First published in 1997. What's new in the Second Edition: Some 250 new entries, twenty-five percent more than in the first edition, plus twenty-five new expert contributors. Bibliographies are greatly expanded and updated throughout; More focus on biblical books and philosophical schools, their influence on early Christianity and their use by patristic writers; More information about the Jewish and pagan environment of early Christianity; Greatly enlarged coverage of the eastern expansion of the faith throughout Asia, including persons and literature; More extensive treatment of saints, monasticism, worship practices, and modern scholars; Greater emphasis on social history and more theme articles; More illustrations, maps, and plans; Additional articles on geographical regions; Expanded chronological table; Also includes maps.

This unique, comprehensive work tackles questions posed by the polemics of the Church Fathers against the Roman theater and explores the subsequent developments of Western liturgical drama as a continuation of the Roman theater up to the time of Amalarius of Metz in the ninth century.

This comparative religion book contains a startling perspective of the extraordinary history of the Egyptian religion and its profound influence upon the later Christian faith. The text demonstrates that the popular god Horus and Jesus possessed many characteristics and attributes in common.

Although studies of specific time concepts, expressed in Renaissance philosophy and literature, have not been lacking, few art-historians have endeavored to meet the challenge in the visual arts. This book presents a multifaceted picture of the dynamic concepts of time and temporality in medieval and Renaissance art, adopted in speculative, ecclesiastical, socio-political, propagandist, moralistic, and poetic contexts. It has been assumed that time was conceived in a different way by those living in the Renaissance as compared to their medieval predecessors. Changing perceptions of time, an increasingly secular approach, the sense of self-determination rooted in the practical use and control of time, and the perception of time as a threat to human existence and achievements are demonstrated through artistic media. Chapters dealing with time in classical and medieval philosophy and art are followed by studies that focus on innovative aspects of Renaissance iconography.

This book of original essays explores three important areas in comparative literature and history and in cultural studies: the boundaries between history and fiction;women as writers and subjects; and the connection between the early modern, modern and postmodern. New history and new literary studies look at innovative ways to see past cultures in a new light. Traditional methods are used to new ends and writers who are familiar within their cultures are translated to other cultures. This study promotes an expanded understanding of our cultural artifacts in a rapidly changing present. It discusses English-speaking culture in the early modern period in the context of other European cultures and relates Europe to other parts of the world, most notably America. After grounding the discussion of culture in history, identity, dialogue as a genre that crosses the boundaries between philosophy and fiction, the rhetoric of prefaces to historical collections, cosmographies and histories that share something with the techniques of literary and forensic rhetoric, the book proceeds to discuss two central issues in cultural studies today: gender and postmodernity. The final section of the book provides a general assessment through early modern texts of modernity and postmodernity.