The author approaches the phenomenon 'religious experience' through a qualitative study in which young, urban people from Europe and the USA are empirically examined. It becomes clear that individuals themselves are constructive agents of experience and theology. Religious experience manifests itself as a transformative perspective of hope in the lives of young people. The study ends with a plea for a theology from below, based on liberation theology and feminist theories, in which contextual perspectives are central to practical theological theorising.

»Mission in crisis« – this diagnosis makes immediate sense in view of the rapid decline of European Christian churches. However, there is a great deal of controversy as to what exactly this crisis consists of, what its actual causes are and what dynamics the crisis discourse itself exhibits. The contributions in this volume were held on an international conference that took place from November 25–27, 2022 at the University of Zurich. They pursue these questions from a mission-theological perspective and seek to open up new perspectives for the future of the church in both secular and plural societies. With contributions from: Heike Breitenstein, John G. Flett, Ralph Kunz, Sabrina Müller, Stefan Paas, Henk de Roest, Stefan Schweyer, Patrick Todjeras, Graham Tomlin, Benno van den Toren, and Henning Wrogemann. [Mission in der Krise. Über eine unerledigte Aufgabe der Kirche] »Mission in der Krise« – diese Diagnose leuchtet im Blick den rapiden Niedergang europäischer christlicher Kirchen unmittelbar ein. Allerdings ist heftig umstritten, worin genau diese Krise besteht, was ihre eigentlichen Ursachen sind und welche Dynamik der Krisendiskurs selbst aufweist. Die Beiträge des vorliegenden Bandes stammen von einer internationalen, vom 25.–27.11.2022 an der Universität Zürich abgehaltenen Tagung. Sie gehen diesen Fragen in missionstheologischer Perspektive nach und suchen neue Perspektiven für die Zukunft von Kirche in ebenso säkularen wie pluralen Gesellschaften zu eröffnen.

A proposal on how to improve the way the Bible is taught to adult learners that focuses on life transformation and putting faith into action.

"Glimpses of the Divine: Moments in Religious Experience" Embark on a transcendent journey through the pages of "Glimpses of the Divine," where the tapestry of religion unfolds in a celestial dance. In this captivating exploration of the sacred and the mystical, discover a realm where mortal and divine destinies converge, revealing profound moments of religious experience that transcend earthly understanding. From the mystical depths of ancient rites to the cosmic revelations of contemporary seekers, this book weaves a rich narrative that traverses the spectrum of religious traditions. Each chapter unfolds like a sacred scroll, revealing poignant tales of individuals who have glimpsed the divine, touching the very fabric of existence. Witness the cosmic odyssey of Eldoria, a village shaped by the revelations of the Celestial Confluence, the Veil of Transcendence, and the profound embrace of Eternity. Follow the sage, Elena, as she guides the villagers through ethereal landscapes, cosmic gateways, and moments of celestial reckoning. Through these tales, experience the transformative power of religious encounters that resonate across cultures and centuries. As the villagers of Eldoria navigate the intricate dance of mortal and celestial realms, the cosmic legacy they carry becomes a testament to the enduring threads that connect humanity to the divine. "Glimpses of the Divine" invites you to immerse yourself in the cosmic tapestry, where the boundaries of religious experience dissolve, revealing the interconnectedness that binds us to the eternal currents of the cosmos. This book is not just a narrative; it's an invitation to explore the sacred landscapes of the soul, inviting readers to contemplate the profound moments that shape our understanding of the divine. Whether you're a seeker, a scholar, or someone curious about the universal aspects of religious experience, "Glimpses of the Divine" promises a transformative journey through the realms of spirituality and cosmic revelation.

Bringing together authors from two intellectual traditions that have, so far, generally developed independently of one another – critical theory and new materialism – this book addresses the fundamental differences and potential connections that exist between these two schools of thought. With a focus on some of the most pressing questions of contemporary philosophy and social theory – in particular, those concerning the status of long-standing and contested separations between matter and life, the biological and the symbolic, passivity and agency, affectivity and rationality – it shows that recent developments in both traditions point to important convergences between them and thus prepare the ground for a more direct confrontation and cross-fertilization. The first volume to promote a dialogue between critical theory and new materialism, this collection explores the implications for contemporary debates on ecology, gender, biopolitics, post-humanism, economics and aesthetics. As such, it will appeal to philosophers, social and political theorists, and sociologists with interests in contemporary critical theory and materialism.

