The complete idiot's guide to exploring God by Webb, Jeffrey B
Publication date 2005
Topics God
Publisher New York, NY : Alpha BooksCollection
inlibrary; printdisabled; internetarchivebooks; chinaDigitizing sponsor Kahle/Austin Foundation
Contributor Internet Archive
Language English
Title (alternate script) NoneAuthor (alternate script) None
358 pages : 23 cm
358 pages : 23 cm
===
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Exploring God Paperback – November 1, 2005
by Jeffrey B. Webb (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars 4 ratings
See all formats and editions
Paperback
from AUD 5.72
18 Used from AUD 5.72
1 New from AUD 16.45
Who is God?
Today, with religion being talked about more than ever in the United States, and most Americans professing their belief in God, the time is ripe for an exploration of what God means, and has meant, throughout history. In this fascinating guide, Jeffrey Webb explores humanity’s ideas of God, from the days of Pantheism through the Hebrew Scriptures and rabbinic tradition, to Christian Trinity and the New Testament, to the Qur’an and God in the Sunni and Shi’ite traditions, to present-day metaphysics and beyond.
-The religion category is hugely successful
-According to a 2003 Harris Poll, while only a quarter of Americans attend a religious service every week, 79% believe there is a God, and 66% are absolutely certain this is true
-The unbiased tone and coverage makes this book a perfect primer
Read less
Report incorrect product information.
Print length
384 pages
Language
English
Publisher
Alpha
Next page
Special offers and product promotions
Create your FREE Amazon Business account to save up to 10% with Business-only prices and free shipping. Register today
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Jeffrey B. Webb, Ph.D., is a historian and professor at Huntington College, where he teaches advanced courses in the history of Christianity and American religious history. The author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Christianity, he’s a co-editor of the Newsletter of the Conference on Faith and History, and his written work on topics in Christianity and Christian history has appeared in numerous academic journals and reference collections.
Product details
Publisher : Alpha (November 1, 2005)
Language : English
Paperback : 384 pages
ISBN-10 : 1592574297
ISBN-13 : 978-1592574292
Reading age : 18 years and up
Item Weight : 1.3 pounds
Dimensions : 7.38 x 0.82 x 9.02 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #5,095,318 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#8,981 in Comparative Religion (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.6 out of 5 stars 4 ratings
Videos
Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!
Upload video
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Follow
Jeffrey B. Webb
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
How would you rate your experience shopping for books on Amazon today?
Very poor Neutral Great
Customer reviews
4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
4 global ratings
5 star
56%
4 star
44%
3 star 0% (0%)
0%
2 star 0% (0%)
0%
1 star 0% (0%)
0%
How are ratings calculated?
Review this product
Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review
Top reviews
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
Cate A
5.0 out of 5 stars Religion 101
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2013
Verified Purchase
Haven't read far yet, but this book seems to give a comprehensible overview of different religions. Interesting to see similarities and differences.
Helpful
Report abuse
William D. Bailey
5.0 out of 5 stars A well-balance, theologically-slanted exposition
Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2010
I see that the preceding reviewer has retracted her review in which she described the book as Protestant-Christian biased. In my opinion the author reveals no such biases at all. Indeed, the book is a remarkably comprehensive -- and well-balanced -- review of the major religions of the world and their prominent variations. He also deals with appropriate length and fairness with Atheism and Agnosticism.
