This volume sets out to examine how Christian scriptures have been read within a Chinese reading tradition, and to assess what questions such readings pose for both theologians and Chinese studies specialists. The absence to date of publications on the topic, and the scattered nature of such research and of scholars in the field makes this an important contribution to debate. The volume gathers essays from Biblical studies experts together with theologians and Chinese text scholars to discuss the interdisciplinary questions raised. Essays from mainland, Taiwanese and diasporic Chinese scholars ensure that a range of opinions (including those reflecting fault lines between 'academic' and 'confessional' positions) are presented.Within the four sections of the volume, several papers discuss and correct the current lineage of historical readings, while others study the historical impact of the Bible in Chinese society. Four essays give contextual or cross-cultural readings, with a focus on individual exegetes, mainly from the early twentieth century. The power of performance is raised in two essays, one comparative paper on Christian and Buddhist scriptures from the Qing dynasty and one on the singing of psalms in modern day Taiwan and Macao. Moral questions preoccupy others, including the challenges that early Chinese converts found in Biblical laws or Christian guidance on concubinage, and extrincisist readings of the "Sermon on the Mount".

Why YOU Should Read This Book Regardless of Your Religion: After being ordained a minister of the Gospel of Jesus by Mount Zion Church of God in Charlotte, N.C, I saw the priorities of African American and other churches. I realized that we don't worship God, we worship tribal religions. My book defines these and other divisions as reasons why we can not unite into one people, one world, in one accord. And that's why my book is not about Christianity. It is the about the collective wisdom of all religions - as opposed to often historical intentional misinterpretations many religious leaders use to isolate us to themselves. But, the best part is that you need not give up your own faith to accept what is written. I predict that after you read it, you'll want to tell others about it and as you tell them, they will see a new you. Hereafter let the miraculous power of brotherly love ease the burdens of the poor, heavy laden, down trodden and ill Mel Reed, Servant To God, Servant To Mankind.

The medieval Jewish philosophers Saadia Gaon, Bahya ibn Pakuda, and Moses Maimonides made significant contributions to moral philosophy in ways that remain relevant today.
Jonathan Jacobs explicates shared, general features of the thought of these thinkers and also highlights their distinctive contributions to understanding moral thought and moral life. The rationalism of these thinkers is a key to their views. They argued that seeking rational understanding of Torah's commandments and the created order is crucial to fulfilling the covenant with God, and that intellectual activity and ethical activity form a spiral of mutual reinforcement. In their view, rational comprehension and ethical action jointly constitute a life of holiness. Their insights are important in their own right and are also relevant to enduring issues in moral epistemology and moral psychology, resonating even in the contemporary context.
The central concerns of this study include (i) the relations between revelation and rational justification, (ii) the roles of intellectual virtue and ethical virtue in human perfection, (iii) the implications of theistic commitments for topics such as freedom of the will, the acquisition of virtues and vices, repentance, humility, and forgiveness, (iv) contrasts between medieval Jewish moral thought and the practical wisdom approach to moral philosophy and the natural law approach to it, and (v) the universality and objectivity of moral elements of Torah.

This indispensable volume traces the rapidly evolving feminist scene in theology over the last generation and highlights specific contributions that have been and are being made. Although prominently Christian, the book also includes feminist initiatives from Judaism, Islam and Buddhism. The illustrious contributors offer an enlightening history, bracing analysis, and thoughtful proposals for the future.

This is a serious, scholarly of liturgy analysis combining historical, philosophical, musicological and liturgical. The volume, like the series, will be aimed at moving the debate about liturgy out of the narrow confines of either 'pastoral liturgy', 'reform of the reform' or nostalgia and bemoaning of the ruination of liturgical tradition to an entirely higher plane, of serious, scholarly, measured analysis combining historical, philosophical, musicological and liturgical. This book advances a provocative and controversial set of proposals for the development of future liturgical reform in its attempt to re-engage with a traditional sense of the Roman Rite. The author is uniquely placed to make the case he does. A mediaevalist and musicologist of unparalleled experience and breadth, Dobszay combines - almost uniquely - a profound knowledge of the history of the development of the Roman Rite - especially the Antiphonary - with a personal interest and passionate concern for the lived experience of the rite itself. The result is a lively and vigorous text based around the idea of the actual liturgical sense of the Roman Rite - meaning a respect for its integrity as an historical tradition that found multiform expression across Europe and also across at least 1600 years, combined with a sympathy for the fact that the rite is still a living entity with a long future ahead of it. "T&T Clark Studies in Fundamental Liturgy" offer cutting edge scholarship from all disciplines related to liturgical study. The books in the series seek to reintegrate biblical, patristic, historical, dogmatic and philosophical questions with liturgical study in ways faithful and sympathetic to classical liturgical enquiry. Volumes in the series include monographs, translations of recent texts and edited collections around very specific themes.

