Download or read book A Sociology of Mystic Practices written by Dann Wigner and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-06-08 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book investigates the process of spiritual borrowing between the emergent church (EC) and the Christian mystical tradition. From its inception, the EC has displayed interest in mystic practices, but the exact nature of this interest or how these practices are appropriated and reinterpreted in the EC context has not been researched. My research shows that the emergent church is appropriating Christian mystic practices by investing these practices with their own theological content. The practices themselves are changed to fit in their new context, showing that EC belief shapes EC behavior. My study adds a new case study perspective to the sociological examination of the process of spiritual borrowing, especially through close inspection of how a spiritual practice changes to fit a new theological context. Additionally, my book contributes to the study of the complex relationship between belief and behavior.
Download or read book A Sociology of Mystic Practices written by Dann Wigner and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-06-08 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book investigates the process of spiritual borrowing between the emergent church (EC) and the Christian mystical tradition. From its inception, the EC has displayed interest in mystic practices, but the exact nature of this interest or how these practices are appropriated and reinterpreted in the EC context has not been researched. My research shows that the emergent church is appropriating Christian mystic practices by investing these practices with their own theological content. The practices themselves are changed to fit in their new context, showing that EC belief shapes EC behavior. My study adds a new case study perspective to the sociological examination of the process of spiritual borrowing, especially through close inspection of how a spiritual practice changes to fit a new theological context. Additionally, my book contributes to the study of the complex relationship between belief and behavior.
Download or read book Thinking Spiritually in Small Groups written by Dann Wigner and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2022-05-09 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mystical experiences are happening every day, yet—as amazing as the experiences can be—it is often difficult to integrate these experiences into the rest of life. In light of this difficulty, I have created mystical reflection as a simple method for sharing one’s own mystical experiences in a group setting and listening to the experiences of others in a non-judgmental way. The theological principle at work here is that if God speaks, then everyone can benefit from it. Mystical reflection takes this principle seriously and offers a method of application for integrating the spiritual insights into each person’s spirituality.
Download or read book Mystical Society written by Philip Wexler and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-03-05 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Mystical Society Philip Wexler, a well-known critical theorist with a background in social psychology and a special interest in spirituality, examines the revitalization of spirituality manifesting itself in society and in education. Describing what he calls "cultural changes toward the sacred," he documents a cultural shift, brought about by technological and societal changes, toward a new mysticism. Wexler explores the meaning for this new spirituality for our daily lives, for social theory, and for education. From the pervasiveness of a spiritual vernacular to the integration of spiritual practices into our highly individualized and technologized lives, Wexler lays out the evidence for a growing movement, and then draws parallels to periods of mystical revitalization from the past. In the course of this discussion, he draws on the work of Marx, Weber, and Durkheim, as well as from contemporary social theory.
Download or read book Mysticism and Social Change written by Alton Brooks Pollard and published by Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers. This book was released on 1992 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Academics and activists alike have long dismissed mysticism as an «otherworldly» and escapist form of religion. Alton B. Pollard III, in a ground breaking study of the noted African-American mystic, Howard Thurman, presents an analysis of religious experience that challenges prevailing interpretations of mysticism and social change. Drawing on perspectives from sociology, phenomenology, and history, the author examines the meaning of mystical religion for the «underside» of contemporary American society. What he uncovers is significant: an activist form of mysticism, compelled by the dictates of spiritual experience, that defies social conventions and engenders social change.
Download or read book Mystical Sociology written by Philip Wexler and published by After Spirituality. This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A double-edged sword of remysticization is described; on the one hand, offering social materiel for everyday counter practices to excess, unintentionally reinforcing the hegemonic regime of commodification; but also, providing an opening toward a multidimensional critical theory to offer a new vision of social practice and social theory, beyond resacralization and after spirituality.
Download or read book The Immediacy of Mystical Experience in the European Tradition written by Miklós Vassányi and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-01-19 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines mystical experiences as portrayed in various ways by “authors” such as philosophers, mystics, psychoanalysts, writers, and peasant women. These “mystical authors” have, throughout the ages, attempted to convey the unsayable through writings, paintings, or oral stories. The immediate experience of God is the primary source and ultimate goal of these mystical expressions. This experience is essentially ineffable, yet all mystical authors, either consciously or unconsciously, feel an urge to convey what they have undergone in the moments of rapture. At the same time they are in the role of intermediaries: the goal of their self-expression – either written, painted or oral – is to make others somehow understand or feel what they have experienced, and to lead others toward the spiritual goal of human life. This volume studies the mystical experiences and the way they have been described or portrayed in West-European culture, from Antiquity to the present, from an interdisciplinary perspective, and approaches the concept of “immediate experience” in various ways.
Download or read book An Introduction to the Study of Mysticism written by Richard H. Jones and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2021-12-01 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2022 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title The purpose of this book is to fill a gap in contemporary mystical studies: an overview of the basic ways to approach mystical experiences and mysticism. It discusses the problem of definitions of “mystical experiences” and “mysticism” and advances characterizations of “mystical experiences” in terms of certain altered states of consciousness and “mysticism” in terms of encompassing ways of life centered on such experiences and states. Types of mystical experiences, enlightened states, paths, and doctrines are discussed, as is the relation of mystical experiences and mysticism to religions and cultures. The approaches of constructivism, contextualism, essentialism, and perennialism are presented. Themes in the history of the world’s major mystical traditions are set forth. Approaches to mystical phenomena in sociology, psychology, gender studies, and neuroscience are introduced. Basic philosophical issues related to whether mystical experiences are veridical and mystical claims valid, mystics’ problems of language, art, and morality are laid out. Older and newer comparative approaches in religious studies and in Christian theology are discussed, along with postmodernist objections. The intended audience is undergraduates and the general public interested in the general issues related to mysticism.
