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The Myth of Disenchantment: Magic, Modernity, and the Birth of the Human Sciences
by Jason A. Josephson-StormA great many theorists have argued that the defining feature of modernity is that people no longer believe in spirits, myths, or magic. Jason Ā. Josephson-Storm argues that as broad cultural history goes, this narrative is wrong, as attempts to suppress magic have failed more often than they have succeeded. Even the human sciences have been more enchanted than is commonly supposed. But that raises the question: How did a magical, spiritualist, mesmerized Europe ever convince itself that it was disenchanted? Josephson-Storm traces the history of the myth of disenchantment in the births of philosophy, anthropology, sociology, folklore, psychoanalysis, and religious studies. Ironically, the myth of mythless modernity formed at the very time that Britain, France, and Germany were in the midst of occult and spiritualist revivals. Indeed, Josephson-Storm argues, these disciplines’ founding figures were not only aware of, but profoundly enmeshed in, the occult milieu; and it was specifically in response to this burgeoning culture of spirits and magic that they produced notions of a disenchanted world. By providing a novel history of the human sciences and their connection to esotericism, The Myth of Disenchantment dispatches with most widely held accounts of modernity and its break from the premodern past.
The Myth of Equality: Uncovering the Roots of Injustice and Privilege
by Ken WytsmaIs privilege real or imagined?The Myth of Equality
The Myth of Equality: Uncovering the Roots of Injustice and Privilege
by Ken Wytsma2017 Foreword INDIES Book Award Honorable MentionPublishers Weekly'sIs privilege real or imagined?
The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation
by Chogyam Trungpa Pema ChodronChögyam Trungpa's unique ability to express the essence of Buddhist teachings in the language and imagery of modern American culture makes his books among the most accessible works of Buddhist philosophy. Here Trungpa explores the true meaning of freedom, showing us how our preconceptions, attitudes, and even our spiritual practices can become chains that bind us to repetitive patterns of frustration and despair. This edition features a new foreword by Pema Chödrön, a close student of Trungpa and the best-selling author of When Things Fall Apart.
The Myth of Happiness
by Rich WagnerWhat is joy? What isn’t joy? And most important, how can we experience it? After all, isn’t that what we long for—something that goes beyond a smiley face and takes hold of the fullness Jesus promised his followers? C. S. Lewis said he was “surprised by joy,” but the reality is that most Christians today are just plain confused by it. While paying lip service to joy, we replace it in favor of a cheap substitute—happiness. In The Myth of Happiness, Rich Wagner dispels our misconceptions and reveals the true nature of biblical joy. He wrestles honestly with the tough questions many of us wonder but haven’t known how to ask. Is joy anything more than a plastic smile? Can we experience joy while battling fear and uncertainty? Are Christians honestly expected to “count it all joy,” rejoicing in the midst of turmoil and tragedy? Can real joy possibly live up to the hype? Joy transforms. It’s God’s most tangible gift available to believers this side of heaven. Wagner debunks the myth of happiness and helps us receive the unquenchable joy Christ promises.
The Myth of Hitler's Pope: Pope Pius XII And His Secret War Against Nazi Germany
by David G. DalinWas Pope Pius XII secretly in league with Adolf Hitler? No, says Rabbi David G. Dalin-but there was a cleric in league with Hitler: the grand mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini. <P><P>As Pope Pius XII worked to save Jews from the Nazis, the grand mufti became Hitler's staunch ally and a promoter of the Holocaust, with a legacy that feeds radical Islam today. In this shocking and thoroughly documented book, Rabbi Dalin explodes the myth of Hitler's pope and condemns the myth-makers for not only rewriting history, but for denying the testimony of Holocaust survivors, hijacking the Holocaust for unseemly political ends, and ignoring the real threat to the Jewish people. <P><P>In The Myth of Hitler's Pope, you'll learn: The true history of Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust-how the Catholic Church did more than any other religious body to save Jewish lives The real history of the Church and the Nazis-including the Nazi plan to kidnap the pope The real agenda of the myth-makers: hijacking the Holocaust to attack the very idea of the papacy-especially the papacy of the late Pope John Paul II-as well as Christianity and traditional religion as a whole Hitler's cleric-Hajj Amin al-Husseini, who advised and assisted the Nazis in carrying out Hitler's Final Solution <P><P>How Pope Pius XII rescued Jews-and deserves to be called a "righteous gentile"-while the grand mufti of Jerusalem called for their extermination Full of shocking and irrefutable detail, The Myth of Hitler's Pope is sure to generate controversy, and more important, to set the record straight. If you want the truth about Pope Pius XII, about the Catholic Church, the Jews, and the Holocaust, and about how the myth of Hitler's pope plays into the culture wars of our own time-and how the fact of Hitler's mufti is a vital source of radical Islam today-you must begin here.
