Influenced originally by Islamic theological speculation, classical philosophers and Christian Scholasticism of the Middle Ages, Jewish thinkers living in Islamic and Christian lands philosophized about Judaism from the ninth to fifteenth centuries. They reflected on the nature of language about God, the creation of the world, the possibility of human freedom and the relationship between divine and human law. This Companion presents major medieval Jewish thinkers in a comprehensive introduction to a vital period of Jewish intellectual history.

Only one of the world's mythologies has remained essentially unrecognized--the mythology of Judaism. As Howard Schwartz reveals in Tree of Souls, the first anthology of Jewish mythology in English, this mythical tradition is as rich and as fascinating as any in the world.

Throughout the Middle East, the clash between Islamic forces and authoritarian states has undermined many democratization efforts. But in Turkey, Islamic actors—from the Gülen movement to the pro-Islamist Justice and Development Party—have been able to negotiate the terms of secular liberal democracy. This book explores the socio-political conditions and cultural venues in which Islamic movements cease to confront and start to cooperate with secular states.

This volume offers a new approach to the subject of conversion to Islam in the Balkans. It reconstructs the stages of the Islamization process from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries and examines the factors and stimuli behind it.

Unlike the vast majority of "marriage books," Sex, God, and Marriage digs deeper than the usual "issues" and goes to the root: our relationship with God, and the defining power of that relationship over all others in our lives. Arnold addresses the deep pain resulting from the cycle of broken relationships and the misuse of sexual intimacy. His words offer healing, a new beginning, and a sense of hope to those who have experienced discouragement or failure. Includes chapters on sex, alternatives to dating, parenthood, singleness, homosexuality, abortion, divorce and remarriage.

Theology of religions is an area of theological reflection on inter-religious relations which raises fundamental questions not just for Christians but for all people of faith in a pluralist, post-modern world. How to practise a religious faith with integrity while respecting other claims to ultimate truth? Must ‘the other’ always be regarded as a problematic complication on the fringes of a Christianity-centred world? Is there a ‘third way’ between an all dominating exclusivism and a tacit relativism?

As American Catholics and other Americans move into the twenty-first century it might be helpful to re-assess American Catholic religious and social thought during the past two centuries. Patrick Carey argues that American Catholics, from John Carroll to John Courtney Murray, have exhibited a fresh, vigorous ability to engage the great religious and social questions of their time in creative continuity with their inherited tradition and sometimes in capitulation to the culture in which they lived.

When Paul came to Ephesus, so we are told in the Acts of the Apostles (ch. 19), he asked the small band of disciples he found there, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” To which they replied, “No, we have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit” (v. 2). Paul then instructed them on baptism “in the name of the Lord Jesus,” with which was involved the reception of the Holy Spirit (v. 5), and proceeded to baptize them and lay his hands on them, after which, we are told, “the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied” (v. 6). Paul’s instruction on the Holy Spirit on that occasion would have consisted of the bare essentials, presented as briefly and simply as possible. Even so, it must have dealt with such questions as, is it really the Holy Spirit who acts in our lives? who is this Holy Spirit? and what does the Holy Spirit do?

This illustrated volume is an articulate series of essays by distinguished authors on themes which are central to the work of Brenda Bolton as a scholar and teacher: Innocent III, the city of Rome, the late medieval Church and the urban context of the Italian peninsula in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries. The essays combine groundbreaking new analyses with careful reading of the sources to demonstrate the vibrancy of the study of the ecclesiastical and social history of the Mediterranean in the late Middle Ages.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the fastest growing religious movements in the world. It is highly visible, with a massive missionary programme, yet it remains a mystery in terms of its core beliefs and theological structure. This timely book provides an introduction to the basic history, doctrines and practices of The LDS – the ‘Mormon’ Church. Written by a non-Mormon, it seeks neither to prove nor to disprove the truthfulness of the religious claims of that faith but rather to describe them in ways that non-Mormons can understand.

Spanning the centuries and crossing the globe, this engaging introduction covers everything Daoist, from the religion of the ancients to 21st century T’ai Chi and meditation. Complete with a timeline of Daoist history and a full glossary, Daoism: A Beginner's Guide will prove invaluable not only to students, but also to general readers who wish to learn more about the origins and nature of a profound tradition, and about its role and relevance in our fast-moving 21st century existence.