The Shade of Swords is the first cohesive history of Jihad, written by one of India's leading journalists and writers. In this new paperback edition, updated to show how and why Saddam Hussein repositioned himself as a Jihadi against America, M.J. Akbar explains the struggle between Islam and Christianity. Placing recent events in a historical context, he tackles the tricky question of what now for Jihad following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime.
With British and American troops in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and once again in Iraq, the potential for Jihadi recruitment is ever increasing. Explaining how Jihad thrives on complex and shifting notions of persecution, victory and sacrifice, and illustrating how Muslims themselves have historically tried both to direct and control the phenomenon of Jihad, Akbar shows how Jihad pervades the mind and soul of Islam, revealing its strength and significance.
To know the future, one needs to understand the past. M.J. Akbar's The Shade of Swords holds the key.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203402103

This book is a unique collection of interdisciplinary articles that argue for religious education to be directed primarily towards the spiritual insofar as it is part of a flourishing human life. The articles address this issue from the perspectives of theory, different religious traditions and innovative teaching and learning practices.

"Holy Russia, Sacred Israel" examines how Russian religious thinkers, both Jewish and Christian, conceived of Judaism, Jewry and the 'Old Testament' philosophically, theologically and personally at a time when the Messianic element in Russian consciousness was being stimulated by events ranging from the pogroms of the 1880s, through two Revolutions and World Wars, to exile in Western Europe. An attempt is made to locate the boundaries between the Jewish and Christian, Russian and Western, Gnostic-pagan and Orthodox elements in Russian thought in this period. The author reflects personally on how the heritage of these thinkers - little analyzed or translated in the West - can help Orthodox (and other) Christians respond to Judaism (including 'Messianic Judaism'), Zionism, and Christian anti-Semitism today.

The articles in this collection complement those in Professor Griffith's previous volume, Arabic Christianity in the Monasteries of 9th-Century Palestine, studying the first efforts of Christians living in the early Islamic world to respond to the religious challenges of Islam. In particular, the author shows how Christian apologists who wrote in Arabic adopted in defense of Christian doctrines the modes of discourse (kalam) then employed by Muslim controversialists (mutakallimun) to advance the claims of Islam. The writers whose works are studied here developed a truly Christian 'ilm al-kalam, that is to say a science of defending Christianity in an Arabic idiom borrowed largely from Muslims.

Although its beginnings can be traced back to the late 19th century, the interfaith movement has only recently begun to attract mainstream attention, with governments, religious leaders and grassroots activists around the world increasingly turning to interfaith dialogue and collective action to address the challenges posed and explore the opportunities presented by religious diversity in a globalising world. This volume explores the history and development of the interfaith movement by engaging with new theoretical perspectives and a diverse range of case studies from around the world. The first book to bring together experts in the fields of religion, politics and social movement theory to offer an in-depth social analysis of the interfaith movement, it not only sheds new light on the movement itself, but challenges the longstanding academic division of labour that confines 'religious' and 'social' movements to separate spheres of inquiry.

This book is a study of the changing relationship over time (1856-1994) between the Rishi, an ex-Untouchable jati of Bengal/South-West Bangladesh, and various groups of Catholic missionaries. The book's originality and importance lies in its multi-disciplinary approach, which combines anthropological fieldwork, historical research, philosophical enquiry and contemporary missiological debates. Moreover, it addresses issues of great current relevance in its discussions of Orientalism, Neo-colonialism and Otherness.

The First Jewish Revolt against Rome is arguably the most decisive event in the history of Judaism and Christianity. The destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE by the Roman General Titus forced a transformation in structure and form for both of these fraternal religions. Yet despite its importance, little has been written on the First Revolt, its causes, implications and the facts surrounding it.
In this volume, Andrea M. Berlin and J. Andrew Overman have gathered the foremost scholars on the period to discuss and debate this pivotal historical event. The contributions explore both Roman and Jewish perspectives on the Revolt, looking at its history and archaeology, and finally examining the ideology and interpretation of the revolt in subsequent history and myth.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203167449

