Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it. So the phenomenon has not aroused much deliberate concern. We have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is... (more)

Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why

Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why

by Bart D. Ehrman

When world-class biblical scholar Bart Ehrman first began to study the texts of the Bible in their original languages he was startled to discover the multitude of mistakes and intentional alterations that had been made by earlier translators. In Misquoting Jesus , Ehrman tells the story behind the mistakes and changes that ancient scribes made to the New Testament and shows the great impact they had upon the... (more)

Lost Christianities/ Lost Scriptures

by Bart D. Ehrman

The early Christian Church was a chaos of contending beliefs. Some groups of Christians claimed that there was not one God but two or twelve or thirty. Some believed that the world had not been created by God but by a lesser, ignorant deity. Certain sects maintained that Jesus was human but not divine, while others said he was divine but not human. In Lost Christianities, Bart D. Ehrman offers a fascinating look... (more)

The Druids

by Ronald Hutton

Ronald Hutton's latest book is the latest comprehensive study of what people have thought about the ancient Druids and why. Written in a racy and accessible style it is essential reading for everyone interested in exploring our mysterious past. Most books written on the Druids hitherto have been by archaeologists specialising in the Iron Age, who have occupied a great deal of space trying to find things to... (more)

Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament

Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament

by Bart D. Ehrman

We may think of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament as the only sacred writings of the early Christians, but this is not at all the case. Lost Scriptures offers an anthology of up-to-date and readable translations of many non-canonical writings from the first centuries after Christ--texts that have been for the most part lost or neglected for almost two millennia. Here is an array of remarkably varied... (more)

Witches, Druids And King Arthur

by Ronald Hutton

In "Stations of the Sun" and "The Triumph of the Moon", Ronald Hutton established himself as a leading authority on the historian of Paganism. His wealth of unusual knowledge, complemented by a deep and sympathetic understanding of past and present beliefs that are often dismissed as strange or marginal, and an ability to write lucidly and wittily, gives his work a unique flavour. The essays which make up... (more)

The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft

The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft

by Ronald Hutton

Here is a book that brings witchcraft out of the shadows. The Triumph of the Moon is the first full-scale study of the only religion England has ever given the world--modern pagan witchcraft, otherwise known as wicca. Meticulously researched, it provides a thorough account of an ancient religion that has spread from English shores across four continents. For centuries, pagan witchcraft has been linked with... (more)

Pagans & Christians: The Personal Spiritual Experience

Pagans & Christians: The Personal Spiritual Experience

by Gus DiZerega

Although Christianity is still a major religious force, there are growing numbers of people in other faiths, including the various Pagan traditions. Some Christians have responded to this trend with fear and derision, while some Pagans have reacted to that fear with anger and mistrust. Much of the problem is due to misunderstandings and lack of communication. This can change with Gus diZerega's Pagans... (more)

Researching Paganisms (The Pagan Studies Series)

Researching Paganisms (The Pagan Studies Series)

by Jenny Blain

"Researchers of Paganism from a variety of disciplines examine how they have been affected by their contact with this nontraditional religion, how this religion has been affected by academic researchers and what this reveals about participative research methods."

The Port Chicago Mutiny: The Story of the Largest Mass Mutiny Trial in U.S. Naval History

The Port Chicago Mutiny: The Story of the Largest Mass Mutiny Trial in U.S. Naval History

by Robert L. Allen

During World War II, Port Chicago was a segregated naval munitions base on the outer shores of San Francisco Bay. Black seamen were required to load ammunition onto ships bound for the South Pacific under the watch of their white officersâ€”an incredibly dangerous and physically challenging task. On July 17, 1944, an explosion rocked the base, killing 320 menâ€”202 of whom were black ammunition loaders. In the... (more)

Enchanted Feminism: The Reclaiming Witches of San Francisco (Religion and Gender)

Enchanted Feminism: The Reclaiming Witches of San Francisco (Religion and Gender)

by Jone Salomonsen

The Reclaiming community of witches refers to the spirituality re-claimed from ancient paganism and goddess worship in order to heal estrangement from Biblical religion. In this book, Salomonsen describes and analyzes the communal and ritual processes and practices of Reclaiming, and how these induce personal growth and cultural--religious change.

The Elements of Social Scientific Thinking

The Elements of Social Scientific Thinking

by Kenneth R. Hoover

A concise introduction to the fundamental concepts of social scientific thinking, this classic text--a favorite with students for over 30 years--makes scientific thinking, research methods and statistics accessible to undergraduates at a common sense level.

