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In this profound and moving work, the scientist Wilhelm Reich explores the meaning of Christ's life and reveals the hidden, universal scourge that caused his agonizing death--The Emotional Plague of Mankind. Reich contends that man is faced with full responsibility for the murder of Christ all through the ages--for the murder of fellow human beings, no matter what the circumstances. Here is the blunt truth about people's true ways of being, acting and emotional reacting. Here, also, the lesson of the murder of Christ is applied to the contemporary social scene. The tragedy of Reich's own death points up the fact that the problems presented in THE MURDER OF CHRIST are acute problems of present-day society.-Print ed.

This study presents the first comprehensive analysis of Seventhday Adventist interchurch relations – a 20-million member body whose ecumenical stance has so far been underresearched. For the sake of interpreting denominational involvement and reservations in Adventism as well as beyond, the study develops a new academic approach to ecumenism based on Relational Models Theory, a comprehensive social science paradigm of interpreting human relationships. The resulting typology of ecumenical interactions and the historical case study of Adventism suggest that such a relational interpretation of ecumenical interaction sheds light on many of the unresolved issues in ecumenics – such as divergent concepts of unity, difficulties in recognition processes, and the permanence of denominationalism.

This book presents the life and thought of Hans Denck (1550-1527), the contemplative genius of the Anabaptist movement. The author examines the medieval context, mystic content, and Jewish roots of Denck's spirituality and translates into English his theological treatises, the original German of which is reprinted on facing pages.These texts convey with unmatched brilliance rare depths of mystic insight on many facets of faith and life, good and evil, truth and love, perfection and depravity. they explore knowledge of God within his and beyond creation, explain how Christ through us fulfils God's Law, and indicate why true love compels Oneness in Gelassenheit. The author presents conceptually precise equivalents for various technical terms representative of the medieval mystical tradition.

Originally published between 1926 and 1986, the books in this series provide an extensive exploration of Christianity covering a wide range of different perspectives and topics, including the relationship between Christianity and other religions; the history and development of Christianity; Christian theology and philosophy; the presence of Christianity across the world; women and the Church; approaches to the study of Christianity; and poetry inspired by religious architecture.

Called by one of its reviewers'Wordsworth's biographia literaria,'this book takes its reader on a fascinating journey into the mind of the poet whose attitude to God and religion points to a major shift in Western culture. The monograph probes the philosophical foundations of Wordsworth's religious outlook, drawing attention to this First Generation Romantic poet as the author who happened to record in his verse the rise to prominence of some of the intellectual and spiritual challenges and the most troublesome uncertainties that have defined Western man ever since. The book constitutes a self-contained whole and can be read independently. Simultaneously, it creates an unusual duet with the companion volume, The Presence of God in the Works of William Wordsworth. These two works can be regarded as contraries—or negatives: one offering an ironically positive reading of Wordsworth's religious discourse, the other offering a reading which is positively negative.

This publication updates Bruce Metzger's monumental Index to the present. In addition to all the periodicals indexed by Metzger (where these are still active), this volume updates the list with a number of newer periodicals which had not yet begun publication when Metzger compiled his work. Metzger's original citations (10.000+) are complemented by an additional 4.800+ new references, using the same basic arrangement employed by Metzger.

Gebete und Gottesdienste sind ein Herzstück der Ökumene. Oft wird berichtet, dass hier eine Einheit erfahrbar ist, die in Dialogen gesucht wird. Zugleich gilt das Feld als eines der schwierigsten: Die fehlende Abendmahlsgemeinschaft führt die Trennungen sichtbar vor Augen; verschiedene Vorstellungen prallen aufeinander und sorgen für Konflikte. Gottesdienst ist sowohl eine Quelle der Einheit als auch Ausdruck der Trennung und Grund zur Spaltung. Wie sich die Diskussionen rund um den Gottesdienst sowie die liturgische Praxis in der Ökumenischen Bewegung verändern und wie sich hierbei jeweils das Verhältnis von Kirchen- und Gottesdienstgemeinschaft gestaltet, ist Thema dieses Buches. Analysiert werden hierfür Gottesdienste aus der Geschichte und Vorgeschichte des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen (1910–1998). [Prayer and Worship. Practice and Discourse in the History of the World Council of Churches| It has often been stated that prayer and worship are at the heart of Ecumenism. Many have reported that in shared prayer they have actually experienced the unity sought after in the ecumenical dialogues. At the same time, the field is a particularly difficult one: The absence of Eucharistic fellowship highlights the obvious clash of understandings and perceptions and makes separation apparent. Worship is thus both a source of unity as well as a sign of, and even a reason for, separation. This study attempts to shed light on how both the debates about worship and the liturgical practice of the Ecumenical Movement have changed over time, and how the relationship of ecclesial communion and worship communion is shaped. To this end, the author analyses prayers and services throughout the history of the World Council of Churches and several previous ecumenical bodies (1910–1998).

