This work consists of a selection of papers from sessions during the first two years of SBL Consultation on Midrash. It demonstrates innovative approaches to midrashic texts and hermeneutic reflections on similarities and differences between interpretations of the Bible.

Into the Classroom is a series of eleven new books designed for second-level teachers beginning the new Leaving Certificate Religious Education syllabus. Each of the books covers all the content in the relevant syllabus section. With their accessible and engaging commentary, they will also be of great interest to third-level students, educators and a general readership. Christianity: Origins and Contemporary Expressions aims to develop an appreciation of the Early Christian Movement, including the distinctive features of Christianity within the historical, social and religious context of its time, and to correlate this with contemporary expressions of Christianity. It also highlights the diversity and adaptability of the Movement in addressing the search for meaning.

Peace I bequeath of you, my own peace I give you, a peace the word cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. (John 14:27)The role of a hospice is to assist the patient to carry his or her burden. The medical staff will do everything possible to deal with the patients physical pain, but often there are other forms of pain : loneliness, fear disbelief that this could happen, worries , about family and work, emotional pain, spiritual pain, pain of the soul. There is also questioning about how a loving God can allow something like this to happen. I perceive hospice chaplaincy as a ministry of accompaniment of the patient and the patients family - travelling the journey with them.

Global Aspirations and the Reality of Change is a collection of papers from the 6th Ceifin Conference, which is held annually in Ennis, Co. Clare. The theme of this latest volume is societal change and how people can put more emphasis on action and begin to translate analysis into reality. Contributors conclude that action will take place only when more people participate in society - and are empowered to do so.

Is religious education a thing of the past, or is it something whose time has not yet arrived? In New Directions in Religious Education Finola Cunnane details her conviction that religious education is one of the most important issues facing our world today and argues that there is a need for a language that honors both the educational and the religious in life. New Directions in Religious Education aims to provide food for thought, to suggest a new imagining of religious education, and to unveil the truest meaning of this endeavor.

Aimed at primary school teachers of religious education as they set about responding to the challenges of religious education in the twenty-first century. The collection begins by focusing on children's existential concerns and on the response of home, school and parish. Consideration is then given to contemporary issues affecting religious education such as intercultural education and outreach to children from a variety of disadvantaged situations and circumstances. The third section includes essays on catechetics and on the use of story, including popular cultural narratives such as Harry Potter. The final section addresses the sacraments of Communion and Confirmation, and includes an essay on the liturgical inclusion of people with special needs.

In an imperfect world, our consciousness of creation is not always as clear as it might be. One of the purposes of prayer is to enable us to become more aware of God, ourselves and our world. In a state of perfect awareness everything would be understood. Small World by Dermot O'Brien, a collection of short poems in haiku form, contains moments of this awareness.

Pleads passionately for peace, for fair conditions of world trade and for a more equitable sharing the world's resources.

Anne Alcock has compiled a selection of twenty-four well-loved Old Testament passages that touch upon many of the issues that concern us as we enter middle age.

This book, based on six lectures by the author, gives the history of the conversion of India to Christianity from the earliest times until 1893. Smith’s work is useful for understanding the American missionary mentality of the nineteenth century.

Southern Baptists had long considered themselves a missionary people, but when, after World War II, they embarked on a dramatic expansion of missionary efforts, they confronted headlong the problem of racism. Believing that racism hindered their evangelical efforts, the Convention's full-time missionaries and mission board leaders attacked racism as unchristian, thus finding themselves at odds with the pervasive racist and segregationist ideologies that dominated the South. This progressive view of race stressed the biblical unity of humanity, encompassing all races and transcending specific ethnic divisions. In All According to God's Plan, Alan Scot Willis explores these beliefs and the chasm they created within the Convention. He shows how, in the post-World War II era, the most respected members of the Southern Baptists Convention publicly challenged the most dearly held ideologies of the white South.

Buchan’s work is an examination of the theological use of the doctrine of Christ's descent to the dead in the works of Saint Ephrem the Syrian (ca. 306-373 C.E. ). Ephrem's conception of Christ's descent to Sheol provides us with an important and distinctive vision of the significance of this salvific event. Ephrem's use of Semitic and non-Western poetic forms and structures as a mode of theological discourse, coupled with his preference for imagery and symbolism rather than definition, resulted in a variety of vivid depictions of Christ's descent to Sheol. The doctrine is shown to be an integral and multifaceted component of Ephrem's theology.

The book takes the reader on a journey of cross symbolism. Karim covers topics from the paradise of Eden to the Crucifixion and Golgotha. He discusses the cross as a symbol of historical, sacramental, and eschatological events.

A concordance of the two text witnesses to the Old Syriac Gospel of the Distinct Evangelists (Evangelion da-Mepharreshe), namely Codex Curetonianus and Codex Sinaiticus. The text basis for this concordance is that found in George Anton Kiraz, Comparative Edition of the Syriac Gospels (Gorgias Press, 2nd ed., 2004) with a number of judicious emendations.

A concordance of the two text witnesses to the Old Syriac Gospel of the Distinct Evangelists (Evangelion da-Mepharreshe), namely Codex Curetonianus and Codex Sinaiticus. The text basis for this concordance is that found in George Anton Kiraz, Comparative Edition of the Syriac Gospels (Gorgias Press, 2nd ed., 2004) with a number of judicious emendations.