Christianity And The Secular

Author : Robert A. Markus
Publisher : University of Notre Dame Pess
ISBN 13 : 0268162034
Total Pages : 104 pages
Book Rating : 4.30/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Christianity and the Secular written by Robert A. Markus and published by University of Notre Dame Pess. This book was released on 2006-02-28 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of Christianity has been marked by tension between ideas of sacred and secular, their shifting balance, and their conflict. In Christianity and the Secular, Robert A. Markus examines the place of the secular in Christianity, locating the origins of the concept in the New Testament and early Christianity and describing its emergence as a problem for Christianity following the recognition of Christianity as an established religion, then the officially enforced religion, of the Roman Empire. Markus focuses especially on the new conditions engendered by the Christianization of the Roman Empire. In the period between the apostolic age and Constantine, the problem of the relation between Christianity and secular society and culture was suppressed for the faithful; Christians saw themselves as sharply distinct in, if not separate from, the society of their non-Christian fellows. Markus argues that when the autonomy of the secular realm came under threat in the Christianised Roman Empire after Constantine, Christians were forced to confront the problem of adjusting themselves to the culture and society of the new regime. Markus identifies Augustine of Hippo as the outstanding critic of the ideology of a Christian empire that had developed by the end of the fourth century and in the time of the Theodosian emperors, and as the principal defender of a place for the secular within a Christian interpretation of the world and of history. Markus traces the eclipse of this idea at the end of antiquity and during the Christian Middle Ages, concluding with its rehabilitation by Pope John XXIII and the second Vatican Council. Of interest to scholars of religion, theology, and patristics, Markus's genealogy of an authentic Christian concept of the secular is sure to generate widespread discussion.

Author : David G McAfee
Publisher : Dangerous Little Books
ISBN 13 : 0956427685
Total Pages : 166 pages
Book Rating : 4.87/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Disproving Christianity and Other Secular Writings (2nd edition, revised) written by David G McAfee and published by Dangerous Little Books. This book was released on 2011-10-01 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Not only do I believe that it is possible to maintain moral standards without the crutch of religion but I would argue that it is the only way to achieve true goodness." Disproving Christianity and Other Secular Writings compiles popular and lesser-known arguments against the principles established by the Christian canon. Using a phenomenological approach to build his case based on in-depth study at the University of California, Santa Barbara McAfee analyzes the Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament doctrine to build a logical and reasonable case against their validity. From contradictions between lived and portrayed religions to factual errors within the texts themselves, no stone is left unturned in this fully updated and expanded refutation of Christianity.

Author : Talal Asad
Publisher : Stanford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0804783098
Total Pages : 401 pages
Book Rating : 4.95/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Formations of the Secular written by Talal Asad and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2003-02-03 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A dark but brilliantly original work . . . one of the most important books on religion and the modern in recent years.” —H-Net Reviews Opening with the provocative query “what might an anthropology of the secular look like?” this book explores the concepts, practices, and political formations of secularism, with emphasis on the major historical shifts that have shaped secular sensibilities and attitudes in the modern West and the Middle East. Talal Asad proceeds to dismantle commonly held assumptions about the secular and the terrain it allegedly covers. He argues that while anthropologists have oriented themselves to the study of the “strangeness of the non-European world” and to what are seen as non-rational dimensions of social life (things like myth, taboo, and religion),the modern and the secular have not been adequately examined. The conclusion is that the secular cannot be viewed as a successor to religion, or be seen as on the side of the rational. It is a category with a multi-layered history, related to major premises of modernity, democracy, and the concept of human rights. This book will appeal to anthropologists, historians, religious studies scholars, as well as scholars working on modernity. “A difficult if stunningly eloquent book, a response both elusive and forthright to the many shelves of ‘books on terrorism’ which this country’s trade publishers are rushing into print.” —Bryn Mawr Review of Comparative Literature “This wonderfully illuminating book should be read alongside the author’s Genealogies of Religion.” —Religion “One of the most interesting scholars of religious writing today.” —Christian Scholar’s Review “Asad’s brilliant study remains a defining piece of intellectual and scholarly contribution for all of those interested in exploring the religious and the secular in the modern era.” —The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences

Author : Darryl G. Hart
Publisher : Ivan R. Dee Publisher
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.56/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Secular Faith written by Darryl G. Hart and published by Ivan R. Dee Publisher. This book was released on 2006 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A Secular Faith does precisely this. Darryl Hart, the highly regarded historian of religion, contends that appeals to Christianity for social and political well-being fundamentally misconstrue the meaning of the Christian religion. His book weaves together historical narratives of key moments in American Protestantism's influence on the nation's politics, plus commentary on recent writing about religion and public life, and expositions of Christian teaching. The tapestry that emerges is a compelling faith-based argument for keeping Christianity out of politics."--BOOK JACKET.

