Religion and beliefs Books

Book SynopsisThis study guide and DVD set, based on Rebecca McLaughlin's book Confronting Jesus, features 9 brief teaching segments with accompanying discussion questions for individuals, small groups, or Sunday school classes.

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Book SynopsisThis Confronting Jesus set includes a copy of Rebecca McLaughlin's book, a companion study guide, and a DVD with video teaching sessions based on each chapter of the bookperfect for individuals, small groups, and churches.

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Book SynopsisIn this 10-week Bible study for women, Lydia Brownback delves into the themes of Hebrewstrust, salvation, security, and the superiority of Jesus Christand invites readers to face life's challenges with hope in the promises of Christ.

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Book SynopsisThis ESV Bible includes study notes, articles, and daily devotionals written especially for men by more than 100 of the world's leading Bible scholars and teachers, helping readers understand God's Word more deeply and apply it to their lives.

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Book SynopsisThis volume of TGC's Disciplines of Devotion series invites women to stir their affections for God by cultivating the biblical practice of Sabbath rest.

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Book SynopsisHow nineteenth-century Cincinnati tested the boundaries of nativism, toleration, and freedomTrade Review“The Spires Still Point to Heaven is an important story about the hard-fought battle between evangelical Protestants and Catholics to save souls in Cincinnati, where revivalism became respectable and made the city a religious hub for the nation. Sectarian identity also became inseparable from sectional politics, and religious identification gave women access to the public sphere. Here, the debate about the place of religion in public education has relevance today. Matthew Smith’s study of religious competition in Cincinnati, often expressed as evangelical fervor, helps us better understand the evolution of pluralism, toleration, and liberty in American history.”—R. Douglas Hurt, Professor of History at Purdue University“Matthew Smith has immersed himself in primary and secondary sources, including often overlooked contemporaneous secondary materials, and has synthesized these into a very well-written and compelling narrative. What he demonstrates, among other things, is the relentless push toward toleration and accommodation, even though that push episodically crashed against the shoals of race, ethnicity, religion, and privilege. What is especially impressive about The Spires Still Point to Heaven is its discursive character, covering everything from geography and natural history to William Holmes McGuffey, the female seminary movement, and the (in)famous Cincinnati Bible War. This is an impressive achievement born of prodigious research.”—Randall Balmer, John Phillips Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College, and author of Passion Plays: How Religion Shaped Sports in North America"In this extensively researched volume, Smith focuses on the city of Cincinnati to explore early U.S. tensions between Christian sects, concepts of religion’s role in public education, religious tolerance, nativism, and the temperance movement, to name only the most prominent topics.... This book is very well researched and would be of vital interest to scholars of both early religion and education in the Ohio Valley.... Smith’s book is an excellent example of the type of locally focused resource to which educators and transplants can turn to understand their new homes and neighbors."—Journal of Urban Affairs"The Spires Still Point to Heaven is a well-written and broadly researched text that will be of interest to scholars of American religion and those who want to understand the development of the Western frontier."—American Catholic Studies"The Spires Still Point to Heaven offers readers a fascinating account of multifaceted religiosity in Ohio's 'Queen City' and challenges the habit of trying to wrench homogeneity from America's never less than complicated religious past."—Middle West Review

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Book SynopsisA case study about the formation of American pluralism and religious liberty, The Spires Still Point to Heaven explores why—and more importantly how—the early growth of Cincinnati influenced the changing face of the United States. Matthew Smith deftly chronicles the urban history of this thriving metropolis in the mid-nineteenth century. As Protestants and Catholics competed, building rival domestic missionary enterprises, increased religious reform and expression shaped the city. In addition, the different ethnic and religious beliefs informed debates on race, slavery, and immigration, as well as disease, temperance reform, and education.Specifically, Smith explores the Ohio Valley’s religious landscape from 1788 through thenineteenth century, examining its appeal to evangelical preachers, abolitionists, social critics, and rabbis. He traces how Cincinnati became a battleground for newly energized social reforms following a cholera epidemic, and how Trade Review“The Spires Still Point to Heaven is an important story about the hard-fought battle between evangelical Protestants and Catholics to save souls in Cincinnati, where revivalism became respectable and made the city a religious hub for the nation. Sectarian identity also became inseparable from sectional politics, and religious identification gave women access to the public sphere. Here, the debate about the place of religion in public education has relevance today. Matthew Smith’s study of religious competition in Cincinnati, often expressed as evangelical fervor, helps us better understand the evolution of pluralism, toleration, and liberty in American history.”—R. Douglas Hurt, Professor of History at Purdue University“Matthew Smith has immersed himself in primary and secondary sources, including often overlooked contemporaneous secondary materials, and has synthesized these into a very well-written and compelling narrative. What he demonstrates, among other things, is the relentless push toward toleration and accommodation, even though that push episodically crashed against the shoals of race, ethnicity, religion, and privilege. What is especially impressive about The Spires Still Point to Heaven is its discursive character, covering everything from geography and natural history to William Holmes McGuffey, the female seminary movement, and the (in)famous Cincinnati Bible War. This is an impressive achievement born of prodigious research.”—Randall Balmer, John Phillips Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College, and author of Passion Plays: How Religion Shaped Sports in North America"In this extensively researched volume, Smith focuses on the city of Cincinnati to explore early U.S. tensions between Christian sects, concepts of religion’s role in public education, religious tolerance, nativism, and the temperance movement, to name only the most prominent topics.... This book is very well researched and would be of vital interest to scholars of both early religion and education in the Ohio Valley.... Smith’s book is an excellent example of the type of locally focused resource to which educators and transplants can turn to understand their new homes and neighbors."—Journal of Urban Affairs"The Spires Still Point to Heaven is a well-written and broadly researched text that will be of interest to scholars of American religion and those who want to understand the development of the Western frontier."—American Catholic Studies"The Spires Still Point to Heaven offers readers a fascinating account of multifaceted religiosity in Ohio's 'Queen City' and challenges the habit of trying to wrench homogeneity from America's never less than complicated religious past."—Middle West Review

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Book SynopsisFeaturing comprehensive updates and additions, the second edition of Understanding Theories of Religion explores the development of major theories of religion through the works of classic and contemporary figures. A new edition of this introductory text exploring the core methods and theorists in religion, spanning the sixteenth-century through to the latest theoretical trends Features an entirely new section covering religion and postmodernism; race, sex, and gender; and religion and postcolonialism Examines the development of religious theories through the work of classic and contemporary figures from the history of anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, and theology Reveals how the study of religion evolved in response to great cultural conflicts and major historical events Student-friendly features include chapter introductions and summaries, biographical vignettes, a timeline, a glossary, and many other learning aids Table of ContentsPreface to the Second Edition: Understanding, Instead of Just Thinking vii 1 Introduction: Understanding Theories of Religion is Better than Just Being Critical 1 Part I The Prehistory of the Study of Religion: Responses to an Expanding World 7 2 Jean Bodin and Herbert of Cherbury: True Religion, Essential Religion, and Natural Religion 9 3 Understanding Religion Also Began with Trying to Understand the Bible 19 Part II Classic Nineteenth-Century Theorists of the Study of Religion: The Quest for the Origins of Religion in History 31 4 Max Müller, the Comparative Study of Religion, and the Search for Other Bibles in India 33 5 The Shock of the “Savage”: Edward Burnett Tylor, Evolution, and Spirits 45 6 The Religion of the Bible Evolves: William Robertson Smith 55 7 Setting the Eternal Templates of Salvation: James Frazer 65 Part III Classic Twentieth-Century Theorists of the Study of Religion: Defending the Inner Sanctum of Religious Experience or Storming It 75 8 Understanding How to Understand Religion: “Phenomenology of Religion” 77 9 How Religious Experience Created Capitalism: Max Weber 93 10 Tales from the Underground: Freud and the Psychoanalytic Origins of Religion 106 11 Bronislaw Malinowski and the “Sublime Folly” of Religion 118 12 Seeing God with the Social Eye: Durkheim’s Religious Sociology 129 13 Mircea Eliade: Turning Back the “Worm of Doubt” 142 Part IV Liberation and Post-Modernism: Race, Gender, Post-Colonialism, the Discourse on Power 155 14 From Modernism to Post-Modernism: Mostly Michel Foucault 157 15 Theorizing Religion with Race in Mind: Prophecy or Curiosity? 171 16 Sex/Gender and Women: Feminists Theorizing Religion 189 17 Another “Otherness”: Post-Colonial Theories of Religion 216 18 Conclusion: Being “Smart” about Bringing “Religion” Back In 241 Index 254

