Anthropology Religion

Explore and understand the key ideas and movements in anthropology – the study of human societies and cultures and how they work. What does it mean to be human? Why do we have rituals? How do family structures differ around the world, and why? The Anthropology Book answers questions like these...

Many of us spend our days feeling like we're the only one with problems, while everyone else has their act together. But the sooner we realize that everyone struggles like we do, the sooner we can show grace to ourselves and others. In Low Anthropology, popular author and theologian David Zahl explores how our ideas about human nature influence our expectations in friendship, work, marriage, and politics.

The pioneering author of The Way of the Shaman continues his exploration of universal shamanism in this “wonderful, fascinating” guide (Carlos Castaneda) In 1980, Michael Harner blazed the trail for the worldwide revival of shamanism with his seminal classic The Way of the Shaman. In...

From a brilliant, young, Harvard-trained anthropologist and contributor to The New Yorker comes a fascinating investigation into the spiritual practice of shamanism, from its beginnings to the present moment, for readers disaffected with organized religion who seek a more personal approach to...

Sexual abuse, sex addiction, gender confusion, brokenness, and shame plague today's world, and people are seeking clarity and hope. By contesting long-held cultural paradigms, this book equips you to see how sexuality is rooted in the broader context of God's heart and his work for us on earth. Instead of arguing with the world about what's right and wrong about sexual choices, this practical resource equips you to share the love and grace of Jesus as you encounter the pain of sexual brokenness - your own or someone else's.

Anthropologist Jeremy Narby has altered how we understand the Shamanic cultures and traditions that have undergone a worldwide revival in recent years. Now, in one of his most extraordinary journeys, Narby travels the globe - from the Amazon Basin to the Far East - to probe what traditional healers and pioneering researchers understand about the intelligence present in all forms of life. Intelligence in Nature presents overwhelming illustrative evidence that independent intelligence is not unique to humanity alone.

A giant of archaeology, Colin Renfrew has immeasurably improved our understanding of human history. In this passionately argued work, he offers a concise summary of prehistory - human existence that predates the development of written records - while challenging the very definition of prehistory itself.

For too long, the history of Christianity has been told as the triumph of orthodox doctrine imposed through power and hierarchy. In A People's History of Christianity, historian and religion expert Diana Butler Bass reveals an alternate history that includes a deep social ethic and far-reaching...

How do gods and spirits come to feel vividly real to people - as if they were standing right next to them? But it isn't easy to maintain a sense that there are invisible spirits who care about you. In How God Becomes Real, acclaimed anthropologist and scholar of religion T. M. Luhrmann argues that people must work incredibly hard to make gods real and that this effort helps to explain the enduring power of faith.

Dr. Sproul's classic gets to the heart of humanity's search for personal worth. As he sheds light on daily obstacles to dignity-in home, school, hospital, prison, church, and workplace - Dr. Sproul points us to new ways of loving and serving one another.

Religion has fascinated people for centuries. But with so many faiths practiced by so many followers, it can be difficult to understand why one religion believes one thing while another believes something entirely different. This guide gives you everything you need to know to sort through the...

Many bemoan the decay of culture. But we all have a responsibility to care for culture, to nurture it in ways that help people thrive. In Culture Care artist Makoto Fujimura issues a call to cultural stewardship, in which we become generative and feed our culture's soul with beauty, creativity, and generosity. We serve others as cultural custodians of the future. This is a book for artists, but artists come in many forms.

It may be the twenty-first century but religious tensions and conflicts continue all across the world. Even today, religion continues to play an unparalleled role in the lives of individuals and nations with people and leaders pitting one religious identity against another. But the question that...

Abridged CDs * 8 CDs, 9 hours A revolutionary perspective on the relationship between religion and science that builds a bridge between people of all beliefs...

In this book, E. Fuller Torrey draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to propose a startling answer to the ultimate question. Evolving Brains, Emerging Gods locates the origin of gods within the human brain, arguing that religious belief is a by-product of evolution. Based on an idea originally proposed by Charles Darwin, Torrey marshals evidence that the emergence of gods was an incidental consequence of several evolutionary factors.

For decades the accepted wisdom has been that America's mainline Protestant churches are in decline, eclipsed by evangelical mega-churches. Church and religion expert Diana Butler Bass wondered if this was true, and this book is the result of her extensive, three-year study of centrist and...

The philosopher Blaise Pascal called man "the supreme paradox", because compared to all other creatures, he is both the most magnificent and the most miserable. What did Pascal mean? The answer goes to the heart of what the Bible says about man. Man is created in the image of God, but the Bible also tells us that man has fallen into sin and become corrupt. In Are People Basically Good?, Dr. R.C. Sproul explores the nature of mankind by looking at what it means to be made in the image of God, and exploring the nature and effects of the fall.

Selon certains sondages, la plupart des hommes et des femmes croient que les gens sont fondamentalement bons. En fait, la Bible révèle que l’humanité a bel et bien été créée bonne. Et pourtant, nous connaissons tous des personnes qui nous ont fait du mal ou qui en ont fait à d’autres. Nous avons nous-mêmes commis des actes répréhensibles. Dans ce petit livre, R. C. Sproul explique comment nous sommes devenus moralement corrompus et à quel point notre corruption est profonde. Nous ne faisons pas seulement des erreurs, nous péchons contre un Dieu saint.

Hercules, Zeus, Thor, Gilgamesh - these are the figures that leap to mind when we think of myth. But to David Leeming, myths are more than stories of deities and fantastic beings from non-Christian cultures. Myth is at once the most particular and the most universal feature of civilization, representing common concerns that each society voices in its own idiom.

Evangelical Christianity is a paradox. Evangelicals are radically individualist, but devoted to community and family. They believe in the transformative power of a personal relationship with God, but are wary of religious enthusiasm. They are deeply skeptical of secular reason, but eager to find scientific proof that the Bible is true. In this groundbreaking history of modern American evangelicalism, Molly Worthen argues that these contradictions are the products of a crisis of authority that lies at the heart of the faith.