Religion as Social Vision PDF Download

Author: Mark Juergensmeyer
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780520043015
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Author: Stephen S. Bush
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199387419
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
Winner of the Gustave O. Arlt Award in the Humanities Three understandings of the nature of religion--religion as experience, symbolic meaning, and power--have dominated scholarly discussions, in succession, for the past hundred years. Proponents of each of these three approaches have tended to downplay, ignore, or actively criticize the others. But why should the three approaches be at odds? Religion as it is practiced involves experiences, meanings, and power, so students of religion should attend to all three. Furthermore, theorists of religion should have an account that carefully conceptualizes all three aspects, without regarding any of them as more basic than the others. Visions of Religion provides just such an account. Stephen S. Bush examines influential proponents of the three visions, arguing that each approach offers substantial and lasting contributions to the study of religion, although each requires revision. Bush rehabilitates the concepts of experience and meaning, two categories that are much maligned these days. In doing so, he shows the extent to which these categories are implicated in matters of social power. As for power, the book argues that the analysis of power requires attention to meaning and experience. Visions of Religion accomplishes all this by articulating a social practical theory of religion that can account for all three aspects, even as it incorporates them into a single theoretical framework.

Author: Corwin E. Smidt
Publisher: Baylor University Press
ISBN: 0918954851
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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While Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone (2000) highlighted the notion of volunteerism, little attention has been paid to religion's role in generating social capital--an ironic omission since religion constitutes the most common form of voluntary association in America today. Featuring essays by prominent social scientists, this is the first book-length, systematic examination of the relationship between religion and social capital and what effects religious social capital has on democratic life in the United States.

Author: Philip Wexler
Publisher: Herder & Herder
ISBN: 9780824550387
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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He has been described in many ways, including a prophet, a scholar, and the most influential Rabbi in modern history. Regardless, the influence of Jewish Mystical Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, popularly known as the "Lubavitcher Rebbe," cannot be underestimated. Among his many accomplishments, he was an advisor to every U.S. president from Richard Nixon to George H.W. Bush and received a Congressional Gold Medal posthumously. In one of the first works of its kind, authors Philip Wexler, Michael Wexler, and Eli Rubin explore the neglected social vision of a leader whose movement and followers span more than 50 countries and 250 colleges and universities worldwide. The book provides a window into the previously undisclosed wisdom of the Rebbe. Modern Prophet is a tour de force that provides striking and revolutionary insights into a breathtaking array of topics championed by the Rebbe. Treating each with an equal amount of passion, Rabbi Schneerson focused on such wide-ranging concerns as public education, social justice, prison reform, technology, feminism, green energy, and, of course, the hope and possibility of a new and "mystical" society.

Author: Timothy Keller
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525954155
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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We live in an age of skepticism. Our society places such faith in empirical reason, historical progress, and heartfelt emotion that it’s easy to wonder: Why should anyone believe in Christianity? What role can faith and religion play in our modern lives? In this thoughtful and inspiring new book, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, Making Sense of God shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives.

Author: S. Thakur
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230374441
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
This book is a philosophical examination of the relationship between religion and social justice. Its main thesis is that, since the primary purpose of religion is the moral and spiritual transformation of human nature, it ought not to be construed as a direct instrument of social justice on earth - as it is by Liberation theologians, for example, as well as by many liberal Christians and Jews. Indirectly, however, religion may well be a pre-condition of social justice. For it can be argued that, without the counteracting effects of the moral and spiritual values prescribed by religion, the liberal vision of individual rights and social justice may be self-defeating. Humanity is best served if this liberal vision is counterbalanced by the completely contrary utopia enshrined in the biblical idea of the kingdom of God, and its equivalents in the other great religions of the world.

Author: Robert N. McCauley
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199341540
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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A comparison of the cognitive foundations of religion and science and an argument that religion is cognitively natural and that science is cognitively unnatural.

Author: George Lundskow
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1506319602
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 465

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Book Description
Using a lively narrative, The Sociology of Religion is an insightful text that investigates the facts of religion in all its great diversity, including its practices and beliefs, and then analyzes actual examples of religious developments using relevant conceptual frameworks. As a result, students actively engage in the discovery, learning, and analytical processes as they progress through the text. Organized around essential topics and real-life issues, this unique text examines religion both as an object of sociological analysis as well as a device for seeking personal meaning in life. The book provides sociological perspectives on religion while introducing students to relevant research from interdisciplinary scholarship. Sidebar features and photographs of religious figures bring the text to life for readers. Key Features Uses substantive and truly contemporary real-life religious issues of current interest to engage the reader in a way few other texts do Combines theory with empirical examples drawn from the United States and around the world, emphasizing a critical and analytical perspective that encourages better understanding of the material presented Features discussions of emergent religions, consumerism, and the link between religion, sports, and other forms of popular culture Draws upon interdisciplinary literature, helping students appreciate the contributions of other disciplines while primarily developing an understanding of the sociology of religion Accompanied by High-Quality Ancillaries! Instructor Resources on CD contain chapter outlines, summaries, multiple-choice questions, essay questions, and short answer questions as well as illustrations from the book. C Intended Audience This core text is designed for upper-level undergraduate students of Sociology of Religion or Religion and Politics.

Author: Eric J. Lott
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110855925
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
Since its founding by Jacques Waardenburg in 1971, Religion and Reason has been a leading forum for contributions on theories, theoretical issues and agendas related to the phenomenon and the study of religion. Topics include (among others) category formation, comparison, ethnophilosophy, hermeneutics, methodology, myth, phenomenology, philosophy of science, scientific atheism, structuralism, and theories of religion. From time to time the series publishes volumes that map the state of the art and the history of the discipline.

Author: L. K. Solomon
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1479794171
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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This book recognizes the problem areas and concerns of each institution or social force. We must recognize, acknowledge, support and encourage the primary function of each institution and will recognize and establish a working relationship with the leaders of each institution and will come to an agreement with them on institutional goals and objectives. The presence of social institutions from ancient times and the universal presence of most of the main types of them in all known societies point to the fact that societies cannot exist without them. This obvious indispensability indicates fundamental causes or impelling reasons for their existence. They must perform functions which are essential to the life of societies. They must be characteristic of human nature as these express themselves in social contacts and situations among associated human behavior which are called social institutions. As a newly formed corporation UNOCOM: Unity of the Community will be engaged in educational activities of the institutions of society.