and the latter's groundbreaking overtures to the Jews in the wake of his experiences in Poland before and during World War II. Fitzgerald demonstrates that Heschel and John Paul II both suggest that doing good generally leads us to growth in various components of personal fulfillment, such as happiness, meaning in life, and freedom from selfish desires. There are, however, some key differences between the two theologians - John Paul II emphasizes more strongly the relationship between acting well and attaining eternal life, whereas Heschel wrestles more openly with the possibility that religious commitment ultimately involves anxiety and sadness. By examining historical and contemporary analyses, including the work of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, the philosopher Peter Singer, and some present-day psychologists, Fitzgerald builds a narrative that shows the promise and limits of Heschel's and John Paul II's views.

- For established churches needing to adapt to changing times - Translates learnings from new communities for established congregations -- a both/and approach - On-the-ground observations from within Phyllis Tickle's "rummage sale" Using the image of the traditional practice of "beating the bounds" of the parish, this book contrasts the desire to mark boundaries with God's call to explore boundaries in order to open them. Building on visits to nine Episcopal and Church of England congregations, Spicer explores how they are opening the boundaries between inherited expressions of church and the unique contexts in which they find themselves. He argues that to beat the boundaries around their current expressions of church, congregations should (1) name a missional identity common to both their past expressions of congregational life and the church they hear God calling them to become; (2) identify whom they're seeking to reach in the community and how they intend to do so; (3) identify what sort of new church expression God is calling them to create; (4) empower a missional leader and plan for governance issues their work may raise; and (5) collaboratively identify how to define success and how to understand what might be seen as failure in terms of common church metrics.

Other books have been written about clergy misconduct and its effects on congregations. Some are by victims. Others are written by professionals for a professional audience. Until now, however, there hasn't been a book for the congregational leaders who must deal with the fallout of clergy misconduct. Both the afterpastors--the interim or settled pastors who follow misconducting pastors--and lay leaders need guidance about how to assess and effectively respond to the misconduct, how to care for the victim/survivor, and how to carry out the mission and ministry to which the congregation has been called.

This title, first published in 1925, are based on a series of lectures delivered in the University of London. The chapters explore the nature of the caliphate, its origin and history, and the situation and trend of development in the early twentieth century. This title will be of interest to students of Middle Eastern studies, religion and history.

"Brides of Christ" invites the modern reader to follow the histories of colonial Mexican nuns inside the cloisters where they pursued a religious vocation or sought shelter from the world. Lavrin provides a complete overview of conventual life, including the early signs of vocation, the decision to enter a convent, profession, spiritual guidelines and devotional practices, governance, ceremonials, relations with male authorities and confessors, living arrangements, servants, sickness, and death rituals. Individual chapters deal with issues such as sexuality and the challenges to chastity in the cloisters and the little-known subject of the nuns' own writings as expressions of their spirituality. The foundation of convents for indigenous women receives special attention, because such religious communities existed nowhere else in the Spanish empire.

In the diasporic communities of Roman Catholics in Ukraine (Murafa) and Greek Catholics in Poland (Bialy Bor) religion and the local clergy play a dominant role in the process of constructing new identities. Because of the memory of their ancestors' deportation trauma the Greek Catholics define their Ukrainianness in opposition to their environment. In Roman Catholics' case, the change of the liturgy's language is followed by the Polish tradition's rejection: they feel Ukrainian. The break of the tradition's transmission path divides the community and directs them towards (pop)cultural homogenization with the Orthodox. The Greek Catholics are also divided because of their new church; universal in the Christian sense, it proves the overcoming of divisions, not accepted by everyone.

The present volume, based on a related conference in Erfurt, offers interdisciplinary insights on the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church or the Pan-Orthodox Council, convened on the island of Crete in June 2016. Although some Orthodox Churches finally declined to participate - the most prominent being the Russian one -, the Council was a most significant development. It brought a considerable number of Orthodox Churches together and discussed crucial issues pertaining to today's Orthodox world. However, it also vividly revealed existing serious problems of inter-Orthodox communication and collaboration. The contributions in this volume shed light on main issues related to this Council and their multiple repercussions for Pan-Orthodox unity and the future of the Orthodox world.