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  The Mind of Jihad

 
The Mind of Jihad under Religious Studies in The Books Store
Price: $24.99
Sale: $16.45
 
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
Number of Items: 1
 
 
Binding: Paperback
Author: Laurent Murawiec
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Edition: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 322.42088297
Publication Date: 2008-08-11
Reading Level: 352
 
Description: This book examines contemporary jihad as a cult of violence and power. All jihadi groups, whether Shiite or Sunni, Arab or not, are characterized by a similar bloodlust. Murawiec characterizes this belief structure as identical to that of Europe's medieval millenarians and apocalyptics, arguing that both jihadis and their European cousins shared in a Gnostic ideology: a God-given mission endowed the Elect with supernatural powers and placed them above the common law of mankind. Although the ideology of jihad is essentially Islamic, Murawiec traces the political technologies used by modern jihad to the Bolsheviks. Their doctrines of terror as a system of rule were appropriated by radical Islam through multiple lines of communication. This book brings history, anthropology, and theology to bear to understand the mind of jihad that has declared war on the West and the world.

 

  Buddhism and Science: A Guide for the Perplexed (Buddhism and Modernity)

 
Buddhism and Science: A Guide for the Perplexed (Buddhism and Modernity) under Religious Studies in The Books Store
Price: $25.00
Sale: $13.85
 
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
Number of Items: 1
 
 
Binding: Hardcover
Author: Donald S. Lopez
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Edition: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 294.336509
Publication Date: 2008-11-01
Reading Level: 280
 
Description:
Beginning in the nineteenth century and continuing to the present day, both Buddhists and admirers of Buddhism have proclaimed the compatibility of Buddhism and science. Their assertions have ranged from modest claims about the efficacy of meditation for mental health to grander declarations that the Buddha himself anticipated the theories of relativity, quantum physics and the big bang more than two millennia ago.
In Buddhism and Science, Donald S. Lopez Jr. is less interested in evaluating the accuracy of such claims than in exploring how and why these two seemingly disparate modes of understanding the inner and outer universe have been so persistently linked. Lopez opens with an account of the rise and fall of Mount Meru, the great peak that stands at the center of the flat earth of Buddhist cosmography—and which was interpreted anew once it proved incompatible with modern geography. From there, he analyzes the way in which Buddhist concepts of spiritual nobility were enlisted to support the notorious science of race in the nineteenth century. Bringing the story to the present, Lopez explores the Dalai Lama’s interest in scientific discoveries, as well as the implications of research on meditation for neuroscience.    Lopez argues that by presenting an ancient Asian tradition as compatible with—and even anticipating—scientific discoveries, European enthusiasts and Asian elites have sidestepped the debates on the relevance of religion in the modern world that began in the nineteenth century and still flare today. As new discoveries continue to reshape our understanding of mind and matter, Buddhism and Science will be indispensable reading for those fascinated by religion, science, and their often vexed relation.

 

  Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew

 
Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew under Religious Studies in The Books Store
Price: $19.99
Sale: $9.34
 
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
Number of Items: 1
 
 
Binding: Paperback
Author: Bart D. Ehrman
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Dewey Decimal Number: 270
Publication Date: 2005-09-15
Reading Level: 320
 
Description: The early Christian Church was a chaos of contending beliefs. Some groups of Christians claimed that there was not one God but two or twelve or thirty. Some believed that the world had not been created by God but by a lesser, ignorant deity. Certain sects maintained that Jesus was human but not divine, while others said he was divine but not human. In Lost Christianities, Bart D. Ehrman offers a fascinating look at these early forms of Christianity and shows how they came to be suppressed, reformed, or forgotten. All of these groups insisted that they upheld the teachings of Jesus and his apostles, and they all possessed writings that bore out their claims, books reputedly produced by Jesus's own followers. Modern archaeological work has recovered a number of key texts, and as Ehrman shows, these spectacular discoveries reveal religious diversity that says much about the ways in which history gets written by the winners. Ehrman's discussion ranges from considerations of various "lost scriptures"--including forged gospels supposedly written by Simon Peter, Jesus's closest disciple, and Judas Thomas, Jesus's alleged twin brother--to the disparate beliefs of such groups as the Jewish-Christian Ebionites, the anti-Jewish Marcionites, and various "Gnostic" sects. Ehrman examines in depth the battles that raged between "proto-orthodox Christians"--those who eventually compiled the canonical books of the New Testament and standardized Christian belief--and the groups they denounced as heretics and ultimately overcame. Scrupulously researched and lucidly written, Lost Christianities is an eye-opening account of politics, power, and the clash of ideas among Christians in the decades before one group came to see its views prevail.

