Resources By Department: New Books: Religion &amp; Philosophy

Civility by Philip Sheldrake
Civility offers a thoughtful response to one of the most significant social challenges and public problems that we face in contemporary society. Its overall argument is that in a healthy society it is vitally important to concentrate more effectively on public virtues and values rather than simply to focus on encouraging material success or on creating efficient social and political systems as the main goals that we seek to develop in our societies. The volume focuses particularly on the public virtues of civility, having a sense of 'place', building community, solidarity and responsibility, respect and compassion, and cultivating discernment (that is, the art of how to choose well).
AI Morality by David Edmonds (Editor)
There is no more important issue at present than artificial intelligence. AI has begun to penetrate almost every sphere of human activity. It will disrupt our lives entirely. David Edmonds brings together a team of leading philosophers to explore some of the urgent moral concerns we should have about this revolution. The chapters are rich with examples from contemporary society and imaginative projections of the future. The contributors investigate problems we're all aware of, and introduce some that will be new to many readers. They discuss self and identity, health and insurance, politics and manipulation, the environment, work, law, policing, and defense.
Christianity and Critical Race Theory by Robert Chao Romero; Jeff M. Liou
Critical race theory has become a lightning rod in contemporary American politics and evangelical Christianity. This irenic book offers a critical but constructive and sympathetic introduction written from a perspective rooted in Scripture and Christian theology. The authors take us beyond caricatures and misinformation to consider how critical race theory can be an analytical tool to help us understand persistent inequality and injustice--and to see how Christians and churches working for racial justice can engage it in faithful and constructive ways.
Queens of the Wild by Ronald Hutton
Looking closely at four main figures--Mother Earth, the Fairy Queen, the Mistress of the Night, and the Old Woman of Gaelic tradition--Hutton challenges decades of debate around the female figures who have long been thought versions of pre-Christian goddesses. Drawing on anthropology, archaeology, literature, and history, he makes the compelling case that these goddess figures found in the European imagination did not descend from the pre-Christian ancient world, yet have nothing Christian about them. It was in fact nineteenth-century scholars who attempted to establish the narrative of pagan survival that persists today.
Conflagration by John A. Buehrens
In the tumultuous decades before and immediately after the Civil War, the Transcendentalists changed nineteenth-century America, leading what Theodore Parker called "a Second American Revolution." Conflagration illuminates the connections between key members of the Transcendentalist circle--including James Freeman Clarke, Elizabeth Peabody, Caroline Healey Dall, Elizabeth Stanton, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Theodore Parker, and Margaret Fuller--who created a community dedicated to radical social activism. These authors and activists laid the groundwork for democratic and progressive religion in America.

Ethics in the Real World by Peter Singer
In this book of 90 brief essays, Peter Singer applies his controversial ways of thinking to issues like climate change, extreme poverty, animals, abortion, euthanasia, human genetic selection, sports doping, the sale of kidneys, the ethics of high-priced art, and ways of increasing happiness. In addition, he explores, in an easily accessible form, some of the deepest philosophical questions, such as whether anything really matters and what is the value of the pale blue dot that is our planet. Provocative and original, these essays will challenge your beliefs about a wide range of real-world ethical questions.
Faith by Roger Trigg
What is faith? It usually means religious belief, and sometimes diverse religions are grouped together as 'faiths', with reference to 'faith leaders' or 'faith schools'. What we have faith in matters, and that involves our reason, involving claims to truths that affect everyone. In this Very Short Introduction, Roger Trigg argues that all faith needs reason. He puts contemporary discussions into historical perspective, particularly in the context of Christianity. Trigg argues that faith also involves a commitment to action and that matters for all social life. Because religion is typically directed at what is seen as of crucial importance for human life, faith should not be marginalized or privatized.
The New Westminster Dictionary of Church History by Robert Benedetto (Editor)
In recognition of the latest developments in patristics and other fields of study, Westminster John Knox Press commissioned this volume to continue in the previous work's tradition by providing up-to-date and immediate, authoritative, and introductory definitions and explanations of the major personalities, events, facts, and movements in the history of Christianity. Volume One covers the early, medieval, and Reformation periods and contains nearly fourteen hundred articles written by more than two hundred contributors.
Zen Pathways by Bret W. Davis
This book offers an in-depth introduction to the philosophy and practice of Zen Buddhism. It also lucidly explicates the philosophical implications of Zen teachings and kōans, comparing and contrasting these with other Asian as well as Western religions and philosophies. Throughout it relates traditional Zen teachings and practices to our twenty-first century lives. In addition, the book provides concrete instructions for beginning a practice of Zen meditation. Its twenty-four chapters treat such philosophical topics as the self, nature, art, morality, and language, as well as basic Buddhist teachings such as the middle way and karma.
The Death of Christ by Steven Rutledge
What was the world like, and what was going on in it, around the time of Jesus' death? This study examines this very question, and also seeks to place Jesus in his larger historical context, as a non-citizen resident of the Roman Empire living in Judaea and Galilee in the 20s and 30s AD. Attempts to recover the historical Jesus have sought to put him in his immediate context of ancient Galilee, Judaea, and the Jewish community to which he belonged. Instead this book gives the Roman historical background to the time and place of his ministry and death.

New Books: Religion & Philosophy

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