Miracles Revisited

Miracles Revisited PDF Author: Stefan Alkier
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110296373
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 424

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Book Description
Since David Hume, the interpretation of miracle stories has been dominated in the West by the binary distinction of fact vs. fiction. The form-critical method added another restriction to the interpretation of miracles by neglecting the context of its macrotexts. Last but not least the hermeneutics of demythologizing was interested in the self-understanding of individuals and not in political perspectives. The book revisits miracle stories with regard to these dimensions: 1. It demands to connect the interpretation of Miracle Stories to concepts of reality. 2. It criticizes the restrictions of the form critical method. 3. It emphasizes the political implications of Miracle Stories and their interpretations. Even the latest research accepts this modern opposition of fact and fiction as self-evident. This book will examine critically these concepts of reality with interpretations of miracles. The book will address how concepts of reality, always complex, came to expression in stories of miraculous healings and their reception in medicine, art, literature, theology and philosophy, from classic antiquity to the Middle Ages. Only through such bygone concepts, contemporary interpretations of ancient healings can gain plausibility.

Miracles Revisited

Miracles Revisited PDF Author: Stefan Alkier
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110296373
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 424

Get Book Here

Book Description
Since David Hume, the interpretation of miracle stories has been dominated in the West by the binary distinction of fact vs. fiction. The form-critical method added another restriction to the interpretation of miracles by neglecting the context of its macrotexts. Last but not least the hermeneutics of demythologizing was interested in the self-understanding of individuals and not in political perspectives. The book revisits miracle stories with regard to these dimensions: 1. It demands to connect the interpretation of Miracle Stories to concepts of reality. 2. It criticizes the restrictions of the form critical method. 3. It emphasizes the political implications of Miracle Stories and their interpretations. Even the latest research accepts this modern opposition of fact and fiction as self-evident. This book will examine critically these concepts of reality with interpretations of miracles. The book will address how concepts of reality, always complex, came to expression in stories of miraculous healings and their reception in medicine, art, literature, theology and philosophy, from classic antiquity to the Middle Ages. Only through such bygone concepts, contemporary interpretations of ancient healings can gain plausibility.

The Australian Miracle

The Australian Miracle PDF Author: Thomas Barlow
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780987133007
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
A hundred years ago, an open and adaptive attitude towards technology made Australia the wealthiest society in the world. Today this same attitude is transforming the nation and creating unexpected opportunities for Australia's inventors, discoverers and entrepreneurs. Australia's economy underwent a miraculous expansion over the twenty years from the early 1990s onwards - an economic transformation that pre-dated the late twentieth-century mining boom, and which was driven by investment in ideas and technology. The Australian Miracle, first published by Picador in 2006, highlights the growing role of innovation in modern Australian life. It also presents a refreshing and invigorating scepticism about the role of government in a world where research and innovation have never been more important. Politically charged, controversial, and sharply written, it should be essential reading for anyone interested in Australia's economy of ideas. "This is the ultimate myth buster; the killer of cliches Australian science so badly needs. Tom Barlow's iconoclasm will shock some, thrill others. I consumed this timely book with unaccustomed relish. Read it." -- Robyn Williams.

Empowering the People

Empowering the People PDF Author: Richard A. Horsley
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1666722561
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 489

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Book Description
In this innovative study, Horsley builds on his earlier works concerning the problematic and misleading categories of "magic" and "miracle" to examine in-depth the meaning and importance of the narratives of healing and exorcism in the Gospels. Incorporating his work on oral performance and turning to important works in medical anthropology, a new image emerges of how these narratives help us re-evaluate Jesus's place in first-century Galilee and Judea. In his exorcisms and healings, Jesus-in-interaction was empowering the villagers in their struggles for renewal of personal and communal dignity in resistance to invasive Roman rule.

Resurrection

Resurrection PDF Author: Karl Olav Sandnes
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 153269587X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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Book Description
Christian faith depends upon the resurrection of Jesus, but the claim about Jesus’ resurrection is, nevertheless, disputed. This book, written by a New Testament scholar and a systematic theologian in conjunction, develops the conditions for the claim. It carefully analyzes the relevant texts and their possible interpretations and engages with New Testament scholarship in order to show nuances and different trajectories in the material. The picture emerging is that the New Testament authors themselves tried to come to terms with how to understand the claim that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead. But the book does not stop there: by also asking for the experiential content that gave rise to the belief in the resurrection. Sandnes and Henriksen argue that there is no such thing as an experience of the resurrection reported in the New Testament—only experiences of an empty tomb and appearance of Jesus, interpreted as Jesus resurrected. Hence, resurrection emerges as an interpretative category for post-Easter experiences, and is only understandable in light of the full content of Jesus’ ministry and its context.

Western Philosophy

Western Philosophy PDF Author: John G. Cottingham
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119165725
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 951

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Book Description
The new edition of this celebrated anthology surveys the Western philosophical tradition from its origins in ancient Greece to the work of today’s leading philosophers Western Philosophy: An Anthology provides an authoritative guided tour through the great tradition of Western philosophical thought. The seminal writings of the great philosophers along with more recent readings of contemporary interest are explored in 144 substantial and carefully chosen extracts, each preceded by a lucid introduction, guiding readers through the history of a diverse range of key arguments, and explaining how important theories fit into the unfolding story of Western philosophical inquiry. Broad in scope, the anthology covers all the main branches of philosophy: theory of knowledge and metaphysics, logic and language, philosophy of mind, the self and freedom, religion and science, moral philosophy, political theory, aesthetics, and the meaning of life, all in self-contained parts which can be worked on by students and instructors independently. The third edition of the Anthology contains newly incorporated classic texts from thinkers such as Aquinas, Machiavelli, Descartes, William James, and Wittgenstein. Each of the 144 individual extracts is now followed by sample questions focusing on the key philosophical problems raised by the excerpt, and accompanied by detailed further reading suggestions that include up-to-date links to online resources. Also new to this edition is an introductory essay written by John Cottingham, which offers advice to students on how to read and write about a philosophical text. Part of the Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies series, Western Philosophy: An Anthology, Third Edition remains an indispensable collection of classic source materials and expert insights for both beginning and advanced university students in a wide range of philosophy courses.

