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Music for the Mass 2: Choir Edition
by Geoffrey Boulton Smith Christopher McCurryContains music for Holy Week, Easter, weddings and funerals. The music selected has been used in parish churches, and is suitable for those with guitars and keyboards, as well as those who rely on the organ. This choir edition contains cantor, celebrant and choir parts for full accompaniments.
Submitting to Freedom: The Religious Vision of William James (Religion in America)
by Bennett RamseyRamsey presents a new analysis and interpretation of the religious views of the nineteenth-century American philosopher William James. He argues that James was primarily motivated by religious concerns in his writings and that this fact has been obscured by the artificial scholarly division of his "philosophy," "psychology," and "religion"--a symptom of the professionalization which James himself strenuously resisted in his own time. Ramsey believes that James is best understood in his historical context, as a representative of a society and culture struggling to come to terms with modernity. Much of James's religious work is a direct reflection of what has been called "the spiritual crisis of the Gilded Age," a crisis which Ramsey examines in illuminating detail. James's religious vision, in Ramsey's view, hinges on the recognition and acceptance of "contingency"--the knowledge that we are at the mercy of change and chance. With so little else to rely on, James believed, people must learn to submit freely and responsibly into one another's care. Ramsey reintroduces James's thought into the contemporary discussion, and puts forward the kind of religious alternative that James was pointing to in his work: not worship, but acquiescence in a world of mutual relations; not obedience to authority, but conversion to the freedom of responsibility.
Mircea Eliade's Vision for a New Humanism
by David CaveThe influential scholar of religion Mircea Eliade envisioned a spiritually destitute modern culture coming into renewed meaning through the recovery of archetypal myths and symbols. Eliade defined this restoration of meaning as a "new humanism" of existential meaning and cultural-religious unity. Through a biographical exegesis of Eliade's life and writings from his earliest years in Romania to his final ones as professor of the history of religions at the University of Chicago, Cave sets forward a structural description of what this "new humanism" might have meant for Eliade, and what it signifies for modern culture. Cave concludes by endorsing Eliade's radically pluralistic vision which, he argues, offers a key to the revitalization of our demythologized and material culture. This study repositions previous Eliadean studies and places the "new humanism" as the paradigm in relation to which future readings of Eliade should be evaluated.
Purity and Monotheism: Clean and Unclean Animals in Biblical Law (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)
by Walter J. HoustonThe distinction between clean and unclean animals, probably originating in tensions between shepherds and farmers, is in the biblical laws of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 transformed into an important theological principle. In this wide-ranging and elegantly written study, Houston argues that the avoidance of 'unclean' foods is a mark of the exclusive devotion of Israel to one god. In a concluding chapter, it is suggested that the abolition of the distinction in early Christianity corresponds to the universal horizon of the new faith.
The Word in the Desert: Scripture and the Quest for Holiness in Early Christian Monasticism
by Douglas Burton-ChristieThe growing scholarly attention in recent years to the religious world of late antiquity has focused new attention on the quest for holiness by the strange, compelling, often obscure early Christian monks known as the desert fathers. Yet until now, little attention has been given to one of the most vital dimensions of their spirituality: their astute, penetrating interpretation of Scripture. Rooted in solitude, cultivated in an atmosphere of silence, oriented toward the practical appropriation of the sacred texts, the desert fathers' hermeneutic profoundly shaped every aspect of their lives and became a significant part of their legacy. This book explores the setting within which the early monastic movement emerged, the interpretive process at the center of the desert fathers' quest for holiness, and the intricate patterns of meaning woven into their words and their lives.
Pseudo-Dionysius: A Commentary on the Texts and an Introduction to Their Influence
by Paul Rorem"Dionysius the Areopagite" is the biblical name chosen by the pseudonymous author of an influential body of Christian theological texts, dating from around 500 C.E. The Celestial Hierarchy, The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, The Divine Names, and The Mystical Theology offer a synthesis of biblical interpretation, liturgical spirituality, and Neoplatonic philosophy. Their central motif, which has made them the charter of Christian mysticism, is the upward progress of the soul toward God through the spiritual interpretation of the Bible and the liturgy. Dionysius continually reminds his readers, however, that all human concepts fall short of the transcendence of God and must therefore be abandoned in negotiations and silence. In this book, Rorem provides a commentary on all of the Dionysian writings, chapter by chapter, and examines especially their complex inner coherence. The Dionysian influence on medieval theology is introduced in essays on specific topics: hierarchy, biblical symbolism, angels, Gothic architecture, liturgical allegory, the scholastic doctrine of God, and the mystical theology of the western Middle Ages. Rorem's book makes these texts more accessible to both scholars and students and includes a comprehensive bibliography of secondary sources.
