B. Andrew Lustig, Baruch A. Brody, and Gerald P. McKenny In this second volume of the "Altering Nature" project, we situate specific religious and policy discussions of four broad areas of biotechnology within the context of our interdisciplinary research on concepts of nature and the natural in the first volume (Altering Nature, Concepts of Nature and the Natural in Biotechnology Debates). In the first volume, we invited five groups of scholars to explore the diverse conc- tions of nature and the natural that shape moral judgments about human alterations of nature, as especially exemplified by recent developments in biotechnology. A careful reading of such developments reveals that assessments of them-whether positive or negative-are often informed by different conceptual interpretations of nature and the natural, with differing implications for judgments about the app- priateness of particular alterations of nature. These varying interpretations of nature and the natural often result from the distinctive perspectives that characterize va- ous scholarly disciplines. Therefore, in an effort to explore the variety of meanings that attend discussions of the concepts of nature and the natural, the contributors to the first volume of Altering Nature addressed those concepts from five different disciplinary vantages. A first group of scholars analyzed a range of religious and spiritual perspectives on concepts of nature and the natural. Their research highlighted the thematic, h- torical, and methodological touchstones in those traditions that shape their persp- tives on nature.

Religion, Emotion, Sensation asks what affect theory has to say about God or gods, religion or religions, scriptures, theologies, and liturgies. Contributors explore the crossings and crisscrossings between affect theory and theology and the study of religion more broadly, as well as the political and social import of such work. Bringing together affect theorists, theologians, biblical scholars, and scholars of religion, this volume enacts creative transdisciplinary interventions in the study of affect and religion through exploring such topics as biblical literature, Christology, animism, Rastafarianism, the women's Mosque Movement, the unending Korean War, the Sewol ferry disaster, trans and gender queer identities, YA fiction, queer historiography, the prison industrial complex, debt and neoliberalism, and death and poetry. Contributors: Mathew Arthur, Amy Hollywood, Wonhee Anne Joh, Dong Sung Kim, A. Paige Rawson, Erin Runions, Donovan O. Schaefer, Gregory J. Seigworth, Max Thornton, Alexis G. Waller

'Public theology' involves the application of biblical and theological principles outside the confines of the church and assesses their implications for wider society. It examines both the theoretical structures of society (the nature of secularity, government, globalisation, pluralism and so forth) and the myriad specific issues involved in daily life (everything from sport to work-place relations to economics). Public theology is also, very importantly, a discipline that is practiced by the 'ordinary' Christian as well as the academic, and it is done in public (with all the scrutiny that entails) and in such a way that it communicates to non-Christians (although it remains a theological endeavour). In a real sense it is theology for the world, from the Word, by the people of God. The volume has a variety of contributors and includes an article on the role of public theology in Islam.

Death and immortality played a central role in Greek and Roman thought, from Homer and early Greek philosophy to Marcus Aurelius. In this book A. G. Long explains the significance of death and immortality in ancient ethics, particularly Plato's dialogues, Stoicism and Epicureanism; he also shows how philosophical cosmology and theology caused immortality to be re-imagined. Ancient arguments and theories are related both to the original literary and theological contexts and to contemporary debates on the philosophy of death. The book will be of major interest to scholars and students working on Greek and Roman philosophy, and to those wishing to explore ancient precursors of contemporary debates about death and its outcomes.

Mufid al-'Ibad, of which this book is a translation, is a summation of all the previous commentaries on the work of Ibn 'Ashir on Ash'ari 'aqida, Maliki fiqh and Junaydi tasawwuf and is augmented not infrequently by the author's own subtle understanding of the finer aspects of the 'amal of the people of Madina. Shaykh Ahmad bin al-Bashir al-Qalawi ash-Shinqiti (1216 AH/1802 CE- 1276 AH/1853 CE), whose lineage can be traced to Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, came from a family and tribe in present day Mauritania renowned for its knowledge and active implementation of the deen. Although he himself refrained from any sufic commentary on Ibn Ashir's work, he was recognised as a wali by the men of this science around him. Dr Yate (Cantab.) has translated works from Arabic, Persian, German and French, and, in collaboration with others, from Turkish. He teaches Arabic and Fiqh at the Weimar Institute, is a Founding fellow of The Muslim Faculty of Advanced Studies, and is active on the shariat board of the World Islamic Mint.

