Groundbreaking interpretations of classical rabbinic texts lead the reader through an exploration of ""attuned learning"" an emerging paradigm of mindfulness that emphasizes alertness to ones own mental, emotional, and physical workings as well as awareness of others within the complexities of learning interactions. The pedagogical is integrated with the ethical in transformative teaching and learning; repair of educational disruptions; the role of the human visage; and the dynamics of argumentative and collaborative learning. Textual analyses reveal how deliberate self-cultivation not only infuses ethics and spirituality into the growth of teachers, learners, and co-learners, but also offers a potential corrective for calculative modalities in contemporary educational thinking. The author speaks to the existential, humanizing art of education, enabling readers to examine, expand, or revisit their beliefs and practices.

This book focuses on the expressions used to describe Job's body in pain and on the reactions of his friends to explore the moral and social world reflected in the language and the values that their speeches betray. A key contribution of this monograph is to highlight how the perspective of illness as retribution is powerfully refuted in Job's speeches and, in particular, to show how this is achieved through comedy. Comedy in Job is a powerful weapon used to expose and ridicule the idea of retribution. Rejecting the approach of retrospective diagnosis, this monograph carefully analyses the expression of pain in Job focusing specifically on somatic language used in the deity attack metaphors, in the deity surveillance metaphors and in the language connected to the body and social status. These metaphors are analysed in a comparative way using research from medical anthropology and sociology which focuses on illness narratives and expressions of pain. Job's Body and the Dramatised Comedy of Moralising will be of interest to anyone working on the Book of Job, as well as those with an interest in suffering and pain in the Hebrew Bible more broadly.

A frank academic study of the Muslim holy scripture, the Qur'an, comparing it to the early extra-Qur'anic literature of Islam - and highlighting the differences and contrasts between the two. This exhaustive study goes on to analyse the Muslim holy book from a linguistic perspective, exploring some unconventional interpretations based upon the principle that in all Islamic matters, the last and definitive word is that of the Qur'an. It is the author's contention however, that the traditional Muslim view of Islam (based upon the infallibility of Hadith and Muslim scholars of early Islam) does not accurately reflect the reality of the Qur'an. In compiling this study, the author not only offers genuine insights into the sacred texts of Islam, but also pleads with Muslims to recognise some problems in their religious literature, and exercise more self-restraint in the face of objective criticism. To the Western world, the author asks that all Muslims should not be tarred with the same brush. "A few thousand - or more - militants who believe in terrorism do not represent the entire billion-strong Muslim community of today's world anymore than the few thousand slave traders of 18th century colonialism represent the entire Judeo-Christian world. Indeed, Islam has sprung from the same original source of Semitic monotheism of Abraham as have Judaism and Christianity; and, strangely enough, suffers from the very same problems of misrepresentations perpetuated through the centuries since its appearance."

In Muslim countries, apostasy and blasphemy laws are defended on the grounds that they are based on Islamic Shari'a and intended to protect religion. But blasphemy and apostasy laws can be used both to suppress thought and debate and to harass religious minorities, both inside and outside Islam. This book - comprising contributions from Muslim scholars, experts and activists - critically and constructively engages with the theological, historical and legal reasoning behind the most restrictive state laws around the world to open up new ways of thinking. The book focuses on the struggle within Muslim societies in Iran, Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia where blasphemy and apostasy laws serve powerful groups to silence dissent and stifle critical thought. The first part of the book covers the development of the law in shifting historical circumstances and surveys the interpretations of Qur'anic verses that seem to affirm freedom of religion. The second part examines the present politics and practices of prosecuting alleged blasphemers and/or apostates in Muslim countries. The third part looks to the future and where reforms of the law could be possible. Debates on Islam and freedom of expression are often cast in polarizing terms of rights versus religion, East versus West. This volume avoids such approaches by bringing together a diverse group of Muslim scholars and activists with the knowledge, commitment and courage to contest repressive interpretations of religion and provide a resource for reclaiming the human rights to freedom of expression and belief.

