Ancient Religions, Modern Politics

Download Ancient Religions, Modern Politics PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691173346
Total Pages : 562 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Ancient Religions, Modern Politics by : Michael A. Cook

Download or read book Ancient Religions, Modern Politics written by Michael A. Cook and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2016-12-06 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why Islam is more political and fundamentalist than other religions Why does Islam play a larger role in contemporary politics than other religions? Is there something about the Islamic heritage that makes Muslims more likely than adherents of other faiths to invoke it in their political life? If so, what is it? Ancient Religions, Modern Politics seeks to answer these questions by examining the roles of Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity in modern political life, placing special emphasis on the relevance—or irrelevance—of their heritages to today's social and political concerns. Michael Cook takes an in-depth, comparative look at political identity, social values, attitudes to warfare, views about the role of religion in various cultural domains, and conceptions of the polity. In all these fields he finds that the Islamic heritage offers richer resources for those engaged in current politics than either the Hindu or the Christian heritages. He uses this finding to explain the fact that, despite the existence of Hindu and Christian counterparts to some aspects of Islamism, the phenomenon as a whole is unique in the world today. The book also shows that fundamentalism—in the sense of a determination to return to the original sources of the religion—is politically more adaptive for Muslims than it is for Hindus or Christians. A sweeping comparative analysis by one of the world's leading scholars of premodern Islam, Ancient Religions, Modern Politics sheds important light on the relationship between the foundational texts of these three great religious traditions and the politics of their followers today.

Before Religion

Download Before Religion PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300154178
Total Pages : 328 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (1 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Before Religion by : Brent Nongbri

Download or read book Before Religion written by Brent Nongbri and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2013-01-22 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examining a wide array of ancient writings, Brent Nongbri dispels the commonly held idea that there is such a thing as ancient religion. Nongbri shows how misleading it is to speak as though religion was a concept native to pre-modern cultures.

Politics as Religion

Download Politics as Religion PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400827213
Total Pages : 275 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Politics as Religion by : Emilio Gentile

Download or read book Politics as Religion written by Emilio Gentile and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Emilio Gentile, an internationally renowned authority on fascism and totalitarianism, argues that politics over the past two centuries has often taken on the features of religion, claiming as its own the prerogative of defining the fundamental purpose and meaning of human life. Secular political entities such as the nation, the state, race, class, and the party became the focus of myths, rituals, and commandments and gradually became objects of faith, loyalty, and reverence. Gentile examines this "sacralization of politics," as he defines it, both historically and theoretically, seeking to identify the different ways in which political regimes as diverse as fascism, communism, and liberal democracy have ultimately depended, like religions, on faith, myths, rites, and symbols. Gentile maintains that the sacralization of politics as a modern phenomenon is distinct from the politicization of religion that has arisen from militant religious fundamentalism. Sacralized politics may be democratic, in the form of a civil religion, or it may be totalitarian, in the form of a political religion. Using this conceptual distinction, and moving from America to Europe, and from Africa to Asia, Gentile presents a unique comparative history of civil and political religions from the American and French Revolutions, through nationalism and socialism, democracy and totalitarianism, fascism and communism, up to the present day. It is also a fascinating book for understanding the sacralization of politics after 9/11.

Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms

Download Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1471114724
Total Pages : 470 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (711 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms by : Gerard Russell

Download or read book Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms written by Gerard Russell and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-11-20 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite its reputation for religious intolerance, the Middle East has long sheltered many distinctive and strange faiths: one regards the Greek prophets as incarnations of God, another reveres Lucifer in the form of a peacock, and yet another believes that their followers are reincarnated beings who have existed in various forms for thousands of years. These religions represent the last vestiges of the magnificent civilizations in ancient history: Persia, Babylon, Egypt in the time of the Pharaohs. Their followers have learned how to survive foreign attacks and the perils of assimilation. But today, with the Middle East in turmoil, they face greater challenges than ever before. In Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms, former diplomat Gerard Russell ventures to the distant, nearly impassable regions where these mysterious religions still cling to survival. He lives alongside the Mandaeans and Ezidis of Iraq, the Zoroastrians of Iran, the Copts of Egypt, and others. He learns their histories, participates in their rituals, and comes to understand the threats to their communities. Historically a tolerant faith, Islam has, since the early 20th century, witnessed the rise of militant, extremist sects. This development, along with the rippling effects of Western invasion, now pose existential threats to these minority faiths. And as more and more of their youth flee to the West in search of greater freedoms and job prospects, these religions face the dire possibility of extinction. Drawing on his extensive travels and archival research, Russell provides an essential record of the past, present, and perilous future of these remarkable religions.

The Stillborn God

Download The Stillborn God PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 030747271X
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (74 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Stillborn God by : Mark Lilla

Download or read book The Stillborn God written by Mark Lilla and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2008-09-23 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brilliant account of religion's role in the political thinking of the West, from the Enlightenment to the close of World War II.The wish to bring political life under God's authority is nothing new, and it's clear that today religious passions are again driving world politics, confounding expectations of a secular future. In this major book, Mark Lilla reveals the sources of this age-old quest-and its surprising role in shaping Western thought. Making us look deeper into our beliefs about religion, politics, and the fate of civilizations, Lilla reminds us of the modern West's unique trajectory and how to remain on it. Illuminating and challenging, The Stillborn God is a watershed in the history of ideas.

