History of religion Books

Book SynopsisIran''s heritage is as varied as it is complex, and the archaeological, philological, and linguistic scholarship of the region has not been the focus of a comprehensive study for many decades. The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran provides up-to-date, authoritative essays on a wide range of topics extending from the earliest Paleolithic settlements in the Pleistocene era to the Arab conquest in the 7th century AD. The volume, authored by specialists based both inside and outside of Iran, is divided into sections covering prehistory, the Chalcolithic, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the Achaemenid period, the Seleucid and Arsacid periods, the Sasanian period, and the Arab conquest. In addition, more specialized chapters are included which treat numismatics, religion, languages, political ideology, calendrics, the use of color, textiles, Sasanian silver and reliefs, and political relations with Rome and Byzantium. No other single volume covers as much of Iran''s archaeology and history with Trade ReviewThe Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran commendably achieves its goal of providing an authoritative, up-to-date, multidisciplinary overview of this region for all periods up to the Islamic conquest, thanks in large part to the meticulous oversight of its editor D. T. Potts. ... This is a volume in which experts in history, archaeology, numismatics, linguistics, and other fields have been brought together to give a rich, multifaceted picture. ... The volume is sweeping, ambitious, and exemplary. Classicists will find within these thousand pages many nuggets of scholarly gold. * ICJ-Online, a service of The Classical Journal *The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran at last provides a comprehensive overview and bibliography of the archaeology of pre-Islamic Iran. Potts has done a remarkable job bringing together scholars from every country that has played an important role in the archaeology of Iran. This book will certainly become the first source to turn to when embarking on a study on aspects of ancient Iran. * Steve Renette, BiOr no. LXXI 3/4 *Table of ContentsContributors Acknowledgements List of abbreviations Introduction Part I. Background and beginnings 1. The history of archaeological research in Iran: A brief survey Ali Mousavi 2. Key questions regarding the palaeoenvironment of Iran Matthew D. Jones 3. The Paleolithic of Iran Nicholas J. Conard, Elham Ghasidian and Saman Heydari-Guran 4. The development and expansion of a Neolithic way of life Lloyd R. Weeks Part II. The Chalcolithic period 5. The Chalcolithic of northern Iran Barbara Helwing 6. The Chalcolithic in the central Zagros Abbas Moghaddam and Ardashir Javanmardzadeh 7. The Later Village (Chalcolithic) period in Khuzestan Abbas Moghaddam 8. The Chalcolithic in southern Iran Cameron A. Petrie Part III. The Bronze Age 9. The Early Bronze Age in northwestern Iran Geoffrey D. Summers 10. The Bronze Age in northeastern Iran Christopher P. Thornton 11. Luristan and the central Zagros in the Bronze Age D. T. Potts 12. Khuzestan in the Bronze Age Javier Álvarez-Mon 13. Early writing in Iran J.L. Dahl 14. The use of Akkadian in Iran Katrien De Graef 15. Bronze Age Fars Bernadette McCall 16. Eastern Iran in the Early Bronze Age Holly Pittman Part IV. The Iron Age 17. The Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in northwestern Iran Michael D. Danti 18. Luristan during the Iron Age Bruno Overlaet 19. The central Alborz region in the Iron Age Ali Mousavi 20. Linguistic groups in Iran Ran Zadok 21. Iranian migration M. Witzel 22. Assyria and the Medes Karen Radner 23. Elam in the Iron Age Javier Álvarez-Mon 24. Elam, Assyria, and Babylonia in the early 1st millennium BC Matt Waters 25. Iron Age southeastern Iran Peter Magee Part V. The Achaemenid period 26. Southwestern Iran in the Achaemenid period Rémy Boucharlat 27. Administrative realities: The Persepolis Archives and the archaeology of the Achaemenid heartland Wouter F.M. Henkelman 28. Avesta and Zoroastrianism under the Achaemenids and early Sasanians P.O. Skjærvø 29. Royal Achaemenid iconography Mark B. Garrison 30. Color and gilding in Achaemenid architecture and sculpture Alexander Nagel 31. Eastern Iran in the Achaemenid period Bruno Genito 32. Old Persian Jan Tavernier 33. Greek sources on Achaemenid Iran Maria Brosius VI. Seleucid, post-Achaemenid and Arsacid archaeology and history 34. Alexander the Great and the Seleucids in Iran Paul Kosmin 35. Media, Khuzestan and Fars between the end of the Achaemenids and the rise of the Sasanians Pierfrancesco Callieri and Alireza Askari Chaverdi 36. Fratarak? and Seleucids Josef Wiesehöfer 37. The Arsacids (Parthians) Stefan R. Hauser 38. Parthian and Elymaean rock reliefs Trudy S. Kawami 39. Arsacid, Elymaean and Persid coinage Khodadad Rezakhani 40. Aramaic, Parthian and Middle Persian Seiro Haruta 41. The use of Greek in pre-Sasanian Iran Georges Rougemont VII. The Sasanian period 42. Sasanian political ideology M. Rahim Shayegan 43. Sasanian coinage Nikolaus Schindel 44. Sasanian interactions with Rome and Byzantium P. Edwell 45. Sasanian rock reliefs Matthew P. Canepa 46. Kuh-e Khwaja and the religious architecture of Sasanian Iran Soroor Ghanimati 47. Sasanian administation and sealing practices Negin Miri 48. Luxury silver vessels of the Sasanian period Kate Masia-Radford 49. Sasanian textiles Carol Bier 50. Pre-Islamic Iranian calendrical systems in the context of Iranian religious and scientific history Antonio Panaino 51. The Islamic conquest of Sasanian Iran Michael Morony

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Book SynopsisProtestant reformers found the prophet and biblical prophecy to be exceptionally effective for framing their reforming work under the authority of Scripturefor the true prophet speaks the Word of God alone and calls the people, their worship, and their beliefs and practices back to the Word of God.The Reformation of Prophecy uses the prophet and biblical prophecy as a powerful lens through which to view many aspects of the reformers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. G. Sujin Pak argues that these prophetic concepts served the substantial purposes of articulating a theology of the priesthood of all believers, a biblical model of the pastoral office, a biblical vision of the reform of worship, and biblical processes for discerning right interpretation of Scripture. Pak demonstrates the ways in which understandings of the prophet and biblical prophecy contributed to the formation of distinct confessional identities. She goes on to demonstrate the waning of explicit prophetic terTrade Review...her study offers an important perspective on the longstanding debate over the pastoral office within Lutheranism * Richard J. Serina, Jr, Ringwood, New Jersey *Pak has delivered what her title promises: a compelling analysis of The Reformation of Prophecy...the book is well conceived, well documented, and well written, and it promises positive next steps within Reformation scholarship generally. * Jon Delmas Wood, George Washington University, Journal of Reformed Theology *By this multi-confessional and multi-generational treatment of prophecy and biblical prophet in the 16th and 17th centuries, Paks work would greatly contribute to the scholarship of the Reformation, and her work is an exemplary achievement in the study of early modern interpretation of Scripture. I highly recommend it. * Inseo Song, Fuller Theological Seminary, Reading Religion *The Reformation of Prophecy is an excellent work of scholarship, detailed and thorough, and very useful. * Jonathan Green, University of North Dakota, Church History and Religious Culture *The Reformation of Prophecy is an insightful and well-researched narrative of a vital aspect of early modern Protestant theology and exegesis...Pak's groundbreaking research provides a coherent narrative of the Reformed development of the prophetic office and the prophetic function of Protestant pastors. * Ryan M. McGraw, Scripture and Interpretation *Pak's groundbreaking research provides a coherent narrative of the Reformed development of the prophetic office and the prophetic function of Protestant pastors. This work paves the way for further studies ... Pak's book is a good example of solid historical theology that treats a subject that was close to the heart of Reformed theology as a whole. * Ryan M. McGraw, Professor of Systematic Theology, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary *In this insightful study, Sujin Pak deftly traces the Protestant understanding of biblical prophecy and the role of the prophet from the early years of the Reformation through the end of the sixteenth century. The Bible was at the heart of the Reformation, and this book shows how disagreements about its interpretation had broad consequences for defining the ministry, understanding the past, and shaping confessional identity. A masterful achievement! * Amy Nelson Burnett, Paula and D.B. Varner University Professor of History, University of Lincoln *Sujin Pak analyzes the theme of prophecy in Protestant theological writing with exemplary thoroughness, deploying meticulous knowledge of the primary sources, and reflecting carefully on the nuances of their meaning. The book is breathtaking in its scope, ranging from Luther and Zwingli, Bullinger and Calvin, into later sixteenth-century theology and historical theory. There is so much that we can learn from this book, even on themes that we thought we already knew something about. * The Reverend Dr. Euan K. Cameron, Henry Luce III Professor of Reformed Church History, Union Theological Seminary *Sujin Pak has provided the first book-length, multi-confessional treatment of prophecy in the Reformation era. Deeply researched, The Reformation of Prophecy presents a wealth of information about how leading reformers defined the office and function of the prophet along with how they interpreted biblical prophecy. Pak's book offers an especially valuable lens through which to view the character and development of the Protestant Reformation as whole, above all its attempts to solve its own crisis of authority. * Ronald K. Rittgers, Erich Markel Chair in German Reformation Studies, Valparaiso University *Table of ContentsAbbreviations Introduction 1. Prophecy and the Priesthood of All Believers 2. Prophecy and the Radicals: Re-Thinking Prophecy and the Prophet Contra the Radicals 3. Prophecy and the Pastoral Office: Luther and Zwingli 4. Prophecy and the Teaching Office: Bullinger and Calvin 5. The Prophet, Prophecy, and the Pastoral Office in the Next Generation 6. Old Testament Prophecy and Protestant Conceptions of Sacred History 7. Later Lutheran, Swiss Reformed, and Calvinist Readings of Sacred History in the Old Testament Prophets 8. Christological Exegesis and the Interpretation of Metaphors in Old Testament Prophecy Conclusion Select Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisPaul and the Gentile Problem provides a new explanation for the apostle Paul''s statements about the Jewish law in his letters to the Romans and Galatians. Paul''s arguments against circumcision and the law in Romans 2 and his reading of Genesis 15-21 in Galatians 4:21-31 belong within a stream of Jewish thinking which rejected the possibility that gentiles could undergo circumcision and adopt the Jewish law, thereby becoming Jews. Paul opposes this solution to the gentile problem because he thinks it misunderstands how essentially hopeless the gentile situation remains outside of Christ. The second part of the book moves from Paul''s arguments against a gospel that requires gentiles to undergo circumcision and adoption of the Jewish law to his own positive account, based on his reading of the Abraham Narrative, of the way in which Israel''s God relates to gentiles. Having received the Spirit (pneuma) of Christ, gentiles are incorporated into Christ, who is the singular seed of AbrahamTrade ReviewThe answers that Thiessen offers to perennial Pauline puzzles are elegant in their simplicity, but they are embedded within a rich appreciation of the historical and methodological complexities of interpreting late Second Temple texts and traditions. As important as it is innovative, Paul and the Gentile Problem belongs on your bookshelf - and on your syllabus. * Paula Fredriksen, Reading Religion *Thiessen presents a rich volume in which he offers a systematic understanding of Paul's solution to 'the gentile problem.'...This is a bold volume, which certainly provides food for thought for further debates...[A] creative and stimulating contribution to the important conversation about the role of the apostle to the nations within his first century context. * The Enoch Seminar *Matthew Thiessen's re-reading of Paul - bold, learned, and comprehensive - presents an apostle compelled by his apocalyptic convictions to reimagine the relationship of the nations to Israel's god, to the patriarch Abraham, and to Abraham's seed, the Christ. Seemingly intractable passages of Galatians and of Romans shift suddenly into sharp focus. With Paul and the Gentile Problem, Thiessen moves New Testament scholarship into a new age. * Paula Fredriksen, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Comparative Religion, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem *Matthew Thiessen demonstrates the implications of reading Paul within Second Temple Judaism; moreover, he eschews the traditional impulse to find something wrong in Judaism to understand Paul. By maintaining a historically responsible reading of Paul, one that identifies his target audience as Christ-following non-Jews, Thiessen delivers on several central issues in Pauline studies, including how Paul defined his non-Jews as Abraham's seed and conceptualized their receipt of pneuma, identifying the so-called Jew in Romans 2, and decoding the enigmatic allegory of Galatians 4. Uniquely illuminating is Thiessen's interpretation of Paul's understanding of the promise to Abraham that his seed would be like the stars. * Mark D. Nanos, co-editor of Paul within Judaism: Restoring the First-Century Context to the Apostle *Drawing on his wide knowledge of ancient Judaism, Thiessen here reframes Paul's theology of his gentile mission, insisting that his polemics are directed only against gentiles attempting the impossible, not against Jews, Judaism, or Jewish practices as such. This combination of fresh thinking and deep research is exactly what we need: it generates many original proposals which are bound to provoke new and important debate. * John Barclay, Lightfoot Professor of Divinity, Durham University *This book poses a noteworthy challenge to traditional construals of the apostle's theology. The chapters are sequenced to build on one another ... this is a volume that deserves widespread attention. * John K. Goodrich, Religious Studies Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part One: Jewish Universalism and the Gentile Problem Chapter One: Jewish Solutions to the Gentile Problem Chapter Two: The Gentile Identity of the "So-Called Jew" in Romans Chapter Three: "Do You Not Hear the Law?" Part Two: Abraham's Seed and the Gentile Solution Chapter Four: Gentile Sons and Seed of Abraham Chapter Five: Abraham, the Promised Pneuma, and the Gentile Solution Conclusion