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Book SynopsisThe most comprehensive and accessible introduction to scriptural art yet written Literary Study of the Bible: An Introduction approaches each book of the Bible (including several of the apocrypha) with non-sectarian literary questions, exploring the meanings that the Bible reveals when we read it like a poem, narrative, or play. As a unique hybrid of introductory guide, essential handbook, historical survey, and absorbing commentary, this book fills a gap in literary Bible study with its fresh perspectives on the biblical writers' many arts. Readers will engage in wide range of textual approaches and interpretive traditions through this broadly informed, accessibly written text. Dr. Christopher Hodgkins has taught Literary Study of the Bible for 25 years, over which time he has field-tested the many lensesof genre, image, language, characterization, plot, and craftused throughout this book. Tracing the sources, composition, and influences of the Biblical Table of ContentsPreface xiii Acknowledgments xix Part I Beginning 1 1 "The Dream Was Doubled": Reading Like a Hebrew 3 1.1 Seeing Deep and Whole: Stereoscopic Vision 3 1.2 Tabernacles for the Sun: Biblical Genres 10 2 "In the Scroll of the Book": Composition and Canonicity 15 2.1 The Documentary Hypothesis: Its Origins, Assumptions, and Evolution 15 2.1.1 Hypothetical Documents: Divine Names, Disputed Dates, and the "Polychrome Bible" 17 2.1.2 Toledoth: Generations of Genesis and Torah 22 2.2 New Testament Sources: "Q" and A 23 2.3 "In His Hand Was a Measuring Rod": Community, Councils, and Canons 23 2.3.1 Tanakh, Old Testament, the Deutero]Canonicals, and New Testament Apocrypha 24 2.4 Literary Study of the Bible: A Way Forward 29 Part II The Old Testament/Hebrew Bible/Tanakh 31 3 Hebrew Poetry: Deep Calls to Deep 33 3.1 "In the Great Congregation": The Many Voices of Psalms 33 3.1.1 A Pentateuch of Poems: The Five Books of the Psalter 35 3.1.2 "Create in Me a Clean Heart": Interior Drama and Psychological Discovery 39 3.1.3 "Play Skillfully": Figure and Form 45 3.1.3.1 Figurative Language 45 3.1.3.2 Form: Parallelism – Synonymous, Antithetic, Synthetic 46 3.1.3.3 Form: Refrain and Litany 46 3.1.3.4 Form: Juxtaposition 47 3.2 Love Strong as Death: The Song of Solomon 48 3.2.1 Lyric Sequence or Dramatic Narrative: Whose Story? 48 3.2.1.1 Allegory? 51 3.2.1.2 Literal Love Story? 52 3.2.1.3 Earthly Desire and Heavenly Longing 54 4 Wisdom Literature: Understanding Their Riddles 57 4.1 "Take Hold of Her": Wisdom and Desire in Proverbs 58 4.1.1 "She Calls Aloud in the Streets": Wisdom and Folly Personified 59 4.1.2 Folly Made Flesh: The Loose Woman 60 4.1.3 Wisdom Incarnate: The Good Wife 62 4.1.4 "The Beginning of Wisdom": How to Read a Proverb 65 4.2 "Enjoy Your Toil": The Counter]Wisdom of Ecclesiastes 67 4.2.1 "Under the Sun": Living by Mortal Light 69 4.2.2 "The Wind Whirls About": Cycles and Cynicism 70 4.2.3 "Remember Your Creator": The End and the Beginning 73 5 Origin Narrative I: Divine Images in Genesis 77 5.1 Biblical Narrative Style: The Elements 77 5.1.1 Minimalism 77 5.1.2 Wordplay 79 5.1.3 Doubling and Repetition 79 5.1.4 Juxtaposition 80 5.1.5 Deferred Judgment 80 5.1.6 Irony – Sad, Happy, Complex 83 5.2 Day of Days: Creation in Stereoscope 84 5.2.1 "And It Was Good": The Quiet Polemic Against Creative Violence 85 5.2.2 "In Our Image": Man or Manikin? 88 5.2.3 "Male and Female": Gendering Genesis 89 5.2.4 "Flesh of My Flesh": Biblical Erotics and Marriage 91 5.3 Nakedness and Knowledge: Deception, Folly, Fall, and Curse 93 6 Origin Narrative II: Patriarchy and Its Discontents in Genesis 101 6.1 "Arc" of the Covenant: The Story of God’s Contracts 102 6.1.1 Kinds of Covenant: Bilateral and Unilateral 102 6.1.2 Keeping Covenant: Promises, Conditions, Signs 103 6.1.3 Specific Covenants: Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic 104 6.1.3.1 Adamic Covenant 104 6.1.3.2 Noahic Covenant 107 6.1.3.3 Abrahamic Covenant 110 6.2 Warts and All: Abraham and Anti]Patriarchal Patriarchy 114 6.3 "The Older Shall Serve the Younger": Against Primogeniture 120 6.4 "What Will Become of His Dreams": Joseph and His Brothers 131 7 Biblical Epic I: Making the Nation in the Pentateuch 145 7.1 Mosaic Epic: The Priestly Kingdom 145 7.1.1 Moses: A Man Drawn Out 148 7.1.2 The Exodus: Let My People Go 151 7.1.3 Exodus and Leviticus: Covenant Law and Liberty 155 7.1.3.1 Mosaic Covenant: Moral, Civil, and Ritual Law 158 7.1.4 Numbers: Rebellion and Wandering 169 7.1.5 Deuteronomy: The Law Renewed 172 8 Heroic Narrative: Remaking the Hero in Joshua, Judges, and Ruth 177 8.1 Joshua’s Conquest: Taking the Promised Land 177 8.2 "When the Judge Was Dead … They Reverted": Cycles of Decay in Judges 183 8.2.1 Alternative Heroes: Ehud, Deborah, Jael, and Gideon 185 8.2.2 "Weak … Like Any Other Man": The Tragedy of Samson 191 8.2.3 The Anti]Hero: "Right in His Own Eyes" 195 8.3 "Famous in Bethlehem": Ruth and Boaz, Local Heroes 200 9 Biblical Epic II: Making the Kingdom in 1 and 2 Samuel 207 9.1 Saul’s Epic Tragedy: "A King … Like All the Nations" in 1 Samuel 207 9.1.1 "The Glory Has Departed": Samuel, the Ark, and Israelite Survival 208 9.1.2 Cross Destinies: Saul, David, and Chiastic Plot Structure 212 9.2 David's Epic Tragicomedy: A Sure House, a Lasting Covenant in 2 Samuel 225 9.2.1 A Biblical Elegy: The Song of the Bow 225 9.2.2 "From Strength to Strength": King in Hebron, King in Jerusalem 226 9.2.3 Cross Destinies Times Two: David, Absalom, and Double Chiastic Plot Structure 230 9.2.4 Coda: "He Who Rules Over Men" 238 10 National Narrative: Chosen Stories of Chosen People in Kings, Chronicles, Ezra]Nehemiah, and Esther 241 10.1 Sad Stories of the Death of Kings: Kings and Chronicles 241 10.1.1 "Cast Down the Mighty": Highlights of Misrule and Divine Intervention in Kings 252 10.1.2 Doubled, with a Difference: The Book of Chronicles 260 10.2 Return and Rebuild: Ezra and Nehemiah, Restorers of the City 261 10.3 "For Such a Time as This": Esther in a Strange Land 268 11 Drama: The Divine Tragicomedy of Job 277 11.1 Job as Primal Theater 278 11.1.1 Prologue: Nakedness and Knowledge, Again 279 11.1.2 Act 1: Debate Begins – Job 4–14 282 11.1.3 Act 2: The Pace Quickens – Job 15–21 284 11.1.4 Act 3: Climax, Sullen Silence, and Summation – Job 22–31 287 11.1.5 Act 4: Elihu, Angry Young Man – Job 32–37 289 11.1.6 Act 5: The LORD Answers – Job 38–42 290 11.1.7 Epilogue: Theodicy vs. Theophany and Satan's Real Absence – Job 42 292 12 Prophecy: Who Speaks for God? 297 12.1 Nevi’im: Prophets Former and Latter, Major and Minor 298 12.1.1 Forthtelling Prophecy: Elijah, Elisha, and Social Justice 298 12.1.2 Foretelling Prophecy: The Scandal of Prediction 300 12.1.2.1 Messianic Prophecy: The Anointed One 302 12.1.2.2 Apocalyptic Prophecy: Visions of the End, and the Beginning 303 12.2 The Major Prophets: Isaiah Through Daniel 304 12.2.1 Isaiah: The Art of Prophesying 304 12.2.2 Jeremiah and Lamentations: The Weeping Prophet of Hope 307 12.2.3 Ezekiel: "Son of Man, Can These Bones Live?" 313 12.2.4 Daniel: "Man Greatly Beloved" 315 12.3 The Minor Prophets: "The Day of Small Things" 318 12.3.1 Hosea: "Take Unto Thee a Wife of Whoredoms" 318 12.3.2 Joel: "The Day of the Locust" 319 12.3.3 Amos: "Let Justice Run Down Like Water" 319 12.3.4 Obadiah: "Concerning Edom" 320 12.3.5 Jonah: "Should I Not Pity Nineveh?" 320 12.3.6 Micah: Birth Pangs of the Kingdom 321 12.3.7 Nahum:"Woe to the Bloody City!" 322 12.3.8 Habakkuk: "On the Day of Wrath, the Just Shall Live by His Faith" 322 12.3.9 Zephaniah: "I Will Gather Those Who Sorrow" 323 12.3.10 Haggai: "The Desire of All Nations" 323 12.3.11 Zechariah: "Behold, Your King" 324 12.3.12 Malachi: "Who Can Endure the Day of His Coming?" 325 Part III The New Testament/New Covenant 329 13 Gospel Narrative: Kingdom Coming 331 13.1 Make It New: Another Covenant 331 13.2 "A House Divided": Intertestamental Developments and Religious/Political Parties in Jesus' Day 332 13.3 Synoptic and Johannine: Stereoscopic Vision Revisited 336 13.3.1 Mark,"Q," and Synoptic Composition 337 13.3.2 Jesus of History, Christ of Faith? 338 13.4 "Tell No Man": The Messianic Secret 340 13.4.1 Parables: Kingdom Secrets, "Ears to Hear" 343 13.5 Gospel vs. Biography: Chosen Stories of the Chosen One 347 13.5.1 Matthew: Jesus, Son of Abraham 348 13.5.1.1 Toledoth Y’shua: The Generations of Jesus 348 13.5.2 Mark: Jesus, Son of God 350 13.5.2.1 "Render Unto Caesar": Mark and Romanitas 350 13.5.3 Luke]Acts: Jesus, Son of Adam 352 13.5.3.1 "Most Excellent Theophilus": Luke's Testimony 354 13.5.3.2 Discoursing Wonders: Luke and the Marvelous 354 13.5.3.3 Acts of the Holy Spirit: "The World Turned Upside Down" 358 13.5.3.4 Preacher, Martyr, Evangelist, and Convert: Peter, Stephen, Philip, and Saul/Paul 360 13.5.4 John: Jesus, Son of the Father, Word Made Flesh 366 13.5.4.1 "And Dwelt Among Us": Gnosticism Refuted by the Word Made Flesh 367 13.5.4.2 "What Sign Do You Show Us?": The Semeia of John 370 13.5.5 Ordinary Splendor: The Miracle of the Everyday 374 14 Epistle: Divine–Human Correspondence 377 14.1 Sent to the Nations: Pauline Epistles 379 14.1.1 Paul's Letters to Churches 380 14.1.1.1 At the Center of Power: Romans 380 14.1.1.2 At the Center of Trade: 1 and 2 Corinthians 385 14.1.1.3 The Law of Grace: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians 390 14.1.1.4 Paul's Apocalypse: 1 and 2 Thessalonians 398 14.1.2 Paul's Letters to Individuals 400 14.1.2.1 Pastoral Epistles: 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus 400 14.1.2.2 "More Than a Slave": Philemon 402 14.2 General Epistles: Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, Jude 403 14.2.1 Better Than Moses: The Letter to the Hebrews 403 14.2.2 Trials of the Faith that Works: James 405 14.2.3 The Forge of Persecution and the Cancer of Corruption: 1 and 2 Peter 407 14.2.4 Fire and Hope: Jude 410 14.3 Johannine Epistles: "God is Love" 411 15 New Testament Apocalypse: Kingdom Come 417 15.1 Little Apocalypses: The Gospels and Epistles 418 15.2 "An Angel Standing in the Sun": The Brilliant Difficulties of Revelation 420 15.2.1 Fearful Symmetry: Structuring the Vision 421 15.2.2 Theatrum Mundi: Staging the Vision 423 15.2.3 "The Words of This Book": Speaking the Vision 424 15.2.4 "If Anyone Adds … and Takes Away": Interpreting the Vision 425 15.2.4.1 Preterist: Apocalypse Then 426 15.2.4.2 Historicist: Apocalypse Then to Now 427 15.2.4.3 Futurist: Apocalypse Soon 428 15.2.4.4 Spiritual/Symbolist: Apocalypse Now – and Always 430 15.2.5 The Three]Fold Answer: A Symbolic Drama of Past, Present, and Future 432 15.3 Full Circle: A Tree in a Garden 433 Appendix 1 Suggestions for Further Reading 437 Appendix 2 Boxes and Illustrations 439 Index 443

