Christianity Books
Oxford University Press, USA Apophasis and Pseudonymity in Dionysius the Areopagite No Longer I Oxford Early Christian Studies
Book SynopsisThis is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. This book examines the writings of an early sixth-century Christian mystical theologian who wrote under the name of a convert of the apostle Paul, Dionysius the Areopagite. This ''Pseudo''-Dionysius is famous for articulating a mystical theology in two parts: a sacramental and liturgical mysticism embedded in the context of celestial and ecclesiastical hierarchies, and an austere, contemplative regimen in which one progressively negates the divine names in hopes of soliciting union with the ''unknown God'' or ''God beyond being.''Charles M. Stang argues that the pseudonym and the influence of Paul together constitute the best interpretive lens for understanding the Corpus Dionysiacum [CD]. Stang demonstrates how Paul animates the entire corpus, and shows that the influence of Paul illuminates such central themes of the CD as hierarchy, theurgy, deification, Christology, affirmation (kataphasis) and negation (apophasis), dissimilar similarities, and unknowing. Most importantly, Paul serves as a fulcrum for the expression of a new theological anthropology, an ''apophatic anthropology.'' Dionysius figures Paul as the premier apostolic witness to this apophatic anthropology, as the ecstatic lover of the divine who confesses to the rupture of his self and the indwelling of the divine in Gal 2:20: ''it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.'' Building on this notion of apophatic anthropology, the book forwards an explanation for why this sixth-century author chose to write under an apostolic pseudonym. Stang argues that the very practice of pseudonymous writing itself serves as an ecstatic devotional exercise whereby the writer becomes split in two and thereby open to the indwelling of the divine. Pseudonymity is on this interpretation integral and internal to the aims of the wider mystical enterprise. Thus this book aims to question the distinction between ''theory'' and ''practice'' by demonstrating that negative theology-often figured as a speculative and rarefied theory regarding the transcendence of God-is in fact best understood as a kind of asceticism, a devotional practice aiming for the total transformation of the Christian subject.Trade ReviewLike the best books, once one follows Stang in his exploration of Dionysios, it all seems so obvious. * Andrew Louth, Theology *The great merit of Charles Stang is to have filled a gap in Dionysian studies. * Gioacchino Curiello, Ecclesiastical History. Vol. 64.2 *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Ancient and Modern Readers of the Corpus Dionysiacum: Pseudonymity and Paul ; 2. Pseudonymous Writing in the Late Antique Christian East ; 3. "I rejoice to see your order": Paul and the Dionysian Hierarchies ; 4. "To an unknown God": Paul and Mystical Union ; 5. "No longer I": The Apophatic Anthropology of Dionysius the Areopagite ; Conclusion: The Pseudonym, Revisited
£123.50
Oxford University Press, USA Memory in Augustines Theological Anthropology Oxford Early Christian Studies
Book SynopsisMemory is the least studied dimension of Augustine''s psychological trinity of memory-intellect-will. This book explores the theme of ''memory'' in Augustine''s works, tracing its philosophical and theological significance. The first part explores the philosophical history of memory in Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus. The second part shows how Augustine inherits this theme and treats it in his early writings. The third and final part seeks to show how Augustine''s theological understanding of Christ draws on and resolves tensions in the theme of memory.The place of memory in the theological anthropology of Augustine has its roots in the Platonic epistemological tradition. Augustine actively engages with this tradition in his early writings in a manner that is both philosophically sophisticated and doctrinally consistent with his later, more overtly theological writings. From the Cassiacum dialogues through De musica, Augustine points to the central importance of memory: he examines the power of the soul as something that mediates sense perception and understanding, while explicitly deferring a more profound treatment of it until Confessions and De trinitate. In these two texts, memory is the foundation for the location of the Imago Dei in the mind. It becomes the basis for the spiritual experience of the embodied creature, and a source of the profound anxiety that results from the sensed opposition of human time and divine time (aeterna ratio). This tension is contained and resolved, to a limited extent, in Augustine''s Christology, in the ability of a paradoxical incarnation to unify the temporal and the eternal (in Confessions 11 and 12), and the life of faith (scientia) with the promised contemplation of the divine (sapientia, in De trinitate 12-14).Table of ContentsPART I ; PART II ; PART III
£137.75
OUP Oxford The Oxford Handbook of Ecclesiology
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£142.50
Oxford University Press Calvin Classical Trinitarianism and the Aseity of the Son
Book SynopsisFor much of his career as a Reformer John Calvin was involved in trinitarian controversy. Not only did these controversies span his career, but his opponents ranged across the spectrum of theological approaches-from staunch traditionalists to radical antitrinitarians. Remarkably, the heart of Calvin''s argument, and the heart of others'' criticism, remained the same throughout: Calvin claimed that the only-begotten Son of the Father is also, as the one true God, ''of himself''. Brannon Ellis investigates the various Reformation and post-Reformation responses to Calvin''s affirmation of the Son''s aseity (or essential self-existence), a significant episode in the history of theology that is often ignored or misunderstood. Calvin neither rejected eternal generation, nor merely toed the line of classical exposition. As such, these debates turned on the crucial pivot between simple unity and ordered plurality-the relationship between the processions and consubstantiality-at the heart of thTrade ReviewI have learned a lot from Ellis book and I highly appreciate it ... I recommend it warmly * Georg Plasger, Journal of Reformed Theology *The author's claim is that Calvin's autothean emphasis purifies such grammar, so making a significant contribution to Trinitarian theology. This erudite book will be of considerable interest to students of Reformed theology and (to a lesser extent) of Trinitarian theology more generally. * Paul Helm, Journal of Ecclesiastical History *Brannon Ellis, throughout this book, has shown that he is surely such a theologian, in the very best and most helpful way. Ellis holds togetherbrilliantlyboth the depth and breadth of the issues, concerns, nuances, subtleties, and significant differences among a vast range of individual thinkers, movements, councils, and credal statements on the question of how the Son of God may be said to be a seof himselfyet also of the Father. * Robert C. Fennel, The Journal of Theological Studies *Editor Ashford and company are commended for their efforts * Mitchell Dick, Mid-America Journal of Theology *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Calvin on the Aseity of the Son: The 1559 Institutes as Entry-Point ; 2. The Autothean Controversies: Calvin s Complex Solidarity ; 3. The Theological Shape of the Autothean Debates: Eternal Generation s Role in Classical Trinitarianism ; 4. Identity, Distinction, or Tension in Trinitarian Language?: Loose Approaches to the Son s Aseity ; 5. Tension In Distinction: Classical and Mainstream Reformed Approaches to the Son s Aseity ; 6. The Irreducible Triunity of God: The Reformed Minority Report s Strict Distinction of the Two Ways of Speaking ; 7. Of Himself, God Gives Himself
£140.12
Oxford University Press Drama of the Divine Economy
Book SynopsisThe theology of creation interconnected with virtually every aspect of early Christian thought, from Trinitarian doctrine to salvation to ethics. Paul M. Blowers provides an advanced introduction to the multiplex relation between Creator and creation as an object both of theological construction and religious devotion in the early church. While revisiting the polemical dimension of Christian responses to Greco-Roman philosophical cosmology and heterodox Gnostic and Marcionite traditions on the origin, constitution, and destiny of the cosmos, Blowers focuses more substantially on the positive role of patristic theological interpretation of Genesis and other biblical creation texts in eliciting Christian perspectives on the multifaceted relation between Creator and creation. Greek, Syriac, and Latin patristic commentators, Blowers argues, were ultimately motivated less by purely cosmological concerns than by the urge to depict creation as the enduring creative and redemptive strategy of Trade ReviewBlower has responded to the need for an overarching and articulate treatment of early Christian doctrines of creation. The book he has produced shows us that a sound knowledge of these doctrines is crucial to thinking about theology more generally, both ancient and modern. * Thomas E. Hunt, Theology *An eloquent epilogue ... recapitulates the main theme rounding off a fine book. ... I do not think that it could be much better composed. * Lionel Wickham, Journal of Ecclesiastical History *Table of Contents1. Introduction ; 2. Legacies of Greco-Roman Cosmological Wisdom ; 3. Legacies of Hellenistic Jewish Cosmological Wisdom ; 4. The Shaping of Normative Discourse about Creator and Creation in Pre-Nicene Christianity ; 5. Creation in the Mirror of Scripture I: Patristic Approaches to the Genesis Creation Story ; 6. Toward a Christian Theology of the Beginning (and End) of the World ; 7. Creation in the Mirror of Scripture II: Patristic Approaches to the Biblical Witnesses beyond Genesis ; 8. Christ the Creator and the Creator Spirit: The Drama of the Incarnation and the Remaking of Creation ; 9. Performing Faith in the Creator: The Drama of the Divine Economy as the Framework of Devotional and Ritual Practices in the Early Church ; Epilogue: Drama of the Divine Economy
£178.12
Oxford University Press, USA Karl Barth on Theology and Philosophy
Book SynopsisKarl Barth is often assumed to have been hostile to philosophy, wilfully ignorant of it, or too indebted to its conclusions for his own theological good. These truisms of twentieth-century theology are challenged in this original and comprehensive account of Barth''s understanding of the relationship between theology and philosophy. Drawing upon a range of material from Barth''s earliest writings (1909) up until interviews and roundtable discussions that took place shortly before his death (1968), Kenneth Oakes offers a developmental account of Barth''s thoughts on philosophy and theology. Beginning with the nineteenth-century intellectual background to Barth''s earliest theology, Oakes presents the young and ''liberal'' Barth''s understanding of the relationship between theology and philosophy and then tracks this understanding throughout the rest of Barth''s career. While Barth never finally settled on a single, fixed account of theology and philosophy, there was still a great deal oTable of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. The Earlier Barth ; 2. Reading Paul amidst and after the Great War ; 3. Philosophy, Preaching, and Prolegomena ; 4. The Roaring Later Twenties ; 5. Barth s Third Prolegomenon ; 6. Philosophy, Ethics, Creation ; 7. After Thoughts ; Conclusion: The Positive Protest
£137.75
Oxford University Press, USA Women and the Bible in Early Modern England
