Many people shy away from those who have terminal illnesses or have suffered other tragedies or losses, because they do not know what to do or to say. They want to be helpful, to show their concern, but they feel awkward and afraid their actions or words will be inappropriate. Call Me If You Need Anything...and Other Things Not to Say can help even the most unsure provide care and comfort to others during the challenging times of their lives. With insights from personal experience, Cathy Peterson turns good intentions into real help and encouragement for the patient and family. She provides sensible advice, not philosophical rhetoric, on everything from sending cards to bringing food, to spending time, to sharing condolences. Peterson even includes guidance on what not to do or say. Call Me If You Need Anything...and Other Things Not to Say is straightforward guidance on how to show that you really do care.

This important book is sure to foster informed public discussion about the death penalty by deepening readers' understanding of how religious beliefs and perspectives shape this contentious issue. Featuring a fair, balanced appraisal of its topic, "Religion and the Death Penalty brings thoughtful religious reflection to bear on current challenges facing the capital justice system.

One look at the list of contributors reveals the significance of this book. Here are recognized leaders from the academy, government, and public life who also represent a wide range of faith commitments, including Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. Like many people of faith and goodwill, the authors disagree with one another, variously supporting retention, reform, or abolition of capital punishment. As a result, the book presents the most comprehensive and well-rounded religiously oriented discussion of the death penalty available.

Contributors: Khaled Abou El Fadl
Victor Anderson
Jeanne Bishop
J. Budziszewski
John D. Carlson
Mario M. Cuomo
E. J. Dionne Jr.
Avery Cardinal Dulles, S. J.
Eric P. Elshtain
Richard W. Garnett
Stanley Hauerwas
Frank Keating
Gilbert Meilaender
David Novak
Erik C. Owens
George H. Ryan
Antonin Scalia
Paul Simon
Glen H. Stassen
Michael L. Westmoreland-White
Beth Wilkinson

This series of lectures by eminent authors from Britain and Germany is an excellent grounding in a wide range of World Religions and their attitudes and approaches to war and peace. Suitable for all undergraduates of Biblical Studies, Religious Studies and Theology, this text would particularly suit second year students studying World Religions or Ethics. Split into three manageable sections, part one looks at war and peace in the Eastern Religions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Classical Chinese Thought. Part two looks at war and peace in the Abrahamic Religions, i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The final forward looking part brings themes and commonalities together in a discussion of various developments towards peace, including a discussion of "The World Conference on Religion and Peace" as well as Hans Kung's excellent lecture on "Global Ethic - Development and Goals". With an Introduction by Perry Schmidt-Leukel, this is a rigorous, yet accessible text for anyone with an interest in the discussion of religion and international conflict. Contents: 1. 'Part of the Problem, Part of the Solution': An Introduction - Perry Schmidt-Leukel Part I War and Peace in Eastern Religions 2. War and Peace in Hinduism - Michael von Bruck 3. War and Peace in Buddhism - Perry Schmidt-Leukel 4. War and Peace in Classical Chinese Thought, with Particular Regard to Chinese Religion - Gregor Paul Part II War and Peace in Abrahamic Religions 5. War and Peace in Judaism - Dan Cohn-Sherbok 6. War and Peace in Christianity - Ian Hazlett 7. War and Peace in Islam - Lloyd Ridgeon Part III Inter-religious Foundations for Peace 8. Global Ethic: Development and Goals Hans Kung 9. Peace and Multireligious Co-operation: The World Conference of Religious for Peace (WCRP) Norbert Klaes. About the editor Perry Schmidt-Leukel is Professor of Systematic Theology and Religious Studies, holds the Chair of World Religions for Peace and is Director of the Centre for Inter-Faith Studies at the University of Glasgow.

This is the first book to take a broad interdisciplinary approach to the relationship between female blood and issues of purity and impurity. Well-known women scholars examine blood and purity laws, especially as those laws have been passed down in the biblical literature and in the Roman Catholic tradition. Theses scholars work with different texts, ranging across the biblical, classical, patristic, medieval, and modern, with approaches varying from the historical critical to postmodern. Kristin De Troyer (Claremont) asks whether blood is a threat to holiness or a step toward another holiness. Judith Ann Johnson (Claremont) explores the shedding of blood as the sanctifying rite of heroes. Anne-Marie Korte (The Netherlands) takes an anthropological look at female blood rituals. Kathleen O'Grady (Toronto) analyzes the woman with a discharge of blood in light of menstrual prohibitions in the Hebrew Bible. Deborah Ellens (Claremont) offers a challenging reading of Leviticus 15. Mayer Gruber (Beer Sheva, Israel) examines Qumran law and halachic sources dealing with women and pollution. Kathleen P. Rushton (Brisbane, Australia) offers a feminist reading of the story of the woman in childbirth in John 16:21. Jennifer Schultz (Toronto, Canada) explores doctors, philosophers, and the Christian Fathers on menstrual blood. Susan K. Roll Buffalo, New York) surveys patristic and medieval texts dealing with the churching of women after childbirth. Grietje Dresen (The Netherlands) examines the churching of new mothers in the Roman Catholic tradition. Kristin De Troyer is Professor of Hebrew Bible at Claremont School of Theology and Professor of Religion at Claremont Graduate University. She is the author of The End of the Alpha-Text of Esther: Translation Techniques and Narrative Techniques in MT-LXX 8:1-17-AT 7, 14-4. Judith A. Herbert is a Ph.D. student at Claremont School of Theology. Judith Ann Johnson is an independent research scholar working with Claremont Graduate University's Women's Studies in Religion and University of Global Ministries. Anne-Marie Korte is lives in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and is the editor of Women and Miracle Stories: Multidisciplinary Explanation.

