One of the greatest challenges for instructors in religious studies is the task of explaining why, in colleges and universities, the truth claims of religions are not accepted or even investigated, but instead a disinterested, secular approach is taken. Most instructors prefer not to address the issue directly, leaving their students to work out for themselves the difference between religious studies and the study of religion. Those who remain confused inevitably submit essays that reveal more about their religious upbringing than their ability to analyze a phenomenon objectively. "A Guide to Writing Academic Essays in Religious Studies" eases the transition for undergraduate students by explaining what they need to know about writing research essays pertaining to religion. Topics include methodological and theoretical presuppositions of religious studies, types of research essays, locating appropriate scholarly literature, developing a thesis, the essentials of essay form and content, quotations, forms of documentation, avoiding plagiarism, gender-inclusive language, layout, style, conciseness, rewriting and proofreading, approaching ancient texts, and how to recognize and avoid bad scholarship. This guide is indispensable for students new to religious studies.

Did the evangelist Mark write two versions of his gospel? According to a letter ascribed to Clement of Alexandria, Mark created a second, more spiritual edition of his gospel for theologically advanced Christians in Alexandria. Clement's letter contains two excerpts from this lost gospel, including a remarkably different account of the raising of Lazarus. Forty-five years of cursory investigation have yielded five mutually exclusive paradigms, abundant confusion, and rumours of forgery. Strangely, one of the few things upon which most investigators agree is that the letter's own explanation of the origin and purpose of this longer gospel need not be taken seriously. Mark's Other Gospel: Rethinking Morton Smith's Controversial Discovery calls this pervasive bias into question. After thoroughly critiquing the five main paradigms, Scott G. Brown demonstrates that the gospel excerpts not only sound like Mark, but also employ Mark's distinctive literary techniques, deepening this gospels theology and elucidating puzzling aspects of its narrative. This mystic gospel represents Mark's own response to the Alexandrian predilection to discover the essential truths of a philosophy beneath the literal level of revered texts.

The Confessions and Diaries of a New York Veteran of the Stonewall Inn Raid of June 28, 1969 is a true story which chronicles the life of one of the oldest survival of the historic raid and riots at this Gay Dancing Bar Forty-two years ago. This was the beginning of the Gay Rights Movement, and the Gay Revolution when Gays resisted Police arrests and assaults. A year later, Gay Demonstrators celebrated the anniversary of the riots with the first Gay Pride March by, openly, walking from Greenwich Village to the Sheep Meadows in Central Park. The founders of the Gay Liberation Front and the LGBT Communities united to sponsored a Gay Rights Parade annually in June to commemorate this momentous event. This was the first instance in American History when people in the homosexual community fought back against a governmental system that persecuted the Gay minorities, who have since become the defining force behind this event and, who is credited for the beginning of the Gay Uprising and Revolution in the United States and around the World.

Synopsis: In 1958, American historian of religion Morton Smith made an astounding discovery in the Mar Saba monastery in Jerusalem. Copied into the back of a seventeenth-century book was a lost letter attributed to Clement of Alexandria (ca. 150-215 CE) that contained excerpts from a longer version of the Gospel of Mark written by Mark himself and circulating in Alexandria, Egypt. More than fifty years after its discovery, the origins of this Secret Gospel of Mark remain contentious. Some consider it an authentic witness to an early form of Mark, perhaps even predating canonical Mark. Some claim it is a medieval or premodern forgery created by a monastic scribe. And others argue it is a forgery created by Morton Smith himself. All these positions are addressed in the papers contained in this volume. Nine North American scholars, internationally recognized for their contributions to the study of Secret Mark, met at York University in Toronto, Canada, in April 2011 to examine recent developments in scholarship on the gospel and the letter in which it is found. Their results represent a substantial step forward in determining the origins of this mysterious and controversial text. List of Contributors: Scott G. Brown Tony Burke Stephen C. Carlson Bruce Chilton Craig A. Evans Paul Foster Charles W. Hedrick Peter Jeffery Allan J. Pantuck Marvin Meyer Hershel Shanks Pierluigi Piovanelli Endorsements: "In this brilliant and incisive collection of essays one finds both clarity and intellectual rigor. Not all the contributors 'sing from the same hymn sheet.' However, this diversity reveals how a highly contested topic can be approached in an engaging and respectful manner. Everyone who reads this book will be enriched, both by consideration of its contents and through appreciation of the measured tone with which this important debate is conducted. This is a first-rate and vital treatment of the topic." --Paul Foster, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh "The debate over the Secret Gospel of Mark rages on. Did Morton Smith discover this text, or did he forge it? This terrific collection of essays presents leading voices from both sides of the controversy, stating their views, marshaling their evidence, and allowing readers to pass their own verdicts." --Bart D. Ehrman, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "Ancient Gospel or Modern Forgery? brings together most of the key supporters and detractors of the authenticity of the Secret Gospel of Mark in a balanced, probing, and illuminating book. . . . Although this book, carefully crafted by Burke, cannot be said to have brought closure on the issue, it has laid to rest many of the specious and illogical claims that have littered the discussion until now. We can only hope that the ground has now been cleared for a more balanced and scientific assessment of the Mar Saba manuscript." --John S. Kloppenborg, University of Toronto Author Biography: Tony Burke is Associate Professor of Early Christianity at York University in Toronto, Ontario. He is the author of De infantia Iesu evangelien Thomae graece (2010), a critical edition of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.

One of the greatest challenges for instructors in religious studies is the task of explaining why, in colleges and universities, the truth claims of religions are not accepted or even investigated, but instead a disinterested, secular approach is taken. Most instructors prefer not to address the issue directly, leaving their students to work out for themselves the difference between religious studies and the study of religion. Those who remain confused inevitably submit essays that reveal more about their religious upbringing than their ability to analyze a phenomenon objectively. A Guide to Writing Academic Essays in Religious Studies eases the transition for undergraduate students by explaining what they need to know about writing research essays pertaining to religion. Topics include methodological and theoretical presuppositions of religious studies, types of research essays, locating appropriate scholarly literature, developing a thesis, the essentials of essay form and content, quotations, forms of documentation, avoiding plagiarism, gender-inclusive language, layout, style, conciseness, rewriting and proofreading, approaching ancient texts, and how to recognize and avoid bad scholarship. This guide is indispensable for students new to religious studies.