The announcement of a serious diagnosis is a solemn moment when directions shift, priorities change, and life appears in sharper focus. It is also a moment when a story takes shape. It is a story we are able to imagine, even if we haven't experienced it firsthand, because the moment of diagnosis is as pervasive in popular media as it is in medicine. Diagnosis: Truths and Tales shares stories told from the perspectives of those who receive diagnoses and those who deliver them. Confronting how we address illness in our personal lives and in popular culture, this compelling book explores narratives of diagnosis while pondering the impact they have on how we experience health and disease.

The later poetry of William Wordsworth, popular in his lifetime and influential on the Victorians, has, with a few exceptions, received little attention from contemporary literary critics. In Wordsworth's Poetry, 1815-1845, Tim Fulford argues that the later work reveals a mature poet far more varied and surprising than is often acknowledged. Examining the most characteristic poems in their historical contexts, he shows Wordsworth probing the experiences and perspectives of later life and innovating formally and stylistically. He demonstrates how Wordsworth modified his writing in light of conversations with younger poets and learned to acknowledge his debt to women in ways he could not as a young man. The older Wordsworth emerges in Fulford's depiction as a love poet of companionate tenderness rather than passionate lament. He also appears as a political poet—bitter at capitalist exploitation and at a society in which vanity is rewarded while poverty is blamed. Most notably, he stands out as a history poet more probing and more clear-sighted than any of his time in his understanding of the responsibilities and temptations of all who try to memorialize the past.

'I believe that complete separation of church and state is one of those miraculous things which can be best for religion and best for the state, and the best for those who are religious and those who are not religious.'- Leo Pfeffer Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. These sixteen words epitomize a radical experiment unique in human history... It is the purpose of this book to examine how this experiment came to be made, what are the implications and consequences of its application to democratic living in America today, and what are the forces seeking to frustrate and defeat that experiment. (From the Foreword)

Re-Reading The Excursion: Narrative, Response and the Wordsworthian Dramatic Voice is a groundbreaking study, which transforms contemporary critical understanding of The Excursion and of the place of this long poem in the Wordsworthian canon. Sally Bushell argues that the poem, which has suffered at the hands of critics for most of the twentieth century, has been unfairly judged according to a Coleridgean rather than a Wordsworthian definition of'philosophy'-that it has been read as a didactic work, rather than one which uses its dramatic form to teach its readers to think for themselves. She offers a new reading in which The Excursion is shown to be about providing the readers with moral habits and mental constructs by which to learn, not simply telling them what to think. The book begins with a discussion of the reception of the poem in 1814, considering the responses of Coleridge, Hazlitt, Francis Jeffrey and Charles Lamb. This historicized discussion is then balanced by a reading of the poem at the compositional stage, looking at the emergence from the manuscripts of a Wordsworthian dramatic voice. The author goes on to argue that the poem's philosophy is performative-that is, concerned with the way in which moral ideas can best be communicated, as much as with the ideas themselves. She then shifts her attention to consider how this operates in relation to the reader, considering the importance of context in relation to emotional response. Later, the epitaphic books are reconsidered in the light of Wordworth's critical writing; Bushell argues that the significance of the epitaph for him lies in its values as a poetic form in which the text itself is released from poetic authority. Finally, the author looks back at The Prelude from the perspective of The Excursion and shows how the later poem attempts to value the ordinary, rather than the poetic, mind. The conclusion reached is that Wordsworth is not just the'egotistical'poet of The Prelude, interested largely in the development of his own imaginative powers, but one who goes on to explore the limits of subjectivity and the importance of different kinds of imaginative links between individuals.

Fifty years after its publication, Bryan Wilson's Religion in Secular Society (1966) remains a seminal work. It is one of the clearest articulations of the secularization thesis: the claim that modernizations brings with it fundamental changes in the nature and status of religion. For Wilson, secularization refers to the fact that religion has lost influence at the societal, the institutional, and the individual level. Individual secularization is about the loss of authority of the Churches to define what people should believe, practise and accept as moral principles guiding their lives. In other words, individual piety may still persist, however, if it develops independently of religious authorities, then it is an indication of individual secularization. Wilson stresses that the consequences of the process of societalization in modern societies and on this basis he formulated his thesis that secularization is linked to the decline of community and is a concomitant of societalization. Revised and updated, Steve Bruce builds on Wilson's work by noting the changes in religious culture of the UK and US, in an appendix on major changes since the 1960s. Bruce also provides a critical response to the core ideas of Religion in Secular Society.

