Author: John P. Hoffmann
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136889914
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 272
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Book Description
Although numerous studies of religious rituals have been conducted by religious studies scholars, anthropologists, sociologists, and psychologists, it is rare to find a work that brings scholars from different disciplines together to discuss the similarities and differences in their research. This book represents contributions by leading scholars from several disciplines that show the diversity of approaches to religious rituals, while also providing cross-disciplinary perspectives on this topic. The goals of the chapters are to consider where the field currently stands in understanding religious rituals and what novel ideas can improve our knowledge about these practices; and furnish innovative applications of theory by discussing particular examples which are drawn from the authors’ fieldwork. The chapters cover Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, and Islamic rituals, thus providing a view of how ritual practices vary across the globe, but also how they share some important characteristics.
Author: Graham Harvey
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315475715
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 465
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Book Description
The study of ritual and how it relates to beliefs and ideas is of central importance in our understanding of the world. Rituals can become divorced from beliefs and religious believers regarded as simply "going through the motions". 'Ritual and Religious Belief: A Reader' presents the full range of scholarly thinking on ritual and ritualizing as they relate to belief. It questions the assumption that belief should take precedence over outward behaviour and engages with questions such as: how are rituals related to performance; are politics ritualized; and is there a difference between rituals and etiquette? This comprehensive volume brings together material by eminent scholars from across the centuries, ranging from Martin Luther's sacramental dialogues to the life and routine patterns of Zen Buddhist Temples and the relationship between magic, religion and science. It will be of interest to all those engaged in the study of the dynamics between ritual and belief.
Author: Axel Michaels
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019026263X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 395
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Book Description
Are the richness and diversity of rituals and celebrations in South Asia unique? Can we speak of a homo ritualis when it comes to India or Hinduism? Are Indians or Hindus more involved in rituals than other people? If so, what makes them special? Homo Ritualis is the first book to present a Hindu theory of rituals. Based on extensive textual studies and field-work in Nepal and India, Axel Michaels argues that ritual is a distinctive way of acting, which, as in the theater, can be distinguished from other forms of action. The book analyzes ritual in these cultural-specific and religious contexts, taking into account how indigenous terms and theories affect and contribute to current ritual theory. It describes and investigates various forms of Hindu rituals and festivals, such as life-cycle rituals, the Vedic sacrifice, vows processions, and the worship of deities (puja). It also examines conceptual components of (Hindu) rituals such as framing, formality, modality, and theories of meaning.
Author: Burrows, William R.
Publisher: Orbis Books
ISBN: 1608337278
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 274
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Book Description
A necessary task of missionaries in recent decades has been to help local Christians "inculturate" or "contextualize" their faith, although the criteria for doing so often came from outside the context in which new believers developed their understanding of Christianity. Highlighting the voices of non-Western scholars, this work recognizes the importance of ritual and ceremony in the life of communities that seek to worship God in ways that reflect culturally appropriate responses to Scripture. The contributors -- some of missiology's leading lights -- discuss rituals, beliefs, and practices of diverse peoples, supporting the conclusion that orthodox Christianity is hybrid Christianity.
Author: Dru Johnson
Publisher: Eisenbrauns
ISBN: 9781575064314
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
What do rituals have to do with knowledge? Knowledge by Ritual examines the epistemological role of rites in Christian Scripture. By putting biblical rituals in conversation with philosophical and scientific views of knowledge, Johnson argues that knowing is a skilled adeptness in both the biblical literature and scientific enterprise. If rituals are a way of thinking in community akin to scientific communities, then the biblical emphasis on rites that lead to knowledge cannot be ignored. Practicing a rite to know occurs frequently in the Hebrew Bible. YHWH answers Abram's skepticism--"How shall I know that I will possess the land?"--with a ritual intended to make him know (Gen 15:7-21). The recurring rites of Sabbath (Exod 31:13) and dwelling in a Sukkah (Lev 23:43) direct Israel toward discernment of an event's enduring significance. Likewise, building stone memorials aims at the knowledge of generations to come (Josh 4:6). Though the New Testament appropriates the Torah rites through strategic reemployment, the primary questions of sacramental theology have often presumed that rites are symbolically encoded. Hence, understanding sacraments has sometimes been reduced to decoding the symbols of the rite. Knowledge by Ritual argues that the rites of Israel, as portrayed in the biblical texts, disposed Israelites to recognize something they could not have seen apart from their participation. By examining the epistemological function of rituals, Johnson's monograph gives readers a new set of questions to explore both the sacraments of Israel and contemporary sacramental theology.
