In The Chastity Plot, Lisabeth During tells the story of the rise, fall, and transformation of the ideal of chastity. From its role in the practice of asceticism to its associations with sovereignty, violence, and the purity of nature, it has been loved, honored, and despised. Obsession with chastity has played a powerful and disturbing role in our moral imagination. It has enforced patriarchy’s double standards, complicated sexual relations, and imbedded in Western culture a myth of gender that has been long contested by feminists. Still not yet fully understood, the chastity plot remains with us, and the metaphysics of purity continue to haunt literature, religion, and philosophy. Idealized and unattainable, sexual renunciation has shaped social institutions, political power, ethical norms, and clerical abuses. It has led to destruction and passion, to seductive fantasies that inspired saints and provoked libertines. As During shows, it should not be underestimated. Examining literature, religion, psychoanalysis, and cultural history from antiquity through the middle ages and into modernity, During provides a sweeping history of chastity and insight into its subversive potential. Instead of simply asking what chastity is, During considers what chastity can do, why we should care, and how it might provide a productive disruption, generating new ways of thinking about sex, integrity, and freedom.

A collection of writings on the Eucharist by one of the most important theological thinkers of our time. It explores the biblical dimensions and eschatological foundation of the Eucharist, the celebration of the Eucharist by the Church, and the ethos of the Eucharistic community.

“For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate.” —Romans 7:15, HCSB Perspectives on Our Struggle with Sin presents in point-counterpoint form three differing views of a Christian’s relationship with the law, flesh, and spirit as illustrated through Paul’s often-debated words in Romans 7. Stephen Chester (North Park Theological Seminary) writes “The Retrospective View of Romans 7: Paul’s Past in Present Perspective,” suggesting the apostle’s description of his struggle speaks more to his pre-Christian self. Grant Osborne (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) offers “The Flesh Without the Spirit: Romans 7 and Christian Experience,” perceiving Romans 7 as an accurate representation of what believers go through even after their conversion. Mark Seifrid (The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary), in “The Voice of the Law, the Cry of Lament, and the Shout of Thanksgiving,” asserts that Paul is not speaking of his past or his present Christian experience in Romans 7, but more fundamentally and simply about “the human being confronted with the Law.” Chad Owen Brand (The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) writes a conclusion on the theological and pastoral implications of Romans 7. Acclaim for Perspectives on Our Struggle with Sin: "One difficult and disputed text, three fine scholars, and three views of the passage. How is one to read Romans 7? This book takes you through all the options and rationale with detail, charity, and clarity. This is how to have a discussion over a disputed text. Read and learn about Romans 7. Decide who is right and why. And, above all, learn about how to discuss a difficult text." Darrell L. Bock Research professor of New Testament Studies Dallas Theological Seminary "The meaning of Romans 7 continues to bedevil and puzzle readers. This volume does not simply rehearse arguments and positions from the past. The authors approach the text from fresh and illuminating perspectives, and hence this work represents a significant contribution to scholarship." Thomas R. Schreiner James Buchanan Harrison professor of New Testament Interpretation The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Christians have long debated how Paul’s moving depiction of a struggle with sin in “Romans 7 should influence our theology and practice of the Christian life. Now, in one book, Christians are given a wonderful opportunity to engage the different views, see how they differ, and come to their own conclusions. Chester, Osborne, and Seifrid clearly and capably defend their positions; and they do so with enough of a difference in method that the reader is given a good sense of the scope of the issues and their significance.” Douglas J. Moo Kenneth T. Wessner Chair of Biblical Studies Wheaton College

A comprehensive, objective, scholarly and yet easy-to-read presentation of the differences, both historical, theological and liturgical between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. The ideal complement (or even antidote) to such books as Upon this Rock; Jesus, Peter and the Keys; Two Paths; The Primacy of Peter; etc. Discusses Peter's Primacy and Succession, Ecclesiology, Infallibility, the Filioque, Celibacy, etc.

This book brings together essays by contemporary Orthodox theologians and scholars on Orthodox Christianity that analyze various aspects of the complex relationship between anarchism, both as a concept and as a political philosophy, and Orthodoxy. As many studies have already shown, the dominant theological approaches in Orthodox political theology have been characterized by the search for some kind of “symphonia,” where a “harmonious” and (mutually) beneficial cooperation between the Church and the State has been sought. Although one can see many alternative attempts in contemporary Orthodox political theology to move away from traditional, monarchical, and (autocratic) symphonic models, the fact remains that most of those approaches still tend to provide theological articulations that rationalize and ultimately defend the dominant ideological systems (such as those of the “nation state” or “liberal democracy” for instance).There has been, however, another, marginal and marginalized tradition in Orthodox Christian political theology which can be labelled as “anarchist.” The purpose of this volume is to gather contemporary voices in and on Orthodox theology that explore this tradition in the history of Orthodox Christianity, or that themselves employ an “anarchist” approach to the socio-political sphere (including the Church in its institutional functioning).

Scholars across many fields have come to realize that ritual is an integral element of human life and a vital aspect of all human societies. Yet, this realization has been slow to develop among scholars of early Christianity. Early Christian Ritual Life attempts to counteract the undervaluing of ritual by placing it at the forefront of early Christian life. Rather than treating ritual in isolation or in a fragmentary way, this book examines early Christian ritual life as a whole. The authors explore an array of Christian ritual activity, employing theory critically and explicitly to make sense of various ritual behaviors and their interconnections. Written by leading experts in their fields, this collection is divided into three parts: • Interacting with the Divine • Group Interactions • Contesting and Creating Ritual Protocols. This book is ideal for religious studies students seeking an introduction to the dynamic research areas of ritual studies and early Christian practice.

This study analyzes mythic narratives, found in the 8th century midrashic text Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer (PRE), that were excluded, or ‘repressed’, from the rabbinic canon, while preserved in the Pseudepigrapha of the Second Temple period. Examples include the role of the Samael (i.e. Satan) in the Garden of Eden, the myth of the Fallen Angels, Elijah as zealot, and Jonah as a Messianic figure. The questions are why these exegetical traditions were excluded, in what context did they resurface, and how did the author have access to these apocryphal texts. The book addresses the assumptions that underlie classic rabbinic literature and later breaches of that exegetical tradition in PRE, while engaging in a study of the genre, dating, and status of PRE as apocalyptic eschatology.