Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2022 -

This volume provides an informative introduction to the study of mysticism. Written in an accessible style to those new to the subject, it covers all the main areas and issues that naturally arise when attempting to study and explain what mysticism is. Jones, a prolific independent scholar, starts by considering the term mysticism, the various forms that mysticism takes, and the different metaphysical views of claims to mystical experience. He then moves to the crucial epistemological issue of how the prior context and education of individuals necessarily influence what they experience. Following this is a helpful survey of different approaches to the study of mysticism, including psychological, scientific, philosophical, sociological, and theological perspectives, among others. After considering the basic topics, the author continues with a helpful discussion of subjects such as the relationships between mysticism and language and morality. He concludes with an analysis of comparative and theological approaches. Jones does all of this fairly, intelligently, and with a control of the large literature that exists on these matters. This is a book for all who study religion and philosophy.Summing Up: Essential. Undergraduates through faculty and general readers.

With characteristic wit and style, Modern (religious studies, Franklin & Marshall College) surveys diverse efforts to describe and explain human behavior and thought in terms of brain mechanisms. Both episodic and frequently anecdotal, Modern's "history" is actually more of a Foucauldian genealogy, a discourse on the aspirations of neuropsychology and information science enveloped within the social, political, and intellectual milieu that grounds those aspirations and challenges the possibility of their coming to fruition. In spite of the title, the text does not focus on religion in its most obvious or traditional sense; instead, there are journeys into cybernetics, Swedenborg, phrenology, Scientology, parapsychology, and electroshock treatment and its offspring. The result is more a direct challenge to the basic religion-science binary than to the specific claims of cognitive science of religion. This is a wild ride, engaging and rewarding. Though the book is extensively researched and documented, Modern attempts to enlighten more than to persuade.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. Professionals.

An impressive and wide-ranging single-volume history of Presbyterians in the US, Reformed and Evangelical is the culmination of the cooperative effort of four established religious scholars--in addition to Feldmeth (Fuller Theological Seminary), S. Donald Fortson III (Reformed Theological Scminary--Charlotte), Garth Rosell (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary), and Kenneth Stewart (Covenant College). The volume's chief strength is the authors' ability to synthesize the leading scholarship and marshal a wide range of primary sources to provide a thorough and well-balanced (both chronologically and thematically) history of US Presbyterianism. In the 19 chapters the authors examine the multi-faceted faith across four centuries, from its roots in the 16th century Protestant Reformation to the challenges and successes of the early 21st century. In addition to a robust narrative, the authors provide helpful appendixes charting the Presbyterian experience to the present day. Reformed and Evangelical is the most comprehensive introduction to American Presbyterianism available and a boon to those looking to gain a clearer view of the faith's history.Summing Up: Essential. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; general readers.

For several decades Coogan has successfully authored and edited a wide variety of annotated Bibles, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and introductions. Typically, these contributions combine his deep knowledge of biblical studies with a finely tuned appreciation for the desires and needs of an audience that extends far beyond specialists. The Bible is another worthy contribution of this type. One of Oxford University Press's trademarked "What Everyone Needs to Know" titles, the book combines what might be termed expected coverage of some topics (e.g., languages, texts, translations, contents, and authorship) with thoughtful and fair-minded analyses of other areas, like interpretive strategies, authority, biblical concepts, and biblical values. It is especially in his handling of these latter concepts that Coogan displays his ability to discuss perennially contentious issues (for example, biblical views, if any, on same-sex relationships, abortion, and capital punishment) nonjudgmentally and evenhandedly. Every biblical scholar can find something to criticize here; that's the nature of the academic world. At the same time, admiration and gratitude should be equally widespread for Coogan's ability to be at once clear, concise, and convincing.Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.

The study of interreligious dialogue most often focuses on either theological differences and similarities or engagements in the explosion of dialogue in the last 50 years. The Faiths of Others differs in both respects in that Howard (Valparaiso Univ.) focuses primarily on history rather than theology and looks back into the much earlier roots of dialogue. The book comprises four chapters, starting with one on Christianity in the early and medieval periods. The remaining three cover major places and events in the late 19th through the mid-20th century: Chicago (World's Parliament of Religions, 1893), London (Conference on Some Living Religions within the Empire, 1924), and Rome (Second Vatican Council, 1962-65). In each Howard expertly looks into the history leading up to and inspiring these major events, the significant figures, written works coming out of the events, and the impact that each had on religious institutions, particularly Christian institutions in the West. This is an excellent read for anyone researching the history behind the interreligious dialogue that is so common in today's scholarship and religious life.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

Matthes (government, US Coast Guard Academy) analyzes Christian sermons delivered after national tragedies, starting with a chapter on Pearl Harbor and the internment of Japanese Americans and concluding with a chapter on the Newtown shootings and Black Lives Matter. The intervening four chapters examine the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the 1993 Los Angeles riots and the Oklahoma City bombing, and 9/11. Matthes explores how American Protestantism has increasingly looked to the government rather than to God for action. After Pearl Harbor, ministers explored ways the church might have advocated for the prevention of war; by the time of 9/11, ministers looked to the forces of the US military and government rather than the sphere of religion to bring about justice. The book also reveals how deeply race influences Christian responses to tragedy and the different levels at which the mourning of African American Christians and white Christians was acceptable and why that was the case. An important book for historians of American religion and religious practitioners and for political science scholars.Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.

Davis (philosophy, Loyola Univ. Maryland) has delivered a much-needed book. Too often introductory texts on Buddhism, especially Zen Buddhism, are written by non-philosopher practitioners whose rhetoric can be misleading to those who take it seriously, not realizing that it is an over/correction for the egotistic individuality so prevalent in the West. By contrast, Davis does an excellent job of delivering philosophical nuance in explaining the basics of the various Zen pathways. Indeed, though Davis is trained in Rinzai Zen, he adroitly moves between the different Zen schools. Most important, he repeatedly makes clear that the nonduality of form and emptiness, self and other, etc. does not eradicate differences or distinctness. Rather, the various dualities that are nondual make each other what they are (thus interdependence) while nevertheless being distinct. The inevitable minor disagreements notwithstanding, Davis has gifted readers with something simply superb. This reviewer just wishes he had had this text when he was starting out. He would have been far less confused then, and not needed so much time to undo the damage.Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.