"The triune God is a communion of love, and the family is its living reflection." These words, taken from Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), have inspired celebrated theologian Megan McKenna to explore how and why families are the living embodiment of Christian values and teachings. In Holy Families: Shadows of the Trinity, readers are invited to view the key scriptural accounts of the Holy Family as providing a model and template for families today. By focusing on the inevitable triumphs and travails that are part and parcel of marriage and child-rearing, the author teases out the very real links between the challenges experienced by Joseph, Jesus and Mary, and those facing families in the contemporary world. Reflecting on key Gospel events - the Annunciation and Visitation, the Presentation, and the Resurrection among them - this book explores how fathers, children and mothers are shadows of the image of God the Father, the Child and the Spirit in the Trinity and are the very presence of God in the community and the world.

Avi Sagi's book ponders one of the most intriguing shifts in modern Jewish thought: from a metaphysical and theological standpoint toward a new manner of philosophizing based primarily on practice. Different chapters study this great shift and its various manifestations. The central figure of this new examination is Isaiah Leibowitz, whose thoughts encapsulate more than any other Jewish thinker this stance of religion without metaphysics. Sagi explores corresponding issues such as observance, the possibility of pluralism, the meaning of penance without messianic suppositions, and pragmatic coping with theodicy after the Holocaust, presenting the different possibilities within this great alteration in Jewish thought. Avi Sagi (Ph.D. Bar Ilan University, 1988) is a Professor at Bar Ilan University and Senior Research Fellow, Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem. His recent books include Circles of Jewish Identity (with Zvi Zohar), Tel Aviv, 2000; Elu va Elu A Study on the Meaning of Halakhic Discourse, Tel Aviv, 1996

"Jewish Religion after Theology" offers an account of attempts to deal with this question in contemporary Jewish thought. It points to a post-theological trend that shifts the focus of the discussion from metaphysics to praxis, and examines the possibilities of establishing a religious life centered on immanent-practical existence. Key questions considered include the possibility of toleration and pluralism in Jewish religion and the perception of the Holocaust as a theological or religious-existential problem. Professor Avi Sagi teaches philosophy at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, where he is also the founding director of a graduate program on Hermeneutics and Cultural Studies. Sagi is senior research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. He has published extensively on continental philosophy, philosophy of religion and ethics, Jewish philosophy, philosophy and sociology of Jewish law. Among his books: Religion and Morality (with Daniel Statman); Kierkegaard, Religion, and Existence: The Voyage of the Self; Albert Camus and the Philosophy of the Absurd; The Open Canon: On the Meaning of Halakhic Discourse; Tradition vs. Traditionalism.

As a scientist, philosopher and scholar in Jewish thought, Yeshayahu Leibowitz was one of the most noteworthy thinkers in the twentieth century. He was endowed with a remarkable intellect and was knowledgeable across a variety of fields. Born in Riga (Latvia) in 1903, he later immigrated to Israel, where he taught organic chemistry, biochemistry, neurology, biology, neurophysiology, philosophy and Jewish thought at Haifa and Jerusalem University. He was Chief Editor of the Hebrew encyclopedia, where he wrote about scientific, philosophical, historical and religious topics. Leibowitz was an orthodox Jew, but rejected the notion of divine intervention in nature or history. So what was actually Leibowitz' belief? This volume explores his belief system.

