Media Theory, Religion and Theology

Author: Richard Giles
ISBN: 9781853115714
Pages: 288
Summary: "Re-pitching the Tent" is a handbook that aims to revitalise the way we regard church buildings, enabling us to see them afresh as a vital component of our worship and mission.

Author: Marva J. Dawn
ISBN: 9780802841025
Pages: 316
Summary: Working to bridge opposing sides in the various "worship wars", Marva Dawn here writes to help local parishes and denominations think more profoundly about both worship and culture.

Author: Glenn Beck
ISBN: 9780743496964
Pages: 272
Summary: There are some things people think but don't say....
"Political correctness is the classic Great Idea Gone Wrong. All it's done is shut us up. It hasn't changed anybody's mind. It hasn't changed our hearts. It's changed our faces. It's taken every opinion we have, it's taken every joke we have, and it's forced us to conceal it and hide it and bury it. It's made us superficial."
"Terrorism isn't caused by poverty, poverty is caused by terrorism. Terror is a tool used by those seeking power to keep the masses in need of an answer."
"Too many people blame everything on everybody else, and because they do, they will expect too little from themselves and too little from their children."
Glenn Beck says all that, and more.
As one of the most listened to nationally syndicated radio talk-show hosts and the driving force behind the Rallies for America, Glenn Beck entertains, inspires, and informs millions of listeners. In "The Real America," Beck continues to tell it like it really is, cutting through the fog of modern-day pundits and pontificators who have made it their mission to undermine and underestimate the greatness of America, our strength as Americans, and the power of the American spirit.
With his inimitable combination of self-effacing humor and heartfelt conviction, Glenn rails against many of the forces that keep us from our potential as a nation and as individuals -- and tells how to overcome them. His topics include:

Family and community
Politics
Personal responsibility
Race relations
Religion
Political correctness, the media, Hollywood, and celebrities
Abortion and the deat penalty
Alcohol and drugs
Why I wave the flag

Glenn Beck's compelling message in "The Real America" echoes the ideas he has delivered to thousands of people with his groundbreaking Rallies for America: Once we connect with our power individually, we can empower others -- and then we can be as great and as grand as we have always wanted to be as a person, as a people, and as a nation.

Author: Ravi Zacharias
ISBN: 9780801065118
Pages: 192
Summary: Atheism is a world without God. Its true nature--whether disguised in Eastern mysticism or American cynicism--is despair. In this thought-provoking and witty book, Ravi Zacharias provides Christians a clear apologetic for their faith. Formerly published as "A Shattered Visage, The Real Face of Atheism" systematically examines atheistic positions on human nature, the meaning of life, morality, the "First Cause," death, and more. With a new introduction and revisions throughout, "The Real Face of Atheism" is the perfect text for pastors, students, and thinking laypeople who want to improve their apologetic skill and reach out to non-believers.

Author: Ncv Translation
ISBN: 9780718010669
Pages: 400
Summary: Where Faith Meets Function - Nelson BibleZinesTM, The Original
The diverse Hip Hop culture has its own music, its own fashion sense, and its own language. Now it also has its own connection to the timeless truths of the New Testament. Presenting REAL, the one BibleZineTM designed and written especially for this vibrant urban crowd. REAL represents a major opportunity to satisfy souls with God's Word.

