Vexed

Across the democratic West, politics has become deeply polarised and profoundly personal. Challenge someone's political views and increasingly you challenge their very being. And yet, do our political tribes even make sense? Look carefully, and on the most important ethical issues of the age – assisted dying, social welfare, sexual liberation, abortion, gun control, the environment, technology, justice – the instinctive positions of both the Left and the Right are riven with contradictions. In this refreshing and eye-opening book, James Mumford, a public thinker and independent commentator, questions the basic assumptions of our political groups. His challenge is simple: 'Why should believing strongly about one topic mean the automatic adoption of so many others?' Vexed is an essential and provocative account that will appeal to anyone of independent thought, and a welcome call for new reflection on the moral issues most relevant to our modern way of life.

When asked how to pray, Jesus advises his listeners to be brief, unlike those who "think that they will be heard because of their many words" (Matt 7:8). This statement, like many others in scriptures, raises questions. How many words are too many, and how else besides words to ponder Holy Writ? In these poems, Elizabeth Poreba seeks to keep Jesus' advice in mind while examining her life as a convert from a Puritan-infused Congregationalism to Roman Catholicism.

Stories of witchcraft and demonic possession from early modern England through the last official trials in colonial New England Those possessed by the devil in early modern England usually exhibited a common set of symptoms: fits, vomiting, visions, contortions, speaking in tongues, and an antipathy to prayer. However, it was a matter of interpretation, and sometimes public opinion, if these symptoms were visited upon the victim, or if they came from within. Both early modern England and colonial New England had cases that blurred the line between witchcraft and demonic possession, most famously, the Salem witch trials. While historians acknowledge some similarities in witch trials between the two regions, such as the fact that an overwhelming majority of witches were women, the histories of these cases primarily focus on local contexts and specifics. In so doing, they overlook the ways in which manhood factored into possession and witchcraft cases. Vexed with Devils is a cultural history of witchcraft-possession phenomena that centers on the role of men and patriarchal power. Erika Gasser reveals that witchcraft trials had as much to do with who had power in the community, to impose judgement or to subvert order, as they did with religious belief. She argues that the gendered dynamics of possession and witchcraft demonstrated that contested meanings of manhood played a critical role in the struggle to maintain authority. While all men were not capable of accessing power in the same ways, many of the people involved—those who acted as if they were possessed, men accused of being witches, and men who wrote possession propaganda—invoked manhood as they struggled to advocate for themselves during these perilous times. Gasser ultimately concludes that the decline of possession and witchcraft cases was not merely a product of change over time, but rather an indication of the ways in which patriarchal power endured throughout and beyond the colonial period. Vexed with Devils reexamines an unnerving time and offers a surprising new perspective on our own, using stories and voices which emerge from the records in ways that continue to fascinate and unsettle us.

A ground-breaking collection exploring the rich array of emotions in biblical literature An international team of Hebrew Bible and New Testament scholars offers incisive case studies of passions displayed by divine and human figures in the biblical texts ranging from joy, happiness, and trust to grief, hate, and disgust. Essays address how biblical characters' feelings affect their relationship with God, one another, and the world and how these feelings mix together, for good or ill, for flourishing or vexation. Deeply engaged with both ancient and modern contexts, including the burgeoning interdisciplinary study of emotion in the humanities and sciences, these essays break down the artificial divide between reason and passion, cognition and emotion, thought and feeling in biblical study. Features Case studies drawn from multiple genres across the Bible: narrative, prophets, poetry, wisdom, Gospels, and letters Helpful select bibliographies of interdisciplinary resources at the end of each essay Critical balance between theory and practice and between method and close textual analysis Distinctive ancient Hebrew and Greek uses of emotional terms and concepts compared with each other and with evolving understandings in Western culture

Reprint of the original, first published in 1881.

