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The first-ever monograph on the history of queer biblical interpretation of a controversial biblical passage

Since the 1950s, homoerotic readings of the pericope in which Jesus heals a Roman centurion’s slave have been built upon three of the account’s features: the specific Greek word pais, which can refer to youth, slave, or the junior partner in a sexual relationship between two men; Luke’s characterization of the young man as “dear” (entimos) to the centurion; and commonplace homoeroticism in the Roman army. Rather than affirming or denying the historical reality of a sexual relationship between the centurion and the young man, Christopher B. Zeichmann instead traces the shifting patterns of queer readings of the text and the influences of the sexual, political, and theological discourses of late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century Europe, the United States, and Australia. Readers will see how distinct political contexts have led interpreters to find very different meanings about the sexual subtexts of this story.

The definitive social history of the Disciples of Christ in the 19th century

Quest for a Christian America, 1800–1865: A Social History of the Disciples of Christ, Volume 1 by David Edwin Harrell Jr. is the definitive social history of the early Disciples of Christ and the broader Restoration Movement, one of the most influential religious reform movements in nineteenth-century America. Led by visionary figures such as Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone, the movement sought to restore the practices and principles of the early Christian church while promoting unity among believers in a rapidly changing nation.

Moving beyond traditional denominational history, Harrell examines the social, cultural, and political forces that shaped the movement's development between 1800 and the Civil War. He explores how Disciples responded to major issues of the era, including economic growth, reform movements, slavery, sectional conflict, patriotism, pacifism, and the challenges posed by an increasingly modern and diverse society. Through careful analysis, Harrell demonstrates how these concerns influenced both the movement's theology and its vision for a Christian nation.

Quest for a Christian America illuminates the origins of a movement whose descendants include the modern Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Independent Christian Churches, and Churches of Christ. The book offers valuable insight into the relationship between religion, culture, and public life in nineteenth-century America.

Shall CPR be given to the frail elderly? Can genetic engineering be patented? Can there be a berit for Messianic Jews? May a tallit be worn at an interfaith service? May a criminal be a member of the congregation? Must a Jewish lawyer defend terrorists? These are just a few of the questions answered in this volume, which includes 246 Responsa. Originally published in 1992, many of these questions are still relevant for Jewish life today.

Since the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century, the Maya population of Guatemala has been forced to adapt to extraordinary challenges. Under colonial rule, the Indians had to adapt enough to satisfy the Spanish while resisting those changes not necessary for survival, applying their understanding of the world to the realities they confronted daily. Despite the major changes wrought in their way of life by centuries of submission, the Maya have managed to regenerate, and thus maintain, their self-identity.

Among the major challenges they have faced has been the imposition of outside religions. Quiché Rebelde examines what happened when Acción Católica came into the Guatemalan municipio of San Antonio Ilotenango, Quiché, to convert its inhabitants.

Ricardo Falla, a Guatemalan Jesuit priest and anthropologist, analyzes the movement's origins and why some people became part of it while others resisted. He shows how religion was used as another tool to readapt to the changing environment—natural, economic, political, and social. His work is the first major empirical study of how change occurred in a Maya community with no serious loss of Maya identity—and how the process of conversion is related to more general processes of cultural change that actually strengthen ethnic identity.

A unique study of the Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls

In Qumran Hebrew, Reymond examines the orthography, phonology, and morphology of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Short sections treat specific linguistic phenomena and present a synopsis and critique of previous research. Reymond’s approach emphasizes problems posed by scribal errors and argues that guttural letters had not all “weakened” but instead were “weak” in specific linguistic environments, texts, or dialects. Reymond illustrates that certain phonetic shifts (such as the shift of yodh > aleph and the opposite shift of aleph > yodh) occur in discernible linguistic contexts that suggest this was a real phonetic phenomenon.

Features:

• Summary and critique of previous research
• Discussion of the most recently published scrolls
• Examination of scribal errors, guttural letters, and phonetic shifts