Unsaying God

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Unsaying God

Author : Aydogan Kars
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2019-04-26
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780190942472

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Unsaying God by Aydogan Kars Pdf

What cannot be said about God, and how can we speak about God by negating what we say? Traveling across prominent negators, denialists, ineffectualists, paradoxographers, naysayers, ignorance-pretenders, unknowers, I-don't-knowers, and taciturns, Unsaying God: Negative Theology in Medieval Islam delves into the negative theological movements that flourished in the first seven centuries of Islam. Aydogan Kars argues that there were multiple, and often competing, strategies for self-negating speech in the vast field of theology. By focusing on Arabic and Persian textual sources, the book defines four distinct yet interconnected paths of negative speech formations on the nature of God that circulated in medieval Islamic world. Expanding its scope to Jewish intellectuals, Unsaying God also demonstrates that religious boundaries were easily transgressed as scholars from diverse sectarian or religious backgrounds could adopt similar paths of negative speech on God. This is the first book-length study of negative theology in Islam. It encompasses many fields of scholarship, and diverse intellectual schools and figures. Throughout, Kars demonstrates how seemingly different genres should be read in a more connected way in light of the cultural and intellectual history of Islam rather than as different opposing sets of orthodoxies and heterodoxies.

Unsaying God

Author : Aydogan Kars
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2019-04-26
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780190942465

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Unsaying God by Aydogan Kars Pdf

What cannot be said about God, and how can we speak about God by negating what we say? Traveling across prominent negators, denialists, ineffectualists, paradoxographers, naysayers, ignorance-pretenders, unknowers, I-don't-knowers, and taciturns, Unsaying God: Negative Theology in Medieval Islam delves into the negative theological movements that flourished in the first seven centuries of Islam. Aydogan Kars argues that there were multiple, and often competing, strategies for self-negating speech in the vast field of theology. By focusing on Arabic and Persian textual sources, the book defines four distinct yet interconnected paths of negative speech formations on the nature of God that circulated in medieval Islamic world. Expanding its scope to Jewish intellectuals, Unsaying God also demonstrates that religious boundaries were easily transgressed as scholars from diverse sectarian or religious backgrounds could adopt similar paths of negative speech on God. This is the first book-length study of negative theology in Islam. It encompasses many fields of scholarship, and diverse intellectual schools and figures. Throughout, Kars demonstrates how seemingly different genres should be read in a more connected way in light of the cultural and intellectual history of Islam rather than as different opposing sets of orthodoxies and heterodoxies.

Mystical Languages of Unsaying

Author : Michael A. Sells
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 326 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 1994-05-02
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780226747873

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Mystical Languages of Unsaying by Michael A. Sells Pdf

The subject of Mystical Languages of Unsaying is an important but neglected mode of mystical discourse, apophasis. which literally means "speaking away." Sometimes translated as "negative theology," apophatic discourse embraces the impossibility of naming something that is ineffable by continually turning back upon its own propositions and names. In this close study of apophasis in Greek, Christian, and Islamic texts, Michael Sells offers a sustained, critical account of how apophatic language works, the conventions, logic, and paradoxes it employs, and the dilemmas encountered in any attempt to analyze it. This book includes readings of the most rigorously apophatic texts of Plotinus, John the Scot Eriugena, Ibn Arabi, Marguerite Porete, and Meister Eckhart, with comparative reference to important apophatic writers in the Jewish tradition, such as Abraham Abulafia and Moses de Leon. Sells reveals essential common features in the writings of these authors, despite their wide-ranging differences in era, tradition, and theology. By showing how apophasis works as a mode of discourse rather than as a negative theology, this work opens a rich heritage to reevaluation. Sells demonstrates that the more radical claims of apophatic writers—claims that critics have often dismissed as hyperbolic or condemned as pantheistic or nihilistic—are vital to an adequate account of the mystical languages of unsaying. This work also has important implications for the relationship of classical apophasis to contemporary languages of the unsayable. Sells challenges many widely circulated characterizations of apophasis among deconstructionists as well as a number of common notions about medieval thought and gender relations in medieval mysticism.

