An examination of the influence of the Bible on Western artand literature and on the Western creative imagination in general.Frye persuasively presents the Bible as a unique text distinct fromall other epics and sacred writings. No one has set forth soclearly, so subtly, or with such cogent energy as Frye the literaryaspect of our biblical heritage (New York Times Book Review).Indices.

From distinguished moral philosopher Martha Nussbaum, this isa historical and conceptual study of the American tradition ofreligious freedom. In one of greatest triumphs of the colonial andRevolutionary periods, the founders of the future United Statesovercame religious intolerance in favour of a constitutional orderdedicated to fair treatment for people's deeply held conscientiousbeliefs. It granted equal liberty of conscience to all and took afirm stand against religious establishment. This respect forreligious difference, argues Martha Nussbaum, is the basis fordemocracy in America. Yet today there signs that this legacy ismisunderstood. The prominence of a particular type of Christianityin America's public life suggests the unequal worth of citizens whohold different religious beliefs or no beliefs. Other people,meanwhile, seek to curtail the influence of religion in public lifein a way that is itself unbalanced and unfair. Such partisanefforts, argues Nussbaum, violate the spirit of the AmericanCo

Rabbi Steinberg identifies seven strands that weave togetherto make up Judaism: God, morality, rite and custom, law, sacredliterature, institutions, and the people. A classic work directedto both the Jewish and the non-Jewish reader.

Nothing is sacred. Sex, morality, politics, society - all are fair game for Bertrand Russell's acerbic wit and keen eye. With What I Believe first published in 1925, Russell took on organized religion. Along with Why I Am Not a Christian, this essay must rank as the most articulate example of Russell's famed atheism. It is also one of the most notorious. Used as evidence in a 1940 court case in which Russell was declared unfit to teach college-level philosophy, What I Believe was to become one of his most defining works. The ideas contained within were and are controversial, contentious and - to the religious - downright blasphemous. More than three-quarters of a century after it was written, the arguments within this essay continue to challenge one's faith and assumptions. A remarkable work, it remains the best concise introduction to Russell's thought.

Scattered over much of the world throughout most of theirhistory, are the Jews one people or many? How do they resemble andhow do they differ from Jews in other places and times? What havetheir relationships been to the cultures of their neighbors? Toaddress these and similar questions, some of the finest scholars ofour day have contributed their insights to Cultures of the Jews, awinner of the National Jewish Book Award upon its hardcoverpublication in 2002. Constructing their essays around specific cultural artifacts thatwere created in the period and locale under study, the contributorsdescribe the cultural interactions among different Jews–from rabbisand scholars to non-elite groups, including women–as well asbetween Jews and the surrounding non-Jewish world. What theyconclude is that although Jews have always had their own autonomoustraditions, Jewish identity cannot be considered the fixed productof either ancient ethnic or religious origins. Rather, it hasshifted and assumed new forms

Neal Donald Walsch was experiencing a low periodin his life when he decided to write a letter to God, venting hisfrustrations. What he did not expect was a response. As he finishedhis letter, he was moved to continue writing - and out cameextraordinary answers to his questions. This work presents theanswers that Walsch received, helping him to change himself, hislife and the way he viewed other beings.

Many standard histories of Christianity chronicle theReformation as a single, momentous period in the history of theChurch. According to those accounts, a number of competing groupsof reformers challenged a monolithic and corrupt Roman Catholicismover issues ranging from authority and the role of the priests tothe interpretation of the Eucharist and the use of the Bible inchurch. In this wide-ranging, richly layered and captivating studyof the Reformation, MacCulloch challenges traditionalinterpretations, arguing instead that there were many reformations.Arranging his history in chronological fashion, MacCulloch providesin-depth studies of reform movements in central, northern andsouthern Europe and examines the influences that politics andgeography had on such groups. He challenges common assumptionsabout the relationships between Catholic priests and laity, arguingthat in some cases Protestantism actually took away religiousauthority from laypeople rather than putting it in their hands. Inaddition, h