This reader guides students through this difficult topic, with seven chapters representing an in-depth treatment of a sub-topic within theological anthropology. Starting with an overview and specific methods for this subject, the overall discussion focuses on the exegetical-theological problem of the imago dei. The following chapters offer examination of topics such as: human ontology, freedom and limit, gender and sexuality, personhood and identity and worship and desire. Throughout this reader, the editors include texts from the patristic, medieval, Reformation and modern eras, while also providing a blend of bible commentary, theological discourse and philosophy. The texts used for this study include thinkers such as Gregory of Nyssa, Kathryn Tanner, Karl Barth, Augustine, Martin Luther, John Paul II, Sarah Coakley and David Kelsey. Each chapter contains an introduction, research/discussion questions and suggestions for further reading.

The observation that scholarly work on the Bible is of little use to theologians is the starting premise for this volume. As a possible solution to this impasse, the contributors explore the potential insights provided by a distinct tradition of biblical interpretation that has its roots in both the patristic School of Antioch and in the Syriac Fathers, such as Ephrem and Jacob of Sarug, and which has survived and developed in the Churches of the Antiochene Patrimony, such as the Maronite and Syriac.

Franz Dunzl gives an account of the formation of the doctrine of the Trinity in a narrative based on contemporary sources: as he remarks in the preface, he wants to describe the human struggle over the truth of the Christian image of God and as far as possible let the early Christians speak for themselves. His main concern is to describe the dynamic of the disputes over the theology of the Trinity in a vivid way which is easy to follow, pointing out the foundations of the doctrine and the decisive shifts in its development. He tries to see the often bitter discussion not as a barren dispute but as an evolutionary process in which the rivalry is a necessary and positive factor in moving the debate forward. After an introduction to the problem, the book describes the beginning of christology and the first models of the relationship between 'Father' and 'Son': it then describes the controversies leading up to the Council of Nicaea, which are discussed at length, going on to show how Nicaea didn't settle the question and continuing the account up to the Council of Constantinople in 381. It brings out the political influences which governed this second stage of the discussion in an illuminating way. A survey and bibliography round the book off.

An exploration of three of Augustine's central texts, the De Trinitate, the De Doctrina Christiana, and the Confessions elucidate the principles of Augustine's theology of language. This is done in a systematic manner, which previous scholarship on Augustine has lacked. Augustine's principles are revealed through a close reading of these three core texts. Beginning with the De Trinitate, the book demonstrates that Augustine's inquiry into the character of the human person is incomplete. For Augustine, there is a void without reference to the category of human speech, the very thing that enables him to communicate his theological inquiry into God and the human person in the De Trinitate. From here, the book examines a central work of Augustine that deals with the significance of divine and human speech, the De Doctrina Christiana. It expounds this text carefully, showing three chief facets of Augustinian thought about divine and human communication: human social relations; human self-interpretation using scripture; and preaching, the public communication of God's word. It accepts the De Doctrina Christiana as laying theoretical foundations for Augustine's understanding of the task of theology and language's meaning and centrality within it. The book then moves to Augustine's Confessions to see the principles of Augustine's theology of language enacted within its first nine books. Augustine's conversion narrative is analysed as a literary demonstration of Augustine's description of human identity before God, showing how speech and human social relations centrally mediate God's relationship to humanity. For Augustine, human identity properly speaking is confessional'. The book returns to the De Trinitate to complete its analysis of that text using the principles of the theology of language uncovered in the De Doctrina Christiana and the Confessions. It shows that the first seven books of that text, and its core structure, move around the principles of the theology of language that the investigation has uncovered. To this extent, theological inquiry for Augustine the human task of looking for God is bound up primarily within the act of human speech and the social relations it helps to compose. The book closes with reflection on the significance of these findings for Augustinian scholarship and theological research more generally.

A comprehensive survey of how religions understand death, dying, and the afterlife, drawing on examples from Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and Shamanic perspectives. * Considers shared and differing views of death across the world s major religions, including on the nature of death itself, the reasons for it, the identity of those who die, religious rituals, and on how the living should respond to death * Places emphasis on the varying concepts of the self or soul * Uses a thematic structure to facilitate a broader comparative understanding * Written in an accessible style to appeal to an undergraduate audience, it fills major gap in current textbook literature

Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus are arguably the most celebrated representatives of the 'Golden Age' of scholasticism. Primarily, they are known for their work in natural theology, which seeks to demonstrate tenets of faith without recourse to premises rooted in dogma or revelation. Scholars of this Golden Age drew on a wealth of tradition, dating back to Plato and Aristotle, and taking in the Arabic and Jewish interpretations of these thinkers, to produce a wide variety of answers to the question 'How much can we learn of God?' Some responded by denying us any positive knowledge of God. Others believed that we have such knowledge, yet debated whether its acquisition requires some action on the part of God in the form of an illumination bestowed on the knower. Scotus and Aquinas belong to the more empirically minded thinkers in this latter group, arguing against a necessary role for illumination. Many scholars believe that Aquinas and Scotus exhaust the spectrum of answers available to this circle, with Aquinas maintaining that our knowledge is quite confused and Scotus that it is completely accurate. In this study, Alexander Hall argues that the truth about Aquinas and Scotus lies somewhere in the middle. Hall's book recommends itself to the general reader who is looking for an overview of this period in Western philosophy as well as to the specialist, for no other study on the market addresses this long-standing matter of interpretation in any detail.