This book is a study of related passages found in the Arabic Qur'an and the Aramaic Gospels, i.e. the Gospels preserved in the Syriac and Christian Palestinian Aramaic dialects. It builds upon the work of traditional Muslim scholars, including al-Biqa'i (d. ca. 808/1460) and al-Suyuti (d. 911/1505), who wrote books examining connections between the Qur'an on the one hand, and Biblical passages and Aramaic terminology on the other, as well as modern western scholars, including Sidney Griffith who argue that pre-Islamic Arabs accessed the Bible in Aramaic. The Qur'an and the Aramaic Gospel Traditions examines the history of religious movements in the Middle East from 180-632 CE, explaining Islam as a response to the disunity of the Aramaic speaking churches. It then compares the Arabic text of the Qur'an and the Aramaic text of the Gospels under four main themes: the prophets; the clergy; the divine; and the apocalypse. Among the findings of this book are that the articulator as well as audience of the Qur'an were monotheistic in origin, probably bilingual, culturally sophisticated and accustomed to the theological debates that raged between the Aramaic speaking churches. Arguing that the Qur'an's teachings and ethics echo Jewish-Christian conservatism, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Religion, History, and Literature.

While Buddhism has no central text comparable to the Bible or Koran, there is a powerful body of scripture from across Asia that encompasses the "dharma," or the teachings of the Buddha. In this rich anthology, eminent scholar Donald S. Lopez, Jr., brings together works from a broad historical and geographical range, and from such languages as Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese, and Japanese. There are tales of the Buddha's past lives, a discussion of qualities and qualifications for a monk, and an exploration of the many meanings of enlightenment. Together they provide a vivid picture of the Buddha and of the vast and profound nature of the Buddhist tradition.

A fourteen centuries old consensus by Islamic religious authorities has upheld the belief that God has granted husbands the right to beat their wives. Previously, the only element up for debate was the degree of severity, the instrument of the beating, and the limit to the damage allowed. This startling assertion, which shocks human sensibilities, is confirmed by hundreds of Qur'anic commentaries and works of Islamic jurisprudence authored over the course of the past millennia and a half. Despite the lies of propagandists and the ignorance of apologists, who claim that "Islam prohibits domestic violence," the fact of the matter is that the Islamic Tradition and Law allow husbands to inflict corporal punishment on their wives. In fact, it was only in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries that a small number of translators and scholars started to insist upon alternate interpretations. In this pivotal, courageous, and timely analysis, which works diligently and minutely to separate truth from falsehood, right from wrong, the moral from the immoral, and the ethical from the unethical, Dr. John Andrew Morrow provides an exhaustive study of the second part of the Quranic text, 4:34, the Wife Beating Verse. Like Titan, who bears the weight of the heavens upon his shoulders, Morrow takes on the entire corpora of Islamic Tradition. With scientific precision, he interprets the verse by the verse, itself, the verse by related verses, the verse in the light of the Qur'an, the verse in light of prophetic traditions that permit domestic violence, the verse in light of other traditions that expressly prohibit violence against women, the verse in its historical context, the verse in light of reformist reinterpretations, the verse in light of the spirit of Islam, the verse from a Sufi perspective, and the verse in light of Qur'anic variants. Along the way, the author delicately and defiantly dispels misogynistic misinterpretations of the Word of God while slashing and burning the sexist sayings that were attributed to the Prophet Muhammad. In so doing, he may well save Islam from those traditionalists and misogynists who claim to speak in God's name.

A book that challenges our most basic assumptions about Judeo-Christian monotheism Contrary to popular belief, Judaism was not always strictly monotheistic. Two Gods in Heaven reveals the long and little-known history of a second, junior god in Judaism, showing how this idea was embraced by rabbis and Jewish mystics in the early centuries of the common era and casting Judaism's relationship with Christianity in an entirely different light. Drawing on an in-depth analysis of ancient sources that have received little attention until now, Peter Schafer demonstrates how the Jews of the pre-Christian Second Temple period had various names for a second heavenly power-such as Son of Man, Son of the Most High, and Firstborn before All Creation. He traces the development of the concept from the Son of Man vision in the biblical book of Daniel to the Qumran literature, the Ethiopic book of Enoch, and the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria. After the destruction of the Second Temple, the picture changes drastically. While the early Christians of the New Testament took up the idea and developed it further, their Jewish contemporaries were divided. Most rejected the second god, but some-particularly the Jews of Babylonia and the writers of early Jewish mysticism-revived the ancient Jewish notion of two gods in heaven. Describing how early Christianity and certain strands of rabbinic Judaism competed for ownership of a second god to the creator, this boldly argued and elegantly written book radically transforms our understanding of Judeo-Christian monotheism.