 

  Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don't Give Away More Money

 
Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don't Give Away More Money under Religious Studies in The Books Store
Price: $24.95
Sale: $16.35
 
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
Number of Items: 1
 
 
Binding: Hardcover
Author: Christian Smith::Michael O Emerson::Patricia Snell
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Dewey Decimal Number: 248.6
Publication Date: 2008-09-29
Reading Level: 288
 
Description: Passing the Plate shows that few American Christians donate generously to religious and charitable causes -- a parsimony that seriously undermines the work of churches and ministries. Far from the 10 percent of one's income that tithing requires, American Christians' financial giving typically amounts, by some measures, to less than one percent of annual earnings. And a startling one out of five self-identified Christians gives nothing at all.

This eye-opening book explores the reasons behind such ungenerous giving, the potential world-changing benefits of greater financial giving, and what can be done to improve matters. If American Christians gave more generously, say the authors, any number of worthy projects -- from the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS to the promotion of inter-religious understanding to the upgrading of world missions -- could be funded at astounding levels. Analyzing a wide range of social surveys and government and denominational statistical datasets and drawing on in-depth interviews with Christian pastors and church members in seven different states, the book identifies a crucial set of factors that appear to depress religious financial support -- among them the powerful allure of a mass-consumerist culture and its impact on Americans' priorities, parishioners' suspicions of waste and abuse by nonprofit administrators, clergy's hesitations to boldly ask for money, and the lack of structure and routine in the way most American Christians give away money. In their conclusion, the authors suggest practical steps that clergy and lay leaders might take to counteract these tendencies and better educate their congregations about the transformative effects of generous giving.

By illuminating the social and psychological forces that shape charitable giving, Passing the Plate is sure to spark a much-needed debate on a critical issue that is of much interest to church-goers, religious leaders, philanthropists, and social scientists.

 

  Inner Paths to Outer Space: Journeys to Alien Worlds through Psychedelics and Other Spiritual Technologies

 
Inner Paths to Outer Space: Journeys to Alien Worlds through Psychedelics and Other Spiritual Technologies under Religious Studies in The Books Store
Price: $19.95
Sale: $11.99
 
Manufacturer: Park Street Press
Number of Items: 1
 
 
Binding: Paperback
Author: Rick Strassman MD::Slawek Wojtowicz::Luis Eduardo Luna::Ede Frecska
Publisher: Park Street Press
Dewey Decimal Number: 154.4
Publication Date: 2008-03-27
Reading Level: 376
 
Description: An investigation into experiences of other realms of existence and contact with otherworldly beings

• Examines how contact with alien life-forms can be obtained through the “inner space” dimensions of our minds

• Presents evidence that other worlds experienced through consciousness-altering technologies are often as real as those perceived with our five senses

• Correlates science fiction’s imaginal realms with psychedelic research

For thousands of years, voyagers of inner space--spiritual seekers, shamans, and psychoactive drug users--have returned from their inner imaginal travels reporting encounters with alien intelligences. Inner Paths to Outer Space presents an innovative examination of how we can reach these other dimensions of existence and contact otherworldly beings. Based on their more than 60 combined years of research into the function of the brain, the authors reveal how psychoactive substances such as DMT allow the brain to bypass our five basic senses to unlock a multidimensional realm of existence where otherworldly communication occurs. They contend that our centuries-old search for alien life-forms has been misdirected and that the alien worlds reflected in visionary science fiction actually mirror the inner space world of our minds. The authors show that these “alien” worlds encountered through altered states of human awareness, either through the use of psychedelics or other methods, possess a sense of reality as great as, or greater than, those of the ordinary awareness perceived by our five senses.