The Shade of Swords is the first cohesive history of Jihad, written by one of India's leading journalists and writers. In this new paperback edition, updated to show how and why Saddam Hussein repositioned himself as a Jihadi against America, M.J. Akbar explains the struggle between Islam and Christianity. Placing recent events in a historical context, he tackles the tricky question of what now for Jihad following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime.
With British and American troops in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and once again in Iraq, the potential for Jihadi recruitment is ever increasing. Explaining how Jihad thrives on complex and shifting notions of persecution, victory and sacrifice, and illustrating how Muslims themselves have historically tried both to direct and control the phenomenon of Jihad, Akbar shows how Jihad pervades the mind and soul of Islam, revealing its strength and significance.
To know the future, one needs to understand the past. M.J. Akbar's The Shade of Swords holds the key.

In The Christology of Karl Barth and Matta al-Miskin, Hani Hanna argues that two of the most renowned theologians of the twentieth century, Karl Barth and Matta al-Miskin (Matthew the Poor), redefine the reality of God and humanity christologically in similar ways. Both theologians achieve this redefinition using historical rubrics that are closer to Scripture than the traditional metaphysical categories borrowed from Greek philosophy. Rooted in their respective Reformed and Coptic Orthodox traditions, their works can be placed in a dialogue that takes into account modern concerns about history, revelation, and human agency. By providing an in-depth analysis of both men's christologies, Hanna also finds that Barth and Matta's christological view of reality has implications for interfaith and intercultural dialogues today.

This acclaimed work surveys the varied course of religious life in modern America. Beginning with the close of the Victorian Age, it moves through the shifting power of Protestantism and American Catholicism and into the intense period of immigration and pluralism that has characterized our nation's religious experience.

Exploring the issue of Islamophobic attacks against Sikhs since 9/11, this book explains the historical, religious and legal foundations and frameworks for understanding race hate crime against the Sikh community in the UK. Focusing on the backlash that Sikhs in the UK have faced since 9/11, the authors provide a theological and historical backdrop to Sikh identity in the global context, critically analysing the occurrences of Islamophobia since 9/11, 7/7 and most recently post-Brexit, and how British Sikhs and the British government have responded and reacted to these incidents. The experiences of American Sikhs are also explored and the impact of anti-Sikh sentiment upon both these communities is considered. Drawing on media reporting, government policies, the emerging body of inter-disciplinary scholarship, and empirical research, this book contributes to the currently limited body of literature on anti-Sikh hate crime and produces ideas for policy makers on how to rectify the situation. Providing a better understanding of perceptions of anti-Sikh sentiment and its impact, this book will of interest to scholars and upper-level students working on identity and hate crime, and more generally in the fields of Religion and Politics, Cultural Studies, Media Studies, and International Studies.

This is the only book to date offering a critical overview of Shinto from early times to the modern era, and evaluating Shinto's place in Japanese religious culture. In recent years, a few books on medieval Shinto have appeared, but none has attempted to depict the broader picture, to examine critically Shinto's origins and its subsequent development through the medieval, pre-modern and modern periods. The essays in this book address such key topics as Shinto and Daoism in early Japan, Shinto and the natural environment, Shinto and state ritual in early Japan, Shinto and Buddhism in medieval Japan, and Shinto and the state in the modern period. All of the essays highlight the dynamic nature of Shinto and shrine history by focusing on the three-way relationship, often fraught, between local shrine cults, Shinto agendas and Buddhism.

This critical overview of Shinto from early times to the modern era evaluates Shinto's place in Japanese religious culture. In recent years, a few books on mediaeval Shinto have appeared, but not has attempted to depict the broader picture, to examine critically Shinto's origins and its subsequent development through the mediaeval, pre-modern and modern periods. The essays here address such key topics as Shinto and Daoism in early Japan, Shinto and the natural environment, Shinto and state ritual in early Japan, Shinto and Buddhism in medieval Japan, and Shinto and the state in the modern period. They highlight the dynamic nature of Shinto and shrine history by focusing on the three-way relationship, often fraught, between local shrine cults, Shinto agenda and Buddhism.