Author: Laurie Ouellette
ISBN: 9780814756881
Pages: 352
Summary:
View the Table of Contents.
Read the Introduction.
"Offers the most insightful and significant scholarly analysis to date of the changes taking place in the economic "globalization" of television production. A delight to read, laced with wit and humor."—"Choice"
"Since reality television began to flood TV screens, we've had to deal with another phenomenon: a renewed debate about what is 'fun' versus what is 'good for you.' The essays in this volume enlighten that discussion and take us beyond it. They provide both the record of a strange moment in history and a contribution to contemporary cultural politics."
—Toby Miller, editor of "Television & New Media"
"The book explores the genre's institutional and sociopolitical development, its place in the cultural landscape, and how it serves as a source of meaning and pleasure."
—"NYU Today"
"Survivor". "The Bachelor". "Extreme Makeover". "Big Brother". "Joe Millionaire". "American Idol". "The Osbournes". It is virtually impossible to turn on a television without coming across some sort of reality programming. Yet, while this genre has rapidly moved from the fringes of television culture to its lucrative core, critical attention has not kept pace.
Beginning by unearthing its historical roots in early reality shows like "Candid Camera" and wending its way through "An American Family", "Cops", and "The Real World" to the most recent crop of reality programs, Reality TV is the first book to address the economic, visual, cultural, and audience dimensions of reality television. The essays provide a complex and comprehensive picture of how and why this genre emerged, what it means, how it differs from earlier television programming, and how it engages societies, industries, and individuals. Topics range from the construction of televisual "reality" to the changing face of criminal violence on TV, to issues of surveillance, taste, and social control.
By spanning reality television's origins in the late 1940s to its current overwhelming popularity, Reality TV demonstrates both the tenacity of the format and its enduring ability to speak to our changing political and social desires and anxieties.
Contributors include: Nick Couldry, Mary Beth Haralovich, John Hartley, Chuck Kleinhans, Derek Kompare, Jon Kraszewski, Kathleen LeBesco, Justin Lewis, Ted Magder, Jennifer Maher, Anna McCarthy, Rick Morris, Chad Raphael, Elayne Rapping, Jeffrey Sconce, Michael W. Trosset, Pamela Wilson.

Author: John Marks
ISBN: 9780060832773
Pages: 400
Summary: Born again at sixteen, John Marks later abandoned his faith. In "Reasons to Believe" he attempts to cross a deep cultural barrier to understand those who now condemn his way of life. He speaks at length with missionaries, political activists, theologians—the rich and powerful, the poor and broken, and the pastors who have turned small congregations into megachurches. The result is a remarkable, intimate portrait of evan-gelicals, one of the most influential forces in America today, and the unforgettable story of how a lapsed believer came to terms with his faith.

Author: Becky Garrison
ISBN: 9780787983130
Pages: 208
Summary: A master of satire with a theological black belt, Becky Garrison shines a bright light on hypocrisy from both sides of the political spectrum, exposing how both red and blue Christians hold hostage the teachings of Jesus in service to their own partisan gain.  What’s lacking is a true understanding of Christ’s mandate to love all of humanity—including our enemies—which, if honored, would open the door to honest dialogue and understanding that transcends political labels.

Author: Doug Pagitt
ISBN: 9780310256878
Pages: 176
Summary: Reimagining Spiritual Formation isn’t about quick-fix methods or bulleted, how-to lists. And it’s certainly not a dry lecture about a heady theological topic.Instead this book is about striving, about trying, about experimenting with the idea that the old ways of approaching spiritual formation may not be the only avenues toward living lives in harmony with God in our day.Inside these pages you’ll spend a full week with Solomon’s Porch—a holistic, missional, Christian community in Minneapolis, Minnesota—and get a front row seat at the gatherings, meetings, and meals. Along the way, you’ll also discover what spiritual formation looks like in a church community that’s moves beyond education-based practices by including worship, physicality, dialogue, hospitality, belief, creativity, and service as means toward spiritual formation rather than mere appendices to it.Specifically, you’ll glimpse into the lives of six people from Solomon’s Porch and track their growth through their journals as they wrestle with various approaches to spiritual development.Reimagining Spiritual Formation is ideal for thinkers, pastors, church leaders, and anyone else seeking fresh ways of experiencing life with God.

Author: Samuel Weber
ISBN: 9780804734974
Pages: 672
Summary: The latter part of the twentieth century saw an explosion of new media that effected profound changes in human categories of communication. At the same time, a “return to religion” occurred on a global scale. The twenty-five contributors to this volume—who include such influential thinkers as Jacques Derrida, Jean-Luc Nancy, Talal Asad, and James Siegel—confront the conceptual, analytical, and empirical difficulties involved in addressing the complex relationship between religion and media.

