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Charles iii: New king. new court. the inside story
Par Robert Hardman. 2024
Read by the author, Robert Hardman. 'A superb, fascinating account of the new King, his court and the first year…
of his reign. Elegantly written by the most authoritative of royal historians writing today, it is deeply researched, impeccably sourced and filled with scoops and new details. This is the definitive book' – Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of The Romanovs By acclaimed royal biographer and author of Queen of Our Times, Robert Hardman, Charles III is a brilliant account of a tumultuous period in British history, full of intriguing insider detail and the real stories behind the sadness, the dazzling pomp, the challenges and the triumphs as Charles III sets out to make his mark. How would – or could – he fill the shoes of the record-breaking Elizabeth II? With fresh debates about the monarchy, political upheavals and a steady flow of damning headlines unleashed by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Charles could not afford to put a foot wrong. Hardman draws on unrivalled access to the Royal Family, friends of the King and Queen, key officials and courtiers, plus unpublished royal papers, to chart the transition from those emotionally charged days following the death of the late Queen all through that make or break first year on the throne. This book also reveals how Charles III is determined to move ahead at speed, the vital role played by Queen Camilla, the King's relationships with his sons and the rest of his family, his plans for reforming the monarchy and how he is taking his place on the world stage. Charles III is a fascinating portrait of a hard-working, modern monarch, determined to remain true to himself and to his Queen, to make a difference, to weather the storms – and, what's more, to enjoy it. 'Hardman is the unsurpassed grand master when it comes to the inside story of the modern monarchy. Full of surprises and glorious detail' – Andrew Roberts, author of George III: The Life and Reign of Britain's Most Misunderstood MonarchMuinji'j Asks Why: The Story of the Mi'kmaq and the Shubenacadie Residential School
Par Shanika MacEachern, Breighlynn MacEachern. 2022
An educational and heartfelt retelling of the story of the Mi'kmaq and their traditional lands, Mi'kma'ki, for young readers, focused…
on the generational traumas of the Indian Residential School System."The story of the Mi'kmaw people is one that very few truly know, Ladybug. Even fewer understand what happened at the residential schools. It is a hard story to tell, but you must know the truth. Sit and I will tell you the story."When seven-year-old Muinji'j comes home from school one day, her Nana and Papa can tell right away that she's upset. Her teacher has been speaking about the residential schools. Unlike most of her fellow students, Muinji'j has always known about the residential schools. But what she doesn't understand is why the schools existed and why children would have died there. Nana and Papa take Muinji'j aside and tell her the whole story, from the beginning. They help her understand all of the decisions that were made for the Mi'kmaq, not with the Mi'kmaq, and how those decisions hurt her people. They tell her the story of her people before their traditional ways were made illegal, before they were separated and sent to reservations, before their words, their beliefs, and eventually, their children, were taken from them. A poignant, honest, and necessary book featuring brilliant artwork from Mi'kmaw artist Zeta Paul and words inspired by Muinji'j MacEachern's true story, Muinji'j Asks Why will inspire conversation, understanding, and allyship for readers of all ages.Grossly unsanitary living conditions, cruel and abusive treatment by camp officials, the withholding of medical treatment - these were common…
experiences for refugees imprisoned at internment camps in Britain and Canada. Walter Igersheimer's memoir exposes this bleak period in the British and Canadian war record.The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q & Christian Origins
Par Burton L. Mack. 1993
An accessible translation of this important lost gospel of the Bible, with an account if its reconstruction and analysis of…
its far-reaching implications.This is the first full account of the lost gospel of Jesus’ original followers, revealing him to be a Jewish Socrates who was mythologized into the New Testament Christ. Compiled by his followers during his lifetime, the Book of Q (from Quelle, German for source) became the prime foundation for the New Testament gospels. Once lost, it has now been reconstructed through a century of scholarship. Instead of telling a dramatic story about Jesus’ life as the Christian gospels do, the Book of Q contained only his sayings. The first followers of Jesus focused not upon his life and destiny, but on the social experiment called for by his teachings. Their book collected his proverbs, aphorisms, and parables to offer instruction in living authentically in the midst of a most confusing time.In presenting his own translation, Burton Mack explains how the text of Q was determined and explores the implications of the discovery that Jesus was transformed into the dying and rising messianic savior of Christianity by the New Testament gospels.The Ladder of Jacob: Ancient Interpretations of the Biblical Story of Jacob and His Children
