Author: Edited by Patrick J. Mahaffey, PhD
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 149173244X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 207
Book Description
More than a century ago, Friedrich Nietzsche proclaimed the death of God as a defining characteristic of the modern world. Even so, religion continues to have a pervasive influence in the postmodern world of the twenty-first century. Since the 1970s, there has been a dramatic resurgence of religion and spirituality. This collection of reflective essays explores spirituality and its changing relationship to culture, individual identity, and society in our increasingly globalized, postmodern world. Born out of a doctoral seminar at Pacifica Graduate Institute entitled The God Complex, the essays provide a personal understanding of diverse and conflicting worldviews and attitudes about religion, secularity, nature, and the purpose of human existence. With a rich range of perspectives, each offering provides a powerful testament to the interdisciplinary study of myth, religion, and depth psychology as a means for revisioning one's understanding of the divine. Praise for Evolving God-Images A deeply moving example of what can happen in the classroom when, almost magically, the professor's wisdom and enthusiasm, the archetypal power of the subject matter itself, and the openness of the students converge. Dr. Christine Downing, author of The Goddess: Mythological Images of the Feminine and Gods in Our Midst: Mythological Images of the Masculine A marvelous and unique collection of essays devoted to re-visioning conceptions of divinity. Dr. Evans Lansing Smith, author of Sacred Mysteries: Myths About Couples in Quest
Evolving God
Author: Barbara J. King
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022636092X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Book Description
The author of How Animals Grieve “contends that religion . . . is a consequence of primate evolution” in this “brilliant book” (Booklist, starred review). Religion has been a central part of human experience since at least the dawn of recorded history. The gods change, as do the rituals, but the underlying desire remains—a desire to belong to something larger, greater, most lasting than our mortal, finite selves. But where did that desire come from? Can we explain its emergence through evolution? Yes, says biological anthropologist Barbara J. King—and doing so not only helps us to understand the religious imagination, but also reveals fascinating links to the lives and minds of our primate cousins. Evolving God draws on King’s own fieldwork among primates in Africa and paleoanthropology of our extinct ancestors to offer a new way of thinking about the origins of religion, one that situates it in a deep need for emotional connection with others, a need we share with apes and monkeys. Though her thesis is provocative, and she’s not above thoughtful speculation, King’s argument is strongly rooted in close observation and analysis. She traces an evolutionary path that connects us to other primates, who, like us, display empathy, make meanings through interaction, create social rules, and display imagination—the basic building blocks of the religious imagination. With fresh insights, she responds to recent suggestions that chimpanzees are spiritual—or even religious—beings, and that our ancient humanlike cousins carefully disposed of their dead well before the time of Neandertals. “Her interpretations result in a provocative hypothesis about the evolution of spirituality.” —The Dallas Morning News
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022636092X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Book Description
The author of How Animals Grieve “contends that religion . . . is a consequence of primate evolution” in this “brilliant book” (Booklist, starred review). Religion has been a central part of human experience since at least the dawn of recorded history. The gods change, as do the rituals, but the underlying desire remains—a desire to belong to something larger, greater, most lasting than our mortal, finite selves. But where did that desire come from? Can we explain its emergence through evolution? Yes, says biological anthropologist Barbara J. King—and doing so not only helps us to understand the religious imagination, but also reveals fascinating links to the lives and minds of our primate cousins. Evolving God draws on King’s own fieldwork among primates in Africa and paleoanthropology of our extinct ancestors to offer a new way of thinking about the origins of religion, one that situates it in a deep need for emotional connection with others, a need we share with apes and monkeys. Though her thesis is provocative, and she’s not above thoughtful speculation, King’s argument is strongly rooted in close observation and analysis. She traces an evolutionary path that connects us to other primates, who, like us, display empathy, make meanings through interaction, create social rules, and display imagination—the basic building blocks of the religious imagination. With fresh insights, she responds to recent suggestions that chimpanzees are spiritual—or even religious—beings, and that our ancient humanlike cousins carefully disposed of their dead well before the time of Neandertals. “Her interpretations result in a provocative hypothesis about the evolution of spirituality.” —The Dallas Morning News
Evolving God-Images
Author: Edited by Patrick J. Mahaffey, PhD
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 149173244X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 207
Book Description
