The Faith Of Fifty Million

This volume features essays by religion scholars who analyze the relation of baseball and theology in American culture. Topics include issues of national identity, baseball and civil religion, baseball as a metaphor and more.

Loyalty to a great cause raises some of the most profound issues in philosophy, and loyalty to the greatest of all causes, the Boston Red Sox, poses these questions in the sharpest possible way. The Red Sox and Philosophy brings together a team of thirty of America's leading thinkers (twenty-eight of them citizens of Red Sox Nation), to unravel some of the mysteries of the Red Sox.Can we adapt Anselm's proof of the existence of God to prove that the Red Sox are the greatest conceivable sports team? Why are Red Sox fans moral heroes? Can the science of sabermetrics be reconciled with the religion of baseball? Are pink Red Sox hats rationally defensible? These and other challenging problems are solved in The Red Sox and Philosophy. ''From Immanuel Kant to Manuel Aristides Ramirez, it's all here. Proof positive that all thinking men are Red Sox fans. The Red Sox and Philosophy reminds us that the Boston American League franchise is much more than a mere baseball team. ''

Our ancient ancestors believed that sports were a gift of the gods—that they were potent rituals, which, if performed correctly, would placate unseen powers, honor departed heroes, or improve the harvests. Today, sports still speak to deep yearnings, imaginings, and the irreducible need people feel to resonate with themselves and their world. But the hidden meaning, or "secret life," that lies at the heart of sports and gives them their force and magic goes largely unnoticed. The old baseball hand Wes Westrum once said, "Baseball is like church. Many attend, but few understand"—and the same could be said for sports in general. In Playing in the Zone, Andrew Cooper explores this inner dimension of sports, drawing on mythology, the history of religion, his observations on popular culture, and a wonderful array of stories and anecdotes about the world's most accomplished athletes. The author—a clinical psychologist and longtime Zen student—compares the intense focus of the mind that is often required in spiritual practice with the experience of "playing in the zone"—that quality of mind where the most remarkable athletic feats seem to occur effortlessly. He explores the "dark side" of sports, its brutality and violence, showing how it can also provide fertile ground for self-awareness and self-transformation. Particularly insightful is the author's discussion of how the heightened drama of sports offers a powerful vehicle for the expression of mythic imagery and symbols in popular culture.

Are you teaching religious studies in the best way possible? Do you inadvertently offer simplistic understandings of religion to undergraduate students, only to then unpick them at advanced levels? This book presents case studies of teaching methods that integrate student learning, classroom experiences, and disciplinary critiques. It shows how critiques of the scholarship of religious studies-including but not limited to the World Religions paradigm, Christian normativity, Orientalism, colonialism, race, gender, sexuality, and class-can be effectively integrated into all courses, especially at an introductory level. Integrating advanced critiques from religious studies into actual pedagogical practices, this book offers ways for scholars to rethink their courses to be more reflective of the state of the field. This is essential reading for all scholars in religious studies.

Beginning with the birth of Jesus and tracing the religion established by his followers up to the present day, The Faith is a comprehensive exploration of the history of Christianity. Judiciously covering all the signal moments without bogging down in minutia, author Brian Moynahan's superbly written and generously illustrated book is of central importance to Christians, historians, and anyone interested in a faith that shaped the modern world. Moynahan's research uses little-known sources to tell a magnificent story encompassing everything from the early tremulous years after Jesus' death to the horrors of persecution by Nero, from the growth of monasteries to the bloody Crusades, from the building of the great cathedrals to the cataclysm of the Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation, from the flight of pilgrims from Europe in pursuit of religious freedom to the Salem Witch Trials, from the advent of a traveling pope to the rise of televangelists. Coming just in time for Jubilee 2000, this ambitious book reveals and commemorates the significance of the Christian faith.

Part storybook, part textbook, part historical overview, Parade of Faith in ebook format presents the history of Christianity in riveting fashion. Ruth Tucker adopts the metaphor of a parade, journey, or pilgrimage to explore the history of Christianity, which began as the Messiah marched out of the pages of the Old Testament and will end one day when “the saints go marching in” to the New Jerusalem. The book is divided into two chronological groupings: first, the advent of Christianity until the German and Swiss Reformations; second, the Anabaptist movement and Catholic Reformation until the present-day worldwide expansion of the church. Yet, ultimately the topic matter is not movements, dates, or a stream of facts, but instead people—people who still have stories to tell other Christians. And with a little help from clues to their own contexts, they can still speak clearly today. This book is laid out systematically to showcase the biographies of such prominent figures within their historical settings. The pages are peppered with sidebars, historical “what if” questions, explorations of relevant topics for today, personal reflections, illustrations, and lists for further reading. Parade of Faith is an excellent introduction for undergraduate students and interested lay readers.