This eerie chronology ventures right to the borderlines of science and sheds light into the darkness. Here, topics as wide ranging as the Maya death gods, golems, and séances sit side by side with entries on zombies and quantum immortality. With the turn of every page, readers will encounter beautiful artwork, along with unexpected insights about death and what may lie beyond.

    But too often he is viewed as an Americanized shepherd boy on a Sunday school felt board or a New Testament saint alongside the Virgin Mary. Not only does this neglect one of the Bible’s most complex stories of sin and redemption; it also bypasses the gritty life lessons inherent in the amazing true story of David.  Mark Rutland shreds the felt-board character, breaks down the sculpted marble statue, and unearths the real David of the Bible. Both noble and wretched, neither a saint nor a monster, at times victorious and other times a failure, David was through it all a man after God’s own heart.

    Are the roots of Christianity partly based on spin and propaganda? Acting as a historical detective, the author strips away the layers of deception and propaganda that surround the Christian story in a quest to find the real Mary Magdalene.

    Evidence that Jesus had siblings contradicts Church dogma on the virgin birth, and James is also a symbol of Christian teachings that have been obscured. While Peter is traditionally thought of as the leader of the apostles and the “rock” on which Jesus built his church, Jeffrey Bütz shows that it was James who led the disciples after the crucifixion. It was James, not Peter, who guided them through the Church's first major theological crisis--Paul's interpretation of the teachings of Jesus. Using the canonical Gospels, writings of the Church Fathers, and apocryphal texts, Bütz argues that James is the most overlooked figure in the history of the Church. He shows how the core teachings of Jesus are firmly rooted in Hebraic tradition; reveals the bitter battles between James and Paul for ideological supremacy in the early Church; and explains how Paul's interpretations, which became the foundation of the Church, are in many ways its betrayal. Bütz reveals a picture of Christianity and the true meaning of Christ's message that are sometimes at odds with established Christian doctrine and concludes that James can serve as a desperately needed missing link between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam to heal the wounds of centuries of enmity.

    This exceptional work, by one of the world's leading Biblical scholars, provides a full account of how the different parts of the Bible came to be written; how some writings which were regarded as holy became canonical and were included in the Bible, and others were not; what the relationship is of the different parts of the Bible to each other; and how, once it became a stable text, the Bible has been disseminated and interpreted around the world. It gives full weight to discussion of the importance of the Tanakh (Old Testament) in Judaism as in Christianity. It also demonstrates the degree to which, contrary to widespread belief, both Judaism and Christianity are not faiths drawn from the Bible texts but from other sources and traditions. It shows that if we are to regard the Bible as 'authoritative' it cannot be as believers have so often done in the past.

    This world-famous bestseller has withstood the test of time, inspiring countless books and films, including the author's own popular sequel, The Eyes of the Sphinx. But here is where it all began--von Daniken's startling theories of our earliest encounters with alien worlds, based upon his lifelong studies of ancient ruins, lost cities, potential spaceports, and a myriad of hard scientific facts that point to extraterrestrial intervention in human history. Most incredible of all, however, is von Daniken's theory that we ourselves are the descendants of these galactic pioneers--and the archeological discoveries that prove it... * An alien astronaut preserved in a pyramid * Thousand-year-old spaceflight navigation charts * Computer astronomy from Incan and Egyptian ruins * A map of the land beneath the ice cap of Antarctica * A giant spaceport discovered in the Andes Includes remarkable photos that document mankind's first contact with aliens at the dawn of civilization.

    Who their authors, the evangelists, were cannot now be determined; the Gospels themselves probably reached their final form between thirty-five and sixty-five years after Jesus' death. The essential "riddle of the New Testament" is the problem of deciding which portions of the Gospels refer authentically to the career and teaching of Jesus, and which, on the other hand, are subsequent additions or inventions by the evangelists.... Here Michael Grant looks at these Gospels with an historian's eye, treating them in exactly the same way as he would any other works of ancient literature capable of yielding historical information. The picture of Jesus which emerges is in some respects a new and unfamiliar one. There was no "gentle Jesus, meek and mild," says Dr. Grant--nor was Jesus a political revolutionary, as is often claimed. Jesus, although readily touched to compassion and anger by the sufferings he witnessed, ruthlessly subordinated his every act and thought to the success of his great mission. His admonishments to turn the other cheek, love thy neighbor, welcome sinners, and render unto Caesar did not so much indicate a love of peace or a sentimental affection for humanity, or a respect for the imperial government, as a desire to deal quickly with what he considered to be matters that were subordinate and secondary to the main issue, thus enabling his disciples to concentrate wholly on the dawning and imminent realization of the Kingdom of God. Jesus' mission to the Jews in Galilee, followed by his very brief ministry in Jerusalem, was a complete failure, as he evidently knew and admitted. But Michael Grant ends his book with an explanation of the strange course of events by which this failure was converted, after Jesus' death, into triumph.---------------------Michael Grant, author of St Paul & numerous earlier works on the ancient Mediterranean world, set out to write a secular historian's account of Jesus using "methods that make belief & unbelief irrelevant." Any such study is something of an imaginative reconstruction. This one comes across as very middle-of-the-road, skeptical of the sources & of the skeptics, touching base unobtrusively with recent literature & building a picture of background & event in the life of a man whose models were Hebrew prophets, rather wild Galilean holy men, & (to an extent) the Qumran community memorialized by the Dead Sea scrolls. His conviction that he was especially required to inaugurate a new era of obedience to God among fellow Jews ("the Kingdom") led inevitably to Roman execution. When Grant comes to account for the subsequent influence of this "most important person who ever lived," he points to resurrection talk in the air in those times & to Jesus' overwhelming personality. It doesn't sound much more convincing than the alternatives. But overall this is the best recent book of its kind, accessible to the general reader, with no traces of condescension or "biography under church bells."--Kirkus (edited)

