Orthodoxy, liberalism, and adaptation : essays on ways of worldmaking in times of change from biblical, historical, and systematic perspectives /
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How does religion cope with changing situations? Are orthodoxy and liberalism really competing strategies? The essays in this volume argue three views. (1)Orthodoxy is not to be seen as the real and original form of a given religion, but as an idealized original form that should be construed as a construction in reaction to changes in time. (2) Over the ages, liberalism - despite its laudable strive for adaptation - has been less successful than generally assumed. This lesson from history can be quite important in view of the adaptation processes for Muslims in Western Europe. (3) Of great importance for the survival of religion seems to be a clear definition of the boundaries of religiously informed practices and ethics. Their recognisability and authenticity shall - when combined with a due lack of obtrusion - be of great influence for the ongoing acceptance of religion(s) in the public domain.
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Proceedings of a symposium held in Feb. 2008 at the Conference Centre "Bovendonck" in southern Netherlands. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. :
9789004209848 :
1566-208X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Dynamics in the history of religions between Asia and Europe : encounters, notions, and comparative perspectives /
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This first volume of the series "Dynamics in the History of Religions" reviews the opening conference of the \'Käte Hamburger Kolleg" at the Ruhr-University Bochum. The first section concentrates on the formation of what later come to be termed \'world religions\' through inter-religious contact, the second part focuses on the significance of interreligious contacts also during their expansive phase. Methodological problems of multi-perspective research and especially the lack of a general religious terminology are discussed in the third chapter, while the final papers outline various aspects of secularization and (re-)sacralisation in the age of globalisation as an effect of multicultural contacts in a world wide web of religious interferences.
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1 online resource (viii, 534 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004225350 :
1878-8106 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
'The Heathen in his Blindness...', Asia, the West and the Dynamic of Religion.
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Today, most intellectuals agree that (a) Christianity has profoundly influenced western culture; (b) members from different cultures experience many aspects of the world differently; (c) the empirical and theoretical study of both culture and religion emerged within the West. The present study argues that these truisms have implications for the conceptualization of religion and culture. More specifically, the thesis is that non-western cultures and religions differ from the descriptions prevalent in the West, and it is also explained why this has been the case. The author proposes novel analyses of religion, the Roman 'religio', the construction of 'religions' in India, and the nature of cultural differences. Religion is important to the West because the constitution and the identity of western culture is tied to the dynamic of Christianity as a religion.
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1 online resource. :
9789004378865
Looking beyond? : shifting views of transcendence in philosophy, theology, art, and politics /
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Religion is undergoing a transformation in current Western society. In addition to organized religions, there is a notable movement towards spirituality that is not associated with any institutions but in which experiences and notions of transcendence are still important. Transcendence can be described as God, the absolute, Mystery, the Other, the other as alterity, depending on one's worldview. In this book, these shifts in the views of transcendence in various areas of culture such as philosophy, theology, art, and politics are explored on the basis of a fourfold heuristic model (proposed by Wessel Stoker). In conversation with this model, various authors, established scholars in their fields, explain the meaning and role, or the critique, of transcendence in the thought of contemporary thinkers, fields of discourse, or cultural domains. Looking Beyond? will stimulate further research on the theme of transcendence in contemporary culture, but can also serve as a textbook for courses in various disciplines, ranging from philosophy to theology, cultural studies, literature, art, and politics.
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1 online resource (527 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789401207522 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Narrative cultures and the aesthetics of religion /
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"Narrative Cultures and the Aesthetics of Religion presents the aesthetics of narrative in religious contexts by approaching narrative acts as situated modes of engaging with reality, equally shaped by the immersive character of the stories told and the sensory qualities of their performances. Introducing narrative cultures as an integrative framework of analysis, the volume builds a bridge between classical content-based approaches to narrative sources and the aesthetic study of religions as constituted by sensory and mediated practices. Studying stories in conjunction with the role performative acts of storytelling play in the cultivation of the senses, the contributors explore the efficacy of storytelling formats in narrative cultures from Antiquity until today, in regions and cultures across the globe".
