Download or read book Mystics and Messiahs written by Philip Jenkins and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2000 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this full-length account of cults and anti-cult scares in American history, Jenkins gives accurate historical perspective and shows how many of today's mainstream religions were originally regarded as cults.
Download or read book Mystics Monarchs and Messiahs written by Kathryn Babayan and published by Harvard CMES. This book was released on 2002 with total page 640 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on idealists and visionaries who believed that Justice could reign in our world, this book explores the desire to experience utopia on earth. Reluctant to await another existence, individuals with ghuluww, or exaggeration, emerged at the advent of Islam, expecting to attain the apocalyptic horizon of Truth.
Download or read book Messianic Mystics written by Moshe Idel and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2000-05-01 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the worl'ds leading scholars of Jewish thought examines the long tradition of Jewish messianism and mystical experience.
Download or read book Dream Catchers written by Philip Jenkins and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2005-12-01 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In books such as Mystics and Messiahs, Hidden Gospels, and The Next Christendom, Philip Jenkins has established himself as a leading commentator on religion and society. Now, in Dream Catchers, Jenkins offers a brilliant account of the changing mainstream attitudes towards Native American spirituality, once seen as degraded spectacle, now hailed as New Age salvation. Jenkins charts this remarkable change by highlighting the complex history of white American attitudes towards Native religions, considering everything from the 19th-century American obsession with "Hebrew Indians" and Lost Tribes, to the early 20th-century cult of the Maya as bearers of the wisdom of ancient Atlantis. He looks at the popularity of the Carlos Castaneda books, the writings of Lynn Andrews and Frank Waters, and explores New Age paraphernalia including dream-catchers, crystals, medicine bags, and Native-themed Tarot cards. He also examines the controversial New Age appropriation of Native sacred places and notes that many "white indians" see mainstream society as religiously empty. An engrossing account of our changing attitudes towards Native spirituality, Dream Catchers offers a fascinating introduction to one of the more interesting aspects of contemporary American religion.
Download or read book American Messiahs False Prophets of a Damned Nation written by Adam Morris and published by Liveright Publishing. This book was released on 2019-03-26 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history with sweeping implications, American Messiahs challenges our previous misconceptions about “cult” leaders and their messianic power. Mania surrounding messianic prophets has defined the national consciousness since the American Revolution. From Civil War veteran and virulent anticapitalist Cyrus Teed, to the dapper and overlooked civil rights pioneer Father Divine, to even the megalomaniacal Jim Jones, these figures have routinely been dismissed as dangerous and hysterical outliers. After years of studying these emblematic figures, Adam Morris demonstrates that messiahs are not just a classic trope of our national culture; their visions are essential for understanding American history. As Morris demonstrates, these charismatic, if flawed, would-be prophets sought to expose and ameliorate deep social ills—such as income inequality, gender conformity, and racial injustice. Provocative and long overdue, this is the story of those who tried to point the way toward an impossible “American Dream”: men and women who momentarily captured the imagination of a nation always searching for salvation.
Download or read book Mystics and Messiahs written by Philip Jenkins and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2000-04-06 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Mystics and Messiahs--the first full account of cults and anti-cult scares in American history--Philip Jenkins shows that, contrary to popular belief, cults were by no means an invention of the 1960s. In fact, most of the frightening images and stereotypes surrounding fringe religious movements are traceable to the mid-nineteenth century when Mormons, Freemasons, and even Catholics were denounced for supposed ritualistic violence, fraud, and sexual depravity. But America has also been the home of an often hysterical anti-cult backlash. Jenkins offers an insightful new analysis of why cults arouse such fear and hatred both in the secular world and in mainstream churches, many of which were themselves originally regarded as cults. He argues that an accurate historical perspective is urgently needed if we are to avoid the kind of catastrophic confrontation that occurred in Waco or the ruinous prosecution of imagined Satanic cults that swept the country in the 1980s. Without ignoring genuine instances of aberrant behavior, Mystics and Messiahs goes beyond the vast edifice of myth, distortion, and hype to reveal the true characteristics of religious fringe movements and why they inspire such fierce antagonism.
