The Knew York Times

by Mark U. Edwards

"One of the most important works ever written on the reception of Luther through print."--Thomas Brady, University of California, Berkeley "One of the most important works ever written on the reception of Luther through print."--Thomas Brady, University of California, Berkeley

by David Rosenberg

Provides a history of Abraham, revealing that the original story embedded in the Bible is actually the oldest historical biography, and takes readers on Abraham's journey through the Middle East.

by James L. Kugel

From the creation and the tree of knowledge through the Exodus from Egypt and the journey to the promised land; James Kugel shows us how the earliest interpreters of the scriptures radically transformed the Bible.

by Carolyne Larrington

This collection of Norse-Icelandic mythological and heroic poetry contains the greater narratives of the creation of the world and the coming of Ragnarok, the Doom of the Gods.

by Ernst Cassirer

This provocative volume, one of the most important interpretive works on the philosophical thought of the Renaissance, has long been regarded as a classic in its field. Ernst Cassirer here examines the changes brewing in the early stages of the Renaissance, tracing the interdependence of philosophy, language, art, and science; the newfound recognition of individual consciousness; and the great thinkers of the period—from da Vinci and Galileo to Pico della Mirandola and Giordano Bruno. The Individual and the Cosmos in Renaissance Philosophy discusses the importance of fifteenth-century philosopher Nicholas Cusanus, the concepts of freedom and necessity, and the subject-object problem in Renaissance thought. “This fluent translation of a scholarly and penetrating original leaves little impression of an attempt to show that a ‘spirit of the age’ or ‘spiritual essence of the time’ unifies and expresses itself in all aspects of society or culture.”—Philosophy

by Thomas Hobbes

The work concerns the structure of society and legitimate government, and is regarded as one of the earliest and most influential examples of social contract theory. Leviathan ranks as a classic western work on statecraft comparable to Machiavelli's The Prince. Written during the English Civil War (1642-1651), Leviathan argues for a social contract and rule by an absolute sovereign. Hobbes wrote that civil war and the brute situation of a state of nature ("the war of all against all") could only be avoided by strong, undivided government. Hobbes begins his treatise on politics with an account of human nature. He presents an image of man as matter in motion, attempting to show through example how everything about humanity can be explained materialistically, that is, without recourse to an incorporeal, immaterial soul or a faculty for understanding ideas that are external to the human mind. Hobbes proceeds by defining terms clearly and unsentimentally. Good and evil are nothing more than terms used to denote an individual's appetites and desires, while these appetites and desires are nothing more than the tendency to move toward or away from an object. Hope is nothing more than an appetite for a thing combined with opinion that it can be had. He suggests the dominant political theology of the time, Scholasticism, thrives on confused definitions of everyday words, such as incorporeal substance, which for Hobbes is a contradiction in terms. Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Powe

by Rosalyn Schanzer

Tells the story of the victims, the accused witches, and the scheming officials that turned a mysterious illness into a witch hunt.

by John Hardon

The Treasury of Catholic Wisdom is a Catholic library in miniature, a one-volume microcosm of what the Church's great minds have thought and said since the apostolic age. Indeed, in The Treasury of Catholic Wisdom, noted theologian Fr. John A. Hardon has compiled the works of thirty-three of the greatest Catholic thinkers and writers, representing every period of the Church's passage through time, from the beginnings of Christianity to the present day. Here are men and women, bishops and priests, religious and the laity "whose native talents were elevated by the supernatural light that God reserves for those who are most submissive to His will." Included in this extraordinary and fascinating anthology are the works of the early saints, such as Gregory, Basil, Augustine, John Chrysostom, Patrick, Bernard Francis, and Thomas Aquinas. Here, too, are the writings of the great reformers Ignatius, Catherine of Siena, and Teresa of Avila; the mystic John of the Cross; the practical wisdom of Francis de Sales, Louis de Montfort, and Peter Julian Eymard; and the modern-day reflections of Gerard Manley Hopkins, Francis Thompson, Therese of Lisieux, G.K. Chesterton, and Fulton J. Sheen. The Treasury of Catholic Wisdom is a comprehensive anthology of the outstanding Catholic literature from the first century to modern times. Mystics and martyrs, philosophers and theologians, poets and prose writers are quoted at length and in depth. They are truly representative of the spirit and substan

by Lisa Kemmerer

Despite increasing public attention to animal suffering, little seems to have changed: human beings continue to exploit billions of animals in factory farms, medical laboratories, and elsewhere. In this wide-ranging and perceptive study, Lisa Kemmerer shows how spiritual writings and teachings in seven major religious traditions can help people to consider their ethical obligations towards other creatures.

by Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad

For several decades, the Muslim world has experienced a religious resurgence. The reassertion of Islam in personal and political life has taken many forms, from greater attention to religious practice to the emergence of Islamic organizations, movements, and institutions. One of the most controversial and emotionally charged aspects of this revival has been its effect on women in Muslim societies. The essays collected in this book place this issue in its historical context and offer case studies of Muslim societies from North Africa to Southeast Asia. These fascinating studies shed light on the impact of the Islamic resurgence on gender issues in Iran, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Oman, Bahrain, the Philippines, and Kuwait. Taken together, the essays reveal the wide variety that exists among Muslim societies and believers, and the complexity of the issues under consideration. They show that new things are happening for women across the Islamic world, and are in many cases being initiated by women themselves. The volume as a whole militates against the stereotype of Muslim women as repressed, passive, and without initiative, while acknowledging the very real obstacles to women's initiatives in most of these societies.

by Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley

The Mandaeans were a gnostic sect that arose in the Middle East around the same time as Christianity. This text examines the lives and religion of contemporary Mandaeans and provides an introduction to the religion, showing how its ancient texts inform the living religion, and vice versa.

by Marvin Alan Sweeney

Although the biblical books of the prophets are based upon the careers and experiences of some of the most talented and provocative individuals of their time, the books must be read first as literature. Each book displays its own unique organization, literary characteristics, and theological outlook in presenting the prophets. In the case of Jeremiah, for example, interpreters must even consider two distinctive forms of the book in the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Septuagint. By guiding the reader through the literary structure and language of each of the prophetic books as well as the social roles of the individual prophets, this volume opens the reader to greater understanding and appreciation of the prophets of Israel and Judah.

by Saint Augustine (of Hippo)

"For Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee." CONFESSIONS is an autobiographical work by St. Augustine of Hippo written in between AD 397 and AD 398. The work outlines Augustine's sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity. It is widely seen as the first Western autobiography ever written, and was an influential model for Christian writers throughout the following 1,000 years of the Middle Ages. It provides a record of St. Augustine's development of thought and is the most complete record of any single person from the 4th and 5th centuries. It is a significant theological work, featuring spiritual meditations and insights.

by J. Armitage Robinson

Overview The early church leaders were prolific in their writing and historical documentation. While some of this work has been canonized, much has been forgotten. The Text and Studies: Contributions to Biblical and Patristic Literature collection resurrects these documents in a renewed and focused study, attempting to glean the wisdom and insight of the ancients. These volumes dig deep into apocryphal literature with critical analyses, close readings, and examinations of the original manuscripts.