Religions, Spiritualities All books
Jean-François Bensahel
Confronting the New World Epistle to Paul and to Our Contemporaries
It so happens that a man was confronted with the same challenges, experienced the same anguish...
Jean-François Bensahel, Pierre d'Ornellas
Brothers, Apparently A serene and pacifist dialogue, at a time of great religious conflict
In a context of religious antagonism, a calm dialogue between Judaism and Christianity. An analysis of our time by two figures who do not minimize their differences but who seek, in a secular France, to establish common ground.
Georges Bensoussan
The Jews of the Arab World The Forbidden Question
A book written by a historian, a recognized specialist in Jewish-Arab relations. A history book that also sheds light on current political stakes and societal issues. The discourse contradicts what is generally heard on the subject, and which provides the historical elements needed for a better understanding of the contemporary situation.
Alain Boureau
Satan, the Heretic History of demonology in Medieval Europe, 1260-1350
Alain Boureau is one of the most original French medievalists. In his earlier, best-selling book on the droit du seigneur, he showed that such a custom had never actually existed. The present work is not about Satan and Satanism, but about the birth of demonology, i.e. about the demons that inhabit Satan's Court - a fascinating topic for a medievalist. Before the end of the thirteenth century, theology had shown little interest in demons, according to Boureau. But Saint Thomas Aquinas' Treatise on Evil, written in 1272, changed all this. Boureau tries to find an explanation. He is not concerned with why people believe in demons - he has not written a social history of demonology. Instead, he sets out to understand why theologians became interested in the subject - for this is a history of theological ideas about demons. The author summarises his explanation as follows: I propose that the date of the invention of demonology be moved forward by more than a century, not because a new doctrine was established and enforced then, as was the case in the fifteenth century, but because of the considerable procedural changes that assimilated witchcraft and invocations of the devil with the crime of heresy, which in turn led to new legal developments and more revelations. In addition, the injection of doctrinal content into the ancient theme of the devil's pact explained demoniac activity in the world. The issue that lies at the heart of these discussions about a pact with the devil, evil and evidence is obviously the emergence of our legal system. Alain Boureau is a director of studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.
Gérard Chaliand, Sophie Mousset
2000 Years of Christianities A Historical Guide
Two thousand years of Christian thought are reviewed here through some key texts of the Christian tradition...