Mirage of the Saracen

Mirage of the Saracen

Author: Walter D. Ward

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2014-12-17

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 0520959523

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Mirage of the Saracen analyzes the growth of monasticism and Christian settlements in the Sinai Peninsula through the early seventh century C.E. Walter D. Ward examines the ways in which Christian monks justified occupying the Sinai through creating associations between Biblical narratives and Sinai sites while assigning uncivilized, negative, and oppositional traits to the indigenous nomadic population, whom the Christians pejoratively called "Saracens." By writing edifying tales of hostile nomads and the ensuing martyrdom of the monks, Christians not only reinforced their claims to the spiritual benefits of asceticism but also provoked the Roman authorities to enhance defense of pilgrimage routes to the Sinai. When Muslim armies later began conquering the Middle East, Christians also labeled these new conquerors as Saracens, connecting Muslims to these pre-Islamic representations. This timely and relevant work builds a historical account of interreligious encounters in the ancient world, showing the Sinai as a crucible for forging long-lasting images of both Christians and Muslims, some of which endure today.


Nomad

Nomad

Author: Brandan Robertson

Publisher: Augsburg Books

Published: 2020-08-11

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 1506467369

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"The deeper I grow in my own faith as a Christian, the greater my desire to explore. My faith whets my appetite for discovering what God is doing in and through the world each and every day. This book is a chronicle of some of the most important lessons I have learned thus far. I write to encourage my fellow nomads who, like me, so often feel alone in their wanderings yet are a part of a much larger caravan of fellow wanderers seeking to discover for ourselves the meaning and mysteries of life." Part-autobiography, part-Christian spirituality, Nomad offers penetrating insight into the minds of the new generations of progressive evangelical followers of Jesus in the global Church. Themes include community, war, redemption, wonder, grace, sexuality, and the Eucharist.


Bedouin Culture in the Bible

Bedouin Culture in the Bible

Author: Clinton Bailey

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2018-10-23

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0300245637

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The first contemporary analysis of Bedouin and biblical cultures sheds new light on biblical laws, practices, and Bedouin history Written by one of the world’s leading scholars of Bedouin culture, this groundbreaking book sheds new light on significant points of convergence between Bedouin and early Israelite cultures, as manifested in the Hebrew Bible. Bailey compares Bedouin and biblical sources, identifying overlaps in economic activity, material culture, social values, social organization, laws, religious practices, and oral traditions. He examines the question of whether some early Israelites were indeed nomads as the Bible presents them, offering a new angle on the controversy over the identity of the early Israelites and a new cultural perspective to scholars of the Bible and the Bedouin alike.


The Religion and Rituals of the Nomads of Pre-Islamic Arabia

The Religion and Rituals of the Nomads of Pre-Islamic Arabia

Author: Ahmad Al-Jallad

Publisher: Ancient Languages and Civiliza

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 9789004504264

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1. Introduction -- 2. Rites -- 3. Divinities and Their Roles in the Lives of Humans -- 4. Fate -- 5. Afterlife -- 6. Visual Representation of Deities and the Divine World -- 7. Amplification and Why Write -- 8. Worldview: A Reconstruction -- Appendix 1: Glossary of Divinities -- Appendix 2: Previously Unpublished Inscriptions -- Bibliography -- Index.


When the Church was a Family

When the Church was a Family

Author: Joseph H. Hellerman

Publisher: B&H Publishing Group

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 0805447792

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A study of the early Christian church in the Mediterranean region and its emphasis on collective good over individual desire clarifies much about what is wrong with the American church today.


Christianity Among the Arabs in Pre-Islamic Times

Christianity Among the Arabs in Pre-Islamic Times

Author: J.Spencer Trimingham

Publisher: Stacey International

Published: 1979

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 9781900988681

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Arab history did not begin with the coming of the Prophet in the 7th century; the region had a strong Christian population before the rise of Islam, and it is the story of the first six centuries of Christian Arabia that this book addresses. professed their faith within the traditions of Syriac Christianity, which profoundly influenced culture and history in the ancient Near East. Beginning with a sketch of the Arabs prior to the rise of Christianity, the author goes on to examine the spread of Christianity in Mesopotamia and Babylon, among the nomadic tribes of Northern Arabia and down into central and southern Arabia. It examines the cults and martyrs, ascetics and early monastic movements of the age, weaving together a wide range of scholarship and sources to present this account of the history of the Arabs before the rise of Islam. Arabic Islamic studies feature topics on Arabic and Islamic studies. From a description of the Arabian incense trade, to a sociological study of Islam and its beliefs, this series aims to offer authoritative insights into the history, and contemporary situation, of Arabia.


Windows Into Old Testament History

Windows Into Old Testament History

Author: V. Philips Long

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 9780802839626

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A team of international authors builds a case for a positive appraisal of biblical Israel. Approaching the authenticity of Scripture from several angles--philosophical, archaeological, and literary--the contributors attack the issues involved in this controversial area.


Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions

Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions

Author: Henri Gooren

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-10-11

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783319270777

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This encyclopedia provides an overview of the main religions of Latin America and the Caribbean, both its centralized transnational expressions and its local variants and schisms. These main religions include (but are not limited to) the major expressions of Christianity (Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Pentecostalism, Mormonism, and Jehovah’s Witnesses), indigenous religions (Native American, Maya religion), syncretic Christianity (including Afro-Brazilian religions like Umbanda and Candomblé and Afro-Caribbean religions like Vodun and Santería), other world religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam), transnational New Religious Movements (Scientology, Unification Church, Hare Krishna, New Age, etc.), and new local religions (Brazil’s Igreja Universal, La Luz del Mundo from Mexico, etc.).


You Lost Me

You Lost Me

Author: David Kinnaman

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2011-10-01

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1441213082

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Close to 60 percent of young people who went to church as teens drop out after high school. Now the bestselling author of unChristian trains his researcher's eye on these young believers. Where Kinnaman's first book unChristian showed the world what outsiders aged 16-29 think of Christianity, You Lost Me shows why younger Christians aged 16-29 are leaving the church and rethinking their faith. Based on new research, You Lost Me shows pastors, church leaders, and parents how we have failed to equip young people to live "in but not of" the world and how this has serious long-term consequences. More importantly, Kinnaman offers ideas on how to help young people develop and maintain a vibrant faith that they embrace over a lifetime.