John L. Thompson - Böcker

The last third of the 20th century has witnessed an eruption of interest in the women in the Bible. In this field, Phyllis Trible's Texts of Terror is a landmark among those studying women of the Bible. Focusing on stories of the maltreatment of women, Trible paved the way for subsequent feminist exegetes who have been very critical of such stories in the Bible, and who see Christianity as an irredeemably patriarchal religion. It is commonly said that these Old Testament stories of rape, murder, torture, and abandonment passed without comment until recent times. In this book, however, John Thompson points out that many neglected pre-modern Christian interpreters have wrestled with the texts of terror throughout the centuries, sometimes writing volumes 'between the lines' of scripture out of an apparent concern for the women in these stories. Thompson traces and analyses the interpretation of the stories of Hagar, Jephthah's daughter, the Levite's wife, and Lot's daughters from the earliest Church Fathers through to the Reformation. He argues that the neglected and largely inaccessible commentaries on which he draws not only shed light on how these troubling stories have been seen in the past, but can speak to Christians who are battling over how the Bible ought to be read today. Here, Thompson traces and analyses various Christian interpretations of these Bible stories of women. In drawing attention to views other than Texts of Terror, Thompson speaks to Christians who are battling over how the Bible ought to be read today.

This book provides an introduction to the methods employed in forecasting the future state of the economy. It provides a comprehensive coverage of methods and applications in this fast-growing area and is intended for use in postgraduate and upper-level undergraduate courses. Part I outlines the available techniques, particularly those used in business forecasting and econometric forecasting. The state of the art in time series modelling is reviewed and includes a discussion of Box-Jenkins models, the vector autogressive approach and cointegration. Ways of combining forecasts are also examined in detail. Part II considers the most important applications of forecasting. Applications in microeconomics include demand and sales forecasting, the use of anticipations data, leading indicators and scenario analysis. In macroeconomics the emphasis is on why errors occur in forecasting asset market prices, including implications of the efficient markets hypothesis for foreign markets, stock market prices and commodity market prices. The book ends with a discussion of the appropriateness of various techniques, recent developments in forecasting, and the links between economic forecasting and government policy.

A bilingual edition of the devotional poems of Dutch scholar and poet Anna Maria van Schurman, illuminating the period of her withdrawal from public life.The life and reputation of Anna Maria van Schurman (1607–78) swung dramatically from her early fame as a prodigy and femme savante to the infamy she bore in the wake of her late affiliation with Jean de Labadie. From her late adolescence on, van Schurman was widely known for her intellectual gifts, her mastery of languages, and her skillful portraiture and embroidery. Described by some as a femme savante and “the Star of Utrecht,” she gained an international reputation with the publication of her defense of women’s education. Her later years, however, were marked by a growing disillusionment with her own fame and intellectual achievements, and her reputation was dramatically marred in the eyes of her contemporaries when, in her final decade, she repudiated the Dutch Reformed Church to affiliate with Jean de Labadie. With him and his spiritual community, she lived out her last years in peace while also composing a two-volume defense of her actions and convictions, entitled Eukleria or The Better Choice.The years between her withdrawal from public life and her supposedly scandalous return are not easily mapped. Drawing on two long devotional poems that she wrote during this period (and that remained unpublished during her lifetime), this bilingual edition introduces readers to van Schurman’s private piety, as well as to her theological acumen, her artistry as a vernacular poet, and her participation in the leadership of a conventicle of like-minded friends and acquaintances. The English translation closely approximates the rhyme, meter, and cadence of the Dutch original and thus facilitates an appreciation not only of the poet’s meaning but also of the auditory aesthetics of each text.

This book provides a concise yet rigorous discussion of the main issues in modern macroeconomics. In particular, it examines the controversy over the role and conduct of macroeconomic stabilization policy.While the book is written in such a way as to allow students to read individual chapters in isolation, according to their interests and needs, the book follows a structured direction. After providing a review of mainstream macro-models and the chief areas of controversy between Keynesian, Monetarist and New Classical approaches to stabilization policy, subsequent chapters focus on selected key controversies: the balance of payments and exchange rates; inflation and unemployment; money and economic activity; fiscal policy and aggregate demand; and business cycles.The approach adopted by the authors make this book highly responsive to teaching and student needs. This authoritative state-of-the-art survey of modern macroeconomics will be essential reading for intermediate level courses in macroeconomics.