This first of a two-volume work provides a new understanding of Western subjectivity as theorized in the Augustinian Rule. A theopolitical synthesis of Antiquity, the Rule is a humble, yet extremely influential example of subjectivity production. In these volumes, Jodra argues that the Classical and Late-Ancient communitarian practices along the Mediterranean provide historical proof of a worldview in which the self and the other are not disjunctive components, but mutually inclusive forces. The Augustinian Rule is a culmination of this process and also the beginning of something new: the paradigm of the monastic self as protagonist of the new, medieval worldview. In this volume, Jodra takes one of the most influential and pervasive commons experiments-Augustine's Rule-and gives us its Mediterranean backstory, with an eye to solving at last the riddle of socialism. In volume two, he will present his solution in full, as a kind of Augustinian communitarianism for today. These volumes therefore restore the unity of the Hellenistic and Judaic world as found by the first Christians, proving that the self and the other are two essential pieces in the construction of our world.

Dignity is a fundamental aspect of our lives, yet one we rarely pause to consider; our understandings of dignity, on individual, collective and philosophical perspectives, shape how we think, act and relate to others. This book offers an historical survey of how dignity has been understood and explores the concept in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. World-renowned contributors examine the roots of human dignity in classical Greece and Rome and the Scriptures, as well as in the work of theologians, such as St Thomas Aquinas and St John Paul II. Further chapters consider dignity within Renaissance art and sacred music. The volume shows that dignity is also a contemporary issue by analysing situations where the traditional understanding has been challenged by philosophical and policy developments. To this end, further essays look at the role of dignity in discussions about transhumanism, religious freedom, robotics and medicine. Grounded in the principal Christian traditions of Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, and Protestantism, this book offers an interdisciplinary and cross-period approach to a timely topic. It validates the notion of human dignity and offers an introduction to the field, while also challenging it.

Reason, the Only Oracle of Man is Colonel Ethan Allen's polemical treatise wherein he argues for the power of reason, and reason's nature as a God-given attribute of man. Received to a negative reception during its original publication in 1785, Reason, the Only Oracle of Man divided opinion on the grounds of its rejection of traditional, Christian religious beliefs. At the time, the fledgling nation of the United States was deeply devoted to the traditional Christian establishment, with many suspicious of the recent progress of science in many fields. Ethan Allen rejected many traditional beliefs of the Christian church. He considered much of the Bible to be mythical superstition, and held great contempt for organised religion which he viewed as corrupt and sinful, with the priesthood in particular targeted for its inadequacies. While not an atheist, Allen believed strongly in the power and capacity of reason, and considered its use to be virtuous.

Blaise Pascal's famous Pens es (Thoughts) is, in reality, a collection of notes he made for a book he never wrote. Many of the thoughts are fragmentary in nature, and the sectionalising and numbering was devised by a later editor. Yet they contain the key ideas of his religious philosophy, including his famous wager, as well as many other insights and ideas such as his celebrated comment on Cleopatra's nose. This is a new edition (not a scan) of the W. F. Trotter translation of 1908, with an introduction by T. S. Eliot.

Herbert McCabe OP was one of the most intelligent Roman Catholic thinkers of the 20th century, whose writings have enjoyed enormous and welcome success. A significant influence on philosophers such as Anthony Kenny and Alasdair McIntyre, McCabe also counted amongst his friends Seamus Heaney and Terry Eagleton, and moved amongst the literary elite. His wide personal interests are reflected in his writings, which cover a broad range of topics. In this reader we glimpse an insight into the workings of a brilliant mind occupied by topics including the philosophy of God and Christian doctrine, ethics and moral theology, the problem of evil, the philosophical theology of St Thomas Aquinas, the traditional catholic concern for prayer, liturgy, Mary and St Dominic. Further musings reflect on issues that interested McCabe the most - philosophy of God, Christology, fundamental and sacramental theology, and ethics. Edited by Brian Davies and Paul Kucharski, two well known McCabe specialists, the selection is a gem which will be of use to any reader interested in comprehending the key issues for a thoughtful life, and also includes some of McCabe's most dazzling sermons.

Biblical scholarship today is divided between two mutually exclusive concepts of the emergence of monotheism: an early-monotheistic Yahwism paradigm and a native-pantheon paradigm. This study identifies five main stages on Israel's journey towards monotheism. Rather than deciding whether Yahweh was originally a god of the Baal-type or of the El-type, this work shuns origins and focuses instead on the first period for which there are abundant sources, the Omride era. Non-biblical sources depict a significantly different situation from the Baalism the Elijah cycle ascribes to King Achab. The novelty of the present study is to take this paradox seriously and identify the Omride dynasty as the first stage in the rise of Yahweh as the main god of Israel. Why Jerusalem later painted the Omrides as anti-Yahweh idolaters is then explained as the need to distance itself from the near-by sanctuary of Bethel by assuming the Omride heritage without admitting its northern Israelite origins. The contribution of the Priestly document and of Deutero-Isaiah during the Persian era comprise the next phase, before the strict Yahwism achieved in Daniel 7 completes the emergence of biblical Yahwism as a truly monotheistic religion.