The Human Image of God


Book Description

A new wave of religious energy is sweeping through the western nations. Although God is disappearing from religious discourse in western culture, both as a word and as a concept, there is a definite undercurrent of religious ardour, which is growing in strength. It focuses all the more attention on the issue: what or who is God in the modern era? This is the question examined through systematic studies, practical theology and empirical research, that are presented here through anthropologically relevant theology. Renowned international authors make it plain in this book: the question of God is exciting again! This book is published in honour of Johannes A. van der Ven on the occasion of his 60th birthday.




Bridging the Gaps


Book Description

Funeral rites help people to cope with their loss and express their religious needs. Even in a secularised society such as that in the Netherlands large groups of people still fall back on ecclesiastic rites when a loved one dies. But how does one explain that there are more people participating in church funerals than people who assign religion a focal place in their lives? How do present-day funeral-goers regard the rites in which they participate? Does the rite actually help them to bridge the gaps left by the deceased? This study considers such questions from the angle of ritual and liturgical studies by way of empirical research into perceptions of present-day church funerals in the Netherlands.




Religion and Ethnocentrism


Book Description

Within the context of the Duthc civil religion and the diverse reactions to it by contemporary Catholic believers, this book investigates the extent to which religious attitudes, i.e. attituted towards God, Jesus, Spirit, salvation, and church, . have an effect on ethnocentrism




What is God?


Book Description

Three previously unpublished essays are among the 21, the others having been published 1972-90. Philosopher of religion La Croix muses over some of enduring theological questions such as whether God is fair, omnipotent, all-knowing, very nice, or at all. No index. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR




Religion, Spirituality and Identity


Book Description

Selected papers presented at the 8th Nordic Conference on Religious Education in Helsinki, Finland in June 2005.




Youth in Europe: An international empirical study about the impact of religion on life orientation


Book Description

This book draws upon empirical data collected from 10,000 adolescent young people in 10 European countries. The first volume of this project was about young people's life perspectives and the second about their religious attitudes and practices. The current and final volume of this cross-cultural study connects both research dimensions. The analyses make clear that the influence of religion on values, life-orientation and politics differs strongly between different groups within Christianity and between Christians, Jews and Muslims. Many findings contain obvious surprises because they refute mainstream opinion on many topics. The book gives detailed and new insights in the public relevance of the religiosity of young people across Europe. All three volumes together are indispensable for scholars who work in public, religious and educational contexts.




Religion and Generalised Trust


Book Description

For most Indonesian citizens, Muslims and Christians alike, religion plays an important role in private and public life. Against the backdrop of tacit and overt conflicts between religious groups in Indonesia, this study examines the potential role of religion in building trust between people. To what extent does religion induce or reduce trust between Muslims and Christians? While religious communities are important socialising agencies for moral principles that may encourage trust, religious identification may also be related to distrust towards others; making 'trust' a problematic issue in the context of interreligious relations. This dissertation describes how trust is determined by religion (in both positive and negative ways), and how it can be seen as a crucial concept within the religious meaning system. (Series: ?Interreligious Studies, Vol. 9) [Subject: Religious Studies, Southeast Asian Studies, Sociology




God Reinvented?


Book Description

Everywhere in the western world the process of secularization leads to the decline of faith in God. The concept of secularization itself, however, has come under attack by critics who believe that it does not adequately account for processes which may be part of a certain renascence, as marginal and unrecognized as it may be, of belief in God. Whether these processes are actually taking place, and whether this renascence, if such it is, will bring about a transformation of that belief are questions still waiting to be answered. Are we witnessing the (re)creation of God images, or the (re)discovery of God? The tension between (re)creation and (re)discovery lies at the root of this book and its title, which has been framed very intentionally as a question: God Reinvented?




God


Book Description

This important book sketches out the questions currently asked about God. In the midst of religious pluralism and agnosticism, Houtepen asks, how can we think about God? He finds the question impossible to answer without defining one's own position.The author writes: "I have learned that it is good to speak about God with some caution; not, however at the periphery of thought but from within, from the heart of our economic, legal, psychological and philosophical ideals. The book is an account of my own personal theological question. What have I found? That the questions about God open our eyes to God the Eternal One, the Most High, as a question to us.">




Nonbelief & Evil


Book Description

Can God's nonexistence be established? According to author Theodore M. Drange, it all depends on what is meant by "God". This book expands the frontiers of philosophy by exploring atheism, evil, and the nonexistence of God. Included are examinations of free-will, the possibility of an afterlife, arguments by theists, and more.