T.M. Luhrmann's Books

How God Becomes Real

Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others

By: T.M. Luhrmann

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How God Becomes Real

Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others

By: T.M. Luhrmann

The hard work required to make God real, how it changes the people who do it, and why it helps explain the enduring power of faith How do gods and spirits come to feel vividly real to people—as if they were standing right next to them? Humans tend to see supernatural agents everywhere, as the cognitive science of religion has shown. But it isn’t easy to maintain a sense that there are invisible spirits who care about you. In How God Becomes Real, acclaimed anthropologist and scholar of religion T. M. Luhrmann argues that people must work incredibly hard to make gods real and that this effort—by changing the people who do it and giving them the benefits they seek from invisible others—helps to explain the enduring power of faith. Drawing on ethnographic studies of evangelical Christians, pagans, magicians, Zoroastrians, Black Catholics, Santeria initiates, and newly orthodox Jews, Luhrmann notes that none of these people behave as if gods and spirits are simply there. Rather, these worshippers make strenuous efforts to create a world in which invisible others matter and can become intensely present and real. The faithful accomplish this through detailed stories, absorption, the cultivation of inner senses, belief in a porous mind, strong sensory experiences, prayer, and other practices. Along the way, Luhrmann shows why faith is harder than belief, why prayer is a metacognitive activity like therapy, why becoming religious is like getting engrossed in a book, and much more. A fascinating account of why religious practices are more powerful than religious beliefs, How God Becomes Real suggests that faith is resilient not because it provides intuitions about gods and spirits—but because it changes the faithful in profound ways.

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256

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691234442

ISBN 13

9780691234441

When God Talks Back

Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God

By: T.M. Luhrmann

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When God Talks Back

Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God

By: T.M. Luhrmann

A New York Times Notable Book A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2012 A bold approach to understanding the American evangelical experience from an anthropological and psychological perspective by one of the country's most prominent anthropologists. Through a series of intimate, illuminating interviews with various members of the Vineyard, an evangelical church with hundreds of congregations across the country, Tanya Luhrmann leaps into the heart of evangelical faith. Combined with scientific research that studies the effect that intensely practiced prayer can have on the mind, When God Talks Back examines how normal, sensible people—from college students to accountants to housewives, all functioning perfectly well within our society—can attest to having the signs and wonders of the supernatural become as quotidian and as ordinary as laundry. Astute, sensitive, and extraordinarily measured in its approach to the interface between science and religion, Luhrmann's book is sure to generate as much conversation as it will praise.

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Page Count

466

Publisher

Vintage

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307277275

ISBN 13

9780307277275

Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft

By: T. M. Luhrmann

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Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft

By: T. M. Luhrmann

To find out why reasonable people are drawn to the seemingly bizarre practices of magic and witchcraft, Luhrmann immersed herself in the arcane world of Londoners who call themselves magicians. Her report is as fascinating as the esoteric world itself. Illustrated.

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414

Publisher

Harvard University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0674663241

ISBN 13

9780674663244

Of Two Minds

An Anthropologist Looks at American Psychiatry

By: T.M. Luhrmann

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Of Two Minds

An Anthropologist Looks at American Psychiatry

By: T.M. Luhrmann

With sharp and soulful insight, T. M. Luhrmann examines the world of psychiatry, a profession which today is facing some of its greatest challenges from within and without, as it continues to offer hope to many. At a time when mood-altering drugs have revolutionized the treatment of the mentally ill and HMO’s are forcing caregivers to take the pharmacological route over the talking cure, Luhrmann places us at the heart of the matter and allows us to see exactly what is at stake. Based on extensive interviews with patients and doctors, as well as investigative fieldwork in residence programs, private psychiatric hospitals, and state hospitals, Luhrmann’s groundbreaking book shows us how psychiatrists develop and how the enormous ambiguities in the field affect its practitioners and patients.

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Page Count

353

Publisher

Vintage

Published Date

ISBN 10

0679744932

ISBN 13

9780679744931

How God Becomes Real

Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others

By: T.M. Luhrmann

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How God Becomes Real

Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others

By: T.M. Luhrmann

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256

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691234442

ISBN 13

9780691234441

When God Talks Back

Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God

By: T.M. Luhrmann

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When God Talks Back

Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God

By: T.M. Luhrmann

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Page Count

466

Publisher

Vintage

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307277275

ISBN 13

9780307277275

Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft

By: T. M. Luhrmann

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Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft

By: T. M. Luhrmann

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Solve jigsaw puzzle

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Page Count

414

Publisher

Harvard University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0674663241

ISBN 13

9780674663244

Book's by T.M. Luhrmann

How God Becomes Real

How God Becomes Real

When God Talks Back

When God Talks Back

Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft

Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft

Of Two Minds

Of Two Minds

How God Becomes Real

How God Becomes Real

When God Talks Back

When God Talks Back

Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft

Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft

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