Angels A Very Short Introduction Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle version is available to download in english. Read online anytime anywhere directly from your device. Click on the download button below to get a free pdf file of Angels A Very Short Introduction book. This book definitely worth reading, it is an incredibly well-written.
Author : David Albert Jones Publisher : Oxford University Press Page : 161 pages File Size : 23,28 MB Release : 2011-10-27 Category : History ISBN : 0199547300
What are angels? Where were they first encountered? Can we distinguish angels from gods, fairies, ghosts, and aliens? And why do they remain so popular? This Very Short Introduction investigates stories and speculations about angels in religions old and new, in art, literature, film, and the popular imagination.
It has been suggested that 'spirituality' has become a word that 'can define an era'. Why? Because paradoxically, alongside a decline in traditional religious affiliations, the growing interest in spirituality and the use of the word in a variety of contexts is a striking aspect of contemporary western cultures. Indeed, spirituality is sometimes contrasted attractively with religion, although this is problematic and implies that religion is essentially dogma, moralism, institutions, buildings, and hierarchies. The notion of spirituality expresses the fact that many people are driven by goals that concern more than material satisfaction. Broadly, it refers to the deepest values and sense of meaning by which people seek to live. Sometimes these values are conventionally religious. Sometimes they are associated with what is understood as 'the sacred' in a broader sense - that is, of ultimate rather than merely instrumental importance. This Very Short Introduction, written by one of the most eminent scholars and writers on spirituality, explores the historical foundations of the thought and considers how it came to have the significance it is developing today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Author : David Albert Jones Publisher : Oxford University Press Page : 161 pages File Size : 13,14 MB Release : 2010-03-25 Category : Art ISBN : 0199582955
What are angels? Where were they first encountered? Can we distinguish angels from gods, faeries, ghosts, and aliens? And why do they remain so popular? This concise introduction investigates stories and speculations about angels in religions old and new, in art, literature, film, and the popular imagination.
In a startling reinterpretation of the evidence, Stillman Drake advances the hypothesis that Galileo's trial and condemnation by the Inquisition was caused not by his defiance of the Church, but by the hostility of contemporary philosophers. Galileo's own beautifully lucid arguments are used to show how his scientific method was utterly divorced from the Aristotelian approach to physics in that it was based on a search not for causes but for laws. Galileo's method was of overwhelming significance for the development of modern physics, and led to a final parting of the ways between science and philosophy. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Did you know that angels of all kinds are everywhere? “Some are big, some are tiny. They're all so bright and very shiny.” This lyrical, breezy, and nondenominational picture book introduces children and adults to a magical place which radiates warmth, love, and caring throughout its colorful and delicate pages. With its rich paintings, readers are transported through many colorful scenes, places and seasons to see how angels work behind the scenes, weaving their graces throughout the world. Through Angels, readers can experience a world of gentle wonder, beauty, and comfort that makes this a perfect bedtime story. “Angels, angels, always near, protecting you, my special dear!”
What are the origins of the Catholic Church? How has Catholicism changed and adapted over the centuries? What challenges does the Catholic Church face in the twenty-first century? Gerald O'Collins answers these and other questions in this clear, accessible introduction to the largest and oldest institution in the world.
Thomas Aquinas, one of the most famous and highly thought of Christian thinkers, was a controversial figure who was exposed and engaged in conflict. This Very Short Introduction looks at Aquinas in a historical context, and explores the Church and culture into which Aquinas was born. It also ask why Aquinas matters now.
Fiery the angels fell; slow thunder rolled around their shores, burning with the fires of Orc.' Whether in recent popular culture, or back across countless centuries, angels have perpetually enthralled, mystified and even terrified us. 'Every single angel is terrible,' wrote the German Romantic poet Rilke: 'and so I hold myself back from the dark bird-cry of my anguished sobbing.' For some in the sceptical, post-Enlightenment West, angels may be no more than metaphors: poetic devices to convey, at least for those with a religious sensibility, an active divine interest in creation. But for others, angels are absolutely real beings: manifestations of cosmic power and energy with the capacity either to enlighten or annihilate those whose awestruck paths they cross. Valery Rees here offers the first comprehensive history of these beautiful, enigmatic and sometimes dangerous beings, whose existence and actions have been charted across the eons of time and civilizations. From the ancient Sumerian and Akkadian winged figures, to Egyptian representations of Ma'at, Persian genii, Arab djinn, biblical cherubim, daemons of Hermes Trismegistus and Milton's defiant fallen angels, From Gabriel to Lucifer reveals a mesmerising trajectory of angelic belief. Whether exploring the feverish visions of Ezekiel and biblical cherubim; the Islamic archangels Jibra'il, Azra'il, Mika'il and Israfil; the austere and haunting icons of Andrei Rublev; or Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire, and the more benign idea of the ever-watchful guardian angel, the author shows that the very ubiquity of these implacable celestial messengers reveal something fundamental, if not about God and the devil, then about ourselves: our perennial preoccupation withhow to depict the transcendent.
Aristocracies or nobilities dominated the social, economic, and institutional history of all European counties until only a few generations ago. The relics of their power, in traditions and behaviour, in architecture and the arts, are still all around us. This short introduction shows how ideas of aristocracy originated in ancient times, were transformed in the middle ages, and have only fallen apart over the last two centuries. The myths in which aristocracies have always sought to shroud themselves are stripped away, but the true sources of their enduring power are also revealed. Their outlook and behaviour affected the rest of society in innumerable and sometimes surprising ways, but perhaps most surprising was the way in which a centuries-old aristocratic hegemony crumbled away over the last two hundred years. In this Very Short Introduction William Doyle considers why this happend and what remains today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.