"When a man has done what he considers his duty to his people and country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is why I will sleep for eternity." --Nelson Mandela

Words of a man whose story is worthy of his seat in life. There is a secret in these words that is etched deep in our fabric, but remains to be awakened in a gift exclusive to us. Your gift will never be until the stories of your life are stories of people. The risk to the gift is an obsession with the inanimate luxuries and ideas exclusive of people.

I found it because my angel chanced upon me when I was dying. He was here because I am here. He was different, but differences have nothing to do with one's seat but rather providence's purpose for us. Like him, I had no choice in my life's package. We had a lifetime's opportunity to share time and space. What we do with such opportunities ultimately reveals our gift and a contentment that closes one's eyes for eternity.

This is the story one little boy, who shares your fate, discovered. He is here because you are here.

Free will is a perennial theological and philosophical topic. As a central dogmatic locus, it is implicated in discussions around core Christian doctrines such as grace, salvation, sin, providence, evil, and predestination. This book offers a state-of-the-art look at recent debates about free will in analytic and philosophical theology. The chapters revolve around three central themes: the debate between theological compatibilists and libertarians, the communal nature of Christian freedom, and the role of free will in Christology. With contributions by leading scholars, the volume provides a valuable overview of current arguments as well as novel openings and ideas for further discussion.

This book provides a critical philosophical analysis of the claim that contemporary cognitive approaches to religion undermine theistic beliefs. Recent scientific work into the evolution and cognition of religion has been driven by and interpreted in terms of a certain kind of philosophical and methodological naturalism. The book argues that such naturalism is not necessary for the cognitive study of religion and develops an alternative philosophical and methodological framework. This alternative framework opens the cognitive study of religion to theological and philosophical considerations and clarifies its relationship to other approaches to religious phenomena. This unique contribution to discussions regarding the philosophical and theological implications of the cognitive study of religion summarizes the so far fragmentary discussion, exposes its underlying assumptions, and develops a novel framework for further discussion.

This book provides a critical philosophical analysis of the claim that contemporary cognitive approaches to religion undermine theistic beliefs. Recent scientific work into the evolution and cognition of religion has been driven by and interpreted in terms of a certain kind of philosophical and methodological naturalism. The book argues that such naturalism is not necessary for the cognitive study of religion and develops an alternative philosophical and methodological framework. This alternative framework opens the cognitive study of religion to theological and philosophical considerations and clarifies its relationship to other approaches to religious phenomena. This unique contribution to discussions regarding the philosophical and theological implications of the cognitive study of religion summarizes the so far fragmentary discussion, exposes its underlying assumptions, and develops a novel framework for further discussion.

Recent empirical and philosophical research into the evolutionary history of Homo sapiens, the origins of the mind/brain, and the development of human culture has sparked heated debates about what it means to be human and how knowledge about humans from the sciences and humanities should be understood. Conversations on Human Nature, featuring 20 interviews with leading scholars in biology, psychology, anthropology, philosophy, and theology, brings these debates to life for teachers, students, and general readers. The book-outlines the basic scientific, philosophical and theological issues involved in understanding human nature;-organizes material from the various disciplines under four broad headings: (1) evolution, brains and human nature; (2) biocultural human nature; (3) persons, minds and human nature, (4) religion, theology and human nature; -concludes with Fuentes and Visala's discussion of what researchers into human nature agree on, what they disagree on, and what we need to learn to resolve those differences.

Despite its name, "naturalism" as a world-view turns out to be rather unnatural in its strict and more consistent form of materialism and determinism. This is why a number of naturalists opt for a broadened version that includes objective moral values, intrinsic human dignity, consciousness, beauty, personal agency, and the like. But in doing so, broad naturalism begins to look more like theism. As many strict naturalists recognize, broad naturalism must borrow from the metaphysical resources of a theistic world-view, in which such features are very natural, common sensical, and quite "at home" in a theistic framework. The Naturalness of Belief begins with a naturalistic philosopher's own perspective of naturalism and naturalness. The remaining chapters take a multifaceted approach in showing theism's naturalness and greater explanatory power. They examine not only rational reasons for theism's ability to account for consciousness, intentionality, beauty, human dignity, free will, rationality, and knowledge; they also look at common sensical, existential, psychological, and cultural reasons-in addition to the insights of the cognitive science of religion.

