Thomas appears only four times in John's Gospel, yet despite this he is crucially important in understanding the function of the Johannine message. Dennis Sylva provides the first major study which examines the paradox that Thomas is both opposed to a dominant theme in the Fourth Gospel - the eternal life that is a gift to Jesus' followers - and yet is in support of Jesus himself. Thomas appears to have a foot on both sides of the Johannine dualistic divide. He seems to be existentially at home on one side and yet ideologically at home on the other. No other character in John's Gospel so tenaciously hold on to companionship with Jesus while just as resolutely distancing himself from Jesus' central teaching. Thomas breaks down the barriers between the disciples (those who walk in the light) and the world (those who walk in the darkness) that John takes pains to establish. Sylva's new work demonstrates the importance of Thomas in fully understanding the message of the Fourth Gospel.

A transcription of Lucy Peel’s wonderfully readable journal was recently discovered in her descendent’s house in Norwich, England. Sent in regular installments to her transatlantic relatives, the journal presents an intimate narrative of Lucy’s Canadian sojourn with her husband, Edmund Peel, an officer on leave from the British navy. Her daily entries begin with their departure as a young, newlywed couple from the shores of England in 1833 and end with their decision to return to the comforts of home after three and a half years of hard work as pioneer settlers. Lucy Peel’s evocative diary focuses on the semi-public world of family and community in Lower Canada’s Eastern Townships, and fulfils the same role as Susanna Moodie’s writings had for the Upper Canadian frontier. Though their perspective was from a small, privileged sector of society, these genteel women writers were sharp observers of their social and natural surroundings, and they provide valuable insights into the ideology and behaviour of the social class that dominated the Canadian colonies during the pre-Rebellion era. Women’s voices are rarely heard in the official records that comprise much of the historical archives. Lucy Peel’s intensely romantic journal reveals how crucially important domesticity was to the local British officials. Lucy Peel’s diary, like those of such counterparts as Catherine Parr Traill, also suggests that genteel women were better prepared for their role in the New World than Canadian historians have generally assumed.

The works of Thomas Manton present us with what was most characteristic in the ministry of the English Puritans: careful, solid, warm-hearted applicatory exposition of the Scriptures, great pastoral concern and a balanced wisdom.

In the past eight hundred years, it is possible that no other theologian has shaped our understanding of God, man, and the Church more than St. Thomas Aquinas. While many people are familiar with his most famous work, the Summa Theologiae, fewer know of his important role as a biblical theologian. But in fact, Aquinas’ primary work was biblical theology. His biblical commentaries remain invaluable in the ongoing work of Scripture study. The essays in Thomas Aquinas, Biblical Theologian explore some of Aquinas’ most important contributions within his biblical commentaries and the ongoing work of Scripture study. A dozen contributors explore Aquinas’ thought on faith and revelation, the study of the Sacred Page, and other dogmatic and moral considerations.

The works of Thomas Manton present us with what was most characteristic in the ministry of the English Puritans: careful, solid, warm-hearted applicatory exposition of the Scriptures, great pastoral concern and a balanced wisdom.

Emphasizing the vast changes in literary criticism that have occurred during the last thirty years, H. M. Daleski reexamines Thomas Hardy's novels in the novelist's own terms, presenting a revisionary account of his treatment of gender. He also shows that Hardy was not as sexist as is asserted in much feminist criticism and that his female characters are sympathetically portrayed as the centers of his fictional worlds. By carefully analyzing the novels, Daleski refutes the generally accepted reason for Hardy's abandonment of fiction at the height of his powers, claiming that he drove himself to a dead end in Jude the Obscure. The typical Hardy plot places a female protagonist in a love triangle with two male protagonists who are portrayed as polar opposites. The woman contradicting a general view of her as victim is always granted the freedom of choice of a marriage partner. She invariably makes the wrong choice, which leads to a bad marriage and disastrous sexual relationships. As this scenario is played out in most of Hardy's novels, the men are presented as distinct types, the types being depicted with rich diversity and with steadily greater psychological depth. Hardy's rendering of sexuality in both his male and his female characters is marked by its originality and profundity. In his intuitions about sexual relations, Daleski maintains Hardy was not outdone by writers such as Lawrence and Joyce. Daleski studies Hardy within his Victorian context, but he also shows that Hardy, both in his depiction of sexuality and in his technical innovations, was in advance of his time. In these respects Hardy deserves to be regarded as a forerunner of the great modernists. In Thomas Hardy and Paradoxes of Love, Daleski offers acute and thoughtful analyses of Hardy's major novels. Avoiding critical jargon, the author has made his book accessible to all readers with an interest in Hardy and his novels, as well as in the study of gender in English literature.

Back cover: Was the footwashing in John 13:1-20 simply an act of service or humility? Bincy Mathew provides a critical and thorough exegetical analysis of the footwashing and shows that it is the symbolic prefiguration of Jesus' death on the cross enacted during the last supper to manifest his perfect love for his own.