A Quaker mystic and social activist, Rufus Jones won a Nobel Prize as co-founder of the American Friends Service Committee. Widely considered one of the most significant religious voices in America at the time of his death in 1948, his writings impart an Emersonian vision of the ever-present reality of God in our souls and in our world. Indeed, his quintessentially American "affirmative mysticism" infuses all contemporary spirituality and offers an uplifting, positive, and powerful message today.

"There are no words foul and filthy enough to describe war." So declared Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy (1883-1929), the cigarette-smoking padre "Woodbine Willie" whose battlfield experiences in World War I made him his generation's most eloquent defender of Christian pacicism. A tireless champion of the social gospel, he wrote a dozen books, scores of articles, hundreds of poems, and promoted economic justice in Britain and America by preaching. Studdert Kennedy's writing and preaching influenced an entire generation. Archbishop William Temple described him as a "true prophet." Although he has fallen into obscurity over the years, Studdert Kennedy's message has helped inspire the likes of Desmond Tutu and Jurgen Moltmann. This collection of his work, the first in sixty years, introduces this most relevant of thinkers to new readers. The book pulls together Studdert Kennedy's most important writings on war and peace, poverty, the problem of evil, the church's role in the world, sin and atonement, the suering God, love versus force as world powers, and the beloved community. Kerry Walters, the editor, introduces the texts with a biographical and thematic essay. "Kerry Walters deserves thanks for his accessible presentation of Studdert Kennedy's religious thought on war and its aftermath. Earning the nickname 'Woodbine Willie' from the British soldiers he served as chaplain in the 'Great War to end all wars', the knew first-hand the unspeakable horrors of war. He also knew that faith was not only possible after the hostilities ceased; it was necessary. His was not a disembodied or privatized faith. He is especially helpful in linking the Eucharist with social justice. Readers will appreciate his passionate love for the poor, wounded, and dying Christ and his commitment to the church, where he and others can insist that, indeed, after war faith is possible." -John Perry, SJ Associate Professor, Arthur V. Mauro Center for Peace and Justice, St. Paul's College, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg KERRY WALTERS is William Bittinger Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Peace and Justice Studies at Gettysburg College. He is the author of 19 previous books on philosophy, theology, and peace, and has been a peace activist since the Vietnam War era.

Genuine, life-giving spirituality calls us to be our best selves and to bring out the best in others, each and every day. It calls us to care_for God, others, and ourselves. In Practicing Presence, popular spiritual writer Kerry Walters shows us how to integrate care into our daily lives on the road to happiness and holiness. As Walters reveals, we do not need to be professional caregivers to nurture a creative, intimate, and meaningful openness to our deepest selves, to others, and to God. We simply need to be OpresentO to who God is and who we are as images of God.

Harriet Tubman served a pivotal role in leading slaves to freedom in the decade before the Civil War. This biography offers a demythologized chronicle of her life and work, providing information about her life as a slave, role as conductor on the Underground Railroad, work as a military scout during the Civil War, and postwar activism for blacks and women. Harriet Tubman: A Life in American History provides valuable context that situates Harriet Tubman against the backdrop of the slavery debate in antebellum America, and the hardships endured by ex-slaves in postbellum America. As such, the timeframe covers nearly a full century, from the first quarter of the nineteenth to the first quarter of the twentieth. In addition to ten biographical chapters and a short timeline, Harriet Tubman includes an interpretive essay reflecting on Tubman's importance in American history, an appendix of primary documents about Tubman's life and work, a bibliography, and a number of sidebars and short commentaries embedded in the text that invite readers to explore connections between Tubman's life and political, intellectual, and social culture.

Locke argued that religious belief ought to be compatible with reason, that no king, prince or magistrate rules legitimately without the consent of the people, and that government has no right to impose religious beliefs or styles of worship on the public. Locke's defence of religious tolerance and freedom of thought was revolutionary in its time. Even today, his letter poses a challenge to religious intolerance, whether state-sponsored or originating from religious dogmatists. Based on both Locke's original Latin and the seventeenth-century English translation of William Popple, this edition offers a reader-friendly version that remains loyal to the original text. In addition to a forty-page Introduction that situates the Letter in its historical and philosophical contexts, this edition includes excerpts from writings on religious toleration by William Penn, Baruch Spinoza, Pierre Bayle, and Samuel von Pufendorf, as well as generous selections from the famous Locke-Proast debates on religious toleration.