This book features detailed analysis of an ancient secret scroll from the Middle East known as the Rivers Scroll or Diwan Nahrawatha, providing valuable insight into the Gnostic Mandaean religion. This important scroll offers a window of understanding into the Mandaean tradition, with its intricate worldview, ritual life, mysticism and esoteric qualities, as well as intriguing art. The text of the Rivers Scroll and its artistic symbolism have never before been properly analyzed and interpreted, and the significance of the document has been lost in scholarship. This study includes key segments translated into English for the first time and gives the scroll the worthy place it deserves in the history of the Mandaean tradition. It will be of interest to scholars of Gnosticism, religious studies, archaeology and Semitic languages.

This book provides a comprehensive study on the proclamation of Holy Scriptures as an enacted celebration, as well as its function as a performance within sacralized theatrical spaces. Scripture is integral to religious life within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and these traditions have venerated the reading of texts from an appointed place as a sacred act. Thus, the study of how these readings are conducted illuminates some vitally important aspects of this widespread act of worship. Contributing to an underexplored area of scholarship, the book offers an overview of scripture reading in the three Abrahamic faiths and then focuses on where and how the "Word of God" is presented within the Christian tradition. It gathers and summarizes research on the origins of a defined place for the proclamation of holy writings, giving a thorough architectural analysis and interpretation of the various uses and symbols related to these spaces over time. Finally, the listener is considered with a phenomenological description of the place for reading and its hermeneutical interpretation. The material in this book uncovers the contemporary impact of a rich history of publicly reading out scriptures. It will, therefore, be of great interest to scholars of liturgical theology, religious studies, and ritual studies.

A unique resource for understanding the Islamic Holy Book. As Islamic terrorism becomes a distressingly common feature of life in North America and Europe, it has become increasingly important for non-Muslims to be aware of the ideology that animates and motivates jihad violence and Sharia oppression of women and others--an ideology that's rooted in Islam's holy book, the Qur'an. English-speaking people, however, have found attempts to understand the Qur'an and Islam impeded by unclear, densely worded translations and explanatory notes written by Islamic apologists attempting to conceal, rather than reveal, how Islamic jihadis use the texts and teachings of the Qur'an to justify violence and supremacism, and to make recruits of peaceful Muslims. The Critical Qur'an, in contrast, makes clear the passages that are used to incite violence. Historian and Islamic scholar Robert Spencer elucidates the Qur'anic text with extensive references to the principal tafsir, or commentaries, that mainstream Muslims use today to understand the Qur'an, showing how interpretations that sanction violence are unfortunately not outliers, but central in Islamic theology. The Critical Qur'an is the Islamic counterpart to numerous critical and skeptical editions of the Bible that have appeared over the last century and more. It is the one edition of Islam's book that doesn't shy away from elucidating why the holy book of Islam is so frequently quoted and referred to with reverence by people who commit and/or justify acts of violence. It is a basic resource for everyone who wishes to understand the persistent phenomenon of Islamic terrorism, and the peculiar provenance of this most provocative book.

American evangelicalism is at a crisis point. The naked grasping at political power at the expense of moral credibility has revealed a movement in disarray. Evangelicals are now faced with a quandary: will they double-down and continue along this perilous path, or will they stop, reflect, and change course? And while support of Donald Trump has produced the tipping point of the evangelical crisis, it is not by any means its only problem. Evangelicals claim the Bible as the supreme authority in matters of faith. But in reality, it is particular readings of the Bible that govern evangelical faith. Some evangelical readings of the Bible can be highly selective. They distort the Bible's teaching in crucial ways and often lead evangelicals to misguided attempts to relate to the world around them. Many Christians who once self-professed as "evangelicals" can no longer use the term of themselves because of what it has come to represent--power-mongering, divisiveness, judgementalism, hypocrisy, pride, greed. Some leave not just evangelicalism but Christianity for good. Jesus v. Evangelicals is an insider's critique of the evangelical movement according to its own rules. Since evangelicals regard themselves governed by the Bible, biblical scholar Constantine Campbell engages the Bible to critique evangelicals and to call out the problems within the contemporary evangelical movement. By revealing evangelical distortions of the Bible, this book seeks to restore the dignity of the Christian faith and to renew public interest in Jesus, while calling evangelicals back to his teaching. Constantine Campbell appeals to evangelicals to break free from the grid that has distorted their understanding of the Bible and to restore public respect for Christianity in spite of its misrepresentations by the evangelical church.

