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Practicing safe sects : religious reproduction in scientific and philosophical perspective /
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Where do gods come from - and what is the cost of bearing them? In Practicing Safe Sects F. LeRon Shults argues for the importance of having "the talk" about the causes and consequences of participating in religious sects. To survive and thrive as a social species, we humans are likely to continue needing some kind of sects (as well as sex) for quite some time. But can we learn how to practice safe sects? Can we live together in healthy and productive social networks without reproducing the superstitious beliefs and segregative behaviors that are engendered and nurtured by shared ritual engagement with imagined supernatural agents? In this provocative and timely book, Shults provides scientific and philosophical resources for answering these questions.
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1 online resource (xi, 306 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004360952 :
1877-8542 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Studies in Modern Religions, Religious Movements and the Bābī-Bahā'ī Faiths.
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In this book leading scholars contribute comprehensive studies of the religious movements in the late 18th and 19th centuries: the Hassidic movements in Judaism, the Mormon religion, in Christianity, and the Bābī-Bahā'ī faiths in Shī'te Islam. The studies, introduced by the editor's analysis of the underlying common source of this religious activity, lead the reader into a rich world of messianism, millenniarism and eschatological thought fueling the intense modern developments in the three major monotheistic religions.
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1 online resource. :
9789047405573
Syncretistic Religious Communities in the Near East : Collected Papers of the International...
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This volume deals with Islamic sects in the Near East such as the Alevis (Turkey), Druzes (Libanon), Alawis (Syria), Ahl-i Haqq (Iran, Iraq) and Shabak (Iraq), which have in common a syncretistic system of belief with a strong Shi'ite influence, as well as secrecy and endogamy. The contributions in this volume focus on the present situation of these communities, their relation to mainstream Islam, their involvement in national and ethnic politics, aspects of faith and rituals, the relevance of sacred texts, modes of religious and social transformation, and the recent revival of Alevism. In view of the new visibility of these formerly "hidden" sects and their increasing social and political importance, this volume provides important information for all scholars interested in the religious and political situation of the region.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004378988 :
0169-8834 ;
Households, Sects, and the Origins of Rabbinic Judaism /
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This book suggests a new approach to the social history of Jewish religious movements in the Second Temple and early Rabbinic periods. It argues that most of these movements and their traditions emerged within the context of complex interaction between traditional families and disciple circles. The first part of the book examines the development of Jewish religious movements during the Second Temple period. It culminates with the discussion of the Dead Sea Sect, which is analyzed as the first unambiguous example of a movement shifting from a social structure based on families to a social structure based on disciple circles. The second part of the book discusses the history of pharisaic and early rabbinic movements from a similar perspective. Topics covered in the book will be of interest to scholars of Judaism and Early Christianity.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047407768
9789004144477
Esotericism in African American religious experience : "there is a mystery"... /
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In Esotericism in African American Religious Experience: "There is a Mystery" ... , Stephen C. Finley, Margarita Simon Guillory, and Hugh R. Page, Jr. assemble twenty groundbreaking essays that provide a rationale and parameters for Africana Esoteric Studies (AES): a new trans-disciplinary enterprise focused on the investigation of esoteric lore and practices in Africa and the African Diaspora. The goals of this new field - while akin to those of Religious Studies, Africana Studies, and Western Esoteric Studies - are focused on the impulses that give rise to Africana Esoteric Traditions (AETs) and the ways in which they can be understood as loci where issues such as race, ethnicity, and identity are engaged; and in which identity, embodiment, resistance, and meaning are negotiated.
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1 online resource (xxi, 406 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 361-387) and index. :
9789004283428 :
1871-1405 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Japanese Rinzai Zen Buddhism : Myōshinji, a living religion /
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Zen Buddhist ideas and practices in many ways are unique within the study of religion, and artists, poets and Buddhists practitioners worldwide have found inspiration from this tradition. Until recent years, representations of Zen Buddhism have focussed almost entirely on philosophical, historical or "spiritual" aspects. This book investigates the contemporary living reality of the largest Japanese Rinzai Zen Buddhist group, Myōshinji. Drawing on textual studies and ethnographic fieldwork, Jørn Borup analyses how its practitioners use and understand their religion, how they practice their religiosity and how different kinds of Zen Buddhists (monks, nuns, priest, lay people) interact and define themselves within the religious organization. Japanese Rinzai Zen Buddhism portrays a living Zen Buddhism being both uniquely interesting and interestingly typical for common Buddhist and Japanese religiosity.