Book SynopsisWomen and the Bible in Early Modern England provides an account of the uniquely important role of the Bible in the development of female interpretative and literary agency, as well as in the expression of female subjectivity in early modern England. In the later sixteenth and throughout the seventeenth century women''s religious writing diversified in genre and entered increasingly into a public literary sphere. Femke Molekamp shows that the Bible was at the heart of female reading culture, and that women can be seen to have participated in multiple modes of reading it, which, in turn, fostered various kinds of literary writing.The sources used in this book to reconstruct reading practices, and trace their connection to religious writing, are drawn from diverse archives, to include the annotations, biographical writing, commonplace books, letters, treatises, and other literary writings in print and manuscript of both prominent early modern women well known to us, and women who have so Trade ReviewFemke Molekamp should be congratulated with particular warmth for her detective work in this area, which has definitely enlarged the body of evidence on which future scholars can draw. * Alison Shell, The Times Literary Supplement *Collectively Molekamp's study adds to our knowledge about the cultural place of the Bible in early modern England, contributing to the scholarly conversations around this broad topic. * William E. Smith III, Clio *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Vernacular Bible and Early Modern Englishwomen: Shifting Possibilities ; 1. The Geneva Bible in the Household ; 2. Early Modern Englishwomen and Modes of Bible-Reading ; 3. Female Religious Community: Reading and Writing ; 4. Women and Affective Religious Reading and Writing ; 5. The Sidney-Herbert Psalms and the Countess of Pembroke as a Reader of the Geneva Bible ; 6. Regarding the Passion: Aemelia Lanyer, Constance Aston Fowler, and Elizabeth Delaval ; Epilogue: The Female Bible-Reader: 'no longer a consumer but a producer of texts'
£118.75
Oxford University Press People of One Book
Book SynopsisAlthough the Victorians were awash in texts, the Bible was such a pervasive and dominant presence that they may fittingly be thought of as ''a people of one book''. They habitually read the Bible, quoted it, adopted its phraseology as their own, thought in its categories, and viewed their own lives and experiences through a scriptural lens. This astonishingly deep, relentless, and resonant engagement with the Bible was true across the religious spectrum from Catholics to Unitarians and beyond. The scripture-saturated culture of nineteenth-century England is displayed by Timothy Larsen in a series of lively case studies of representative figures ranging from the Quaker prison reformer Elizabeth Fry to the liberal Anglican pioneer of nursing Florence Nightingale to the Baptist preacher C. H. Spurgeon to the Jewish author Grace Aguilar. Even the agnostic man of science T. H. Huxley and the atheist leaders Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant were thoroughly and profoundly preoccupied with tTrade ReviewLarsenâs careful research and accessible style will make this one of the classic works on the period for many years to come. * American Historical Review *This is a rich and thoroughly enjoyable book * English Historical Review *A learned and engaging book. * Journal of Modern History *Another significant contribution to this field, Timothy Larsens learned A People of One Book: The Bible and the Victorians successfully demonstrates the diversity of the ways that Victorians thought about and interpreted the Scriptures. * The Years Work in Englishs Studies *For demonstrating the surprising longevity and breadth of the Bibles cultural and linguistic influence, for its imaginative mapping of everyday Bible reading, and for introducing readers to a treasure trove of little-known primary sources, A People of One Book makes a significant contribution to the field. * Nineteenth-Century Literature *This is a painstakingly, formidably researched study: archives and collections of the papers and letters of several of the figures discussed have been minutely examined, as have countless newspapers and journals, magazines and tracts. Professor Larsen must have immersed himself in hundreds of sermons, biblical commentaries, essays, reviews and biographies to put together the successive case histories. And he has listened, attentively, to these different voices. The result is a recuperative work of patient synthesis, and I cannot imagine the scholar of nineteenth-century religion or literature who would not learn something new from nearly every page. * Chris Walsh, Religion and Literature *In his erudite treatment of these dozen representative figures, Larsen, the McManis Professor of Christian Thought at Wheaton College, offers a virtual survey of the Victorian religious landscape. * Journal of Religion *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Anglo-Catholics: E. B. Pusey and Holy Scripture ; 2. Roman Catholics: Nicholas Wiseman and Sacred Scripture ; 3. Atheists: Charles Bradlaugh, Annie Besant, and 'this indictable book' ; 4. Methodist and Holiness: Catherine Booth, William Cooke, and the Scriptures ; 5. Liberal Anglicans: Florence Nightingale and the Bible ; 6. Unitarians: Mary Carpenter and the Sacred Writings ; 7. Quakers: Elizabeth Fry and 'Reading' ; 8. Agnostics: T. H.Huxley and Bibliolatry ; 9. Evangelical Anglicans: Josephine Butler and the Word of God ; 10. Orthodox Old Dissent: C. H. Spurgeon and 'the Book' ; Conclusion: Spiritualism, Judaism, and the Brethren - A People of One Book
£33.72
OUP Oxford The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible
Book SynopsisIn recent decades, reception history has become an increasingly important and controversial topic of discussion in biblical studies. Rather than attempting to recover the original meaning of biblical texts, reception history focuses on exploring the history of interpretation. In doing so it locates the dominant historical-critical scholarly paradigm within the history of interpretation, rather than over and above it. At the same time, the breadth of material and hermeneutical issues that reception history engages with questions any narrow understanding of the history of the Bible and its effects on faith communities.The challenge that reception history faces is to explore tradition without either reducing its meaning to what faith communities think is important, or merely offering anthologies of interesting historical interpretations. This major new handbook addresses these matters by presenting reception history as an enterprise (not a method) that questions and understands tradition Trade Reviewan important, valuable contribution to its subject * Eric Ziolkowski, Relegere: Studies in Religion and Reception *a rich collection of different and often very valuable materials on the reception history of the Bible. Among the articles some are real treasures * Ulrich Luz, Journal of Theological Studies *This volume is most certainly timely and highly pertinent to recent developments within biblical studies ... a welcome addition * R. I. Kueh, Journal of Ecclesiastical History *Table of ContentsPART ONE; PART TWO; HERMENEUTICAL AND HISTORICAL ISSUES; HEBREW BIBLE; NEW TESTAMENT
£34.99
Oxford University Press Divine Evil
Book SynopsisAdherents of the Abrahamic religions have traditionally held that God is morally perfect and unconditionally deserving of devotion, obedience, love, and worship. The Jewish, Christian, and Islamic scriptures tell us that God is compassionate, merciful, and just. As is well-known, however, these same scriptures contain passages that portray God as wrathful, severely punitive, and jealous. Critics furthermore argue that the God of these scriptures commends bigotry, misogyny, and homophobia, condones slavery, and demands the adoption of unjust laws-for example, laws that mandate the death penalty for adultery and rebellion against parents, and laws institutionalizing in various ways the diverse kinds of bigotry and oppression just mentioned. In recent days, these sorts of criticisms of the Hebrew Bible have been raised in new and forceful ways by philosophers, scientists, social commentators, and others. This volume brings together eleven original essays representing the views of both criTrade Reviewthe book contains a variety of theistic approaches to dealing with the problem of divine evil. ... Whatever one makes of divine evil, this book most certainly promotes the human good. * Stewart Goetz, Mind *Table of ContentsPHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES; I: PROBLEMS PRESENTED; II: SOLUTIONS PROPOSED; THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES; CONCLUDING REMARKS
£50.35
Oxford University Press Roman Christianity and Roman Stoicism
Book SynopsisChristianity is commonly held to have introduced an entirely new and better morality into the ancient world, a new morality that was decidedly universal, in contrast to the ethics of the philosophical schools which were only concerned with the intellectual few. Runar M. Thorsteinsson presents a challenge to this view by comparing Christian morality in first-century Rome with contemporary Stoic ethics in the city.Thorsteinsson introduces and discusses the moral teaching of Roman Stoicism; of Seneca, Musonius Rufus, and Epictetus. He then presents the moral teaching of Roman Christianity as it is represented in Paul''s Letter to the Romans, the First Letter of Peter, and the First Letter of Clement. Having established the bases for his comparison, he examines the similarities and differences between Roman Stoicism and Roman Christianity in terms of morality.Five broad themes are used for the comparison, questions of Christian and Stoic views about: a particular morality or way of life asTrade ReviewIn this excellent study, Runar M. Thorsteinsson adds significantly to our knowledge of the similarities and possible interactions between Roman Stoicism and what he defines as Roman Christianity in the realm of ethics and morality Its conclusions will be controversial to many, but as they clearly emerge from a process of careful and well conducted historical research, they must be taken into account by anyone seriously engaged with ancient philosophy and early Christian studies. * Stefan Nordgaard, Review of Biblical Literature *Table of ContentsI: MORAL TEACHING IN ROMAN STOCISM; II: MORAL TEACHING IN ROMAN CHRISTIANITY; III: ROMAN CHRISTAINITY AND ROMAN STOCISM: A COMPARISON
£35.59
OUP Oxford The Oxford Handbook of Maximus the Confessor
Book SynopsisMaximus the Confessor (c.580-662) has become one of the most discussed figures in contemporary patristic studies. This is partly due to the relatively recent discovery and critical edition of his works in various genres, including On the Ascetic Life, Four Centuries on Charity, Two Centuries on Theology and the Incarnation, On the ''Our Father'', two separate Books of Difficulties, addressed to John and to Thomas, Questions and Doubts, Questions to Thalassius, Mystagogy and the Short Theological and Polemical Works. The impact of these works reached far beyond the Greek East, with his involvement in the western resistance to imperial heresy, notably at the Lateran Synod in 649. Together with Pope Martin I (649-53 CE), Maximus the Confessor and his circle were the most vocal opponents of Constantinople''s introduction of the doctrine of monothelitism. This dispute over the number of wills in Christ became a contest between the imperial government and church of Constantinople on the one Trade Reviewthis Handbook is a monumental and much-needed publication, which will definitely mark the field of Maximian studies for the next generations of scholars. * Dr Sotiris Mitralexis, Vigiliae Christianae *Table of ContentsPART ONE. HISTORICAL SETTING; PART TWO. THEOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL INFLUENCES; PART THREE. WORKS AND THOUGHT; PART FOUR. RECEPTION
£142.50
Oxford University Press, USA 2 Clement Introduction Text and Commentary Oxford Apostolic Fathers
Book SynopsisThe first major commentary on the text of 2 Clement since J.B. Lightfoot's magisterial work in the 19th century. Provides a new edition of the Greek text, together with an English translation; in addition there is a full Introduction and a detailed commentary on the Greek text.Table of ContentsI. INTRODUCTION ; 1. Manuscripts ; 2. Attestation ; 3. Authorship ; 4. Genre ; 5. Literary Unity ; 6. Citations ; 7. Opponents ; 8. Place and Date of Writing ; 9. Theology ; II. TEXT AND TRANSLATION ; III. COMMENTARY
£227.50
OUP Oxford The Oxford Handbook of Methodist Studies
Book SynopsisWith the decision to provide of a scholarly edition of the Works of John Wesley in the 1950s, Methodist Studies emerged as a fresh academic venture. Building on the foundation laid by Frank Baker, Albert Outler, and other pioneers of the discipline, this handbook provides an overview of the best current scholarship in the field. The forty-two included essays are representative of the voices of a new generation of international scholars, summarising and expanding on topical research, and considering where their work may lead Methodist Studies in the future.Thematically ordered, the handbook provides new insights into the founders, history, structures, and theology of Methodism, and into ongoing developments in the practice and experience of the contemporary movement. Key themes explored include worship forms, mission, ecumenism, and engagement with contemporary ethical and political debate.Trade ReviewThis volume on Methodist Studies in the Oxford Handbook series will not disappoint... [it] will remain an essential reference book for many years to come * Mary Tanner, Church Times *This is a huge, delicious book ... it is a superb collection of essays, of which Methodists from all countries may be justly proud. * Barrie Tabraham, Journal of Ecclesiastical History *Table of ContentsI: HISTORY OF METHODISM ; II: ECCLESIA FORMS AND STRUCTURES ; III: WORSHIP, SACRAMENTS, LITURGY, HYMNODY, MUSIC, PREACHING ; IV:SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES, EVANGELISM, MISSION, ECUMENISM ; V: THEOLOGY ; VI: ETHICS AND POLITICS
