This volume argues the Judaic and Christian heirs of Scripture adopted, and adapted to their own purposes and tasks, Greek philosophical modes of thought and argument, and explores how the earliest intellectuals of Christianity and Judaism shaped a tradition of articulated conflict and reasoned argument in the search for religious truth that was to be shared through continuing that argument with others. Professors Chilton and Neusner examine, using the formative sources of Judaism and Christianity, the literary media of adaptation and reform: precisely where and how we identify in the foundation writings of Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism, the new opposing modes of articulated conflict and reasoned argument that through Christianity and Judaism, Greek philosophy and science bequeathed to the West. This volume provides an analysis of the genesis and evolution of Judaeo-Christian intellectual thought and identifies the modes of discourse in the Judaic and Christian intellectual and literary traditions.

Since the photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls were released in 1992, there has been an explosion of interest in them. This volume explores the issue of apocalypticism in the Scrolls; how the notions of the 'end', Messianic expectation and eternal life affected the Dead Sea sect, influenced Judaism and filtered into Christianity. Collins' volume provides a valuable and accessible introduction to the interpretation of the Scrolls, which is an informative addition to the series examining the major themes of the Scroll texts.

This classic book, now in a second, expanded edition, is an invitation to think along with major theologians and spiritual authors, men and women from the time of St Augustine to the end of the fourteenth century, who profoundly challenge our (post-)modern assumptions. Medieval theology was radically theocentric, Trinitarian, Scriptural, and sacramental, yet it also operated with a rich notion of human understanding. In a post-modern setting, when modern views on 'autonomous reason' are increasingly questioned, it is fruitful to re-engage with pre-modern thinkers who did not share our modern and post-modern presuppositions. Their different perspective does not antiquate their thought; on the contrary, it makes them profoundly challenging and enriching for theology today. This survey introduces readers to key theologians of the period and explores themes of the relationship between faith and reason; the mystery of the Trinity; soteriology; Christian love; and the transcendent thrust of medieval thought.

Since the photographs of the Dead Sea Scrolls were released in 1992, there has been an explosion of interest in them. This volume explores the issue of apocalypticism in the Scrolls; how the notions of the 'end', Messianic expectation and eternal life affected the Dead Sea sect, influenced Judaism and filtered into Christianity. Collins' volume provides a valuable and accessible introduction to the interpretation of the Scrolls, which is an informative addition to the series examining the major themes of the Scroll texts.

Traditional concepts of God are no longer tenable for many people who nevertheless experience a strong sense of the sacred in their lives. The Religious Function of the Psyche offers a psychological model for the understanding of such experience, using the language and interpretive methods of depth psychology, particularly those of C.G. Jung and psychoanalytic self psychology. The problems of evil and suffering, and the notion of human development as This carnation of spirit are dealth with by means of a religious approach to the psyche that can be brought easily into psychotherapeutic practice and applied by the individual in everyday life.^l The book offers an alternative approach to spirituality as well as providing an introduction to Jung and religion.

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The twelfth-century philosopher Ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes, played a crucial role in the transmission of classical philosophy to Islam, and his work had a profound influence on western scholasticism and on aspects of Renaissance thought. This book, first published in 1991, sets out the main elements of Ibn Rushd's work against the historical and cultural background of Muslim Spain. It shows how his writings formed part of the wider movement of Almohadism and seeks to understand the mixed reception of his thought and the rise and fall of his reputation.

This book provides translations of the earliest Arabic autobiography and the earliest theoretical explanation of the psychic development and powers of an Islamic holy man (Saint, Friend of God).

This book provides translations of the earliest Arabic autobiography and the earliest theoretical explanation of the psychic development and powers of an Islamic holy man (Saint, Friend of God).

This book, a record of the Clark Conference sponsored by the APA, consists of a series of papers on psychoanalytic education. The book is dedicated to the memory of Helen Block Lewis, who realized the necessity for detailed re-examination and further development of all ideas in psychoanalysis.

In contradistinction to the many monographs and edited volumes devoted to historical, cultural, or theological treatments of demonology, this collection features newly written papers by philosophers and other scholars engaged specifically in philosophical argument, debate, and dialogue involving ideas and topics in demonology. The contributors to the volume approach the subject from the perspective of the broadest areas of Western philosophy, namely metaphysics, epistemology, logic, and moral philosophy. The collection also features a plurality of religious, cultural, and theological views on the nature of demons from both Eastern and Western thought, in addition to views that may diverge from these traditional roots. Philosophical Approaches to Demonology will be of interest to philosophers of religion, theologians, and scholars working in philosophical theology and demonology, as well as historians, cultural anthropologists, and sociologists interested more broadly in the concept of demons.

