Author: John P. Meier File Type: pdf This book is the second volume in John Meiers masterful trilogy on the life of Jesus. In it he continues his quest for the answer to the greatest puzzle of modern religious scholarship Who was Jesus? To answer this Meier imagines the following scenario Suppose that a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jew, and an agnostic were locked up in the bowels of the Harvard Divinity School library... and not allowed to emerge until they had hammered out a consensus document on who Jesus of Nazareth was and what he intended.... A Marginal Jew is what Meier thinks that document would reveal. Volume one concluded with Jesus approaching adulthood. Now, in this volume, Meier focuses on the Jesus of our memory and the development of his ministry. To begin, Meier identifies Jesuss mentor, the one person who had the greatest single influence on him, John the Baptist. All of the Baptists fiery talk about the end of time had a powerful effect on the young Jesus and the formulation of his key symbol of the coming of the kingdom of God. And, finally, we are given a full investigation of one of the most striking manifestations of Jesuss message Jesuss practice of exorcisms, hearings, and other miracles. In all, Meier brings to life the story of a man, Jesus, who by his life and teaching gradually made himself marginal even to the marginal society that was first century Palestine.

Author: Richard Norman File Type: pdf humanism hjumeniz(e)m n.an outlook or system of thought concerned with human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Albert Einstein, Isaac Asimov, E.M. Forster, Bertrand Russell, and Gloria Steinem all declared themselves humanists. What is humanism and why does it matter? If it rejects religion, what does it offer in its place? Have the twentieth centurys crimes against humanity spelled the end for humanism? Drawing on a range of examples from Aristotle to Primo Levi and the novels of Virginia Woolf, On Humanismis a powerfully argued philosophical defence of humanism. It is also an impassioned plea that we turn to ourselves, not religion, if we want to answer Socrates age-old question what is the best kind of life to lead? Although humanism has much in common with science, Richard Norman shows that it is far from a denial of the more mysterious, fragile side of being human, dealing with big questions such as the environment, Darwinism and creation science, euthanasia and abortion. This revised second edition includes a new chapter on the debates between the New Atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens and their religious critics, asking why the two sides in the debate so often seem to be talking past one another, and suggesting how the conversation could be made more fruitful. Also featuring an expanded discussion of immortality and Christian claims about the Resurrection, On Humanism is a lucid and timely reflection on this much talked about but little understood phenomenon. humanism hjumeniz(e)m n. an outlook or system of thought concerned with human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Albert Einstein, Isaac Asimov, E.M. Forster, Bertrand Russell, and Gloria Steinem all declared themselves humanists. What is humanism and why does it matter? Is there any doctrine every humanist must hold? If it rejects religion, what does it offer in its place? Have the twentieth centurys crimes against humanity spelled the end for humanism?On Humanism is a timely and powerfully argued philosophical defence of humanism. It is also an impassioned plea that we turn to ourselves, not religion, if we want to answer Socrates age-old question what is the best kind of life to lead? Although humanism has much in common with science, Richard Norman shows that it is far from a denial of the more mysterious, fragile side of being human. He deals with big questions such as the environment, Darwinism and creation science, euthanasia and abortion, and then argues that it is ultimately through the human capacity for art, literature and the imagination that humanism is a powerful alternative to religious belief.Drawing on a varied range of examples from Aristotle to Primo Levi and the novels of Virginia Woolf and Graham Swift, On Humanism is a lucid and much needed reflection on this much talked about but little understood phenomenon.