Among the Prophets: Language, Image and Structure in the Prophetic Writings (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)
by Philip R. Davies David J. ClinesProphetic symbolism is one of the key topics of this volume. On Isaiah, John F.A. Sawyer finds radical images of Yahweh, Kenneth T. Aitken looks at the metamorphosis of the key motif of hearing, seeing and understanding, Michael L. Barre examines lions and birds in 31.4-5, and Marvin A. Sweeney re-examines vmes(tm)s in 8.6. The imagery of Ezekiel is explored by Leslie C. Allen (the 'Death Valley' vision) and M.G. Swanepoel (Ezekiel 16 and female images of Israel), and Alan Cooper and Athalya Brenner write on the book of Jonah. Two essays of more general scope deal with the search for unity in Isaiah (David Carr) and the redactional shape of Nahum 1 (James Nogalski). An attractive and stimulating volume which reflects the liveliness of current research on the prophetic literature.
The Shape and Shaping of the Psalter (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)
by J. Clinton McCann Jr.The nine essays in this volume originated in the discussions of the Psalms programme unit of the Society of Biblical Literature and a number were first presented as papers at the SBL meetings in 1989 and 1990. The volume documents the growing interest among scholars in understanding the book of Psalms not only as a collection of liturgical materials from ancient Israel and Judah but also as a coherent literary whole. Part I considers the nature and significance of this new approach; it contains essays by J.L. Mays, Roland E. Murphy, Walter Brueggemann, Gerald H. Wilson and David M. Howard, Jr. Part II illustrates the application of this approach and offers preliminary conclusions concerning the shape of the Psalter and its component books; it contains essays by Gerald H. Wilson, Patrick D. Miller, Jr, J. Clinton McCann, Jr. and David M. Howard, Jr.
The Colloquy of Montbéliard: Religion and Politics in the Sixteenth Century
by Jill RaittFocusing on the Colloquy of Montbéliard, a theological debate in 1586 between Lutherans and Calvinists, Raitt explores the complex array of shifting political alliances and religious tensions which characterized the Holy Roman Empire after the Peace of Augsburg. When the Wars of Religion broke out in France, both sides courted allies. Often these alliances involved confessional tests--most often concerning the Eucharist. Modern readers might expect that such complex theological questions belong in seminaries, but in many cases, they took place at the request of people and princes. On the outcome of these debates depended the well-being of towns and villages as well as the disposition of troops and the conduct of wars. Raitt's study of the "age of confessionalism" uncovers the background and details of the Colloquy of Monteb((e'))liard and analyzes the nature and implications of the underlying theological conflict.
Popular Religion in America: The Evangelical Voice (Contributions to the Study of Religion)
by Erling T. JorstadThe enormous growth of evangelicalism is one of the major developments in recent American life. Like other scholars, Jorstad acknowledges that evangelicalism has grown because it is theologically attractive. But Jorstad also attributes the growth of the evangelical movement to its relationship with American popular culture. According to the author, the evangelical movement was able to integrate populist, democratic traditions with a cultural inclusiveness, a mastery of high technology, and a willingness to use mass media to spread its views.The book contains three sections. The first traces the development of evangelical subculture between 1960 and 1990. The second part discusses the evangelical movement and social and individual values. The third part explores popular religion and the media. The book considers the involvement of evangelicals in popular religion, the appeal of popular religion to many but not to all evangelicals, the similarities between popular religion and more traditional religious organizations, and the means by which evangelicalism effectively utilizes the many genres and styles of popular culture.
How to Read Karl Barth: The Shape of His Theology
by George HunsingerThis critical study decodes the most cryptic and elusive patterns of Karl Barth's dialectic. Hunsinger not only offers a new and authoritative interpretation of Barth's mature theology, but also places Barth's work in relation to contemporary discussions of truth, justified belief, double agency, and religious pluralism. Through a fresh and compelling reading of Church Dogmatics, Hunsinger offers a new account of the coherence of that work as a whole.
