History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

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Divine Surreality
Kant's fourth critique?
A classic and vital work for the philosophy of religion
An Interesting Idea to Ponder
Knocked Off Your Horse

The Idea of the Holy
R. Otto
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195002105

Book Description

Since the English translation first appeared in 1923, Rudolf Otto's volume has established itself as a classic in the field of religious philosophy. It offers an in-depth inquiry into the non-rational factor in the idea of the divine and its relation to the rational.

Customer Reviews:

Divine Surreality.......2007-09-24

The best way to read this book is to HAVE READ IT in a state of obsession years ago and find that its general mood and the texture of its ideas exert a subliminal and subconcious influence on one's concious thought. Taken in parts it contains many assumptions or assertions that are actually quite disputable but in general, as an aesthetic device, it is necessary reading for any spiritual seeker. It is certainly a welcome anti-dote to those spiritual guides that make God out to be a divine butler waiting on his chosen humans beck and call. It also suggests a wilder and more flamoboyant spiritual universe than the one portrayed in so many lesser works. God, if he or she exists, is a wild, ecstatic, and uncontrollable force that transcends the vulgar, petty humanizations we force upon him or her.

Kant's fourth critique?.......2007-06-20

Like Schleiermacher, Otto wants to theorize a religious faculty completely distinct from the rational, moral, and aesthetic faculties. The object of this faculty is the "holy," which is fearsome, mysterious, and fascinating. Most importantly, it remains essentially distinct from the rational, moral, and aesthetic, which means that any language we use to talk about "numinous" reality will always be analogical. This is important because "the religious" as a distinct category has been under threat since the 18th century (or since Spinoza) by other discourses that effectively explain it away. Otto's contemporary, Freud, was about to deal the religious yet another heavy blow by reducing it to a vestigial remain of infantile narcissism. By only allowing an analogical relation to other discourses, Otto wants to preserve the religious from this encroaching secularization. Of course, it is not certain that his own theory is not a secularization. He does not, after all, make room for miracles (in the strong sense).

I'll admit I was a little surprised at the heavy Christian turn at the end, only because Christianity seems to tame the wildness of the "tremendum" and the "mysterium." All in all, a fascinating and useful read.

A classic and vital work for the philosophy of religion.......2006-11-15

The student of human religion is generally confronted with a serious problem; unlike say, science or philosophy, religion is much more strongly dependent on the subject and the social and cultural beliefs in terms of knowledge, practice and belief. It is harder as a historian of religion to divorce any 'essence' of religion or religious knowledge from its context and practice, especially given many of the leading lights of the world's religions seem to emphasize ineffable and unrepeatable subjective experience. Yet it is vital to try and understand religion and what role (if any) it plays in the human quest to understand the universe, and also ourselves.

Otto, a Protestant theologian, offered a concept he called the 'holy.' Also often called the numinious, this was a sense of something being sacred. Holiness gave Being a special set of qualities which set it apart from the universe and its furniture as we 'ordinarily' experience it. This experience is often one of terror and fear in the prophets of monotheistic religions (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Moses, Abraham, Jesus and Mohammed) while in native and Eastern religions, it can be a sense of power or awe. In this work Otto applies the idea of the Holy to Christianity and other religions, and would later form a critical tool in the phenomenology of religion and religious experience.

This book is essential reading for any scholar of religion or philosopher interested in religion and questions relating to religion and religious experience.

An Interesting Idea to Ponder.......2006-07-25

Rudolf Otto(1869-1937) presents the idea of the Holy as that profound, overwhelming feeling of awe that can sometimes strike you regardless of your particular culture and/or religious affiliation, a feeling that's been a part of us since pre-historic times. He calls this feeling the "mysterium tremendum" or the "numinous" and proceeds to describe it in great detail, with examples. I liked the way the idea is first developed in a more general sense before emphasis is made of its Christian aspect, making it accessible to all people interested in the idea of the Holy and God.

Knocked Off Your Horse.......2005-03-22

This book, first published in 1917, is rightly regarded as a classic of religious philosophy.