In recent decades the life circumstances of most people around the world have changed enormously. We are again expecting scarcity and economic crisis, the danger of war, terrorism and environmental destruction. However, people's tendencies toward selfishness and the misuse of freedom, uprooting, dissoluteness and crime are also increasingly being seen as threats to society and individual citizens. The decline of support-giving religious, worldview and moral traditions has given rise to great uncertainty about values. Citizens increasingly experience this as a burden, and are becoming more receptive to a reassessment. More of us are seeking a new orientation. Those responsible for children or youth require this with special urgency, because uncertainty in value orientations also creates uncertainty in education.Are there ways to escape this dilemma? How can we achieve new clarity on the worldview and moral foundations of education? To what ends should we direct education? With what difficulties should we reckon? What tasks must parents fulfil and which should be assigned to teachers? These are the topics dealt with in this book. It provides answers to the questions of parents, teachers and other educators, as well as to those of politicians, economic leaders and spiritual counsellors. It will serve to stimulate thought and contribute to achieving agreement on the central educational tasks of our time.

This collection of fourteen essays written by young communication scholars at the University of Arkansas presents unique insights into how First Amendment issues have played out in the state. Rather than exploring the particular legal issues and the constitutional principles enunciated by the courts, First Amendment Studies tells the stories of actual people expressing challenged or unpopular points of view and reveals the ways that constitutional controversies arise from the actions of local officials and individual citizens. Drawing on public documents as well as extensive interviews with participants, these essays demonstrate the dynamics of democratic dissent—on college campuses, in public schools, in churches, on the streets, in the forests and on the farms, and in legislative chambers and courtrooms. Each essay was selected for the Richard S. Arnold Prize in First Amendment Studies, an endowed fund established in 1999 to encourage University of Arkansas graduate students in communication and the liberal arts to explore and examine questions about freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

One of the most influential social activists of the twentieth century, A. J. Muste is remembered by some as a pioneering labor leader, by others for his work helping lay the foundations of the civil rights movement, and by many others for his tireless work for peace, justice, economic equality, and the protection of civil liberties. As a pastor, Muste's life and work were shaped by his Christian theology. This collection of Muste's sermons, speeches, articles, and other works for religious audiences is a timely call for Christians to follow him in the way of peace.

Religious political violence is by no means a new phenomenon, yet there are critical differences between the various historical instances of such violence and its more current permutations. Since the mid-1970s, religious fundamentalist movements have been seeking to influence world order by participating in local political systems. For example, Islamic fundamentalism is at the heart of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the Christian fundamental right wing has seen a resurgence in Europe, and Jewish fundamentalism is behind the actions of Meir Kahane's Kach movement and the settler movement. The shift in recent years from secular to religious political violence necessitates a reevaluation of contemporary political violence and of the concept of religious violence. This text analyzes the evolution of religious political violence, in both historical and contemporary perspectives. Since religious political violent events are usually associated with the term “terrorism,” the book first analyzes the origins of this controversial term and its religious manifestations. It then outlines and highlights the differences between secular and religious political violence, on ideological, strategic, and tactical levels before comparing the concept of Holy War in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Lastly, it shows how modern radical monotheistic religious groups interpret and manipulate their religious sources and ideas to advocate their political agendas, including the practice of violence. A unique comparative study of religious political violence across Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, this text features many international case studies from the Crusades to the Arab Spring.

Medical history offers us many wise thoughts, a few misguided notions, and a host of intriguing back-stories. On the Shoulders of Medicine's Giants presents a selection of these, and tells how the words of medicine's “giants”—such as Hippocrates, Sir William Osler, Francis Weld Peabody, and Elizabeth Kübler-Ross—are relevant to medical science and practice in the 21st century.Which physician was the inspiration for the fictional character Sherlock Holmes, and what did he identify as'the real essential factor in all successful medical diagnosis'? What did Sigmund Freud describe as his “tyrant,” and what might this mean for doctors today? Do you know the attributed source of the well-known aphorism about horses and zebras, and what we believe this physician actually said? This book answers these questions and more, while also providing fascinating tales about each individual quoted.On the Shoulders of Medicine's Giants is recommended for practicing physicians, students, and residents, as well as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and anyone involved in patient care who wants to understand the historical and epistemological foundations of what we do each day in practice.To see Dr. Taylor lecture on the history of medicine, go here: https://youtu.be/Zx4yaUyaPRA

The Disciples at Table! The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is about to enter its third century of worship, evangelism and Christian worship. This book is a snapshot of their Table practice: its origins, forms, prayers, and ecumenical development. Single-minded pioneers and advocates of Eucharistic Table fellowship each Sunday, the Disciples forged a unique experience of worship within the restorationist paradigm. What did this worship look like? A free tradition, explicitly'non-liturgical,'these Christian communities were open to the directives of the Scriptures and the inspiration of the Spirit. There were no official texts. Yet there was a plethora of worship books and aids, in effect unofficial texts, operating to guide, inform and develop the Disciples'understanding of the Lord's Table and their worship. For the first time these devotional books have been uncovered and studied, revealing something of the deeper influences behind Disciples practice, the common lines of thought and ritual that unknowingly bind the communities, and the difficulties that have emerged in light of ongoing ecumenical worship and research.