More than a century ago, Friedrich Nietzsche proclaimed the death of God as a defining characteristic of the modern world. Even so, religion continues to have a pervasive influence in the postmodern world of the twenty-first century. Since the 1970s, there has been a dramatic resurgence of religion and spirituality. This collection of reflective essays explores spirituality and its changing relationship to culture, individual identity, and society in our increasingly globalized, postmodern world. Born out of a doctoral seminar at Pacifica Graduate Institute entitled The God Complex, the essays provide a personal understanding of diverse and conflicting worldviews and attitudes about religion, secularity, nature, and the purpose of human existence. With a rich range of perspectives, each offering provides a powerful testament to the interdisciplinary study of myth, religion, and depth psychology as a means for revisioning one's understanding of the divine. Praise for Evolving God-Images A deeply moving example of what can happen in the classroom when, almost magically, the professor's wisdom and enthusiasm, the archetypal power of the subject matter itself, and the openness of the students converge. Dr. Christine Downing, author of The Goddess: Mythological Images of the Feminine and Gods in Our Midst: Mythological Images of the Masculine A marvelous and unique collection of essays devoted to re-visioning conceptions of divinity. Dr. Evans Lansing Smith, author of Sacred Mysteries: Myths About Couples in Quest
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 149173244X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 207
Book Description
More than a century ago, Friedrich Nietzsche proclaimed the death of God as a defining characteristic of the modern world. Even so, religion continues to have a pervasive influence in the postmodern world of the twenty-first century. Since the 1970s, there has been a dramatic resurgence of religion and spirituality. This collection of reflective essays explores spirituality and its changing relationship to culture, individual identity, and society in our increasingly globalized, postmodern world. Born out of a doctoral seminar at Pacifica Graduate Institute entitled The God Complex, the essays provide a personal understanding of diverse and conflicting worldviews and attitudes about religion, secularity, nature, and the purpose of human existence. With a rich range of perspectives, each offering provides a powerful testament to the interdisciplinary study of myth, religion, and depth psychology as a means for revisioning one's understanding of the divine. Praise for Evolving God-Images A deeply moving example of what can happen in the classroom when, almost magically, the professor's wisdom and enthusiasm, the archetypal power of the subject matter itself, and the openness of the students converge. Dr. Christine Downing, author of The Goddess: Mythological Images of the Feminine and Gods in Our Midst: Mythological Images of the Masculine A marvelous and unique collection of essays devoted to re-visioning conceptions of divinity. Dr. Evans Lansing Smith, author of Sacred Mysteries: Myths About Couples in Quest
Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods
Author: E. Fuller Torrey
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231544863
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 338
Book Description
Religions and mythologies from around the world teach that God or gods created humans. Atheist, humanist, and materialist critics, meanwhile, have attempted to turn theology on its head, claiming that religion is a human invention. In this book, E. Fuller Torrey draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to propose a startling answer to the ultimate question. Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods locates the origin of gods within the human brain, arguing that religious belief is a by-product of evolution. Based on an idea originally proposed by Charles Darwin, Torrey marshals evidence that the emergence of gods was an incidental consequence of several evolutionary factors. Using data ranging from ancient skulls and artifacts to brain imaging, primatology, and child development studies, this book traces how new cognitive abilities gave rise to new behaviors. For instance, autobiographical memory, the ability to project ourselves backward and forward in time, gave Homo sapiens a competitive advantage. However, it also led to comprehension of mortality, spurring belief in an alternative to death. Torrey details the neurobiological sequence that explains why the gods appeared when they did, connecting archaeological findings including clothing, art, farming, and urbanization to cognitive developments. This book does not dismiss belief but rather presents religious belief as an inevitable outcome of brain evolution. Providing clear and accessible explanations of evolutionary neuroscience, Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods will shed new light on the mechanics of our deepest mysteries.
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231544863
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 338
Book Description
Religions and mythologies from around the world teach that God or gods created humans. Atheist, humanist, and materialist critics, meanwhile, have attempted to turn theology on its head, claiming that religion is a human invention. In this book, E. Fuller Torrey draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to propose a startling answer to the ultimate question. Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods locates the origin of gods within the human brain, arguing that religious belief is a by-product of evolution. Based on an idea originally proposed by Charles Darwin, Torrey marshals evidence that the emergence of gods was an incidental consequence of several evolutionary factors. Using data ranging from ancient skulls and artifacts to brain imaging, primatology, and child development studies, this book traces how new cognitive abilities gave rise to new behaviors. For instance, autobiographical memory, the ability to project ourselves backward and forward in time, gave Homo sapiens a competitive advantage. However, it also led to comprehension of mortality, spurring belief in an alternative to death. Torrey details the neurobiological sequence that explains why the gods appeared when they did, connecting archaeological findings including clothing, art, farming, and urbanization to cognitive developments. This book does not dismiss belief but rather presents religious belief as an inevitable outcome of brain evolution. Providing clear and accessible explanations of evolutionary neuroscience, Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods will shed new light on the mechanics of our deepest mysteries.
