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Customer Reviews (3)

A theological discussion
This book provides a theologian with a nice summary and dialogue of 22 concepts related to religious inquiry.The various authors draw on Tillich, Hegel, Heidegger, Kant any many other scholars to provide a format or review of the term being discussed.This is not a book meant for a lay person or beginning college student.A graduate theological student may find it appealing as an aid for her/his own research.As a college religion instructor, I had hoped this book would be a helpful tool for my students.It is too advanced.

A theological discussion
This book provides a theologian with a nice summary and dialogue of 22 concepts related to religious inquiry.The various authors draw on Tillich, Hegel, Heidegger, Kant any many other scholars to provide a format or review of the term being discussed.This is not a book meant for a lay person or beginning college student.A graduate theological student may find it appealing as an aid for her/his own research.As a college religion instructor, I had hoped this book would be a helpful tool for my students.It is too advanced.

An insightful introduction to critical religious studies.
Critical Terms for Religious Studies is a wonderful introduction to religious studies.It uses interesting examples drawn from a wide range of religions to make its points clear.Topics are drawn from both obviouslyreligious terminology, such as belief and God, to seemingly non-religiousterms, such as culture and experience.The result is a deeply insightfulbook that gives the beginning student a lay of the religious studieslandscape. ... Read more

Book Description
In recent years there has been an intensifying debate within the religious studies community about the validity of religion as an analytical category. In this book Fitzgerald sides with those who argue that the concept of religion itself should be abandoned. On the basis of his own research in India and Japan, and through a detailed analysis of the use of religion in a wide range of scholarly texts, the author maintains that the comparative study of religion is really a form of liberal ecumenical theology. By pretending to be a science, religion significantly distorts socio-cultural analysis. He suggest, however, that religious studies can be re-represented in a way which opens up new and productive theoretical connections with anthropology and cultural and literary studies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A must read for religious studies students.
Any student of "religion" should take Fitzgerald's argument seriously.In fact, I would go as far as to say that many within the academy now teaching (or rather, preaching) religion should also examine Fitzgerald's work.

I was first exposed to this book late in my undergraduate career in religious studies.For me the theoretical discourse on "religion" had always seemed convoluted, but nevertheless it was a conceptual morass that I believed could be resolved.But--trust me--it can not be, and Fitzgerald cogently explains why.

Instead of elaborating further, I would suggest that anyone at all interested in relgious studies or "religion in general" (or philosophy, imperialism, social control, the modern world, globalization, etc.) to read the first few pages of this book online.I can say without hyperbole that this is one of the most important books I have ever read.My hope in writing this review is that it will inspire others take notice of Fitzgerald's work.

Good but loaded
Fitzgerald's bk is an example of the widespread feeling of uneasiness in a variety of academic fields concerning supposed neutral positions from which to evaluate the data in their respective fields. With scholars coming from a variety of incompatible metaphysical and other philosophical commitments it becomes increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to provide a neutral standpoint from which to adjudicate rival claims. In short, the term "religion" cannot possibly pick out some theory neutral concept with clearly necessary and sufficient conditions. The author persuasively argues that if religion is to function as a useful and neutral term it ends up covering so many phenomena as to loose any meaning. (Is Marxism a religion?, Gardening?, etc.) He treats various attempts to save the concept of "religion" such as Wittgenstein's Family Resemblance theory and I believe shows that such attempts fail because the Family "resemblance" is stretched so far as to be "useless." We are much better of, the author concludes, with dividing up the analytical work that the concept of religion supposedly did and assigning that work to a variety of fields.

The one major draw back of the work is that much of the authors' argument is steeped, he thinks necessarily, in a Marxist or Critical Theorist framework. Which is great if one is a Marxist. But the argument could be made just as easily without the Marxist framework and jargon. If you can look past the Marxist framing of the argument, the book offers a good argument for two possible directions. Either the re-theologizing relative to some theology of religious studies (a route that the author doesn't seem to want take) or of getting rid of the concept of religion altogether, the authors preferred route. Those interested in parallel debates in contemporary Analytic philosophy over the concept of Justification (see Alston's "Epistemic Desiderata" [article]) or debates over Truth Pluralism and relativism (see Lynch's "Truth in Context" [book]) will find data here and parallel arguments. Also those of more Continental persuasion will find this text germane to the debates over realism/anti-realism (Rorty & Putnam), "Play" in Derrida, and problems in Semiotics/Structuralism. ... Read more

Book Description
Routledge proudly announces theory4, a new series that presents concise overviews of the major theorists, written with a particular discipline in mind. Theory is now part of every discipline's set of tools; these volumes are tailored to the needs of students and scholars in a given field. Focusing on the great theoretical figures since the end of the nineteenth century, each volume will contain twenty to thirty entries. Each entry will give the reader a brief description of that thinker's ideas and crucial innovations in light of a specific discipline, along with a highly selected list of recommended primary and secondary readings.