£36.99
Oxford University Press Ancient Israel in Sinai The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition
Book SynopsisHoffmeier examines the Wilderness narratives of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. As director of the North Sinai Archaeological Project, the author has led several excavations that have uncovered important new evidence supporting the Wilderness narratives, including a major New Kingdom fort at Tell el-Borg that was occupied during the Israelite exodus. Hoffmeier employs these archaeological findings to shed new light on the route of the exodus from Egypt. Ancient Israel in Sinai brings the Wilderness tradition to the forefront and makes a case for its authenticity based on solid evidence and intelligent analysis.Trade ReviewEgyptologist and ancient Near Eastern scholar, James K. Hoffmeier, has produced an important work for the ongoing study of Israel's wilderness traditions. It is an excellent example of the integration of archaeology, philology, religion, history and biblical studies by a scholar who has demonstrated over the years his outstanding abilities in all these matters. While it gives an up-to-date accounting of what is known about Israel's wilderness traditions, it makes important contributions to the study of the toponymy and history of ancient Egypt's eastern frontier, as well as that of ancient Sinai. There can be no doubt that this volume will become the standard work in these areas for years to come. * K. Lawson Younger, Jr., co-editor of Mesopotamia and the Bible: Comparative Explorations *'Biblical Scholarship and Egyptology are brought together with uncommon skill in this important study. The book contains a wealth of evidence which is as fascinating as it is well-researched.' * Richard H. Wilkinson, Professor and Director, Egyptian Expedition, The University of Arizona *'As the director of numerous archaeological surveys in North Sinai and current excavations at Tell el-Borg, James Hoffmeier is one of the world's foremost authorities on Egypt's northern border defenses during the New Kingdom (c. 1550-1069 B.C.). Any new work of his will be read with interest by Egyptologists and biblical scholars alike.' -- * Ellen F. Morris, Department of Classics, Ancient History, and Egyptology, University of Wales Swansea *'Hoffmeier furnishes a sophisticated fresh approach to the Biblical Exodus traditions filled with detailed Egyptological background, and utterly indispensable because of its basis in recent, and in many cases as yet unpublished, archaeological data. This is a virtual encyclopedia of the Exodus.' * Baruch Halpern, Chaiken Family Chair in Jewish Studies, Penn State *Table of ContentsForeword by Kenneth A. Kitchen ; Abbreviations ; Chronological Charts ; The Wilderness Tradition ; The Wilderness Tradition and the Historian of Religion ; Sinai: The Great and Terrible Wilderness ; The Geography of the Exodus: Ramesses to the Sea ; The Location of the Re(e)d Sea ; The Mountain of God ; From Egypt to Mt. Sinai: Traveling and Living in the Wilderness ; The Sinai Legislation ; Israel's Desert Sanctuary ; Egyptian Personal Names and Other Egyptian Elements in the Exodus-Wilderness Narratives ; The Wilderness Tradition and the Origin of Israel ; Notes ; Index ; Photo gallery
£34.67
OUP USA The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology
Book SynopsisFrom the rapid expansion of fundamentalist forms of Christianity, with their focus on the end times; to the proliferation of apocalyptic new religious movements; to the recent (and very public) debates about suicide, euthanasia, martyrdom, and paradise in Islam, interest in eschatology is once again dramatically on the rise. This expansive handbook offers thirty-nine chapters exploring the diverse terrain of eschatology's past, present, and future-providinginformative insights on heaven, hell, and everything in between. This volume will prove to be the primary resource for students, scholars, and others interested in questions of our ultimate existence.Trade Reviewprovides an important, head-on, critical analysis of eschatology from biblical, historical, theological, philosophical and cultural disciplines and is relevant for practitioners of these perspectives. * Quaker Studies *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION BY JERRY L. WALLS; I. HISTORICAL ESCHATOLOGY; A. BIBLICAL AND PATRISTIC ESCHATOLOGY; B. ESCHATOLOGY IN WORLD RELIGIONS; II. ESCHATOLOGY IN DISTINCT CHRISTIAN TRADITIONS AND THEOLOGICAL MOVEMENTS; III. ISSUES IN ESCHATOLOGY; A. THEOLOGICAL ISSUES; B. PHILOSOPHICAL AND CULTURAL ISSUES; CONCLUSION
£54.15
Oxford University Press Spirituality
Book SynopsisThe concept of spirituality permeates modern culture: from academic book series on ''''Classics of Western Spirituality'''' to self-help manuals, from the use of Buddhist mindfulness meditation (typically detached from Buddhist religious teachings) in medical treatment to nature spirituality, from spiritually oriented peace activists to spiritually oriented new age music. Spirituality has become a common part of our cultural vocabulary. It is not only an important concept in its own right but plays productive and significant roles in the realms of psychology, ecology, medicine, and even politics. Millions call themselves spiritual but not religious, academics describe much of contemporary religious life in the U.S. as focused on a spiritually oriented seeking, and a quick search on Amazon.com turns up hundreds of books whose titles take the general form of The Spirituality of X or Spirituality and Y. At the same time, the concept is used in widely conflicting, often confusing ways. MosTrade ReviewThe single best book giving an objective look at the burgeoning interest in spirituality that exists in the English language. * Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor-in-chief of Tikkun *We agree with Gottlieb when he affirms a piece of wisdom which traveled the world: 'Do your best and leave the rest to God'...Gottlieb puts his faith in grace and in the human capacity for transformation. * Spirituality & Practice *Roger Gottlieb has created a piece of art in surveying the literature on how meditation and Yoga might help reduce pain and suffering, then switching to a heart-felt narration of struggles within his own family. * Christopher Chapple, Loyola Marymount University *This book validates and provides grounding for the wide range of discussions and claims around 'spirituality.' It is much needed in a time when many claim to be 'spiritual' rather than 'religious,' eschewing organized religion for individualized experiences of the sacred. * Stephanie Kaza, Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Vermont *Gottlieb is an outstanding scholar whose work in areas related to spirituality is well known and much appreciated. This book is timely, perhaps overdue, given the extensive interest in 'things spiritual' in the broader culture, the intense concern for a more eclectic approach to 'the spiritual' in the larger culture, and the need for a single volume text that offers a survey of opinions, options and practices. * Bill J. Leonard, James and Marilyn Dunn Professor of Baptist Studies and Professor of Church History, Wake Forest University *encourages the reader to reread this volume and to reflect upon his/her own way of life. * Geert Faseur, Journal for the Study of Marriage & Spirituality *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Part I: What it Is ; Chapter 1: Spirit in Motion ; Chapter 2: The Spiritual Path ; Chapter 3: Spirituality in Religious Tradition ; Chapter 4: How Spirituality Became Modern ; Chapter 5: Spiritual but Not Religious ; Chapter 6: Practice, Practice, Practice ; Chapter 7: Why Now? ; Part II: Why it Matters ; Chapter 8: Spirituality and Healing ; Chapter 9: Spirituality and Nature ; Chapter 10: Spirituality and Politics ; Part III: End/Beginning ; Chapter 11: Grace and Despair ; Acknowledgements ; Notes ; Index
£37.99
Oxford University Press The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture
Book SynopsisVictors not only write history: they also reproduce the texts. Bart Ehrman explores the close relationship between the social history of early Christianity and the textual tradition of the emerging New Testament, examining how early struggles between Christian heresy and orthodoxy affected the transmission of the documents over which many of the debates were waged. He makes a crucial contribution to our understanding of the social and intellectual history of early Christianity and raises intriguing questions about the relationship of readers to their texts, especially in an age when scribes could transform the documents they reproduced. This edition includes a new afterword surveying research in biblical interpretation over the past twenty years.Trade Reviewa fine summary of Ehrman's developed thinking and concerns, and as such a valuable contribution to the general discourse on the aims, methods, and limitations of textual criticism. * Dirk Jongkind, Churchman *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION; BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SECONDARY WORKS CITED; INDEX OF SCRIPTURE; INDEX OF MODERN AUTHORS; INDEX OF SUBJECTS AND ANCIENT SOURCES
£40.84
Oxford University Press Formation of the Hebrew Bible
Book SynopsisIn The Formation of the Hebrew Bible David Carr rethinks both the methods and historical orientation points for research into the growth of the Hebrew Bible into its present form. Building on his prior work, Writing on the Tablet of the Heart (Oxford, 2005), he explores both the possibilities and limits of reconstruction of pre-stages of the Bible. The method he advocates is a ''''methodologically modest'''' investigation of those pre-stages, utilizing criteria and models derived from his survey of documented examples of textual revision in the Ancient Near East. The result is a new picture of the formation of the Hebrew Bible, with insights on the initial emergence of Hebrew literary textuality, the development of the first Hexateuch, and the final formation of the Hebrew Bible. Where some have advocated dating the bulk of the Hebrew Bible in a single period, whether relatively early (Neo-Assyrian) or late (Persian or Hellenistic), Carr uncovers specific evidence that the Hebrew BibleTrade ReviewCarrs bold attempt to challenge one of the most practiced methodologies in biblical studies is very welcome. It functions as a starting point for discussions about refining a methodology that has been criticized almost throughout its history. * Juha Pakkala, Marginalia, *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Oral-Written Model and the Formation of the Hebrew Bible ; Part One: Methodological Prologue: Textual Transmission in the Ancient World and How to Reconstruct It ; Chapter One: Memory Variants and Evidence of Oral-Written Transmission of Israelite Literature ; Chapter Two: Documented Cases of Transmission History, Part 1: Two Cases ; Chapter Three: Documented Cases of Transmission History, Part 2: Broader Trends ; Chapter Four: From Documented Growth to Method in Reconstruction of Growth ; Part Two: Excavating the History of the Formation of the Hebrew Bible ; Chapter Five: The Hasmonean Period: Finalization of Scripture in an Increasingly Greek World ; Chapter Six: The Hellenistic Period up to the Hasmonean Monarchy: Priestly and Diaspora Textuality ; Chapter Seven: The Persian Period: Textuality of Persian-Sponsored Returnees ; Chapter Eight: The Babylonian Period: Trauma, Exile and the Transition to Post-Monarchal Textuality ; Chapter Nine: Bible for Exiles: The Reshaping of Stories about Israel's Earliest History ; Chapter Ten: Textuality Under Empire: Reflexes of Neo-Assyrian Domination ; Chapter Eleven: From the Neo-Assyrian to Hasmonean Periods: Preliminary Conclusions and Outlook ; Part Three: The Shape of Literary Textuality in the Early Pre-Exilic Period ; Chapter Twelve: Early States in the Highlands of Judah-Israel and Evidence for Literary Textuality in Them ; Chapter Thirteen: Royal Psalms: Locating Judah and Israel's Early Pro-Royal Literature ; Chapter Fourteen: Proverbs and Israel's Early Oral-Written Curriculum ; Chapter Fifteen: Other Supposedly Solomonic Books: Song of Songs and Qohelet ; Chapter Sixteen: Other Biblical Texts Potentially from the Early Monarchal Period ; Chapter Seventeen: Toward a New Picture of Early Monarchal Texts in the Hebrew Bible ; Afterword ; Select Bibliography ; Select Index of Primary Text Citations ; Index of Subjects
