God's Phallus

God's Phallus PDF

Author: Howard Eilberg-Schwart

Publisher: Beacon Press

Published: 1995-12-31

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 9780807012253

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God's Phallus explores the dilemmas created by the maleness of God for the men of ancient Judaism and for Jewish men today.

God's Phallus And Other Problems for Men And Monotheism

God's Phallus And Other Problems for Men And Monotheism PDF

Author: Howard Eilberg-Schwartz

Publisher:

Published: 1994-09-30

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 9780756784317

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The God of the Hebrew Bible is clearly male, yet until now no scholar has asked how God's maleness affects human men. In this groundbreaking volume, Howard Eilberg-Schwartz, an ordained rabbi, uses close readings of the Hebrew Bible, as well as insights from feminist & gender criticism, anthropology, & psychoanalysis, to explore the dilemmas created by the maleness of God for the men of ancient Judaism & for Jewish men today. In this absorbing & provocative exploration of the problems raised when men worship a male god (while trying to avoid the sexual implications of that worship at the same time), he uncovers many of the tensions & contradictions that bedevil conceptions of masculinity & male bonding to this day.

Phallic Worship: A Description of The Mysteries of The Sex Worship of The Ancients With The History of The Masculine Cross

Phallic Worship: A Description of The Mysteries of The Sex Worship of The Ancients With The History of The Masculine Cross PDF

Author: Anonymous

Publisher: Library of Alexandria

Published:

Total Pages: 616

ISBN-13: 1465516891

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Sex Worship has prevailed among all peoples of ancient times, sometimes contemporaneous and often mixed with Star, Serpent, and Tree Worship. The powers of nature were sexualised and endowed with the same feelings, passions, and performing the same functions as human beings. Among the ancients, whether the Sun, the Serpent, or the Phallic Emblem was worshipped, the idea was the same—the veneration of the generative principle. Thus we find a close relationship between the various mythologies of the ancient nations, and by a comparison of the creeds, ideas, and symbols, can see that they spring from the same source, namely, the worship of the forces and operations of nature, the original of which was doubtless Sun worship. It is not necessary to prove that in primitive times the Sun must have been worshipped under various names, and venerated as the Creator, Light, Source of Life, and the Giver of Food. In the earliest times the worship of the generative power was of the most simple and pure character, rude in manner, primitive in form, pure in idea, the homage of man to the supreme power, the Author of life. Afterwards the worship became more depraved, a religion of feeling, sensuous bliss, corrupted by a priesthood who were not slow to take advantage of this state of affairs, and inculcated with it profligate and mysterious ceremonies, union of gods with women, religious prostitution and other degrading rites. Thus it was not long before the emblems lost their pure and simple meaning and became licentious statues and debased objects. Hence we have the depraved ceremonies at the worship of Bacchus, who became, not only the representative of the creative power, but the God of pleasure and licentiousness. The corrupted religion always found eager votaries, willing to be captives to a pleasant bondage by the impulse of physical bliss, as was the case in India and Egypt, and among the Phœnicians, Babylonians, Jews and other nations. Sex worship once personified became the supreme and governing deity, enthroned as the ruling God over all; dissent therefrom was impious and punished. The priests of the worship compelled obedience; monarchs complied to the prevailing faith and became willing devotees to the shrines of Isis and Venus on the one hand, and of Bacchus and Priapus on the other, by appealing to the most animating passion of nature.

The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic and Mysticism

The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic and Mysticism PDF

Author: Geoffrey W. Dennis

Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0738709050

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How are alchemy, astrology, magic, and numerology related to Jewish mysticism? The fabulous, miraculous, and mysterious are all explored in this comprehensive reference to Jewish esotericism-the first of its kind! From amulets and angels to the zodiac and zombies, the "Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic and Mysticism" features over one thousand alphabetical entries. Rabbi Geoffrey W. Dennis offers a much-needed culmination of Jewish occult teachings that includes significant stories, mythical figures, practices, and ritual objects. Spanning the Bible, the Midrash, Kabbalah, and other mystical branches of Judaism, this well-researched text is meant to trigger insight, spark inspiration, and illuminate one of the oldest esoteric traditions still alive today.

Japan’s Sexual Gods

Japan’s Sexual Gods PDF

Author: Stephen Turnbull

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2015-05-19

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 9004293787

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Japan’s Sexual Gods is an exciting original work about the deities represented by phalluses and female sexual objects in Japanese shrines. Their roles in procreation and protection, their rituals and festivals are described in detail along with unique location photographs.

The Phallus

The Phallus PDF

Author: Alain Daniélou

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 1995-11-01

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 1594777314

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Beginning with an overview of the symbolism of creative forces in general, The Phallus first examines the representation of male fertility in such forms as the menhirs or standing stones of prehistoric Europe; the Mahalinga and Svayambhu of India; and the ancient Greek Omphalos. The second part of the book surveys the presence of ithyphallic gods in archaic shamanistic religions (the Lord of the Animals), the Greek pantheon (Hermes, Priapus), and the Hindu deities (Ardhanarishvara, the androgyne). Danielou also explores the role of Shaivist and Dionysian initiatory rites in bringing men into communion with the creative forces of life. Illustrated throughout with photographs and line drawings of European and Indian art, The Phallus celebrates the expression of the masculine in the religious traditions of East and West. Phallic imagery, in one form or another, may be found in the artistic traditions of virtually every world culture since prehistoric times. Alain Danielou here unveils the religious impulse underlying art that at first glance seems to have no purpose beyond the erotic.

