The modern political idea of jihad-a violent struggle against corrupt or anti-Islamic regimes-is essentially the brainchild of one man who turned traditional Islamic precepts inside out and created the modern radical political Islamist movement. Using the evolution of Sayyid Qutb's life and writings, Musallam traces and analyzes Qutb's alienation and subsequent emergence as an independent Islamist within the context of his society and the problems that it faced. Radicalized following his stay in the United States in the late 1940s and during his imprisonment from 1954 to 1964, Qutb would pen controversial writings that would have a significant impact on young Islamists in Egypt for decades following his death and on global jihadist Islamists for the past quarter century. Since September 11, 2001, the West has dubbed Qutb the philosopher of Islamic terror and godfather ideologue of al-Qaeda. This is the first book to examine his life and thought in the wake of the events that ignited the War on Terrorism. A secular man of letters in the 1930s and 1940s, Qutb's outlook and focus on Quranic studies underwent drastic changes during World War II. The Quran became a refuge for his personal needs and for answers to the ills of his society. As a result, he forsook literature permanently for the Islamic cause and way of life. His stay in the United States from 1948 to 1950 reinforced his deeply held belief that Islam is man's only salvation from the abyss of Godless materialism he believed to be manifest in both capitalism and communism. Qutb's active opposition to the secular policies of Egyptian President Nasser led to his imprisonment from 1954 to 1964, during which his writings called for the overthrow of Jahili (pagan) governments and their replacement with a true and just Islamic society. A later arrest and trial resulted in his execution in August 1966.

Al-Ghazali (d. 505/1111) is one of the most influential thinkers of Islam. There is hardly a genre of Islamic literature where he is not regarded as a major authority. Islamic Law, Sufism, ethics, philosophy, and theology are all deeply shaped by him. Yet in the past thirty years, the field of Ghazali-studies has been shaken by the realization that Avicenna (Ibn Sina, d. 428/1037) and other philosophers had a strong influence on him. Now, after the 900th anniversary at his death, the field emerges stronger than ever. This second volume of Islam and Rationality: The Impact of al-Ghazali brings together twelve leading experts on al-Ghazali who write about his thought and the impact it had on later Muslim thinkers. Contributors are: Anna Ayse Akasoy, Ahmed El Shamsy, Kenneth Garden, Frank Griffel, Jules Janssens, Damien Janos, Taneli Kukkonen, Stephen Ogden, M. Sait OEzervarli, Martin Riexinger, Ulrich Rudolph, and Ayman Shihadeh.

Hegel makes philosophical proposals concerning religion and Christianity that demand critical reflection from contemporary theology. Possible defences and criticisms are given in Hegelian discourse, which raise important questions in current theological inquiry.This religious enquiry runs through publications and writings produced during the development of Hegel's systematic philosophy. De Nys considers the understanding of religion and Christianity that Hegel develops in the "Phenomenology of Spirit". The discussion of religious involvement gives special attention to questions concerning religious discourse, which Hegel addresses in his treatment of representational thinking, including Hegel's critique of Schleiermacher.This leads to a discussion of the problem of the relation between the world and God and the issue of God's transcendence, which requires further analysis of the relation of representational and speculative thinking. These discussions provide a framework for considering Hegel's understandings of specific Christian mysteries. The Hegelian conception of the Trinity, the mysteries of Creation, Incarnation and reconciled in dwelling are considered in connection with biblical conceptions of the Trinity.The conclusion examines critical problems surrounding Hegel's essential proposals about religion and Christianity, as well as contributions that Hegel makes to, and the challenges his thinking poses to, contemporary theological inquiry. Throughout, the discussions emphasize an understanding of Hegel's views concerning religion and Christianity as a resource for critical reflection in contemporary theology."The Philosophy and Theology" series looks at major philosophers and explores their relevance to theological thought as well as the response of theology.

A miracle happened that now reveals many secrets of the earth, the universe. Many great mysteries, never before known, will be told in this incredible story, a true phenomenal series of spectacular events. All of mankind is on a well-planned scientific journey. It is a known fact that the sun is traveling or darting through space at a constant speed of 700,000 miles per hour. The earth is being pulled along with the other planets in an exact positioned filing order. The sun is the engine, which controls these planet formations. Their destination will surprise you. This story is so powerful the weak may not be able to follow through to its conclusion. You will come to know and understand this force. There are many forces in the universe and they are sometimes referred to as laws. Such awesome and controlling powers as time, gravity, perpetual energy, and nature are some of the great controlling forces that surround man. Logic and reason should impress the senses that their existence is far more reaching and purposeful than the mere fact of their existence. The knowledge gained through the miracle will indeed show a spectacular reason, that all things have purpose.

About two thousand years ago, a great man who was renowned for forgiveness and magnanimity was betrayed and slain by his compatriots who feared he would become their King. To the chagrin of his murderers, he was soon hailed as a God and the momentous events that ensued paved the way for the birth of Christianity.The venue for this drama, however, was not Jerusalem as might be supposed, but rather the eternal city of Rome. It is a description of the founder of the Roman Empire. In a work stranger than fiction, Gary Courtney propounds that the Jesus of Nazareth that graces the pages of the New Testament is an entirely mythological personage, and presents a step by step explanation of how the beloved Saviour of the Christian religion entered the world from the wings of a stage.

Adomnan, ninth abbot of Iona, wrote his book, On Holy Places (De Locis Sanctis), in the closing years of the seventh century. It is a detailed account of the sites mentioned in the Christian scriptures, the overall topography, and the shrines that are in Palestine and Egypt at that time. It is neatly broken into three parts: Jerusalem, the surrounding areas, and then a few other places. The whole has a contemporary and lively feel; and the reader is then not surprised when Adomnan says he got his information from a Gallic bishop name Arculf. Things then get interesting for the more one probes, the book the amount of information that could have been obtained from Arculf keeps diminishing, while the amount that can be shown to be a reworking of written sources increases. We then see that Adomnans book is an attempt to compile a biblical studies manual according to the demands of Augustine (354-430) - one of which was that there had to be an empirical witness. Thus, Adomnan wrote the work and employed Arculf as a literary device. However, he produced the desired manual which remained in use until the Reformation. As a manual we can use it to study the nature of scriptural studies in the Latin world of the time, and perceptions of space, relics, pilgrimage, and Islam. While a study of how the work was used by others, transmitted, reworked (for example by the Venerable Bede) brings unique light onto the theological world of the Carolingians.

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-81) stands as a key figure in German intellectual history, a bridge joining Luther, Leibniz, and German idealism. Despite his well-recognized importance in the history of thought, Lessing as theologian or philosopher of religion remains an enigmatic figure. Scholars refer to the "riddle" or "mystery" of Lessing, a mystery that has proved intractable because of his reticence on the subject of the final conclusions of his intellectual project. Toshimasa Yasukata seeks to unravel this mystery. Based on intensive study of the entire corpus of Lessing's philosophical and theological writings as well as the extensive secondary literature, Yasukata's work takes us into the systematic core of Lessing's thought. From his penetrating and sophisticated analysis of Lessing's developing position on Christianity and reason, there emerges a fresh image of Lessing as a creative modern mind, who is both shaped by and gives shape to the Christian heritage.

The first comprehensive study in English of Lessing's theological and philosophical thought, this book will appeal to all those interested in the history of modern theology, as well as specialists in the Enlightenment and the German romantic movement.