The Secular Sacred

The Secular Sacred
Author: Markus Balkenhol
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2020-09-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3030380505

How do religious emotions and national sentiment become entangled across the world? In exploring this theme, The Secular Sacred focuses on diverse topics such as the dynamic roles of Carnival in Brazil, the public contestation of ritual in Northern Nigeria, and the culturalization of secular tolerance in the Netherlands. The contributions focus on the ways in which sacrality and secularity mutually inform, enforce, and spill over into each other. The case studies offer a bottom-up, practice-oriented approach in which the authors are wary to use categories of religion and secular as neutral descriptive terms. The Secular Sacred will be of interest to sociologists, anthropologists, ethnographers, political scientists, and social psychologists, as well as students and scholars of cultural studies and semiotics. Chapter 1 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

The Sacred Secular

The Sacred Secular
Author: Dottie Escobedo-Frank
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Total Pages: 96
Release: 2016-10-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1501810456

The Sacred Secular examines cultural spaces where people are experiencing something sacred. These places are not in the church. They’re in yoga studios, neighborhood potlucks, and TED Talks. Dottie Escobedo-Frank and Rob Rynders see lessons for the church in these spaces. They see new ways we can convey to people that the church is uniquely sacred and significant and that Jesus is for them. These glimpses into the sacred-secular will inspire creative church leaders to set aside their assumptions about what church looks like. The Sacred Secular nurtures empowerment, creativity, spiritual movement, and the courage to embody the sacredness and substance of our faith. “Many of us in the church (including clergy) feel we have more in common with the ‘spiritual but not religious’ than we have with lots of church folks these days. We are just as spiritually hungry and thirsty as ever, but we’re open to finding God in surprising places and spaces . . . including ‘secular’ ones. This beautifully written book is all about that phenomenon. I think you’re going to love it.” —Brian D. McLaren, author/speaker, brianmclaren.net “Be prepared to hear contemporary stories akin to the Apostle Peter discovering God in an ‘outsider’—Cornelius—in twenty-first–century urban America. This book is a jewel from two missional church practitioners in The United Methodist Church. It offers wisdom, vision, creativity, and humility that will mark the gospel-bearing church of the future. I highly recommend The Sacred Secular to pastors, church planters, and laity who want their congregations to know how to develop culturally connected faith communities in our rapidly changing world.” —Elaine A. Heath, Dean, Duke Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, NC

Secular, Sacred, More Sacred

Secular, Sacred, More Sacred
Author: Stuart Brooking
Publisher: Langham Global Library
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2021-10-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1839734418

The sacred-secular divide continues to threaten the health of the global church, disempowering lay Christians and undermining the call to integrate all aspects of life under the lordship of Christ. Theological educators seeking a path out of this dichotomy will find themselves both challenged and encouraged by this collection of essays drawn from the 2018 ICETE conference in Panama City. Within its four sections, contributors explore biblical frameworks for integration, urge seminaries to value identity formation as much as skill acquirement, call for a robust theology of work, and challenge theologians to consider their responsibility to the world beyond the church’s borders. Filled with thought-provoking questions and practical suggestions, this book is an excellent resource for all those pursuing a holistic approach to theological education.

Sacred and Secular

Sacred and Secular
Author: Pippa Norris
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2011-10-17
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1139499661

This book develops a theory of existential security. It demonstrates that the publics of virtually all advanced industrial societies have been moving toward more secular orientations during the past half century, but also that the world as a whole now has more people with traditional religious views than ever before. This second edition expands the theory and provides new and updated evidence from a broad perspective and in a wide range of countries. This confirms that religiosity persists most strongly among vulnerable populations, especially in poorer nations and in failed states. Conversely, a systematic erosion of religious practices, values and beliefs has occurred among the more prosperous strata in rich nations.