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Book SynopsisA study not of the institution of the Church but of Christianity itself, this book explores the Christian people, their beliefs, and their way of life, providing a new understanding of Western Christianity at the time of the Reformation. Bossy begins with a systematic exposition of traditional or pre-Reformation Christianity, exploring the forces that tended to undermine it, the characteristics of the Protestant and Catholic regimes that superseded it, and the fall-out that resulted from its disintegration.Trade ReviewBossy's survey of late medieval religion is magisterial. He discusses theology and church law with consummate ease, has an acute appreciation of the liturgy, and convincingly depicts people freely practicing a faith they understood. * American Historical Review *

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive history of the Calvinist movement.Trade Review"[McNeill] has done a great service in presenting in one volume not only an account of the life and teaching of Calvin but a survey of Calvinism down to our own day....One of the best short accounts of Calvin available, based on a thorough knowledge both of his life and writings and of modern scholarship."--American Historical Review"Will surely remain the standard book on Calvinism for many years to come. It deserves wide currency and careful reading."--Albert C. Outler"McNeill has given us a very good and much needed volume on Reformed Christianity."--Leonard J. Tinterud, Theology Today"A book that will certainly be the historical reference volume on Calvin in the English language for years to come."--Hugh Thomson Kerr, Jr., The Christian Century"A masterful historical portrait of the whole movement of Calvinism."--Union Seminary Quarterly Review"An excellent coverage of Calvinistic thought, its development and its expansion."--Richard Cherok, Cincinnati Bible College and Seminary"Still the best available single volume on Calvin and Calvinism."--William Loyd Allen, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

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Book SynopsisProfessor Bouwsma studies the theologian John Calvin as a way to bring into focus the cultural, psychological, and intellectual problems of the sixteenth century. He argues that Calvin represents an historical moment of transition from traditional modes of philosophical and religious thought to modern ones. Beginning with a description of the traditional culture of Calvin''s time, and of the moralism which exerted such a powerful hold over medieval thought, he goes on to identify the crucial issue in this transition as the ability of a culture to manage the anxiety of existence. Medieval society, by creating simplified polarities such as Good and Evil, he argues, was conspicuously successful in performing this task. Finally Bouwsma provides a critical analysis of this medieval philosophy, and explains the significance of Calvin''s concept of a New Order in providing an ethical system which no longer relied upon these established views of the world.Trade Review`There is a surprising and in many ways unexpected Calvin in the pages of this absorbing biography and intellectual study...fine study...Bousma's supremely readable work...brings to Calvin aprofound intellectual understanding and avital human sympathy ^social history society-autumn 1989`a fascinating book ... perceptive in the complex, and indeed risky, quest for the secrets of the heart of so controlled and guarded a person as Calvin. It is also fearlessly frank ... the man behind these institutions has been portrayed here with a pen both sharp and subtle.' Times Literary Supplement` A genuinely new insight into the man and into the sixteenth century as a whole.' John M. Todd, The New York Times Book Review`Bouwsma's portrait proves most valuable. Because, finally, it's the portrait of an intellectual sleepwalker of a man who thought he was doing one thing, like upholding authority, and ended up doing quite the opposite, like inspiring revolution.' San Francisco Chronicle Review'There is a surprising and in many ways unexpected Calvin in the pages of this absorbing biography and intellectual study ... Bouwsma's supremely readable work ... brings to Calvin a profound intellectual understanding and a vital human sympathy.' Michael Mullett, University of Lancaster, Social History Society'he draws attention to themes in Calvin easily overlooked' Paul Helm, The Banner of Truth'This book breaks new ground for students of Calvin and Calvinism ... this portrait of Calvin is not only enriching in itself but will encourage students of his teaching to a new care in its interpretation' Journal of Theological Studies'the clarity of its organization and the vigour of its style offer a welcome contrast to the labyrinthine prose of so many studies that take their philosophical pretensions too seriously ... Bouwsma has mastered the rhetoric he praises.' Kenneth J.E. Graham, University of California, Berkeley. Renaissance Studies'a formidably learned book ... a remarkable intellectual portrait ... By listening to Calvin's language and his patterns of argument across the broad range of his writings, he has constructed a beautifully organised, majestic and exciting study of the first rank in Calvin scholarship.' M. Greengrass, University of Sheffield, Journal of Ecclesiastical History`There is much here to interest and challenge. It is an exciting and novel exploration of a person who did not always say the same thing, who was eclectic in the influences he absorbed...Bouwsma provides the reader with a stimulating and refreshing study'. Francis M. Higman, English Historical Review, Oct 1991.'Bouwsma's experience of the period makes him an impressive guide ... there is much here to interest and challenge ... It is an exciting and novel exploration of a person who did not always say the same thing ... Bouwsma provides the reader with a stimulating and refreshing study.' Francis M. Higman, Institut d'Histoire de le Réformation, Geneva, EHR Oct. 91

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Book SynopsisThe growing scholarly attention in recent years to the religious world of late antiquity has focused new attention on the quest for holiness by the strange, compelling, often obscure early Christian monks known as the desert fathers. Yet until now, little attention has been given to one of the most vital dimensions of their spirituality: their astute, penetrating interpretation of Scripture. Rooted in solitude, cultivated in an atmosphere of silence, oriented toward the practical appropriation of the sacred texts, the desert fathers'' hermeneutic profoundly shaped every aspect of their lives and became a significant part of their legacy. This book explores the setting within which the early monastic movement emerged, the interpretive process at the centre of the desert fathers'' quest for holiness, and the intricate patterns of meaning woven into their words and their lives.Trade ReviewWith its extensive notes and bibliography it is a scholarly work which assumes a fairly intimate knowledge of the text on which it is commenting, written by someone in sympathy with the monastic desert tradition, but not of it. Hence it has a certain objectivity of regard, while providing a careful exegesis of the text which can enhance a reading of the Sayings...that it is an excellent contribution towards increasing our understanding of the desert tradition there is no doubt. * Fairacres Chronicle Vol 28 no 2 *The focus of this stimulating book is the growth of monasticism in fourth-century Egypt...The Word in the Desert competently survey s the raison d'etre of Egyptian monasticism and challenges the notion that it was an insignificant minority sect... Stimulating book ... This scholarly work will delight and stimulate all who desire a firmer understanding of ancient asceticism. * Theology *excellent...The final section considers the realistationof the desert fathers' encounter with the word of scripture in their lives. These are rich pages which will repay rereading...Perhaps the best thing about the book is the way in which it will facilitate reading of the Apophthegmata themselves, by providing a framework in which to understand them * Sobornost *The focus of this stimulating book is the growth of monasticism in fourth-century Egypt. The Word in the Desert competently surveys the raison d'être of Egyptian monasticism and challenges the notion that it was an insignificant minority sect. This book broadens our understanding in two important areas: it makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the history of biblical interpretation, and it also furnishes our general knowledge of early Egyptian monasticism with detailed insights. This scholarly work will delight and stimulate all who desire a firmer understanding of ancient asceticism. * Laurence Kirkpatrick, Theology, May '96 *

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Book SynopsisAbout seventy years after the death of Jesus, John of Patmos sent visionary messages to Christians in seven cities of western Asia Minor. These messages would eventually become part of the New Testament canon, as The Book of Revelation. What was John''s message? What was its literary form? Did he write to a persecuted minority or to Christians enjoying the social and material benefits of the Roman Empire? In search of answers to these penetrating questions, Thompson critically examines the language, literature, history, and social setting of the Book of the Apocalypse. Following a discussion of the importance of the genre apocalypse, he closely analyses the form and structure of the Revelation, its narrative and metaphoric unity, the world created through John''s visions, and the social conditions of the empire in which John wrote. He offers an unprecedented interpretation of the role of boundaries in Revelation, a reassessment of the reign of the Emperor Domitian, and a view of tribulTrade Review"Rich and complex....A genuine contribution to social historical studies of apocalypticism."--Journal of Religion"While he writes for specialists, he does so clearly and engagingly, taking care to define his terms in order to bring non-specialists on board."--Anglican Theological Review"Contains much useful material and should be read by all persons making a serious study of the book of Revelation."--Seminary Studies"Ancient historians and other New Testament students will appreciate the scholarly solidity of this monograph and a wider readership may be excited by its fresh style and a stimulating tour of themes like the Roman Empire under Domitian, the Jews in Asia Minor, and the nature of religion in relation to society."--Theological Book Review"A groundbreaking monograph....If Thompson's thesis is accepted among scholars, it will revolutionize the academic study of apocalyptic literature....A major piece of scholarly work."--Choice

