Handbook of leaving religion /
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The Handbook of Leaving Religion introduces a neglected field of research with the aim to outline previous and contemporary research, and suggest how the topic of leaving religion should be studied in the future. The handbook consists of three sections: 1) Major debates about leaving religion; 2) Case studies and empirical insights; and 3) Theoretical and methodological approaches. Section one provides the reader with an introduction to key terms, historical developments, major controversies and significant cases. Section two includes case studies that illustrate various processes of leaving religion from different perspectives, and each chapter provides new empirical insights. Section three discusses, presents and encourages new approaches to the study of leaving religion.
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Includes index. :
1 online resource. :
9789004331471
Coping with Evil in Religion and Culture : Case Studies /
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The various Christian, Muslim, traditional (African), and secular (Western) ways of imagining and coping with evil collected in this volume have several things in common. The most crucial perhaps and certainly the most striking aspect is the problem of defining the nature or characteristics of evil as such. Some argue that evil has an essence that remains constant, whereas others say its interpretation depends on time and place. However much religious and secular interpretations of evil may have changed, the human search for sense and meaning never ends. Questions of whom to blame and whom to address-God, the devil, fate, bad luck, or humans-remain at the center of our explanations and our strategies to comprehend, define, counter, or process the evil we do and the evil done to us by people, God, nature, or accident. Using approaches from cultural anthropology, religious studies, theology, philosophy, psychology, and history, the contributors to this volume analyze how several religious and secular traditions imagine and cope with evil.
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"This volume is part of the project on The problem of evil in religious traditions: origins, forms and coping, organized in cooperation with the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Royal Tropical Institute at Amsterdam on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the Vrije Universiteit and the exhibition "Religion & evil" in the Tropenmuseum (Amsterdam Museum of Tropical Ethnology)"--Title page verso. :
1 online resource (266 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789401205375 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
A new model of religious conversion : beyond network theory and social constructivism /
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Based on the analysis of 52 conversion narratives to various religious groups, A New Model of Religious Conversion utilizes case studies for comparison of converts' backgrounds, network influence, and conversion narratives. The author convincingly illustrates a \'fit\' between the converts' background and the religion they convert to, such as between disorganized family backgrounds and highly structured religions. Conversely, those from highly structured backgrounds often convert to more \'open\' groups. The book also makes it clear that not all conversions are influenced by networks or align themselves with a social constructivist view of a conversion as an \'account.\' Taking converts' trajectories seriously, the author makes a strong case for the application of biographical sociology to the study of conversion and (American) sociology overall.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004266506 :
1542-1279 ;
Ecclesial identification beyond late modern individualism? : a case study of life strategies in growing late modern churches /
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Why do some late modern churches grow, counter to the trend in Western Europe? Why do people identify with such churches - and does identification lead to morally transforming commitments beyond late modern consumerism? This case study investigates these questions based on 'real life' or empirical research, which include both the level of individual life strategies and organisational practice in two growing European churches. This innovative and interdisciplinary study draws on recent findings in theology, moral philosophy, sociology and organisational psychology. Its findings may prove useful not only for scholars in these disciplines, it may also enrich the reflection of practitioners who seek to perform the difficult art of transformational leadership in a late modern context.
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Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--Norwegian School of Theology, 2009. :
1 online resource (xx, 385 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [373]-381) and index. :
9789004184800 :
1876-2247 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.