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Fatalism in American Film Noir: Some Cinematic Philosophy (Page-Barbour Lectures)
Par Robert B. Pippin. 2012
The crime melodramas of the 1940s known now as film noir shared many formal and thematic elements, from unusual camera…
angles and lighting to moral ambiguity and femmes fatales. In this book Robert Pippin argues that many of these films also raise distinctly philosophical questions. Where most Hollywood films of that era featured reflective individuals living with purpose, taking action and effecting desired consequences, the typical noir protagonist deliberates and plans, only to be confronted by the irrelevance of such deliberation and by results that contrast sharply, often tragically, with his or her intentions or true commitments. Pippin shows how this terrible disconnect sheds light on one of the central issues in modern philosophy--the nature of human agency. How do we distinguish what people do from what merely happens to them? Looking at several film noirs--including close readings of three classics of the genre, Fritz Lang’s Scarlet Street, Orson Welles’s The Lady from Shanghai, and Jacques Tourneur’s Out of the Past--Pippin reveals the ways in which these works explore the declining credibility of individuals as causal centers of agency, and how we live with the acknowledgment of such limitations.Textual Intimacy: Autobiography and Religious Identities (Studies in Religion and Culture)
Par Wesley A. Kort. 2012
Given its affinity with questions of identity, autobiography offers a way into the interior space between author and reader, especially…
when writers define themselves in terms of religion. In his exploration of this "textual intimacy," Wesley Kort begins with a theorization of what it means to say who one is and how one's self-account as a religious person stands in relation to other forms of self-identification. He then provides a critical analysis of autobiographical texts by nine contemporary American writers—including Maya Angelou, Philip Roth, and Anne Lamott—who give religion a positive place in their accounts of who they are. Finally, in disclosing his own religious identity, Kort concludes with a meditation on several meanings of the word assumption."This above all: To thine own self be true," is an ideal—or pretense—belonging as much to Hamlet as to the…
carefully choreographed realms of today’s politics and social media. But what if our "true" selves aren’t our "best" selves? Instagram’s curated portraits of authenticity often betray the paradox of our performative selves: sincerity obliges us to be who we actually are, yet ethics would have us be better.Drawing on the writings of Immanuel Kant, Søren Kierkegaard, and Emmanuel Levinas, Howard Pickett presents a vivid defense of "virtuous hypocrisy." Our fetish for transparency tends to allow us to forget that the self may not be worthy of expression, and may become unethically narcissistic in the act of expression. Alert to this ambivalence, these great thinkers advocate incongruent ways of being. Rethinking Sincerity and Authenticity offers an engaging new appraisal not only of the ethics of theatricality but of the theatricality of ethics, contending that pursuit of one’s ideal self entails a relational and ironic performance of identity that lies beyond the pure notion of expressive individualism.Vigilant Faith: Passionate Agnosticism in a Secular World (Studies in Religion and Culture)
Par Daniel Boscaljon. 2013
In Vigilant Faith: Passionate Agnosticism in a Secular World, Daniel Boscaljon takes up the contemporary challenges to faith by skepticism…
and secularism. He proposes a model of faith for believers and unbelievers alike—a passionate agnosticism—that is rooted in a skeptical consciousness. Skepticism and faith are structurally similar, he writes, in that they share an "unknowing" quality. The author argues that vigilance—the act of keeping watch, a spiritual practice in its own right—is as necessary a precondition for the structure of faith as it is for the structure of skepticism. A suspension in uncertainty and an openness to possibility require vigilance, he attests, if faith and skepticism are to avoid the often dogmatic tendencies of both theism and atheism to cling to their own brands of certainty and knowledge.Boscaljon has three aims: to expand the current, post-theistic definitions of God for greater relevance to human beings on an individual and existential level; to integrate skepticism into faith so that it will restore the importance of faith to current theology and recover it from anti-intellectual bias; and to conceptualize the vigilance of faith in such a way that can provide a vocabulary for distinguishing "good faith" from "bad faith." He offers a variety of cultural examples ranging from film to poetry to represent a life of faith and to show how its components come together in practice. As an alternative to the prevailing fundamentalisms in today's world, his book proposes a paradigmatic understanding of faith in which theism, atheism, and agnosticism refuse to differ.The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity
Par James D. Tabor. 2006