Breaking Down the Sacred-Secular Divide

Breaking Down the Sacred-Secular Divide
Author: Michael R. Baer
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 34
Release: 2017-03-14
Genre:
ISBN: 9781544697871

For many centuries a false distinction between "sacred" and "secular" has plagued the church, divided the Body, and discouraged the people of God. For over twenty years, Michael Baer has been writing and speaking about the integration of all of life as sacred under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He is one of the early founders of the modern Business as Mission movement, the founder of International Micro Enterprise Development (aka the Jholdas Project) and the author of numerous books on business, missions, and integrated Kingdom living.

The Golden Cord

The Golden Cord
Author: Charles Taliaferro
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2012-12-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0268093776

The title of Charles Taliaferro’s book is derived from poems and stories in which a person in peril or on a quest must follow a cord or string in order to find the way to happiness, safety, or home. In one of the most famous of such tales, the ancient Greek hero Theseus follows the string given him by Ariadne to mark his way in and out of the Minotaur’s labyrinth. William Blake's poem “Jerusalem” uses the metaphor of a golden string, which, if followed, will lead one to heaven itself. Taliaferro extends Blake’s metaphor to illustrate the ways we can link what we see, feel, and do with deep spiritual realities. Taliaferro offers a foundational case for the recognition of the experience of the eternal God of Christianity, in which God is understood as the fount of all goodness and the subject and object of our best love, revealed through scripture, tradition, philosophical reflection, and encountered in everyday events. He addresses philosophical obstacles to the recognition of such experiences, especially objections from the “new atheists,” and explores the values involved in thinking and experiencing God as eternal. These include the belief that the eternal goodness of God subordinates temporal goods, such as the pursuit of fame and earthly glory; that God is the essence of life; and that the eternal God hallows domestic goods, blessing the everyday goods of ordinary life. An exploration of the moral and spiritual riches of the Christian tradition as an alternative to materialism and naturalism, The Golden Cord brings an originality and depth to the debate in accessible and engaging prose.

Social Identities Between the Sacred and the Secular

Social Identities Between the Sacred and the Secular
Author: Dr Abby Day
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Total Pages: 396
Release: 2013-08-28
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1409470326

Focusing on the important relationship between the 'sacred' and the 'secular', this book demonstrates that it is not paradoxical to think in terms of both secular and sacred or neither, in different times and places. International experts from a range of disciplinary perspectives draw on local, national, and international contexts to provide a fresh analytical approach to understanding these two contested poles. Exploring such phenomena at an individual, institutional, or theoretical level, each chapter contributes to the central message of the book - that the ‘in between’ is real, embodied and experienced every day and informs, and is informed by, intersecting social identities. Social Identities between the Sacred and the Secular provides an essential resource for continued research into these concepts, challenging us to re-think where the boundaries of sacred and secular lie and what may lie between.

Beyond the Sacred-secular Divide

Beyond the Sacred-secular Divide
Author: Scott D. Allen
Publisher: YWAM Publishing
Total Pages: 121
Release: 2011
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781576585184

Revolutionizing the lives and renewing the minds of believers and local churches from North America to Africa, the Kingdom Lifestyle Bible Studies help people grow in their relationships with the King and his kingdom. Each tested, insightful study is designed for group or individual use and equips believers to engage in a vibrant life with Christ and offer healing to a broken world.

Seeking the Sacred

Seeking the Sacred
Author: Roméo Dallaire
Publisher: ECW Press
Total Pages: 147
Release: 2006
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1550227246

Speaking from experience--where things can go wrong and wrongs can remain unrighted--the five modern thinkers in this collection offer ways to maintain a spiritual life outside of a strictly religious context. (Practical Life)

The Sacred and the Secular University

The Sacred and the Secular University
Author: Jon H. Roberts
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 199
Release: 2000-03-26
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0691015562

This secularization has long been recognized as a decisive turning point in the history of American education. John Roberts and James Turner identify the forces and explain the events that reformed the college curriculum during this era.".