This book explores the possibility that Plato's philosophia is influenced by non-agonal practices and values that historically and philosophically antedate the agonal practices of the Athenian ekklesia. The author surveys literature concerning the predominance of agonal in ancient Greek culture, the values associated with oral poetic performance as a religious practice, and the ubiquitous character of the gift practice known as xenia in the ancient world. The author compares the structure of the agon to the structure of other ancient practices, and reasons that while agonistic practices are oppositional and binary, poetic and social practices are narrative and plural and exemplify, alternative to the agonal, the value of charis--grace. Reading Socratic speech and Socratic inquiry in terms of charis illuminates the narrative structure of Plato's portrayal of Socrates and precludes one-dimensional analyses of Plato's writings as philosophically agonistic and demonstrative. Rather the value of Socratic charis illustrates the value of genuine dialogue, and the author suggests how revaluing Socratic dialogue in light of charis can be relevant to current thinking about philosophy, politics, and the agon.

"When I swung over that windowsill, everything changed for me. We are meant to go in and out of doors in civilized style, but my mother bade me climb into woodsy wildness and a darkness flushed with crimson light and torches …" Clambering into the branches of a tree, a young woman flees flaming arrows and massacre. She will need to struggle for survival: to scour the wilderness for shelter, to strive and seek for a new family and a setting where she can belong. Her unmarked way is costly and hard. For Charis, the world outside the window of home is a maze of hazards. And even if she survives the wilds, it is no simple matter to discover and nest among her own kind—the godly, those called Puritans by others. She may be tugged by her desires for companionship, may even stumble into an intense love for a man, and may be made to try the strength of female heroism in ways no longer familiar to women in our century. Streams of darkness run through the seventeenth-century villages of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Occult fears have a way of creeping into the mind. What young woman can be safe from the dangers of wilderness when its shadowy thickets spring up so easily in the soil of human hearts? Much will oppose Charis' longings for renewal and peace; she must pursue and discover the hero's path to a larger, more vivid life.

Mrs. L. Baillie Reynols (b.c1875 d.1939) -- also known as G.M. Robinswas a popular Romantic novelist. Today she is best remembered for her supernatural tales, including "A Silence Broken," "A Castle to Let," and "The Spell of Sarnia."

"Founded by David Yonggi Cho, Yoido Full Gospel Church is the world's largest church. This book discusses the factors responsible for the phenomenal growth of this church. The book expounds the role played by leadership, the Holy Spirit, prayer, preaching, cell groups and creativity in promoting church growth, with particular reference to Yoido Full Gospel Church. It focusses on God's Grace (charis) and Inspiring Leadership (charisma) as the two essential factors for church growth and, in this context, examines the part David Yonggi Cho's personal charisma and his ideas or principles play in causing growth. The purpose of the book is to present a model for church growth worldwide"--P. [4] of cover.

A humanistic account of the Christian Bible and its traditions explores the human motivations behind the biblical texts and looks at the history of early Christianity and the influence of Greek philosophy and Roman paganism in its evolution.