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Book SynopsisThis unique textbook enables social work practitioners to gain a deeper understanding of how Islamic principles inform and influence the lives of Muslim populations.Trade Review"An interesting and informative read, for both the social worker and a broader range of practitioners." Professional Social Work, February 2009 (Review of the first edition)"A really valuable and up-to-date resource that addresses all fields of social work. It gets at the questions that practitioners actually ask." David Pitcher, Children’s Guardian, Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service"This excellent teaching and learning aid provides students with an insightful understanding of the Islamic faith to take forward into social work practice." David J. Gaylard, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of ChichesterTable of ContentsIntroduction The Muslim Ummah: context and concepts Social Work Education & Islam principles Gender Relations and the Morphology of the Family Working with Families Health and Muslim Families Ageing & Muslim Communities Muslim communities, crime, victimisation and criminal justice – with Tracey Devanna Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThis unique textbook enables social work practitioners to gain a deeper understanding of how Islamic principles inform and influence the lives of Muslim populations.Trade Review"An interesting and informative read, for both the social worker and a broader range of practitioners." Professional Social Work, February 2009 (Review of the first edition)"A really valuable and up-to-date resource that addresses all fields of social work. It gets at the questions that practitioners actually ask." David Pitcher, Children’s Guardian, Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service"This excellent teaching and learning aid provides students with an insightful understanding of the Islamic faith to take forward into social work practice." David J. Gaylard, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of ChichesterTable of ContentsIntroduction The Muslim Ummah: context and concepts Social Work Education & Islam principles Gender Relations and the Morphology of the Family Working with Families Health and Muslim Families Ageing & Muslim Communities Muslim communities, crime, victimisation and criminal justice – with Tracey Devanna Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThe Midwest is not simply the place where animals are fed corn and then butchered. Native midwesterner Kristy Nabhan-Warren spent years interviewing Iowans who work in the meatpacking industry to reveal the grit and grace of a heartland that is a major global hub of migration and food production - and also, it turns out, of religion.

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Book SynopsisEugene England (1933-2001) - one of the most influential and controversial intellectuals in modern Mormonism - lived in the crossfire between religious tradition and reform. This first serious biography shimmers with the personal tensions felt deeply by England during the turmoil of the late twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisBefore 1850, all legal executions in the South were performed before crowds that could number in the thousands; the last legal public execution was in 1936. This study focuses on the shift from public executions to ones behind barriers, situating that change within our understandings of lynching and competing visions of justice and religion.

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Book SynopsisCombining insights from the best published historical and religious studies scholarship, original research, and rich first-person perspective, this highly readable book offers a comprehensive yet concise introduction to the founder and central figure of the Islamic tradition: the prophet Muhammad.

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Book SynopsisKwasi Konadu centers the life of Ghanaian healer, spiritual leader, and farmer Kofi D?nk? (19131995) to tell the biography of his community and how they navigated the changes from the late nineteenth century through the end of the twentieth.Trade Review"Konadu refers to his work as a 'communography' and offers a portrait of the community of which Kofi Dᴐnkᴐ was a hub. This approach creates a deeply grounded history... [in which] he tries to present the world as Dᴐnkᴐ might have seen it, offering a refreshing perspective. This innovative study is recommended for advanced undergraduates and graduate students." -- G. Mann * Choice *"A compelling history of people and their community in twentieth century Ghana. Konadu has gathered an impressive archive, based on which he succeeds to capture societal changes and dynamics in their lived refractions and complexities. ... Konadu makes an important contribution to an everyday and social history of twentieth century Ghana." -- Benedikt Pontzen * African Studies Quarterly *“Kwasi Konadu’s Our Own Way in This Part of the World...provides us with a powerful model for thinking within and thus beyond the boundaries of the nation-state, viewing the past through the lens of extraordinary individuals and communities. We all have lessons to learn here.” -- Jennifer Hart * American Historical Review *“By revealing Dɔnkɔ’s story, Konadu has accomplished something innovative, a book worth reading for anyone who wants to challenge themselves to rethink the field of African Studies.” -- Jonathan Roberts * Journal of African History *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. Libation: Matters Connected with Our Culture 17 2. Homelands: In Search of Past Events 44 3. Tools of the Trade: I was a Blacksmith . . . Before I Became [a Healer] 73 4. Medicine, Marriage, and Politics: Assist this State to have Progress 107 5. Independences: Never Mingled Himself in Local Politics 137 6. Anthropologies of Medicine and Africa: When the Whiteman First Came 166 7. Uncertain Moments and Memory: Our Ancestral Spirits, Come and Have Drink 195 Epilogue 228 Notes 239 Bibliography 287 Notes 307

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Book SynopsisKwasi Konadu centers the life of Ghanaian healer, spiritual leader, and farmer Kofi Dᴐnkᴐ (1913–1995) to tell the biography of his community and how they navigated the changes from the late nineteenth century through the end of the twentieth.Trade Review"Konadu refers to his work as a 'communography' and offers a portrait of the community of which Kofi Dᴐnkᴐ was a hub. This approach creates a deeply grounded history... [in which] he tries to present the world as Dᴐnkᴐ might have seen it, offering a refreshing perspective. This innovative study is recommended for advanced undergraduates and graduate students." -- G. Mann * Choice *"A compelling history of people and their community in twentieth century Ghana. Konadu has gathered an impressive archive, based on which he succeeds to capture societal changes and dynamics in their lived refractions and complexities. ... Konadu makes an important contribution to an everyday and social history of twentieth century Ghana." -- Benedikt Pontzen * African Studies Quarterly *“Kwasi Konadu’s Our Own Way in This Part of the World...provides us with a powerful model for thinking within and thus beyond the boundaries of the nation-state, viewing the past through the lens of extraordinary individuals and communities. We all have lessons to learn here.” -- Jennifer Hart * American Historical Review *“By revealing Dɔnkɔ’s story, Konadu has accomplished something innovative, a book worth reading for anyone who wants to challenge themselves to rethink the field of African Studies.” -- Jonathan Roberts * Journal of African History *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. Libation: Matters Connected with Our Culture 17 2. Homelands: In Search of Past Events 44 3. Tools of the Trade: I was a Blacksmith . . . Before I Became [a Healer] 73 4. Medicine, Marriage, and Politics: Assist this State to have Progress 107 5. Independences: Never Mingled Himself in Local Politics 137 6. Anthropologies of Medicine and Africa: When the Whiteman First Came 166 7. Uncertain Moments and Memory: Our Ancestral Spirits, Come and Have Drink 195 Epilogue 228 Notes 239 Bibliography 287 Notes 307