This acclaimed work surveys the varied course of religious life in modern America. Beginning with the close of the Victorian Age, it moves through the shifting power of Protestantism and American Catholicism and into the intense period of immigration and pluralism that has characterized our nation's religious experience.

A number of recent studies have examined martyrdom as a means of identity construction. Shelly Matthews argues that the story of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, should be brought into this scholarly conversation. Stephen's story is told in the biblical book of Acts. He has, with near unanimity, been classified as unquestionably a real historical figure, probably because of the narrative coherence and canonical status of the book in which he appears. Matthews points to multiple signals that Stephen functions for Luke (the author of Acts) as a symbolic character. She suggests reframing the Stephen story not in terms of the impossible task of ascertaining "what really happened," but in terms of rhetoric and ethics. All aspects of the Stephen story, she argues, from his name to the manner in which he is killed, are perfectly suited to the rhetorical aims of Luke-Acts. The story undergirds Acts' hostile depiction of the Jews; conforms largely to Roman imperial aims; and introduces radical identity claims of a "marcionite" character. Stephen's role as a typological martyr also explains this 2nd-century text's otherwise eccentric treatment of Christian martyrdom. Matthews juxtaposes the Stephen story with related extra-canonical narratives of the martyrdom of James, thus undercutting the perfect coherence and singularity of the canonical narrative and evoking a more complex historical narrative of violence, solidarity, and resistance among Jews and Christians under empire. Finally, she looks at the traditional reason Stephen is considered the perfect martyr: his dying prayer for the forgiveness of his persecutors. Noting that this prayer was frequently read as idealizing Stephen, while having no effect on those for whom he prayed, she discovers a parallel the Roman discourse of clemency. Any other reading, she says, poses a potentially radical challenge to the cosmic framework of talionic justice, which explains the prayer's complicated reception history.

This volume for the first time brings the scholarly discipline of comparative religious ethics into constructive collaboration with the community of interreligious dialogue. Its design is premised on two important insights. First, interreligious dialogue offers to comparative religious ethics a new, more persuasive rationale, agenda of issues, and practical orientation. Second, comparative religious ethics offers to interreligious dialogue an arsenal of critical tools and methods which will enhance the sophistication of its practical work. In this way, both theory (a dominant concern and strength of comparative religious ethics) and praxis (a dominant concern and strength of interreligious moral dialogue) are joined together in mutual effort, each contributing to the benefit of the other.The volume's contributors share this vision of collaboration, drawing explicitly from both communities of discourse in a manner that crosses disciplinary and professional boundaries to deal creatively and constructively with important methodological and global moral issue. Although theory and practice cannot easily be separated in such a collaborative project, for the purpose of clarity, the volume is divided into two main parts. The first specifically engages questions of method, theory, and the social role of the public intellectual; the second, on substantive moral themes and issues, many of which were raised at the 1993 Parliament. Taken together, the volume's essays articulate and illustrate new ways of approaching contemporary moral concerns cross-culturally yet with a rigor appropriate to our complex and pluralistic world.

The search for effective ways to enable different religious systems to co-exist peacefully in mutual complementarity has emerged as a necessary condition for economic development, social progress, human prosperity and even survival. The combination of diversity and interdependence in the religious world calls for comparative studies of religion. This book details the inherent problems of such studies.;The underlying idea presented is that there are similarities, as well as differences between Confucianism as humanistic tradition and Christianity as a theocentric religion, and that these similarities and differences are mutually involved and delicately related with each other: while agape can be translated in English as "love", it is in fact more than love, in that it defines the relationship between Christians and their God, and between Christians and their neighbours; while jen in Chinese is not the translation of "love", it is in fact essentially love, both ethical and religious, in that it defines the relationship between Confucians and their transcendantal pursuit, between Confucians and their ideal, and between Confucians and their fellow human beings.

A thoughtful, down-to-earth look at helpful ways to lessen human suffering.

