"The pages of church history are marked by countless horrors committed against the Jewish people. From the first persecutions of the Jews in the fourth century to the horrors of the Holocaust, from Israel-bashing in today's press to anti-Semitism spouted from the pulpit, this painful book tells the tragic story that every Christian must read. In a freshly updated and expanded edition of this pivotal work, Dr. Michael Brown exposes the faulty theological roots that opened the door to anti-Semitism in Church history, explaining why well-meaning believers so often fall into the trap of hate... and showing how you can bring an end to the cycle of violence. This generation can make a difference. Now is the time for change! Discover the important role you play in helping to shape a Church that will bless Israel rather than curse Israel." -- From back cover.

"This beautiful work of historical fiction was inspired by the diary of an actual 18th-century Roman Jewish girl, imprisoned by the Catholic Church because someone with a grudge offered her to the Church. Anything But Yes is the true story of a young woman's struggle to defend her identity in the face of relentless attempts to destroy it. In 1749, 18-year-old Anna del Monte was seized at gunpoint from her home in Rome's Jewish ghetto and thrown into a convent cell at the Casa dei Convertiti, the house of converts. With no access to the outside world, she withstood isolation, sleep deprivation, endless lectures, and threats and promises. If Anna were to utter the simple word "yes," she would risk forced baptism, which meant never returning to her home and losing contact with any Jew-including her own family-for the rest of her life. Even in Italy today, few people know the full story of Rome's Jewish ghetto, the abduction of Jews, or the popes who were intent on forcibly converting every non-Catholic living in the long shadow of the Vatican. Young girls and small children were the primary targets of these forced conversions, for they were most vulnerable. But Anna del Monte was different. She was strong, brilliant, and educated, and wrote a diary of her experiences. Her diary became lost for more than 200 years but was rediscovered in Israel in 1989. Anything But Yes is based on Anna's diary and Joie Davidow's extensive research on life in the 18th-century Roman Jewish ghetto and its personalities, traditions, foods, and dialect"--

Al-Andalus, the Iberian territory ruled by Islam from the eighth to the fifteenth centuries, was home to a flourishing philosophical culture among Muslims and the Jews who lived in their midst. Andalusians spoke proudly of the region's excellence, and indeed it engendered celebrated thinkers such as Maimonides and Averroes. Sarah Stroumsa offers an integrative new approach to Jewish and Muslim philosophy in al-Andalus, where the cultural commonality of the Islamicate world allowed scholars from diverse religious backgrounds to engage in the same philosophical pursuits. Stroumsa traces the development of philosophy in Muslim Iberia from its introduction to the region to the diverse forms it took over time, from Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism to rational theology and mystical philosophy. She sheds light on the way the politics of the day, including the struggles with the Christians to the north of the peninsula and the Fa t imids in North Africa, influenced philosophy in al-Andalus yet affected its development among the two religious communities in different ways. While acknowledging the dissimilar social status of Muslims and members of the religious minorities, Andalus and Sefarad highlights the common ground that united philosophers, providing new perspective on the development of philosophy in Islamic Spain.

Truth informs much of the self-understanding of religious believers. Accordingly, understanding what we mean by ‘truth’ is a key challenge to interreligious collaboration. The contributors to this volume, all leading scholars, consider what is meant by truth in classical and contemporary Jewish thought, and explore how making the notion of truth more nuanced can enable interfaith dialogue. Their essays take a range of approaches: some focus on philosophy proper, others on the intersection with the history of ideas, while others engage with the history of Jewish mysticism and thought. Together they open up the notion of truth in Jewish religious discourse and suggest ways in which upholding a notion of one’s religion as true may be reconciled with an appreciation of other faiths. By combining philosophical and theological thinking with concrete case studies, and discussion of precedents and textual resources within Judaism, the volume proposes new interpretations of the concept of truth, going beyond traditional exclusivist uses of the term. A key aim is to help Jews seeking dialogue with other religions to do so while remaining true to their own faith tradition: in pursuit of this, the volume concludes with suggestions of how the ideas presented can be applied in practice.