The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory: Why an Invented Past Will Not Give Women a Future
by Cynthia EllerAccording to the myth of matriarchal prehistory, men and women lived together peacefully before recorded history. Society was centered around women, with their mysterious life-giving powers, and they were honored as incarnations and priestesses of the Great Goddess. Then a transformation occurred, and men thereafter dominated society. Given the universality of patriarchy in recorded history, this vision is understandably appealing for many women. But does it have any basis in fact? And as a myth, does it work for the good of women? Cynthia Eller traces the emergence of the feminist matriarchal myth, explicates its functions, and examines the evidence for and against a matriarchal prehistory. Finally, she explains why this vision of peaceful, woman-centered prehistory is something feminists should be wary of.
The Myth of Meaning in the Work of C. G. Jung
by Aniela Jaffe R. F. C. HullA clear exploration of the main concept of C.G. Jung's psychology.
The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom
by Candida MossAn expert on early Christianity reveals how the early church invented stories of Christian martyrs—and how this persecution myth persists today.According to church tradition and popular belief, early Christians were systematically persecuted by a brutal Roman Empire intent on their destruction. As the story goes, vast numbers of believers were thrown to the lions, tortured, or burned alive because they refused to renounce Christ. But as Candida Moss reveals in The Myth of Persecution, the “Age of Martyrs” is a fiction.There was no sustained 300-year-long effort by the Romans to persecute Christians. Instead, these stories were pious exaggerations; highly stylized rewritings of Jewish, Greek, and Roman noble death traditions; and even forgeries designed to marginalize heretics, inspire the faithful, and fund churches.The traditional story of persecution is still invoked by church leaders, politicians, and media pundits who insist that Christians were—and always will be—persecuted by a hostile, secular world. While violence against Christians does occur in select parts of the world today, the rhetoric of persecution is both misleading and rooted in an inaccurate history of the early church. By shedding light on the historical record, Moss urges modern Christians to abandon the conspiratorial assumption that the world is out to get them.
The Myth of Religious Violence
by William T. CavanaughThe book challenges the conventional wisdom that religion has a dangerous tendency to promote violence and examines thoroughly how the twin categories of religion and the secular are constructed.
The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays
by Albert Camus Justin O'BrienAll of Camus' literary work rests on his essay The Myth of Sisyphus, which analyzes a contemporary intellectual malady, the recognition of the absurdity of human life.
The Myth of the 200 Barrier: How to Lead through Transitional Growth
by Kevin Martin"This is the best book I have ever read on congregational development! I wish I had written it." (Lyle E. Schaller, Parish Consultant) The common experience of large congregations getting larger and small congregations getting smaller has given rise to the belief that growing congregations tend to hit a barrier at the 150-200 attendance mark. The dividing line in American Church attendance is 150 people on an average Sunday. Churches below this seem to have a harder time growing. Above this, churches seem to have an easier time growing. Trying to grow a smaller church can feel like trying to break through what Martin calls the "200 barrier." Martin explains that there is no barrier; there are just two different ways of being a church--the "Pastoral Size" church and the "Program" church. The "Transitional Church" is really a hybrid of these two cultures, and this dual nature produces stress and tension where the idea of a 200 barrier often becomes a self-fulfilling expectation. How does the Pastor Size church culture really work? What are the key elements of the larger American Church? How does this create a large church culture that becomes self-supporting? Martin looks at these elements and shows how the Transitional Church can avoid mistakes in their effort to grow "beyond the barrier," and why transformation and change is so difficult. Drawing on sociological and anthropological studies about the significance of numbers in human organizations, Martin proposes practical steps that leaders of Transitional Churches will want to take.
The Myth of the American Dream: Reflections on Affluence, Autonomy, Safety, and Power
by D. L. Mayfield★ Publishers Weekly starred review.