Par James L. Kugel. 2006
Rife with incest, adultery, rape, and murder, the biblical story of Jacob and his children must have troubled ancient readers.…
By any standard, this was a family with problems. Jacob's oldest son Reuben is said to have slept with his father's concubine Bilhah. The next two sons, Simeon and Levi, tricked the men of a nearby city into undergoing circumcision, and then murdered all of them as revenge for the rape of their sister. Judah, the fourth son, had sexual relations with his own daughter-in-law. Meanwhile, jealous of their younger sibling Joseph, the brothers conspired to kill him; they later relented and merely sold him into slavery. These stories presented a particular challenge for ancient biblical interpreters. After all, Jacob's sons were the founders of the nation of Israel and ought to have been models of virtue. In The Ladder of Jacob, renowned biblical scholar James Kugel retraces the steps of ancient biblical interpreters as they struggled with such problems. Kugel reveals how they often fixed on a little detail in the Bible's wording to "deduce" something not openly stated in the narrative. They concluded that Simeon and Levi were justified in killing all the men in a town to avenge the rape of their sister, and that Judah, who slept with his daughter-in-law, was the unfortunate victim of alcoholism. These are among the earliest examples of ancient biblical interpretation (midrash). They are found in retellings of biblical stories that appeared in the closing centuries BCE--in the Book of Jubilees, the Aramaic Levi Document, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, and other noncanonical works. Through careful analysis of these retellings, Kugel is able to reconstruct how ancient interpreters worked. The Ladder of Jacob is an artful, compelling account of the very beginnings of biblical interpretation.The Book of Job: A Biography (Lives of Great Religious Books #15)
Par Mark Larrimore. 2014
The life and times of this iconic and enduring biblical bookThe Book of Job raises stark questions about the nature…
and meaning of innocent suffering and the relationship of the human to the divine, yet it is also one of the Bible's most obscure and paradoxical books, one that defies interpretation even today. Mark Larrimore provides a panoramic history of this remarkable book, traversing centuries and traditions to examine how Job's trials and his challenge to God have been used and understood in diverse contexts, from commentary and liturgy to philosophy and art.Larrimore traces Job's obscure origins and his reception and use in the Midrash, burial liturgies, and folklore, and by figures such as Gregory the Great, Maimonides, John Calvin, Immanuel Kant, William Blake, Margarete Susman, and Elie Wiesel. He chronicles the many ways the Book of Job's interpreters have linked it to other biblical texts; to legends, allegory, and negative and positive theologies; as well as to their own individual and collective experiences. Larrimore revives old questions and provides illuminating new contexts for contemporary ones. Was Job a Jew or a gentile? Was his story history or fable? What is meant by the "patience of Job," and does Job exhibit it? Why does God speak yet not engage Job's questions?Offering rare insights into this iconic and enduring book, Larrimore reveals how Job has come to be viewed as the Bible's answer to the problem of evil and the perennial question of why a God who supposedly loves justice permits bad things to happen to good people.The Book of Genesis: A Biography (Lives of Great Religious Books #14)
Par Ronald Hendel. 2013
An essential biography of one of the Bible's most influential booksDuring its 2,500-year life, the book of Genesis has been…
the keystone to almost every important claim about reality, humanity, and God in Judaism and Christianity. And it continues to play a central role in debates about science, politics, and human rights. With clarity and skill, acclaimed biblical scholar Ronald Hendel provides a panoramic history of this iconic book, exploring its impact on Western religion, philosophy, science, politics, literature, and more.Hendel traces how Genesis has shaped views of reality, and how changing views of reality have shaped interpretations of Genesis. Literal and figurative readings have long competed with each other. Hendel tells how Luther's criticisms of traditional figurative accounts of Genesis undermined the Catholic Church; how Galileo made the radical argument that the cosmology of Genesis wasn't scientific evidence; and how Spinoza made the equally radical argument that the scientific method should be applied to Genesis itself. Indeed, Hendel shows how many high points of Western thought and art have taken the form of encounters with Genesis--from Paul and Augustine to Darwin, Emily Dickinson, and Kafka.From debates about slavery, gender, and sexuality to the struggles over creationism and evolution, Genesis has shaped our world and continues to do so today. This wide-ranging account tells the remarkable story of the life of Genesis like no other book.Pericles of Athens
Par Vincent Azoulay. 2018
The definitive biography of the legendary "first citizen of Athens"Pericles has the rare distinction of giving his name to an…
