Pagan Theology

Pagan Theology PDF

Author: Michael York

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2005-04

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 0814797083

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In Pagan Theology, Michael York situates Paganism—one of the fastest-growing spiritual orientations in the West—as a world religion. He provides an introduction to, and expansion of, the concept of Paganism and provides an overview of Paganism's theological perspective and practice. He demonstrates it to be a viable and distinguishable spiritual perspective found around the world today in such forms as Chinese folk religion, Shinto, tribal religions, and neo-Paganism in the West. While adherents to many of these traditions do not use the word “pagan” to describe their beliefs or practices, York contends that there is an identifiable position possessing characteristics and understandings in common for which the label “pagan” is appropriate. After outlining these characteristics, he examines many of the world's major religions to explore religious behaviors in other religions which are not themselves pagan, but which have pagan elements. In the course of examining such behavior, York provides rich and lively descriptions of religions in action, including Buddhism and Hinduism. Pagan Theology claims Paganism’s place as a world religion, situating it as a religion, a behavior, and a theology.

Pagan Virtue in a Christian World

Pagan Virtue in a Christian World PDF

Author: Anthony F. D’Elia

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2016-01-04

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 0674088549

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In 1462 Pope Pius II performed the only reverse canonization in history, publicly damning a living man. The target was Sigismondo Malatesta, Lord of Rimini and a patron of the arts with ties to the Florentine Renaissance. Condemned to an afterlife of torment, he was burned in effigy in several places in Rome. What had this cultivated nobleman done to merit such a fate? Pagan Virtue in a Christian World examines anew the contributions and contradictions of the Italian Renaissance, and in particular how the recovery of Greek and Roman literature and art led to a revival of pagan culture and morality in fifteenth-century Italy. The court of Sigismondo Malatesta (1417–1468), Anthony D’Elia shows, provides a case study in the Renaissance clash of pagan and Christian values, for Sigismondo was nothing if not flagrant in his embrace of the classical past. Poets likened him to Odysseus, hailed him as a new Jupiter, and proclaimed his immortal destiny. Sigismondo incorporated into a Christian church an unprecedented number of zodiac symbols and images of the Olympian gods and goddesses and had the body of the Greek pagan theologian Plethon buried there. In the literature and art that Sigismondo commissioned, pagan virtues conflicted directly with Christian doctrine. Ambition was celebrated over humility, sexual pleasure over chastity, muscular athleticism over saintly asceticism, and astrological fortune over providence. In the pagan themes so prominent in Sigismondo’s court, D’Elia reveals new fault lines in the domains of culture, life, and religion in Renaissance Italy.

Pagan and Witch Elders of the World

Pagan and Witch Elders of the World PDF

Author: Tamara Von Forslun

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2020-10-07

Total Pages: 365

ISBN-13: 1984507257

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The Pagan or Witch Elder is a leader who has lead by example, and teaches their wisdom to those that will listen, they have cleared the path for those to follow. We must remember and know who these Spiritual and Magical Warriors were and are, some who are still fighting in the world for our acceptance and understanding. This book is filled with hundreds of Elders (some known and some not well known) who stood tall and fought the establishment with compassion and strength, endurance and wisdom, courage, and determination, to share an ancient knowledge that has been awakened by them in the 21st century. I write this book so that our Pagan community remembers and knows who these brave Spiritual Earth Warriors were and are, and what they have given, sacrificed, and shared for the future of our world. This book is to honour all our Elders, so they are never forgotten and always honoured. MERRY WE MEET, MERRY WE PART, AND MERRY WE MEET AGAIN!

A Bard's Book of Pagan Songs

A Bard's Book of Pagan Songs PDF

Author: Hugin the Bard

Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide Limited

Published: 1998-06

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 9781567186581

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Original songs by "Hugin the Bard" accompanied by story, tale, or lore; each song with lyrics, chord charts, and lead sheets. Also includes a version of the Mabinogion, in English, translated from the Welsh.

Modern Paganism in World Cultures

Modern Paganism in World Cultures PDF

Author: Michael Strmiska

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2005-12-12

Total Pages: 393

ISBN-13: 1851096132

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The most comprehensive study available of neo-pagan religious movements in North America and Europe. Modern Paganism in World Cultures collects the work of specialists in religion, folklore, and related fields to provide a comprehensive treatment of the movement to reestablish pre-Christian religions. Detailed accounts of the belief systems and rituals of each religion, along with analysis of the cultural, social, and political factors fueling the return to ancestral religious practice, make this a rich, singular resource. Scandinavian Asatru, Latvian Dievturi, American Wicca—long-dormant religions are taking on new life as people seek connection with their heritage and look for more satisfying approaches to the pressures of postmodernism. The Neopagan movement is a small but growing influence in Western culture. This book provides a map to these resurgent religions and an examination of the origins of the Neopagan movement.

A Pagan Testament

A Pagan Testament PDF

Author: Brendan Myers

Publisher: Moon Books

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781846941290

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"Pagans often claim that their spiritual inspiration comes not from a written scripture but from personal experience and original creativity. Yet there are many written works which constitute its testament. Some of them are thousands of years old, such as the Descent of Ishtar, and The Homeric Hymn to Demeter. Others are more recent, such as The Charge of the Goddess." "A Pagan Testament collects these original works, along with the poetry and prose that inspired the founders of the modern Pagan movement. It also includes the largest collection of circle songs and wisdom teachings ever published, which are the Pagan equivalent of the Biblical Psalms and Proverbs."--BOOK JACKET.

Pagans and Christians in the City

Pagans and Christians in the City PDF

Author: Steven D. Smith

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2018-11-15

Total Pages: 405

ISBN-13: 1467451487

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Traditionalist Christians who oppose same-sex marriage and other cultural developments in the United States wonder why they are being forced to bracket their beliefs in order to participate in public life. This situation is not new, says Steven D. Smith: Christians two thousand years ago faced very similar challenges. Picking up poet T. S. Eliot’s World War II–era thesis that the future of the West would be determined by a contest between Christianity and “modern paganism,” Smith argues in this book that today’s culture wars can be seen as a reprise of the basic antagonism that pitted pagans against Christians in the Roman Empire. Smith’s Pagans and Christians in the City looks at that historical conflict and explores how the same competing ideas continue to clash today. All of us, Smith shows, have much to learn by observing how patterns from ancient history are reemerging in today’s most controversial issues.

Too Christian, Too Pagan

Too Christian, Too Pagan PDF

Author: Dick Staub

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 9780310233152

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The author, a radio broadcaster, takes on Christian evangelism, offering readers a new approach to preaching the word, and living as a follower of Christ in "The World."

Nature Religion Today

Nature Religion Today PDF

Author: Joanne Overend

Publisher:

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780748610570

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While traditional religions are in decline, Paganism is an area of unprecedented growth. This book offers an informed, state of the art insight into this fascinating area of cultural change. Drawing on accounts from practitioners and academics, it shows nature religion evolving from a blend of environmental activism, feminism, critiques of capitalism and innovative forms of spirituality, such as dedication to the Goddess. This is a cutting-edge study which raises important questions about the recovery of tradition in late modernity, as well as nature religion's relationship with the global but fragmented religious resurgence known as the New Age.