Where is God in the universe if anywhere? Why did God make germs? Why should we be so special? Could the universe have been different? This is a book that brings home, in no uncertain fashion, the discrepancy between the universe envisaged by the ancient sages and prophets and that of modern scientific cosmology, where the possibility of divine intervention looks less and less likely. Butchins demonstrates with clarity how the scientific method may be used, despite certain drawbacks, in an attempt to verify objective truth. It describes how the effect of the Copernican Revolution in the seventeenth century has steadily undermined the basic structure of the three great monotheistic religions of our day, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, especially with respect to their eschatological concepts. The Eastern religions, being less anthropomorphic, are less affected. The theistic argument from design is shown to be powerful enough to have caused disagreement among present-day scientists, in spite of the strictures of Professor Dawkins. In general, the book attempts to make some sense of the structure of the universe in terms of our own consciousness; it behoves the reader to consider tha

'The wonderful breadth of Jamie Fumo's engaging examination of classical forms in the Middle Ages offers valuable new interpretations of Chaucer's work and rare -insight into medieval tropes of narrative authority.'-Suzanne Yeager, Department of English, Fordham University --

The contributors to this volume describe the many facets shamanism and depth psychology have in common: animal symbolism; recognition of the reality of the collective unconscious; and healing rituals that put therapist and patient in touch with transpersonal powers. By reintroducing the core of shamanism in contemporary form, these essays shape a powerful means of healing that combines the direct contact with the inner psyche one finds in shamanism with the self-reflection and critical awareness of modern consciousness. The contributors' draw from experiences both inside and outside the consulting room, and with cultures that include the Lakota Sioux, and those of the Peruvian Andes and the Hawaiian Islands. The focus is on those aspects of shamanism most useful and relevant to the modern practice of depth psychology. These explorations bring the young practice of analytical psychology into perspective as part of a much more ancient heritage of shamanistic healing.

New essays on theological, political, and contemporary themes, by the Pulitzer Prize winner Marilynne Robinson has plumbed the human spirit in her renowned novels, including Lila, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Gilead, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern political climate and the mysteries of faith. Whether she is investigating how the work of great thinkers about America like Emerson and Tocqueville inform our political consciousness or discussing the way that beauty informs and disciplines daily life, Robinson’s peerless prose and boundless humanity are on full display. What Are We Doing Here? is a call for Americans to continue the tradition of those great thinkers and to remake American political and cultural life as “deeply impressed by obligation [and as] a great theater of heroic generosity, which, despite all, is sometimes palpable still.”

A black social gospel movement arose after the Civil War to mitigate the broken promises of reparations and the reestablishment of white supremacy. After the Gilded Age, a new social gospel arose in the early twentieth century that brought together Christian proclamation and an ethic of social justice that became liberal Protestantism’s distinctive contribution to world Christianity, leaving residues in the New Deal and the Great Society. In the face of poverty and bondage in the 1960s, Martin Luther King Jr. led a second wave of the black social gospel movement and died for it, as prophets do. It birthed new liberation movements on many fronts. Again things fell apart as the Reagan Revolution massively redistributed wealth and social benefits upward and “late capitalism” flourished. In this environment tax cuts for the wealthy and massive inequalities grew, and President Trump inherited the resentments of the Christian Right and the opportunism of economic conservatives. Would a recurring social gospel have made a difference? After Trump, American Christianity faces another crisis of decision. Will the strange God of the Bible be re-called, will the churches re-live as social movements that bring good news to all the people, will American Christianity re-contest the public square and proclaim a new social gospel for our times? This book is an invitation and a manifesto.

[This book] serves to emphasize the central role of evidence, rather than blind faith in religion as well as in science. -- Russell Stannard.

The Numinous Tarot Guide is an interactive, self-study guide that unlocks the meaning of the cards in an instant - and in a way that is deeply personal to every reader of every level. Designed to be used with any deck, a reading for each of the 78 cards offers a modern, evolved interpretation of the card's meaning, along with prompts and journal exercises, to help guide the reader into a space of deep reflection. The traditional way to interact with the Tarot is to ask a question and then pull a card to divine the 'answer'-this guide instead offers the invitation to choose a card first, and then use it as a portal to a deeper level of self-enquiry, using the power of story to help discover why you think the way you think, and do the things you do. The Numinous Tarot Guide offers both a complete compendium of practical Tarot knowledge, and a treasured space for personal reflection. Including insights into the symbolism, mythology and the real-life relevance of each card, it is an indispensable tool for anybody invested in forging a deeper relationship with their favourite deck, as well as an ideal gift for mystical mavens, self-help fans and Tarot readers everywhere.

The essays in this volume use a humanistic viewpoint to explore the evolution and significance of the vampire in literature from the Romantic era to the millennium."--BOOK JACKET.

Rudolf Otto (1869-1937) is widely recognized as one of the most important contributors to the study of religions at the beginning of the 20th century. His book, The Idea of the Holy, became something of a sensation in its time, and his account of numinous experience as a mysterium tremendum et fascinans had an effect that few other ideas in the study of religions have had. His vocabulary broke through narrow disciplinary bounds and was taken up by people in a variety of disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences. However, since the 1960s, Otto has been increasingly overlooked and neglected. As thinkers and scholars have turned in many other intellectual directions, they have tended to see Otto as representative of a past to be rejected. This volume gathers together essays by scholars from a variety of perspectives - theology, religious studies, intellectual history, and various cultural studies - to address the question of what Otto's legacy for the 21st century might be. The first section of the volume addresses Otto's ideas and their contexts. Part Two turns to the area that Otto, more than any other German theologian or philosopher of religion, opened up: an engagement with the world of religions. Otto's influence, however, has never been confined to systematic religious thought and the study of religions. His ideas have resonated much more widely. Although it is impossible to treat this range of application completely, the essays in Part Three aim to provide a hint of this wider impact, in architecture (Britton), poetry (Furey), politics (Jerryson), and the contemporary world more generally (Lauster). This volume is not an attempt to revivify Otto, nor is it intended as a magisterial statement about Otto's significance today. Rather, it issues an invitation to those with an interest not just in religions but also in cultural phenomena more broadly to take another look at Rudolf Otto and his ideas. Perhaps they will find more than they expect, and something that they can use.

"In sum, this original inquiry uniquely respects the cognitional diversity that distinguishes the revelatory poetic spirit from the discursively speculative spirit, even as it demonstrates their deep affinities and mutual implications in the life of the imaginative intelligence."--BOOK JACKET.