An Unlikely Union tells the dramatic story of how two of America's largest ethnic groups learned to love and laugh with each other after decades of animosity. They came from the poorest parts of Ireland and Italy and met as rivals on the sidewalks of New York. Beginning in the nineteenth century, the Irish and Italians clashed in the Catholic Church, on the waterfront, at construction sites, and in the streets. Then they made peace through romance, marrying each other on a large scale in the years after World War II. The vibrant cast of characters features saints such as Mother Frances X. Cabrini, who stood up to the Irish American archbishop of New York when he tried to send her back to Italy, and sinners like Al Capone, who left his Irish wife home the night he shot it out with Brooklyn's Irish mob. The book also highlights the torrid love affair between radical labor organizers Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Carlo Tresca; the alliance between Italian American gangster Paul Kelly and Tammany's "Big Tim" Sullivan; heroic detective Joseph Petrosino's struggle to be accepted in the Irish-run NYPD; and the competition between Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby to become the country's top male vocalist. In this engaging history of the Irish and Italians, veteran New York City journalist and professor Paul Moses offers a classic American story of competition, cooperation, and resilience. At a time of renewed fear of immigrants, An Unlikely Union reminds us that Americans are able to absorb tremendous social change and conflict-and come out the better for it.

The Historical Jesus: Five Views provides readers with an introductory survey to the key issues in the 'quest for the historical Jesus' After a scene-setting historical introduction, prominent figures in the Jesus quest set forth their views and respond to their fellow scholars. The issues are probed with formidable knowledge and honed insight. The contributors are: Professor Darrell L. Bock: Dallas Theological Seminary, Texas; Professor Emeritus John Dominic Crossan: DePaul University, Illinois; Professor Emeritus James D. G. Dunn: Durham University, England; Professor Luke Timothy Johnson: Emory University, Georgia; Professor Robert M. Price: Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary, Florida.

Drawing on examples from literature, art, and popular culture, as well as theology, this engaging book reveals the importance of the question, "whose was he?" in fully understanding the life and legacy of Jesus.A concise, accessible and engaging exploration of Jesus's life and enduring influenceCharts the changing global status and influence of Jesus, a Galilean Jew born when the ancient Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean world, and how he has come to be honored as the Christ and recognized by billions of people around the worldTraces the reception history of Jesus and his story over the past two millennia, through art, literature, and culture, as well as theologyDraws on a fascinating range of materials - from ancient texts, creeds, and theological treatises, to the visual and dramatic arts, including books like "The DaVinci Code" and films such as "The Passion of the Christ"

The only historic figure outside the early Christian tradition to whom the Gospels ascribe a dialogue with Jesus is the first-century Roman prefect Pontius Pilate. Presiding over the trial and execution of Jesus, Pilate is a figure who has straddled history and legend for over two thousand years. Now, Aldo Schiavone presents a comprehensive, revisionist biography of Pilate that meticulously reconstructs the social, religious and political context in which his fateful encounter with Jesus took place. Drawing on a wealth of original research, Schiavone weaves together the sources, from epigraphs to the Gospels, from Josephus to Tacitus and Philon, to create a portrait that approaches its subject as if for the first time, without any other intent than to try to explain what happened.

This book takes a personal approach to spirituality by exploring Jesus through his personal life and relationships. Herron focuses on Jesus' travels on the road to Emmaus, where he met many disciples along the way. By paralleling Christ's journey with our daily trials, one can discover the many dimensions of love and the one sustaining Spirit even in the most minute detail of day-to-day life. Immortal Longings serves as a guide for those who are searching and grasping for understanding in their lives and journeys. The exploratory nature of this book makes it especially appealing to college students and older adolescents.

In The Final Days of Jesus, Mark Smith brings his experience as a classical historian to bear on the life of the historical Jesus, piecing together the volatile political context of first-century Judaea, as well as the lives of Pontius Pilate, Annas, and Joseph Caiaphas. The claim that 'the Jews crucified Jesus' has spawned a long and tragic history of Christian anti-Semitism. Smith challenges this claim through detailed exploration of Roman, Jewish, and Christian written sources and a broad range of archaeological evidence, such as the ossuary of Caiaphas, the 'Hidden Gate', and the rich vein of research devoted to the archaeology of ritual purity. The result is an earthy and nuanced portrait of Jewish life under Roman rule. From his discussion of the multiplicity and brutality of Roman executions to the intricate personal relationships among elites that provided the means of collaboration and redress, Smith details the complex push-pull of forces between Rome and the Temple as they collided in one history-changing week.

