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The Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism Was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism
by Tomoko MasuzawaThe idea of "world religions" expresses a vague commitment to multiculturalism. Not merely a descriptive concept, "world religions" is actually a particular ethos, a pluralist ideology, a logic of classification, and a form of knowledge that has shaped the study of religion and infiltrated ordinary language. In this ambitious study, Tomoko Masuzawa examines the emergence of "world religions" in modern European thought. Devoting particular attention to the relation between the comparative study of language and the nascent science of religion, she demonstrates how new classifications of language and race caused Buddhism and Islam to gain special significance, as these religions came to be seen in opposing terms-Aryan on one hand and Semitic on the other. Masuzawa also explores the complex relation of "world religions" to Protestant theology, from the hierarchical ordering of religions typical of the Christian supremacists of the nineteenth century to the aspirations of early twentieth-century theologian Ernst Troeltsch, who embraced the pluralist logic of "world religions" and by so doing sought to reclaim the universalist destiny of European modernity.
Investigating Prayer: Impact on Health and Quality of Life
by Ian OlverThis book relates the experience of researching, planning, and conducting a scientific study into intercessory prayer (prayer for others). The purpose of the study was to ascertain whether the impact of prayer could be measured in a formal study, based on the large number of anecdotal reports of efficacy. The study was a prospectively randomized double-blind trial that added prayer by an established Christian prayer group to conventional therapy for cancer. The unique design feature was that the primary endpoint was a change in a validated scale of spiritual well-being. The patients were informed that they were participating in a study about spiritual well-being and quality of life but remained blinded to the intervention. The initial observation from the baseline data was that spiritual well-being made a unique contribution to quality of life. The final outcome of the study was that there was a statistically significant difference in spiritual well-being favoring the prayer group. The background includes a fascinating review of the medical literature on the topic, which contains positive and negative studies that each attracts a vigorous debate about methodology, endpoints, and whether metaphysical phenomena can or should be studied using scientific methodology. The complementary and alternative medicine literature is also equivocal as to whether prayer, arguably the most common complementary medical therapy, should be included in the range of interventions grouped under that heading. In addition to reporting the background and results of the study, the book explores the reactions of a range of individuals to the trial, all of which help reflect on the nature of prayer.
Investing In Islamic Funds: A Practitioner's Perspective (Wiley Finance #874)
by Noripah KamsoA guide to Islamic investment opportunities from the CEO of the world's leading Islamic finance bank Offering an insider's perspective on a rapidly growing sector of the financial industry, Investing in Islamic Funds details the basic principles of Islamic investing for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. It explains how Islamic equity and fixed-income products differ from traditional funds, and how they deliver excellent results while still conforming to Sharia principles. Using hard data from the last six years, the book also reveals how Islamic funds have offered predictable, reliable returns in volatile markets and turbulent financial times. For institutional investors as well as sophisticated individual investors, the book serves as an excellent introduction to the subject and surveys the full range of products available. Additionally, the book will arm financial services professionals with the knowledge they need to explain this new investment opportunity to clients. One of the few books available that offers comprehensive data on the performance of Islamic funds in addition to the underlying theory that governs them Written by the CEO of CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management, the world's leading Islamic finance bank Features charts, case studies, comparative analysis, and a tabular data format Debunks the misconceptions traditional investors may have about the profitability Islamic funds For professional and institutional investors, as well as private investors looking for new opportunities, Investing in Islamic Funds offers a much-needed primer on this fast-growing market.