An excellent guide to successful counseling Milo Review A good book for any person needing direction Stidham View and Review Dennis Frey provides a masterful script for the counselor utilizing Biblical principles. Observer and Review

This book, arising from over twenty years experience of working with the world's major faiths, draws extensively upon joint World Bank and ARC (Alliance of Religion & Conservation) /WWF (World Wildlife Fund for Nature) projects world wide. It shows, through stories, land management, myths, investment policies, legends, advocacy and celebration, the role the major faiths have, do and can play in making the world a better place. The major faiths are the oldest institutions in the world and have survived essentially because they are constantly evolving and changing. There is much to be learnt by newer institutions such as the World Bank and the multitudes of NGOs about how to remain true to what you believe but change and grow as you develop. The book explores issues of climate change, forestry, asset management, education and biodiversity protection and does so using the techniques of the great faiths - storytelling, example and celebration. It reveals a variety of world views and it asks us to see that our personal view may be just one amongst many.The challenge of living with integrity in a pluralist world underlies the book and it offers models of how diversity is crucial in attempting to ensure we have a sustainable world.

He Must Increase but I Must Decrease is for those who overweight, underweight, bulemic or anorexic. If you have weight problems of any kind, this book is for you! Inside is 20 years experience in counseling men/women with weight control problems. The key is discipline of mind, body and spirit. Followed in its entirety, results will exceed expectations. It will do for you what it has done for many others who committed their weight control to God rather than following fad diets/diet plans which produce no results or result in poor health or death! This plan does not require any special foods or diets

How does a minister respond to a cry for help when the concern is alcohol or drug abuse? With one out of eight adults in the country suffering from alcohol dependency or drug abuse and one out of four families distressed by someone

This powerful book deals with the issue of how Christians, especially those called to counsel, can help survivors of sexual abuse find healing and hope. From 20 years of experience, the author demonstrates how counselors can walk alongside people deeply wounded by sexual abuse as they face the truth about who they are, who their abuser was, and who God is as the Savior and Redeemer of all life. Counseling Survivors of Sexual Abuse issues a strong call to the church at large to walk with survivors through the long dark nights of their healing.

While Robert Putnam'sBowling Alone(2000) highlighted the notion of volunteerism, little attention has been paid to religion's role in generating social capital - an ironic omission since religion constitutes the most common form of voluntary association in America today. Featuring essays by prominent social scientists, this is the first book-length systematic examination of the relationship between religion and social capital and what effects religious social capital has on democratic life in the United States.

A new perspective on religions and the environment emerges from this collection. The authors, a diverse group of indigenous and non-native scholars and environmental activists, address compelling and urgent questions facing indigenous communities as they struggle with threats to their own sovereignty, increased market and media globalization, and the conservation of endangered bioregions.

Drawing attention to the pressures threatening indigenous peoples and ways of life, this volume describes modes of resistance and regeneration by which communities maintain a spiritual balance with larger cosmological forces while creatively accommodating current environmental, social, economic, and political changes.

This call to rethink major religious traditions on key topics of family planning provides a fresh, underreported side of these traditions. Written in a lively, engaging, and skilled style by a leading ethicist, this guide brings expert insights of major scholars in a manageable format.