Open-access edition: DOI 10.6069/9780295745701 The Nuosu people, who were once overlords of vast tracts of farmland and forest in the uplands of southern Sichuan and neighboring provinces, are the largest division of the Yi ethnic group in southwest China. Their creation epic plots the origins of the cosmos, the sky and earth, and the living beings of land and water. This translation is a rare example in English of Indigenous ethnic literature from China. Transmitted in oral and written forms for centuries among the Nuosu, The Book of Origins is performed by bimo priests and other tradition-bearers. Poetic in form, the narrative provides insights into how a clan- and caste-based society organizes itself, dictates ethics, relates to other ethnic groups, and adapts to a harsh environment. A comprehensive introduction to the translation describes the land and people, summarizes the work's themes, and discusses the significance of The Book of Origins for the understanding of folk epics, ethnoecology, and ethnic relations.

Open-access edition: DOI 10.6069/9780295745701 The Nuosu people, who were once overlords of vast tracts of farmland and forest in the uplands of southern Sichuan and neighboring provinces, are the largest division of the Yi ethnic group in southwest China. Their creation epic plots the origins of the cosmos, the sky and earth, and the living beings of land and water. This translation is a rare example in English of Indigenous ethnic literature from China. Transmitted in oral and written forms for centuries among the Nuosu, The Book of Origins is performed by bimo priests and other tradition-bearers. Poetic in form, the narrative provides insights into how a clan- and caste-based society organizes itself, dictates ethics, relates to other ethnic groups, and adapts to a harsh environment. A comprehensive introduction to the translation describes the land and people, summarizes the work's themes, and discusses the significance of The Book of Origins for the understanding of folk epics, ethnoecology, and ethnic relations.

Die Hoerspielreihe TKKG erfreut sich seit den 1980er Jahren grosser Beliebtheit. Doch insbesondere in den ersten Folgen finden sich zahlreiche stereotype Zuschreibungen und diskriminierende Begrifflichkeiten. Die unreflektierte Verwendung von Kinder- und Jugendmedien, die rassistische Sprache und Stereotype reproduzieren, kann bei jungen Konsument*innen einen diskriminierenden Sprachgebrauch festigen und gleichzeitig verletzend und ausschliessend wirken. Auf dieser Problematik aufbauend wurden in dem rassismuskritischen empirischen Band junge Schwarze Hoerer*innen selbst befragt, ob und wie sie die Reproduktion von Rassismus in der Hoerspielreihe TKKG wahrnehmen. Die gewonnenen Einblicke in die Erfahrungswelt und Wahrnehmung junger Schwarzer Menschen machen deutlich, dass eine rassismuskritische Auseinandersetzung mit Sprache und den vermittelten Weltbildern in Kinder- und Jugendmedien dringend fokussiert werden muss.

"When a man has done what he considers his duty to his people and country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is why I will sleep for eternity." --Nelson Mandela

Words of a man whose story is worthy of his seat in life. There is a secret in these words that is etched deep in our fabric, but remains to be awakened in a gift exclusive to us. Your gift will never be until the stories of your life are stories of people. The risk to the gift is an obsession with the inanimate luxuries and ideas exclusive of people.

I found it because my angel chanced upon me when I was dying. He was here because I am here. He was different, but differences have nothing to do with one's seat but rather providence's purpose for us. Like him, I had no choice in my life's package. We had a lifetime's opportunity to share time and space. What we do with such opportunities ultimately reveals our gift and a contentment that closes one's eyes for eternity.

This is the story one little boy, who shares your fate, discovered. He is here because you are here.