"Derrida and Theology" is an invaluable guide for those ready to ride the leading wave of contemporary theology. It gives theologians the confidence to explore the major elements of Derrida's work, and its influence on theology, without 'dumbing it down' or ignoring its controversial aspects. Jacques Derrida: a name to strike fear into the hearts of theologians. His thought has been hugely influential in shaping postmodern philosophy, and its impact has been felt across the humanities from literary studies to architecture. However, he has also been associated with the spectres of relativism and nihilism. Some have suggested he undermines any notion of objective truth and stable meaning.Fortunately, such premature judgements are gradually changing. Derrida is now increasingly seen as a major contributor to thinking about the complexity of truth, responsibility and witnessing. Theologians and biblical scholars are engaging as never before with Derrida's own deep-rooted reflections on religious themes. From the nature of faith to the name of God, from Messianism to mysticism, from forgiveness to the impossible, he has broken new ground in thinking about religion in our time. His thought and writing style remain highly complex, however, and can be a forbidding prospect for the uninitiated.This book gives theologians the confidence to explore the major elements of Derrida's work, and its influence on theology, without 'dumbing it down' or ignoring its controversial aspects. It examines his philosophical approach, his specific work on religious themes, and the ways in which theologians have interpreted, adopted and disputed them. "Derrida and Theology" is an invaluable guide for those ready to ride the leading wave of contemporary theology. "The Philosophy and Theology" series looks at major philosophers and explores their relevance to theological thought as well as the response of theology.

Kierkegaard and the Refusal of Transcendence challenges the standard view that Kierkegaard's God is infinitely other than the world. It argues that his work immerses us in the paradoxical nature of existence itself, and opposes any flight into another world.

This title explores the implications of our animal origins and posthuman futures for our understanding of our humanity and our relations with other species. "Beyond Human" investigates what it means to call ourselves human beings in relation to both our distant past and our possible futures as a species, and the questions this might raise for our relationship with the myriad species with which we share the planet. Drawing on insights from zoology, theology, cultural studies and aesthetics, an international line-up of contributors explore such topics as our origins as reflected in early cave art in the upper Palaeolithic through to our prospects at the forefront of contemporary biotechnology. In the process, the book positions 'the human' in readiness for what many have characterized as our transhuman or posthuman future. For if our status as rational animals or 'animals that think' has traditionally distinguished us as apparently superior to other species, this distinction has become increasingly problematic. It has come to be seen as based on skills and technologies that do not distinguish us so much as position us as transitional animals. It is the direction and consequences of this transition that is the central concern of "Beyond Human".

Kierkegaard: The Self in Society brings together scholars from a variety of disciplines to explore Kierkegaard's continuing relevance to political and social issues. Kierkegaard is often portrayed as an out-and-out individualist with no concern for interpersonal relations. These essays not only refute this caricature, they bring out the complex nature of Kierkegaard's engagements with questions of selfhood and society. What Kierkegaard has to say about love, the church, politics and justice is shown to test the limits of what we take for granted in the modern (and postmodern) world.

Soren Kierkegaard argued that the most essential truths come to light by asking "How...?" This innovative collection of essays by leading scholars focuses on this questioning "How?", asking how we should relate to ourselves, to others, and to God; how we should be in the world; how we can become human. The result is a searching, original colloquium on what it means to be Kierkegaardian in the 21st century. The adjective "Kierkegaardian" names many possibilities: ways of philosophizing, choosing, loving, looking, listening, reading, writing, teaching, making art, praying, going to church - or not going to church. "How" gestures to subjectivity, one of Kierkegaard's most fundamental philosophical categories, while "What" signals an objectifying line of thought. The authors of these essays suggest that the crucial Kierkegaardian question is not what we are and ought to do, but how we can remain true to the finitude, passivity, and ambiguity of human existence. While this Kierkegaardian "how" is often acknowledged by scholars, it is rarely thematized directly. Attending to it elicits new kinds of argument and reflection. Kierkegaardian Essays proposes a fresh approach to Kierkegaard, and is essential reading for experts and students alike.