Investing In Islamic Funds: A Practitioner's Perspective (Wiley Finance)
by Noripah KamsoA guide to Islamic investment opportunities from the CEO of the world's leading Islamic finance bank Offering an insider's perspective on a rapidly growing sector of the financial industry, Investing in Islamic Funds details the basic principles of Islamic investing for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. It explains how Islamic equity and fixed-income products differ from traditional funds, and how they deliver excellent results while still conforming to Sharia principles. Using hard data from the last six years, the book also reveals how Islamic funds have offered predictable, reliable returns in volatile markets and turbulent financial times. For institutional investors as well as sophisticated individual investors, the book serves as an excellent introduction to the subject and surveys the full range of products available. Additionally, the book will arm financial services professionals with the knowledge they need to explain this new investment opportunity to clients. One of the few books available that offers comprehensive data on the performance of Islamic funds in addition to the underlying theory that governs them Written by the CEO of CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management, the world's leading Islamic finance bank Features charts, case studies, comparative analysis, and a tabular data format Debunks the misconceptions traditional investors may have about the profitability Islamic funds For professional and institutional investors, as well as private investors looking for new opportunities, Investing in Islamic Funds offers a much-needed primer on this fast-growing market.
The Invisible Alliance: Psyche and Spirit in Feminist Therapy
by Ellyn KaschakExplore the relationship between psychology and spirituality from a feminist perspective!From the editor: “There are forces in the universe about which we know nothing and can learn nothing through empiricism and material means. Such forces can be invoked in the process of therapy to assist in healing, to deepen experience, and to free us from the confining limits of the human mind. This is a book about the spiritual within each of us and about spirituality as it extends beyond any of us to embrace all of us. It deals with inspiration and passion, sorrow and loss, meaning and depth. It focuses upon the relationship between matters of spirit and of psychology, leading to new treatments within the parameters of psychotherapy that extend its vision far beyond the treatment of affliction.”The Invisible Alliance: Psyche and Spirit in Feminist Therapy provides you with a comprehensive review of multiculturalism and its relationship with feminism and spirituality and explores: ways to incorporate Jewish principles and beliefs into feminist therapy the application of religious sources of passion and perspective to parenting and working with children ways to combine Christian and Wiccan philosophies in therapy a provocative approach for integrating Christian biblical teachings into feminist therapy for survivors of sexual abuse ways that Buddhist ideas can enrich the understanding of the self and identity a case study of ancient healing traditions used by Latinas criteria for therapists to use in deciding whether to work with clients dealing with spiritual/religious issues or refer them to someone more appropriate a way to use the power of ritual to heal and give more meaning to important life transitions
The Invisible Alliance: Psyche and Spirit in Feminist Therapy
by Ellyn KaschakExplore the relationship between psychology and spirituality from a feminist perspective!From the editor: “There are forces in the universe about which we know nothing and can learn nothing through empiricism and material means. Such forces can be invoked in the process of therapy to assist in healing, to deepen experience, and to free us from the confining limits of the human mind. This is a book about the spiritual within each of us and about spirituality as it extends beyond any of us to embrace all of us. It deals with inspiration and passion, sorrow and loss, meaning and depth. It focuses upon the relationship between matters of spirit and of psychology, leading to new treatments within the parameters of psychotherapy that extend its vision far beyond the treatment of affliction.”The Invisible Alliance: Psyche and Spirit in Feminist Therapy provides you with a comprehensive review of multiculturalism and its relationship with feminism and spirituality and explores: ways to incorporate Jewish principles and beliefs into feminist therapy the application of religious sources of passion and perspective to parenting and working with children ways to combine Christian and Wiccan philosophies in therapy a provocative approach for integrating Christian biblical teachings into feminist therapy for survivors of sexual abuse ways that Buddhist ideas can enrich the understanding of the self and identity a case study of ancient healing traditions used by Latinas criteria for therapists to use in deciding whether to work with clients dealing with spiritual/religious issues or refer them to someone more appropriate a way to use the power of ritual to heal and give more meaning to important life transitions
The Invisible Arab: The Promise and Peril of the Arab Revolutions
by Marwan BisharaThe Invisible Arab traces the roots of the revolutions in the Arab world. Marwan Bishara, chief policy analyst of Al Jazeera English and the anchor of the program “Empire”, combines on-the-ground reporting, extensive research and scholarship, and political commentary in this book on the complex influences that made the revolutions possible. Bishara argues that the inclusive, pluralistic nationalism that motivated the revolutions are indispensable to their long-term success. The Invisible Arab is a voyage in time from the Arab world's 'liberation generation' through the 'defeated' and 'lost generations', arriving at today's 'miracle generation'. Bishara unpacks how this new generation, long seen as a demographic bomb, has proved to be the agent of progress, unity and freedom. It has in turn used social networks to mobilize for social justice. Bishara discusses how Israel, oil, terrorism and radical Islam have affected the interior identity of the region as well as Western projections upon it. Protection of Israel, Western imperial ambition, a thirst for oil, and fear of radicalism have caused many Western regimes and media to characterize Arab countries and people as unreceptive to democracy or progress. These ideas are as one-dimensional as they are foolhardy. Bishara argues that the Arab revolutions present a great window of opportunity for reinventing and improving Arab ties with the rest of the world— notably the West—on the basis of mutual respect and mutual interest. The revolutions will be judged by how they realize freedom and justice, and how they can pave the way for reconciling and accommodating nationalism and Islam with democracy. Bishara argues that these pillars—liberty and justice reconciled with religion and nationalism, form the bedrock that will allow stability and progress to flourish in the Arab world and beyond.
