Richard Harries
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199263134
- eISBN:
- 9780191600616
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199263132.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The evil of the holocaust demands a radical rethink of the traditional Christian understanding of Judaism. This is because the anti‐Judaism of the Christian Church prepared the way for the holocaust. ...
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The evil of the holocaust demands a radical rethink of the traditional Christian understanding of Judaism. This is because the anti‐Judaism of the Christian Church prepared the way for the holocaust. This rethink includes looking at theological responses to the holocaust and examining which, if any, are adequate. It also means looking at issues of suffering and forgiveness in both Judaism and Christianity. On examination, the approach of the two religions is not as far apart as is sometimes suggested. The basic covenant is not with either Judaism or Christianity but with humanity. These, like other religions, are different, distinctive voices in response to God's primal affirmation of human life, which for Christians is achieved and given in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians should not set out to convert Jews. Jesus is, traditionally, a highly divisive figure for the two religions but modern scholarship, including Jewish scholarship, has revealed some common ground. In addition to the common ground here, there is a shared hope and a common task though contentious questions still remain on questions such as Israel and Jerusalem. The church has a particular responsibility to ensure that its teaching and preaching is not implicitly anti‐Judaic.Less
The evil of the holocaust demands a radical rethink of the traditional Christian understanding of Judaism. This is because the anti‐Judaism of the Christian Church prepared the way for the holocaust. This rethink includes looking at theological responses to the holocaust and examining which, if any, are adequate. It also means looking at issues of suffering and forgiveness in both Judaism and Christianity. On examination, the approach of the two religions is not as far apart as is sometimes suggested. The basic covenant is not with either Judaism or Christianity but with humanity. These, like other religions, are different, distinctive voices in response to God's primal affirmation of human life, which for Christians is achieved and given in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians should not set out to convert Jews. Jesus is, traditionally, a highly divisive figure for the two religions but modern scholarship, including Jewish scholarship, has revealed some common ground. In addition to the common ground here, there is a shared hope and a common task though contentious questions still remain on questions such as Israel and Jerusalem. The church has a particular responsibility to ensure that its teaching and preaching is not implicitly anti‐Judaic.
Anthony M. Petro
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199391288
- eISBN:
- 9780199391318
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199391288.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book demonstrates how Christian leaders and AIDS activists in the United States have posited HIV/AIDS as a religious and moral epidemic and asks how this understanding has informed cultural and ...
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This book demonstrates how Christian leaders and AIDS activists in the United States have posited HIV/AIDS as a religious and moral epidemic and asks how this understanding has informed cultural and political debates about prevention, healthcare, and sex education all over the world. Drawing upon archival research, oral histories, and textual analysis, this book maps the moral language regarding sexuality–and especially homosexuality–through which evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Catholic leaders, and gay and lesbian AIDS activists made sense of and responded to the epidemic. Moving beyond the politics of the culture wars and the focus on the Christian Right, After the Wrath of God tracks how mainstream religious understandings of sexual morality and AIDS have shaped national and global public health discourse about prevention and care. It also situates the AIDS crisis alongside competing moral concerns, such as those surrounding abortion, drug use, and race, in delineating American religious responses to the epidemic. This history illustrates in turn how the AIDS epidemic has transformed American Christianity by allowing religious leaders and organizations a new way in which to articulate their understandings of sexuality, health, and social activism and to advance new boundaries for national moral citizenship.Less
This book demonstrates how Christian leaders and AIDS activists in the United States have posited HIV/AIDS as a religious and moral epidemic and asks how this understanding has informed cultural and political debates about prevention, healthcare, and sex education all over the world. Drawing upon archival research, oral histories, and textual analysis, this book maps the moral language regarding sexuality–and especially homosexuality–through which evangelicals, mainline Protestants, Catholic leaders, and gay and lesbian AIDS activists made sense of and responded to the epidemic. Moving beyond the politics of the culture wars and the focus on the Christian Right, After the Wrath of God tracks how mainstream religious understandings of sexual morality and AIDS have shaped national and global public health discourse about prevention and care. It also situates the AIDS crisis alongside competing moral concerns, such as those surrounding abortion, drug use, and race, in delineating American religious responses to the epidemic. This history illustrates in turn how the AIDS epidemic has transformed American Christianity by allowing religious leaders and organizations a new way in which to articulate their understandings of sexuality, health, and social activism and to advance new boundaries for national moral citizenship.