Chapters into Verse: Volume 1: Genesis to Malachi
For generations, poets have turned to the Bible for insight and inspiration. What did so many creative minds find in scripture? Is the Bible still a vital source of poetic inspirations? Chapters Into Verse is the first comprehensive collection ever made of poems written in English inspired by the Bible. A groundbreaking anthology, it introduces readers to a distinct heritage of English poetry: the scriptural tradition. Though frequently ignored and sometimes suppressed, this tradition rivals the classical and is every bit as venerable. Drawing a unique map of the history of English poetry, the two volumes of Chapters Into Verse survey and define the literary legacy of the Scriptures from the fourteenth century to the present. Each volume is arranged in scriptural order, and each poem is preceded by the biblical passage that inspired it. Thus readers can conveniently witness the various ways sacred text has sparked the imagination of poets throughout the ages. In Volume I, which covers Genesis to Malachi, almost every book of the Old Testament is represented. The collection features verses both famous and unfamiliar, from Milton's Paradise Lost and Lord Byron's Hebrew Melodies to Christopher Smart's hymns and Mary Herbert's psalms. The editors have included poems by virtually all the prominent religious poets--among them, John Donne, George Herbert, Henry Vaughan, Edward Taylor, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. Included, too, are devotional and visionary works from a wide range of vintage poets--Robert Burns, William Blake, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Christina Rossetti, Alfred Tennyson, and Robert Browning. Proving that the Bible is just as powerful a source of inspiration today as it was in the past, the collection assembles a mixed congregation of modern and contemporary poets, such as Marianne Moore, Delmore Schwartz, Dylan Thomas, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, Countee Cullen, e.e. cummings, William Butler Yeats, Robert Lowell, Hugh McDiarmid, Laura (Riding) Jackson, Charles Reznikoff, A.D. Hope, Geoffrey Hill, Denise Levertov, Philip Levine, John Ashbery, and Derek Walcott. Of enduring interest to readers of both scripture and literature, this anthology illuminates key passages of the Old Testament. The measured speech and inspired leaps of poetry offer a spirited alternative to the textual exegesis usually supplied by prose commentary. As such, Chapters Into Verse is truly a poets' Bible. In selection after selection, readers will encounter an astonishing variety of religious experiences, as a host of poets from many eras and many backgrounds respond to Holy Scripture spiritually, profoundly, and imaginatively.
Prophetic Figures in Late Second Temple Jewish Palestine: The Evidence from Josephus
by Rebecca GrayIsolated passages from the writings of Josephus are routinely cited in general studies of early Jewish prophecy, but the present work is the first comprehensive examination of this material. Gray begins with a discussion of the significance of the belief--widely attested in Jewish sources from the late Second Temple period--that prophecy had ceased. She proceeds to outline a general theory about the nature and status of prophecy in this period. Giving careful consideration to the prophetic claims that Josephus makes for himself, she argues that these claims are more substantial and more important for understanding Josephus than is usually thought. Gray goes on to examine Josephus' reports concerning prophecy among the Essenes and Pharisees, and his accounts of the activities of the "sign prophets" and other figures. In every instance, Gray interprets the evidence about prophecy in relation to Josephus' personal career and his thought and work as a whole. Drawing on a range of evidence, much of which has not played a significant role in other studies of early Jewish prophecy, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in Josephus, the history of prophecy in Israel, or the historical Jesus.
Benjamin Franklin, Jonathan Edwards, and the Representation of American Culture
by Barbara B. Oberg Harry S. StoutThis interdisciplinary collection of comparative essays by distinguished historians and literary critics looks at aspects of the thought of Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin and considers the place of these two men in American culture. Probably the two most examined figures of the colonial period, they have often been the object of comparative studies. These characterizations usually portray them as mutually exclusive ideal types, thus placing them in categories as different and opposed as "traditional" and "modern." In these essays--by such scholars as William Breitenbach, Edwin Gaustad, Elizabeth Dunn, and Ruth Bloch--polemical contrasts disappear and Edwards and Franklin emerge as contrapuntal themes in a larger unity. Benjamin Franklin, Jonathan Edwards, and the Representation of American Culture is a valuable addition to scholarship on American literature and thought.
