“Growth and Decline in the Anglican Communion” (Goodhew, ed.)

Next month, Routledge will release Growth and Decline in the Anglican Communion: 1980 to the Present edited by Revd. Dr. David Goodhew (Durham University). The publisher’s description follows:

growth-and-decline-in-the-anglican-communityThe Anglican Communion is one of the largest Christian denominations in the world. Growth and Decline in the Anglican Communion is the first study of its dramatic growth and decline in the years since 1980. An international team of leading researchers based across five continents provides a global overview of Anglicanism alongside twelve detailed case studies. The case studies stretch from Singapore to England, Nigeria to the USA and mostly focus on non-western Anglicanism. This book is a critical resource for students and scholars seeking an understanding of the past, present and future of the Anglican Church. More broadly, the study offers insight into debates surrounding secularisation in the contemporary world.

“The Jew as Legitimation” (Wertheim, ed.)

Next month, Palgrave Macmillan will release The Jew as Legitimation: Jewish-Gentile Relations Beyond Antisemitism and Philosemitism edited by David J. Wertheim (Director of the Menasseh ben Israel Institute for Jewish Cultural and Social studies, Amsterdam). The publisher’s description follows:

Palgrave.jpgThis book traces the historical phenomenon of “the Jew as Legitimation.” Contributors discuss how Jews have been used, through time, to validate non-Jewish beliefs. The volume dissects the dilemmas and challenges this pattern has presented to Jews. Throughout history, Jews and Judaism have served to legitimize the beliefs of Gentiles. Jews functioned as Augustine’s witnesses to the truth of Christianity, as Christian Kabbalist’s source for Protestant truths, as an argument for the enlightened claim for tolerance, as the focus of modern Christian Zionist reverence, and as a weapon of contemporary right wing populism against fears of Islamization.

This volume challenges understandings of Jewish-Gentile relations, offering a counter-perspective to discourses of antisemitism and philosemitism