Religion and the Hermeneutics of Contemplation

Religion and the Hermeneutics of Contemplation PDF Author: D. Z. Phillips
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521008464
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
Leading philosopher of religion D. Z. Phillips examines the conceptual assumptions of atheistic thought.

The Books of Contemplation

The Books of Contemplation PDF Author: Mark Verman
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438422881
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
The earliest medieval Jewish mystical writings, or kabbalah, date from the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. This is the first book to focus on the most prodigious group active at that time—the 'Circle of Contemplation'. The 'Circle of Contemplation' generated a mystical theology that differs radically from mainstream kabbalistic theosophy. Two of this group's penetrating speculations on God and the origins of the universe are The Book of Contemplation and The Fountain of Wisdom. A meticulous and systematic study of these writings forms the core of this book. Verman discovered that the 'Circle of Contemplation' produced a series of distinct treatises, each entitled The Book of Contemplation and attributed to the same fictitious author. These treatises, embodying one of the most intriguing puzzles of medieval literature, are included here. The author concludes that these writings were a product of thirteenth-century Spain, not France, as claimed by Gershom Scholem. His conclusion engendered a critical evaluation of the premises of Scholem's historiography of early medieval Jewish mysticism.

D.Z. Phillips' Contemplative Philosophy of Religion

D.Z. Phillips' Contemplative Philosophy of Religion PDF Author: Andy F. Sanders
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317155025
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
This collection presents a critical discussion and exploration of the late D.Z. Phillips' contemplative approach in the philosophy of religion. What are the main characteristics of this ground-breaking approach, which is inspired by thinkers like Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein and meant as a serious, critical alternative to the mainstream way of doing philosophy of religion? What is its aim, if it is deliberately avoiding apology and defence of faith? How does Phillips' approach relate to systematic, historical and empirical theology and is it really as 'neutral' as he claims it to be? Or is he, perhaps, a certain kind of theologian? What are the implications of his contemplative philosophy for central issues of religious life today, such as petitionary prayer, the hope of 'eternal life' and radical religious diversity? The essays of six distinguished scholars from five different nations critically and sympathetically address these questions and are responded to by Phillips in essays of his own, written briefly before his sudden death in July 2006.

Contemplating Religious Forms of Life: Wittgenstein and D.Z. Phillips

Contemplating Religious Forms of Life: Wittgenstein and D.Z. Phillips PDF Author: Mikel Burley
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1441103252
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
Examines the significant contributions to philosophy of religion made by Ludwig Wittgenstein and D. Z. Phillips.

Philosophy's Cool Place

Philosophy's Cool Place PDF Author: D. Z. Phillips
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501729454
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
Ludwig Wittgenstein established a "cool" stance for philosophy, contemplating the world without meddling in it. D. Z. Phillips explores this position, focusing on its implications for philosophical authorship and the philosophical investigation of the nature of reality. Influenced by the views of Wittgenstein and his pupil Rush Rhees, Phillips—who is one of Rhees's own students—first contrasts Wittgenstein's methods with Kierkegaard's religiously oriented dialectic. He describes the difficulty in sustaining a contemplative view of philosophy and discusses efforts to go beyond it in the work of Richard Rorty, Stanley Cavell, Annette Baier, and Martha Nussbaum, who, in different ways, propose to make philosophy a guide to living. A provocative and challenging work, Philosophy's Cool Place is one of the few books that addresses the discipline as an enterprise and explores its relation to moral values, religious belief, and the nature of Reality. By advancing the cause of neutrality, it will stimulate debate and foster discussion of what philosophy is to become in the postmodern era.

Religion and the Body

Religion and the Body PDF Author: Sarah Coakley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521783866
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
A rich source for comparative studies of the 'body', and of its relation to society.

The Paradoxical Ascent to God

The Paradoxical Ascent to God PDF Author: Rachel Elior
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791410455
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
This book is a study of the Habad Hasidism movement, an influential part of the Hasidic Movement, which originated in the eigteenth century. Habad was founded by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1813) who established a Hasidic community in Belorussia and who set forth the new Habad doctrine in a book entitled Tanya (Likutey Amarim). This doctrine expounded the mystical ideas underlying the quest for God. Its essential innovation lay in the formulation of a religious outlook which concentrated upon perceiving the divinity: its essence, its nature, the stages of its manifestation, its characteristics, its perfection, its differing wills, its processes, the significance of its revelation and the possibilities of its perception. This conception generated a profound transformation of religious worship and was the cause of great controversy throughout the Jewish world.

The Contemplative Spirit

The Contemplative Spirit PDF Author: Ingolf U. Dalferth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
To understand reality in terms of what is possible has methodological implications which a contemplative philosophy makes explicit. The goal is no longer to determine how things are or must be but rather to provide an overview of how they could be and the diversity with which they already appear. The function of philosophy is not the discovery of a single answer but rather a careful description of the diversity and the heterogeneity of possible answers in different contexts and practices. This approach, inspired by Wittgenstein, was applied to the philosophy of religion by Dewi Z. Phillips (1934-2006) in particular. This volume explores his contemplative philosophy of religion in an intense and lively discussion, showing how the description of religious faith and the access to its practice and language change unexpectedly and provocatively in this way of thinking.

A Hermeneutics of Contemplative Silence

A Hermeneutics of Contemplative Silence PDF Author: Michele Kueter Petersen
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1793640017
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
A Hermeneutics of Contemplative Silence: Paul Ricoeur, Edith Stein, and the Heart of Meaning brings together the work of Paul Ricoeur and Edith Stein and locates the role of silence in the creation of meaning. Michele Kueter Petersen argues that human being is language and silence. Contemplative silence manifests a mode of capable human being whereby a shared world of meaning is constituted and created. The analysis culminates with the claim that a hermeneutics of contemplative silence manifests a deeper level of awareness as a poetics of presencing a shared humanity. The term “awareness” refers to five crucial levels of meaning-creating consciousness that are ingredients in the practice of contemplative silence. Contemplative awareness includes self-critique as integral to the experience and the understanding of the virtuous ordering of relational realities. The practice of contemplative silence is a spiritual and ethical activity that aims at transforming reflexive consciousness. Inasmuch as it leads to openness to new motivation and intention for acting in relation to others, contemplative awareness elicits movement through the ongoing exercise of rethinking those relational realities in and for the world. The texts of Ricoeur and Stein reveal a contemplative discourse of praise and beauty for capable human beings whose actions and suffering respond to word and silence.

Things Hidden

Things Hidden PDF Author: Richard Rohr
Publisher: SPCK
ISBN: 0281075174
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 171

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Book Description
Sacred Scripture and Christian spirituality belong together. In this exploration of the central themes of Scripture, Richard Rohr transforms the written word, discovering in these ancient texts a new and vital meaning, relevant and essential to all believers. He uncovers what the Bible says about morality, power, wisdom and the generosity of God in a manner that inspires in us a life-changing response. Rohr's Christian vision of abundance, grace and joy - counteracting the scarcity, judgement and fear we know in our world - has the power to revolutionize how we relate to ourselves and all around us. 'Things Hidden is an invitation of gospel proportion to move on into the life God intends, a life of joy and obedience.' Walter Brueggemann, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary