"Al-Ghazali on the Ninety-nine Beautiful Names of God" (al-Masad al-asna fi sharh asma'Allah al-husna) is based on the Prophet's teaching that `Ninety-nine Beautiful Names' are truly predicated of God. In this work, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali explores the meaning and resonance of each of these divine Names, and reveals the functions they perform both in the cosmos and in the soul of the spiritual adept. In addition, Ghazali explains how man's perfection and happiness consists in being moulded by the qualities of God. Although some of the book is rigorously analytical, the author never fails to attract the reader with his profound mystical and ethical insights, which has made this book one of the perennial classics of Muslim thought, popular among Muslims to this day.

Creatio ex nihilo is a foundational doctrine in the Abrahamic faiths. It states that God created the world freely out of nothing - from no pre-existent matter, space or time. This teaching is central to classical accounts of divine action, free will, grace, theodicy, religious language, intercessory prayer and questions of divine temporality and, as such, the foundation of a scriptural God but also the transcendent Creator of all that is. This edited collection explores how we might now recover a place for this doctrine, and, with it, a consistent defence of the God of Abraham in philosophical, scientific and theological terms. The contributions span the religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and cover a wide range of sources, including historical, philosophical, scientific and theological. As such, the book develops these perspectives to reveal the relevance of this idea within the modern world.

Creatio ex nihilo is a foundational doctrine in the Abrahamic faiths. It states that God created the world freely out of nothing - from no pre-existent matter, space or time. This teaching is central to classical accounts of divine action, free will, grace, theodicy, religious language, intercessory prayer and questions of divine temporality and, as such, the foundation of a scriptural God but also the transcendent Creator of all that is. This edited collection explores how we might now recover a place for this doctrine, and, with it, a consistent defence of the God of Abraham in philosophical, scientific and theological terms. The contributions span the religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and cover a wide range of sources, including historical, philosophical, scientific and theological. As such, the book develops these perspectives to reveal the relevance of this idea within the modern world.

Synopsis: It is hubris to claim answers to unanswerable questions. Such questions, however--as part of their burden and worth--must still be asked, investigated, and contemplated. How there can be a loving, all-powerful God and a world stymied by suffering and evil is one of the unanswerable questions we must all struggle to answer, even as our responses are closer to gasps, silences, and further questions. More importantly, how and whether one articulates a response will have deep, lasting repercussions for any belief in God and in our judgments upon one another. Throughout this wide-ranging, interdisciplinary work, Peter Admirand draws upon his extensive research and background in theology and testimonial literature, trauma and genocide studies, cultural studies, philosophy of religion, interreligious studies, and systematic theology. As David Burrell writes in the Foreword: ." . . T]he work's intricate structure, organization, and development will lead us to appreciate that the best one can settle for is a fractured faith built on a fractured theodicy, expressed in a language explicitly fragmented, pluralist, and broken." Endorsements: "Peter Admirand has made a significant contribution to one of the most difficult topics for theologians and philosophers--the problem of evil. Amidst Mass Atrocity and the Rubble of Theology is essential reading for anyone interested in exploring theodicy. What makes his book particularly important is his exploration of the testimony of survivors (as well as perpetrators). Admirand explains convincingly why it is essential to take seriously witness testimony and commends Christians in particular to immerse themselves in the writings of post-Shoah Jewish thinkers such as Elie Wiesel and Emil Fackenheim. Highly recommended." -Edward Kessler Director of the Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths Cambridge University "Amidst Mass Atrocity and the Rubble of Theology is a rich and compelling foundational work towards renewing post-Holocaust Christian theology for the future. Its interdisciplinary focus demands attention and care by scholars and students in a range of academic disciplines and fields and within the wider church communities. The work can also provide deep pastoral meaning for people in situations of concrete suffering. Admirand's argument of a fractured faith built upon a fractured theodicy identifies a key component for the possibility of a viable faith in our post-Shoah world, which is inundated by questions, gaps, and doubt and so must be open to interfaith learning and profound theological humility." -Didier Pollefeyt Vice Dean of the Faculty of Theology Katholieke Universiteit Leuven "Peter Admirand does not even begin to discuss the attempts of theology to address apparently meaningless suffering until he has given vivid testimonies of endurance, not only by believers but by other- and non-believers. Only then does he set about facing the problems these raise for theology, not neglecting objections to theodicy itself from both theologians and secular thinkers. The book is profoundly moving and challenging and is itself a testimony to a passionate faith and hope. It will reopen intractable questions long thought to be dormant." -John D'Arcy May FTCD emer. and Senior Research Fellow, Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin Author Biography: Peter Admirand is a Lecturer in the School of Theology, Mater Dei Institute, Dublin City University, and a Research Associate and Adjunct Lecturer in Intercultural Theology and Interreligious Studies at the Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin. He is the author of a wide range of articles in interreligious studies; testimonial literature; postcolonial and postmodern theology; and moral theology.