 

  The Fathers of the Church, Expanded Edition

 
The Fathers of the Church, Expanded Edition under Religious Studies in The Books Store
Price: $13.95
Sale: $8.00
 
Manufacturer: Our Sunday Visitor
Number of Items: 1
 
 
Binding: Paperback
Author: Mike Aquilina
Publisher: Our Sunday Visitor
Edition: Expanded
Dewey Decimal Number: 270.1
Publication Date: 2006-10-02
Reading Level: 289
 
Description: The Fathers of the Church, first published a decade ago, has become the standard popular introduction to the great teachers of early Christianity. Now, this new edition presents more material from more of the Fathers -- including authors from little-known traditions of Egypt, East Syria, North Africa, and the lands that make up modern Iran and Iraq. Also new with this edition is a section on selected "Mothers of the Church," holy women from Christian antiquity.

This expanded edition features full references and citations, a topical index, detailed bibliography, and ancient texts available in English for the first time in more than a century.

The Fathers of the Church is an excellent place to pass on those same teachings and traditions -- long established as an indispensable reference tool for clergy, seminarians, RCIA candidates, and lay Catholics who want to strive to live up to the "Faith of Our Fathers."


 

  The Illustrated World's Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions

 
The Illustrated World's Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions under Religious Studies in The Books Store
Price: $24.95
Sale: $13.32
 
Manufacturer: HarperOne
Number of Items: 1
 
 
Binding: Paperback
Author: Huston Smith
Publisher: HarperOne
Dewey Decimal Number: 291
Publication Date: 1995-09-22
Reading Level: 256
 
Description:

Retaining all the beloved qualities of Huston Smith's classic The Religions of Man and the current fully revised and updated The World's Religions, this stunning pictorial presentation refines the text to its wonderful essentials. In detailed, absorbing, richly illustrated, and highly readable chapters on Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity and primal religions, we find refreshing and fascinating presentations of both the differences and the similarities among the worldwide religious traditions. The approach is at once classic and contemporary, retaining all the empathy, eloquence and erudition that millions of readers love about the earlier editions, while being edited and designed for a contemporary general readership. This delightful marriage of winsome text and remarkable pictures vividly brings to life the scope and vision of Huston Smith's expertise and insight.


 

  My Jesus Year: A Rabbi's Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith

 
My Jesus Year: A Rabbi's Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith under Religious Studies in The Books Store
Price: $24.95
Sale: $13.14
 
Manufacturer: HarperOne
Number of Items: 1
 
 
Binding: Hardcover
Author: Benyamin Cohen
Publisher: HarperOne
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.38696092
Publication Date: 2008-10-01
Reading Level: 272
 
Description:

One day a Georgia-born son of an Orthodox rabbi discovers that his enthusiasm for Judaism is flagging. He observes the Sabbath, he goes to synagogue, and he even flies to New York on weekends for a series of "speed dates" with nice, eligible Jewish girls. But, something is missing. Looking out of his window and across the street at one of the hundreds of churches in Atlanta, he asks, "What would it be like to be a Christian?"

So begins Benyamin Cohen's hilarious journey that is My Jesus Year—part memoir, part spiritual quest, and part anthropologist's mission. Among Cohen's many adventures (and misadventures), he finds himself in some rather unlikely places: jumping into the mosh-pit at a Christian rock concert, seeing his face projected on the giant JumboTron of an African-American megachurch, visiting a potential convert with two young Mormon missionaries, attending a Christian "professional wrestling" match, and waking up early for a sunrise Easter service on top of Stone Mountain—a Confederate memorial and former base of operations for the KKK.

