The speed and the scale with which traditional religions in China have been revived and new spiritual movements have emerged in recent decades make it difficult for scholars to stay up-to-date on the religious transformations within Chinese society. This unique atlas presents a bird's-eye view of the religious landscape in China today. In more than 150 full-color maps and six different case studies, it maps the officially registered venues of China's...

Scientology is known for its celebrity believers and its team of "volunteer ministers" at disaster sites such as the World Trade Center; its notably aggressive response to criticism or its attacks on psychiatry; its requirement that believers pay as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars to reach the highest levels of salvation. The author offers a full, journalistic history of the Church of Scientology, in an even-handed account that establishes...

"Focusing on concepts, practices and images associated with purity in the ancient Mediterranean, this volume contributes new aspects to the current discussion about the forming of religious traditions, from a comparative perspective that acknowldges individual developments, mutual exchanges, as well as transcultural processes"--Provided by publisher.

This text provides an introduction to the fundamental beliefs, practices, and major deities of Greek religion. While the focus is on Athens in the Classical Period, the book includes detailed discussion of Greek gods and heroes, myth and cult from the archaic age to the Hellenistic world. The book clearly sets out the fascinating but alien concepts of Greek polytheism, building up a picture of Greek religion as it was actually practiced. It emphasizes...

Hauptbeschreibung Der vorliegende Band der Studien zur Entwicklung der ökonomischen Theorie vereinigt die überarbeiteten Referate der 24. Tagung des Dogmenhistorischen Ausschusses des Vereins für Socialpolitik an der Universität Oldenburg, die sich mit dem Verhältnis von Ökonomie und Religion auseinandersetzte. Während die moderne Wachstumstheorie lange Zeit die Rolle sogenannter ""weicher"" Faktoren vernachlässigte, haben u. a. das...

Illustrated in colour, this is an introduction for the general reader to Egyptian mythology and its mysteries. It includes a concise introduction to general aspects of Egyptian religion, followed by specific sections devoted to the most important of the gods. With sections on personal religion and temple ceremony, there are also accounts of mythological stories associated with the gods, and a map of the principle cult centres.

This book explores the interaction between religion and nationalism in the Chinese societies of mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Cheng-tian Kuo analyses the dominant religions, including Chinese Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, Islam, and folk religions, but he also goes beyond that, showing how in recent decades the Chinese state has tightened its control over religion to an unprecedented degree. Indeed, it could almost be...

Analyzes the feelings and problems involved in different types of human love, including familial affection, friendship, passion, and charity. In this candid, wise and warmly personal book, C.S. Lewis describes the four basic kinds of human love -- affection, friendship, erotic love, and the love of God. He explores the possibilities and problems of the love between parents and children; the love of men for other men and women for women; the love...

Religions of foreign origin have shaped Chinese cultural history much stronger than generally assumed and continue to have impact on Chinese society in varying regional degrees. The essays collected in the present volume put a special emphasis on these "foreign" and less familiar aspects of Chinese religion. Apart from an introductory article on Daoism (the prototypical autochthonous religion of China), the volume reflects China's encounter with religions...