Nonphilosophy poses a challenge to philosophical thought, inspired by the work of Francois Laruelle. It questions the idea that philosophy, or other disciplines, can tell us what it means to think. This edited collection brings together an internationally known and interdisciplinary group of scholars, including a major new essay by Laruelle himself. Together they use nonphilosophy to cross the boundaries between philosophy and performance. Philosophers have been busy for centuries looking for the foundations of truth, value, and reality. They try to say what it all means and how it all fits together. Areas of life like science and art have to wait for the philosopher to show up to tell them what they are really about. Theory dictates meaning: performance just puts it into effect. Nonphilosophy is different. It says that reality is not an object out there that we can think and understand. The Real is the place we stand: it is where we think from. Crucially, nonphilosophy understands philosophy itself to be performative. It enacts modes of thinking that do not dominate the material of thought and do not capture the Real in concepts. Philosophy is mutated by its performances; and performances themselves think, are modes of theory. What happens when we bring philosophy, art, and performance together, without hierarchy? How can they get inside and change one another? The thinkers in this collection answer these pressing questions.

This title was first published in 2001: Debate about the reality of God risks becoming an arid stalemate. An unbridgeable gulf seems to be fixed between realists, arguing that God exists independently of our language and beliefs, and anti-realists for whom God-language functions to express human spiritual ideals, with no reference to a reality external to the faith of the believer. Soren Kierkegaard has been enlisted as an ally by both sides of this debate. Kierkegaard, Language and the Reality of God presents a new approach, exploring the dynamic nature of Kierkegaard's texts and the way they undermine neat divisions between realism and anti-realism, objectivity and subjectivity. Showing that Kierkegaard's understanding of language is crucial to his practice of communication, and his account of the paradoxes inherent in religious discourse, Shakespeare argues that Kierkegaard advances a form of 'ethical realism' in which the otherness of God is met in the making of liberating signs. Not only are new perspectives opened on Kierkegaard's texts, but his own contribution to ongoing debates is affirmed in its vital, creative and challenging significance.

This title was first published in 2001: Debate about the reality of God risks becoming an arid stalemate. An unbridgeable gulf seems to be fixed between realists, arguing that God exists independently of our language and beliefs, and anti-realists for whom God-language functions to express human spiritual ideals, with no reference to a reality external to the faith of the believer. Soren Kierkegaard has been enlisted as an ally by both sides of this debate. Kierkegaard, Language and the Reality of God presents a new approach, exploring the dynamic nature of Kierkegaard's texts and the way they undermine neat divisions between realism and anti-realism, objectivity and subjectivity. Showing that Kierkegaard's understanding of language is crucial to his practice of communication, and his account of the paradoxes inherent in religious discourse, Shakespeare argues that Kierkegaard advances a form of 'ethical realism' in which the otherness of God is met in the making of liberating signs. Not only are new perspectives opened on Kierkegaard's texts, but his own contribution to ongoing debates is affirmed in its vital, creative and challenging significance.

Is the affirmation or intensification of life a value in itself? Can life itself be thought? This book breaks new ground in religious and philosophical thinking on the concept of life. It captures a moment in which such thinking is regaining its force and attraction for scholars, and the relevance of thought to social, cultural, political and religious dilemmas about how and why to live. Bringing together original contributions by highly distinguished authors in the field of Continental philosophy of religion, including John D. Caputo, Pamela Sue Anderson, Philip Goodchild, Alison Martin and Don Cupitt, this book has a distinctiveness based on its refusal to sit easily within either secular philosophical or theological approaches. The concept of life mobilizes a thinking that crosses narrow disciplinary boundaries, whilst retaining philosophical rigour. Three sections explore the various dimensions of the question of life: The Politics of Life'; 'Life and the Limits of Thinking'; and 'Life and Spirituality'. This book will be of interest to a broad range of readers in the humanities, particularly to philosophers, theologians, cultural theorists and all those interested in philosophical or theological debates on the concept of life.

