Download or read book An Introduction to Religious and Spiritual Experience written by Marianne Rankin and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spiritual experiences, mystical and near-death incidences are interpreted from scientific, philosophical and religious viewpoints.
Download or read book An Introduction to Religious and Spiritual Experience written by Marianne Rankin and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive new introduction looks at spiritual experiences from past to present, from the experiences of the founders of the major world religious traditions to events in the lives of ordinary people today. Mystical and Near Death Experiences are included. Examples are drawn from a variety of sources, including original accounts from the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre Archive at the University of Wales, Lampeter as well as many given to the author in person. Interpretations of these experiences follow, from religious, philosophical and scientific viewpoints. Various.
Download or read book The Varieties of Religious Experience written by William James and published by The Floating Press. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 824 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Harvard psychologist and philosopher William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature explores the nature of religion and, in James' observation, its divorce from science when studied academically. After publication in 1902 it quickly became a canonical text of philosophy and psychology, remaining in print through the entire century. "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."
Download or read book Wired For God written by Charles Foster and published by Hodder. This book was released on 2011-12-08 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Human religious experiences are remarkably uniform; many can be pharmacologically induced. Recent research into the neurology of religious experience has shown that, when worshipping or praying, a certain part of the brain, apparently dormant during other activities, becomes active. What does all this mean for those of faith and those with none? In this fascinating book barrister Charles Foster takes a survey of the evidence - from shamans to medieval mystics, to out-of-body experiences and epilepsy, via Jerusalem and middle-class Christianity - and assesses its significance. Written in short, accessible chapters, this is a fascinating tour of religious and mystical experiences and their relation to human physiology.
Download or read book Religious and Spiritual Experiences written by Wesley J. Wildman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-01-06 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is the value of religious and spiritual experiences within human life? Are we evolutionarily programmed to have such experiences? How will emerging technologies change such experiences in the future? Wesley Wildman addresses these key intellectual questions and more, offering a spiritually evocative naturalist interpretation of the diverse variety of religious and spiritual experiences. He describes these experiences, from the common to the exceptional, and offers innovative classifications for them based on their neurological features and internal qualities. His account avoids reductionistic oversimplifications and instead synthesizes perspectives from many disciplines, including philosophy and natural sciences, into a compelling account of the meaning and value of religious and spiritual experiences in human life. The resulting interpretation does not assume a supernatural worldview but incorporates religious and spiritual experiences into a positive affirmation of this-worldly existence.
Download or read book Religious Experience Reconsidered written by Ann Taves and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-10-23 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annotation Ann Taves addresses the subject of religious experience directly and the problems of reductionism and humanistic fears of the sciences indirectly and by example. The orientation of this book is practical more than philosophical.
Download or read book The Neuroscience of Religious Experience written by Patrick McNamara and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-11-06 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Technical advances in the life and medical sciences have revolutionised our understanding of the brain, while the emerging disciplines of social, cognitive, and affective neuroscience continue to reveal the connections of the higher cognitive functions and emotional states associated with religious experience to underlying brain states. At the same time, a host of developing theories in psychology and anthropology posit evolutionary explanations for the ubiquity and persistence of religious beliefs and the reports of religious experiences across human cultures, while gesturing toward physical bases for these behaviours. What is missing from this literature is a strong voice speaking to these behavioural and social scientists - as well as to the intellectually curious in the religious studies community - from the perspective of a brain scientist.