About the Contributor(s): Kerry Walters is William Bittinger Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Peace and Justice Studies at Gettysburg College. He is the author of thirty books in philosophy, peace studies, theology, and history. He has also edited After War, Is Faith Possible? (Cascade, 2008) and with Robin Jarrell, Blessed Peacemakers (Cascade, 2013).

Synopsis: All of us yearn for a peaceable and just world, but some roll up their sleeves and set to work to make the dream real. Blessed Peacemakers celebrates 365 of them, one for each day of the year. Their stories are richly diverse. They share a commitment to peace and justice, but the various contexts in which they work make each of their stories uniquely instructive. The peacemakers include women, men, and children from across the globe, spanning some twenty-five hundred years. Many are persons of faith, but some are totally secular. Some are well known, while others will be excitingly new. They are human rights and antiwar activists, scientists and artists, educators and scholars, songwriters and poets, film directors and authors, diplomats and economists, environmentalists and mystics, prophets and policymakers. Some are unlettered, but all are wise. A few died in the service of the dream. All sacrificed for it. The world is a better place for the presence of blessed peacemakers. Their inspiring stories embolden readers to join them in nonviolent resistance to injustice and the creative pursuit of peace. Endorsements: "Blessed Peacemakers is quite astonishing in its breadth and depth, examining 365 noble souls who devoted large parts of their lives to peacemaking and without whom the world would be a much poorer place." --Helen Caldicott, Founding President of Physicians for Social Responsibility "This inspiring and wonderful book gives a concise account of the core ideas, passions, and acts of the world's peacemakers over the last twenty-five hundred years. . . . These engaging essays deserve a read by anyone committed to making our world a more just and peaceful place." --Donald B. Kraybill, Distinguished Professor at Elizabethtown College "One excellent way to start the day is to read just one page of Blessed Peacemakers--read it in silence to yourself if you eat breakfast alone; read it aloud if there's more than one at the table. In some cases, you will already be aware of the person whose story is assigned to the day, in many cases not. In every case, you are in for encouragement and inspiration." --Jim Forest, International Secretary of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship "Walters and Jarrell provide exemplars who encourage this world toward longevity and high quality of life. Like it or not, we need these exemplars because they remind us that self-sufficiency does not work outside of healthy communal practices--chief of which is peacemaking Read Walters and Jarrell's excellent work and understand what I mean." --Michael Battle, Founder of PeaceBattle Institute Author Biography: Kerry Walters teaches Philosophy as well as Peace and Justice Studies at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. The author or editor of more than twenty-five books, he is also a longtime peace activist. Robin Jarrell is an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania. She is past coeditor (with Kerry Walters) of Episcopal Peace Witness.

The choice of whether or not to consume animals is more than merely a dietary one. It frequently reflects deep ethical commitments or religious convictions that serve as the bedrock of an entire lifestyle. Proponents of vegetarianism frequently infuriate nonvegetarians, who feel that they're being morally condemned because of what they choose to eat. Vegetarians are frequently infuriated by what they consider to be the nonvegetarians' disregard for the environment and animal-suffering.
Vegetarianism: A Guide for the Perplexed offers a much needed survey of the different arguments offered by ethical vegetarians and their critics. In a rigorous but accessible manner, the author scrutinizes the strengths and weaknesses of arguments in defense of vegetarianism based on compassion, rights, interests, eco-feminism, environmentalism, anthrocentrism, and religion. Authors examined include Peter Singer, Tom Regan, Carol J. Adams, and Kathryn Paxton George.
As the global climate crisis worsens, population increases, and fossil fuels disappear, ethical and public policy questions about the ethics of diet will become ever more urgent. This book is a useful resource for thinking through the questions.

