In Religion and World History, distinguished authors John C. Super and Briane K. Turley examine the value of religion for interpreting the human experience in the past and present. They explore the elements of religion which best connect it to the cultural and political dynamics that have influenced history. Working within this framework, Super and Turley present three unifying themes: * the relationship between formal and informal religious beliefs, how these change through time, and how they are reflected in different cultures * the relationship between church and state, from theocracies to the repression of religion * the ongoing search for spiritual certainty, and the consequent splintering of core religious beliefs and the development of new ones. One of the few recent books to examine religion’s role in geo-political affairs, its unique approach enables the reader to grasp the many and complex ways in which religion acts upon and reacts to broader global processes.

As a historical inquiry and synthesis, this intellectual history is the first study to apply the ideal-type or model-building methodology of Otto Hintze (1861-1940) to Western historical thought or to what R. G. Collingwood called The Idea of History, for it contains succinct and useful models for seeing and teaching classical, Christian, and modern professional historiography. Religion and the Rise of History is also the first work to suggest that, in addition to his well-known paradoxical, simul, and/or at-the-same-time way of thinking and viewing life, Martin Luther also held to a way that was deeply incarnational, dynamic, and/or in-with-and-under. This dual vision and a Lutheran ethos strongly influenced Leibniz, Hamann, and Herder, and was therefore a matter of considerable significance for the rise of a distinctly modern form of historical consciousness (commonly called historicism) in Protestant Germany. Smith's essay suggests a new time period for the formative age of modern German thought, culture, and education: The Cultural Revolution in Germany. This age began in the early 1760s and culminated in 1810 with the founding of the University of Berlin, the first fully modern and modernizing university. This university first became the recognized center for the study of history, however, through the work of Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886). Here the story shows how a young Ranke derived his individualizing way of thinking and viewing life mainly from Luther, how his life-work is the best example in Western literature of the rise of history from a calling to a profession, and how the three-way discussion between Troeltsch, Meinecke, and Hintze concerning the nature of modern historical thought was of central importance for the reorientation of Western social-historical thought in the twentieth century.

Based on the author's thesis (Th.D.)--Leiden University, 1971.

A rich and profound contribution to the debate on the position of modern Christianity opened up Kraemer's The Christian Message in a Non-Christian World. In Religion and the Christian Faith he deals with many of the criticisms of his position, and offers an apologia, at once luminous and massive, of the Christian religion as the revelation of God to Man and the faith for all mankind. There is a decisive Christian finality about Kraemer's writing, and his book is a significant contribution to the sharp discipline of faith and action under which the universal Christian community lives. All the way through his formidably marshalled arguments run the undertones of Christian involvement in a real, world ' a world which, by his astonishing grasp of philosophy, Biblical theology and the claims of religion and religions, the Author brings alive to the reader. The reading of this formative book, with its strenuous demands on the reader's intelligence and Christian understanding, is a rewarding experience. Its significance for the Christian Church throughout the world is obvious, but it is also a monumental witness to the Christian religion for all those who ask not only for a faith 'once delivered' but a faith to believe in their own day and generation.

A collection of essays by social theorists, historical sociologists and area specialists in classical, biblical and Asian studies. The contributions deal with cultural transformations in major civilizational centres during the "Axial Age," the middle centuries of the last millennium BCE, and their long-term consequences.

This prep book presents a general overview of world history making it an ideal study aid for those preparing to take the SAT Subject Test World History. Twenty-five units review the entire scope of human history and include: The emergence of early human communities The development of agricultural societies The emergence of civilizations Global exchange among peoples The development of industry Global demographic, economical, ecological, social, and cultural changes Also included are two full-length model tests with answer explanations for all questions, plus one more practice test online

Gavin I. Langmuir's work on the formation and nature of antisemitism has earned him an international reputation. In History, Religion, and Antisemitism he bravely confronts the problems that arise when historians have to describe and explain religious phenomena, as any historian of antisemitism must. How, and to what extent, can the historian be objective? Is it possible to discuss Christian attitudes toward Jews, for example, without adopting the historical explanations of those whose thoughts and actions one is discussing? What, exactly, does the historian mean by "religion" or "religious"? Langmuir's original and stimulating responses to these questions reflect his inquiry into the approaches of anthropology, sociology, and psychology and into recent empirical research on the functioning of the mind and the nature of thought. His distinction between religiosity, a property of individuals, and religion, a social phenomenon, allows him to place unusual emphasis on the role of religious doubts and tensions and the irrationality they can produce. Defining antisemitism as irrational beliefs about Jews, he distinguishes Christian anti-Judaism from Christian antisemitism, demonstrates that antisemitism emerged in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries because of rising Christian doubts, and sketches how the revolutionary changes in religion and mentality in the modern period brought new faiths, new kinds of religious doubt, and a deadlier expression of antisemitism. Although he developed it in dealing with the difficult question of antisemitism, Langmuir's approach to religious history is important for historians in all areas.

Based directly on the standard German edition by Johannes Hoffmeister, this translation presents Hegel's vision of history in a lucid, accessible form that captures the nuances of his thought.

The relationship between religion and dance is as old as humankind. Contemporary methods for studying this relationship date back a century. The difference between these two time frames is significant: scholars are still developing theories and methods capable of illuminating this vast history that take account of their limited place within it. A History of Theory and Method in the Study of Religion and Dance takes on a primary challenge of doing so: overcoming a conceptual dichotomy between “religion” and “dance” forged in the colonial era that justified western Christian hostility towards dance traditions across six continents over six centuries. Beginning with its enlightenment roots, LaMothe narrates a selective history of this dichotomy, revealing its ongoing work in separating dance studies from religious studies. Turning to the Bushmen of the African Kalahari, LaMothe introduces an ecokinetic approach that provides scholars with conceptual resources for mapping the generative interdependence of phenomena that appear as “dance” and/or “religion.”