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The Pagan Book of the Dead: Ancestral Visions of the Afterlife and Other Worlds
by Claude LecouteuxAn extensive look at the cartography and folklore of the afterlife worlds as seen by our ancestors • Examines how ancient European cultures viewed the beyond, including the Blessed Isles of early Greek and Celtic faith, the Hebrew Sheol, Hades from Homer&’s Odyssey, Hel and Valhalla of the Norse, and the Aralu of Babylon • Shows how medieval accounts of journeys into the Other World represent the first recorded near-death experiences • Connects medieval afterlife beliefs and NDE narratives with shamanism, looking in particular at psychopomps, power animals, the double, the fetch, and what people bring back from their journeys to the spirit realms Charting the evolution of afterlife beliefs in both pagan and medieval Christian times, Claude Lecouteux offers an extensive look at the cartography and folklore of the afterlife worlds as seen by our ancestors. Exploring the locations and topographies of the various forms taken by Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, he examines how ancient European cultures viewed the beyond, including the Blessed Isles of early Greek and Celtic faith, the Hebrew Sheol, the pale world of Hades from Homer&’s Odyssey, Hel and Valhalla of the Norse, and the Aralu of Babylon, the land where nothing can be seen. The author also explores beliefs in Other Worlds, lands different from our own that are not the afterlife but places where time flows differently and which are inhabited by fantastic or supernatural beings such as fairies or dwarfs. Sharing medieval tales of journeys into the beyond, Lecouteux shows how these accounts represent the first recorded near-death experiences (NDEs) and examines how they compare with modern NDE narratives as well as the work of NDE researchers like Raymond Moody. In addition, he also explores tales of out-of-body experiences, dream journeys, and travels made by a double or fetch and connects these narratives with shamanism, looking in particular at psychopomps, power animals, and what people bring back from their journeys to the spirit realms. Analyzing the afterlife beliefs of the Middle Ages as a whole, Lecouteux concludes with a collection of medieval afterlife-related traditions, such as placing polished stones in the coffin so the departed soul can find its way back to friends and family at those times of the year when the veil between the worlds grows thin.
The Pagan Christ: Recovering the Lost Light
by Tom HarpurAfter more than 52 weeks on the Toronto Star’s bestseller list and 43 weeks on The Globe and Mail’s bestseller list, Tom Harpur’s groundbreaking book, The Pagan Christ, is now available in paperback. This new edition includes the twenty-page discussion guide, with more than 100 questions, to help facilitate a deeper, chapter-by-chapter analysis and more profound understanding of the findings and arguments found in the book. Subjects for discussion include: the ancient Egyptian roots of Christianity, the real meaning of the Bible, the key to whether Jesus really existed, the re-mythologizing of Christianity, the meaning of the Christ within all of us and the need to understand myth and allegory. With a new introduction by Tom Harpur, this paperback edition sheds further light on what has become one of the most talked about books of the new millennium.
The Pagan Mysteries of Halloween: Celebrating the Dark Half of the Year
by Jean MarkaleA comprehensive examination of the rituals and philosophies of the Celtic holiday of Samhain, the inspiration for Halloween.• Presents the true meaning of this ancient holiday and shows how contemporary observances still faithfully reflect the rituals of pagan ancestors.• Explains why this holiday, largely confined to the English-speaking world since the advent of Christianity, has spread throughout the rest of Europe over the last two decades.One of humanity's most enduring myths is that the dead, on certain nights of the year, can leave the Other World and move freely about the land of the living. Every year on October 31, when the children of the world parade through the streets dressed as monsters, skeletons, and witches, they reenact a sacred ceremony whose roots extend to the dawn of time. By receiving gifts of sweets from strangers, the children establish, on a symbolic plane that exceeds their understanding, a fraternal exchange between the visible world and the invisible world. Author Jean Markale meticulously examines the rituals and ceremonies of ancient festivities on this holiday and shows how they still shape the customs of today's celebration. During the night of Samhain, the Celtic precursor of today's holiday, the borders between life and death were no longer regarded as insurmountable barriers. Two-way traffic was temporarily permitted between this world and the Other World, and the wealth and wisdom of the sidhe, or fairy folk, were available to the intrepid individuals who dared to enter their realm. Markale enriches our understanding of how the transition from the light to the dark half of the year was a moment in which time stopped and allowed the participants in the week-long festival to attain a level of consciousness not possible in everyday life, an experience we honor in our modern celebrations of Halloween.
