Geschichte

The Walpurgis Manuscript (Royal Armouries I.33) is the world's oldest known personal fencing manual, having been written in early 14th century Germany. This fascinating document offers a unique window into a style of sword and buckler fencing that appears to have been both a popular sport and a means of waging war in Western Europe for more than a century. This extensively revised and extended Second Edition will take you through a series of instructions and exercises designed to have you fencing in a way which the authors of the I.33 Manuscript would have immediately recognized. Along with several important interpretation updates, the Second Edition features over 100 illustrative photographs and more than 90 exercises. Rediscover this ancient and effective medieval combat style for yourself, a style which fascinated our ancestors and is still intriguing fencers today.

The Emerald Tablet is a cryptic and central piece of the Hermetica reputed to contain the secret of the prima materia and its transmutation. It was highly regarded by medieval alchemists as the foundation of their art and its Hermetic tradition. The original source of the Emerald Tablet is unknown. Although Hermes Trismegistus is the author named in the text, the text was first translated into Latin in the twelfth century. Numerous translations, interpretations, and commentaries followed.

THE FIRST FULLY ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY OF JAPAN'S GREATEST SWORDSMANMiyamoto Musashi (1584-1645) is the most celebrated swordsman in Japanese history. Yet few of the many works on the enigmatic warrior have hewn to the original sources. Fewer still have explored the emotional turmoil that drove him on to be the very best in his field.A Life in Arms debunks many of the convenient myths, while at the same time uncovering the more controversial aspects that have been left hidden: his deeply troubled relationship with his father, his whereabouts during the battle of Sekigahara, his role in the siege of Osaka castle, and the birth and death of an illegitimate child, an event that deeply influenced his art.It shows how Musashi's path through life was shaped by strong personal traits: a reckless valor in the face of danger, a sensitive intelligence in the fields of art and architecture, a generosity toward peers and pupils, and a defiant stubbornness in old age. The complex yet human portrait that arises is a far cry from the accepted one-dimensional caricatures.Drawing from a wealth of images, maps, photographs, and woodprints, this Illustrated Edition gives the reader an even more authentic and in-depth experience of the life of Japan's greatest swordsman.

Widely praised as a seminal contribution to the study of the Old Testament when it first appeared, Michael V. Fox's Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther is now available in a second edition, complete with an up-to-date critical review of recent Esther scholarship. Fox's commentary, based on his own translation of the Hebrew text, captures the meaning and artistry of Esther's inspiring story. After laying out the background information essential for properly reading Esther, Fox offers commentary on the text that clearly unpacks its message and relevance. Fox also looks in depth at each character in the story of Esther, showing how they were carefully shaped by the book's author to teach readers a new view of how to live as Jews in foreign lands.

Why has our society become so focused on money--and at what human cost? Carol Johnston explores the value assumptions of Western economic theory, revealing what economists contributed and what opportunities were missed as the theory kept narrowing--until only market decisions were considered and money became the only reality. She then offers a proposal to transform the focus of capitalism from wealth to community and national health.