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Book SynopsisThis is a study of the life, monastic writings and spiritual theology of John Cassian (c.365-430). Cassian''s writings were the bridge between eastern monasticism and the developing Latin monasticism of Southern Gaul, and exerted a major influence on the Rule of Benedict and the theology of Gregory the Great.Trade ReviewThough eight years have elapsed since its publication, this remains an important book * Graham Gould, Theology *Table of ContentsPreface 1: Cassian the Monk 2: Cassian the Writer 3: Cassian the Theologian 4: Flesh and Spirit, Continence and Chastity 5: The Bible and Prayer 6: Unceasing Prayer 7: Experience of Prayer Appendix: Cassian on Monastic Egypt Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis concise and engaging introduction to the history of early Christianity examines the development of Christianity from its origins up through the year 620. Accessible to beginning students with no background in the subject, Early Christianity: A Brief History is also captivating reading for more advanced students. The book is organized chronologically into four parts: The Contexts of Early Christianity, Christianity in the Second and Third Centuries, The Creation of a Christian Empire, and Life in the Christian Empire. Each part begins with a timeline in order to guide students in the chronology of events. Opening with a look at the historical Jesus--which considers what we know and how we know it--the book continues on with coverage of the Jewish and Roman worlds in which Christianity arose. It then charts the extraordinary progress of Christianity, ranging from its status as a fringe sect in Judaism, to that of a dominant religion, up through the reign of Pope Gregory I. Chapters Trade Review"A fine introduction to early Christianity...This is a valuable and ably executed introductory textbook."--Religious Studies ReviewTable of ContentsEACH CHAPTER ENDS WITH FURTHER READING (BOTH ANCIENT SOURCES AND MODERN WORKS); CHAPTER 1: JESUS; PART I: THE CONTEXTS OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY; CHAPTER 2: THE JEWISH CONTEXT OF THE JESUS MOVEMENT; CHAPTER 3: THE GREEK AND ROMAN CONTEXT OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY; CHAPTER 4: THE JESUS MOVEMENT IN THE FIRST CENTURY; PART II: CHRISTIANITY IN THE SECOND AND THIRD CENTURIES; CHAPTER 5: CHRISTIAN DIVERSITY IN THE SECOND AND THIRD CENTURIES; CHAPTER 6: THE EMERGENCE OF A PROTO- ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CONSENSUS: BISHOP, CREED AND CANON OF SCRIPTURE; CHAPTER 7: ROMAN SOCIETY AND THE CHRISTIANS; CHAPTER 8: CHRISTIAN INTELLECTUALS; CHAPTER 9: PROTO-ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN THE THIRD CENTURY; PART III: THE CREATION OF A CHRISTIAN EMPIRE; CHAPTER 10: DIOCLETIAN, THE GREAT PERSECUTION AND THE CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE; CHAPTER 11: THE CHRISTIAN EMPIRE AND THE IMPERIAL CHURCH; CHAPTER 12: THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH; CHAPTER 13: THE TRINITARIAN CONTROVERSY; CHAPTER 14: JESUS, THE GOD/MAN; PART IV: LIFE IN THE CHRISTIAN EMPIRE; CHAPTER 15: WORSHIP AND PIETY IN THE CHRISTIAN EMPIRE; CHAPTER 16: THE ASCETIC MOVEMENT; CHAPTER 17: FOURTH- AND FIFTH-CENTURY CHRISTIAN THINKERS; CHAPTER 18: CONVERSION AND CHRISTIANIZATION; CHAPTER 19: THE EASTERN AND WESTERN CHURCHES GO THEIR SEPARATE WAYS; CHAPTER 20: EPILOGUE: MUHAMMAD AND ISLAM

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Book SynopsisChristianity is a religion of salvation in which believers have always anticipated some type of post-mortem bliss. This belief in salvation for the faithful has usually meant non-salvation for others. The Christian imagination in the West has usually drawn a sharp boundary at death, on the principle that, if someone did not join up with the saved community during this life, joining it after death would be impossible. In this book, Jeffrey Trumbower examines how and why death came to be perceived as such a firm boundary of salvation. Analyzing exceptions to this principle from ancient Christianity, he finds that the principle itself was slow to develop and not universally accepted in the Christian movement''s first four hundred years. In fact, only in the West was this principle definitively articulated, due in large part to the work and influence of Augustine.Trade ReviewFascinating and thorough book. * Journal of Theological Studies *

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Book SynopsisThis title brings together scholars of a variety of the world's major civilizations to focus on the universal theme of inner transformation. All major religions insist on this, yet conceptions of the inner world of the person vary widely from one civilization to another.

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Book SynopsisWhen we think of heaven, we generally conjure up positive, blissful images. Heaven is, after all, where God is and where good people go after death to receive their reward. But how and why did Western cultures come to imagine the heavenly realm in such terms? Why is heaven usually thought to be up there, far beyond the visible sky? And what is the source of the idea that the post mortem abode of the righteous is in this heavenly realm with God? Seeking to discover the roots of these familiar notions, this volume traces the backgrounds, origin, and development of early Jewish and Christian speculation about the heavenly realm -- where it is, what it looks like, and who its inhabitants are. Wright begins his study with an examination of the beliefs of ancient Israel''s neighbors Egypt and Mesopotamia, reconstructing the intellectual context in which the earliest biblical images of heaven arose. A detailed analysis of the Hebrew biblical texts themselves then reveals that the Israelites wTrade ReviewThis well organized volume synthesizes a large corpus of technical scholarship, making it an eminently useful work. * Choice *Table of Contents1. Ancient Egyptian Traditions ; 2. Ancient Mesopotamian Traditions ; 3. Israelite Traditions ; 4. Persian, Greek, and Roman Traditions ; 5. Early Jewish and Christian Traditions I: The Persistence of Biblical or Ancient Near Eastern Models ; 7. Early Jewish and Christian Traditions III: Common Themes & Motifs ; 8. Later Developments in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Images

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Book SynopsisThe Mandaeans are a Gnostic sect that arose in the middle east around the same time as Christianity. What little study of the religion there has been has focused on the ancient Mandaeans and their relation to early Christianity. Buckley examines the lives and religion of contemporary Mandaeans, who live mainly in Iran and Iraq but also in New York and San Diego. She provides a comprehensive introduction to the religion and shows how its ancient texts inform the living religion, and vice versa.Trade ReviewLandmark contribution to the field. * History of Relgions *

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Book SynopsisThis is a sequel to Richard Muller''s The Unaccommodated Calvin (OUP 2000). In the previous book, Muller attempted to situate Calvin''s theological work in its historical context and to strip away various twentieth-century theological grids that have clouded our perceptions of the work of the Reformer. In the present book, Muller carries this approach forward, with the goal of overcoming a series of nineteenth- and twentieth-century theological frameworks characteristic of much of the scholarship on Reformed orthodoxy, or what might be called ''Calvinism after Calvin''.Trade Review... a collection of valuable essays ... Muller displays an enviable mastery of primary and secondary source material. The chief value of the collection lies in its provision of an excellent up-to-the-minute survey of recent historiographical trends in the study of post-Reformation orthodoxy. * Westminster Theological Journal *This is a work that will promote dialogue and encourage fresh research. It deserves engagement and should frequently be referred to by students and teachers of the long Reformation. With its clear argumentation and outstanding command of sources, After Calvin confirms Muller's place at the centre of the debate over the theology of Calvin and his contemporaries and the appropriation of that theology by succeeding generations. * Westminster Theological Journal *For those already familiar with Muller's work this volume does not disappoint. It reflects the attention to detail, extensive familiarity with primary sources, and judicious assessment Muller has led us to expect. * Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology *The combination of these essays in one volume makes what might appear a redundant publication in fact a very useful one ... one now has single-volume access to Muller's most penetrating essays on the methodology, scholarship, and thought of post-Reformation Reformed Protestantism. This alone makes the book worthy of publication; the revisions simply add to its value. * Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology *After Calvin is a work worthy of serious attention. * Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology *

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Book SynopsisOn September 11, 1857, a band of Mormon militia, under a flag of truce, lured unarmed members of a party of emigrants from their fortified encampment and, with their Paiute allies, killed them. More than 120 men, women, and children perished in the slaughter. Massacre at Mountain Meadows offers the most thoroughly researched account of the massacre ever written. Drawn from documents previously not available to scholars and a careful re-reading of traditional sources, this gripping narrative offers fascinating new insight into why Mormons settlers in isolated southern Utah deceived the emigrant party with a promise of safety and then killed the adults and all but seventeen of the youngest children. The book sheds light on factors contributing to the tragic event, including the war hysteria that overcame the Mormons after President James Buchanan dispatched federal troops to Utah Territory to put down a supposed rebellion, the suspicion and conflicts that polarized the perpetrators and victims, and the reminders of attacks on Mormons in earlier settlements in Missouri and Illinois. It also analyzes the influence of Brigham Young''s rhetoric and military strategy during the infamous Utah War and the role of local Mormon militia leaders in enticing Paiute Indians to join in the attack. Throughout the book, the authors paint finely drawn portraits of the key players in the drama, their backgrounds, personalities, and roles in the unfolding story of misunderstanding, misinformation, indecision, and personal vendettas. The Mountain Meadows Massacre stands as one of the darkest events in Mormon history. Neither a whitewash nor an exposé, Massacre at Mountain Meadows provides the clearest and most accurate account of a key event in American religious history.Trade ReviewMassacre at Mountain Meadows tells of the grim outcome without flinching and without excuse. * Richard Bushman , Journal of Ecclesiastical History *Table of ContentsPREFACE; APPENDIX A: THE EMIGRANTS; APPENDIX B: THE EMIGRANTS PROPERTY; APPENDIX C: THE IRON MILITARY DISTRICT; APPENDIX D: INDIANS ALLEGEDLY TIED TO THE MASSACRE

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Book SynopsisSt. Birgitta of Sweden (1303-1373, canonized 1391) was one of the most charismatic and influential female visionaries of the later Middle Ages. Altogether, she received some 700 revelations, dealing with subjects ranging from meditations on the human condition, domestic affairs in Sweden, and ecclesiastical matters in Rome, to revelations in praise of the Incarnation and devotion to the Virgin. Her Revelations, collected and ordered by her confessors, circulated widely throughout Europe and long after her death. Many eminent individuals, including Cardinal Juan Torquemada, Jean Gerson, and Martin Luther, read and commented on her writings, which influenced the spiritual lives of countless individuals. Birgitta was also the founder of a new monastic order, which still exists today. She is the patron saint of Sweden, and in 2000 was declared (with Catherine of Siena and Edith Stein) co-patroness of Europe.Birgitta''s Revelations present her as a commanding and dauntless visionary who devTrade ReviewThe Revelations of St. Birgitta, volume 4 is nothing short of a well constructed treasure, noteworthy, and a useful reference work for studying religious women and mysticism during the late medieval period in Northern Europe. * Rebecca A. Giselbrecht, The Sixteenth Century Journal *Table of ContentsAbbreviations ; The Entire Birgittine Corpus ; BOOK VIII: The Heavenly Emperor's Book to Kings ; The Hermit's Letter to Kings ; Book VIII: The Heavenly Emperor's Book to Kings (translation) ; The Rule of the Savior ; The Angel's Discourse ; The Four Prayers ; Extravagant Revelations ; Supplementary Texts ; Bibliography ; List of illustrations, volumes 1-4 ; Biblical index, volumes 1-4 ; Subject index, volumes 1-4 ; Place and Personal names index, volumes 1-4

