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      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2022

        Chinese religion in contemporary Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan

        The cult of the Two Grand Elders

        by Fabian Graham

        In Singapore and Malaysia, the inversion of Chinese Underworld traditions has meant that Underworld demons are now amongst the most commonly venerated deities in statue form, channelled through their spirit mediums, tang-ki. The Chinese Underworld and its sub-hells are populated by a bureaucracy drawn from the Buddhist, Taoist and vernacular pantheons. Under the watchful eye of Hell's 'enforcers', the lower echelons of demon soldiers impose post-mortal punishments on the souls of the recently deceased for moral transgressions committed during their prior incarnations. Chinese religion in contemporary Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan offers an ethnography of contemporary Chinese Underworld traditions, where night-time cemetery rituals assist the souls of the dead, exorcised spirits are imprisoned in Guinness bottles, and malicious foetus ghosts are enlisted to strengthen a temple's spirit army. Understanding the religious divergences between Singapore and Malaysia (and their counterparts in Taiwan) through an analysis of socio-political and historical events, Fabian Graham challenges common assumptions about the nature and scope of Chinese vernacular religious beliefs and practices. Graham's innovative approach to alterity allows the reader to listen to first-person dialogues between the author and channelled Underworld deities. Through its alternative methodological and narrative stance, the book intervenes in debates on the interrelation between sociocultural and spiritual worlds, and promotes the destigmatisation of spirit possession and discarnate phenomena in the future study of mystical and religious traditions.

      • Health & Personal Development
        September 2021

        Loving, Lying, and Healing

        Heal an infidelity and renew your love pacts so as not to suffer

        by Tere Díaz Sendra

        Is fidelity an agreement with an expiration date?Does infidelity always involve heartbreak and conflict?After we discovered an infidelity, is it possible to repair and restore trust?Living a committed and loving relationship is a deeply human longing. The issue ofinfidelity (a frequent love conflict) must be addressed by integrating thecontradictions and ambivalences of human nature, particularly on the topic oflove. Infidelity is a very complex phenomenon that is characterized by theexistence of a “villain” and a “victim”. Many times it is explained in a moralistic wayand that prevents exploring the motivations that drive it, the beliefs that supportit and the procedures that complicate it. Love requires commitment andcertainties, while erotic desire opens different paths within the same territory oflove. The correct management of these two forces is key to understanding andovercoming infidelity.

      • Trusted Partner
        Fiction
        January 2009

        Library of Chinese Classics :The Romance of West Chamber

        by Wang Shifu

        The "West Chamber" of Wang Shih-fu in the Yuan Dynasty was a masterpiece of Chinese classical opera and a masterpiece of Chinese literature. The theme of the drama is the love story of the young scholar Zhang Huan and the late Ying-Ying, the daughter of the 19-year-old Cui Xianguo. The whole play is divided into five (screen) twenty (field). The first Zhang Ying and Ying Ying in the temple at first sight. The second to write Zaibing siege filled homes, Zhangsheng rescue, Mrs. Cui allow her daughter Yingying with Zhangsheng wife, then eat their own words. The third one to write a pair of lover Acacia sponge. The fourth the first Valentine's tryst Valentine's Day; the second letter of Mrs. Choi to Changsheng Beijing exam, the high school after the wedding; the third Valentine's leave, Zhang went to Beijing to attend the meeting; the fourth fold of the lover dream phase Will be done. The fifth to write a couple reunion. In short, "The Romance of the West Chamber" wrote the contradiction between love and family honor. The result was that Zhang Sheng would try high school, winning the honor and winning the love.

      • Trusted Partner
        March 2021

        Son of man

        by Sylfest Lomheim

        Son of Man by Sylfest Lomheim offers a groundbreaking retelling of the life of Jeshua, the figure known to the world as Jesus. This novel departs from traditional gospel narratives, providing a fresh and humanized perspective on Jeshua's journey from a modest upbringing in Nazareth to becoming a profound prophet. Through vivid storytelling, Lomheim explores the struggles, wisdom, and humanity of Jeshua, presenting a story that challenges conventional beliefs while deeply engaging readers. A narrative filled with historical accuracy and compelling details, Son of Man invites both believers and non-believers to reimagine the story of one of history’s most influential figures. It’s a tale that resonates with modern audiences, blending the sacred with the ordinary, and offering new insights into a life that has shaped Western civilization.

