Judean hagiographies are unusual. Some are unexpectedly structured: a saint’s life in the form of a history text. Others offer surprising content. Expected hagiographic stylizations, for example, often depict moments in which the saint is offered money for a miracle. In such cases the saint invariably refuses. Judean saints, however, accept gratitude willingly – often with cash amounts recorded. The peculiarities of these works have regularly been examined on literary and theological grounds. The monasteries that produced these texts were utterly dominated by the environment of Christian Jerusalem. Although often commented upon, the unmined implications of this reality hold the key to understanding these hagiographies. It is only by examining these monasteries’ ties to – and embeddedness within – their peculiar context that we can perceive the mindset that produced such baffling texts.

Many stories and legends about John the son of Zebedee have survived from antiquity. He was known as one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, as the “Beloved Disciple” and author of the Gospel of John, and even as the recipient of the divine revelation in the Apocalypse. Later traditions, such as the Greek Acts of John, told of how John traveled to Ephesus and converted people to Christianity. John was an important figure to Catholic Christians, to Gnostic Christians, and to Manichaeans. He also found a distinct place among Syriac Christians who preserved their own story about John’s acts in Ephesus. William Wright first introduced the History of John in 1871 using two manuscript witnesses. Since then, more witnesses have been discovered, but little work has been done on this native Syriac apocryphon. The present volume brings together all of the known Syriac witnesses to the History of John with a new translation and includes, for the first time, a critical discussion of the history, provenance, and importance of this text for the study of Syriac Christianity and Christian Apocrypha more generally.

Despite being the first extended defense of the divinity of the Holy Spirit written in Latin and influencing the Trinitarian theology of Augustine of Hippo, Ambrose of Milan’s On the Holy Spirit (De Spiritu Sancto) has received little scholarly attention. This book seeks to change this perspective by claiming that Ambrose defines the Holy Spirit in a way consistent with pro-Nicene theology using classical Ciceronian rhetoric to interpret Scripture in a quasi-judicial situation.

How can one distinguish between narrative, which records a sequence of events, and a narrator’s comment on these events, in the form of notes, clarifications, and retellings? Syntax of Targumic Aramaic: A Text-Linguistic Reading of 1 Samuel applies the insights of Functional Sentence Perspective and Text Linguistics to Targum 1 Samuel. Through this analysis, Condrea answers key questions about Aramaic syntax and recovers the voice and contributions of the text’s narrator.

On a misty morning in eastern Kentucky, cross-bearing Christians gather for a service on a surface-mined mountain. They pray for the health and renewal of the land and for their communities, lamenting the corporate greed of the mining companies. On another day, in southern West Virginia, Andrew Jordon hosts Bible study in a small cabin overlooking a disused 1,400-acre surface mine. He believes his efforts to reclaim sites like these represent responsible environmental stewardship.In Sacred Mountains, Andrew R. H. Thompson highlights scenes such as these in order to propose a Christian ethical analysis of the controversial mining practice that has increasingly divided the nation and has often led to fierce and even violent confrontations. Thompson draws from the arguments of H. Richard Niebuhr, whose work establishes an ideal foundation for understanding Appalachia. Thompson provides a thorough introduction to the issues surrounding surface mining, including the environmental consequences and the resultant religious debates, and highlights the discussions being carried out in the media and by scholarly works. He also considers five popular perspectives (ecofeminism, liberation theology, environmental justice, environmental pragmatism, and political ecology) and offers his own framework and guidelines for moral engagement with the subject.Thompson's arguments add to the work of other ethicists and theologians by examining the implications of culture in a variety of social, historical, and religious contexts. A groundbreaking and nuanced study that looks past the traditionally conflicting stereotypes about religion and environmental consciousness in Appalachia, Sacred Mountains offers a new approach that unifies all communities, regardless of their beliefs.

In contemporary Ireland, the seeds of dialogue grow and flourish in communities that accept difference and work positively to promote each other’s rights and well-being. These are communities that gather together to engage in open-ended, respectful encounters with people from a range of belief and religious traditions. Interbelief dialogue involves positive communication, cooperation and energetic collaboration among people of religious faiths and secular, humanist, agnostic and atheist stances. Though not a panacea for all society’s ills, and often profoundly challenging, inter-belief dialogue offers the opportunity for constructive engagement, cooperation and peace-building. Connecting Lives is a wide-ranging and informative introduction to interbelief dialogue in contemporary Ireland. Divided into three sections, the volume first considers the nature and relevance of interbelief dialogue in education and in the public square, underscoring the importance of respectful dialogue in building a healthy intercultural society. The book then gives voice to members of various belief and faith communities as they live out their beliefs in contemporary Ireland, before exploring key challenges and opportunities in interbelief dialogue in a world often marred by intolerance.

This handbook explores beliefs of ancient Jews and Christians surrounding death and the afterlife through the lens of texts ranging from the Old Testament and New Testament, to Second Temple period and rabbinic literature, to early Christian writings. Figueras further brings together eschatological texts from Iran, Egypt, Greece, and Rome as comparanda, and provides context and bibliography to guide readers in their study of ancient Jewish and Christian views of death and the afterlife.

