When people prayed, they expected their gods to come, wrote Robin Lane Fox, providing the impetus for this volume of collected essays exploring the concept of how the ancients "envisioned" the deities within various ancient religious traditions. The perspectives of Judaism, Gnosticism, Syriac Christianity, Byzantium, and Classical Greco-Roman religion and philosophy are considered. Specific emphasis is given to phenomena such as dreams, visions, and initiatory rites mediating the divine encounter.

This volume brings into dialogue the ancient wisdom of Augustine of Hippo, a bishop of the early Christian Church of the fourth and fifth centuries, with contemporary theologians and ethicists on the topic of social justice. Each essay mines the major themes present in Augustine's extensive corpus of writings-from his Confessions to the City of God- with an eye to the following question: how can this early church father so foundational to Christian doctrine and teaching inform our twenty-first century context on how to create and sustain a more just and equitable society? In his own day, Augustine spoke to conditions of slavery, conflict and war, violence and poverty, among many others. These conditions, while reflecting the characteristics of our technological age, continue to obstruct our collective efforts to bring about the common good for the global human community. The contributors of this volume have taken great care to read Augustine through the lens of his own time and place; at the same time, they provide keen insights and reflections which advance the conversation of social justice in the present.

After the success and wide distribution of the first ADDICTED TO MURDER movie in 1996, writer/producer Kevin J. Lindenmuth wanted to shoot a larger budget sequel. He came up with the idea for THE LAST VAMPIRE and hired frequent collaborator Ron Ford to write the screenplay. However, that was not to be. So Lindenmuth proceeded to make a micro-budget PREQUEL, TAINTED BLOOD, keeping in mind that he would make this "Final ADDICTED TO MURDER movie" one day. While a lesser sequel to the first two movies was made, BLOODLUST, this screenplay remained unproduced. Then, itching to do a follow-up years later, Lindenmuth agreed to let screenwriter Todd French take a stab (and puncture) at it. Keeping in mind THE LAST VAMPIRE script, as well as the continuity of the first three movies, ADDICTED TO MURDER: REDWORK was born. Alas, there was not a producer for this script, either. Now that a decade has passed fans of the ADDICTED TO MURDER trilogy can discover how the series finally ends...

This volume brings into dialogue the ancient wisdom of Augustine of Hippo, a bishop of the early Christian Church of the fourth and fifth centuries, with contemporary theologians and ethicists on the topic of social justice. Each essay mines the major themes present in Augustine's extensive corpus of writings-from his Confessions to the City of God- with an eye to the following question: how can this early church father so foundational to Christian doctrine and teaching inform our twenty-first century context on how to create and sustain a more just and equitable society? In his own day, Augustine spoke to conditions of slavery, conflict and war, violence and poverty, among many others. These conditions, while reflecting the characteristics of our technological age, continue to obstruct our collective efforts to bring about the common good for the global human community. The contributors of this volume have taken great care to read Augustine through the lens of his own time and place; at the same time, they provide keen insights and reflections which advance the conversation of social justice in the present.