Refusing to accept anything but ever-increasing levels of human responsibility within a religious framework, covenantal thinkers audaciously suggest that the covenant empowers humanity, as it binds and inhibits divinity. This is a reformulation of recurrent issues within the Jewish tradition, and one which pays homage to the modern context from which it emerges. Hartman and Borowitz grew up in the same mid-century American academic and social environment, and the product of that upbringing has a significant impact on the subsequent theories which they promote. Both thinkers have attracted a considerable following, but very few scholars have discussed them together. Cooper here for the fi rst time works toward understanding their work in comparison with each other, and with covenant as the central focus and framework.

Abraham Joshua Heschel and Martin Buber were giant thinkers of the twentieth century who made significant contributions to the understanding of religious consciousness and of Judaism. They wrote on various subjects, such as the Bible, the commandments, Hasidism, Zionism and Christianity, and had much in common, though they also differed on substantial points. Of special note is the intense and fruitful interaction that took place between them. Until now, scholars have not undertaken a comparative analysis of Buber and Heschel as eminent contemporary interpreters of the Jewish tradition. In this volume, Meir and Even-Chen have taken upon themselves the challenge of monitoring their agreements and disputes.

This book analyzes the writings of Rabbi Yechiel Mechel Halevi Epstein (1829-1908), author of the Arukh Hashulkhan, a bold and unusual approach to Jewish law. Based primarily on the original text of Rabbi Epstein's legal codes and homilies, this work covers topics such as women, modernity, customs, and secular studies. It analyzes the rabbi's approach to Jewish law and Jewish life, designed to promote the spiritual welfare of Jews under the pressures of growing secularization and russification. Although based upon the principles of the traditional judicial process, the rabbi's rulings demonstrate a profound understanding of the contemporary social and historical reality facing the Jews of Russia at the turn of the century.

The Hayei Adam, an abridged code of Jewish law, was written by Rabbi Avraham Danzig (1748-1820) and was first published in 1810. This code spread quickly throughout Europe, and the demand for it required a second publishing which the author printed in 1818. Beyond a Code of Jewish Law attempts to understand the implicit message of its author and discuss various approaches of its writer to both Judaism and Jewish law. While the Hayei Adam without any doubt unveils Rabbi Danzig to be a brilliant rabbinic scholar, with a comprehensive knowledge of Jewish law as well as a coherent and concise system of presentation, it also expresses his great concern for the Jewish community and each individual Jew. Aspects of this concern such as Hasidism, musar, kabbalah, are explored.

The study of classical Jewish texts is flourishing in day schools and adult education, synagogues and summer camps, universities and yeshivot. But serious inquiry into the practices and purposes of such study is far rarer. In this book, a diverse collection of empirical and conceptual studies illuminates particular aspects of the teaching of Bible and rabbinic literature to, and the learning of, children and adults. In addition to providing specific insights into the pedagogy of Jewish texts, these studies serve as models of what the disciplined study of pedagogy can look like. The book will be of interest to teachers of Jewish texts in all contexts, and will be particularly valuable for the professional development of Jewish educators.

Jewish custom and ritual, or their Hebrew equivalent, minhag, has intrigued rabbis and scholars for generations. The majority of the rabbinical works devoted to minhag primarily encompass lists of sources and reporting of old and new customs. Some have explored the historical development of the minhag. Here, Simcha Fishbane treats minhag from a socio-anthropological perspective. The Shtiebelization of Modern Jewry discusses the theory and model of minhagim using the Mishnah Berurah and the Arukh Hashulkhan, analyzes rabbinic texts concerned with custom, and describes current rituals from a socio-anthropological viewpoint, enabling both scholars and general readers to come to a better understanding of minhagim in Jewish culture.

