George T. Zervos presents the first in a two-volume critical investigation of one of the earliest and most important of the New Testament Apocrypha, the Protevangelium of James, also known as the Infancy Gospel of James. Zervos challenges the prevailing view that the ProtJas is a 2nd century unitary document; finding it instead to be the product of an ongoing redactional process in which a 1st century CE “heretical” text was progressively conformed to the “orthodox” Christian doctrine of the time. Zervos tells the story of how an early apocryphal gospel provided the developing church with doctrinal material, which was incorporated into both the theology and the ecclesiastical liturgical cycle of the medieval Church, thus becoming a significant part of the standard catechism for generations of Christians. In this first volume Zervos provides a critical introduction to the text and discusses ProtJas' publication history, scholarly investigation, compositional problems and evidence of redaction, as well as a in-depth analysis of the narrative. For the first time the readings of the vast majority of the known Greek manuscripts appear together, with a transcription of the original text of the complete copy of the ProtJas found in Papyrus Bodmer V.

The Roman Catholic Church has played a unique role in the history of Poland in the twentieth century: the people and the Church drew closer and closer together during Nazi rule, the Stalinist period and the somewhat milder, though strongly anti-religious and repressive Gomulka regime (1956-1970). The power struggle between the Church and the communist government did in fact play a role in shaping world politics, the Polish Church having been the force behind the opposition movement in Poland. Against this background, a Polish pope appeared and made a major contribution to the collapse of communism. The Seeds of Triumph, the most comprehensive recent book on the opposition of Church and State in post-war Poland, compares the characteristics and consequences of this relationship during three different periods: the first and second periods of Gomulka's rule, and the Stalinist era between the two Gomulka periods. It examines the balance of power, studying to what degree the Church and other factors in the political environment influenced governmental policy-making. The author disproves the common stereotype, held at the time, that domestic conditions played only a marginal role. In examining the regime's policies, she covers the legal background, the general policy characteristics, the specific policies implemented during the period, and the role of the individual actors, most notably the pivotal role of the two main protagonists, Cardinal Wyszynski and Wladislaw Gomulka. In her landmark study, Diskin makes a significant contribution to the study of authoritarian systems and greatly enhances our understanding of the centrality of the Church in recent Polish history.

Hymns and the music the church sings are tangible means of expressing worship. And while worship is one of, if not the, central functions of the church along with mission, service, education, justice, and compassion, and occupies a prime focus of our churches, a renewed sense of awareness to our theological presuppositions and cultural cues must be maintained to ensure a proper focus in worship. Hymns and Hymnody: Historical and Theological Introductions is a 60-chapter, three-volume introductory textbook describing the most influential hymnists, liturgists, and musical movements of the church. This academically grounded resource evaluates both the historical and theological perspectives of the major hymnists and composers that have impacted the church over the course of twenty centuries. Volume 1 explores the early church and concludes with the Renaissance era hymnists. Volume 2 begins with the Reformation and extends to the eighteenth-century hymnists and liturgists. Volume 3 engages nineteenth century hymnists to the contemporary movements of the twenty-first century. Each chapter contains these five elements: historical background, theological perspectives communicated in their hymns/compositions, contribution to liturgy and worship, notable hymns, and bibliography. The mission of Hymns and Hymnody is (1) to provide biographical data on influential hymn writers for students and interested laypeople, and (2) to provide a theological analysis of what these composers have communicated in the theology of their hymns. We believe it is vital for those involved in leading the worship of the church to recognize that what they communicate is in fact theology. This latter aspect, we contend, is missing--yet important--in accessible formats for the current literature.

Hymns and the music the church sings are tangible means of expressing worship. As worship is one of the central functions of the church and it occupies a prime focus, a renewed sense of awareness to our theological presuppositions and cultural cues must be maintained to ensure a proper focus in worship. Hymns and Hymnody is an introductory textbook in three volumes describing the most influential hymnists, liturgists, and musical movements of the church. This academically grounded resource evaluates both the historical and theological perspectives of the major hymnists and composers that have impacted the church over the course of twenty centuries. Volume 1 explores the early church and concludes with the Renaissance era hymnists. Each chapter contains five elements: historical background, theological perspectives communicated in their hymns/compositions, contribution to liturgy and worship, notable hymns, and bibliography. The missions of Hymns and Hymnody are to provide biographical data on influential hymn writers for students and interested laypeople, and to provide a theological analysis of what the cited composers have communicated in the theology of their hymns. It is vital for those involved in leading the worship of the church to recognize that what they communicate is in fact theology. This latter aspect is missing in accessible formats for the current literature.

Includes entries for maps and atlases.

La restauration de la création se propose d’examiner le statut des animaux dans la pensée chrétienne ancienne et médiévale selon une perspective eschatologique, centrée sur la question du salut des animaux dans le projet divin. L'ouvrage est organisé en trois parties : les sources bibliques, notamment la promesse du renouvellement de la création dans Rm 8, 21 ; les élaborations doctrinales dans la période patristique puis au Moyen Âge ; enfin, des réflexions contemporaines à propos du statut des animaux dans nos sociétés. Souvent absente du débat sociétal à propos des animaux, la perspective historique chrétienne proposée dans ce volume se veut une contribution originale à la réflexion actuelle sur le statut juridique et éthique des animaux. La restauration de la création aims to examine the status of animals in ancient and medieval Christian thought following an eschatological perspective, that is, focusing on the question of the salvation of animals according to the divine plan. The volume is articulated in three parts: Biblical sources, in particular the promise of the renewal of creation according to Rm 8, 21; Patristic and medieval doctrinal elaborations on the question; finally, contemporary considerations regarding the status of animals in our societies. Often absent from the current social debate on the subject, the historical Christian perspective which this volume proposes is intended as an original contribution to today’s ongoing reflexion on the legal and ethical status of animals.

Engaging resources for understanding the importance of bodies and spaces in producing and interpreting persuasive language This volume collects essays that represent intellectual milestones that are informing sociorhetorical interpretation during the twenty-first century. The essays are arranged into five parts: (1) Topos; (2) Cultural Geography and Critical Spatiality; (3) Rhetorolects and Conceptual Blending; (4) Rhetography; and (5) Rhetorical Force. Features: Tools for integrating multiple approaches to biblical interpretation Resources that emphasize the importance of language that prompts mental pictures in effective rhetoric Essays from classicists, rhetoricians, and biblical scholars

Debate about the authorship of the manuscript known to us as De Doctrina Christiana has bedevilled Milton studies over recent years. In this book four leading scholars give an account of the research project that demonstrated its Miltonic provenance beyond reasonable doubt. But the authors do much more besides, locating Milton's systematic theology in its broader European context, picking open the stages and processes of its composition, and analysing its Latinity.

What expectations did the women and men living in early monastic communities carry into relationships of obedience and advice? What did they hope to achieve through confession and discipline? To explore these questions, this study shows how several early Christian writers applied the logic, knowledge, and practices of Galenic medicine to develop their own practices of spiritual direction. Evagrius reads dream images as diagnostic indicators of the soul's state. John Cassian crafts a nosology of the soul using lists of passions while diagnosing the causes of wet dreams. Basil of Caesarea pits the spiritual director against the physician in a competition over diagnostic expertise. John Climacus crafts pathologies of passions through demonic family trees, while equipping his spiritual director with a physician's toolkit and imagining the monastic space as a vast clinic. These different appropriations of medical logic and metaphors not only show us the thought-world of late antique monasticism, but they would also have decisive consequences for generations of Christian subjects who would learn to see themselves as sick or well, patients or healers, within monastic communities.