Meta-Religion


Book Description

Whereas many textbooks treat the subject of world religions in an apolitical way, as if each religion were a path for individuals seeking wisdom and not a discourse intimately connected with the exercise of power, James W. Laine treats religion and politics as halves of the same whole, tracing their relationship from the policies of Alexander the Great to the ideologies of modern Europe secularists, with stops in classical India, China, and the Islamic world. Meta-Religion is a groundbreaking text that brings power and politics to the fore of our understanding of world religions, placing religion at the center of world history. This synthetic approach is both transformative and enlightening as it presents a powerful model for thinking differently about what religion is and how it functions in the world. With images and maps to bring the narrative to life, Meta-Religion combines sophisticated scholarly critique with accessibility that students and scholar alike will appreciate.




Meta's Faith


Book Description




Making Sense of God


Book Description

We live in an age of skepticism. Our society places such faith in empirical reason, historical progress, and heartfelt emotion that it’s easy to wonder: Why should anyone believe in Christianity? What role can faith and religion play in our modern lives? In this thoughtful and inspiring new book, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, Making Sense of God shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives.




Metamodernism


Book Description

Opening -- Part I. Metarealism. How the real world became a fable, or, The realities of social construction -- Part II. Process social ontology. Concepts in disintegration & strategies for demolition ; Process social ontology ; Social kinds -- Part III. Hylosemiotics. Hylosemiotics : the discourse of things -- Part IV. Knowledge and value. Zetetic knowledge ; The revaluation of values -- Conclusion : becoming metamodern.




A Meta-Spiritual Handbook


Book Description

When former evangelical minister Tim Sledge walked away from five decades of faith more than 10 years ago, he made a clean break-no more church, prayer, religion, or God. But there was one thing that surprised him: He still wanted to be spiritual. Looking beyond traditional Christian views of spirituality, he found no "spiritual but not religious" model that worked for him-including the mindset of connecting with the energy of the universe. Eventually, Sledge decided to redefine spirituality for himself, and to use the term "meta-spirituality" to identify his personal approach as beyond any conventional concept of spirituality. His vision of meta-spirituality touches that part of us that seeks inspiration, yearns for the highest and best in life, and longs for a connection to something noble and wondrous. This is spirituality without God or magic, without religion or faith, and with no need of an invisible spirit world. It is a call to kindness, listening, vulnerability, compassion, and gratitude; a quest for a growing sensitivity to the world of emotions; and, a challenge to let mistakes lead to growth instead of shame. The book's 26 chapters are organized around five topics: How to Be Spiritual Without God How to See Reality How to Live With Meaning How to Keep Moving Forward How to Practice Meta-Spirituality A Meta-Spiritual Handbook is a simple guide to seeing spirituality in a new way and a challenge to find your best self without reference to religion, faith, or God.




Metacognition, Worldviews and Religious Education


Book Description

Religious Education (RE) holds a unique place within the state education system. Yet, the teaching of RE has often been criticised for its tendency to present simplified and stereotypical representations of religions. Bringing together the theory of metacognition with RE curriculum content, this book offers a coherent and theoretically supported approach to RE and beyond that is applicable to a range of subjects and students of various age groups. Metacognition, Worldviews and Religious Education seeks to support teachers in creating a new and exciting classroom approach. With a focus on putting children and teachers’ worldviews back on the RE agenda and developing awareness of these through metacognitive processes, it includes • Tables, frameworks and checklists to make it easy for teachers to adapt the approach to their own context • Concrete examples of how the approach can work in the classroom, including case studies from teachers • Call-out boxes for teachers and others to reflect on their own practice and to consider their own beliefs and values in relation to teaching and learning Co-authored by three researchers from Exeter University and one experienced advanced skills RE primary school teacher, this book explains in a jargon-free way the theories of metacognition and worldviews which underpin the creation of a unique learning environment, making it an essential read for students, experienced teachers, researchers in RE and anyone interested in taking a thinking skills approach to pedagogy.




Religious Ethics and Constructivism


Book Description

In metaethics, there is a divide between those who believe that there exist moral facts independently of human interests and attitudes (i.e., moral realists) and those who don't (i.e., antirealists). In the last half century, the field of religious ethics has been inundated with various antirealist schools of moral thought. Though there is a wide spectrum of different positons within antirealism, a majority of antirealist religious ethicists tend to see moral belief as an historically dependent social construction. This has created an environment where doing religious ethics in any metaphysically substantial sense is often seen not only as out of fashion but also as philosophically implausible. However, there is a lack of clarity as to what antirealists exactly mean by "construction" and what arguments they would use to support their views. Religious Ethics and Constructivism brings together a diverse group of scholars who represent different philosophical and theological outlooks to discuss the merits of constructivism vis-à-vis religious ethics. The essays explore four different kinds of constructivism in metaethics: social (or Hegelian) constructivism, Kantian constructivism, Humean constructivism, and theological constructivism. The overall aim of these essays is to foster dialogue between religious ethicists and moral philosophers, and to open the field religious ethics to the insights that can be provided by contemporary metaethics.




Christian Metal


Book Description

Christian metal has always defined itself in contrast to its non-Christian, secular counterpart, yet it stands out from nearly all other forms of contemporary Christian music through its unreserved use of metal's main musical, visual, and aesthetic traits. Christian metal is a rare example of a direct combination between evangelical Christianity and an aggressive and highly controversial form of popular music and its culture. Christian Metal: History, Ideology, Scene is the first full exploration of the phenomenon of Christian metal music, its history, main characteristics, development, diversification, and key ideological traits from its formative years in the early 1980s to the present day. Marcus Moberg situates it in a wider international evangelical cultural environment, accounts for its diffusion on a transnational scale, and explores what religious meanings and functions Christian metal holds for its own musicians and followers. Engaging with wider debates on religion, media and popular culture, Christian Metal: History, Ideology and Scene is a much-needed resource in the study of religion and popular music.







Christianity and Religious Plurality


Book Description

Over the past two centuries the Christian faith has spread to all continents. Although more global than ever, Christians are religious minorities in most societies. Religious freedom is hardly universal. In the past fifty years, millions of people have been uprooted from their traditional homelands in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Some have emigrated to Western Europe and North America. The West has become the scene of cultural, linguistic, and religious variety on a scale unimagined in 1900. Today, the full range of faiths and religious practices from all continents are present in Europe and North America. Christians are challenged to come to terms with this changed situation. These developments have intensified religious plurality. Christians all over the world are being urged to understand and engage with this new situation. This volume highlights this new reality and specifies some sources for engagement, not least among them the Judeo-Christian scriptures--fundamental to all "Christianities"--that emerged out of religious plural contexts. On the basis of their faith in the Triune God disclosed in this text, all followers of Jesus Christ must interact with these opportunities in today's radically context-sensitive world.