Synopsis: Trying to articulate the ways in which one's life meshes with one's own time can be perilous, yet friends have encouraged me to do just that. Nevertheless, for one oriented to serving others as teacher and mentor in a context of faith, writing about oneself seems unnatural. Yet the "self" we have been given to share embodies many others as well. So many of the encounters narrated here will open into friendships. Moreover, what spices those encounters are the places and passions they embody, so the story that emerges is hardly my own. Different places often unveiled different faith communities, each of which has altered, if not transformed, the "self" narrated here. In that respect, and in many others, my story is not mine but that of the times our generation has inhabited. Finally, it has been my religious community of Holy Cross that made these multiple transformations possible, so it is only fitting to dedicate the work to that community and the rich exchanges it continues to effect among women and men. Endorsements: "When the complex story called Roman Catholicism of our day is told, David Burrell's memoir will be crucial for that telling. But even now the gift of this memoir is that it helps us see and understand what a life looks like when dedicated to discovering God in the stranger. To have been claimed as friend by David Burrell is one of the most cherished parts of my life. Which makes it all the more significant for me--and for others--to have him tell us his story." --Stanley Hauerwas, Duke University "In this engaging autobiography, David Burrell serves as a modern-day troubadour, leading the reader nimbly from the Rockies to Rome, Notre Dame to Bangladesh, Cairo (and Athens) to Jerusalem, singing all the while of love." --Janet Soskice, University of Cambridge Author Biography: David B. Burrell, CSC, Hesburgh Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Theology at the University of Notre Dame, has served as Professor of Comparative Theology at Tangaza College, Nairobi. His most recent work is Towards a Jewish-Christian-Muslim Theology (2011).

In Knowing the Unknowable God, David Burrell traces the intellectual intermingling of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian traditions that made possible the medieval synthesis that served as the basis for Western theology. He shows how Aquinas's study of the Muslim philosopher Ibn-Sina and the Jewish thinker Moses Maimonides affected the disciplined use of language when speaking of divinity and influenced his doctrine of God.

This collection of essays, which originated in 1987 at a symposium entitled God and Creation: an Ecumenical Symposium in Comparative Religious Thought, is devoted to the doctrine of creation in the three Western monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Scholars from all three traditions investigate the historical and constructive aspects of this doctrine within an ecumenical environment. Several comparative dimensions, especially on the relation between creation and emanation, have been highlighted.

This collection of essays explores convergences and divergences between process thought and Roman Catholicism with the goal of identifying reasons for why process philosophy and theology has not had the same impact in Roman Catholic circles as in Protestantism, and of constructively navigating avenues of promising engagement between Process thought and Roman Catholicism. In creatively considering the Roman Catholic tradition from the vantage point of Process thought, different theoretical perspectives are brought to bear on Catholic characteristics of historical theology, fundamental theology, systematic theology, moral theology, social justice, and theology of religions. While the contributors draw upon a broad range of resources from the disciplines of the physical and social sciences, philosophy, and ethics from a process perspective, the primary methodology employed is theological reflection.

The manifest strength of the medieval period has always been the ways in which particular thinkers negotiated the twin criteria of reason and faith. What seemed to the Enlightenment a weakness appears to our time as a virtuoso performance. Less well-known in the West has been the inherently interfaith and intercultural character of the discussion. This collection of essays, which originated in 1987 at a symposium titled "God and Creation: An Ecumenical Symposium in Comparative Religious Thought," is devoted to the doctrine of creation in the three Western monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. For the first time scholars from all three traditions investigate the historical and constructive aspects of this doctrine within an ecumenical environment. Several important comparative dimensions, especially on the relation between creation and emanation, have been highlighted in new ways. While some dimensions of the problematic were shared, notably the Aristotelian challenge of an eternal universe, others turn out to be specific to different traditions.

The death of a friend is a source of pain and grief for anyone. For David B. Burrell, it is also a source of reflection on the role of friendship in our ongoing pursuit of truth. In this small but penetrating book, Burrell offers five essays that explore friendship as the bond that links us to the religious traditions we embrace in our search for truth. Known for his many and lasting contributions to philosophical theology, Burrell here makes a definitive statement for that field while also continuing the cross-cultural discussion among Christians, Muslims, and Jews.