The Image of the Unseen God
Author: Thomas E. Hosinski
Publisher: Catholicity in an Evolving Uni
ISBN: 9781626982598
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The Image of the Unseen God develops a novel understanding of God and God's action compatible with the teachings of Jesus, the Christian tradition, and contemporary science.
Publisher: Catholicity in an Evolving Uni
ISBN: 9781626982598
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The Image of the Unseen God develops a novel understanding of God and God's action compatible with the teachings of Jesus, the Christian tradition, and contemporary science.
Made in the Image of God
Author: Reid A Ashbaucher
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781513623818
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 236
Book Description
Made in the Image of God is a book that provides key concepts for understanding the nature and personhood of God and mankind, while providing deeper insights into how we as human beings relate to God physically, emotionally and spiritually in a metaphysical way, both now and in the future. Within this study, there are discussions on such topics as The Nature of God, The Nature of Mankind, The Trinity, and Jesus Christ as God and Man, while providing concepts that will help open the door to understanding God's revelation concerning himself, as revealed through the Scriptures. One reader commented: "After fifty years of being a Christian and doing lots of Bible study, this book gave me the clearest understanding of the Trinity and their interaction with me." Made in the Image of God is good resource material for supplementing studies in: Bible, Theology, Apologetics, Anthropology, Metaphysics or Philosophy of Religion.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781513623818
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 236
Book Description
Made in the Image of God is a book that provides key concepts for understanding the nature and personhood of God and mankind, while providing deeper insights into how we as human beings relate to God physically, emotionally and spiritually in a metaphysical way, both now and in the future. Within this study, there are discussions on such topics as The Nature of God, The Nature of Mankind, The Trinity, and Jesus Christ as God and Man, while providing concepts that will help open the door to understanding God's revelation concerning himself, as revealed through the Scriptures. One reader commented: "After fifty years of being a Christian and doing lots of Bible study, this book gave me the clearest understanding of the Trinity and their interaction with me." Made in the Image of God is good resource material for supplementing studies in: Bible, Theology, Apologetics, Anthropology, Metaphysics or Philosophy of Religion.
Evolution, Games, and God
Author: Martin A. Nowak
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674075536
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 398
Book Description
According to the reigning competition-driven model of evolution, selfish behaviors that maximize an organism’s reproductive potential offer a fitness advantage over self-sacrificing behaviors—rendering unselfish behavior for the sake of others a mystery that requires extra explanation. Evolution, Games, and God addresses this conundrum by exploring how cooperation, working alongside mutation and natural selection, plays a critical role in populations from microbes to human societies. Inheriting a tendency to cooperate, argue the contributors to this book, may be as beneficial as the self-preserving instincts usually thought to be decisive in evolutionary dynamics. Assembling experts in mathematical biology, history of science, psychology, philosophy, and theology, Martin Nowak and Sarah Coakley take an interdisciplinary approach to the terms “cooperation” and “altruism.” Using game theory, the authors elucidate mechanisms by which cooperation—a form of working together in which one individual benefits at the cost of another—arises through natural selection. They then examine altruism—cooperation which includes the sometimes conscious choice to act sacrificially for the collective good—as a key concept in scientific attempts to explain the origins of morality. Discoveries in cooperation go beyond the spread of genes in a population to include the spread of cultural transformations such as languages, ethics, and religious systems of meaning. The authors resist the presumption that theology and evolutionary theory are inevitably at odds. Rather, in rationally presenting a number of theological interpretations of the phenomena of cooperation and altruism, they find evolutionary explanation and theology to be strongly compatible.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674075536
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 398
Book Description
According to the reigning competition-driven model of evolution, selfish behaviors that maximize an organism’s reproductive potential offer a fitness advantage over self-sacrificing behaviors—rendering unselfish behavior for the sake of others a mystery that requires extra explanation. Evolution, Games, and God addresses this conundrum by exploring how cooperation, working alongside mutation and natural selection, plays a critical role in populations from microbes to human societies. Inheriting a tendency to cooperate, argue the contributors to this book, may be as beneficial as the self-preserving instincts usually thought to be decisive in evolutionary dynamics. Assembling experts in mathematical biology, history of science, psychology, philosophy, and theology, Martin Nowak and Sarah Coakley take an interdisciplinary approach to the terms “cooperation” and “altruism.” Using game theory, the authors elucidate mechanisms by which cooperation—a form of working together in which one individual benefits at the cost of another—arises through natural selection. They then examine altruism—cooperation which includes the sometimes conscious choice to act sacrificially for the collective good—as a key concept in scientific attempts to explain the origins of morality. Discoveries in cooperation go beyond the spread of genes in a population to include the spread of cultural transformations such as languages, ethics, and religious systems of meaning. The authors resist the presumption that theology and evolutionary theory are inevitably at odds. Rather, in rationally presenting a number of theological interpretations of the phenomena of cooperation and altruism, they find evolutionary explanation and theology to be strongly compatible.
