Examining a wide array of ancient writings, Brent Nongbri dispels the commonly held idea that there is such a thing as ancient religion. Nongbri shows how misleading it is to speak as though religion was a concept native to pre-modern cultures.
Vol. 4 covers the late Roman period to the rise of Islam. Focuses especially on the growth and development of rabbinic Judaism and of the major classical rabbinic sources such as the Mishnah, Jerusalem Talmud, Babylonian Talmud and various Midrashic collections.
A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.
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Jews and humor is, for most people, a natural and felicitous collocation. In spite of, or perhaps because of, a history of crises and living on the edge, Jews have often created or resorted to humor. But what is humor? And what makes certain types, instances, or performances of humor "Jewish"? These are among the myriad queries addressed by the fourteen authors whose essays are collected in this volume. And, thankfully, their observations, always apt and often witty, are expressed with a lightness of style and a depth of analysis that are appropriate to the many topics they cover. The scholars who contributed to this collection allow readers both to discern the common features that make up "Jewish humor" and to delight in the individualism and eccentricities of the many figures whose lives and accomplishments are narrated here. Because these essays are written in a clear, jargon-free style, they will appeal to everyone—even those who don't usually crack a smile!
2006 Catholic Press Association Award Winner After suffering an eclipse during the post-Vatican II liturgical reform, popular piety has regained its vital role in the spiritual life of Catholics. In response to its re-emergence, the Congregation for divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy on December 17, 2001. The Directory was written for bishops and their collaborators as a pastoral guide addressing the relationship between liturgy and popular piety. Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy: Principles and Guidelines, A Commentary by Peter C. Phan provides a chapter-by-chapter commentary on the Directory, summarizing its contents, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses, and offering suggestions on how devotional practices can be implemented in the United States. For liturgists, religious educators and students, pastoral leaders, and other interested Christians, this volume is helpful toward promoting a vigorous and authentic devotional life in the community, while respecting the preeminence of liturgical worship. The Commentary begins with a preface by Peter C. Phan and an introduction by James Empereur, entitled Popular Piety and the Liturgy: Principles and Guidelines." Chapters in Part One: Emerging Trends: History, Magisterium, Theology are *Liturgy and Popular Piety in a Historical Perspective, - by Mark R. Francis; *Liturgy and Popular Piety in the Church's Magisterium, - by Peter Fink; and *Theological Principles for an Evaluation and Renewal of Popular Piety, - by Nathan Mitchell. Chapters in Part Two: Guidelines for the Harmonization of Popular Piety with the Liturgy are *The Liturgical Year and Popular Piety, - by Keith F. Pecklers; *Veneration of the Holy Mother of God, - by Joyce Ann Zimmerman; *Veneration of the Saints and Beati, - by Rail Gomez; *Suffrage for the Dead, - by Peter C. Phan; *Shrines and Pilgrimages, - by Ana Maria Pineda. Concludes with a bibliography that presents the most significant recent writings on popular piety and liturgy, by Robert Brancatelli. Peter C. Phan, PhD, is the Ignacio Ellacuria Professor of Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown University. "
With truly startling statistics and a wealth of anecdotes, Silbiger reveals the cultural principles that form the bedrock of Jewish success in America.
The book treats the Protestant cultures of northern Europe, particularly England, examining biblical commentaries, plays, poems, sermons, and treatises, as well as the often startling negotiations between these texts and other cultural discourses. In Shuger's hands, these biblical materials serve to illuminate, and often radically reinterpret, the dominant issues in contemporary Renaissance studies: gender, the body, colonialism, subjectivity, desire, law, and history. Her work forcefully demonstrates the cultural centrality of Renaissance religion.