Based on a careful analysis of the earliest Christian documents and recent archaeological discoveries, The Jesus Dynasty offers a bold…
new interpretation of the life of Jesus and the origins of Christianity. The story is surprising, controversial, and exciting as only a long-lost history can be when it is at last recovered. In The Jesus Dynasty, biblical scholar James Tabor brings us closer than ever to the historical Jesus. Jesus, as we know, was the son of Mary, a young woman who became pregnant before her marriage to a man named Joseph. The gospels tell us that Jesus had four brothers and two sisters, all of whom probably had a different father than his. He joined a messianic movement begun by his relative John the Baptizer, whom he regarded as his teacher and a great prophet. John and Jesus together filled the roles of the Two Messiahs who were expected at the time: John, as a priestly descendant of Aaron, and Jesus, as a royal descendant of David. Together they preached the coming of the Kingdom of God. Theirs was an apocalyptic movement that expected God to establish his kingdom on earth, as described by the Prophets. The Two Messiahs lived in a time of turmoil as the historical land of Israel was dominated by the powerful Roman Empire. Fierce Jewish rebellions against Rome occurred during Jesus' lifetime. John and Jesus preached adherence to the Torah, or the Jewish Law. But their mission was changed dramatically when John was arrested and then killed. After a period of uncertainty, Jesus began preaching anew in Galilee and challenged the Roman authorities and their Jewish collaborators in Jerusalem. He appointed a Council of Twelve to rule over the twelve tribes of Israel, and among the Twelve he included his four brothers. After Jesus was crucified by the Romans, his brother James -- the "Beloved Disciple" -- took over leadership of the Jesus dynasty. James, like John and Jesus before him, saw himself as a faithful Jew. None of them believed that their movement was a new religion. It was Paul who transformed Jesus and his message through his ministry to the Gentiles. Breaking with James and the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem, Paul preached a message based on his own revelations, which would become Christianity. Jesus became a figure whose humanity was obscured; John became merely a forerunner of Jesus; and James and the others were all but forgotten. James Tabor has studied the earliest surviving documents of Christianity for more than thirty years and has participated in important archaeological excavations in Israel. Drawing on this background, Tabor reconstructs for us the movement that sought the spiritual, social, and political redemption of the Jews, a movement led by one family. The Jesus Dynasty offers an alternative version of Christian origins, one that takes us closer than ever to Jesus and his family and followers. This is a book that will change our understanding of one of the most crucial moments in history.The Hidden Face of God: Science Reveals the Ultimate Truth
Par Gerald L. Schroeder. 2001
Gerald Schroeder, an MIT-trained scientist who has worked in both physics and biology, has emerged in recent years as one…
of the most popular and accessible apostles for the melding of science and religion. He first reconciled science and faith as different perspectives on a single whole in The Science of God. Now, in The Hidden Face of God, Schroeder takes a bold step forward, to show that science, properly understood, provides positive reasons for faith. Recent research in biology, chemistry, physics, and neuroscience contains unmistakable hints about the ultimate nature of reality. Simply put, we now know not only that behind matter lies energy, but also that behind energy lies wisdom. Scientists have touched on this wisdom in the laboratory, and its implications are awesome. From the wisdom encoded in DNA and analyzed by information science, to the wisdom unveiled in the fantastic complexity of cellular life, to the wisdom inherent in human consciousness, The Hidden Face of God offers a tour of the best of modern science. Schroeder makes no attempt to "prove" the existence of God. Yet his interpretations of the work of his fellow scientists touch on life's ultimate mysteries. His wise observations on the organization of organic life, on the power of humans to make sense of their sensory inputs, and on the complexities of the code of DNA all show that life has a direction and purpose that cannot be explained in purely physical terms. Throughout, he addresses three great themes: the question of first causes (i.e., where do the laws of nature come from?); the inseparability of mind and matter; and the philosophical problem of design. To believe that a designer must have been involved, he reminds us, we need not insist on perfection or on our view of perfection in the design. The Hidden Face of God will open a world of science to religious believers, and it will cause skeptics to rethink some of their deepest beliefs.Born Believers: The Science of Children's Religious Belief
Par Justin L. Barrett. 2012
Infants have a lot to make sense of in the world: Why does the sun shine and night fall; why…
