"A Michael Glazier book". Includes bibliographical references (p. 339-349) and index.

Christian conservatism has changed drastically in the last 25 years. From the working-class faith of small, autonomous rural churches or storefront sanctuaries to the megachurches of the suburbs and the halls of power—Congress and the White House—the faith is no longer at the margins of American religion. Rather, it is a dominant force in the American public square. For the first time in its history, Christian conservatism boasts an expanded network of born-again clubs and services that closely follow secular trends in the American consumer market. A veritable Christian suburbia has been created that parallels its secular counterpart. This Christian conservative co-optation of suburbia is unprecedented in the history of the movement. Their embrace of modernity and middle-class lifestyle is a stark contrast to Christian conservatives who avoided engaging with modernity earlier in the 20th century. How did conservative Christianity change, and how is this change affecting its relationship with the larger society? Influenced by middle-class values, power, and education, Christian conservatism has opted to engage with modern political life, allying itself with the Republican Party, and developing an extensive political agenda of its own. This book documents the transformation of Christian conservatism into a middle-class faith and argues that the changes experienced by Christian conservatism are part of a larger religious realignment in American Christianity. Conservative Christianity, once home primarily to working- class religious communities, greatly benefited from the migration of conservative Christians from other denominations as a result of the 1960s Cultural Revolution. The final goal of the movement is, of course, the creation of a biblically-based society, one whose laws are defined by a conservative reading of the Scriptures and whose public mores are more akin to its newly gained middle class status. The push to restore a Christian America raises questions about the conservative Christian faith. Cavalcanti answers those questions as he traces the growth of the movement and its goals.

Principles and Fundamentals of Islamic Management examines the concept of business and public management from the viewpoint of Islam. Providing a much-needed insight into the practicalities of management operations in an Islamic context, this book is essential reading for researchers, managers, and students.

This book is, along with Outward Signs (OUP 2008), a sequel to Phillip Cary's Augustine and the Invention of the Inner Self (OUP 2000). In this work, Cary traces the development of Augustine's epochal doctrine of grace, arguing that it does not represent a rejection of Platonism in favor of a more purely Christian point of view a turning from Plato to Paul, as it is often portrayed. Instead, Augustine reads Paul and other Biblical texts in light of his Christian Platonist inwardness, producing a new concept of grace as an essentially inward gift. For Augustine, grace is needed first of all to heal the mind so it may see God, but then also to help the will turn away from lower goods to love God as its eternal Good. Eventually, over the course of Augustine's career, the scope of the soul's need for grace expands outward to include not only the inner vision of the intellect and the power of love but even the initial gift of faith.At every stage, Augustine insists that divine grace does not compromise or coerce the human will but frees, heals, and helps it, precisely because grace is not an external force but an inner gift of delight leading to true happiness. As his polemic against the Pelagians develops, however, he does attribute more to grace and less to the power of free will. In the end, it is God's choice which makes the ultimate difference between the saved and the damned, and we cannot know why he chooses to save one person and not another. From this Augustinian doctrine of divine choice or election stem the characteristic pastoral problems of predestination, especially in Protestantism. A more external, indeed Jewish, doctrine of election would be more Biblical, Cary suggests, and would result in a less anxious experience of grace.Along with its companion work, Outward Signs, this careful and insightful book breaks new ground in the study of Augustine's theology of grace and sacraments.

Most people would agree that human perfection is unattainable. Indeed, theologians have typically expressed ambivalence about the possibility of human perfection. Yet, paradoxically, depictions of human perfection are widespread. In this volume, Robin Gill offers an interdisciplinary study of human perfection in contemporary secular culture. He demonstrates that the language of perfection is present in church memorials, popular depictions of sport, food, music and art, liturgy, and philosophy. He contrasts these examples with the socio-psychological concept of 'maladaptive perfectionism', using commercial cosmetic surgery as an example, as well as the 'adaptive perfectionism' suggested in the lives of Henry Holland, Paul Farmer, and, more ambivalently, Ludwig Wittgenstein. Gill then provides an in-depth analysis of New Testament and Septuagint usage of teleios and theological debates about the human perfection of Jesus. He argues that the Synoptic accounts of the Transfiguration offer a template for a Christian understanding of perfection that has important ecumenical implications within social ethics.

“An accessible, anecdotally rich” biography of the profoundly influential 19th century philosopher, author of Beyond Good and Evil and The Will to Power (Kirkus Reviews). Friedrich Nietzsche was the most fearlessly provocative and original thinker in Western history. The protean diversity of his writings make him one of the most influential of modern philosophers, yet his often paradoxical statements can be properly understood only within the context of his restless, tragic life. Physically handicapped by weak eyesight, violent headaches and bouts of nausea, this Nietzsche made short shrift of self-pity and ostentatious displays of compassion. The son of a Lutheran clergyman, whom he adored, he became a fearless agnostic who proclaimed, in Thus Spake Zarathustra that “God is dead!” Curtis Cate’s refreshingly accessible new biography brilliantly distills and clarifies Nietzsche’s ideas and the reactions they elicited. This book explores the musical and philosophical influences that inspired his thought, the subtle workings of his creative process, and the acute physical suffering he combated from his adolescence until his final mental collapse of January 1889. Cutting through the academic jargon and clearing away the prejudices that have become associated with Nietzsche’s name, Cate reveals a man whose ideas continue to have prophetic relevance and incredible vibrancy today.