James Mark Shields
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190664008
- eISBN:
- 9780190675523
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190664008.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism, Religion and Society
Against Harmony traces the history of progressive and radical experiments in Japanese Buddhist thought and practice from the mid-Meiji period through the early Shōwa period (1885–1935), when ...
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Against Harmony traces the history of progressive and radical experiments in Japanese Buddhist thought and practice from the mid-Meiji period through the early Shōwa period (1885–1935), when historical events coalesced to eliminate all such experiments. It is a work of both intellectual history and of critical, comparative thought. Perhaps the two best representations of progressive Buddhism during this period were the New Buddhist Fellowship (1899–1915) and the Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism (1931–1936). Both were nonsectarian, lay movements comprising young men with education in classical Buddhist texts as well as Western literature, philosophy, and religion. Their work effectively collapses commonly held distinctions between religion, philosophy, ethics, politics, and economics. Unlike many others of their day, these “New Buddhists” did not regard the novel forces of modernization as problematic and disruptive, but rather, as an opportunity to explore and expand the possibilities of the dharma. Moreover, these and similar Buddhist and Buddhist-inspired movements experimented with novel, alternative forms of modernity, rooted in variations on what might be called “dharmic materialism.” In short, they did not simply inherit or mimic the dominant Western model(s). For this reason, their work remains of relevance in the early twenty-first century.Less
Against Harmony traces the history of progressive and radical experiments in Japanese Buddhist thought and practice from the mid-Meiji period through the early Shōwa period (1885–1935), when historical events coalesced to eliminate all such experiments. It is a work of both intellectual history and of critical, comparative thought. Perhaps the two best representations of progressive Buddhism during this period were the New Buddhist Fellowship (1899–1915) and the Youth League for Revitalizing Buddhism (1931–1936). Both were nonsectarian, lay movements comprising young men with education in classical Buddhist texts as well as Western literature, philosophy, and religion. Their work effectively collapses commonly held distinctions between religion, philosophy, ethics, politics, and economics. Unlike many others of their day, these “New Buddhists” did not regard the novel forces of modernization as problematic and disruptive, but rather, as an opportunity to explore and expand the possibilities of the dharma. Moreover, these and similar Buddhist and Buddhist-inspired movements experimented with novel, alternative forms of modernity, rooted in variations on what might be called “dharmic materialism.” In short, they did not simply inherit or mimic the dominant Western model(s). For this reason, their work remains of relevance in the early twenty-first century.
Mark Sedgwick
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195152975
- eISBN:
- 9780199835225
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195152972.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Explores the history and doctrines of Traditionalism, a movement established by Ren” Gu”non in the 1920s, and later developed further by Julius Evola (in politics), Frithjof Schuon (in religion), and ...
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Explores the history and doctrines of Traditionalism, a movement established by Ren” Gu”non in the 1920s, and later developed further by Julius Evola (in politics), Frithjof Schuon (in religion), and Mircea Eliade (in academia). Traditionalism sees modernity as terminal decline from traditional metaphysical truth, and attempts to remedy this at both a personal and societal level. All responses depend on the recovery of lost tradition, notably of the “perennial philosophy.” Personal responses are generally religious, and Sufism (mystical Islam) was the most important of these, followed by Freemasonry. Societal responses range from Eliade’s scholarly investigation of archaic religion to Evola’s ultra fascism, by 2000 a major stream in far-right thought. The book examines the origins of Traditionalism in the Renaissance, and then traces the development of the groups and movements that resulted, as well as modification in doctrine. The final chapter looks at Traditionalism’s possible influence in the future, and asks why so many intellectuals found this anti-modernist movement so attractive.Less
Explores the history and doctrines of Traditionalism, a movement established by Ren” Gu”non in the 1920s, and later developed further by Julius Evola (in politics), Frithjof Schuon (in religion), and Mircea Eliade (in academia). Traditionalism sees modernity as terminal decline from traditional metaphysical truth, and attempts to remedy this at both a personal and societal level. All responses depend on the recovery of lost tradition, notably of the “perennial philosophy.” Personal responses are generally religious, and Sufism (mystical Islam) was the most important of these, followed by Freemasonry. Societal responses range from Eliade’s scholarly investigation of archaic religion to Evola’s ultra fascism, by 2000 a major stream in far-right thought. The book examines the origins of Traditionalism in the Renaissance, and then traces the development of the groups and movements that resulted, as well as modification in doctrine. The final chapter looks at Traditionalism’s possible influence in the future, and asks why so many intellectuals found this anti-modernist movement so attractive.