do some objects move in response to words, while others won’t budge; who is it that looks over them and cares for them? How the developing brain grapples with these and other questions leads children, across cultures, to naturally develop a belief in a divine power of remarkably consistent traits––a god that is a powerful creator, knowing, immortal, and good—explains noted developmental psychologist and anthropologist Justin L. Barrett in this enlightening and provocative book. In short, we are all born believers. Belief begins in the brain. Under the sway of powerful internal and external influences, children understand their environments by imagining at least one creative and intelligent agent, a grand creator and controller that brings order and purpose to the world. Further, these beliefs in unseen super beings help organize children’s intuitions about morality and surprising life events, making life meaningful. Summarizing scientific experiments conducted with children across the globe, Professor Barrett illustrates the ways human beings have come to develop complex belief systems about God’s omniscience, the afterlife, and the immortality of deities. He shows how the science of childhood religiosity reveals, across humanity, a “natural religion,” the organization of those beliefs that humans gravitate to organically, and how it underlies all of the world’s major religions, uniting them under one common source. For believers and nonbelievers alike, Barrett offers a compelling argument for the human instinct for religion, as he guides all parents in how to effectively encourage children in developing a healthy constellation of beliefs about the world around them.This book examines narratives of individual religious transformation in Western European literature and culture. Religious individuals, themes, experiences and communities…
are widely represented in diverse literature and culture, including literary texts and visual arts and media. Taking the subject of religious transformation as an angle from which to study constructions of religion, gender and race, this book reveals through various case studies what authors, documentary makers, film makers and playwrights consider to be important (possible) shifts between the old and the new, continuities and discontinuities, and the formation of the self. The chapters demonstrate how individual religious transformations are understood to be shaped by various intersections of difference, and point at the need to consider gender as always related to and co-constructing religion and race. This transdisciplinary and intimate study provides a fresh lens through which to examine pressing questions regarding the place and future of religion, gender and race in contemporary Western Europe.Facilitating Counseling Groups: A Leader's Guide For Group-Based Counseling Ministry
Par Brad Hambrick, John Chapman. 2023
Leading a counseling group is different from leading a general discipleship group, even if both exist at the same church.…
A counseling group focuses on a specific need, garners heightened levels of vulnerability about matters of greater sensitivity and requires more skill and intentionality from its leader. When a layperson is well-equipped, this kind of ministry is tremendously rewarding, as they see God multiply the work he did in their life with people walking a similar journey. Brad Hambrick and John Chapman equip lay leaders to be effective in a group-based counseling ministry within the church. By learning how to use their life experiences and a group curriculum to help others overcome a life-dominating struggle of sin or suffering, leaders will learn to share the comfort and hope for change that can only come from God.The Limits of Religious Tolerance
Par Alan Jay Levinovitz. 2016
Religion’s place in American public life has never been fixed. As new communities have arrived, as old traditions have fractured…
and reformed, as cultural norms have been shaped by shifting economic structures and the advance of science, and as new faith traditions have expanded the range of religious confessions within America’s religious landscape, the claims posited by religious faiths—and the respect such claims may demand—have been subjects of near-constant change. In The Limits of Religious Tolerance, Alan Jay Levinovitz pushes against the widely held (and often unexamined) notion that unbounded tolerance must and should be accorded to claims forwarded on the basis of religious belief in a society increasingly characterized by religious pluralism. Pressing at the distinction between tolerance and respect, Levinovitz seeks to offer a set of guideposts by which a democratic society could identify and observe a set of limits beyond which religiously grounded claims may legitimately be denied the expectation of unqualified non-interference.Pax: War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age
Par Tom Holland. 2023
From a &“remarkably gifted historian&” (New York Times), the definitive account of the golden age of Rome -- an ultimate…