Download or read book Pagans Christians written by Gus DiZerega and published by Llewellyn Worldwide. This book was released on 2001 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although Christianity is still a major religious force, there are growing numbers of people in other faiths, including the various Pagan traditions. Some Christians have responded to this trend with fear and derision, while some Pagans have reacted to that fear with anger and mistrust. Much of the problem is due to misunderstandings and lack of communication. This can change with Gus diZerega's Pagans & Christians. Here you will find a penetrating and illuminating comparison, showing that neither path has the single correct approach to the Divine. Rather, either or both can be authentic and legitimate expressions of the appreciation of the Ultimate Source of All. Pagans & Christians is an ideal way to help bridge what at time seems a wide chasm between Christian and Pagan beliefs. By sharing core ideas of both paths, this book provides a way to give deeper mutual understanding and unity among the religions of the world. Although Pagans & Christians accepts both paths as valid, the book provides a more in-depth explanation of Paganism ó the minority religion because in some ways, Paganism demands a greater defense and explanation of its beliefs and ideas to dispel misunderstandings. The author is a Third Degree Gardenerian Elder and in Pagans & Christians has presented nothing less than a brilliant defense of Paganism, clearly showing how it should stand beside all of the major religions of the world as an equal. As part of this defense, diZerega gives a listing of biblical contradictions and Christian philosophical difficulties which can help any Pagan responding to a negative attack, and will help any Christian to view his or her religion as a way, not the way. Winner of the 2001 Coalition of Visionary Resources (COVR) Award for Best Non-fiction Book
Download or read book An Introduction to Religious and Spiritual Experience written by Marianne Rankin and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2008-12-10 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive new introduction looks at spiritual experiences from past to present, from the experiences of the founders of the major world religious traditions to events in the lives of ordinary people today. Mystical and Near Death Experiences are included. Examples are drawn from a variety of sources, including original accounts from the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre Archive at the University of Wales, Lampeter as well as many given to the author in person. Interpretations of these experiences follow, from religious, philosophical and scientific viewpoints. Various questions are considered. Is there a common core to spiritual experience? Do these experiences offer proof of the existence of God or of the possibility of survival of death? This fascinating work concludes with an evaluation of what can be learned about consciousness, religion and what it is to be human.
Download or read book The Varieties of Scientific Experience written by Carl Sagan and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2006-11-02 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Ann Druyan has unearthed a treasure. It is a treasure of reason, compassion, and scientific awe. It should be the next book you read.” —Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith “A stunningly valuable legacy left to all of us by a great human being. I miss him so.” —Kurt Vonnegut Carl Sagan's prophetic vision of the tragic resurgence of fundamentalism and the hope-filled potential of the next great development in human spirituality The late great astronomer and astrophysicist describes his personal search to understand the nature of the sacred in the vastness of the cosmos. Exhibiting a breadth of intellect nothing short of astounding, Sagan presents his views on a wide range of topics, including the likelihood of intelligent life on other planets, creationism and so-called intelligent design, and a new concept of science as "informed worship." Originally presented at the centennial celebration of the famous Gifford Lectures in Scotland in 1985 but never published, this book offers a unique encounter with one of the most remarkable minds of the twentieth century.
Download or read book Spirituality A Very Short Introduction written by Philip Sheldrake and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2012-11-29 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It has been suggested that 'spirituality' has become a word that 'can define an era'. Why? Because paradoxically, alongside a decline in traditional religious affiliations, the growing interest in spirituality and the use of the word in a variety of contexts is a striking aspect of contemporary western cultures. Indeed, spirituality is sometimes contrasted attractively with religion, although this is problematic and implies that religion is essentially dogma, moralism, institutions, buildings, and hierarchies. The notion of spirituality expresses the fact that many people are driven by goals that concern more than material satisfaction. Broadly, it refers to the deepest values and sense of meaning by which people seek to live. Sometimes these values are conventionally religious. Sometimes they are associated with what is understood as 'the sacred' in a broader sense - that is, of ultimate rather than merely instrumental importance. This Very Short Introduction, written by one of the most eminent scholars and writers on spirituality, explores the historical foundations of the thought and considers how it came to have the significance it is developing today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Download or read book Waking Up written by Sam Harris and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-09-09 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the millions of Americans who want spirituality without religion, Sam Harris’s latest New York Times bestseller is a guide to meditation as a rational practice informed by neuroscience and psychology. From Sam Harris, neuroscientist and author of numerous New York Times bestselling books, Waking Up is for the twenty percent of Americans who follow no religion but who suspect that important truths can be found in the experiences of such figures as Jesus, the Buddha, Lao Tzu, Rumi, and the other saints and sages of history. Throughout this book, Harris argues that there is more to understanding reality than science and secular culture generally allow, and that how we pay attention to the present moment largely determines the quality of our lives. Waking Up is part memoir and part exploration of the scientific underpinnings of spirituality. No other book marries contemplative wisdom and modern science in this way, and no author other than Sam Harris—a scientist, philosopher, and famous skeptic—could write it.
