Slightly off-mint

The hajj is the fifth and final pillar of Islam, which offers the chance to begin life anew, but even in its formative period the pilgrimage acquired political as well as spiritual significance. In a ‘foundational’ study, McMillan analyses how the early caliphs used their leadership of the hajj as an opportunity to reinforce their political legitimacy. Slightly off-mint.

Off-mint.

Why visit a graveyard if you have no one to mourn? For Lorna Rhoads cemeteries can be repositories of stories, outdoor sculpture parks, habitats for birds and wildlife, gardens and oases of tranquillity. Her worldwide, illustrated directory includes burial grounds of all faiths, famous graveyards such Père Lachaise, Boothill and the Taj Mahal, war graves and memorial parks, catacombs, dolmens and even an underwater cemetery – the Neptune Memorial Reef for those lost at sea.

With contributions from distinguished theologians, historians, a Lord Chief Justice and a Chief Rabbi, this volume of 19 conference papers and commissioned essays focuses on the enduring power of Magna Carta, the influence of Stephen Langton in its formulation, and its narratives of faith and governance – in the 13th century and through changing concepts of civil society to the present day.

In this appeal for us to reject religion’s ‘chimeras’, the businessman and philanthropist Vitaly Malkin argues that the adoption of monotheistic doctrines slowed down the progress of human civilization and has failed to make people happier. Examining the big questions of evil, death, suffering and ‘the great battle against pleasure’, he encourages the reader to question what benefit religious practices offer and to live in the present rather than wait for life after death. Slightly off-mint.

In these conversations, recorded by Antonio Spadaro, Pope Francis shares his thoughts on some of the issues facing the church, his Papacy and the world. In informal dialogue with people from all walks of life, he confronts the tension between faith and fundamentalism, ecumenism, social justice, and the struggle for human rights in Myanmar and Latin America.

Should a self-confessed murderer be allowed to become a priest? In 1984 the Church of Scotland wrestled with this question when James Nelson, who had served a prison sentence for killing his mother, applied for ordination as a minister. Kelly uses this case as the starting-point for a history of the Church in Scotland, which also combines personal memoir, true-crime narrative and an exegesis of biblical and literary accounts of sin and forgiveness.

The Archbishop of Westminster explores how Christians can listen with greater attention to the voice of God and how they can better convey its message in their words and actions. In particular, he invites the reader to respond to an altarpiece by Pietro Orioli, reflects on the place of religious literacy in education and encourages us to build a more peaceful world through inter-faith dialogue.

‘Words,’ writes the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew in the foreword to this book, ‘are much more than conventional utterances.’ They are ‘our most intimate reflection of divinity.’ In this collection of more than 50 essays, writers from around the world examine the meaning of words that feature prominently in the utterances of Pope Francis – capitalism, conscience, family, immigrant, money, reform, women – and discuss what they reveal about him and his ministry.

In the aftermath of the First World War, a group of Englishwomen came up with a solution to the world’s grief: a new religion. Led by Mabel Barthrop, whom they called Octavia and believed to be the daughter of God, they set about building a new Jerusalem in Bedford. Drawing on the group’s painstakingly preserved archive, this book charts the forgotten history of a utopian community that once had thousands of members and ministered to 10,000 people around the globe.

Ardavan Amir-Aslani was born in Tehran and now works as an international lawyer in Paris. Here he offers his perspective on contemporary geopolitics, arguing that simplistic thinking in terms of a ‘clash of civilizations’ between Muslim nations and the West obscures the complexity of Islam’s religious turmoil and the causes of the Arab Spring: ‘As long as Iran has not returned to secularism the Middle East will continue to burn with religious sectarianism.’

This study of early modern martyrology takes an innovative approach, starting from the premise that ‘martyrdom is not a death but a story that gets written about a death’. Through close analysis of English texts ranging from medieval drama, through Foxe’s famous Acts and Monuments, to John Milton’s Eikonoklastes, the author traces how narrative forms and rhetoric shaped the meanings of human lives during the theological and political upheavals of the Reformation.

Hebrew manuscripts took on a special significance following the sack of Jerusalem in 70 CE, ensuring the survival of the language, faith and culture across the vast diaspora. The examples in this book - both sacred and secular texts - trace the evolution of format and style in a tradition which remained vibrant even after the advent of printing.

A landmark in the history of the English language, the translation of the Bible known as the 'Authorized Version' or 'King James Bible' has had an incalculable influence on cultural life and literature ever since it appeared in 1611. Beginning with the labyrinthine politics of Tudor and Jacobean England and a world being transformed by the new technology of printing, Alister McGrath narrates the story of the translation, why it was ordered by James I, who translated it, the problems they faced and the reception of the new Bible.

A crusade was a military expedition, blessed by the Pope, against the enemies of Christianity; those who set out on these dangerous campaigns had pledged allegiance to the Cross and pinned their hopes on spiritual rewards. From the First Crusade in 1095 to the Spanish Armada against the English in 1588, Hindley tells the story of crusades and crusaders and considers how their ‘just wars’ have shaped relations between Christian and Muslim countries to this day.

In this secular age religion gets a bad press, and atheism has powerful advocates such as Richard Dawkins. This lively, thought-provoking book offers an outspoken counterblast. It seeks not to prove the truth of Christianity – something it admits is unprovable – but its continuing relevance and resonance as a serious, grown-up way of ordering our lives and our emotions, which grants us experiences that our shallow, consumerist society fails to provide.

As Christians become more engaged with the reality of religious pluralism, many find themselves torn between two goals: to be faithful to the lordship of Jesus while remaining open to the truths of other religions. This clear, cogent and challenging book offers a way out of the dilemma, maintaining the unique mediating role of Christ while acknowledging that other beliefs are part of God's grace. Essential reading for anyone concerned with inter-faith dialogue and the position of the Church today.

Islamic fundamentalism has grabbed the headlines as both a threat to the West and a potentially revolutionary trend in the Middle East. This authoritative study provides a much-needed overview of its origins and diverse strands, the effects of colonialism on Islam, secularism and the Islamic reaction, the effects of globalization, and political violence in the 9/11 era. This fully revised and updated edition also examines recent developments in the wake of the Arab Spring of 2011.

Comprising 12 essays by distinguished experts, this volume traces the story of Mahatma Gandhi's transformation from small-town lawyer in South Africa to 'father of the Indian nation'.