A foremost historian of religion chronicles the arrival of Christianity in the New World, tracing the turning points in the development of the immigrant church which have led to today's distinctly American faith.

Estonia is often described as one of the most secularised countries in the world in terms of de-institutionalisation and de-Christianisation. Old Religion, New Spirituality: Implications of Secularisation and Individualisation in Estonia, edited by Riho Altnurme, starts with the question: what are the historical reasons for Estonia to be so secularised? The decisive factor in the diminishment in the importance of Christianity was the overlap between social classes and ethnicities. The national identity of Estonians became disconnected to any religion. Second, what are the consequences? How are the secularity of Estonia and the picture of individualised religiosity in this country linked? This book provides fresh results from surveys, archival work and analysis by a group of Estonian researchers. Contributors include: Riho Altnurme, Lea Altnurme, Priit Rohtmets, Indrek Pekko, Toomas Schvak, Ringo Ringvee, Alar Kilp, and Marko Uibu.

“Mamet’s intellectual rigor is evident on every page. There is not a wasted word” in this novel based on the wrongful murder conviction of a Jewish man (Time Out). In 1913, a young woman was found murdered in the National Pencil Factory in Atlanta. The investigation focused on the Jewish manager of the factory, Leo Frank, who was subsequently forced to stand trial for the crime he didn’t commit and railroaded to a life sentence in prison. Shortly after being incarcerated, he was abducted from his cell and lynched in front of a gleeful mob. In vividly re-imagining these horrifying events, Pulitzer Prize–winning author David Mamet inhabits the consciousness of the condemned man to create a novel whose every word seethes with anger over prejudice and injustice. The Old Religion is infused with the dynamic force and the remarkable ear that have made David Mamet one of the most acclaimed voices of our time. It stands beside To Kill a Mockingbird as a powerful exploration of justice, racism, and the “rush to judgment.” “Mamet’s philosophical intensity, concision, and unpredictable narrative strategies are at their full power.” —The Washington Post “In this historical novel, playwright, filmmaker, and novelist Mamet presents disturbing cameos of Jewish uncertainty in a Christian world.” —Library Journal “The horror of the story is beautifully countered by the unusual grace of Mamet’s prose.” —The Irish Times

German philosopher and radical theologian David Friedrich Strauss (1808-1874) distinguished himself as one of Europe's most controversial biblical critics and as an intellectual martyr for freethought.

Examining a wide array of ancient writings, Brent Nongbri dispels the commonly held idea that there is such a thing as ancient religion. Nongbri shows how misleading it is to speak as though religion was a concept native to pre-modern cultures.

This book proves there is nothing new under the sun regarding many of our modern religious beliefs. This includes Christianity, and how many of its beliefs could be far older than what we have suspected. It gives a complete run-down of the stellar, lunar, and solar evolution of our religious systems and contains new, long-awaited, exhaustive research on the gods and our beliefs.