Download or read book How God Becomes Real written by T.M. Luhrmann and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2022-04-26 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hard work required to make God real, how it changes the people who do it, and why it helps explain the enduring power of faith How do gods and spirits come to feel vividly real to people—as if they were standing right next to them? Humans tend to see supernatural agents everywhere, as the cognitive science of religion has shown. But it isn’t easy to maintain a sense that there are invisible spirits who care about you. In How God Becomes Real, acclaimed anthropologist and scholar of religion T. M. Luhrmann argues that people must work incredibly hard to make gods real and that this effort—by changing the people who do it and giving them the benefits they seek from invisible others—helps to explain the enduring power of faith. Drawing on ethnographic studies of evangelical Christians, pagans, magicians, Zoroastrians, Black Catholics, Santeria initiates, and newly orthodox Jews, Luhrmann notes that none of these people behave as if gods and spirits are simply there. Rather, these worshippers make strenuous efforts to create a world in which invisible others matter and can become intensely present and real. The faithful accomplish this through detailed stories, absorption, the cultivation of inner senses, belief in a porous mind, strong sensory experiences, prayer, and other practices. Along the way, Luhrmann shows why faith is harder than belief, why prayer is a metacognitive activity like therapy, why becoming religious is like getting engrossed in a book, and much more. A fascinating account of why religious practices are more powerful than religious beliefs, How God Becomes Real suggests that faith is resilient not because it provides intuitions about gods and spirits—but because it changes the faithful in profound ways.
Download or read book An Introduction to Christian Mysticism written by Jason M. Baxter and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2021-03-16 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This brief, accessibly written volume introduces key figures, texts, and themes of the mystical tradition and shows how and why the mystics can speak to the church today. Jason Baxter, an expert educator and storyteller, explains that the mystical tradition offers a more robust understanding of God than our current shallow conceptions. Featuring engagement with primary sources and suitable for use in a variety of courses, this book argues that the mystics have much to say to contemporary Christians searching for authentic modes of spirituality.
Download or read book Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care in the Twenty First Century written by Wendy Cadge and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2022-03-15 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wendy Cadge and Shelly Rambo demonstrate the urgent need, highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, to position the long history and practice of chaplaincy within the rapidly changing landscape of American religion and spirituality. This book provides a much-needed road map for training and renewing chaplains across a professional continuum that spans major sectors of American society, including hospitals, prisons, universities, the military, and nursing homes. Written by a team of multidisciplinary experts and drawing on ongoing research at the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab at Brandeis University, Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care in the Twenty-First Century identifies three central competencies—individual, organizational, and meaning-making—that all chaplains must have, and it provides the resources for building those skills. Featuring profiles of working chaplains, the book positions intersectional issues of religious diversity, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and other markers of identity as central to the future of chaplaincy as a profession.
Download or read book Indian Religions written by Peter Heehs and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2002-09 with total page 646 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An expansive collection of essential texts from spiritual leaders of all major South Asian religions Indian Religions is an expansive collection of the key written and oral texts by spiritual teachers from South Asia, covering 3,500 years and all the major traditions-Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, and "new" Indian religions. The volume provides clear translations of extracts from original documents and texts from most of the well-known and many of the lesser-known individuals and traditions. Overlapping parts and sections each comprise a historically and thematically defined stage of a tradition. The reader is thus able to follow the chronological development of the various traditions without isolating them from one another. Each section includes a context-setting introduction which provides historical, cultural, and textual background. A general introduction lays the foundations for the text's theoretical framework and approach. Indian Religions is the most complete and best-organized anthology of Indian religious/spiritual texts published to date. It serves as an introduction to the history of religions in South Asia, and will appeal to readers interested in India and Eastern religions as well as students of religion and South Asian culture.