To understand the cult of the Virgin Mary is to understand the Christian religion. The Virgin Mary is a ubiquitous but enigmatic presence in Christian history and culture. The tradition about Mary forms a vast and multi-layered aspect of Western history, culture and spirituality. It is not just in the Catholic tradition that Mary has become a particular focus of study and interest. Mary has also become a crucial interest for Christians outside this tradition (Protestant, Anglican) as a path to ecumenical understanding. This book is intended as a reference book for the student or scholar seeking knowledge of the history and contemporary practice of the cult of the Virgin Mary. It provides new essays which give overviews of particular areas of study - both historical and thematic - together with texts from primary sources and important scholarly articles, some of which appear in English for the first time. The volume is designed to be suitable for use as a course book at undergraduate and Masters levels. The result is astonishing and will open up whole new avenues for theological and spiritual enquiry. "The Virgin Mary": A resource book for study will be essential for anyone who has a strong theological or devotional interest in Mary. But it will open the eyes of those who do not.

This book brings the events and themes of Easter into the rest of the year. In the Christian tradition, we make much of the Christ-child and Christ crucified but are much more reticent about Christ risen, in spite of the fact that it's the risen life we're supposed to be sharing most of the time. We go through Lent and Holy Week with great seriousness but Easter gets one great day and then we're not sure what to do with it. This book is full of ideas, reflections, and resources on how to extend the message of resurrection through the coming weeks and into the rest of our lives. It includes 'articles' of accessible reflection, ways to celebrate resurrection and to continue the 'risen life', worship ideas, stories and personal experience, poetry, music and art, a home group/cell group course, literature and film, cartoons and humour etc, all designed to give a variety of points of entry to the theme of resurrection.

Sifting through centuries of mythmaking, Reza Aslan sheds new light on one of history's most influential and enigmatic figures by examining Jesus within the context of the times in which he lived: the age of zealotry, an era awash in apocalyptic fervour. Balancing the Jesus of the Gospels against historical sources, Aslan describes a complex figure: a man of peace who exhorted his followers to arm themselves; an exorcist and faith healer who urged his disciples to keep his identity secret; and the seditious 'King of the Jews', whose promise of liberation from Rome went unfulfilled in his lifetime. Aslan explores why the early Church preferred to promulgate an image of Jesus as a peaceful spiritual teacher rather than a politically conscious revolutionary, and grapples with the riddle of how Jesus understood himself. Zealot provides a fresh perspective on one of the greatest stories ever told. The result is a thought-provoking, elegantly written biography with the pulse of a fast-paced novel, and a singularly brilliant portrait of a man, a time and the birth of a religion.

At the turn of the twentieth century, American popular culture was booming with opportunities to see Jesus Christ. From the modernized eyewitness gospel of Ben-Hur to the widely circulated passion play films of Edison, Lumiere, and Pathe; from D. W. Griffith's conjuration of a spectral white savior in Birth of a Nation to W. E. B. Du Bois's "Black Christ" story cycle, Jesus was constantly and inventively visualized across media, and especially in the new medium of film. Why, in an era traditionally defined by the triumph of secular ideologies and institutions, were so many artists rushing to film Christ's miracles and use his story and image to contextualize their experiences of modernity? In The Disappearing Christ, Phillip Maciak examines filmic depictions of Jesus to argue that cinema developed as a model technology of secularism, training viewers for belief in a secular age. Negotiating between the magic trick and the documentary image, the conflicting impulses of faith and skepticism, the emerging aesthetic of film in this period visualized the fraught process of secularization. Cinematic depictions of an appearing and disappearing Christ became a powerful vehicle for Americans to navigate a rapidly modernizing society. Studying these films alongside a multimedia, interdisciplinary archive of novels, photographs, illustrations, and works of theology, travel writing, and historiography, The Disappearing Christ offers a new narrative of American cultural history at the intersection of cinema studies and religious studies.

How can a scientifically-minded person approach the healings and miracles of the Gospels, including such events as the raising of Lazarus and the Resurrection itself? Emil Bock rediscovers the works of Christ without minimizing the difficulties. He brings together historical records and the geographical background of the Gospels, all the while keeping sight of their spiritual wisdom. Bock considers the Gospel of John to give the most precise record of the events of Christ's three year ministry, as well as being the Gospel with the deepest esoteric significance. This profound study reveals a new understanding of Jesus' incarnation on earth.

