Religious institutions and organizations

In the last half-century, the number of Catholic priests has plummeted by 40% while the number of Catholics has skyrocketed, up 65%.

The Catholic Church has gone through more change in the last sixty years than in the previous six hundred.

The Catholic Church has gone through more change in the last sixty years than in the previous six hundred.

Clergy have historically been represented as figures of authority, wielding great influence over our society.

Clergy have historically been represented as figures of authority, wielding great influence over our society.

Syncretism has been a part of Christianity from its very beginning, when early Christians expressed Jesus' Aramaic teachings in the Greek language.

Syncretism has been a part of Christianity from its very beginning, when early Christians expressed Jesus' Aramaic teachings in the Greek language.

This book explains the concept of Islamic "e;da'wah"e;, or missionary activity, as it has developed in contemporary Western contexts.

The growing scholarly attention in recent years to the religious world of late antiquity has focused new attention on the quest for holiness by the strange, compelling, often obscure early Christian monks known as the desert fathers.

Feminization is said to occur when women enter any given occupation in substantial numbers, and ostensibly leads to such dynamics as sex-segregation, reduced opportunities for men, and depressed wages and diminished prestige for the occupation as a whole.

This book is a study of the life, monastic writings, and spiritual theology of John Cassian (c.

Recent years have seen a meteoric rise in the power and importance of organized religion in many parts of the world.

This book presents the work of the "e;Sacred Choices Initiative"e; of the Religious Consultation on Population, Reproductive Health, and Ethics.

The Fengdao kejie or "e;Rules and Precepts for Worshiping the Dao"e; dates from the early seventh century and is a key text of medieval Daoist priesthood and monasticism, which was first formally organized in the sixth century.

The death of Pope John Paul II and consequent election of Pope Benedict XVI has shed light on a political process that the world has not been privy to for almost twenty-six years.

The clergy today faces mounting challenges in an increasingly secular world, where declining prestige makes it more difficult to attract the best and the brightest young Americans to the ministry.

In this study, based on both historical evidence and ethnographic data, Paula Arai shows that nuns were central agents in the foundation of Buddhism in Japan in the sixth century.

Hope and Hospitality for Migrating People Never have so many people left their homes and migrated to other parts of the world as weve seen in recent years.

A Guide to Getting Started in MissionsTimbuktu has become a metaphor for remote and inaccessible locations.

A Revolution in Rhyme: Poetic Co-option under the Islamic Republic offers, for the first time, an original, timely examination of the pivotal role poetry plays in policy, power and political legitimacy in modern-day Iran.

A Revolution in Rhyme: Poetic Co-option under the Islamic Republic offers, for the first time, an original, timely examination of the pivotal role poetry plays in policy, power and political legitimacy in modern-day Iran.

The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies represents more than a century of scholarship related to the theology, history, and methodology of the propagation of Christian faith and the engagement of Christians with cultures, religions, and societies worldwide.

The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies represents more than a century of scholarship related to the theology, history, and methodology of the propagation of Christian faith and the engagement of Christians with cultures, religions, and societies worldwide.

This book provides an account and explanation of a fundamental dilemma facing secular states: the 'legitimacy gap' left by the withdrawal of religion as a source of legitimacy.

This book provides an account and explanation of a fundamental dilemma facing secular states: the 'legitimacy gap' left by the withdrawal of religion as a source of legitimacy.

In early medieval Europe, monasticism constituted a significant force in society because the prayers of the religious on behalf of others featured as powerful currency.

In early medieval Europe, monasticism constituted a significant force in society because the prayers of the religious on behalf of others featured as powerful currency.

Bob Tennant presents a history of the missionary work, cultures, and rhetoric of the Church of England in 1760-1870, when it was the predominant organizer of Protestant overseas missions.

This selection of writings from the most important moments in the history of Christianity has become established as a classic reference work, providing insights into 2000 years of Christian theological and political debate.

Conflict and Conversion explores how Catholic missionaries, merchants, and adventurers brought their faith to the strategically and commercially crucial region of Southeast Asia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Gavin D'Costa breaks new ground in this authoritative study of the Second Vatican Council's doctrines on other religions, with particular attention to Judaism and Islam.

This book identifies the distinguishing features of fundamental theology, as distinct from philosophical theology, natural theology, apologetics, and other similar disciplines.

This book is the first monograph devoted to the life, work, and thought of Palladius of Helenopolis (ca.

This book identifies the distinguishing features of fundamental theology, as distinct from philosophical theology, natural theology, apologetics, and other similar disciplines.

This volume proposes a fresh strategy for ecumenical engagement - 'Receptive Ecumenism' - that is fitted to the challenges of the contemporary context and has already been internationally recognised as making a distinctive and important new contribution to ecumenical thought and practice.

This book is about the life and thought of Origen (c.

Ressourcement: A Movement for Renewal in Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology provides both a historical and a theological analysis of the achievements of the renowned generation of theologians whose influence pervaded French theology and society in the period 1930 to 1960, and beyond.

This book is a study of the Anglican Reformed tradition (often inaccurately described as Calvinist) after the Restoration.

Between 1700 and 1850 the Church of England was the among the most powerful and influential religious, social, and political forces in Britain.

Michael Carrithers guides us through the complex and sometimes conflicting information that Buddhist texts give about the life and teaching of the Buddha.

Cloistered and inaccessible 'brides of Christ'?

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a number of British women left home to follow a call to the African mission field.

The Asketikon of St Basil the Great comprises a new English translation and studies which re-examine the emergence of monasticism in Asia Minor.

In the centuries following his death, Jerome (c.

This book offers a reassessment of the theology of F.

Sophronius was one of the most influential figures spanning the ecclesiastical troubles in East and West during the sixth to the seventh centuries.

In the last decades of the nineteenth century, urgent and unprecedented demands among oppressed peoples in colonial India drove what came to be called 'mass conversion movements' towards a range of Christian denominations, launching a revolution in South Asia's two thousand-year Christian history.

St Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022) is regarded as one of the most significant figures in Byzantine mysticism.

Leo the Great was the beneficiary of the consolidation of the power of the papacy in Rome and the Christianization of the city over the course of the preceding century.

The Council of Chalcedon in 451 divided eastern Christianity, with those who were later called Syrian Orthodox among the Christians in the near eastern provinces who refused to accept the decisions of the council.