Getting Religion

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Getting Religion

Author : Kenneth L. Woodward
Publisher : Convergent Books
ISBN 13 : 110190741X
Total Pages : 482 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (19 download)

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Book Synopsis Getting Religion by : Kenneth L. Woodward

Download or read book Getting Religion written by Kenneth L. Woodward and published by Convergent Books. This book was released on 2017-11-14 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In this thoughtful book, Ken Woodward offers us a memorable portrait of the past seven decades of American life and culture. From Reinhold Niebuhr to Billy Graham, from Abraham Heschel to the Dali Lama, from George W. Bush to Hillary Clinton, Woodward captures the personalities and charts the philosophical trends that have shaped the way we live now." –Jon Meacham, author of Destiny and Power Impeccably researched, thought-challenging and leavened by wit, Getting Religion, the highly-anticipated new book from Kenneth L. Woodward, is ideal perfect for readers looking to understand how religion came to be a contentious element in 21st century public life. Here the award-winning author blends memoir (especially of the postwar era) with copious reporting and shrewd historical analysis to tell the story of how American religion, culture and politics influenced each other in the second half of the 20th century. There are few people writing today who could tell this important story with such authority and insight. A scholar as well as one of the nation’s most respected journalists, Woodward served as Newsweek’s religion editor for nearly forty years, reporting from five continents and contributing over 700 articles, including nearly 100 cover stories, on a wide range of social issues, ideas and movements. Beginning with a bold reassessment of the Fifties, Woodward’s narrative weaves through Civil Rights era and the movements that followed in its wake: the anti-Vietnam movement; Liberation theology in Latin America; the rise of Evangelicalism and decline of mainline Protestantism; women’s liberation and Bible; the turn to Asian spirituality; the transformation of the family and emergence of religious cults; and the embrace of righteous politics by both the Republican and Democratic Parties. Along the way, Woodward provides riveting portraits of many of the era’s major figures: preachers like Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell; politicians Mario Cuomo and Hillary Clinton; movement leaders Daniel Berrigan, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and Richard John Neuhaus; influential thinkers ranging from Erik Erikson to Elizabeth Kubler-Ross; feminist theologians Rosemary Reuther and Elizabeth Schussler-Fiorenza; and est impresario Werner Erhardt; plus the author’s long time friend, the Dalai Lama. For readers interested in how religion, economics, family life and politics influence each other, Woodward introduces fresh a fresh vocabulary of terms such as “embedded religion,” “movement religion” and “entrepreneurial religion” to illuminate the interweaving of the secular and sacred in American public life. This is one of those rare books that changes the way Americans think about belief, behavior and belonging.

Making Sense of God

Author : Timothy Keller
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0525954155
Total Pages : 338 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (259 download)

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Book Synopsis Making Sense of God by : Timothy Keller

Download or read book Making Sense of God written by Timothy Keller and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-09-20 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We live in an age of skepticism. Our society places such faith in empirical reason, historical progress, and heartfelt emotion that it’s easy to wonder: Why should anyone believe in Christianity? What role can faith and religion play in our modern lives? In this thoughtful and inspiring new book, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, Making Sense of God shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives.

Divided by God

Author : Noah Feldman
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN 13 : 0374708150
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (747 download)

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Book Synopsis Divided by God by : Noah Feldman

Download or read book Divided by God written by Noah Feldman and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2007-05-15 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brilliant and urgent appraisal of one of the most profound conflicts of our time Even before George W. Bush gained reelection by wooing religiously devout "values voters," it was clear that church-state matters in the United States had reached a crisis. With Divided by God, Noah Feldman shows that the crisis is as old as this country--and looks to our nation's past to show how it might be resolved. Today more than ever, ours is a religiously diverse society: Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist as well as Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish. And yet more than ever, committed Christians are making themselves felt in politics and culture. What are the implications of this paradox? To answer this question, Feldman makes clear that again and again in our nation's history diversity has forced us to redraw the lines in the church-state divide. In vivid, dramatic chapters, he describes how we as a people have resolved conflicts over the Bible, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the teaching of evolution through appeals to shared values of liberty, equality, and freedom of conscience. And he proposes a brilliant solution to our current crisis, one that honors our religious diversity while respecting the long-held conviction that religion and state should not mix. Divided by God speaks to the headlines, even as it tells the story of a long-running conflict that has made the American people who we are.

