Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance from Evil Spirits


Neal Lozano - 2003
    They seek counseling, practice confession, and pursue God-centered lives, yet still these genuine believers feel hopeless in finding freedom. Could they be under the influence of evil spirits? Yes, says author Neal Lozano. In Unbound, he reveals Satan's strategies and the sneaky "entrance points" Satan finds to get a toehold in a Christian's life. He helps readers acknowledge the doors they may have opened to evil influence, and shows them how to close those doors and walk in God's freedom and abundance. Lozano's focus on God and his work in the believer's life, not on intimidating aspects of evil spirits, gives this book a balanced and hopeful tone. Because deliverance is part of the ongoing, glorious work of the Holy Spirit, Unbound outlines a plan for tapping into the potent power of the gospel. It also offers guidance on how pastors, counselors, and laity can pray for others who are still bound by evil and help them to gain victory.

The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life


Armand M. Nicholi Jr. - 1988
    It may seem unlikely that any new arguments or insights could be raised, but the twentieth century managed to produce two brilliant men with two diametrically opposed views about the question of God: Sigmund Freud and C. S. Lewis. They never had an actual meeting, but in The Question of God, their arguments are placed side by side for the very first time. For more than twenty-five years, Armand Nicholi has taught a course at Harvard that compares the philosophical arguments of both men. In The Question of God, Dr. Nicholi presents the writings and letters of Lewis and Freud, allowing them to "speak" for themselves on the subject of belief and disbelief. Both men considered the problem of pain and suffering, the nature of love and sex, and the ultimate meaning of life and death -- and each of them thought carefully about the alternatives to their positions. The inspiration for the PBS series of the same name, The Question of God does not presuppose which man -- Freud the devout atheist or Lewis the atheist-turned-believer -- is correct in his views. Rather, readers are urged to join Nicholi and his students and decide for themselves which path to follow.

Questions of Truth: Fifty-One Responses to Questions about God, Science, and Belief


John C. Polkinghorne - 2009
    In question-and-answer format, Polkinghorne and his collaborator Nicholas Beale offer their highly informed opinions about some of the most frequently asked of these questions. Readers can follow their own paths through the book, selecting questions that interest them and looking at the additional material if they choose. This unique book will help Christians clarify their beliefs regarding difficult issues and better face challenges--from within and from others--to their faith.

The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind


Mark A. Noll - 1994
    Unsparing in his judgment, Mark Noll ask why the largest single group of religious Americans--who enjoy increasing wealth, status, and political influence--have contributed so little to rigorous intellectual scholarship in North America. In nourishing believers in the simple truths of the gospel, why have evangelicals failed at sustaining a serious intellectual life and abandoned the universities, the arts, and other realms of "high" culture? Noll is probing and forthright in his analysis of how this situation came about, but he doesn't end there. Challenging the evangelical community, he sets out to find, within evangelicalism itself, resources for turning the situation around.

Adam and the Genome: Reading Scripture After Genetic Science


Scot McKnight - 2017
    What does this mean for the basic claim of many Christians: that humans descend from Adam and Eve?Leading evangelical geneticist Dennis Venema and popular New Testament scholar Scot McKnight combine their expertise to offer informed guidance and answers to questions pertaining to evolution, genomic science, and the historical Adam. Some of the questions they explore include: - Is there credible evidence for evolution?- Do we descend from a population or are we the offspring of Adam and Eve? - Does taking the Bible seriously mean rejecting recent genomic science?- How do Genesis's creation stories reflect their ancient Near Eastern context, and how did Judaism understand the Adam and Eve of Genesis?- Doesn't Paul's use of Adam in the New Testament prove that Adam was a historical individual?The authors address up-to-date genomics data with expert commentary from both genetic and theological perspectives, showing that genome research and Scripture are not irreconcilable. Foreword by Tremper Longman III and afterword by Daniel Harrell.