The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy
by Ronald HuttonThis is the first survey of religious beliefs in the British Isles from the Old Stone Age to the coming of Christianity, one of the least familiar periods in Britain's history. Ronald Hutton draws upon a wealth of new data, much of it archaeological, that has transformed interpretation over the past decade. Giving more or less equal weight to all periods, from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages, he examines a fascinating range of evidence for Celtic and Romano-British paganism, from burial sites, cairns, megaliths and causeways, to carvings, figurines, jewellery, weapons, votive objects, literary texts and folklore.
The Pagan Writes Back: When World Religion Meets World Literature (Studies in Religion and Culture)
by Zhange NiIn the first book to consider the study of world religion and world literature in concert, Zhange Ni proposes a new reading strategy that she calls "pagan criticism," which she applies not only to late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century literary texts that engage the global resurgence of religion but also to the very concepts of religion and the secular. Focusing on two North American writers (the Jewish American Cynthia Ozick and the Canadian Margaret Atwood) and two East Asian writers (the Japanese Endō Shūsaku and the Chinese Gao Xingjian), Ni reads their fiction, drama, and prose to envision a "pagan (re)turn" in the study of world religion and world literature. In doing so, she highlights the historical complexities and contingencies in literary texts and challenges both Christian and secularist assumptions regarding aesthetics and hermeneutics. In assessing the collision of religion and literature, Ni argues that the clash has been not so much between monotheistic orthodoxies and the sanctification of literature as between the modern Western model of religion and the secular and its non-Western others. When East and West converge under the rubric of paganism, she argues, the study of religion and literature develops into that of world religion and world literature.
The Pages of Her Life: A Novel
by James L. RubartAllison Moore is faced with a daunting question: How do you stand up for yourself when it means losing everything?Allison Moore is making it. Barely. The Seattle area architecture firm she started with her best friend is struggling, but at least they&’re free from the games played by the corporate world. She&’s gotten over her divorce. And while her dad&’s recent passing is tough, their relationship had never been easy.Then the bomb drops. Her dad had a secret life and left her mom in massive debt.As Allison scrambles to help her mom find a way out, she&’s given a journal, anonymously, during a visit to her favorite coffee shop. As the pressure to rescue her mom mounts, Allison pours her fears and heartache into the journal.But then the unexplainable happens. The words in the journal, her words, begin to disappear. And new ones fill the empty spaces—words that force her to look at everything she knows about herself in a new light.Ignoring those words could cost her everything . . . but so could embracing them.Praise for The Pages of Her Life:&“The Pages of Her Life is quintessential James Rubart and showcases why his novels are automatic must-reads. Rubart&’s new novel explores courage and self-discovery. The right decisions are almost always hard, and Rubart&’s deft hand with character and theme shine in his new novel.&” —Colleen Coble, USA TODAY bestselling author&“James L. Rubart&’s writing always delivers characters that echo our own lives, living in a world not too removed from our own. The Pages of Her Life is another captivating taste of who we really can be.&” —David Rawlings, author of The Baggage Handler&“I&’m a slow reader, but I couldn&’t put down The Pages of Her Life. This intriguing story is brimming with wonderful characters and more than a few surprises, including marvelous cameos by characters from another favorite Rubart novel. Immensely thought-provoking, this novel would make a fabulous book-club read. I can&’t recommend it highly enough!&” —Deborah Raney, author of A Vow to Cherish and the Chandler Sisters novels
The Pain Companion: Everyday Wisdom for Living With and Moving Beyond Chronic Pain
by Sarah Anne ShockleyA Practical, Gentle, and Empathetic Approach to Pain Where do you turn when medication and medical treatments do not relieve persistent, debilitating pain? What can you do when pain interferes with work, family, and social life and you no longer feel like the person you used to be? Relying on firsthand experience with severe nerve pain, author Sarah Anne Shockley accompanies you on your journey through pain and offers compassionate, practical advice to ease difficult emotions and address lifestyle challenges. Her approach helps reduce the toll that living in pain takes on relationships, self-image, and well-being while cultivating greater ease and resilience on a daily basis. Dozens of accessible, uplifting practices guide you every step of the way from a life overcome by pain to a life of greater comfort and peace. The Pain Companion also offers profound insights for medical practitioners and invaluable guidance for anyone who loves or cares for others in pain.
