-
Antiques & Collectibles
-
Architecture
-
Art
-
Bibles
-
Biography & Autobiography
-
Body, Mind & Spirit
-
Business & Economics
-
Comics & Graphic Novels
-
Computers
-
Cooking
-
Crafts & Hobbies
-
Design
-
Education
-
Family & Relationship
-
Fiction
-
Foreign Language Study
-
Games & Activities
-
Gardening
-
Health & Fitness
-
History
-
House & Home
-
Humor
-
Juvenile Fiction
-
Juvenile Nonfiction
-
Language Arts & Disciplines
-
Law
-
Literary Collections
-
Literary Criticism
-
Mathematics
-
Medical
-
Miscellaneous
-
Music
-
Nature
-
Performing Arts
-
Pets
-
Philosophy
-
Photography
-
Poetry
-
Political Science
-
Psychology
-
Reference
-
Religion
-
Self-Help
-
Science
-
Social Science
-
Sports & Recreation
-
Study Aids
-
Technology & Engineering
-
Transportation
-
Travel
-
True Crime
-
Young Adult Fiction
-
Young Adult Nonfiction
-
Antiques & Collectibles
-
Architecture
-
Art
-
Bibles
-
Biography & Autobiography
-
Body, Mind & Spirit
-
Business & Economics
-
Comics & Graphic Novels
-
Computers
-
Cooking
-
Crafts & Hobbies
-
Design
-
Education
-
Family & Relationship
-
Fiction
-
Foreign Language Study
-
Games & Activities
-
Gardening
-
Health & Fitness
-
History
-
House & Home
-
Humor
-
Juvenile Fiction
-
Juvenile Nonfiction
-
Language Arts & Disciplines
-
Law
-
Literary Collections
-
Literary Criticism
-
Mathematics
-
Medical
-
Miscellaneous
-
Music
-
Nature
-
Performing Arts
-
Pets
-
Philosophy
-
Photography
-
Poetry
-
Political Science
-
Psychology
-
Reference
-
Religion
-
Self-Help
-
Science
-
Social Science
-
Sports & Recreation
-
Study Aids
-
Technology & Engineering
-
Transportation
-
Travel
-
True Crime
-
Young Adult Fiction
-
Young Adult Nonfiction
La Lucha for Cuba
Regular price $34.95 Save $-34.95Miami Cubans use a religious expression, la lucha, or "the struggle," to justify the power and privilege they have achieved. Within the context of la lucha, De La Torre explores the religious dichotomy created between the "children of light" (Exilic Cubans) and the "children of darkness" (Resident Cubans). Examining the recent saga of the Elián González custody battle, he shows how the cultural construction of la lucha has become a distinctly Miami-style spirituality that makes el exilio (exile) the basis for religious reflection, understanding, and practice—and that conflates political mobilization with spiritual meaning in an ongoing confrontation with evil.

Pious Passion
Regular price $33.95 Save $-33.95Fundamentalists desired a return to an "authentic" social order governed by God's law, one bound by patriarchal structures of authority and morality. Both movements advocated a strict gender dualism and were preoccupied with controlling the female body, which was viewed as the major threat to public morality.

A Seat at the Table
Regular price $26.95 Save $-26.95
Passionate Uncertainty
Regular price $31.95 Save $-31.95Priests and former priests speak candidly about their reasons for joining (and leaving) the Jesuits, about their sexual development and orientation, about their spiritual crises and their engagement with other religious traditions. They discuss issues ranging from celibacy to the ordination of women, homosexuality, the rationale of the priesthood, the challenges of community life, and the divinity of Jesus.
Passionate Uncertainty traces the transformation of the Society of Jesus from a fairly unified organization into a smaller, looser community with disparate goals and an elusive corporate identity. From its role as a traditional subculture during the days of immigrant Catholicism, the order has changed into an amalgam of countercultures shaped around social mission, sexual identity, and an eclectic spirituality. The story of the Jesuits reflects the crisis of clerical authority and the deep ambivalence surrounding American Catholicism's encounter with modernity.

The Jews of the United States, 1654 to 2000
Regular price $31.95 Save $-31.95Diner portrays this history as a constant process of negotiation, undertaken by ordinary Jews who wanted at one and the same time to be Jews and full Americans. Accordingly, Diner draws on both American and Jewish sources to explain the chronology of American Jewish history, the structure of its communal institutions, and the inner dynamism that propelled it. Her work documents the major developments of American Judaism—he economic, social, cultural, and political activities of the Jews who immigrated to and settled in America, as well as their descendants—and shows how these grew out of both a Jewish and an American context. She also demonstrates how the equally compelling urges to maintain Jewishness and to assimilate gave American Jewry the particular character that it retains to this day in all its subtlety and complexity.

Between Warrior Brother and Veiled Sister
Regular price $34.95 Save $-34.95Between Warrior Brother and Veiled Sister responds to a number of important questions raised in connection with 9/11. The author considers how veiling intersects with other identity markers in nation-state building and modern formations of gendered citizenship. She shows how Islamic nationalism and fundamentalism are fed by a hybrid blend of images and myths of both pre-Islamic and Islamic Iran, as well as globally circulated patriarchal ideologies.

Purified by Fire
Regular price $34.95 Save $-34.95Stephen Prothero synthesizes a wide array of previously untapped source material, including newspapers, consumer guides, mortician trade journals, and popular magazines such as Reader's Digest to provide this first historical study of cremation in the United States. He vividly describes many noteworthy events—from the much-criticized first American cremation in 1876 to the death and cremation of Jerry Garcia in the late twentieth century. From the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era to the baby boomers of today, this book takes us on a tour through American culture and traces our changing attitudes toward death, religion, public health, the body, and the environment.

In the Course of a Lifetime
Regular price $34.95 Save $-34.95
Dark Green Religion
Regular price $34.95 Save $-34.95
Beyond Belief
Regular price $30.95 Save $-30.95
Chanting Down the New Jerusalem
Regular price $34.95 Save $-34.95
Death in a Church of Life
Regular price $34.95 Save $-34.95
The Sound of Two Hands Clapping
Regular price $33.95 Save $-33.95
Miracle Cures
Regular price $29.95 Save $-29.95
A Garland of Feminist Reflections
Regular price $34.95 Save $-34.95
Hidden Heritage
Regular price $31.95 Save $-31.95
Understanding the Qur'an Today
Regular price $14.95 Save $-14.95The prevailing belief among Muslims is that, because the Qur'an is the Word of God and God is eternal, it follows that His Word is also eternal. The belief is based on the postulate that the Word of God must be of the same nature as God Himself. Mahmoud Hussein refutes this by showing that it contradicts the very teachings of the Qur'an.
Whereas God transcends time, His Word is inscribed within time. It is not a monologue, but a living exchange, through which God reveals to His Prophet different orders of truth, weaving together the absolute and the relative, the general and the particular, the eternal and the contingent.
An international bestseller, Understanding the Qur'an Today offers a new perspective on one of the world's most influential texts and adds an invaluable contribution to the debate on Islam and modernity.
Mahmoud Hussein is the pseudonym of Bahgat Elnadi and Adel Rifaat, French political writers of Egyptian origin. Together, they have published many successful works, including La lute de classes en Egypte and Al-Sira, le Prophète de l'islam raconté par ses compagnons.