Author : Mark A. Smith
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022627537X
Total Pages : 300 pages
Book Rating : 4.76/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Secular Faith written by Mark A. Smith and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-09-11 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Pope Francis recently answered “Who am I to judge?” when asked about homosexuality, he ushered in a new era for the Catholic church. A decade ago, it would have been unthinkable for a pope to express tolerance for homosexuality. Yet shifts of this kind are actually common in the history of Christian groups. Within the United States, Christian leaders have regularly revised their teachings to match the beliefs and opinions gaining support among their members and larger society. Mark A. Smith provocatively argues that religion is not nearly the unchanging conservative influence in American politics that we have come to think it is. In fact, in the long run, religion is best understood as responding to changing political and cultural values rather than shaping them. Smith makes his case by charting five contentious issues in America’s history: slavery, divorce, homosexuality, abortion, and women’s rights. For each, he shows how the political views of even the most conservative Christians evolved in the same direction as the rest of society—perhaps not as swiftly, but always on the same arc. During periods of cultural transition, Christian leaders do resist prevailing values and behaviors, but those same leaders inevitably acquiesce—often by reinterpreting the Bible—if their positions become no longer tenable. Secular ideas and influences thereby shape the ways Christians read and interpret their scriptures. So powerful are the cultural and societal norms surrounding us that Christians in America today hold more in common morally and politically with their atheist neighbors than with the Christians of earlier centuries. In fact, the strongest predictors of people’s moral beliefs are not their religious commitments or lack thereof but rather when and where they were born. A thoroughly researched and ultimately hopeful book on the prospects for political harmony, Secular Faith demonstrates how, over the long run, boundaries of secular and religious cultures converge.

Author : Tom Holland
Publisher : Basic Books
ISBN 13 : 0465093523
Total Pages : 624 pages
Book Rating : 4.26/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Dominion written by Tom Holland and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2019-10-29 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A "marvelous" (Economist) account of how the Christian Revolution forged the Western imagination. Crucifixion, the Romans believed, was the worst fate imaginable, a punishment reserved for slaves. How astonishing it was, then, that people should have come to believe that one particular victim of crucifixion-an obscure provincial by the name of Jesus-was to be worshipped as a god. Dominion explores the implications of this shocking conviction as they have reverberated throughout history. Today, the West remains utterly saturated by Christian assumptions. As Tom Holland demonstrates, our morals and ethics are not universal but are instead the fruits of a very distinctive civilization. Concepts such as secularism, liberalism, science, and homosexuality are deeply rooted in a Christian seedbed. From Babylon to the Beatles, Saint Michael to #MeToo, Dominion tells the story of how Christianity transformed the modern world.

Author : Charles Taylor
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674986911
Total Pages : 889 pages
Book Rating : 4.16/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Secular Age written by Charles Taylor and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2018-09-17 with total page 889 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The place of religion in society has changed profoundly in the last few centuries, particularly in the West. In what will be a defining book for our time, Taylor takes up the question of what these changes mean, and what, precisely, happens when a society becomes one in which faith is only one human possibility among others.

Author : Patrick Gilger
Publisher : Orbis Books
ISBN 13 : 1608334481
Total Pages : 315 pages
Book Rating : 4.83/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Jesuit Post written by Patrick Gilger and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2014-03-31 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawn from the eponymous blog essays on faith, culture, and lives of Christian discipleship by young Jesuit priests and seminarians for young adult seekers.

Author : David Zahl
Publisher : Fortress Press
ISBN 13 : 1506449441
Total Pages : 236 pages
Book Rating : 4.49/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Seculosity written by David Zahl and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2019-04-02 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the heart of our current moment lies a universal yearning, writes David Zahl, not to be happy or respected so much as enough--what religions call "righteous." To fill the void left by religion, we look to all sorts of everyday activities--from eating and parenting to dating and voting--for the identity, purpose, and meaning once provided on Sunday morning. In our striving, we are chasing a sense of enoughness. But it remains ever out of reach, and the effort and anxiety are burning us out. Seculosity takes a thoughtful yet entertaining tour of American "performancism" and its cousins, highlighting both their ingenuity and mercilessness, all while challenging the conventional narrative of religious decline. Zahl unmasks the competing pieties around which so much of our lives revolve, and he does so in a way that's at points playful, personal, and incisive. Ultimately he brings us to a fresh appreciation for the grace of God in all its countercultural wonder.

Author : Tom Krattenmaker
Publisher : Convergent Books
ISBN 13 : 1101906421
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.22/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Confessions of a Secular Jesus Follower written by Tom Krattenmaker and published by Convergent Books. This book was released on 2016 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offers an argument for secular non-believers maintaining that following Jesus Christ as a teacher, example, and primary guide for living can serve to give meaning and direction to those who don't believe in the supernatural elements of Christianity.