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In Defense of Married Priesthood: A Sociotheological Investigation of Catholic Clerical Celibacy (Routledge Studies in the Sociology of Religion)
by Vivencio O. BallanoThis book offers an analysis of the sociological, historical, and cultural factors that lie behind mandatory clerical celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church and examines the negative impact of celibacy on the Catholic priesthood in our contemporary age. Drawing on sociological theory and secondary qualitative data, together with Church documents, it contends that married priesthood has always existed in some form in the Catholic Church and that mandatory universal celibacy is the product of cultural and sociological contingencies, rather than sound doctrine. With attention to a range of problems associated with priestly celibacy, including sexual abuse, clerical shortages, loneliness, and spiritual sloth, In Defense of Married Priesthood argues that the Roman Catholic Church should permit marriage to the priesthood in order to respond to the challenges of our age. Presenting a sociologically informed alternative to the popular theological perspectives on clerical celibacy, this book defends the notion of the married priesthood as legitimate means of living the vocation of Catholic priesthood—one which is eminently fitting for the contemporary world. It will therefore appeal to scholars and students of religion, theology, and sociology.
In Defense of Married Priesthood: A Sociotheological Investigation of Catholic Clerical Celibacy (Routledge Studies in the Sociology of Religion)
by Vivencio O. BallanoThis book offers an analysis of the sociological, historical, and cultural factors that lie behind mandatory clerical celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church and examines the negative impact of celibacy on the Catholic priesthood in our contemporary age. Drawing on sociological theory and secondary qualitative data, together with Church documents, it contends that married priesthood has always existed in some form in the Catholic Church and that mandatory universal celibacy is the product of cultural and sociological contingencies, rather than sound doctrine. With attention to a range of problems associated with priestly celibacy, including sexual abuse, clerical shortages, loneliness, and spiritual sloth, In Defense of Married Priesthood argues that the Roman Catholic Church should permit marriage to the priesthood in order to respond to the challenges of our age. Presenting a sociologically informed alternative to the popular theological perspectives on clerical celibacy, this book defends the notion of the married priesthood as legitimate means of living the vocation of Catholic priesthood—one which is eminently fitting for the contemporary world. It will therefore appeal to scholars and students of religion, theology, and sociology.
Defending and Defining the Faith: An Introduction to Early Christian Apologetic Literature
by D.H. WilliamsIn Early Christian Apologetics, D.H. Williams offers a comprehensive presentation of Christian apologetic literature from the second to the fifth century, considering each writer within the intellectual context of the day. Williams argues that most apologies were not directed at a pagan readership. In most cases, he says, ancient apologetics had a double object: to instruct the Christian and to persuade weak Christians or non-Christians who were sympathetic to Christian claims. Traditionally, scholars of apologetics have focused on the context of persecution in the pre-Constantinian period. By following the links in the intellectual trajectory up though the early fifth century, Williams prompts deeper reflection on the process of Christian self-definition in late antiquity. Taken cumulatively, he finds, apologetic literature was in fact integral to the formation of the Christian identity in the Roman world.
Jews and the Wine Trade in Medieval Europe: Principles and Pressures (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization)
by Haym SoloveitchikAlthough Jews were at the centre of commercial activity in medieval Europe, a talmudic ban on any wine touched by a Gentile prevented them from engaging in the lucrative wine trade. Wine was consumed in vast quantities in the Middle Ages, and the banks of the Rhineland hosted some of the finest vineyards in northern Europe. German Jews were, until the thirteenth century, a merchant class. How could they abstain from trading in one of the region’s major commodities? In time, they ruled that it was permissible to accept wine in payment of debt, but forbade trading in it, and they maintained that ban throughout the Middle Ages. Further study in the twelfth century, however, led Talmudists to discover that Jews were only forbidden to profit from trading in Gentile wine if they dealt with idolaters, but that trade with Christians and Muslims was permitted. Nevertheless, the German community refused to take advantage of this clear licence. Using Jewish and Gentile sources, this study probes the sources of this powerful taboo. In describing the complex ways in which deeply held cultural values affect Jews’ engagement in the economy of the surrounding society, this book also illustrates the law of unintended consequences—how the ban on Gentile wine led both to a major Jewish contribution to German viticulture and to the involvement of Jews in moneylending, with all its tragic consequences.