God

God PDF

Author: Alexander Waugh

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2014-06-03

Total Pages: 358

ISBN-13: 1466872519

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This is a book about God. Not just any god, but the god that created Adam and Eve; the god of Abraham, the god of the Jews; the god of the Christians; and the god of Islam---without a doubt, the most influential figure in the history of human civilization. But what do we really know about him? Who is he? Where did he come from? What does he look like? What sort of character does he have? What, if anything, does he eat? Does he have a family? In what ways can he be said to even exist at all? Alexander Waugh has been asking questions like these for as long as he can remember. Now, having drawn from an enormous range of sources, from the sacred books of the Torah, the Christian New Testament, and the Islamic Qur'an, from the Greek Apocrypha and the ancient texts of Nag Hammadi to the Dead Sea Scrolls, he has sought out the answers. Using material gleaned from the diverse writings of saints, rabbis, historians, prophets, atheists, poets, and mystics, he has molded his findings into a singular, striking biographical portrait of God. Erudite, perceptive, and entertaining, God reveals many startling and unexpected characteristics of the divine being. From the simple stories of Genesis and Job, explored from God's own viewpoint, to the prophecies of Muhammad and Sybil and the intricate philosophies of Newton and Nietzsche, Alexander Waugh has left no stone unturned in his compulsive mission to create a fascinating and complex portrait of God, as humans have claimed to understand him.

Religious Identity and the Invention of Tradition

Religious Identity and the Invention of Tradition PDF

Author: A.W.J. Houtepen

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2021-11-15

Total Pages: 377

ISBN-13: 900449443X

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STAR - Studies in Theology and Religion, 3 This book contains the contributions to the first international conference organised by the Netherlands School for Advanced Studies in Theology and Religion (NOSTER), held in the Netherlands in January 1999. The conference theme was inspired by Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger’s influentual volume, The Invention of Tradition. Their work provided a starting point for discussing formations and changes of religious traditions on the one hand, and the interaction of religious identities and the transformation of traditions on the other. After an introductory section discussing Hobsbawm’s definitions and his theoretical framework, and offering several critical applications of his framework to Christian traditions, the main part of this volume consists of three thematic sections: the theme of the Exodus, the earliest traditions about the Lord’s supper, and the modern “myth of Fundamentalism”. This volume will be of interest to all those engaged in the study of religious traditions and identities, and the way in which these interact. From the Contents The Invention of Religious Traditions Counterfactuals and the Invention of Religious Traditions - Marcel Sarot The Creation of Tradition: Rereading and Reading beyond Hobsbawm - Paul Post Early Christianity between Divine Promise and Earthly Politics - Willemien Otten Challenging the Tradition of the Bodiless God: A Way to Inclusive Monotheism? - Kune E. Biezeveld Invention of Tradition? Trinity as Test - Herwi Rikhof Inventing and Re-inventing the Exodus The Exodus as Charter Myth - Karel van der Toorn Exodus: Liberation History against Charter Myth - Rainer Albertz The Development of the Exodus Tradition - John Collins History-oriented Foundation Myths in Israel and its Environment - Hans-Peter Müller The Exodus Motif in the Theologies of Liberation: Changes of Perspective - Georges De Schrijver Exodus in the African-American Experience - Theo Witvliet The Invention of the Eucharist and its Aftermath The Early History of the Lord’s Supper - Henk Jan de Jonge The Early History of the Lord’s Supper: Response to Henk Jan de Jonge - Dietrich-Alex Koch The Lord’s Supper and the Holy Communion in the Middle Ages: Sources, Significance, Remains and Confusion - Charles Caspers Meal and Sacrament: How Do We Encounter the Lord at the Table - Gerrit Immink Religious Fundamentalism: Facts and Fiction The Borderline between Muslim Fundamentalism and Muslim Modernism: An Indonesian Example - Herman Beck The Roaring Lion Strikes Again: Modernity vs. Dutch Orthodox Protestantism - Hijme Stoffels Fundamentalism: The Possibilities and Limitations of a Social-Psychological Approach - Jacques Janssen, Jan van der Lans and Mark Dechesne

God’s Beauty Parlor

God’s Beauty Parlor PDF

Author: Stephen D. Moore

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 374

ISBN-13: 9780804743327

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God's Beauty Parlor opens the Bible to the contested body of critical commentary on sex and sexuality known as queer theory and to masculinity studies. The author pursues the themes of homoeroticism, masculinity, beauty, and violence through such texts as the Song of Songs, the Gospels, the Letter to the Romans, and the Book of Revelation.