Humans have been uttering profane words and incurring the consequences for millennia. But contemporary eventsÑfrom the violence in 2006 that followed Danish newspaper cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed to the 2012 furor over the Innocence of Muslims videoÑindicate that controversy concerning blasphemy has reemerged in explosive transnational form. In an age when electronic media transmit offense as rapidly as profane images and texts can be produced, blasphemy is bracingly relevant again. In this volume, a distinguished cast of international scholars examines the profound difficulties blasphemy raises for modern societies. Contributors examine how the sacred is formed and maintained, how sacrilegious expression is conceived and regulated, and how the resulting conflicts resist easy adjudication. Their studies range across art, history, politics, law, literature, and theology. Because of the global nature of the problem, the volumeÕs approach is comparative, examining blasphemy across cultural and geopolitical boundaries.

Gregory, a 6th-century bishop of Tours, was a great collector of saints' lives. The Gallic saints he described would heal the sick, protect fugitives, and release prisoners. However, these saints were also quick to take offense and to punish - paralyzing, crippling, and even killing those who slighted them or threatened their interests. This book reconciles these two aspects of Gregory's saints, allowing for a better understanding of the place of miracles of punishment (Strafwunder) within the broader theological context of the early medieval Latin West. (Series: Theologie - Vol. 110) [Subject: Religious Studies, Christianity, Medieval Studies]

Divided into two parts, part one contains a critique of Hume's argument against miricles, and part two consists of primary source material that provides the context for understanding Hume's contribution to the miracles debate.