Jesus > Religion

Author : Jefferson Bethke
Publisher : HarperChristian + ORM
ISBN 13 : 1400205409
Total Pages : 241 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (2 download)

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Book Synopsis Jesus > Religion by : Jefferson Bethke

Download or read book Jesus > Religion written by Jefferson Bethke and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2013-10-14 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abandon dead, dry, religious rule-keeping and embrace the promise of being truly known and deeply loved. Jefferson Bethke burst into the cultural conversation with a passionate, provocative poem titled "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus." The 4-minute video became an overnight sensation, with 7 million YouTube views in its first 48 hours (and 23+ million in a year). Bethke's message clearly struck a chord with believers and nonbelievers alike, triggering an avalanche of responses running the gamut from encouraged to enraged. In his New York Times bestseller Jesus > Religion, Bethke unpacks similar contrasts that he drew in the poem--highlighting the difference between teeth gritting and grace, law and love, performance and peace, despair, and hope. With refreshing candor, he delves into the motivation behind his message, beginning with the unvarnished tale of his own plunge from the pinnacle of a works-based, fake-smile existence that sapped his strength and led him down a path of destructive behavior. Along the way, Bethke gives you the tools you need to: Humbly and prayerfully open your mind Understand Jesus for all that he is View the church from a brand-new perspective Bethke is quick to acknowledge that he's not a pastor or theologian, but simply an ordinary, twenty-something who cried out for a life greater than the one for which he had settled. On this journey, Bethke discovered the real Jesus, who beckoned him with love beyond the props of false religion. Praise for Jesus > Religion: "Jeff's book will make you stop and listen to a voice in your heart that may have been drowned out by the noise of religion. Listen to that voice, then follow it--right to the feet of Jesus." --Bob Goff, author of New York Times bestsellers Love Does and Everybody, Always "The book you hold in your hands is Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz meets C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity meets Augustine's Confessions. This book is going to awaken an entire generation to Jesus and His grace." --Derwin L. Gray, lead pastor of Transformation Church, author of Limitless Life: Breaking Free from the Labels That Hold You Back

Rock Gets Religion

Author : Mark Joseph
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781944229184
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (291 download)

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Book Synopsis Rock Gets Religion by : Mark Joseph

Download or read book Rock Gets Religion written by Mark Joseph and published by . This book was released on 2018-02-13 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rock music, once largely the domain of hedonism and debauchery of every kind, is now populated by a surprising case of upstanding and in many cases devout citizens who create all different kinds of music and oftentimes are animated by religious ideas that would have been completely alien to rock stars of yesteryear. The religious and religiously influenced are now commonplace in rock 'n' roll (Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, Katy Perry, 21 Pilots). But is that good for either rock or the faith? In Rock Gets Religion producer and author Mark Joseph explores the tensions caused when religious youth are thrown into the world of rock 'n' roll. He weaves thoughtful commentary amidst the stories of devout and not-so-devout rockers--along with a warning about the inherent dangers of sanctifying rock. Four major trends caused this big-tent takeover: (1) Dozens of rookie artists are bypassing the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) scene altogether going directly to mainstream labels; (2) established CCM artists are switching to mainstream recording companies; (3) Those artists who experience religious conversions are staying in mainstream music instead of leaving for the church circuit; and (4) the American Idol phenomenon resulted in pop stars being picked by the American people instead of music industry gatekeepers who selected the stars of yesteryear. As a result, while CCM sales of Christian music as a genre may have been in a steady decline, the religious influence on rock has never been greater. Rock Gets Religion lays out the case for people of faith to continue to make their music in the middle of popular culture, and updates the scene with dozens of success (and not so successful) stories of Christians who have done just that. "Mark Joseph has been a key voice in the transformation of American popular music," says former Van Halen singer Gary Cherone. "In this book, his final in a three-part series, he shows us how the transformation happened and outlines a vision for the future of the unlikely alliance of rock music and serious faith."