      • Trusted Partner
        Medicine
        September 2023

        Situating religion and medicine in Asia

        Methodological insights and innovations

        by Michael Stanley-Baker

        This edited volume presents the latest research on the intersection of religion and medicine in Asia. It features chapters by internationally known scholars, who bring to bear a range of methodological and geographic expertise on this topic. The book's central question is to what extent 'religion' and 'medicine' have overlapped or interrelated in various Asian societies. Collectively, the contributions explore a number of related issues, such as: which societies separated out religious from medical concerns, at which times and in what ways? Where have medicine and religion converged, and how has such knowledge been defined by scholars and cultural actors? Are 'religion' and 'medicine' the best terms by which scholars can grapple with knowledge about the sacred and the self, destiny and disease?

      • Trusted Partner
        April 2000

        Goethe und die Religion

        Aus seinen Werken, Briefen, Tagebüchern und Gesprächen

        by Hans-Joachim Simm

        Hans-Joachim Simm, Dr. phil., geboren 1946 in Braunschweig, war bis 2009 Verlagsleiter des Insel Verlags und des Verlags der Weltreligionen.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        November 2004

        Religion in history

        Conflict, conversion and coexistence

        by John Wolffe

        This is an integrated collection of essays by leading scholars that looks at issues of conflict, conversion and coexistence in the religious context since the third century. The range of topics explored include paganism and Christianity in the later Roman world, the Crusades, the impact of the Reformation in Britain and Ireland, subsequent Protestant-Catholic conflict, the Hindu Renaissance in nineteenth-century India, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Britain in the 1960s, women and the ministry, and Christianity, Judaism and the Holocaust. The book concludes by offering an historical perspective on religion, conflict and coexistence in the world today. Published in association with The Open University, this is a student-friendly and accessible volume on popular subjects within religious history, and it will be of value to students on a range of courses, as well as to a wider readership interested in the historical background to the role of religion in the contemporary world. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        February 2023

        Faith stories

        by Anna Hickey-Moody

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        2021

        History of civilisation. Ukraine. Volume II. From Kyivan Rus to the Galician Principality (900–1256)

        by Olena Chernenko

        Project "History of Civilisation. Ukraine "covers the period from the Cimmerians to the third partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It is divided into five main blocks: from the Cimmerians to Kyivan Rus (10th century BC - 9th century AD); from Kyivan Rus to the Galician Principality (10th century - 1256); from the Galician Principality to the Union of Lublin (1256–1569); from the Union of Lublin to the Peace Agreement of Andrusiv (1569–1667); from the Peace Agreement of Andrusiv to the third partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1667–1794). The second volume "History of Civilisation. Ukraine” is dedicated to the period from Kyivan Rus to the Galician Principality (end of the 10th century - 1256). The content of the book is designed to highlight the most important aspects of the historical and cultural process that took place in the lands of modern Ukraine at that time. Leading specialists in the field of medieval history and archeology, as well as young researchers were involved in the creation of the book. Due to this, the book combines theoretical backbone that is basic for the domestic historical science and the results of innovative research, that is presented for the first time in such a popular way. Information on history, economics, language, religion, culture (literature and musical arts, architecture), life (clothing, games and entertainment, etc.) and military affairs of the medieval population of modern Ukraine are collected under one cover. The chief editor of this publication is an archaeologist, Candidate of Historical Sciences of Ukraine (PhD) Olena Chernenko, who has been researching archeological monuments and the history of Ukraine in the Middle Ages for more than thirty years. The book is supplemented by rich illustrative material, designed for the wide audience.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences

        Naguib Mahfouz Annuals: About Youth and Freedom

        by Naguib Mahfouz

        Religion is taught in schools as if a branch of science consisting of some Koranic verses, prophetic tradition (Hadith), creed, worships, and biography! Pupils usually study such items by heart, then they go to exam and forget all. Religion is neither a branch of science nor a branch of material knowledge. Religion is a spiritual education that had to be applied in society. It is felt in the way people behave or conduct. Sometimes we meet a clever pupil but he has bad manners! Another, may get high marks in religion but dismissed out of the school for his ill behaviors and bad manners. I believe that religion must be taught as a spiritual education surrounded by a sphere of sympathy and affection. It is something felt by heart, not studied by heart. Teachers have to adress minds to make pupils convinced. They have to teach them biography of the prophet and also of the orthodox Caliphs. They have to select Koran verses according to “the age and the need”. For example Koranic verses dealing with” prayers”, must be studied in an early stage. Then Koranic verses dealing with “fasting”. After that comes verses dealing with moral conducts. In an advanced stage or secondary school, students can study views, ideas, conceptions, visions and philosophy of Islamic eminent characters, as well as eminent characters of other religions. There is a sort of a deflagrated competition between different religions, though they are similar in concepts and attitudes. Also, rivalary between Islam and Western civilization, and communism, is considered. Western civilization has its own entity. It is an integral doctrine having its theories and applications. Western civilization admits human rights and free economy. It could achieve marvellous progress in different fields of life. At the other hand communism also has its own integral doctrine with a private philosophy, economy and ruling systems. It aspires equality between all people, regardless to their colour or race. As a matter of fact it could achieve marevellous progress in different fields of life. Islam stands in between those two different civilizations, trying to get up and rise after a long sleep in the darkness of stagnancy and retardation. Lately, Islam did not achieve adequate progress in fields like modern science, technology, and material power. But it didn’t surrender, because it is till standing as a civilization having its own historical dignity and tradition. But now it is working hard to compensate what it did lose and indemnify what has gone, without contradicting its message and entity.