A bundle of books #4 (VEXED ON A VISIT), #5 (KILLED WITH A KISS), and #6 (PERISHED BY A PAINTING) in Fiona Grace’s Lacey Doyle cozy mystery series. This bundle offers books four, five, and six in one convenient file, with over 150,000 words of reading. In VEXED ON A VISIT (Book #4), summer has arrived, and Lacey is delighted when her chef boyfriend surprises her with an offer for a long weekend trip, a romantic getaway into the neighboring seaside towns of the British countryside, with her beloved dog, and a chance to go antiquing. But Lacey is even more surprised when her family shows up from New York on a surprise visit—and when they want to come along! Even worse, Lacey, in a neighboring town, finds herself in the midst of a murder scene. And once again, with her reputation on the line, she may be the only one who can solve it. In KILLED WITH A KISS (Book #5), on a romantic daytrip in the English countryside, Lacey lucks out in an antique market and stumbles upon an incredible find. She has high hopes as she makes it the centerpiece of her next auction. But as summer is coming to a close, two high-rollers come into town and duke it out over the antique, their egos as big as their wallets. When one of them wins but loses the auction on a technicality, chaos ensues. The only thing that makes it worse is when one ends up dead. Lacey finds herself in the fight of her life to save her business and her reputation—and, with the help of her beloved dog, to solve the mysterious death. In PERISHED BY A PAINTING (Book #6), Fall has arrived in Wilfordshire, bringing with it Fall festivals of food, charming holidays and refreshing return to simple normalcy. To celebrate their new proposal, Lacey and Tom finally get a romantic countryside trip together, and Lacey is thrilled to stumble upon a rare painting in the most unexpected place—a shack on the side of the road. But Lacey has no idea how rare and valuable his painting actually is. When she finds out the shocking news, she grapples with whether she should return it—when a shocking twist and a dead body put her right in the middle of a crime that she must, with her beloved dog at her side, solve—or else lose all that she has worked for. Books #7-#9 are also available!

Stories of witchcraft and demonic possession from early modern England through the last official trials in colonial New England. Those possessed by the devil in early modern England usually exhibited a common set of symptoms: fits, vomiting, visions, contortions, speaking in tongues, and an antipathy to prayer. However, it was a matter of interpretation, and sometimes public opinion, if these symptoms were visited upon the victim, or if they came from within. Both early modern England and colonial New England had cases that blurred the line between witchcraft and demonic possession, most famously, the Salem witch trials. While historians acknowledge some similarities in witch trials between the two regions, such as the fact that an overwhelming majority of witches were women, the histories of these cases primarily focus on local contexts and specifics. In so doing, they overlook the ways in which manhood factored into possession and witchcraft cases. Vexed with Devils is a cultural history of witchcraft-possession phenomena that centers on the role of men and patriarchal power. Erika Gasser reveals that witchcraft trials had as much to do with who had power in the community, to impose judgement or to subvert order, as they did with religious belief. She argues that the gendered dynamics of possession and witchcraft demonstrated that contested meanings of manhood played a critical role in the struggle to maintain authority. While all men were not capable of accessing power in the same ways, many of the people involved—those who acted as if they were possessed, men accused of being witches, and men who wrote possession propaganda—invoked manhood as they struggled to advocate for themselves during these perilous times. Gasser ultimately concludes that the decline of possession and witchcraft cases was not merely a product of change over time, but rather an indication of the ways in which patriarchal power endured throughout and beyond the colonial period. Vexed with Devils reexamines an unnerving time and offers a surprising new perspective on our own, using stories and voices which emerge from the records in ways that continue to fascinate and unsettle us.

A bundle of books #4 (VEXED ON A VISIT) and #5 (KILLED WITH A KISS) in Fiona Grace’s Lacey Doyle cozy mystery series. This bundle offers books four and five in one convenient file, with over 150,000 words of reading. In VEXED ON A VISIT (Book #4), summer has arrived, and Lacey is delighted when her chef boyfriend surprises her with an offer for a long weekend trip, a romantic getaway into the neighboring seaside towns of the British countryside, with her beloved dog, and a chance to go antiquing. But Lacey is even more surprised when her family shows up from New York on a surprise visit—and when they want to come along! Even worse, Lacey, in a neighboring town, finds herself in the midst of a murder scene. And once again, with her reputation on the line, she may be the only one who can solve it. In KILLED WITH A KISS (Book #5), on a romantic daytrip in the English countryside, Lacey lucks out in an antique market and stumbles upon an incredible find. She has high hopes as she makes it the centerpiece of her next auction. But as summer is coming to a close, two high-rollers come into town and duke it out over the antique, their egos as big as their wallets. When one of them wins but loses the auction on a technicality, chaos ensues. The only thing that makes it worse is when one ends up dead. Lacey finds herself in the fight of her life to save her business and her reputation—and, with the help of her beloved dog, to solve the mysterious death. Books #6-#9 are also available!