In recent years, a number of scholars trained in the area of economics have begun to pay attention to a fascinating and increasingly important question: Does the interrelationship between religion and enterprise shape entrepreneurial decision making? Though religious groups can provide additional means for the generation of social capital, especially where ethnicity is strongly associated with specific religious adherence, it has been largely absent in economic discussions. Understanding the Relationship Between Religion and Entrepreneurship is a collection of innovative research on the methods and applications of religious theology on entrepreneurial decision making. While highlighting topics including women in business, religious marketing, and consumer behavior, this book is ideally designed for entrepreneurs, theologists, business managers, policymakers, researchers, industry professionals, academician, and students seeking current research on the economic impacts of religious beliefs and practices.

'I wish this book had been around when I tried to teach about entrepreneurship in its social context, life would have been much easier with these informed sources.' - Alistair R. Anderson, Aberdeen Business School, UK

This volume elucidates both the diverse texts of the New Testament as well as the larger Jewish, Greek, and Roman worlds in which they were produced. It contains sections with various papers on the "Jewish Background of the New Testament," "Greco-Roman Background of the New Testament," "Jesus and the Gospels," "The Apostle Paul," "Hebrews, the Catholic Epistles, and Revelation," "New Testament Issues and Contexts," "The Text of the New Testament," and "After the New Testament." The volume therefore ranges from the law of Moses and intertestamental period to the First Jewish Revolt of AD 66-73 and the canonization of the New Testament.

In this interview, Fr. Robert A. Sirico addresses these questions, showing how Christians can appropriately respond to such issues, and present real challenges to dominant secularist ideas about the ends of freedom. Truth and freedom are inseparable, Sirico maintains, and this connection is at the core of human dignity.

Business has received little attention in American religious history, although it has profound implications for understanding the sustained popularity and ongoing transformation of religion in the United States. This volume offers a wide ranging exploration of the business aspects of American religious organizations. The authors analyze the financing, production, marketing, and distribution of religious goods and services and the role of wealth and economic organization in sustaining and even shaping worship, charity, philanthropy, institutional growth, and missionary work. Treating religion and business holistically, their essays show that American religious life has always been informed by business practices. Laying the groundwork for further investigation, the authors show how American business has functioned as a domain for achieving religious goals. Indeed they find that religion has historically been more powerful when interwoven with business. Chapters on Mormon enterprise, Jewish philanthropy, Hindu gurus, Native American casinos, and the wedding of business wealth to conservative Catholic social teaching demonstrate the range of new studies stimulated by the business turn in American religious history. Other chapters show how evangelicals joined neo-liberal economic practice and right-wing politics to religious fundamentalism to consolidate wealth and power, and how they developed marketing campaigns and organizational strategies that transformed the American religious landscape. Included are essays exposing the moral compromises religious organizations have made to succeed as centers of wealth and influence, and the religious beliefs that rationalize and justify these compromises. Still others examine the application of business practices as a means of sustaining religious institutions and expanding their reach, and look at controversies over business practices within religious organizations, and the adjustments such organizations have made in response. Together, the essays collected here offer new ways of conceptualizing the interdependence of religion and business in the United States, establishing multiple paths for further study of their intertwined historical development.

This unique handbook maps the growing field of consumer psychology in its increasingly global context. With contributions from over 70 scholars across four continents, the book reflects the cross-cultural and multidisciplinary character of the field. Chapters relate the key consumer concepts to the progressive globalization of markets in which consumers act and consumption takes place. The book is divided into seven sections, offering a truly comprehensive reference work that covers: The historical foundations of the discipline and the rise of globalization The role of cognition and multisensory perception in consumers’ judgements The social self, identity and well-being, including their relation to advertising Social and cultural influences on consumption, including politics and religion Decision making, attitudes and behaviorally based research Sustainable consumption and the role of branding The particularities of online settings in framing and affecting behavior The Routledge International Handbook of Consumer Psychology will be essential reading for anyone interested in how the perceptions, feelings and values of consumers interact with the decisions they make in relation to products and services in a global context. It will also be key reading for students and researchers across psychology and marketing, as well as professionals interested in a deeper understanding of the field.

Featuring comprehensive updates and additions, the second edition of Understanding Theories of Religion explores the development of major theories of religion through the works of classic and contemporary figures. • A new edition of this introductory text exploring the core methods and theorists in religion, spanning the sixteenth-century through to the latest theoretical trends • Features an entirely new section covering religion and postmodernism; race, sex, and gender; and religion and postcolonialism • Examines the development of religious theories through the work of classic and contemporary figures from the history of anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, and theology • Reveals how the study of religion evolved in response to great cultural conflicts and major historical events • Student-friendly features include chapter introductions and summaries, biographical vignettes, a timeline, a glossary, and many other learning aids