Blind Spot

Author : Paul A. Marshall
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0195374371
Total Pages : 241 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (953 download)

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Book Synopsis Blind Spot by : Paul A. Marshall

Download or read book Blind Spot written by Paul A. Marshall and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2009 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today understanding of religion is essential to understanding many major news stories. This book examines how the media frequently miss or misunderstand these stories because they do not take religion seriously, and how they misunderstand religion when they do take it seriously. To the extent that journalists do not grasp events' religious dimensions, both global and local, the authors argue, they are hindered from, and sometimes incapable of, describing what is happening. However, on the national level the press is one of the most secular institutions in American society -- not necessarily contemptuous of serious religion, just uncomprehending. The essays in this book examine nine specific news stories that were inadequately or incorrectly reported by major news sources because their religious dimension was ignored, overlooked, or misrepresented. These stories range from the 2004 U.S. presidential elections to Iran, Iraq, and the papal succession. In each case the author demonstrates how the story might have been more effectively reported and concludes with specific suggestions for journalist. The authors include both scholars and experienced news analysts. Although it will be of particular interest to people of faith, the book offers all readers an interesting and balanced analysis of the news media's uneasy relationship with religion and religious issues.

Why We Need Religion

Author : Stephen T. Asma
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190469692
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (94 download)

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Book Synopsis Why We Need Religion by : Stephen T. Asma

Download or read book Why We Need Religion written by Stephen T. Asma and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-05-09 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How we feel is as vital to our survival as how we think. This claim, based on the premise that emotions are largely adaptive, serves as the organizing theme of Why We Need Religion. This book is a novel pathway in a well-trodden field of religious studies and philosophy of religion. Stephen Asma argues that, like art, religion has direct access to our emotional lives in ways that science does not. Yes, science can give us emotional feelings of wonder and the sublime--we can feel the sacred depths of nature--but there are many forms of human suffering and vulnerability that are beyond the reach of help from science. Different emotional stresses require different kinds of rescue. Unlike secular authors who praise religion's ethical and civilizing function, Asma argues that its core value lies in its emotionally therapeutic power. No theorist of religion has failed to notice the importance of emotions in spiritual and ritual life, but truly systematic research has only recently delivered concrete data on the neurology, psychology, and anthropology of the emotional systems. This very recent "affective turn" has begun to map out a powerful territory of embodied cognition. Why We Need Religion incorporates new data from these affective sciences into the philosophy of religion. It goes on to describe the way in which religion manages those systems--rage, play, lust, care, grief, and so on. Finally, it argues that religion is still the best cultural apparatus for doing this adaptive work. In short, the book is a Darwinian defense of religious emotions and the cultural systems that manage them.

Religion's Sudden Decline

Author : Ronald F. Inglehart
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0197547044
Total Pages : 209 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (975 download)

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Book Synopsis Religion's Sudden Decline by : Ronald F. Inglehart

Download or read book Religion's Sudden Decline written by Ronald F. Inglehart and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2021-01-02 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Religion's Sudden Decline' provides evidence of a major decline in religion in most of the world, based on surveys of over 100 countries containing 90 percent of the world's population, carried out from 1981 to 2020 - the largest base of empirical evidence ever assembled to analyse mass acceptance or rejection of religion.--

Getting Over Yourself

Author : Dean Inserra
Publisher : Moody Publishers
ISBN 13 : 0802499473
Total Pages : 133 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (24 download)

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Book Synopsis Getting Over Yourself by : Dean Inserra

Download or read book Getting Over Yourself written by Dean Inserra and published by Moody Publishers. This book was released on 2021-05-04 with total page 133 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is trying to be “the best you” actually ruining you? From “living your best life” to “self-actualizing,” “finding your destiny,” and “waiting on the best to come,” the contemporary messages of the world exhort us to believe that we are promised and entitled the biggest and best life can possibly offer. But is that actually what Jesus promises? Is that even close to the message of the gospel? Getting Over Yourself is a call for Christians to reject these hollow messages of personal prosperity and to return to the humble truths of the gospel. You’ll learn how to identify this insidious, popular theology in culture and churches and examine its devastating effects. And, perhaps most importantly, you’ll learn how to combat it with gospel truth that leads to the abundant life Jesus actually desires for His people. Discover the beauty in losing yourself—and ultimately in gaining Him.

