Marveling Religion: Critical Discourses, Religion, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe is an edited volume that explores the intersection of religion and cinema through the lenses of critical discourse. The focus of the shared inquiry are various films comprising the first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and corresponding Netflix series. The contributors explore various religious themes and how they intersect with culture through the canon on the MCU. The first part focuses on responses to the societal, governmental, and cultural context that solidified with clarity during the 2016 Presidential Election cycle in the United States and in the following administration. Additionally, it provides lenses and resources for engaging in productive public actions. Part two explores cultural resources of sustaining activism and resistance as well as some of the key issues at stake in public action. The third part centers on militarization and resistance to state violence. Taken in concert, these three sections work together to provide frames for understanding while also keeping us engaged in the concrete action to mobilize social change. The overarching aim of the volume is to promote critical discourse regarding the dynamics of activism and political resistance.

Post-Christian Religion in Popular Culture: Theology through Exegesis analyzes several theological exegeses of contemporary popular culture as post-Christian scripture. It includes analyses of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Lion King, and Cloud Atlas, the television shows Lucifer and Shameless, and contemporary pop punk and alternative music. Through an application of three hermeneutical methods (re-enchantment, resourcement, and rescription), a prophetic and apocalyptic critique of modernity, and an analysis of the late-modern human condition, Andrew D. Thrasher argues how popular culture recites post-Christian religious and theological messages marked by a post-disenchantment theology constituted by the consumption of these messages shapes and informs what the contemporary world finds believable, credible, and desirable in a post-Christian context.

Introducing Religion examines the different ways of looking at religion in the twenty-first century. Providing a broad overview to the discipline of religious studies, this new edition continues to introduce students to engaging and contemporary topics such as: sociology of religion psychology of religion history of religion religion and art religious ethics popular religion religion and violence Thoroughly updated throughout, this sixth edition includes new coverage of current debates and hot topics in the field, such as concerns about "essentialism" in religion, the importance of categorization, and the role of psychology in religious experience. This textbook is fundamental reading for students approaching this subject area for the first time.

In my years in the Prayer Ministry, I have come to discover that there are many diverse views of prayer, apprehensions, misunderstanding, misuse of prayer for financial gain through the exploitation of seekers of help. Thus, in many instances, the object of prayer, praying to God, has shifted from God to faith in men who promote prayer through Wealth and Healing Ministries. These men promote prayer, by manipulating their followers' minds, as the only power to gain wealth and healing while acting as their intermediaries between them and God to receive answers to their prayers. Their goal, however, is to make money on the backs of their followers who are manipulated to believe in the so-called miracles they perform for them. The power and true benefits are now shifting to false miracle-working prayers. Of course there is a place fro and power in intercessory prayer, no one should be made to believe that there are some special people who alone who can, and must pray to God to experience his blessing. The single most important requirement of prayer is faith in God. When personal faith in God is absent, prayer dies and the experience of the power and blessings from prayer are lost. Faith, however, may not necessarily translate into victory in every circumstance. what acts of faith do guarantee is that we will please God and eventually be rewarded by him. The purpose of this book, The Prayer of Faith (Praying with Hope), is to help everyone who prays to understand that prayer is first, building a relationship with God, through Jesus and not just to receive or see miracles. It explains that anyone who exercised faith in Jesus can literally move the "mountains" in their lives, if they prayed and prayed the right way. Faith treats things hoped for as a reality, with a conviction that what is being asked for, has a real answer. Faith is, therefore, mandatory for those who approach God. Faith is never easy, it wasn't meant to be so. But the more convinced we are of the reality of an all-good, all-loving, all-powerful God, the more our trust will grow, and the least we will be overwhelmed by doubts and temptations. How strong is your faith? As thou has believed, so be it done unto thee. Discover the secret, the power and joy of praying by faith to move your mountains as you read on.

This book is about savoring life—the capacity to attend to the joys, pleasures, and other positive feelings that we experience in our lives. The authors enhance our understanding of what savoring is and the conditions under which it occurs. Savoring provides a new theoretical model for conceptualizing and understanding the psychology of enjoyment and the processes through which people manage positive emotions. The authors review their quantitative research on savoring, as well as the research of others, and provide measurement instruments with scoring instructions for assessing and studying savoring. Authors Bryant and Veroff outline the necessary preconditions that must exist for savoring to occur and distinguish savoring from related concepts such as coping, pleasure, positive affect, emotional intelligence, flow, and meditation. The book’s lifespan perspective includes a conceptual analysis of the role of time in savoring. Savoring is also considered in relation to human concerns, such as love, friendship, physical and mental health, creativity, and spirituality. Strategies and hands-on exercises that people can use to enhance savoring in their lives are provided, along with a review of factors that enhance savoring. Savoring is intended for researchers, students, and practitioners interested in positive psychology from the fields of social, clinical, health, and personality psychology and related disciplines. The book may serve as a supplemental text in courses on positive psychology, emotion and motivation, and other related topics. The chapters on enhancing savoring will be especially attractive to clinicians and counselors interested in intervention strategies for positive psychological adjustment.

Author Mark Noll presents the unfolding drama of American Christianity with accuracy and skill, from the first European settlements to ecumenism in the late 20th Century. This work has become a standard in the field of North American religious history.