Steve D. Fraade offers a new translation, with notes, and detailed commentary to the Dead Sea Scroll most commonly called the Damascus Document, based on both ancient manuscripts from caves along the western shore of the Dead Sea, and medieval manuscripts from the Cairo Geniza. The text is one of the longest and most important of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Its importance derives from several aspects of its contents: its extensive collections of laws, both for the sectarian community that authored it and for the rest of Israel; some of the oldest examples of scriptural interpretation, both legal and narrative, both implicit and explicit, with important implications for our understanding of the evolving status of the Hebrew canon; some of the clearest expressions, often in hortatory form, of the community's self-understanding as an elect remnant of Israel that understands itself in dualistic opposition to the rest of Israel, its practices, and its leaders; important expressions of the community's self-understanding as a priestly alternative to the sacrificial worship in the Jerusalem Temple; expressions of an apocalyptic, eschatological understanding of living as the true Israel in the "end of days;" important expressions of attitudes toward woman, sexual activity, and marriage; importance for our understanding of ancient modes of teaching and of ritual practice; importance for the study of the history of the Hebrew language and its scribal practices. The volume contains a substantial introduction, dealing with these aspects of the Damascus Document and locating its place within the Dead Sea Scrolls more broadly as well as the historical context of ancient Judaism that gave rise to this text.

This book is open access and available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Qur'anic Hermeneutics argues for the importance of understanding the polysemous nature of the words in the Qur'an and outlines a new method of Qur'anic exegesis called intertextual polysemy. By interweaving science, history and religious studies, Abdulla Galadari introduces a linguistic approach which draws on neuropsychology. This book features examples of intertextual polysemy within the Qur'an, as well as between the Qur'an and the Bible. It provides examples that intimately engage with Christological concepts of the Gospels, in addition to examples of allegorical interpretation through inner-Qur'anic allusions. Galadari reveals how new creative insights are possible, and argues that the Qur'an did not come to denounce the Gospel-which is one of the stumbling blocks between Islam and Christianity-but only to interpret it in its own words.

The idea of Maya pervades Indian philosophy. It is enigmatic, multivalent, and foundational, with its oldest referents found in the Rig Veda. This book explores Maya's rich conceptual history, and then focuses on the highly developed theology of Maya found in the Sanskrit Bhagavata Purana, one of the most important Hindu sacred texts. Gopal K. Gupta examines Maya's role in the Bhagavata's narratives, paying special attention to its relationship with other key concepts in the text, such as human suffering (duhkha), devotion (bhakti), and divine play (lila). In the Bhagavata, Maya is often identified as the divine feminine, and has a far-reaching influence. For example, Maya is both the world and the means by which God creates the world, as well as the facilitator of God's play, paradoxically revealing him to his devotees by concealing his majesty. While Vedanta philosophy typically sees Maya as a negative force, the Bhagavata affirms that Maya also has a positive role, as Maya is ultimately meant to draw living beings toward Krishna and intensify their devotion to him.

The timeless epic of Hindu faith contains a simple, vivid message of daily inspiration for millions throughout the world. This powerful, beautiful scripture is translated into clear, meaningful English which can be read as a living contemporary message that touches the most urgent personal and social problems. (July)