Anna Strhan
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198724469
- eISBN:
- 9780191792090
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198724469.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies, Religion and Society
In this work of qualitative sociology, Anna Strhan offers an in-depth study of the everyday lives of members of a conservative evangelical Anglican church in London. ‘St John’s’ is a vibrant church, ...
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In this work of qualitative sociology, Anna Strhan offers an in-depth study of the everyday lives of members of a conservative evangelical Anglican church in London. ‘St John’s’ is a vibrant church, with a congregation of young and middle-aged members, one in which the life of the mind is important, and faith is both a comfort and a struggle—a way of questioning the order of things within society and for themselves. The congregants of St John’s see themselves as increasingly countercultural, moving against the grain of wider culture in London and in British society, yet they take pride in this, and see it as a central element of being Christian. This book reveals the processes through which the congregants of St John’s learn to understand themselves as ‘aliens and strangers’ in the world, demonstrating the precariousness of their projects of staking out boundaries of moral distinctiveness. Through focusing on their interactions within and outside the church, Strhan shows how the everyday experiences of these evangelicals are simultaneously shaped by the secular norms of their workplaces and other city spaces and by the moral and temporal orientations of their faith that rub against these. Thus their self-identification as ‘aliens and strangers’ both articulates and constructs an ambition to be different from others around them in the city, rooted in a consciousness of the extent to which their hopes, concerns, and longings are simultaneously shaped by their being in the world.Less
In this work of qualitative sociology, Anna Strhan offers an in-depth study of the everyday lives of members of a conservative evangelical Anglican church in London. ‘St John’s’ is a vibrant church, with a congregation of young and middle-aged members, one in which the life of the mind is important, and faith is both a comfort and a struggle—a way of questioning the order of things within society and for themselves. The congregants of St John’s see themselves as increasingly countercultural, moving against the grain of wider culture in London and in British society, yet they take pride in this, and see it as a central element of being Christian. This book reveals the processes through which the congregants of St John’s learn to understand themselves as ‘aliens and strangers’ in the world, demonstrating the precariousness of their projects of staking out boundaries of moral distinctiveness. Through focusing on their interactions within and outside the church, Strhan shows how the everyday experiences of these evangelicals are simultaneously shaped by the secular norms of their workplaces and other city spaces and by the moral and temporal orientations of their faith that rub against these. Thus their self-identification as ‘aliens and strangers’ both articulates and constructs an ambition to be different from others around them in the city, rooted in a consciousness of the extent to which their hopes, concerns, and longings are simultaneously shaped by their being in the world.
Thomas A. Tweed
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199782987
- eISBN:
- 9780199897384
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199782987.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The National Shrine in Washington, D.C., has been deeply loved, blithely ignored, and passionately criticized. It has been praised as a “dazzling jewel” and dismissed as a “towering Byzantine beach ...
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The National Shrine in Washington, D.C., has been deeply loved, blithely ignored, and passionately criticized. It has been praised as a “dazzling jewel” and dismissed as a “towering Byzantine beach ball.” This book shows that the Shrine is also an illuminating site from which to tell the story of 20th-century Catholicism. It organizes the narrative around six themes that characterize U.S. Catholicism, and ties these themes to the Shrine's material culture—to images, artifacts, or devotional spaces. Thus, the book begins with the Basilica's foundation stone, weaving it into a discussion of “brick and mortar” Catholicism, the drive to build institutions. To highlight the Church's inclination to appeal to women, the book looks at fund-raising for the Mary Memorial Altar, and focuses on the Filipino oratory to Our Lady of Antipolo to illustrate the Church's outreach to immigrants. Throughout, the book employs painstaking detective work to shine a light on the many facets of American Catholicism reflected in the shrine.Less
The National Shrine in Washington, D.C., has been deeply loved, blithely ignored, and passionately criticized. It has been praised as a “dazzling jewel” and dismissed as a “towering Byzantine beach ball.” This book shows that the Shrine is also an illuminating site from which to tell the story of 20th-century Catholicism. It organizes the narrative around six themes that characterize U.S. Catholicism, and ties these themes to the Shrine's material culture—to images, artifacts, or devotional spaces. Thus, the book begins with the Basilica's foundation stone, weaving it into a discussion of “brick and mortar” Catholicism, the drive to build institutions. To highlight the Church's inclination to appeal to women, the book looks at fund-raising for the Mary Memorial Altar, and focuses on the Filipino oratory to Our Lady of Antipolo to illustrate the Church's outreach to immigrants. Throughout, the book employs painstaking detective work to shine a light on the many facets of American Catholicism reflected in the shrine.