superpower at the pinnacle of its greatness The Pax Romana has long been shorthand for the empire&’s golden age. Stretching from Caledonia to Arabia, Rome ruled over a quarter of the world&’s population. It was the wealthiest and most formidable state in the history of humankind. Pax is a captivating narrative history of Rome at the height of its power. From the gilded capital to realms beyond the frontier, historian Tom Holland shows ancient Rome in all its glory: Nero&’s downfall, the destruction of Jerusalem and Pompeii, the building of the Colosseum and Hadrian&’s Wall, the conquests of Trajan. Vividly sketching the lives of Romans both ordinary and spectacular, from slaves to emperors, Holland shows that Roman peace was the fruit of unprecedented military violence. A stunning portrait of Rome&’s glory days, this is the epic history of the Pax Romana.By God's Grace: The Life and Teachings of Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati
Par Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati. 2012
The Singing Guru: Legends and Adventures of Guru Nanak, the First Sikh
Par Kamla K. Kapur. 2015
Part fiction, history, and mythology, this unconventional retelling of the life of divine spiritual master Guru Nanak, founder of the…
Sikh religion and revered by Muslims and Hindus alike, provides an intimate look at the enlightened Guru while bringing his ancient wisdom to a modern audience.From the best-selling author of Ganesha Goes to Lunch and Rumi&’s Tales from the Silk Road comes an original novel about the life and travels of Guru Nanak, a musician, enlightened thinker, and one of the most beloved figures in Eastern spirituality. In this fascinating book, Kamla K. Kapur weaves together facts, legends, folktales, myths, and over forty of Guru Nanak&’s poems—preserved in the Sikh holy book, the Granth Sahib—to form this captivating depiction of the leader&’s life. From being seduced by deadly women to almost getting eaten by cannibals, the exciting account presented in The Singing Guruincludes moral tales without being proselytizing. Factual details are intermingled with fantasy to produce a symbolic portrait in which humor and imagination combine to convey a profound and entertaining spiritual narrative.Gongsheng Across Contexts: A Philosophy of Co-Becoming
Par Bing Song, Yiwen Zhan. 2024
This open access book sheds light on the term gongsheng/kyōsei, which is used in Chinese and Japanese to not only…
translate “symbiosis” in biology but also broadly deployed in philosophical, social and political contexts. It is a cross-contextual attempt to study the foundation of gongsheng/kyōsei as a philosophy of co-becoming, with exploration of its significance for thinking about the planetary challenges of our times.Animals and Religion
Par Dave Aftandilian, Barbara R. Ambros, Aaron S. Gross. 2024
What do animals—other than human animals—have to do with religion? How do our religious ideas about animals affect the lives…
of real animals in the world? How can we deepen our understanding of both animals and religion by considering them together? Animals and Religion explores how animals have crucially shaped how we understand ourselves, the other living beings around us, and our relationships with them.Through incisive analyses of religious examples from around the world, the original contributions to this volume demonstrate how animals have played key roles in every known religious tradition, whether as sacred beings, symbols, objects of concern, fellow creatures, or religious teachers. And through our religious imagination, ethics, and practices, we have deeply impacted animal lives, whether by domesticating, sacrificing, dominating, eating, refraining from eating, blessing, rescuing, releasing, commemorating, or contemplating them. Drawing primarily on perspectives from religious studies and Christian theology, augmented by cutting-edge work in anthropology, biology, philosophy, and psychology, Animals and Religion offers the reader a richer understanding of who animals are and who we humans are. Do animals have emotions? Do they think or use language? Are they persons? How we answer questions like these affects diverse aspects of religion that shape not only how we relate to other animals, but also how we perceive and misperceive each other along axes of gender, race, and (dis)ability.Accessibly written and thoughtfully argued, Animals and Religion will interest anyone who wants to learn more about animals, religion, and what it means to be a human animal.Interpreting the Qur'an: Towards a Contemporary Approach
Par Abdullah Saeed. 2006
How is the Qur'an - central to all Muslim societies - to be understood today in order to meet the…
needs of these societies? Abdullah Saeed, a distinguished Muslim scholar, explores the interpretation of the ethico-legal content of the Qur'an, whilst taking into consideration the changing nature of the modern world.Saeed explores the current debates surrounding the interpretation of the Qur'an, and their impact on contemporary understanding of this sacred text. Discussing the text's relevance to modern issues without compromising the overall framework of the Qur'an and its core beliefs and practices, he proposes a fresh approach, which takes into account the historical and contemporary contexts of interpretation.Inspiring healthy debate, this book is essential reading for students and scholars seeking a contemporary approach to the interpretation of the Qur'anic text.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.Many churches would like to start a counseling ministry, but they don't know where to start. Mobilizing Church-Based Counseling offers…