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Book SynopsisThe contributors to Affective Trajectories examine the mutual and highly complex entwinements between religion and affect in urban Africa in the early twenty-first century. Drawing on ethnographic research throughout the continent and in African diasporic communities abroad, they trace the myriad ways religious ideas, practices, and materialities interact with affect to configure life in urban spaces. Whether examining the affective force of the built urban environment or how religious practices contribute to new forms of attachment, identification, and place-making, they illustrate the force of affect as it is shaped by temporality and spatiality in the religious lives of individuals and communities. Among other topics, they explore Masowe Apostolic Christianity in relation to experiences of displacement in Harare, Zimbabwe; Muslim identity, belonging, and the global ummah in Ghana; crime, emotions, and conversion to neo-Pentecostalism in Cape Town; and spiritual cleansing in aTrade Review“This amazing collection of highly evocative and sophisticated essays makes a cutting-edge intervention into current debates on the role of emotions and affect in religious practice as well as the study of urbanity in African studies and beyond. There is no doubt that Affective Trajectories will be of keen interest to those researching African urbanities and religion and urban studies more broadly.” -- Birgit Meyer, author of * Sensational Movies: Video, Vision, and Christianity in Ghana *“Providing a diverse range of case studies of how religious experience plays out and is expressed affectively, this unique and timely volume pushes forward the study of affect and emotion in religious contexts. An innovative and original contribution.” -- Kai Kresse, author of * Swahili Muslim Publics and Postcolonial Experience *"Linking affect, emotion, and religion in urban African settings, this volume contributes to studying how new modes of existence may emerge in Africa. Published before the emergence of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Affective Trajectories is particularly useful for considering its consequences on the continent." -- E. P. Renne * Choice *“Affective Trajectories is a clarion call for more systematic engagement by scholars of religion with affect and the importance and vitality of such efforts in the African context.... Affective Trajectories and its many unique contributions provide an impressive point of departure for such work.” -- Nathanael J. Homewood * Journal of Africana Religions *“This collective work offers very rich and original reflections and case studies embracing diverse theoretical and conceptual challenges.... This book leaves a very inspiring mark for further research in other big or small African cities and beyond—revealing the potentialities of the intertwinement of emotion, (im)materiality and spirituality to see and navigate cities.” -- Édith Nabos * Connections *“... [A]n intriguing image emerges out of the diversity of the case studies and contributions, leaving the reader with original insights but also exciting new questions about the changing nature of, and relationship between, religious practices, personhood, and urban life. This makes Affective Trajectories a valuable contribution to the study of religion in Africa.” -- Yotam Gidron * Reading Religion *“Clearly written, with a feast of new concepts and insights of broader relevance to anthropological theory, Affective Trajectories does scholars in religion, affect and urban studies an invaluable service by richly mediating these three terrains.” -- Ray Qu * Social Anthropology *“The strength of [Affective Trajectories] resides in the rich ethnographic descriptions, and these have led to a number of novel concepts, which are likely to generate new analytical discussions.... This volume will speak to anyone interested in religious subjectivities or in urban African mobilities.” -- Katrien Pype * Journal of Southern African Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction. Affective Trajectories in Religious African Cityscapes / Hansjörg Dilger, Marian Burchardt, Mathew Wilhelm-Solomon, and Astrid Bochow 1 Part I. Affective Infrastructures 1. Affective Regenerations: Intimacy, Cleansing, and Mourning in and around Johannesburg's Dark Buildings / Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon 29 2. Emotions as Affective Trajectories of Belief in Mwari (God) among Masowe Apostles in Urban Zimbabwe / Isabel Mukonyora 52 3. The Sites of Divine Encounter: Affective Religious Spaces and Sensational Practices in Christ Embassy and NASFAT in the City of Abuja / Murtala Ibrahim 77 4. Religious Sophistication in African Pentecostalism: An Urban Spirit? Rijk Van Dijk 98 Part II. Emotions on the Move 5. Affective Routes of Healing: Navigating Paths of Recovery in Urban and Rural West Africa / Isabelle L. Lange 119 6. The Cleansing Touch: Spirits, Atmospheres, and Attouchment in a "Japanese" Spiritual Movement in Kinshasa / Peter Lambertz 138 7. Learning How to Feel: Emotional Repertoires of Nigerian and Congolese Pentecostal Pastors in the Diaspora / Rafael Cazarin and Marian Burchardt 160 Part III. Embodiment, Subjectivity, and Belonging 8. "Those Who Pray Together": Religious Practice, Affect, and Dissent among Muslims in Asante (Ghana) / Benedikt Pontzen 185 9. Longing for Connection: Christian Education and Emerging Urban Lifestyles in Botswana / Astrid Bochow 202 10. "Here, Here Is a Place Where I Can Cry": Religion in a Context of Displacement: Congolese Churches in Kampala / Alessandro Gusman 222 11. Men of Love? Affective Conversions on Township Streets / Hans Reihling 243 Bibliography 263 Contributors 299 Index 303

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Book SynopsisWilliam E. Connolly links climate change, fascism, and the nature of truth to demonstrate the profound implications of the deep imbrication between planetary nonhuman processes and cultural developments.Trade Review“As ever, William E. Connolly writes prophetically timely work. Even for those of us who read most everything he writes, this book installs fresh strategies, thematics, and illustrations in the vibrant assemblage of his oeuvre. It oscillates between a clarion call to all who have ears to hear as a manifesto for today and a philosophically nuanced, attractive meditation for an open plenary of moments. It shouldn't work. But it does.” -- Catherine Keller, author of * Political Theology of the Earth: Our Planetary Emergency and the Struggle for a New Public *"This is one of William E. Connolly's most exhilarating books to date. In a riveting exploration of planetary volatility and complex entanglements of human and nonhuman agencies and forces, he moves beyond the 'sociocentrism' of the humanities, human sciences, and contemporary politics in ways that are distinctive and urgent. A searching and brilliant contribution." -- Romand Coles, author of * Visionary Pragmatism: Radical and Ecological Democracy in Neoliberal Times *"These essays are interventions designed to disrupt our affective confidence in the notion that the world offers us some distinctive and privileged place within it. Moreover, the essays present the world and its climate as given not to simple stability, but rather brimming with a host of amplifiers and triggers, forces and agents, irruptions and disturbances that create immediate and irrevocable change." -- Chadwick Jenkins * Popmatters *"Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. General readers." -- E. J. Eisenach * Choice *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction. Climate, Fascism, Truth 1 1. Sophocles, Mary Shelley, and the Planetary 17 2. The Anthropocene as Abstract Machine 46 3. The Lure of Truth 72 Notes 99 Bibliography 115 Index 121

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Book SynopsisThe contributors to Affective Trajectories examine the mutual and highly complex entwinements between religion and affect in urban Africa in the early twenty-first century. Drawing on ethnographic research throughout the continent and in African diasporic communities abroad, they trace the myriad ways religious ideas, practices, and materialities interact with affect to configure life in urban spaces. Whether examining the affective force of the built urban environment or how religious practices contribute to new forms of attachment, identification, and place-making, they illustrate the force of affect as it is shaped by temporality and spatiality in the religious lives of individuals and communities. Among other topics, they explore Masowe Apostolic Christianity in relation to experiences of displacement in Harare, Zimbabwe; Muslim identity, belonging, and the global ummah in Ghana; crime, emotions, and conversion to neo-Pentecostalism in Cape Town; and spiritual cleansing in aTrade Review“This amazing collection of highly evocative and sophisticated essays makes a cutting-edge intervention into current debates on the role of emotions and affect in religious practice as well as the study of urbanity in African studies and beyond. There is no doubt that Affective Trajectories will be of keen interest to those researching African urbanities and religion and urban studies more broadly.” -- Birgit Meyer, author of * Sensational Movies: Video, Vision, and Christianity in Ghana *“Providing a diverse range of case studies of how religious experience plays out and is expressed affectively, this unique and timely volume pushes forward the study of affect and emotion in religious contexts. An innovative and original contribution.” -- Kai Kresse, author of * Swahili Muslim Publics and Postcolonial Experience *"Linking affect, emotion, and religion in urban African settings, this volume contributes to studying how new modes of existence may emerge in Africa. Published before the emergence of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Affective Trajectories is particularly useful for considering its consequences on the continent." -- E. P. Renne * Choice *“Affective Trajectories is a clarion call for more systematic engagement by scholars of religion with affect and the importance and vitality of such efforts in the African context.... Affective Trajectories and its many unique contributions provide an impressive point of departure for such work.” -- Nathanael J. Homewood * Journal of Africana Religions *“This collective work offers very rich and original reflections and case studies embracing diverse theoretical and conceptual challenges.... This book leaves a very inspiring mark for further research in other big or small African cities and beyond—revealing the potentialities of the intertwinement of emotion, (im)materiality and spirituality to see and navigate cities.” -- Édith Nabos * Connections *“... [A]n intriguing image emerges out of the diversity of the case studies and contributions, leaving the reader with original insights but also exciting new questions about the changing nature of, and relationship between, religious practices, personhood, and urban life. This makes Affective Trajectories a valuable contribution to the study of religion in Africa.” -- Yotam Gidron * Reading Religion *“Clearly written, with a feast of new concepts and insights of broader relevance to anthropological theory, Affective Trajectories does scholars in religion, affect and urban studies an invaluable service by richly mediating these three terrains.” -- Ray Qu * Social Anthropology *“The strength of [Affective Trajectories] resides in the rich ethnographic descriptions, and these have led to a number of novel concepts, which are likely to generate new analytical discussions.... This volume will speak to anyone interested in religious subjectivities or in urban African mobilities.” -- Katrien Pype * Journal of Southern African Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction. Affective Trajectories in Religious African Cityscapes / Hansjörg Dilger, Marian Burchardt, Mathew Wilhelm-Solomon, and Astrid Bochow 1 Part I. Affective Infrastructures 1. Affective Regenerations: Intimacy, Cleansing, and Mourning in and around Johannesburg's Dark Buildings / Matthew Wilhelm-Solomon 29 2. Emotions as Affective Trajectories of Belief in Mwari (God) among Masowe Apostles in Urban Zimbabwe / Isabel Mukonyora 52 3. The Sites of Divine Encounter: Affective Religious Spaces and Sensational Practices in Christ Embassy and NASFAT in the City of Abuja / Murtala Ibrahim 77 4. Religious Sophistication in African Pentecostalism: An Urban Spirit? Rijk Van Dijk 98 Part II. Emotions on the Move 5. Affective Routes of Healing: Navigating Paths of Recovery in Urban and Rural West Africa / Isabelle L. Lange 119 6. The Cleansing Touch: Spirits, Atmospheres, and Attouchment in a "Japanese" Spiritual Movement in Kinshasa / Peter Lambertz 138 7. Learning How to Feel: Emotional Repertoires of Nigerian and Congolese Pentecostal Pastors in the Diaspora / Rafael Cazarin and Marian Burchardt 160 Part III. Embodiment, Subjectivity, and Belonging 8. "Those Who Pray Together": Religious Practice, Affect, and Dissent among Muslims in Asante (Ghana) / Benedikt Pontzen 185 9. Longing for Connection: Christian Education and Emerging Urban Lifestyles in Botswana / Astrid Bochow 202 10. "Here, Here Is a Place Where I Can Cry": Religion in a Context of Displacement: Congolese Churches in Kampala / Alessandro Gusman 222 11. Men of Love? Affective Conversions on Township Streets / Hans Reihling 243 Bibliography 263 Contributors 299 Index 303

