This book by Laura Zucconi is an accessible introductory text to the practice and theory of medicine in the ancient world. In contrast to other works that focus heavily on Greece and Rome, Zucconi’s Ancient Medicine covers a broader geographical and chronological range. The world of medicine in antiquity consisted of a lot more than Hippocrates and Galen.Zucconi applies historical and anthropological methods to examine the medical cultures of not only Mesopotamia, Egypt, G...

This book by Laura Zucconi is an accessible introductory text to the practice and theory of medicine in the ancient world. In contrast to other works that focus heavily on Greece and Rome, Zucconi's Ancient Medicine covers a broader geographical and chronological range. The world of medicine in antiquity consisted of a lot more than Hippocrates and Galen.Zucconi applies historical and anthropological methods to examine the medical cultures of not only Mesopotamia, Egypt, G...

An expert on early Christianity reveals how the early church invented stories of Christian martyrs—and how this persecution myth persists today.According to church tradition and popular belief, early Christians were systematically persecuted by a brutal Roman Empire intent on their destruction. As the story goes, vast numbers of believers were thrown to the lions, tortured, or burned alive because they refused to renounce Christ. But as Candida Moss reveals in T...

‘Monumental and eye-opening’ Reza Aslan 'A revelation […and…] an intellectual triumph' Irish Independent '[A] massive achievement' Spectator ‘Refreshingly readable' GuardianFor the past two thousand years, Christian tradition, scholarship, and pop culture has credited the authorship of the New Testament to a select group of men: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul. But the truth is that these individuals did not write alone. In some meanin...

From an award-winning biblical scholar, the story of how enslaved people created, gave meaning to, and spread the message of the New Testament, shaping the very foundations of Christianity in ways both subtle and profound.For the past two thousand years, Christian tradition, scholarship, and pop culture have credited the authorship of the New Testament to a select group of men: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul. But hidden behind these named and sainted individua...

This superbly taught course is a must-have for inquisitive Christians.As Christians, we profess to believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, but what exactly does this mean? In this fundamental course, you will explore the origin, context, and meanings of the Christian beliefs about the afterlife.What happens after we die? Over the centuries, this question has been tackled by theologians, artists, and philosophers alike. In this course you w...

From an award-winning biblical scholar, the story of how enslaved people created, gave meaning to, and spread the message of the New Testament, shaping the very foundations of Christianity in ways both subtle and profound.For the past two thousand years, Christian tradition, scholarship, and pop culture have credited the authorship of the New Testament to a select group of men: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul. But hidden behind these named and sainted individua...

‘Monumental and eye-opening’ Reza Aslan 'A revelation […and…] an intellectual triumph' Irish Independent '[A] massive achievement' Spectator ‘Refreshingly readable' GuardianFor the past two thousand years, Christian tradition, scholarship, and pop culture has credited the authorship of the New Testament to a select group of men: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul. But the truth is that these individuals did not write alone. In some meanin...

A history of the Dark Ages "explain[s] very clearly why people in the early Christian era were so passionately concerned with issues of high theology.( The Economist ).Jesus Wars reveals how official, orthodox teaching about Jesus was the product of political maneuvers by a handful of key characters in the fifth century. Philip Jenkins argues that were it not for these controversies, the papacy as we know it woul...

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year that Sir Ian McKellen called a shocking tale of heroes and villains-illuminating and upsetting in equal measure.”The first production of Oscar Wilde’s Salomé in 1918, with American exotic dancer Maud Allan dancing lead, ignited a firestorm in London spearheaded by Noel Pemberton Billing, a member of Parliament and self-appointed guardian of family values. Billing attacked Allan in the right-wing newspaper...

A history of human desire and how we decide what is precious, this New York Times bestseller "romps through the stories of eight jewels" ( New York Times ).What makes a stone a jewel? What makes a jewel priceless? And why do we covet beautiful things? In this brilliant account of how eight jewels shaped the course of history, jeweler and scientist Aja Raden tells an original and...

The Great and Holy War offers the first look at how religion created and prolonged the First World War, and the lasting impact it had on Christianity and world religions more extensively in the century that followed. The war was fought by the world's leading Christian nations, who presented the conflict as a holy war. A steady stream of patriotic and militaristic rhetoric was served to an unprecedented audience, using language that spoke of holy war and crusade, of apocalypse and Armageddo...