Mark S. Massa, SJ
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199734122
- eISBN:
- 9780199866373
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199734122.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book examines the Catholic participation in the “Long Sixties” in the United States, a decade that, for Catholic Americans, began in 1964 (the year the first reforms mandated by the Second ...
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This book examines the Catholic participation in the “Long Sixties” in the United States, a decade that, for Catholic Americans, began in 1964 (the year the first reforms mandated by the Second Vatican Council began to be implemented) and continued into the 1970s. The book argues that the most important result of that era was the emergence of the awareness among many of the Catholic faithful that everything in history changes, including the Church. This seemingly obvious insight generated considerable turmoil within the American Catholic community, which was accustomed to thinking of their religious beliefs and practices as timeless. The battles generated by that insight largely shaped the debates within the community during the final quarter of the twentieth and the first decade of the twenty-first century. In the process of narrating those turbulent events, the book offers a new master narrative of American Catholicism during the 1960s that seeks to displace the older politicized narrative of “liberals versus conservatives.”Less
This book examines the Catholic participation in the “Long Sixties” in the United States, a decade that, for Catholic Americans, began in 1964 (the year the first reforms mandated by the Second Vatican Council began to be implemented) and continued into the 1970s. The book argues that the most important result of that era was the emergence of the awareness among many of the Catholic faithful that everything in history changes, including the Church. This seemingly obvious insight generated considerable turmoil within the American Catholic community, which was accustomed to thinking of their religious beliefs and practices as timeless. The battles generated by that insight largely shaped the debates within the community during the final quarter of the twentieth and the first decade of the twenty-first century. In the process of narrating those turbulent events, the book offers a new master narrative of American Catholicism during the 1960s that seeks to displace the older politicized narrative of “liberals versus conservatives.”
Patricia Snell Herzog and Heather Price
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190456498
- eISBN:
- 9780190456528
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190456498.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book answers what, how much, who, where, and why questions of generous activities. This book takes an interdisciplinary approach that defines generosity as expressed through multiple forms of ...
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This book answers what, how much, who, where, and why questions of generous activities. This book takes an interdisciplinary approach that defines generosity as expressed through multiple forms of giving. The focus is on three primary forms of giving: donating money, volunteering time, and taking political action. Also explored are participation in giving blood, bodily organs, material possessions, relational attention, and participating in environmental sustainability. All findings are based on data from the Science of Generosity Initiative, combining a nationally representative survey of adult Americans with in-depth interviews and ethnographies of a subsample of survey respondents. From the interviews case studies were selected to narratively illustrate core themes. The analyses examine multiple dimensions of resources, social status characteristics, regional cultural norms, different approaches to giving processes, social psychological orientations, and relational contexts of generosity. The conclusion presents a theoretical model of resource-, norm-, and identity-supported “circles of generosity,” which ripple outward in their reach to different targets of giving. Practical implications include tips for readers who are interested in increasing their giving, parents modeling giving to children, spouses desiring giving alignment, and friends and community members wanting to support other people’s giving. Also offered are fundraising ideas for nonprofit, foundation, and religious leaders, as well as scholars of generosity.Less
This book answers what, how much, who, where, and why questions of generous activities. This book takes an interdisciplinary approach that defines generosity as expressed through multiple forms of giving. The focus is on three primary forms of giving: donating money, volunteering time, and taking political action. Also explored are participation in giving blood, bodily organs, material possessions, relational attention, and participating in environmental sustainability. All findings are based on data from the Science of Generosity Initiative, combining a nationally representative survey of adult Americans with in-depth interviews and ethnographies of a subsample of survey respondents. From the interviews case studies were selected to narratively illustrate core themes. The analyses examine multiple dimensions of resources, social status characteristics, regional cultural norms, different approaches to giving processes, social psychological orientations, and relational contexts of generosity. The conclusion presents a theoretical model of resource-, norm-, and identity-supported “circles of generosity,” which ripple outward in their reach to different targets of giving. Practical implications include tips for readers who are interested in increasing their giving, parents modeling giving to children, spouses desiring giving alignment, and friends and community members wanting to support other people’s giving. Also offered are fundraising ideas for nonprofit, foundation, and religious leaders, as well as scholars of generosity.