As the world grows increasingly complex, human beings need more, not less, good counsel for Christian living. This book reaches into the treasury of Anglican spirituality and draws out pearls of wisdom for today's needs. The Anglican tradition has shown an abiding concern for a holy living that leads to a holy dying. Spiritual Counsel in the Anglican Tradition offers earnest, practical devotion to inspire and to instruct the Christian pilgrim in the path of discipleship. Here readers will find not a general collection of spiritual writings but direct words of spiritual counsel on such crucial subjects as discipleship, vocation, scripture, sacraments, vice and virtue, money, patience, forgiveness, perseverance, marriage and family, friendship, and the natural world. Readers will also encounter many passages selected for both authoritative content and surpassing beauty. Represented in these pages are fifty Anglican authors, including Lancelot Andrewes, John Donne, Austin Farrer, C. S. Lewis, Samuel Johnson, William Law, Hannah More, J. B. Phillips, Michael Ramsey, Frederick W. Robertson, Dorothy L. Sayers, Robert South, Geoffrey A. Studdert Kennedy, Jeremy Taylor, William Temple, Evelyn Underhill, and Olive Wyon. This book takes seriously the Anglican emphasis on a form of religion that quickens the mind, forms the conscience, guides the will, and lifts the spirit.""Probably every Christian who has led others through a crisis or rallied for a controversial issue knows what it's like to stand alone. For such times, as well as calmer ones, Spiritual Counsel in the Anglican Tradition offers friendship with wise counselors. Their deep familiarity with the vagaries of the spiritual life carries the reader from struggle to enlightened companionship with God in Jesus Christ, and to a wonderful, existentially felt participation in the Communion of Saints.""--Elisabeth KoenigProfessor of Ascetical TheologyThe General Theological Seminary""These pieces of thoughtful holiness touch all sides of the life of faith and will help those who use them carry divine wisdom into living practice. We owe David Hein and Charles Henery much gratitude for sifting several centuries of Anglican faith for these gems. I will use this volume for the rest of my life.""--Edward HendersonJaak Seynaeve Professor of Christian StudiesLouisiana State UniversityDavid Hein is Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Hood College. He is the author of Geoffrey Fisher: Archbishop of Canterbury, 1945-1961 (2007) and coauthor with Gardiner H. Shattuck Jr. of The Episcopalians (2005).Charles R. Henery is Director of Spiritual Life at St. John's Northwestern Military Academy and Priest-in-Charge of the Church of St. John Chrysostom in Delafield, Wisconsin. He is the editor of A Speaking Life: The Legacy of John Keble (1995) and of Beyond the Horizon: Frontiers for Mission (1986).

In 2017 Christians around the world will mark the five hundredth anniversary of the Reformation. In the midst of many appeals for reformation today, a growing number of theologians, scholars, and activists around the world believe Reformation celebrations in 2017 and beyond need to focus now on the urgent need for an Eco-Reformation. The rise of industrial, fossil fuel-driven capitalism and the explosive growth in human population endanger the fundamental planetary life-support systems on which life as we know it has evolved. The collective impact of human production, consumption, and reproduction is undermining the ecological systems that support human life on Earth. If human beings do not reform their relationship with God's creation, unspeakable suffering will befall many--especially the weakest and most vulnerable among all species. The conviction at the heart of this collection of essays is that a gospel call for ecological justice belongs at the heart of the five hundredth anniversary observance of the Reformation in 2017 and as a--if not the--central dimension of Christian conversion, faith, and practice into the foreseeable future. Like Luther's Ninety-Five Theses, this volume brings together critical biblical, pastoral, theological, historical, and ethical perspectives that constructively advance the vision of a socially and ecologically flourishing Earth.

Often pushed to the margins, queer, transgender and gender non-conforming survivors have been organizing in anti-violence work since the birth of the movement. Queering Sexual Violence: Radical Voices from Within the Anti-Violence Movement locates them at the center of the anti-violence movement and creates a space for their voices to be heard. Moving beyond dominant narratives and the traditional "violence against women" framework, the book is multi-gendered, multi-racial and multi-layered.This thirty-seven piece collection disrupts the mainstream conversations about sexual violence and connects them to disability justice, sex worker rights, healing justice, racial justice, gender self-determination, queer & trans liberation and prison industrial complex abolition through reflections, personal narrative, and strategies for resistance and healing. Where systems, institutions, families, communities and partners have failed them, this collection lifts them up, honors a multitude of lived experiences and shares the radical work that is being done outside mainstream anti-violence and the non-profit industrial complex.