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Includes bibliographical references (p. [299]-312) and index. :
1 online resource. :
9789047433095 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The social dimension of Shin Buddhism /
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Shin Buddhism (Jōdo Shinshū), although weakened in many ways by secularization, continues to be a stable presence in Japanese society, as is emblematically shown by the very symmetrical position of the Nishi (Honganji-ha) and the Higashi Honganji (Ōtani-ha) head temples in the center of Kyōto, and by the recent projects for their renovation. This book addresses the need for more academic research on Shin Buddhism, and is specifically directed at describing and analyzing distinctive social aspects of this religious tradition in historical and contemporary perspective. The contributions collected here cover a wide range of issues, including the intersection between Shin Buddhism and fields as diverse as politics, education, social movements, economy, culture and the media, social ethics, gender, and globalization.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004193796 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Religious and Intellectual Diversity in the Islamicate World and Beyond Volume II : Essays in Honor of Sarah Stroumsa /
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Religious and Intellectual Diversity in the Islamicate World and Beyond is a collection of essays in honor of Sarah Stroumsa, an eminent scholar who through the years has embodied and advanced the possibility of collaboration across borders. The volume is presented to her by scholars working on the study of the intellectual history of the Middle Ages, the intercultural contact and migration of knowledge in the Islamic world, and many other topics. Contributors: Binyamin Abrahamov, Camilla Adang, Anna Ayse Akasoy, Aleida Assmann, Jan Assmann, Meir M. Bar-Asher, José Bellver, Menachem Ben-Sasson, Haggai Ben-Shammai, Glen W. Bowersock, Rémi Brague, Godefroid de Callataÿ, Jonathan Decter, Michael Ebstein, Hussein Fancy, Carlos Fraenkel, Gil Gambash, Robert Gleave, Miriam Goldstein, Frank Griffel, Jaakko HämeenAnttila, Steven Harvey, Warren Zev Harvey, Meir Hatina, Geoffrey Khan, Gudrun Krämer, Ehud Krinis, Y. Tzvi Langermann, Daniel J. Lasker, Reimund Leicht, Gideon Libson, Menachem Lorberbaum, Maria Mavroudi, Jon McGinnis, Omer Michaelis, Yonatan Moss, David Nirenberg, Sari Nusseibeh, Olaf Pluta, Meira Polliack, James T. Robinson, Marina Rustow, Sabine Schmidtke, Gregor Schwarb, Ahmed El Shamsy, Mark Silk, Uriel Simonsohn, Daniel De Smet, Josef Stern, Guy G. Stroumsa, Sara Sviri, Alexander Treiger, Roy Vilozny, Ronny Vollandt, Elvira Wakelnig, Paul E. Walker, David J. Wasserstein, Tanja Werthmann, Dong Xiuyuan, Arye Zoref.
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1 online resource (792 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004686946
The city of the moon god : religious traditions of Harran /
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This study treats the religious and intellectual history of the city of Harran (Eastern Turkey) from biblical times down to the establishment of Islam. The author starts from the well-known reference in the Qur'an and the early Islamic histories to the people of Harran as Sabians, one of the 'peoples of the book.' The author unravels strands of religious tradition in Harran that run from the old Semitic planetary cults through Hellenistic hermeticism, gnosticism, and Neo-Pythagoreanism and Christian cults to esoteric Islamic sects such as the Sufis and Shiites.