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Table of ContentsPreface for Instructors ; Acknowledgments ; Introduction ; I. COLONIAL SETTLEMENT TO THE 1730S ; 1. AFFIRMING DIVINE PROVIDENCE: EXPLORERS, MISSIONARIES, AND COLONIZERS COME TO AMERICA ; The Bull Sublimis Deus (1537) ; William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation (1620-47) ; John Cotton, Spirituall Milk for Boston Babes in Either England (1656) ; 2. PIETY AND PRACTICE IN THE COLONIAL ERA ; John Winthrop, A Model of Christian Charity (1630) ; Increase Mather, Sleeping at Sermons Is a Great and a Dangerous Evil (1682) ; 3. ANXIOUS SOULS: SEEKING ASSURANCE IN PURITAN NEW ENGLAND ; Anne Bradstreet, To My Dear Children (1867) and To My Dear and Loving Husband (1678) ; Samuel Sewall, Diary (1677-1727) ; 4. CONFLICT AND VIOLENCE, GENDER AND ETHNICITY: ANTINOMIANISM AND INDIANS ; The Examination of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson (1637) ; Mary Rowlandson, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (1682) ; William Penn, Letter to the Indians (1681) ; 5. CHALLENGES TO THE ESTABLISHED ORDER: BAPTISTS, QUAKERS, AND WITCH-HUNTING ; Roger Williams, Letter to the Town of Providence on the Limits of Religious Liberty (1654-55) ; William Penn, A Persuasive to Moderation to Church Dissenters, in Prudence and Conscience (1686) ; Cotton Mather, From Wonders of the Invisible World (1692) ; II. REVIVAL, REVOLUTION, AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT, 1740-1800 ; 6. DEBATING DECORUM AND RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE: REVIVALISM AND THE GREAT AWAKENING ; Jonathan Edwards, From Some Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival of Religion in New-England (1743) ; Charles Chauncy, From Seasonable Thoughts on the State of Religion in New-England (1743) ; 7. BEYOND NEW ENGLAND: SOUTHERN ANGLICANISM, METHODIST PERFECTION ; Charles Woodmason, I Cor. 14 v. 40 Let All Things Be Done Decently & in Order (1770) ; John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (1777) ; 8. PIETY, CHRISTIAN LOVE, AND RESISTANCE TO SLAVERY ; Phillis Wheatley, On Being Brought from Africa to America (1773), On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield (1770), and Thoughts on the Works of Providence (1773) ; John Woolman, From The Journal of John Woolman and On Silent Worship ; 9. BRINGING OUTSIDERS IN: MORE ENCOUNTERS WITH INDIANS, EARLY AMERICAN JEWS ; David Brainerd, From Journal (1745) ; The Petition of the Philadelphia Synagogue to Council of Censors of Pennsylvania (1783) ; 10. ENLIGHTENMENT VIEWS OF RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE AND LIBERTY ; Thomas Jefferson, A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom (1779) ; James Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments (1785) ; Hannah Adams, From An Alphabetical Compendium of the Various Sects Which Have Appeared in the World from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Present Day (1784) ; III. FROM NEW REPUBLIC TO DIVIDED NATION, 1800-65 ; 11. NEW THEOLOGIES ABSORB OLD ORTHODOXIES: MORMONISM, TRANSCENDENTALISM, COMMUNITARIANISM ; Joseph Smith, The Articles of Faith (1842) and Revelation (1835) ; Ralph Waldo Emerson, Harvard Divinity School Address (1838) ; 12. DIVERSE MODES OF RELIGIOUS CONVERSION ; Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, Letters (1805) ; Charles Grandison Finney, From Memoirs (1876) ; Bishop Innocent Veniaminov, Instructions to the Priest-Monk Theophan (1853) ; 13. SLAVE RELIGION AND AFRICAN AMERICAN RESISTANCE ; Jarena Lee, From The Life and Religious Experience of Jarena Lee (1836) ; Frederick Douglass, From Narrative of the Life of an American Slave (1845) ; 14. EVANGELICALISM, ABOLITIONISM, AND PRO-SLAVERY CHRISTIANITY ; Angelina Emily Grimke, Appeal to the Christian Women of the South (1836) ; Catharine E. Beecher, Essay on Slavery and Abolitionism (1837) ; George D. Armstrong, From The Christian Doctrine of Slavery (1857) ; 15. EUROPEANS ATTEMPT TO DEFINE RELIGION IN AMERICA ; Alexis de Tocqueville, From Democracy in America (1835) ; Phillip Schaff, From America (1855) ; IV. SCIENCE, IMMIGRATION, AND CONSUMER CAPITALISM, 1865-1920 ; 16. DARWINISM, THE SOCIAL GOSPEL, AND THE GOSPEL OF WEALTH ; James Woodrow, Evolution (1884) ; Russell Herman Conwell, From Acres of Diamonds (1890) ; Walter Rauschenbusch, From A Theology for the Social Gospel (1917) ; 17. RESHAPING AGED CREED: REFORM JUDAISM, NEW THOUGHT, BLACK PROTEST ; Pittsburgh Platform (1885) ; Ralph Waldo Trine, From In Tune with the Infinite (1897) ; W. E. B. Du Bois, The Sorrow Songs (1903), Credo (1904), and A Litany of Atlanta (1906) ; 18. NARRATIVES OF AMERICANIZATION AND RESISTANCE ; Black Elk, From Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux (1932) ; Mary Antin, The Promised Land (1912) ; 19. CONFLICTS OF IMMIGRATION AND IMMIGRANTS ; Josiah Strong, From Our Country (1886) ; Alexis Toth, Meeting with Archbishop John Ireland (1889) ; Mabel Potter Daggett, The Heathen Invasion of America (1912) ; 20. TURNING OUTWARD: THE EARLY COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RELIGION ; James Freeman Clarke, The Ten Religions and Christianity (1891) ; Swami Vivekananda, Hinduism as a Religion and Farewell (1893) ; William James, From The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) ; V. FROM FUNDAMENTALISM TO CIVIL RIGHTS, 1920-65 ; 21. FUNDAMENTALISM, LIBERALISM, AND NEO-ORTHODOXY ; Harry Emerson Fosdick, Shall the Fundamentalists Win? (1922) ; Reinhold Niebuhr, From The Irony of American History (1952) ; 22. JEWISH OBSERVANCE AND CATHOLIC SACRAMENTALISM ; Abraham Joshua Heschel, From God in Search of Man (1955) ; Thomas Merton, From New Seeds of Contemplation (1961) ; 23. ALIENATION, DISSIDENCE, AND REBELLION AGAINST TRADITIONAL AUTHORITIES ; Dorothy Day, From The Long Loneliness (1952) ; Jack Kerouac, From Dharma Bums (1958) ; 24. BLACK ENCOUNTERS WITH WORLD RELIGIONS AND THE STRUGGLE AGAINST RACISM ; Howard Thurman, What We May Learn from India (1936) and Howard and Sue Bailey Thurman Meet with Mahatma Gandhi (1936) ; Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham City Jail (1963) ; Malcolm X, Letters from Abroad (1964) ; 25. THE "AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE" AND ITS CRITICS ; Will Herberg, From Protestant-Catholic-Jew (1955) ; VI. MULTIPLICITY, PLURALISM, AND CONFLICT AFTER 1965 ; 26. THE 1960S AND BEYOND: THEOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CRISES ; Mary Daly, From Beyond God the Father (1973) ; Cornel West, Christian Theological Mediocrity (1984) ; Stanley Hauerwas, Gay Friendship: A Thought Experiment in Catholic Moral Theology (1998) ; 27. RITUAL, PRACTICE, AND SPIRITUAL POETRY IN A PLURALISTIC SOCIETY ; Avery Dulles, S.J., The Ways We Worship (1998) ; Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield, From Seeking the Heart of Wisdom (1987) ; Joy Harjo, Eagle Poem (1990) ; Lucille Clifton, spring song (1987), the light that came to lucille clifton (1980), and testament (1980) ; 28. RELIGIOUS OUTINGS: MULTIPLE SPIRITUAL PERSONALITIES IN A POST-SIXTIES AMERICA ; Mel White, From Stranger at the Gate (1994) ; 29. RELIGION AND CONFLICT AFTER 9/11 ; Franklin Graham, From The Name (2002) ; Letter to Franklin Graham from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (2002) ; Richard Rodriguez, Danger and Grace-Sept. 11 and America's Religious Moment ; 30. PRIVATIZATION, SECULARIZATION, AND RELIGIOUS FLOURISHING: THE ENDURING CHALLENGES OF RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION IN AMERICA ; Robert N. Bellah, From Habits of the Heart (1985) ; U.S. Department of Education, Religious Expression in Public Schools (1995) ; Jeffrey L. Stout, Democracy and Tradition (2004)

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Book SynopsisOver the past century, Christianity''s place and role in the world have changed dramatically. In 1900, 80 percent of the world''s Christians lived in Europe and North America. Today, more than 60 percent of the world''s Christians live outside of that region. This change calls for a reexamination of the way the story of Christianity is told, the methodological tools for its analysis, and its modes of expression. Perhaps most significant is the role of Africa as the new Christian heartland. The questions and answers about Christianity and its contemporary mission now being developed in the African churches will have enormous influence in the years to come. This volume offers nine new essays addressing this sea-change and its importance for the future of Christianity. Some contributions consider the development of non-Western forms of Christianity, others look at the impact of these new Christianities in the West. The authors cover a wide range of topics, from the integration of witchcra

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Book SynopsisFor nearly eighteen centuries, two fundamental spatial plans dominated Christian architecture: the basilica and the central plan. In the 1880s, however, profound socio-economic and technological changes in the United States contributed to the rejection of these traditions and the development of a radically new worship building, the auditorium church. When Church Became Theatre focuses on this radical shift in evangelical Protestant architecture and links it to changes in worship style and religious mission. The auditorium style, featuring a prominent stage from which rows of pews radiated up a sloping floor, was derived directly from the theatre, an unusual source for religious architecture but one with a similar goal-to gather large groups within range of a speaker''s voice. Theatrical elements were prominent; many featured proscenium arches, marquee lighting, theatre seats, and even opera boxes. Examining these churches and the discussions surrounding their development, Jeanne HalgrTrade Review"Kilde's careful and thorough research in published and unpublished congregational denomnational , and architectural records successfully engages architectural history, religious studies, and social and cultural history, and this book will be beneficial to scholars in many disciplines."-- The Journal of Religion"Jeanne Halgren Kilde's impressive new book is a Rosetta stone for an udervalued genre of American ecclesiastical architecture. Kilde's work adds complexity to our understanding of both American religious architecture and American religious history."-- Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians"When Church Became Theatre expands, synthesizes, and enriches the narrative of both American religious history and American architectural history, which will enlighten professional and amateur scholars alike."-- Religious Studies Review"Reading architectural space is a highly rewarding enterprise, and one stands in awe of the author's ability to explore nonwritten texts so creatively. By skillfully chronicling the movement from one church type to another and linking this transformation to the social and cultural concerns of American evangelism, this book not only enriches our understanding of American religious history but also brings what was peripheral to center stage, illuminating old questions and opening up new ones."--Worship"Wonderfully insightful By the book's end, Kilde has enlightened us not only about architecture and interior design, but also about liturgical practice, music, theology, class, gender, power, technology, and the rise of consumer culture. It is hard to convey, in a short review, just how rich this book is." -- Journal of Presbyterian History"Jeanne Kilde's study of auditorium churches is a major contribution to the growing literature on 'reading' religious architecture as an important tool for discerning the significance of the material culture of religion in understanding broader themes in the religious, social, and cultural history of the United States."--Peter W. Williams, Miami University"This original and impressive book demonstrates how relevant the history of religious architecture can be for the study of American history. Jeanne Kilde's careful attention to the lived religion of worship spaces as well as to the cultural politics of space greatly advances the understanding of church architecture in the nineteenth century."--David Morgan, Valparaiso University"This is a very significant book for at least three disciplines: architectural history, church history, and liturgical studies....Kilde shows how changing concepts about the function of worship produced major changes in the design of church buildings, a process which has continued to the present. In so doing, she explains much of the ecclesiastical landscape of America."--James F. White, Drew University

