Passing on the Faith : : Transforming Traditions for the Next Generation of Jews, Christians, and Muslims / / ed. by James L. Heft.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Fordham University Press Complete eBook-Package Pre-2014
• MitwirkendeR: Ammerman, Nancy,; Bagby, Ihsan,; Belzer, Tobin,; Flory, Richard W.,; Heft, James L.,; Lindholm, Jennifer A.,; Loskota, Brie,; Matalon, Rabbi J. Rolando,; Miles, Jack,; Osman, Ghada,; Phan, Peter C.,; Quraishi, Amira,; Roumani, Nadia,; Schwadel, Philip,; Smith, Christian,; Sánchez de Toca, Melchor,; Taiz, John of,; Winston, Diane,
• HerausgeberIn: Heft, James L.,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : Fordham University Press, , [2009]; ©2009
• Year of Publication: 2009
• Language: English
• Series: Abrahamic Dialogues
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (334 p.)

From the beginning, the Abrahamic faiths—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—have stressed the importance of transmitting religious identity from one generation to the next. Today, that sustaining mission has never been more challenged. Will young people have a faith to guide them? How can faith traditions anchor religious attachments in this secular, skeptical culture?The fruit of a historic gathering of scholars and religious leaders across three faiths and many disciplines, this important book reports on the religious lives of young people in today’s world. It’s also a unique inventory of creative and thoughtful responses from churches, synagogues, and mosques working to keep religion a significant force in those lives.The essays are grouped thematically. Opening the book, Melchor Sanchez de Toca and Nancy Ammerman explore fundamental issues that have an impact on religion—from the cultural effects of global consumerism and personal technology to pluralism and individualism. In Part Two, leading investigators present three leading studies of religiosity among young people and college students in the United States, illuminating the gap between personal values and organized religion—and the emergence of new, different forms of spirituality and faith. How religious institutions deal with these challenges forms the heart of the book—in portraits of “best practices” developed to revitalize traditional institutions, from a synagogue in New York City and a Muslim youth camp in California to the famed French Catholic community of the late Brother John of Taizé. Finally, Jack Miles and Diane Winston weave the findings into a broader perspective of the future of religious belief, practice, and feeling in a changing world.Filled with real-world wisdom, Passing the Faith will be an essential resource for anyone seeking to understand what religions must, and can, do to inspire a vigorous faith in the next generation.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction: Youth and the Continuity of Religious Traditions -- Section One: National and International Overviews -- Looking for God: Religious Indifference in Perspective -- Journeys of Faith: Meeting the Challenges in Twenty- First-Century America -- Section Two: Three Recent National Studies -- Is Moralistic Therapeutic Deism the New Religion of American Youth? Implications for the Challenge of Religious Socialization and Reproduction -- The ‘‘Interior’’ Lives of American College Students: Preliminary Findings from a National Study -- Congregations That Get It: Understanding Religious Identities in the Next Generation -- Section Three: Passing on the Faith to the Next Generation of Jews -- BJ: A Portrait of a Revitalized Synagogue -- Current Expressions of American Jewish Identity: An Analysis of 114 Teenagers -- Section Four: Passing on the Faith to the Next Generation of Christians -- A Spiritual Crossroads of Europe: The Taizé Community’s Adventure with the Young -- Religious Identity and Belonging Amidst Diversity and Pluralism: Challenges and Opportunities for Church and Theology -- Section Five: Passing on the Faith to the Next Generation of Muslims -- Identity and Community in a New Generation: The Muslim Community in the Early Seventh Century and Today -- Making Safe Space for Questioning for Young American Muslims -- Second-Generation Muslim Immigrants in Detroit Mosques: The Second Generation’s Search for Their Place and Identity in the American Mosque -- Section Six: Two Evaluations of the Research -- The Leisure of Worship and the Worship of Leisure -- Teach Your Children Well: Closing Observations on Constructing Religious Identity in the Next Generation -- Notes -- Contributors -- Index