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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Non-Christian sacred works & liturgy
This book is for people who are interested in Luke and the law, and
specifically in Acts 15. For all students writing papers related to
Luke and the law or Acts 15 and especially for professors who are
teaching Acts, this is a book they must consider. This work
provides a new approach to reading Acts 15. It reads both Peter's
and James' speeches in Acts 15 in light of Jesus' view of the law
in the Gospel of Luke. For example, this book proposes that Peter's
reference to God's cleansing the heart of the Gentile believers, in
conjunction with his speaking of the Jews' inability to do the law
in Acts 15:9-10, should be understood against Luke 11:37-41. This
book also proposes that in James' use of Amos 9:11-12 (in Acts
15:16-17), he recalls Jesus' stress upon his name in Luke 24. In
Luke 24:47-48, Jesus explains that the Scriptures (the law of
Moses, prophets, and Psalms) speak of the preaching of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins in his name to all nations.
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Daodejing
(Paperback)
Lao zi; Translated by Martyn Crucefix
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R326
Discovery Miles 3 260
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Ships in 12 - 19 working days
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"so both thrive both discovering bliss-real power is female it
rises from beneath" These 81 brief poems from the 5th century BCE
make up a foundational text in world culture. In elegant, simple
yet elusive language, the Daodejing develops its vision of
humankind's place in the world in personal, moral, social,
political and cosmic terms. Martyn Crucefix's superb new versions
in English reflect - for the very first time - the radical fluidity
of the original Chinese texts as well as placing the mysterious
'dark' feminine power at their heart. Laozi, the putative author,
is said to have despaired of the world's venality and corruption,
but he was persuaded to leave the Daodejing poems as a parting
gift, as inspiration and as a moral and political handbook.
Crucefix's versions reveal an astonishing empathy with what the
poems have to say about good and evil, war and peace, government,
language, poetry and the pedagogic process. When the true teacher
emerges, no matter how detached, unimpressive, even muddled she may
appear, Laozi assures us "there are treasures beneath".
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.
The Scholastic Culture of the Babylonian Talmud studies how and in
what cultural context the Talmud began to take shape in the
scholastic centers of rabbinic Babylonia. Bickart tracks the use of
the term tistayem ("let it be promulgated") and its analogs, in
contexts ranging from Amoraic disciple circles to Geonic texts, and
in comparison with literatures of Syriac-speaking Christians. The
study demonstrates increasing academization during the talmudic
period, and supports a gradual model of the Talmud's redaction.
The author applies the fields of gender studies, psychoanalysis,
and literature to Talmudic texts. In opposition to the perception
of Judaism as a legal system, he argues that the Talmud demands
inner spiritual effort, to which the trait of humility and the
refinement of the ego are central. This leads to the question of
the attitude to the Other, in general, and especially to women. The
author shows that the Talmud places the woman (who represents
humility and good-heartedness in the Talmudic narratives) above the
character of the male depicted in these narratives as a scholar
with an inflated sense of self-importance. In the last chapter
(that in terms of its scope and content could be a freestanding
monograph) the author employs the insights that emerged from the
preceding chapters to present a new reading of the Creation
narrative in the Bible and the Rabbinic commentaries. The divine
act of creation is presented as a primal sexual act, a sort of
dialogic model of the consummate sanctity that takes its place in
man's spiritual life when the option of opening one's heart to the
other in a male-female dialogue is realized.
This is volume 13 of the edition of the complete Jerusalem Talmud.
Within the Fourth Order Neziqin ("damages"), these two tractates
deal with various types of oaths and their consequences (Sevu'ot)
and laws pertaining to Jews living amongst gentiles, including
regulations about the interaction between Jews and "idolators"
('Avodah Zarah).
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Soldier at War, Fighting, Hero, In Loving Memory Funeral Guest Book, Wake, Loss, Memorial Service, Love, Condolence Book, Funeral Home, Combat, Church, Thoughts, Battle and In Memory Guest Book (Hardback)
(Hardcover)
Lollys Publishing
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R612
Discovery Miles 6 120
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Ships in 9 - 17 working days
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Tendentious Historiographies surveys ten Jewish literary works
composed in Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek between the 8th and the
mid-2nd century BCE, and shows that each deals with major problems
of the Jewish populations in the Land of Israel or in the
dispersions. Michael Chyutin provides insightful and at times
surprising explorations of the purpose behind these texts. Jonah is
viewed as a grotesque, a parody of prophetic writing. Ahiqar
preaches the breaking of religious, national and familial
frameworks and supports assimilation into the local society. Esther
calls for Jewish national and familial solidarity and recommends
concealment of religious identity. Daniel preaches individual
observance of the religious precepts. Susannah also advocates
national and religious solidarity. Tobit tells the story of the
founders of the sect of the Therapeutes. Ruth supports the Jews who
did not go into exile in Babylon. The play Exagoge and the romance
Joseph and Aseneth support the Oniad temple in Egypt. Finally,
Judith supports the moderate approach of the Jerusalem priests
against the Hasmoneans' demand for violent struggle.
Places Apuleius' work within the context of the religious climate
and developments at the time it was written.
This volume offers a new reading of Maimonides' Guide of the
Perplexed. In particular, it explores how Maimonides' commitment to
integrity led him to a critique of the Kal?m, to a complex concept
of immortality, and to insight into the human yearning for
metaphysical knowledge. Maimonides' search for objective truth is
also analysed in its connection with the scientific writings of his
time, which neither the Kal?m nor the Jewish philosophical
tradition that preceded him had endorsed. Through a careful
analysis of these issues, this book seeks to contribute to the
understanding of the modes of thought adopted in The Guide of the
Perplexed, including the 'philosophical theologian' model of
Maimonides' own design, and to the knowledge of its sources.
