A unique and highly accessible anthology of the best in classical and contemporary thought on the phenomenonology of religion.

This book demonstrates how D.H. Lawrence's prophetic ambitions impelled him to create novels that would radically transform the consciousness of his readers. Charles Burack argues that Lawrence's major novels, beginning with The Rainbow , are structured as religious initiation rites that attempt to break down the reader's normative mindset and to evoke new, numinous experiences of self and world. Through careful analysis of narrative structure, literary technique, and sacred discourses, Burack shows that Lawrence tries to initiate the reader into his own version of religious vitalism. Unlike most initiations that conclude with powerful affirmations, Lawrence's novels generally end with an attempt to subvert the formation of new religious dogmas and to encourage sacred-erotic exploration.

Enslaved Africans brought their music and religion with them to America. They adapted their spiritual worldview into the existing Christian framework for survival. The God of the oppressor was transformed into the God of liberation and justice. Salvation became the conduit for survival. Sacred song was embedded with African spirituality and African American theology to create a religious experience from the seventeenth century to the twentieth century that sustained African American people and became established forms of praise and worship. The Civil Rights movement changed the religious reality of African American people. Sacred song in the twenty- first century has many challenges. Will the legacy and heritage of sacred song survive?

With this Bible study, a companion book to A Sacred Sorrow (9781576836675, sold separately), you and your small group can fully grasp the importance of voicing your heart’s joys and pains to the Father. Job, David, Jeremiah, and Jesus Himself understood the necessity of lament.

Sacred Shock attempts to lay bare the inner workings of Byzantine art by looking closely at the marginal or subsidiary areas in works of art.

The Sacred Empire is a captivating exploration of the rich tapestry of Peruvian culture and the enigmatic civilization of the ancient Incas. This book is a treasure trove of meticulously curated short stories, each revolving around the profound symbology of the Inca culture. Immerse yourself in the mystique of the Inca Empire as you navigate through the labyrinth of their symbolic language. Each symbol unravels a story, a slice of life, a window into the world of one of the most fascinating civilizations in history. But The Sacred Empire is more than just a collection of stories. It’s an interactive experience. The book includes a unique feature - patterns inspired by Inca symbology that readers can print and color. It’s not just a reading journey; it’s a creative adventure that allows you to engage with the Inca culture in a tactile way. Whether you’re a history enthusiast, a lover of Peruvian culture, or someone who enjoys relaxing with a good story and some coloring, The Sacred Empire offers a unique experience that educates, inspires, and entertains.

Sacred Stories brings together the work of leading scholars writing on the history of religion and religiosity in late imperial Russia during the critical decades preceding the 1917 revolutions. Embodying new research and new methodologies, this book reshapes our understanding of the place of religion in modern Russian history. Topics examined include miraculous icons and healing, pilgrim narratives, confessions, women and Orthodox domesticity, marriage and divorce, conversion and tolerance, Jewish folk beliefs, mysticism in Russian art, and philosophical aspects of Orthodox religious thought. Sacred Stories demonstrates that belief, spirituality, and the sacred were powerful and complex cultural expressions central to Russian political, social, economic, and cultural life. Contributors are Nicholas B. Breyfogle, Heather J. Coleman, Gregory L. Freeze, Nadieszda Kizenko, Alexei A. Kurbanovsky, Roy R. Robson, Bernice Glatzer Rosenthal, Gabriella Safran, Vera Shevzov, Sarah Abrevaya Stein, Mark Steinberg, Paul Valliere, William G. Wagner, Paul W. Werth, and Christine D. Worobec.

While process philosophers and theologians have written numerous essays on Buddhist-Christian dialogue, few have sought to expand the current Buddhist-Christian dialogue into a "trilogue" by bringing the natural sciences into the discussion as a third partner. This was the topic of Paul O. Ingram's previous book, Buddhist-Christian Dialogue in an Age of Science. The thesis of the present work is that Buddhist-Christian dialogue in all three of its forms--conceptual, social engagement, and interior--are interdependent processes of creative transformation. Ingram appropriates the categories of Whitehead's process metaphysics as a means of clarifying how dialogue is now mutually and creatively transforming both Buddhism and Christianity.

This volume promotes a pragmatic, anti-essentialist and anti-hegemonic approach to the problem of the definition of religion. It argues that definitions of religion are context-bound strategies for pursuing a variety of purposes, extra-academic as well as academic. Religions being immensely varied, complex and multi-functional phenomena, they need to be studied by several academic disciplines from many different perspectives. It is, therefore, legitimate and useful that many definitions of religions are developed. The volume has contributions from scholars in Philosophy of Religion, the Comparative Study of Religions, Anthropology of Religion, Sociology of Religion and Psychology of Religion. It has chapters on the polemics of defining religion in modern contexts, the history of the concept of religion, and the methodology of its definition; it includes several definition proposals.