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1 online resource (viii, 232 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 218-224) and index. :
9789004301429 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Russian-Orthodox Tradition and Modernity /
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The book attempts to identify the uniqueness of the Russian-Orthodox religious tradition and to contrast it with two of the characteristics of modern Western society: its particular economic ethics and individualism. Max Weber and Louis Dumont provide the theoretical framework. The first part of the analysis is concerned with the economic ethics among Orthodox Russians, Old Believers and the adherents of various sects in the historical context of Russian society. The second part centres on the place and the kind of individualism in the Orthodox tradition since its beginnings in early monasticism and up to the twentieth century. The comparative perspective does not only shed new light on Russia but also on the development of Western individualism and on the Janus-like features of a traditional culture exposed to modernization.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [208]-218) and index. :
9789047402725 :
0169-8834 ;
A Description of the Character, Manners and Customs of the People of India and of their Institutions, Religious and Civil /
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First published in 1879, A Description of the Character, Manners and Customs of the People of India and of their Institutions, Religious and Civil by the Abbé J.A. Dubois, and translated from French by Rev. G.U. Pope, is arranged into three parts, with each section devoted to various aspects and society of the Indian people who lived in south India of that time. The author, Abbé J.A. Dubois, who was a French missionary, states at the outset that his work is the result of a period of almost eighteen years when he lived amongst the Indian people just the way they did, adopting the indigenous forms of living and clothing - even their prejudices. Thus, he not only familiarized himself with their lifestyle, but also won their confidence which helped him in writing of this book. Thus, his study is based on first-hand experience. For convenience of the readers, the editor's footnotes that provide explanations as well as references and cross-references to Indian scriptures and other texts have contributed to the value of this work. Part I studies the caste system, with its divisions and subdivisions, its origins, and prayers, ceremonies, and beyond. Part II, devoted to Brahmins, examines in detail the four stages of life, the norms and practices that govern them, discussing defilements and remedies, rules governing Brahmin women, Hindu philosophers and many others. Part III focuses on religion and includes the Trimurti, festivals, animal worship, Jains, military system, etc.
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1 online resource (460 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004752559
The messiah of Shiraz : studies in early and middle Babism /
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The 19th century saw an enormous shift in the authority structure of Iranian and Iraqi Twelver Shiʿism, with the victory of a theological school (Usulism) that stressed the power of the clergy. This is well known. What is less well known is that there was a parallel development of authority in the Shaykhi school and its offshoot, the Babi sect. Here, especially in later forms of Babism, the Shiʿite claim to charismatic authority reached its limits in hyperbolic attestations of divinity. The present text is in two parts: a study of how Shaykhism bifurcated into a form close to orthodoxy next to the highly unorthodox Babi movement. Part two examines how Babism changed after the death in 1850 of its founder, the Bāb.
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Based on author's 1979 thesis. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [705]-732) and index. :
9789047443070 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Nuṣayrī-ʻAlawīs : an introduction to the religion, history, and identity of the leading minority in Syria /
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Friedman offers new and updated research on the Nusayrī-'Alawī sect, today a leading group in Syria, covering a variety of aspects and focusing on the Middle Ages. A century after Dussaud's Histoire et religion des Nosairîs (1900), he reviews the history and religion of the sect in the light of old documents used by orientalists in the nineteenth century, documents that became available in the twentieth century, and later sources of the Nuṣayrī-'Alawī sect published most recently in Lebanon. Also studied in depth for the first time is the question of the identity of the sect through the 'Alawī-Sunnī-Shī'ī triangle.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [311]-315) and index. :
9789047441274 :
0929-2403 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Johannine sectarianism in perspective : a sociological, historical, and comparative analysis of temple and social relationships in the Gospel of John, Philo, and Qumran /
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The central aim of the investigation is to evaluate the claim that the Gospel of John was a product of a 'sectarian' milieu. Fuglseth is using methods primarily derived from sociology and the study of new religious movements today. He discusses in particular the 'cult'-model as an alternative to 'sect,' and compares the Johannine texts with texts from two contemporary milieus: Philo and the Dead Sea Scrolls. The thesis is embedded in a comprehensive survey of research and discussions of methods and of the existence of a Johannine community. There are still serious debates going on about the existence and nature of the Johannine group, its 'Jewish' roots and settings, the attitude to the 'Jews' and the 'synagogue', and the two levels of meanings in the Johannine text according to Martyn and Brown. In this situation Fuglseth's investigation is of great current interest and gives new answers to central questions in the Johannine research.