£104.50
Oxford University Press Medical Saints
Book SynopsisThis book is an exploration of illness and healing experiences in contemporary society through the veneration of saints: primarily the twin doctors Saints Cosmas and Damian. It also follows the author''s personal journey from her role as a hematologist who inadvertently served as an expert witness in a miracle to her research as a historian on the origins, meaning and functions of saints. Sources include interviews with devotees in both North America and Europe. Cosmas and Damian were martyred around the year 300 A.D. in what is now Syria. Called the Anargyroi (without silver) because they charged no fees, they became patrons of medicine, surgery, and pharmacy as their cult spread widely across Europe. The near eastern origin explains their popularity in Byzantine and Orthodox traditions and the concentration of their shrines in Eastern Europe, Southern Italy, and Sicily. The Medici family of Florence also viewed the santi medici as patrons, and their deeds were depicted by great RenaiTrade ReviewJacalyn Duffin approaches the subject of Catholic miracle claims from the unique vantage of a medical doctor with a specialty in hematology as well as a historian of medicine. Medical Saints builds upon DUffin's earlier book, Medical Miracles: Doctors, Saints, and Healing, 1588-1999, Oxford University Press, 2009. Both books are fascinating, engagingly written accounts. Although not the first scholar to broach the subject of miracles through the lens of medical science, Duffin brings a refreshingly new perspective and style... Overall, this is a thoughtful and thought-provoking book that should prove valuable to a range of readers, including historians and sociologists of medicine and religion, as well as believers and skeptics of the miraculous. * Journal of the History of Medicine *Medical Saints is a thoroughly interesting and dynamic study * Christopher D. L. Johnson, Religion *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations ; List of Tables ; Prologue ; Acknowledgements ; Chapter One: Medical Miracle ; Chapter Two: Doctor Twins: from Cyrrhus to Toronto ; Chapter Three: Talking to Pilgrims in the New World ; Chapter Four: Chasing Saints in the Old World ; Chapter Five: Miracles, Medicine, and MEDLINE ; Chapter Six: Conclusion: Home to the Clinic ; Epilogue ; Tables ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index
£40.84
Oxford University Press Jesus and Muhammad
Book SynopsisJesus and Muhammad are two of the best known and revered figures in history, each with a billion or more global followers. Now, in this intriguing volume, F.E. Peters offers a clear and compelling analysis of the parallel lives of Jesus and Muhammad, the first such in-depth comparison in print. Like a detective, Peters compiles dossiers of what we do and do not know about the lives and portraits of these towering figures, drawing on the views of modern historians and the evidence of the Gospels and the Quran. With erudition and wit, the author nimbly leads the reader through drama and dogma to reveal surprising similarities between the two leaders and their messages. Each had a public career as a semi-successful preacher. Both encountered opposition that threatened their lives and those of their followers. Each left a body of teaching purported to be their very words, with an urgent imperative that all must become believers in the face of the approaching apocalypse. Both are symbols ofTrade Reviewanother remarkable book * Murad Wilfried Hofmann, Journal of Islamic Studies *Table of Contents1. Clearing the Ground 2. The Settings 3. Opening the Files 4. The Critic at Work 5. The Living Voice 6. The Message: Jesus in Galilee 7. The Message: Muhammad at Mecca 8. Tragedy and Triumph 9. A New Dawn: The Aftermath, The Legacy 10. Epilogue: Spreading the Word A Guide to Further Reading Notes Index
£28.89
Oxford University Press Inc The Transmission of Sin
Book SynopsisOriginally published in Italian in 1978, Pier Franco Beatrice's The Transmission of Sin is a study of the origins of the doctrine of original sin, one of the most important teachings of the Catholic Church.Trade ReviewBeatrice's book makes a significant contribution to the study of original sin. Any serious student of Augustine or the doctrines of humanity or sin should consult this work. * Adam Harwood, The Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry *This is an excellent work and based on thorough research and scholarship * Isabella Image, Biblical and Early Christian Studies *...a compelling read. * Dominic Keech, Augustiniana *Table of ContentsPreface to the English Edition ; Translator's Note ; Abbreviations ; Introduction ; Part I: The Doctrine of Original Sin in Its Augustinian Formulation ; Chapter 1: The Pelagian Critique of the Doctrine of Original Sin ; Chapter 2: Original Sin and Its Consequences ; Chapter 3: The Essence and Transmission of Original Sin ; Chapter 4: Infant Baptism and Original Sin ; Part II: The Biblical and Patristic Tradition according to Augustine ; Chapter 5: The Biblical Testimonia ; Chapter 6: Sin and Death in the Theology of Paul ; Chapter 7: Augustine and Ambrosiaster ; Chapter 8: Ambrose and Cyprian, Masters of Augustine ; Chapter 9: Chrysostom, Augustine, and the Pelagians ; Part III: The Origin and Development of the 'Augustinian' Doctrine of Original Sin ; Chapter 10: The 'Legacy of Adam' in Greek Theology from the Second to the Fourth Century ; Chapter 11: The Encratite Origin of the 'Augustinian' Doctrine of Original Sin ; Chapter 12: The Concept of Original Sin as Popular and Manichean Heresy ; Chapter 13: Traducianism, Original Sin, and Infant Baptism in the West ; Chapter 14: Rome and Carthage: Two Traditions Compared ; Conclusion: Towards a New History of the Augustinian Doctrine of Original Sin ; Bibliography ; Supplement to the Bibliography (2011)
£97.38
Oxford University Press Trinitarian Theology of Religions
Book SynopsisOver the last four decades, evangelical scholars have shown growing interest in Christian debates over other religions, seeking answers to essential questions: How are we to think about and relate to other religions, be open to the Spirit, and at the same time remain evangelical and orthodox? Gerald R. McDermott and Harold A. Netland offer critiques of a variety of theologians and religious studies scholars, including evangelicals, but also challenge evangelicals to move beyond parochial positions. This volume is both a manifesto and a research program, critically evaluating the last forty years of Christian treatments of religious others and proposing a comprehensive direction for the future. It addresses issues relating to the religions in both systematic theology and missiology, taking up long-debated questions such as contextualization, salvation, revelation, the relationship between culture and religion, conversion, social action, and ecumenism. It concludes with responses from foTrade ReviewShould be required reading for anyone involved in Christian mission in a multi religious world. * Donald Macleod, Evangelicals Now *A Trinitarian Theology of Religions is great resource not only for missiologists and theologians but also pastors and Christian leaders who are wrestling with the challenges of following Christ in a pluralistic world. * JETS *Gerald McDermott and Harold Netland, who separately have contributed so much to the evangelical theology of religions, now together offer us the definitive place to engage it. This rich volume, with its sprightly and searching response essays, is both a state-of-the-art review and a positive advance in one of the most important conversations Christian theologians are having today * John G. Stackhouse, Jr., Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology and Culture, Regent College *McDermott and Netland are distinguished contributors to the theology of religions, in historical and theological studies. This book consolidates their significant impact in both evangelical theology and the theology of religions. * Gavin DCosta, Theology *Table of ContentsPreface ; Biographies ; Part 1: Chapters ; Chapter 1: Theology of Religions and Evangelicals ; Chapter 2: The Triune God ; Chapter 3: Revelation and the Religions ; Chapter 4: Salvation and Conversion ; Chapter 5: The Christian Life ; Chapter 6: Religion(s) and Culture ; Chapter 7: Christian Witness in a Multireligious World ; Part 2: Responses ; Response 1: Lamin Sanneh ; Response 2: Veli-Matti Karkkainen ; Response 3: Vinoth Ramachandra ; Response 4: Christine Schirrmacher ; Continuing the Conversation: A Few Last Words ; Notes ; Index
£40.37
Oxford University Press Debating Christian Theism
Book SynopsisChristian theism and apologetics is an increasingly significant area of research and dialogue. This volume comprises groundbreaking dialogues by many of the most prominent scholars in the field in a definitive treatment of central issues in theism and Christian faith. The essays are ecumenical and broadly Christian, in the spirit of C.S. Lewis''s Mere Christianity, and feature lucid and up-to-date material designed to engage students and others in contemporary theistic and Christian issues. The first half of the volume includes dialogues about God''s existence and the coherence of theism. The second moves beyond generic theism to address significant debates over such specifically Christian doctrines as the Trinity and the resurrection of Jesus. Debating Christian Theism provides an ideal starting point for students, scholars, and anyone seeking to understand the current issues and developments with respect to discussions in Christian theism and apologetics.Trade ReviewAccessible to educated readers and advanced undergraduate students, this volume provides a handy summary of key positions in important debates. * CHOICE *Debating Christian Theism contains new essays on central topics by a number of distinguished scholars. It should not only prove of general interest but would provide an excellent supplemental text for undergraduate and graduate courses in philosophy of religion or theology. * William Wainwright, author of Religion and Morality *Pro/con pairs of essays, fairness, high-level discussion, rare breadth-all these combine to make this book an excellent representation of, and addition to, current debates regarding Christian theism. * Keith E. Yandell, author of Philosophy of Religion *Table of ContentsContributors ; Introduction ; PART I - DEBATES ABOUT GOD'S EXISTENCE ; A Cosmological Argument ; 1. The Kalam Argument - William Lane Craig ; 2. Doubts about the Kalam Argument - Wes Morriston ; A Teleological Fine-Tuning Argument ; 3. The Fine-Tuning Evidence is Convincing - Robin Collins ; 4. The Universe Shows No Evidence for Design - Victor J. Stenger ; An Ontological Argument ; 5. A Modal Version of the Ontological Argument - E.J. Lowe ; 6. Lowe on "The Ontological Argument" - Graham Oppy ; A Moral Argument ; 7. Ethics Needs God - Paul Copan ; 8. The Failure of Moral Arguments - Louise Antony ; An Argument from Consciousness ; 9. The Argument from Consciousness - J. P. Moreland ; 10. Consciousness, Theism, and Naturalism - Graham Oppy ; The Coherence of Theism: Part 1 ; 11. Problems with Omnipotence - Nicholas Everitt ; 12. Coherence of Divine Power - Charles Taliaferro ; The Coherence of Theism: Part 2 ; 13. Problems with Omniscience - Patrick Grim ; 14. The Coherence of Omniscience - Jerome Gellman ; The Problem of Evil ; 15. Evil as Evidence against God - Richard M. Gale ; 16. God and Evil - Chad Meister ; Evolution and Belief in God ; 17. Bayes and the Evolution of Religious Belief - Joseph Bulbulia ; 18. Evolutionary Accounts of Religion and the Justification of Religious Belief - Michael Murray and Jeffrey Schloss ; The Nature of Human Beings ; 19. Human Persons are Material and Immaterial (Body and Soul) - Stewart Goetz ; 20. Human Persons are Material Only - Kevin Corcoran ; PART II - DEBATES ABOUT SPECIFIC CHRISTIAN BELIEFS ; Miracles and Christian Theism ; 21. Christianity and Miracles - Paul Moser ; 22. It is Not Reasonable to Believe in Miracles - Evan Fales ; Science and Christian Faith ; 23. Science is at Odds with Christianity - Julian Baggini ; 24. Science is Not at Odds with Christianity - Keith Ward ; The Doctrine of the Trinity ; 25. The Doctrine of the Trinity is Coherent - Thomas D. Senor ; 26. The Trinity is Incoherent - Timothy Winter ; The Atonement ; 27. Responsibility, Atonement, and Forgiveness - Richard Swinburne ; 28. Problems with the Doctrine of Atonement - John Hick ; The Incarnation ; 29. An Anselmian Defense of the Incarnation - Katherin A. Rogers ; 30. The Incarnation Doctrine is Incoherent and Unlikely - Michael Martin ; The Historical Reliability of the New Testament ; 31. The Gospels are Reliable as Historically Factual Accounts - Stephen T. Davis ; 32. The Gospels are Reliable as Memory and Testimony - Marcus Borg ; The Historical Jesus ; 33. The Christ of Faith is Not the Jesus of History - Stephen J. Patterson ; 34. The Christ of Faith is the Jesus of History - Craig A. Evans ; The Resurrection of Jesus ; 35. Jesus Did Rise From the Dead - Gary Habermas ; 36. Jesus Did Not Rise From the Dead - James Crossley ; Only One Way to God? ; 37. Jesus is the Only Way to God - Harold Netland ; 38. There are Many Ways to God - Paul Knitter ; Heaven and Hell ; 39. It is Reasonable to Believe in Heaven and Hell - Jerry L. Walls ; 40. It is Not Reasonable to Believe in Heaven and Hell - Keith Parsons ; Index