During his year-long exploration, Cohen sees the best and the worst of Christianity— #8212;from megachurches to storefront churches; from crass commercialization of religion to the simple, moving faith of the humble believer; from the profound to the profane to the just plain laughable. Throughout, he keeps an open heart and mind, a good sense of humor, and takes what he learns from Christianity to reflect on his own faith and relationship to God. By year's end, to Cohen's surprise, his search for universal answers and truths in the Bible Belt actually make him a better Jew.


 

  World Religions: The Great Faiths Explored & Explained

 
World Religions: The Great Faiths Explored & Explained under Religious Studies in The Books Store
Price: $16.95
Sale: $9.45
 
Manufacturer: DK ADULT
Number of Items: 1
 
 
Binding: Paperback
Author: John Bowker
Publisher: DK ADULT
Dewey Decimal Number: 200
Publication Date: 2006-02-20
Reading Level: 216
 
Description: Taking a refreshing new approach to understanding different faiths, World Religions looks at the beliefs and practices of many different religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and Islam.

 

  Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality, and Politics

 
Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality, and Politics under Religious Studies in The Books Store
Price: $21.95
Sale: $9.70
 
Manufacturer: Abingdon Press
Number of Items: 1
 
 
Binding: Hardcover
Author: Adam Hamilton
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Dewey Decimal Number: 261.0973
Publication Date: 2008-04-01
Reading Level: 192
 
Description: Everyone agrees that America is polarized, with ever-hardening positions held by people less and less willing to listen to one another. No one agrees on what to do about it. One solution that hasn't yet been tried, say Adam Hamilton, is for thinking persons of faith to model for the rest of the country a richer, more thoughtful conversation on the political, moral, and religious issues that divide us.

Hamilton writes: I don't expect you to agree with everything I've written. I expect that in the future even I won't agree with everything I've written here. The point is not to get you to agree with me, but to encourage you to think about what you believe. In the end I will be inviting those of you who find this book resonates with what you feel is true, to join the movement to pursue a middle way between the left and the right --to make your voices heard-- and to model for our nation and for the church, how we can listen, learn, see truth as multi-sided, and love those with whom we disagree.

Newsweek:
How Would Jesus Choose?
By Lisa Miller April 14, 2008

Adam Hamilton does not call himself pro-choice. He prefers pro-life with a heavy heart. What that means, as he explains in his new book Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White, is that he believes abortion should be available and legal, that there are instances in which it might be necessary and that those instances should be very rare. Further, he says, the abortion debate has been too hot for too long, and that, as a Christian minister, his job is to try to support people no matter what decision they make. As an evangelical megachurch pastor in Kansas, a man educated at Oral Roberts University, Hamilton speaks carefully, aware that he's staking out a controversial position.

Or maybe not. About a third of white evangelicals say that abortion should sometimes or always be legal, according to the Pew Research Center a number that hasn't changed in a decade. In recent election seasons, however, these moderate voices have been drowned out by hard-line shouting on both sides. In the past, an evangelical who might condone abortion in the case of his ailing wife or 14-year-old daughter would never say so in public. Now, the abortion rhetoric has faded somewhat as evangelicals turn their attention to other things: AIDS, the environment, Darfur. In 2004, megapastor Rick Warren announced that abortion was a nonnegotiable for evangelical voters. This year, he's been silent. What's new, then, is not that a pastor like Hamilton would take a softer approach to abortion, but that he would feel comfortable enough to say so from the pulpit and in print.

Hamilton wants pro-choice and pro-life advocates to join forces to reduce the number of abortions and he enumerates seven areas where they could find common ground. Let both sides agree that adequate information about birth control can help prevent pregnancy, he says. And let both sides agree that the longer a pregnancy progresses, the more morally problematic an abortion becomes.

As for his heavy heart, Hamilton comes by it honestly. Seven years ago he received a letter from a parishioner describing her own teenage pregnancy in the years before Roe, the pressure from her parents to abort and her refusal to do so in spite of the cost. That letter was from his mother.

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