    Religious and biblical scholar Bart Ehrman makes the provocative case that many of our widely held beliefs concerning the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and the divine origins of the Bible itself are the results of both intentional and accidental alterations by scribes.In this compelling and fascinating book, Ehrman shows where and why changes were made in our earliest surviving manuscripts, explaining for the first time how the many variations of our cherished biblical stories came to be, and why only certain versions of the stories qualify for publication in the Bibles we read today. Ehrman frames his account with personal reflections on how his study of the Greek manuscripts made him abandon his once ultra–conservative views of the Bible.

    Evidence I & II -The classic defense of the faith: Now fully updated to answer the questions challenging evangelical faith today.The New Evidence maintains its classic defense of the faith yet addresses new issues.The New Evidence is destined to equip believers with a ready defense for the next decade and beyond

    In this sense, Rabbinic thought is relevant to every aspect of modern life. Rabbinic literature explores the meaning of living life to its fullest, in right relationship with God and humanity. However, many Christians are not aware of Rabbinic thought and literature. Indeed, most individuals in the Western world today, regardless of whether they are Christians, atheists, agnostics, secular community leaders, or some other religious or political persuasion, are more knowledgeable of Jesus' ethical teachings in the Sermon on the Mount than the Ethics of the Fathers in the Jewish prayer book. The author seeks to introduce the reader to the world of Torah learning. It is within this world that the authentic cultural background of Jesus' teachings in ancient Judaism is revealed.

    Though not primarily a work of theology or of spirituality, this popular history intends to help the words and deeds of Jesus come alive for contemporary readers. In Jesus’ day, he was a polarizing figure; one was either for him or against him. Today, even many who are familiar with the story of Jesus are unmoved. There are a number of reasons for this, but one of them is that we have forgotten the history of which Jesus came to be part; and we have also forgotten how we fit in. When God acted in Jesus, he acted in history, and that history came with particular cultures, presuppositions, and memories of its own. Without an understanding of these things, Jesus’ polarizing words and deeds become blunted because their backdrop has been removed.

    From the manger in Bethlehem to the cross in Jerusalem, Yancey presents a complex character who generates questions as well as answers; a disturbing and exhilarating Jesus who wants to radically transform your life and stretch your faith.The Jesus I Never Knew uncovers a Jesus who is brilliant, creative, challenging, fearless, compassionate, unpredictable, and ultimately satisfying. ’No one who meets Jesus ever stays the same’, says Yancey. ‘Jesus has rocked my own preconceptions and has made me ask hard questions about why those of us who bear his name don t do a better job of following him.’

    From crossing the Red Sea to climbing Mount Sinai to touching the burning bush, Bruce Feiler's inspiring journey will forever change your view of some of history's most storied events.

    She was a stewardess for first-class passengers on the Titanic and she wrote an absolutely unique eyewitness account on the most written about disaster of our time. Four years later, Violet was a nurse onboard the hospital ship Britannic when it struck a mine and sank to the bottom of the Aegean. But Titanic Survivor is much more. A unique autobiography for those who want to know how it really felt, a story that could be told only by a Titanic Survivor.

    Norse mythology is rich in adventure and ideas about creation, death, and the afterlife. And from Wagnerian operas to Lord of the Rings to Marvel's Avengers, it has had an immense influence across Western culture. Norse Myths takes a wide-ranging approach to the topic, examining the creation stories of the Norse world, the monsters and the pantheons of the deities including such figures as Thor, Freyr and Loki. It looks at the sagas that tell of real and imagined people, featuring both heroic tales and humorous escapades. The book also examines how Norse myths were interpreted in a Christianized Europe and how their motifs influenced medieval German writers and, in turn, were used in the modern world in very different ways, by the likes of Richard Wagner, Adolf Hitler and J.R.R. Tolkien. Illustrated with 180 color and black & white photographs, artworks and maps, Norse Myths is an exciting, engaging, and highly informative exploration of a fascinating and highly influential world, and will appeal to anyone interested in folklore and history. REVIEWS: "This magnificent book is more or less an encyclopedia. Beautifully illustrated." - Books Monthly UK