Believing History

Author : Richard Lyman Bushman
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 310 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2007-02-13
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780231529563

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Believing History by Richard Lyman Bushman Pdf

The eminent historian Richard Bushman here reflects on his faith and the history of his religion. By describing his own struggle to find a basis for belief in a skeptical world, Bushman poses the question of how scholars are to write about subjects in which they are personally invested. Does personal commitment make objectivity impossible? Bushman explicitly, and at points confessionally, explains his own commitments and then explores Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon from the standpoint of belief. Joseph Smith cannot be dismissed as a colorful fraud, Bushman argues, nor seen only as a restorer of religious truth. Entangled in nineteenth-century Yankee culture—including the skeptical Enlightenment—Smith was nevertheless an original who cut his own path. And while there are multiple contexts from which to draw an understanding of Joseph Smith (including magic, seekers, the Second Great Awakening, communitarianism, restorationism, and more), Bushman suggests that Smith stood at the cusp of modernity and presented the possibility of belief in a time of growing skepticism. When examined carefully, the Book of Mormon is found to have intricate subplots and peculiar cultural twists. Bushman discusses the book's ambivalence toward republican government, explores the culture of the Lamanites (the enemies of the favored people), and traces the book's fascination with records, translation, and history. Yet Believing History also sheds light on the meaning of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon today. How do we situate Mormonism in American history? Is Mormonism relevant in the modern world? Believing History offers many surprises. Believers will learn that Joseph Smith is more than an icon, and non-believers will find that Mormonism cannot be summed up with a simple label. But wherever readers stand on Bushman's arguments, he provides us with a provocative and open look at a believing historian studying his own faith.

Author : Matthew Kneale
Publisher : Random House
Page : 274 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2013-10-10
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781448163311

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An Atheist's History of Belief by Matthew Kneale Pdf

What first prompted prehistoric man, sheltering in the shadows of deep caves, to call upon the realm of the spirits? And why has belief thrived ever since, leading us to invent heaven and hell, sin and redemption, and above all, gods? Religion reflects our deepest hopes and fears; whether you are a believer or, like Matthew Kneale, a non-believer who admires mankind's capacity to create and to imagine, it has shaped our world. And as our dreams and nightmares have changed over the millennia, so have our beliefs - from shamans to Aztec priests, from Buddhists to Christians: the gods we created have evolved with us. Belief is humanity's most epic invention. It has always been our closest companion and greatest consolation. To understand it is to better understand ourselves.

Author : Holly Haynes
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 246 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2003-12-11
Category : History
ISBN : 9780520236509

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The History of Make-Believe by Holly Haynes Pdf

"In The History of Make-Believe, Holly Haynes acutely queries the relationship of historiography, historical reality, and symbolic representations of lived historical processes. This is a serious book, informed by wide reading, and full of startlingly original insights on some of the most prominent and significant themes in Tacitus’s works. Indeed, it deserves close attention by anyone interested in the political and social strategies of high Imperial Rome."—T. Corey Brennan, author of The Praetorship in the Roman Republic "In Tacitus the historical truth is conveyed in literary truth-telling. Instead of leaving the two separated as we do, Holly Haynes shows that Tacitus put them together in what she calls the combination ‘make-believe.’ Her book shines with originality and intelligence while opening the way to Tacitus’s canny wisdom."—Harvey Mansfield, author of Machiavelli's Virtue

Author : Robert Eric Frykenberg
Publisher : Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Page : 394 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 1996
Category : History
ISBN : 0802807399

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History and Belief by Robert Eric Frykenberg Pdf

In this study of the relationship between history and belief, the author shows how our underlying commitments--whether religious or ideological--determine which events we find significant enough to remember as "history", yet how those same beliefs distort our understandings of events, leaving them incomplete and contingent.

Author : Lizanne Henderson,Edward J. Cowan
Publisher : Dundurn
Page : 266 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2001
Category : History
ISBN : 1862321906

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Scottish Fairy Belief by Lizanne Henderson,Edward J. Cowan Pdf

The authorities told folk what they ought to believe, but what did they really believe? Throughout Scottish history, people have believed in fairies. They were a part of everyday life, as real as the sunrise, and as incontrovertible as the existence of God. While fairy belief was only a fragment of a much larger complex, the implications of studying this belief tradition are potentially vast, revealing some understanding of the worldview of the people of past centuries. This book, the first modern study of the subject, examines the history and nature of fairy belief, the major themes and motifs, the demonising attack upon the tradition, and the attempted reinstatement of the reality of fairies at the end of the seventeenth century, as well as their place in ballads and in Scottish literature.

Author : Matt Stefon Assistant Editor, Religion
Publisher : The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
Page : 404 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2011-08-15
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN : 9781615304936

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Christianity by Matt Stefon Assistant Editor, Religion Pdf

Describes the basic doctrines, history, and religious practices of Christianity, including Christian concepts of human nature, and profiles famous Christian figures throughout history.

Author : Tim Whitmarsh
Publisher : Faber & Faber
Page : 213 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2016-02-02
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780571279326

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Battling the Gods by Tim Whitmarsh Pdf

How new is atheism? In Battling the Gods, Tim Whitmarsh journeys into the ancient Mediterranean to recover the stories of those who first refused the divinities. Long before the Enlightenment sowed the seeds of disbelief in a deeply Christian Europe, atheism was a matter of serious public debate in the Greek world. But history is written by those who prevail, and the Age of Faith mostly suppressed the lively free-thinking voices of antiquity. Tim Whitmarsh brings to life the fascinating ideas of Diagoras of Melos, perhaps the first self-professed atheist; Democritus, the first materialist; and Epicurus and his followers. He shows how the early Christians came to define themselves against atheism, and so suppress the philosophy of disbelief. Battling the Gods is the first book on the origins of the secular values at the heart of the modern state. Authoritative and bold, provocative and humane, it reveals how atheism and doubt, far from being modern phenomena, have intrigued the human imagination for thousands of years.

