The words ldquo messiah rdquo and ldquo messianism rdquo are often used loosely not only in popular culture but also in religious discourse even in biblical scholarship This magisterial study of these terms in the Bible and related ancient sources by a premier biblical scholar of our time brin

Stephen Prothero a historian of American religion and the author of a much acclaimed earlier volume American Jesus takes his cue for his title from E D Hirsch rsquo s 1987 volume Cultural Literacy What Every American Needs to Know Prothero addresses a huge paradox America is very religious b

Most people realize that over the last 40 years the tobacco industry has spent millions of dollars to mislead the public about the dangers of smoking People are less likely to know that oil companies are doing something similar ExxonMobil has spent 16 million to fund a web of organizations charg

As the poet Joan Murray points out in her introduction to this stellar collection the glitteringly self-deprecating Pushcart Prize has been bringing extraordinary literary talents to a broad readership for 30 years This volume is the third in a series of prize-winning Best of the Best volumes from

Last fall hearing Bob Dylan 8217 s 1975 song Shelter From the Storm on the radio several times brought to mind a student from around that time who had written an outstanding paper with that title using the words of Dylan 8217 s song to shape an interpretation of Gnosticism So I searched for th

Are the culture wars of the last two decades a bogus conflict Do the debates about abortion gender sexuality and aesthetics amount to a series of shadowboxing matches Intellectuals appear increasingly divided For some they 8217 re a genuine combat for others they 8217 re something for the