Twofold Identities is a study of Midwestern American literature as well as of Norwegian-American immigrant texts. Many readers have judged the latter to be a mere reflection of immigrant experience, a judgment that is neither fair nor correct. These American writers were forced to confront an essentially modern experience complicated by the contextual duality of bilingualism. For early Midwestern immigrant writers and their readers, the task of homemaking in a new setting was a philosophically challenging and highly problematic endeavor. These Midwestern writers were not lost, divided, nor rootless. They had the unique privileged ability to draw on the resources of two worlds. As writers they enjoyed - and helped to strengthen - twofold identities.

This study of John Calvin's ecclesiology argues that Calvin's idea of the twofold identity of the Church--its spiritual identity as the body of Christ and its functional identity as the mother of all believers--is closely related to his understanding of Christian identity and life, which are initiated and maintained by the grace of the triune God. The anthropological basis of Calvin's idea of the Church has not been examined fully, even though Calvin presents the important concepts of his ecclesiology in light of his anthropological ideas. This study offers an overall evaluation for Calvin's ecclesiology, arguing that it is ultimately his pastoral concern for the Christian and the Church under affliction that both governs his theological understanding of the Church and shapes his proposals for establishing and sustaining the life of the Church in the world.

The Middle Way is a central idea for all Buddhists, yet its definition varies across Buddhist cultures. In Tibetan Buddhism, the interpretation of what are called the two truths -- the truth of conventional appearances and the ultimate truth of emptiness -- is especially contentious. This comparative analysis examines the differing approaches toward the Middle Way taken by the two great Buddhist scholars, Tsongkhapa and Gorampa. It demonstrates how philosophical positions have dramatic implications both for how one approaches Buddhist practice and for how one ultimately understands enlightenment itself.

"Exceptionally useful are (Aseel's) reflections on what it has meant to be a Muslim in America after September 11 . . . A fascinating multicultural coming-of-age story."--"Booklist."

Hailed as one of the greatest mathematical results of the twentieth century, the recent proof of Fermat's Last Theorem by Andrew Wiles brought to public attention the enigmatic problem-solver Pierre de Fermat, who centuries ago stated his famous conjecture in a margin of a book, writing that he did not have enough room to show his "truly marvelous demonstration." Along with formulating this proposition--xn+yn=zn has no rational solution for n > 2--Fermat, an inventor of analytic geometry, also laid the foundations of differential and integral calculus, established, together with Pascal, the conceptual guidelines of the theory of probability, and created modern number theory. In one of the first full-length investigations of Fermat's life and work, Michael Sean Mahoney provides rare insight into the mathematical genius of a hobbyist who never sought to publish his work, yet who ranked with his contemporaries Pascal and Descartes in shaping the course of modern mathematics.

This collection of essays considers topics in pastoral theology, pastoral care and counseling, pastoral leadership, and social work, and attends to challenges and opportunities pertaining to the support and care of persons in need. Of interest to ministers, chaplains, pastoral counselors, and social workers, these essays focus particularly on human experiences, needs, or concerns that relate to matters of mental health and religious faith or spirituality. Converging Horizons demonstrates approaches to integrative work that draws on multiple fields of theory and practice in service to the goal of providing a range of caregivers with ways to both conceptualize and engage their important work.