Author : Van Austin Harvey
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 1996
Category : History
ISBN : UOM:39015041013007

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The Historian and the Believer by Van Austin Harvey Pdf

Author : Becker J.r.
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 36 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2021-09-20
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1733475230

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Annabelle & Aiden by Becker J.r. Pdf

How did our earliest beliefs form? What were they, and what do they say about us? Tardigrade Tom takes our characters on a historical journey of world religions! From the earliest humans who believed everything around them (trees, rocks, skies) could think and feel - like they could. To deep inside dark caves, where early humans draw animal spirits on the walls, and watch shamans sway, illuminated by nearby fires. Watch us build amazing temples and tombs, and give offerings and praise, as we learn ideas of reciprocity and trade. Explore world religions & cultures chronologically, such as: Animism Shamanism Mesopotamia The Egyptians Indo-European & Greek Gods Zoroastrianism Hinduism & Buddhism Judaism, then Christianity, then Islam. But most uniquely, this book explains how and why our beliefs emerged and evolved, and what they say about who we are.

Author : Edward Augustus Freeman
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 440 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 1896
Category : Europe
ISBN : BSB:BSB11736475

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Historical Essays by Edward Augustus Freeman Pdf

Author : Cecil Murphey,Twila Belk
Publisher : Revell
Page : 245 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2013-05-31
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781441268495

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I Believe in Heaven by Cecil Murphey,Twila Belk Pdf

What is heaven like? When I die, will I go immediately to heaven? Will I see my loved ones there? Have you ever asked these questions? Maybe you can only imagine the answers, but now you can better know what to expect. I Believe in Heaven contains inspirational, true stories from the Bible, history and today that will give you hope, comfort and assurance about the place that awaits you. You'll read . . . • Firsthand accounts of people who died and returned to tell their stories • Biblical and historical evidence of life beyond this life • Consistent reports of overwhelming peace, love and joy in another realm • Insights into what happens in our final days and hours here on earth • Trustworthy answers to questions people have about the after-life

Author : Sabine Baring-Gould
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 504 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 1870
Category : Christianity
ISBN : OXFORD:600059121

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The Origin and Development of Religious Belief by Sabine Baring-Gould Pdf

Author : Francis Fukuyama
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 464 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2006-03-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9781416531784

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End of History and the Last Man by Francis Fukuyama Pdf

Ever since its first publication in 1992, The End of History and the Last Man has provoked controversy and debate. Francis Fukuyama's prescient analysis of religious fundamentalism, politics, scientific progress, ethical codes, and war is as essential for a world fighting fundamentalist terrorists as it was for the end of the Cold War. Now updated with a new afterword, The End of History and the Last Man is a modern classic.

Author : R. Niall D. Martin
Publisher : Open Court Publishing
Page : 292 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 1991
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 0812691601

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Pierre Duhem by R. Niall D. Martin Pdf

More than any other major twentieth-century writer, Pierre Duhem has been the victim of ill-informed guesswork. For instance, many references to Duhem stress the importance of his Catholic faith, but nearly all of them draw the obvious-and entirely erroneous-conclusions about the role of Catholicism in Duhem's thinking. This book pays particular attention to the political and intellectual context of French Catholicism, wracked as it was by the tensions of Dreyfus affair and the so-called modernist crisis. Duhem took his inspiration, not from the papally-sponsored revival of the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, but from Pascal, a fact that aroused suspicions of skepticism in the minds of conservative Catholics. The tensions between Duhem's work and authoritarian Catholic positions became more explicit as his historical work unfolded. Most famous for his denial of the possibility of a crucial experiment which could unambiguously decide between contending scientific theories, Duhem has often been interpreted as a mere instrumentalist or conventionalist, denying the meaningfulness of a reality behind the theory. Dr. Martin shows that Duhem was a Pascalian who argued for both logic and intuition as indispensable in approaching the truth. Duhem argues that physics could not legitimately be used to attack Christianity, but he held that physics was equally useless for the defense of Christianity, a position which made him unpopular with many Catholics.

Author : Ethan H. Shagan
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 408 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2019-01-08
Category : History
ISBN : 9780691184944

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The Birth of Modern Belief by Ethan H. Shagan Pdf

An illuminating history of how religious belief lost its uncontested status in the West This landmark book traces the history of belief in the Christian West from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, revealing for the first time how a distinctively modern category of belief came into being. Ethan Shagan focuses not on what people believed, which is the normal concern of Reformation history, but on the more fundamental question of what people took belief to be. Shagan shows how religious belief enjoyed a special prestige in medieval Europe, one that set it apart from judgment, opinion, and the evidence of the senses. But with the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation, the question of just what kind of knowledge religious belief was—and how it related to more mundane ways of knowing—was forced into the open. As the warring churches fought over the answer, each claimed belief as their exclusive possession, insisting that their rivals were unbelievers. Shagan challenges the common notion that modern belief was a gift of the Reformation, showing how it was as much a reaction against Luther and Calvin as it was against the Council of Trent. He describes how dissidents on both sides came to regard religious belief as something that needed to be justified by individual judgment, evidence, and argument. Brilliantly illuminating, The Birth of Modern Belief demonstrates how belief came to occupy such an ambivalent place in the modern world, becoming the essential category by which we express our judgments about science, society, and the sacred, but at the expense of the unique status religion once enjoyed.