The Jews of Provence and Languedoc (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization)
by Ram Ben-ShalomThis exhaustive history of Provençal Jewry examines the key aspects of Jewish life in Provence—cultural, religious, political, economic, and literary—over some 1,500 years. The Jewish response to the Albigensian Crusade, the annexation of Languedoc by the Kingdom of France, and other historical events was an unprecedented cultural florescence that was to have far-reaching and enduring consequences. Crucially, it was in Provence that philosophical and scientific works were first translated from Arabic to Hebrew, allowing the Jews of Christian Europe to absorb and assimilate the achievements of the Jews of Muslim Spain. The emergence in Provence of the Maimonidean-Aristotelian philosophical school sent spiritual shock waves throughout the Jewish world, and it was also in Provence that the first esoteric teachings of kabbalah emerged. But cultural innovations went beyond the religious and philosophical: secular Hebrew poetry written by Jewish troubadors offered a glimpse of Jewish merrymaking, romanticism, and eroticism that drew criticism from the rabbis, and even allowed women’s voices to be assertively raised in the public sphere. First published in Hebrew in 2017 to scholarly acclaim, this is a seminal examination of the crucial role of the Jews of Provence in shaping medieval Jewish culture in the Mediterranean basin.
Muslim Women between Community and Individual Rights: Legal Pluralism and Marriage in South Africa (Gender, Justice and Legal Feminism #4)
by Fatima MukaddamThis book presents an in-depth exploration of the intricate negotiations of married Muslim women within Cape Town’s Muslim communities, navigating the complexities of legal pluralism governed by Muslim Personal Law (MPL). Spanning historical epochs from colonialism to the democratic era, it argues that MPL’s informal status perpetuates patriarchal norms, especially in the domain of marriage. It critically examines the consequences of the non-recognition of Muslim marriages within the civil legal framework and underscores the ambiguous intersections of MPL with broader legal systems, which leaves women in a precarious legal state overshadowed by religious doctrines.Adopting a gender perspective and an interdisciplinary approach that combines political science, sociology, and the law, the book reveals the historical roots of legal pluralism, while also shedding light on the political strategies that have perpetuated gender-stratified citizenship. Despite all the democratic promises, legal pluralism persists, contributing to gender disparities, and the book critically examines the government’s reluctance to address the marginalisation of Muslim women, especially through the lens of the proposed Muslim Marriages Bill (MMB).This book is essential reading for scholars in the fields of law, sociology, and gender studies, offering critical insights into the intersections of legal systems, religion, and gender dynamics within Muslim communities in Cape Town.
Commercialisation of Religion in South Africa: A Pentecostal Approach
by Mookgo Solomon Kgatle Jonas Sello Thinane Chammah J. KaundaAspects of the 2017 Final Report of the South African Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) have drawn strong criticism, particularly from South African scholars, politicians and the public. The criticism is largely regarding the constitutionality of its recommendation, which calls for regulation of the Religion to combat its abuse and commercialization. Scholars have criticized the CRL Rights Commission for hastening its investigation and releasing the final report without having a substantive understanding of what is meant by the commercialization of religion, and consequently the unconstitutional implications of the recommendation, to regulate religion. A close reading of this critique has pointed to the urgent need to assemble a cumulative body of research that examines and advances understanding of what is meant by the commercialization of religion. Accordingly, this book gathers scholarly contributionswhich offer valuable insights into the basics of what is meant by the commercialization of religion. Contributors examine this phenomenon from the historical roots to the manifestation in the contemporary world, particularly in South Africa.