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1 online resource (xiv, 448 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [379]-409) and indexes. :
9789047415626 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Champā : History and Culture of an Indian Colonial Kingdom in the Far East 2nd-16th Century A.D. /
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Champā is a former name of the independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of present-day central and southern Vietnam from approximately second century AD till 1832. This book covers the history of Champā region by covering the developments in the political and religious histories. This book contains the description of the foundation of Champā kingdom, and contains details of various Hindu kingdoms and the histories of Gangaraja, Panduranga and Bhrigu dynasties. It also contains the details of invasion of Champā region by the Annams, Cambodians, and Mongols, followed by the state system adopted in Champā region. The latter half of the book deals with the religious history of Champā, where it covers Buddhism, Shaivism, Vaishnavaism, and other minor Hindu sects, and also discusses the archaeological structures associated with the religious sites.
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1 online resource (604 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004753563
The worldly and heavenly wisdom of 4QInstruction /
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This volume is devoted to 4QInstruction, the last lengthy text of the Dead Sea Scrolls to be officially published. It is also the largest wisdom text of this corpus. The central concern of this study is how this composition should be understood in relation to the sapiential and apocalyptic traditions. Features of 4QInstruction that are examined include its appeal to revelation, its presentation of poverty, and its eschatology. The document's relationship to both 1 Enoch and the Dead Sea sect is also discussed. This study will prove useful to anyone interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the reception of the Jewish wisdom tradition in the Second Temple period, and apocalypticism.
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Revision of the author's thesis (Ph. D.). :
1 online resource (x, 276 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 233-249) and indexes. :
9789004350489 :
0169-9962 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Religion and class in America : culture, history, and politics /
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Class has always played a role in American religion. Class differences in religious life are inevitably felt by both those in the pews and those on the outside looking inches This volume starts a long overdue discussion about how class continues to matter - and perhaps even ways in which it does not - in American religion. Class is indeed important, whether one examines it through analysis of events and documents, surveys and interviews, or participant observation of religious groups. The chapters herein examine class as a reality that is both material and symbolic, individual and corporate. Religion and Class in America examines the myriad ways in which class continues to interact with the theologies, practices, beliefs, and group affiliations of American religion.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047424734 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Ṭuruq and Ṭuruq-Linked Institutions in Nineteenth-Century Egypt : A Historical Study in Organizational Dimensions of Islamic Mysticism /
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Ṭuruq and ṭuruq-linked institutions by Frederick De Jong was first published in 1978. It is largely based on research in public and private archives in Cairo, and on published materials in limited circulation. This study became highly influential in its field. De Jong describes the development of the administration and organization of the ṭuruq and ṭuruq -linked institutions ( takāyā , zawāyā , and shrines) under the shaykhs of the Bakrī family in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Egypt. Central to this administration is the principle of right of qadam , meaning the exclusive right of a ṭarīqa to proselytize and to appear in public in a particular area, if it could be proved that it had been the first to do so.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004449107
9789004449091
The self as symbolic space : constructing identity and community at Qumran /
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This volume investigates critical practices by which the Qumran community constituted itself as a sectarian society. Key to the formation of the community was the reconstruction of the identity of individual members. In this way the "self" became an important symbolic space for the development of the ideology of the sect. Persons who came to experience themselves in light of the narratives and symbolic structures embedded in the community practices would have developed the dispositions of affinity and estrangement necessary for the constitution of a sectarian society. Drawing on various theories of discourse and practice in rhetoric, philosophy, and anthropology, the book examines the construction of the self in two central documents: the Serek ha-Yahad and the Hodayot.
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1 online resource (x, 376 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 353-364) and indexes. :
9789047405153 :
0169-9962 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The concept of time in the Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls /
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The book is concerned with the concept of time in the Bible and in later literature, primarily that of the Judaean Desert sect. By the term "concept of time" the author refers to the entire complex of issues relating to time, as follows from our involvement in the writings of the corpus. The work discusses issues of terminology, substance and ideology that arise from the totality of texts dealing with the subject of time. The conjoining of the eight groups of chapters of the book provides a comprehensive picture of the approach to time in ancient Hebrew literature, beginning with the Bible and concluding with the first century CE, the latest possible time frame for the Scrolls.
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1 online resource (xii, 389 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 375-380) and index. :
9789047401179 :
0169-9962 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.