This book explores the effect of Catholicism on the imagination and the fiction of Protestant novelists in England during the decades surrounding Catholic Emancipation (1829) and the reestablishment of the Roman Catholic Church in England (1850). This book examines anti-Catholicism in popular and respected novelists such as Scott and Dickens, showing the secret attraction to Catholicism of staunch anti-Catholic Protestants.
Babylon is a surprisingly multivalent symbol in U.S. culture and politics. Political citations of Babylon range widely, from torture at Abu Ghraib to depictions of Hollywood glamour and decadence. In political discourse, Babylon appears in conservative ruminations on democratic law, liberal appeals to unity, Tea Party warnings about equality, and religious advocacy for family values. A composite biblical figure, Babylon is used to celebrate diversity and also to condemn it, to sell sexuality and to regulate it, to galvanize war and to worry about imperialism. Erin Runions explores the significance of these shifts and contradictions, arguing that together they reveal a theopolitics that tries to balance the drive for U.S. dominance with the countervailing ideals and subjectivities of economic globalization. Examining the confluence of cultural formations, biblical interpretations, and (bio)political philosophies, The Babylon Complex shows how theopolitical arguments for war, sexual regulation, and political control both assuage and contribute to anxieties about waning national sovereignty. Theoretically sophisticated and engaging, this remarkable book complicates our understanding of how the Bible affects U.S political ideals and subjectivities.
Marina Benjamin grew up in London feeling estranged from her family's exotic Middle Eastern ways. She refused to speak the Arabic her mother and grandmother spoke at home. She rejected the peculiar food they ate in favor of hamburgers and beer. But when Benjamin had her own child a few years ago, she realized that she was losing her link to the past. In Last Days in Babylon, Benjamin delves into the story of her family's life among the Jews of Iraq in the first half of the twentieth century. When Iraq gained independence in 1932, Jews were the largest and most prosperous ethnic group in Baghdad. They dominated trade and finance, hobnobbed with Iraqi dignitaries, and lived in grandiose villas on the banks of the Tigris. Just twenty years later the community had been utterly ravaged, its members effectively expelled from the country by a hostile Iraqi government. Benjamin's grandmother Regina Sehayek lived through it all. Born in 1905, when Baghdad was still under Ottoman control, her childhood was a virtual idyll. This privileged existence was barely touched when the British marched into Iraq. But with the rise of Arab nationalism and the first stirrings of anti-Zionism, Regina, then a young mother, began to have dark premonitions of what was to come. By the time Iraq was galvanized by war, revolution, and regicide, Regina was already gone, her hair-raising escape a tragic exodus from a land she loved -- and a permanent departure from the husband whose gentle guiding hand had made her the woman she was. Benjamin's keen ear and fluid writing bring to life Regina's Baghdad, both good and bad. More than a stirring story of survival, Last Days in Babylon is a bittersweet portrait of Old World Baghdad and its colorful Jewish community, whose roots predate the birth of Islam by a thousand years and whose culture did much to make Iraq the peaceful desert paradise that has since become a distant memory. In 2004 Benjamin visited Baghdad for the first time, searching for the remains of its once vital Jewish community. What she discovered will haunt anyone who seeks to understand a country that continues to command the world's attention, just as it did when Regina Sehayek proudly walked through Baghdad's streets. By turns moving and funny, Last Days in Babylon is an adventure story, a riveting history, and a timely reminder that behind today's headlines are real people whose lives are caught -- too often tragically -- in the crossfire of misunderstanding, age-old prejudice, and geopolitical ambition.
The evidence presented in this book leads to the ineluctable conclusion that the Roman Catholic Church was established by crypto-Jews as a false "Christian" front for a Judaic/Babylonian religion and is the core of a world conspiracy against man and God.
The Bible is full of images of God caring for his creation in all its complexity. Yet experts warn us that a so-called perfect storm of factors threatens the future of life on earth. The authors assess the evidence for climate change and other threats that our planet faces in the coming decades while pointing to the hope God offers the world and the people he made.
One of the world's most beloved Bible teachers offers definitive teaching on biblical prophecy, the end times, and the apocalypse. Do you find yourself disheartened when you hear the news events of the day? Wars raging across the world. Crisis after crisis occurring in the homeland. Moral decay seemingly celebrated in the media outlets. Just when it seems things can't get any worse...they do. Thankfully, God has graciously filled His Word with signs of the future to help us understand His purpose and plans for us. In The Book of Signs Study Guide, bestselling author Dr. David Jeremiah examines the prophetic writings from the Old and New Testaments to help you cut through the confusion and give you insights about God's plan for humankind as the end times draw near. In this comprehensive thirty-one lesson study guide, you will explore what God's Word says about... International Signs: the nations and regions that will play important roles as the final events of the age emerge. Cultural Signs: what will occur in societies and cultures around the world as we approach the end times. Heavenly Signs: what will happen to believers during this tumultuous time. Tribulation Signs: what will transpire during this seven-year period, when Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet unleash unspeakable horrors on the world. End Signs: what believers can look forward to experiencing when Jesus returns and God establishes His everlasting kingdom on earth. God has given us a firm understanding of what is really going on in the world and what will happen as we approach the end of the age. As you come to understand the truth about these signs, your faith will grow, you will live more confidently, and you will gain a new hope for the future—knowing the time for the return of the Prince of Peace is drawing near. Each Lesson Includes: An outline of the main subjects and Scriptures covered during the lesson. An overview of Dr. Jeremiah's teaching on the topic being studied. Application questions to help individuals and small groups delve into the Bible. A Did You Know? section that adds a point of interest to the lesson. This study guide is designed to be used in conjunction with The Book of Signs (9780785229551), but it may also be used by itself for personal or group study.
T. Scott Daniels, pastor of a Los Angeles megachurch, contends that corporate bodies like churches form an individual spiritual personality of sorts. Cultural influences can impact the collective spirit or attitude of a congregation, either hindering it from becoming all God intends it to be or setting it free to glorify God. In this practical work, Daniels examines the nature of the seven representative "angels" of the churches addressed in Revelation to show how congregations can escape the principalities and powers that hold them captive. The book encourages working pastors, church leaders, and ministry students to consider a systems approach to church leadership--one that takes seriously the powers at work within local congregations--and offers suggestions for transformation.
