Ninian Smart - Böcker

This work explores the underlying features of the world's major religions and comparable secular systems of thought. It considers Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Marxist-Leninism, Maoism, nationalism, as well as a number of minor, more local systems of belief. Smart demonstrates that these diverse systems of belief are united by a number of recurring themes: the tendency to worship, the use of visual icons, story-telling, the holding of a rigid, somewhat inflexible view of history, ethical instruction, guidelines on bodily practices and dependence on ritual. The book breaks down each of these themes, and examines them in relation to specific belief systems. For example, it shows the varying beliefs which are held about survival after death (immortality, hell, purgatories, rebirth, final death) and different rituals (greeting, blaspheming, cursing, blessing, praying, bathing, meditiating and initiating).

For courses in Introduction to World Religions and Introduction to Religious Studies. This text offers a balanced, wide-ranging, and realistic approach to the study of modern religion. It explores and analyzes the many dimensions not only of the major religious traditions, but also those of the civil religions (e.g., nationalism) that often compete and combine with them in the modern world.

The author discusses rebirth and salvation, mysticism, the worship of God, Buddhism, incarnation and history, and evil and good.

This is Volume VII of seven in the Philosophy of Religion and General Philosophy series. It presents an investigation of religious discourse, Christian and non-Christian, originally published in 1958. The aim is to describe the nature of religious doctrines and concepts, including Buddhism and Hinduism.

This succinct and balanced overview of Japanese religions covers Japanese beliefs including Shinto, Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism and Confucianism. Written in an accessible and informative style, and assuming no prior knowledge on the part of the reader, this book gives a basic introduction to each faith's history, beliefs, and practices, emphasising modern developments and impacts of the world today.

This is the fascinating biography, first published in 1985, of the remarkable Bengali religious leader Swami Pranavananda who lived in the turbulent years of the early twentieth century. The story of his life has to some extent been eclipsed by the struggle for Indian independence, but his extraordinary personal qualities, his determined asceticism, his high ideals of social service and commitment to Hindu solidarity all serve to set him apart from his contemporaries and entitle him to be better known by political and religious historians of the period.

World Philosophies presents in one volume a superb introduction to all the world’s major philosophical and religious traditions. Covering all corners of the globe, Ninian Smart’s work offers a comprehensive and global philosophical and religious picture.In this revised and expanded second edition, a team of distinguished scholars, assembled by the editor Oliver Leaman, have brought Ninian Smart’s masterpiece up to date for the twenty-first century. Chapters have been revised by experts in the field to include recent philosophical developments, and the book includes a new bibliographic guide to resources in world philosophies. A brand new introduction which celebrates the career and writings of Ninian Smart, and his contribution to the study of world religions, helps set the work in context.

World Philosophies presents in one volume a superb introduction to all the world’s major philosophical and religious traditions. Covering all corners of the globe, Ninian Smart’s work offers a comprehensive and global philosophical and religious picture.In this revised and expanded second edition, a team of distinguished scholars, assembled by the editor Oliver Leaman, have brought Ninian Smart’s masterpiece up to date for the twenty-first century. Chapters have been revised by experts in the field to include recent philosophical developments, and the book includes a new bibliographic guide to resources in world philosophies. A brand new introduction which celebrates the career and writings of Ninian Smart, and his contribution to the study of world religions, helps set the work in context.

This is Volume VII of seven in the Philosophy of Religion and General Philosophy series. It presents an investigation of religious discourse, Christian and non-Christian, originally published in 1958. The aim is to describe the nature of religious doctrines and concepts, including Buddhism and Hinduism.

First published in 1968, Ninian Smart’s The Yogi and the Devotee: The Interplay Between the Upanishads and Catholic Theology is based on lectures given in Delhi and explores in a novel way the relation between Hinduism and Christianity. The author puts forward a general theory of the relationship between religious experience and doctrines, a theory he had developed in earlier works. He argues that a new form of ‘natural theology’ should be presented, which would show the relevance of religious experience and ritual to what is given in revelation. Smart believes this could be the key to a new understanding between Christianity and Indian religions, and also examines what Christians can learn from other faiths. During a career as a Professor of Religious Studies and Philosophy, Ninian Smart was hugely influential in the way Religious Studies was taught, not only in Britain but around the world.

First published in 1968, Ninian Smart’s The Yogi and the Devotee: The Interplay Between the Upanishads and Catholic Theology is based on lectures given in Delhi and explores in a novel way the relation between Hinduism and Christianity. The author puts forward a general theory of the relationship between religious experience and doctrines, a theory he had developed in earlier works. He argues that a new form of ‘natural theology’ should be presented, which would show the relevance of religious experience and ritual to what is given in revelation. Smart believes this could be the key to a new understanding between Christianity and Indian religions, and also examines what Christians can learn from other faiths. During a career as a Professor of Religious Studies and Philosophy, Ninian Smart was hugely influential in the way Religious Studies was taught, not only in Britain but around the world.

