Emotions have increasingly attracted the attention of the sciences and academia. The topic is all the more timely since we have witnessed a global trend towards highly emotionalized discourses across societies and religions. Discourses are less guided by rational arguments and “facts”. Instead, narratives, sometimes manipulative, influence the thoughts and activi-ties of our societies. In this context, the authoritative texts of the monotheistic religions are experiencing a renaissance. Tanach, Bible and Qur’an do not only “emotionalize”, they also offer ancient concepts of emotions which affect the present. This book brings the interdependencies of antiquity and (post)modernity into an interdisci-plinary discussion. How should we understand feelings at all? This book explores the ap-proaches to emotions as portrayed and understood in various sources and disciplines. The contributors share their perspectives on methodological questions concerning research on the emotions. Scholars in religious studies and theology from different traditions—Jewish, Christian, Islamic—enter into dialogue with other disciplines, such as psychology, literary studies, sociology, cultural studies, philosophy, and historiography.

Women Officeholders in Early Christianity is a scholarly investigation of the evidence for women holding offices of authority in the first several centuries of Christianity. Ute Eisen focuses on inscriptions and documentary papyri (private letters, official documents, contracts, and other such pieces) that have scarcely been considered before. Eisen presents the first extensive documentation of selected Greek and Latin inscriptions, plus a few documentary papyri, that witness to the existence of Christian women officeholders. The intent is to show the multiplicity of titles borne by women and to illustrate the narrowness of previous research on this topic. A single chapter is devoted to each of the titles of office or functional designations found in the sources. The epigraphical, papyrological, and literary witnesses are accordingly grouped by function. Topics are Apostles," "Prophets," "Teachers of Theology," "Presbyters," "Enrolled Widows," "Deacons," "Bishops," and "Stewards." Central to Women Officeholders in Early Christianity are the epigraphical witnesses. To this point they have been only marginally incorporated into research on women officeholders in the Church. In order to ensure correct interpretation, the majority of the inscriptions discussed have extensive documentation. They are organized geographically and chronologically. Besides the documentation they are commented on in the context of the existing literary sources. The book concludes with a chapter entitled "Source-Oriented Perspectives for a History of Christian Women Officeholders." The book also includes a bibliography of reference works, primary sources, and secondary sources. Ute E. Eisen is a Wissenschaftliche Assistentin at the Institute of New Testament Studies and Ancient Judaism at the University of Kiel, Germany. She has a doctorate in theology from the University of Hamburg. Her special areas of study include narrative analysis of Luke-Acts, methodology in New Testament studies, history of early Christianity, and gender studies. "

In pluralistischen Gesellschaften, aber auch in globalen Kontexten erhebt sich angesichts zunehmender Konflikte die drängende Frage nach kulturellen und religiösen Ressourcen für Toleranz und Verständigung. Vor diesem Hintergrund bieten pagane, jüdische, christliche, islamische und indologische Konzepte der Barmherzigkeit bzw. des Mitgefühls Deutungsangebote. In interreligiösen und interdisziplinären Zugängen wird in diesem Band religiös begründetes Mitgefühl auf seine eigentümliche Signatur, seine Konstitutionsbedingungen und irenischen Potentiale sowie auf deren Kritik und Grenzen hin untersucht. Dabei kommen insbesondere Perspektiven und Einsichten der neueren philosophisch-kulturwissenschaftlichen Emotionsforschung zur Geltung. Es werden Beiträge aus den Bereichen der klassischen Philologie, der jüdischen, christlichen und islamischen Theologien, der Indologie, der Philosophie, der Politik- und Rechtswissenschaft, der Pädagogik und Literaturwissenschaft geboten.