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A Dialectical Inquiry into the Rationality of Religion
The Devil’s Advocate versus God’s Honest Truth is a scholarly monograph exploring the rationality of religion, particularly the tenability of theism, through a dialectical analysis of plausible arguments for the existence of God versus reasonable grounds for suspicion. It offers a comprehensive and balanced coverage of the issues, inviting readers to reflect and ponder the subject in its full scope. The book does not, however, compromise on delivering the objectivity required in an area so dominated by sectarian scholarship and polarized beyond reconciliation.
Divine Disclosure, Nafs and the Transcendental Self in Islamic Thought
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In Spirit of the Mind, Sanaullah Khan delves into Islamic perspectives on the soul and its implications for spirituality and self-cultivation. Despite varying views on the soul's composition, a shared belief has persisted among theologians, scholars, preachers and reformists that it bears traces of the divine. Thus, drawing closer to God and gaining knowledge of nature involve returning to the soul's natural state of perfection. Central to Islamic thought is the struggle between the soul and the nafs (lower self), embodying carnal desires. In this context, achieving closeness to God requires purifying the soul to control the nafs. Khan traces a genealogy of the Islamic notion of the soul by exploring disturbances of the soul through Greek humoral theory, notions of spiritual weakness as deviation from perfection, the heart representing the seat of the soul, and the soul's aspiration for the divine light (nur) for its purification. Khan reflects on Islamic notions of the self through the tradition of the Perfect Man, which emphasizes spiritual ascent and divine proximity. Overall, the monograph offers a nuanced exploration of the soul's significance in Islamic thought, highlighting what thinkers have considered as the path to divine proximity and enlightenment.
Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 34 takes an intersectional approach to the study of religious and non-religious belief, in different geographical contexts, using a variety of methods and always privileging the layered identities of those who 'live' religion and non-religion in their daily lives. The Open Section includes articles on topics of everyday significance such as experiences of Zakat in Qatar, Muslim marriages in Britain and Indian migrants living in Indonesia. The Special Section (A Sociology of Religion or Belief in South Asia) includes articles that interrogate the politics of religious identity in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Throughout, this volume demonstrates how experiences of belief are shaped by local and historical contexts, in addition to theology.
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Using an interdisciplinary approach to the problem of the self, this study focuses on a gap left by previous philosophers. This shortcoming is related to the nature of the self to commit errors that become part of the identity of the self. These errors stain the self and make "I" what it is. This study shines light on the self that will give the reader a more balanced understanding of it. Fictional literature will be invoked to illustrate features of the self associated with errors. The book is divided into two parts: a review of selected theories of the self and a reconsideration of the self and errors producing being.  
Understanding Biblical Engagement for Transformation
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Ps 119:105).” An avid Bible-reader reflects, 'As the Lord leads, the lamp illuminates my path, step by step.” Such small step makes sense when connected to another inspirational moment, marked by her deeply moved heart. 'The movement of the heart' emerges as a recurring phenomenon in the in-depth interviews with dedicated Bible readers who share powerful narratives of their Bible-reading journey's ups and downs. By unraveling the psychological, spiritual, and cultural dimensions of this heart-moving experience, this book forges a fresh practical theology of Bible reading.
Light of a divine or transcendent nature is widely revered in various religious and mystical traditions around the world, and luminosity with mystical qualities such as love, bliss, peace, and noetic realization is also frequently reported by contemporary experiencers. Despite being described as a profoundly significant, sacred, and transformative experience, mystical luminosity has received relatively little attention in modern scholarship and scientific study, and has only been examined empirically within isolated contexts, such as NDEs or contemplative practices. This study examines the phenomenology which binds mystical luminosity across various experiential contexts to construct a phenomenologically grounded theoretical model. A three-part mixed methods investigation using a new mystical luminosity experience scale based on this model is then summarized, with findings generally supporting and further clarifying the model.
Volume Editors: and
An International Review of Empirical Research on the Psychology of Fundamentalism is a sequel to Williamson (2020), who examined the sociohistorical emergence of fundamentalism and controversial conceptions of the movement that have dominated decades of empirical research in psychology. He concluded by calling for a critical review of this sizable literature, amassed from the early 20th century. In the present book, W. Paul Williamson and Sarah Demmrich respond by providing summaries and critical observations for 365 empirical studies, collected and organized from peer-reviewed journals. A summary of findings indicated that the largest share of statistical associations between study variables and fundamentalism was moderate in size, followed by those that were weak, and then by strong relationships, which were much less frequent. However, this observed pattern of relationships, particularly those characterized by moderate and especially strong associations, much reflected the findings from sexual bias studies. Finally, the authors offer critical considerations for sample selection, methodology, and theoretical applications in future fundamentalism research.
History and Phenomenology of a Janus-faced Emotion
Wounded pride of the hero motivated one of the primal poems, pride of the angel caused his downfall and hubris of man cost him his expulsion from earthly paradise and the sale of his soul to the devil. Different forms of pride play a central role in many myths. This book conscientiously reviews the history of these emotions, literary recreations and philosophical approaches and accounts for their relevance in the contemporary world. It offers an original phenomenology of pride, which draws on preceding historical and analytical work, and a conceptual and musical speculation on the future of posthuman pride.
Volume 33 of Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion brings together an open section and two special sections that illuminate new vistas in the study of religious and non-religious belief. Special section 1 examines the historical roots of religious practice emerging from Greater Khurāsān – a historical ‘cross-road’ for many world religions. Special section 2 initiates a paradigm shift in study of religious and non-religious belief in relation to children, insisting upon foregrounding children’s narratives. Both special sections explore under-researched areas, underlining the significance of historical and contextual approaches. At an intrinsic level the volume interrogates the power dynamics that determine why particular voices and approaches are prioritised in the study of religious and non-religious belief, and why others remain under- or mis-heard.