entire period of history, embodying what has often been taken as the golden age of the ancient Greek world. "Periclean" Athens witnessed tumultuous political and military events, and achievements of the highest order in philosophy, drama, poetry, oratory, and architecture. Pericles of Athens is the first book in decades to reassess the life and legacy of one of the greatest generals, orators, and statesmen of the classical world. In this compelling critical biography, Vincent Azoulay takes a fresh look at both the classical and modern reception of Pericles, recognizing his achievements as well as his failings. From Thucydides and Plutarch to Voltaire and Hegel, ancient and modern authors have questioned Pericles’s relationship with democracy and Athenian society. This is the enigma that Azoulay investigates in this groundbreaking book. Pericles of Athens offers a balanced look at the complex life and afterlife of the legendary "first citizen of Athens."The Inner Life of Empires: An Eighteenth-Century History
Par Emma Rothschild. 2011
The birth of the modern world as told through the remarkable story of one eighteenth-century familyThey were abolitionists, speculators, slave…
owners, government officials, and occasional politicians. They were observers of the anxieties and dramas of empire. And they were from one family. The Inner Life of Empires tells the intimate history of the Johnstones--four sisters and seven brothers who lived in Scotland and around the globe in the fast-changing eighteenth century. Piecing together their voyages, marriages, debts, and lawsuits, and examining their ideas, sentiments, and values, renowned historian Emma Rothschild illuminates a tumultuous period that created the modern economy, the British Empire, and the philosophical Enlightenment.One of the sisters joined a rebel army, was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle, and escaped in disguise in 1746. Her younger brother was a close friend of Adam Smith and David Hume. Another brother was fluent in Persian and Bengali, and married to a celebrated poet. He was the owner of a slave known only as "Bell or Belinda," who journeyed from Calcutta to Virginia, was accused in Scotland of infanticide, and was the last person judged to be a slave by a court in the British isles. In Grenada, India, Jamaica, and Florida, the Johnstones embodied the connections between European, American, and Asian empires. Their family history offers insights into a time when distinctions between the public and private, home and overseas, and slavery and servitude were in constant flux.Based on multiple archives, documents, and letters, The Inner Life of Empires looks at one family's complex story to describe the origins of the modern political, economic, and intellectual world.Holman Illustrated Guide to Biblical Geography: Reading the Land
Par Paul Wright, Holman Bible Publishers. 2020
Reading the land enables us to read the Bible with greater insight. Though the truths of the Bible transcend time…
and place, they are rooted in them. Geographical data inform our understanding of activity in the land of the Bible, while the Bible’s own description of these events, embedded deeply in the realia of the land itself, helps us better understand the living context in which these events took place. When we develop a skill set that allows us to read the land of the Bible as fluently as we might read the text, we stand not only to gain a better appreciation of the divine-human events of Scripture, we also gain an understanding of how these events become relevant to us in our own particular living contexts.Streams in the Desert Morning and Evening: 365 Devotions
Par L. B. Cowman. 2016
Streams in the Desert is one of the most popular daily devotionals of all time. Now combined with Cowman's follow-up Springs in…
the Valley is an everyday morning and evening devotional. Readers will be encouraged by these short devotions that speak to the soul with the ageless truth of the Word of God.Streams in the Desert Morning and Evening includes:More than 900 pages of short, daily devotionsGuidance and hope that encourage a deeper faith walkWisdom and insight into God's characterScripture verses to strengthen the daily messagesBeautiful cover with foil and a ribbon markerStreams in the Desert Morning and Evening is a beautiful gift for readers who want to start their mornings and wind down during their evenings by connecting their hearts to the One who knows it best.Black Man on the Titanic: The Story of Joseph Laroche
Par Serge Bile. 2019
The true story of one of the black passengers on the Titanic, for history readers and fans of Hidden Figures and…
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Joseph Laroche was an anomaly among the passengers of the Titanic. He was exceptionally well-educated in a time when few black men had access to an education―and when even fewer were able to travel on a luxurious ship in first or second class. So, who was Joseph Laroche? And where was he going? This biography recounts the life of Joseph Laroche, his part in the history of Haiti, and how he, as a 24-year-old father of two (soon to be three) children, ended up on the last ship of that era of glamourous travel. He was a direct descendant of the father of Haitian independence and related to two Haitian presidents. As an engineer, Laroche contributed to the construction of the Parisian railway and had a promising future ahead of him. Ivorian-French writer Serge Bilé offers a fresh perspective on the tragedy that still fascinates millions and has inspired dozens of books and films. With thorough research in Haiti and France, Bilé unearths the story of the intriguing figure of Joseph Laroche. This is an account of multi-cultural black history and of the political and natural forces that converged on one man.Praise for Black Man on the Titanic &“A revelation.&”—Mitchell Kaplan, founder of Books & Books&“An absorbing and rewarding read.&”—Leonard Carpenter, author of Lusitania Lost and Conan the SavageA fascinating examination of what &“the pursuit of happiness&” meant to our nation&’s Founders and how that famous phrase defined…