After Jews
Regular price $35.00 Save $-35.00Jews had lived with us for a thousand years. Then they were killed. Why? Had the Shoah always been brewing in these lands, or could it only happen under the conditions of late capitalism rather than in the atmosphere of primitive pogroms, the violent expulsion of Jews from their Anatevkas? An important point of reference for the author’s reflections are the postulates of the representatives of the Frankfurt School – in particular of Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno’s Dialectic of Enlightenment – who were the first to draw attention to the potentially criminal character of instrumental reason, disavowing at the same time the tradition of the siècle des Lumières, the approach which the author is inclined towards. Yet they looked for the causes of the Shoah not where these could be found, either in the “authoritarian personality” or in the difficulties of living, in the so-called “social question.” However, in order to understand what happened to the Jews in Central and Eastern Europe in the 1940s, one must resort to a language completely different from psychological, social, economic, or police discourse. We must resort to the forgotten language – or better said, the language that is being forgotten – of theology, especially political theology. It is there, the author claims, that one can find the right interpretative tools. It does not belong to the realm of superstition but is our last chance to understand what happened to the world yesterday and what is happening to it today. “It was the devil!” writes Alain Besançon, a witness of those times, “He was the one who communicated his inhuman personality to his subjects.” We do not know this for sure – maybe yes, maybe no. We do know, however, that it is good that a theological category – the concept of the devil, Antichrist – is returning to the philosophical and, more broadly, social and political discourse. The devil, Antichrist is not just a metaphor or a creature with a limp in the left leg and charred wings; it is rather the atmosphere we live in, manifesting itself in turning traditional values inside out, in replacing respect with tolerance, charity with dubious philanthropy, love with sex, family with any social organization, religion with science, freedom with safety and so on. Examples abound.
The author proposes to renew the sense of such theological concepts as eternity, salvation, the idea of chosenness, apocalypse, radical hope, and others, only to better understand the condition of today’s world and its increasingly aggressive attitude towards people of strong faith, which may fill us with anxiety and make us think of the recurrence of the Shoah.
There are no more Jews in Poland. They had been murdered by the German Nazis, and those who survived were expelled by the Polish communists after the war. We live in a world “after Jews.” Now we must tell ourselves what it means to us. It is important for them and for us. Important for the world.

Names of the Lord
Regular price $19.95 Sale price $15.96 Save $3.99This book of short inspirational readings, based on India’s Thousand Names of Vishnu, gives us warm, practical reminders to support us spiritually in our daily lives.
Eknath Easwaran grew up hearing and reciting these names of the Lord as a child, and for him they were a constant reminder that there is a spark of divinity in everyone. Here he has selected some of the names and added a commentary on what each name means in daily living.
These names of the Lord can prompt us to a be a little more considerate, a little more kind, a little more selfless with those around us. This is an uplifting book for readers from any tradition.

Because You Prayed - Study Guide
Regular price $12.99 Save $-12.99Unlock the full potential of your prayer life with this companion study guide to Because You Prayed. Designed to deepen your understanding of the book’s powerful message, this guide will walk you through key themes, thought-provoking questions, and practical exercises that help you apply the transformative power of prayer to your daily life.
As you reflect on real-life stories, biblical examples, and the profound truths shared in Because You Prayed, this study guide will lead you step-by-step in strengthening your communication with God. Whether you’re seeking healing, breakthroughs, or simply a closer walk with God, this guide will inspire you to see how prayer can change your circumstances, your heart, and even your destiny.
Perfect for individual or group study, this companion workbook will challenge you to embrace prayer as a life-changing tool. Get ready to see the world through the lens of prayer, and discover the incredible power of a life lived in communion with God.

Subaltern Sovereigns
Regular price $32.99 Save $-32.99The vast and ancient topic of kingship in India has mostly been studied from the perspectives of rulers and other elites. But what constitutes sovereignty viewed from "below"? This book — ethnographic and comparative in its essence — deals with indigenous conceptualizations of sovereignty taking as its starting point a local proverb that connects the ritual (Dasara) of the king with festivals performed by his "tribal" subjects. The first part of the book initially introduces some pan-Indian ideas of kingship and proceeds to discuss indigenous notions of sovereignty as represented in rituals and myths in the region concerned (highland Odisha). The second part is devoted to the investigation of the proverbial performances. Mainly based on historical sources first the Dasara festival of the king is discussed, subsequently the indigenous rituals are described and analyzed, which the author ethnographically documented around the turn of the millennium. Ultimately, the proverb and the rituals constitute the idea of a sacrificial polity in which rulers and ruled share sovereignty in the sense that they are co-responsible for the flow of life.

God’s Marriage Blueprint
Regular price $14.99 Save $-14.99David Hazelton, with the mind of a high-powered lawyer and the heart of a Sunday School teacher, dives into God’s Plan for Marriage.
With clarity and conviction, David explores God’s divine blueprint for marriage at the dawn of creation. The Bible’s opening chapters explain that men and women are created equally in God’s image and are given responsibilities that can only be accomplished together. In the sanctity of marriage, the two are to become “one,” which involves a spiritual, emotional, and physical union.
But sin has a devasting effect on marriage. It introduces shame, fear, and guilt that can divide a couple. Instead of oneness, there is a competition for control that distorts God’s creation plan. These issues are beyond human capacity to resolve, requiring divine intervention and guidance.
In God’s Plan for Marriage, Hazelton presents a restorative vision for marriage. This vision is not a human invention but is built on the life and teaching of Christ. God’s Plan for Marriage offers insights into the original design for marriage and practical pathways for couples to reclaim their relationships as beautiful, harmonious partnerships intended by the Creator.

How to Motivate, Train and Nurture Acolytes
Regular price $14.95 Save $-14.95
What Animals Teach Us About Families
Regular price $27.95 Save $-27.95Moving beyond debates about the ethics of animal consumption to focus on animals’ intimate lives, Beth A. Berkowitz examines the contribution of religious traditions and sacred texts to contemporary conversations about animals. Reading the four “animal family” laws of the Bible alongside their rabbinic interpretations from ancient times to today, she examines the bonds that animals form with each other and reimagines family to include new forms of life and alternative modes of kinship.
Humanitarian politics—and biblical law—tend to take for granted that human interests supersede animal interests and that our moral obligation extends only to avoiding unnecessary suffering, but necessity is determined by humans. What Animals Teach Us About Families looks at animal emotions, animal agency, family diversity, and human response to reconsider the obligations and opportunities the animal family presents.