Analyzing the intersection between Sufism and philosophy, this volume is a sweeping examination of the mystical philosophy of Muhyi-l-Din Ibn al-'Arabi (d. 637/1240), one of the most influential and original thinkers of the Islamic world. This book systematically covers Ibn al-'Arabi's ontology, theology, epistemology, teleology, spiritual anthropology and eschatology. While philosophy uses deductive reasoning to discover the fundamental nature of existence and Sufism relies on spiritual experience, it was not until the school of Ibn al-'Arabi that philosophy and Sufism converged into a single framework by elaborating spiritual doctrines in precise philosophical language. Contextualizing the historical development of Ibn al-'Arabi's school, the work draws from the earliest commentators of Ibn al-'Arabi's oeuvre, Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi (d. 673/1274), 'Abd al-Razzaq al-Kashani (d. ca. 730/1330) and Dawud al-Qaysari (d. 751/1350), but also draws from the medieval heirs of his doctrines Sayyid Haydar Amuli (d. 787/1385), the pivotal intellectual and mystical figure of Persia who recast philosophical Sufism within the framework of Twelver Shi'ism and 'Abd al-Rahman Jami (d. 898/1492), the key figure in the dissemination of Ibn al-'Arabi's ideas in the Persianate world as well as the Ottoman Empire, India, China and East Asia via Central Asia. Lucidly written and comprehensive in scope, with careful treatments of the key authors, Philosophical Sufism is a highly accessible introductory text for students and researchers interested in Islam, philosophy, religion and the Middle East.

Examines the role of God in medieval Islamic philosophy and theology in a new and exciting way. Renouncing the traditional chronological method of considering Islamic philosophy, Netton uses modern literary modes of criticism derived from structuralism, post-structuralism and semiotics.

No controversy is too big and no subject is off limits. Unafraid of being politically incorrect, CBN founder and chairman Pat Robertson will tackle all of the issues of our culture that most Christians shy away from. Derived from the actual questions answered on his "700 Club" television segment of the same name, "Bring It On" gives real answers to Christians with tough questions. Questions include:

• How Can We Do Greater Things than Jesus?
• What Makes a Worship Service?
• Do Clones Have Souls?
• Should a Christian Avoid Using Medicine?
• Do Miracles Really Happen?

Classic natural theology in its logical, rational, Aristotelian presentation has encountered an impasse. Since the Enlightenment, nature has ceased to be a vital topic in theological discussions until a recent revival of interest stemming from ecological and feminist concerns. Provocatively transcending boundaries between Philosophy and Theology, ancient and contemporary, East and West, Natural Theology Reconfigured revitalises the validity and relevancy of Natural Theology, a shipwrecked concept in the West, with the aid of Eastern Confucian Axiology and American Pragmatism.

Evil perplexes us all and threatens to undermine the meaningfulness of our existence. How can we reconcile the reality of evil with the notion of a God who is perfectly good and powerful? Process theodicy, whose foremost proponent is David Griffin, suggests one answer: because every being possesses its own power of self-determination in order for God to attain the divine aim of higher goodness for the world, God must take the risk of the possibility of evil. Divine Power and Evil responds to Griffin's criticisms against traditional theodicy, assesses the merits of process theodicy, and points out ways in which traditional theism could incorporate a number of Griffin's valuable insights in progressing toward a philosophically and theologically satisfactory theodicy. It provides a new and important contribution to a long-standing debate within philosophy of religion and theology.

In this commentary, David deSilva approaches Ephesians as Paul's contribution to the ongoing work of forming his converts' individual and collective identity in Christ through the celebration of God's activity (past, ongoing, and future) on behalf of all who had responded in trust and faithfulness toward Jesus throughout the eastern Roman empire. He explores how Paul's first-century audiences in Roman Asia would have understood and responded to his message, particularly his promotion of the attitudes, pursuits, and practices that would constitute an appropriate response of gratitude for so costly a deliverance and so magnificent a destiny. deSilva's discussion is richly grounded in the Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts that both informed Paul as he composed and his audiences as they engaged his message. He is also attentive to points of relevance to the modern contexts of today's readers who continue to wrestle with Paul's vision for Christian discipleship and human community.

Religion for a Secular Age provides a transnational history of modern Vedanta through a comparative study of two of its most important exponents, Friedrich Max Muller (1823-1900) and Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902). This book explains why Vedanta's appeal spanned the ostensibly very different contexts of colonial India and Victorian Britain and America, and how this ancient form of thought was translated by Muller and Vivekananda into a modern form of philosophy or religion. These religiously-committed men attempted to reconcile religion with modernity by appealing to Advaita (literally, 'non-dualistic') Vedanta's monistic interpretation of reality. The 'scientific' study of religion allegedly demonstrated the evolutionary superiority of Vedanta and the possibility of religion's survival in 'the light of modern science'. They believed Vedanta could also provide the religious basis for moral engagement in this world, even as the hold of orthodox Christianity and traditional Hinduism appeared to be weakening. Vedanta thus served as a way of articulating a form of religion suitable for a secular age - religion which has embraced modern forms of thought while breaking away from creeds, scriptures and institutions to thrive in the spheres of public debate of London, Calcutta and New York.

By illuminating the striking affinity between the most innovative aspects of postmodern thought and religious mystical discourse, "Shadow of Spirit" challenges the long established assumption that western thought is committed to nihilism.
This collection of essays by internationally recognized scholars explores the implications of the fascination with the "sacred," "divine" or "infinite" which characterizes much contemporary thought. It shows how these concerns have surfaced in the work of Derrida, Baudrillard, Lyotard, Kristeva, Irigaray and others. Examining the connection between this postmodern "turn" and the current search for a new discourse of ethics and politics, it also stresses the contribution made by feminist thought to this unexpected intellectual direction.

