A Search for a Theology of Resuscitation

A Search for a Theology of Resuscitation
Author: Priscilla Noble-Mathews
Publisher: Rooftop Publishing
Total Pages: 93
Release: 2012
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1467890960

This is an attempt to search for a theology to underpin the ethics of resuscitation. Because reference is sometimes made to resuscitation being attempted in the Bible, the Search examines the Old and New Testament for instances of resuscitation or revival from the dead which may shed light on such theology. However, it is also contended that,in the time before Christ, it was life in this world which was prized,and that it was only towards the end of the Old Testament era there was the beginning of a perception of resurrection after death, to a different sphere of existence. Following the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ it was eternal life that was to be the goal of living. This, it is contended,is why there is a dearth of material in Christian Tradition on any reference to a value of revival to life in this world. It is also contended that, in Christian Tradition, up until approximately the last century, there is always a fundamental acknowledgment of God as the Author of life and the Arbiter of death. However, in modern times the emphasis which has been laid on the autonomy of the individual is encouraging people to replace and edge out God, thus twisting the first strand of theological underpinning of the ethics out of recognition. An additional strand of theology is uncovered, in that the biblical recorded resuscitations were all carried out for some purposwe, or for the benefit of someone, other than the person being revived, although the person themselves may have derived some indirect benefit.

Resuscitation of a Hanged Man

Resuscitation of a Hanged Man
Author: Denis Johnson
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages: 304
Release: 1991-03-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1466807059

Resuscitation of a Hanged Man is Denis Johnson's most fully realized novel to date, an enthralling and shattering reading experience, which probes the mysteries of faith, hope and love.

Science, Religion, and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Science, Religion, and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Author: David Wilkinson
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2013-08-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 019166961X

If the discovery of life elsewhere in the universe is just around the corner, what would be the consequences for religion? Would it represent another major conflict between science and religion, even leading to the death of faith? Some would suggest that the discovery of any suggestion of extraterrestrial life would have a greater impact than even the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions. It is now over 50 years since the first modern scientific papers were published on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Yet the religious implications of this search and possible discovery have never been systematically addressed in the scientific or theological arena. SETI is now entering its most important era of scientific development. New observation techniques are leading to the discovery of extra-solar planets daily, and the Kepler mission has already collected over 1000 planetary candidates. This deluge of data is transforming the scientific and popular view of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence. Earth-like planets outside of our solar system can now be identified and searched for signs of life. Now is a crucial time to assess the scientific and theological questions behind this search. This book sets out the scientific arguments undergirding SETI, with particular attention to the uncertainties in arguments and the strength of the data already assembled. It assesses not only the discovery of planets but other areas such as the Fermi paradox, the origin and evolution of intelligent life, and current SETI strategies. In all of this it reflects on how these questions are shaped by history and pop culture and their relationship with religion, especially Christian theology. It is argued that theologians need to take seriously SETI and to examine some central doctrines such as creation, incarnation, revelation, and salvation in the light of the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

Beyond Biblical Theology

Beyond Biblical Theology
Author: Timo Eskola
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 493
Release: 2013-10-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004258035

Reading Heikki Räisänen’s hermeneutics in context, Timo Eskola explores the development of Western New Testament interpretation. Reclaiming a Wredean approach to the Scriptures, Räisänen focuses on tradition and interpretation. He builds on Weberian sociology, adopted through Peter Berger’s theories, and substitutes sacralized culturalism for biblical theology. After examining fourteenth century Quran-criticism and its impact on Reimarus, Eskola discusses the genesis of the revised history-of-religion theory that Räisänen developed when investigating the Quran’s relationship to the Bible. Sociology then becomes a link between standard historicism and poststructuralism as Räisänen reinterprets Berger’s sociology of knowledge. Räisänen’s sacralized culturalism finally becomes the theory from which his magnum opus The Rise of Christian Beliefs has been written.