How did a thirteenth-century Italian friar become one of the best-loved saints in America? Around the nation today, St. Francis of Assisi is embraced as the patron saint of animals, beneficently presiding over hundreds of Blessing of the Animals services on October 4, St. Francis's Catholic feast day. Not only Catholics, however, but Protestants and other Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, and nonreligious Americans commonly name him as one of their favorite spiritual figures. Drawing on a dazzling array of art, music, drama, film, hymns, and prayers, Patricia Appelbaum explains what happened to make St. Francis so familiar and meaningful to so many Americans. Appelbaum traces popular depictions and interpretations of St. Francis from the time when non-Catholic Americans'discovered'him in the nineteenth century to the present. From poet to activist, 1960s hippie to twenty-first-century messenger to Islam, St. Francis has been envisioned in ways that might have surprised the saint himself. Exploring how each vision of St. Francis has been shaped by its own era, Appelbaum reveals how St. Francis has played a sometimes countercultural but always aspirational role in American culture. St. Francis's American story also displays the zest with which Americans borrow, lend, and share elements of their religious lives in everyday practice.

An authoritative and timely book shedding new light on the role of religion during World War II and its impact on post-war American society.America's armed forces played a critical part in the defeat of Hitler's Germany and made by far the biggest contribution to the Allied defeat of Japan. In the US, military veterans of World War II are widely revered as the foremost representatives of'the greatest generation', a generation that vanquished fascism in Europe and the Far East, faced down the threat of communism during the Cold War, and achieved unprecedented levels of prosperity and social mobility in their own society. Elsewhere, America's service men and women are often remembered more ambivalently for their material abundance, their hedonism, and even their rapacity. God and Uncle Sam shows that bothperspectives are problematic: America's armed forces were the products of one of the most diverse and dynamic religious cultures in the western world and were the largest ever to be raised by a professedly religious society. Despite constitutional constraints, a pre-war'religious depression', and the myriad pitfalls of war, religion played a crucial role in helping more than sixteen million uniformed Americans through the ordeal of World War II, a fact that had profound and far-reaching implications for the religious development of post-war America. This timely and authoritative book draws on meticulous research in US archives and is informed by contemporary films, photographs, posters, and sound recordings. MICHAEL SNAPE is Michael Ramsey Professor of Anglican Studies at Durham University.

The years between the Civil War and 1930 constitute the most critical period in the history of Disciples of Christ, yet little attempt has been made to understand that era's most prominent leaders, one of whom was J. H. Garrison. For more than sixty years, he edited and contributed to The Christian-Evangelist, the journal that became the weekly periodical of the Disciples. An editor with vast influence, he played a significant and sometimes decisive role in the life of his communion. This book is more than the story of one man; it is a critical study of the turbulent and transitional era in Disciple history spanned by his editorial career. The value of this book is enhanced by the extensive use that is made of J. H. Garrison's letters and diaries. This rich collection of source material has only recently been made available for historical research.

Celebrate the Achievements... The Complete Encyclopedia of African American History chronicles 400 years of African American history. This comprehensive resource explores the past, the progress, and the present of African Americans in four volumes, each building, complementing, and expanding on the previous volume. - Volume 1: 400 Years of Achievement presents four centuries of noteworthy accomplishments through a fascinating mix of biographies-including more than 750 influential figures-little-known or misunderstood historical facts, and enlightening essays on significant legislation and movements. - Volume 2: Notable Firsts is an exhilarating listing of the accomplishments of black Americans in the arts, business, education, the military, medicine and science, and sports. - Volume 3: Heroes and Heroines is an eclectic mix of profiles of 150 well-known and lesser-known individuals who have made a lasting and profound impact on our culture. - Volume 4: Civil Rights Feats and Facts details the important people, places, and events of the black struggle for freedom. The Complete Encyclopedia of African American History showcases a legacy of pride, struggle, and triumph through consequential events and people, covering milestones and challenges met while highlighting the considerable contributions African Americans have made to the fabric of American society and culture. It provides insights on-and inspiration from-the influence and impact of African Americans on the United States in a broad range of endeavors from politics, education, religion, business, science, medicine, the military, sports, literature, music, dance, theater, art, film, television, and more.