The inaugural volume, Theory for Religious Studies, will be followed by volumes in history, art, film, music, and other disciplines.

Theory for Religious Studies presents the key theoretical influences on religious studies since the 1960s - an essential guide to the figures and ideas animating religious studies today. Drawing on their complementary knowledge of Eastern and Western religious traditions, William Deal and Timothy Beal begin with four foundational figures - Marx, Nietzsche, Saussure, and Freud - and go on to provide guided introductions to Althusser, Bakhtin, Barthes, Bataille, Baudrillard, Benjamin, Bourdieu, Butler,Cixous, Deleuze and Guattari, Derrida, Foucault, Gadamer, Irigaray, Kristeva, Lacan, Lefebvre, Levinas, Lyotard, Merleau-Ponty, Said, Spivak, White, Williams, and Zizek. Brisk, thoughtful, and engaging, this will be an essential first volume for anyone at work in religious studies today. ... Read more

Book Description
Donald Wiebe takes on a debate that has been raging in universities across North America and Europe for some years now. The issue is whether to approach religion as a science, free from the dissemination of beliefs and evangelizing, or to study it as a form of faith and therefore draw lines between believers and nonbelievers. Wiebe persuasively argues the former, claiming that if taught in a university, religion must be treated as a science, with all the objectivity and research that are brought to other subjects. He further maintains that the study of theology should take place in seminaries, which are the proper places for the pursuit of religion as a creed. Exploring the true meaning and role of an academic, Wiebe shows how by propagating religion, instructors are abandoning their academic task to "explain everything and enjoin nothing." This intelligent manifesto guaranteed to help readers look at academia, the search for knowledge, and the idea of religion in an entirely new light. ... Read more

Book Description

"Will become a standard."
—Rodney Taylor, University of Colorado at Boulder

Though they are intimately related, most textbooks cover either religious studies or theology, leaving students lacking in exposure to one or the other of these associated disciplines. Religious Studies and Theology: An Introduction offers a comprehensive introduction to both subjects in one inclusive volume.

The text is written in an accessible style and is meant for beginning students and all those interested in learning about these fields. It is divided into six sections, including Theories of Religion; World Religions; Biblical Studies; Practical Theology; Systematic Theology; and The Philosophy of Religion. The volume also contains a guide for further reading as well as boxes to explain key terms. Offering thorough and cutting-edge coverage of all aspects of these fields, it is the only introduction to the whole of religious studies and theology in a single-volume format.

Contributors: Douglas J. Davies, Seth D. Kunin, Hugh Goddard, Martin A. Mills, Matthew Wood, F. Michael Perko, Paul Ellingworth, Ken Aitken, Helen K. Bond, John Swinton, Henry R. Sefton, Francesca Aran Murphy, and Derek Cross.

Book Description
Students enrolled in undergraduate theology and religiousstudies courses are frequently confronted with the daunting task ofmastering new and unfamiliar terminology. While some textbooks includeglossaries to aid the introductory student, many educators assign classroomtexts that assume students' prior knowledge of key terms. Having readyaccess to a wide variety of definitions in a single, compact volume isespecially important in our multicultural and religiously plural world.Spanning the gamut from "Aaron" to "Zwingli," this dictionary includesnearly 3,000 entries written by about sixty authors, all of whom arespecialists in their various theological and religious disciplines. Theeditors have designed the dictionary especially to aid theintroductory-level student with instant access to definitions of termslikely to be encountered in--but not to substitute for--classroompresentations or reading assignments. Designed as a supplement for student coursework, An Introductory Dictionaryof Theology and Religious Studies is also a useful resource for catechesisor religious education, for those pursuing interfaith or interreligiousdialogue, and for those whose duties require communication with personsfrom diverse religious traditions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An Introductory Dictionary of Theology & Religious Studies
Received my book in less than the anticipated wait time, in fine condition and for less cost than directly from the publisher. ... Read more

Book Description

In The University Gets Religion: Religious Studies in American Higher Education, historian D. G. Hart examines the rise of religion to its current place as one of the largest academic disciplines in contemporary higher education. Protestant ministers and faculty, arguing for the importance of religion to a truly "liberal" education, were especially influential in staffing departments and designing curricula to reflect their own assumptions about the value of religion not just for higher education but for American culture in general.