Ethical Monotheism

Author : Ehud Benor
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 325 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2017-12-15
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781351263948

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Ethical Monotheism by Ehud Benor Pdf

The term Ethical Monotheism is an important marker in Judaism’s tumultuous transition into the modern era. The term emerged in the context of culture-wars concerning the question of whether or not Jews could or should become emancipated citizens of modern European states. It appeared in arguments whether or not Judaism could be considered a Religion of Reason—a symbolic, motivational representation of a universal morality, and in debates about whether or not Judaism could or should reform itself into a Religion of Reason. This book is both a decisive departure from such discussions and an attempt to add a further, post-modern, statement to their ongoing development. As departure, it refuses to take for granted a philosophical conception of Religion of Reason as the standard for Ethical Monotheism according to which Judaism was to be evaluated or reformed. As continuation, the book undertakes a phenomenology of Jewish modes of ethical religiosity that allows it to inquire what kind of ethical monotheism Judaism might be. Through sophisticated analysis of select "snapshots," or "fragments of a hologram," guided by a robust theory of religion, the author discloses Judaic ethical monotheism as an ongoing wrestling with the meaning of justice. By closely examining five main "snapshots" of this long process—the Bible, rabbinic Judaism, Maimonides, The Zohar, and the modern philosophers, Buber and Levinas—the author offers his own constructive philosophy of Judaism and his own distinctive philosophy of religion. Ethical Monotheism offers a new way to think about Judaism as a religion and as a coherent philosophical debate, and demonstrates the need to integrate philosophy, history, cognitive psychology, anthropology, theology, and history of science in the study of "religion."

Relating to God

Author : Dan Merkur
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 318 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2013-11-21
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780765710161

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Relating to God by Dan Merkur Pdf

In Relating to God: Clinical Psychoanalysis, Spirituality, and Theism, Dan Merkur conceptualizes religious discourse within psychoanalysis. He proposes that God be treated as a transferential figure whose analysis leads to a reduction of the parental content that is projected onto God. Merkur notes that religious conversion experiences regularly involve theological intuitions that are either rational or, owing to morbid complications, have undergone displacement into irrational symbolism. Analysis renders the religiosity more wholesome. Traditionally, psychoanalytic thought has been dismissive of religion. Freud is on record, however, as having called psychoanalysis a neutral procedure. He argued that religion, with its dependency on a providential God who punishes disobedience, imagines spirituality on the model of human parents and fails to approach spirituality in an appropriately scientific manner. He wrote little of spiritual phenomena, but mentioned both the rationality of the universe and the parapsychological occurrence of thought transference. Occasionally, later psychoanalysts used different language in order to contrast wholesome and morbid forms of religion. Erich Fromm distinguished authoritarian and humanistic religions, while D. W. Winnicott condemned fetishistic behavior while approving of playful illusions that require “belief-in.” These formulations constructed a middle position for clinicians, neither categorically opposed to religion as classical psychoanalysis was, nor do they embrace cultural relativity as “spiritually oriented” psychotherapists are currently advocating. What sorts of spiritual practices does psychoanalysis find unobjectionable? As examples of humanistic religion, Fromm named Zen Buddhism, Buddhist mindfulness meditation, and the via negativa or “way of negating” that some Christian and Jewish mystics have followed. Because the Bible-based approaches are little known, Merkur discusses their histories, procedures, and psychoanalytic understanding.

Longing and Letting Go

Author : Holly Hillgardner
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2016-11-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780190637484

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Longing and Letting Go by Holly Hillgardner Pdf

Mirabai, a sixteenth-century Indian princess, wrote passionate love songs to Lord Krishna. Hadewijch, a thirteenth-century European Beguine, wrote of her yearning to become Love itself, to be "God with God." Each woman practiced a full-bodied, sensuously-imaged longing for love; at the same time, each also practiced certain ascetic disciplines. Spanning centuries, continents, and religious traditions, this book juxtaposes Hadewijch's and Mirabai's inextricable energies of longing and letting go as resources for a comparative theology of passionate non-attachment. Within both Hinduism and Christianity, desire and renunciation are often presented as opposites; yet, both Mirabai and Hadewijch, in their own distinct ways, illuminate the integral, tensile relationship between these concepts. Rather than choosing one or the other, each woman's dual practices of longing and letting go not only take her on an inward spiritual journey but also deeply involve her in the beauty and suffering of the wider world. Drawing out crucial differences and intriguing resonances between these two women of faith, Hillgardner develops a Hindu-Christian comparative theology that argues for an interreligious ethic of passionate non-attachment, one capacious and brave enough to hold together our own longings with the desires of others in an interconnected, fragile world.

