Religions and Theology: Books

Freedom of Religion and Religious Diversity : State Accommodation of Religious Minorities

This book examines religious pluralism as a defining feature of modern societies, highlighting the challenges nations face in accommodating diverse faith communities. It explores how different constitutional frameworks—from secular liberal democracies to states prioritising ethno-religious majorities—respond to competing religious demands. Drawing on examples from both Western and Asian contexts, the volume analyses the tensions and complexities involved in balancing freedom of religion with social cohesion. (Provided by Publisher.)

The Archaeology of Religion: Cultures and their Beliefs in Worldwide Context

The new and updated edition of Archaeology of Religion explores how archaeology interprets past religions, offering insights into how archaeologists seek out the religious, ritual, and symbolic meaning behind what they discover in their research. The book includes case studies from around the world, from the study of Upper Palaeolithic and hunter-gatherer religions to religious structures and practices in complex societies of the Americas, Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China. Steadman also includes chapters on the origins and development of key contemporary religions-Judaism, Christianity, Islam, among others-to provide an historical and comparative context. Three main themes are threaded throughout the book. These main themes involve the intersection between cultural and religious structures ("religion reflects culture"), including the importance of environment in shaping a culture's religion, the role religion can sometimes play as a method of social control, and the role religion can sometimes play as a key component in revitalizing a culture. Updated with new discoveries and theories and with two new chapters (Hunter-Gatherer Religions, and Cultures in East Asia), and with new sections on Neolithic Western Asia, the book remains an ideal introduction for courses that include a significant component on past cultures and their religions (Provided by Publisher).

Suffering in the Mu'tazilite Theology: ʻAbd al-J̆abbār's Teaching on Pain and Divine Justice

'Abd al-Ğabbār (d. 1024 AD) belonged to the Bahšamiyya branch of the Basra Mu'tazila. The Mu'tazilites upheld the principle of divine justice, and from this perspective they attempted to explain the existence of pain and suffering. This volume deals with 'Abd al-Ğabbār's opinions on different aspects of pain, such as what pain is, how it is perceived, how it comes into existence, how to judge the infliction of pain and for which purpose God imposes suffering on His creatures. Attention is also given to opinions expressed by Mānkdīm and Ibn Mattawayh, disciples of 'Abd al-Ğabbār. Included is a historical survey of the Bahšamiyya school. The book sheds light on 'Abd al-Ğabbār's Mu'tazilite method in dealing with the question of the existence of human suffering (Provided by Publisher).

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Religion and Social Criticism : Tradition, Method, and Values

This volume brings together emerging and established religious ethicists to investigate how those in the field carry forward the practice and tradition of social criticism and, at the same time, how social criticism informs the scholarly values of their field. Contributors reflect on the nature of the moral subject and the ethical weight of human dignity and consider the limits and possibilities of religious humanism in orienting the work of social criticism. They compare religious sources and forms of research in religious ethics to secular sources and the tradition of liberal social criticism. And they offer proposals for how religious ethics can help humanists navigate our complex and multicultural moral landscape and what this field reveals about the ultimate ends of humanistic scholarship. Bharat Ranganathan is the Brooks Assistant Professor of Social Justice and Religion at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he teaches religious ethics. He is the co-editor of Scripture, Tradition, and Reason in Christian Ethics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). Caroline Anglim is Assistant Professor of Bioethics and Professionalism at the Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, GA. She teaches professional ethics and topics in the medical humanities (Provided by Publisher).

Sin and the Vulnerability of Embodied Life : Towards a Catholic Theology of Social Sin

This book explores how Catholics should speak about sin and grace in a world where structural injustice holds sway causing violence and harm. Bray brings diverse voices into creative dialogue to explore why unjust social situations can properly be called sin from a Catholic theological perspective, and how this sin can be understood to impact one's agency, freedom, and historical condition vis-à-vis God.

Discussing disparate thinkers such as John Paul II, Judith Butler, Thomas Aquinas, and key Latin American liberation theologians, Bray deepens and constructively develops the Catholic understanding of social sin. She argues that the language of social sin presents us with an idea more theologically profound than just the identification of structural injustice; it depicts the power of collective human sinfulness to shape our lives and environments in ways which harm our relations with God, one another, and the rest of the created world. (Provided by Publisher.)

Charlotte Bray is a visiting academic in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures at the University of Manchester.