Routledge A Level Religious Studies: Year 2 is the essential textbook for the new 2016 OCR A Level Religious Studies Year 2 syllabus. Structured closely around the OCR specification this textbook covers philosophy, ethics and Christianity, in an engaging and student-friendly way. Each chapter includes: OCR specification checklist, to clearly illustrate which topics from the specification are covered in each chapter Explanations of key terminology Review questions, thought points and activities to test understanding Overview of key scholars and theories Chapter summaries and annotated further reading. With a section dedicated to preparing for assessment this book provides students with all the skills they need to succeed. This book comes complete with diagrams and tables, lively illustrations, a comprehensive glossary and full bibliography. The companion website hosts a wealth of further resources to enhance the learning experience.

Routledge A Level Religious Studies: AS and Year One is an engaging and comprehensive textbook for the new 2016 OCR A Level Religious Studies syllabus. Structured closely around the OCR specification, this textbook covers philosophy, ethics and Christianity, in an engaging and student-friendly way. Each chapter includes: An OCR specification checklist, to clearly illustrate which topics from the specification are covered in each chapter; Explanations of key terminology; Review questions, thought points and activities to test understanding; An overview of key scholars and theories; Chapter summaries. With a section dedicated to preparing for assessment, Routledge A Level Religious Studies: AS and Year One provides students with all the skills they need to succeed. This book comes complete with diagrams and tables, lively illustrations, a comprehensive glossary and full bibliography. The companion website hosts a wealth of further resources to enhance the learning experience.

The role of Religious Education in secondary schools is the subject of national and international debate. This book examines the current debates surrounding RE and puts forward a new approach to teaching the subject that is non-faith based and focused on conceptual enquiry and the development of a clear pedagogy. The book is based on the Living Difference learning model developed in Hampshire and adopted in other parts of the UK, which is sparking international discussion and provides an effective approach to implementing the new secondary curriculum. The chapters include examinations of: religious education and the curriculum an interdisciplinary approach to religious education the significance of pedagogy and learners’ development planning, progression, assessment and delivery specific case studies and examples of good practice in schools theoretical grounding and the future of RE the effects of globalisation, post-modernity and multiculturalism. Providing a basis for developing thinking about Religious Education, its place in the curriculum and how it can be delivered effectively in schools, this book is essential reading for tutors, students and teachers.

This is the first comprehensive survey in English of research methods in the field of religious studies. It is designed to enable non-specialists and students at upper undergraduate and graduate levels to understand the variety of research methods used in the field. The aim is to create awareness of the relevant methods currently available and to stimulate an active interest in exploring unfamiliar methods, encouraging their use in research and enabling students and scholars to evaluate academic work with reference to methodological issues. A distinguished team of contributors cover a broad spectrum of topics, from research ethics, hermeneutics and interviewing, to Internet research and video-analysis. Each chapter covers practical issues and challenges, the theoretical basis of the respective method, and the way it has been used in religious studies, illustrated by case studies.

Providing a genuinely full guide to the theory and methods related to religious studies, this text - written entirely by world-renowned specialists - is the ideal resource for those studying the discipline.

Religious diversity exists whenever seemingly sincere, knowledgeable individuals hold incompatible beliefs on the same religious issue. Diversity of this sort is pervasive, existing not only across basic theistic systems but also within these theistic systems themselves. Religious Diversity explores the breadth and significance of such conflict. Examining the beliefs of various theistic systems, particularly within Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism, Basinger discusses seemingly incompatible claims about many religious issues, including the nature of God and the salvation of humankind. He considers particularly the work of Hick, Gellman, Plantinga, Schellenberg, Alston, Wainwright, and Quinn, applying their perspectives on 'exclusivism' and 'pluralism' as they become relevant to the issues in question. Basinger's survey of the relevant literature, proposed solutions, and fresh insights offer an invaluable contribution not only for philosophers of religion and philosophical theologians but for anyone interested in the increasingly significant question of what a religious believer can or cannot justifiably say about their religious perspective.