But the success of mainstream Protestantism in fostering the academic study of religion has become the field's greatest burden. Religion scholars have distanced themselves from traditional Protestant orientations while looking for topics better suited to America's cultural diversity. As a result, religion is in the awkward position of being one of the largest scholarly disciplines while simultaneously lacking a solid academic justification. It may be time, Hart argues, for academics to stop trying to secure a religion-friendly university.

Book Description
What this product is about, and the needs it will meet Since the days of the Early Church, Christians have struggled to find a way to be 'good'--to please God by their own efforts. They end up carrying a burden God never intended them to bear. And what's more, their brand of Christianity ends up looking like any other religion of the world--bound by joyless rules and rituals. Fritz Ridenour's study of the book of Romans provides an antidote to the pharisaical spirit and shows that Christianity is not a religion but a relationship. It is not man reaching up, it is God reaching down. Every Christian can enjoy his or her birthright when they realize who they are in Christ. The result is a life full of hope, joy, power and potential. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Understanding the Gospel
Freedom to really live, that's the sum of the book's message. When you take away all the attachments that men are prone to hang on the Gospel, you find liberty. The author understands that having that personal relationship with the Lord, Himself, can't be improved upon by any attachments. This author shows how to get rid of the attachments, and that is the heart of Paul's message to the Roman believers.

I Love This Book!
This is a GREAT book, and fun to read!

It's no wonder it continues to stay in print. I first read the book as a teen. Now more than 30 years later, I just re-read it and I loved it as much as I did the first time!

If anyone were to ask me what a Christian is,why I am one, and how they can become one, this book is one of the greatest resources I could point them to.

Simply the Best!
I can hardly believe it. My copy of this book is dated from 1976 and has been in continued use since them. Come to think of it, that was the year I entered the ministry and this book has been a constant companion since.

Fritz Ridenour writes for youth, but this commentary on Romans transcends youth and ought to be read by every new Christian. It is simply the best. The genius of Fidenour is that he has the ability to take a very complicated document (Paul's epistle to the Romans) and explain it completely in simple language.

This book has had a profound impact on my understanding of Romans. Twenty years and many Bibles later, I still write in Ridenour's insights in the margin of Romans. This is a great book and must reading for every Christian.

Plain Simple Truth
I have had my copy for over 15 years and I find it good to pull this book out and reread it every few years.
The book is a commentary that follows The Book of Romans. The heart of the message is salvation through faith in Jesus Christ - God accepting us, and not earning our salvation through our own works. The book is very well written, very easy to read (I usually reread it in a day or two), and the writing is very down to earth and on the level of the common person.
I first saw this book when I was young in the early 70's - this book has stood a time test, and the writing is still so current today. I reread the book yesterday and it reads like it could have been first published today even though it came out in 1967.
Christianity is a path more than a destination (a way of life in fellowship with God being led by his Holy Spirit). Sometimes you can stray off course, even a little, and start to loose your peace and joy. This book helps me to remember the basics of my salvation and set my heart in the right direction. The beautiful part is this book is so easy to read; no big language, you are not being talked down to, no from another world type of writing - just on your level.
Please read this book. Save a copy, and pull it out every few years. You will be glad you did.

Great intro, especially if you are from a religious
background. I read a copy that was printed in the mid-60's a few years ago. I was a brand new born-again christian coming out of a Roman Catholic background. I understand that things are changing in the catholic church, praise God, but at the time,not much was said about God's grace, and this book helped me out of the religious baggage I had brought with me.Don't get me wrong, I am a bible believing christian, a former youth leader for a Foursquare denomination church, and I plan to do missionary work.This book is not about just doing whatever you feel like, but it is a rich, easy to read explanation of the Book of Romans that examines all the religious things that we do to try to please God so he gets off our backs, or so that we can feel superior to others. This book does a great job of going through Romans and examining our relationship with Christ. It is engaging for the intelligent as it covers the concepts in Romans which are God-breathed, and it is written in an easy to read manner. I have lent this book to many different kinds of people and they were all able to receive from it.It is wonderful for those who came from a legalistic christian background who are just begining to know Christ, so that they can know the freedom that is in Christ. ... Read more