The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise: Muslims, Christians, and Jews under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain
by Darío Fernández-MoreraScholars, journalists, and politicians uphold Muslim-ruled medieval Spain—“al-Andalus”—as a multicultural paradise, a place where Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived in harmony. There is only one problem with this widely accepted account: it is a myth. In this groundbreaking book, Northwestern University scholar Darío Fernández-Morera tells the full story of Islamic Spain. The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise shines light on hidden features of this medieval culture by drawing on an abundance of primary sources that scholars have ignored, as well as archaeological evidence only recently unearthed. This supposed beacon of peaceful coexistence began, of course, with the Islamic Caliphate’s conquest of Spain. Far from a land of tolerance, Islamic Spain was marked by religious and therefore cultural repression in all areas of life, and by the marginalization of Christians and other groups—all this in the service of social control by autocratic rulers and a class of religious authorities. As professors, politicians, and pundits continue to celebrate Islamic Spain for its “multiculturalism” and “diversity,” Fernández-Morera sets the record straight—showing that a politically useful myth is a myth nonetheless.
The Myth of the Birth of the Hero: A Psychological Exploration of Myth
by Otto RankFirst published in German in 1909, Otto Rank's original The Myth of the Birth of the Hero offered psychoanalytical interpretations of mythological stories as a means of understanding the human psyche. Like his mentor Sigmund Freud, Rank compared the myths of such figures as Oedipus, Moses, and Sargon with common dreams, seeing in both a symbolic fulfillment of repressed desire. In a new edition published thirteen years after the original, Rank doubled the size of his seminal work, incorporating new discoveries in psychoanalysis, mythology, and ethnology. This expanded and updated edition has been eloquently translated by Gregory C. Richter and E. James Lieberman and includes an introductory essay by Robert A. Segal as well as Otto Rank's 1914 essay "The Play in Hamlet."
The Myth of the Dying Church: How Christianity Is Actually Thriving in America and the World
by Glenn T. StantonStop believing the false narrative that Christianity is declining, and discover the truth about the health of the church in America and around the world.Much has been made of the so-called "nones" - those who claim no spiritual affiliation. Media has spun the nones into a chicken-little the sky is falling narrative. The nones are an infamously difficult subsection to understand and there is a lot of false information on them. Glenn Stanton believes the nones story has become overblown and has become "a thing" due to curiosity and repetition of their supposed irreligiosity. THE MYTH OF THE DYING CHURCH digs deeply into the research concerning spirituality in America and reveals the hope and truth about the vitality and future of the church.
The Myth of the Eternal Return: Cosmos and History (Bollingen Series #682)
by Mircea EliadeFirst published in English in 1954, this founding work of the history of religions secured the North American reputation of the Romanian émigré-scholar Mircea Eliade. Making reference to an astonishing number of cultures and drawing on scholarship published in no fewer than half a dozen European languages, The Myth of the Eternal Return illuminates the religious beliefs and rituals of a wide variety of archaic religious cultures. While acknowledging that a return to their practices is impossible, Eliade passionately insists on the value of understanding their views to enrich the contemporary imagination of what it is to be human. This book includes an introduction from Jonathan Z. Smith that provides essential context and encourages readers to engage in an informed way with this classic text.
Myth of the Eternal Return: Cosmos and History
by Mircea Eliade Willard R. TraskThis founding work of the history of religions, first published in English in 1954, secured the North American reputation of the Romanian émigré-scholar Mircea Eliade (1907-1986). Making reference to an astonishing number of cultures and drawing on scholarship published in no less than half a dozen European languages, Eliade's The Myth of the Eternal Return makes both intelligible and compelling the religious expressions and activities of a wide variety of archaic and "primitive" religious cultures. While acknowledging that a return to the "archaic" is no longer possible, Eliade passionately insists on the value of understanding this view in order to enrich our contemporary imagination of what it is to be human. Jonathan Z. Smith's new introduction provides the contextual background to the book and presents a critical outline of Eliade's argument in a way that encourages readers to engage in an informed conversation with this classic text.