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Book SynopsisWilliam E. Connolly links climate change, fascism, and the nature of truth to demonstrate the profound implications of the deep imbrication between planetary nonhuman processes and cultural developments.Trade Review“As ever, William E. Connolly writes prophetically timely work. Even for those of us who read most everything he writes, this book installs fresh strategies, thematics, and illustrations in the vibrant assemblage of his oeuvre. It oscillates between a clarion call to all who have ears to hear as a manifesto for today and a philosophically nuanced, attractive meditation for an open plenary of moments. It shouldn't work. But it does.” -- Catherine Keller, author of * Political Theology of the Earth: Our Planetary Emergency and the Struggle for a New Public *"This is one of William E. Connolly's most exhilarating books to date. In a riveting exploration of planetary volatility and complex entanglements of human and nonhuman agencies and forces, he moves beyond the 'sociocentrism' of the humanities, human sciences, and contemporary politics in ways that are distinctive and urgent. A searching and brilliant contribution." -- Romand Coles, author of * Visionary Pragmatism: Radical and Ecological Democracy in Neoliberal Times *"These essays are interventions designed to disrupt our affective confidence in the notion that the world offers us some distinctive and privileged place within it. Moreover, the essays present the world and its climate as given not to simple stability, but rather brimming with a host of amplifiers and triggers, forces and agents, irruptions and disturbances that create immediate and irrevocable change." -- Chadwick Jenkins * Popmatters *"Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. General readers." -- E. J. Eisenach * Choice *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction. Climate, Fascism, Truth 1 1. Sophocles, Mary Shelley, and the Planetary 17 2. The Anthropocene as Abstract Machine 46 3. The Lure of Truth 72 Notes 99 Bibliography 115 Index 121

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Book SynopsisMayfair Yang examines the reemergence of religious life and ritual after decades of enforced secularized life in the coastal city of Wenzhou, showing how local practices of popular religion, Daoism, and Buddhism influence economic development and the structure of civil society.Trade Review“Mayfair Yang's wonderful ethnography reveals an alternative ‘ritual economy’ under the dizzying churn of market relations in China. It is attuned to giving, reciprocity, and the materialization of a social and spiritual life. While committed to wealth-making, the people of Wenzhou are by the same token committed to the health of their communal lives.” -- Prasenjit Duara, Duke University“Mayfair Yang's compelling account of the re-enchantment of everyday life in Wenzhou, China, reveals lines of flight through which re-ritualization reworks capitalist accumulation to produce new communal relations. A must-read for anyone interested in alternative possibilities for China's future.” -- Kenneth Dean, Raffles Professor of Humanities, National University of Singapore"An engaging, diachronic portrayal of recent religious developments… I strongly recommend it to readers interested in these topics, and I would also recommend sections of it for certain graduate and advanced undergraduate classes on Buddhism." -- Douglas Gildow * H-Buddhism, H-Net Reviews *"Re-enchanting Modernity clearly deserves recognition for its presentation of salient ethnographic data combined with innovated inquires, all of which calls our attention to the resilience of Chinese religious beliefs and practices while adapting to the challenges of the modern era. . . . Yang's findings should inspire future generations of scholars to undertake further ethnographic research on this vitally important topic." -- Paul R. Katz * Review of Religion and Chinese Society *"Re-enchanting Modernity is a terrific study of the relationship between religion, state, and civil society in post-Mao China. . . . A must-read." -- Jules Zhao Liu * China Review International *"Re-enchanting Modernity presents a very intriguing and in-depth ethnographic investigation of religion and ritual in modern China." -- Yujie Zhu * Journal of Anthropological Research *"Yang’s book is an excellent contribution to a growing body of scholarship examining post-Mao China’s religious resurgences and the broader conditions under which modernity brings about the (re)production of new and older forms of enchantment. I also find the book highly relevant and refreshing in providing insight into some of the complexities of rural China’s emerging religious civil society in ways that defy and push back against the current resurgence of Orientalism in the 'liberal' West with respect to 'illiberal' China." -- Micah F. Morton * Anthropos *"This book contains some of the most compelling analyses of Chinese society I have read, and it will continue to nourish future debates. As Yang powerfully suggests, pluralized discussions of civil society and the ritual economy may help bring alternative visions of society and economy into being." -- Jiazhi Fengjiang * Pacific Affairs *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Part I. Introduction 1 1. From "Superstition" to "People's Customs": An Ethnographic Discovery of Key Questions in Wenzhou 1 2. The Wenzhou Model of Rural Development in China 32 Part II. Religious Diversity and Syncretism in Wenzhou 49 3. Popular Registry: Deities, Spirit Mediums, Ancestors, Ghosts, and Fengshui 51 4. Daoism: Ancient Gods, Boisterous Rituals, and Hearthside Priests 92 5. Buddhist Religiosity: The Wheel of Life, Death, and Rebirth 125 Part III. Religious Civil Society and Ritual Economy 159 6. Sprouts of Religious Civil Society: Temples, Localities, and Communities 161 7. The Rebirth of the Lineage: Creative Unfolding and Multiplicity of Forms 190 8. Of Mothers, Goddesses, and Bodhisattvas: Patriarchal Structures and Women's Religious Agency 224 9. Broadening and Pluralizing the Modern Category of "Civil Society": A Friendly Quarrel with Durkhelm 257 10. What's Missing in the Wenzhou Model? The "Ritual Economy" and "Wasting of Wealth" 279 Conclusion 315 Appendix A. Chronology of Chinese Dynasties 321 Appendix B. Notes on Currency, Weights, Measurements, and Chinese Romanization and Pronunciation 323 Appendix C. Religious Sites Visited in Wenzhou by Author, 1990–2016 325 Notes 331 Glossary 335 References 345 Index 365

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Book SynopsisMayfair Yang examines the reemergence of religious life and ritual after decades of enforced secularized life in the coastal city of Wenzhou, showing how local practices of popular religion, Daoism, and Buddhism influence economic development and the structure of civil society.Trade Review“Mayfair Yang's wonderful ethnography reveals an alternative ‘ritual economy’ under the dizzying churn of market relations in China. It is attuned to giving, reciprocity, and the materialization of a social and spiritual life. While committed to wealth-making, the people of Wenzhou are by the same token committed to the health of their communal lives.” -- Prasenjit Duara, Duke University“Mayfair Yang's compelling account of the re-enchantment of everyday life in Wenzhou, China, reveals lines of flight through which re-ritualization reworks capitalist accumulation to produce new communal relations. A must-read for anyone interested in alternative possibilities for China's future.” -- Kenneth Dean, Raffles Professor of Humanities, National University of Singapore"An engaging, diachronic portrayal of recent religious developments… I strongly recommend it to readers interested in these topics, and I would also recommend sections of it for certain graduate and advanced undergraduate classes on Buddhism." -- Douglas Gildow * H-Buddhism, H-Net Reviews *"Re-enchanting Modernity clearly deserves recognition for its presentation of salient ethnographic data combined with innovated inquires, all of which calls our attention to the resilience of Chinese religious beliefs and practices while adapting to the challenges of the modern era. . . . Yang's findings should inspire future generations of scholars to undertake further ethnographic research on this vitally important topic." -- Paul R. Katz * Review of Religion and Chinese Society *"Re-enchanting Modernity is a terrific study of the relationship between religion, state, and civil society in post-Mao China. . . . A must-read." -- Jules Zhao Liu * China Review International *"Re-enchanting Modernity presents a very intriguing and in-depth ethnographic investigation of religion and ritual in modern China." -- Yujie Zhu * Journal of Anthropological Research *"Yang’s book is an excellent contribution to a growing body of scholarship examining post-Mao China’s religious resurgences and the broader conditions under which modernity brings about the (re)production of new and older forms of enchantment. I also find the book highly relevant and refreshing in providing insight into some of the complexities of rural China’s emerging religious civil society in ways that defy and push back against the current resurgence of Orientalism in the 'liberal' West with respect to 'illiberal' China." -- Micah F. Morton * Anthropos *"This book contains some of the most compelling analyses of Chinese society I have read, and it will continue to nourish future debates. As Yang powerfully suggests, pluralized discussions of civil society and the ritual economy may help bring alternative visions of society and economy into being." -- Jiazhi Fengjiang * Pacific Affairs *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Part I. Introduction 1 1. From "Superstition" to "People's Customs": An Ethnographic Discovery of Key Questions in Wenzhou 1 2. The Wenzhou Model of Rural Development in China 32 Part II. Religious Diversity and Syncretism in Wenzhou 49 3. Popular Registry: Deities, Spirit Mediums, Ancestors, Ghosts, and Fengshui 51 4. Daoism: Ancient Gods, Boisterous Rituals, and Hearthside Priests 92 5. Buddhist Religiosity: The Wheel of Life, Death, and Rebirth 125 Part III. Religious Civil Society and Ritual Economy 159 6. Sprouts of Religious Civil Society: Temples, Localities, and Communities 161 7. The Rebirth of the Lineage: Creative Unfolding and Multiplicity of Forms 190 8. Of Mothers, Goddesses, and Bodhisattvas: Patriarchal Structures and Women's Religious Agency 224 9. Broadening and Pluralizing the Modern Category of "Civil Society": A Friendly Quarrel with Durkhelm 257 10. What's Missing in the Wenzhou Model? The "Ritual Economy" and "Wasting of Wealth" 279 Conclusion 315 Appendix A. Chronology of Chinese Dynasties 321 Appendix B. Notes on Currency, Weights, Measurements, and Chinese Romanization and Pronunciation 323 Appendix C. Religious Sites Visited in Wenzhou by Author, 1990–2016 325 Notes 331 Glossary 335 References 345 Index 365

