Religious Culture

The role of organized religion in our society is undergoing monumental changes. Church attendance is decreasing at unprecedented rates. At the same time, there is an increase in the number of people who identify as “spiritual but not religious.” Clearly, the need for religion remains as strong as ever, yet more and more, people are seeking spirituality elsewhere. Why? What accounts for these trends? Can organized religion still play a valuable role in today’s world?

Fundamentalism and American Culture has long been considered a classic in religious history, and to this day remains unsurpassed. Now available in a new edition, this highly regarded analysis takes us through the full history of the origin and direction of one of America's most influential religious movements.

The role of organized religion in our society is undergoing monumental changes. Church attendance is decreasing at unprecedented rates. At the same time, there is an increase in the number of people who identify as “spiritual but not religious.” Clearly, the need for religion remains as strong as ever, yet more and more, people are seeking spirituality elsewhere. Why? What accounts for these trends? Can organized religion still play a valuable role in today’s world?

Cultural Christians in the Early Church, which aims to be both historical and practical, argues that cultural Christians were the rule, rather than the exception, in the early church. Using different categories of sins as its organizing principle, the book considers the challenge of culture to the earliest converts to Christianity, as they struggled to live on mission in the Greco-Roman cultural milieu of the Roman Empire.

One of the most highly regarded works of intellectual history of the past decade, Jesus Through the Centuries is an original and compelling study of the impact of Jesus on cultural, political, social, and economic history. Noted historian and theologian Jaroslav Pelikan reveals how the image of Jesus created by each successive epoch - from rabbi in the first century to liberator in the 19th and 20th centuries - is a key to understanding the temper and values of that age.

Stephen Mansfield, the acclaimed New York Times best-selling author, has highlighted the growing popularity of Mormonism—a belief system with cultic roots—and the implications of its critical rise. Mormons are moving into the spotlight in pop culture, politics, sports, and entertainment via presidential candidates like Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, media personality Glenn Beck, mega-bestselling Twilight author Stephenie Meyer, and The Book of Mormon, the hottest show on Broadway.

Things are chaotic in America. Liberal policies are advancing. A rash of executive orders appears to be moving the nation closer to socialism and a one-world government. And conservatives, including many Christians, are being censored as never before. In some ways, Christians cancel each other in debates over non-essentials. There is no going backward if we want to remain effective and engaged. We can take the initiative and move forward from where we are. This book will assess and affirm the different approaches playing out.

Unser Leben ist komplex geworden. Wir werden von Erwartungen und Informationen überflutet. Wir werden gelebt und sehnen uns danach, auszubrechen. An dieser tiefen Sehnsucht setzt Bestsellerautor Johannes Hartl an. Er analysiert den Zustand unserer Gesellschaft und zeigt glasklar auf, was uns verloren gegangen ist, psychologisch, soziologisch, aber auch spirituell. Hartl erkennt drei Grunddimensionen, die unser Leben ausmachen, aus machen könnten. Sie wieder zu entdecken, ist die große Aufgabe, für die dieses Hörbuch vorbereitet.

Following the execution of the king in 1649, the new Commonwealth and then Oliver Cromwell set out to drive forward a puritan reformation of manners. They wanted to reform the church and its services, enforce the Sabbath, suppress Christmas, and spread the gospel. They sought to impose a stern moral discipline to regulate and reform sexual behaviour, drinking practices, language, dress, and leisure activities ranging from music and plays to football.

In this lucid explanation of perennial philosophy, Arthur Versluis reveals this tradition - so often described as esoteric and inaccessible - to be closer to our interests and experience than many of us have realized. Versluis has distilled an immense amount of scholarship into this small volume, but its brevity is deceiving. Like the culmination to any alchemical work, Perennial Philosophy is a powerful tincture that - once imbibed - transports receptive listeners to a world in which they are part of a spiritual hierarchy that links heaven to earth.

In feisty prose Donohue explores our nation where a college student is threatened with expulsion because she prayed on campus, a civil rights organization protests a statue of Jesus found on the ocean floor and a housewife sues a school district to stop the singing of Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer at a school choral production. These are just a few examples cited that demonstrate a culture descending into madness.

Crushed by a violent, alcoholic father, and growing up in a world of street gangs, organized crime, and anti-Semitism. Phillip Cohen somehow navigates dangerous neighborhoods from Chicago to Atlanta and Miami. In his late teens and early twenties, his life has been thrust into a desperate existence, wandering homeless through hippie communes, pursuing hard drugs and strange religions, all in his search for healing and love.

This work brings various important topics and groups in American religious history the rigor of scholarly assessment of the current literature. The fruitful questions that are posed by the positions and experiences of the various groups are carefully examined. American Denominational History points the way for the next decade of scholarly effort.