Understanding Religious Sacrifice


Book Description

This volume provides a thorough introduction to the major classic and modern writings dealing with religious sacrifice. Collected here are twenty five influential selections, each with a brief introduction addressing the overall framework and assumptions of its author. As they present different theories and examples of sacrifice, these selections also discuss important concepts in religious studies such as the origin of religion, totemism, magic, symbolism, violence, structuralism and ritual performance. Students of comparative religion, ritual studies, the history of religions, the anthropology of religion and theories of religion will particularly value the historical organization and thematic analyses presented in this collection.




Signless Signification in Ancient India and Beyond


Book Description

The collected essays in this book are the result of a series of workshops held at the University of Cagliari in Italy; this work charts the evolution of key concepts on signless signification of traditional Indian grammar and deals with powerful mechanisms of meaning extension, including rituals and speculative patterns. This collection brings an interdisciplinary approach to the examination of possible relationships between different cultural and linguistic systems of signification.







In Mist Apparelled


Book Description







The HarperCollins Study Bible--Old Testament


Book Description

After 10 years of new archeological discoveries and changes in biblical studies, it was time for an overhaul of this classic reference work. With the guidance of the Society of Biblical Literature, an organization of the best biblical scholars world wide, we have selected Dean of Yale Divinity School, Harold Attridge, to oversee the Study Bible's updating and revision. Including up–to–date introductions to the Biblical books, based on the latest critical scholarship, by leading experts in the field concise notes, clearly explaining names, dates, places, obscure terms, and other difficulties in reading the Biblical text careful analysis of the structure of Biblical books abundant maps, tables, and charts to enable the reader to understand the context of the Bible, and to see the relationship among its parts. In this new revised edition every introduction, essay, map, illustration and explanatory note has been reviewed and updated, and new material added. For instance, There are newly commissioned introductory essays on the archaeology of ancient Israel and the New Testament world, the religion of ancient Israel, the social and historical context of each book of the Bible, and on Biblical interpretation. There are completely new introductions and notes for many of the books in the Bible, plus a full revision and updating of all others.




Jesus Followers in the Roman Empire


Book Description

When Jesus of Nazareth began proclaiming the kingdom of God early in the first century, he likely had no intention of starting a new religion, especially one that included former pagans. Yet a new religion did eventually develop--one that not only included non-Jews but was soon dominated by them. How did this happen? Jesus Followers in the Roman Empire by Paul Duff offers an accessible and informed account of Christian origins, beginning with the teaching of Jesus and moving to the end of the first century. Duff's narrative shows how the rural Jewish movement led by Jesus developed into a largely non-Jewish phenomenon permeating urban centers of the Roman Empire. Paying special attention to social, cultural, and religious contexts--as well as to early Christian ideas about idolatry, marriage, family, slavery, and ethnicity--Jesus Followers in the Roman Empire will help readers cultivate a deeper understanding of the identity, beliefs, and practices of early Christ-believers.




Women and Crime in Post-Transitional South African Crime Fiction


Book Description

In this ground-breaking study, Sabine Binder analyses the complex ways in which female crime fictional victims, detectives and perpetrators in South African crime fiction resonate with widespread and persistent real crimes against women in post-apartheid South Africa. Drawing on a wide range of crime novels written over the last decade, Binder emphasises the genre’s feminist potential and critically maps its political work at the intersection of gender and race. Her study challenges the perception of crime fiction as a trivial genre and shows how, in South Africa at least, it provides a vibrant platform for social, cultural and ethical debates, exposing violence, misogyny and racism and shedding light on the problematics of law and justice for women faced with crime.