Outline: Demons, witches, and ghosts: drugs, divination, and the occult; shamans, priests, and prophets ... All these await you in Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion - an anthropological study of religious beliefs and practices both strange and familiar. This fascinating anthology of readings, now in its second edition, contains 16 new articles and provides a rich blend of modern and traditional t…
Outline: This anthology invites Christians to find resources for faithful, creative thinking in the riches of the church's theological heritage and its worship traditions. Contributors include Robert Barron, Timothy George, Stanley Hauerwas, Alasdair MacIntyre, Mark Noll, and N.T. Wright, among others.
Outline: Kenneth Cragg describes his authoritative book The Event of the Qur'an as "an exercise in religious enquiry and in trans-religious openness of the heart ..." in the common context of our single humanity and our separate histories." The question "what happens in the Qur'an?" holds profound historical fascination as well as being a matter of great religious sensivity to all readers, rega…
Outline: In the series of essays collected in this book, Eleonore Stump offers reflections that illustrate the nature and importance of learning from the Christian heritage in its development over the ages of the Christian tradition and its continued development over the ages of the Christian tradition and its continued development in interaction with contemporary philosophy, theology, and scie…
Outline: A new commentary for today's world. The Story of God Bible Commentary explains and illuminates each passage of Scripture in light of the Bible's grand story. The first commentary series to do so, SGBC offers a clear and compelling exposition of biblical texts, guiding everyday readers in how to creatively and faithfully live out the Bible in their own contexts. Its story-centric approa…
Outline: Science, technology and economic growth motivate our society. Each is carried on with little regard for Christian concerns. Brian Walsh and Richard Middleton yearn for change. They long to see Christianity penetrate the structures of society, reforming and remolding our culture. From scholarship in the universities to politics, business and family life, the Christian vision can transfo…
Outline: American Society, with its growing polarizations, is experiencing a profound crisis of trust, from government to mass media to educational and religious institutions. And - whether we realize it or not - this crisis affects us all. In Building Cultures of Trust eminent scholar Martin Marty proposes ways of improving the conditions for trust at what might be called the "grassroots" leve…
Outline: This accessible text by James P. Ware provides both a concise guide to Paul's theology and a general introduction to the key issues and debates in the contemporary study of Paul. Examining Paul's message in the context of the ancient world, Ware identifies what would have struck Paul's original audience as startling or unique. By comparing Paul's teaching to the other religions and phi…
Outline : Recent years have seen renewed interest in divine action, but much of the literature tends to focus on the science-theology discussion. Resulting from the multiyear work of the Scripture and Doctrine Seminar, part of the Kirby Laing Centre's Scripture Collective, this book explores the many different ways in which divine action is foregrounded and portrayed in one major biblical text,…
Outline : THE STORY OF ISRAEL IN THE FIVE CENTURIES LEADING UP TO THE BIRTH OF JESUS Bridging the Testaments surveys the history and theological developments of four significant eras in Israel's postexilic history: the Persian Era (539-331 BC), the Hellenistic Era (331-167 BC), the Hasmonean Era (167-63 BC), and the Roman Era (63-4 BC). In doing so, it does away with the notion that there were…
Outline: As Christians, we should neither blindly accept nor entirely dismiss psychiatric labels, diagnoses, and medicines that are prescribed to help those who are suffering. Descriptions and Prescriptions provides a balanced, biblically (and scientifically) informed approach that will help us understand and minister to those struggling with mental health issues.