      • Trusted Partner
        March 2006

        Die Zukunft der Religion

        by Gianni Vattimo, Richard Rorty, Santiago Zabala, Michael Adrian

        Nicht erst seit der vielbeachteten Wahl des neuen Papstes, nicht erst seit den religiös motivierten Terroranschlägen, die die westlichen Demokratien erschüttert haben, und nicht erst seit der Wiederkehr religiöser Fundamentalismen in allen Teilen der Welt wird deutlich, daß die Frage der Religion zu einer Nagelprobe der Zivilisation geworden ist. Doch war die Religion nicht längst überwunden? Die Philosophen Richard Rorty und Gianni Vattimo, die als Vertreter einer dezidierten Metaphysikkritik nicht gerade in Verdacht stehen, dem Christentum das Wort zu reden, stellen die Frage nach der Zukunft der Religion. In pointierten Texten und einem anschaulichen Gespräch gehen sie von der Beobachtung aus, daß die Metaphysikkritik mitnichten zum Verschwinden der Religion geführt hat. Der Tod Gottes gehört der Vergangenheit an, die Religion nicht. Doch gehört ihr wirklich die Zukunft? Oder hat nicht vielmehr eine Verschiebung der religiösen Erfahrung stattgefunden, die eine Metaphysikkritik keineswegs ausschließt? Wird eine Religion ohne Gott kommen?»Was kommt nach dem Ende der Metaphysik? Kann Religion ohne Begründungen, objektive Wahrheiten oder Gott auskommen? Zwei der einflußreichsten Philosophen unserer Tage kommen hier zu einer Antwort zusammen. Gemeinsam bestimmen Vattimos Hermeneutik und Rortys Pragmatismus unsere Vorstellung der christlichen Botschaft, daß die Liebe das einzige Gesetz darstelle, neu.« Nancy Frankenberry

      • Trusted Partner
        January 2023 - December 2023

        A Chance for One Last Love

        by Hassan Dawood

        A sweeping historical saga about a city that defies the eroding power of time   In one of the first Arabic novels about the COVID-19 pandemic, relationships begin and end much like the pandemic itself. From his balcony in Beirut, Ezzat notices a solitary light on a lone balcony in the building opposite. From that moment, a connection begins to form across the empty space between the buildings, communicated through the air and signals.   The events unfold after the owner of the shadow steps out onto her balcony, confronting the voyeur. They share time, confusion... and desire. Ezzat and Tamer successively both fall in love with the same woman, and a cautious friendship develops between the two men. It soon evolves into more dangerous forms.   The story also portrays the experiences of other building residents during the pandemic, who imposed strict isolation on themselves. The protagonists, particularly the two elderly lovers, live on the edge of catastrophic expectations, as when they imagine that a woman pressing the intercom downstairs to ask for food could be a sign of an impending widespread famine. The story does not conclude in a stalemate but rather with losers.

      • Trusted Partner
        February 2023

        Pixton Love 1. Never Without You

        by Mimi Heeger, Moon Notes

        Siegt am Ende das Herz oder doch der Verstand? Träumst du manchmal auch davon, wie alles gekommen wäre, wenn …? So geht es auch Abigail. Wie jedes Jahr schleicht sie sich auf die Freshmen-Party, die Erstsemester-Party an der Pixton University, und lebt einen Tag lang ihren großen Traum, Jurastudentin zu sein. Ein Traum, der für sie in unerreichbarer Ferne liegt, seit sie sich allein um die inzwischen fünfjährige Orphelia kümmern muss und weder Zeit noch Geld hat, um zu studieren. Und so steht sie wieder nervös, aber mit glänzenden Augen am Rande der Party – wo diesmal alles anders kommt: in Gestalt des mega attraktiven Medizinstudenten Quincy, der Abi in einer einzigen Nacht den Kopf verdreht. Er hält sie für eine Studentin der Pixton, und auch von Orphelia weiß er nichts. Wie lange kann sie ihr Geheimnis wahren? Ohne dich gehe ich nirgendwo hin. Ganz nah dran, atemlos, intensiv und prickelnd. Hot College Romance mit einem Schuss Real Life Drama. Diese „Liebe-gegen-alle-Widerstände“-Story packt dich mit ganz viel Gefühl. Wechselnd aus der Perspektive der beiden Liebenden geschrieben. Eine erwachsene Uni-Lovestory zwischen Alltag und Leidenschaft.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2015

