This is a book review of Stefanie Knauss, “Religion and Film: Representation, Experience, Meaning” (Brill, 2020).

The translation of a short treatise on paranomasia, simile, and metonymy, by the foremost Persian-Turkish lexicographer of the 15th century, Lütfu’llāh el–Ḥalīmī. The text combines a rather dense and elliptic prose style with a remarkably lucid and clear-cut typology of seven types of tajnīs, seven types of tashbīh, and nine types of majāz, ofte…[Read more]

Prompted by Michel Foucault’s observation that “salvation is first of all essentially subsistence,” this essay explores Gregory of Nyssa’s discussion of Christian spiritual formation as a kind of salvific and transformative feeding of infants. This article argues that the prominent role of nourishment—and specifically breast milk—in Gregory’s t…[Read more]

Cyprian’s Epistle 63 represents the earliest extant account of the proper meaning and administration of the eucharistic cup. Against a group of Christians who were taking only water, Cyprian argues that wine is necessary for the ritual to be effective. While there has been much discussion surrounding the biblical references marshaled by Cyprian t…[Read more]

Humankind, for Gregory of Nyssa, was poisoned through a primordial act of eating the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden. As a result, the toxin of sin and death has been blended into the body and soul of each person, dispersing itself throughout the component parts of their nature. If eating and drinking initiated the spiritual and physical…[Read more]

Review of Douglas Boin’s Coming Out Christian in the Roman World

A review of the 2015 novel You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine, by Alexandra Kleeman

Review of Seducing Augustine, by Virginia Burrus, Karmen MacKendrick, and Mark Jordan (2010)

Encyclopedia Entry

A review article focused on phenomenological method and Christian thought in Marie-Aimée Manchon’s book _Alentour du verses: Petite phénoménologie des Mystère_ (Ad Solem, 2019).

A review article focused on phenomenological method and Christian thought in Marie-Aimée Manchon’s book _Alentour du verses: Petite phénoménologie des Mystère_ (Ad Solem, 2019).

The theory of language that underlies Plotinus’ Enneads is considered in relation to his
broader metaphysical vision. For Plotinus, language is neither univocal nor equivocal,
but is something in-between, incapable of precisely describing reality, but nonetheless
not completely useless. Propositional knowledge expressed discursively r…[Read more]

This essay explores Dante Alighieri’s notion of projectile motion in relation to spiritual fulfillment in the first canto of Paradiso. The notion of impetus, or projectile motion, stood at the confluence of Greek philosophical rationality (mediated by a substantial Arabic corpus) and Christian thought, and it provides a unique window through…[Read more]

This chapter examines the plight of Fra’ Alberigo in light of philosophical questions of personal identity and embodiment. I argue that Fra’ Alberigo’s individuality and his punishment in Tolomea provides insight into Dante’s unique interpretation of the complex relationship between body and spirit and the issue of material continuity in the…[Read more]

A brief review of Nelson Tebbe’s Religious Freedom in an Egalitarian Age, which seeks to resolve the the tension between the egalitarian impulse toward protections for the full rights of all individuals and the traditional American commitment to preservation of freedom to exercise sincerely held religious beliefs, even the beliefs of those who…[Read more]

This brief review reflects on Helge Ârsheim’s recent work, Making Religion and Human Rights at the United Nations. The text explores, with great success, the role of religion in an institution which “does not ‘do’ religion.” Ârsheim provides an accessible and comprehensive resource for anyone researching the role of religion in global affairs.

Over the last several months, the Republican party and its current leader have consistently trumpeted their strong commitment to law and order. Especially during this summer’s Black Lives Matter protests (and riots), as well as in response to calls for greater oversight of and a more limited role for police forces, many Republicans, political c…[Read more]

2020 was a year defined by disaster and unrest, from impeachment to war to wildfires to a global pandemic to protest movements arising in the United States in response to police violence. This brief article reflects on Robert Bellah’s concept of American Civil Religion, particularly his focus on three times of trial. I argue that the nation’s…[Read more]

This brief review explores Randall Balmer’s recent work, Solemn Reverence: The Separation of Church and State in American Life. In this capsule history of church/state separation, Balmer deftly and succinctly illustrates the centrality of religious freedom to the story of America. Seeking to respond to American evangelical trends toward Christian…[Read more]

This review explores the arguments of Joshua Mauldin in his new volume Barth, Bonhoeffer, & Modern Politics. In this work, Mauldin turns to history, and the writings of Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in search of helpful examples to which society can turn in an era when the modern democratic project appears perpetually to be teetering upon a…[Read more]