Outline: - Is human behavior purely an act of the will? - What happens when the body becomes dysfunctional - especially the brain? * Chemical imbalances controlled by the brain do have behavioral consequences, so how can counselors assess and deal with them? These and many similar questions are addressed by this book. The author presents clear and accurate information so that two extremes c…
Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices has been designed to survey the present religious situation around the world as the twenty-first century begins. To accomplish this task, the text is anchored in a disciplined country-by-country discussion of the emergence of the contemporary religious community in each of the more than 240 nations from the smaller is…
Outline: C. S. Lewis excelled at plumbing the depths of the human heart, both the good and the bad, the beautiful and the corrupt. From science fiction and fantasy to essays, letters, and works of apologetics, Lewis has offered a wealth of insight into how to live the Christian life. In this book, Rigney explores the center of Lewis's vision for the Christian life-the personal encounter between…
The book of Revelation has been both the most abused and one of the most ignored writings in the New Testament. Revelation has frequently become a non-functioning part of the canon for many persons in the church. Mitchell Reddish believes that the church has an obligation to reclaim the book of Revelation and allow it to speak afresh as a powerful voice containing the message of God. The commen…
Outline : Resources for Personal Change Everyone has their own style of dealing with conflict. Some people try to win at all costs and will do or say anything to get their own way. Others hate conflict and will do or say anything to avoid or end it. Sadly, neither fighting nor avoidance leads to genuine peace or restored relationships. Is there a better way? Timothy S. Lane, pastor, counselor,…
Japan is one of the nations having an extensive historical culture, as well as the system of faith or religion. The existence of religion, as a part of their life, has been streaming from the ancient time (pre-modern) up to present. The implementation of their religious life is very unique and fascinating. Other remarkable issues is about the tight relationship among the religions especially Sh…
A certain established orthodoxy has settled over scholarly thinking concerning the relationship between the Christian church and political freedom. Consider the work of the political philosopher John Rawls, who has exerted a towering impact on a generation of political scientists, philosophers, legal scholars, practicing lawyers, public policy professionals, and judges. Rawls often begins his t…
The result of over thirty years of research and lecturing, Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes is a ground-breaking study of Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians. Bailey examines this canonical letter through the lenses of Paul's Jewish socio-cultural and rhetorical background and the Mediterranean context of the Corinthian recipients. In a set of connected essays, he draws the reader's attentio…
There were few phenomena in the history of Byzantium which mobilized more people, wealth, and artistic creativity than did pilgrimage. Within a few generations of the foundation of the Empire by Constantine the Great, the east Mediterranean had come alive with pious travelers. Among the first was Constantine’s own mother, Helena, who, according to Eusebius, journeyed to the Holy Land at her s…
This volume continues the study of intertextuality in the 'Wisdom Literature' initiated in Reading Job Intertextually (Dell and Kynes, T & T Clark, 2012). Like that book, Reading Ecclesiastes Intertextually provides the first comprehensive treatment of intertextuality in this wisdom text. Articles address intertextual resonances between Ecclesiastes and texts across the Hebrew canon, along with…
Thomas Aquinas’s unfi nished masterwork, the Summa of Theology, is known for its dispassionate posing of questions, not to mention its considered distinctions and measured judgments. Written in a tranquil, almost colorless Latin, the Summa hardly seems to qualify as an incendiary” work. Yet it has provoked incendiary reactions. There is the legend of Martin Luther throwing the book into the…
Over the last 25 years, there has been much talk of the presumed "decline" in religious participation in America. In addition, from the 1960s on, surveys that mark the "influence" of religion in American life have shown a mixed response. Many suggest that religion is losing influence in the culture as a whole; others indicate that while organized religion may be experiencing challenges, spiritu…
Nature was always important in Thomas Merton’s life—from his infancy in Prades, France, when he learned words like chrysanthemum, hollyhock, foxglove, chickadee, and kingfi sher from his mother’s careful coaching, to long hours in the fresh air watching his artist father create landscapes, to his fi nal years of solitude in the hermitage at Our Lady of Gethsemani, the Trappist monastery i…
A religious primer serves as an argument for why religion should become a mandatory subject in American public schools, contending that most Americans are not able to identify basic tenets of their faith and that key political challenges can be better met with faith-based resolutions.
Some might call us spoiled. We live in an era of significant and substantial resources for Christians on living the Christian life. We have ready access to books, DVD series, online material, seminars—all in the interest of encouraging us in our daily walk with Christ. The laity, the people in the pew, have access to more information than scholars dreamed of having in previous centuries.
Thoroughly exploring the history of the conflict between Christians and Jews from medieval to modern times, this wide-ranging volume includes newly uncovered material from the recently opened post-Soviet archives. Anna Sapir Abulafia delineates controversial issues of inter-faith confrontation, and a number of eminent scholars from around the globe discuss openly and objectively the dynamics of…
The book of Ezekiel reflects a degree of liteary coherence unmatched in the canon of biblical prophets. Organized around three major visions of God, the book tells the story of God's final attempt as their only legitimate king to claim the loyalty of his subjects, the rebellious and recalcitrant house of Israel. The prophet Ezekiel plays a key role in this campaign.
George W. Bush has invited more analysis and controversy over the impact of religion on his presidency than perhaps any chief executive of the modern era. Opinion on Bush's religiosity is intensely divisive, with conservative evangelicals seeing him as a man of deep faith and principles and at the same time many progressives seeing the president as almost dangerously fanatical. This volume is a…
An exploration of the relationship between the rise and development of a mystical element in Islam, known as Sufism, and the mysticism that was already to be found within the Christian Church of the Near and Middle East.
College students have some familiarity with interpreting written texts from high school English classes. But after years of watching TV, movies, and music videos, most college students are more comfortable with visual media than written texts. Before even opening a Bible, I introduce interpretation using a visual text, such as a political poster from a different country or historical era...