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Book SynopsisIn The First Crusade, Thomas Asbridge offers a gripping account of a titanic three-year adventure filled with miraculous victories, greedy princes, and barbarity on a vast scale. Beginning with the electrifying speech delivered by Pope Urban II on the last Tuesday of November in the year 1095, readers will follow the more than 100,000 men who took up the call from their mobilization in Europe (where great waves of anti-Semitism resulted in the deaths of thousands of Jews), to their arrival in Constanstinople, an exotic, opulent city--ten times the size of any city in Europe--that bedazzled the Europeans. Featured in vivid detail are the siege of Nicaea and the pivotal battle for Antioch, the single most important military engagement of the entire expedition, where the crusaders, in desparate straits, routed a larger and better equipped Muslim army. Through all this, the crusaders were driven on by intense religious devotion, convinced that their struggle would earn them the reward of eTrade ReviewRousing....Asbridge knows this territory well. In 1999, he even walked 350 miles of the crusaders' route. * Christian Science Monitor *Combines fast-paced history writing, evocotive prose and lucid research for a first-rate history of the First Crusade.... Brilliantly re-creates the three-year history of the First Crusade, chronicling its difficulties and victories, not downplaying its brutality but emphasizing its genuinely religious impulse. * Publishers Weekly *Asbridge, in keeping with his aim to produce a popular history, writes with maximum vividness. Some of this gets a little hokey * there are cliff-hangers galorebut I am grateful that he stooped to entertain us. Mad Hugh and Basil the Bulgar-Slayer were fun to read about. There is also a note of comedy in the competition among the knights, with their nasty little treacheries, and with the lesser soldiers running back and forth between tents to figure out who's on topand therefore whom they should ally themselves withtoday.Joan Acocella, The New Yorker *Although well researched, the book wears its scholarship lightly and reads like a work of fiction, complete with vivid characters. * The Herald (Glasgow) *Asbridge achieves vivid characterization and gripping storytelling without sacrifice of scholarship. Interweaving analysis, narrative, evocative description and occasional wry humor, he tells us * as no other book on the subject really doeswho the crusaders were, how they behaved, how they killed and died and, most surprisingly of all, how they survived and triumphed.Felipe Fernández-Armesto, author of Millennium and Civilizations *By focusing on two dozen of the most famous of these crusaders, the author keeps the telling manageable and accessible, and includes eyewitness accounts that describe events with compelling realism. * Curriculum Connections *Balances persuasive analysis with a flair for conveying with dramatic power the crusaders' plight throughout the nine-month siege of Antioch...should revitalize the study of this fascinating period in European history. * The Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisThe legendary story of the ten lost tribes of Israel has resonated among both Jews and Christians down through the centuries: the compelling idea that some core group of humanity was lost and exiled to a secret place, perhaps someday to return triumphant. In this fascinating book, Zvi Ben-Dor Benite shows for the first time the extent to which the search for the lost tribes of Israel became, over two millennia, an engine for global exploration and a key mechanism for understanding the world. As the book reveals, the quest for the missing tribes and the fervent belief that their restitution marked a necessary step toward global redemption have been threaded through countless historical moments--from the formation of the first world empires to the age of discovery, and from the spread of European imperialism to the rise of modern-day evangelical apocalypticism. Drawing on a wealth of sources and presenting a vast array of historical players--explorers, politicians, scientists, geographerTrade ReviewAn interesting and at times even a fascinating read into the efforts of many people over many centuries to rediscover, reclaim, and even restore lost Israel. * BYU Studies Quarterly *This book constitutes a sophisticated, often riveting meditation on those who have dreamed about, sought after, investigated, and longed for the ten Israelite tribes deported (according to the biblical account) by the Assyrians in the eighth century B.C.E. to a remote location, after which they disappeared from human knowledge. More than a history of fantasy, however, Zvi Ben-Dor Benite's survey brings together the variegated odalities--religious, political, scientific, and literary--in which such fixations have played themselves out. * American Historical Review *Writing a 'world history' on this scale demands enviable linguistic and interdisciplinary skills, which Zvi Ben-Dor Benite has in abundance. ...The Ten Lost Tribes is an exhilarating venture in intellectual history ...A readable and enjoyable book. * Books & Culture *Readers will marvel at how belief in the lost tribes benefits the ambitions of British imperialists and at how it has guided modern Israeli leaders in shaping their country's repatriation policies. Scholarship of exceptional breadth, certain to attract a diverse readership. * Booklist *The story of the lost tribes of Israel has been told before, but never placed so successfully within the context of global history. Zvi Ben-Dor Benite's exceptional scholarly range, combined with his exquisite sensitivity to the relationship between presence and absence, promise and loss, will appeal to anyone fascinated with the ways myth-history and myth-geography function in the real time and real space of world events. * John Gillis, Professor Emeritus of History, Rutgers University *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Assyrian Tributes ; 2. An Enclosed Nation ; 3. Tricksters and Travels ; 4. A Mighty Multitude of Israelites ; 5. Concordia Mundi ; 6. Hopes of Israel ; Conclusion ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisIlluminates the personal life of Hildegard of Bingen as viewed through the defining lens of her personal correspondence: her early, hesitant bid for recognition of her spiritual gifts; her courageous, and ultimately futile, fight to retain the companionship of her close personal friend and the poignant outcome of that struggle; and more.Trade Review[an] accessible [and] illuminating collection of her writings...set within an unobtrusive but skilfully crafted mini-biography of the saint. * Church Times *

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Book SynopsisGregory of Nazianzus, a 4th-century bishop of Constantinople, receives relatively little attention from modern Western scholars, yet he is one of the most influential theologians in the history of Christian doctrine. Many modern Christians understand their religious beliefs through ideas originally expounded by Gregory, yet probably would not recognize his name. As an advocate for the conceptual understanding of the Trinity, Gregory set precedents for the way his fellow and future Christians would perceive and worship God. Holding that Jesus was both fully divine and fully human, Gregory added new complexity to Christianitys grasp of the mysterious relationship between the Son and the Father. He also explored the nature of the Holy Spirit by means of scriptural analysis, both in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. Gregorys enlightening revelations resonate throughout the varied religious landscape of Christian creed, cult, and code. Christopher A. Beeley examines Gregorys doctTrade Reviewa scholarly piece of historical theology, setting Gregory's concerns and aims in a detailed context, but also grappling with his complex theology in a way which moves beyond historicism. * Morwenna Ludlow, Scottish Journal of Theology *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Gregory's Life and Work 1: God and the Theologian 2: Jesus Christ 3: The Holy Spirit 4: The Trinity 5: Pastoral Ministry and the Trinity

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Book SynopsisWhether America was founded as a Christian nation or as a secular republic is one of the most fiercely debated questions in American history. Historians Matthew Harris and Thomas Kidd offer an authoritative examination of the essential documents needed to understand this debate. The texts included in this volume - writings and speeches from both well-known and obscure early American thinkers - show that religion played a prominent yet fractious role in the era of the American Revolution. In their personal beliefs, the Founders ranged from profound skeptics like Thomas Paine to traditional Christians like Patrick Henry. Nevertheless, most of the Founding Fathers rallied around certain crucial religious principles, including the idea that people were created equal, the belief that religious freedom required the disestablishment of state-backed denominations, the necessity of virtue in a republic, and the role of Providence in guiding the affairs of nations. Harris and Kidd show that thrTrade ReviewMatthew L. Harris and Thomas S. Kidd have assembled a fine collection of primary documents that will serve as a useful guide for scholars, teachers, and students interested in the Christian America debate. * John Fea, author of Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?: A Historical Introduction *Harris and Kidd have crafted a work that is at once readable and informative. Indeed, even non-specialists who read their book will be able to comprehend the key questions about the place of religion in American life without feeling overwhelmed. * Renewing Minds *This brief treatment illustrates complexities with which the US and its leaders continue to struggle. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Founding Fathers and Religion ; Chapter 1: Religion and the Continental Congress ; Chapter 2: Religion and State ; Chapter 3: Constitution and Ratification ; Chapter 4: Religion and the Federal Government ; Chapter 5: Disestablishment and the Separation of Church and State ; Chapter 6: The Founding Fathers' Own Views on Religion ; Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisWilliam Penn established Pennsylvania in 1682 as a holy experiment in which Europeans and Indians could live together in harmony. In this book, historian Kevin Kenny explains how this Peaceable Kingdom--benevolent, Quaker, pacifist--gradually disintegrated in the eighteenth century, with disastrous consequences for Native Americans. Kenny recounts how rapacious frontier settlers, most of them of Ulster extraction, began to encroach on Indian land as squatters, while William Penn''s sons cast off their father''s Quaker heritage and turned instead to fraud, intimidation, and eventually violence during the French and Indian War. In 1763, a group of frontier settlers known as the Paxton Boys exterminated the last twenty Conestogas, descendants of Indians who had lived peacefully since the 1690s on land donated by William Penn near Lancaster. Invoking the principle of right of conquest, the Paxton Boys claimed after the massacres that the Conestogas'' land was rightfully theirs. They set oTrade Review"Worthy of serious scrutiny and reflection."--Journal of Social History "Riveting."--Irish Historical Studies "In the winter of 1763-64, colonists from the Susquehanna-side settlements of Pennsylvania committed acts of extraordinary violence against Indians living near Lancaster. This spasm of cruelty, the Paxton riots, sets in motion Kevin Kenny's Peaceable Kingdom Lost -- a patient, clearly written narrative, organized by the unraveling during wartime of a half-century of intercultural peace, that lingers especially on the murky figures of the rioters and on the Wyoming Valley of eastern Pennsylvania, a landscape contested between Natives, Pennsylvanians, and Connecticut Yankees, where intercultural animosities became intercolonial and, at last, revolutionary."--Peter Silver, author of Our Savage Neighbors: How Indian War Transformed Early America "A compelling study of the Paxton Boys' massacre of Conestoga Indians and of the volatile world that produced it. Grounding his story in the context of the French and Indian War and the escalating ethnic, social, and political tensions of eighteenth-century Pennsylvania, Kevin Kenny shows how William Penn's utopian dream of a peaceable kingdom degenerated into a nightmare of racial violence."--Colin G. Calloway, author of The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of America "The massacre of the small Native American community of Conestoga by the 'Paxton Boys' has long symbolized how William Penn's vision of peaceful relations with Native peoples went horrifically wrong. Readers seeking an introduction to these tragic developments will find no surer guide than Kevin Kenny."--Daniel K. Richter, McNeil Center for Early American Studies, University of Pennsylvania "Kenny reveals how self-interest overrode the public good, with hell to pay for all concerned. In that regard, it rings true today as cause and consequence of Pennsylvania's persistent problem--how to cultivate the necessary 'common weal' to create a commonwealth....This book should remind us how much creating 'facts on the ground' can defeat ideals and turn practices into policies."--Randall M. Miller, Philadelphia Inquirer "Kenny's account of the Paxton Boys incident and its aftermath adds an interesting dimension to the scholarly literature on the relationship between European settlers and INdians and the policies that governed or directed it....By restoring a sense of contingency to the chaotic affairs of the winter of 1763 and spring of 1764, Kenny asks us to remember that human decisions shape history, and those that involve putting aside the law for short-term political gain can have disastrous consequences."---Law "Kevin Kenny has laid out a smooth and engaging narrative alongside an impressively researched analysis of the secondary historical debates surrounding the Paxton Boys. Peaceable Kingdom Lost is also the most detailed treatment of the subject to emerge in a generation, and it is an indispensable introduction to one of the most troubling and transformative episodes in the history of colonial Pennsylvania."--Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography "Peaceable Kingdom Lost is an important work that does much to reinterpret provincial politics and the development of racial attitudes on the Pennsylvania frontier. Most importantly, it provides detailed insight into the mentality of frontiersmen in the mid-eighteenth century."--Journal of American History "Essential reading not only for Americanists but also for those interested in the Irish diaspora."--Reviews in History "Peaceable Kingdom Lost is distinguished by Kevin Kenny's narrative skill. This well-researched book is ideal for use in history courses as a readable and engaging narrative that very ably synthesizes much of the recent scholarship on Indian-European relations in colonial and revolutionary Pennsylvania."--David L. Preston, Pennsylvania History "Kenny's fluid prose makes his a very entertaining account...Kenny masterfully weaves the perspectives of Pennsylvania's westerners, colonial leaders, and native peoples to craft a compellingly tragic narrative."--Kevin T. Barksdale, American Historical ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction ; False Dawn ; 1. Newcomers ; 2. Settlers and Squatters ; 3. Expansion ; 4. Fraud ; 5. A Hunger for Land ; "THEATRE OF BLOODSHED AND RAPINE" ; 6. Braddock's Defeat ; 7. Pennsylvania Goes to War ; 8. Negotiations ; 9. Westward Journeys ; 10. Conquest ; ZEALOTS ; 11. Indian Uprising ; 12. Rangers ; 13. Conestoga Indiantown ; 14. Lancaster Workhouse ; 15. Panic in Philadelphia ; A WAR OF WORDS ; 16. Germantown ; 17. "A proper Spirit of Jealousy, and Revenge" ; 18. "Christian White Savages" ; 19. "Under the Tyran's Foot ; UNRAVELING ; 20. Killers ; 21. Mercenaries ; 22. Revolutionaries ; Players ; Chronology