Questioning God

Author : Timothy Radcliffe,Lukasz Popko
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 229 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2023-07-06
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781399409216

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Questioning God by Timothy Radcliffe,Lukasz Popko Pdf

Many today may see the relationship between God and humanity as one of passive submission and thus unquestioning. Two outstanding Dominicans, Timothy Radcliffe and Lukasz Popko. suggest otherwise. Questioning God explores Biblical conversations with God and there is no genuine conversation without true questions. Our God question us, from the first conversation of God and humanity in the Bible, where God asks Adam, 'Where are you?', to the Risen Lord's questioning Peter on the beach: 'Do you love me more than these others?' But humanity questions God too, as in the audacious questioning of Jesus by the Samaritan woman at the well. In this process of mutual questioning, humanity is drawn ever deeper into the life of God, the eternal conversation of the Trinity. Insights into these transformative conversations are helpful as the Church questions how to be faithful to God in this uncertain time. Fr Popko offers a fresh translation and insights of Biblical scholarship, and Fr Radcliffe extends his rich experience as a preacher, theologian, and an inspiring commentator.

Exploring Religious Pluralism

Author : Christopher C. Knight
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 243 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2024-03-31
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781009450263

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Exploring Religious Pluralism by Christopher C. Knight Pdf

Christopher C. Knight's study re-examines religious pluralism, combining 'mystical theology' with insights from science-theology dialogues.

Three Mystics Walk into a Tavern

Author : James C. Harrington,Sidney G. Hall
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 168 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2015-02-11
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780761865438

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Three Mystics Walk into a Tavern by James C. Harrington,Sidney G. Hall Pdf

In Three Mystics Walk into a Tavern, Jalal ad-Din Rumi, Moses de León, and Meister Eckhart—three of the greatest mystics of all time—meet in Venice for an imaginary night-long conversation that will inspire everyday individuals of the twenty-first century to find their own spirituality and realize that everyone can be a mystic. Although the mystics came from different backgrounds and religious traditions (Islam, Judaism, and Christianity), their spiritual paths led them to similar understandings of a union with the Divine. The three mystics have a timeless and timely message for people who walk the earth eight centuries after they did, no matter an individual’s religious background or even if they have none. It is a message of connecting with the “divine spark” deep within us and within the universe.

God and Being

Author : Nathan Lyons
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 145 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2023-12-31
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781009027823

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God and Being by Nathan Lyons Pdf

This Element examines how the Western philosophical-theological tradition between Plato and Aquinas understands the relation between God and being. It gives a historical survey of the two major positions in the period: a) that the divine first principle is 'beyond being' (Example Plato, Plotinus, Pseudo-Dionysius), and b) that the first principle is 'being itself' (Example Augustine, Avicenna, Aquinas). The Element argues that we can recognize in the two traditions, despite their apparent contradiction, complementary approaches to a shared project of inquiry into transcendence.

Fleshly Tabernacles

Author : Bryan Adams Hampton
Publisher : University of Notre Dame Pess
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2012-11-15
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780268081744

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Fleshly Tabernacles by Bryan Adams Hampton Pdf

In Fleshly Tabernacles, Bryan Hampton examines John Milton’s imaginative engagement with, and theological passion for, the Incarnation. As aesthetic symbol, theological event, and narrative picture of humanity’s potential, the Incarnation profoundly governs the way Milton structures his 1645 Poems, ponders the holy office of the pulpit, reflects on the ends of speech and language, interprets sacred scripture or secular texts, and engages in the radical politics of the Civil War and Interregnum. Richly drawing upon the disciplines of historical and postmodern theology, philosophical hermeneutics, theological aesthetics, and literary theory, Fleshly Tabernacles pursues the wide-ranging implications of the heterodox, perfectionist strain in Milton’s Christology. Hampton illustrates how vibrant Christologies generated and shaped particular brands of anticlericalism, theories of reading and language, and political commitments of English nonconformist sects during the turbulent decades of the seventeenth century. Ranters and Seekers, Diggers and Quakers, Fifth monarchists and some Anabaptists—many of those identified with these radical groups proclaim that the Incarnation is primarily understood, not as a singular event of antiquity, but as a present eruption and charged manifestation within the life of the individual believer, such that faithful believers become “fleshly tabernacles” housing the Divine. The perfectionist strain in Milton’s theology resonated in the works of the Independent preacher John Everard, the Digger Gerrard Winstanley, and the Quaker James Nayler. Fleshly Tabernacles intriguingly demonstrates how ideas of the incarnated Christ flourished in the world of revolutionary England, expressed in the notion that the regenerated human self could repair the ruins of church and state.