The reader should be aware that the focus of the book is with theology, albeit in very clear, layman's term. It deals with in reasonable detailed & rigorous way with the each religion's theological issues and their historic evolution. But this book isn't the place to look for much discussion of the incidental cultural traditions of the people of the various religions. Also - an likely for the better - it definitely doesn't deal with political issues, e.g. political Islam (Islamism), or the the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
Helpful
Report abuse
===
Includes bibliographical references (pages 329-338) and index
pt. 1. Concepts of God
Includes bibliographical references (pages 329-338) and index
pt. 1. Concepts of God
-- 1. Search for the divine -- Theism and its critics -- Questions and answers -- The spiritual impulse -- God and religion -- Is God a thing? -- Naming the ultimate reality -- 2. God is everything : pantheism -- What is pantheism? -- One realm or two? -- God and nature -- The importance of place -- Diversity of opinion -- Related concepts -- Panentheism -- Animism -- Neo-paganism -- 3. God is many : polytheism -- The mythic vision -- Explaining the beginning -- Sumerians' myths of creation -- The Greek variation -- The ideas of a Pantheon -- Gods and mortals -- Division of labor -- Henotheism : many gods, one in charge -- The practice of polytheism -- Eastern perspectives -- 4. God is one : monotheism -- Early arrivals -- Egyptian monotheism -- Zoroastrianism -- Some Greek philosophers -- Plato -- Aristotle -- The Stoics -- Plotinus -- The power of one -- Transcendence vs. immanence -- Hebrew perspectives -- Christian perspectives -- Islamic perspectives -- Patterns of belief -- Consequences of monotheism -- 5. God in none : atheism -- Idle speculation? -- Xenophanes -- Carneades -- Saving belief through syncretism -- Reason and revelation -- The disenchantment of the West -- Anticlericalism -- Humanism -- Science -- Freethinkers and Deists -- Reasons for disbelief -- The problem of causes -- The problem of natural law -- The problem of design -- The problem of good and evil -- The problem of religion -- Who killed (what) God? -- Atheism and agnosticism -- Eastern perspectives
pt. 2. The concept of God in Judaism
pt. 2. The concept of God in Judaism
-- 6. God in the Hebrew scriptures -- Father Abraham -- A surprise visitor -- Promises, promises -- Promises kept -- God of history -- There's more to the story : Moses -- Way down in Egypt land -- God gets a name -- Yahweh the deliverer -- Flagging commitments -- The covenant idea -- A terrifying presence -- Terms of the covenant -- God gets a house -- God of the heroes and kings -- God of the prophets and priests -- 7. God in the Rabbinic tradition -- Leaving the promised land -- Occupied Palestine -- Zealots -- Sadducees -- Pharisees -- Essenes -- Other groups -- Rabbinical schools -- The Hebrew canon -- The Talmud -- The Oral Torah -- Mishnah -- Gemara -- Rashi's commentaries -- Tosafot -- Wrestling with God -- 8. God in Jewish mysticism -- The journey of Rabbi Akiba -- Seeing God -- Origins of Kabbalah -- The Book of Brightness -- Isaac ben Abraham -- Spanish mysticism -- God in the Book of Splendor -- Tikkun Olam (Restoring the world) -- Is mysticism accepted in Judaism? -- 9. God in Jewish thought -- Philo of Alexandria -- Rereading the Torah -- Mystical knowledge of God -- The Logos -- Rabbinical Judaism : challenges and responses -- The Karaites -- Saadia ben Joseph -- Judah Halevi -- The coming of the Faylasufs -- The world of Maimonides -- Jewish thought in modern times -- Baruch Spinoza -- Judische Wissenschaft -- The Haskalah -- 10. God in contemporary Judaism -- Looking for God in the diaspora -- The Sephardim and Mizrachim -- The Ashkenazim -- Hasidism -- Signs of the times -- Reform Judaism -- Conservative Judaism -- Orthodox Judaism -- The Haredim, or ultra-Orthodox -- Secular Judaism -- Judaism and Israel
