RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY
Islam through Objects Edited by Anna Bigelow Explores the regional, theological, and sectarian diversity of Islam through the stories of particular objects of daily use and engagement by Muslims. With contributions from leading Islamic Studies scholars across disciplines, this book broadens the scope of current analysis to illuminate how objects of everyday practice shape Muslims' experiences and conceptualizations of their faith. Each chapter focuses on a single object in daily use by Muslims, exploring the regional, theological and sectarian diversity of Islam. Including colour illustrations, this collection brings a new methodological lens to the study of Islam, which until recently has primarily focused on texts. July 2021 • 75 mono illus 264 pages • 234 x 156mm 9781350138308 Bloomsbury Academic Series: Bloomsbury Studies in Material Religion
Anna Bigelow is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University, USA.
The Spirit of Catholicism Vivian Boland OP An echo of Karl Adam’s classic work The Spirit of Catholicism, for our times. Vivian Boland stresses the social, embodied character of Catholicism, crucial for understanding its particular form as well as what it offers to contemporary social and political challenges. The body of Christ in the world is the community of those who believe in him and who, living by his Spirit, seek to witness to the fraternity, to the social friendship, which the world so keenly needs. Paradoxically, such embodiment is the spirit of Catholicism. Vivian Boland OP is Professor Aggregatus in the Faculty of Theology at the Angelicum University in Rome. November 2021 • 224 pages 234 x 153mm • 9781441178022 Bloomsbury Continuum
Hope and the Nearness of God The 2022 Lent Book
Teresa White A reflection on the meaning and quality of hope for the period of Lent and beyond. Teresa White argues that hope is central to the meaning of Lent, and Easter. Hope, which is quite different from optimism, is the most precious spiritual gift. Hope is the realistic way of perceiving the scope of our real human possibilities. It implies courage and patience, accepting the things that we cannot change and living constructively. It is an entirely original approach to Lent. December 2021 • 224 pages 198 x 129mm • 9781472984197 Bloomsbury Continuum
Sister Teresa White FCJ is a member of a Roman Catholic order of nuns involved in education and social work.
Entering the Twofold Mystery On Christian Conversion
Erik Varden Following on from his book The Shattering of Loneliness, Erik Varden provides a glimpse of the value of a monastic life and a Christian calling in our troubled modern age.
January 2022 • 272 pages 216 x 135mm • 9781472979476 Bloomsbury Continuum
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Erik Varden, Trappist monk and now bishop, is sensitive to the growing interest in the monastic life in these hard times of pandemic, uncertainty, and political turbulence. He invites us to observe and learn from this life. After a personal introduction, Varden follows the Church year and seasons, always inspired by scriptural reading. The tone of the book is set in a quotation from St Bernard: 'Be whole and so be happy'. Erik Varden is a monk and bishop. Before entering Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, he was a Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge.