Messianism and Sociopolitical Revolution in Medieval Islam
Regular price $34.95 Save $-34.95
Everyday Religiosity and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine
Regular price $30.00 Save $-30.00ENG
Everyday Religiosity and the Politics of Belonging in Ukraine reveals how and why religion has become a pivotal political force in a society struggling to overcome the legacy of its entangled past with Russia and chart a new future. If Ukraine is "ground zero" in the tensions between Russia and the West, religion is an arena where the consequences of conflicts between Russia and Ukraine keenly play out.
Vibrant forms of everyday religiosity pave the way for religion to be weaponized and securitized to advance political agendas in Ukraine and beyond. These practices, Catherine Wanner argues, enable religiosity to be increasingly present in public spaces, public institutions, and wartime politics in a pluralist society that claims to be secular.
Based on ethnographic data and interviews conducted since before the Revolution of Dignity and the outbreak of armed combat in 2014, Wanner investigates the conditions that catapulted religiosity, religious institutions, and religious leaders to the forefront of politics and geopolitics.
UA
Повсякденна релігійність і політика належності в Україні допомагають зрозуміти, як і чому релігія стала ключовою політичною силою в суспільстві, котре намагається подолати спадщину свого минулого, пов’язаного з Росією, і окреслити нове майбутнє. Якщо Україна є епіцентром напруги між Росією та Заходом, то релігія – арена, де гостро проявляються наслідки конфліктів між Росією та Україною.
Яскраві форми повсякденної релігійності сприяють вепонізації релігії для просування політичних завдань в Україні та за її межами. Ці практики, стверджує Кетрін Ваннер, дозволяють релігійності бути все більш присутньою у громадських місцях, державних установах і політиці воєнного часу в плюралістичному суспільстві, яке претендує на те, щоб бути світським.
Ґрунтуючись на етнографічних даних та інтерв’ю, проведених ще до Революції Гідності та на початку збройних боїв 2014 року, Ваннер досліджує умови, які вивели релігійність, релігійні інституції та релігійних лідерів на передній план політики та геополітики.

Jesus Goes to College
Regular price $21.95 Save $-21.95In Jesus Goes to College, author Mike Veraldi draws on his journey of faith to offer a refreshingly candid perspective on Christianity that breaks free from traditional teachings.
With a deep love for Jesus at its core, Jesus Goes to College unapologetically emphasizes the central commandment to love thy neighbor, pushing people to connect with the heart of Jesus’s message. Mike doesn’t shy away from calling out the church’s shortcomings, challenging the status quo, and separating the profound teachings of Jesus from what he believes are misguided directions from religious institutions.
Jesus Goes to College isn’t the typical Sunday school book; instead it guides people through the journey of Christ and the history and context of the Bible, applying it to current issues. Written as a testament to his own commitment to following Jesus, Mike’s mission was to help others experience the unconditional love of Jesus and the life-changing impact that comes from living life boldly in His footsteps.

Dis/ability in Mark
Regular price $21.99 Save $-21.99The gospel of Mark purposefully employs characters with specific and nuanced representations of dis/ability to portray the unique authority, the engaging message, and the mission of the Markan Jesus.
Based on hermeneutical insights from Dis/ability Studies, this monograph is a contribution to the research of culturally and historically normalized corporeality in the biblical scriptures. At the core of the investigation are the healing narratives: passages that explicitly deal with a transformation from a described deviant bodily state to a positively valued corporeality. Lena Nogossek-Raithel not only analyzes the terminological and historical descriptions of these physical phenomena but also investigates their narrative function for the gospel text. The author argues that the images of dis/ability employed are far from accidental. Rather, they significantly influence the narrative’s structure and impact, embody its theological claims, and characterize its protagonist Jesus.
With this thorough exegetical analysis, Nogossek-Raithel offers a firm historical foundation for anyone interested in the critical interpretation and theological application of the Markan healing narratives.

Christology Revised
Regular price $27.99 Save $-27.99Der Band repräsentiert die internationale Diskussion über Christologie protestantischer, römisch-katholischer und anglikanischer Provenienz und belebt den Diskurs neu. Fokussiert werden Innovationen in den Wissenschaften vom Neuen Testament und der Patristik auf Christologie hin. Dabei werden vor allem zwei aktuelle Entwürfe von Christologie diskutiert , in denen die Dimensionen Kreuz, Auferweckung, Menschwerdung, ‚Jesus Remembered‘ neu bearbeitet sind – paradigmatisch im Ansatz und vollständig in der Ausführung.
Die Beiträge umfassen
Paradigmen von Christologie: Christologie als Verständigungsmedium über den Charakter heutiger Dogmatik in der Pluralität konfessioneller und positioneller Standpunkte, modernitätstheoretischer und traditionsbestimmter Kontexte.
Bestandsaufnahme und Revision: Kritische Auseinandersetzungen mit Heinrich Assel Elementare Christologie Bände 1-3 (2020) und Bruce McCormack The Humility of the Eternal Son (2021).
Christology – Revised: Beiträge zu gegenwärtig anstehenden Themen und möglichen künftigen Revisionen von Christologie.

Do We Still Need Inspiration?
Regular price $21.99 Save $-21.99The concept of inspiration is part and parcel of the theological tradition in several religious confessions, but it has largely receded to the background, if not vanished altogether, in the discussions of biblical scholars. The question "Do we still need inspiration?" might well reflect the perplexity of many exegetes today. Systematic theologians, for their part, often further their own reflections on the subject independently of developments in the field of exegesis, with the risk of remaining purely theoretical. Biblical research in the last decades has been marked by new insights about the nature of the biblical texts, stemming from the study of their inner plurality (insofar as they combine and sometimes intertwine conflicting theologies), of their textual fluidity, and of their reception. Can these new insights be integrated into a theological reflection on the notion of inspiration? These questions are often explicitly raised about the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, but they also prove increasingly relevant for Qur’ānic studies. This volume addresses them through contributions from exegetes of the Bible and of the Qur’an and systematic theologians.

A Transverse Dreamer
Regular price $16.99 Save $-16.99- Can the Book be read as a coherent composition or is it the result of a complex redaction history?
- Was Micah a prophet of doom whose literary heritage was later softened by the inclusion of oracles of salvation?
The essays in this book center around these questions. Some of them are of a more general character, while others analyze specific passages. Some articles discuss the Book of Micah by looking at specific themes (prophecy; religious polemics; metaphors). The others are concerned with the proclamation of a peaceful future (Micah 4:1-5); the famous moral incentive in Micah 6:8 and the question of prophetic and divine gender in Micah 7:8-13. They have two features in common:
- A thorough reading of the Hebrew text informed by grammar and syntax.
- A comparative approach: the Book of Micah is seen as part of the ancient Near Eastern culture.
All in all, the author defends the view that the Book of Micah contains three independent literary elements: Micah 1: a prophecy of doom; Micah 2-5 a two-sided futurology, and 6-8 a later appropriation of Micah’s message.