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The ultra- orthodox view of the modern state of Israel
I read this work in the original in Hebrew. I was impressed by the depth of Ravitzky's knowledge of the ultra- orthodox world, and learned much about Haredi resistance to Zionism , a subject that had always perplexted me. And this because I praying daily the verse 'And return our eyes to Zion with mercy' always assumed that somehow to be religious meant to support a modern Jewish state in the land of Israel.
As I know Ravitzky's political position and bias ( He is a left- of center religious Zionist, ) I have a certain reserve about his writing about Habad , who are in the other camp completely.
But this is certainly a work worth reading, and even studying if one wishes to understand the variety of religious positions on the redemptive character and nature of the modern state of Israel.

"The Messiah and the Rabbis"
It is a shame that such a truly critcal subject as the Jewish right and its Messianic pretensions, has at this point, only one good resource in English, and this is it. More specifically, The Ultra-Orthodox right, has found it's chronicler in Avi Ravitzky and his history of their Messianic throught. He provides a comprehensive historical summary of the Messianic idea, going all the way back to the Destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, then moves the discussion to the subjects of radical anti-zionism, religious zionism, contemporary Messianism in the various ultra-orthodox sects, and their continuing relavance in Jewish religious politics.

Especially important are the "Three Oaths" which the Rabbis developed to forestall Messianic Zionism, after 70 AD. These were so successful, they prevented Zionism from developing in times when it could have, and made the 20th century development of it much more difficult. However, the Three Oaths were only one strand of Jewish Messianic thought, which to a large degree still ignores the stupendous developments of the past 60 years as having no significance.

However, for this writer, the Holocaust and the birth of Israel, are exactly what would seem to an untrained observer: the arrival of the Messianic age. In my recent book, "Jewish History and Divine Providence" I provided an integrated Messianic view of Jewish history from a Liberal point of view. However, I begin from the point of view of Maimonides, whose messianic views were as sober and rational as the rest of his thought. In addition, the Kabbalah and its special rationality, is also critical in my analysis.

Ravitsky provides one side of the Messianic debate. However, until now a liberal side to this debate has been lacking. Those who read both Ravitzky and "Jewish History and Divine Providence" will get the full story.

Sympathetic yet objective account
Aviezer Ravitsky has done great work covering the history and beliefs of the full spectrum of religious responses to Zionism. From those who believed that Zionism was evil because of its secular nature and attempt to replace Divine Redemption with political redemption, to those who believe that the establishment of the State of Israel was preparation for Divine Redemption. He explains the differing points of view in such an unbiased and understanding manner that you are left wondering who is right. This was a mind-bending trip, and in my specific case, greatly helped me understand the beliefs and concerns of the Satmar Hassidim, whom my family left behind two generations ago in Satmar.

Focused More Upon Modern than Historic Jewish "Radicalism"
A superb scan of theologically hard-right sects within modern Judaism, with a suprising focus on the situation in the NYC area and American religious Jews generally. The book could benefit from a fuller treatment ofthe Orthodox view toward Zionism in the pre-state period, but this area isin fact addressed fairly well. It is surely an essential volume in anycollection pertaining to the history of Zionism. ... Read more

Book Description
This book would never have been written had I not been honored with an appointment as Gifford Lecturer on Natural Religion at the University of Edinburgh. In casting about me for subjects of the two courses of ten lectures each for which I thus became responsible, it seemed to me that the first course might well be a descriptive one on "Man's Religious Appetites," and the second a metaphysical one on "Their Satisfaction through Philosophy." But the unexpected growth of the psychological matter as I came to write it out has resulted in the second subject being postponed entirely, and the description of man's religious constitution now fills the twenty lectures. In Lecture XX I have suggested rather than stated my own philosophic conclusions, I hope to be able at some later day to express them in more explicit form. ... Read more

Book Description
In The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature, Dr. William James takes aim at the nature of religion from a scientific/academic point of view-something that had, until this landmark work, been sorely missed. James believed that the study of the origin of an object or concept should not play a role in the study of its value.As an example, he alluded to the Quaker religion and its founder, George Fox. Many scientists immediately reject all aspects of the Quaker religion because evidence suggests that Fox was schizophrenic. Calling this rejection medical materialism, he insisted that the origin of Fox's notions about religion should not be considered when placing a value on them. He pointed out that many believed El Greco to have suffered from astigmatism, yet no one would dismiss his art based on this medical detail. "Scientific theories are organically conditioned just as much as religious emotions are; and if we only knew the facts intimately enough, we should doubtless see 'the liver' determining the dicta of the sturdy atheist as decisively as it does those of the Methodist under conviction anxious about his soul. When it alters in one way the blood that percolates it, we get the Methodist, when in another way, we get the atheist form of mind."- Dr. William James ... Read more