The Painted Castle: The Lost Castle, Castle On The Rise, The Painted Castle (A Lost Castle Novel #3)
by Kristy CambronA lost painting of Queen Victoria.A library bricked off from the world.And three women, separated by time, whose lives are irrevocably changed.When art historian Keira Foley is hired to authenticate a painting at a centuries-old East Suffolk manor, she hopes this is just the thing to get her career and life back on track. But from the time she arrives at Parham Hill Estate and begins working alongside rumored art thief Emory Scott, she’s left with far more questions than answers. Could this lost painting of Queen Victoria be a duplicate of the original Winterhalter masterpiece, and if so, who is the artist?As Keira begins to unravel the mystery behind the portrait, two women emerge from the estate’s forgotten past. In Victorian England, talented sketch artist Elizabeth Meade is engaged to Viscount Huxley, then owner of Parham Hill. However, Elizabeth’s real motive for being at Parham Hill has nothing to do with art or marriage. She’s determined to avenge her father’s brutal murder—even if it means a betrothal to the very man she believes committed the crime.A century later, Amelia Woods—a World War II widow who has turned Parham Hill and its beloved library into a boarding school for refugee children—receives military orders to house a troop of American pilots. She is determined the children in her care will remain untouched by the war, but the task is proving difficult with officers taking up every square inch of their world . . . and one in particular vying for a space in Amelia’s long-shut up heart.Set in three time periods—the rapid change of Victorian England, the peak of England’s home-front tensions at the end of WWII, and modern day—The Painted Castle unfolds a story of heartache and hope and unlocks secrets lost for generations just waiting to be found.Praise for The Painted Castle:“A gripping tale of secrets hidden behind the walls of an ancient English castle.” —KATE BRESLIN, bestselling author of Far Side of the Sea
The Painted Table
by Suzanne FieldThe Norwegian table, a century-old heirloom ingrained with family memory, has become a totem of a life Saffee would rather forget—a childhood disrupted by her mother&’s mental illness.Saffee does not want the table. By the time she inherits the object of her mother&’s obsession, the surface is thick with haphazard layers of paint and heavy with unsettling memories.After a childhood spent watching her mother slide steadily into insanity, painting and re-painting the ancient table, Saffee has come to fear that seeds of psychosis may lie dormant within her. She must confront her mother&’s torment if she wants to defend herself against it.Traversing four generations over the course of a century, The Painted Table is a beautiful portrait of inherited memory. It is a sprawling narrative affirmation that a family artifact—like a family member—can bear the marks of one&’s past . . . as well as intimations of one&’s redemption.&“This difficult but beautiful story of hurt and healing, desperation and hope, offers an intriguing view inside the world of the mentally ill and their loved ones.&” —Publishers Weekly&“Describes a descent into darkness [and a] redemptive ascent into light . . . [The Painted Table is a] deeply moving experience.&” —Melvin W. Hanna, PhD, author of Mood Food: Nourishing Your God Given Emotions"[C]ompelling . . . [The Painted Table] point[s] readers toward redemption, the kind that removes all the layers of anesthetic we use to try—and fail—to numb our pain, and replaces them with beauty that can come only through grief and surrender." —ChristianityToday.com
The Palgrave Fichte Handbook (Palgrave Handbooks in German Idealism)
by Steven HoeltzelThis Handbook provides a comprehensive single-volume treatment of Fichte’s philosophy. In addition to offering new researchers an authoritative introduction and orientation to Fichtean thought, the volume also surveys the main scholarly and philosophical controversies regarding Fichtean interpretation, and defends a range of philosophical theses in a way that advances the scholarly discussion. Fichte is the first major philosopher in the post-Kantian tradition and the first of the great German Idealists, but he was no mere epigone of Kant or precursor to Hegel. His work speaks powerfully and originally to a wide range of issues of enduring concern, and his many innovations importantly anticipate major developments, including absolute idealism, phenomenology, and existentialism. He is therefore not only a path-breaking thinker but also a pivotal figure in Western intellectual history. Wide-ranging, well-organised and timely, this key volume makes Fichte’s work both accessible and relevant. It is essential reading for scholars, graduate researchers and advanced students interested in Fichte, German Idealism, and the history of nineteenth-century philosophy in the West.