Gelassenheit
Regular price $21.99 Save $-21.99Kohelet gehört zu den großen Denkern aus dem antiken Juda. Seine Weisheitsschrift ist eine Herausforderung, denn das Nebeneinander der Einsicht in die Flüchtigkeit der Wirklichkeit und des Aufrufs zur Lebensfreude führt zu einer Spannung, die sich nicht einfach auflösen lässt.
In einer vollständigen Auslegung des Koheletbuches wird dieser Spannung nachgegangen und dabei das anthropologische und theologische Profil des Koheletbuches erschlossen. Die Auseinandersetzung mit Kohelets Denken zeigt sein zentrales Anliegen, angesichts der alles bestimmenden Flüchtigkeit dem Menschen einen Weg zur Annahme der von Gott geschenkten Lebenszeit zu weisen und die Mühen des Lebens mit Gelassenheit anzunehmen.
Das Koheletbuch gibt einem weisheitlichen Denken Raum, das die Möglichkeiten des Menschen erkennt, aber in gleicher Weise um seine Grenzen weiß. Dieses Wissen führt Kohelet nicht zur Verzweiflung oder in Krisen, sondern bildet die Grundlage dafür, das Leben mit Freude als eine Gabe Gottes annehmen zu können.
Die damit rekonstruierte Denkfigur hat nicht nur für die anthropologischen und theologischen Linien innerhalb der Hebräischen Bibel hohe Relevanz, sondern kann auch theologischen Diskursen der Gegenwart weiterführende Impulse geben.

Seeing David Double
Regular price $21.99 Save $-21.99
Divine Simplicity and the Triune Identity
Regular price $21.99 Save $-21.99
The Sensus Communis, Synesthesia, and the Soul
Regular price $23.95 Save $-23.95McLuhan takes up his father Marshall's mantle by marrying communications and religion in this journey through the senses
In this essay of extraordinary scope and depth, Eric McLuhan explores faith as a form of knowing. He does so against the backdrop of preliterate man’s concrete, bodily submersion in the putting on of poetry and drama (the practice of mimesis) and post-literate man’s bodiless submersion in electronic communication, in which sender and receiver are everywhere and nowhere at once. In traversing the Aristotelian and Medieval concept of sensus communis, he examines synesthesia as, in effect, its operating system and charts the modern and contemporary mandate to embrace the discarnate. He washes up on the shore of religion as he uncovers a trinity of knowledge, that is, three kinds of sensus communis—the five physical senses, the four intellectual senses of Scripture (historical, allegorical, tropological, and anagogical), and the three theological senses (faith, hope, and charity)—each of the three complete in itself yet interacting with one another. A fascinating odyssey that will dazzle the senses.

Brokenness to Blessing
Regular price $17.95 Save $-17.95Brokenness to Blessings is a powerful testament of redemption and restoration through the radical and healing love of Jesus Christ.
Janet Lynn Garcia shares her personal journey to illustrate the transformative potential of a restorative relationship with God.
This inspiring account shatters the misconception held by non-believers, new believers, and even seasoned believers that righteousness can be achieved through deeds alone. Instead, Garcia points to Romans 8:1, emphasizing that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, thereby underscoring the all-encompassing grace of salvation.
Drawing extensively from the teachings in Isaiah 61, she sheds light on the healing process of those who turn to Jesus. The audience are guided towards wholeness through mending relationships with God, self, loved ones, and their future. This transparent narrative offers a powerful roadmap to healing for individuals wrestling with personal brokenness. Garcia's message is unequivocal - redemption and restoration are universally accessible, inviting everyone to embark on this journey from brokenness to blessings.

Devotions on F.I.R.E.
Regular price $30.95 Save $-30.95Devotions on F.I.R.E. guides Christians through the complete Bible in one year by reading assigned daily Scriptures from both the Old and New Testaments. Each day also includes a short devotion based on Dr. Ken Burge’s F.I.R.E. method of Bible study.
F.I.R.E. stands for
- Familiarity: Learn to ask probing questions and become intimately acquainted with each passage.
- Interpretation: Determine the intended meaning of the text.
- Relationship: Consider the paragraph within its context of the book and beyond, to the whole of Scripture.
- Employment: Consider how God can employ Christians to do His will through their new understanding of the text.
The F.I.R.E. method and the daily devotions will help Christians remember and apply what they read as they fuel the fire in their hearts for God’s Word.

Censoring God
Regular price $24.95 Save $-24.95There are more than 50 books—some of which exist only in fragments while others are complete and whole—that are not included in the biblical canon. Why were they discarded? Most Protestant denominations settled on 66 canonical books of the Bible, while there are 73 for Roman Catholics and 78 for Eastern Orthodox adherents. Why are there these differences of opinion?
We are often taught that the Bible is, in the words of many religious catechisms, “the infallible word of faith and practice.” In reality, the Bible can also be seen as a political document as much as a spiritual one. Ordained minister and theologian Jim Willis examines the historical, political, and social climates that influenced the redactors and editors of the Bible and other sacred texts in Censoring God: The History of the Lost Books (and other Excluded Scriptures). In analyzing why texts were censored, he uncovers sometimes surprising biases. He investigates enigmatic hints of Bible codes and ancient wisdom that implies a greater spiritual force might have been at work. Willis explores the importance of the Book of Enoch, its disappearance, and how it was rediscovered in Ethiopia. He analyzes over two dozen excluded texts, such as Jubilees and the Gospel of Thomas, along with the many references to books that we know about from fragments but remain lost.
Thought-provoking and provocative, Censoring God scrutinizes how sacred texts might have been used to justify the power of the powerful, including the destruction of sacred writings of conquered indigenous cultures because they did not agree with the finished version of the Bible accepted by the Church establishment. This important book looks at the human failings in interpreting God’s words, and through a compassionate examination it brings a deeper understanding of the power and importance of the lost words. With more than 120 photos and graphics, this tome is richly illustrated. Its helpful bibliography provides sources for further exploration, and an extensive index adds to its usefulness.

Demons, the Devil, and Fallen Angels
Regular price $49.95 Save $-49.95Throughout human history, we have been obsessed with the dark opposites of God and angels, light, and mercy. Whether it is our religious and sacred texts, folklore and myths of old, legends, fairy tales, novels, or the movies and television shows of today, the dark entities enthrall us, terrify us, and remind us of the dualities of life. But where did they originate? Are they real? Does every religion or region of the world include them?
Exploring over two dozen religious traditions, myths, folkloric and spiritual traditions, the world of the supernatural, and the demons, the Devil, and fallen angels in today’s pop culture, Demons, the Devil, and Fallen Angels is a comprehensive resource of the many faces of the devil, his minions, ominous deities, and the darker side of nature and ourselves. From ancient demon worship to modern Satanism, the bloody era of the Inquisitions and later witch burnings to the Satanic Panic of the late-twentieth century, and secret occult societies to Hitler's involvement with demonology, this book covers it all!
You'll learn about the key figures in history associated with demons and the Devil, the worshiping of the dark forces, and the lives of Aleister Crowle, John Dee, and Anton LaVey, as well as well-known figures who were alleged Satanists, some of whom may surprise you! Also featured are dozens of examples of links between demons/fallen angels and aliens, cryptids, apparitions and poltergeists, and IDEs (interdimensional entities). Were the demons of the Bible possibly ancient alien visitors? Are alien abductions and poltergeists really demons in disguise? Is Slender Man a modern day demonic entity ... or totally fake?
This fascinating look at Satan, evil spirits, and their 10,000-year history has 120 photographs, drawings, and illustrations to bring the portraits of over 200 demons and fallen angels to shivering life. Demons, the Devil, and Fallen Angels also includes a helpful bibliography and an extensive index, adding to its usefulness. It is a comprehensive, clear, and objective look at a subject that fills most people with fear and dread. Yet the presence of dark angels continues to remain a part of our human experience, our popular culture, and our spiritual understandings. Come and explore the shadowy side of existence and its integral part of our nature.