Christian Mysticism

Author : Dr Kevin Magill,Dr Louise Nelstrop,Mr Bradley B Onishi
Publisher : Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Page : 292 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2013-06-28
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781409480495

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Christian Mysticism by Dr Kevin Magill,Dr Louise Nelstrop,Mr Bradley B Onishi Pdf

This book introduces students to Christian mysticism and modern critical responses to it. Christianity has a rich tradition of mystical theology that first emerged in the writings of the early church fathers, and flourished during the Middle Ages. Today Christian mysticism is increasingly recognised as an important Christian heritage relevant to today's spiritual seekers. The book sets out to provide students and other interested readers with access to the main theoretical approaches to Christian mysticism – including those propounded by William James, Steven Katz, Bernard McGinn, Michael Sells, Denys Turner and Caroline Walker-Bynum. It also explores postmodern re-readings of Christian mysticism by authors such as Jacques Derrida, Jean-Luc Marion and Jean-François Lyotard. The book first introduces students to the main themes that underpin Christian mysticism. It then reflects on how modern critics have understood each of them, demonstrating that stark delineation between the different theoretical approaches eventually collapses under the weight of the complex interaction between experience and knowledge that lies at the heart of Christian mysticism. In doing so, the book presents a deliberate challenge to a strictly perennialist reading of Christian mysticism. Anyone even remotely familiar with Christian mysticism will know that renewed interest in Christian mystical writers has created a huge array of scholarship with which students of mysticism need to familiarise themselves. This book outlines the various modern theoretical approaches in a manner easily accessible to a reader with little or no previous knowledge of this area, and offers a philosophical/theological introduction to Christian mystical writers beyond the patristic period important for the Latin Western Tradition.

Christian Thought in the Medieval Islamicate World

Author : Salam Rassi
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2022-02-01
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN : 9780192662170

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Christian Thought in the Medieval Islamicate World by Salam Rassi Pdf

Christian Thought in the Medieval Islamicate World: ʿAbdīshōʿ of Nisibis and the Apologetic Tradition is the first monograph-length study and intellectual biography of ʿAbdīshōʿ of Nisibis (d. 1318), bishop and polymath of the Church of the East. Focusing on his works of apologetic theology, it examines the intellectual strategies he employs to justify Christianity against Muslim (and to a lesser extent Jewish) criticisms. Better known to scholars of Syriac literature as a poet, jurist, and cataloguer, ʿAbdīshōʿ wrote a considerable number of works in the Arabic language, many of which have only recently come to light. He flourished at a time when Syriac Christian writers were becoming increasingly indebted to Islamic models of intellectual production. Yet many of his writings were composed during mounting religious tensions following the official conversion of the Ilkhanate to Islam in 1295. In the midst of these challenges, ʿAbdīshōʿ negotiates a centuries-long tradition of Syriac and Arabic apologetics to remind his readers of the verity of the Christian faith. His engagement with this tradition reveals how anti-Muslim apologetics had long shaped the articulation of Christian identity in the Middle East since the emergence of Islam. Through a selective process of encyclopaedism and systematisation, ʿAbdīshōʿ navigates a vast corpus of Syriac and Arabic apologetics to create a synthesis and theological canon that remains authoritative to this day.

Eckhart's ApophaticTheology

Author : Vladimir Lossky
Publisher : James Clarke & Company
Page : 536 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2024-01-25
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780227179765

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Eckhart's ApophaticTheology by Vladimir Lossky Pdf

Vladimir Lossky's posthumously published masterwork is now made available in English for the first time. Eckhart's Apophatic Theology is the culmination of a long process, whereby the renowned Orthodox philosopher and theologian embraced the ways of thinking of a thirteenth-century German mendicant and mystic. While refusing to simplify Eckhart's theology to a system or single motif, Lossky explores in detail the various ramifications of Eckhart's insistence on the ineffability of God. Is God to be regarded as 'being', or the 'One', or 'Intellect'? Does God's pure expression of each of these preclude the others? Framed by six key statements about God's essence, Lossky lays out Eckhart's approach to this dilemma. His understanding of the problem, guided by careful engagement with a multitude of sources, is exhaustive. Scholars will welcome this eagerly-anticipated translation.

The Art of Anatheism

Author : Richard Kearney,Matthew Clemente
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2017-12-12
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781786605221

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The Art of Anatheism by Richard Kearney,Matthew Clemente Pdf

This book proposes a way to think and speak about God in and through our contemporary, secular society, bridging the theist/atheist divide by considering the divine through the lens of aesthetics. It represents a timely contribution to Continental philosophy of religion that includes some of the most respected and important voices in the field.