In a post-Constantine cultural and religious setting Christian theology was marked by a dialectical tension in which the spiritual could no longer be freed from the secular or the eternal from the temporal.".

What is now currently the 'holy seat of the Vatican' in Italy, was originally the sacerdotal seat of these ancient black Sibyl Queen Mothers. Centuries before for Christ, they were known to heal the sick, restore dignity and strength to the weak, and restore sight to the blind. They were famous for curing lameness, epileptics, deaf mutes and lepers. They were said to 'cast out demons' and even to 'raise-up the dead' Their prophecies are the oldest and most authentic in the world. They were the basis for Greek and Roman tragedies and plays. More astonishing, their prophetic books were later collected by the Roman authorities, who needed a 'western theological' foundation in order to compete with the powerful levitical Jews. These Sibyl prophecies soon became the sole and undisputed precursor to the western, Christian Bible. .

"Edwin Hatch provided a colorful portrait of the religious world to which Justin Martyr belonged: ""The main subject-matter of . . . literary education [amongst the pagans] was the poets. . . . They were read as we read the Bible. They were committed to memory. The minds of men were saturated with them. A quotation from Homer or from a tragic poet was apposite on all occasions and in every kind of society"" (The Influence of Greek Ideas on Christianity, 1957). So when some of these pagans converted to Christianity in Justin's day, is it reasonable to assume that they simply ""forgot"" these mythical narratives in which they had been reared from childhood? Re-appropriating ""Marvelous Fables"" sets out to argue that this was hardly the case. Rather, Justin in 1 Apology can be seen taking full advantage of this mythical framework that still loomed large in the minds of fledgling Christian believers and students in his care--masterfully re-appropriating this popular form of religious discourse for the purpose of solidifying their newfound faith."

Cosmic Fire is Deity in its universality. Hermetic Fire is the Spirit of the Truth. Crux ansata is the true Cross, Arani and Pramantha are its symbols. Swastika is Fire Crucified, the 3 made 4.

Crusades covers seven hundred years from the First Crusade (1095-1102) to the fall of Malta (1798) and draws together scholars working on theatres of war, their home fronts and settlements from the Baltic to Africa and from Spain to the Near East and on theology, law, literature, art, numismatics and economic, social, political and military history. Routledge publishes this journal for The Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East. Particular attention is given to the publication of historical sources in all relevant languages - narrative, homiletic and documentary - in trustworthy editions, but studies and interpretative essays are welcomed too. Crusades appears in both print and online editions. Volume 8 begins with Adrian J. Boas and Aren M. Maeir on the Frankish Castle of Blanche Garde and the Medieval and Modern Village of Tell es-Safi in the light of recent discoveries.

This comprehensive list of allusions found in James Joyce's modern classic, Ulysses, is in itself a classic and is a feat of literary scholarship of unprecedented magnitude. In brief, this book is a copiously annotated list of Joyce's allusions in such areas as literature, philosophy, theology, history, and the fine arts. So awesome an undertaking would not have been possible without the prior work of such persons as Stuart Gilbert, Joseph Prescott, William York Tindall, M.J.C. Hodgart, Mabel Worthington, and many others. But the present list is more than a compilation of previously discovered allusions, for it contains many allusions that have never been suggested before, as well as some that have only been partially or mistakenly identified in earlier publications. In preparing this work, the author has kept its usefulness to the reader foremost in mind. He often refreshed the reader's memory in concerning the context of an allusion, since its context, in one sense or another, is always the guide to its function in the novel. The entire list is fully cross-referenced and keyed by page and line to both the old and new Modern Library editions of Ulysses. In addition, the index is prepared in such a way that it indexes not only the List but also the novel itself. The purpose of allusion in a literary work is essentially the same as that of all other types of metaphor -- the development and revelation of character, structure, and theme -- and, when skillfully used, it does all of these simultaneously. Joyce's use of allusion is distinguished from that of other authors not by its purposes, but by its extent and thoroughness. Ulysses involves dozens of allusive contexts, all continually intersecting, modifying, and qualifying one another. Here again Joyce's uniqueness and complexity lie not in his themes or characters, nor in his basic methods of developing them, but in his accepting the challenge of an Olympian use of his chosen methods. The value of this volume to Joyce scholars and students is obvious; however, its usefulness to anyone who reads Ulysses is as great, if not greater. It can truly be the key to this difficult but rewarding novel.

The Tower of Babel narrative is one of the most memorable accounts of the Bible, and its interpretative potential has produced a vast array of literary adaptations. Undoing Babel is the first extensive examination of the development of the Babel narrative amongst Anglo-Saxon authors from late antiquity to the eleventh century. Tristan Major’s illuminating and original insight into Anglo-Latin and Old English works, including the writings of Aldhelm, Bede, Alcuin, Ælfric, and Wulfstan, reveals the cultural ideologies and anxieties that transformed the Babel narrative. In doing so, Major argues that these Babel narratives provide a basis for understanding the world’s ethnic and linguistic diversity as well as a theological stimulus to evangelize non-Christian and non-European people. Undoing Babel highlights the depth of literary innovation in this period and disproves any notion of a single Anglo-Saxon reception of biblical sources.

The wicked exploits of an assortment of louts and losers occupy Melvin Jules Bukiet's profligate imagination in these delectable stories. The title of Melvin Jules Bukiet's latest collection hints at the deceitful nature of its multiple protagonists. An aspiring writer stalks Vladmir Nabokov across midtown Manhattan one afternoon in the summer of Watergate. A young co-ed's seduction of her elderly philosophy professor delivers her an A and him lasting happiness. Max, "a liar and a voyeur, like any true artist," wanders the East Village taking photographs of murder victims. A famous Holocaust survivor "with the big eyes and the big prize" conducts an impromptu circumcision. Ranging from 1895 Prague to the site of a Central American rebellion to the home of a certain Seattle software magnate to the roof of an urban skyscraper, each of these outrageous (though occasionally tender) stories offers keen insight into human nature.