*THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE**A TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES AND BBC HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR*'A bona fide historical classic' Sunday Times'Simply one of the best history books I have ever read' BBC HistoryIn the frontier town of Springfield in 1651, peculiar things begin to happen.
SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'A highly readable, fascinating book that jerks the debate on religion versus atheism right out of its crusted rut into the light of serious intellectual scrutiny' ObserverA meditation on the importance of atheism in the modern world - and its inadequacies and contradictions - by one of Britain's leading philosophers'When you explore older atheisms, you will find some of your firmest convictions - secular or religious - are highly questionable.
On October 19, 1876 a group of leading French citizens, both men and women included, joined together to form an unusual group, The Society of Mutual Autopsy, with the aim of proving that souls do not exist.
Cattoi and McDaniel present a selection of articles on the role of the body and the spiritual senses - our transfigured channels of sensory perceptions - in the context of spiritual practice.
Spirits without Borders is an ethnographic study of the transnational and multicultural expansion of Vietnam's Mother Goddess Religion and its spirit possession ritual.
Performing a critical analysis of new scientific research on religious and spiritual phenomena, Grassie takes a two-staged phenomenological approach working from the 'outside in' and the 'bottom up' without privileging at the outset any religious traditions or philosophical assumptions.
This comparative study graphs the feminist theological trajectory of the religious writings of four eclectic, but similar, women: Hannah More, Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Mary Baker Eddy.
By re-examining the central themes of Reformation theology, Chung clearly and carefully describes the fundamental shape of Reformation thinking and introduces the reader to what was and is at stake in the Reformation's insistence on the centrality of the Gospel.
This book explores the life and ideas of the enigmatic twentieth century philosopher, mystic, and teacher of esoteric dances George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, performing a hermeneutic textual analysis of all his writings to illuminate the place of hypnosis in his teaching.
From the 1830s to the Civil War, Americans could be found putting each other into trances for fun and profit in parlors, on stage, and in medical consulting rooms.
In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, a controversial school of Russian religious and scientific thinkers emerged, united in the conviction that humanity was entering a new stage of evolution and must assume a new, active, managerial role in the cosmos.
In Mystics and Messiahs--the first full account of cults and anti-cult scares in American history--Philip Jenkins shows that, contrary to popular belief, cults were by no means an invention of the 1960s.
During his 2009 inaugural speech, President Obama described the United States as a nation of "e;Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus--and nonbelievers.
In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, a controversial school of Russian religious and scientific thinkers emerged, united in the conviction that humanity was entering a new stage of evolution and must assume a new, active, managerial role in the cosmos.
The idea that religion has a dangerous tendency to promote violence is part of the conventional wisdom of Western societies, and it underlies many of our institutions and policies, from limits on the public role of religion to efforts to promote liberal democracy in the Middle East.
This fascinating book explores the concept of slow living, offering a philosophical and psychological exploration of the need for a slower pace of life.
Western esotericism has now emerged as an academic study in its own right, combining spirituality with an empirical observation of the natural world while also relating the humanity to the universe through a harmonious celestial order.
Alternative religious groups have had a profound influence on American history-they have challenged the old and opened up new ways of thinking about healing, modes of meaning, religious texts and liturgies, the social and political order, and the relationships between religion and race, class, gender, and region.
In the ancient Greco-Roman world, it was common practice to curse or bind an enemy or rival by writing an incantation on a tablet and dedicating it to a god or spirit.
During his 2009 inaugural speech, President Obama described the United States as a nation of "e;Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus--and nonbelievers.