Symbol Of Authority

This volume examines the ways that sovereign rulers have employed well-defined symbols, attributes, and stereotypes to convey their power to their subjects and rivals, as well as to leave a legacy for subsequent generations to admire. Legendary rulers from antiquity such as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Constantine have been looked to as models for their display of imperial power by the rulers of later eras. From medieval sovereigns such as Charlemagne and France's Louis IX to the tsars of Russia and the great European royal dynasties of the Hapsburgs, the Bourbons, and the Tudors, the rulers of each period have appropriated and often embellished the emblems of power employed by their predecessors. Even the second-tier lords who ruled parts of France and Italy during the Renaissance, such as the dukes of Burgundy, the Gonzaga of Mantua, and the Medici of Florence became adept at manipulating this imagery. The final chapter is reserved for Napoleon I, perhaps the ultimate master of symbolic display, who assumed the attributes of Roman emperors to project an image of eternal and immutable authority. The author examines not only regal paraphernalia such as crowns, scepters, thrones, and orbs, but also the painted portraits, sculptures, tapestries, carved ivories, jewelry, coins, armor, and, eventually, photographs created to display their owner's sovereign power, a vast collection of works that now forms a significant portion of the cultural heritage of Western civilization.

A Guide to Navigate Evangelical Feminism In a society where gender roles are a hot-button topic, the church is not immune to the controversy. In fact, the church has wrestled with varying degrees of evangelical feminism for decades. As evangelical feminism has crept into the church, time-trusted resources like Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood help remind Christians of what the Bible has to say. In this edition of the award-winning best seller, more than 20 influential men and women such as John Piper, Wayne Grudem, D. A. Carson, and Elisabeth Elliot offer thought-provoking essays responding to the challenge egalitarianism poses to life in the church and in the home. Covering topics like role distinctions in the church, how biblical manhood and womanhood should work out in practice, and women in the history of the church, this helpful resource will help readers learn to orient their beliefs with God's unchanging word in an ever-changing culture.

Challenging the received orthodoxies of social anthropology, Ifi Amadiume argues that in precolonial society, sex and gender did not necessarily coincide. Examining the structures that enabled women to achieve power, she shows that roles were neither rigidly masculinized nor feminized. Economic changes in colonial times undermined women’s status and reduced their political role and Dr Amadiume maintains, patriarchal tendencies introduced by colonialism persist today, to the detriment of women. Critical of the chauvinist stereotypes established by colonial anthropology, the author stresses the importance of recognizing women’s economic activities as as essential basis of their power. She is also critical of those western feminists who, when relating to African women, tend to accept the same outmoded projections.

Rather than looking at the collapse of Japan's first warrior government as the manipulation of rival courts by warrior factions, this study argues that the crucial ideological conflict of the 14th century was between the conservative forces of ritual precedent and the ritual determinists steeped in Shingon Buddhism.

Paul's first letter to the Corinthians is one of the most important epistles in the New Testament. David Garland's thoughtful new commentary draws on extensive research and engages the best of contemporary scholarship while providing a readable study that will be accessible to thoughtful readers as well as students, pastors, and scholars. After considering the context of the letter and the social and cultural setting of Corinth, Garland turns to his exegetical work. An introduction to each major unit of thought is followed by the author's own translation of the Greek text. In the course of his verse-by-verse commentary, he incorporates references to other ancient writings that help explain particular aspects of Paul's meaning or provide information on the social and cultural context. He also refers to the work of other commentators and provides extensive notes for further reading and research.

All forms of magic are linked to language. As a magic practitioner and a linguist, Patrick Dunn illuminates this fascinating relationship and offers breakthrough theories on how and why magic works. Drawing on linguistics and semiotics (the study of symbols), Dunn illuminates the magical use of language, both theoretically and practically. He poses new theories on the mechanics of magic by analyzing the structure of ritual, written signs and sigils, primal language, incantations across cultures, Qabalah and gematria (Hebrew numerology), and the Enochian vocabulary. This revolutionary paradigm can help magicians understand how sigils and talismans work, compose Enochian spells, speak in tongues for magic, create mantras, work with gematria, use postmodern "defixios," and refine their practice in countless other ways. ""Magic, Power, Language, Symbol" is a unique tour de force that reinterprets the very nature of magic—placing it within the modern sciences of symbolism (semiotics) and language (linguistics). Within this paradigm, Dunn explains something that most other books miss: a logical and scientific understanding of how and why real magic actually works." —Donald Michael Kraig, author of "Modern Magick"