Download or read book Rogue Messiahs written by Colin Wilson and published by Hampton Roads Publishing Company. This book was released on 2000 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout history, Western culture has been bedeviled by false prophets, charlatans, and self-appointed messianic figures. Their appetites for destruction and depravity have led to broken lives and worse-mass suicide and even mass murder. Why does this occur again and again? In Rogue Messiahs, Colin Wilson compellingly recounts the stories and outrageous claims, acts, and abuses of 25 self-proclaimed messiahs who have arisen in the last 300 years. He uncovers the probable factors that turn earnest religious leaders, mystics, or well-intentioned cult leaders into violent, abusive, murderous, and paranoid rogue messiahs. This gallery of spiritual fakers includes many familiar names and faces: David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidians; Shoko Asahara, founder of the Aum Supreme Truth cult; Rev. Jim Jones; founder of the infamous Jonestown; Jeffrey Don Lundgren, Mormon con man and murderer; Ervil LeBaron and family, deranged cultist, prophets, and murderers; Rock Theriault, late twentieth-century French Canadian self-proclaimed messiah. Further, Wilson includes a study of others who achieved spiritual insight instead of destruction, and demonstrates that mayhem and benevolence are often two sides of the same coin. These would-be messiahs, in Wilson's analysis, are all driven by a childish dream of absolute power. Almost always, they cross the line from inspiration to paranoia, and from the teaching to killing-genuine aspiration mixed with self-deception, says Wilson. This is an incisive review of the motives and madness of cult leaders, spiritual con men, and would-be saviors.
Download or read book A History of Judaism written by Martin Goodman and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019-11-19 with total page 656 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Judaism is one of the oldest religions in the world, and it has preserved its distinctive identity despite the extraordinarily diverse forms and beliefs it has embodied over the course of more than three millennia. A History of Judaism provides the first truly comprehensive look in one volume at how this great religion came to be, how it has evolved from one age to the next, and how its various strains, sects, and traditions have related to each other. In this magisterial and elegantly written book, Martin Goodman takes readers from Judaism's origins in the polytheistic world of the second and first millennia BCE to the temple cult at the time of Jesus. He tells the stories of the rabbis, mystics, and messiahs of the medieval and early modern periods and guides us through the many varieties of Judaism today. Goodman's compelling narrative spans the globe, from the Middle East, Europe, and America to North Africa, China, and India. He explains the institutions and ideas on which all forms of Judaism are based, and masterfully weaves together the different threads of doctrinal and philosophical debate that run throughout its history."--
Download or read book Synthetic Panics written by Philip Jenkins and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 1999-07 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America has a long history of drug panics in which countless social problems have been blamed on the devastating effects of some harmful substance. In the last forty years, such panics have often focused on synthetic or designer drugs, like methamphetamine, PCP, Ecstasy, methcathinone, and rave drugs like ketamine, and GHB. Fear of these substances has provided critical justification for the continuing "war on drugs." Synthetic Panics traces the history of these anti-drug movements, demonstrating that designer chemicals inspire so much fear not because they are uniquely dangerous, but because they bring into focus deeply rooted public concerns about social and cultural upheaval. Jenkins highlights the role of the mass media in spreading anti-drug hysteria and shows how proponents of the war on drugs use synthetic panics to scapegoat society's "others" and exacerbate racial, class, and intergenerational conflict.
Download or read book The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ written by Levi H. Dowling and published by DigiCat. This book was released on 2022-11-13 with total page 547 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ is a book by Levi H. Dowling who claimed that he had transcribed the text of the book from the kashic records, a purported compendium of mystical knowledge supposedly encoded in a non-physical plane of existence. In the later 20th century, it was adopted by New Age spiritual groups. The title is derived from the practice in astrology of naming time periods in terms of constellations and their dominant positions in the sky, according to the earth's axial precession. In that system, the Age of Aquarius is approaching. Content: Section I (Aleph): Birth and Early Life of Mary, Mother of Jesus Section II (Beth): Birth and Infancy of John, the Harbinger, and of Jesus Section III (Gimel): Education of Mary and Elizabeth in Zoan Section IV (Daleth): Childhood and Early Education of John the Harbinger Section V (He): Childhood and Early Education of Jesus Section VI (Vau): Life and Works of Jesus in India Section VII (Zain): Life and Works of Jesus in Tibet and Western India Section VIII (Cheth): Life and Works of Jesus in Persia Section IX (Teth): Life and Works of Jesus in Assyria Section X (Jod): Life and Works of Jesus in Greece Section XI (Caph): Life and Works of Jesus in Egypt Section XII (Lamed): The Council of the Seven Sages of the World Section XIII (Mem): The Ministry of John, the Harbinger Section XIV (Nun): The Christine Ministry of Jesus—Introductory Epoch Section XV (Samech): The First Annual Epoch of the Christine Ministry of Jesus Section XVI (Ain): The Second Annual Epoch of the Christine Ministry of Jesus Section XVII (Pe): The Third Annual Epoch of the Christine Ministry of Jesus Section XVIII (Tzaddi): The Arrest and Betrayal of Jesus Section XIX (Koph): The Trial and Execution of Jesus Section XX (Resh): The Resurrection of Jesus Section XXI (Schin): Materialization of the Spiritual Body of Jesus Section XXII (Tau): Establishment of the Christine Church