pt. 3. The concept of God in Christianity
pt. 3. The concept of God in Christianity
-- 11. God in the Bible -- Jesus the messenger -- Rethinking the law of Moses -- It's what's inside that counts -- The kingdom of God -- Sin and repentance -- The message of love -- Jesus the minister -- Jews and everyone else -- A gentle healer -- Spiritual warfare -- Passing it on -- Jesus the Messiah -- Jesus foretold -- Early types of Christ -- The incarnation of God -- The meaning of atonement -- He's gone : what's next? -- 12. God in early Christian theology -- Christianity meets Greek culture -- Paul in Ephesus -- Neoplatonism -- Gnosticism -- Three is one -- Initial questions -- Warring camps -- The Nicene vision -- Irreconcilable differences? -- Finding words for God -- Who, exactly, is Jesus? -- Works of Augustine -- Confessions -- The city of God -- 13. God in Christian experience -- The way to God -- Asceticism -- Monasticism -- Sacramentalism -- Mysticism -- Augustine's vision of God -- Theresa's interior castle -- Gifts of the spirit -- Portraits of Jesus -- People, places, and things -- Sacred liturgy, sacred space -- Devotionals -- Pilgrimage -- Material culture -- 14. God in Christian thought -- Faith and reason -- Thomas Aquinas -- Thomism -- Summa theologiae -- Proofs of God's existence -- Questioning faith and reason -- Resurgence of mystery -- Toward a reformation -- Luther's work -- Theologians and mystics -- Disquisition and ecstasy -- Enlightened Christianity -- 15. God in modern Christian theology -- Christian existentialism -- The modern temper -- Kierkegaard's big questions -- From Heidegger to Tillich -- The new theology -- Fundamentalism -- Darwin and his critics -- Doctrines : inerrancy and dispensationalism -- The living spirit -- Process theology -- Liberation theology -- Feminist theology
pt. 4. The concept of God in Islam
pt. 4. The concept of God in Islam
-- 16. God in the Qur'an -- An Arab prophet to the world -- Visitor on Mt. Hira -- A recitation -- Flight to Medina -- Back to Mecca -- Allah in the Qur'an -- Sacred language -- One God for everyone -- Ninety-nine beautiful names -- The straight path -- Meaning of Islam -- Way of the prophet -- Five pillars of faith -- A social vision -- 17. God in the Sunni tradition -- Preserving tradition -- Problems of succession -- Shi'a challenge -- The Umayyads -- The Abbasids -- Islam and Greek philosophy -- The saga of al-Ash'ari -- Emergence of Kalam, or theology -- The emergence of Falsafah, or philosophy -- Abu Nasr al-Farabi -- Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Sina (a.k.a. Avicenna) -- Abu al-Walid Muhammad ibn Rushd (a.k.a. Averroës) -- Shari'ah : finding God in Islamic law -- 18. God in the Shi'ite tradition -- Partisans of Ali -- Points of departure -- The extremists -- Twelvers -- Seveners -- Role of Imam -- A guiding light -- Hidden away -- The Ulema -- Divine immanence -- Continuing revelation -- Awaiting the Mahdi -- Unity in the Ummah -- 19. God in Islamic mysticism -- Kernels and shells -- Signs and signposts -- A philosopher's second career -- Early excesses -- Correcting Falsafah -- A crisis of faith -- What al-Ghazzali saw -- The inner path -- Doing mysticism the Sufi way -- Eye of the heart -- Finding God in the Dhikr -- An eclipse of self -- Ibn Arabi -- Sufism and traditional Islam -- 20. God in Islamic renewal movements -- Islam and the West : a thumbnail sketch -- Wahhabism -- Mahdiyya -- Allah for modern times -- Muhammad Abduh -- Indian variations -- The Muslim brotherhood -- In the shade of the Qur'an -- Reform and revolution
pt. 5. The concept of God in Eastern religions
pt. 5. The concept of God in Eastern religions