direction to churches for creating a ministry built around lay-led counseling groups and mentoring. Based on proven models used in his congregation, the author lays out a clear plan to launch a sustainable soul-care ministry that can be replicated in churches of any size. He brings clarity to common points of confusion about church-based counseling and provides guidance on how to provide oversight for lay-led counseling groups and mentoring relationships. Your church can minister the hope of the gospel to the struggles of life--both sin and suffering--without incurring unwise liability or going beyond the capacity of your members. - The first book in the Church-Based Counseling series is designed to help churches mobilize and utilize levels of care from friendship to mentoring to counseling groups. - Discover two flexible models of church-based counseling ministry. One addresses common life struggles (the G4 model) and the other focuses on premarital and marital enrichment. - Designed to fit within a local church and to be implemented by volunteers. - Acknowledges and addresses questions and concerns of liability and ethics of lay counseling as well as the care and well-being of the mentors and leaders. Includes foreword by J. D. GreearFaith Therapy: A Biblical Program for Salvation-Based Counseling in the Church
Par Troy Reiner. 2014
The number of dysfunctional and emotionally hurting people in our society and our churches is rapidly increasing. Even though God…
has called His church to "heal the brokenhearted and set the captive free," the large majority of our pastors and churches are failing to effectively meet this need. The Christian counseling community itself continues to be embroiled in controversy as to what Christian counseling should be and to what extent it should be based on the Bible. The Greek word for salvation in the Bible means more than God's gift of eternal life: it also includes healing and complete wholeness; mind, emotions, will, and spirit in this lifetime. If, as the Bible clearly states, we are saved or made whole by faith, then it only makes sense that salvation by faith should be the foundation of any wholly Christian therapy. "Faith Therapy" provides a new narrative Biblical approach for helping these hurting people that can be easily applied by pastors and implemented in the church, integrates Christian counseling within the context of salvation by faith, applies faith to bring deep psychological healing, and develops methods for using faith to resolve many common, yet deeply-rooted problems.True Spirituality: Becoming a Romans 12 Christian
Par Chip Ingram. 2009
A launching pad for your spiritual journey, this inspiring bookprovides clear, specific, and practical guidelines for becoming a Christian who…
lives like Christ.Christians today live in a world that is activity heavy and relationship light. The result is spiritual emptiness. We struggle to know what God wants from us and for us . . . and we’re unsure what a real relationship with God really looks like. But that was never God’s idea. HIS idea of faith is not about rules or religion— it’s about relationship. That’s where God tells us to start. In Romans 12, God gives us a clear picture of what Christians should look like at the root level. If you’re ready to move from “in” to “all in,” then you’re ready to become a Romans 12 Christian. The next steps of your journey toward true spirituality start here.Leaving Islam, Ex-Muslims and Zemiology
Par Weronika Lenartowicz. 2024
Cases of ex-Muslims in Europe being punished by their former fellow Muslims constitute an unacceptable practice from the standpoint of…
democratic societies in which human rights are respected and individuals have the freedom to choose their religion, or none at all. Ex-Muslims’ fear of punishment by their former community should prompt an open, candid, and measured discussion of the issue.Leaving Islam, Ex-Muslims and Zemiology presents the reasons for and consequences of consciously leaving Islam, based on interviews with 80 ex-Muslims currently living in Germany and Sweden. In their view, many of the practices and beliefs of Islam are harmful and unfair. Many parts of the Islamic world regard apostasy as treason or a crime. As a result, emphasis in the book is shifted from “crime” to “harm” and a thesis is put forward concerning the “decriminalization” of apostasy from the perspective of zemiology. The book highlights how a broader shift of interest in the democratic structures of Europe could allow ex-Muslims to join the discussion on the guaranteed right to religious liberties and freedom of speech in the context of the apostasy law in Islam. This should happen without fear for their own security and without facing potential suppression or social exclusion. It will appeal to scholars with interest in Islam and the conflict between religious values and an individual’s aspirations and needs.