The Christian Religion and Biotechnology

The Christian Religion and Biotechnology
Author: George P. Smith
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2005-03-21
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9781402031465

Religion is a dominant force in the lives of many Americans. It animates, challenges, directs and shapes, as well, the legal, political, and scientific agendas of the new Age of Biotechnology. In a very real way, religion, biomedical technology and law are - epistemologically - different. Yet, they are equal vectors of force in defining reality and approaching an understanding of it. Indeed, all three share a synergetic relationship, for they seek to understand and improve the human condition. This book strikes a rich balance between thorough analysis (in the body), anchored in sound references to religion, law and medical scientific analysis, and a strong scholarly direction in the end notes. It presents new insights into the decision-making processes of the new Age of Biotechnology and shows how religion, law and medical science interact in shaping, directing and informing the political processes. This volume will be of interest to both scholars and practitioners in the fields of religion and theology, philosophy, ethics, (family) law, science, medicine, political science and public policy, and gender studies. It will serve as a reference source and can be used in graduate and undergraduate courses in law, medicine and religion.

Religion: A Humanist Interpretation

Religion: A Humanist Interpretation
Author: Raymond Firth
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2013-04-15
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1134795033

Treats religion as a human art, capable of great intellectual and artistic achievements.

Third World Liberation Theologies

Third World Liberation Theologies
Author: Deane W. Ferm
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2004-04-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1592446574

Here for the first time is a systematic survey of the principal liberation theologians from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Exposing the rich variety of Third World liberation theologies, the author highlights points of agreement and divergence in approaches and context, and critically assesses the most often heard criticisms of liberation theology. With its companion volume, 'Third World Liberation Theologies: A Reader', this survey represents the most comprehensive introduction, in any language, to what may well be the most significant theological development of this century.

Postcolonial Theology of Religions

Postcolonial Theology of Religions
Author: Jenny Daggers
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2013-07-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1135038996

This original and ambitious book considers the terms of engagement between Christian theology and other religious traditions, beginning with criticism of Christian theology of religions as entangled with European colonial modernity. Jenny Daggers covers recent efforts to disentangle Eurocentrism from the meeting of the religions, and investigates new constructive possibilities arising in the postcolonial context. In dialogue with Asian and feminist theologies, she reflects on ways forward for relations between the religions and offers a particularist model for theology of religions, standing within a classical Trinitarian framework.

Girard and Theology

Girard and Theology
Author: Michael Kirwan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2009-02-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567496066

The work of the French American theorist René Girard (b.1923) has been highly influential in a wide variety of intellectual disciplines. One enthusiastic reviewer in Le Monde suggested that the year 1972 (when La Violence et le Sacré was published) should be marked with an asterisk in the annals of the humanities, including literature, theology and religious studies. There is a paradox here insofar as Girard is, strictly speaking, neither a philosopher nor a theologian. He was trained as a historian, but spent most of his academic career as a teacher of French literature. It is out of his study of great European literature (notably Proust, Dostoyevsky and Shakespeare) that what he calls 'mimetic theory' evolved. Mimetic theory is an account of how religion, culture and violence are interrelated. Its three principal parts consist of: an assertion of the 'mimetic' (i.e. imitated or derivative nature of desire); the function of 'scapegoating' as a means of achieving and maintaining social cohesion; the gospel revelation as the means by which these truths of the human condition are made known to us. A general introduction to his work will comprise an exposition of these three parts or phases in Girard's thinking. In Girard and Theology, Michael Kirwan looks at these ideas and their relevance to theology as well as their reception in the development of 'dramatic theology' and new theological concepts of atonement and sacrifice.

Living Into Death, Dying Into Life

Living Into Death, Dying Into Life
Author: Peter C. Phan
Publisher: Lectio Publishing LLC
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2014-10-20
Genre: Death
ISBN: 9780989839778

Peter C. Phan, noted for his theological exploration of the afterlife, presents an easily understood study of what eternal life means from a Catholic/Christian view. In Living Into Death, Dying Into Life: A Christian Theology of Death and Life Eternal Professor Phan elaborates and expands material first presented in twelve lectures. Drawing heavily from the Christian Tradition, Phan identifies sections in the Old Testament and especially the New Testament that are relevant to eschatology, which is the search for an understanding of God's final kingdom. Seen in the preaching of Jesus as presented in the Gospels, the Kingdom of God is both here now and also fulfilled at the end of time. Professor Phan is able to connect Scriptural representations of the afterlife with the ramifications of eternal life in our present everyday life. This book is intended for audiences seeking to understand the death of a loved one, an impending death, or death in general; as well as those who are seeking a general spiritual or theological understanding of eternal life as presented by Jesus Christ.