When the Gospel writings were first produced, Christian thinking was already cognizant of its relationship to ancient memorial cultures and history-writing traditions. Yet, little has been written about exactly what shaped the development of early Ch...

A fascinating new study of the symbolic power of food and its role in forming kinship bonds and religious identity in early Christianity. Scholar of religion John Penniman considers the symbolic importance of food in the early Roman world in an enga...

Riveting and eloquent, the collected writings of a key figure – and one of the first female leaders – of the eighteenth-century evangelical movement. Sarah Osborn (1714–1796) was one of the most charismatic female religious leaders of her time and o...

For curious readers young and old, a rich and colorful history of religion from humanity's earliest days to our own contentious times In an era of hardening religious attitudes and explosive religious violence, this book offers a welcome antidote. Ri...

The result of a collaborative, multi year project, this groundbreaking book explores the interpretive worlds that inform religious practice and derive from sensory phenomena. Under the rubric of "making sense", the studies assembled here ask, How hav...

A preeminent scholar explores the evolution of the Christian worldview and argues that it no longer offers a satisfactory vision for our democratic, multicultural society. This book is the culmination of a lifelong scholarly inquiry into Christian h...

A fascinating, vivid, and on-the-ground account of Russian Orthodoxy's resurgence. A bold experiment is taking place in Russia. After a century of being scarred by militant, atheistic communism, the Orthodox Church has become Russia's largest and mo...

A leading biblical scholar's landmark work challenges the historical realism that has dominated the discipline for more than two centuries. How can a modern person, informed by science and history, continue to recite the traditional creeds and confe...

Thomas Blanton sheds light on the philosophy surrounding gift giving in Paul's letters and on modern theories of gift exchange through the lens of religion. The exchange of gifts is a fundamental part of society and a foundational element in Greco-Ro...

A bold and original study of German missionaries in China, who catalyzed a revolution in thinking among European Christians about the nature of Christianity itself In this accessibly written and empirically based study, Albert Wu documents how German...