Synopses & Reviews
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Table of Contents.
Read the Preface.
"Folk religionists and those interested in placing 'pagan phenomena' in the context of worldwide religiousity will find York's book interesting."
Missiology: An International Review
"I have little doubt that it will reinvigorate not only the debate over the definition of religion but, perhaps more significantly, the debate over where one religion starts and another ends."Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
"Scholarly, but wholly accessible."Terry Gifford (University of Leeds)
"This work will interest anyone investigating the nexus of science, social policy, and the law in modern America."Sociology of Religion
"Part travelogue, part theological argument, part sociological study, Michael York's Pagan Theology is a tour through paganism's multiple forms in space and time. York does an admirable job of making paganism visible as an important area of study in religion. Pagan Theology will appeal to an international audience of scholars and practitioners of Paganism, but should also be of interest to scholars of religion more broadly, since York examines paganism in a global context, and as it occurs within other world religions, as root religion."The Pomegranate
"York has collected a great diversity of global religious information to compare and contrast the fundamental and universal religious elements they contain. This appears to be his life work."
Journal of the American Academy of Religion
"There is interesting and valuable information in Pagan Theory. The author has done his homework, and much of what he writes is taken from first-hand observation."
facingnorth.net )
"Michael York has laid the intellectual groundwork for a new approach to theology, one which hopefully might reconcile the appalling feuding ones of our time."
The Quest
"York endeavors to demonstrate that paganism in its many varieties has an underlying unity."
Library Journal
In Pagan Theology, Michael York situates Paganismone of the fastest-growing spiritual orientations in the Westas 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.
Review
“Michael York’s audacious redrawing of traditional religious boundaries and scholarly categories reaffirms paganism's place both as legitimate spiritual expression and as a field of academic inquiry.”
“An ambitious book, one that argues and then demonstrates that paganism is an important religious perspective by tracing specific themes through a surprisingly wide variety of spiritual traditions. This is the first successful attempt to articulate a theology that is based on what paganism is, rather than on what it is not when compared to Judeo/Christian traditions. York's work is an important contribution to the study of religion in general, and foundational for the emerging field of Pagan Studies. It is the beginning of a whole new dialogue.”
“Folk religionists and those interested in placing 'pagan phenomena' in the context of worldwide religiousity will find York's book interesting.”
“I have little doubt that it will reinvigorate not only the debate over the definition of religion but, perhaps more significantly, the debate over where one religion starts and another ends.”
“Scholarly, but wholly accessible.”
Review
“Michael Yorks audacious redrawing of traditional religious boundaries and scholarly categories reaffirms paganism's place both as legitimate spiritual expression and as a field of academic inquiry.”
-Chas S. Clifton,Colorado State University-Pueblo
Review
“An ambitious book, one that argues and then demonstrates that paganism is an important religious perspective by tracing specific themes through a surprisingly wide variety of spiritual traditions. This is the first successful attempt to articulate a theology that is based on what paganism is, rather than on what it is not when compared to Judeo/Christian traditions. York's work is an important contribution to the study of religion in general, and foundational for the emerging field of Pagan Studies. It is the beginning of a whole new dialogue.”
-Wendy Griffin,editor of Daughters of the Goddess
Review
“Folk religionists and those interested in placing 'pagan phenomena' in the context of worldwide religiousity will find York's book interesting.”
-Missiology: An International Review,
Review
“I have little doubt that it will reinvigorate not only the debate over the definition of religion but, perhaps more significantly, the debate over where one religion starts and another ends.”
-Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
,
Review
“Scholarly, but wholly accessible.”
-Terry Gifford ,University of Leeds
Review
"Here, as in New York itself, may be found everything and everyone."-The New York Times Book Review,
Review
"The best one volume history of the nation's largest city... Anyone interested in New York should begin with American Metropolis." -David M. Reimers,Professor of History, New York University
Review
"Writing a complete, detailed, readable history of New York City is a formidable task but George Lankevich has done it! His book is a valuable contribution to the study of our nation's greatest city."-Selma Berrol,Professor Emerita, The City University of New York
Synopsis
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 Paganisms place as a world religion, situating it as a religion, a behavior, and a theology.
Synopsis
Magnet for the ambitious, lodestone for talented and oppressed alike, Mecca for businessmen and immigrants, New York City has presided for over 350 years as the critical center of American life. From its origins as a primitive Dutch outpost to the sprawling urban complex it is today, the defining characteristic of New York has been continuous, dramatic, and rapid change.
Historian George J. Lankevich's volume concentrates on political and economic affairs, illustrating how New York has always combined principle and pragmatism in its role as pace-setter in business communications, education, urban policy, and cultural life. American Metropolis is loosely divided into three historical epochs, each spanning roughly one of the last three centuries. In its early years, New York was defined by trial and tribulation; wars, fires, rebellions, and revolution were guiding influences on the colonial port. Nineteenth-century New York history was dominated by heroic figures in the form of bosses, reformers, merchant princes and statesmen, by enormous population increases, and by the achievement of commercial, financial, and cultural supremacy. For much of the twentieth century, greater New York, plagued by crime, white flight, fiscal trauma, and decay, embodied the nation's urban crisis. Its current Renaissance stands as fresh testimony to its characteristic vitality and resilience.
Emphasizing the cyclical nature of New York's history through tides of crisis and renewal, George J. Lankevich here offers the definitive short history of America's most important and vibrant metropolis. By understanding the history of New York, we obtain a vital sense of what America was, is, and can become.
About the Author
George J. Lankevich has written more than thirty books, has contributed many articles to The Encyclopedia of New York City, and is the author of Postcards from Times Square, Postcards from Manhattan, and New York City: A Short History (NYU Press). Professor emeritus of history at Bronx Community College, he lives in Manhasset, New York.