Perforce, I discuss here my books but in such a way that what is highlighted is their substance as well as the circumstances surrounding their creation. Even Disraeli might have tolerated a mother's talking about her own children if she spoke chiefly about what she learned from them and how they were conceived. A certain amount of immodesty might still prevail, but it would likely be an instructive immodesty. To the degree I am successful in this task, therefore, I will link my scholarly products to at least three sets of influences, showing how they intermingled and became contexts for this aspect of my life as a student of religion.