For four days in February 2019, Church leaders from across the globe convened in Rome for a landmark meeting on ‘the Protection of Minors in the Church’ called by Pope Francis. This event was a moment of untold importance for the Church in addressing the heinous crime of the abuse of minors by clergy, as well as the mishandling of these cases by Church authorities.This publication brings together the keynote addresses from that meeting, alongside the heartrending testimonies of survivors of clerical sex abuse whose suffering was compounded by the rejection they faced after approaching the Church hierarchy for help. The presentations from this meeting, including Pope Francis’ widely discussed concluding speech, are collected in this essential document which will be central to the development and implementation of standards to eliminate the scourge of sexual abuse from the Church.

Beginning. It offers a large enough canvas: the beginning of wisdom, of love, of learning, of memory; the seed of an idea; the foundation of a career; the root of a dream; choices made; roads taken – and not taken; and lessons learned. A Book of Beginnings explores the theme of commencement through encounters with an array of intriguing people. Maeve Binchy shares a typically warm and good-humoured account of a first date. We hear of a profound life-changing experience from the writer and social philosopher Charles Handy. Henry Ford’s dream of ‘a motor car for the great multitude’ and Martin Luther King’s dream of freedom and justice for his people are pondered as the reader is taken on a journey of threshold moments that invigorate and inspire.

Advent is a period of grateful anticipation and an invitation for Christians everywhere to spend time contemplating the profound gift of the Incarnation. It offers us the opportunity to develop our spiritual lives and to listen to our deepest longings. Advent should not, as Anna Burke explains in the introduction to Candles in the Night, be spent impatiently ‘counting down the days on the calendar’, but embraced for what it is: a unique period in the Church year to prepare for the arrival of Christ. The reflections in this book – which explore themes such as ‘waiting’, ‘giving’, ‘announcing’ and ‘transforming’ – are offered as a resource to be used during Advent, be it for personal use, prayer groups or otherwise. Each advent word invites us to behold the presence of God-with-us and to breathe in the holy breath. We will not ‘skip’ Advent. We will wait and watch as the rising sun comes to visit us.

In this fifth installment of the long Homily 71, On the Six Days of Creation, Jacob treats of the events of the fifth day, the creation from the waters of the various species of fish and reptiles, as well as the assorted types of birds and other winged creatures. God created them all in wisdom and in love, prepared everything that they would need and endowed them with the natural characteristics required for their particular type of life. Jacob highlights the fact that the creation of these animals on the fifth day to inhabit the land and water separated on the third day is a symbol of the Resurrection of Christ.

This book serves to correct the now accepted understanding of Irenaeus’s theodicy. This assumption of Hick’s theodicy as legitimately “Irenaean” remains due the gulf between Irenaean scholarship and discussion of the problem of evil. The present work offers a bridge between the two to allow for the continued discussion of both theologian’s distinct views.

The Apostle Paul commands his disciple Timothy to “be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” This exhortation encapsulates the Orthodox Church’s expectations from her clergy and forms the basis of her Pastoral Theology. The aim of the present work is to guide the contemporary Orthodox priest in his application of the Apostle’s words to his everyday life as a conduit of Divine Grace and shepherd of Christ’s flock. At the same time, its focus on the proper formation of the soul will benefit every Christian, whether ordained or not. Compiled from recent and historical sources reflecting the rich heritage of the Russian Orthodox Church.

This book examines the function and development of the cult of saints in Coptic Egypt, focusing primarily on the material provided by the texts forming the Coptic hagiographical tradition of the early Christian martyr Philotheus of Antioch, and more specifically, the Martyrdom of St Philotheus of Antioch (Pierpont Morgan M583). This Martyrdom is a reflection of a once flourishing cult which is attested in Egypt by rich textual and material evidence. This text enjoyed great popularity not only in Egypt, but also in other countries of the Christian East, since his dossier includes texts in Coptic, Georgian, Ethiopic, and Arabic.

Defending Hope is an inspiring collection of first-hand accounts by Palestinians and Israelis who movingly describe how their lives have been shaped by conflict and who are united by a common goal: to bring about a just peace for the land they call home. Time and again these human rights defenders choose love, non-violence and human connection over division and fear. Their stories will transport you to the olive groves near Bethlehem, the rubble of Gaza and into the law courts in Jerusalem. This book offers a hopeful counter-narrative in an otherwise bleak political landscape and celebrates the indomitable power of the human spirit in the midst of grave adversity. "These essays are voices of conscience which remind us that, in spite of so much suffering, the darkness is often pierced by the light of courageous Palestinian and Israeli human rights defenders. We take hope when we hear the voices of these extraordinary people." - Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate and co-founder of the Community of Peace People "This inspirational work provides a much-needed reservoir of sanity, humanity and positivity to counter the forces of oppression and disrespect for the rule of law being displayed by major states on the world stage." Michael Mansfield QC, human rights barrister and member of the jury for the Russell Tribunal on Palestine and the judicial panel for the People's Tribunal on Iran "If there is to be peace in the Middle East it will be because human rights defenders have found hope in the face of the great adversity they face in their everyday work. This work gives us a glimpse of how that hope can be unearthed in these challenging times." - Michel Forst, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders.

"It was easy to love God in all that was beautiful. The lessons of deeper knowledge, though, instructed me to embrace God in all things."St Francis of Assisi In Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting Laura Kelly Fanucci sees the Catholic sacraments through the smudged and sticky lens of life with little ones. From dinner-time chaos to bath-time giggles to never-ending loads of laundry, Laura stumbles into the surprising truth of what the seven sacraments really mean: that God is present always, even in the messes of parenthood. A spiritual memoir of parenting’s early years and a sacramental theology rooted in family life, Everyday Sacrament offers an honest, humorous and hopeful look at ordinary moments as full of grace.