Download or read book Man Gods in the Mexican Highlands written by and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 1989-04 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a reflective, original, and sometimes speculative essay on the concept of power and the man-god tradition in Mexican colonial history, with some provocative thoughts on how that tradition affected the way the indigenous population reacted to the cultural upheavals of the Spanish Conquest and its aftermath. The basis of the work is the rich documentation that survives from efforts to prosecute cases of idolatry and witchcraft. The author closely examines four such cases - Indian peasants living in central Mexico who proclaimed themselves successors of the gods during various stages of the colonial era (in 1537, 1659, 1665, and 1761). Drawing on the testimony of these man-gods and their followers, the author describes the emergence of these native leaders, discusses their individual qualities, and evaluates their impact and hold on their followers. He also sets out in substance their speeches and depositions, which provide a rare critique of colonial society. Coming from the lower classes, socially and culturally marginal, these man-gods tried to understand and surmount the profound changes that were crushing their society. Their actions were doomed to failure, but they reveal a dynamism and creativity that have been ignored by conventional historians. In a more general way, the book demonstrates through concrete examples how popular cultures constantly change and recreate their own traditions, and how vanquished and dominated societies, in order to construct a new identity, create new cultural forms.
Download or read book Controversial New Religions written by James R. Lewis and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2014 with total page 495 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In terms of public opinion, new religious movements are considered controversial for a variety of reasons. Their social organization often runs counter to popular expectations by experimenting with communal living, alternative leadership roles, unusual economic dispositions, and new political and ethical values. As a result the general public views new religions with a mixture of curiosity, amusement, and anxiety, sustained by lavish media emphasis on oddness and tragedy rather than familiarity and lived experience. This updated and revised second edition of Controversial New Religions offers a scholarly, dispassionate look at those groups that have generated the most attention, including some very well-known classical groups like The Family, Unification Church, Scientology, and Jim Jones's People's Temple; some relative newcomers such as the Kabbalah Centre, the Order of the Solar Temple, Branch Davidians, Heaven's Gate, and the Falun Gong; and some interesting cases like contemporary Satanism, the Raelians, Black nationalism, and various Pagan groups. Each essay combines an overview of the history and beliefs of each organization or movement with original and insightful analysis. By presenting decades of scholarly work on new religious movements written in an accessible form by established scholars as well as younger experts in the field, this book will be an invaluable resource for all those who seek a view of new religions that is deeper than what can be found in sensationalistic media stories.
Download or read book Beyond Tolerance written by Philip Jenkins and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2003-07 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jenkins looks at the first amendment and how it should be applied to child pornography on the internet.
Download or read book The Messiah Before Jesus written by Israel Knohl and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2000-10-12 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher Fact Sheet Argues that there was a "messianic forerunner" to Jesus named Menachem who lived a generation earlier & served as a sort of role model for Jesus & his messianic movement.
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 Conflict Identity and State Formation in East Timor 2000 2017 written by James Scambary and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyses conflict patterns in independent East Timor. It argues that understanding the role of local level actors and the dynamics of sub-national conflict is integral to understanding national level conflict and the contours of contemporary political power.
Download or read book The City as Anthology written by Kathryn Babayan and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Household anthologies of seventeenth-century Isfahan collected everyday texts and objects, from portraits, letters, and poems to marriage contracts and talismans. With these family collections, Kathryn Babayan tells a new history of the city at the transformative moment it became a cosmopolitan center of imperial rule. Bringing into view people's lives from a city with no extant state or civic archives, Babayan reimagines the archive of anthologies to recover how residents shaped their communities and crafted their urban, religious, and sexual selves. Babayan highlights eight residents—from king to widow, painter to religious scholar, poet to bureaucrat—who anthologized their city, writing their engagements with friends and family, divulging the many dimensions of the social, cultural, and religious spheres of life in Isfahan. Through them, we see the gestures, manners, and sensibilities of a shared culture that configured their relations and negotiated the lines between friendship and eroticism. These entangled acts of seeing and reading, desiring and writing converge to fashion the refined urban self through the sensual and the sexual—and give us a new and enticing view of the city of Isfahan.