A New Physiognomy of Jewish Thinking is a search for authenticity that combines critical thinking with a yearning for heartfelt poetics. A physiognomy of thinking addresses the figure of a life lived where theory and praxis are unified. This study explores how the critical essays on music of German-Jewish thinker, Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno (1903-1969) necessarily accompany the downfall of metaphysics. By scrutinizing a critical juncture in modern intellectual history, marked in 1931 by Adorno's founding of the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, neglected applications of Critical Theory to Jewish Thought become possible. This study proffers a constructive justification of a critical standpoint, reconstructively shown how such ideals are seen under the genealogical proviso of re/cognizing their original meaning. Re/cognition of A New Physiognomy of Jewish Thinking redresses neglected applications of Negative Dialectics, the poetics of God, the metaphysics of musical thinking, reification in Zionism, the transpoetics of Physics and Metaphysics, as well as correlating Aesthetic Theory to Jewish Law (halakhah).

The author of this study invokes Peirce's logic in order to clarify the operational procedures of dialectic, foundational, and doctrinal theology. He argues that Peirce's theory of the normative sciences casts light on three forms of conversion: affective, intellectual, and moral conversion. From a normative account of the dynamics of five forms of conversion, he derives specific criteria for authenticating and calling into question both doctrinal statements about the content of religious faith and different theories of theological method. The third and final chapter tests the adequacy of the suggested criteria by applying them to the symbolic Christology of Roger Haight.

Beth Hawkins focuses on the problematic faith in the works of Kafka, Celan, and Jabes to reevaluate the notions of God and covenant in light of Nietzsche's "death of God" hypothesis. the divine-human relation. In Reluctant Theologians, she shows that Kafka, Celan, and Jabes offer as a testament, as three unique instances of Kiddush Ha-Shem (sanctification of the divine name), to a divine source that persists at the same time as it is being continuously reconstituted in the moment of writing. What connects Kafka, Celan, and Jabes to a postmodern philosophy is their shared belief that a specifically Jewish ethic can serve as a model for a universal ethic.

The Holy Spirit inspired Jude to quote Enoch for a reason. The Ancient Book of Enoch opens by addressing those in the Tribulation period. It contains numerous prophecies about the flood and fire judgments, and the two comings of the Messiah. It teaches that the Messiah is the Son of God and that He will shed His blood to redeem us and even predicts the generation that this would occur The book of Enoch prophesies a window of time in which the Second Coming would occur and prophesies that there will be twenty-three Israeli Prime Ministers ruling in fifty-eight terms from AD 1948 to the beginning of the Tribulation period, and much more. Even though it prophecies that the Bible would be created and says we will be judged by our obedience to the Bible, it also makes it clear that this book is not to be added to the Canon of Scripture. The Ancient Book of Enoch recounts the history of the angels that fell in the days of Jared, Enoch's father. It testifies to their marriages with human women and their genetic experiments. This commentary includes a previously unknown chapter from the Dead Sea Scrolls that actually explains how they did their genetic tampering. The commentary is from a fundamentalist Christian view, brought to you by Biblefacts Ministries, biblefacts.org.

Samuel Dresner, a former student and lifelong friend of Heschel's, gives a personal insight into his life and views into the Hasidic movement and the important concept of halakha.

God has assumed a significant role in the sex lives of believers. It is God who decrees which types of sexual expression are permitted, and which forbidden. Through the Church, a patriarchal sexual landscape has been enacted to control sexual bodies which exerts its influence even in our secular culture.

The Good News of the Body is a wide-ranging anthology on feminist sexual theology. Noting that Jesus, while being declared divine, took human form, the volume questions what happens when the flesh, rather than the Word, is placed at the center of theological reflection. What happens when women's bodies form the incarnational starting point for sexual politics and theology? Contributors, including Rosemary Ruether, Mary Hunt, and Melissa Raphael, examine such topics as the possibility of a Roman Catholic approach to sexuality bringing together the three aspects of Christian love of eros, philia, and agape; Jewish sexual and mystical teaching; the de-sexing of the disabled; erotic celibacy; human sexuality and the concept of the goddess; and the sometimes surprisingly similar conclusions about contraception reached by feminists and popes.