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Book SynopsisObeah, Orisa, and Religious Identity in Trinidad is an expansive two-volume examination of social imaginaries concerning Obeah and Yoruba-Orisa from colonialism to the present. Analyzing their entangled histories and systems of devotion, Tracey E. Hucks and Dianne M. Stewart articulate how these religions were criminalized during slavery and colonialism yet still demonstrated autonomous modes of expression and self-defense. In Volume I, Obeah, Hucks traces the history of African religious repression in colonial Trinidad through the late nineteenth century. Drawing on sources ranging from colonial records, laws, and legal transcripts to travel diaries, literary fiction, and written correspondence, she documents the persecution and violent penalization of African religious practices encoded under the legal classification of “obeah.” A cult of antiblack fixation emerged as white settlers defined themselves in opposition to Obeah, which they imagined as terrifyingTrade Review"A powerful, original contribution to this emerging literature. . . . [T]hese two volumes will be of great interest to scholars working in Caribbean and African Diaspora Religions." -- Alexander Rocklin * Nova Religio *"On its own or in conjunction with its companionate volume II on Orisa, Obeah, Orisa, & Religious Identity in Trinidad is a welcome and valuable contribution to Africana religious studies, Atlantic studies, and Caribbean historiography." -- Aisha Khan * Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology *“A model of rigorous scholarship that offers a thoughtful and nuanced reflection on the dynamic constructions of African religion and identity in Trinidad from the colonial period to the present.” -- Brendan Jamal Thornton * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Table of ContentsPreface ix Acknowledgments xv Introduction to Volume I 1 1. The Formation of a Slave Colony: Race, Nation, and Identity 13 2. Let Them Hate So Long as They Fear: Obeah Trials and Social Cannibalism in Trinidad’s Early Slave Society 52 3. Obeah, Piety, and Poison in The Slave Son: Representations of African Religions in Trinidadian Colonial Literature 104 4. Marked in the Genuine African Way: Liberated Africans and Obeah Doctoring in Postslavery Trinidad 141 Afterword. C’est Vrai—It Is True 203 Notes 209 Bibliography 241 Index 253

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Book SynopsisObeah, Orisa, and Religious Identity in Trinidad is an expansive two-volume examination of social imaginaries concerning Obeah and Yoruba-Orisa from colonialism to the present. Analyzing their entangled histories and systems of devotion, Tracey E. Hucks and Dianne M. Stewart articulate how these religions were criminalized during slavery and colonialism yet still demonstrated autonomous modes of expression and self-defense. In Volume II, Orisa, Stewart scrutinizes the West African heritage and religious imagination of Yoruba-Orisa devotees in Trinidad from the mid-nineteenth century to the present and explores their meaning-making traditions in the wake of slavery and colonialism. She investigates the pivotal periods of nineteenth-century liberated African resettlement, the twentieth-century Black Power movement, and subsequent campaigns for the civil right to religious freedom in Trinidad. Disrupting syncretism frameworks, Stewart probes the salience of Africa as a religTrade Review"Stewart’s volume masterfully probes African Trinidadians’ use of Yoruba identified ritual poetics and social formations. ... These two volumes will be of very great interest to scholars working in Caribbean and African Diaspora Religions." -- Alexander Rocklin * Nova Religio *“[A] theoretically sophisticated and intellectually stimulating publication by two of the foremost scholars of African heritage religions working in the academy today.” -- Brendan Jamal Thornton * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations Used in Text ix Note on Orthography and Terminology xi Preface xiii Acknowledgments xix Introduction to Volume II 1 1. I Believe He Is a Yaraba, a Tribe of Africans Here: Establishing a Yoruba-Orisa Nation in Trinidad 9 2. I Had a Family That Belonged to All Kinds of Things: Yoruba-Orisa Kinship Principles and the Poetics of Social Prestige 52 3. “We Smashed Those Statues or Painted Them Black”: Orisa Traditions and Africana Religious Nationalism since the Era of Black Power 83 4. You Had the Respected Mothers Who Had Power! Motherness, Heritage Love, and Womanist Anagrammars of Care in the Yoruba-Orisa Tradition 147 5. The African Gods Are from Tribes and Nations: An Africana Approach to Religious Studies in the Black Diaspora 221 Afterword. Orisa Vigoyana from Guyana 249 List of Abbreviations Use in Notes 255 Notes 257 Bibliography 305 Index 327

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Book SynopsisObeah, Orisa, and Religious Identity in Trinidad is an expansive two-volume examination of social imaginaries concerning Obeah and Yoruba-Orisa from colonialism to the present. Analyzing their entangled histories and systems of devotion, Tracey E. Hucks and Dianne M. Stewart articulate how these religions were criminalized during slavery and colonialism yet still demonstrated autonomous modes of expression and self-defense. In Volume I, Obeah, Hucks traces the history of African religious repression in colonial Trinidad through the late nineteenth century. Drawing on sources ranging from colonial records, laws, and legal transcripts to travel diaries, literary fiction, and written correspondence, she documents the persecution and violent penalization of African religious practices encoded under the legal classification of “obeah.” A cult of antiblack fixation emerged as white settlers defined themselves in opposition to Obeah, which they imagined as terrifyingTrade Review"A powerful, original contribution to this emerging literature. . . . [T]hese two volumes will be of great interest to scholars working in Caribbean and African Diaspora Religions." -- Alexander Rocklin * Nova Religio *"On its own or in conjunction with its companionate volume II on Orisa, Obeah, Orisa, & Religious Identity in Trinidad is a welcome and valuable contribution to Africana religious studies, Atlantic studies, and Caribbean historiography." -- Aisha Khan * Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology *“A model of rigorous scholarship that offers a thoughtful and nuanced reflection on the dynamic constructions of African religion and identity in Trinidad from the colonial period to the present.” -- Brendan Jamal Thornton * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Table of ContentsPreface ix Acknowledgments xv Introduction to Volume I 1 1. The Formation of a Slave Colony: Race, Nation, and Identity 13 2. Let Them Hate So Long as They Fear: Obeah Trials and Social Cannibalism in Trinidad’s Early Slave Society 52 3. Obeah, Piety, and Poison in The Slave Son: Representations of African Religions in Trinidadian Colonial Literature 104 4. Marked in the Genuine African Way: Liberated Africans and Obeah Doctoring in Postslavery Trinidad 141 Afterword. C’est Vrai—It Is True 203 Notes 209 Bibliography 241 Index 253

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Book SynopsisObeah, Orisa, and Religious Identity in Trinidad is an expansive two-volume examination of social imaginaries concerning Obeah and Yoruba-Orisa from colonialism to the present. Analyzing their entangled histories and systems of devotion, Tracey E. Hucks and Dianne M. Stewart articulate how these religions were criminalized during slavery and colonialism yet still demonstrated autonomous modes of expression and self-defense. In Volume II, Orisa, Stewart scrutinizes the West African heritage and religious imagination of Yoruba-Orisa devotees in Trinidad from the mid-nineteenth century to the present and explores their meaning-making traditions in the wake of slavery and colonialism. She investigates the pivotal periods of nineteenth-century liberated African resettlement, the twentieth-century Black Power movement, and subsequent campaigns for the civil right to religious freedom in Trinidad. Disrupting syncretism frameworks, Stewart probes the salience of Africa as a religTrade Review"Stewart’s volume masterfully probes African Trinidadians’ use of Yoruba identified ritual poetics and social formations. ... These two volumes will be of very great interest to scholars working in Caribbean and African Diaspora Religions." -- Alexander Rocklin * Nova Religio *“[A] theoretically sophisticated and intellectually stimulating publication by two of the foremost scholars of African heritage religions working in the academy today.” -- Brendan Jamal Thornton * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations Used in Text ix Note on Orthography and Terminology xi Preface xiii Acknowledgments xix Introduction to Volume II 1 1. I Believe He Is a Yaraba, a Tribe of Africans Here: Establishing a Yoruba-Orisa Nation in Trinidad 9 2. I Had a Family That Belonged to All Kinds of Things: Yoruba-Orisa Kinship Principles and the Poetics of Social Prestige 52 3. “We Smashed Those Statues or Painted Them Black”: Orisa Traditions and Africana Religious Nationalism since the Era of Black Power 83 4. You Had the Respected Mothers Who Had Power! Motherness, Heritage Love, and Womanist Anagrammars of Care in the Yoruba-Orisa Tradition 147 5. The African Gods Are from Tribes and Nations: An Africana Approach to Religious Studies in the Black Diaspora 221 Afterword. Orisa Vigoyana from Guyana 249 List of Abbreviations Use in Notes 255 Notes 257 Bibliography 305 Index 327