The book’s introductory section offers a prolegomenon to the multiple problems raised by an interdisciplinary approach to these multifaceted phenomena. The essays in the following part provide exemplary approaches to the historical and systematic background to the study of religion and media, ranging from the biblical prohibition of images and its modern counterparts, through theological discussion of imagery in Ignatius and Luther, to recent investigations into icons and images that “think” in Jean-Luc Marion and Gilles Deleuze. The third part presents case studies by anthropologists and scholars of comparative religion who deal with religion and media in Indonesia, India, Japan, South Africa, Venezuela, Iran, Poland, Turkey, present-day Germany, and Australia.

The book concludes with two remarkable documents: a chapter from Theodor W. Adorno’s study of the relationship between religion and media in the context of political agitation ("The Psychological Technique of Martin Luther Thomas’ Radio Addresses") and a section from Niklas Luhmann’s monumental "Die Gesellschaft der Gesellschaft "("Society as a Social System").

Author: Judith M. Buddenbaum
ISBN: 9780813822761
Pages: 327
Summary: Religion And Popular Culture: Studies On The Interaction Of World Views features seminal case studies involving religion and today's cultural media from the Disney boycott by Southern Baptists to the uses of contemporary Christian music. The contributors explore how the "culture wars" approach is impacting the study of mass communication; what various religious leaders teach their members about media use; how new information technologies impact religious worship; and how religious groups differ in the way they define "media literacy". A very highly recommended, scholarly and benchmark introduction for students of religion, media, and popular culture, Religion And Popular Culture provides the reader with informative theoretical discussions of the complex interplay between religion and the media of popular culture as well as describing several world religions and Eastern philosophies with respect to their teachings about media use.

Author: S. Hoover
ISBN: 9780415314237
Pages: 341
Summary: Late modernity has produced a marked turn away from institutionalized religions towards more autonomous, individual forms of the search for spiritual meaning. Film, television, the music industry, and the internet are central to this process, cutting through the monolithic assertions of world religions and giving access to more diverse and fragmented ideals. While the volume and variety of information travelling through global media changes modes of religious thought and commitment, the human desire for spirituality also invigorates popular culture itself, recreating commodities--film blockbusters, world sport, popular music--as contexts for religious meaning. Looking at the everyday interaction of religion and media in our cultural lives, and using extensive empirical research into household media consumption, "Religion in" "the Media Age "is an exciting new assessment of the state of modern religiosity.

Author: David F. Noble
ISBN: 9780140279160
Pages: 288
Summary: Are religion and science really at war with one another? Not according to David F. Noble, who argues that the flourishing of both religion and technology today is nothing new but rather the continuation of a 1,000-year-old Western tradition.
The Religion of Technology demonstrates that modern man's enchantment with things technological was inspired by and grounded in religious expectations and the quest for transcendence and salvation. The two early impulses behind the urge to advance in science, he claims, are the conviction that apocalypse is imminent, and the belief that increasing human knowledge helps recover what was lost in Eden. Noble traces the history of these ideas by examining the imaginings of monks, explorers, magi, scientists, Freemasons, and engineers, from Sir Isaac Newton to Joseph Priestley to Wernher von Braun.
Noble suggests that the relationship between religion and technology has perhaps outlived its usefulness. Whereas it once aimed to promote human well-being, it has ultimately become a threat to our survival. Thus, with The Religion of Technology, Noble aims to redirect our efforts toward more worldly and humane ends.

Author: Annelies Moors
ISBN: 9780253217974
Pages: 325
Summary: Increasingly, Pentecostal, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, and indigenous movements all over the world make use of a great variety of modern mass media, both print and electronic. Through religious booklets, radio broadcasts, cassette tapes, television talk-shows, soap operas, and documentary film these movements address multiple publics and offer alternative forms of belonging, often in competition with the postcolonial nation-state. How have new practices of religious mediation transformed the public sphere? How has the adoption of new media impinged on religious experiences and notions of religious authority? Has neo-liberalism engendered a blurring of the boundaries between religion and entertainment? The vivid essays in this interdisciplinary volume combine rich empirical detail with theoretical reflection, offering new perspectives on a variety of media, genres, and religions.

