Anthology of Asian Scriptures

Anthology of Asian Scriptures
Author: Robert E. Van Voorst
Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Company
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2001
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

This reader contains some of the most notable and instructive scriptures of the major Asian religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, and Zoroastrianism. It is a comprehensive and pedagogically sound presentation of the sacred literature of the Asia. A clear and consistent organization makes the text easy-to-use and understand. The first chapter examines the general phenomenon of scripture in the world's religions, its nature, use, and place in modern scholarship. Chapter 1 also introduces the reader to the art of reading scripture with practical suggestions, a pronunciation guide for foreign words, and other pedagogical aids. Each subsequent chapter presents the scripture of a single religion. Three or four vignettes about scripture and its usage open the chapter to draw the reader's interest and imagination. Then an introduction sets the context by explaining the overall structure, origin, development, and use of the scripture in its religion.

Pure Lands in Asian Texts and Contexts

Pure Lands in Asian Texts and Contexts
Author: Georgios T. Halkias
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 808
Release: 2019-03-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0824877144

This diverse anthology of original Buddhist texts in translation provides a historical and conceptual framework that will transform contemporary scholarship on Pure Land Buddhism and instigate its recognition as an essential field of Buddhist studies. Traditional and contemporary primary sources carefully selected from Buddhist cultures across historical, geopolitical, and literary boundaries are organized by genre rather than chronologically, geographically, or by religious lineage—a novel juxtaposition that reveals their wider importance in fresh contexts. Together these fundamental texts from different Asian traditions, expertly translated by eminent and up-and-coming scholars, illustrate that the Buddhism of pure lands is not just an East Asian cult or a marginal type of Buddhism, but a pan-Asian and deeply entrenched religious phenomenon. The volume is organized into six parts: Ritual Practices, Contemplative Visualizations, Doctrinal Expositions, Life Writing and Poetry, Ethical and Aesthetic Explications, and Worlds beyond Sukhāvatī. Each part is introduced and summarized, and each translated piece is prefaced by its translator to supply historical and sectarian context as well as insight into the significance of the work. Common and less-common issues of practice, doctrine, and intra-religious transfer are explored, and deeper understandings of the meaning of “pure lands” are gained through the study of the celestial, cosmological, internal, and earthly pure lands associated with various buddhas, bodhisattvas, and devotional figures. The introduction by the volume editors ties the diverse themes of the book together and provides a historical background to Pure Land Buddhist studies. Scholars of Buddhism and Asian religion, including graduate and post-graduate students, as well as Buddhist practitioners, will appreciate the range of translated materials and accompanied discussions made accessible in one essential collection, the first of its kind to center on the formerly-neglected topic of Buddhist pure lands.

The Bodhidharma Anthology

The Bodhidharma Anthology
Author: Bodhidharma
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 202
Release: 1999-09-21
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0520219724

"These original documents are crucial for understanding East Asian Buddhist development. Professor Broughton's analysis of the material provides a new and refreshing look at the tradition which was focused on meditation and the ancient lineage of Bodhidharma. . . . We can be grateful that the translations are accompanied by a detailed study that gives the reader access to the social and cultural events of the time."—Lewis Lancaster, University of California, Berkeley

Paul and Scripture

Paul and Scripture
Author: Christopher D. Stanley
Publisher: Society of Biblical Lit
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2012-08-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1589836952

This book, which grew out of the Society of Biblical Literature’s Paul and Scripture Seminar, explores some of the methodological problems that have arisen during the last few decades of scholarly research on the apostle Paul’s engagement with his ancestral Scriptures. Essays explore the historical backgrounds of Paul’s interpretive practices, the question of Paul’s “faithfulness” to the context of his biblical references, the presence of Scripture in letters other than the Hauptbriefe, and the role of Scripture in Paul’s theology. All of the essays look at old questions through new lenses in an effort to break through scholarly impasses and advance the debate in new directions. The contributors are Matthew W. Bates, Linda L. Belleville, Roy E. Ciampa, Bruce N. Fisk, Stephen E. Fowl, Leonard Greenspoon, E. Elizabeth Johnson, Mitchell M. Kim, Steve Moyise, Jeremy Punt, Christopher D. Stanley, and Jerry L. Sumney.

Reality’s Fugue

Reality’s Fugue
Author: F. Samuel Brainard
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 411
Release: 2017-09-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0271080558

Science, religion, philosophy: these three categories of thought have organized humankind’s search for meaning from time immemorial. Reality’s Fugue presents a compelling case that these ways of understanding, often seen as competing, are part of a larger puzzle that cannot be rendered by one account of reality alone. This book begins with an overview of the concept of reality and the philosophical difficulties associated with attempts to account for it through any single worldview. By clarifying the differences among first-person, third-person, and dualist understandings of reality, F. Samuel Brainard repurposes the three predominant ways of making sense of those differences: exclusionist (only one worldview can be right), inclusivist (viewing other worldviews through the lens of one in order to incorporate them all, and thus distorting them), and pluralist or relativist (holding that there are no universals, and truth is relative). His alternative mode of understanding uses Douglas Hofstadter’s metaphor of a musical fugue that allows different “voices” and “melodies” of worldviews to coexist in counterpoint and conversation, while each remains distinct, with none privileged above the others. Approaching reality in this way, Brainard argues, opens up the possibility for a multivoiced perspective that can overcome the skeptical challenges that metaphysical positions face. Engagingly argued by a lifelong scholar of philosophy and global religions, this edifying and accessible exploration of the nature of reality addresses deeply meaningful questions about belief, reconciliation, and being.

In the Buddha's Words

In the Buddha's Words
Author: Bodhi
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 512
Release: 2005-07-28
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 0861714911

"This landmark collection is the definitive introduction to the Buddha's teachings in his own words. The American scholar monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, whose voluminous translations have won widespread acclaim, here presents selected discourses of the Buddha from the Pali Canon, the earliest record of what the Buddha taught. Divided into ten thematic chapters, In the Buddha's Words reveals the full scope of the Buddha's discourses, from family life and marriage to renunciation and the path of insight. A concise informative introduction precedes each chapter, guiding the reader toward a deeper understanding of the texts that follow." "In the Buddha's Words allows even readers unacquainted with Buddhism to grasp the significance of the Buddha's contributions to our world heritage. Taken as a whole, these texts bear eloquent testimony to the breadth and intelligence of the Buddha's teachings, and point the way to an ancient yet ever vital path. Students and seekers alike will find this systematic presentation indispensable."--BOOK JACKET.

Postcolonial Biblical Criticism

Postcolonial Biblical Criticism
Author: Fernando F. Segovia
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2007-02-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780567045300

Postcolonial studies have made significant inroads into biblical studies, giving rise to numerous conference papers, articles, essays and books. This book offers an introduction to postcolonial biblical criticism and probes it from a number of different but interrelated angles to bring it into focus, so that its promise can be better appreciated.