The Handy Christianity Answer Book
Regular price $29.95 Save $-29.95What does it mean to be a Christian? What is the core of the faith? What does it mean to follow the gospel? What is the significance of the rites, rituals, and symbols of Christianity, such as baptism and the crucifix? Who was Jesus Christ and what was His life like? How did Christianity start, spread, and grow? What are the differences—and similarities—between Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism? How did Christianity influence art, architecture, music, and movies?
The Handy Christianity Answer Book provides detailed descriptions of the teachings of Jesus, Christian beliefs about Jesus, ceremonies, symbols, rituals, observations, customs, leaders, and organization of the world’s largest religion. It clearly and eloquently explains how different Christians think and delves into the richness of the Christian tradition. This engaging, user-friendly primer looks at the significance of the Bible, Jesus, the Apostles, the Trinity, the Eucharist, historical schisms, divisions among different denominations, worship, sacraments, prayer, and much more. This important reference answers nearly 900 questions and offers fun facts that cover Christian history, religious practices, and cultural perspectives, including …
This information-rich book also provides a historic timeline, a glossary of commonly used terms, and a bibliography help further exploration of the world’s largest religion. A perfect companion for anyone seeking a better understanding of Christianity.

The Religion Book
Regular price $54.95 Save $-54.95Its handy size and comprehensive content make The Religion Book: Places, Prophets, Saints, and Seers a must-have reference for the introductory study of religion and a beacon for every reader who seeks his or her own holy grail. Five hundred-plus pages explore 300 key religious figures, prophets, deities, places, and scriptures that play important roles in the major religions of the world. Author Jim Willis respectfully explains terms and concepts as they relate to their respective belief systems, whether mainstream, pagan, or cultish.
The Religion Book expertly explains the similarities, differences, original ideologies of believers, and skeptics from around the world while examining the big questions such as Are Nirvana and Heaven the same? Who are the Raelians, and why are they cloning people? What’s the difference between Christian Scientists and Jehovah’s Witnesses? What do dogma, karma, and feng shui mean? Devils, ghosts, the afterlife—do they really exist? If killing’s a sin, why are there jihads? With 100 photographs, a list of additional resources, and a helpful index, it is the go-to resource for all ages seeking easy-to-understand answers to the most asked-about religious topics. The Religion Book is perfect for students, believers, and skeptics alike.

The Handy Religion Answer Book
Regular price $54.95 Save $-54.95Why do conflicts in the name of God persist—even though religious scholars agree that all great religions are based on love, not carnage? What do different faiths have to say about God? About the afterlife?
The spiritual world we live in today is a diverse and sometimes highly individualized mixture of religious practices and beliefs. The physical world is a much smaller place, often secular in appearance but still very much fueled by religious beliefs and conflict in the name of God. The Handy Religion Answer Book is an easy-to-use comparative guide for anyone seeking a greater understanding of the world's religious beliefs, customs, and practices. It provides solid descriptions of major beliefs and rituals worldwide, affording the reader an understanding of contemporary religion.
This book contains detailed descriptions of the history, beliefs, symbols, rituals, observations, customs, membership, leaders, and organization of the world’s eight major religious traditions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shinto.
Clearly and eloquently written by a scholar with over 40 years of study and teaching experience, The Handy Religion Answer Book is an engaging guide for anyone seeking basic religious literacy and intellectual history.
This handy primer contains a wealth of information and answers more than 1,000 questions, such as ...
Plus, it includes questions concerning religion and violence and suborganizations that claim affiliation with the major faith communities. A glossary of religious terminology and maps of the general coverage areas for each religion are also included.
Enlightening and educational, The Handy Religion Answer Book clears up misinformation and misconceptions, and helps explain cultural and historical differences, providing the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the world’s great religions.

The Handy Islam Answer Book
Regular price $49.95 Save $-49.95In an age of continued Middle East volatility, religious extremists, and terrorist threats, the mere mention of Islam and Muslims too often provokes misunderstanding and even rancor. Often overlooked are the important links between the Qur'an and the Bible. Also ignored are the significant historical overlap between Islamic interpretation of history with those of Christianity and Judaism. Islam is too often confusing and even opaque to those unfamiliar with it.
Truly a must-have reference for our changing and trying times, The Handy Islam Answer Book, is clearly and eloquently written by John Renard, Ph.D., a scholar of Islam with more than 40 years of research and teaching experience. This user-friendly guide answers nearly 800 questions and offers fun facts that cover Islamic history, religious practices, and Muslim cultural perspectives, including …
Muslims are diverse, and they have a vast spectrum of views about Islam, and The Handy Islam Answer Book is a resource for reliable information about Islam and Muslims. This helpful book also provides a historic timeline, a glossary of commonly used terms, a genealogy from Adam to Muhammad and beyond, a calendar of major observances, an extensive index, and a bibliography help further exploration of one of the world’s great religions.

The Handy Bible Answer Book
Regular price $26.95 Save $-26.95The Bible is a beloved text owned by nearly all Americans. It’s probably on your reading list, but it can be a daunting work to master. The Handy Bible Answer Book illuminates the secrets and reveals the wisdom of the Bible. Through easy-to-understand explanations to common questions, this book examines, story-by-story, the origins and history of the meanings of chapters, verses, and parables.
Offering enlightening explanations and defining key terms, people, places, and events, this user-friendly guide is for anyone interested in learning more about the Bible. It brings context to readers by answering more than 1,700 commonly asked questions about the Good Book, including:
How has archeology contributed to understanding the Bible?
What are some of the most notable Bible translations through the ages?
What was the Day of Atonement?
How did Gideon obey God’s call?
According to Peter, what was the benefit of faith?
What is the Apocrypha?
This comprehensive resource provides concise, straightforward information, drawing from five different translations of the Bible and other sources, it's designed to let even casual readers dig deeply into the Bible. It helps bring the Good Book's parables, stories, history, and power to your life.

The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena
Regular price $49.95 Save $-49.95Visions of Mary and glimpses of God. Miraculous apparitions witnessed by hundreds in parking lots, along freeways, and at the world’s holiest sites. Weeping statues, exorcisms, near-death experiences, mystical labyrinths, and more than 250 other unusual and unexplained phenomena, apparitions, and extraordinary experiences rooted in religious beliefs are explored in The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena.
J. Gordon Melton, the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History at the Institute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University, takes readers on a tour among angels, Marian apparitions, and religious figures such as Jesus, the Buddha, Muhammad, and Tao Tzu. Melton reports on dreams, feng shui, statues that bleed, snake handling, speaking in tongues, stigmata, relics—including the Spear of Longinus and the Shroud of Turin—and sacred locales such as Easter Island, the Glastonbury Tor, the Great Pyramids, Mecca, Sedona, and much more.
Each entry includes a description of a particular phenomenon and the religious claims being made about it as well as a discussion of what scientists say about it. Transcending the mundane, the entries take no sides on who is right or wrong: the journey is the experience and the experience is the journey. This fascinating encyclopedia is illustrated with 100 pictures and includes a detailed index and additional reading recommendations. It lets you experience the marvels of weeping statues and icons; exorcisms and ecstasy; the grilled cheese sandwich kit for making your own Virgin Mary image; and so much more.