How deep has Pannenberg''s influence been on American theology? Which particular ideas or themes from his work have been most pervasive to Ameri­can thinkers, and which have encountered the greatest resistance? What implications does his work have beyond explicitly theo­logical contexts--e.g., for philosophy, ethics, environmental concerns, political ac­tion, and the natural sciences? What new forms have his ideas taken as they have been adapted to fit the very different context of American theology? The authors of the twelve critiques in this vol­ume represent a broad cross section of American thought on religion. The essays cover virtually all of the major areas in which Pannenberg has published. An intro­ductory survey provides a comprehensive overview of the critical literature on Pannenberg from the early 1960s to 1986. Together, the essays represent an ac­curate barometer of the influence Pannenberg has had in America, as well as the sorts of reservations that the English-speaking world brings to his work.It has now been many years since Pannenberg''s first visit to the United States. At that time the discussion with Pannenberg fo­cused on the radically historical character of his proposal for theology, centering around revelation and resurrection. In the meantime, Pannenberg''s thought has ex­panded almost encyclopedically into most of the major disciplines studied in a modern university. Without doubt the most comprehensive theologian at work today, his place in the history of twentieth-century theol­ogy is well assured.Carl E. Braaten, Professor of Theology at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, is founding editor of Dialog: A Journey of Theology. Among his many books are Justification: The Article by which the Church Stands or Falls, Principles of Lutheran Theology, and, edited with Robert W. Jenson, Christian Dogmatics (2 vols.). Philip Clayton teaches in the Department of Philosophy at Williams college, Williamstown, Massachusetts.

This book looks at how Darwinism has adversely affected morality in Western culture, not only sexual morals, but also the mistreatment of minority races, the killing of the sick and diseased and the rise of the abortion movement. Key figures of the twentieth century are considered: Havelock Ellis, Margaret Sanger, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Benjamin Spock, Karl Pearson, Anders Behring Breivik and others. The ideological impact of Darwinism on such issues as eugenics, abortion, racism, war and social policy since Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was first published in 1859 is profound. Overturning the predominately Judeo-Christian worldview of previous centuries, Darwinism has infiltrated every area of science, philosphy, art, literature, business, anthropology, social policy, governance and medicine. We need to understand the foundational problem in order to propose ways that societal reforms can be addressed in our day—this book will help us do just that.

The Holy Trinity, volume 3 of the Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics series, explains the difficulties we face in confessing the Trinity in our world today and how we overcome these challenges by placing Christ and the Gospel at the center of our preaching and teaching. The Holy Trinity returns us to Scripture and shows how the Old and New Testaments carefully and decisively present the indivisible oneness and irreducible threeness of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Finally, The Holy Trinity introduces readers to the sound pattern of words used by the Fathers and Lutheran reformers to clarify and defend the trinitarian witness of Scripture. We confess, worship, and glorify the Holy Trinity rightly when we boldly proclaim the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ. Carl Beckwith is professor of church history and doctrine at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama.

Otto Dix (1891–1969) is considered one of the true lions of 20th-C art, a man who established himself as an uncompromising artist that refused to temper how he rendered the realities that he witnessed. Dix’s early works often depict the true brutalities of the WWI battlefields and trenches he served in for over three years, as well as the decadent underworld of 1920s Berlin.  With the publication of this first of three volumes of an extensive selection of letters, the most comprehensive collection of Otto Dix texts at last comes into print in English. Encompassing well over 1,000 letters, and ranging from friends and family to other artists, collectors, colleagues, critics & biographers, the letters offer a personal portrait of six decades of the 20th C. Dix himself was a controversial figure throughout his life, and while he claimed never to write self-testimonials, the artist had much to say about the widest range of subjects in his private correspondence. Therein, we discover much about a figure who exhibited a gruff, often abrasive persona to many, a man who depicted war with unrepentant brutality yet who could at the same time pen the most romantic, schmaltzy letters to his wife and sketch amusing caricatures to his daughter.   Following his experiences throughout WWI, Dix immediately took up with the dadaists in Dresden in 1919 and became an established figure as part of the Sezession. A few years later, after his first portrait commission in Dusseldorf in 1922, Dix met his future wife, Martha, with whom he would go on to raise three children, and who is one of the principle correspondents in this volume of letters. Some of his most significant work was produced in the 1920s, including his powerful Krieg (War) portfolio, for which the Nazis branded him a “degenerate artist” and forced him to resign his professorship in 1933. Condemned to internal exile, Dix thereafter resided in Hemmenhofen, in the extreme southwest part of Germany. Twelve years later, he would suffer further indignities from the Nazis when ordered to join the Volkssturm in 1945. Dix ended up in a prisoner-of-war camp, again a survivor of a second harrowing cataclysm. After his release, from 1946 onwards, the painter lived between East and West Germany, never truly at home in either ideologically, yet he remained prolific, continuing to produce art until the end of his life, having lived through two World Wars as well as the “Cold War.” This first volume covers the period 1904–1927 and the heart of it is a selection of Dix’s postcards from the WWI front written to his school friend in Dresden, Helene Jakob, a form of artistic reportage of uncanny power. Recipient of the Die schönsten Deutschen Bücher shortlist in 2014, Dix’s letters will prove to be of considerable interest to art historians, scholars of Expressionism, and aficionados of Dix, all of whom will encounter the artist as never before.