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Book SynopsisFirst published in Cuba in 1954 and appearing here in English for the first time, Lydia Cabrera’s El Monte is a foundational and iconic study of Afro-Cuban religious and cultural tradition that is essential for scholars, activists, and practitioners alike.Trade Review"A monumental compendium. . . . includes a priceless, botanical encyclopaedia that will be an essential resource for herbalists everywhere." -- Gavin O'Toole * Latin American Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisFilipe Maia offers a theological reflection on hope and the future in the context of financialized capitalism, arguing that the Christian vocabulary of hope can provide the means to build a future beyond the strictures of capitalism.Trade Review"In short scope and lucid prose, Felipe Maia’s Trading Futures makes a provocative argument about such fundamental topics as justice, capitalism, theology, and time. . . . Trading Futures effectively shows that agents of financial capitalism and theologians of liberation can differ profoundly in their orientations toward the future." -- Matthew Scherer * Perspectives On Politics *Table of ContentsPreface ix Introduction. Of Edges and Hedges 1 1. Futures Devoured 23 2. Promissory Notes 40 3. Times That Matter 62 4. The Time That Is Money 86 5. Sighs of the Times 110 6. Fugitive Futures 130 Notes 149 Bibliography 181 Index 197

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Book SynopsisFilipe Maia offers a theological reflection on hope and the future in the context of financialized capitalism, arguing that the Christian vocabulary of hope can provide the means to build a future beyond the strictures of capitalism.Trade Review"In short scope and lucid prose, Felipe Maia’s Trading Futures makes a provocative argument about such fundamental topics as justice, capitalism, theology, and time. . . . Trading Futures effectively shows that agents of financial capitalism and theologians of liberation can differ profoundly in their orientations toward the future." -- Matthew Scherer * Perspectives On Politics *Table of ContentsPreface ix Introduction. Of Edges and Hedges 1 1. Futures Devoured 23 2. Promissory Notes 40 3. Times That Matter 62 4. The Time That Is Money 86 5. Sighs of the Times 110 6. Fugitive Futures 130 Notes 149 Bibliography 181 Index 197

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Book SynopsisIn The Anarchy of Black Religion, J. Kameron Carter examines the deeper philosophical, theological, and religious history that animates our times to advance a new approach to understanding religion. Drawing on the black radical tradition and black feminism, Carter explores the modern invention of religion as central to settler colonial racial technologies wherein antiblackness is a founding and guiding religious principle of the modern world. He therefore sets black religion apart from modern religion, even as it tries to include and enclose it. Carter calls this approach the black study of religion. Black religion emerges not as doctrinal, confessional, or denominational but as a set of poetic and artistic strategies for improvisatory living and gathering. Potentiating non-exclusionary belonging, black religion is anarchic, mystical, and experimental: it reveals alternative relationalities and visions of matter that can counter capitalism’s extractive, individualisTrade Review“J. Kameron Carter’s claim that the modern western formulations of racial capitalism and religion go hand in hand renders it impossible to think the one without the other. His interventions in this ambitious, rich, and imaginative book have the power to change the study of religion as a whole and in tremendously salutary, necessary ways.” -- Amy Hollywood, author of * Acute Melancholia and Other Essays: Mysticism, History, and the Study of Religion *"In our racially segregated world, this diffunity is crucial to explore, especially as a Christian. As Carter describes it, Christianity helped create a religiopolitical regime of antiblack exclusion and racial capitalist extraction. But with Carter, I too am dreaming of an alternative social order—one that is not predicated on exclusion and instead chooses to embrace difference and learn from Indigenous ways of living in harmony with all creatures." -- Yanan Rahim Navarez Melo * Sojourners *"In many ways, [J. Kameron Carter's] book is a prayer that brings about a childlike sense of imagination. It becomes more than an intellectual work and something I view as deeply pastoral." -- Jordan Burton * Presbyterian Outlook *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments xi An Anarchic Introduction (Antiblackness as Religion) 1 1. Black (Feminist) Anarchy 27 2. The Matter of Anarchy 47 3. Anarchy and the Fetish 63 4. The Anarchy of Black Religion 75 5. Anarchy Is a Poem, Is a Song . . . 106 An Anarchic Coda (A Mystic Song) 132 Notes 139 Bibliography 171 Index

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Book SynopsisOf all the musical developments of rock in the 1960s, one in particular fundamentally changed the music’s structure and listening experience: the incorporation of extended improvisation into live performances. While many bands—including Cream, Pink Floyd, and the Velvet Underground—stretched out their songs with improvisations, no band was more identified with the practice than the Grateful Dead. In Get Shown the Light Michael Kaler examines how the Dead’s dedication to improvisation stemmed from their belief that playing in this manner enabled them to touch upon transcendence. Drawing on band testimonials and analyses of early recordings, Kaler traces how the Dead developed an approach to playing music that they believed would facilitate their spiritual goals. He focuses on the band’s early years, the significance of their playing Ken Kesey’s Acid Test parties, and their evolving exploration of the myriad musical and spiritual possibilities tTrade Review“Michael Kaler demonstrates that the pursuit of something esoteric, essential, and religious in nature drove the Grateful Dead’s artistic path. Persuasively arguing that the Dead believed that improvisational music has the power to evoke transcendence and foster collective consciousness, Get Shown the Light makes an important contribution to the growing body of work that interrogates the relationship between music, religiosity, and American culture.” -- Ariella Werden-Greenfield, coeditor of * This Is Your Song Too: Phish and Contemporary Jewish Identity *“Ever since the 1960s, critics, fans, and band members understood that something powerful and unusual was at work when the Grateful Dead took the stage. ‘Every place we play is church’ became the common refrain to explain that elusive ethos, but tracing what that unorthodox spirituality consisted of and how it came to characterize the band’s concerts has challenged observers and inveigled scholars for decades. Michael Kaler brings a musician’s perspective to a religious studies exploration of this seminal topic, showing how Dead shows achieved what both band and fans recognized as something more than the typical concert experience, one that had a distinct and distinctive spiritual quality.” -- Nicholas G. Meriwether, Haight Street Art Center, San FranciscoTable of ContentsAcknowledgments ix An Autobiographical Introduction 1 1. The Grateful Dead: A Spiritually Motivated, Improvising Rock Band 5 2. Setting the Scene: Where They Came From 22 3. How the Grateful Dead Learned to Jam: Building a Framework for Improvisation 45 4. Improvisational Tactics, 1965–1974: Roads Taken, and Some That Were Not Taken 73 5. Writing About Improvisation: Approaches to Understanding Spontaneous Playing 125 6. Other Improvising Rock Bands: Similar Directions, Different Motivations 139 7. Music, Transcendent Spiritual Experience, and the Grateful Dead: How They Came Together 161 8. The Grateful Dead’s Spiritual Context: The Acid Tests and Afterwards 185 9. What They Did: How the Grateful Dead Joined Their Musical and Spiritual Imperatives 201 Appendix. Grateful Dead Personnel and Performances 237 Notes 241 Bibliography 265 Index 281

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Book SynopsisMichael Kaler demonstrates that the Grateful Dead developed a radical new way of playing rock music as a means to unleashing the spiritual and transformative potential of their music.Trade Review“Michael Kaler demonstrates that the pursuit of something esoteric, essential, and religious in nature drove the Grateful Dead’s artistic path. Persuasively arguing that the Dead believed that improvisational music has the power to evoke transcendence and foster collective consciousness, Get Shown the Light makes an important contribution to the growing body of work that interrogates the relationship between music, religiosity, and American culture.” -- Ariella Werden-Greenfield, coeditor of * This Is Your Song Too: Phish and Contemporary Jewish Identity *“Ever since the 1960s, critics, fans, and band members understood that something powerful and unusual was at work when the Grateful Dead took the stage. ‘Every place we play is church’ became the common refrain to explain that elusive ethos, but tracing what that unorthodox spirituality consisted of and how it came to characterize the band’s concerts has challenged observers and inveigled scholars for decades. Michael Kaler brings a musician’s perspective to a religious studies exploration of this seminal topic, showing how Dead shows achieved what both band and fans recognized as something more than the typical concert experience, one that had a distinct and distinctive spiritual quality.” -- Nicholas G. Meriwether, Haight Street Art Center, San FranciscoTable of ContentsAcknowledgments ix An Autobiographical Introduction 1 1. The Grateful Dead: A Spiritually Motivated, Improvising Rock Band 5 2. Setting the Scene: Where They Came From 22 3. How the Grateful Dead Learned to Jam: Building a Framework for Improvisation 45 4. Improvisational Tactics, 1965–1974: Roads Taken, and Some That Were Not Taken 73 5. Writing About Improvisation: Approaches to Understanding Spontaneous Playing 125 6. Other Improvising Rock Bands: Similar Directions, Different Motivations 139 7. Music, Transcendent Spiritual Experience, and the Grateful Dead: How They Came Together 161 8. The Grateful Dead’s Spiritual Context: The Acid Tests and Afterwards 185 9. What They Did: How the Grateful Dead Joined Their Musical and Spiritual Imperatives 201 Appendix. Grateful Dead Personnel and Performances 237 Notes 241 Bibliography 265 Index 281