Interpersonal Relations
Regular price $8.95 Save $-8.95Gifts from Muhammad
Regular price $3.95 Save $-3.95
Four Key Concepts of the Qur'an
Regular price $10.95 Save $-10.95
Pauline Baptism among the Mysteries
Regular price $21.99 Save $-21.99
Scripture and Theology
Regular price $27.99 Save $-27.99The academic disciplines of Biblical Studies and Systematic Theology were long closely linked to one another. However, in the modern period they became gradually separated which led to increasing subject specialization, but also to a lamentable lacuna within the various branches of Divinity. As the lack of dialogue between Biblical Studies and the various theological disciplines increased, a minority-group of scholars in the past few decades reacted and sought to re-establish the time-honoured bonds between the disciplines. The present volume is part of this intellectual response, with contributions from scholars of various professional and denominational backgrounds. Together, the book's 25 chapters seek to reinvigorate the crucial cross-disciplinary dialogue, involving biblical, narrative, historical, systematic-theological and philosophic-theological perspectives. The book opens the horizon to contemporary research, and fills a lamentable research gap with a number of fresh contributions from scholars in the respective sub-disciplines

Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Travel Experiences
Regular price $21.99 Save $-21.99Travel and pilgrimage have become central research topics in recent years. Some archaeologists and historians have applied globalization theories to ancient intercultural connections. Classicists have rediscovered travel as a literary topic in Greek and Roman writing. Scholars of early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have been rethinking long-familiar pilgrimage practices in new interdisciplinary contexts.
This volume contributes to this flourishing field of study in two ways. First, the focus of its contributions is on experiences of travel. Our main question is: How did travelers in the ancient world experience and make sense of their journeys, real or imaginary, and of the places they visited? Second, by treating Jewish, Christian, and Islamic experiences together, this volume develops a longue durée perspective on the ways in which travel experiences across these three traditions resembled each other. By focusing on "experiences of travel," we hope to foster interaction between the study of ancient travel in the humanities and that of broader human experience in the social sciences.

Women and Religion in the Ancient Near East and Asia
Regular price $21.99 Save $-21.99The recent years have seen an upswing in studies of women in the ancient Near East and related areas. This volume, which is the result of a Danish-Japanese collaboration, seeks to highlight women as actors within the sphere of the religious. In ancient Mesopotamia and other ancient civilizations, religious beliefs and practices permeated all aspects of society, and for this reason it is not possible to completely dissociate religion from politics, economy, or literature. Thus, the goal is to shift the perspective by highlighting the different ways in which the agency of women can be traced in the historical (and archaeological) record. This perspectival shift can be seen in studies of elite women, who actively contributed to (religious) gift-giving or participated in temple economies, or through showing the limits of elite women’s agency in relation to diplomatic marriages. Additionally, several contributions examine the roles of women as religious officials and the language, worship, or invocation of goddesses. This volume does not aim at completeness but seeks to highlight points for further research and new perspectives.

Últimas noticias de Jesús / Latest Jesus News
Regular price $18.95 Save $-18.95Una fascinante investigación histórica sobre el personaje más importante de todos los tiempos.
A menudo se cree que la historia no es tan importante como la teología a la hora de abordar la egregia figura de Jesús de Nazaret. Craso error. La arqueología permite aproximarnos a él desde el estudio de las piedras, del trabajo de campo y del análisis concienzudo y perseverante de los expertos. Ello se demuestra, por ejemplo, con el descubrimiento en 2020 de un baño ritual de hace dos mil años al pie del huerto de los Olivos —que explicaría el nombre de Getsemaní, donde Jesús sudó sangre al inicio de su Pasión—, o del llamado «Esqueleto 4926», rescatado de las entrañas de la tierra con el fragmento de un clavo de hierro fijado en su talón, a imagen y semejanza de Jesús. Zavala nos acerca así, con su acostumbrado rigor y amenidad, a todos estos hallazgos y a otros tanto o más deslumbrantes aún, como el de la corona de espinas que ciñó la cabeza del Nazareno, el Santo Grial con el que celebró la Última Cena o los lienzos que cubrieron su cuerpo tras la crucifixión.Un cóctel explosivo, en suma, el de la fe y la ciencia juntas, que José María Zavala sabe armar como nadie en estas páginas, en las que el lector viaja de su mano por los oscuros recovecos de la Historia, iluminados ahora tras una asombrosa investigación.
ENGLISH DESCRIPTION
A fascinating historical investigation into the most important character of all time.
It is often believed that history is not as important as theology when it comes to dealing with the egregious figure of Jesus of Nazareth. That's a big mistake. Archaeology allows us to approach it from the study of stones, field work and the conscientious and persevering analysis of experts. This is demonstrated, for example, by the discovery in 2020 of a two-thousand-year-old ritual bath at the foot of the Garden of Olives – which would explain the name of Gethsemane, where Jesus sweated blood at the beginning of his Passion – or the so-called "Skeleton 4926", rescued from the bowels of the earth with the fragment of an iron nail fixed to its heel, in the image and likeness of Jesus. Zavala thus brings us closer, with his usual rigor and pleasantness, to all these findings and to others as dazzling or even more dazzling, such as the crown of thorns that girded the head of the Nazarene, the Holy Grail with which he celebrated the Last Supper or the linen cloths that covered his body after the crucifixion. An explosive cocktail, in short, that of faith and science together, which José María Zavala knows how to put together like no one else in these pages, in which the reader travels hand in hand through the dark recesses of History, now illuminated after an astonishing investigation.
Conversations on Canaanite and Biblical Themes
Regular price $21.99 Save $-21.99Arguments over the relationship between Canaanite and Israelite religion often derive from fundamental differences in presupposition, methodology and definition, yet debate typically focuses in on details and encourages polarization between opposing views, inhibiting progress. This volume seeks to initiate a cultural change in scholarly practice by setting up dialogues between pairs of experts in the field who hold contrasting views.
Each pair discusses a clearly defined issue through the lens of a particular biblical passage, responding to each other’s arguments and offering their reflections on the process. Topics range from the apparent application of ‘chaos’ and ‘divine warrior’ symbolism to Yahweh in Habakkuk 3, the evidence for ‘monotheism’ in pre-Exilic Judah in 2 Kings 22–23, and the possible presence of ‘chaos’ or creatio ex nihilo in Genesis 1 and Psalm 74. This approach encourages the recognition of points of agreement as well as differences and exposes some of the underlying issues that inhibit consensus. In doing so, it consolidates much that has been achieved in the past, offers fresh ideas and perspective and, through intense debate, subjects new ideas to thorough critique and suggests avenues for further research.