How and what to teach about religion is controversial in every country. The Routledge International Handbook of Religious Education is the first book to comprehensively address the range of ways that major countries around the world teach religion in public and private educational institutions. It discusses how three models in particular seem to dominate the landscape. Countries with strong cultural traditions focused on a majority religion tend to adopt an "identification model," where instruction is provided only in the tenets of the majority religion, often to the detriment of other religions and their adherents. Countries with traditions that differentiate church and state tend to adopt a "separation model," thus either offering instruction in a wide range of religions, or in some cases teaching very little about religion, intentionally leaving it to religious institutions and the home setting to provide religious instruction. Still other countries attempt "managed pluralism," in which neither one, nor many, but rather a limited handful of major religious traditions are taught. Inevitably, there are countries which do not fit any of these dominant models and the range of methods touched upon in this book will surprise even the most enlightened reader. Religious instruction by educational institutions in 53 countries and regions of the world are explored by experts native to each country. These chapters discuss: Legal parameters in terms of subjective versus objective instruction in religion Constitutional, statutory, social and political contexts to religious approaches Distinctions between the kinds of instruction permitted in elementary and secondary schools versus what is allowed in institutions of higher learning. Regional assessments which provide a welcome overview and comparison. This comprehensive and authoritative volume will appeal to educators, scholars, religious leaders, politicians, and others interested in how religion and education interface around the world.

This book takes a multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary approach to religion, religiosity and theology from their earliest beginnings to the present day. It uniquely brings together the natural sciences and theology to explore how religious practice emerged and developed through the four sections into which the book is organized: Evolutionary biology; Philosophical linguistics, psychology and neuroscience; Theology and Anthropology. The volume features an international panel of contributors who develop an innovative picture of religion as a culturally-created social institution; religiosity as a more personal and subjective anthropological element of people expressed through religion; and theology as the study of god. To survive in changing times, living systems — a good characterization of religion, religiosity and theology — all must adaptively evolve. This is a vital study of a rapidly burgeoning field. As such, it will be of great interest to scholars in religious studies and theology as well as in the psychological, sociological, and anthropological study of religion.

This valuable reference work synthesizes and elucidates traditional themes and issues in Islamic philosophy as well as prominent topics emerging from the last twenty years of scholarship. Written for a wide readership of students and scholars, The Routledge Companion to Islamic Philosophy is unique in including coverage of both perennial philosophical issues in an Islamic context and also distinct concerns that emerge from Islamic religious thought. This work constitutes a substantial affirmation that Islamic philosophy is an integral part of the Western philosophical tradition. Featuring 33 chapters, divided into seven thematic sections, this volume explores the major areas of philosophy: Logic, Metaphysics, Philosophy in the Sciences, Philosophy of Mind/Epistemology, and Ethics/Politics as well as philosophical issues salient in Islamic revelation, theology, prophecy, and mysticism. Other features include: •A focus on both the classical and post-classical periods •A contributing body that includes both widely respected scholars from around the world and a handful of the very best younger scholars •"Reference" and "Further Reading" sections for each chapter and a comprehensive index for the whole volume The result is a work that captures Islamic philosophy as philosophy. In this way it serves students and scholars of philosophy and religious studies and at the same time provides valuable essays relevant to the study of Islamic thought and theology.

Led by Mona Kanwal Sheikh and Mark Juergensmeyer, nine authors journey into the worlds of unusual, sometimes violent religious groups. Together, these original first-person contributions provide an integrated, problem-solving approach to field research in religious extremism, illustrating ground-breaking methods in gaining access to their subjects’ worldviews. In a narrative style that is at once both conversational and rigorous, the book demonstrates for students, researchers, and journalists the relevance of religious studies to political science, sociology, and anthropology. It is particularly well suited to upper-level courses at the intersection of religion and the social sciences.