Originating at the 2011 conference of the International Academy of Practical Theology in Amsterdam, this volume explores the practical theological significance of desire. Although desire is central to many issues in practical theology and related disciplines, it is only rarely discussed under its own name. Three introductory chapters locate desire in concrete practices in the city and discuss the phenomenology, theology, and ethics of desire. Subsequent sections are organized around embodying desire, culturing desire, and transforming desire. The chapters include various kinds of desire, such as sexuality, consumerism, and spirituality. Perspectives from different contexts and religious traditions are offered in this rich and thought-provoking book. (Series: International Practical Theology - Vol. 16)

The Ottoman Empire began in 1453 when Mehmed the Conqueror entered Constantinople on a white horse, and it ended in 1924 when the final sultan, Abdulmecid, hurriedly left on the Orient Express. This book gives an account of Constantinople and its ruling family.

Fully revised edition; published January 2020. The City of Earthly Desire is an unforgettable novel of love and lust; beauty and vulgarity; virtue and vice; and art and ethics. Occasionally dark, but always entertaining and engaging, the narrative is peopled by a memorable cast of characters who are as intense and turbulent as the times and places they occupy. Like the great novels of the nineteenth century, the story delves into the struggle between morality and immorality; meaning and nihilism; and good and evil. After the communists destroy his dream of becoming a recognized painter in Hungary, Reinhardt Drixler escapes to America to provide a better future for his young family and to further his artistic pursuits. Twenty-five years later, communism collapses in Europe; Reinhardt’s son Béla falls in love with Suzy Kiss, an ambitious and alluring Hungarian striptease dancer whose interest in the young writer can be summarized in two words: green card. When Suzy is mysteriously deported, a devastated Béla must make a decision – should he stay in New York and continue with the noble artistic ambitions his father instilled in him, or should he follow his heart to Hungary and explore the enticing and risqué opportunities blossoming in post-communist Budapest?