Burrell considers how friendship can be constitutive of the spiritual exercises one employs to seek truth, and he examines the influences on his thinking of Bernard Lonergan, Stanley Hauerwas, and Augustine to show how friends can open our minds and hearts to interfaith dialogue and the mutual illumination it offers. He also explores cross-cultural understanding through a comparison of the teaching of Aquinas with that of Islam's al-Ghazali, suggesting that their complementary perspectives can fruitfully expand our view of friendship to include our relationship with God. In the end, he offers a model of friendship as a relationship which gives us the courage to maintain our philosophical pursuits and which helps us to persevere in the face of the radical unknowing which characterizes philosophical theology.

Just as Burrell learns from death that friendship cannot end, he celebrates how each of us can present to another the face of the good as we journey together through life. And just as our journey toward the truth continues forever, he enables us to see that the gift of friendship is not limited to our earthlyexistence.

The death of a friend is a source of pain and grief for anyone. For David B. Burrell, it is also a source of reflection on the role of friendship in our ongoing pursuit of truth. In this small but penetrating book, Burrell offers five essays that explore friendship as the bond that links us to the religious traditions we embrace in our search for truth. Known for his many and lasting contributions to philosophical theology, Burrell here makes a definitive statement for that field while also continuing the cross-cultural discussion among Christians, Muslims, and Jews.

Burrell considers how friendship can be constitutive of the spiritual exercises one employs to seek truth, and he examines the influences on his thinking of Bernard Lonergan, Stanley Hauerwas, and Augustine to show how friends can open our minds and hearts to interfaith dialogue and the mutual illumination it offers. He also explores cross-cultural understanding through a comparison of the teaching of Aquinas with that of Islam's al-Ghazali, suggesting that their complementary perspectives can fruitfully expand our view of friendship to include our relationship with God. In the end, he offers a model of friendship as a relationship which gives us the courage to maintain our philosophical pursuits and which helps us to persevere in the face of the radical unknowing which characterizes philosophical theology.

Just as Burrell learns from death that friendship cannot end, he celebrates how each of us can present to another the face of the good as we journey together through life. And just as our journey toward the truth continues forever, he enables us to see that the gift of friendship is not limited to our earthlyexistence.

With creation of the universe as its focus and a deeper understanding of human freedom as its goal, Freedom and Creation in Three Traditions is a work of philosophical theology that brings together Jewish, Christian, and Muslim perspectives on the complex questions surrounding divine and human freedom. Burrell shows how the three traditions (each avowing the free creation of the universe by God) have developed a view of free human actors in relation to their initial affirmations that the universe is freely created by God. The concept of a free creation of the universe forms a motif for all three traditions, and their respective encounters with divine relation-in the Torah, Jesus Christ, and the Qur'an-offer distinctive ways of articulating and assimilating the original faith in a free creator. Burrell emphasizes the common ground among the traditions, but does not limit his discourse to a search for a common denominator among them. Instead, he traces the interactions among the traditions, employing an explicitly interfaith perspective that offers new ways to probe the vexing question of the relations between a free creator and free creatures. The results of this comparative method of reflection produce fresh insights into perennial human questions about creation and freedom-questions that have constituted a major body of theological reflection over the centuries. Aimed at graduates and advanced undergraduates as well as laypersons interested in interfaith dialogue and reflection, Freedom and Creation in Three Traditions illustrates the value of tradition-directed inquiry and clearly demonstrates the fruitfulness of comparative inquiries in philosophical theology.

In Knowing the Unknowable God, David Burrell traces the intellectual intermingling of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian traditions that made possible the medieval synthesis that served as the basis for Western theology. He shows how Aquinas's study of the Muslim philosopher Ibn-Sina and the Jewish thinker Moses Maimonides affected the disciplined use of language when speaking of divinity and influenced his doctrine of God.

True religious faith cannot be confirmed by any external proofs. Rather, it is founded on a basic act of trust - and the common root of that trust, for Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions, is a belief in the divine creation of the universe. But with "Learning to Trust in Freedom", David B. Burrell asks the provocative question: How do we reach that belief, and what is it about the universe that could possibly testify to its divine origins? Even St. Augustine, he points out, could only find faith after a harrowing journey through the lures of desire - and it is that very desire that Burrell seizes on as a tool with which to explore the origin and purpose of the world. Delving deep into the intertwinings of desire and faith, and drawing on Saint John of the Cross, Edith Stein, and Charles Taylor, Burrell offers a new understanding of free will, trust, and perception.