If asked how Matthew's Gospel differs from Luke's, or what aspects of Jesus' personhood and ministry the Gospel of Mark focuses on compared with those of John, how would you answer? In Discovering Jesus, T. Desmond Alexander helps readers understand how each Gospel account is uniquely written and why all four Gospels are important in their different, but complementary pictures of the person and ministry of Jesus Christ. Alexander shows how the Gospels display Jesus as the Son of David who establishes the kingdom of God, the Son of God who suffers to ransom others, the Saviour of the world who seeks the lost, and the Lamb of God who brings eternal life through a new exodus. Each chapter ends with discussion questions for individual or group study.

Two decades after radiocarbon dating declared the Turin Shroud a mediaeval fake, brand-new historical discoveries strongly suggest that this famous cloth, with its extraordinary photographic imprint, is genuinely Christ's shroud after all. In 1978 in his international bestseller The Turin Shroud Ian Wilson ignited worldwide public debate with his compelling case endorsing the shroud's authenticity. Now, 30 years later, he has completely rewritten and updated his earlier book to provide fresh evidence to support his original argument. Shroud boldly challenges the current post-radiocarbon dating view - that it is a fake. By arguing his case brilliantly and provocatively, Ian Wilson once more throws the matter into the public arena for further debate and controversy.

Mater Misericordiae-Mother of Mercy-emerged as one of the most prolific subjects in central Italian art from the late thirteenth through the sixteenth centuries. With iconographic origins in Marian cult relics brought from Palestine to Constantinople in the fifth century, the amalgam of attributes coalesced in Armenian Cilicia then morphed as it spread to Cyprus. An early concept of Mary of Mercy-the Virgin standing with outstretched arms and a wide mantle under which kneel or stand devotees-entered the Italian peninsula at the ports of Bari and Venice during the Crusades, eventually converging in central Italy. The mendicant orders adopted the image as an easily recognizable symbol for mercy and aided in its diffusion. In this study, the author's primary goals are to explore the iconographic origins of the Madonna della Misericordia as a devotional image by identifying and analyzing key attributes; to consider circumstances for its eventual overlapping function as a secular symbol used by lay confraternities; and to discuss its diaspora throughout the Italian peninsula, Western Europe, and eastward into Russia and Ukraine. With over 100 illustrations, the book presents an array of works of art as examples, including altarpieces, frescoes, oil paintings, manuscript illuminations, metallurgy, glazed terracotta, stained glass, architectural relief sculpture, and processional banners.

In Jesus and the Chaos of History, James Crossley looks at the way the earliest traditions about Jesus interacted with a context of social upheaval and the ways in which this historical chaos of the early first century led to a range of ideas which were taken up, modified, ignored, and reinterpreted in the movement that followed. Crossley examines how the earliest Palestinian tradition intersected with social upheaval and historical change and how accidental, purposeful, discontinuous, contradictory, and implicit meanings in the developments of ideas appeared in the movement that followed. He considers the ways seemingly egalitarian and countercultural ideas co-exist with ideas of dominance and power and how human reactions to socio-economic inequalities can end up mimicking dominant power. In this case, the book analyses how a Galilean 'protest' movement laid the foundations for its own brand of imperial rule. This evaluation is carried out in detailed studies on the kingdom of God and 'Christology', 'sinners' and purity, and gender and revolution.

In Jesus and the Chaos of History, James Crossley looks at the way the earliest traditions about Jesus interacted with a context of social upheaval and the ways in which this historical chaos of the early first century led to a range of ideas which were taken up, modified, ignored, and reinterpreted in the movement that followed. Crossley examines how the earliest Palestinian tradition intersected with social upheaval and historical change and how accidental, purposeful, discontinuous, contradictory, and implicit meanings in the developments of ideas appeared in the movement that followed. He considers the ways seemingly egalitarian and countercultural ideas co-exist with ideas of dominance and power and how human reactions to socio-economic inequalities can end up mimicking dominant power. In this case, the book analyses how a Galilean 'protest' movement laid the foundations for its own brand of imperial rule. This evaluation is carried out in detailed studies on the kingdom of God and 'Christology', 'sinners' and purity, and gender and revolution.

The classic "All Series" books have graced the shelves of pastors, students, and laypeople alike for decades. "All the Teachings of Jesus" continues in the series' tradition of offering a faithful and comprehensive treatment of biblical subjects.

Herbert Lockyer begins this enlightening book by writing that the words of Jesus "were not only 'thoughts that breathe, and words that burn, ' but mighty words that were to shape the destinies of men and nations." With the wisdom that comes from years of preaching and studying the Bible, Herbert Lockyer provides his readers with insights into the teachings of Jesus and encourages us to allow those teachings to shape our lives.