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Book SynopsisJeanne Halgren Kildes survey of church architecture is unlike any other. Her main concern is not the buildings themselves, but rather the dynamic character of Christianity and how church buildings shape and influence the religion. Kilde argues that a primary function of church buildings is to represent and reify three different types of power: divine power, or ideas about God; personal empowerment as manifested in the individuals perceived relationship to the divine; and social power, meaning the relationships between groups such as clergy and laity. Each type intersects with notions of Christian creed, cult, and code, and is represented spatially and materially in church buildings. Kilde explores these categories chronologically, from the early church to the twentieth century. She considers the form, organization, and use of worship rooms; the location of churches; and the interaction between churches and the wider culture. Church buildings have been integral to Christianity, and KildTrade ReviewJeanne Halgren Kilde's Sacred Power, Sacred Space not only illuminates the intersection of power and space in Christianity, but it also reveals how historical movements and worship practices are revealed in a sacred space. * Julie Durbin, Geneva College, Global Forum on Arts and Christian Faith *...raising the question of power and ideology in relation to church architecture is worthwhile and provides plenty of ground for discussion. * Tim Gorringe, International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church *Table of Contents1. A Method for Thinking About Power Dynamics in Christian Space ; 2. Early Christian Meeting Space in the Roman Empire ; 3. Imperial Power in Constantinian and Byzantine Churches ; 4. From Abbey to Great Church, Fortress to Heavenly City ; 5. Transformations of the Renaissance and Reformation ; 6. Formalism and Non- or Anti-Formalism in Worship and Architecture ; 7. Historicism, Modernism, and Space ; 8. Concluding Observations

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Book SynopsisWe are used to thinking of words as signs of inner thoughts. In Outward Signs, Philip Cary argues that Augustine invented this expressionist semiotics, where words are outward signs expressing an inward will to communicate, in an epochal departure from ancient philosopical semiotics, where signs are means of inference, as smoke is a sign of fire. Augustine uses his new theory of signs to give an account of Biblical authority, explaining why an authoritative external teaching is needed in addition to the inward teaching of Christ as divine Wisdom, which is conceived in terms drawn from Platonist epistemology. In fact for Augustine we literally learn nothing from words or any other outward sign, because the truest form of knowledge is a kind of Platonist vision, seeing what is inwardly present to the mind. Nevertheless, because our mind''s eye is diseased by sin we need the help of external signs as admonitions or reminders pointing us in the right direction, so that we may look and see Trade ReviewAlong with its companion work, Inner Grace, this careful and insightful book breaks new ground in the study of Augustine theology of grace and sacraments. * Augustines.de *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION: EXPRESSIONIST SEMIOTICS AND THE POWERLESSNESS OF THE EXTERNAL; PART I: WORDS FROM WHICH WE LEARN NOTHING; PART II: POWERLESS SACRAMENTS; CONCLUSION

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Book SynopsisPaul C. H. Lim offers an insightful examination of the polemical debates about the doctrine of the Trinity in seventeenth-century England, showing that this philosophical and theological re-configuration significantly impacted the politics of religion in the early modern period.Through analysis of these heated polemics, Lim shows how Trinitarian God-Talk became untenable in many ecclesiastical and philosophical circles, which led to the emergence of Unitarianism. He also demonstrates that those who continued to embrace Trinitarian doctrine articulated their piety and theological perspectives in an increasingly secularized culture of discourse. Drawing on both unexplored manuscripts and well-known treatises of Continental and English provenance, he unearths the complex layers of the polemic: from biblical exegesis to reception history of patristic authorities, from popular religious radicalism during the Civil War to Puritan spirituality, from Continental Socinians to English anti-triniTrade Reviewthis is a very fine study * Carl Trueman, English Historical Review *This is a well-researched book and there is good discussion of the detail. * Stephen Copson, Baptist Quarterly *Both the breadth of Lim's research and his innovative arguments make for highly stimulating reading. This is a great contribution to our knowledge of the intellectual history of early modern England. * David S. Sytsma, Calvin Theological Journal *Professor Paul Lim's erudite analysis of the seventeenth-century debates over the doctrine of the Holy Trinity draws on a range of primary literature that is exceptionally adequate to the purpose, and enables him to contribute significantly to the historiography of the period. * Richard Conrad , Scottish Journal of Theology *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements ; Abbreviations ; Introduction ; 1. Anti-trinitarian theology and trajectory of Paul Best and John Biddle ; 2. Antinomian and Antitrinitarian? The fate of the Trinity, c. 1640-1660 ; 3. Many weapons, one aim: pro-trinitarian reactions to John Biddle in context ; 4. Polemical and Practical? The spirituality of Cheynell and Owen in context ; 5. Bishops Behaving Badly? Hobbes, Baxter, and Marvell on the Problem of Conciliar History and the Nature of Heresy ; 6. Platonic Captivity, or Sublime Mystery? The Trinity and the Gospel of John in early modern England ; Conclusion ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index

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Book SynopsisGeorge Eldon Ladd was a pivotal figure in the resurgence of evangelical scholarship in America during the years after the Second World War. Ladd''s career as a biblical scholar can be seen as a quest to rehabilitate evangelical thought both in content and image, a task he pursued at great personal cost. Best known for his work on the doctrine of the Kingdom of God, Ladd moved from critiquing his own movement to engaging many of the important theological and exegetical issues of his day. Ladd was a strong critic of dispensationalism, the dominant theological system in conservative evangelicalism and fundamentalism, challenging what he perceived to be its anti-intellectualism and uncritical approach to the Bible. In his impressive career at Fuller Theological Seminary, Ladd participated in scholarly debates on the relationship between faith and historical understanding, arguing that modern critical methodologies need not preclude orthodox Christian belief. Ladd also engaged the thoughtTrade ReviewWhat a read!...D'Elia has written a superb biography of Ladd, I had trouble putting it down, it is clear, well-sourced, and succint...This volume is necessary reading for anyone who wants to understand how evangelicalism emerged from the separatist shadows of the 1950s in America and how it eventually won a place at the table of modern academia. I commend this book also to evangelical scholars so as to be reminded that the best of men are men at best. * Michael Bird, Euangelion *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION; CONCLUSION; BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Book SynopsisThe recent National Geographic special on the Gospel of Judas was a major media event, introducing to tens of millions of viewers one of the most important biblical discoveries of modern times. Now, a leading historian of the early church, Bart Ehrman, offers the first comprehensive account of the newly discovered Gospel of Judas, revealing what this legendary lost gospel contains and why it is so important for our understanding of Christianity. Ehrman, a featured commentator in the National Geographic special, describes how he first saw the Gospel of Judas - surprisingly, in a small room above a pizza parlor in a Swiss town near Lake Geneva - and he recounts the fascinating story of where and how this ancient papyrus document was discovered, how it moved around among antiquities dealers in Egypt, the United States, and Switzerland, and how it came to be restored and translated. More important, Ehrman gives the reader a complete and clear account of what the book teaches and he shows hTrade ReviewWell judged and informative. * Church Times *Bart Ehrman offers a sane and sensible introduction to a text that has been the subject of wild claims in the media...A clear account. * Rev David Blatherwick, Methodist Recorder *Rigorous and informed. * Edward Norman, Literary Review *Bart D Ehrman explains the status of this manuscript with cool-headed clarity. * Boyd Tonkin, The Independent *[A] splendid book. * Church of England Newspaper *Table of ContentsPreface ; Chapter One: My Introduction to the Gospel of Judas ; Chapter Two: Judas in Our Earliest Gospels ; Chapter Three: Judas in Later Gospel Traditions ; Chapter Four: Before the Discovery: Our Previous Knowledge of a Gospel of Judas ; Chapter Five: The Discovery of the Gospel of Judas ; Chapter Six: The Gospel of Judas: An Overview ; Chapter Seven: The Gospel of Judas and Early Christian Gnosticism ; Chapter Eight: Jesus, Judas, and the Twelve in the Gospel of Judas ; Chapter Nine: Who Was Judas Iscariot ; Chapter Ten: What Did Judas Betray and Why Did He Betray It? ; Chapter Eleven: The Gospel of Judas in Perspective ; Endnotes