Download or read book A Sociology of Spirituality written by Peter C. Jupp and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-16 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The emergence of spirituality in contemporary culture in holistic forms suggests that organised religions have failed. This thesis is explored and disputed in this book in ways that mark important critical divisions. This is the first collection of essays to assess the significance of spirituality in the sociology of religion. The authors explore the relationship of spirituality to the visual, individualism, gender, identity politics, education and cultural capital. The relationship between secularisation and spirituality is examined and consideration is given to the significance of Simmel in relation to a sociology of spirituality. Problems of defining spirituality are debated with reference to its expression in the UK, the USA, France and Holland. This timely, original and well structured volume provides undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers with a scholarly appraisal of a phenomenon that can only increase in sociological significance.
Download or read book After Spirituality written by Philip Wexler and published by After Spirituality. This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book is devoted to the comparative study of contemporary mysticism. Chapters written by leading scholars of Jewish, Buddhist and Christian Mysticism address the dramatic global proliferation and transformation of mystical traditions in recent decades. This volume is suited for courses on contemporary or classical mysticism, comparative religion, Jewish studies and Buddhist studies and more.
Download or read book Mystical Interactions written by Philip Wexler and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Fundamental Concepts in Max Weber s Sociology of Religion written by Christopher Adair-Toteff and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-10-14 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book helps explain some of Max Weber's key concepts such as charisma, asceticism, mysticism, pariah-people, prophets, salvation, and theodicy and places them within the context of Weber's sociology of religion.
Download or read book Christianity written by Linda Woodhead and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2014 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a short, accessible analysis of Christianity that focuses on its social and cultural diversity as well as its historical dimensions.
Download or read book The Mystic Experience written by Jordan Paper and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The mystic, zero, or void experience—the ecstatic disappearance of self along with everything else—is considered by those who have had it to be the most beautiful, blissful, positive, profound, and significant experience of their lives. Offering both a descriptive and a comparative perspective, this book explores the mystic experience across cultures as both a human and cultural event. The book begins and ends with descriptions of the author's own mystical experiences, and looks at self-reported experiences by individuals who do not link their experiences to a religious tradition, to determine characteristics of this universal human experience. These characteristics are compared to statements of acknowledged mystics in diverse religious traditions. The mystic experience is also situated within other ecstatic religious experiences to distinguish it from similar, but distinct, experiences such as lucid dreams, shamanism, and mediumism. Jordan Paper goes on to look at how the mystic experience has been considered in various fields, such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, biology, and comparative religious studies.
Download or read book The Sociology of Religion written by Malcolm B. Hamilton and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-06-12 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This expanded second edition combines a discussion of the main theorists with a wide range of material illustrating the diversity of religious beliefs and practices.
Download or read book The Sociology of Religion written by George Lundskow and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2008-06-10 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using a lively narrative, The Sociology of Religion is an insightful text that investigates the facts of religion in all its great diversity, including its practices and beliefs, and then analyzes actual examples of religious developments using relevant conceptual frameworks. As a result, students actively engage in the discovery, learning, and analytical processes as they progress through the text. Organized around essential topics and real-life issues, this unique text examines religion both as an object of sociological analysis as well as a device for seeking personal meaning in life. The book provides sociological perspectives on religion while introducing students to relevant research from interdisciplinary scholarship. Sidebar features and photographs of religious figures bring the text to life for readers. Key Features Uses substantive and truly contemporary real-life religious issues of current interest to engage the reader in a way few other texts do Combines theory with empirical examples drawn from the United States and around the world, emphasizing a critical and analytical perspective that encourages better understanding of the material presented Features discussions of emergent religions, consumerism, and the link between religion, sports, and other forms of popular culture Draws upon interdisciplinary literature, helping students appreciate the contributions of other disciplines while primarily developing an understanding of the sociology of religion Accompanied by High-Quality Ancillaries! Instructor Resources on CD contain chapter outlines, summaries, multiple-choice questions, essay questions, and short answer questions as well as illustrations from the book. C Intended Audience This core text is designed for upper-level undergraduate students of Sociology of Religion or Religion and Politics.
Download or read book Early Chinese Mysticism written by Livia Kohn and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Did Chinese mysticism vanish after its first appearance in ancient Taoist philosophy, to surface only after a thousand years had passed, when the Chinese had adapted Buddhism to their own culture? This first integrated survey of the mystical dimension of Taoism disputes the commonly accepted idea of such a hiatus. Covering the period from the Daode jing to the end of the Tang, Livia Kohn reveals an often misunderstood Chinese mystical tradition that continued through the ages. Influenced by but ultimately independent of Buddhism, it took forms more various than the quietistic withdrawal of Laozi or the sudden enlightenment of the Chan Buddhists. On the basis of a new theoretical evaluation of mysticism, this study analyzes the relationship between philosophical and religious Taoism and between Buddhism and the native Chinese tradition. Kohn shows how the quietistic and socially oriented Daode jing was combined with the ecstatic and individualistic mysticism of the Zhuangzi, with immortality beliefs and practices, and with Buddhist insight meditation, mind analysis, and doctrines of karma and retribution. She goes on to demonstrate that Chinese mysticism, a complex synthesis by the late Six Dynasties, reached its zenith in the Tang, laying the foundations for later developments in the Song traditions of Inner Alchemy, Chan Buddhism, and Neo-Confucianism.