£45.59
Oxford University Press Jacob Arminius Theologian Of Grace
Book SynopsisJacob Arminius (1559-1609) is one of the few theologians in the history of Christianity who has lent his name to a significant theological movement. The dissemination of his thought throughout Europe, Great Britain, and North America, along with the appeal of his ideas in current Protestant evangelical spheres (whether rightly understood or misunderstood), continue to attract both scholarly and popular attention. Keith Stanglin and Thomas McCall''s Jacob Arminius offers a constructive synthesis of the current state of Arminius studies. There is a chasm separating technical, scholarly discussions of Arminius and popular-level appeals to his thought. The authors seek to bridge the scholarly and general discussions, providing an account based on interaction with all the primary sources and latest secondary research that will be helpful to the scholar as well as comprehensible and relevant to the undergraduate student. The authors describe key elements of Arminius'' theology with careful attention to its proper context; they also explore the broader theological implications of his views.Trade ReviewStanglin and McCall present an appropriate and instructive balance between reflection on Arminius' theology and attention to his life. ... this book is a readable volume for the target audience and appropriate for a textbook. * Graham Burkhart, Wesley and Methodist Studies *Jacob Arminius is a notable achievement, the fruit of careful historical work. * David C. Cramer, Trinity Journal *Table of ContentsAbbreviations ; Chronology ; Introduction ; Chapter 1: The Making of a Theologian ; Chapter 2: God and Creation ; Chapter 3: Providence and Predestination ; Chapter 4: Sin and Salvation ; Conclusion ; Appendix ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index
£38.94
Oxford University Press Reading Augustine in the Reformation The Flexibility of Intellectual Authority in Europe 15001620 Oxford Studies in Historical Theology
Book SynopsisAugustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) was regarded by sixteenth century Europe as one of the most contested religious and philosophical authorities. He was cast as a characteristically Lutheran, Catholic, or Calvinist thinker, and even as the ideal Erasmian pastor. These wildly contrasting receptions raise crucial questions about the significance of Augustine''s thought in the Reformation period. They also show the complex relationship between religious change and the new intellectual culture of Renaissance humanism. Drawing on a variety of printed and manuscript sources, Arnoud Visser breaks new ground in three ways. He systematically grounds Augustine''s theological reception in the history of reading and the material culture of books and manuscripts. He does not confine his examination to particular confessional parties or specific geographic boundaries, but offers a cross-confessional account of Augustine''s appropriation in early modern Europe. Finally, he provides crucial insight into the nature of intellectual authority in the early modern period. Central in this study are the production, circulation and consumption of Augustine''s works. Visser examines the impact of the new art of print, the rise of humanist scholarship, and the emerging confessional divisions on Augustine''s reception. He shows how editors navigated a wealth of patristic information by using search tools and anthologies. He also explains how individual readers used their copies and how they applied their knowledge in public debates alongside other media of communication. Reading Augustine in the Reformation argues that the emerging confessional pressures did not restrict intellectual life, as has often been claimed, but promoted new scholarship.Trade ReviewVisser has produced a careful and thought-provoking study of the range of ways in which Augustines works were made available to and appropriated by theologians during the sixteenth century. * Charlotte Methuen, Journal of Theological Studies *Visser writes with admirable clarity and precision, skillfully alternating syntheses, analyses and many fascinating examples. In 136 pages, he covers an impressive amount of printed material which he has ordered usefully and imaginatively, each section providing an argument of its own towards his conclusions. This case study offers a model for further research in the field. * Monique Cuany, Bibliothèque d'Humanisme et Renaissance *Visser raises a host of generally fascinating ideas and comments on them in ways that are at once intriguing and important. ... Visser's work will undoubtedly leave its mark on all who study Reformation thought. For this it is deserving of enormous praise. ... In conclusion, Visser's study is very good. * Jon Balserak, The Sixteenth Century Journal *Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations ; List of Figures ; Introduction ; Part 1: Production ; Chapter 1. The Arrival of the Printing Press ; Chapter 2. Humanist Scholarship and Editorial Guidance ; Chapter 3. Augustine after Trent ; Part 2: Dissemination ; Chapter 4. How to Find the Right Argument: Bibliographies and Indexes ; Chapter 5. Customizing Authority: Anthologies and Epitomes ; Part 3: Consumption ; Chapter 6. How Readers Read Their Augustines ; Chapter 7. Patristics and Public Debate ; Epilogue ; Appendix: Opera omnia editions of Augustine 1500-1620 ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index
£104.50
Oxford University Press On Biblical Poetry
Book SynopsisUniquely considering the characteristics of biblical Hebrew poetry beyond its currently best known feature, parallelism, On Biblical Poetry demonstrates the many interesting and valuable interpretations that yield from analyses of major facets of biblical verse, as well as careful attention to prosody--rhythm, lineation, and the like--and close reading. Through a series of programmatic essays, F.W. Dobbs-Allsopp argues that biblical poetry is, in most respects, just like any other verse tradition--and thus biblical poems should be read and interpreted like other poems.Using the same critical tools and kinds of guiding assumptions as traditional verse scholarship, this book also considers the historicity and cultural specificity that distinguishes the verse of the Bible. The literary and the historical, then, are in view throughout. Issues of orality, textuality, and literacy at the site of biblical poems are also probed extensively and there is a strong comparative orientation to much Trade Reviewstands out as one of the most wide-ranging monographs on Biblical Hebrew poetry published in recent years * Adam Plescia, Catholic Biblical Quarterly *What distinguishes the work, beyond its focus on 'underappreciated' components of Hebrew poetry, is its breadth and depth of analysis, its thickness...The reader is exposed not only to new ways of understanding Hebrew poems, but to new ways of orienting and thinking about the elementary dimensions of poetry itself. The detail presented is rich and sometimes provocative. * Eric D. Reymond, Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology *Table of ContentsIntroduction - Biblical Poetry Beyond Parallelism ; Chapter One - "Verse, Properly So Called": The Line in Biblical Poetry ; Terminology ; Manuscript Evidence for the Line ; The "Verse Line" in Oral Poetry ; The Line from the Other's Perspective ; Internal Evidence for the Line ; Summary ; Chapter Two - The Free Rhythms of Biblical Hebrew Poetry ; Through Whitman's Eyes ; Biblical Hebrew Poetry is Not Metrical ; The Shape of Poetic Rhythm ; Orality, Song, and Music ; The Free Rhythms of Biblical Poetry ; Summary ; Chapter Three - The Idea of Lyric Poetry in the Bible ; The Hebrew Lyric ; Summary ; Lyric in extenso: Probing (Some) Possibilities in the Song ; Beyond Lyric: Toward a Richer Understanding of (Other) Biblical Poems ; Chapter Four - An Informing Orality: Biblical Poetic Style ; Some Preliminary Points of Orientation ; Prob(lematiz)ing the Question of Hebrew Narrative Poetry ; Nonnarrative Oral Poetry, Or: Orality Poeticized Otherwise ; Signs of (Nonnarrative) Orality in Biblical Poetry ; Emergent Textuality ; Conclusions ; Chapter Five - The Way of Poetry in Psalm 133 ; I ; II ; III ; IV ; Closing ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index
£94.05
Oxford University Press World Upside Down Reading Acts in the GraecoRoman Age Reading Acts in the GraecoRoman Age
Book SynopsisFor almost 300 years, the dominant trend in New Testament interpretation has been to read the Acts of the Apostles as a document that argues for the political possibility of harmonious co-existence between ''Rome'' and the early Christian movement. Kavin Rowe argues that the time is long overdue for a sophisticated, critically constructive reappraisal. A brilliant piece of work by a young scholar of considerable promise.--First ThingsThis well-written, well-argued book is a must read for New Testament scholars. -- Review of Biblical Literature This sophisticated argument offers a comprehensive vision of Acts and deserves a wide readership. -- Religious Studies ReviewThere is so much happening in these pages that a slow and careful read will provoke sustained thoughts on a variety of subjects of ecclesial interest ranging from Christianity and culture to issues of tolerance and political theology. -- ThemeliosTrade Reviewa remarkable blend of biblical and historical scholarship, theological erudition and ethical reflection. * Grant Macaskill, Journal for the Study of the New Testament *Table of ContentsContents ; Acknowledgements ; Chapter 1 Reading Acts ; Chapter 2 Collision: Explicating Divine Identity ; Chapter 3 Dikaios: Rejecting Statecraft ; Chapter 5 The Apocalypse of Acts and the Life of Truth ; Index of Scripture Citations ; Index of Ancient Authors ; Index of Modern Authors ; Bibliography
£36.09
Oxford University Press When God Spoke Greek The Septuagint And The Making Of The Christian Bible
Book SynopsisHow did the New Testament writers and the earliest Christians come to adopt the Jewish scriptures as their first Old Testament? And why are our modern Bibles related more to the Rabbinic Hebrew Bible than to the Greek Bible of the early Church?The Septuagint, the name given to the translation of the Hebrew scriptures between the third century BC and the second century AD, played a central role in the Bible''s history. Many of the Hebrew scriptures were still evolving when they were translated into Greek, and these Greek translations, along with several new Greek writings, became Holy Scripture in the early Church.Yet, gradually the Septuagint lost its place at the heart of Western Christianity. At the end of the fourth century, one of antiquity''s brightest minds rejected the Septuagint in favor of the Bible of the rabbis. After Jerome, the Septuagint never regained the position it once had. Timothy Michael Law recounts the story of the Septuagint''s origins, its relationship to the Hebrew Bible, and the adoption and abandonment of the first Christian Old Testament.Trade ReviewLaw should be commended for complicating conservative and fundamentalist theologies of scripture vis-à-vis his discussion of the Septuagint ... Law has opened an important conversation about the relevance of the Septuagint today (especially for American Christianity) and wisely points to the past and the east for interlocutors. * James Covington, Journal of Religion *It is a gripping tale, beautifully told, and should be of profound interest to any reader of the Jewish or Christian BibleTimothy Michael Law has written the first introduction to the LXX that can be read by people outside the guild. It is a remarkable book, full of fascinating detail that I cannot evoke in a short review, a book that tells a rich story that no reader of the Bible can afford to ignore. * Kevin Hart, Los Angeles Review of Books *a splendid work... I haven't found any book so interesting and enjoyable in years * Sir Fergus Millar, Camden Professor of Ancient History (Emeritus), Oxford, and Fellow of the British Academy *Table of ContentsTable of Contents ; 1 Why this Book? ; 2 When the World Became Greek ; 3 Was There a Bible before the Bible? ; 4 The First Bible Translators ; 5 Gog and his Not-so-Merry Grasshoppers ; 6 Bird Droppings, Stoned Elephants, and Exploding Dragons ; 7 E Pluribus Unum ; 8 The Septuagint behind the New Testament ; 9 The Septuagint in the New Testament ; 10 The New Old Testament ; 11 God's Word for the Church ; 12 The Man of Steel and the Man who Worshipped the Sun ; 13 The Man with the Burning Hand vs. the Man with the Honeyed Sword ; 14 A Postscript ; Notes ; Index
