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Religion in the national agenda : what we mean by religious, spiritual, secular / C. John Sommerville.

By: Material type: TextPublication details: Waco, Tex. : Baylor University Press, c2009.Description: xi, 241 p. ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 9781602581630 (hardback : alk. paper)
  • 1602581630 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subject(s): LOC classification:
  • BL 51 .S621 2009
Online resources:
Contents:
Growing confusion over religion and spirituality -- Defining "religious" and "religion" -- Why religion and education challenge each other -- Religion and the law -- Religion and political variety -- Science and reductionism -- Sciences of human life -- Religion and theologies at odds -- What we mean by secular.
Summary: C. John Sommerville examines common linguistic uses of the terms "religion," "religious," "spiritual," and "secular" in order to discern the proper use of these words in contemporary American culture. For example, he finds that, in English, "religion" is our word for a certain kind of response to a certain kind of power (the power and the response both being beyond anything else in our experience). Sommerville then redeploys these definitions to examine the ways that institutions in the fields of education, science, law, politics and religion are affected-often in unexpected ways-by a shared set of assumptions about what these words mean. --from publisher description
Item type: Books
Holdings
Cover image Item type Current library Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Vol info URL Copy number Status Notes Date due Barcode Item holds Item hold queue priority Course reserves
Judith Thomas Library General Stacks Books BL 51 .S621 2009 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) AUA012158 Available AUA012158

Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-234) and index.

Growing confusion over religion and spirituality -- Defining "religious" and "religion" -- Why religion and education challenge each other -- Religion and the law -- Religion and political variety -- Science and reductionism -- Sciences of human life -- Religion and theologies at odds -- What we mean by secular.

C. John Sommerville examines common linguistic uses of the terms "religion," "religious," "spiritual," and "secular" in order to discern the proper use of these words in contemporary American culture. For example, he finds that, in English, "religion" is our word for a certain kind of response to a certain kind of power (the power and the response both being beyond anything else in our experience). Sommerville then redeploys these definitions to examine the ways that institutions in the fields of education, science, law, politics and religion are affected-often in unexpected ways-by a shared set of assumptions about what these words mean. --from publisher description