Radical Orthodoxy is a new wave of theological thinking that aims to reclaim the world by situating its concerns and activities within a theological framework, re-injecting modernity with theology. This collection of papers is essential reading for anyone eager to understand religion, theology, and philosophy in a completely new light.
In God is Not Great, Hitchen tweezes through the major religious texts with forensic shrewdness. With chapters entitled Religion Kills', and Is Religion Child Abuse?', he fearlessly argues for a secular life based on science and reason, tarring religion as man-made wish-thinking. He documents the ways in which religion is a cause of dangerous sexual repression and a distortion of our origins in…
The purpose of this book is not to decide the religious issue of the present day, but merely to present the issue as sharply and clearly as possible, in order that the reader may be aided in deciding it for himself. Presenting an issue sharply is indeed by no means a popular business at the present time; there are many who prefer to fight their intellectual battles in what Dr. Francis L. Patton…
The Hindu religious tradition has a rich and complex history, with origins that extend as far back as the 3rd millennium bce, when the Mohenjo-daro and Harappan civilizations were thriving in the fertile valleys of the Indus River (see map, p. 17). Around 1500bce, the nomadic Aryans entered the Indian subcontinent from Persia, introducing new beliefs, customs and social structures to the agricu…
This expanded anniversary edition includes updates and expansions of existing tactics, as well as the addition of an all-new tactic and a chapter on Mini Tactics filled with simple maneuvers to aid in discussions. In a world increasingly indifferent to Christian truth, followers of Christ need to be equipped to communicate with those who do not speak their language or accept their source of aut…
When the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America was added, it was agreed that Congress and government in general would not be actively supporting or participating in the establishment of religion, nor would it be in the business of prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Religious life in our newly formed country would never be the same thereafter. The religious mili…
This book aspires to answer a relatively simple question: How did we get from John F. Kennedy’s eloquent speech at the Rice Hotel in Houston on September 12, 1960, in which he urged voters effectively to bracket a candidate’s faith out of their considerations when they entered the voting booth, to George W. Bush’s declaration on the eve of the 2000 Iowa precinct caucuses that Jesus was hi…
This volume explores the legacy of the Dutch theologian and statesman Abraham Kuyper for contemporary Christian ecotheology. A crucial problem in ecotheology is how to do justice to both creation and salvation as acts of God, given the impact of the environmental crisis and the concern for creation (as creatura). Can Kuyper help one in this regard, given his controversial legasy, especially in …
Richard Swinburne analyses the purposes of practising a religion, and argues that religious faith requires belief that a particular creed provides the rationale for supposing that these purposes will be achieved.
This book-length ethnography of the revival of a popular religious temple in contemporary rural China examines the organizational and cultural logics that inform the staging of popular religious activities. It also explores the politics of the religious revival, detailing the relationships of village-level local activists and local state agents with temple associations and temple bosses. Sheddi…
Acts of Religion, compiled in close association with Jacques Derrida, brings together for the first time a number of Derrida's writings on religion and questions of faith and their relation to philosophy and political culture. The essays discuss religious texts from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, as well as religious thinkers such as Kant, Levinas, and Gershom Scholem, and comprise p…
This groundbreaking work by Darrell Bock thoroughly explores the theology of Luke's gospel and the book of Acts. In his writing, Luke records the story of God working through Jesus to usher in a new era of promise and Spirit-enablement so that the people of God can be God's people even in the midst of a hostile world. It is a message the church still needs today. Bock both covers major Lukan th…
This is a detailed examination of Proverbs 1-9, an early Jewish poetic work and an example of Wisdom literature. The author shows that certain parts of it, profoundly influential on the development of both Judaism and Christianity, belong to a much broader and more intricate set of ideas than older scholarship allowed.
Is the Christian church in Europe doomed to collapse under the weight of globalization, Western secularism, and a flood of Muslim immigrants? Is Europe on the brink of becoming "Eurabia"?Though many pundits are predicting just such a scenario, God's Continent reveals the flaws in these arguments and offers a much more measured assessment of Europe's religious future. While frankly acknowledging…
In this wide-ranging book that moves from Greek drama to modern poetry, David Brown explores the ways in which the poetry and drama of the past were rooted in religious questions. He posits that their creative potential needs to be rediscovered to bring present-day worship and experience of God alive.
"Wonderful grist for academicians and practitioners alike. This book of thoughtful essays by world-class authors advances the field of religion and foreign policy on a number of important fronts, "-Douglas M. Johnson, President, International Center for Religion & Diplomacy
Karl Barth was, without doubt, one of the most significant religious thinkers of modern times. His radical affirmation of the revealed truth of Christianity changed the course of Christian theology in the twentieth century and is a source of inspiration for countless believers. Pope Pius XII declared that there had been nothing like Karl Barth's later thought since Thomas Aquinas. God Here and …