Engaged Surrender: African American Women and Islam (George Gund Foundation Imprint in African American Studies)

Engaged Surrender: African American Women and Islam (George Gund Foundation Imprint in African American Studies)

by Carolyn Moxley Rouse

Commonly portrayed in the media as holding women in strict subordination and deference to men, Islam is nonetheless attracting numerous converts among African American women. Are these women "reproducing their oppression," as it might seem? Or does their adherence to the religion suggest unsuspected subtleties and complexities in the relation of women, especially black women, to Islam? Carolyn Rouse sought answers... (more)

Sources of Indian Tradition, Volume Two: Modern India and Pakistan (2nd Edition)

Sources of Indian Tradition, Volume Two: Modern India and Pakistan (2nd Edition)

Since 1958 one of the most important and widely used texts on civilization in South Asia (now the nation-states of India, Pakstan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal), this classic is now extensively revised, with much new material added. Introductory essays explain the particular settings in which leading Indian thinkers have expressed their ideas about religious, social, political, and economic questions. Brief... (more)

The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India

The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India

by C. J. Fuller

Popular Hinduism is shaped, above all, by worship of a multitude of powerful divine beings--a superabundance indicated by the proverbial total of 330 million gods and goddesses. The fluid relationship between these beings and humans is a central theme of this rich and accessible study of popular Hinduism in the context of the society of contemporary India. Lucidly organized and skillfully written, The Camphor... (more)

Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability Oppression and Empowerment

Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability Oppression and Empowerment

by James I. Charlton

James Charlton has produced a ringing indictment of disability oppression, which, he says, is rooted in degradation, dependency, and powerlessness and is experienced in some form by five hundred million persons throughout the world who have physical, sensory, cognitive, or developmental disabilities. Nothing About Us Without Us is the first book in the literature on disability to provide a theoretical... (more)

Is the Goddess a Feminist?: The Politics of South Asian Goddesses

Is the Goddess a Feminist?: The Politics of South Asian Goddesses

by Alf Hiltebeitel, Kathleen M. Erndl

In India, God can be female. The goddesses of Hinduism and Buddhism represent the largest extant collection of living goddesses anywhere on the planet. Feminists in the West often draw upon South Asian goddesses as theological resources in the contemporary rediscovery of the Goddess. Yet, these goddesses are products of a male supremacist society. What is the impact of powerful female deities--their images,... (more)

Enterprising Women: Television Fandom and the Creation of Popular Myth (Publication of the American Folklore Society)

Enterprising Women: Television Fandom and the Creation of Popular Myth (Publication of the American Folklore Society)

by Camille Bacon-Smith

A study of the worldwide community of fans of Star Trek and other genre television series who create and distribute fiction and art based on their favorite series. This community includes people from all walks of life--housewives, librarians, secretaries, and professors of medieval literature. Ninety percent of its members are women

Buddhism

by Klaus K. Klostermaier

This meticulous introduction to the Buddhist tradition not only explores the origins of the movement, but also offers a detailed study of its schools, doctrines, and practices in addition to introducing all the major texts.

Voices from the Pagan Census: A National Survey of Witches and Neo-Pagans in the United States (Studies in Comparative Religion)

Voices from the Pagan Census: A National Survey of Witches and Neo-Pagans in the United States (Studies in Comparative Religion)

by Helen A. Berger

Voices from the Pagan Census provides unprecedented insight into the expanding but largely unstudied religious movement of Neo-Paganism in the United States. Helen A. Berger, Evan A. Leach, and Leigh S. Shaffer present the findings of "The Pagan Census," which was created and distributed by Berger and Andras Corban Arthen of the Earthspirit Community. Analyzing the most comprehensive and largest-scale survey of... (more)

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: scholarly

by Harry G. Frankfurt

by Bart D. Ehrman

by Bart D. Ehrman

by Ronald Hutton

by Bart D. Ehrman

by Ronald Hutton

by Ronald Hutton

by Gus DiZerega

by Jenny Blain

by Robert L. Allen

by Jone Salomonsen

by Kenneth R. Hoover

by Carolyn Moxley Rouse

by C. J. Fuller

by James I. Charlton

by Alf Hiltebeitel, Kathleen M. Erndl

by Camille Bacon-Smith

by Klaus K. Klostermaier

by Helen A. Berger