Otto's great contribution to Christianity was to assert the importance of a non-rational approach to the divine. Christianity, which is the most dogmatic and moralistic of the major world religions, needed the corrective. Otto created the word "numinous" to stand for the sense of a divine presence that operates beyond rational understanding. He also coined the term "mysterium tremendum" to connote the inchoate sense of awe and dread that humans feel in the presence of the divine. To him, both of these ideas were essential to a full expression of the religious spirit.

One reaction to this book over the years goes something like this: either you've been knocked off your horse like St Paul, in which case you already have a direct experience of the numinous, or you haven't. Why bother to analyze something that by its very nature can't be put into words? Here Otto makes a subtle but crucial distinction. He's not talking about a numinous feeling, but about a feeling of the numinous. In other words, the numinous exists out there, not inside us, so we can approach it as an object to be observed and, at least by analogy to the sensations it excites with us, described.

Otto didn't reject the rational, though. Without rationality, he says, we can't have belief, only feelings. In his view of religion, the rational and non-rational interpenetrate each other like the warp and woof of a fabric, which can't be separated without destroying the very garment it makes. He points out several times that fully understanding the non-rational conception of god deepens our rational religious ideas.

Otto was a Christian, and believed deeply in the superiority of Christianity as the highest synthesis of the rational and moral with a primal sense of awe. (Buddhists might differ.) Fortunately for his reputation as a religious philosopher he was much more than a Christian apologist: he was a close observer of human behavior and of religious practices around the world. If Otto had been born seventy five years later, he might have been Joseph Campbell. He traveled widely, and had a deep knowledge and appreciation of Asian, Arabic and Greek religious thought. He anticipated Campbell by demonstrating that a sense of spiritual awe and mystery is universal to all religions.

In his observations of how mankind divines the presence of the holy, Otto realized the importance of predispositions - a person must be both receptive to divine presence and capable of recognizing when it appears. In this he anticipates neural Darwinism, which also talks about our predisposition toward certain aspects of reality. For instance, we have evolved an ability to recognize sound patterns. This isn't music, but it allows us to hear a song and store it as such in our brain. Similarly, we are capable of conceiving of an overarching force that exists beyond our selves, and are capable of recognizing manifestations of it. This isn't religion, but it's the precursor to any truly religious feeling.

This book strikes sparks in almost every chapter, even the ones settling obscure doctrinal scores. It deserves the high regard in which it's held because Rudolf Otto is a remarkably good guide to the ineffable.

Facets of Unity: The Enneagram of Holy Ideas

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In the tradition of "Power of Now"
NOT for beginners....
Honestly, the BEST book ever
valuable contribution
The very best enneagram book for self-unfoldment

Facets of Unity: The Enneagram of Holy Ideas
A. H. Almaas
Manufacturer: Shambhala
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0936713143
Release Date: 2000-09-05

Amazon.com

A.H. Almaas presents "the holy ideas" that are the spiritual realities of the nine personality types that the Enneagram reflects. For those unfamiliar with the Enneagram, he includes an introduction to the structure of psychological typecasting rediscovered by Oscar Ichazo, founder of the Arica School, who gives this book its high credentials by having written the Foreword. While other books on the subject explain the different characteristics and behaviors of each of the nine fixations or types, Almaas expounds here on how the disconnection from each holy idea leads to the development of its corresponding fixation. Then he provides keys to unlock them. For example, the "seven" type's holy idea is "holy wisdom," which Ichazo defines as "The awareness that reality exists as a succession of moments, each experienced as the present, and that it is only by existing in the present that the constant unfolding of the Cosmos can be experienced ... can real work be done, and results achieved." --Randall Cohan

Book Description

Facets of Unity presents the Enneagram of Holy Ideas as a crystal clear window on the true reality experienced in enlightened consciousness. Here we are not directed toward the psychological types but the higher spiritual realities they reflect. We discover how the disconnection from each Holy Idea leads to the development of its corresponding fixation, thus recognizing each types deeper psychological core. Understanding this core brings each Holy Idea within reach, so its spiritual perspective can serve as a key for unlocking the fixation and freeing us from its limitations.