One of the most influential books in the history of literature, recognized as the greatest literary masterpiece in Arabic, the Qur'an is the supreme authority and living source of all Islamic teaching, the sacred text that sets out the creed, rituals, ethics, and laws of Islam. First published in 2004, M. A. S. Abdel Haleem's superb English translation has been acclaimed for both its faithfulness to the original and its supreme clarity. Now Haleem's translation is published side-by-side with the original Arabic text, to give readers a greater appreciation and understanding of the holy book.
Revised for the new edition, this translation is written in contemporary language that remains true to the meaning and spirit of the original, making the text crystal clear while retaining all of this great work's eloquence. It is now set page-for-page against the most widespread traditional calligraphic Arabic text, for the benefit of Muslims who wish to make the connection between the translation and the Arabic text, as well as Arabic readers and non-Arabs learning to read the Qur'an in Arabic. As in the original volume, the translation is completely free from the archaisms, incoherence, and alien structures that mar other translations. Furthermore, Haleem includes notes that explain geographical, historical, and personal allusions as well as an index in which Qur'anic material is arranged into topics for easy reference. His introduction traces the history of the Qur'an, examines its structure and stylistic features, and considers issues related to militancy, intolerance, and the subjection of women.
This brilliant bilingual edition of the Qur'an is the best available English-language translation. It has been approved by Al-Azhar University, the oldest Muslim university and the world's leading institution for the study of Arabic and Islam.

Ritual has a primal connection to the idea that a transcendent order - numinous and mysterious, supranatural and elusive, divine and wholly other - gives meaning and purpose to life. The construction of rites and rituals enables humans to conceive and apprehend this transcendent order, to symbolize it and interact with it, to postulate its truths in the face of contradicting realities and to repair them when they have been breached or diminished. This Handbook provides a compendium of the information essential for constructing a comprehensive and integrated account of ritual and worship in the ancient world. Its focus on ritual and worship from the perspective of biblical studies, as opposed to religious studies, highlights that the world of ritual and worship was a topic of central concern for the people of the Ancient Near East, including the world of the Bible. Given the scarcity of the material in the Bible itself, the authors in this collection use materials from the ancient Near East to provide a larger context for the practices of the biblical world, giving due attention to historical, anthropological, and social scientific methods that inform the context of biblical worship. The specifics of ritual and worship life-the sacred spaces, times, and actors in worship-are examined in detail, with essays covering both the divine and human aspects of the sacred dimension. The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in the Hebrew Bible considers several underlying concepts of ritual practice and closes with a theological outlook on worship and ritual from a variety of perspectives, demonstrating a fruitful exchange between biblical studies, ritual theory, and social science research.

In this book, Benjamin Wold builds on recent developments in the study of early Jewish wisdom literature and brings it to bear on the New Testament. This scholarship has been transformed by the discovery at Qumran of more than 900 manuscripts, including Hebrew wisdom compositions, many of which were published in critical editions beginning in the mid-1990s. Wold systematically explores the salient themes in the Jewish wisdom worldview found in these scrolls. He also presents detailed commentaries on translations and articulates the key debates regarding Qumran wisdom literature, highlighting the significance of wisdom within the context of Jewish textual culture. Wold's treatment of themes within the early Jewish and Christian textual cultures demonstrates that wisdom transcended literary form and genre. He shows how and why the publication of these ancient texts has engendered profound shifts in the study of early Jewish wisdom, and their relevance to current controversies regarding the interpretation of specific New Testament texts.

What is so unique about Islam's scripture, the Quran? Who wrote it, and when? Can we trust its statements to be from Muhammad? Why was it written in Arabic? Does it command Muslims to fight Christians? These are a few of the thirty questions answered in this clear and concise guide to the history and contents of the Quran. Ayman Ibrahim grew up in the Muslim world and has spent many years teaching various courses on Islam. Using a question-and-answer format, Ibrahim covers critical questions about the most sacred book for Muslims. He examines Muslim and non-Muslim views concerning the Quran, shows how the Quran is used in contemporary expressions of Islam, answers many of the key questions non-Muslims have about the Quran and Islam, and reveals the importance of understanding the Quran for Christian-Muslim and Jewish-Muslim interfaith relations. This introductory guide is written for anyone with little to no knowledge of Islam who wants to learn about Muslims, their beliefs, and their scripture.