Identity, Politics and the Study of Islam

Download Identity, Politics and the Study of Islam PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Culture on the Edge
ISBN 13 : 9781781794890
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (948 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Identity, Politics and the Study of Islam by : Matt Sheedy

Download or read book Identity, Politics and the Study of Islam written by Matt Sheedy and published by Culture on the Edge. This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The volume brings together a variety of scholars both inside and outside of Islamic Studies in order to grapple with such questions as: what, if anything, is unique about Islamic Studies?

The Everything World's Religions Book

Download The Everything World's Religions Book PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1440500363
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (45 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Everything World's Religions Book by : Kenneth Shouler

Download or read book The Everything World's Religions Book written by Kenneth Shouler and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-03-18 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An easy-to-use and comprehensive guide that explores the intriguing dogma and rituals, cultural convictions, and often-checkered backgrounds and histories of the world's religions.

Religions of the Ancient World

Download Religions of the Ancient World PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780674015173
Total Pages : 750 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (151 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Religions of the Ancient World by : Sarah Iles Johnston

Download or read book Religions of the Ancient World written by Sarah Iles Johnston and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2004-11-30 with total page 750 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This groundbreaking, first basic reference work on ancient religious beliefs collects and organizes available information on ten ancient cultures and traditions, including Greece, Rome, and Mesopotamia, and offers an expansive, comparative perspective on each one.

Imagine No Religion

Download Imagine No Religion PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Fordham University Press
ISBN 13 : 0823271226
Total Pages : 328 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (232 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Imagine No Religion by : Carlin A. Barton

Download or read book Imagine No Religion written by Carlin A. Barton and published by Fordham University Press. This book was released on 2016-10-03 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What do we fail to see when we force other, earlier cultures into the Procrustean bed of concepts that organize our contemporary world? In Imagine No Religion, Carlin A. Barton and Daniel Boyarin map the myriad meanings of the Latin and Greek words religio and thrēskeia, frequently and reductively mistranslated as “religion,” in order to explore the manifold nuances of their uses within ancient Roman and Greek societies. In doing so, they reveal how we can conceptualize anew and speak of these cultures without invoking the anachronistic concept of religion. From Plautus to Tertullian, Herodotus to Josephus, Imagine No Religion illuminates cultural complexities otherwise obscured by our modern-day categories.

Sacred Kingship in World History

Download Sacred Kingship in World History PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231555407
Total Pages : 653 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (315 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Sacred Kingship in World History by : A. Azfar Moin

Download or read book Sacred Kingship in World History written by A. Azfar Moin and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2022-05-10 with total page 653 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sacred kingship has been the core political form, in small-scale societies and in vast empires, for much of world history. This collaborative and interdisciplinary book recasts the relationship between religion and politics by exploring this institution in long-term and global comparative perspective. Editors A. Azfar Moin and Alan Strathern present a theoretical framework for understanding sacred kingship, which leading scholars reflect on and respond to in a series of essays. They distinguish between two separate but complementary religious tendencies, immanentism and transcendentalism, which mold kings into divinized or righteous rulers, respectively. Whereas immanence demands priestly and cosmic rites from kings to sustain the flourishing of life, transcendence turns the focus to salvation and subordinates rulers to higher ethical objectives. Secular modernity does not end the struggle between immanence and transcendence—flourishing and righteousness—but only displaces it from kings onto nations and individuals. After an essay by Marshall Sahlins that ranges from the Pacific to the Arctic, the book contains chapters on religion and kingship in settings as far-flung as ancient Egypt, classical Greece, medieval Islam, Mughal India, modern European drama, and ISIS. Sacred Kingship in World History sheds new light on how religion has constructed rulership, with implications spanning global history, religious studies, political theory, and anthropology.

Coping with Defeat

Download Coping with Defeat PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691219788
Total Pages : 606 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (912 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Coping with Defeat by : Jonathan Laurence

Download or read book Coping with Defeat written by Jonathan Laurence and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-06-22 with total page 606 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The surprising similarities in the rise and fall of the Sunni Islamic and Roman Catholic empires in the face of the modern state Coping with Defeat presents a historical panorama of the Islamic and Catholic political-religious empires and exposes striking parallels in their relationship with the modern state. Drawing on interviews, site visits, and archival research in Turkey, North Africa, and Western Europe, Jonathan Laurence demonstrates how, over hundreds of years, both Sunni and Catholic authorities experienced three major shocks and displacements—religious reformation, the rise of the nation-state, and mass migration. As a result, Catholic institutions eventually accepted the state’s political jurisdiction and embraced transnational spiritual leadership as their central mission. Laurence reveals an analogous process unfolding across the Sunni Muslim world in the twenty-first century. Identifying institutional patterns before and after political collapse, Laurence shows how centralized religious communities relinquish power at different rates and times. Whereas early Christianity and Islam were characterized by missionary expansion, religious institutions forged in the modern era are primarily defensive in nature. They respond to the simple but overlooked imperative to adapt to political defeat while fighting off ideological challenges to their spiritual authority. Among Laurence’s findings is that the disestablishment of Islam—the doing away with Islamic affairs ministries in the Muslim world—would harm, not help with, reconciliation to the rule of law. Examining upheavals in geography, politics, and demography, Coping with Defeat considers how centralized religions make peace with the loss of prestige.

Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction

Download Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199545723
Total Pages : 177 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (995 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction by : Adam J. Silverstein

Download or read book Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction written by Adam J. Silverstein and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-01-21 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did Islam arise from the obscurity of seventh century Arabia to the headlines of the 21st century? This introduction answers that question; exploring the cultural & religious diversity of Islamic history. Adam Silverstein explains its significance & considers its impact on Islamic society today.

Peoples of an Almighty God

Download Peoples of an Almighty God PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780300140590
Total Pages : 575 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (45 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Peoples of an Almighty God by : Jonathan Goldstein

Download or read book Peoples of an Almighty God written by Jonathan Goldstein and published by . This book was released on 2002-02-01 with total page 575 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some ancient civilizations held fast to the belief that their god or gods were stronger than all other heavenly powers. For a nation conquered by another power, the question of why their God allowed their defeat had to be faced. Goldstein looks at how different ancient civilizations reconciled their beliefs with the realities of history.

World Religions

Download World Religions PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Checkmark Books
ISBN 13 : 9780816012893
Total Pages : 528 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (128 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis World Religions by : Geoffrey Parrinder

Download or read book World Religions written by Geoffrey Parrinder and published by Checkmark Books. This book was released on 1985-01-01 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Looks at the history and beliefs of ancient and modern religions, including Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

American Theocracy

Download American Theocracy PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101218843
Total Pages : 585 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (12 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis American Theocracy by : Kevin Phillips

Download or read book American Theocracy written by Kevin Phillips and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2006-03-21 with total page 585 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An explosive examination of the coalition of forces that threatens the nation, from the bestselling author of American Dynasty In his two most recent bestselling books, American Dynasty and Wealth and Democracy, Kevin Phillips established himself as a powerful critic of the political and economic forces that rule—and imperil—the United States, tracing the ever more alarming path of the emerging Republican majority’s rise to power. Now Phillips takes an uncompromising view of the current age of global overreach, fundamentalist religion, diminishing resources, and ballooning debt under the GOP majority. With an eye to the past and a searing vision of the future, Phillips confirms what too many Americans are still unwilling to admit about the depth of our misgovernment.

The Righteous Mind

Download The Righteous Mind PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0307455777
Total Pages : 530 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (74 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Righteous Mind by : Jonathan Haidt

Download or read book The Righteous Mind written by Jonathan Haidt and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2013-02-12 with total page 530 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The #1 bestselling author of The Anxious Generation and acclaimed social psychologist challenges conventional thinking about morality, politics, and religion in a way that speaks to conservatives and liberals alike—a “landmark contribution to humanity’s understanding of itself” (The New York Times Book Review). Drawing on his twenty-five years of groundbreaking research on moral psychology, Jonathan Haidt shows how moral judgments arise not from reason but from gut feelings. He shows why liberals, conservatives, and libertarians have such different intuitions about right and wrong, and he shows why each side is actually right about many of its central concerns. In this subtle yet accessible book, Haidt gives you the key to understanding the miracle of human cooperation, as well as the curse of our eternal divisions and conflicts. If you’re ready to trade in anger for understanding, read The Righteous Mind.

Religion in America

Download Religion in America PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231526407
Total Pages : 249 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (315 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Religion in America by : Denis Lacorne

Download or read book Religion in America written by Denis Lacorne and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2011-08-02 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Denis Lacorne identifies two competing narratives defining the American identity. The first narrative, derived from the philosophy of the Enlightenment, is essentially secular. Associated with the Founding Fathers and reflected in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers, this line of reasoning is predicated on separating religion from politics to preserve political freedom from an overpowering church. Prominent thinkers such as Voltaire, Thomas Paine, and Jean-Nicolas Démeunier, who viewed the American project as a radical attempt to create a new regime free from religion and the weight of ancient history, embraced this American effort to establish a genuine "wall of separation" between church and state. The second narrative is based on the premise that religion is a fundamental part of the American identity and emphasizes the importance of the original settlement of America by New England Puritans. This alternative vision was elaborated by Whig politicians and Romantic historians in the first half of the nineteenth century. It is still shared by modern political scientists such as Samuel Huntington. These thinkers insist America possesses a core, stable "Creed" mixing Protestant and republican values. Lacorne outlines the role of religion in the making of these narratives and examines, against this backdrop, how key historians, philosophers, novelists, and intellectuals situate religion in American politics.