Democracy Needs Religion
by Hartmut RosaWhat role does religion play in modern societies? Is it merely an anachronism that hinders our economic growth? Is it a kind of superstition that people should be left to enjoy in private but should refrain from discussing in public? It is no secret that the Christian churches in Western societies have massive problems – quite apart from the recent scandals. Shrinking congregations are just one sign of their diminishing relevance. But what would happen to democracy if the resonance of religion were to fade entirely? Leading sociologist Hartmut Rosa addresses this fundamental question in a way that makes us think afresh about religion and the role it plays in our contemporary democratic societies. He argues that religion fosters a culture of dialogue, listening and reflection that allows us to form connections with others and experience the world as meaningful. This, in turn, helps citizens cultivate a democratic sensibility that can serve as an anchor in unstable times. With his characteristic clarity and insight, Rosa analyses our contemporary societies and dares to ponder what would happen if the centuries-old reservoir of wisdom embedded in religion were to be lost in an ultra-modern age.
Rehumanizing Muslim Subjectivities: Postcolonial Geographies, Postcolonial Ethics (Routledge Research in Postcolonial Literatures)
by Aroosa KanwalRehumanizing Muslim Subjectivities: Postcolonial Geographies, Postcolonial Ethics is a timely and urgent monograph, allowing us to imagine what it feels like to be the victim of genocide, abuse, dehumanization, torture and violence, something which many Muslims in Palestine, Kashmir, Pakistan, Myanmar, Syria, Iraq and China have to endure. Most importantly, the book emphasizes the continued relevance of creative literature’s potential to intervene in and transform our understanding of a conceptual and political field, as well as advanced technologies of power and domination. The book makes a substantial theoretical contribution by drawing on wide-ranging angles and dimensions of contemporary drone warfare and its related catastrophes, postcolonial ethics in relation to the thanatopolitics of slow violence, dehumanization and the politics of death. Against the backdrop of such institutionalized and diverse acts of violence committed against Muslim communities, I call the postcolonial Muslim world ‘geographies of dehumanization’. The book investigates how ongoing legacies of contemporary forms of injustice and denial of subjecthood are represented, staged and challenged in a range of postcolonial anglophone Muslim texts, thereby questioning the idea of postcolonial ethics. One of the selling points of this book is the chapters on fictional representations by Muslim Myanmar and Uyghur writers as, to the best of my knowledge, no critical work or single authored book is available on Myanmar and Uyghur literature to date.
Words and images : a study in theological discourse
by E. L. MascallNonsense to debate whether God exists or even whether a sure answer to this is possible: for the questions themselves are literally non-sense, have no meaning whatever - so say a number of influential contemporary thinkers. And it is a new challenge, far more radical than those of plain atheism or agnosticism which for centuries have been met and answered by Christian apologists. This new line of attack has been welcomed by Christian philosophers for the stimulus it has given them to examine more closely than the before the status and nature of their utterances. Himself deeply engaged in the thick of this modern controversy, Dr. Mascall here pursues it further and in addition assesses some of the results stemming from it. He marshals the sometimes complex arguments of each size with such clarity that the non-specialist reader with a taste for philosophical discussion will rejoice in being able to grasp them, just as he will be delighted by the author's flashes of very pointed humour at the expense of his opponents. No one who wishes to keep abreast of these recent philosophical developments will want to miss this most readable contribution to them.
Enjoy Life Forever!-an Interactive Bible Course
by Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New YorkNearly all of us have questions about life, suffering, death, and the future. We are also concerned about day-to-day matters, such as making a living or having a happy family. Many people find that the Bible not only helps them answer life’s big questions but also gives them practical advice for daily living. For example, it teaches families how to be truly happy. It offers advice on how to deal with stress and how to enjoy our work. You will learn what the Bible teaches about these topics and much more. You may come to agree that “all Scripture [everything in the Bible] is . . . beneficial.”—2 Timothy 3:16.