A collection of internationally recognised scholars address the postmodern shake-up of theory, culture and politics, which has led to a new encounter between the humanities and the discourses of religion.

A Muslim Reformist in Communist Yugoslavia examines the Islamic modernist thought of Husein Dozo, a prominent Balkan scholar. Born at a time when the external challenges to the Muslim world were many, and its internal problems both complex and overwhelming, Dozo made it his goal to reinterpret the teachings of the Qur'an and hadith (prophetic tradition) to a generation for whom the truths and realities of Islam had fallen into disuse. As a Muslim scholar who lived and worked in a European, communist, multi-cultural and multi-religious society, Husein Dozo and his work present us with a particularly exciting account through which to examine the innovative interpretations of Islam. For example, through a critical analysis of Dozo's most significant fatwas and other relevant materials, this book examines the extent of the inherent flexibility of the Islamic law and its ability to respond to Muslim interests in different socio-political conditions. Since Dozo's writings in general and his fatwas in particular have continued to be published in the Balkan lands up to the present, this monograph should help shed some light on certain assumptions underlying modern Islamic thought and consciousness found in the region.

Throughout history, the image of the non-Jew in Judaism has profoundly influenced the way in which Jews interact with non-Jews. It has also shaped the understanding that Jews have of their own identity, as it determines just what distinguishes them from the non-Jews around them. A crucial element in this is the concept of Noahide law, understood by the ancient rabbis and subsequent Jewish thinkers as incumbent upon all humankind, unlike the full 613 divine commandments of the Torah, which are incumbent on Jews alone. The approach adopted in this now classic study is to consider the history of the idea of Noahide law, and to show how the concept is relevant to practical discussions of the halakhah pertaining to non-Jews and to relations between Jews and non-Jews. The seven chapters that make up the first part of this study examine each of the Noahide laws in turn, with a view to showing their halakhic development in the rabbinic sources, in the codes, and in the responsa literature. The discussion draws primarily on classical texts by traditional commentators as they attempt to deal with living issues from the rabbinic world as equally vital concerns in their own time. The second part of the book deals with the theory of Noahide law, concluding with a consideration of why it is an appropriate starting point for Jewish philosophy today. 'Any reader interested in understanding how the non-Jew has been perceived throughout Jewish history should certainly turn to The Image of the Non-Jew in Judaism for an authoritative discussion . . . scholarly . . . provides insight, not only into the classical Jewish perceptions of non-Jews and their place in the world, but also into Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Muslim relations and a more sophisticated understanding of Jewish law vis- -vis the Gentile.' David Tesler, AJL Reviews.

Suffering and evil in the world provide the basis for the most difficult challenge to monotheistic belief. This Element discusses how the three great monotheisms - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - respond to the problem of suffering and evil. Different versions of the problem, types of answers, and recurring themes in philosophical and religious sources are analyzed. Objections to the enterprise of theodicy are also discussed as are additional objections to the monotheistic God more broadly. This treatment culminates in a recommendation for how monotheism can best respond to the most serious formulation of the problem, the argument from gratuitous evil.

Since the publication of Mark Siderits' important book in 2003, much has changed in the field of Buddhist philosophy. There has been unprecedented growth in analytic metaphysics, and a considerable amount of new work on Indian theories of the self and personal identity has emerged. Fully revised and updated, and drawing on these changes as well as on developments in the author's own thinking, Personal Identity and Buddhist Philosophy, second edition explores the conversation between Buddhist and Western Philosophy showing how concepts and tools drawn from one philosophical tradition can help solve problems arising in another. Siderits discusses afresh areas involved in the philosophical investigation of persons, including vagueness and its implications for personal identity, recent attempts by scholars of Buddhist philosophy to defend the attribution of an emergentist account of personhood to at least some Buddhists, and whether a distinctively Buddhist antirealism can avoid problems that beset other forms of ontological anti-foundationalism.

Maimonides ends each book of his legal code the Mishneh torah with a moral or philosophical reflection, in which he lifts his eyes, as it were, from purely halakhic concerns and surveys broader horizons. Menachem Kellner and David Gillis analyse these concluding paragraphs, examining their verbal and thematic echoes, their adaptation of rabbinic sources, and the way in which they coordinate with the Mishneh torah's underlying structures, in order to understand how they might influence our interpretation of the code as a whole-and indeed our view of Maimonides himself and his philosophy. Taking this unusual cross-section of the work, Kellner and Gillis conclude that the Mishneh torah presents not only a system of law, but also a system of universal values. They show how Maimonides fashions Jewish law and ritual as a programme for attaining ethical and intellectual ends that are accessible to all human beings, who are created equally in the image of God. Many reject the presentation of Maimonides as a universalist. The Mishneh torah especially is widely seen as a particularist sanctuary. This study shows how profoundly that view must be revised.