What is suspense, and why do we feel it? These questions are at the heart of the first part of this study. It develops and defends the ‘imminence theory of suspense’ – the view that suspense arises in situations that are structurally defined by something essential being imminent. Next, the study utilizes this theory as an interpretative key to Søren Kierkegaard’s seminal work ‘Frygt og Bæven’ (‘FB’). FB is an exploration of what it means to take the story of Abraham and Isaac as a paradigmatic example of faith. The study argues that a core aspect of how Kierkegaard conceptualizes faith through the figure of Abraham is suspense. The argument is built upon the observation that to have faith is to be a hero. To be hero means to belong to a story. Stories manifests different conceptualizations of time. Abraham’s story, as FB frames it, is radically geared towards something imminent – it is characterized by an essential relation of suspense. The study then explores how suspense not only forms part of the conceptualization of faith, but is also part of how this conceptualization is communicated. Thus, the study argues that there exists a symmetry of suspense between the rhetorical and the conceptual levels of the text.

From Rosemary's Baby (1968) to The Witch (2015), horror films use religious entities to both inspire and combat fear and to call into question or affirm the moral order. Churches provide sanctuary, clergy cast out evil, religious icons become weapons, holy ground becomes battleground--but all of these may be turned from their original purpose. This collection of new essays explores fifty years of genre horror in which manifestations of the sacred or profane play a material role. The contributors explore portrayals of the war between good and evil and their archetypes in such classics as The Omen (1976), The Exorcist (1973) and Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968), as well as in popular franchises like Hellraiser and Hellboy and cult films such as God Told Me To (1976), Thirst (2009) and Frailty (2001).

Led into Mystery is an unanticipated sequel to John de Gruchy's book Being Human: Confessions of a Christian Humanist. It was prompted by the untimely and tragic death of his eldest son, Steve, in February 2010, and the questions this posed about the meaning of life and death from the perspective of Christian faith.

God does keep secrets. Even great heroes of faith like Abraham, Moses, and the Old Testament prophets faced mysteries about God and his kingdom. Understanding God's plans is like watching a train emerge from a tunnel: you can see the cars that have emerged and get a sense of where the train is going, but you can't see the cars still in the tunnel. While many details of God's revelation train are still shrouded, secrets hidden for centuries are now revealed to us. John Van Diest and Alton Gansky help us see and understand these secrets, which are hiding in plain sight in the words of Jesus and throughout the Bible.

Frank Corso runs his own Wall Street research consultancy and has an unusual ability to make friends. A forty year old bachelor living in New York, he is getting increasingly comfortable to a high-life marked by eroding moral virtue. On a business trip to visit a New Orleans based company, he gets more than he bargained for. In the weeks before Christmas of 2004, he is recruited by his ex-girlfriend to find her friend, a young mystic, who has disappeared. New Orleans is a city in Transition. The economy has been improving post the dot com crash, and local government and business leaders are leveraging the city’s crown jewel, The French Quarter. The haven for tourists also has a dark side. The city is marred by political corruption and violence. In 2004, it has the distinction of being the murder capital of the United States. Corso soon finds The Big Easy culture known for its architecture, food and music, filled with a rich marinade of diverse and unusual characters. Befriending people with deep roots in the shallow clays of the Mississippi River, his life is about to change course. He is about to discover the secrets of...The Divine Travel Agency.

Two teenage siblings in peril.A mysterious group with an agenda to abduct them.The mother Paige Hawkins reaching into her past seeking divine intervention.The call going out to former US Marshal, Hunter Divine. An erstwhile lover who broke Paige's heart. A man whose current existence is leaping from job to job and bed to bed. Hunter taking the case hoping for salvation in his futile life.Can Hunter and his team prevent the kidnapping by an enemy with vast resources? The foe's endgame to leverage these kids for their own vengeful desires. Hunter and his team toeing the line between virtue and vile. Drawing on wit, brawn, halos and pitchforks the 'Divine Devils' will scorch the earth to protect these kids. Even if it costs them...their eternal souls!

This work is a study in the attribution, aesthetics and representations of Yahweh’s speeches in the Hebrew Bible. It describes the literary elegance and beauty of the speeches of Yahweh in the Abrahamic narratives. Employing a synchronic reading of the Abrahamic cycle, it underscores the presence of various literary devices in the divine speeches (12:1-9, 13:1-18, 15:1-21, 17:1-27, 18:1-33, and 22: 1-19). Specifically, it engages the high concentration, literary effects and use of metaphors/metaphoric language, similes, alliterations, wordplays, euphemisms, hyperboles, repetitions, allusions and other distinctive literary features in the speeches of Yahweh which are deliberately denied, and glaringly absent in the speeches of the other main characters of the Abrahamic narratives (e.g. Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar). Similarly, it demonstrates the importance of these elevated speeches in the narrative world of Abrahamic epic. Most importantly, it also highlights the ideological significance of these decorated speeches of Yahweh to the original audience of the narrator who presumably identified with their excessive optimism and rhetoric. Consequently, this book is a pioneering work in the contemporary study of stylistics, characterizations and functions of attributed speeches in the Hebrew narratives.