Customer Reviews:

In the tradition of "Power of Now".......2007-06-07

Reading "Facets of Unity" was a transformational experience for me. I experienced my foundamental connection to all that is as I read it. Love and light became more real than the bed I was sitting on. My ego seemed transparent. I highlighted several key parts, and I regularly go back and read those when I need to reground myself and get perspective beyond my story.

NOT for beginners...........2007-03-04

If you find yourself getting caught again and feel the need for a map, please start (and may be stop) with "Wisdom of the Enneagram" by Riso & Hudson, as far as enneagram is concerned.

Honestly, the BEST book ever.......2006-10-09

This is truthfully the best book ever. If you know anything about the enneagram, this book will let you know what the enneagram is made for. Alright, it's fun to think about all the frilly little quirks inherent in the enneagram that the "other" books like to get stuck on, but this book is actually the real thing. The JUICE. The whole point lies between these covers. If you are looking at this review, you need to buy this book. Get it used if you are low on money, just get it and read it.

valuable contribution.......2006-09-25

This exploration is a most valuable contribution to the understanding of Gurdjieff's Holy Ideas. I found it to be very seminal and I am sure that for some time to come it will be an often referred source.

The very best enneagram book for self-unfoldment.......2004-07-07

Touching, warm, gentle and precise. Almaas explains how we get fixated on certain enneatypes, and also points the way out of fixations. Reaching far deeper than the 'standard' personality approaches to the enneagram, this book really opens the gates to those who are seriously pursuing the Work of self-liberation.

The Idea of the Numinous: COntemporary Jungian and Psychoanalytic Perspectives

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A bullseye!

The Idea of the Numinous: COntemporary Jungian and Psychoanalytic Perspectives
Ann Casement
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1583917845

Book Description

The idea of the numinous is often raised in psychoanalytic and psychodynamic contexts, but it is rarely itself subjected to close scrutiny. This volume examines how the numinous has gained currency in the post-modern world, demonstrating how the numinous is no longer confined to religious discourses but is included in humanist, secular and scientific views of the world.
Questions of soul and spirit are increasingly being raised in connection with the scientific exploration of the psyche, and especially in the context of psychotherapy. The contributors to this volume are interested in exploring the numinous in the human psyche, in clinical work, world events, anthropology, sociology, philosophy and the humanities. They originate from multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural backgrounds, bringing a variety of approaches to subjects including:
· Witchcraft: the numinous power of humans
· Jung and Derrida: the numinous, deconstruction and myth
· Accessing the numinous: Apolline and Dionysian pathways
· The role of the numinous in the reception of Jung
The Idea of the Numinous will fascinate all analytical psychologists, psychoanalysts, and psychotherapists interested in investigating the overlap between therapeutic and religious interests.

Customer Reviews:

A bullseye!.......2007-05-14

The best I've read on this topic ever - three of these essays particularly changed my own personal view.

The Shape of the Holy: Early Islamic Jerusalem

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The Shape of the Holy: Early Islamic Jerusalem
Oleg Grabar
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0691036535

Book Description

From the time of Herod through the Crusades, Jerusalem had officially "changed its religion" several times, with Jews, Christians, and Muslims inscribing the story of their faiths on the urban landscape. In this handsomely illustrated book, noted Islamist Oleg Grabar offers a rare account of the great role played by early Islam in defining the "look" of Jerusalem that remained largely intact until the twentieth century. From about 640 to 1100, Muslims transformed Christian Jerusalem, mainly the area now known as the Haram al-Sharif, both physically and ideologically to embody their new faith. Grabar examines this process, showing how it led to great architectural achievements, including The Dome of the Rock, still perhaps the most vivid image to impress any visitor to Jerusalem. Offering a major photographic record of The Dome's mosaics in color together with its interiors, this book shows in rich detail how Islam articulated itself architecturally, touching on historical and legendary memories and on themes of both religious harmony and Islamic triumph.