Narasimha is one of the least studied major deities of Hinduism.
Furthermore, there are limited studies of the history, thought, and
literature of middle India. Lavanya Vemsani redresses this by
exploring a range of primary sources, including classical Sanskrit
texts (puranas and epics), and regional accounts (sthalapuranas),
which include texts, artistic compositions, and oral folk stories
in the regional languages of Telugu, Oriya, and Kannada. She also
examines the historical context as well as contemporary practice.
Moving beyond the stereotypical classifications applied to sources
of Hinduism, this unique study dedicates chapters to each region of
middle India bringing together literary, religious, and cultural
practices to comprehensively understand the religion of Middle
India (Madhya Desha). Incorporating lived religion and textual
data, this book offers a rich contribution to Hindu studies and
Indian studies in general, and Vaishnava Studies and regional
Hinduism in particular.
This book traces the roots of the Christian belief in resurrection
and the afterlife as presented by Paul in First Thessalonians. The
Ghanaian author adopted mainly the approach of History of Religion
(Religionsgeschichte) to his study of the Pauline exhortations on
the fate of the dead and the living at the Lord's parousia in First
Thessalonians. He is of the view that neither the African
Traditional Religion nor ancient Greek philosophy and mythology can
give the background information on the Pauline exhortations in
question but Paul's origin as a Jewish Pharisee who believed in the
resurrection of the dead and valued this belief he inherited from
Judaism. The publication can help believers in Christ see death as
an event which paves the way for them to begin a new life with God,
their creator.
Offers an in depth comparative look at the Epic of Gilgamesh and
the Primeval History, which allows students to view the Genesis
within its Near Eastern context. Offers a fresh model for
approaching this comparative task, which has at times been stifled
by religious dogmatism, on the one hand, or disciplinary insularity
on the other. Written in a lucid style with explanation of all key
terms and themes, this book is suitable for students with no
background in the subjects.
Animal liberation contends that humans and animals are of equal
value and that standard views of human uniqueness are an
anthropocentric prejudice called "speciesism." It advocates ending
human use of animals in recognition of animal rights. Animal
liberation theology attempts to ground similar views in the Bible.
It typically envisions an original creation free of predation to be
restored free of meat-eating and animal use. It views animal
sacrifice as murder and speaks of a "deep incarnation" by which God
in Christ takes on "all flesh" for the salvation of all creatures
in a "cosmic redemption." This is the first full-fledged critique
of animal liberation in general and so-called speciesism in
particular from a biblical and theological standpoint, with
accompanying scientific and philosophical analysis. After it
introduces the major thinkers, the book demonstrates the
incoherence of animal liberation with human evolution, the use of
animals in the domestic and religious life of Israel, and the New
Testament assertion that God the Son was uniquely incarnated in the
human Jesus for human salvation. This book reasserts historic
Christian faith as sufficient to the scientific, philosophical and
ethical challenges posed by animal studies, and concludes with an
appraisal of key ethical concerns regarding animal use and
foundational issues within the animal liberation movement.
Does Jesus remain concealed by the very traditions intended to
portray him? History and theology define Jesus to be a 1st-century
Galilean or the son of God, a man limited by his time and place or
exalted as the Messiah and Christ. He has been recognized as a
Jewish rabbi or the prophet of a coming apocalypse. The quest for
the historical Jesus and theology's Christ of faith may both be
essential and undeniable in the history of scholarship. Secular
historians and the Christian church have made their claims. Jesus'
self-conception, however, has been neglected, his consciousness
largely ignored. A new interpretation of the gospels presents Jesus
as a unprecedented human being who will "utter things which have
been kept secret from the foundation of the world" (Matt. 13:35)
and make their meanings significant for the here and now. Jesus'
life from the virgin birth to the resurrection can neither be
reduced to history's scepticism nor theology's affirmation. Is it
possible to re-imagine the life and words of Jesus? He reveals
himself to be a "first-born" who makes possible the second act of
creation for every individual no less than for the social world.
Chapters 22 and 23 of 2 Kings tell the story of the religious
reforms of the Judean King Josiah, who systematically destroyed the
cult places and installations where his own people worshipped in
order to purify Israelite religion and consolidate religious
authority in the hands of the Jerusalem temple priests. This
violent assertion of Israelite identity is portrayed as a pivotal
moment in the development of monotheistic Judaism. Monroe argues
that the use of cultic and ritual language in the account of the
reform is key to understanding the history of the text's
composition, and illuminates the essential, interrelated processes
of textual growth and identity construction in ancient Israel.
Until now, however, none of the scholarship on 2 Kings 22-23 has
explicitly addressed the ritual dimensions of the text. By
attending to the specific acts of defilement attributed to Josiah
as they resonate within the larger framework of Israelite ritual,
Monroe's work illuminates aspects of the text's language and
fundamental interests that have their closest parallels in the
priestly legal corpus known as the Holiness Code (Leviticus 17-26),
as well as in other priestly texts that describe methods of
eliminating contamination. She argues that these priestly-holiness
elements reflect an early literary substratum that was generated
close in time to the reign of Josiah, from within the same priestly
circles that produced the Holiness Code. The priestly composition
was reshaped in the hands of a post-Josianic, exilic or post-exilic
Deuteronomistic historian who transformed his source material to
suit his own ideological interests. The account of Josiah's reform
is thus imprinted with the cultural and religious attitudes of two
different sets of authors. Teasing these apart reveals a dialogue
on sacred space, sanctified violence and the nature of Israelite
religion that was formative in the development not only of 2 Kings
23, but of the historical books of the Bible more broadly.
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