Jesus and Magic

Jesus and Magic PDF Author: Richard A Horsley
Publisher: James Clarke & Company
ISBN: 0227904532
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
It has become standard in modern interpretation to say that Jesus performed miracles, and even mainline scholarly interpreters classify Jesus's healings and exorcisms as miracles. Some highly regarded scholars have argued, more provocatively, that the healings and exorcisms were magic, and that Jesus was a magician. As Richard Horsley points out, if we make a critical comparison between modern interpretation of Jesus's healing and exorcism, on the one hand, and the Gospel stories and other ancient texts, on the other hand, it becomes clear that the miracle and magic are modern concepts, products of Enlightenment thinking. 'Jesus and Magic' asserts that Gospel stories do not have the concepts of miracle and magic. What scholars constructed as magic turns out to have been ritual practices such as songs (incantations), medicines (potions), and appeals to higher powers for protection. Horsley offers a critical reading of the healing and exorcism episodes in the Gospel stories. This reading reveals a dynamic relationship between Jesus the healer, the trust of those coming for healing, and their support networks in local communities. Horsley's reading of the Gospel stories gives little or no indication of divine intervention. Rather, the healing and exorcism stories portray healings and exorcisms.

How the Gospels Became History

How the Gospels Became History PDF Author: M. David Litwa
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300242638
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
A compelling comparison of the gospels and Greco-Roman mythology which shows that the gospels were not perceived as myths, but as historical records Did the early Christians believe their myths? Like most ancient--and modern--people, early Christians made efforts to present their myths in the most believable ways. In this eye-opening work, M. David Litwa explores how and why what later became the four canonical gospels take on a historical cast that remains vitally important for many Christians today. Offering an in-depth comparison with other Greco-Roman stories that have been shaped to seem like history, Litwa shows how the evangelists responded to the pressures of Greco-Roman literary culture by using well-known historiographical tropes such as the mention of famous rulers and kings, geographical notices, the introduction of eyewitnesses, vivid presentation, alternative reports, and so on. In this way, the evangelists deliberately shaped myths about Jesus into historical discourse to maximize their believability for ancient audiences.

Various Thoughts on the Occasion of a Comet

Various Thoughts on the Occasion of a Comet PDF Author: Pierre Bayle
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791445488
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
A new translation of Pierre Bayle's first great work, which undermines the influence of "superstition" in political life and laid the groundwork for the separation of church and state.

Justified Faith without Reasons?

Justified Faith without Reasons? PDF Author: Valentin Teodorescu
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3111334767
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
This study intends to show that the answer to the question whether faith can be justified without proofs can be resolved by importing ideas from Søren Kierkegaard’s and Alvin Plantinga’s affirmative take on the matter. There is a deep similarity between the way they understand belief in God and belief in Christianity. The authors share the modern idea that there is an objective truth, combining it with the postmodern stance that no method exists which would guarantee access to it. One can see at both authors not only a deep commonality of ideas, but also a remarkable way in which their understandings augment each other. Whereas Kierkegaard comes to the provocative conclusion that, if a person wants to live authentically, she will meet Christ on her life’s journey without needing any proof, Plantinga’s inquiry contributes to the rational plausibility of this „Justified Faith without Reasons" project.

Supernatural

Supernatural PDF Author: Richard Smoley
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101602759
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
This gem-like, concise anthology provides thoughtful people with both an introduction to the paranormal and a reason to take a fresh look at it. Nostradamus...channeling...Atlantis...divination. Most serious people consider such topics nonsense. But look again. Writing with intellectual verve and a deeply critical mind, religious thinker Richard Smoley explores and reconsiders the supernatural in history and today. We are often conditioned to think of the Judeo-Christian tradition as the only valid, historically accurate, and rational spiritual philosophy. Occultism, magic, and the esoteric are, by contrast, considered illegitimate, delusional, and lacking in intrinsic worth. Supernatural challenges this prejudice, revealing that Western occult traditions are richer and more historically impactful than most of us imagine. The book reveals hidden diamonds and neglected ideas that characterize the magical tradition in the West. For any reader, at any level of experience, who has ever been curious about an arcane subject – from psychical powers to secret societies – here is a book that gives a complete yet precise, critical, yet serious, and always respectful account of topics from the unseen world. Supernatural is a brilliant primer to the occult and magical traditions of the West. Praise for RICHARD SMOLEY “I have a standing rule: I read anything Richard Smoley writes.” —Larry Dossey, M.D. “Smoley . . . is adept at unknotting the paradoxes of spiritual traditions and making new connections across centuries and languages.” —Library Journal “He is one of the liveliest, most intrepid, and most gifted explorers of the spiritual landscape writing today.” —Ptolemy Tompkins, author of Paradise Fever