African Sacred Spaces: Culture, History, and Change is a collection of carefully and analytically written essays on different aspects of African sacred spaces. The interaction between the past and present points to Africans’ continuing recognition of certain natural phenomena and places as sacred. Western influence, the introduction of Christianity and Islam, as well as modernity, have not succeeded in completely obliterating African spirituality and sacred observances, especially as these relate to space in its various iterations. Indeed, Africans, on the continent and in the Diasporas, have responded to the challenges of history, environmentalism, and sustainability with sober and versatile responses in their reverence for sacred space as expressed through a variety of religious, historical, and spiritual practices, as this volume attempts to show.

The concept of religiosity is a highly individual aspect of religion. The understanding of it was shaped in Protestant circles in the Western context and it has inspired a huge body of research and further developments in theology, as well as in religious education. However, both charismatic movements within Christianity and orthopractic religious traditions such as Islam raise the question of whether an individualized account of religiosity is able to grasp the spectrum of lived religion comprehensively. Furthermore, with increasing globalization, even Asian worldviews like Hinduism or Buddhism are part of daily experience and have expanded the notion of what can be perceived of as religion. These changes were discussed at the international conference ‘Religiosity in East and West: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges’ at the University of Münster, Germany, from 25 to 27 June 2019. With this volume of conference proceedings we pay special attention to the most significant conference contributions relevant to religious education and practical theology.

Two familiar worldviews dominate Western philosophy: materialist atheism and the benevolent God of the Abrahamic faiths. Tim Mulgan explores a third way. Ananthropocentric Purposivism claims that there is a cosmic purpose, but human beings are irrelevant to it. Purpose in the Universe develops a philosophical case for Ananthropocentric Purposivism that it is at least as strong as the case for either theism or atheism. The book borrows traditional theist arguments to defend a cosmic purpose. These include cosmological, teleological, ontological, meta-ethical, and mystical arguments. It then borrows traditional atheist arguments to reject a human-centred purpose. These include arguments based on evil, diversity, and the scale of the universe. Mulgan also highlights connections between morality and metaphysics, arguing that evaluative premises play a crucial and underappreciated role in metaphysical debates about the existence of God, and Ananthropocentric Purposivism mutually supports an austere consequentialist morality based on objective values. He concludes that, by drawing on a range of secular and religious ethical traditions, a non-human-centred cosmic purpose can ground a distinctive human morality. Our moral practices, our view of the moral universe, and our moral theory are all transformed if we shift from the familiar choice between a universe without meaning and a universe where humans matter to the less self-aggrandising thought that, while it is about something, the universe is not about us.

Over a century ago, psychologists who were fascinated with religion began to study and write about it. Theologians and religious practitioners have responded to this literature, producing a fascinating dialogue that deals with our fundamental und- standings about the human person and our place in the world. This book provides an introduction to the important conversations that have developed out of these interchanges. The dialogue between psychology and religion is difficult to study for a number of reasons. First, it requires knowledge of both psychology and religion. People with a background in psychology often lack a solid understanding of the religious traditions they wish to study, and theologians may not be up to date on the latest developments in psychology. Second, it requires conceptual tools to organize the material and understand the basic problems involved in any attempt to connect the science of psychology with religion. These concepts can be found in many places, for instance in the writings of philosophers of science, but they are complex and often hard to follow for those without a proper theological and philosophical ba- ground. Finally, authors who write on the topic come to the study of psychology and religion from a variety of academic and personal backgrounds. This makes for wonderful diversity in conversations, but it makes understanding and mastery of the material quite difficult.

This book reflects on the implications of neurobiology and the scientific worldview on aspects of religious experience, belief, and practice, focusing especially on the body and the construction of religious meaning.