£34.67
Oxford University Press In Heaven as It Is on Earth
Book SynopsisA compelling new interpretation of early Mormonism, Samuel Brown''s In Heaven as It Is On Earth views this religion through the lens of founder Joseph Smith''s profound preoccupation with the specter of death. Revisiting historical documents and scripture from this novel perspective, Brown offers new insight into the origin and meaning of some of Mormonism''s earliest beliefs and practices. The world of early Mormonism was besieged by death--infant mortality, violence, and disease were rampant. A prolonged battle with typhoid fever, punctuated by painful surgeries including a threatened leg amputation, and the sudden loss of his beloved brother Alvin cast a long shadow over Smith''s own life. Smith embraced and was deeply influenced by the culture of holy dying--with its emphasis on deathbed salvation, melodramatic bereavement, and belief in the Providential nature of untimely death--that sought to cope with the widespread mortality of the period. Seen in this light, Smith''s treasure Trade ReviewOne of this work's many virtues is that it provides the best explanation of Mormon temple worship ever published. Moreover, as Brown makes his case that this religion's 'end goal is the conquest of death,' he clarifies much about Mormon belief that is mysterious to outsiders (p. 170). * Journal of American History *For the emphasis on the centrality of death if for nothing else, this book deserves a place on the Mormon bookshelf. It does so much more than this, however, in helping the reader thoroughly contextualise the Restoration of the Gospel and the development of the various revelations that Joseph received. * James Holt, International Journal of Mormon Studies *Table of ContentsPart I: Death, Dying, and the Dead ; Chapter 1. "Melancholly Reflections": Joseph Smith and Holy Dying ; Chapter 2. The Corpse and its Rest ; Chapter 3. Relics, Graves, and the Treasure Quest ; Chapter 4. Hallowed Ground: Tombs, Indians, and Eden ; Chapter 5. Seerhood, Pure Language, and the Silence of the Grave ; Part II: Everlasting Communities ; Chapter 6. The New and Everlasting Covenant ; Chapter 7. Negotiating Death and Afterlife in Nauvoo ; Chapter 8. The "Lineage of my Preast Hood" and the Chain of Belonging ; Chapter 9. Divine Anthropology: Translating the Suprahuman Chain ; Chapter 10. "Death Cannot Conquer the Hero Again": The Death and Afterlife of a Martyr
£47.49
Oxford University Press Created Equal How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought
Book SynopsisIn Created Equal, Joshua Berman engages the text of the Hebrew Bible from a novel perspective--as a document of social and political thought. He proposes that the Pentateuch can be read as the earliest prescription on record for the establishment of an egalitarian polity.Trade Reviewfor the gutsiness of his intellectual convictions and for playing a major role in bringing the harvest of biblical scholarship to a much broader audience, we are in Joshua Berman's debt. * Bernard M. Levinson, Journal of Theological Studies *Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations ; Introduction ; Chapter One: Egalitarian Theology: The Commoner's Upgrade from King's Servant to Servant King ; Chapter Two: Egalitarian Politics: Constitution, Class, and the Book of Deuteronomy ; Chapter Three: Egalitarianism and Assets: God the Economist ; Chapter Four: Egalitarian Technology: Alphabet, Text, and Class ; Chapter Five: Egalitarianism and the Evolution of Narrative: The Rescue of Moses (Exodus 2:1-10) and the Sargon Legend Compared ; Conclusion: Egalitarianisms Ancient and Modern ; Notes ; Select Bibliography ; Index of Scriptural References ; Subject Index
£37.52
Oxford University Press Inc Faith and the Founders of the American Republic
Book SynopsisThe role of religion in the founding of America has long been a hotly debated question. Some historians have regarded the faith of a few famous founders, such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Thomas Paine, as evidence that the founders were deists who advocated the strict separation of church and state. Popular Christian polemicists, on the other hand, have attempted to show that virtually all of the founders were orthodox Christians in favor of state support for religion. As the essays in this volume demonstrate, a diverse array of religious traditions informed the political culture of the American founding. Faith and the Founders of the American Republic includes studies both of minority faiths, such as Islam and Judaism, and of major traditions, such as Calvinism. It also includes nuanced analysis of specific founders--Quaker John Dickinson, prominent Baptists Isaac Backus and John Leland, and Federalist Gouverneur Morris, among many others--with attention Trade ReviewDreisbach and Hall's volume definitely advances the conversation about religion and the founding through widening the scope of topics considered and acknowledging the complexity of the issue. * Religion in American History *This is a useful and fruitful collection of essays ... * Hermann Wellenreuther, Historischen Zeitschrift *This is a unique and very interesting volume. There have been many works on the faith of the American founders, but this one is both notably comprehensive and intriguing. Its contents range from deism to Judaism to Calvinism to Islam, from Loyalists to Baptists, from Quakers to Presbyterians, from John Hancock to John Dickinson, from the Bible to race. Much of this work breaks entirely new ground. Kudos to Daniel Dreisbach, Mark David Hall, and their colleagues for a real contribution to the field and for some fascinating reading. * Paul Kengor, Professor of Political Science, Grove City College *This book does a splendid job of illuminating varieties of American revolutionary and religious experience * Gerald F. Moran, Journal of American History *Table of ContentsContributors ; Introduction - Daniel L. Dreisbach and Mark David Hall ; PART I: Religion and Political Culture in the American Founding ; Chapter 1 Deism and the Founders - Darren Staloff ; Chapter 2 Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos: The Influence of the Reformed Tradition in the American Founding - Mark David Hall ; Chapter 3 Jews, Judaism, and the American Founding - David G. Dalin ; Chapter 4 The Founders and Islam - Thomas S. Kidd ; Chapter 5 Religion and the Loyalists - Robert M. Calhoon and Ruma Chopra ; Chapter 6 The Antifederalists and Religion - Donald L. Drakeman ; Chapter 7 The Bible in the Political Culture of the American Founding - Daniel L. Dreisbach ; Chapter 8 Religion, Race, and the Founders - Jonathan D. Sassi ; PART II: Faith and the Founders ; Chapter 9 Gouverneur Morris and Theistic Rationalism in the Founding Era - Gregg Frazer ; Chapter 10 John Hancock: Congregationalist Revolutionary - Gary Scott Smith ; Chapter 11 Elias Boudinot, Presbyterians, and the Quest for a "Righteous Republic" - Jonathan Den Hartog ; Chapter 12 The Quaker Contributions of John Dickinson to the Creation of the American Republic - Jane E. Calvert ; Chapter 13 Isaac Backus and John Leland: Baptist Contributions to Religious Liberty in the Founding Era - Joe L. Coker ; Index
£56.05
Oxford University Press The Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies
Book SynopsisThe Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies examines the creation of the academic Bible. Beginning with the fragmentation of biblical interpretation in the centuries after the Reformation, Michael Legaspi shows how the weakening of scriptural authority in the Western churches altered the role of biblical interpretation.Trade ReviewThis fascinating study, arising out of a PhD dissertation, focuses ostensibly on obscure German critic Johann David Michaelis (1717-1791), but tells the wider story of the changes in academic perspectives on the Bible over the last few centuries very well. * Dr Lee Gatiss, Churchman *Table of ContentsChapter One: From Scripture to Text ; Chapter Two: Bible and Theology at an Enlightenment University ; Chapter Three: The Study of Classical Antiquity at Gottingen ; Chapter Four: Michaelis and the Dead Hebrew Language ; Chapter Five: Lowth, Michaelis, and the Invention of Biblical Potry ; Chapter Six: Michaelis, Moses, and the Recovery of the Bible ; Conclusion ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index ; Index of Biblical References
£38.47
Oxford University Press Growing in Love and Wisdom
Book SynopsisIn Growing in Love and Wisdom, Susan Stabile draws on a unique dual perspective to explore the value of interreligious dialogue, the essential spiritual dynamics that operate across faith traditions, and the many fruitful ways Buddhist meditation practices can deepen Christian prayer.Raised as a Catholic, Stabile devoted 20 years of her life to practicing Buddhism and was ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun before returning to Catholicism in 2001. She begins the book by examining the values and principles shared by the two faith traditions, focusing on the importance of prayer--particularly contemplative prayer--to both Christianity and Tibetan Buddhism. Both traditions seek to effect a fundamental transformation in the lives of believers, and both stress the need for experiences that have deep emotional resonance, that go beyond the level of concepts to touch the heart. Stabile illuminates the similarities between Tibetan Buddhist meditations and Christian forms of prayer such as IgnatTrade Review"A gentle gift to the work of interreligious existence in the 21st century... Stabile faithfully and reasonably steers a course between with this lucid, welcome offering. Growing in Love and Wisdom embodies for us the insights of Nostra Aetate in action -- rejecting nothing that is true and holy, and regarding with sincere reverence those practices of Buddhist meditation that reflect the Truth which enlightens all humanity... This rich resource can be of profitable use in an undergraduate classroom considering interreligious matters, or in a broad introduction to spirituality. Highly recommended for personal, parish or academic use." --Catholic Books Review "In the growing crowd of books on Buddhist-Christian dialogue, this one is different. It's a 'hands-on' book. Susan Stabile's intent is to help Christians learn from what Buddhists do, rather than from what they believe. In practical, step-by-step instructions on how Christians can use Tibetan techniques of meditation, she opens new possibilities of clarifying and deepening Christian experience. This is a book for those who what to practice before they preach, or are preached to."--Paul F. Knitter, Paul Tillich Professor of Theology, World Religions, and Culture, Union Theological Seminary, New York "Stabile's very readable book lucidly presents similarities in values between Christianity and Tibetan Buddhism. Her clearly-explained prayer suggestions for Christians, which make up most of the book, are adapted from Buddhist practice and are mainly discursive in nature. They offer a rich variety of ways in which their Christian spiritual life can be enriched by Eastern teachings."--Mary Jo Meadow, author of Christian Insight Meditation: Following in the Footsteps of John of the Cross "A new standard for the possibilities in authentic, deeply rooted inter-religious dialogue... the book is beautifully written, in a simple yet clear style, making its deft navigation of interaith ideas ring with clarity." --Carl McColman, carlmccolman.comTable of ContentsIntroduction ; Part I: How We Think about Other Faith Traditions ; Chapter 1: The Value of Interreligious Dialogue ; Chapter 2: Core Truths that Operate Across Faith Traditions ; Part II: Adapting Prayer Practices from Another Faith Tradition ; Chapter 3: The Importance of Contemplation and Affective Experience ; Chapter 4: Why Look to Tibetan Buddhist Meditation? ; Part III: Analytical Meditations and Commentary ; Chapter 5: Friend, Enemy, Stranger ; Chapter 6: Tonglen ; Chapter 7: Kindness of (M)other Sentient Beings ; Chapter 8: Exchanging Self and Others ; Chapter 9: The Four Immeasurables ; Chapter 10: Meditation on Compassion ; Chapter 11: Giving the Four Elements ; Chapter 12: Perfect Human Rebirth ; Chapter 13: Death ; Chapter 14: Impermanence ; Chapter 15: Overcoming Anger ; Chapter 16: The Eight Worldly Concerns ; Chapter 17: Taking Refuge ; Chapter 18: Emanating as the Deity ; Chapter 19: Meditating on the I ; Part IV: Other Meditations and Practices ; Chapter 20: Meditations to Develop Concentration and Mindfulness ; Chapter 21: Other Practices ; Notes ; Glossary ; Suggestions for further reading
