Orientalism and Musical Mission presents a new way of understanding music's connections with imperialism, drawing on new archive sources and interviews and using the lens of 'mission'. Rachel Beckles Willson demonstrates how institutions such as churches, schools, radio stations and governments, influenced by missions from Europe and North America since the mid-nineteenth century, have consistently claimed that music provides a way of understanding and reforming Arab civilians in Palestine. Beckles Willson discusses the phenomenon not only in religious and developmental aid circles where it has had strong currency, but also in broader political contexts. Plotting a historical trajectory from the late Ottoman and British Mandate eras to the present time, the book sheds new light on relations between Europe, the USA and the Palestinians, and creates space for a neglected Palestinian music history.

The Christian presence in Jerusalem has always been diverse and cosmopolitan, encompassing numerous churches representative of ecclesiastical traditions older than many nation states and ethnic groups. Indeed, the city's various Christian communities are administered by three Patriarchs, five Catholic patriarchal vicars, four archbishops and two Protestant bishops. From the end of the Crusader period onwards, these communities have come under the rule of numerous political entities, from the Ottoman Empire through to the British Mandatory Administration and the modern states of Jordan and Israel. The complex interaction of religion and politics, and the involvement of Christians in politics, has been a constant theme in the religious culture of Jerusalem. The essays collected here provide a comprehensive historical, religious and political survey of the Christian communities of modern Jerusalem. Individual essays deal with topics ranging from church-state relations to women missionaries and various expressions of Eastern and Western Christian presence and, taken as a whole, offer a fascinating overview of Christianity in the Holy Land at the beginning of a new century.

Six appendices of primary sources from the period of the early Church to the British Mandate, including documents by Saint Gregory of Nyssa and Saint Bernard of Clarivaux.

This tenth anniversary revised edition of the authoritative text on Christianity's first thousand years of history features a new preface, additional color images, and an updated bibliography. The essential general survey of medieval European Christendom, Brown's vivid prose charts the compelling and tumultuous rise of an institution that came to wield enormous religious and secular power. Clear and vivid history of Christianity's rise and its pivotal role in the making of Europe Written by the celebrated Princeton scholar who originated of the field of study known as 'late antiquity' Includes a fully updated bibliography and index

This easy-to-use, highly visual, interactive CD-Rom explores the theme of Pilgrimage through literature, history, art and architecture, maps, social anthropology, classical religion, major world religions, the Bible and Christian tradition, tourism, and accounts of pilgrims past and present. Sections: Introduction (What is Pilgrimage?; Place & Journey in Cultures and Faiths Worldwide; Pilgrimage & Social Anthropology) Pilgrimage in Early Christian Spirituality (The Bible; Early Church; The Desert & Monasticism; Greek & Roman Pilgrimage; Christian Holy Places) Pilgrimage in Anglo-Saxon England (Leading the Christian Life; Place Pilgrimage: Saints' Cults; Anglo-Saxon Pilgrims Abroad; Celtic Peregrini) Pilgrimage in Later Medieval England - Daily Christian Life (Life as Pilgrimage: Sin & Salvation; Resources for the Journey: The Church & its Teaching, Personal Spirituality.) - Place Pilgrimage (Holy Places; Saints' Cults/Relics; Destinations in England & Abroad; The Journey; Women; Pilgrimage Art; Narratives, Maps & Guides) - Inner Journeys (Anchorites; Monastic Orders; Mystics) - Saints in Medieval Spirituality - Pilgrimage in Medieval Literature An Ongoing Legacy (The Reformation; Pilgrimage in Literature; Pilgrimage and Tourism; Pilgrimage Today) Also contains: Interactive Encyclopaedia, Extensive Image Gallery, Key Pilgrim Texts, Bibliography, Virtual Medieval Parish Church. Recommended minimum requirements: 4x CD-ROM drive; screen resolution: 1024 x 768; Internet browsers: Firefox 1, Internet Explorer 6, Netscape 7, Safari 7. (Christianity & Culture 2007)

Reveals evidence of visionary plants in Christianity and the life of Jesus found in medieval art and biblical scripture--hidden in plain sight for centuries • Follows the authors’ anthropological adventure discovering sacred mushroom images in European and Middle Eastern churches, including Roslyn Chapel and Chartres • Provides color photos showing how R. Gordon Wasson’s psychedelic theory of religion clearly extends to Christianity and reveals why Wasson suppressed this information due to his secret relationship with the Vatican • Examines the Bible and the Gnostic Gospels to show that visionary plants were the catalyst for Jesus’s awakening to his divinity and immortality Throughout medieval Christianity, religious works of art emerged to illustrate the teachings of the Bible for the largely illiterate population. What, then, is the significance of the psychoactive mushrooms hiding in plain sight in the artwork and icons of many European and Middle-Eastern churches? Does Christianity have a psychedelic history? Providing stunning visual evidence from their anthropological journey throughout Europe and the Middle East, including visits to Roslyn Chapel and Chartres Cathedral, authors Julie and Jerry Brown document the role of visionary plants in Christianity. They retrace the pioneering research of R. Gordon Wasson, the famous “sacred mushroom seeker,” on psychedelics in ancient Greece and India, and among the present-day reindeer herders of Siberia and the Mazatecs of Mexico. Challenging Wasson’s legacy, the authors reveal his secret relationship with the Vatican that led to Wasson’s refusal to pursue his hallucinogen theory into the hallowed halls of Christianity. Examining the Bible and the Gnostic Gospels, the authors provide scriptural support to show that sacred mushrooms were the inspiration for Jesus’ revelation of the Kingdom of Heaven and that he was initiated into these mystical practices in Egypt during the Missing Years. They contend that the Trees of Knowledge and of Immortality in Eden were sacred mushrooms. Uncovering the role played by visionary plants in the origins of Judeo-Christianity, the authors invite us to rethink what we know about the life of Jesus and to consider a controversial theory that challenges us to explore these sacred pathways to the divine.

The Knights Templar were the most powerful military religious order of the Middle Ages. Formed to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land, they participated in the Crusades and rapidly gained wealth, lands and influence and were answerable to none save the Pope himselffirst bankers, and invented the modern banking system that is still in use today, and were also involved in exploration and engineering.