The Invisible Church: Finding Spirituality Where You Are (Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality)
by J. Pittman McGehee Damon J. ThomasWhile nearly half of Americans identify themselves with a fundamentalist brand of religion, and a sizable minority has rejected religion altogether, there is a vast middle ground. This book is aimed at that huge group of people who describe themselves as spiritual but not religious. In other words, people who are open to encountering the divine and the transcendent, and indeed actively seek these experiences. The authors help readers improve their understanding of the religious nature of the psyche, the origins of myths and religions in the collective unconscious, and the ways in which organized religion has often worked to infantilize its followers. They leave the reader with an empowered ability to claim his or her own spiritual authority and lead a more abundant, authentic life.Many of those who have left organized religion have done so because it has hurt them in some way or because it failed to address their needs, yet they maintain a strong yearning to reconnect with the divine and transcendent level of human existence. As religious fundamentalism continues to influence so much of our national discourse, and as atheistic books rank high on bestseller lists, the time has never been more crucial for a book to address a third way between fundamentalism and atheism - a way that encourages readers to connect with their true religious nature, while at the same time maintaining their intellectual integrity and claiming their own authority. McGehee and Thomas offer that third way.
Invisible Companions: Encounters with Imaginary Friends, Gods, Ancestors, and Angels (Spiritual Phenomena)
by J. Bradley WiggerFrom the US to Nepal, author J. Bradley Wigger travels five countries on three continents to hear children describe their invisible friends—one-hundred-year-old robins and blue dogs, dinosaurs and teapots, pretend families and shape-shifting aliens—companions springing from the deep well of childhood imagination. Drawing on these interviews, as well as a new wave of developmental research, he finds a fluid and flexible quality to the imaginative mind that is central to learning, co-operation, and paradoxically, to real-world rationality. Yet Wigger steps beyond psychological territory to explore the religious significance of the kind of mind that develops relationships with invisible beings. Alongside Cinderella the blue dog, Quack-Quack the duck, and Dino the dinosaur are angels, ancestors, spirits, and gods. What he uncovers is a profound capacity in the religious imagination to see through the surface of reality to more than meets the eye. Punctuated throughout by children's colorful drawings of their see-through interlocutors, the book is highly engaging and alternately endearing, moving, and humorous. Not just for parents or for those who work with children, Invisible Companions will appeal to anyone interested in our mind's creative and spiritual possibilities.
The Invisible God: The Earliest Christians On Art
by Paul Corby FinneyThis revisionist study challenges the received opinion that in its earliest manifestations Christianity was a form of religiosity opposed both on principle and in fact to the use of pictures. Paul Corby Finney argues that the well-known absence of Christian pictures before A.D. 200 is due to a complex interplay of social, economic, and political factors, and is not, as is commonly assumed, a result of an anti-image ideology. The book documents the origins of Christian art based on some of the oldest surviving Christian archaeological evidence, and it seeks to show how the Christian products conformed to the already-existing pagan types and models. This study will interest scholars and students in the fields of church history, ancient history, archaeology, art history, classics, and historical theology.