Author: Stephen Prothero
ISBN: 9780060859527
Pages: 384
Summary: The United States is one of the most religious places on earth, but it is also a nation of shocking religious illiteracy. Only 10 percent of American teenagers can name all five major world religions and 15 percent cannot name any. Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that the Bible holds the answers to all or most of life's basic questions, yet only half of American adults can name even one of the four gospels and most Americans cannot name the first book of the Bible.
Despite this lack of basic knowledge, politicians and pundits continue to root public policy arguments in religious rhetoric whose meanings are missed—or misinterpreted—by the vast majority of Americans.
"We have a major civic problem on our hands," says religion scholar Stephen Prothero. He makes the provocative case that to remedy this problem, we should return to teaching religion in the public schools. Alongside "reading, writing, and arithmetic," religion ought to become the "Fourth R" of American education.
Many believe that America's descent into religious illiteracy was the doing of activist judges and secularists hell-bent on banishing religion from the public square. Prothero reveals that this is a profound misunderstanding. "In one of the great ironies of American religious history," Prothero writes, "it was the nation's most fervent people of faith who steered us down the road to religious illiteracy. Just how that happened is one of the stories this book has to tell."
Prothero avoids the trap of religious relativism by addressing both the core tenets of the world's major religions "and" the real differences among them. Complete with a dictionary of the key beliefs, characters, and stories of Christianity, Islam, and other religions, "Religious Literacy" reveals what every American needs to know in order to confront the domestic and foreign challenges facing this country today.

Author: Walter Cronkite
ISBN: 9780345411037
Pages: 400
Summary: "IMMEDIATELY ENGROSSING . . . [A] SPLENDID MEMOIR."
--The Wall Street Journal

"Run, don't walk to the nearest bookstore and treat yourself to the most heartwarming, nostalgia-producing book you will have read in many a year."
--Ann Landers

"Entertaining . . . The story of a modest man who succeeded extravagantly by remaining mostly himself. . . . His memoir is a short course on the flow of events in the second half of this century--events the world knows more about because of Walter Cronkite's work."
--The New York Times Book Review

A MAIN SELECTION OF THE BOOK-OF THE MONTH CLUB

Author: Jerry Bridges
ISBN: 9781600061400
Pages: 187
Summary: As Christians, we believe that all sins are considered equal in God's eyes. Yet while evangelicals continue to decry the Big Ones--such as abortion, adultery, and violence--we often overlook more deceptive sins.
It seems we have created a sliding scale where gossip, jealousy, and selfishness comfortably exist within the church. In short, some sins have simply become acceptable.
Acclaimed author Jerry Bridges believes that just as culture has lost the concept of sin, the church faces the same danger. Jerry writes not from a sense of achievement, but from the trenches of his own personal battles. Drawing from scriptural truth, he sheds light on subtle behaviors that can derail our spiritual growth.
Throughout, Jerry encourages victory over personal sin through the gospel's transforming power. This release is perfect for readers who long to thoughtfully examine their lives and discover a deeper walk with God.

Author: Knut Lundby
ISBN: 9780761901716
Pages: 342
Summary: The growing connections between media, culture, and religion are increasingly evident in our society today but have rarely been linked theoretically until now. Beginning with the decline of religious institutions during the latter part of this century, Rethinking Media, Religion, and Culture focuses on issues such as the increasing autonomy and individualized practice of religion, the surge of media and media-based icons that are often imbued with religious qualities, and the ensuing effect on cultural practices. Editors Stewart M. Hoover and Knut Lundby examine each of these issues and the implications of major recent findings of religious, media, and cultural studies as they pertain to one another. In a primary effort, the leading class of contributors to this work effectively triangulate these three separate areas into a coherent whole. The book explores phenomena like rallies, rituals, and resistance as they are distinct expressions of religion often transmogrified into different mediated or cultural expressions. This collection should benefit the work of scholars and researchers in communication, media, cultural, and religious studies who seek a broader understanding of the two-sided relationships between religion and media, media and culture, and culture and religion.

Author: George Barna
ISBN: 9781414307589
Pages: 160
Summary: World-renowned pollster George Barna has the numbers, and they indicate a revolution is already taking place within the Church--one that will impact every believer in America. Committed, born-again Christians are exiting the established church in massive numbers. Why are they leaving? Where are they going? And what does this mean for the future of the Church? Using years' worth of research data, and adhering to an unwavering biblical perspective, Barna predicts how this revolution will impact the organized church, how Christ's body of believers should react, and how individuals who are considering leaving (or those who have already left) can respond. For leaders working for positive change in the church and for believers struggling to find a spiritual community and worship experience that resonates, Revolution is here. Are you ready?