"Good Sex is a pioneering effort to create an interreligious dialogue specifically on sexuality. . . . It] is the realization of efforts by concerned feminists to talk across national and religious borders in the name of social justice."-VOLUNTUS, International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations "This collection of essays is a useful addition to contemporary post-colonial, post-Beijing women's studies courses that seek to integrate a plurality of cultural and religious perspectives into the discourse on women's sexuality. . . . The volume is very helpful in communicating a sense of the history or feminist discourse and the effects of globalization on that discourse. . . . And everyone smiles when they hear the title of the book."-Journal of Contemporary Religion "This groundbreaking collection of 11 articles by women from eight countries and seven religious traditions challenges male-defined ideas of sexuality that have constricted women by denying them pleasure and autonomous agency and threatening their well-being and, sometimes, lives. . . . While the contributors do not always agree, they do recognize the importance of global and interdisciplinary perspectives and affirm the tension women experience when they work for change from within a repressive tradition. Recommended." -Library Journal "The collection as a whole makes both an explicit and implicit case for culture, and not religion, being the primary source of undertandings of sex as solely for reproduction, and illustrates religions that have always recognized other purposes (Judaism, Islam) as well as religions which have come to recognize other purposes (Christianity). . . . A very useful collection in terms of both the data is provides and its methodological reflection."-Conscience "At this most timely moment in history, Good Sex] presents diverse and supremely intelligent perspectives on the systematic terrorizing of women through sexual slavery, marital rape, domestic violence, and rules of behavior designed to numb mind, body, and spirit. . . . At the same time, the major message of the book is one of optimism. It offers eloquent language for redefining sexual pleasure beyond immediate, goal-oriented gratification and for discussing ethical principles that locate sex at the center of public policy, not only in the bedroom or the family law courts. . . . Good Sex] contains insightful arguments for sexual justice, inviting us to rethink and expand our stock definitions of what constitutes good sex, or even sex itself, and to reevaluate the contexts in which such redefined sex can be enjoyed. This collection of essays deserves to be on the shelf of every library on the planet as well as standard issue in women's study courses and all courses dealing with sexuality, spirituality, and religion."-The Journal of Sex Research "Good Sex is a rare gem. It opens doors of inquiry into feminism, religion, and sexuality-exploring terrain that is vital to the human rights of women and men. It invites passionate debate and will no doubt become a classic."-Charlotte Bunch, executive director, Center for Women's Global Leadership, Rutgers University What is "good sex" in the globalized world of the twenty-first century? This volume brings together essays by feminist scholars from different religions and cultures to consider how women are redefining sexuality for the common good. The essays explore sexual and social restrictions on women; religiously and socially acceptable avenues of sexual expression; constructions of sexual identities; and attitudes toward women's sexual desires. How is sexual desire constructed within specific cultural and religious contexts? What sacrifices must women make (and how do they make them) simply to have sexual lives? What options and strategies are available to women to dissolve the many restrictions imposed on their sexuality? These are some of the questions being explored.

Bringing together original work from some of the world's leading specialists in the field, this new volume offers wide-ranging and enlightening new perspectives on the role of love, sex and gender in a variety of different faiths. Among the issues covered are gender politics, sexual symbolism and religious ecstasy, and their role in religions as diverse as Christianity and Tibetan Buddhism. Featuring essays by such distinguished thinkers as Arvind Sharma, Karen Lebacqz, Julius Lipner, Karen Jo Torjesen and Carter Heyward, this new collection combines classic sources of text and tradition with innovative ideas and modes of thought, creating a detailed but accessible study. This clear and concise book will challenge the reader to think creatively about both past and present concepts of sexuality, relationships and the role of women in the world faiths. It should be of interest to students, scholars and the interested general reader alike.

"The editors have performed a great service in making widely available a documentary history of the interpretation of the Eve and Adam story." Publishers Weekly

"This fascinating volume examines Genesis 1-3 and the different ways that Jewish, Christian, and Muslim interpreters have used these passages to define and enforce gender roles.... a 'must'... " Choice

"Wonderful A marvelous introduction to the ways in which the three major Western religious traditions are both like, and unlike one another." Ellen Umansky, Fairfield University

No other text has affected women in the western world as much as the story of Eve and Adam. This remarkable anthology surveys more than 2,000 years of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim commentary and debate on the biblical story that continues to raise fundamental questions about what it means to be a man or to be a woman. The selections range widely from early postbiblical interpretations in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha to the Qur an, from Thomas Aquinas to medieval Jewish commentaries, from Christian texts to 19th-century antebellum slavery writings, and on to pieces written especially for this volume."

Family life since World War II has undergone dramatic changes. Cultural shifts emphasizing personal needs and fulfillment have transformed traditional understandings of marriage and divorce, gender equality, and sexual behavior, resulting in a marked increase in single-parent homes, dual-income couples, and divorced and blended families. In this book, contributors who represent diverse religious traditions in North America show how their respective traditions have responded to changes in the family in the last half century. Exploring the broad range of responses in their traditions - from conservative to progressive - they reflect on the roles that theology, scripture, and the social sciences have had in this transformation. Further, they take a realistic look at the influence of mainstream religion and its role in future discussions of family life. This exploration offers readers fresh and broad ranges of ways to evaluate their own religious traditions when dealing with issues related to the future of the family. Religious traditions discussed are Southern Baptist, Mormon, Mennonite, Roman Catholic, African Methodist Episcopal, Methodist, Jewish, Presbyterian, United Church of Canada, Episcopal, and ecumenical and interdenominational.