The Invisible God: The Earliest Christians on Art
by Paul Corby FinneyThis revisionist study challenges the received opinion that in its earliest manifestations Christianity was a form of religiosity opposed both on principle and in fact to the use of pictures. Paul Corby Finney argues that the well-known absence of Christian pictures before A.D. 200 is due to a complex interplay of social, economic, and political factors, and is not, as is commonly assumed, a result of an anti-image ideology. The book documents the origins of Christian art based on some of the oldest surviving Christian archaeological evidence, and it seeks to show how the Christian products conformed to the already-existing pagan types and models. This study will interest scholars and students in the fields of church history, ancient history, archaeology, art history, classics, and historical theology.
The Invisible Influence (The Paranormal)
by Alexander CannonThe Paranormal, the new ebook series from F+W Media International Ltd, resurrecting rare titles, classic publications and out-of-print texts, as well as new ebook titles on the supernatural – other-worldly books for the digital age. The series includes a range of paranormal subjects from angels, fairies and UFOs to near-death experiences, vampires, ghosts and witchcraft. The purpose of this title is to prove that there exists in this mighty world an Invisible Influence that rules our daily lives. It contains a structured conversation between Cannon and a series of mystics, yogis, and other sages, and offers anecdotes of crystal gazing, levitation, hypnotism, distant-touching, and other supposed phenomena.
The Invisible Medium: Public, Commercial and Community Radio (Communications and Culture)
...the book is recommended and should be read by every member of the IRTC. Those working in radio will also find it rewarding.' - Playback
The Invisible Religion: The Problem of Religion in Modern Society (Knowledge, Communication and Society)
by Thomas LuckmannThe Invisible Religion is a modern classic of social science. Its influence goes well beyond sociology as it continues to inspire research in such diverse fields as sociology of knowledge, ethnology, theology, sociology of religion, and religious studies. In this volume, the author endeavours to answer one of the most important questions regarding religion in modern times: Are Western societies indeed becoming more secular as they modernize? His surprising answer is still part of the ongoing debates about secularization as he argues that rather than a decline of religion, we are witnessing a shift from an older Church-centered form, to another invisible and still largely unexplored form of religion. Explaining why focusing only on Church when discussing religion is inadequate, this book presents a thorough case for reframing the question of the status of religion in modern life in a way that makes visible forms of religion hitherto unseen, and sketches some aspects of this new form. As such, it will appeal to sociologists with interests in social theory, religion, and the secularization thesis.
The Invisible Religion: The Problem of Religion in Modern Society (Knowledge, Communication and Society)
by Thomas LuckmannThe Invisible Religion is a modern classic of social science. Its influence goes well beyond sociology as it continues to inspire research in such diverse fields as sociology of knowledge, ethnology, theology, sociology of religion, and religious studies. In this volume, the author endeavours to answer one of the most important questions regarding religion in modern times: Are Western societies indeed becoming more secular as they modernize? His surprising answer is still part of the ongoing debates about secularization as he argues that rather than a decline of religion, we are witnessing a shift from an older Church-centered form, to another invisible and still largely unexplored form of religion. Explaining why focusing only on Church when discussing religion is inadequate, this book presents a thorough case for reframing the question of the status of religion in modern life in a way that makes visible forms of religion hitherto unseen, and sketches some aspects of this new form. As such, it will appeal to sociologists with interests in social theory, religion, and the secularization thesis.