Muslim Qur'anic interpretation today is beset by tensions. Tensions between localising and globalising forces; tensions between hierarchical and egalitarian social ideals; and tensions between the quest for new approaches and the claim for authority raised by defenders of exegetical traditions. It is this complex web of power structures, local as well as global, that this book seeks to elucidate. This book provides a fresh perspective on present-day Qur'anic interpretations by analysing the historical, social and political dimensions in which they take place, the ways in which they are performed and the media through which they are transmitted. Besides discussing the persistence of exegetical traditions and the emergence of new paradigms, it examines the structural conditions in which these processes occur. Languages, nation states, global human rights discourses and intra-Islamic divisions all shape the nature of interpretive endeavours and frequently fuel conflicts over the correct understanding of the Qur'an. This book contains more than twenty detailed case studies of recent Qur'anic interpretations, based on translated texts that cover a variety of languages, regions, media, genres, approaches, authors and target groups. They are integrated into the chapters, bring their arguments to life and stimulate fundamental reflections on the authority of the text and the authority of its interpreters.

What is justice? How can it be realised within society? These are universal concerns and are central to the primary scripture of Islam, the Qur'an. Utilising a pioneering theological and hermeneutic framework adapted from both classical Muslim literature and contemporary academic studies of the Qur'an, Ramon Harvey explores the underlying principles of its system of social justice. Dividing his book into four parts, he covers Qur'anic Ethics, Political Justice (politics, peace, war), Distributive Justice (fair trade, alms, marriage, inheritance) and Corrective Justice (public and private crimes). His reading of the Qur'an reconstructs the text as normatively engaging these spheres of justice in their socio-historical context and lays the foundations for future contemporary articulations of Qur'anic ethics.

The enduring wisdom of the Tao Te Ching can become a companion for your own spiritual journey.

Reportedly written by a sage named Lao Tzu over 2,500 years ago, the Tao Te Ching is one of the most succinct and yet among the most profound spiritual texts ever written. Short enough to read in an afternoon, subtle enough to study for a lifetime, the Tao Te Ching distills into razor-sharp poetry centuries of spiritual inquiry into the Tao the "Way" of the natural world around us that reveals the ultimate organizing principle of the universe.

Derek Lin's insightful commentary, along with his new translation from the original Chinese a translation that sets a whole new standard for accuracy will inspire your spiritual journey and enrich your everyday life. It highlights the Tao Te Ching s insights on simplicity, balance, and learning from the paradoxical truths you can see all around you: finding strength through flexibility (because bamboo bends, it is tough to break); achieving goals by transcending obstacles (water simply flows around rocks on its way to the sea); believing that small changes bring powerful results (a sapling, in time, grows into a towering tree).

Now you can experience the wisdom and power of Lao Tzu s words even if you have no previous knowledge of the Tao Te Ching. SkyLight Illuminations provides insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that describes helpful historical background, explains the Tao Te Ching s poetic imagery, and elucidates the ancient Taoist wisdom that will speak to your life today and energize your spiritual quest."

Auf der Grundlage neu entdeckter Dokumente wird die Biographie des aus einer Converso-Familie stammenden Kabbalisten Abraham Cohen de Herrera alias Alonso Nunez de Herrera (gest. 1635 in Amsterdam) im Kontext seiner spanisch verfassten Neuinterpretation der lurianischen Kabbala rekonstruiert. Im Mittelpunkt stehen seine wichtigsten Lebensstationen und die Adaption italienischer Renaissance-Philosophie, die Herrera in ein eigenes Konzept humanistischer Bildung integriert, zu der auch die judische Tradition mit lurianischen Vorstellungen aus der Schule von Israel Saruq gehoert. Insbesondere wird Herreras Einfuhrung in Logik bzw. Dialektik berucksichtigt und die These aufgestellt, dass er nicht nur als Begrunder der metaphorischen Interpretation lurianischer Symbole gelten, sondern sein spezifischer Zugang auf dem Hintergrund seiner Lebenserfahrung und Ausbildung als "humanistische Kabbala" auf den Begriff gebracht werden kann. In der Geschichte der judischen Mystik ist diese Verhaltnisbestimmung von Philosophie und Kabbala mit humanistisch-padagogischer Intention singular. Erstmals wird auch Herreras Einfluss auf die christliche Geistesgeschichte durch Christian Knorr von Rosenroths Kabbala denudata in vollem Umfang gewurdigt.