Culture and religion are basic to every human society, and the history of a people always sustains her cultural and religious values. We decided to use the African culture and religion as our departing point for the mere fact that Africa is generally considered as the cradle of civilization, and it is a very historic and controversial continent. However, while examining some prominent world cultures and religions (in a comparative manner), our major focus is on the Christian-Thomistic culture/religion as illustrated by Jacques Maritain in comparison with the African culture/religion as expressed by Joseph Ki-Zerbo. Both thinkers consider that in the midst of multiculturalism and globalization, authentic humanism or personalism that is based on the sacredness of the human person should be endorsed as a new civilization or culture. Only such a culture can make the future of humankind essentially meaningful and interesting.Shifting from all mediocre standards of culture which are based on relativism, supported by postmodern thinkers, there is a need to get back to the original culture that is based on authentic and objective standards. The major difference that we noticed between the Thomistic-Christian ideas and those of the Africans is that while Jacques Maritain appeals for Thomistic humanism to grow from the formal classrooms and the books into the streets and the fields, Ki-Zerbo explains that African humanism has always existed in the streets and in the fields; it might never even have existed in the books and in the classrooms. The global reaction toward the killing of George Floyd in USA, defying all fears of the COVID-19, intensifies the argument that a culture which qualifies one race as being superior over another has to be reexamined and radically eradicated and replaced by authentic humanism.

The first thorough assessment of the field of comparative religion in forty years, this groundbreaking volume surmounts the seemingly intractable division between postmodern scholars who reject the comparative endeavor and those who affirm it. The contributors demonstrate that a broader vision of religion, involving different scales of comparison for different purposes, is both justifiable and necessary. A Magic Still Dwells brings together leading historians of religions from a wide range of backgrounds and vantage points, and draws from traditions as diverse as Indo-European mythology, ancient Greek religion, Judaism, Buddhism, Ndembu ritual, and the spectrum of religions practiced in America. The contributors take seriously the postmodern critique, explain its impact on their work, uphold or reject various premises, and in several cases demonstrate new comparative approaches. Together, the essays represent a state-of-the-art assessment of current issues in the comparative study of religion.

This substantial volume of thirty-three original chapters covers the full range of issues in religious diversity. An indispensable guide for scholars and students, its essays make novel contributions and are crafted by recognized experts who represent a wide variety of religious and philosophical perspectives and backgrounds.

This dictionary provides unique and valuable access to the burgeoning world of religions, spiritualities and religious movements. It offers an overview of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Christian-ity, as well as many others.

Can religions be compared? For decades the discipline of religious studies was based on the assumption that they can. Postmodern and postcolonial reflections, however, raised significant doubts. In social and cultural studies the investigation of the particular often took precedence over a comparative perspective. Interreligious Comparisons in Religious Studies and Theology questions whether religious studies can survive if it ceases to be comparative religion. Can it do justice to a globalized world if it is limited on the specific and turns a blind eye on the general? While comparative approaches have come under strong pressure in religious studies, they have started flourishing in Theology. Comparative theology practices interfaith dialogue by means of comparative research. This volume asks whether theology and religious studies are able to mutually benefit from their critical and constructive reflections. Can postcolonial criticism of neutrality and objectivity in religious studies create new links with the decidedly perspectival approach of comparative theology? In this collection scholars from theology and religious studies discuss the methodology of interreligious comparison in the light of recent doubts and current objections. Together with the contributors, Perry Schmidt-Leukel and Andreas Nehring argue that after decades of critique, interreligious comparison deserves to be reconsidered, reconstructed and reintroduced.

This popular textbook has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect recent global developments, whilst retaining its unique and compelling narrative-style approach. Using ancient stories from diverse religions, it explores a broad range of important and complex moral issues, resulting in a truly reader-friendly and comparative introduction to religious ethics. A thoroughly revised and expanded new edition of this popular textbook, yet retains the unique narrative-style approach which has proved so successful with students Considers the ways in which ancient stories from diverse religions, such as the Bhagavad Gita and the lives of Jesus and Buddha, have provided ethical orientation in the modern world Updated to reflect recent discussions on globalization and its influence on cross-cultural and comparative ethics, economic dimensions to ethics, Gandhian traditions, and global ethics in an age of terrorism Expands coverage of Asian religions, quest narratives, the religious and philosophical approach to ethics in the West, and considers Chinese influences on Thich Nhat Hanh’s Zen Buddhism, and Augustine’s Confessions Accompanied by an instructor’s manual (coming soon, see www.wiley.com/go/fasching) which shows how to use the book in conjunction with contemporary films

What legitimate form can history take when faced by the severe challenges issued in recent years by literary, rhetorical, multiculturalist, and feminist theories? That is the question considered in this pathbreaking book. Robert Berkhofer addresses the essential practical concern of contemporary historians.