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Religion And Theatrical Drama, Charles A. Gillespie Ed., Larry D. Bouchard Ed.

Catholic Studies Faculty Publications

With an introduction on how to redefine our thinking about religion and theatrical drama, these nine essays on contemporary and classic plays rehabilitate the link between theatrical performance and dramatic stories for the study of religion. These new and distinctively interdisciplinary perspectives will be of interest to scholars working in the fields of religion, theology, theatre and performance studies, literary studies, and philosophy.

Religion And Theatrical Drama, An Introduction, Larry D. Bouchard, Charles A. Gillespie

Catholic Studies Faculty Publications

Often, a lonely light bulb illuminates the edge of a stage outside of working hours. Part safety mechanism against falling in the dark and part theatrical tradition, the “ghost light” keeps the living alive and brightens up the place for any spirits still hoping to practice an old monologue. Stages juxtapose worlds, or fragments of worlds. The ghost light, then, would illuminate juxtaposed worlds, of the living and of the possibly otherwise. In some ways, this Special Issue of Religions takes theatrical juxtaposition as its premise. We invited papers working at intersections between studies of religious history, thought, and practice …

Review Of: Andrew R. Murphy (Ed.), The Blackwell Companion To Religion And Violence, Brian Stiltner

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Blackwell Companions, and instalments from similar series, should be initially sized up according to their purpose and audience. Such hefty tomes present themselves first as reference books—as collections of articles by scholarly experts that treat the key methods, topics, historical developments, etc., in the field. Second, each Companion is addressed to students and teachers as a state-of-the-field resource that provides several benefits: a sound picture of the field, assessment of various theories and methods used in the field, a sense of the innovative developments and open questions, and plenty of information to follow up on. Finally, some Companions give primacy …

Review Of: T. J. Gorringe. The Common Good And The Global Emergency: God And The Built Environment, Brian Stiltner

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Tim Gorringe follows up his positively reviewed 2002 book A Theology of the Built Environment with this offering from the same publisher. The former book was notable as a sustained attempt to think theologically about the ‘built environment’. The built environment is the context that humans construct for themselves through their industry and technology; it comprises all types of physical settlements (cities, suburbs, towns, and villages), roads and transportation systems, parks and outdoor spaces, and buildings of every sort. It matters to humans how we build social spaces, for this influences our individual flourishing and the common good. While any …

Book Review: Daniel M. Bell, Jr., Just War As Christian Discipleship: Recentering The Tradition In The Church Rather Than The State, Brian Stiltner

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

From his conversations in church settings and classrooms, Daniel M. Bell, Jr. has observed that Christians by and large do not know the church’s just war tradition very well, but that they are receptive to learning about it. Most theologians would likely agree that they know a number of Christians who are hungry to see better thinking and more effective action in response to war in our time. Bell, a Lutheran seminary professor and ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, wrote this book to interpret ‘the just war tradition in terms of concrete practices that might contribute to the …

Engaging The Catholic Intellectual Tradition - Sacred Heart University's Common Core: The Human Journey, Michelle Loris

Mission Integration & Ministry Publications

At Catholic universities we have lofty and ambitious learning outcomes for our graduates. We want to provide our students with the knowledge, ideas, skills, and critical abilities needed to understand} reflect upon, and act with purpose and effect in our increasingly complex, ever-changing, global-world. We want to equip our students with the intellectual abilities, spiritual discernment, and moral and ethical principles that will enable them to distinguish between those things which inspire the mind, satisfy the soul, and advance the human good - and those things which do not. We want to develop in them the intelligence and compassion needed …

Religion, Rhetoric, And Running For Office: Public Reason On The Us Campaign Trail, Brian Stiltner, Steven Michels

Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications

It is common, almost expected, for candidates for office in the United States to affirm their religious identity and to employ broad religious themes in support of their political agendas. It is the rare candidate, especially for the Senate or the presidency, who completely eschews religious language due to the pressure and scrutiny of church leaders and advocacy groups with religous and moral agendas.