A Christian Perspective on Political Thought
by Stephen Charles MottArguing that Americans make political choices in terms of a general notion of right and wrong, yet lack a sound, objective foundation for such values, evangelical scholar Stephen Mott formulates a Christian political theory that supplies such norms. Drawing on theological and biblical sources, Mott thoroughly develops the biblical and theological foundations for politics and political evaluation. Mott proposes that political philosophies should be evaluated in light of Christian theological and ethical values--specifically the understanding of power, human nature, the nature of group life, justice and love, government, and time. He then applies this critical framework in an evaluation of political ideologies, including traditional conservatism, liberalism, democracy, laissez-faire conservatism, Marxist socialism, and democratic socialism. He gives special attention to their classical exponents and ideas. Asserting that political visions ultimately depend on cultural values that themselves require vigorous religious faith in a particular society, Mott's study offers a valuable introduction to Christian political thought as well as an illuminating look at the connection between politics and religion.
Warrant: The Current Debate
by Alvin PlantingaKnown for distinguished work in the fields of metaphysics and philosophy of religion, Alvin Plantinga ventures further into epistemology in this book and its companion volume, Warrant and Proper Function. Plantinga examines the nature of epistemic warrant; whatever it is that when added to true belief yields knowledge. This present volume surveys current contributions to the debate and paves the way for his own positive proposal in Warrant and Proper Function. This first volume serves as a good introduction to the central issues in contemporary epistemology.
Warrant and Proper Function
by Alvin PlantingaIn this companion volume to Warrant: The Current Debate, Alvin Plantinga develops an original approach to the question of epistemic warrant; that is what turns true belief into knowledge. He argues that what is crucial to warrant is the proper functioning of one's cognitive faculties in the right kind of cognitive environment. Although this book is in some sense a sequel to its companion volume, the arguments do not presuppose those of the first book and it stands alone as a stimulating contribution to epistemology.
Preaching in the Last Days: The Theme of "Two Witnesses" in the 16th and 17th Centuries
by Rodney L. PetersenVisionary strength was given to the piety, polity, and political activity of Protestantism in its formative periods through the way in which the Apocalypse was read. By identifying with the text depicting two witnesses, or prophets, who preach at the end of history, are slain by the beast from the abyss (understood to be Antichrist), and rise again victoriously, representatives of the Protestant movement found a measure of self-identity. This text, Revelation 11:3-13, became the lens through which many envisioned the movement of history from the first advent of Christ to his promised return. It was used by earlier reform movements, but it lent special definition to the work of Protestant ministers through the nineteenth century, suggesting different approaches to social organization. Preaching in the Last Days is a study in the history of how the Apocalypse was read. It is also an examination of how social groups are formed through ideas occasioned by texts. It offers an account of the interplay between religious and social history during the time of the development of Protestantism. Petersen's study provides a fascinating look at the theological significance of how we read biblical texts and the insights this offers on the development of culture, the Christian movement, and its churches. The book is especially important for understanding the assumptions behind the ways in which the book of Revelation is being read and used in our own day.
Wisdom in Israel
by Gerhard von RadThis classic text, the last major work by the great Hebrew Bible scholar Gerhard von Rad, has long been unavailable in North America. It is now being reissued in paperback from to satisfy the continuing demand for copies of the book.In brief, the subject of von Rad's study of Hebrew wisdom is Israel's willingness to ground faith in encounter with the world as the creation of God.Those familiar with the author's Old Testament Theology will recall how he identified two great watersheds in the history of Israel's thought. The first was the rise of the prophetic movement, which occasioned a radical reinterpretation of Israel's religious traditions as expressed in the earliest creedal formulations found in the Pentateuch. The second watershed, which preceded the prophetic movement and was a basically different assessment of Israel's relation to Yahweh, was achieved by wisdom teachers at the start of the monarchy. This book studies this first and somewhat novel break with Israel's older sacral traditions. Von Rad bases the study on a wide range of literary materials principally concerned with the books of Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, and the Wisdom of Ben Sirach."No finer introduction to the fundamental theological questions raised by the wisdom literature of Israel is available." Theology TodayGerhard von Rad was for many years Professor of Old Testament at the University of Heidelberg.
