In Conjectures and Controversy in the Study of Fundamentalism, W. Paul Williamson reviews sociohistorical accounts of fundamentalism and provides an analysis of their popular, though questionable, conceptions that have uncritically dominated empirical research in the field of psychology.

This Element explores the relation between monotheism and fundamentalism. It does so from both an empirical perspective and a more theoretical one that combines theological and philosophical insights. The empirical part addresses how as a matter of fact, particularly quantitively, monotheism and fundamentalism relate to one another. The more theoretical part studies the relation between the two by considering the doctrine of God and the issue of exclusion, theories of revelation, and ethics. Finally, the book considers whether monotheism has particular resources that can be employed in mitigating the consequences of or even altogether preventing fundamentalism. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

An International Review of Empirical Research on the Psychology of Fundamentalism is a sequel to Williamson (2020), who examined the sociohistorical emergence of fundamentalism and controversial conceptions of the movement that have dominated decades of empirical research in psychology. He concluded by calling for a critical review of this sizable literature, amassed from the early 20th century. In the present book, W. Paul Williamson and Sarah Demmrich respond by providing summaries and critical observations for 365 empirical studies, collected and organized from peer-reviewed journals. A summary of findings indicated that the largest share of statistical associations between study variables and fundamentalism was moderate in size, followed by those that were weak, and then by strong relationships, which were much less frequent. However, this observed pattern of relationships, particularly those characterized by moderate and especially strong associations, much reflected the findings from sexual bias studies. Finally, the authors offer critical considerations for sample selection, methodology, and theoretical applications in future fundamentalism research.

1753 saw the publication of two major works of Old Testament scholarship: Robert Lowth's On the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews and Jean Astruc's Conjectures on Genesis (published anonymously when Astruc was Professor of Medicine at the College Royal in Paris). Both these works have had conisderable repercussions in biblical study down to the present day. Indeed, they may be said to have inaugurated modern critical approaches to biblical poetry and prose, respectively, of the Old Testament. To mark and reflect upon the 250th anniversary of the publication of these volumes, the University of Oxford hosted a "Sacred Conjectures" conference in 2003. An international group of scholars gathered to discuss the context and legacy of Lowth's and Astruc's seminal contributions to the field of biblical scholarship; the majority of the papers presented at the conference appear in this volume. The collection aims to provide for Lowth and Astruc not only an account and evaluation of their life and work but also an understanding of the wider intellectual context of their scholarship and the reception and influence of their work ever since.

This examination of Sri Lanka's ethnic and religious minorities links the past with the present through a treatment of Sinhala-Buddhist fundamentalist development in the late nineteenth century and its hegemony in the late twentieth.

A literary history of our most influential book of all time, by an Oxford scholar and Anglican priest In our culture, the Bible is monolithic: It is a collection of books that has been unchanged and unchallenged since the earliest days of the Christian church. The idea of the Bible as "Holy Scripture," a non-negotiable authority straight from God, has prevailed in Western society for some time. And while it provides a firm foundation for centuries of Christian teaching, it denies the depth, variety, and richness of this fascinating text. In A History of the Bible, John Barton argues that the Bible is not a prescription to a complete, fixed religious system, but rather a product of a long and intriguing process, which has inspired Judaism and Christianity, but still does not describe the whole of either religion. Barton shows how the Bible is indeed an important source of religious insight for Jews and Christians alike, yet argues that it must be read in its historical context--from its beginnings in myth and folklore to its many interpretations throughout the centuries. It is a book full of narratives, laws, proverbs, prophecies, poems, and letters, each with their own character and origin stories. Barton explains how and by whom these disparate pieces were written, how they were canonized (and which ones weren't), and how they were assembled, disseminated, and interpreted around the world--and, importantly, to what effect. Ultimately, A History of the Bible argues that a thorough understanding of the history and context of its writing encourages religious communities to move away from the Bible's literal wording--which is impossible to determine--and focus instead on the broader meanings of scripture.

This unique encyclopedia explores the historical and contemporary controversies between science and religion. It is designed to offer multicultural and multi-religious views, and provide wide-ranging perspectives. "Science, Religion, and Society" covers all aspects of the religion and science dichotomy, from humanities to social sciences to natural sciences, and includes articles by theologians, religion scholars, physicians, scientists, historians, and psychologists, among others. The first section, General Overviews, contains essays that provide a road map for exploring the major challenges and questions in science and religion. Following this, the Historical Perspectives section grounds these major questions in the past, and demonstrates how they have developed into the six broad areas of contemporary research and discussion that follow. These sections - Creation, the Cosmos, and Origins of the Universe; Ecology, Evolution, and the Natural World; Consciousness, Mind, and the Brain; Healers and Healing; Dying and Death; and Genetics and Religion - organize the questions and research that are the foundation of the enormous interest, and controversy, in science and religion today.