An ancient commentator called Job a "strange and wonderful book." For many readers, "strange" might do. Though Job has been characterized as an answer to the problem of suffering, for many the book fails to satisfy the longing for answers it supposedly contains. Perhaps that, in fact, is the point of Job--there are no satisfactory arguments for why people suffer. In this compact yet substantial volume, David B. Burrell argues that this is the message of Job. Burrell engages major movements...

Trying to articulate the ways in which one's life meshes with one's own time can be perilous, yet friends have encouraged me to do just that. Nevertheless, for one oriented to serving others as teacher and mentor in a context of faith, writing about oneself seems unnatural. Yet the "self" we have been given to share embodies many others as well. So many of the encounters narrated here will open into friendships. Moreover, what spices those encounters are the places and passions they embody...

In "The Centurion's Story," David James Burrell masterfully weaves a narrative that delves into the life and psyche of a Roman centurion stationed in Judea during a tumultuous period of history. The book employs a rich, evocative prose style that effortlessly transports readers to the ancient world, melding historical facts with imaginative storytelling. Burrell draws upon a wealth of historical context, including the socio-political dynamics of Roman occupation and early Christianity, all...

I am an old man now; the burden of fourscore years is resting upon me. But the events of a certain April day in the year 783 A.U.C.—full half a century ago—are as fresh in my memory as if they had happened yesterday. At that time I was stationed with my Hundred on garrison duty at the Castle of Antonia, in Jerusalem. I had been ordered to take charge of the execution of a malefactor who had just been sentenced to death. Accordingly, on the morning of the day mentioned, I selected twelve of...

In "The Centurion's Story," David James Burrell masterfully weaves a narrative that explores the life of a Roman centurion during the turbulent times of the early Christian era. Set against a backdrop of historical events, Burrell employs rich, vivid prose that brings the ancient world to life, while skillfully blending personal introspection with broader themes of faith, duty, and conflict. The book is notable for its thoughtful examination of the intersection between authority and vulner...

“A challenging, sensitive, appreciative, deep and broad-minded book.”The Muslim World Book Review“The work of a master scholar who has devoted a lifetime of scholarly, dialogical, and contemplative reflection to these three interconnected traditions. Audacious in its breadth, the book also addresses important and urgent issues, ranging from creation and eschatology to providence and grace, and the debates that even today continue to divide Jews, Chr...

This exploration of Thomas Aquinas's philosophical theology, decidedly "unorthodox" at the time of its original publication, had the good fortune to be employed extensively--notably at Yale and Cambridge--by my eminent colleagues George Lindbeck and Nicholas Lash. It essayed a "non-foundational" reading of the Summa Theologiae, unabashedly beholden to Wittgenstein, thereby preparing the way for a postmodern yet thoroughly traditional appreciation of the central role which Aquinas played in...

This book examines the contrasting interpretations of Islam and the Qur’an by Averroes and Al-Ghazali, as a way of helping us untangle current impasses affecting each Abrahamic faith. This has traditionally been portrayed as a battle between philosophy and theology, but the book shows that Averroes was rather more religious and Al-Ghazali more philosophical than they are usually portrayed.The book traces the interaction between two Muslim thinkers, showing how each is convinced of ...

A Harvard neurologist's "gripping" account of his day-to-day work that "rarely falls into jargon and always keeps the narrative lively and engaging" ( Kirkus Reviews, starred review).Tell the doctor where it hurts—it sounds simple enough, unless the problem affects the very organ that produces awareness and generates speech. What is it like to try to heal the body when the mind is under attack? In this book, Dr. Allan H. Ropper and Brian David Burrell take ...

In Knowing the Unknowable God, David Burrell traces the intellectual intermingling of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian traditions that made possible the medieval synthesis that served as the basis for Western theology. He shows how Aquinas's study of the Muslim philosopher Ibn-Sina and the Jewish thinker Moses Maimonides affected the disciplined use of language when speaking of divinity and influenced his doctrine of God.

"Tell the doctor where it hurts." It sounds simple enough, unless the problem affects the very organ that produces awareness and generates speech. What is it like to try to heal the body when the mind is under attack? Like Alice in Wonderland, Dr. Allan H. Ropper inhabits a world where absurdities abound:— A figure skater whose body has become a ticking time-bomb— A salesman who drives around and around a traffic rotary, unable to get off— A college quarterback who ...

It is hubris to claim answers to unanswerable questions. Such questions, however--as part of their burden and worth--must still be asked, investigated, and contemplated. How there can be a loving, all-powerful God and a world stymied by suffering and evil is one of the unanswerable questions we must all struggle to answer, even as our responses are closer to gasps, silences, and further questions. More importantly, how and whether one articulates a response will have deep, lasting repercus...