Der attische Grabbau
Regular price $34.99 Save $-34.99
The Illustrated Guide to the Coptic Museum and Churches of Old Cairo
Regular price $29.95 Save $-29.95
Hermaphrodites, Gynomorphs and Jesus
Regular price $14.95 Save $-14.95In Hermaphrodites, Gynomorphs and Jesus readers meet female gods with penises and discover how they impacted the development of western culture. Veneration of the Gynomorph is the basis for modern western law courts. The founders of democracy worshiped similar female divinities who possessed penises. Ritual sodomy as a means of celebrating hermaphroditic gods directly promoted the birth of western democracy. In fact, ancient priestesses responsible for guiding the worship of hermaphroditic goddesses laid the very foundations for democracy, science and philosophy.
Snake venoms used in cultic sex rituals were immensely popular in both Greece and Rome. In addition, abortion-inducing drugs promoted the first scientific investigations. Classical civilization relied heavily upon the use of cannabis, opiates, and hallucinogens, which were mixed with sexual stimulants. Hermaphrodites, Gynomorphs and Jesus reveals how the oldest western pharmaceuticals were sex drugs used in religious initiations in celebration of the Gynomorph.

Original Sin
Regular price $14.95 Save $-14.95ORIGINAL SIN is an investigation of the first acts of pedophilia within the Christian church. It is a book about the promotion and defense of child rape as a sacred Christian mystery.
The West’s most venerated social, religious and political ideals stem from a cultural war waged against the human body. ORIGINAL SIN reveals the origin of this war.
Using the influence of the first Christian Emperors, and the moral authority” of their political organization, powerful bishops of the early Church promoted the performance of sacred mysteries” in which young children were starved, drugged, and sodomized. In ceremonies meant to test their purity", exorcist priests victimized young children from the ranks of the orphans and homeless who populated the large cities of the ancient world.
ORIGINAL SIN focuses on the writings of Christian priests themselves and the pagans who condemned their immoral activities. It shows that Church actively promoted and defended the rape of children, and that such crimes were present from the very earliest days of Christianity.
ORIGINAL SIN draws from ancient internal documents, written by venerated church leaders - written in Latin - who actively promoted the rape and molestation of children. Bishops, monks and priests of the early Church successfully defended themselves from legal prosecution for centuries. As the Roman public railed on priests for sexually exploiting children, the church leadership used its growing political influence to prevent any of the child rapists within the clergy from coming to justice.
ORIGINAL SIN also traces the divine feminine voice through Western history.
The potent combination of natural drugs and the feminine voice is the basis for western civilization. ORIGINAL SIN explores the foundation of western society as the product of a peculiar interaction chemical and biological forces
The pagan world was aware of the sexual crimes committed against these orphans, and waged a lengthy campaign against the priests who perpetrated these rapes.
Christian priests claimed that by sodomizing children, they were saving them from possession by the demons of the pagan religions. Christian theologians justified these acts of rape by pointing to some of the earliest writings of the apostles and even the acts of Jesus himself.
Exorcist priests specifically victimized young children from the ranks of the orphans and homeless who populated the large cities of the ancient world. The pagan world was aware of the sexual crimes committed against these orphans, and waged a lengthy campaign against the priests who perpetrated these rapes.
The Christian hierarchy claimed these children were being sexually tested” in order to prevent them from being used in pagan rituals that required the same children to remain sexually inexperienced. Christian priests claimed that by sodomizing children, they were saving them from possession by the demons of the pagan religions.
Christian theologians justified these acts of rape by pointing to some of the earliest writings of the apostles and even the acts of Jesus himself. In the early church, groups of Christians in Asia Minor even formed their own associations that claimed the performance of such acts was a means of assuring the salvation of both the victims and the perpetrators.
The potent combination of natural drugs and the feminine voice is the basis for western civilization. ORIGINAL SIN explores the foundation of western society as the product of a peculiar interaction chemical and biological forces.
Some early church fathers believed Jesus had several relationships with young boys. Prominent church leaders argued that the apostle Mark was aware of this when he wrote in his gospel that Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane in the presence of a naked teenage boy.
--------
Note: The material in Hillman's first book, CHEMICAL MUSE, and here in ORIGINAL SIN was part of His dissertation research. While they could find no flaws in the work, his dissertation committee was so outraged by the material that Hillman found in the ancient texts - written in Latin, which he reads fluently - that they refused to pass the dissertation or award the doctorate unless he deleted the material. He did so and published the material about the used of psilocybin mushrooms and the emergence of Western Civilization. ORIGINAL SIN reveals more of the forbidden information that Dr. Hillman was uncovered.
Because of this work, Dr. Hillman has been "black balled" from academic classics - even though CHEMICAL MUSE has been widely acclaimed. He now teaches Latin in a private girls' school to inch out a living to support his wife and two children.
What one author said about Hillman's discoveries and his expulsion from Classics.
The role of psychoactive drugs has been airbrushed out of the conventional picture of Western civilization. The academics who have created this drug-free Greco-Roman world have found their nemesis in Dr. Hillman’s The Chemical Muse. With clarity and directness the author gives us back a lost chapter of our Classical heritage and by doing so restores our understanding of this past.”Richard Rudgley, author of Lost Civilizations of the Stone Age

Personal Religion Among the Greeks
Regular price $39.95 Save $-39.95
The Making of a Heretic
Regular price $39.95 Save $-39.95Priscillian, who began his career as a lay teacher with particular influence among women, faced charges of heresy along with accusations of sorcery and sexual immorality following his ordination to the episcopacy. He was executed along with several of his followers circa 386. His purportedly "gnostic" doctrines produced controversy and division within the churches of Spain, dissension that continued into the early decades of the fifth century.
Burrus's thorough and wide-ranging study enlarges upon previous scholarship, particularly in bringing a feminist perspective to bear on the gendered constructions of religious orthodoxies, making a valuable contribution to the recent commentary that explores new ways of looking at early Christian controversies.
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1996.

Pseudo Hecataeus, On the Jews
Regular price $36.95 Save $-36.95Bar-Kochva argues that the author of this treatise belonged to the moderate conservative Jews of Alexandria, whose practices were contrary to the contemporary trends of Hellenistic Judaism. They rejected the application of Greek philosophy and allegorical interpretations of the Holy scriptures and advocated the use of Pentateuch Hebrew as the language for educating and for religious services. They showed a keen interest in Judea and identified themselves with the Jews of the Holy Land. "On the Jews," then, was the manifesto of this group and was written at the peak period of the Hasmonean kingdom. Its main purpose was to legitimize Jewish residence in Egypt, despite being explicitly prohibited in the Pentateuch, and to justify the continued residence of Jews there in a time of prosperity and expansion of the Jewish independent state.

