Inventing Eden

Previous scholars have noted the Puritans' edenic descriptions of New World landscapes, but Inventing Eden is the first study to fully uncover the integral relationship between the New England interest in paradise and the numerous iconic intellectual artifacts and social movements of colonial North America. Harvard Yard, the Bay Psalm Book, and the Quaker use of antiquated pronouns like thee and thou: these are products of a seventeenth-century desire for Eden. So, too, are the evangelical emphasis of the Great Awakening, the doctrine of natural law popularized by the Declaration of Independence, and the first United States judicial decision abolishing slavery. Be it public nudity or Freemasonry, Zachary Hutchins convincingly shows how a shared wish to bring paradise into the pragmatic details of colonial living had a profound effect on early New England life and its substantial culture of letters. Spanning two centuries and surveying the works of major British and American thinkers from James Harrington and John Milton to Anne Hutchinson and Benjamin Franklin, Inventing Eden is the history of an idea that irrevocably altered the theology, literature, and culture of colonial New England -- and, eventually, the new republic.

Inventing Americans in the Age of Discovery traces the linguistic, rhetorical, and literary innovations that emerged out of the first encounters between Europeans and indigenous peoples of the Americas. Through analysis of six texts, Michael Householder demonstrates the role of language in forming the identities or characters that permitted Europeans (English speakers, primarily) to adapt to the unusual circumstances of encounter. Arranged chronologically, the texts examined include John Mandeville's Travels, Richard Eden's English-language translations of the accounts of Spanish and Portuguese discovery and conquest, George Best's account of Martin Frobisher's voyages to northern Canada, Ralph Lane's account of the abandonment of Roanoke, John Smith's writings about Virginia, and John Underhill's account of the Pequot War. Through his analysis, Householder reveals that English colonists did not share a universal, homogenous view of indigenous Americans as savages, but that the writers, confronted by unfamiliar peoples and situations, resorted to a mixed array of cultural beliefs, myths, and theories to put together workable explanations of their experiences, which then became the basis for how Europeans in the colonies began transforming themselves into Americans.

The enduring and universal metaphor of the garden is a simple yet profound tool for counteracting the numbing effects of modern life. Creating Eden is Marilyn Barrett's evocative meditation on gardening as a tool for self-exploration and natural healing. Here the principles of psychology and ecological gardening are combined to create a helpful guide to achieving serenity and balance.

A collection of multinational scholarly contributions on various cultural aspects of the Amazon region in the 20th century.

This is, perhaps, the most multifaceted collection of essays Zondervan has ever published. A fitting Festschrift to Stan Gundry, a man known by many people for many things, but never for being one-dimensional. As a pastor, scholar, publisher, mentor, and trusted friend, Stan has played diverse roles and worn numerous hats in his professional tenure. Contributors from a variety of disciplines put a Gundry spin on a topic of their expertise and choosing--whether it's an evangelical-historical look at recent developments in their particular discipline or reflections on a topic at the center of Stan's interests. The result is this Festschrift--as multilayered, engaging, and authentic as the man it honors. Contributors and essays include the following: Craig L. Blomberg - "Does the Quest for the Historical Jesus Still Hold Any Promise?" Millard J. Erickson - "Eighty Years of American Evangelical Theology" Gordon D. Fee - "On Women Remaining Silent in the Churches: A Text-Critical Approach to 1 Corinthians 14:34-35" Robert A. Fryling - "A Key to a Publishing Friendship" Robert H. Gundry - "A Brotherly Tribute" Carolyn Custis James and Frank A. James III - "The Blessed Alliance: Already But Not Yet" Karen H. Jobes - "'It Is Written': The Septuagint and Evangelical Doctrine of Scripture" Tremper Longman III - "'What Was Said in All the Scriptures concerning Himself' (Luke 24:27): Reading the Old Testament as a Christian" Richard J. Mouw - "Faithfulness in a 'Counterpoint' World: The Role of Theological Education" Ruth A. Tucker - "Eve, Jezebel, and the Woman at the Well: Biblical Women Hijacked in the Fight against Equality" John H. Walton - "The Tower of Babel and the Covenant: Rhetorical Strategy in Genesis Based on Theological and Comparative Analysis" John D. Woodbridge - "The Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy" Christopher J. H. Wright - "The Missional Nature and the Role of Theological Education"

As the sacred text of a modern religious movement of global reach, The Book of Mormon has undeniable historical significance. That significance, this volume shows, is inextricable from the intricacy of its literary form and the audacity of its historical vision. This landmark collection brings together a diverse range of scholars in American literary studies and related fields to definitively establish The Book of Mormon as an indispensable object of Americanist inquiry not least because it is, among other things, a form of Americanist inquiry in its own right--a creative, critical reading of "America." Drawing on formalist criticism, literary and cultural theory, book history, religious studies, and even anthropological field work, Americanist Approaches to The Book of Mormon captures as never before the full dimensions and resonances of this "American Bible."

Elisa New examines the poems in great detail, offering searching readings and concluding finally that "it is 'regeneracy' rather than 'originality' that is the American poet's modus operandi and native mandate."