Richard Antoun documents and exemplifies the single most important institution for the propagation of Islam, the Friday congregational sermon delivered in the mosque by the Muslim preacher. In his analysis of various sermons collected in a Jordanian village and in Amman, the author vividly demonstrates the scope of the Islamic corpus (beliefs, ritual norms, and ethics), its flexibility with respect to current social issues and specific social structures, and its capacity for interpretation and manipulation.

Focusing on the pivotal role of preacher as "culture broker," Antoun compares the process of "the social organization of tradition" in rural Jordan with similar processes outside the Muslim world. He then highlights the experiential dimension of Islam. The sermons discussed range over such topics as family ethics, political attitudes, pilgrimage, education, magic, work, compassion, and individual salvation.

Originally published in 1989.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Die Kapitel 9-11 des Roemerbriefes sind fur die Frage nach der Bedeutung Israels im Neuen Testament von zentraler Bedeutung. In welcher Weise Paulus dabei das Alte Testament verwendet, ist in der Forschung jedoch umstritten. In dieser Studie wird anhand der Zitate aus dem Kontext des Sinaibundes untersucht, inwieweit Paulus auf die alttestamentlichen Aussagen zur Bundesbeziehung Gottes zu Israel zuruckgreift. Dazu wird die Bundesbeziehung in ihrem alttestamentlichen Kontext, ihrer Rezeption im Fruhjudentum und schliesslich in ihrer argumentativen Funktion in Roem 9-11 analysiert. Es zeigt sich, dass die alttestamentlichen Kernaussagen zur Bundesbeziehung Paulus weitreichend gepragt haben und wesentlich der UEberzeugung sind, dass Gott Israel nicht verstossen hat.

The Buddhist monk Ashva-ghosha composed Life of the Buddha in the first or second century CE probably in Ayodhya. This is the earliest surviving text of the Sanskrit literary genre called kavya and probably provided models for Kali-dasa's more famous works. The most poignant scenes on the path to his Awakening are when the young prince Siddhartha, the future Buddha, is confronted by the reality of sickness, old age, and death, while seduced by the charms of the women employed to keep him at home. A poet of the highest order, Ashva-ghosha's aim is not entertainment but instruction, presenting the Buddha's teaching as the culmination of the Brahmanical tradition. His wonderful descriptions of the bodies of courtesans are ultimately meant to show the transience of beauty.

Co-published by New York University Press and the JJC Foundation

For more on this title and other titles in the Clay Sanskrit series, please visit http: //www.claysanskritlibrary.org

Secret Freedom is a practical guide to help any individual overcome keeping secrets. Ilonka Deaton explores the pitfalls and struggles people carry when they keep secrets and the resulting effects. She guides each reader into a journaling experience to not only explore their own story but to walk deeper into a place of healing and freedom. Secret Freedom provides real life stories as examples and readers find a meaningful avenue to explore their own struggles. Through this practical guide, readers gain a stronger emotional voice and learn how to fly again.

The contributors, who each work with spiritual issues, either explicitly as spiritual directors or accompaniers, or as an implicit part of their therapeutic work, offer a psychologically-informed approach to Spiritual Accompaniment and Direction, and to working with others on a spiritual level more generally. They explore what it means to be attuned to the spiritual process of another, discuss what makes an effective relationship in Spiritual Accompaniment and counselling, and consider how best to work with spiritual crisis, spiritual abuse, and pain. The unconscious process informing the work, forgiveness, changing spiritual needs over the life-span, and models of supervision that can inform the practice of Spiritual Accompaniment are also explored. A case study is presented, providing psychological and theological insights into the accompaniment process. Grounded in work with the spiritual dimension of others and aspiring to improve encounters at a spiritual level, this concise book has important implications for the practice of counsellors, psychotherapists, and spiritual accompaniers and directors.