Is the affirmation or intensification of life a value in itself? Can life itself be thought? This book breaks new ground in religious and philosophical thinking on the concept of life. It captures a moment in which such thinking is regaining its force and attraction for scholars, and the relevance of thought to social, cultural, political and religious dilemmas about how and why to live. Bringing together original contributions by highly distinguished authors in the field of Continental philosophy of religion, including John D. Caputo, Pamela Sue Anderson, Philip Goodchild, Alison Martin and Don Cupitt, this book has a distinctiveness based on its refusal to sit easily within either secular philosophical or theological approaches. The concept of life mobilizes a thinking that crosses narrow disciplinary boundaries, whilst retaining philosophical rigour. Three sections explore the various dimensions of the question of life: The Politics of Life'; 'Life and the Limits of Thinking'; and 'Life and Spirituality'. This book will be of interest to a broad range of readers in the humanities, particularly to philosophers, theologians, cultural theorists and all those interested in philosophical or theological debates on the concept of life.

Kierkegaard and the Refusal of Transcendence challenges the standard view that Kierkegaard's God is infinitely other than the world. It argues that his work immerses us in the paradoxical nature of existence itself, and opposes any flight into another world.

This is a beautifully crafted collection of prayers for each Sunday and most major festivals in the church's year, together with additional material for each season. The Sunday prayers - known as "collects" in the Anglican tradition - follow the three-year cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary. The author uses expansive and inclusive language and imagery to address and describe God, to describe God's presence and action in the world, and to describe the people of God. Ideal for use at weekday celebrations, including the Book of Common Prayer Order for Eucharist.

Essays and documents related to Hideous Gnosis, a symposium on black metal theory, which took place on December 12, 2009 in Brooklyn, NY. Expanded and Revised. "Life is a hideous thing, and from the background behind what we know of it peer daemoniacal hints of truth which make it sometimes a thousandfold more hideous." - H.P. Lovecraft "Poison yourself . . . with thought" - Arizmenda CONTENTS: Steven Shakespeare, "The Light that Illuminates Itself, the Dark that Soils Itself: Blackened Notes from Schelling's Underground." Erik Butler, "The Counter-Reformation in Stone and Metal: Spiritual Substances." Scott Wilson, "BAsileus philosoPHOrum METaloricum." Hunter Hunt-Hendrix, "Transcendental Black Metal." Nicola Masciandaro, "Anti-Cosmosis: Black Mahapralaya." Joseph Russo, "Perpetue Putesco - Perpetually I Putrefy." Benjamin Noys, "'Remain True to the Earth ': Remarks on the Politics of Black Metal." Evan Calder Williams, "The Headless Horsemen of the Apocalypse." Brandon Stosuy, "Meaningful Leaning Mess." Aspasia Stephanou, "Playing Wolves and Red Riding Hoods in Black Metal." Anthony Sciscione, "'Goatsteps Behind My Steps . . .': Black Metal and Ritual Renewal." Eugene Thacker, "Three Questions on Demonology." Niall Scott, "Black Confessions and Absu-lution." DOCUMENTS: Lionel Maunz, Pineal Eye; Oyku Tekten, Symposium Photographs; Scott Wilson, "Pop Journalism and the Passion for Ignorance"; Karlynn Holland, Sin Eater I-V; Nicola Masciandaro and Reza Negarestani, Black Metal Commentary; Black Metal Theory Blog Comments; Letter from Andrew White; E.S.S.E, Murder Devour I. HTTP: //BLACKMETALTHEORY.BLOGSPOT.COM