Sean McCloud
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780190205355
- eISBN:
- 9780190205386
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190205355.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book examines contemporary American religious culture through the themes of a “consuming convert’s republic,” “the haunted present,” and “the therapeutic.” The work argues that US religious ...
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This book examines contemporary American religious culture through the themes of a “consuming convert’s republic,” “the haunted present,” and “the therapeutic.” The work argues that US religious culture in the twenty-first century can be characterized as immersed in and constitutive of an era of possessions–of both consumer goods and spirit entities such as ghosts and demons–and that these “possessions” are thoroughly saturated with the reverberations of therapeutic discourse. Third Wave evangelicalism and its practice of spiritual warfare provide a case study through which these three tropes converge. The book provides a description and analysis of religion in the contemporary United States. Second, it offers an extended examination of Third Wave evangelicalism, a small but influential movement in both the United States and in Christian mission fields around the world. Third, it maps some of the multiple and often conflicting connections among contemporary American religious forms, consumer capitalism, neoliberalism, and globalization.Less
This book examines contemporary American religious culture through the themes of a “consuming convert’s republic,” “the haunted present,” and “the therapeutic.” The work argues that US religious culture in the twenty-first century can be characterized as immersed in and constitutive of an era of possessions–of both consumer goods and spirit entities such as ghosts and demons–and that these “possessions” are thoroughly saturated with the reverberations of therapeutic discourse. Third Wave evangelicalism and its practice of spiritual warfare provide a case study through which these three tropes converge. The book provides a description and analysis of religion in the contemporary United States. Second, it offers an extended examination of Third Wave evangelicalism, a small but influential movement in both the United States and in Christian mission fields around the world. Third, it maps some of the multiple and often conflicting connections among contemporary American religious forms, consumer capitalism, neoliberalism, and globalization.
Douglas Jacobsen and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195323443
- eISBN:
- 9780199869145
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195323443.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Academics across America are rethinking the place of religion on college and university campuses, and religion has become a hot topic of conversation. Some conversations focus on religious literacy, ...
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Academics across America are rethinking the place of religion on college and university campuses, and religion has become a hot topic of conversation. Some conversations focus on religious literacy, while others contrast religion with spirituality; some understand religion in light of specific traditions or communities of faith, while others focus attention on concerns such as personal meaning and civic engagement. The American University in a Postsecular Age brings together these divergent conversations. Three of the fourteen essays in the volume are written by the editors, including an introductory essay that explains the term “postsecular,” another on church‐related higher education, and a concluding essay that suggests a framework for talking about religion in the academy. The other authors represented in the book are all well known scholars in the fields of religion and higher education including, for example, Amanda Porterfield, past president of the American Society of Church History, Lee Shulman, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and Robert Wuthnow, the prolific sociologist of religion from Princeton. The volume is divided into two parts: a first group of essays focuses on religion, institutions, and faculty roles; the second group deals with the place of religion in the curriculum and in student learning. The book as a whole assumes that increased attention to religion will enhance the work of the academy, but a wide variety of perspectives are included.Less
Academics across America are rethinking the place of religion on college and university campuses, and religion has become a hot topic of conversation. Some conversations focus on religious literacy, while others contrast religion with spirituality; some understand religion in light of specific traditions or communities of faith, while others focus attention on concerns such as personal meaning and civic engagement. The American University in a Postsecular Age brings together these divergent conversations. Three of the fourteen essays in the volume are written by the editors, including an introductory essay that explains the term “postsecular,” another on church‐related higher education, and a concluding essay that suggests a framework for talking about religion in the academy. The other authors represented in the book are all well known scholars in the fields of religion and higher education including, for example, Amanda Porterfield, past president of the American Society of Church History, Lee Shulman, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and Robert Wuthnow, the prolific sociologist of religion from Princeton. The volume is divided into two parts: a first group of essays focuses on religion, institutions, and faculty roles; the second group deals with the place of religion in the curriculum and in student learning. The book as a whole assumes that increased attention to religion will enhance the work of the academy, but a wide variety of perspectives are included.