Penn State University Press

Heroic Subjectivity and Elect Community in Seventeenth-Century England A study of romance, religion, and politics in seventeenth-century England, presenting a recontextualized understanding of romance as a multi-generic narrative structure or strategy rather than a prose

An interpretation of early modern Paris demonstrating that sound was as important as vision during the reign of Louis XIV. Discloses myriad ways in which sound generated an interpenetration of elite a

A Study in the Solomonic Tradition Examines a series of powerful artifacts traditionally associated with King Solomon, largely via extra-canonical textual sources--Solomon’s ring, bottles to contain evil forces, the so-called Sol

Ambiguity in the Reception History of the Book of Psalms in Judaism and Christianity During the Second Temple period and the first centuries CE, the Book of Psalms grew to become one of the most popular books of the Hebrew Bible. As a book related to David, the important king of the p

Ancestor Cult and Necromancy in Ancient Israelite Religion and Tradition Did the ancient Israelites perform rituals expressive of the belief in the supernaturalbeneficent power of the dead? Contrary to long held notions of primitive society and the euhemeristic origin of t

A Theological Interpretation Theologians and Old Testament scholars have been at odds with respect to the best interpretation of the imago Dei. Theologians have preferred substantialistic (e.g., image as soul or mind) or relation

Rituals of Execution in Renaissance Italy In Renaissance Italy a good execution was both public and peaceful—at least in the eyes of authorities. In a feature unique to Italy, the people who prepared a condemned man or woman spiritually

African American Reformers in the Atlantic World A study of select nineteenth-century African American authors and reformers who mobilized the discourses of cosmopolitanism and restraint to expand the meaning of freedom.