This book takes you on a lively, sometimes light-hearted, journey through nine Buddhist practices that can bring "blessed relief" to a wide range of human suffering and teaches you skills to reduce suffering in the long term for yourself and others.The practices help you: Loosen the grip of sufferingEngage and question limiting views, thoughts and opinionsDeconstruct ten common assumptionsBe present in each momentSurvive emotional stormsDevelop peaceful communication skillsDeepen communication with your partnerAppreciate mortality and the preciousness of lifeCultivate compassion

As you read the chapters and engage in each practice, you will work with your own stories of suffering stories in which you have felt abandoned, deprived, subjugated, defective, excluded or vulnerable and you will learn how to release yourself from suffering by investigating it with curiosity and kindness."

The Holocaust lies, often unacknowledged, near the heart of our contemporary crisis of religious faith. The horrific fruit of two millennia of Christian antisemitism, the slaughter calls into sharp question the moral and intellectual credibility of the Churches and the Christian faith itself. Can Christianity ever recover? In Broken Gospel? Peter Waddell suggests that it can, but only by facing unflinchingly the history that paved the way for the Nazi genocide, and the Churches' sins of omission and commission as it took place. Engaging with both Christian and Jewish scholarship, Waddell also approaches with sensitivity the theological issues that arise from the horror: questions of how the claimed holiness of the Church relates to its wickedness; of Christian-Jewish relations; of prayer and providence; of heaven and hell, and the faint possibility of forgiveness. Scholars, clergy and general readers alike will be challenged by this exercise in repentance and reconstruction, and inspired by the possibility it offers for Christian theology and practice to flourish once more.

In the last two centuries, some of Hinduism's greatest saints and scholars have lovingly embraced Christ and made him their own. Continuing and aggressive Christian mission in India is now making some Hindus anti-Christ as well as anti-Christian. Mission agencies are pouring millions into India to "save" the "heathens." Religious tensions are increasing, hitting the headlines and claiming lives. Find out why mission disturbs Hindus. Find out how they have responded to their encounter with Christ and Christianity from colonial to contemporary times, in India and in the West. This is their story in their words. Discover how Hindus revere the Christ of faith rather than the Jesus of history. Explore the universal but not exclusive Christ of Hinduism. Find out the rich social and spiritual dimensions Hindus bring to reflection on Christ. Knowing and understanding others is always challenging. Make your own interfaith journey and discover what happened when Christ crossed the Ganges.

For almost sixty years Professor David Jacoby devoted his research to the economic, social and cultural history of the Eastern Mediterranean and this new collection reflects his impact on the study of the interactions between the Italian city-states, Byzantium, the Latin East and the realm of Islam. Contributors to this volume are prominent scholars from across Medieval Studies and leading historians of the younger generation.

As dialogue among the religions of the world has increased, the promotion of these exchanges by Christians, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, raises the question of the motives behind these discussions. Some Christians reach out in good will, others display defensive hostility, still others are simply following the mandates of their church.
Religious diversity--rather than pluralism--challenges citizens of the world to learn from the differences between religions rather than glibly assuming their commonality. Acknowledging these differences, "In Praise of Religious Diversity" promotes active conversation--rather than conventional dialogue--as the mode of meeting between the religions. Only through a contemporaneous exchange of ideas can the benefits of diversity be realized. This new level of communication poses an exciting prospect from which previously unrecognized alternatives for religion and relationships between religions might contribute to even greater human possibilities.

eBook available with sample pages: HB:041591678X

One of the most persistent problems in Christian-Muslim relations over the centuries has been the tendency by each to judge the other by standards and criteria not used in assessing itself. Goddard argues that such is no longer admissible and proceeds to offer a number of useful insights.

One of the most persistent problems in Christian-Muslim relations over the centuries has been the tendency of each group to judge the other by a set of standards and criteria quite different from the standards and criteria used in assessing itself. Hugh Goddard argues that in the 20th century such a procedure is no longer admissible. He goes on to point out some of the useful insight which may be gained - by the members of both communities in their understanding both of their own faith and of that of the other - by an attempt to apply the same criteria to both traditions. Goddard discusses parallels, similarities and divergences with clarity and insight. The question of "fundamentalism" is given particularly detailed analytical treatment. This book sets new standards in the understanding of both religions and their understanding of each other.