An Introduction to Religious and Spiritual Experience

An Introduction to Religious and Spiritual Experience PDF Author: Marianne Rankin
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 0826498213
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
Spiritual experiences, mystical and near-death incidences are interpreted from scientific, philosophical and religious viewpoints.

An Introduction to Religious and Spiritual Experience

An Introduction to Religious and Spiritual Experience PDF Author: Marianne Rankin
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 0826498213
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
Spiritual experiences, mystical and near-death incidences are interpreted from scientific, philosophical and religious viewpoints.

The Varieties of Religious Experience

The Varieties of Religious Experience PDF Author: William James
Publisher: The Floating Press
ISBN: 1877527467
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 824

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Book Description
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."

The Significance of Religious Experience

The Significance of Religious Experience PDF Author: Howard Wettstein
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190226757
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
In this volume of essays, Howard Wettstein explores the foundations of religious commitment. His orientation is broadly naturalistic, but not in the mode of reductionism or eliminativism. This collection explores questions of broad religious interest, but does so through a focus on the author's religious tradition, Judaism. Among the issues explored are the nature and role of awe, ritual, doctrine, religious experience; the distinction between belief and faith; problems of evil and suffering with special attention to the Book of Job and to the Akedah, the biblical story of the binding of Isaac; the virtue of forgiveness. One of the book's highlights is its literary (as opposed to philosophical) approach to theology that at the same time makes room for philosophical exploration of religion. Another is Wettstein's rejection of the usual picture that sees religious life as sitting atop a distinctive metaphysical foundation, one that stands in need of epistemological justification.

Religious and Spiritual Experiences

Religious and Spiritual Experiences PDF Author: Wesley J. Wildman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139495240
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
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.

The Varieties of Scientific Experience

The Varieties of Scientific Experience PDF Author: Carl Sagan
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101201835
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description
“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.

Religious Experience Reconsidered

Religious Experience Reconsidered PDF Author: Ann Taves
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400830974
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
How the sciences of the mind can advance the study of religion The essence of religion was once widely thought to be a unique form of experience that could not be explained in neurological, psychological, or sociological terms. In recent decades scholars have questioned the privileging of the idea of religious experience in the study of religion, an approach that effectively isolated the study of religion from the social and natural sciences. Religious Experience Reconsidered lays out a framework for research into religious phenomena that reclaims experience as a central concept while bridging the divide between religious studies and the sciences. Ann Taves shifts the focus from "religious experience," conceived as a fixed and stable thing, to an examination of the processes by which people attribute meaning to their experiences. She proposes a new approach that unites the study of religion with fields as diverse as neuroscience, anthropology, sociology, and psychology to better understand how these processes are incorporated into the broader cultural formations we think of as religious or spiritual. Taves addresses a series of key questions: how can we set up studies without obscuring contestations over meaning and value? What is the relationship between experience and consciousness? How can research into consciousness help us access and interpret the experiences of others? Why do people individually or collectively explain their experiences in religious terms? How can we set up studies that allow us to compare experiences across times and cultures? Religious Experience Reconsidered demonstrates how methods from the sciences can be combined with those from the humanities to advance a naturalistic understanding of the experiences that people deem religious.

Ecstasy

Ecstasy PDF Author: Marghanita Laski
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Ecstasy
Languages : en
Pages : 574

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Book Description


Handbook of Research on Creating Meaningful Experiences in Online Courses

Handbook of Research on Creating Meaningful Experiences in Online Courses PDF Author: Kyei-Blankson, Lydia
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 1799801160
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 355

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Book Description
While online courses are said to be beneficial and many reputable brick and mortar higher education institutions are now offering undergraduate and graduate programs online, there is still ongoing debate on issues related to credibility and acceptability. There is some reluctance to teach online and to admit and hire students who have enrolled in online programs. Given these concerns, it is essential that educators in online communities continue to share the significant learning experiences and outcomes that occur in online classrooms and highlight pedagogical practices used by online instructors to make their courses and programs comparable to those offered face-to-face. The Handbook of Research on Creating Meaningful Experiences in Online Courses is a comprehensive research book that examines the quality of courses in higher education that are offered exclusively online and details strategies and practices used by online instructors to create meaningful teaching and learning experiences in online courses. Featuring a range of topics such as gamification, professional development, and learning outcomes, this book is ideal for academicians, researchers, educators, administrators, instructional designers, curriculum developers, higher education faculty, and students.

Sacred Knowledge

Sacred Knowledge PDF Author: William A. Richards
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231540914
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
Sacred Knowledge is the first well-documented, sophisticated account of the effect of psychedelics on biological processes, human consciousness, and revelatory religious experiences. Based on nearly three decades of legal research with volunteers, William A. Richards argues that, if used responsibly and legally, psychedelics have the potential to assuage suffering and constructively affect the quality of human life. Richards's analysis contributes to social and political debates over the responsible integration of psychedelic substances into modern society. His book serves as an invaluable resource for readers who, whether spontaneously or with the facilitation of psychedelics, have encountered meaningful, inspiring, or even disturbing states of consciousness and seek clarity about their experiences. Testing the limits of language and conceptual frameworks, Richards makes the most of experiential phenomena that stretch our understanding of reality, advancing new frontiers in the study of belief, spiritual awakening, psychiatric treatment, and social well-being. His findings enrich humanities and scientific scholarship, expanding work in philosophy, anthropology, theology, and religious studies and bringing depth to research in mental health, psychotherapy, and psychopharmacology.

Wired For God?

Wired For God? PDF Author: Charles Foster
Publisher: Hodder
ISBN: 1444722050
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
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.