Beginning with the insights of the "canonical criticism" of Brevard Childs and James Sanders, this book explores the canon of the Bible through readings in literature, art and cinema. It places the Bible within the concerns of contemporary feminist thought, postmodern anxiety and modern apocalyptic thought. It returns the reader to a sense of the centrality of the biblical canon, expanding the notion of "reading" to picture and film.

Discover the hidden secrets of Torah and Kabbalah through the
captivating stories of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov.

Rabbi Nachman s stories are among the great classics of Jewish literature. They have been recognized by Jews and non-Jews alike for their depth and insight into both the human condition and the realm of the mysterious. from Aryeh Kaplan s Translator s Introduction

For centuries, spiritual teachers have told stories to convey lessons about God and perceptions of the world around us. Hasidic master Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772 1810) perfected this teaching method through his engrossing and entertaining stories that are fast-moving, brilliantly structured, and filled with penetrating insights.

This collection presents the wisdom of Rebbe Nachman, translated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan and accompanied by illuminating commentary drawn from the works of Rebbe Nachman s pupils. This important work brings you authentic interpretations of Rebbe Nachman s stories, allowing you to experience the rich heritage of Torah and Kabbalah that underlies each word of his inspirational teachings.

This textbook not only provides a historical overview of this religious tradition but also focuses on Hinduism in American society today. Making this a very comprehensive overview of the subject areas. Each chapter includes a helpful pedagogy including a general overview, case studies, suggestions for further reading, questions for discussion, and a glossary. Making this the ideal textbook for students approaching the topic for the first time. The use of case studies and first person narratives provides a much needed 'lived religion' approach to the subject area. Helping students to apply their learning to the world around them.

1) This is the first comprehensive book on Mauritian Hinduism. 2) It contains a rich ethnographic study of the changing Mauritian society. 3) This book will be of interest to departments of religion, Hinduism, social anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, diaspora studies, sociology of religion and African studies.

The book addresses the question of how postmonarchic society in ancient Judah remembered and imagined its monarchy, and kingship in general, as part of its past, present, and future. How did Judeans of the early Second Temple period conceive of the monarchy? By way of a thorough analysis of Judean discourse in this era, Kingship and Memory in Ancient Judah argues that ancient Judeans had no single way of remembering and imagining kingship. In fact, their memory and imaginary was thoroughly multivocal, and necessarily so. Judean historiographical literature evinces a mindset that was unsure of the monarchic past and how to understand it-multiple viewpoints were embraced and brought into conversation with one another. Similarly, prophetic literature, which drew on the discursive themes of the remembered past, envisions a variety of outcomes for kingship's future. Historiographical and prophetic literature thus existed in a kind of feedback loop, enabling, informing, and balancing each other's various understandings of kingship as part of Judean society and life. Through its investigation of kingship in Judean discourse, this monograph contributes to our knowledge of literature and literary culture in ancient Judah and also makes a significant contribution to questions of history and historiographical method in biblical studies.

This is a group of devotions all written by evangelist Mark Jeske.

During the past few decades a great amount of scholarly work has been done on the various prayer cultures of antiquity, both Graeco-Roman and Jewish and Christian. In Jewish studies this burgeoning research on ancient prayer has been stimulated particularly by the many new prayer texts found at Qumran, which have shed new light on several long-standing problems. The present volume intends to make a new contribution to the ongoing scholarly debate on ancient Jewish prayer texts by focusing on a limited set of prayer texts, scil. , a small number of those that have been preserved only in Greek. Jewish prayers in Greek tend to be undervalued, which is regrettable because these prayers shed light on sometimes striking aspects of early Jewish spirituality in the centuries around the turn of the era. In this volume twelve such prayers have been collected, translated, and provided with an extensive historical and philological commentary. They have been preserved on papyrus, on stone, and as part of Christian church orders into which some of them have been incorporated in a christianized from. For that reason these prayers are of great interest to scholars of both early Judaism and ancient Christianity.