Free Book

Author : Brian Tome
Publisher : Thomas Nelson
ISBN 13 : 1418588652
Total Pages : 239 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (185 download)

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Book Synopsis Free Book by : Brian Tome

Download or read book Free Book written by Brian Tome and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2010-02-01 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I am a fanatic about freedom. And I'm fanatical about coming at you hard in this book." Maybe you're not as free as you think you are. Even worse, you may have been duped into believing that a "balanced" life is the key to happiness (it isn't) or that a relationship with God is about layering on rules and restrictions (nope). Whether it’s media-fueled fear, something a parent or teacher said that you just can’t shake, or even the reality of dark spiritual forces bent on keeping you down, something is holding you back from the full-on freedom God intends for you. The Bible says, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." Not fear. Not guilt. Not morality. Freedom. You can have the sort of joy you thought only kids could have. The day of freedom is here.

Leaving Your Religion

Author : James Mulholland
Publisher : CreateSpace
ISBN 13 : 9781492896791
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (967 download)

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Book Synopsis Leaving Your Religion by : James Mulholland

Download or read book Leaving Your Religion written by James Mulholland and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2013-10 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you've considered leaving your religion, you are not alone.Each year over two million adults in the United States decide to no longer identify themselves with a specific religion. In 2012, according to the annual Pew Forum American Religious Identity Survey, over 45 million (20%) of the adults in the United States no longer claimed a religious tradition. For a variety of reasons, many are discovering religion doesn't work for them any longer. Unfortunately, for those becoming post-religious, there is very little being written by them or for them.In this book, James Mulholland – a former Christian minister and author of several best-selling religious books – offers practical advice to those struggling to make the shift from a religious to a non-religious life. Regardless of your religious background, there are common challenges in this transition. Understanding your losses, obstacles and opportunities can ease your pain and speed your development as a post-religious person. Leaving Your Religion guides those leaving a religious tradition through the process of leaving home, walking away and moving forward. When you think about your religious life or your understanding of God, if you struggle with persistent doubts, growing discomfort and feelings of sadness or anger, Leaving Your Religion may be for you. If you're already journeying away from religion, it may be a helpful travel guide. The book provides direction for those on the cusp of leaving, those who've walked away and those who – though they've left their religion - still struggle with sadness or anger. There are questionnaires, reflection questions, exercises, quotes and advice for the journey away from religion. Leaving Your Religion offers a gentle word of encouragement and hope for those seeking to create a non-religious life.

God Is Not Great

Author : Christopher Hitchens
Publisher : McClelland & Stewart
ISBN 13 : 1551991764
Total Pages : 322 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (519 download)

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Book Synopsis God Is Not Great by : Christopher Hitchens

Download or read book God Is Not Great written by Christopher Hitchens and published by McClelland & Stewart. This book was released on 2008-11-19 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christopher Hitchens, described in the London Observer as “one of the most prolific, as well as brilliant, journalists of our time” takes on his biggest subject yet–the increasingly dangerous role of religion in the world. In the tradition of Bertrand Russell’s Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris’s recent bestseller, The End Of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope’s awesome view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty and symmetry of the double helix.

Becoming Divine

Author : Grace Jantzen
Publisher : Indiana University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780253212979
Total Pages : 308 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (129 download)

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Book Synopsis Becoming Divine by : Grace Jantzen

Download or read book Becoming Divine written by Grace Jantzen and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The book's contribution to feminist philosophy of religion is substantial and original.... It brings the continental and Anglo-American traditions into substantive and productive conversation with each other." --Ellen Armour To what extent has the emergence of the study of religion in Western culture been gendered? In this exciting book, Grace Jantzen proposes a new philosophy of religion from a feminist perspective. Hers is a vital and significant contribution which will be essential reading in the study of religion.