their lives and became the foundation of our democracy.The Declaration of Independence identified &“the pursuit of happiness&” as one of our unalienable rights, along with life and liberty. Jeffrey Rosen, the president of the National Constitution Center, profiles six of the most influential founders—Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton—to show what pursuing happiness meant in their lives. By reading the classical Greek and Roman moral philosophers who inspired the Founders, Rosen shows us how they understood the pursuit of happiness as a quest for being good, not feeling good—the pursuit of lifelong virtue, not short-term pleasure. Among those virtues were the habits of industry, temperance, moderation, and sincerity, which the Founders viewed as part of a daily struggle for self-improvement, character development, and calm self-mastery. They believed that political self-government required personal self-government. For all six Founders, the pursuit of virtue was incompatible with enslavement of African Americans, although the Virginians betrayed their own principles. The Pursuit of Happiness is more than an elucidation of the Declaration&’s famous phrase; it is a revelatory journey into the minds of the Founders, and a deep, rich, and fresh understanding of the foundation of our democracy.The Qur'an: A Verse Translation
Par M.A.R. Habib, Bruce B. Lawrence. 2024
Islam’s founding text, rendered for the first time in flowing English verse. This monumental feat of translation, the product of…
a ten-year-long collaboration between one of our most respected scholars of Islam (Bruce B. Lawrence) and a poet and scholar of literature (M. A. R. Habib), The Qur'an: A Verse Translation offers readers the first rendering in English to echo, in accessible and fluent verse, the sonorous beauty of the Arabic original as well as the complex nuances of its meaning. Those familiar with the Qur'an in Arabic—especially the faithful who each day hear the text recited aloud—know that it is a sublime blend of sound and sense, music and meaning. While no translation can perfectly capture the inimitable virtues of the original, Habib and Lawrence have come closest to a readable, clear, and fluid English Qur'an that all readers, regardless of their faith or familiarity with the text, can read with pleasure, gaining a deeper appreciation of the book and the religious tradition it inspired. A rich and informative introduction situates the Qur'an in its cultural context and describes its unique structure and history. A note from the translators explains their painstaking efforts to address the many challenges that any translator must face when rendering the Qur'an into English. Extensive notes and explanatory apparatus will help all readers—whether they are familiar with the original or coming to the text for the first time—to read (and hear) the Qur'an with fresh understanding and insight.Praying Personalities: Finding Your Natural Prayer Style
Par Janet Holm McHenry. 2024
Discover the particular way God designed you to connect with Him through prayer You should pray in the morning. You…
should write out your prayers. You should make prayer lists and pray through them every day. You should pray with others or out loud. We've all heard the "you shoulds" of prayer from pulpits, presenters, and well-meaning friends. But when none of these ways to pray feel natural, what's next? Janet Holm McHenry has studied prayer extensively, and the one thing she knows for sure is that there's no one-size-fits-all way to pray. Instead, there are different styles of prayer--and by discovering the style most instinctive to each individual personality, staying in touch with God throughout the day becomes simple and all the more joyful. In this book, the author helps readers determine their particular praying personality by examining the praying styles of biblical people, spiritual gifts, and various ideas about personality, including the classic temperaments, the Enneagram, and more. McHenry includes scores of bulleted suggestions for developing a praying lifestyle that works for individuals. She has also created a Praying Personality Quiz for readers (available in the book and online) to help narrow down the style that will most naturally fit into how they process a prayer life. Whether a longtime Christian who has tried various prayer strategies but can't keep up or a new believer looking to learn about this spiritual discipline, every reader who dives into this book will come away with a renewed prayer life and a greater understanding of who God created them to be.The Breathe Life Holy Bible: Faith in Action (NKJV)
Par Thomas Nelson. 2024
Faith in Action: Being a Gospel-Driven Change-MakerChristians are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world.…