Dominating Jerusalem's landscape today, The Dome of the Rock was commissioned by Abd Al-Malik in 691, and still houses the Rock from which the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have ascended into heaven. Grabar argues that its construction altered the visual equilibrium of Jerusalem by equating its eastern hill, Mt. Moriah, a key landmark in Islam, with its western ones, Golgotha and Mt. Zion, highlighted by Christian monuments. A close look at The Dome's construction and decoration leads to a new explanation of the building as a Late Antique monument of art that could be adapted to several different and at times simultaneous interpretations. Grabar also offers a unique portrait of Jerusalem in the eleventh century under the Fatimid dynasty in Cairo, when the city was at its peak as a peaceful, cosmopolitan center. Through an innovative computer modeling program, Grabar presents fascinating reconstructions of the Haram al-Sharif, taking us down streets and past buildings, of which only remnants exist today.

The Idea of the Holy: An Inquiry into the Non Rational Factor in the Idea of the Divine 1926

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The Idea of the Holy: An Inquiry into the Non Rational Factor in the Idea of the Divine 1926
Rudolf Otto
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1417978759

Book Description

An Inquiry into the Non Rational Factor in the Idea of the Divine and its Relation to the Rational.

The Land Called Holy: Palestine in Christian History and Thought

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Excellent Scholarship
What?
A modernist introduction to Christian Palestine.

The Land Called Holy: Palestine in Christian History and Thought
Robert Louis Wilken
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0300054912

Book Description

This important, wide-ranging book examines how Palestine became a Holy Land to Christians and how their ideas and feelings toward the land of the Bible evolved as Christians lived there and made it their own. Robert L. Wilken traces the Christian conception of a Holy Land from its origins in the Hebrew Bible to the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in the seventh century and also discusses how Jews responded to the Christianization of the Land of Israel.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Scholarship.......2007-03-02

This is a very well written, scholarly work. The style is graceful enough that a laymen ca appreciate what is clearly a lifetime of work on Wilken's part, while also remaining useful to it's intended academic audience.

It is very important to note that this book only goes up to the Muslim conquest of 638/40. Do not get this expecting to get a picture of medieval or modern Christian beliefs of the Holy Land. This fact in particular makes some previous reviews of the book distressingly misplaced. If you are interested, as so many are after "the Davinci Code", in the origins of Christianity, this is an excellent, challenging, and scholarly work that will be well worth your time. If you are interested in the Crusades or the modern conflict over Palestine, this will serve as deep background, but you'll have to fill in the gaps with other books.

What?.......2005-11-18

I really don't know what the other reviewer here is complaining about. I can only assume that by "modernist," he means "scholarly." Wilken is a scholar of early Christianity primiarily and any quick look at what this book is about would indicate how the author intended to tackle the question of the Holy Land. Any complaint of a lack of discussion about Muslim-Jewish conflict is a misunderstanding: the book effectively ends with the Muslim conquest of Israel! It has an area of focus, which should be taken for what it is worth.

As a review of Christian interpretations and understandings of the Holy Land, the book is excellent, particularly for someone one terribly familiar with the field. The opening sections discuss Jewish understanding. Wilken goes on to briefly analyze the New Testament sources. A large section of the book is devoted to early church fathers (Origen, Eusebius, Irenaeus and Justin Martyr in particular) and their writings on the city and the holy land. Overall, my only complaint is that some more time and space could have been devoted to a discussion of New Testament sources. This would have been interesting, at least just to see Wilken's opinion on difficult passages. He stops well short of a real textual analysis, leaving some questions he raises unanswered. His use of a variety of sources is compelling, interesting and shows a commendable thoroughness.

As an introduction to a general study of the holy land in Christian perspective, it would serve anyone quite well. If you want to get more into interpretation of the NT sources, I have found PWL Walker's Jesus and the Holy City and WD Davies' The Gospel and the Land to be informative. The latter is older, but more thorough and, at least for me, comes across with less troublesome spots.

