This book uniquely provides first-hand insights into the spirit-mediums of Upper Tibet, the men and women who channel the gods. John Vincent Bellezza here for the first time presents the conclusions of his extensive research in the region itself, shedding light on the historical context, the tradition, characteristics, ceremonies, and paraphernalia of the phenomenon. With extensive interviews with spirit-mediums, including interpretive material drawn from Tibetan texts; annotated translations of rituals devoted to the major deities of the spirit-mediums; and annotated translation of Bon literature relevant to the origins of spirit-mediums, and concluding with a chapter on Bon literary references to the ritual implements and practices. A major source-book.

The issue of debt and how it affects our lives is becoming more and more urgent. The "Austerity" model has been the prevalent European economic policies of recent years led by the "German model". Elettra Stimilli draws upon contemporary philosophy, psychology and theology to argue that austerity is built on the idea that we somehow deserve to be punished and need to experience guilt in order to take full account of our economic sins. Following thinkers such as Max Weber, Walter Benjamin and Michel Foucault, Debt and Guilt provides a startling examination of the relationship between contemporary politics and economics and how we structure our inner lives. The first English translation of Debito e Colpa, this book provokes new ways of thinking about how we experience both debt and guilt in contemporary society.

al-Radd al-jamil attributed to al-Ghazali (d. 1111) is the most extensive and detailed refutation of the divinity of Jesus by a Muslim author in the classical period of Islam. Since the discovery of the manuscript in the 1930's scholars have debated whether the great Muslim theologian al-Ghazali was really the author. This is a new critical edition of the Arabic text and the first complete English translation. The introduction situates this work in the history of Muslim anti-Christian polemical writing. Mark Beaumont and Maha El Kaisy-Friemuth argue that this refutation comes from an admirer of al-Ghazali who sought to advance some of his key ideas for an Egyptian audience.

The First Islamic Reviver presents a new biography of al-Ghazali's final decade and a half, presenting him not as a reclusive spiritual seeker, but as an engaged Islamic revivalist seeking to reshape his religious tradition.

For thousands of years philosophers and theologians have grappled with the problem of evil. Traditionally, evil has been seen as a weakness of sorts: the evil person is either ignorant (does not know the wrong being done), or weak-willed (is incapable of doing the right thing). But in the most horrifying acts of evil (the Holocaust, ethnic cleansing, terrorism, serial murder, etc.), the perpetrators are resolute, deliberate, and well aware of the pain they are causing. There has never been a better time to re-open this most difficult of questions, and to inquire whether any helpful resources exist within our intellectual legacy. David Roberts has done just this. In taking up the problem of evil as it is uniquely found in the work of the Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, Roberts has uncovered a framework that at last allows the notion of radical evil to be properly articulated. His book traces the sources of Kierkegaard's conception from its background in the work of Kant and Schelling, and painstakingly details the matrix of issues that evolved into Kierkegaard's own solution. Kierkegaard's psychological understanding of evil is that it arises out of despair - a despair that can become so vehement and ferocious that it lashes out at existence itself. Starting from this recognition, and drawing on Kierkegaard's view of the self, Roberts shows how the despairing self can become strengthened and intensified through a conscious and free choice against the Good. This type of radical evil is neither ignorant nor weak.

This volume examines what it means to proceed in the path of wisdom by beginning with fear of God, that is, mindfulness always and everywhere of God's being and presence. Michael Allen describes the praxis of fearing the Lord, how that posture of contemplative pursuit marks the theological task and defines our theological method; in so doing it takes up the significant topics of divine revelation, theological exegesis, intellectual asceticism, and retrieval/ressourcement from a distinctly doctrinal perspective. In each of these conversations, doing theology in the presence of God functions as a consistent thread. God is not mere object but truly functions as subject in the process of theological growth, though God's presence and agency fund rather than negate creaturely theological responsibility. The Fear of the Lord: Essays on Theological Method explores some of the most central questions of contemporary theological method - revelation, Scripture, theological interpretation, retrieval, intellectual asceticism, scholastic method - by asking in each and every case what it means to think fundamentally of the perfect and present God involved and active in these spheres.

Al-Ghazali (1058-1111 CE) is arguably one of the most influential thinkers in the history of Islam and his writings have received greater scholarly attention in the West than those of any other Muslim scholar. This study explores and important dimension of his thought that has not yet been fully examined, namely, his polemical engagement with the Ismailis of the Fatimid and early Alamut periods. Al-Ghazali's debate with the Ismailis constitutes an important chapter in the history of Muslim thought and this book also explores the wider intellectual and political significance of this encounter, and especially the light it sheds on the central tensions and questions of the age in which al-Ghazali lived.

Con toda generosidad, el Padre Oyafemi ha coleccionado para los que escuchan la Sant sima Escritura de Dios, un "record" que nos lleva a recapacitar nuestras conversaciones con el Dios Trino. Esta colecci n de homil as es un gran tesoro, que le recuerda al lector las tantas formas que hay de reconocer que hay que recibir lo que Dios nos da libremente. En este libro, se encuentran muchas bendiciones para recibir, para compartir, y mucho para pensar y meditar. Espero que los lectores se deleiten y se animen a seguir hablando de nuestro Dios maravilloso PADRE DAVID JONES, P rroco -Iglesia San Benedicto el Africano (Este) - Archidi cesis de Chicago. En este esfuerzo literario, el Padre Oyafemi, explica las lecturas de las Misas dominicales y Solemnidades del a o lit rgico "B." El Padre enfoca en el signifi cado para cada creyente; l ilustra el contexto de cada lectura en lo que se refi ere a la condici n humana. Este libro es un gran acompa ante - es una gran ayuda mientras navegamos a lo largo de la vida. DRA. MERCEDES RUNDLE Y DR.KEN RUNDLE. MUNSTER, INDIANA.