To be proclaimers of good news—agents of reconciliation with a message of hope, and faith that takes action. We need wisdom from God&’s Word, power from His Spirit, hope from His gospel, and faith that He will equip us for the task. The Breathe Life Bible invites you to experience Scripture through the lens of the BREATHE acronym: Believe, Reconcile, Exalt, Act, Trust, Hope, and Elevate. Receive practical biblical encouragement. Find answers to some of life&’s most difficult situations. Discover what faith in action really looks like as we pursue God&’s vision of being a community where all people are valued and cared for.Features include: Introduction article by Rev. Dr. Bernice A. KingForeword by Ambassador Andrew YoungPrayer of dedication by Bishop Hezekiah WalkerEncouragement letters from Rev. Matthew Wesley Williams (President, Interdenominational Theological Center), Dr. Thelma Thomas Daley (President, National Council of Negro Women), and Derrick Johnson (President, NAACP)The Sky Dive more deeply into faith in action with these three focused articles. Through God&’s Word, you are empowered to live a fruitful, abundant life, fully engaged in the pursuit of healthy relationships with God and others.The Air Increase your understanding with introductions and overviews for each book of the Bible&’s content and themes, plus insights on each book&’s relevance to the hearts of people of color today.We Speak Look at life through the eyes of 49 people in the Bible. Relate to the joys, sorrows, victories, and defeats of those who lived long ago and glean insights on how to live today.Life Support Explore how God&’s truth can be applied to action steps in your life through 10 passages in the Bible.Inhale-Exhale A Q&A format addresses some of the most difficult life situations with answers that remind you that it is possible to rise above challenges in God&’s power.#Oxygen Be challenged and encouraged with 98 brief snippets of wisdom drawn straight from the Word.Release Focus on tenets of the BREATHE acronym—Believe, Reconcile, Exalt, Act, Trust, Hope, Elevate—through this series of 49 devotions developed by Christian pastors and teachers who seek hope and guidance in God&’s Word.Cross references and concordanceWords of Christ in redClear and readable 10-point NKJV Comfort Print®Additional Contributors:Dr. Charrita Danley QuimbyRev. Dr. Eric W. LeeMichele Clark JenkinsStephanie Perry MooreMin. Derrick MooreBishop Kenneth UlmerDr. Arthur SatterwhitePastor Debra B. MortonPastor Tommy KyllonenRev. Dr. Helen DelaneyPastor Tommy StevensonBishop Vashti McKenzieBishop Marvin SappDr. Franklin Perry, Sr.Rev. Dr. LaKeesha WalrondAntonio Neal PhelonElder De&’Leice R. DraneS. James GuitardDr. Lakeba H. WilliamsRev. Dr. Walter L. KimbroughJekalyn CarrFirst Lady Jamell MeeksThe Red Widow: The Scandal that Shook Paris and the Woman Behind it All
Par Sarah Horowitz. 2022
"An unforgettable portrait of a woman who became one of the most notorious figures of her day and whose scandalous…
story sheds fascinating light not only on her own tumultuous time but ours as well." — Harold Schechter, author of Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Guinness, Butcher of MenSex, corruption, and power: the rise and fall of the Red Widow of ParisParis, 1889: Margeurite Steinheil is a woman with ambition. But having been born into a middle-class family and trapped in a marriage to a failed artist twenty years her senior, she knows her options are limited.Determined to fashion herself into a new woman, Meg orchestrates a scandalous plan with her most powerful resource: her body. Amid the dazzling glamor, art, and romance of bourgeois Paris, she takes elite men as her lovers, charming her way into the good graces of the rich and powerful. Her ambitions, though, go far beyond becoming the most desirable woman in Paris; at her core, she is a woman determined to conquer French high society. But the game she plays is a perilous one: navigating misogynistic double-standards, public scrutiny, and political intrigue, she is soon vaulted into infamy in the most dangerous way possible.A real-life femme fatale, Meg influences government positions and resorts to blackmail—and maybe even poisoning—to get her way. Leaving a trail of death and disaster in her wake, she earns the name the "Red Widow" for mysteriously surviving a home invasion that leaves both her husband and mother dead. With the police baffled and the public enraged, Meg breaks every rule in the bourgeois handbook and becomes the most notorious woman in Paris.An unforgettable true account of sex, scandal, and murder, The Red Widow is the story of a woman determined to rise—at any cost.Systematic Theology, Second Edition: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine
Par Wayne A. Grudem. 1870
This new edition of Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem is one of the most important resources for helping you understand Scripture and…