A History of Preaching brings together narrative history and primary sources to provide the most comprehensive guide available to the story of the church's ministry of proclamation. Bringing together an impressive array of familiar and lesser-known figures, Edwards paints a detailed, compelling picture of what it has meant to preach the gospel. Pastors, scholars, and students of homiletics will find here many opportunities to enrich their understanding and practice of preaching. Volume 1 contains Edwards's magisterial retelling of the story of Christian preaching's development from its Hellenistic and Jewish roots in the New Testament, through the late-twentieth century's discontent with outdated forms and emphasis on new modes of preaching such as narrative. Along the way the author introduces us to the complexities and contributions of preachers, both with whom we are already acquainted, and to whom we will be introduced here for the first time. Origen, Chrysostom, Augustine, Bernard, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Edwards, Rauschenbusch, Barth; all of their distinctive contributions receive careful attention. Yet lesser-known figures and developments also appear, from the ninth-century reform of preaching championed by Hrabanus Maurus, to the reference books developed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by the mendicant orders to assist their members' preaching, to Howell Harris and Daniel Rowlands, preachers of the eighteenth-century Welsh revival, to Helen Kenyon, speaking as a layperson at the 1950 Yale Beecher lectures about the view of preaching from the pew. Volume 2, available separately as 9781501833786, contains primary source material on preaching drawn from the entire scope of the church's twenty centuries. The author has written an introduction to each selection, placing it in its historical context and pointing to its particular contribution. Each chapter in Volume 2 is geared to its companion chapter in Volume 1's narrative history. Ecumenical in scope, fair-minded in presentation, appreciative of the contributions that all the branches of the church have made to the story of what it means to develop, deliver, and listen to a sermon, A History of Preaching will be the definitive resource for anyone who wishes to preach or to understand preaching's role in living out the gospel. "...'This work is expected to be the standard text on preaching for the next 30 years, ' says Ann K. Riggs, who staffs the NCC's Faith and Order Commission. Author Edwards, former professor of preaching at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, is co-moderator of the commission, which studies church-uniting and church-dividing issues. 'A History of Preaching is ecumenical in scope and will be relevant in all our churches; we all participate in this field, ' says Riggs...." from EcuLink, Number 65, Winter 2004-2005 published by the National Council of Churches

A central theme of the philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism is the highly esoteric principal known as spanda. Swami Lakshmanjoo tells us that the word ';spanda' means established stable movement. That is, it is movementless-movement, vibrationless-vibration. It is this secret, mysterious and yet essential principle that Swami Lakshmanjoo clarifies and elucidates in his revelation of the two texts dealing specifically with this principle, the Spanda Karika and the Spanda Sandoha. The theory of spanda is not new. It was hidden in the body of the Tantras and extracted by Vasugupta, founder of the Shiva Sutras, and initiator of monistic Shaivism in the valley of Kashmir. Vasugupta composed the Spanda Karika, a text filled with the fundamentalprecepts (karikas) regarding spanda and the philosophy surrounding it. Ka hemaraja, the chief disciple of the very important and central figure in the tradition of Kashmir Shaivism, Abhinavagupta, is the author of the second pivotal text regarding spanda, the Spanda Sandoha. This text is an extensive exposition (sandoha) on the first verse of the Spanda Karika.