Presenting startling new biographical details about Timothy McVeigh and exposing stark contradictions and errors contained in previous depictions of the "All-American Terrorist," this book traces McVeigh's life from childhood to the Army, throughout the plot to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and the period after his 1995 arrest until his 2001 execution. McVeigh's life, as Dr. Wendy Painting describes it, offers a backdrop for her discussion of not only several intimate and previously unknown details about him, but a number of episodes and circumstances in American History as well. In Aberration in the Heartland, Painting explores Cold War popular culture, all-American apocalyptic fervor, organized racism, contentious politics, militarism, warfare, conspiracy theories, bioethical controversies, mind control, the media's construction of villains and demons, and institutional secrecy and cover-ups. All these stories are examined, compared, and tested in Aberration in the Heartland of the Real, making this book a much closer examination into the personality and life of Timothy McVeigh than has been provided by any other biographical work about him

Scholars of religion have begun to explore horror and the monstrous, not only within the confines of the biblical text or the traditions of religion, but also as they proliferate into popular culture. This exploration emerges from what has long been present in horror: an engagement with the same questions that animate religious thought – questions about the nature of the divine, humanity's place in the universe, the distribution of justice, and what it means to live a good life, among many others. Such exploration often involves a theological conversation. Theology and Horror: Explorations of the Dark Religious Imagination pursues questions regarding non-physical realities, spaces where both divinity and horror dwell. Through an exploration of theology and horror, the contributors explore how questions of spirituality, divinity, and religious structures are raised, complicated, and even sometimes answered (at least partially) by works of horror.

Over the last thirty years, humanity has discovered thousands of planets outside of our solar system. The discovery of extraterrestrial life could be imminent. This book explains how such a discovery might impact Islamic theology. It is the foundational reference on the subject, comprising a variety of different insights from both Sunni and Shi'i positions, from different Muslim contexts, and with chapters that compare and contrast Islamic perspectives with Christianity. Together, they address some of our biggest questions through an Islamic lens: What makes humans unique in the cosmos? What are the ethics of dealing with other sentient beings? And how universal is salvation? Given the accelerating advances in exoplanet research and astrobiology, the book is at the frontier of science and Islamic thought. Contributors include a range of leading experts from Muslim theologians, scholars of comparative religion and philosophers, to historians, social scientists and natural scientists.

In a growing secular society, what distinguishes a Christian from a non-Christian? Is a Christian identified by certain religious and ceremonial activity, social action, principles, or do their relationships identify them as Christian? This book suggests that a Christian person is in a continual relationship with the Triune God through the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, this living relationship reflects the eternal relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, because people have been created in the image and likeness of the Triune God. This book uses historical, theological, philosophical, and biblical approaches to understand the Christian person. Throughout this book, the reader will be engaged with the modern Greek theologian, John Zizioulas. However, this book is a study on the person of the Holy Spirit, though never separated from the trinitarian relationship, who makes a human person a Christian.

William C. Hackett provides a renewed reading of Christian theology by evaluating the role of anthropomorphism in shaping negative theology. Through this theological history, he addresses the fear of anthropomorphism that prompted early philosophers and theologians to adopt abstract understandings of God. Hackett charts the wide-ranging importance of anthropomorphism to theology through figures including Balthasar, Bultmann, Dionysius the Areopagite, and Cyril of Alexandria. He argues that anthropomorphism highlights the unique conceptual problem between divine presence and absence. By exploring the turn away from practical and embodied views of God in Scripture, this book focuses on anthropomorphic views of God in symbols, images, and narratives. Emphasising these forms promotes an intellectual vision of Christianity that challenges theoretical and conceptual abstraction. Anthropomorphism in Christian Theology further traces the nuances between human and angelic intellect, modern philosophy and theology, negative theology and the concept of transcendence.

The following poetry is a compilation of universal truth and understanding that has related even more understanding to me years later, even after I wrote them. So I composed the book the same way it related to me and to others. One poem might express an understanding of one part of yourself or life this year, while the same poem might express another understanding of a whole new light of thought later in life. Ones development of mind and soul consciously in ones life is a continuous process of understanding and healing daily. Yet some poems here might just be an interesting related thought or perception to you. In either way the reading of these poems is as it was written, judgment free and open minded, is to feel and understand life with an artistic and creative mindset for a positive and healing understanding for all of life well into the future of all things known and unknown for us all. Master JAMES A PARTCH

Superman’s first appearance in Action Comics #1 (1938) proclaimed that the character would “reshape the destiny of the world.” The advent of the first superhero initiated a shared narrative—the DC superhero universe—that has been evolving in depth and complexity for more than 80 years. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have become key threads in the tapestry of the American mythos, shaping the way we think about life, right and wrong, and our relationship with our own universe. Their narrative world is enriched by compelling stories featuring lesser-known characters like Dr. Fate, the Doom Patrol, John Constantine, and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Stories set within this shared universe have explored questions of death, rebirth, the apocalypse, the nature of evil, the origins of the universe, and the destiny of humankind. This volume brings together the work of scholars from a range of backgrounds who explore the role of theology and religion in the comics, films, and television series set in the DC Universe. The thoughtful and incisive contributions to this collection will appeal to scholars and fans alike.

Deviance Management examines how individuals and subcultures manage the stigma of being labeled socially deviant. Exploring high-tension religious groups, white power movements, paranormal subcultures, LGBTQ groups, drifters, recreational drug and alcohol users, and more, the authors identify how and when people combat, defy, hide from, or run from being stigmatized as “deviant.” While most texts emphasize the criminological features of deviance, the authors’ coverage here showcases the diversity of social and noncriminal deviance. Deviance Management allows for a more thorough understanding of strategies typically used by normalization movements to destigmatize behaviors and identities while contributing to the study of social movements and intra-movement conflict.