This volume examines the ways in which divination, often through oracular utterances and other mechanisms, linked mortals with the gods, and places the practice within the ancient sociopolitical and religious environment. Whether humans sought knowledge by applying to an oracle through which the god was believed to speak or used soothsayers who interpreted specific signs such as the flight of birds, there was a fundamental desire to know the will of the gods. In many cases, pragmatic concerns – personal, economic or political – can be deduced from the context of the application. Divination and communication with the gods in a post-pagan world has also produced fascinating receptions. The presentation of these processes in monotheistic societies such as early Christian Late Antiquity (where the practice continued through the use of curse tablets) or medieval Europe, and beyond, where the role of religion had changed radically, provides a particular challenge and this topic has been little discussed by scholars. This volume aims to rectify this desideratum by providing the opportunity to address questions related to the reception of Greco-Roman divination, oracles and prophecy, in all media, including literature and film. Several contributions in this volume originated in the 2015 Classics Colloquium held at the University of South Africa and the volume has been augmented with additional contributions.

An indictment of the apocalyptically limited capitalist imagination and a heartfelt plea for something better before it's too late, Patrick Blagrave's debut collection spans from the time of John the Baptist to any number of potential endings while remaining centered on the everyday realities of life, work, and payment under late-capitalism. In sonnet sequences and in sprawling visions, "Profit - Prophet" is a meditation on class and time and a rejection of the ways corporations, landlords, kings, and bosses of all kinds work to remove alternatives to the future they prescribe.

Discover your identity as a carrier of Gods presence, glory and power!Do you sometimes wonder how God can consider you a friend in light of your failures and defeats? Does your own insufficiency cause you to wonder whether the Holy Spirit truly dwells within you? Do you wonder why your own faith experience is so different from that of the heroes in the Bible? Scripture makes it clear that communion with the Holy Spirit is the key to living the kind of empowered and authentic Christian life we see modeled in Scripture. The Holy Spirit works within us to form hearts that truly worship, minds that understand of the depths of Gods Word, and hands that accomplish the miraculous. This book will acquaint you with the mysterious third Person of the Trinity, helping you to draw closer to Him so that you may become a carrier of Gods Spirita chosen friend of God. This book provides answers to some popular questions about the Holy Spirit What is the Holy Spirits purpose and nature? What is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and why is it an unpardonable sin? What does the Bible really teach about spiritual gifts? What does it mean to be friends with God? If you desire to know God in a deeper and more intimate way, if you want your soul to be set ablaze with a passionate love for Him, if you want to walk in the fullness of all that He has created you for, then this book is for you!Draw close to His glory.

There are More examples of personal prophecy in Scripture than in any other biblical subject. "Prophets and Personal Prophecy is not an abstract theological doctrinal statement but a practical "how to" guide on what personal prophecy is and what you are supposed to do with it. This book is an absolute must for anyone who has ever heard (or even thought they heard) from God." -- Dr. John Gimenez Jim Jackson, Earl Paulk, Ken Sumrall, Gary Greenwald, Norvel Hayes and Emanuele Cannistraci have also endorsed this manuscript. Read their comments in the front pages of this book. Prophets and Personal Prophecy, God's Prophetic Voice Today, makes incredible strides towards restoring Personal Prophecy to the Church and is the only book of its kind. Topics covered include: Putting Personal Prophecy in proper perspective The nature of Personal Prophecy Decisions of marriage, business and geographic moves Guidelines for handling Personal Prophecy God's purposes for Prophets

This book examines, in greater depth than the existing literature, the history of Islamic economic thought. It seeks to introduce Islamic views to debates surrounding critical economic concepts, such as scarcity, wealth, poverty, charity, usury, self-interest, rationality, and markets. It does so through a comparative analysis with the views of Judaic, Christian, and secular economic thought. “Prophecy” is meant to signify the theoretical dimension of religion, while “piety” represents its practical element; neither part is feasible without the other. Together, prophecy and piety inform the Islamic view of economic concepts and phenomena. This view seeks to adjust our approach to profits, both in this world and the next, and seeks to reexamine what is truly profitable and worthy of sacrifice.

The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), a church of Brazilian origin, has been enormously successful in establishing branches and attracting followers in post-apartheid South Africa. Unlike other Pentecostal Charismatic Churches (PCC), the UCKG insists that relationships with God be devoid of 'emotions', that socialisation between members be kept to a minimum and that charity and fellowship are 'useless' in materialising God's blessings. Instead, the UCKG urges members to sacrifice large sums of money to God for delivering wealth, health, social harmony and happiness. While outsiders condemn these rituals as empty or manipulative, this book shows that they are locally meaningful, demand sincerity to work, have limits and are informed by local ideas about human bodies, agency and ontological balance. As an ethnography of people rather than of institutions, this book offers fresh insights into the mass PCC movement that has swept across Africa since the early 1990s.

What does the New Testament teach about the spiritual gift of prophecy? What is it? How does it function? Can evangelical Christians use it in their churches today? This updated, comprehensive work answers such questions and points the way to a renewed understanding of the gift of prophecy—an understanding that suggests how the body of Christ may enjoy one of the Holy Spirit's most edifying gifts without compromising the supremacy of Scripture.