"Derrida and Theology" is an invaluable guide for those ready to ride the leading wave of contemporary theology. It gives theologians the confidence to explore the major elements of Derrida's work, and its influence on theology, without 'dumbing it down' or ignoring its controversial aspects.Jacques Derrida: a name to strike fear into the hearts of theologians. His thought has been hugely influential in shaping postmodern philosophy, and its impact has been felt across the humanities from literary studies to architecture. However, he has also been associated with the spectres of relativism and nihilism. Some have suggested he undermines any notion of objective truth and stable meaning.Fortunately, such premature judgements are gradually changing. Derrida is now increasingly seen as a major contributor to thinking about the complexity of truth, responsibility and witnessing. Theologians and biblical scholars are engaging as never before with Derrida's own deep-rooted reflections on religious themes. From the nature of faith to the name of God, from Messianism to mysticism, from forgiveness to the impossible, he has broken new ground in thinking about religion in our time. His thought and writing style remain highly complex, however, and can be a forbidding prospect for the uninitiated.This book gives theologians the confidence to explore the major elements of Derrida's work, and its influence on theology, without 'dumbing it down' or ignoring its controversial aspects. It examines his philosophical approach, his specific work on religious themes, and the ways in which theologians have interpreted, adopted and disputed them. "Derrida and Theology" is an invaluable guide for those ready to ride the leading wave of contemporary theology."The Philosophy and Theology" series looks at major philosophers and explores their relevance to theological thought as well as the response of theology.

This beautifully crafted daily prayer companion is for everyone who wants to integrate spirituality with daily life. Rooted in one of the most pressing concerns of our age, it offers a fourfold pattern for prayer throughout the day to renew attention, understanding, compassion and delight towards creation. Part One offers eight sets of morning, midday, evening and night prayers where the seasons of the Christian year are paired with those of nature: * The Path of Shadows: Winter - Advent and Christmas * The Growing Light: Early Spring - Epiphany * The Seed of Promise: Spring - Lent * The Fire of Life: Beltane - Easter to Pentecost * The Greatest Light: Summer - Ordinary Time 1 * The Gift of First Fruits: Lammas - Harvest * The Time of Gathering: Autumn - Ordinary Time 2 * The Call of Memory- All Souls, All Saints

Reminiscent of Malcolm Guite's bestselling Sounding the Seasons, this beautiful collection offers scripture-inspired poems for each of the major seasons of the Christian year. It includes: * The Call to Prayer (with poetry on the nature of prayer); * Advent, Christmas and Epiphany; * Lent, Easter and Pentecost (including Wings of Wounded Glory, a sequence for Holy Week); * Transforming Ordinary Time (including some feasts which fall outside the major seasons); * In the School of Mary (poetic reflections on Mary, see as a model for prayer, contemplation and prophecy). An introduction considers the relationship between prayer and poetry and offers suggestions for using the book in public and private worship settings, and a closing sequence contemplates Mary as a figure of prayers and witness.

The Church should be inclusive because God is inclusive. Christianity is inclusive to its core. These are the claims made by this groundbreaking, timely and important book. To its critics, inclusive theology is little more than a capitulation to secular pressures, but it has always been at the heart of all Christian service. Today it is rediscovering its radical, missionary voice and its roots in the biblical values of justice and the transformative power of the kingdom. Inclusivity is not simply about whom the church excludes from its life and ministry on the basis of cultural prejudices at any given point in history. It is about the world we share and the life we lead in common with all humanity. It is a joyful affirmation that we are all created and fulfilled by the love of God, and it challenges us to reject every limitation placed on what God has made. The Inclusive God explores what inclusive theology begins to look like when fleshed out by what matters most in Christianity: creation, revelation, Jesus' life, death and resurrection, the church and, above all, the nature of God. Throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus standing alongside the despised and rejected, eventually becoming the despised outsider himself. The Inclusive God asks are we on his side, or not?

This title explores the implications of our animal origins and posthuman futures for our understanding of our humanity and our relations with other species. "Beyond Human" investigates what it means to call ourselves human beings in relation to both our distant past and our possible futures as a species, and the questions this might raise for our relationship with the myriad species with which we share the planet. Drawing on insights from zoology, theology, cultural studies and aesthetics, an international line-up of contributors explore such topics as our origins as reflected in early cave art in the upper Palaeolithic through to our prospects at the forefront of contemporary biotechnology. In the process, the book positions 'the human' in readiness for what many have characterized as our transhuman or posthuman future. For if our status as rational animals or 'animals that think' has traditionally distinguished us as apparently superior to other species, this distinction has become increasingly problematic. It has come to be seen as based on skills and technologies that do not distinguish us so much as position us as transitional animals. It is the direction and consequences of this transition that is the central concern of "Beyond Human".