Encountering Mystery: Religious Experience in a Secular Age - Couverture souple

Allison, Dale C

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0802881882 ISBN 13 : 9780802881885

Editeur : William B Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2022

Synopsis

Despite widespread skepticism on the matter, a significant number of people today have stories of religious experience--moments of inexplicable terror or rapturous joy, visions, near-death experiences of the afterlife, encounters with angels, heavenly voices, and premonitions. How should rationally minded people respond?

What would your reaction be if someone told you that, one night while sitting alone, she saw through the window a brilliant light descend from the sky until it was so large that it filled the room--and that it radiated a feeling of "pure love"? And what would you say if a friend confided that one night he woke up and could not move, felt he was being suffocated, and sensed an evil spirit in the room?

By default in the secular age we are skeptical about anything mysterious or supernatural. More likely than not, most people would respond to the stories above with embarrassment and concern about the person's grasp of reality, or they would attempt to explain them away through rational or scientific means. But the truth is that religious experiences like these are not as uncommon as they seem--although talking about such experiences often is. This is the case even in a faith tradition such as Christianity, despite the Bible's numerous accounts of miraculous and mysterious happenings.

In Encountering Mystery, noted biblical scholar Dale Allison makes the argument that stories of religious experience are meaningful and not to be marginalized--and that we have a moral prerogative to lovingly engage with such stories regardless of whether we have had similar experiences. Through a close look at phenomena such as moments of inexplicable terror or rapturous joy, visions, near-death experiences of the afterlife, encounters with angels, heavenly voices, and premonitions, Allison shows how ordinary practices of faith need not be at odds with individual religious experiences. Above all, he enjoins us to be honest about the persistence of religious experience in a secular age and to make space for those who encounter mystery in their lives.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Dale C. Allison Jr. is the Richard J. Dearborn Professor of New Testament Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary. His academic research focuses on the historical Jesus, the Gospel of Matthew, Second Temple Judaism, and the history of the interpretation and application of biblical texts. His numerous books include Interpreting Jesus, His numerous books include Constructing Jesus: Memory, Imagination, and History, The Historical Christ and the Theological Jesus, Encountering Mystery: Religious Experience in a Secular Age, and Interpreting Jesus.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: William B Eerdmans Publishing Co
• Date d'édition: 2022
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0802881882
• ISBN 13: 9780802881885
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 263
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: GS1 Slovakia; https://www.gs1sk.org; ; Nantersk� 23; Žilina; 010 08; Slovaquie