The Myth of the Eternal Return
by Mircea Eliade Willard R. Trask Jonathan Z. SmithThis founding work of the history of religions, first published in English in 1954, secured the North American reputation of the Romanian émigré-scholar Mircea Eliade (1907-1986). Making reference to an astonishing number of cultures and drawing on scholarship published in no less than half a dozen European languages, Eliade's The Myth of the Eternal Return makes both intelligible and compelling the religious expressions and activities of a wide variety of archaic and "primitive" religious cultures. While acknowledging that a return to the "archaic" is no longer possible, Eliade passionately insists on the value of understanding this view in order to enrich our contemporary imagination of what it is to be human. Jonathan Z. Smith's new introduction provides the contextual background to the book and presents a critical outline of Eliade's argument in a way that encourages readers to engage in an informed conversation with this classic text.
The Myth of the Great Satan: A New Look at America's Relations with Iran
by Abbas MilaniThis critical review of the history of America's relations with Iran shows how little of the two countries' long and complicated relationship is reflected in the foundational axioms of the "Great Satan" myth. The author explains why meaningful and equitable relations can begin only after the two nations have arrived at a common, critical, and accurate reading of the past.
The Myth of the Magus
by E. M. ButlerThe Magus, a legendary magician of superhuman powers, is an archetype central to myth and religion across many cultures. Identifying its anthropological origins in ancient rituals performed by a shaman or wizard to ensure the prosperity of his tribe, E. M. Butler goes on to trace its subsequent development in pre-Christian religious and mystic philosophers, in medieval sorcerers and alchemists, and finally in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century occult revival. From Zoroaster to Solomon, Merlin to Faust, Cagliostro to Rasputin, legends of the Magus are explored and where possible compared with the historical record in this fascinating account, first published in 1948, of one of the major figures in religious and occult mythology.by E. M. Butler.-Print ed.
The Myth of the Medieval Jewish Moneylender
by Julie L. MellThis book challenges a common historical narrative, which portrays medieval Jews as moneylenders who filled an essential economic role in Europe. It traces how and why this narrative was constructed as a philosemitic narrative in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in response to the rise of political antisemitism. This book also documents why it is a myth for medieval Europe, and illuminates how changes in Jewish history change our understanding of European history. Each chapter offers a novel interpretation of central topics, such as the usury debate, commercial contracts, and moral literature on money and value to demonstrate how the revision of Jewish history leads to new insights in European history.
The Myth of the Negro Past
by Melville J HerskovitsAlmost fifty years ago Melville Herskovits set out to debunk the myth that black Americans have no cultural past. Originally published in 1941, his unprecedented study of black history and culture recovered a rich African heritage in religious and secular life, the language and arts of the Americas.
The Myth of the Non-Christian: Engaging Atheists, Nominal Christians and the Spiritual But Not Religious
by Luke CawleyThere's no such thing as a non-Christian. Somebody might self-identify as spiritual but not religious. Or they might be a practicing Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim. Or they might call themselves an atheist, freethinker or agnostic. But the one thing that people never describe themselves as is a "non-Christian." So Christians who want to "reach non-Christians" need to realize that they're not all the same. Evangelism is not one-size-fits-all. Luke Cawley shows how Christians can contextualize the gospel in different ways to connect with different kinds of people. Here he unpacks the religious identities of three key demographics: the spiritual but not religious, committed atheists and nominal Christians. Each group has particular characteristics and requires specific approaches and practices to make the Christian faith plausible, desirable and tangible to them. Filled with real-life stories of changed lives, this book is a practical and hopeful resource for helping people to encounter God.
The Myth of the Shiksa: And Other Essays
by Shira Friedman Bogart Edwin H. FriedmanA renowned family therapist tackles tricky relationship issues in this heartwarming collection from the author of A Failure of Nerve. Generational conflict, faith crises, difficult friendships—Edwin Friedman saw every side of the human condition in his years as a rabbi and counselor, for better or for worse. And his lifelong work with families led him to develop incomparable insight and irresistible wit about what makes us love, laugh, believe, hope, and tick. The Myth of the Shiksa collects Friedman’s most popular, powerful essays about human relationships and the daily struggles each and every one of us face. From a hilarious encounter with a well-known tempter (who is reimagined as a counselor) to an emotional exploration of how secrets can affect family dynamics, to a charming look at how tradition and modernity can clash in mixed marriages, Friedman tackles timeless issues with intelligence and charm, creating stories that are both captivating and educational. No matter your type of family, religion, background, or status, Edwin Friedman’s words can provide guidance, comfort, and joy as you navigate some of life’s toughest questions.