£18.49
Oxford University Press White Mens Magic
Trade ReviewClearly, White Mens Magic is an ingenious, sophisticated piece of work. * Anthony G. Reddie, Theology *Table of ContentsPrologue ; Chapter One: "...unbounded influence over the credulity and superstition of the people...": Magic as Slavery, Slavery as Magic ; Chapter Two: "...the white men had some spell or magic...": A Black Stranger's First Contact with White Men's Magic ; Chapter Three: "...every person there read the Bible...": Scripturalization as Matrix of White Men's Magic ; Chapter Four: "...to the Britons first...the Gospel is preached...": Scripturalization in the Nationalization of White Men's Magic ; Chapter Five: "...in the Bible, I saw things new...": Scripturalization and the Mimetics of White Men's Magic ; Chapter Six: "...take the book...and tell God to make them dead...": Scripturalization as White Men's Hegemony ; Chapter Seven: "I could read it for myself": Scripturalization, Slavery, and Agency ; Epilogue ; Bibliography ; Index
£40.84
Oxford University Press The Other Christs
Trade Reviewa thorough and wide-ranging book. * Benjamin H. Dunning, Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Table of ContentsAbbreviations ; Introduction ; Chapter 1: Suffering Like Christ ; Chapter 2: The Martyr as Alter Christus ; Chapter 3: The Savior Martyr ; Chapter 4: The Martyr's Heaven ; Chapter 5: The Martyr as Divine Heir ; Conclusion ; Appendix ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index
£37.04
Oxford University Press God and Cosmos Moral Truth and Human Meaning
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£42.74
Oxford University Press The Son of God in the Roman World Divine Sonship In Its Social And Political Context
Book SynopsisMichael Peppard examines the social and political meaning of divine sonship in the Roman Empire. He begins by analyzing the conceptual framework within which the term ''''son of God'''' has traditionally been considered in biblical scholarship. Then, through engagement with recent scholarship in Roman history - including studies of family relationships, imperial ideology, and emperor worship - he offers new ways of interpreting the Christian theological metaphors of ''''begotten''''and ''''adoptive'''' sonship. Peppard focuses on social practices and political ideology, revealing that scholarship on divine sonship has been especially hampered by mistaken assumptions about adopted sons. He invites fresh readings of several early Christian texts, from the first Gospel to writings of the fourth century. By re-interpreting several ancient phenomena - particularly divine status, adoption, and baptism - he offers an imaginative refiguring of the Son of God in the Roman world.Trade ReviewFine debut monograph...This is an admirable and enjoyable monograph: thoroughly scholarly, full of ideas, carefully argued, and beautifully written. * Journal of Theological Studies *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Divine Sonship Before Nicea: Biblical Scholarship on "Son of God" ; 2. Divinity and Divine Sonship in the Roman World ; 3. Begotten or Made? Adopted Sons in Roman Society and Imperial Ideology ; 4. Rethinking Divine Sonship in the Gospel of Mark ; 5. Begotten and Adopted Sons of God-Before and After Nicea ; Conclusion ; Epilogue: The Son of God in the Christian World ; Abbreviations ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index
£41.32
Oxford University Press Mark of Cain
Book SynopsisThe Mark of Cain fleshes out a history of conversations that contributed to Germany''s coming to terms with a guilty past. Katharina von Kellenbach draws on letters exchanged between clergy and Nazi perpetrators, written notes of prison chaplains, memoirs, sermons, and prison publications to illuminate the moral and spiritual struggles of perpetrators after the war. These documents provide intimate insights into the self-reflection and self-perception of perpetrators. As Germany looks back on more than sixty years of passionate debate about political, personal and legal guilt, its ongoing engagement with the legacy of perpetration has transformed its culture and politics. In many post-genocidal societies, it falls to clergy and religious officials (in addition to the courts) to negotiate and create a path for individuals beyond the atrocities of the past. German clergy brought the Christian message of guilt and forgiveness into the internment camps where Nazi functionaries awaited prosTrade ReviewKatharina von Kellenbach's analysis is strong medicine. In this extensive case study she exposes the inability of rank and file Nazi perpetrators to confront their own responsibilities for the crimes they committed serving the Nazi cause. Their own words and denials become a modern day mark of Cain, warning future generations of the compounding power of personal, cultural, religious, and ideological identities to justify unspeakable violence to others. * Henry F. Knight, Director of the Cohen Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies, Keene State College *Table of ContentsForeword ; Chapter 1: The Mark of Cain ; Chapter 2: Guilt Confessions and Amnesty Campaigns ; Chapter 3: Faith under the Gallows: Spectacles of Innocence in WCP Landsberg ; Chapter 4: Cleansed by Suffering? The SS General and the Human Beast ; Chapter 5: From Honorable Sacrifices to Lonely Scapegoats ; Chapter 6: "Understand my Boy this Truth about the Mistake": Inheriting Guilt ; Chapter 7: "Naturally I will stand by my husband": Marital Love and Loyalty ; Chapter 8: "Absolved from the Guilt of the Past": Memory as Burden and as Grace ; Biographical Appendix ; Abbreviations of Archives ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index
£45.59
Oxford University Press The Hidden History of Womens Ordination
Book SynopsisThe Roman Catholic leadership still refuses to ordain women officially or even to recognize that women are capable of ordination. But is the widely held assumption that women have always been excluded from such roles historically accurate?In the early centuries of Christianity, ordination was the process and the ceremony by which one moved to any new ministry (ordo) in the community. By this definition, women were in fact ordained into several ministries. A radical change in the definition of ordination during the eleventh and twelfth centuries not only removed women from the ordained ministry, but also attempted to eradicate any memory of women''s ordination in the past. The debate that accompanied this change has left its mark in the literature of the time. However, the triumph of a new definition of ordination as the bestowal of power, particularly the power to confect the Eucharist, so thoroughly dominated western thought and practice by the thirteenth century that the earlier concept of ordination was almost completely erased. The ordination of women, either in the present or in the past, became unthinkable.References to the ordination of women exist in papal, episcopal and theological documents of the time, and the rites for these ordinations have survived. Yet, many scholars still hold that women, particularly in the western church, were never really ordained. A survey of the literature reveals that most scholars use a definition of ordination that would have been unknown in the early middle ages. Thus, the modern determination that women were never ordained, Macy argues, is a premise based on false terms.Not a work of advocacy, this important book applies indispensable historical background for the ongoing debate about women''s ordination.Trade ReviewHere is a truly groundbreaking book, essential reading for anyone interested in the complex story of how the ministry of women has been valued (and devalued) within the Christian church. Gary Macy convincingly demonstrates that in the early church women were ordained into various roles, but in the eleventh and twelfth centuries a new definition of ordination was rigorously applied, which served to exclude them. This study is of crucial importance not only for an understanding of the development of medieval Christianity but also for the material it brings to contemporary debate on the ordination of women. * Alistair Minnis, Yale University *Table of ContentsAbbreviations ; 1. The State of the Question ; 2. What Did Ordination Mean? ; 3. The Ministry of Ordained Women ; 4. Defining Women Out of Ordination ; 5. Conclusion ; Historical and Theological Postscript ; Appendix 1: Prayers and Rites for the Ordination of a Deaconess ; Appendix 2: Ordination Rites for Abbesses from the Early Middle Ages ; Notes ; Bibliography
£30.87
Oxford University Press American Saint Francis Asbury And The Methodists
Book SynopsisIn American Saint, John Wigger has written the definitive biography of Francis Asbury and, by extension, a revealing interpretation of the early years of the Methodist movement in America.Trade Review[a] masterful, nuanced portrait * Charles Wallace, Journal of American Studies *Table of ContentsPreface ; Introduction ; Chapter 1. The Apprentice ; Chapter 2. The Young Preacher ; Chapter 3. The Promise of Discipline ; Chapter 4. Southern Persuasion ; Chapter 5. One Revolution ; Chapter 6. Leads to Another ; Chapter 7. Looking Forward, Looking Backward ; Chapter 8. A New Church in a New Nation ; Chapter 9. "Such a time...was never seen before" ; Chaper 10. "Alas for the rich! they are so soon offended" ; Chapter 11. "Be not righteous over much" ; Chapter 12. Schism ; Chapter 13. Reconnecting ; Chapter 14. "Weighed in the balances" ; Chapter 15. "We were great too soon" ; Chapter 16. "Down from a Joyless height" ; Chapter 17. "Feel for the power" ; Chapter 18. "The garden of God" ; Chapter 19. "Like a moving fire" ; Chapter 20. Limits ; Chapter 21. "I see, I feel what is wrong in preachers and people, but I cannot make it right," ; Chapter 22. What God Allows ; Chapter 23. End of the Road ; Epilogue: Bending Frank ; Abbreviations ; Notes ; Index
£33.57
Oxford University Press Theological Aesthetics
Book SynopsisThis book explores the role of aesthetic experience in our perception and understanding of the holy. Richard Viladesau''s goal is to articulate a theology of revelation, examined in relation to three principal dimensions of the aesthetic realm: feeling and imagination; beauty (or taste); and the arts. After briefly considering ways in which theology itself can be imaginative or beautiful, Viladesau concentrates on the theological significance of aesthetic data provided by each of the three major spheres of aesthetic perception and response. Throughout the work, the underlying question is how each of these spheres serves as a source (however ambiguous) of revelation. Although he frames much of his argument in terms of Catholic theology--from the Church Fathers to Karl Rahner, Hans urs von Balthasar, Bernard Lonergan, and David Tracy--Viladesau also makes extensive use of ideas from the Protestant theologian of the arts Gerardus van der Leeuw, and draws insights from such diverse thinkerTrade Reviewwell-produced * British Journal of Aesthetics, Vol.41, No.2 *a valuable anthology on the subject ... This study ... opens up a field that is important to us all. * J.B. Bates, The Expository Times, Sept. 00. *Table of ContentsAbbreviations ; 1. Theology and Aesthetics ; 2. God in Thought and in Imagination: Representing the Unimaginable ; 3. Divine Revelation and Human Perception ; 4. God and the Beautiful: Beautiful as a Way to God ; 5. Art and the Sacred ; 6. The Beautiful and the Good ; Appendix: Original Texts of Poetry Quoted in Translation ; Notes ; Index
£41.32
Oxford University Press Are You Alone Wise