-- 21. The Vedas and beyond -- Architecture of Hinduism and Buddhism -- God in the Vedas -- Vedic gods -- Gods and people -- The way to heaven -- God in the Upanishads -- The path supreme -- Unity with the one -- The absolute within -- Yoga : the path of God within -- Karma and the variety of human destinies -- 22. God in Hindu tradition -- God in the Gita : more than one path -- Karma yoga : way of works -- Dhyana yoga : way of meditation -- Jnana yoga : way of knowledge -- Bhakti yoga : way of devotion -- Dimensions of divinity -- Trimurti -- Bhakti traditions -- Saguna and Nirguna Brahman -- One, few, and many -- The cosmic cycle -- Hindu metaphysics -- Sankhya -- Shankara -- Ramanuja -- Challenges to tradition -- Jainism -- Buddhism -- Sikhism -- Hinduism today -- 23. God in Buddhist thought and practice -- In the beginning -- The charmed life of Siddhartha Gautama -- Witness to suffering -- Two unfruitful paths -- An awakening -- Reaching Nirvana -- Siddhartha as the Buddha -- Four noble truths -- All life entails suffering -- The cause of suffering is desire -- Removing desire removes suffering -- Follow the eightfold path to remove desire -- The eightfold path -- Rethinking Hindu metaphysics -- Nirvana and God -- Anatta -- Skandas -- Pratitya-Samutpada -- Lingering questions -- 14. God in Buddhist traditions -- Three jewels -- The Buddha -- The Dharma -- The Sangha -- Theravada Buddhism -- One Buddha at a time -- Phases of enlightenment -- Buddhaghosa and the path of purification -- Mahayana Buddhism-- Many Buddhas -- Perfection of wisdom -- Rise of the Bodhisattvas -- Mahayana schools -- Vajrayana : Tantric Buddhism -- Dhyana : Zen Buddhism -- Sukhavati : pure land Buddhism -- 15. God in East Asian religion and philosophy -- Popular belief in China -- Shang-Di : the Lord above -- Heaven -- Yin and Yang -- Ancestor spirits -- Taoism -- Inadequacy of words -- Ultimate reality -- We Wei : no action -- Confucianism -- Confucian virtues -- Legacies of Confucianism -- Mencius and Hsun Tzu -- Neo-Confucianism -- Confucianism and modernity -- I Ching -- East Asian Buddhism -- Japanese visions
pt. 6. Keeping the faith
pt. 6. Keeping the faith
-- 26. The case against God in the modern world -- How can we know anything for sure? -- The trouble with proof -- Pascal's wager -- The Cartesian moment -- A scientific revolution -- The advent of atheism -- Scientific naturalism -- The idealists -- Kat to the rescue -- G.W.F. Hegel's absolute spirit -- Atheism's modern architects -- Arthur Schopenhauer : God as an illusion -- Ludwig Feuerbach : God as a projection -- Karl Marx : God as a drug -- Friedrich Nietzsche : God is dead -- A material world : Darwin and Freud -- Scientific study of religion -- 27. Rescuing belief in uncertain times -- The will to believe -- A reason to believe -- Seekers -- Help in times of need -- Meaning in tragedy -- A reason to go on living -- Power for living -- The politicization of God -- Appendixes -- A. Resources -- B. Glossary
Access-restricted-item trueAddeddate 2018-12-18 09:52:30Boxid IA1515902Camera Sony Alpha-A6300 (Control)Collection_set chinaFoldoutcount 0Identifier completeidiotsgu0000webbIdentifier-ark ark:/13960/t1kh8100zInvoice 1213Isbn 1592574297
9781592574292Lccn 2005929452Ocr ABBYY FineReader 11.0 (Extended OCR)
SHOW MORE
Full catalog record MARCXML
plus-circle Add Review
commentReviews
Reviewer: youcef lakhmi - favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite - February 9, 2020
Subject: HELLO
PLEASE I REALLY NEED THIS BOOK IN MY RESEARCH
9781592574292Lccn 2005929452Ocr ABBYY FineReader 11.0 (Extended OCR)
SHOW MORE
Full catalog record MARCXML
plus-circle Add Review
commentReviews
Reviewer: youcef lakhmi - favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite - February 9, 2020
Subject: HELLO
PLEASE I REALLY NEED THIS BOOK IN MY RESEARCH