Walking Meditations: To find a place of peace, wherever you are (Meditations)
by Danielle NorthCultivate mindfulness and bring your mind and body in sync with this beautiful book of walking meditations.Walking meditation, also known as Kinhin meditation, is widely practiced in many forms of Buddhism, blending the physical experience of walking with the focused mindfulness of a meditative state. This can be done anywhere, from a few steps at home to a short walk on a bustling street, or a longer hike in the countryside.Walking while meditating boosts awareness, improves sleep quality, offers mental clarity and facilitates a mind-body connection. It is a practice you can develop each time you leave the house, to help you refocus and come back to yourself.This beautifully illustrated book will guide you through the process of finding inner peace while on the move, with a selection of meditations for every season, long and short walks in both a natural and an urban setting, and meditations for creativity, calm and focus. Walking Meditations will help you use your surroundings as a meditative tool so you can restore your energy, come back into your senses and find calm in your day-to-day life.Contents include:10-minute mood boostComing off auto-pilotWalking with your sensesExtended meditations for every season
Catholic Spectacle and Rome's Jews: Early Modern Conversion and Resistance
by Dr Emily MichelsonA new investigation that shows how conversionary preaching to Jews was essential to the early modern Catholic Church and the Roman religious landscapeStarting in the sixteenth century, Jews in Rome were forced, every Saturday, to attend a hostile sermon aimed at their conversion. Harshly policed, they were made to march en masse toward the sermon and sit through it, all the while scrutinized by local Christians, foreign visitors, and potential converts. In Catholic Spectacle and Rome’s Jews, Emily Michelson demonstrates how this display was vital to the development of early modern Catholicism.Drawing from a trove of overlooked manuscripts, Michelson reconstructs the dynamics of weekly forced preaching in Rome. As the Catholic Church began to embark on worldwide missions, sermons to Jews offered a unique opportunity to define and defend its new triumphalist, global outlook. They became a point of prestige in Rome. The city’s most important organizations invested in maintaining these spectacles, and foreign tourists eagerly attended them. The title of “Preacher to the Jews” could make a man’s career. The presence of Christian spectators, Roman and foreign, was integral to these sermons, and preachers played to the gallery. Conversionary sermons also provided an intellectual veneer to mask ongoing anti-Jewish aggressions. In response, Jews mounted a campaign of resistance, using any means available.Examining the history and content of sermons to Jews over two and a half centuries, Catholic Spectacle and Rome’s Jews argues that conversionary preaching to Jews played a fundamental role in forming early modern Catholic identity.
The Theory of the Four Stages of Liberation in Pāli Literature
by Amrita NandaThis book investigates the origins and development of the theory of four stages of liberation in Pāli literature. This theory is an important soteriological cartography in early Buddhism, particularly Theravāda Buddhism. Amrita Nanda challenges the traditional interpretation of the four stages by recognizing the impact of the changing socio-religious factors on the theory’s origins and subsequent development. Based primarily on the Pali literary sources, this study utilizes sometimes-overlooked aspects of these texts. This book first traces the origins of each stage individually; then, it traces the formation of the theory and its subsequent development.
The Oxford Handbook of Community Singing (Oxford Handbooks)
by Esther M. Morgan-Ellis, Kay NortonThe Oxford Handbook of Community Singing embraces an open-ended interpretation of socio-musical practices that can be described with the term community singing. The volume exemplifies community singing as an interdisciplinary field of study that encompasses diverse methodologies and objects of inquiry, and in the process brings together recent research from the fields that have historically engaged with the practice of group singing, including group dynamics, ethnomusicology, music history, music education, music therapy, community music, church music, music performance, sociology, political science, Latin American and North American studies, media studies, embodied psychology, theology, and philosophy. Chapters are divided into eight interdisciplinary sections: "Media and the Imagination of Community", "Singing in Place-Based Communities", "The Practitioner's Perspective", "Identity: Values, Ethnicity, and Inherited Culture", "Identity: Politics, Patriotism, and Assimilation", "Transgressing Borders, Seeking Asylum", "Singing and Political Action", and "New Paradigms". Each is prefaced with an introduction that traces the common threads running through the methodologically and topically diverse chapters that examine culturally specific narrow instances of community singing, each confined to a given time and place, in significant detail. The chapters explore community singing as one of two phenomena: the practice of singing as community--the utilization of collective song by communities of place or preference, and the singing of community into existence--the creation or identification of a new community, through singing, that did not exist before. Both practices can profoundly affect participants. The Handbook considers why communities are motivated to sing, what their activities mean, and how practitioners can improve the experience of singing together.
