Encyclopedia Of Women In World Religions 2 Volumes

This reference offers reliable knowledge about women's diverse faith practices throughout history and prehistory, and across cultures. Across the span of human history, women have participated in world-building and life-sustaining cultural creativity, making enormous contributions to religion and spirituality. In the contemporary period, women have achieved greater equality, with more educational opportunities, female role models in public life, and opportunities for religious expression than ever before. Contemporaneously with this increased visibility, women are actively and energetically engaging with religion for themselves and for their communities. Drawing on the expertise of a range of scholars, this reference chronicles the religious experiences of women across time and cultures. The book includes sections on major religions as well as on spirituality, African religions, prehistoric religions, and other broad topics. Each section begins with an introduction, followed by reference entries on specialized subjects along with excerpts from primary source documents. The entries provide numerous suggestions for further reading, and the book closes with a detailed bibliography.

This 2 volume set presents new and innovative research by current scholars as well as the work of female religious scholars of the past. The 600 entries include comparative study of issues such as mythology, ordination and afterlife; Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism; relationship of religion to study of art, literature, and science; historical perspectives on religions both new and prehistoric; biographies of religious leaders and scholars; methods and theories for study of women in religion.

"Written for high school students and undergraduates, this reference provides comprehensive coverage of the history, issues, and roles of women in religions around the world and across time"--

provided on Sikhism, African religions, Santeria, and Native American religions and many others. An added feature is the synoptic outline, which provides conceptual themes to the reader. This valuable resource is accessible to the high school and college student, to the researcher and the general reader".--"Outstanding Reference Sources : the 1999 Selection of New Titles", American Libraries, May 1999. Comp. by the Reference Sources Committee, RUSA, ALA

This book discusses the position of women in the Native American, African, Shinto, Jaina, Zoroastrian, Sikh, and Baha'i faiths for the first time in a single volume, and evolves a conceptual framework within which their positions could be comprehensively considered. The contributing scholars provide an enlarged database for a more thorough discussion of the questions pertaining to women and religion in general, and simultaneously advance the theoretical frontiers in women's studies. Religion and Women belongs to a trilogy about women and world religions edited by Arvind Sharma the first and third volumes being respectively, Women in World Religions and Today's Woman in World Religions.

The Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America harvests the fruits of 25 years of scholarship on the history and current state of women's religious experience in North America. The result of a five-year project led by Rosemary Skinner Keller and Rosemary Radford Ruether and funded by the Lilly Endowment and the Henry Luce Foundation, the encyclopedia marshals the talents of more than 150 scholars to produce the most comprehensive and up-to-date description and analysis of women and religion in North America. The encyclopedia is interreligious, interracial, and multicultural and is aimed at a broad general audience. Instead of hundreds of short entries, this encyclopedia features more than 145 longer essays that enable major themes to be developed more fully. The articles focus on institutions, movements, and ideas. The authors weave biographical sketches into their articles to give them a more personal and humanizing quality, and to recognize the women responsible for the gains made over the centuries. The essays demonstrate that neither the story of women nor the story of religion in North America can be accurately told unless the religious experience of women is integrated into the center of women's and religious history. These well-illustrated volumes will be an essential reference for all of those interested in the role of women in North America's vibrant and complex religious life.

This 2 volume set presents new and innovative research by current scholars as well as the work of female religious scholars of the past. The 600 entries include comparative study of issues such as mythology, ordination and afterlife; Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism; relationship of religion to study of art, literature, and science; historical perspectives on religions both new and prehistoric; biographies of religious leaders and scholars; methods and theories for study of women in religion.

An indispensable resource for exploring food and faith, this two-volume set offers information on food-related religious beliefs, customs, and practices from around the world. Why do Catholics eat fish on Fridays? Why are there retirement homes for aged cows in India? What culture holds ceremonies to welcome the first salmon? More than five billion people worldwide claim a religious identity that shapes the way they think about themselves, how they act, and what they eat. Food, Feasts, and Faith: An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions explores how the food we eat every day often serves purposes other than to keep us healthy and stay alive: we eat to express our faith and to adhere to ethnic or cultural traditions that are part of who we are. This book provides readers with an understanding of the rich world of food and faith. It contains more than 200 alphabetically arranged entries that describe the beliefs and customs of well-established major world religions and sects as well as those of smaller faith communities and new religious movements. The entries cover topics such as religious food rules, religious festivals and symbolic foods, and vegetarianism and veganism, as well as general themes such as rites of passage, social justice, hospitality, and compassion. Each entry on religion explains what the religious dietary laws and guidelines are and how these were interpreted and put into practice historically and in modern settings. The coverage also includes important festivals and feast days as well as significant religious figures and organizations. Additionally, some 160 sidebars provide examples and more detailed information as well as fun facts.