Book SynopsisThe topic of certitude is much debated today. On one side, commentators such as Charles Krauthammer urge us to achieve moral clarity. On the other, those like George Will contend that the greatest present threat to civilization is an excess of certitude. To address this uncomfortable debate, Susan Schreiner turns to the intellectuals of early modern Europe, a period when thought was still fluid and had not yet been reified into the form of rationality demanded by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.Schreiner argues that Europe in the sixteenth century was preoccupied with concerns similar to ours; both the desire for certainty -- especially religious certainty -- and warnings against certainty permeated the earlier era. Digging beneath overt theological and philosophical problems, she tackles the underlying fears of the period as she addresses questions of salvation, authority, the rise of skepticism, the outbreak of religious violence, the discernment of spirits, and the ambiguousTrade ReviewWith characteristic breadth of mind and vision, Schreiner combines deep knowledge and understanding of the overlapping fields of theology, philosophy, spirituality, culture and literature in order to project a history of the erratic human mind. Such an adventurous, interdisciplinary approach is often vulnerable to exposure of superficiality and pretentiousness, but happily not in her case. Every sentence she writes is formed in a way that conveys illumination to the reader. * Ian Hazlett, Professor of Ecclesiastical History, University of Glasgow. *This immensely interesting and thoughtful book places the quest for 'certainty' at the center of that era historians have recently come to call 'early modern.' A sensitive reader of texts, whether theological or literary, Schreiner places Protestant and Catholic reformers, Renaissance humanists and dramatists, and philosophical and literary skeptics on the same stage, all probing the same unsettling questions about human ends and how we can come to know them with any certitude. This is a book all students of early modern European history will have to come to terms with. * John Van Engen, author of Sisters and Brothers of the Common Life: The Devotio Moderna and the World of the Later Middle Ages *Susan Schreiner's study of the search for certainty offers a masterful perspective on a central and many-faceted problem of the early modern era. The book is characterized by a mastery of sources primary and secondary and by profound insight into the intellectual and cultural transitions from the Middle Ages into modernity, ranging from philosophical problems of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, to Luther and Tyndale in the early Reformation, to Montaigne and Shakespeare at the end of the sixteenth century. This is a rich, rewarding, and highly significant study. * Richard A. Muller, P. J. Zondervan Professor of Historical Theology, Calvin Theological Seminary *Table of ContentsI: Beginnings: Questions and debates in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries ; II: "Abba! Father!": The Certainty of Salvation ; III: "The spiritual man judges all things": The Certainty of Exegetical Authority ; IV: Are You Alone Wise?: The Catholic Response ; V: Experientia: The Great Age of the Spirit ; VI: Unmasking the Angel of Light: The Discernment of the Spirits ; VII: "Men should be what they seem": Appearances and Reality ; Conclusion
£57.00
Oxford University Press, USA Liberalism versus Postliberalism
Book SynopsisThe divide between liberal and postliberal theology is one of the most important and far-reaching methodological disputes in twentieth-century theology. This split in the understanding of religious language is widely acknowledged, but rigorous philosophical analysis and assessment of these divergent understandings is seldom seen. Liberalism versus Postliberalism provides such analyses, using the developments in analytic philosophy of language over the past forty years. The book provides an original analysis of the theology and falsification debates of the 1950s and 60s. The debates supply the philosophical lens that brings into focus the centrality of the issue of religious language in the methodological dispute between liberal and postliberal theologians in the latter part of the twentieth century. Knight argues that recent philosophical developments reveal serious problems with both positions. His philosophical work clears the ground for a more inclusive method that takes seriously tTrade ReviewThere are few contemporary theological disputes more divisive and acrimonious than that referenced in Knights title, yet his book is a model of precision, analytical rigour and methodological clarity * Travis E. Ables, Theology *Table of ContentsTable of Contents ; Acknowledgments ; Introduction ; Part One: Liberal Theology and the Falsification Challenge ; Chapter 1: Liberal Theology in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries ; Chapter 2: The Falsification Challenge ; Chapter 3: The Liberal Response ; Chapter 4: A Purified Liberal Theology ; Part Two: Postliberal Theology and Ordinary Language Philosophy ; Chapter 5: The Barthian Project in Postliberal Perspective ; Chapter 6: Allies for Barth's Heirs: Wittgenstein and Ordinary Language Philosophy ; Chapter 7: Earlier Postliberalism: Narrative Theology and Hans Frei's Synthesis of Wittgenstein and Barth ; Chapter 8: Postliberalism II: George Lindbeck and Frei's Later Work ; Part Three: Problems and Prospects ; Chapter 9: A Tale of Two Dead Ends: The Linguistic Problems of Liberal and Postliberal Theology ; Chapter 10: Conclusion: Navigating the Divide Between Liberal and Postliberal Theology ; Bibliography
£92.15
Oxford University Press The Filioque
Book SynopsisThe Filioque: History of a Doctrinal Controversy is the first complete English language history of the filioque written in over a century. Beginning with the biblical texts and ending with recent agreements on the place and meaning of the filioque, this book traces the history of the doctrine and the controversy that has surrounded it. From the Greek and Latin fathers, the ninth-century debates, and the Councils of Lyons and Ferrara-Florence, to the twentieth- and twenty-first century-theologians and dialogues that have come closer than ever to resolving this contentious issue, A. Edward Siecienski explores the strange and fascinating history behind one of the greatest ecumenical rifts in Christendom.Trade ReviewSiecienski has made a significant contribution to a key issue in both historical theology and present day ecumenical relationships ... This is a well-formatted, readable volume with a solid argument, ample endnotes, and clear conclusions ... an excellent volume which I shall be recommending to all my students. * Scott Harrower, Journal of Theological Studies *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. The Procession of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament ; 2. The Greek Fathers ; 3. The Latin West ; 4. Maximus the Confessor ; 5. The Filioque from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century ; 6. The Filioque from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Century ; 7. The Council of Lyons to the Eve of Ferrara-Florence ; 8. The Council of Ferrara-Florence (1438-39) ; 9. From Florence to the Modern Era ; 10. The Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries ; Epilogue ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index
£42.74
Oxford University Press Inventing Gods Law
Book SynopsisMost scholars believe that the numerous similarities between the Covenant Code (Exodus 20:23-23:19) and Mesopotamian law collections, especially the Laws of Hammurabi, which date to around 1750 BCE, are due to oral tradition that extended from the second to the first millennium. This book offers a fundamentally new understanding of the Covenant Code, arguing that it depends directly and primarily upon the Laws of Hammurabi and that the use of this source text occurred during the Neo-Assyrian period, sometime between 740-640 BCE, when Mesopotamia exerted strong and continuous political and cultural influence over the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and a time when the Laws of Hammurabi were actively copied in Mesopotamia as a literary-canonical text. The study offers significant new evidence demonstrating that a model of literary dependence is the only viable explanation for the work. It further examines the compositional logic used in transforming the source text to produce the Covenant CTrade ReviewAn excellent repository of research on the CC Covenant Code and the LH Laws of Hammurabi. In sum, this work is controversial in the best sense of the word: it will surely stimulate debate on the comparative method in studying not only the CC and LH but other texts as well. * The Catholic Biblical Quarterly *...intriguing... * Bruce Wells, Saint Joseph's University *...the value of Wright's contribution cannot be overestimated. He offers the scholar in the field a valuable tool for further work which includes all the relevant sources, thoroughly discussed and analyzed. He conveniently outlines the issues and problems involved in the study of the Covenant's Code, while highlighting the main discussions and solutions. Finally he also provides a thorough review of the vast literature in the field, again for the convenience of the reader. * Strata *Wright has made a major contribution to our understanding of the composition of CC even if one accepts only the barest bones version of his thesisEL.No account of the history of CC's composition will any longer be able to be written without reference to and deep engagement with Wright's work, whether one agrees with him or not. Such is the mark of the truly meaningful contributions to scholarship, and Wright's book undoubtedly belongs in such a class.'? * Review of Biblical Literature *Table of Contents1. Introduction: The Basic Thesis and Background ; Part I: Primary Evidence for Dependence: Sequential Correspondences and Date ; 2. The Casuistic Laws ; 3. The Apodictic Laws ; 4. Date and Opportunity for the Use of Hammurabi's and Other Cuneiform Laws ; Part II: Compositional Logic of the Covenant Code ; 5. Debt-Slavery and the Seduction of a Maiden (Exodus 21:2-11; 22:15-16) ; 6. Homicide, Injury, Miscarriage, Talion (Exodus 21:12, 18-27) ; 7. Child Rebellion, Kidnapping, Sorcery, Bestiality, Illicit Sacrifice (Exodus 21:12-17; 22:17-19) ; 8. The Goring Ox and Negligence (Exodus 21:28-36) ; 9. Animal Theft, Crop Destruction, Deposit, and Burglary (Exodus 21:37-22:8) ; 10. Animal Injury, Death, and Rental (Exodus 22:9-14) ; 11. The Themes and Ideology of the Apodictic Laws (Exodus 20:23-26; 21:1; 22:20-23:19) ; 12. Redactional Growth in the Apodictic Laws and the Covenant Code's Relationship to the Exodus Narrative ; 13. Conclusions
£49.40
Oxford University Press Last Years of Saint Therese
Book SynopsisFor over a century, the Carmelite Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face (1873-1897) has been revered as Catholicism''s foremost folk saint of modern times. Universally known as the Little Flower, she has been a source of consolation and uplift, an example of everyday sainthood by the Little Way. This book puts aside that piety and addresses the torment of doubt within the life and writing of a saint best known for the strength of her conviction. Nevin examines the dynamics of Christian doubt, and argues that it is integral to the journey toward selfless love which Therese was compelled to take. Thérèse''s metaphors for doubt were ''tunnel'', ''fog'', and ''vault'', each one suggesting darkness, dimness, and enclosure. What, Nevin asks, did doubt mean to her? What was its source and nature? What was its object? He gives close attention to her reading and interpretations of the Old and New Testaments as pathways through her inner wilderness. Her Carmel of spiritual sisterTrade ReviewThis book is a very fine historical study reflecting both a sophisticated close reading of texts and a mastery of the sources. The two volumes Nevin has given us are indispensable for anyone who wishes to engage the life and thought of this young woman who has been honored by the Catholic Church as a Doctor of the Church. * Church History *Table of ContentsPreface: Dwelling Upon Darkness ; Introduction ; Abbreviations ; I. Her Spanish Masters: Darkness within the Carmel ; II. Seeking Light from the Bible ; III. Bearing the Cross of Community ; IV. Her Spiritual Brothers Guide Her Down ; V. Final Charity: The Last Autobiography ; Conclusion: Out of the Darkness ; Appendix 1: The Text of Her Darkness ; Appendix 2: The Darkness of Teresa de Jesus ; Notes ; Selected Annotated Bibliography ; Index
£45.59
Oxford University Press Inc Mathematical Theologies Nicholas of Cusa and the Legacy of Thierry of Chartres Oxford Studies in Historical Theology
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£99.75