A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year Beginning with metaphysical debates in the sixteenth century over the nature of Christ’s presence in the host, the distinguished historian and scholar of religion Robert Orsi imagines an alternative to the future of religion that early moderns proclaimed was inevitable. “Orsi’s evoking of the full reality of the holy in the world is extremely moving, shot through with wonder and horror.” —Caroline Walker Bynum, Common Knowledge “This is a meticulously researched, humane, and deeply challenging book. The men and women studied in this book do not belong to ‘a world we have lost.’ They belong to a world we have lost sight of.” —Peter Brown, Princeton University “[A] brilliant, theologically sophisticated exploration of the Catholic experience of God’s presence through the material world... On every level—from its sympathetic, honest, and sometimes moving ethnography to its astute analytical observations—this book is a scholarly masterpiece.” —A. W. Klink, Choice “Orsi recaptures God’s breaking into the world ... The book does an excellent job of explaining both the difficulties and values inherent in recognizing God in the world.” —Publishers Weekly “This book is classic Orsi: careful, layered, humane, and subtle...a thought-provoking, expertly arranged tour of precisely those abundant, excessive phenomena which scholars have historically found so difficult to think.” —Sonja Anderson, Reading Religion

Noted post-Holocaust philosopher Emil L. Fackenheim asks the question, "How can there be 'supernatural' incursions into 'natural' history?" In attempting to reconcile a perception of God as imminent in human affairs with the the horror of the Holocaust, this work addresses the destiny of the Jewish faith is the modern world.

In 2011, Frances Young delivered the Bampton Lectures in Oxford to great acclaim. She offered a systematic theology with contemporary coherence, by engaging in conversation with the fathers of the church - those who laid down the parameters of Christian theology and enshrined key concepts in the creeds - and exploring how their teachings can be applied today, despite the differences in our intellectual and ecclesial environments. This book results from a thorough rewriting of those lectures in which Young explores the key topics of Christian doctrine in a way that is neither simply dogmatic nor simply historical. She addresses the congruence of head and heart, through academic and spiritual engagement with God's gracious accommodation to human limitations. Christianity and biblical interpretation are discussed in depth, and the book covers key topics including Creation, anthropology, Christology, soteriology, spirituality, ecclesiology and Mariology, making it invaluable to those studying historical and constructive theology.

Two leading biblical scholars and bestselling authors offer a fresh approach to the question of the unity of the whole Bible. This book shows that God's desire to be with his people is a thread running from Genesis through Revelation. Duvall and Hays make the case that God's relational presence is central to the Bible's grand narrative. It is the cohesive center that drives the whole biblical story and ties together other important biblical themes, such as covenant, kingdom, glory, and salvation history.

Does the Holy Spirit do the same things now and in the New Testament times that He did in Old Testament times? Volume one in the NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY STUDIES IN BIBLE AND THEOLOGY series for pastors, advanced Bible students, and other deeply committed laypersons addresses this challenging subject. God’s Indwelling Presence asks and explores to answer: What are the spiritual differences and similarities between Old Testament and New Testament believers? Did God dwell in Old Testament believers as He does in New Testament believers? Were Old Testament believers born again (that is, experience regeneration)? What do the words indwelling and regeneration mean? How is the Holy Spirit’s ministry similar or different during Old Testament and New Testament times? Users will find this an excellent extension of the long-respected NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY.

Fifteen years after its original publication comes a thoroughly revised edition of the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Every article from the original edition has been revisited. With some articles being removed, others revised, and many new articles added, the result is a completely new dictionary covering systematic, historical, and philosophical theology as well as theological ethics.

Dr. Liesch highlights the various models of Christian worship. This one-of-a-kind book for many kinds of readers in all kinds of churches presents the various biblical models and offers a wealth of suggestions. He takes up some of the major concerns such as the role of music, uses of symbolism, the appropriateness of dance, modes of celebration, expressions of reverence, and many others. *Lightning Print On Demand Title

An essential feature of religious experience across many cultures is the intuitive feeling of God's presence. More than any rituals or doctrines, it is this experience that anchors religious faith, yet it has been largely ignored in the scientific literature on religion.Starting with a vivid narrative account of the life-threatening hike that triggered his own mystical experience, biologist John Wathey takes the reader on a scientific journey to find the sources of religious feeling and the illusion of God's presence. His book delves into the biological origins of this compelling feeling, attributing it to innate neural circuitry that evolved to promote the mother-child bond. Dr. Wathey argues that evolution has programmed the infant brain to expect the presence of a loving being who responds to the child's needs. As the infant grows into adulthood, this innate feeling is eventually transferred to the realm of religion, where it is reactivated through the symbols, imagery, and rituals of worship. The author interprets our various conceptions of God in biological terms as illusory supernormal stimuli that fill an emotional and cognitive vacuum left over from infancy. These insights shed new light on some of the most vexing puzzles of religion, like the popular belief in a god who is judgmental and punishing, yet also unconditionally loving; the extraordinary tenacity of faith; the greater religiosity of women relative to men; religious obsessions with sex; the mysterious compulsion to pray; the seemingly irrepressible feminine attributes of God, even in traditionally patriarchal religions; and the strange allure of cults. Finally, Dr. Wathey considers the hypothesis that religion evolved to foster reproductive success, arguing that, in an age of potentially ruinous overpopulation, magical thinking has become a luxury we can no longer afford, one that distracts us from urgent threats to our planet.Deeply researched yet elegantly written in a jargon-free and accessible style, this book presents a compelling interpretation of the evolutionary origins of spirituality and religion.