For some eighty-five years--between, roughly, 1725 and 1810--the American colonies were agitated by what can only be described as a revolutionary movement. This was not the well-known political revolution that culminated in the War of Independence, but a revolution in religious and ethical thought. Its proponents called their radical viewpoint "deism." They challenged Christian orthodoxy and instead endorsed a belief system that celebrated the power of human reason and saw nature as God's handiwork and the only revelation of divine will. This illuminating discussion of American deism presents an overview of the main tenets of deism, showing how its influence rose swiftly and for a time became a highly controversial subject of debate in the colonies. The deists were students of the Enlightenment and took a keen interest in the scientific study of nature. They were thus critical of orthodox Christianity for its superstitious belief in miracles, persecution of dissent, and suppression of independent thought and expression. At the heart of his book are profiles of six "rational infidels," most of whom are quite familiar to Americans as founding fathers or colonial patriots: Benjamin Franklin (the ambivalent deist), Thomas Jefferson (a critic of Christian supernaturalism but an admirer of its ethics), Ethan Allen (the rough-edged "frontier deist"), Thomas Paine (the arch iconoclast and author of The Age of Reason), Elihu Palmer (the tireless crusader for deism and perhaps its most influential proponent), and Philip Freneau (a poet whose popular verses combined deism with early romanticism). This is a fascinating study of America's first culture war, one that in many ways has continued to this day.

This title moves beyond the polemics to present an overview of atheism that is rigorous yet accessible. Interest in atheism has surged since the 'New Atheism' trinity of Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Christopher Hitchens launched their attack on religious belief. Their militant, in-your-face style has delighted readers who are already nonbelievers and infuriated theists, and in the process made them best-selling authors. But the cost of their approach is that the current cultural and intellectual dialogue about atheism frequently generates more heat than light: acrimony replaces reasoned investigation, polemic overpowers philosophical analysis, and too often the outcome is confusion rather than truth. "Atheism: A Guide for the Perplexed" moves beyond the polemics to present an overview of atheism that is rigorous but still accessible to the educated layperson as well as the undergraduate student in philosophy and theology courses. After a preliminary investigation of what atheists mean when they use the words 'atheism' and 'God' - a much more complex investigation than one might suspect - the book: explores the differences and similarities between 'old' and 'new' atheism (the primary distinction is that the latter relies heavily on science whereas the former relied on philosophy and is uncompromisingly hostile to religion); places atheism of either variety in context by examining the naturalistic worldview that grounds it; provides a short historical sketch of atheism; examines a number of arguments against God-belief; investigates whether an atheist worldview is consistent with ethics and a sense of purposefulness; asks is an atheist 'spirituality' is possible; inquires into whether the current militancy against religious belief is pertinent or a red herring; and, concludes with a few suggestions for continued dialogue between believers and nonbelievers. The goal throughout is to present a balanced, non-partisan introduction to the worldview, principles, and arguments of atheism that highlights the positions strengths as well as its weaknesses. "Continuum's Guides for the Perplexed" are clear, concise and accessible introductions to thinkers, writers and subjects that students and readers can find especially challenging - or indeed downright bewildering. Concentrating specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to grasp, these books explain and explore key themes and ideas, guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of demanding material.