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Book SynopsisIn this volume Richard Viladesau seeks to understand the beauty of the cross as it developed in both theology and art from their beginnings until the eve of the renaissance.Trade ReviewA fine book. * International Review of Biblical Studies *This is a fascinating investigation centred on the interplay of thought and feeling, of word and art, of understanding and emotion which lies at the heart of the Christian faith. * Contemporary Review *a unique and profitable contribution ... This book is a great resource for pastors, theologians, students, and all who desire a deeper appreciation for the beauty of the cross. * Jeremy R. Treat, Themelios *Table of ContentsCONCLUSION AND ANTICIPATION ; APPENDIX: WEBSITES FOR VIEWING ARTWORKS ; INDEX

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Book SynopsisMuslims are neither new nor foreign to the United States. They have been a vital presence in North America since the 16th century. Muslims in America unearths their history, documenting the lives of African, Middle Eastern, South Asian, European, black, white, Hispanic and other Americans who have been followers of Islam. The book begins with the tale of Job Ben Solomon, a 18th century African American Muslim slave, and goes on to chart the stories of sodbusters in North Dakota, African American converts to Islam in the 1920s, Muslim barkeepers in Toledo, the post-1965 wave of professional immigrants from Asia and Africa, and Muslim Americans after 9/11. The book reveals the richness of Sunni, Shi''a, Sufi and other forms of Islamic theology, ethics, and rituals in the United States by illustrating the way Islamic faith has been imagined and practiced in the everyday lives of individuals. Muslims in America recovers the place of Muslims in the larger American story, too. Showing how Muslim American men and women participated in each era of U.S. history, the book explores how they have both shaped and have been shaped by larger historical trends such as the abolition movement, Gilded Age immigration, the Great Migration of African Americans, urbanization, religious revivalism, the feminist movement, and the current war on terror. It also shows how, from the very beginning of American history, Muslim Americans have been at once a part of their local communities, their nation, and the worldwide community of Muslims. The first single-author history of Muslims in America from colonial times to the present, this book fills a huge gap and provides invaluable background on one of the most poorly understood groups in the United States.Trade ReviewCurtis has authored a fine and succinct history that spans centuries...Unmatched for its breadth of sources, this is also one of the few books in the field to cover both immigrant and indigenous (African-American) American Muslims...Photographs, chronology, edited selections from chosen narratives, and a Further Reading Section provide useful jumping-off points for the reader, who will undoubtedly be intrigued by Curtis's compelling little read. * Publishers Weekly *Table of Contents1. Across the Black Atlantic: The First Muslims in North America ; 2. The First American Converts to Islam ; 3. Twentieth-Century Muslim Immigrants: From the Melting Pot to the Cold War ; 4. Religious Awakenings of the Late Twentieth Century ; 5. Muslim Americans after 9/11 ; CHRONOLOGY ; FURTHER READING

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Book SynopsisNamed one of the top religion books of 2002 by USA Today , Philip Jenkins'' phenomenally successful The Next Christendom permanently changed the way people think about the future of Christianity. In that volume, Jenkins called the world''s attention to the little noticed fact that Christianity''s center of gravity was moving inexorably southward, to the point that Africa may soon be home to the world''s largest Christian populations. Now, in this brilliant sequel, Jenkins takes a much closer look at Christianity in the global South, revealing what it is like, and what it means for the future. The faith of the South, Jenkins finds, is first and foremost a biblical faith. Indeed, in the global South, many Christians identify powerfully with the world portrayed in the New Testament--an agricultural world very much like their own, marked by famine and plague, poverty and exile, until very recently a society of peasants, farmers, and small craftsmen. In the global South, as in the biblical Trade ReviewThis book by Jenkins... show[s] that Christians of the South are ripe for arriving at many new and vibrant readings of the Bible, * Howard Peskett, ANVIL *Table of ContentsACKNOWLEDGMENTS ; PREFACE ; 1. Shall the Fundamentalists Win? ; 2. Power in the Book ; 3. Old and New ; 4. Poor and Rich ; 5. Good and Evil ; 6. Persecution and Vindication ; 7. Women and Men ; 8. North and South ; APPENDIX 1: PSALM 91 ; APPENDIX 2: THE EPISTLE OF JAMES ; ABBREVIATIONS ; NOTES ; SCRIPTURE INDEX ; INDEX

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Book SynopsisIn Plantation Church, Noel Leo Erskine investigates the history of the Black Church as it developed both in the United States and the Caribbean after the arrival of enslaved Africans. Typically, when people talk about the Black Church they are referring to African-American churches in the U.S., but in fact, the majority of African slaves were brought to the Caribbean. It was there, Erskine argues, that the Black religious experience was born. The massive Afro-Caribbean population was able to establish a form of Christianity that preserved African Gods and practices, but fused them with Christian teachings, resulting in religions such as Cuba''s Santería. Despite their common ancestry, the Black religious experience in the U.S. was markedly different because African Americans were a political and cultural minority. The Plantation Church became a place of solace and resistance that provided its members with a sense of kinship, not only to each other but also to their ancestral past. DespTrade Review... it is an indispensable addition to the acreage of texts detailing Black Church history ... Noel Leo Erskine has produced a major text of great import, which will continue to stir debate for many years to come. * Anthony G. Reddie, Black Theology: An International Journal *This book is one of those rare scholarly corrections that offers profound wisdom for academic and popular audiences. Noel Erskine mounts compelling evidence that the black religious experience began in the Caribbean and not in the United States. How refreshing that he does so with fluid storytelling and a writing style that urges the reader to pursue each page with expectations of new knowledge. * Dwight N. Hopkins, co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to Black Theology *A brilliantly provocative and unprecedented book, told with both intimately personal prose and comprehensive and convincing data, with insights that will radically change the way we have conceptualized Black Atlantic religious traditions. This is the book that we have been waiting for. It is truly a tour de force, a must read for all! * Kamari M. Clarke, Professor of Anthropology and International and Area Studies, Yale University *Table of ContentsPreface ; Introduction: Remembering Ancestors ; 1. Migration, Displacement, Resistance ; 2.The Memory of Africa ; 3.Black Church Experience South of the Border ; 4. Plantation Church ; 5.The Making of the Black World ; 6.Towards A Creolized Ecclesiology ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisAmong the issues that have divided Eastern and Western Christians throughout the centuries, few have had as long and interesting a history as the question of the filioque. Christians everywhere confess their faith in the ancient words of the Nicene Creed. But rather than serve as a source of unity, the Creed has been one of the chief sources of division, as East and West profess their faith in the Trinitarian God using different language. In the Orthodox East, the faithful profess their belief in the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father. In the West, however, they say they believe in the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son-in Latin filioque. For over a millennium Christendom''s greatest minds have addressed and debated the question (sometimes in rather polemical terms) in the belief that the theological issues at stake were central to an orthodox understanding of the trinitarian God. To most modern people, this may seem like a trivial matter, and indeed most ordiTrade ReviewIn a chronological series of brief but utterly lucid notices on theologians, written works, councils and political trends, Siecienski draws out the key doctrinal points, traces the political and social factors that exacerbated them, and beautifully portrays the personalities and motives which fuelled divisions and various failed attempts at reunion...I cannot recommend this book enough for those interested in the topic, whether scholarly or amateur, whatever their own ecclesial or doctrinal commitments may be. It is highly informative, engaging and accessibly written. * Jonathan L. Zecher, Theology *Siecienski 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 ContentsPREFACE; INTRODUCTION; BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Book SynopsisOne of the best-loved saints of all time, Francis of Assisi is often depicted today as a kind of proto-hippie or early environmentalist. This book, the most comprehensive study in English of Francis''s view of nature in the context of medieval tradition, debunks modern anachronistic interpretations, arguing convincingly that Francis''s ideas can only be understood in their 13th-century context. Through close analysis of Francis''s writings, particularly the Canticle of the Sun , Sorrell shows that many of Francis''s beliefs concerning the proper relation of humanity to the natural world have their antecedents in scripture and the medieval monastic orders, while other ideas and practices-his nature mysticism, his concept of familial relationships with created things, and his extension of chivalric conceptions to interactions with creatures-are entirely his own. Sorrell insists, however, that only by seeing Francis in terms of the Western traditions from which he arose can we appreciate Trade Review"The author is well qualified for this study. Moreover, the book's scope is wide-ranging, and the style is very readable. Contains an exhaustive bibliography and an excellent index. Recommended for readers at all levels." * Choice *"In view of the many treatments of this topic already available, one might well ask whether it is possible to say anything new or significant. In this study. R. Sorrell has done precisely that in a very convincing way." * Journal of Religion *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION: THE MYTH OF THE MEDIEVAL VIEW OF NATURE; APPENDIX I: FRANCIS AND CATHARISM; APPENDIX II: ANALYSIS OF THE EARLY FRANCISCAN SOURCES; APPENDIX III: THE SERMON TO THE BIRDS IN THE EARLY SOURCES; NOTES; BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Book SynopsisThe Philokalia (literally love of the beautiful) is, after the Bible, the most influential source of spiritual tradition within the Orthodox Church. First published in Greek in 1782 by St. Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain and St. Macarios of Corinth, the Philokalia includes works by thirty-six influential Orthodox authors such as Maximus the Confessor, Peter of Madascus, Symeon the New Theologian, and Gregory Palamas. Surprisingly, this important collection of theological and spiritual writings has received little scholarly attention. With the growing interest in Orthodox theology, the need for a substantive resource for Philokalic studies has become increasingly evident. The purpose of the present volume is to remedy that lack by providing an ecumenical collection of scholarly essays on the Philokalia that will introduce readers to its background, motifs, authors, and relevance for contemporary life and thought.Trade ReviewThis is a first-rate book, which has been very well prepared and researched by its various contributors and is beautifully produced. ... This is altogether a fascinating and outstanding volume, richly endowed with copious references. As such it should provide a sure springboard for further research into the provenance and influence of the ^ * Douglas Dales, Fairacres Chronicles *this is an erudite and essential introduction to the history, theology and spirituality contained winin the Philokalia ... and interesting and helpful introduction to a text that has shaped the Orthodox world immensely. From this volume we get a better understanding of a strand of spirituality that is firmly grounded in Scripture, tradition, and the Church, and it sparks interest in the original text and the world that it inhabits. * Deborah Casewell, The Expository Times *The essays are of a consistently high standard [and] the range of subjects is comprehensive. * Revd Dr John Binns, Church Times *Table of ContentsAbbreviations Used ; Foreword: Kallistos Ware ; Introduction: Brock Bingaman and Brad Nassif ; HISTORY ; Chapter One: St. Nikodimos and the Philokalia by Kallistos Ware ; Chapter Two: The Making of the Philokalia: A Tale of Monks and Manuscripts by John Anthony McGuckin ; Chapter Three: The Influence of the Philokalia in the Orthodox World by Andrew Louth ; Chapter Four: Conversing with the World by Commenting on the Fathers: Fr Dumitru Staniloae and the Romanian Edition of The Philokalia by Mihail Neamtu ; THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS ; Chapter Five: The Luminous Word: Scripture in the Philokalia by Douglas-Burton Christie ; Chapter Six: Concerning Those Who Imagine That They Are Justified by Works: The Gospel According to St. Mark - the Monk by Bradley Nassif ; Chapter Seven: The Theological World of the Philokalia by Rowan Williams ; Chapter Eight: Tradition and Creativity in the Construction and Reading of the Philokalia by J.L. Zecher ; Chapter Nine: Becoming a Spiritual World of God: ; The Theological Anthropology of Maximus the Confessor by Brock Bingaman ; Chapter Ten: The Ecclesiology of the Philokalia by Krastu Banev ; Chapter Eleven: Evagrius in the Philocalia of Sts Macarius and Nicodemus by Julia Konstantinovsky ; SPIRITUAL PRACTICES ; Chapter Twelve: The Place of the Jesus Prayer in the Philokalia by Mary B. Cunningham ; Chapter Thirteen: Uses and Abuses of Spiritual Authority in the Writings of St. Symeon the New Theologian by Hannah Hunt ; Chapter Fourteen: Hope for the Passible Self: The Use and Transformation of the Human Passions in the Fathers of the Philokalia by Paul M. Blowers ; Chapter Fifteen: Healing, Psychotherapy, and the Philokalia by Andrew Louth and Chris Cook ; Chapter Sixteen: The Philokalia and Regulative Virtue Epistemology: A Look at Maximus the Confessor by Frederick D. Aquino ; Chapter Seventeen: Women in the Philokalia? by Sr. Nonna Verna Harrison ; Chapter Eighteen: Solitude, Silence, and Stillness: Light from the Palestinian Desert by John Chryssavgis ; Index