The Evolving God
Author: J. David Pleins
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1623562473
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 194
Book Description
Offers a new appreciation of Darwin as a religion thinker and a better understanding of his positive contributions to the study of religion.
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1623562473
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 194
Book Description
Offers a new appreciation of Darwin as a religion thinker and a better understanding of his positive contributions to the study of religion.
Prayers to an Evolutionary God
Author: William Cleary
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
ISBN: 1594734208
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 199
Book Description
Provides the requisite knowledge and practical guidelines for some of the most common counseling situations. Today's rabbis, in addition to being spiritual leaders of their congregations, are also expected to be competent counselors to members of their community. Yet rabbis often feel inadequately prepared for the difficult challenges of their counseling role. To many, rabbinic counseling appears deceptively simple, requiring no more than good intuition, fair judgment and sincere empathy. Good counseling, in reality, is a complex process requiring a combination of knowledge, skill, self-awareness and an understanding of human dynamics. This groundbreaking book—written specifically for community rabbis and religious counselors—reflects the wisdom of seasoned professionals, who provide clear guidelines and sensible strategies for effective rabbinic counseling.
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
ISBN: 1594734208
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 199
Book Description
Provides the requisite knowledge and practical guidelines for some of the most common counseling situations. Today's rabbis, in addition to being spiritual leaders of their congregations, are also expected to be competent counselors to members of their community. Yet rabbis often feel inadequately prepared for the difficult challenges of their counseling role. To many, rabbinic counseling appears deceptively simple, requiring no more than good intuition, fair judgment and sincere empathy. Good counseling, in reality, is a complex process requiring a combination of knowledge, skill, self-awareness and an understanding of human dynamics. This groundbreaking book—written specifically for community rabbis and religious counselors—reflects the wisdom of seasoned professionals, who provide clear guidelines and sensible strategies for effective rabbinic counseling.
God and the Evolving Universe
Author: James Redfield
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101144076
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 287
Book Description
In a world racked by violence and conflict, James Redfield and Michael Murphy—leading cocreators of today's spiritual boom—present a message of hope and a vision for the future. It is no accident, they argue, that the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have witnessed a revolution in new human capacities. Daily we hear and read about supernormal athletic feats; clairvoyant perception; lives transformed by meditative practices; healing through prayer-and we ourselves experience these things. The authors contend that thousands of years of human striving have delivered us to this very moment, in which each act of self-development is creating a new stage in planetary evolution—and the emergence of a human species possessed of vastly expanded potential.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101144076
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 287
Book Description
In a world racked by violence and conflict, James Redfield and Michael Murphy—leading cocreators of today's spiritual boom—present a message of hope and a vision for the future. It is no accident, they argue, that the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have witnessed a revolution in new human capacities. Daily we hear and read about supernormal athletic feats; clairvoyant perception; lives transformed by meditative practices; healing through prayer-and we ourselves experience these things. The authors contend that thousands of years of human striving have delivered us to this very moment, in which each act of self-development is creating a new stage in planetary evolution—and the emergence of a human species possessed of vastly expanded potential.
The New God-image
Author: Edward F. Edinger
Publisher: Chiron Publications
ISBN: 0933029985
Category : Image of God
Languages : en
Pages : 229
Book Description
C.G. Jung saw in the cultural history of Western man a progressive evolution of its God-image. During the last ten years of his life, he wrote a series of remarkable letters about the new God-image which is now emerging through the discoveries of depth psychology. Edinger discusses fourteen of these letters with respect to the epistemological premises--modern man's new awareness of subjectivity; the paradoxical Godthe nature of the new God--image as a union of opposites; and the continuing incarnation--how the new God-image is born in individual men and women.
Publisher: Chiron Publications
ISBN: 0933029985
Category : Image of God
Languages : en
Pages : 229
Book Description
C.G. Jung saw in the cultural history of Western man a progressive evolution of its God-image. During the last ten years of his life, he wrote a series of remarkable letters about the new God-image which is now emerging through the discoveries of depth psychology. Edinger discusses fourteen of these letters with respect to the epistemological premises--modern man's new awareness of subjectivity; the paradoxical Godthe nature of the new God--image as a union of opposites; and the continuing incarnation--how the new God-image is born in individual men and women.