Alfred Döblin


Book Description

Döblin’s texts, which range widely across contemporary discourses, are paradigms of the encounter between literary and scientific modernity. With their use of ‛Tatsachenphantasie’, they explode conventional language, seeking a new connection with the world of objects and things. This volume reassesses and reevaluates the uniquely interdisciplinary quality of Döblin’s interdiscursive, factually-inspired poetics by offering challenging new perspectives on key works. The volume analyses not only some of Döblin’s best-known novels and stories, but also neglected works including his early medical essays, political journalism and autobiographical texts. Other topics addressed are Döblin’s engagement with German history; his relation to medical discourse; his topography of Berlin; his aestheticisation of his own biography and his relation to other major writers such as Heine, Benn, Brecht and Sebald. With contributions in English and in German by scholars from Germany and the United Kingdom, the volume presents insights into Döblin that are of value to advanced researchers and to students alike.




Francis Bacon and His Secret Society


Book Description

"It is certain that, although much is known about Francis Bacon in some parts or phases of his chequered life, yet there is a great deal more which is obscure, or very inadequately treated by his biographers." "For instance, what was he doing or where was he travelling during certain unchronicled years? Why do we hear so little in modern books of that beloved brother Anthony, who was his 'comfort, ' and his 'second self'? And where was Anthony when he died? Where was he buried? And why are no particulars of his eventful life, his last illness, death, or burial recorded in ordinary books?" Francis Bacon (1561-1626): philosopher, playwright, poet, and conceiver of the scientific method for empirical inquiry. The staggering amount of publications in which he was involved and his demand for a worldwide reformation of learning, science, and religion have made him one of the most important minds of the Elizabethan era. As much as Bacon's public life influenced the world of science, there is an equal part of his life obscured by his secrecy. This book sets out to delve into these secrets in order to uncover the full extent of Bacon's work. His self-devised secret cipher, his apparent connections to the Rosicrucians and Freemasons, and the frequent gaps in his biography are thoroughly examined, making this a valuable addition to any Baconian collection.




Forty-two Years Among the Indians and Eskimo


Book Description

Looking at the map of North America, a little inland from the coast of Labrador, you will find Hudson's Bay, and in the south-west corner, at the mouth of the Moose River, Moose Fort. Here is the residence of the deputy governor and his subordinate officers; a number of people are anxiously looking out; they are expecting the one ship that comes to them in the course of the year. A small vessel lying a little way out to sea has raised the long-looked-for signal, and rejoicing is the order of the day." On June 6, 1851, Reverend John Horden (1828-1893) embarked on a journey across the Atlantic to take his post as First Bishop of Moosonee (in today's Ontario, Canada), which he was to hold for forty-two years. This book is largely comprised from the correspondence that the missionary took up with the author Beatrice Batty. Having "the pen of a ready writer," Horden vividly describes the country, the people, their ways and their language, which he eagerly learned and used in his sermons to the natives."




Wir teilen diesen Traum


Book Description

Papst Franziskus mutet der Kirche weit reichende Reformen zu. Von einer Revolution von oben ist die Rede. Er arbeitet synodal. Die Bischofskonferenzen wertet er auf. Barmherzigkeit ist zum Leitwort des Tuns der Kirche geworden. Sein Anliegen: Wunden heilen – jene der einzelnen Menschen, welche die Menschen einander (z.B. bei einer Scheidung) schlagen, die Wunden der Armen und jene der Schöpfung. Gegen seine Reform der Kirche erfährt er zunehmend Widerstand. Er wird der Häresie verdächtigt. Deshalb haben Tomáš Halík und Paul Zulehner einen Offenen Brief an den Papst verfasst, um ihn bei seiner Reform zu unterstützen. Über 75.000 Personen haben den Brief unterzeichnet. Nunmehr geben 150 Persönlichkeiten des akademischen Lebens dem Papst Unterstützung. Sie kommen aus allen Kontinenten der Weltkirche: von Taipei bis Sao Paolo, von Oxford bis Harvard, von Warschau bis London und Berlin. Die emotionale Unterstützung wird durch rationale Argumente ergänzt. ” In diesem E-Book werden nun alle 150 Beiträge dokumentiert. ” Paul M. Zulehner hat eine brisante Einleitung dazu verfasst. ----- Pope Francis wishes to see far-reaching reforms in the Church: A revolution from above is happening. His Holiness works synodally. He has upgraded the Conference of Bishops; 'mercy' has become the watchword for pastoral practice in the Church. The Pope is concerned with the healing of wounds – individual wounds, which we use to beat one another (in divorce cases for example), the wounds of the poor and those of creation. In his reform of the Church, the Pope faces increasing resistance, some suspect him of heresy. In response to this, Tomáš Halík and Paul Zulehner have written an open letter to the Pope in support of his reform. Over 75.000 people have signed the letter, including more than 150 prominent figures from the world of academia. These come from every corner of the Universal Church: from Taipei to Sao Paolo, from Oxford to Harvard, from Warsaw to London and Berlin. Emotional support is supported by reason. ” This book documents all 150 contributions. ” Paul M. Zulehner has written an explosive introduction.




Intellectus Gratiae


Book Description

This is the first large scale study on the link between the concepts of intellect and grace in the writings of St. Augustine of Hippo. Its five chapters deal with Augustine's writings on grace as they focus on questions concerning epistemology and hermeneutics. Already non-Christian ancient philosophers identified intellectual perfection with salvation as caused by divine grace. Under their influence (I) Augustine developed also his biblical thought (II). The culmination of his concept of intellectus gratiae, however, came in the later works on sacraments (III), hermeneutics (IV) and against Pelagius and Julian of Eclanum (V). This study highlights that development and recommends the concept of intellectus gratiae as a possible key to Augustine's theological thought as a whole.










Physica Sacra: Wunder, Naturwissenschaft und historischer Schriftsinn zwischen Mittelalter und Früher Neuzeit


Book Description

Was it a whale or a shark that devoured Jonah? And how were the walls of Jericho brought down? In his wide-ranging study, Physica Sacra, Bernd Roling shows that the natural sciences and biblical exegesis have not always stood in stark opposition to one another. From the high Middle Ages, Bible commentators such as Albertus Magnus and Alonso Tostado made extensive use of the knowledge available in their times about zoology, medicine and astronomy to explain the wonders of revelation and to defend their historical basis. Even with the advent of modern Biblical criticism and in the age of Enlightenment, as is shown here in detail, their arguments were valid enough to refute critics like Spinoza, Isaac de la Peyrère and Voltaire.







Theosophie


Book Description