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Book SynopsisThe Gaudiya Vaisnava movement is one of the most vibrant religious groups in all of South Asia. Unlike most devotional communities that flourished in 15th-, 16th-, and 17th-century Bengal, however, the group had no formal founder. Today its devotees are uniform in their devotion to the historical figure of Krishna Caitanya (1486-1533), whom they believe to be not just Krishna incarnate, but Radha and Krishna fused into a single androgynous form. But Caitanya neither founded the community that coalesced around him nor named a successor. Tony Stewart seeks to discover how, with no central leadership, no institutional authority, and no geographic center, a religious community nevertheless comes to successfully define itself, fix its canon and flourish. He finds the answer in the brilliant hagiographical exercise in Sanskrit and Bengali titled the Caitanya Caritamrita (CC) of Krishnadasa Kaviraja. Written about 75 years after Caitanya''s passing, the CC became the proof text of the community. The reason it was so powerful, says Stewart, lies in its deployment of a series of sophisticated rhetorical strategies to persuade its readers without appearing to do so, seeming to defer the arrogated authority to Caitanya himself. Although the CC started as a hagiography like any other, an index to what was proper and good in ritual and belief, it became a sign pointing the way to salvation, and then an icon, a metonym of the tradition itself, so much so that manuscripts dating from the earliest times can now be found physically worshiped on altars in temples in Bengal.Trade Reviewa comprehensive account of Krsnadasa Kaviraja's construction of the definitive life of the founder of Gaudiya ... The many facets of the Caitanya movement are presented with vivacity and masterly scholarship * CHOICE *Table of ContentsABBREVIATIONS TRANSLITERATION DATING SYSTEMS; PREFACE: RECONSTRUCTING THE LIFE OF A TEXT; 1. FACING THE PERIL OF DISINTEGRATION; 4. THE ASCENDENCY OF THE EROTIC; 5. HIERARCHIZING THEOLOGIES, SANCTIONING NEW PRACTICES; WORKS CONSULTED I. HAGIOGRAPHIES OF K?I?H?A CAITANYA II. VAI??AVA AND SAHAJIY? TEXTS CITED; III. MONOGRAPHS AND STUDIES CITED IV. ARTICLES CITED INDEX

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Book SynopsisWinner of the David H. Pinkney Prize of the French Historical SocietyWinner of the Frances Richardson Keller-Sierra Prize of the Western Association of Women HistoriansWinner of the Award for Best Scholarly Work of the National Huguenot Society The Edict of Nantes ended the civil wars of the Reformation in 1598 by making France a kingdom with two religions. Catholics could worship anywhere, while Protestants had specific locations where they were sanctioned to worship. Over the coming decades Protestants'' religious freedom and civil privileges eroded until the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, issued under Louis XIV in 1685, criminalized their religion.The Robillard de Champagné, a noble family, were among those facing the Revocation. They and their co-religionists confronted the difficult decision whether to obey this new law and convert, feign conversion and remain privately Protestant, or break the law and attempt to flee secretly in what was the first modern mass migration. In this sweeping family saga, Carolyn Chappell Lougee narrates how the Champagné family''s persecution and Protestant devotion unsettled their economic advantages and social standing. The family provides a window onto the choices that individuals and their kin had to make in these trying circumstances, the agency of women within families, and the consequences of their choices. Lougee traces the lives of the family members who escaped; the kin and community members who decided to stay, both complying with and resisting the king''s will; and those who resettled in Britain and Prussia, where they adapted culturally and became influential members of society. She challenges the narrative Huguenots told over subsequent generations about the deeper faith of those who opted for exile and the venal qualities of those who remained in France. A masterful and moving account of the Hugenots, Facing the Revocation offers a deeply personal perspective on one of the greatest acts of religious intolerance in history.Trade ReviewBuilding her book on decades of research and the unflagging pursuit of family papers, Lougee offers a detailed account of the varied responses of one extended family of Huguenot nobles to Louis XIV's revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The author effectively blends an intimate family portrait of the Robillard de Champagné with a broader historical account that offers a new perspective on the fate of the Huguenots and the limitations of the Sun King's power....In the end, each individual wrestled with the choice to convert or flee with considerations of family, property, class consciousness, and faith. Local officials appeared reluctant to enforce the royal prohibition against flight. The Champagné joined communities of Huguenot expatriates to rebuild their social network....Highly recommended. * CHOICE *This a compelling, if complicated history. Lougee conveys it with compassion and purpose, all the while maintaining an enquiring eye and critical distanceâShe relates with care and nuance the story of Marie de La Rochefoucauld, a Reformed matriarch whose determination and dedication combined with careful planning and financial acumen to not simply save, but in fact advance her family amid the appalling circumstances of religious oppression. The result is a highly original set of insights into the uncertainties and burdens that French Protestants encountered as they confronted the royal proscription of their ancestral religion....Throughout her study, Lougee reveals and investigates the female voice, which has so long been muted (though not entirely absent) in accounts of the Revocation and the Refuge. * Raymond Mentzer, Reviews in History *Carolyn Chappell Lougee's book sheds light on the complex experiences which led one French noble family to fragment in response to the Revocation, compelling many of them to start new lives (or end them) in the Netherlands, England and Ireland...The afterword, where Lougee tells the reader how she came across the first fragments of the archive that she has so lovingly reconstructed...is an absorbing narrative which wins the reader's admiration for her persistence in tracking down the papers, which had become as scattered as the Huguenots themselves. * Diarmaid MacCulloch, London Review of Books *Thanks to Lougee's relentless archival digging this book succeeds like no other in capturing the human voice of the Huguenot exile experience...Lougee's deeply moving account of their decisions and experiences provides an unparalleled and personal insight into the complexities faced by Huguenots that is so often lacking in current scholarship on early modern refugees * David van der Linden, Journal of Modern History *A masterful study of a provincial nobility and a Protestant communityâLougee's tracing of the Champagnés into exile rewrites our understanding of the RefugeâReading this excellent book in the midst of the world's current refugee crisis gives it a particular resonance. Of course, addressing that issue is not Lougee's purpose, but one can only hope that, in time, modern refugees will find as thorough and gifted an historian as she. * Keith P. Luria, Journal of Social History *A significant scholarly contribution that holds rich rewards for readers, and a compelling account of the experiences of one family among so many confronting a pivotal moment in early modern French history. * Susan Broomhall, H-France *The Champagné family are unusually well documented. This is partly the luck of survival, but finding this material and interpreting it required truly remarkable scholarship. Lougee's dissection of both Protestant and Catholic narratives is brilliant. Both technically and stylistically, this is superb historical writing....The story is wonderfully told, skillfully combining historical empathy with incisive, no-nonsense analysis of motives and of the consequences of individual decisions. Lougee challenges or nuances a number of myths that remain current in Huguenot memory and in some scholarly works: the emphasis on state persecution and on purely religious motivations for departure from France; the belief that the Protestant nobility massively abandoned the Reformed religion; and the idea that emigration marked a complete break with the past. * David Garrioch, American Historical Review *With rare sensitivity, Carolyn Lougee has pieced together from scattered and difficult sources the remarkable and previously unknown story of one extended aristocratic family confronted with the wrenching choice between migration and accommodation that faced nearly a million French Huguenots when Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes. Authoritatively situating the story of the Champagné family within local, national, and international contexts, Lougee entirely recasts our understanding of the character and human experience of the Revocation and the wider world of the Huguenot diaspora. * Philip Benedict, University of Geneva *A triumphant blend of meticulous archival research and storytelling. Lougee has sleuthed her way through European archives and dazzles with the results, yet she also captures the poignancy of a tale of one noble Protestant family riven by indecision, conflict, and betrayal, whose experience provides a more complex picture of the Huguenots' reaction to the Revocation. This is the story of a history-making family in a history-making book. * Ruth Whelan, National University of Ireland Maynooth *In this remarkable book, Carolyn Chappell Lougee explores the complexities of exile through the lens of one Huguenot family. Her story illuminates the messy, mixed-up reality in which individuals made complicated decisions, and the ambiguous and ambivalent experience of exile, from how it was lived to how it was remembered. This is history at its most human, its most dispassionate, and its most compelling. * Mark Greengrass, author of Christendom Destroyed *Combining the scope of a microhistory with the investigative tension of a thriller, Carolyn Lougee's book dramatically challenges accepted ideas about the impact of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes on the French Protestant milieu. By reconstructing the destiny of the Champagnés, a Protestant noble family, Lougee reveals the plurality of choices made within the same household, demonstrating that those who chose abjuration were no less attached to their faith than those who decided to flee abroad. * André Burguière, École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales *To flee or not to flee? Carolyn Chappell Lougee's deeply personal and learned quest to recover the fates of Huguenot noble families in the Saintonge is an exemplary study of the consequences of terrorizing persecution for those who were being defined as heretical. Lougee depicts an embarrassingly poignant moment in French history that henceforth must always be remembered. * Orest Ranum, The Johns Hopkins University *Table of ContentsPrincipal Personages Glossary Introduction Part One: The Champagné in Saintonge Chapter 1: A Family of the Charentes in Distaff Chapter 2: Faith of the Fathers and Will of the King Chapter 3: Marie in Jeopardy Chapter 4: Aunt Madelene's Offensive Chapter 5: Families Endure Part Two: Escaping from France Chapter 6: Preparing the Escape Chapter 7: Chancing Escape Part Three: Those Who Stayed Chapter 8: Thérèse's Guardian Chapter 9: Caring for Thérèse Chapter 10: Cousins Part Four: Resettling Abroad Chapter 11: Into the Refuge Chapter 12: Experiencing Exile Chapter 13: Marie at the Head of the Family Conclusion: History and Story Afterword: Retelling the Champagné Story Appendix: Family Trees Notes Bibliography Index

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