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004421677
Diversity in the structure of Christian reasoning : interpretation, disagreement, and world Christianity /
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Diversity in the Structure of Christian Reasoning examines the effect of Christian commitments on rationality. When Christians read scripture, traditions supply concepts that shape what counts as normal, good, and true. This book offers an account of how different communities produce divergent readings of the Bible. It considers two examples from World Christianity, first a Bakongo community in central Africa, and then a Tamil bishop in southern India. Each case displays a relation between tradition and reason that reconfigures the hermeneutical picture developed by Martin Heidegger and Hans-Georg Gadamer. To see what transpires when readers decide about a correct interpretation, this book offers theologians and scholars of religion a fresh strategy that keeps in view the global character of modern Christianity.
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1 online resource (x, 242 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004298057 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Handbook of hyper-real religions /
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Today a new trend is clearly discernable, that of 'hyper-real religions'. These are innovative religions and spiritualities that mix elements of religious traditions with popular culture. If we imagine a spectrum of intensity of the merging of popular culture with religion, we might find, at one end, groups practicing Jediism appropriated from the Star Wars movies, Matrixism from the Matrix trilogy, and neo-pagan rites based on stories from The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series. At the other end of the spectrum, members of mainstream religions, such as Christianity can be influenced or inspired by, for example, The Da Vinci Code . Through various case studies, this book studies the on- and off-line religious/spiritual consumption of these narratives through a social scientific approach.
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1 online resource (456 pages) :
9789004226944 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Theology in Intercultural Design /
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Among the consequences of the all engulfing process of globalisation is the experience that not only it promotes interdependence among peoples, folks, cultures and religions, but it also creates problems and tensions. The assignment of a thoughtful and practice-oriented accompanying of this development poses itself subsequently. From this background different lectures are being conducted in different places; research initiatives as well as projects are started and executed while several publications are featuring. Visible here is the fact that although there abound rich reservoirs of knowledge, there is still no clarity as to the contents and the theoretical and methodical contrasts that are yet to be examined. Zu den Folgen des um sich greifenden Globalisierungsprozesses, zählt die Erfahrung, dass er nicht nur die Interpendenz unter Menschen, Völkern, Kulturen und Religionen vorantreibt, sondern auch Probleme und Spannungen auslöst. Diese Situation ist denkerisch und praxisorientiert aufzuschließen. Es wurden an verschiedenen Standorten Lehrveranstaltungen durchgeführt, Forschungsprojekte in Angriff genommen und Publikationen vorgelegt. Auffällig hierbei ist: Obwohl der erreichte Wissensstand bereits reichhaltig ist, besteht keine Klarheit hinsichtlich der zu untersuchenden Inhalte und der theoretischen und methodischen Gegensätze.
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1 online resource (x, 258 pages) : illustrations. :
9789042029705 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Handbook of new religions and cultural production /
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The cultural products of new religions and spiritualities are frequently ignored or dismissed within academia, often stemming from a hesitation to acknowledge these movements as genuine. This volume explores the impact of new religions upon cultural production, exemplifying the theological and spiritual principles of particular movements and demonstrating their substantial impact on wider society. Contributions explore the realms of music, architecture, food, art, books, films, video games, and more. This scholarship will be of interest to those who wish to explore the gamut of modern religious expression, and those who wish to broaden their knowledge of the spiritual origins of human culture.
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Includes index. :
1 online resource (xxix, 789 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004226487 :
1874-6691 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Ecclesiastical landscapes in medieval Europe : an archaeological perspective /
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By presenting case studies from across Eastern and Western Medieval Europe, this volume aims to open up a Europe-wide debate on the variety of relations and contexts between ecclesiastical buildings and their surrounding landscapes between the 5th and 15th centuries AD.
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Also issued in print: 2000. :
1 online resource (246 pages) : illustrations (black and white, and colour) :
Specialized. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9781789695427 (ebook) :