The Invisible Storyteller: Understanding Dreams And Other Spontaneous Images
by Erik D. GoodwynUnderstanding Dreams and Other Spontaneous Images: The Invisible Storyteller applies a contemporary interdisciplinary approach to dream interpretation, bringing cognitive anthropology, folklore studies, affective neuroscience, and dynamic systems theory to bear on contemporary psychodynamic clinical practice. It provides a practical guide for working with dreams that can be used by both individuals on their own and therapists working with clients. Erik D. Goodwyn invites us to examine key features of reported dreams, such as the qualities of the environment depicted, its familiarity or unfamiliarity, the nature of the characters encountered, and overall themes. This method facilitates an understanding of the dream in the full context of the dreamer’s life, rather than interpreting individual, isolated elements. Goodwyn also introduces the mental process which orchestrates dreams, conceptualised here as the ‘Invisible Storyteller’, and explores how understanding it can positively impact satisfaction in waking life. As a whole, the book provides a collection of tools and techniques which can be referred to time and again, as well as a wealth of examples. Exploring dreams as a natural source of clinical insight, The Invisible Storyteller will appeal to Jungian psychotherapists and analytical psychologists, other professionals working with dreams with clients, and readers looking for a scientific approach to dream interpretation.
The Invisible Storyteller: Understanding Dreams And Other Spontaneous Images (PDF)
by Erik D. GoodwynUnderstanding Dreams and Other Spontaneous Images: The Invisible Storyteller applies a contemporary interdisciplinary approach to dream interpretation, bringing cognitive anthropology, folklore studies, affective neuroscience, and dynamic systems theory to bear on contemporary psychodynamic clinical practice. It provides a practical guide for working with dreams that can be used by both individuals on their own and therapists working with clients. Erik D. Goodwyn invites us to examine key features of reported dreams, such as the qualities of the environment depicted, its familiarity or unfamiliarity, the nature of the characters encountered, and overall themes. This method facilitates an understanding of the dream in the full context of the dreamer’s life, rather than interpreting individual, isolated elements. Goodwyn also introduces the mental process which orchestrates dreams, conceptualised here as the ‘Invisible Storyteller’, and explores how understanding it can positively impact satisfaction in waking life. As a whole, the book provides a collection of tools and techniques which can be referred to time and again, as well as a wealth of examples. Exploring dreams as a natural source of clinical insight, The Invisible Storyteller will appeal to Jungian psychotherapists and analytical psychologists, other professionals working with dreams with clients, and readers looking for a scientific approach to dream interpretation.
The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers (Thorndike Biography Ser.)
by Harry BernsteinHarry Bernstein was born into a world of hardship and suffering in a northern mill town, in the shadow of the First World War.His brutish father spends what little he earns at the tailoring shop on drink, while his devoted mother survives on her dreams - that new shoes might secure Harry's admission to a fancy school, that her daughter might marry well, and that one day they might all escape this grinding poverty for the paradise of America.But as the years go by, life for the Bernsteins on their narrow cobbled street remains a daily struggle to make ends meet. For young Harry though, most distressing are his fears for his adored elder sister Lily, who is risking all by pursuing a forbidden love...
Invisible Weapons: Liturgy and the Making of Crusade Ideology
by M. Cecilia GaposchkinThroughout the history of the Crusades, liturgical prayer, masses, and alms were all marshaled in the fight against Muslim armies. In Invisible Weapons, M. Cecilia Gaposchkin focuses on the ways in which Latin Christians communicated their ideas and aspirations for crusade to God through liturgy, how public worship was deployed, and how prayers and masses absorbed the ideals and priorities of crusading. Placing religious texts and practices within the larger narrative of crusading, Gaposchkin offers a new understanding of a crucial facet in the culture of holy war.
Invitacion A Amar: El Camino a la Contemplacion Cristiana
by Thomas KeatingStemming from the work of Thomas Keating, "Centering Prayer in Life and Ministry" allies meditation practices with silent prayer and offers a powerful method of attending to the word of God. This collection of essays contains many key insights into the meaning and practice of centering prayer.
