Person And Myth

Originally published in 1982, James Clifford's analytical biography of Maurice Leenhardt (1878 - 1954)--missionary, anthropologist, founder of French Oceanic studies, historian of religion, and colonial reformer--received wide critical acclaim for its insight into the colonial history of anthropology. Drawing extensively on unpublished letters and journals, Clifford traces Leenhardt's life from his work as a missionary on the island of New Caledonia (1902 - 1926) to his subsequent return to Paris where he became an academic anthropologist at the Ecole pratique des hautes etudes, where he followed Marcel Mauss and was succeeded in 1951 by Claude Levi-Strauss.

A fascinating and well-researched look into what we really know about cannibalism.

Skeeve, a powerful young magician, and his companions venture into an upside-down dimension to search for his missing demon partner, Aahz, in Myth-ing Persons, and finds himself saddled with Markie, a pint-sized troublemaker, as an IOU for a high-stakes poker game in Little Myth Marker, in an entertaining omnibus volume.

Myth is not a remote subject, restricted to the limited intellect of "pre-logical" man. The question "What is man?" is an ancient one. It is also a recent one, still unanswered in the impasse of our sciences. Wherever and whenever human beings are alive, there are creators of myth among them. Kees Bolle singles out one group as having the most significant "say" in the formation of myths: the mystics, who epitomize the common urge for a simplicity beyond the whirlpool of personal existences. And, surprisingly, the author finds that the study of humor provides a great deal of insight into the study of religious traditions.

The purpose of this book, first published in 1957, is to make a critical analysis of the controversial Socratic problem. The Socratic issue owes its paramount difficulty not only to the status of available source materials, but also to the diversity of opinion as to the proper use of these materials. This volume offers a new approach to the problem, and a starting point to further investigations.

Contents: Some Preliminary Considerations; Christian Evidences; the Witness of Paul; the Cross; the Mother of God; Jesus and the Witness of the Jews; the Pagan Witnesses; some Sources of the Jesus Myth; Pagan Saviors; Christianity and Allegory;.

""Borsch has not answered all the questions, of course. Who can? But his view of the Man tradition makes more sense to me than, for example, Perrin's rather cavalier dismissal of the evidence, and it not only enlightens but also enlivens the discussion. As against the extreme skeptics, Borsch is also convincing to me in arguing the case for a large measure of authenticity in the Son of man tradition in the Gospels. If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, the book constantly calls me back to its pages for insight regarding the problem, both in its historical dimension and in its bearing upon the meaning of Jesus of Nazareth for faith today. --'Theology' ""The author is well aware of the difficulties involved in entering a field wherein so much investigation has been done. And of this, with the positive and negative conclusions, he gives an excellent survey, crisp and critical . . . . The lines opened up will engage the attention of a new and more positive chapter in the form-critical argument. --'London Quarterly and Holborn Review' Frederick H. Borsch is the retired Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and Professor of New Testament and Chair of Anglican Studies at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. He is also the former Dean of the Chapel at Princeton University. His other books include 'The Spirit Searches Everything: Keeping Life's Questions', 'The Bible's Authority in Today's Church', 'Introducing the Lessons of the Church Year: A Guide for Lay Readers and Congregartions', and 'The Christian and Gnostic Son of Man'.

The prevailing view of autism and disability is redefined in this beautifully written book.