The Oxford Handbook of Community Singing (Oxford Handbooks)
The Oxford Handbook of Community Singing embraces an open-ended interpretation of socio-musical practices that can be described with the term community singing. The volume exemplifies community singing as an interdisciplinary field of study that encompasses diverse methodologies and objects of inquiry, and in the process brings together recent research from the fields that have historically engaged with the practice of group singing, including group dynamics, ethnomusicology, music history, music education, music therapy, community music, church music, music performance, sociology, political science, Latin American and North American studies, media studies, embodied psychology, theology, and philosophy. Chapters are divided into eight interdisciplinary sections: "Media and the Imagination of Community", "Singing in Place-Based Communities", "The Practitioner's Perspective", "Identity: Values, Ethnicity, and Inherited Culture", "Identity: Politics, Patriotism, and Assimilation", "Transgressing Borders, Seeking Asylum", "Singing and Political Action", and "New Paradigms". Each is prefaced with an introduction that traces the common threads running through the methodologically and topically diverse chapters that examine culturally specific narrow instances of community singing, each confined to a given time and place, in significant detail. The chapters explore community singing as one of two phenomena: the practice of singing as community--the utilization of collective song by communities of place or preference, and the singing of community into existence--the creation or identification of a new community, through singing, that did not exist before. Both practices can profoundly affect participants. The Handbook considers why communities are motivated to sing, what their activities mean, and how practitioners can improve the experience of singing together.
A Gift Called Gracy
by Lida Basson'A Gift Called Gracy' is a book that the Lord asked me to write and as I stepped out into obedience to write it, He showed me exactly what He wanted me to share. It's a true story of my Faith journey with the Lord through a difficult season in my life. A journey where I discovered a much deeper relationship with the Lord that I didn't even knew existed. Although I grew up as a minister's child, I experienced the Holy Spirit for the very first time at the age of 30 and discovered that Jesus is still doing the same miracles that He did back in the Bible. I realised He had so much more for me and that He wanted me to walk in the fullness of the power of His Holy Spirit. In this book I share my personal Holy Spirit Encounters with the Lord that will inspire anyone that's wondering if Jesus is real and if the Holy Spirit really exists. If you love the Lord and love animals, this book will warm your heart as you experience a touch of the Holy Spirit and realise that Jesus wants to have a much deeper, personal relationship with all of us.
Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath
by Carlo GinzburgWeaving early accounts of witchcraft—trial records, ecclesiastical tracts, folklore, and popular iconography—into new and startling patterns, Carlo Ginzburg presents in Ecstasies compelling evidence of a hidden shamanistic culture that flourished across Europe and in England for thousands of years.
Life After Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart
by Brian D. MclarenWhat does faith look like when cynicism seems more plausible?What does hope look like when hope seems irrational?What does love look like when hate becomes more popular?In recent years, author and activist Brian McLaren has sensed a widespread emotional shift among growing numbers of people. More and more friends, colleagues, students, and readers confess their sense of futility, their feelings of frustration bordering on despair. They feel that human civilization has passed certain tipping points and that a tide of doom is inexorably rising. This feeling creates a deep inner divide, a tension between a sincere and hopeful commitment to action for the common good on the one hand, and on the other, a feeling that no actions can prevent the arrival of an undesirable or even dystopian future.Life After Doom is a sober analysis of how things stand in relation to climate breakdown, and a deeply insightful exploration of the challenge of living well, maintaining resilience and growing in wisdom and love in the face of nations, ecosystems, economies, religions, and other institutions in disarray. Brian McLaren is the author of Faith After Doubt and Do I Stay Christian? and is a leading and authoritative voice at the intersection of religious faith and contemporary culture.'A book of rare wisdom, genuinely profound in depth and scope'DIANA BUTLER BASS
Islam and Environmental Ethics (Elements in Islam and Science)
by null Muhammad Yaseen GadaThis Element explores environmental ethics in Islam. Its core argument is that Islamic culture and civilization are rich in environmental concerns; Islam has unique considerations and directions about what sort of human-nature relationship there should be. Muslim environmental commentators have explored basic environmental or eco-ethical principles that are deeply embedded in the Qur'an and Sunnah. Protecting and conserving the environment are not only moral duties but also an obligation in Islam. The Islamic environmental ethical system offers both conceptual paradigms and operational components to realize environmental justice and sustainable development.