Religion And Culture In Early Modern Europe: 1500-1800 (Book Review), John B. Roney

History Faculty Publications

Book review by John B. Roney.

Greyerz, Kaspar von. Religion and Culture in Early Modern Europe: 1500-1800. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

9780195327656; 9780195327663 (pbk.)

Henri Nouwen, Thomas Merton, And Donald Nicholl: Pilgrims Of Wisdom And Peace, Michael W. Higgins

Mission Integration & Ministry Publications

Thomas Merton, Donald Nicholl, and Henri Nouwen, twentieth-century spiritual writers and thinkers, were, for significant chunks of time, contemporaries. To some degree they spoke out of similar contexts. To some degree they addressed similar crises.

Review Of: The Politics Of Human Frailty: A Theological Defence Of Political Liberalism, By Christopher J. Insole, Brian Stiltner

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Against the grain of much contemporary Christian theology, Christopher Insole’s The Politics of Human Frailty takes on the challenge of theologically defending political liberalism. Specifically, he defends a strand of political liberalism ‘informed by the theological conviction that the human person is a creature incapable of its own perfection, although nonetheless called to and made for this perfection’ (p. vii). Insole, University Lecturer in Philosophy of Religion at the University of Cambridge, attends to philosophers and theologians primarily in the British tradition, but also on the American side. Insole advances his argument mostly through readings of other authors. Positively, Insole …

The War That Wasn't: Religious Conflict And Compromise In The Common Schools Of New York, 1865-1900 (Book Review), R. Bryan Bademan

History Faculty Publications

Book review by R. Bryan Bademan.

Justice, Benjamin. The War That Wasn't: Religious Conflict and Compromise in the Common Schools of New York, 1865-1900. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005. ISBN 9780791462119; 9780791484463

Defined By Spirituality?, Michael W. Higgins

Mission Integration & Ministry Publications

Pierre Elliott Trudeau was a man of intense, intelligent, and reflective faith, and this critical dimension of the man needs to be rightly considered when assessing his role and impact on Canadian society.

Nietzsche’S Aphoristic Turn, Steven Michels

Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications

Nietzsche’s use of the aphorism has most often been taken as evidence of his esotericism. Nietzsche was less than clear in his writings, it is claimed, because he did not want his true teaching to be available to just anyone. This article contends the opposite—that is, that Nietzsche wrote aphoristically for the very purpose of being read, and understood, by the widest possible audience. Moreover, this change in style had a marked impact on the nature of his philosophy. Unburdened by conventional methods, Nietzsche’s critique of modernity became more exact and his own positive philosophy became more radical.

Each Mind A Kingdom: American Women, Sexual Purity, And The New Thought Movement, 1875-1920 (Book Review), Christel Manning

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Book review by Christel Manning.

Satter, Beryl. Each Mind a Kingdom: American Women, Sexual Purity, and the New Thought Movement, 1875-1920. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999. ISBN 9780520217652

Enacting The Divine: Feminist Theology And The Being Of God, Richard Grigg Ph.D.

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

This essay's central claim is that there is an implicit motif in much of current feminist theology according to which God is a relation that human beings choose to enact.

Discusses the concepts of feminist theology. God as a relation that human beings choose to enact; Feminist commitment to divine immanence; Centrality of relationship in human existence; Feminist enactment model of deity.

Johann Gerhard Oncken's Long Road To Toleration, Wayne A. Detzler

History Faculty Publications

Although German theology often has given creative impulses to American religious life, in the establishment of the German Baptist association that flow was reversed. The point of entry through whom Baptist principles gained access to modern Europe was Johann Gerhard Oncken.

The Seeds Of Prosperity And Discord: The Political Economy Of Community Polarization In Greenfield, Massachusetts, 1770-1820, Gerald F. Reid

Anthropology Faculty Publications

Focuses on the process of community polarization in Greenfield, Massachusetts leading to two distinct communities in the 1816. Social and economic transformation in Greenfield in the late 18th century; Distribution of wealth; Labor supply; Expansion of trade; Immigration of skilled workers; Religious differences; Factors leading to the division of the congregational society.