Invitation and Belonging in a Christian Ashram: Building Interreligious Community in Northern India
by Nadya PohranBased on 10 months of ethnographic fieldwork, this book presents a social history of Sat Tal Christian Ashram (STA), an Ashram in the Kumaon foothills of northern India. This book explores how some Christian missionaries have sought to inflect Christianity with Advaita Vedantic undertones in a number of Indian contexts; it then analyses how STA draws upon, but also differs from, existing practices of inculturation. In demonstrating the distinctions of STA, this book offers new ethnographic data on the topics of Indian Christianity, Christian missiology and Hindu-Christian relations. This book also contributes to emergent discussions of multiple religious orientation, existential belonging and the negotiation that occurs as individuals and communities seek to invite or belong alongside individuals whose proclaimed faiths are different than their own. It is written in a clear and accessible style, making it suitable for undergraduate students, while also offering specialists new qualitative data and insightful theoretical reflections.
Invitation and Belonging in a Christian Ashram: Building Interreligious Community in Northern India
by Nadya PohranBased on 10 months of ethnographic fieldwork, this book presents a social history of Sat Tal Christian Ashram (STA), an Ashram in the Kumaon foothills of northern India. This book explores how some Christian missionaries have sought to inflect Christianity with Advaita Vedantic undertones in a number of Indian contexts; it then analyses how STA draws upon, but also differs from, existing practices of inculturation. In demonstrating the distinctions of STA, this book offers new ethnographic data on the topics of Indian Christianity, Christian missiology and Hindu-Christian relations. This book also contributes to emergent discussions of multiple religious orientation, existential belonging and the negotiation that occurs as individuals and communities seek to invite or belong alongside individuals whose proclaimed faiths are different than their own. It is written in a clear and accessible style, making it suitable for undergraduate students, while also offering specialists new qualitative data and insightful theoretical reflections.
An Invitation to Biblical Poetry (Essentials of Biblical Studies)
by Elaine T. JamesAn Invitation to Biblical Poetry is an accessibly written introduction to biblical poetry that emphasizes the aesthetic dimensions of poems and their openness to varieties of context. It demonstrates the irreducible complexity of poetry as a verbal art and considers the intellectual work poems accomplish as they offer aesthetic experiences to people who read or hear them. Chapters walk the reader through some of the diverse ways biblical poems are organized through techniques of voicing, lineation, and form, and describe how the poems' figures are both culturally and historically bound and always dependent on later reception. The discussions consider examples from different texts of the Bible, including poems inset in prose narratives, prophecies, psalms, and wisdom literature. Each chapter ends with a reading of a psalm that offers an acute example of the dimension under discussion. Students and general readers are invited to richer and deeper readings of ancient poems and the subjects, problems, and convictions that occupy their imagination.
An Invitation to Biblical Poetry (Essentials of Biblical Studies)
by Elaine T. JamesAn Invitation to Biblical Poetry is an accessibly written introduction to biblical poetry that emphasizes the aesthetic dimensions of poems and their openness to varieties of context. It demonstrates the irreducible complexity of poetry as a verbal art and considers the intellectual work poems accomplish as they offer aesthetic experiences to people who read or hear them. Chapters walk the reader through some of the diverse ways biblical poems are organized through techniques of voicing, lineation, and form, and describe how the poems' figures are both culturally and historically bound and always dependent on later reception. The discussions consider examples from different texts of the Bible, including poems inset in prose narratives, prophecies, psalms, and wisdom literature. Each chapter ends with a reading of a psalm that offers an acute example of the dimension under discussion. Students and general readers are invited to richer and deeper readings of ancient poems and the subjects, problems, and convictions that occupy their imagination.
Invitation to Love 20th Anniversary Edition: The Way of Christian Contemplation
by Thomas KeatingInvitation to Love provides a road map for the journey that begins when Centering Prayer is seriously undertaken. Pointing to some of the recognizable landmarks on this journey, as well as to its ultimate destination, Father Keating addresses common questions regarding contemplative practice: How will it affect my life? Where does it lead us spiritually? What obstacles will I encounter along the way? How does it work? Following on from Open Mind, Open Heart, this book establishes a dialogue between the insights of contemporary psychology and the classic Christian spiritual masters, providing a solid conceptual background for the practice of Centering Prayer. This is a practical book, articulating the stages of the process of spiritual growth, and outlining how we might develop a deeper relationship with God and move from contemplation to action.