Author: Michael Medved
ISBN: 9781400098323
Pages: 448
Summary: Nationally syndicated talk-radio host and noted film critic Michael Medved has taken an extraordinary journey from liberal activist to outspoken conservative. Along the way he has earned millions of admirers—and more than his share of enemies—with his disarming wit and slashing arguments on issues of pop culture and politics.

In the candid, illuminating "Right Turns", Medved chronicles the lessons and adventures that changed him from a Vietnam protest leader to an optimistic promoter of American patriotism, from secularism to religion, from adventurous single guy to doting husband and father. He skewers leftist orthodoxy, revealing why the Right is right and why his former colleagues on the Left remain hopelessly wrong on every cultural, political, and social issue.

Author: Joel C. Hunter
ISBN: 9780978678302
Pages: 192
Summary: Can Christians learn to approach political issues constructively rather than negatively, learning to serve rather than yell? Pastor and author Dr. Joel C. Hunter says it's not only possible, it's necessary! Dr. Hunter offers a manifesto for fellow conservatives who feel "left out" by the Religious Right.

Author: Arthur Kent
ISBN: 9789768056085
Pages: 308
Summary: Arthur Kent takes you on his compelling journey as a foreign news correspondent. His story is told with candor and self-effacing humor. Going from the treetops of Afghanistan to that infamous rooftop in Dhahran, you will be consumed by the bloody chaos of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Just when you think you can't be shocked anymore by scenes of war and destruction, political repression, natural disaster and apathy, the equally shocking truth of what goes on behind the scenes of broadcasting is exposed. This book makes you think, not just about what is happening in the world around us, but what or who determines how much we learn of it. Kent shows us the risks some journalists take everyday, in order to bring real news to us. We owe them more than just passively sitting in front of our T.V. sets accepting whatever the networks choose to feed us. It's nice to know that old cowboy movies aren't the only place where the guy wearing the white hat can still win the battle

Author: Robert Briner
ISBN: 9780310591115
Pages: 208
Summary: In his book and the accompanying discussion guide, Bob Briner issues a clear call for Christians to reclaim culture by joining it rather than running from or boycotting it.

Author: Robert Miklitsch
ISBN: 9780791467343
Pages: 262
Summary: "Moves from Beethoven to Buffy to examine the blurred nexus of elite and popular culture in the twenty-first century."

Author: Stuart Sim
ISBN: 9780415333597
Pages: 416
Summary: What does "postmodernism" mean? Why is it so important? Now in its second edition, "The Routledge Companion to Postmodernism" combines a series of in-depth background chapters with a body of A-Z entries to create an authoritative, yet readable guide to the complex world of postmodernism. Following full-length articles on postmodernism and philosophy, politics, feminism, religion, post-colonialis, lifestyles television, and other postmodern essentials, readers will find a wide range of alphabetically-organized entries on the people, terms and theories connected with postmodernism, including: Peter Ackroyd; Jean Baudrillard; Chaos Theory; Death of the Author; Desire; Fractals; Michel Foucault; Frankfurt School; Generation X; Minimalism; Poststructuralism; Retro; Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak ; and Trans-avant-garde; Students interested in any aspect of postmodernist thought will find this an indispensable resource.

Author: John C. Maxwell
ISBN: 9780446530699
Pages: 112
Summary: How would the legendary figures in the Bible advise us today? We're running the race of our lives and it's a long one. We need encouragement along the way-a cheering grandstand or a personal trainer or two. John Maxwell reminds us that even in a modern world, the greatest inspiration is still found within the pages of the Old Testament. In RUNNING WITH THE GIANTS, Maxwell brings those great personalities to life. David would remind us how to overcome adversity. Noah would tell us not to fear doing the impossible. And Rebekah would urge us to give and serve generously. Each of these and the many other biblical figures Maxwell examines can motivate believers toward their personal best in the marathon of life.