Book Description
Unlike other humanistic disciplines, the academic study of religion must contend with a phenomenon that touches every dimension of human experience. For scholars so engaged, the study of religion often becomes a cross-cultural as well as a necessarily interdisciplinary endeavor. In this collection of original essays, Jon R. Stone has brought together the intellectual autobiographies of fourteen senior scholars--all with national or international reputations in their respective fields--each of whom reflects upon his or her own theoretical assumptions and methodological approaches to the study of religion. Taken together, these essays represent the variety of research methods and interpretive rigor mature scholars bring to the task of examining religious phenomena, religious actions, religious movements, and religious ideas. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

just one hurdle to maximum appreciation for this work...
i find myself on page 75 with a sneaking suspicion that at some point RS decided to pick the subject of eternal damnation not because it is a serious subject for those wanting to come to terms with the fine line between faith and reason, but more for the fact that it's an easy subject to show off his mastery of logic. His logical debate with Calvinism, Jonathan Edwards, and what he colors as Hard-to-Ultrahard Christians, although lively, seem less than relevant in light of other possibilities (in the ever-lasting-life-or-not specifics) via more liberal, universal, interpretations of the New Testament message of God's infinite love and forgiveness.
So I will give RS the benefit of the doubt and finish his game because I love the question "Who Knows?" and I'm sure if I saw RS making oatmeal I would find something inspiring or thought-provoking.
And, and, and...In my next life I will have a front row seat at the debate between Raymond Smullyan and Robert Farrar Capon (one of my favorite writers on the "faith" side).

Lucid Philosophical Discussion
Philosophy as it should be done.Smullyan's writing and thinking in this book is witty, engaging, and subtle without being pretentious, dogmatic, and overly technical.He offers some refreshing analysis and independent options in the philosophy of religion.

Inquiring Minds Want to Start At "Who Knows?"
Here is a book that manages, in relatively few pages and in a style that is consistently readable, to address provacatively and intelligently some of the central questions that men and women throughout time have pondered.Three basic areas are covered: (1) The existence of God, and more important, the "type" of God in whom one believes, (2) The question of whether God is unable or unwilling to grant eternal salvation to all and, (3) Whether we are evolving toward a higher level of consciousness -- a state of being "better described than defined."Smullyan, apparently, has led a colorful life, a significant fraction of which has been spent outside the halls of academia. Still,he is best known for his puzzles, particularly his wonderful puzzles concerning Knights (who always speak the truth) and Knaves (who never do).So, we are most fortunate that this magician/logician should turn his attention to the greatest puzzles of all: Does God exist, what are God's attributes and can we, or at least some people, know God? Countless volumes have been written on these questions.I have sampled not even an insignificant fraction of such work, but I'd bet good money that you could travel a long way in those jungles before finding a book as lucid and as accessible as "Who Knows?" One doesn't have to agree with Smullyan to go on the tour with him.Having read the library's copy, I purchased my own copy from Amazon and plan to take the trip again shortly. ... Read more

Book Description
This important study in religious psychology is intended to describe the processes by which an individual is converted, leaving aside the problem of grace. After a brief discussion of contemporary religious psychology and its scope and methods, it investigates the causes and the genesis of conversion, analyzes the different types of convert, examines sublimation, as well as the behavior of converts after conversion, and then discusses the possibility of the prediction of conversion in persons immune from insanity or neuropathic disease. It also studies the appearance of religious phenomena in persons who have never experienced these phenomena consciously. ... Read more

Book Description
Religious Therapeutics explores the relationship betweenpsychophysical health and spiritual health and presents a model for interpretingconnections between religion and medicine in world traditions. This model emerges fromthe work's investigation of health and religiousness in classical Yoga, A÷yurveda, andTantra--three Hindu traditions noteworthy for the central role they accord the body.Author Gregory P. Fields compares Anglo-European and Indian philosophies of body andhealth and uses fifteen determinants of health excavated from texts of ancient Hindumedicine to show that health concerns the person, not the body or body/mind alone. Thisbook elucidates multifaceted views of health, and--in the context of spirituality andhealing--explores themes such as mental health, meditation, and music. ... Read more