The author of the runaway bestseller How the Irish SavedCivilization has done it again. In The Gifts of the Jews ThomasCahill takes us on another enchanting journey into history, onceagain recreating a time when the actions of a small band of peoplehad repercussions that are still felt today. The Gifts of the Jews reveals the critical change that madewestern civilization possible. Within the matrix of ancientreligions and philosophies, life was seen as part of an endlesscycle of birth and death; time was like a wheel, spinningceaselessly. Yet somehow, the ancient Jews began to see timedifferently. For them, time had a beginning and an end; it was anarrative, whose triumphant conclusion would come in the future.From this insight came a new conception of men and women asindividuals with unique destinies--a conception that would informthe Declaration of Independence--and our hopeful belief in progressand the sense that tomorrow can be better than today. As ThomasCahill narrates this momentous shift,

Salonica, located in northern Greece, was long a fascinatingcrossroads metropolis of different religions and ethnicities, whereEgyptian merchants, Spanish Jews, Orthodox Greeks, Sufi dervishes,and Albanian brigands all rubbed shoulders. Tensions sometimesflared, but tolerance largely prevailed until the twentieth centurywhen the Greek army marched in, Muslims were forced out, and theNazis deported and killed the Jews. As the acclaimed historian MarkMazower follows the city’s inhabitants through plague, invasion,famine, and the disastrous twentieth century, he resurrects afascinating and vanished world.

Here is the unparalleled account of the most awesome and awfulchapter in the moral history of humanity. Lucid, chilling andcomprehensive, Lucy S. Dawidowicz’s classic tells the completestory of the Nazi Holocaust–from the insidious evolution of GermanAnti-Semitism to the ultimate tragedy of the Final Solution.

A radical and powerful reappraisal of the impact ofConstantine’s adoption of Christianity on the later Roman world,and on the subsequent development both of Christianity and ofWestern civilization. When the Emperor Contstantine converted to Christianity in 368AD, he changed the course of European history in ways that continueto have repercussions to the present day. Adopting those aspects ofthe religion that suited his purposes, he turned Rome on a coursefrom the relatively open, tolerant and pluralistic civilization ofthe Hellenistic world, towards a culture that was based on the ruleof fixed authority, whether that of the Bible, or the writings ofPtolemy in astronomy and of Galen and Hippocrates in medicine. Onlya thousand years later, with the advent of the Renaissance and theemergence of modern science, did Europe begin to free itself fromthe effects of Constantine's decision, yet the effects of hisestablishment of Christianity as a state religion remain with us,in many respects, today. Bri

Is a two thousand-year-old Book relevant to life in the 21st century? Nearly every issue we face today is addressed somewhere in the Bible. From social issues (like war, poverty, and government) to interpersonal concerns (like communication, marriage, and friendship), the Bible offers wisdom and guidance you can put to use in your daily life. The Life Connecting Bible's more than 1,100 sidebars and the New Century Version present the Bible's message for modern readers in a way that is fresh, inviting, and easy to understand.

No religion in the modern world is as feared and misunderstoodas Islam. It haunts the popular imagination as an extreme faiththat promotes terrorism, authoritarian government, femaleoppression, and civil war. In a vital revision of this narrow viewof Islam and a distillation of years of thinking and writing aboutthe subject, Karen Armstrong’s short history demonstrates that theworld’s fastest-growing faith is a much more complex phenomenonthan its modern fundamentalist strain might suggest.

Here, Roshi Kapleau addresses how Westerners can adapt andpractice Zen.

This remarkable book takes as its subject one of the most outstanding men that ever lived. The ultimate prodigy, Leonardo da Vinci was an artist of great originality and power, a scientist, and a powerful thinker. According to Sigmund Freud, he was also a flawed, repressed homosexual. The first psychosexual history to be published, Leonardo da Vinci was the only biography the great psychoanalyst wrote. When Jung first saw it, he told Freud it was 'wonderful', and it remained Freud's favourite composition. The text includes the first full emergence of the concept of narcissism and develops Freud's theories of homosexuality. While based upon controversial research, the book offers a fascinating insight into two men - the subject and the author. If you've ever wondered just what lies behind the Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile, read Freud on Leonardo. It's genius on genius.