The Palgrave Handbook of African Traditional Religion
by Toyin Falola Ibigbolade S. AderibigbeThe Palgrave Handbook of African Traditional Religion interrogates and presents robust and comprehensive contributions from interdisciplinary experts and scholars. Offering a range of perspectives and opinions through the prism of understanding the past about African Traditional religions and, more importantly, capturing their dynamics in the present and projecting their sustainability and relevance for the future, this volume is an essential resource for knowledge and understanding of African Traditional religions in the global space of religious traditions.
The Palgrave Handbook of Ageing and Physical Activity Promotion
by Christina R. Victor Charles Musselwhite Samuel R. Nyman Anna Barker Terry Haines Khim Horton Geeske Peeters Julia Katharina WolffThe ageing of our population is a key societal issue across the globe. Although people are living longer, they need to be living longer in good health to continue to enjoy quality of life and independence and to prevent rises in health and social care costs. This timely and ground-breaking volume will provide an up-to-date overview of the factors that promote physical activity in later life. Despite advances in the fields of gerontology and geriatrics, sports and exercise science, sociology, health psychology, and public health, knowledge is largely contained within disciplines as reflected in the current provision of academic texts on this subject. To truly address the present and substantial societal challenges of population ageing, a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach is required. This handbook will inform researchers, students, and practitioners on the current evidence base for what physical activities need to be promoted among older people and how they can be implemented to maximise engagement. This handbook will be an invaluable resource for researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and students across the social sciences.
The Palgrave Handbook of Anthropological Ritual Studies
by Pamela J. Stewart Andrew J. StrathernRitual Studies have achieved prominence since the 1980s, when interest in ritual as an object of inquiry was established, bridging over a number of humanities and social science disciplines. Both connected with religious studies and independent of it; overlapping with social and cultural anthropology, but also with history; related to science and health practices and ranging across the life course to education, Ritual Studies has come to encompass studies of change and dynamism in social life. Rituals are determinate in form, but not static. They enunciate distinctive social values within specific contexts that frame them; and they relate to the wider concerns and issues of their practitioners.Due to this broad and wide-ranging scope, it is often difficult to find a single resource on Ritual Studies, and even more so to find one which moves beyond the beginnings of anthropological theorizing to grapple with the present-day contexts of ritual. Bringing together recent ethnographies of ritual practice and ritualization from across the globe, this Handbook provides case study of ritual in the light of Emotion and Cognition, Identity, Religious Power, Performance and Literature, Ecology and Ecological Disaster, Media, and other topics. While each chapter provides a deep ethnography of a specific society, ritual, or ritualized practice, each also engages with current theoretical and substantive approaches to the relevant topic. The scholars collected here provide original synoptic and indicative pieces as guideposts and pathways through the complex, varied and cross-disciplinary, and vast landscape of scholarship that constitutes Ritual Studies today and points to developments in the future.
The Palgrave Handbook of Britain and the Holocaust
by Tom Lawson Andy PearceThis handbook is the most comprehensive and up-to-date single volume on the history and memory of the Holocaust in Britain. It traces the complex relationship between Britain and the destruction of Europe’s Jews, from societal and political responses to persecution in the 1930s, through formal reactions to war and genocide, to works of representation and remembrance in post-war Britain. Through this process the handbook not only updates existing historiography of Britain and the Holocaust; it also adds new dimensions to our understanding by exploring the constant interface and interplay of history and memory. The chapters bring together internationally renowned academics and talented younger scholars. Collectively, they examine a raft of themes and issues concerning the actions of contemporaries to the Holocaust, and the responses of those who came ‘after’. At a time when the Holocaust-related activity in Britain proceeds apace, the contributors to this handbook highlight the importance of rooting what we know and understand about Britain and the Holocaust in historical actuality. This, the volume suggests, is the only way to respond meaningfully to the challenges posed by the Holocaust and ensure that the memory of it has purpose.