Author: Paul G Hiebert
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
This book has served the missiological community for twenty-five years as a resource for understanding human spirituality in any context. Thousands of students have incorporated the principles of this book into ministry around the globe. This twenty-fifth anniversary edition seeks to enable those who now bring their passion for mission to contemporary contexts affected by globalization, climate change, and political perspectives unimagined when this book originally appeared. Every community, wherever it is on earth, has its share of beliefs and values that manifest themselves in practices that reflect spiritual engagement. Those engaged in mission need to appreciate how underlying beliefs and values are reflected in handling spiritual power, worship and blessing, and interaction with others. Gospel communicators must account for these elements as they seek to make God's intentions known to people who are searching for God. The models presented early in the book are essential for establishing what people consider spiritually critical. Applying these models in any religious environment will enable message-bearers to engage with beliefs and practices that promote a gospel presentation that makes sense. To that end, we commend this book for effective missional engagement.
Author: John Hoffmann
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136889922
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 241
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Book Description
This book represents contributions from leading scholars from several disciplines that show the diversity of approaches to religious rituals, while also providing cross-disciplinary perspectives on this topic.
Author: Daniel de Coppet
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134926626
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 187
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Book Description
Understanding Rituals explores how ritual can be understood within the framework of contemporary social anthropology, and shows that ritual is now one of the most fertile fields of anthropological research. The contributors demonstrate how rituals create and maintain - or transform - a society's cultural identity and social relations. By examining specific rituals from various theoretical viewpoints, they reveal the ultimate and contradictory values to which each society as a whole is attached.
Author: Marc D. Gellman
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781461464396
Category : Clinical health psychology
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
Author: Vasiliki G. Koutrafouri
Publisher: Sidestone Press
ISBN: 9088902208
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 174
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Book Description
‘Ritual Failure’ is a new concept in archaeology adopted from the discipline of anthropology. Resilient religious systems disappearing, strict believers and faithful practitioners not performing their rites, entire societies changing their customs: how does a religious ritual system transform, change or disappear, leaving only traces of its past glory? Do societies change and then their ritual? Or do customs change first, in turn provoking wider cultural shifts in society? Archaeology possesses the tools and methodologies to explore these questions over the long term; from the emergence of a system, to its peak, and then its decay and disappearance, and in relation to wider social and chronological developments. The collected papers in this book introduce the concept of ‘ritual failure’ to archaeology. The analysis explores ways in which ritual may have been instrumental in sustaining cultural continuity during demanding social conditions, or how its functionality might have failed – resulting in discontinuity, change or collapse. The collected papers draw attention to those turbulent social times of change for which ritual practices are a sensitive indicator within the archaeological record. The book reviews archaeological evidence and theoretical approaches, and suggests models which could explain socio-cultural change through ritual failure. The concept of ‘ritual failure’ is also often used to better understand other themes, such as identity and wider social, economic and political transformations, shedding light on the social conditions that forced or introduced change. This book will engage those interested in ritual theory and practices, but will also appeal to those interested in exploring new avenues to understanding cultural change. From transformations in the use of ritual objects to the risks inherent in practicing ritual, from ritual continuity in customs to sudden and profound change, from the Neolithic Near East to Roman Europe and Iron Age Africa, this book explores what happens when ritual fails.