Dialogues of the Word: The Bible as Literature According to Bakhtin
by Walter L. ReedDrawing on the theory of language developed by the Soviet critic Mikhail Bakhtin, this book argues that the historically diverse writings of the Bible have been organized according to a concept of dialogue. The overriding concern with an ongoing communication between God and his people has been formally embodied, Reed shows, in the continuous conversation between one part of the Bible and another. Reed looks beyond the close readings of recent accounts of the Bible as literature to larger paradigms of communication in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament. He considers the Bible in its different canonical states, distinguishing the genres of law, prophecy, and wisdom in the Hebrew Bible and describing how these earlier forms of divine and human communication are appropriated and answered by the New Testament genre of gospel. The dialogic character of the Bible is also discovered within individual books: patriarchal answers to primeval failures in Genesis, cross-talk between justice and providence in Job, and orchestration of judgment and worship in Revelation. Throughout this wide-ranging study, Reed demonstrates the surprising relevance of Bakhtin's ideas of literature and language to the biblical writings as they assume formal coherence within the canon.
The Gospel According to John: A Literary and Theological Commentary
by Thomas L. BrodieThis commentary expands Johannine studies in two directions. First, drawing on the methods of literary criticism, it gives new force to a view which is both ancient and modern--that John's gospel, far from being a poorly-edited mixture of sometimes-conflicting traditions, is in fact a coherent unity, an account of Jesus which, however diverse its sources, is a finely-chiselled work of art. Second, it indicates that the unity of John's gospel is founded ultimately not on history or theology but on spirituality. This too corresponds to a view which is both very old--John was always known as the spiritual gospel--and very recent. The present study spells out that idea in new detail. It indicates that the account of Jesus is so written that the tensions and complexities of the text reflect the tensions and complexities of human life, providing the reader not only with an account of Jesus but also with an anthropology--a map of the development of the human spirit.
The Moses Tradition (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)
by George W. CoatsThese essays from the doyen of Moses studies focus on issues primarily in Pentatuchal/Hexateuchal research. The volume, containing several papers previously unpublished, forms a companion volume to Coats's 'Moses: Heroic Man, Man of God'. Together the two volumes comprise the whole of Coats's unique and wide-ranging investigations of the figure of Moses.
Against the Protestant Gnostics
by Philip J. LeeIn this penetrating and provocative assessment of the current state of religion and its effects on society at large, Philip J. Lee criticizes conservatives and liberals alike as he traces gnostic motifs to the very roots of American Protestantism. With references to an extraordinary spectrum of writings from sources as diverse as John Calvin, Martin Buber, Tom Wolfe, Margaret Atwood, and Emily Dickinson, he probes the effects of gnostic thinking on a wide range of issues. Calling for the restoration of a dialectical faith and practice, the book points to positive ways of restoring health to endangered Protestant churches.
Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses
by Martha HimmelfarbThis is a study of the ancient Jewish and Christian apocalypses involving ascent into heaven, which have received little scholarly attention in comparison to apocalypses concerned primarily with the end of the world. Recent developments like the publication of the Aramaic Enoch fragments from Qumran and interest in questions of genre in the study of the apocalypses make this a particularly appropriate time to undertake this study. Martha Himmelfarb places the apocalypses in relation to both their biblical antecedents and their context in the Greco-Roman world. Her analysis emphasizes the emergence of the understanding of heaven as temple in the Book of the Watchers, the earliest of these apocalypses, and the way in which this understanding affects the depiction of the culmination of ascent, the hero's achievement of a place among the angels, in the ascent apocalypses generally. It also considers the place of secrets of nature and primeval history in these works. Finally, it offers an interpretation of the pseudepigraphy of the apocalypses and their function.
American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions (Religion in America)
by Arthur VersluisThe first major study since the 1930s of the relationship between American Transcendentalism and Asian religions, and the first comprehensive work to include post-Civil War Transcendentalists like Samuel Johnson, this book is encyclopedic in scope. Beginning with the inception of Transcendentalist Orientalism in Europe, Versluis covers the entire history of American Transcendentalism into the twentieth century, and the profound influence of Orientalism on the movement--including its analogues and influences in world religious dialogue. He examines what he calls "positive Orientalism," which recognizes the value and perennial truths in Asian religions and cultures, not only in the writings of major figures like Thoreau and Emerson, but also in contemporary popular magazines. Versluis's exploration of the impact of Transcendentalism on the twentieth-century study of comparative religions has ramifications for the study of religious history, comparative religion, literature, politics, history, and art history.