The Palgrave Handbook of Christianity in Africa from Apostolic Times to the Present
by Toyin Falola Andrew Eugene BarnesThis comprehensive Handbook provides chapter length surveys of the history of Christian missions and Christian churches on the African continent since the time of Christ. Africa is rapidly becoming the most Christianized region of the world. While common narratives about Christianity tend to present Christianity as a set of ideas and beliefs imposed on Africa from the outside, such narratives hold little meaning for African Christians or for those seeking to understand Christianity in Africa as an indigenous faith. The aim of the Handbook is to propose a set of scholarly starting points for a new set of narratives. The chapters collected here communicate an idea of Christianity as it has been embraced among African peoples at particular historical moments. It therefore grants voice to the various strands of African Christianity on their own terms, and offers scholarly study of what these voices teach us about how the world’s most adhered to religion is practiced and understood on the continent of Africa.
The Palgrave Handbook of Dark Tourism Studies
by Richard Sharpley Philip R. Stone Leanne White Rudi Hartmann Tony SeatonThis handbook is the definitive reference text for the study of ‘dark tourism’, the contemporary commodification of death within international visitor economies. Shining a light on dark tourism and visitor sites of death or disaster allows us to better understand issues of global tourism mobilities, tourist experiences, the co-creation of touristic meaning, and ‘difficult heritage’ processes and practices. Adopting multidisciplinary perspectives from authors representing every continent, the book combines ‘real-world’ viewpoints from both industry and the media with conceptual underpinning, and offers comprehensive and grounded perspectives of ‘heritage that hurts’. The handbook adopts a progressive and thematic approach, including critical accounts of dark tourism history, dark tourism philosophy and theory, dark tourism in society and culture, dark tourism and heritage landscapes, the ‘dark tourist’ experience, and the business of dark tourism. The Palgrave Handbook of Dark Tourism Studies will appeal to students and scholars with an interest in aspects of memorialisation and morality in sociology, death studies, history, geography, cultural studies, philosophy, psychology, business management, museology and heritage tourism studies, politics, religious studies, and anthropology.
The Palgrave Handbook of Gendered Islamophobia
by Irene Zempi Amina Easat-DaasAgainst a backdrop of continually growing global Islamophobia, this handbook provides a comprehensive, interdisciplinary overview of the key issues, theories, debates, and developments in gendered Islamophobia, unpacking how Western, Orientalist constructions of Muslim men and women affect the lived experiences of Muslim men and women; impact social, legal, and criminological policies, practices, and discourse; and give rise to resistance against gendered Islamophobia. Drawing on theories from philosophy, sociology, gender studies, psychology and criminology, sections examine the interdisciplinary theoretical dimensions of gendered Islamophobia; illustrate the dynamics of gendered Islamophobia through the use of case examples in the UK, Europe, North America, Australasia, the Middle East, and South Asia. This handbook will be valuable reading for scholars, researchers, and policymakers around the globe in Gender Studies, Sociology, Criminology, Politics, and Law, whofocus on the intersections of gender and Islamopobia, and the impact on Muslim men and women respectively.
The Palgrave Handbook of Global Mormonism
by R. Gordon Shepherd A. Gary Shepherd Ryan T. CragunThis handbook explores contemporary Mormonism within a global context. The authors provide a nuanced picture of a historically American religion in the throes of the same kinds of global change that virtually every conservative faith tradition faces today. They explain where and how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has penetrated national and cultural boundaries in Latin America, Oceania, Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as in North America beyond the borders of Mormon Utah. They also address numerous concerns within a multinational, multicultural church: What does it mean to be a Latter-day Saint in different world regions? What is the faith’s appeal to converts in these places? What are the peculiar problems for members who must manage Mormon identities in conjunction with their different national, cultural, and ethnic identities? How are leaders dealing with such issues as the status of women in a patriarchal church, the treatment of LGBTQ members, increasing disaffiliation of young people, and decreasing growth rates in North and Latin America while sustaining increasing growth in parts of Asia and Africa?
The Palgrave Handbook of Humour, History, and Methodology
by Daniel Derrin Hannah BurrowsThis handbook addresses the methodological problems and theoretical challenges that arise in attempting to understand and represent humour in specific historical contexts across cultural history. It explores problems involved in applying modern theories of humour to historically-distant contexts of humour and points to the importance of recognising the divergent assumptions made by different academic disciplines when approaching the topic. It explores problems of terminology, identification, classification, subjectivity of viewpoint, and the coherence of the object of study. It addresses specific theories, together with the needs of specific historical case-studies, as well as some of the challenges of presenting historical humour to contemporary audiences through translation and curation. In this way, the handbook aims to encourage a fresh exploration of methodological problems involved in studying the various significances both of the history of humour and of humour in history.
