If you find books such as Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion compelling but your faith heritage is also important to you, this book shows how you can affirm both. Taking a cue from Marcus Borg's contention that "scriptural literalism" is for many people a major impediment to authentic spirituality, Carl Jech describes how all religion can and should be much more explicit about its symbolic, metaphorical, and artistic nature. With a particular focus on mortality and the relationship of humans to eternity, the book affirms a postmodern understanding of "God" as ultimate eternal Mystery and of spirituality as an artistic, (w)holistic, visionary, and creative process of becoming at home in the universe as it really is with all its joys and sorrows. Religion as Art Form is a must-read for those who think of themselves as spiritual but not religious.

"One might say that where Religion becomes artificial, it is reserved for Art to save the spirit of religion." With these words Richard Wagner began "Religion and Art" (1880), one of his most passionate essays. That passion made Wagner himself a central icon in the growing cult of art. Wagner felt that he lived in an age of spiritual crisis. "It can but rouse our apprehension, to see the progress of the art-of-war departing from the springs of moral force, and turning more and more to the mechanical," he wrote. In response to the frightening progress of dynamite and steel, Wagner adopted the role of the Tone Poet Seer, who reveals the inexpressible in concert halls and cleanses souls in waves of symhonic revelation. "Religion and Art" is the pivot of the works collected here. Also included are his defining essays "Public and Popularity" and "The Public in Time and Space"; his papers relating to the creation of the Bayreuth School; his complaint against publishers, "On Poetry and Composition" (1879); his article on the first production of Parsifal (1882); and other works that speak his mind about strengthening the spirit through music. These works participated in the duel between Wagner and Nietzsche that ensued after the breakup of their friendship in 1878. Nietzsche publicly called Wagner an incurable romantic, emphasizing how sick he thought both Wagner and his art were. Here Wagner counterattacks with arch innuendo and sarcasm. This edition includes the complete volume 6 of the 1897 translation of Wagner's works commissioned by the London Wagner Society. William Ashton Ellis is one of the most important translators of nineteenth-century musicology. In addition to his monumental translation of Wagner's prose works, he translated Wagner's correspondence with Franz Lizst, Mathilde Wesendonck, and Wagner's own family. Ellis died in 1919.

An essential book on a broad range of World religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Gnosticism, etc) Modern art forms (Romanticism, Cubism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, YBAs, Postmodernism etc) and artists. This analysis gets to the heart of what constitutes religious art in a modern age. The book includes the work of art theorists (Benjamin, Greenberg, Debord, Bakhtin, Bataille, Sontag, Derrida) and over 120 key artists.

In this groundbreaking work, Brown shows how aesthetics, no less than ethics, can play a central role in the study of religion and in the practice of theology. "An important book, wide ranging, often very witty . . . showing an impressive grasp of the current state of aesthetics and possible new directions".--Nick McAdoo, British Journal of Aesthetics.

Teaching Religious and Worldviews Education Creatively offers a fresh perspective on the Religious Education (RE) curriculum. This second edition is crammed full of practical lesson ideas underpinned by cutting edge research authored by specialists in the field. It helps teachers understand what constitutes an effective and creative Religion and Worldviews Education (RWE) curriculum, and challenges teachers to view RWE as a transformatory subject that offers learners the tools to be discerning, to work out their own beliefs and to answer puzzling questions. This second edition of Teaching Religious and Worldviews Education Creatively includes fully updated chapters from the first edition with 11 new contributors and 5 brand new chapters. New topics include: - Visits, visitors and persona dolls - The RE Searchers approach - New ideas about policy, practice and assessment - Insights into RE in the UK and around the world - Anti-discriminatory RE - New and updated practical classroom ideas from practicing teachers Teaching Religious and Worldviews Education Creatively is for all teachers who want to learn more about innovative teaching and learning in RWE in order to improve understanding, knowledge and enjoyment, while at the same time transforming their own as well as their pupils’ lives.

As an increasingly significant aspect of primary teaching, Creative Approaches to Teaching Primary RE is the essential companion to help bring creativity to life in the classroom. The text begins with a discussion of creative education and the value of Religious Education, moving on to reflect on the cross-curricular nature of the subject, exploring ways of introducing creativity to the classroom, through the medium of Religious Education. Each chapter provides ideas and activities demonstrating how pedagogy and theory can be applied in practice within a school setting. The inclusion of case studies will help you consider how to develop creative approaches in all curriculum areas. This book invites you to ask questions such as: · What is Creative Education? · Why should RE be included in the ever-changing curriculum? · How can I use Religious Education to generate a more creative environment in the classroom?

Religious Studies was first introduced as a new discipline in universities and colleges around the world in the 1960s. This discipline brought about a reorientation of the study of religion, created new perspectives and influenced all sectors of education. The essays presented in this volume provide a clear and comprehensive overview of the history of Religious Studies as an academic discipline, the turning points it faces and the directions it might take in the future. The work is organised in three sections. The first presents a succinct case study of the historical development of Religious Studies in Britain. The second considers the development of Religious Studies throughout the world in its major constituents, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, 'traditional' African religions, Christianity, Islam and new religious movements in Africa, the study of truth and dialogue in religion, science and the rediscovery of religious experience, mysticism. The third section looks to developments in Religious Studies, in particular at religion in relation to the arts, gender, information technology and to Religious Studies in a global perspective.