Ethology to the ancients was the study of character; to the moderns it is the study of human beings through the behavioural patterns of animals. These studies in fact have a common genealogy with classical writers convinced that the dimorphism of gender was naturally ordered with all its consequent inequalities in strength, virtue and above all in the location of reason. In the encounter between Jesus and the Syrophoenician women in the Gospel of Mark this ethology dominates the story. Women are described as dogs. This highly original work utilises the common emphases of ancient and modern ethology to unlock new dimensions of the story. It demonstrates that in the Syrophoenician critique of Jesus, delivered by a woman and her daughter, exalted reason must yield its monopoly to the equally privileged life of the body. The author is a New Testament Biblical Scholar at Australian Cathollic Univeristy in Canberra, Australia. The book won the Lynlea Rodger Australasian Theological Book Prize in 2009 for the best Theological Book written in 2008/2009.

The object of this book is to provide an opportunity for voices of other religions to be heard as Australia celebrates its first Catholic saint, Mary MacKillop of the Cross. It is the first publication that seeks to bring together a representative collection of contributions. Here are reflections on sainthood and heroes of faith from within different religious traditions and different Christian denominations. The direction given to contributors was that they illustrate how holy persons and heroes are esteemed in their own tradition and how this might frame that tradition's appreciation of Mary MacKillop. From this, it is hoped that the collection will provide an example of how she might contribute to the wider Australian religious landscape. Herein, the reader will find critical yet appreciative reflections from Catholic and Seventh Day Adventist to Jewish and Muslim writers. Some have taken the brief as an opportunity to reveal more of the heroes and saints of their own tradition and how they came to be esteemed. Others have directly described how their own tradition esteems saints and heroes in general in order to bring distinct and evocative appreciations of Mary MacKillop, now given hues from a Protestant, Orthodox or Lutheran palette. But whether Baptist or Anglican or traditions beyond Christianity, the writers have extended the capacity of Australians to appreciate Mary MacKillop as an Australian saint and hero, albeit remaining within a religious framework.

An engagingly visual guide book to a lost city from a scholar at the forefront of research on Colossae. Alan Cadwallader distils information, insights and interpretation into a rich collection of evidence from Colossae and its environs, giving us access to a fascinating and under-researched city. Together with a significant chapter by Rosemary Canavan, Cadwallader's often ground-breaking work gives us unprecedented access into the life and context of this city. A book for all who enjoy time travel with expert guides!

The previous volume of essays, Five Uneasy Pieces was warmly received. People of faith and spirituality were looking for liberating understandings of the Bible in engagement with their own sexualities and those of friends, family and beyond. The book demonstrated clearly that oppressive uses of selected texts from the Bible were invalid. But more is needed. The obligation upon scriptural scholars is to establish scripture s hospitable inclusion of those whose sexual identities have been subjected to such oppression. Pieces of Ease and Grace retrieves biblical texts as actively embracing gays and lesbians within the community of faith. Their stories profoundly intersect with those of scripture. Here is a collection of biblical essays on sexuality and welcome that restores the Bible as a book of grace to those whose sexual identities had previously been lost, or condemned, in interpretation.

The previous volume of essays, Five Uneasy Pieces was warmly received. People of faith and spirituality were looking for liberating understandings of the Bible in engagement with their own sexualities and those of friends, family and beyond. The book demonstrated clearly that oppressive uses of selected texts from the Bible were invalid. But more is needed. The obligation upon scriptural scholars is to establish scripture s hospitable inclusion of those whose sexual identities have been subjected to such oppression. Pieces of Ease and Grace retrieves biblical texts as actively embracing gays and lesbians within the community of faith. Their stories profoundly intersect with those of scripture. Here is a collection of biblical essays on sexuality and welcome that restores the Bible as a book of grace to those whose sexual identities had previously been lost, or condemned, in interpretation.

Alan Cadwallader explores the intricate tensions and conflicts that infused the work of revision of the Authorised Version of the Bible between 1870 and 1885. The Promethean aspirations of the venture actually generated one of the most bitter instances of the political manoeuvres involved in the translation of a sacred book. Cadwallader reveals how the public avowal of unity and fraternal harmony that accompanied the public release and marketing of the New Testament revision in 1881 and the Old Testament revision in 1885, masks fraught historical realities that threatened the realization of the project from the beginning. Through a thorough examination of private correspondence, notebooks kept by various members of the New Testament Revision Companies in England and the United States, and other previously unstudied primary sources, Cadwallader examines and presents the complexities of the political situation surrounding the translation. He exposes the competing interests of an imperial, sovereign nation and a seriously divided Established Church floundering over its continued relevance; the ambitions and significance of Nonconformity in a nation's highly contested religious environment; the agonistic conflicts that erupted from assertions of national and international prestige and responsibilities; and the ultimate control exercised by publishing houses that fundamentally flawed the process of revision and the public acceptance of the final product.

Alan Cadwallader explores the intricate tensions and conflicts that infused the work of revision of the Authorised Version of the Bible between 1870 and 1885. The Promethean aspirations of the venture actually generated one of the most bitter instances of the political manoeuvres involved in the translation of a sacred book. Cadwallader reveals how the public avowal of unity and fraternal harmony that accompanied the public release and marketing of the New Testament revision in 1881 and the Old Testament revision in 1885, masks fraught historical realities that threatened the realization of the project from the beginning. Through a thorough examination of private correspondence, notebooks kept by various members of the New Testament Revision Companies in England and the United States, and other previously unstudied primary sources, Cadwallader examines and presents the complexities of the political situation surrounding the translation. He exposes the competing interests of an imperial, sovereign nation and a seriously divided Established Church floundering over its continued relevance; the ambitions and significance of Nonconformity in a nation's highly contested religious environment; the agonistic conflicts that erupted from assertions of national and international prestige and responsibilities; and the ultimate control exercised by publishing houses that fundamentally flawed the process of revision and the public acceptance of the final product.

An engagingly visual guide book to a lost city from a scholar in the forefront of research on Colossae. Alan Cadwallader distils information, insights and interpretation into a rich collection of evidence from Colossae and its environs, giving us access to a fascinating and under-researched city. Together with a significant chapter by Rosemary Canavan, Cadwallader's often ground-breaking work gives us unprecedented access into the life and context of this city. A book for all who enjoy time travel with expert guides!