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Book SynopsisJewish and Islamic histories have long been interrelated. Both traditions emerged from ancient cultures born in the Middle East and both are rooted in texts and traditions that have often excluded women. This book explores the relationship between these two religions through the prism of gender.Trade Review"The book could be helpful for graduate students hoping to think theoretically about gender in religion and history. With its succinct and compelling introductions for each part as well as an afterword by Scott and a glossary, the book is also made highly useable for undergraduates or novices." * Religious Studies Review *"This volume is a solid beginning to a serious scholarly treatment of the topics surrounding gender in Judaism and Islam, It fills an important gap in the scholarship and promises to open the field to further critical studies. It addresses similarities and differences in womens issues and experiences within Jewish and Islamic national, religious, and ethnic identities." * Reading Religion *"While this collection of essays is most useful for those with some background on the topics, it will also appeal to scholars hoping to expand their knowledge on many different aspects of Judaism and Islam. The essays do a great job of bridging ideas of the past with those of the present, making this volume valuable for scholars of history and current cultural trends as well as for researchers in anthropology, sociology womens health, media studies, Middle East studies, legal studies, literary studies, and more." * Feminist Collections *"Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet and Beth S. Wenger are to be congratulated for assembling a compelling collection that illuminates a wide range of issues around gender in Judaism and Islam drawn from discussions of Muslim and Jewish law to analyses of contemporary feminism to crimes of passion and 'honor killings' in the modern Arab world. Written by eminent scholars in accessible prose, these powerful pieces carry us beyond stereotypes and politics toward mutual understanding and shared knowledge." -- Deborah Dash Moore,Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of History, University of Michigan"A long overdue volume exploring commonalities and differences among Jewish and Muslim women along with gendered aspects of their religious and cultural experiences. Path breaking in its range and scope, with outstanding chapters by leading historians in the field, this work puts Islamic and Jewish Studies into a rich dialogue. By emphasizing shared histories and intersecting paths, it delivers on its promises, opening new vistas for understanding complexities in the lives of Muslims and Jews, past and present." -- Beth Baron,Director, Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center, CUNYTable of ContentsContents Part I. Comparative Perspectives 13 1 Jewish and Muslim Feminist Theologies in Dialogue: Discourses of Difference 17 Susannah Heschel 2 Jewish and Islamic Legal Traditions: Diffusions of Law 46 Amira Sonbol Part II. Limits of Biology: Bodily Purity and Religiosity 69 3 Scholarly versus Women's Authority in the Islamic Law of Menstrual Purity 73 Marion Katz 4 Gender Duality and Its Subversions in Rabbinic Law 106 Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert 5 Gender and Reproductive Technologies in Shia Iran 126 Soraya Tremayne Part III. Crimes of Passion: Formative Texts and Traditions 151 6 Not a Man: Joseph and the Character of Masculinity in Judaism and Islam 155 Lori Lefkovitz 7 Dishonorable Passions: Law and Virtue in Muslim Communities 181 Catherine Warrick 8 Legislating the Family: Gender, Jewish Law, and Rabbinical Courts in Mandate Palestine 203 Lisa Fishbayn Joffe Part IV. Cultural Depictions of Jewish and Muslim Women 237 9 A Literary Perspective: Domestic Violence, the "Woman Question," and the "Arab Question" in Early Zionism 241 Andrea Siegel

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Book SynopsisArgues that popular films perform a religious function in our culture The first edition of Film as Religion was one of the first texts to develop a framework for the analysis of the religious function of films for audiences. Like more formal religious institutions, films can provide us with ways to view the world and the values to confront it. Lyden argues that the cultural influence of films is analogous to that of religions, so that films can be understood as representing a religious worldview in their own right. Thoroughly updating his examples, Lyden examines a range of film genres and individual films, from The Godfather to The Hunger Games to Frozen, to show how film can function religiously.Trade ReviewThe first edition of John Lyden’s Film as Religion forced us to change the very terms of the conversation about religion and film. This second edition reminds us that this is an ongoing conversation, and that there is still much to consider. Once again, Lyden proves that he is one of the most important voices in the academic study of religion and film. * Eric Mazur, Editor, Encyclopedia of Religion and Film *Most noteworthy is Lyden's emphasis on war films, particularly in light of the cultural mind-set of the war on terror. His critical insights on how film functions as religion continue to provoke and inspire. * Choice *

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Book SynopsisFrom creature features to indie horror flicks, find out what happens when sex, horror, and the religious imagination come togetherThroughout history, religion has attempted to control nothing so much as our bodies: what they are and what they mean; what we do with them, with whom, and under what circumstances; how they may be displayedor, more commonly, how they must be hidden. Yet, we remain fascinated, obsessed even, by bodies that have left, or been forced out of, their proper place. The Forbidden Body examines how horror culture treats these bodies, exploring the dark spaces where sex and the sexual body come together with religious belief and tales of terror. Taking a broad approach not limited to horror cinema or popular fiction, but embracing also literary horror, weird fiction, graphic storytelling, visual arts, and participative culture, Douglas E. Cowan explores how fears of bodies that are tainted, impure, or sexually deviant are made visible and reinforced through popularTrade ReviewGroundbreaking, disturbing, and riveting. Cowan recognizes that horror has a penchant for being at the same time scary and sexy, and that religion likewise has a unique ability to terrify in connection with restrictions on human sexuality. The intersections and even the simple comparability of these two human phenomena has not been explored by academics, much less explored adequately. Only Cowan could write this book, and write it so well. -- James McGrath, Butler UniversityAdds depth and texture to our understanding of horror’s relation to the body and religious imagination. This is a new area of inquiry in the world of religious studies and Cowan is at the forefront as a clear authority on the questions raised by horror, popular theology, and religious studies. -- Laura Ammon, Appalachian State UniversityCowan has managed to write a philosophical take on what is clearly his favorite genre, inviting readers to figure out why and how they, religion and sex fit into these salacious, silly and scary stories. -- Chris LaCroix * Real Change News *Cowan successfully illuminates representations of disfigured (sexualized) bodies in the horror mode while demonstrating how the religious imagination supports or enacts these representations. The book also offers a striking perspective on the different culturally internalized fears that shape our living together and influence our daily choices, preferences, fears, and attitudes…Thanks to the appealing and entertaining way of writing, the book also stimulates curiosity for exploring the abysses in the cosmos of sexuality, horror fiction, and religion. -- Katharina Luise Merkert * Reading Religion *The Forbidden Body proceeds somewhat like a string of pearls, presenting a series of interesting insights as Cowan leads the reader through some of his favorite horror texts and what he finds sociologically significant about the way they deploy sex and raise questions about the unseen order… this is great reading for anyone hoping to produce their own scholarship on religion and popular culture. -- Joseph P. Laycock, Texas State University * Nova Religio *Horror fans will find much to be excited about in this book––perhaps in more ways than one... This is great reading for anyone hoping to produce their own scholarship on religion and popular culture. * Nova Religio *

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Book SynopsisFrom creature features to indie horror flicks, find out what happens when sex, horror, and the religious imagination come togetherThroughout history, religion has attempted to control nothing so much as our bodies: what they are and what they mean; what we do with them, with whom, and under what circumstances; how they may be displayedor, more commonly, how they must be hidden. Yet, we remain fascinated, obsessed even, by bodies that have left, or been forced out of, their proper place. The Forbidden Body examines how horror culture treats these bodies, exploring the dark spaces where sex and the sexual body come together with religious belief and tales of terror. Taking a broad approach not limited to horror cinema or popular fiction, but embracing also literary horror, weird fiction, graphic storytelling, visual arts, and participative culture, Douglas E. Cowan explores how fears of bodies that are tainted, impure, or sexually deviant are made visible and reinforced through popularTrade ReviewGroundbreaking, disturbing, and riveting. Cowan recognizes that horror has a penchant for being at the same time scary and sexy, and that religion likewise has a unique ability to terrify in connection with restrictions on human sexuality. The intersections and even the simple comparability of these two human phenomena has not been explored by academics, much less explored adequately. Only Cowan could write this book, and write it so well. -- James McGrath, Butler UniversityAdds depth and texture to our understanding of horror’s relation to the body and religious imagination. This is a new area of inquiry in the world of religious studies and Cowan is at the forefront as a clear authority on the questions raised by horror, popular theology, and religious studies. -- Laura Ammon, Appalachian State UniversityCowan has managed to write a philosophical take on what is clearly his favorite genre, inviting readers to figure out why and how they, religion and sex fit into these salacious, silly and scary stories. -- Chris LaCroix * Real Change News *Cowan successfully illuminates representations of disfigured (sexualized) bodies in the horror mode while demonstrating how the religious imagination supports or enacts these representations. The book also offers a striking perspective on the different culturally internalized fears that shape our living together and influence our daily choices, preferences, fears, and attitudes…Thanks to the appealing and entertaining way of writing, the book also stimulates curiosity for exploring the abysses in the cosmos of sexuality, horror fiction, and religion. -- Katharina Luise Merkert * Reading Religion *The Forbidden Body proceeds somewhat like a string of pearls, presenting a series of interesting insights as Cowan leads the reader through some of his favorite horror texts and what he finds sociologically significant about the way they deploy sex and raise questions about the unseen order… this is great reading for anyone hoping to produce their own scholarship on religion and popular culture. -- Joseph P. Laycock, Texas State University * Nova Religio *Horror fans will find much to be excited about in this book––perhaps in more ways than one... This is great reading for anyone hoping to produce their own scholarship on religion and popular culture. * Nova Religio *

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