A modernist introduction to Christian Palestine........1999-06-19

While this book's topic is Christianity and Palestine, the author's impious approach makes it hard to understand why anyone would care that Muslims and Jews (not to mention the Crusader incubus of Latin "Christians") are forcing indigenous Christianity out of Palestine. This book is worth reading as an introduction to Christian reverence for Palestine, but only for that.

The Hidden Wisdom in the Holy Bible: An Examination of the Idea That the Contents of the Bible Are Partly Allegorical (Hidden Wisdom in the Bible)

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The Hidden Wisdom in the Holy Bible: An Examination of the Idea That the Contents of the Bible Are Partly Allegorical (Hidden Wisdom in the Bible)
Geoffrey Hopson , and Geoffrey Hodson
Manufacturer: Theosophical Publishing House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0835604438

The Holy War Idea in Western and Islamic Traditions

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Garbled but useful reading

The Holy War Idea in Western and Islamic Traditions
James Turner Johnson
Manufacturer: Pennsylvania State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0271016337

Book Description

In this book James Turner Johnson explores the cultural traditions of the Christian West and Islam, in an effort to encourage a constructive dialogue on the nature of war for religion. No other issue highlights the difference between these two cultures more clearly or with more relevance for their interrelations throughout history and in the contemporary world.

In the West, war for religion is most often dismissed as a relic of the past, belonging to a time less rational and less civilized than our own. From this perspective, Muslims who advocate holy war are seen as religious fanatics who are supporting criminal and terrorist activity. By contrast, war for religion has an honored place in the Islamic world, associated with a perennial religious requirement: striving in the path of faith by heart, tongue, and hands. This striving is designated by the now familiar term jihad. In fact, striving by the sword is the "lesser" jihad, and many Muslims themselves are troubled by reductionistic appeals to jihad to justify terrorism, revolution, and anti-western activity. According to Johnson, for there to be any dialogue between Islam and the West we must understand that in the West religion and politics are placed in separate spheres, while normative Islam regards religion as properly integral to the political order. From this perspective religious concerns should have a place in statecraft, including the use of military force.

Three questions form the heart of Johnson's inquiry: Is there a legitimate justification for war for religion? What authority is required? What is the proper conduct in such wars? In each case, he asks the question by comparing religious wars with other kinds of wars. The picture that emerges is of war for religion not as an expression of fanatical excess but as a controlled, purposeful activity. With an eye to the present day, Johnson examines cases in history where distinctive models of war for religion were implemented by rulers. This in turn sets the stage for critical judgment on contemporary appeals to the idea of jihad in relation to political aims.

Well known for his work on peace and just war, Johnson draws upon a wide base of historical and comparative scholarship. While the book is anchored primarily on the past, on the roots and historical development of the two traditions, his aim throughout is to shed light on contemporary attitudes, ideals, and behaviors, especially as they bear on real problems that affect relations between Western and Islamic cultures in the world today.

Customer Reviews:

Garbled but useful reading.......2002-04-05

I found the structure of this book to be very garbled. Although the titles suggest that he intends to cover one tradition, then the other, in effect he keeps shifting from one to the next so that in the end, everything is lumped in together. If you struggle through, you'll get some good information out of it.

Uncanny Australia: Sacredness and Identity in a Postcolonial Nation

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Uncanny Australia: Sacredness and Identity in a Postcolonial Nation
Ken Gelder , and Jane Jacobs
Manufacturer: Melbourne University Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0522848168

Book Description

In Uncanny Australia Gelder and Jacobs show how Aboriginal claims for sacredness radiate out to affect the modern nation. They look at Coronation Hill, Hindmarsh Island, Uluru and the repatriation of sacred objects; they examine secret business in public places, promiscuous sacred sites, ghosts and bunyips, cartographic nostalgia, reconciliation and democracy, postcolonial racism and New Age enchantments.

Uncanny Australia is a challenging and thought-provoking work that offers a new way of understanding how the sacred haunts the modern through the effect of the uncanny.

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