This is the first of a set of three volumes which provide a fresh appraisal of the most important thinkers of the nineteenth century in the West. Some essays centre on major figures of the period; others cover topics, trends and schools of thought between the French Revolution and the First World War. The contributors are among the leading scholars in their field in Europe and North America. They seek to engage their subjects not only in order to see what was said but also why it was said and explore what is of lasting value in it. Readers, therefore, will find the essays not only highly informative about their subject matter but also distinctively personal contributions to the task of re-evaluating the thought of the nineteenth century. Contributions are sufficently clear to be of use to students in religious studies and cognate disciplines but have enough depth and detail to appeal to scholars.

Now available in paperback, the successful three volumes of Nineteenth-Century Religious Thought in the West provide a fresh appraisal of the most important thinkers of that time. Some essays centre on major figures of the period; others cover topics, trends and schools of thought between the French Revolution and the First World War. The contributors are among the leading scholars in their field and analyse not only what was said but also why it was said, and explore what is of lasting value in it. Contributions are sufficiently clear to be of use to students in religious studies and cognate disciplines, but have enough depth and detail to appeal to scholars.

The successful three volumes of Nineteenth Century Religious Thought in the West provide a fresh appraisal of the most important thinkers of that time. Soames essays centre on major figures of the period; others cover topics, trends and schools of thought between the French Revolution and the First World War.

This book is a revised and updated edition of a popular work, which looks at the world's religions in terms of world history, and as constantly developing systems of belief. Part I traces the development of religions, as they evolved from the traditions of the ancient world. Part II examines the changes to faiths and cultures following the Renaissance and the voyages of conquest and discovery, and asks how, why, and with what effect religions have been refashioned over the ages up to today. In this richly illustrated new edition, religions are described through their symbols, rituals, followers, architecture and art. References, statistics, maps and pictures have been updated and added, illuminating the true nature of each religion. The text has been thoroughly revised to highlight recent developments, such as the spread of Islam, African-American and Hispanic-American religious experience, and women priests.

Ambitiously undertaking to develop a strategy for making the study of religion "scientific," Ninian Smart tackles a set of interrelated issues that bear importantly on the status of religion as an academic discipline. He draws a clear distinction between studying religion and "doing theology," and considers how phenomenological method may be used in investigating objects of religious attitudes without presupposing the existence of God or gods. He goes on to criticize projectionist theories of religion (notably Berger's) and theories of rationality in both religion and anthropology. On this basis he builds a theory of religious dynamics which gives religious ideas and entities an autonomous place in the sociology of knowledge. His overall purpose is thus "to indicate ways forward in the study of religion which free it from being crypto-apologetics or elevating poetry." Originally published in 1973. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press.These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Ambitiously undertaking to develop a strategy for making the study of religion "scientific," Ninian Smart tackles a set of interrelated issues that bear importantly on the status of religion as an academic discipline. He draws a clear distinction between studying religion and "doing theology," and considers how phenomenological method may be used in investigating objects of religious attitudes without presupposing the existence of God or gods. He goes on to criticize projectionist theories of religion (notably Berger's) and theories of rationality in both religion and anthropology. On this basis he builds a theory of religious dynamics which gives religious ideas and entities an autonomous place in the sociology of knowledge. His overall purpose is thus "to indicate ways forward in the study of religion which free it from being crypto-apologetics or elevating poetry." Originally published in 1973. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press.These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

A perennial best-seller, this collection of readings remains a favorite of teachers of world religions for its impartial tone and its balance of major contemporary religious traditions with primitive, ancient, and esoteric religions.

Ninian Smart believes that the modern study of religion should occur in the context of a radical reappraisal of our educational system. This is a worldview analysis of religion appropriate to today's global city. It attacks narrowness whether found in Western philosophy or Christian theology, and argues for a disestablishmentarian stance.Religion and the Western Mind presents the explosive possibilities of religions — of world views that have the power to shape history. It offers a theory regarding the need of nations for religious justifications. It examines three fundamental backlashes: the Moral Majority, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Gush Emunim. It looks at the contrasting Indian and Sri Lankan responses to Western influence and delineates the Indian tradition in a new way. And finally it diagnoses the future, exploring the ethical inferences of the worldview and supporting a position that runs like a thread through this book.

This is the fascinating biography, first published in 1985, of the remarkable Bengali religious leader Swami Pranavananda who lived in the turbulent years of the early twentieth century. The story of his life has to some extent been eclipsed by the struggle for Indian independence, but his extraordinary personal qualities, his determined asceticism, his high ideals of social service and commitment to Hindu solidarity all serve to set him apart from his contemporaries and entitle him to be better known by political and religious historians of the period.