God and the Problem of Evidential Ambiguity (Elements in the Problems of God)
by null Max Baker-HytchWhen it comes to what many of us think of as the deepest questions of existence, the answers can seem difficult to make out. This difficulty, or ambiguity, is the topic of this Element. The Element begins by offering a general account of what evidential ambiguity consists in and uses it to try to make sense of the idea that our world is religiously ambiguous in some sense. It goes on to consider the questions of how we ought to investigate the nature of ultimate reality and whether evidential ambiguity is itself a significant piece of evidence in the quest.
Monotheism and Fundamentalism: Prevalence, Potential, and Resilience (Elements in Religion and Monotheism)
by null Rik PeelsThis Element explores the relation between monotheism and fundamentalism. It does so from both an empirical perspective and a more theoretical one that combines theological and philosophical insights. The empirical part addresses how as a matter of fact, particularly quantitively, monotheism and fundamentalism relate to one another. The more theoretical part studies the relation between the two by considering the doctrine of God and the issue of exclusion, theories of revelation, and ethics. Finally, the book considers whether monotheism has particular resources that can be employed in mitigating the consequences of or even altogether preventing fundamentalism. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Documents of the Christian Church
by Henry Bettenson Chris MaunderThis selection of writings from the most important moments in the history of Christianity has become established as a classic reference work, providing insights into 2000 years of Christian theological and political debate. While retaining the original material selected by Henry Bettenson, Chris Maunder has added a substantial section of more recent writings. These illustrate the Second Vatican Council; the theologies of liberation; Church and State from 'Thatcher's Britain' to Communist Eastern Europe; Black, feminist, and ecological theology; ecumenism; and inter-faith dialogue. The emphasis on moral debate in the contemporary churches is reflected in selections discussing questions about homosexuality, divorce, AIDS, and in-vitro fertilization, amongst other issues. This further expanded fourth edition brings the anthology up-to-date with a new section looking at issues facing the twenty-first century churches. This includes extracts exploring the churches' responses to questions of social justice, international politics, trade and debt, environmental change, and technological development. New material also covers the global growth of Christianity, the progress of Christian unity, and mission in multi-faith and postmodern societies.
Follow Me, Akhi: The Online World of British Muslims
by Hussein KesvaniWhat does it mean to be Muslim in Britain today? If the media is anything to go by, it has something to do with mosques, community leaders, whether you wear a veil, and what your views on religious extremists are. But as all our lives become increasingly entwined with our online presence, British Muslims are taking to social media to carve their own narratives and tell their own stories, challenging stereotypes along the way. Follow Me, Akhi explores how young Muslims in Britain are using the internet to determine their own religious identity, both within their communities and as part of the country they live in. Entering a world of Muslim dating apps, social media influencers, online preachers, and LGBTQ and ex-Muslim groups, journalist Hussein Kesvani explores how British Islam has evolved into a multi-dimensional cultural identity that goes well beyond the confines of the mosque. He shows how a new generation of Muslims who have grown up in the internet age use blogs, vlogging, and tweets to define their religion on their terms -- something that could change the course of 'British Islam' forever.
Global Sufism: Boundaries, Narratives and Practices
by Francesco Piraino and Mark SedgwickSufism is a growing and global phenomenon, far from the declining relic it was once thought to be. This book brings together the work of fourteen leading experts to explore systematically the key themes of Sufism's new global presence, from Yemen to Senegal via Chicago and Sweden. The contributors look at the global spread and stance of such major actors as the Ba 'Alawiyya, the 'Afropolitan' Tijaniyya, and the G?len Movement. They map global Sufi culture, from Rumi to rap, and ask how global Sufism accommodates different and contradictory gender practices. They examine the contested and shifting relationship between the Islamic and the universal: is Sufism the timeless and universal essence of all religions, the key to tolerance and co-existence between Muslims and non-Muslims? Or is it the purely Islamic heart of traditional and authentic practice and belief? Finally, the book turns to politics. States and political actors in the West and in the Muslim world are using the mantle and language of Sufism to promote their objectives, while Sufis are building alliances with them against common enemies. This raises the difficult question of whether Sufis are defending Islam against extremism, supporting despotism against democracy, or perhaps doing both.