Time for the Ancients
Regular price $48.99 Save $-48.99The book presents the author's latest research on ancient perceptions of time; it centres on medical discussions, especially of the doctor-philosopher Galen, while also contextualizing his work within Graeco-Roman evidence and discussions – archaeological, medical, technological, philosophical, literary – more broadly. The focus is on questions of medical or experiential significance: life cycles, disease cycles, daily regimes for mind and body, clinical assessment, including the vital area of diagnosis through the pulse, technologies of time measurement. But the philosophical background is also examined: questions of the nature and definition of time and its relationship to space and motion. Galen offers original contributions in all these areas, at the same time as shedding important light on both contemporary attitudes and previous discussions.
The book thus offers an accessible and vivid overview of key issues in ancient time perception and awareness, while also offering the first in-depth exploration of the insights that the Galenic texts add to this picture.
Five thematic chapters – Time Measurement, Year and Life Cycles, Biography, Medical Cycles – consider a wide range of evidence and of recent scholarship, while highlighting the contribution of medical texts.

Time and Soul
Regular price $28.99 Save $-28.99Can time exist independently of consciousness? In antiquity this question was often framed as an enquiry into the relationship of time and soul. Aristotle cautiously suggested that time could not exist without a soul that is counting it. This proposal was controversially debated among his commentators. The present book offers an account of this debate beginning from Aristotle’s own statement of the problem in Book IV of the Physics. Subsequent chapters discuss Aristotle’s Peripatetic followers, Boethus of Sidon and Alexander of Aphrodisias; his Neoplatonic readers, Plotinus and Simplicius; and early Christian authors, Gregory of Nyssa and Augustine. At the centre of the debate stood the relation between the subjective time in the soul and the objective time of the cosmos. Both could be seen as united in the world soul as the seat of subjective time on a cosmic scale. But no solution to the problem was final. No theory gained general acceptance. The book shows the fascinating variety and plurality of ideas about time and soul throughout antiquity. Throughout antiquity, the problem of time and soul remained as intriguing as it proved intractable.

The Scientification of Religion
Regular price $48.99 Save $-48.99The enigmatic relation between religion and science still presents a challenge to European societies and to ideas about what it means to be ‘modern.’ This book argues that European secularism, rather than pushing back religious truth claims, in fact has been religiously productive itself. The institutional establishment of new disciplines in the nineteenth century, such as religious studies, anthropology, psychology, classical studies, and the study of various religious traditions, led to a professionalization of knowledge about religion that in turn attributed new meanings to religion. This attribution of meaning resulted in the emergence of new religious identities and practices. In a dynamic that is closely linked to this discursive change, the natural sciences adopted religious and metaphysical claims and integrated them in their framework of meaning, resulting in a special form of scientific religiosity that has gained much influence in the twentieth century. Applying methods that come from historical discourse analysis, the book demonstrates that religious semantics have been reconfigured in the secular sciences. Ultimately, the scientification of religion perpetuated religious truth claims under conditions of secularism.

Ethnicity in the Ancient World – Did it matter?
Regular price $27.99 Save $-27.99This study raises that difficult and complicated question on a broad front, taking into account the expressions and attitudes of a wide variety of Greek, Roman, Jewish, and early Christian sources, including Herodotus, Polybius, Cicero, Philo, and Paul. It approaches the topic of ethnicity through the lenses of the ancients themselves rather than through the imposition of modern categories, labels, and frameworks. A central issue guides the course of the work: did ancient writers reflect upon collective identity as determined by common origins and lineage or by shared traditions and culture?

The Religion of Greece in Prehistoric Times
Regular price $39.95 Save $-39.95
The Rhetoric of the Babylonian Talmud, Its Social Meaning and Context
Regular price $45.99 Save $-45.99Virtually from its redaction about the sixth century A.D., the Babylonian Talmud became the rabbinic document par excellence. Through its lens almost all previous canonical rabbinic tradition was refracted. Study and mastery of the Talmud marked one as a rabbi, a “master.” This book examines the character, use and social meaning of the formalized rhetoric which pervades the Babylonian Talmud. It explores, first, how the editors of the Talmud employ a consistent and highly laconic code of formalized linguistic terms and literary patterns to create the Talmud’s (renowned) dialectical, analytic “essays.” Second, the work considers the social meanings implicitly communicated by the use of this rhetoric, which not only provided an authoritative model for modes of thought and for treatment of earlier authoritative Judaic tradition, but also reflected, reinforced or helped engender new social definitions.
Through comparison of the Talmud’s rhetoric with that of other, earlier rabbinic documents and by placing the editing of the Talmud against the backdrop of the social and political situation of Rabbinism in the Late Persian Empire, the book relates the Talmud’s creation and promulgation to a major shift in Rabbinism’s understanding of the social role, “rabbi,” and to the emergence and ascendancy of the talmudic academy (the Yeshiva) as the primary institution of Rabbinism toward the end of Late Antiquity. In its agenda, and methodological and theoretical perspectives, The Rhetoric of the Babylonian Talmud brings together the insights and tools of historical, literary and rhetorical analysis of the New Testament and of early rabbinic literature, on the one hand, and the sociological and anthropological study of religion, on the other.

The Religious Dreamworld of Apuleius’ Metamorphoses
Regular price $45.99 Save $-45.99Apuleius’ Metamorphoses is probably best known as the literary source for the myth of Eros and Psyche and as a primary source of information about mystery religions in the ancient world.
There is another realm of the Metamorphoses which has, until now, received relatively little attention — namely, the many dreams found within it. The Religious Dreamworld of Apuleius’ Metamorphoses offers an engaging portrait of the second-century dreamworld. Recognizing the centrality of the religious function and spiritual interpretation of dreams, this book illustrates their vital importance in the ancient world and the wide variety of meanings attributed to them.
James Gollnick draws deeply from historical and psychological studies and provides a historical background on the current interest in the role of dreams in psychological and spiritual transformation.
This study of Apuleius’ Metamorphoses adds to an appreciation of Apuleius the dreamer and the second-century dreamworld in which he lived and wrote.

Phases in the Religion of Ancient Rome
Regular price $49.95 Save $-49.95
Classifying Christians
Regular price $34.95 Save $-34.95
Women and Monastic Reform in the Medieval West, c. 1000 – 1500
Regular price $38.95 Save $-38.95Over the last two decades, scholarship has presented a more nuanced view of women's attitude to and agency in medieval monastic reform, challenging the idea that they were, by and large, unwilling to accept or were necessarily hostile towards reform initiatives. Rather, it has shown that they actively participated in debates about the ideas and structures that shaped their religious lives, whether rejecting, embracing, or adapting to calls for "reform" contingent on their circumstances. Nevertheless, fundamental questions regarding the gendered nature of religious reform are ripe for further examination.
This book brings together innovative research from a range of disciplines to re-evaluate and enlarge our knowledge of women's involvement in spiritual and institutional change in female monastic communities over the period c. 1000 - c. 1500. Contributors revise conventional narratives about women and monastic reform, and earlier assumptions of reform as negative or irrelevant for women. Drawing on a diverse array of visual, material and textual sources, it presents "snapshots" of reform from western Europe, stretching from Ireland to Iberia. Case-studies focussing on a number of different topics, from tenth-century female saints' lives to fifteenth-century liturgical books, from the tenth-century Leominster prayerbook to archaeological remains in Ireland, from embroideries and tapestries to the rebellious nuns of Sainte-Croix in Poitiers, offer a critical reappraisal of how monastic women (and their male associates) reflected, individually and collectively, on their spiritual ideals and institutional forms.