The Palgrave Handbook of Islam in Africa
by Toyin Falola Fallou Ngom Mustapha H. KurfiThis handbook generates new insights that enrich our understanding of the history of Islam in Africa and the diverse experiences and expressions of the faith on the continent. The chapters in the volume cover key themes that reflect the preoccupations and realities of many African Muslims. They provide readers access to a comprehensive treatment of the past and current traditions of Muslims in Africa, offering insights on different forms of Islamization that have taken place in several regions, local responses to Islamization, Islam in colonial and post-colonial Africa, and the varied forms of Jihād movements that have occurred on the continent. The handbook provides updated knowledge on various social, cultural, linguistic, political, artistic, educational, and intellectual aspects of the encounter between Islam and African societies reflected in the lived experiences of African Muslims and the corpus of African Islamic texts.
The Palgrave Handbook of Mimetic Theory and Religion
by James Alison Wolfgang PalaverThe Palgrave Handbook of Mimetic Theory and Religion draws on the expertise of leading scholars and thinkers to explore the violent origins of culture, the meaning of ritual, and the conjunction of theology and anthropology, as well as secularization, science, and terrorism. Authors assess the contributions of Ren#65533; Girard's mimetic theory to our understanding of sacrifice, ancient tragedy, and post-modernity, and apply its insights to religious cinema and the global economy. This handbook serves as introduction and guide to a theory of religion and human behavior that has established itself as fertile terrain for scholarly research and intellectual reflection.
The Palgrave Handbook of Radical Theology (Radical Theologies and Philosophies)
by Christopher D. Rodkey Jordan E. MillerThe Palgrave Handbook of Radical Theology is the definitive guide to radical theology and the commencement for new directions in that field. For the first time, radical theology is addressed and assessed in a single, comprehensive volume, including introductory and historical essays for the beginner, essays on major figures and their thought, and shorter articles on various themes, concepts, and related topics. This book is a seminal work for the radical theology movement. It clarifies origins and demonstrates the exigency and utility of current figures and issues. A useful and essential guide for newcomers and veterans in the field, this volume serves as both a reference work and an introduction to omitted or forgotten topics within contemporary discussions.
The Palgrave Handbook of Relational Sociology
by François DépelteauThis handbook on relational sociology covers a rapidly growing approach in the social sciences—one which is connected to the interests of a large, diverse pool of researchers across a range of disciplines. Relational sociology has been one of the key foundations of the “relational turn” in human sciences since the 1980s, and it offers a unique opportunity to redefine the basic epistemological and ontological principles of sociology as we know it. The contributors collected here aim to elucidate the complexity and the scope of this growing approach by dealing with three central questions: Where does relational sociology come from and what are its principal concerns? What are the main theoretical and methodological currents within relational sociology? What have we studied in relational sociology and what are the results?
The Palgrave Handbook of Religion and State Volume I: Theoretical Perspectives
by Shannon HolzerThe Palgrave Handbook of Religion and State Volume I: Theoretical Perspective deals with the relationship between Religion and its long history that has played out throughout time and across the globe. Countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe approach the subject of religion and the state in various ways. While the word religion to westerners usually brings Christianity to mind, in Japan it is Shintoism and Buddhism. Volume II offers chapters on the relationship of both Shintoism and Buddhism to the Japanese state. It is very easy to see how the deeply traditional Japanese citizens may come into conflict with the strictly secular Japanese state. It also contains chapters about mosque and state as well as synagogue and state.
The Palgrave Handbook of Religion and State Volume II: Global Perspectives
by Shannon HolzerThe Palgrave Handbook of Religion and State Volume II: Global Perpectives addresses issues of Religion and State from a multitude of disciplines. The volume begins with the philosophical discussion of perennial issues that have to do with the origin and nature of rights. One question centers on the right to use one’s religious beliefs to enact laws. This discussion alone sets this handbook apart from other handbooks of its type. While addressing these perennial questions, this volume includes authors who interact with the work of John Rawls, Hobbes, Rousseau, and a host of contemporary philosophers. The subsequent sections address the American Constitutional Experiment, religion, state, and law in the Americas.