One of Jesus' main purposes during his time on earth was to teach. In this useful, heart touching book, Herbert Lockyer examines the nature and authority of the Great Teacher himself. He points readers to the life giving words Jesus spoke to his disciples and the multitudes. Jesus taught on a variety of topics that are as significant to believers today as they were then: sin, forgiveness, money, sickness and death, love, ministry, and many more. In his teaching Jesus invited repentance and belief in the gospel, and he instructed his followers in how to live sanctified lives.

Since they were first written in 1745, "Visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary" has been translated into many languages and read worldwide. This classic translation of St. Alphonsus Liguori's Visits, a faithful rendition from the original Italian into the American idiom, has now been reprinted in a new larger edition. This new printing offers exactly the same text as the previous edition, but in a larger, more readable, more durable format. It includes St. Alphonsus Liguori's introductory and concluding prayer, spiritual communion, and his reflection/meditation for each of 31 visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

This volume presents a collection of papers by scholars from Europe and the USA on a question which is currently again the subject of intensive discussion - the figure of the historical Jesus. One main problem is that of methodology - how in general can history be constructed from texts, how is it possible in this particular case to draw a picture of Jesus the person from the texts about him? This question is placed within the wider context of epistemological and historiographical enquiry. A further major question is that of the relationship between Jesus' work and the development of the Christian faith. Whereas earlier scholars often saw a gap between the two, many of the present contributors put forward a different point of view. In addition, a number of questions of detail are treated which are important for research into the historical Jesus (the law, Jesus' concept of death, judgement and salvation).

Jesus the Rebel explores the radical life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth and shows how his witness speaks directly to our contemporary world of violence, war, poverty, and nuclear weaponry. As John Dear ponders Jesus call to discipleship, he shares his own journey of Gospel peacemaking. In jails, soup kitchens, shelters, and war zones, Jesus the bearer of God 's Peace and Justice is reborn and invites us to be transformed in our homes, workplaces, churches, communities, and hearts.

By the signs, wonders and miracles He performed, Jesus manifested His compassion for His creatures and the ultimate reason for his coming into the world - His healing and restoration of mankind. The miracles are presented in three parts. The first deals with the miracles recorded in St Matthew's and St Luke's Gospels, as they are read on the Sundays after Pentecost. The second section treats the signs of the Gospel of St John, and the third part surveys the miracles in St Mark's Gospel.

The gospel accounts of the birth and childhood of Jesus have puzzling discrepancies and contradictions. In particular, Matthew and Luke give different versions of the genealogy and birth of Jesus, and of the events that follow. A long forgotten tradition held that there were, in fact, two families and two Jesus children whose destinies would come together: one from the kingly line of Solomon, and the other from the priestly line of Nathan. There are various apocryphal texts, as well as works of art, in which both children clearly occur. Emil Bock shows how the pattern and structure of the four gospels support the stories of two boys called Jesus, living side by side in Nazareth until the age of twelve, right up to the dramatic day of their visit to the temple in Jerusalem. He also recreates the years between this time and Jesus' baptism. This book is essential reading for every Christology student, and for anyone who has ever wondered about the gospel accounts of Jesus' birth.

'This richly engaging study vividly conveys how opening our hearts to Christ can release the transformative power of love to flow through our lives and into our broken and needy world. I pray that many will be touched by their encounter with Christ in Living Jesus.' Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu 'I'm with John Pritchard - unashamedly and incurably obsessed with Jesus. As I read his beautiful new book, I felt both my mind and my heart being enriched and challenged - to ponder the life and meaning of Jesus with my mind, and to respond from the depths of my heart. Whether you're a long-term follower of Jesus or just beginning to explore what he's about, you'll find in Living Jesus a dependable guide . . . gracious, intelligent, balanced, and generous with insight.' Brian McLaren, author, speaker and activist 'What a fantastic book! Jesus Christ is the centre of human history, but who is he? John Pritchard shows us the Jesus who jumped off the pages of the Bible and into his life. I encourage you to read this book, whether you're a follower of Jesus or just wanting to find out more. You will be moved, you will laugh and you will cry. In those moments when you wonder why you are a Christian, Living Jesus will remind you. An inspirational book written by a man who loves Jesus and loves people.' Mark Russell, Chief Executive, Church Army

A companion volume to Telling the Bible. Bob uses the Gospel of Luke as a basis for 70 stories about Jesus, his birth, life, teaching, death and resurrection. Bob uses a wide variety of narrative forms to produce stories that will delight new Christians and Bible veterans alike. Each story is accompanied by an introduction explaining its particular place and function, with telling tips and questions. Some require audience participation: all are designed to entertain and inform. The book is produced in large clear print and strongly bound for prolonged use. The price includes a license to photocopy.