grow as a Christian.The most widely used resource of the last 25 years in its area, Systematic Theology has been thoroughly revised and expanded for the first time while retaining the features that have made it the standard in its field: clear explanations, an emphasis on each doctrine's scriptural basis, and practical applications to daily life.With nearly 250 pages of new content and revisions, this new edition now includes the following distinctive features:Updated analysis of recent controversies within evangelical theology, including the eternal relationship between the Father and the Son in the Trinity, the role of women in the church, miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, and contemporary worship music.New discussion and critiques of recent theological controversies situated outside of traditional evangelical theology, such as open theism, the "new perspective on Paul," Molinism (or "middle knowledge"), "Free Grace" theology, and the preterist view of Christ's second coming.Completely revised chapter on the clarity of Scripture.Completely revised chapter on creation and evolution, including a longer critique of theistic evolution and an extensive discussion on the age of the earth.New discussion of how biblical inerrancy applies to some specific "problem verses" in the Gospels.Additional material explaining evangelical Protestant differences with Roman Catholicism, Protestant liberalism, and Mormonism.Completely updated bibliographies.All Scripture quotations updated from RSV to ESV.Updated section on contemporary worship music.Numerous other updates and corrections.Part of the brilliance of Systematic Theology has been its simplicity and ease of use. Each chapter follows the same structure: discussion of the doctrine being considered, an explanation of that doctrine's biblical support and possible objections, followed by personal application and key terms to know for personal growth. Chapters also include a Scripture memory passage, references to other literature on the topic, and suggested hymns and worship songs.If you think theology is hard to understand or boring, then this new edition of Systematic Theology will change your mind.Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South
Par Elizabeth Varon. 1895
A &“compelling portrait&” (Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author) of the controversial Confederate general who later embraced Reconstruction and became an…
outcast in the South. It was the most remarkable political about-face in American history. During the Civil War, General James Longstreet fought tenaciously for the Confederacy. He was alongside Lee at Gettysburg (and counseled him not to order the ill-fated attacks on entrenched Union forces there). He won a major Confederate victory at Chickamauga and was seriously wounded during a later battle. After the war, Longstreet moved to New Orleans, where he dramatically changed course. He supported Black voting and joined the newly elected, integrated postwar government in Louisiana. When white supremacists took up arms to oust that government, Longstreet, leading the interracial state militia, did battle against former Confederates. His defiance ignited a firestorm of controversy, as white Southerners branded him a race traitor and blamed him retroactively for the South&’s defeat in the Civil War. Although he was one of the highest-ranking Confederate generals, Longstreet has never been commemorated with statues or other memorials in the South because of his postwar actions in rejecting the Lost Cause mythology and urging racial reconciliation. He is being discovered in the new age of racial reckoning as &“one of the most enduringly relevant voices in American history&” (The Wall Street Journal). This is the first authoritative biography in decades and the first that &“brilliantly creates the wider context for Longstreet&’s career&” (The New York Times).Understanding the Bible as a Scripture in History, Culture, and Religion
Par James W. Watts. 2021
UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE AS A SCRIPTURE IN HISTORY, CULTURE, AND RELIGION The Bible is a popular subject of study and…
research, yet biblical studies gives little attention to the reason for its popularity: its religious role as a scripture. Understanding the Bible as a Scripture in History, Culture, and Religion integrates the history of the religious interpretation and ritual uses of biblical books into a survey of their rhetoric, composition, and theology in their ancient contexts. Emphasizing insights from comparative studies of different religious scriptures, it combines discussion of the Bible’s origins with its cultural history into a coherent understanding of its past and present function as a scripture.A prominent expert on biblical rhetoric and the ritualization of books, James W. Watts describes how Jews and Christians ritualize the Bible by interpreting it, by expressing it in recitations, music, art, and film, and by venerating the physical scroll and book. The first two sections of the book are organized around the Torah and the Gospels—which have been the focus of Jewish and Christian ritualization of scriptures from ancient to modern times—and treat the history of other biblical books in relation to these two central blocks of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. In addition to analyzing the semantic contents of all the Bible’s books as persuasive rhetoric, Watts describes their ritualization in the iconic and expressive dimensions in the centuries since they began to function as a scripture, as well as in their origins in ancient Judaism and Christianity. The third section on the cultural history and scriptural function of modern bibles concludes by discussing their influence today and the controversies they have fueled about history, science, race, and gender. Innovative and insightful, Understanding the Bible as a Scripture in History, Culture, and Religion is a groundbreaking introduction to the study of the Bible as a scripture, and an ideal textbook for courses in biblical studies and comparative scripture studies.