Description: ""There are no words foul and filthy enough to describe war."" So declared Geoffrey ""Woodbine Willie"" Studdert Kennedy (1883-1929), a decorated frontline chaplain whose battlefield experiences in World War I transformed him into his generation's most eloquent defender of Christian pacificism. Studdert Kennedy was also a tireless champion of the social gospel who wrote a dozen books, scores of articles, hundreds of poems, and preached countless sermons in both the UK and the US promoting economic justice. Studdert Kennedy's writing and preaching influenced an entire generation. William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, described him as a ""true prophet."" Even though he's fallen into obscurity with the passage of years, Studdert Kennedy's message still inspires the likes of Desmond Tutu and Jurgen Moltmann. This collection of Studdert Kennedy's work, the first in sixty years, seeks to introduce this most relevant of thinkers to our troubled times. The book pulls together Studdert Kennedy's most important writings on war and peace, poverty, the problem of evil, the church's role in the world, sin and atonement, the suffering God, love versus force as world powers, and the beloved community. Editor Kerry Walters introduces the texts with a biographical and thematic essay. Endorsements: ""Kerry Walters and Cascade Books deserve our thanks for retrieving for us in the twenty-first century, embroiled as we are in various violent conflicts, an accessible and coherent presentation of Studdert Kennedy's early twentieth-century religious thought on war and its aftermath. Earning the nickname 'Woodbine Willie' from English soldiers he served as chaplain in the 'Great War to end all wars, ' the cigarette-smoking padre knew firsthand the unspeakable horrors of war. He also knew that faith was not only possible after the hostilities ceased; it was necessary. ""His was not a disembodied or privatized faith. He is especially helpful in linking the Eucharist with social justice. Although fellow Anglicans and interested Protestants may well treasure this collection of Studdert Kennedy's writing, Roman Catholics like myself will appreciate his passionate love for the poor, wounded, and dying Christ and his commitment to the church, where he and others can insist that, indeed, after war faith is possible."" John Perry, SJ Associate Professor, Arthur V. Mauro Center for Peace and Justice, St. Paul's College, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada About the Contributor(s): Kerry Walters is William Bittinger Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Peace and Justice Studies at Gettysburg College. He is the author of 19 previous books on philosophy, theology, and peace, and has been a peace activist since the Vietnam War era.

Provides a comprehensive overview of 10 major slave revolts and examines how those uprisings and conspiracies impacted slaveholding colonies and states from 1663 to 1861. Hundreds of slave revolts and conspiracies occurred during the two centuries that North America engaged in slavery. None were successful, but certain campaigns were significant enough to inspire other revolts, fuel a chronic fear of uprising in slaveholders and politicians, and keep alive the perennial desire for freedom felt by black slaves. Kerry Walters examines 10 representative revolts and offers narratives, primary materials, chronologies and biographies of participants for high school and undergraduate students. The book also contains an annotated bibliography of print and online primary and secondary sources for students seeking material for research papers and projects, as well as an examination of fictional depictions of slave revolts in novels and film. Walters offers information on a compelling topic that will be of interest to students of American history or sociology as well as anyone engaging in multicultural studies. Offers an overview of American slave revolts and conspiracies to revolt Explores the context of chronic fear of uprising in slaveholding colonies and states in North America from 1663 to 1861 Offers accounts gleaned from primary resources regarding slave leaders and their lieutenants, and of the trials that condemned them Describes the climate of fear in which slaveholding whites lived, as well as the various social practices and legal statutes they enacted to minimize the risk of slave revolt Includes a narrative, primary materials, biographics, a chronology, and an annotated bibliography-all of which will be helpful to students writing papers on the topic

Harriet Tubman: A Life in American History is an indispensable resource for high school and college students about the life and times of anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman, who exemplifies how slaves took the initiative to free themselves and others. Harriet Tubman served a pivotal role in leading slaves to freedom in the decade before the Civil War. This biography offers a demythologized chronicle of her life and work with information about her life as a slave, role as conductor on the Underground Railroad, work as a military scout during the Civil War, and postwar activism for blacks and women. The book provides valuable context that situates Harriet Tubman against the backdrop of the slavery debate in antebellum America, and the hardships endured by ex-slaves in postbellum America. As such, the timeframe covers nearly a full century, from the first quarter of the 19th to the first quarter of the 20th. In addition to ten biographical chapters and a short timeline, Harriet Tubman includes an interpretive essay reflecting on her importance in American history. The volume also includes an appendix of primary documents about Tubman's life and work, a bibliography, and a number of sidebars and short commentaries embedded in the text, inviting readers to explore connections between Tubman's life and political, intellectual, and social culture. Provides readers with a comprehensive but readable account of Tubman's life Provides readers with an overview of American abolitionism and the Underground Railroad Explores the pivotal role of religious faith in Tubman's activism Suggests several comparisons between Tubman's activism and current struggles for social justice