        A History of Western Historical Thought

        by Pei YU

        This book is an intellectual history of Western theory, it focuses on describing the thoughts development and process in different historical periods. It is guided by historical materialism to reveal the evolution of the western theories, and illuminates development of west history thoughts. To some extent, this book reflects Chinese history researchers’ recent development on western historic thoughts research.

      • Trusted Partner

        When love has wandered off

        by Edna Buchman

        When love has wandered off by Edna Buchman Edna Buchman's work will immediately inspire its readers. These texts are simply amusing or sad anecdotes, of the kind known all too well to every woman. The first part of the book focuses on situations between women and men, some of which actually happened and others that almost did… Men analyzed from a woman's perspective, examined by her critical eye, frankly and with appealing humor. The second part of the book consists of very personal, revealing stories: childhood spent in a home where the only thing missing was a caressing hand; the eternal struggle against overweight caused by overeating, as a compensation for the lack of love. The book concludes with a selection of texts of a different nature, dealing with coming of age, forgiveness, and happiness. The natural humanity of this lyrical collection will win the heart of every woman, and probably of quite a few men as well…  Edna Buchman was born in Israel to German-speaking parents; the family immigrated to Israel in 1939. She is the third generation of a textile-manufacturing family, and was educated in Israel, Switzerland and England. The author drew her inspiration from personal observations of the lives of her friends... single, married, divorced and widowed. "A book like Edna Buchmann’s Die Wandernde Liebe will certainly speak to a fair amount of people, since it describes poetically some of the emotional pitfalls and typical dynamics between romantically involved couples… Just the emotional ups and downs of a woman in her romantic encounters, sharply observed, with a hefty pinch of feminism. It is well written, quite sensitively, with some subtle humor and some nice, unexpected turns."              Matthias Schossig, a noted German-English translator, California.

      • Trusted Partner

        Die Religion

        by Jacques Derrida, Gianni Vattimo

        Im Licht der Wiederkehr des Religiösen und seiner weltweiten Konjunktur erfährt die Religion ihre philosophische Nobilitierung jenseits der tradierten Dichotomie von Mythos und Aufklärung. Die Beiträge von Jacques Derrida, Gianni Vattimo, Maurizio Ferraris, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Aldo Giorgio Gargani, Eugenio Trías und Vincenzo Vitiello dokumentieren eine kardinale Wende der zeitgenössischen Philosophie. Mit Beiträgen von Eugenio Trías, Aldo Giorgio Gargani, Vincenzo Vitielo, Maurizio Ferraris, Hans-Georg Gadamer.

      • Trusted Partner
        August 1982

        Funktion der Religion

        by Niklas Luhmann

        Die fünf Kapitel dieses Buches befassen sich mit der Religion unter verschiedenen, in sich zusammenhängenden Gesichtspunkten. Ihr Ziel ist es, Theorieerfahrungen aus verschiedenen Bereichen der Gesellschaftstheorie für die Beurteilung der gegenwärtigen Lage von Religion fruchtbar zu machen. Erörtert werden: (1) die gesellschaftliche Funktion der Religion, (2) die evolutionären Veränderungen ihrer Dogmatik, (3) die religiöse Thematisierung des Problems der Kontingenz, (4) Säkularisierung im Sinne einer religionsspezifischen Thematisierung der Gesellschaft als Umwelt des Religionssystems und (5) die Möglichkeiten der Organisation des Religionssystems selbst.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        January 2007

        Religion in Revolutionary England

        by Christopher Durston, Judith Maltby

        This book offers a collection of essays tightly focused around the issue of religion in England between 1640 and 1660, a time of upheaval and civil war in England. Edited by well-known scholars of the subject, topics include the toleration controversy, women's theological writing, observance of the Lord's Day and prayer books. To aid understanding, the essays are divided into three sections examining theology in revolutionary England, inside and outside the revolutionary National Church and local impacts of religious revolution. Carefully and thoughtfully presented, this book will be of great use for those seeking to better understand the practices and patterns of religious life in England in this important and fascinating period. ;

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