Finding Mecca in America

Author : Mucahit Bilici
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226922871
Total Pages : 271 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (269 download)

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Book Synopsis Finding Mecca in America by : Mucahit Bilici

Download or read book Finding Mecca in America written by Mucahit Bilici and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-12-18 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The events of 9/11 had a profound impact on American society, but they had an even more lasting effect on Muslims living in the United States. Once practically invisible, they suddenly found themselves overexposed. By describing how Islam in America began as a strange cultural object and is gradually sinking into familiarity, Finding Mecca in America illuminates the growing relationship between Islam and American culture as Muslims find a homeland in America. Rich in ethnographic detail, the book is an up-close account of how Islam takes its American shape. In this book, Mucahit Bilici traces American Muslims’ progress from outsiders to natives and from immigrants to citizens. Drawing on the philosophies of Simmel and Heidegger, Bilici develops a novel sociological approach and offers insights into the civil rights activities of Muslim Americans, their increasing efforts at interfaith dialogue, and the recent phenomenon of Muslim ethnic comedy. Theoretically sophisticated, Finding Mecca in America is both a portrait of American Islam and a groundbreaking study of what it means to feel at home.

The Stillborn God

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

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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.

Becoming God's Children

Author : M. D. Faber
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (16 download)

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Book Synopsis Becoming God's Children by : M. D. Faber

Download or read book Becoming God's Children written by M. D. Faber and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2010-04-15 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: M. D. Faber presents a meticulous, unremitting inquiry into the psychological direction from which Christianity derives its power to attract and hold its followers. Becoming God's Children: Religion's Infantilizing Process was written, its author says, to alert readers to the role of infantilization in the Judeo-Christian tradition generally and in Christian rite and doctrine particularly. Because religion plays such an important role in so may lives, it is essential to understand the underlying appeal and significance of religious doctrines. To that end, Becoming God's Children offers the reader an in-depth account of human neuropsychological development, while unearthing the Judeo-Christian tradition's explicitly infantilizing doctrines and rites. This compelling perspective on the nature and meaning of religious behavior explores issues such as: to what extent religious faith is grounded in the mnemonic recesses of the worshipper's brain, whether believers are predisposed by both genetic makeup and environmental prompting to adhere to their religious convictions, and why some individuals are powerfully drawn to religious faith while others reject it. A final chapter explores the implications of religion's infantilizing process vis-a-vis the role of reason and scientific thought in the contemporary world.

How God Works

Author : David DeSteno
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1982142324
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (821 download)

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Book Synopsis How God Works by : David DeSteno

Download or read book How God Works written by David DeSteno and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-09-06 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on a wealth of new evidence, pioneering research psychologist David DeSteno shows why religious practices and rituals are so beneficial to those who follow them—and to anyone, regardless of their faith (or lack thereof). Scientists are beginning to discover what believers have known for a long time: the rewards that a religious life can provide. For millennia, people have turned to priests, rabbis, imams, shamans, and others to help them deal with issues of grief and loss, birth and death, morality and meaning. In this absorbing work, DeSteno reveals how numerous religious practices from around the world improve emotional and physical well-being. With empathy and rigor, DeSteno chronicles religious rites and traditions from cradle to grave. He explains how the Japanese rituals surrounding childbirth help strengthen parental bonds with children. He describes how the Apache Sunrise Ceremony makes teenage girls better able to face the rigors of womanhood. He shows how Buddhist meditation reduces hostility and increases compassion. He demonstrates how the Jewish practice of sitting shiva comforts the bereaved. And much more. DeSteno details how belief itself enhances physical and mental health. But you don’t need to be religious to benefit from the trove of wisdom that religion has to offer. Many items in religion’s “toolbox” can help the body and mind whether or not one believes. How God Works offers advice on how to incorporate many of these practices to help all of us live more meaningful, successful, and satisfying lives.