At the birth of the United States, African Americans were excluded from the newly-formed Republic and its churches, which saw them as savage rather than citizen and as heathen rather than Christian. Denied civil access to the basic rights granted to others, African Americans have developed their own sacred traditions and their own civil discourses. As part of this effort, African American intellectuals offered interpretations of the Bible which were radically different and often fundamentally oppositional to those of many of their white counterparts. By imagining a freedom unconstrained, their work charted a broader and, perhaps, a more genuinely American identity. In Pillars of Cloud and Fire, Herbert Robinson Marbury offers a comprehensive survey of African American biblical interpretation. Each chapter in this compelling volume moves chronologically, from the antebellum period and the Civil War through to the Harlem Renaissance, the civil rights movement, the black power movement, and the Obama era, to offer a historical context for the interpretative activity of that time and to analyze its effect in transforming black social reality. For African American thinkers such as Absalom Jones, David Walker, Zora Neale Hurston, Frances E. W. Harper, Adam Clayton Powell, and Martin Luther King, Jr., the exodus story became the language-world through which freedom both in its sacred resonance and its civil formation found expression. This tradition, Marbury argues, has much to teach us in a world where fundamentalisms have become synonymous with "authentic" religious expression and American identity. For African American biblical interpreters, to be American and to be Christian was always to be open and oriented toward freedom.

With practical commentaries, articles, and features, this new amplified version of #1 New York Times bestselling author Joyce Meyer's popular study Bible will help you live out your faith.

In the decade since its original publication, The Everyday Life Bible has sold 1.1 million copies, taking its place as an invaluable resource on the Word of God. Simultaneously, Joyce Meyer's renown as one of the world's leading practical Bible teachers has grown, as she continues to study and teach daily. This new edition updates Joyce's notes and commentary to reflect the changes made in the revision of the Amplified Bible which refreshes the English and refines the amplification for relevance and clarity. The result is The Everyday Life Bible that is now easier to read and better than ever to study, understand, and apply to your everyday life.

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This textbook not only provides a historical overview of this religious tradition but also focuses on Hinduism in American society today. Making this a very comprehensive overview of the subject areas. Each chapter includes a helpful pedagogy including a general overview, case studies, suggestions for further reading, questions for discussion, and a glossary. Making this the ideal textbook for students approaching the topic for the first time. The use of case studies and first person narratives provides a much needed 'lived religion' approach to the subject area. Helping students to apply their learning to the world around them.

Essays on the post-modern reception and interpretation of the Middle Ages, with a particular concentration on environmental matters. Ecoconcerns and ecocriticism are a rising trend in medievalism studies, and form a major focus of this collection. Topics under discussion in the first part of the volume include figurations in nineteenth- and twentieth-century medievalism; environmental medievalism in Sidney Lanier's Southern chivalry; nostalgia and loss in T.H. White's "forest sauvage"; and green medievalism in J.R.R. Tolkien's elven realms. The eleven subsequent articles continue to take in such themes more tangentially, testing and buillding on the methods and conclusions of the first part. Their subjects include John Aubrey's Middle Ages; medieval charter-horns in early modern England; nineteenth-centuryreimaginings of Chaucer's Griselda; Dante's influence on Harlan Ellison's "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream"; multi-layered medievalisms in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire; (coopted) feminism via medievalism inDisney's Maleficent; (neo)medievalism in Babylon 5 and Crusade; cosmopolitan anxieties and national identity in Netflix's Marco Polo; mapping Everealm in The Quest; undergraduate perceptions ofthe "medieval" and the "Middle Ages"; and medievalism in the prosopopeia and corpsepaint of Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Karl Fugelso is Professor of Art History at Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland. Contributors: Dustin M. Frazier Wood, Daniel Helbert, Ann F. Howey, Carol Jamison, Ann M. Martinez, Kara L. McShane, Lisa Myers, Elan Justice Pavlinich, Katie Peebles, Scott Riley, Paul B. Sturtevant, Dean Swinford, Renee Ward, Angela Jane Weisl, Jeremy Withers.

European Bible manuscripts and their Masorah traditions are still a neglected field of studies and have so far been almost completely disregarded within text-critical research. This volume collects research on the Western European Masorah and addresses the question of how Ashkenazic scholars integrated the Oriental Masoretic tradition into the Western European Rabbinic lore and law. The articles address philological and art-historical topics, and present new methodological tools from the field of digital humanities for the analysis of masora figurata. This volume is intended to initiate a new approach to Masorah research that will shed new light on the European history of the masoretic Bible and its interpretation.