The Catholic Guide to Depression: How the Saints, the Sacraments, and Psychiatry Can Help You Break Its Grip and Find Happiness Again


Aaron Kheriaty - 2012
    Kheriaty that the confessional can't cure neuroses, nor can the couch forgive sin. Healing comes only when we integrate the legitimate discoveries of modern psychology and pharmacology with spiritual direction and the Sacraments, giving particular attention to the wisdom of the Church Fathers and the saints.Here, with the expert help of Dr. Kheriaty, you'll learn how to distinguish depression from similar looking but fundamentally different mental states such as guilt, sloth, the darkness of sin, and the sublime desolation called "dark night of the soul" that is, in fact, a privileged spiritual trial sent to good souls as a special gift from God.You'll come to know how to identify the various types of depression and come to understand the interplay of their often manifold causes, biological, psychological, behavioral, cultural, and, yes, moral.Then you'll learn about exciting breakthroughs in pharmacological and other medical treatments, the benefits and limitations of psychotherapy, the critical place that spiritual direction must have in your healing, and the vital role that hope -- Christian hope -- can play in driving out depression.

The Bible is a Catholic Book


Jimmy Akin - 2019
    In its origins and its formulation, in the truths it contains, in its careful preservation over the centuries and in the prayerful study and elucidation of its mysteries, Scripture is inseparable from Catholicism. This is fitting, since both come from God for our salvation. If you re a Catholic who sometimes gets intimidated by the Bible, The Bible Is a Catholic Book will help you better understand and take pride in this gift that God gave the world through the Church. We are the original Bible Christians! And even non-Catholics will appreciate the clear and charitable way that Jimmy explains how the early Church gave us the Bible and how the Church to this day reveres and obeys it.

The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict


Josh McDowell - 1972
    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

The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask: (With Answers)


Mark Mittelberg - 2010
    . . Why do you believe God exists at all? . . . Why would God allow evil and suffering? . . . Why trust the Bible when it's full of mistakes? . . . How could a loving God send people to hell? . . . What makes you think Jesus was more than just a good teacher? . . . Why are Christians so judgmental?"Some questions can stop a conversation. Today, more than ever, people are raising difficult, penetrating questions about faith, God, and the Bible. Based on an exclusive new Barna survey of 1,000 Christians, The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask presents compelling, easy-to-grasp answers to ten of the most troubling questions facing Christians today. These include everything from the existence of heaven to the issues of abortion and homosexuality, as well as the question of whether evolution eliminates our need for a God.

The Genesis Question: Scientific Advances and the Accuracy of Genesis


Hugh Ross - 1998
    Apologetics commentary on the portion of Scripture that accounts for numerous challenges to the credibility of Christianity.

Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings


Marcus J. Borg - 1997
    Jesus & Buddha also delves into the mystery surrounding their strikingly similar teachings and presents over one hundred examples from each.As a Christian, I grew up with Jesus and have lived with him all my life. I have not lived with the Buddha. Similarly my work on this book was from the vantage point of a Jesus scholar. But my experience has led me to the conclusion that their teachings about ‘the way’ are virtually identical and that together they are the two most remarkable religious figures who ever lived.”—Marcus BorgYou hold in your hand a remarkable and beautiful book. Jesus and Buddha are now meeting in an encounter of the spirit. When we listen deeply to their words we find that in many ways, they speak with one heart. If we could enact even one verse from these teachings, it would have the power to illuminate our hearts, free us from confusion and transform our lives.”—Jack Kornfield

The Wedge of Truth


Phillip E. Johnson - 2000
    Johnson highlights the deficiencies in science and the philosophy (naturalism) that undergirds and outlines a cognitive revolution. If there is a dispute, science arbitrates it. If a law is to be passed, science must ratify it. If truth is to be taught, science must approve it. And when science is ignored, storms of protest are heard in the media, in the university--even in local coffee shops. Science speaks so authoritatively in our culture that many are tempted to use its clout to back claims that go beyond the available evidence. How can we spot when such ideological slight of hand has taken place? While we may learn a great deal from science, it does not offer us unlimited knowledge. In fact, most scientists readily acknowledge that science cannot provide answers to questions of ultimate purpose or meaning. The deficiencies in science and the philosophy (naturalism) that undergirds it call for a cognitive revolution--a fundamental change in our thinking habits. And it all begins with a wedge of truth. This wedge of truth does not "wedge out" a necessary foundation of rational thought. But it does "wedge in" the much-needed acknowledgment that reason encompasses more than mere scientific investigation. Phillip E. Johnson argues compellingly for an understanding of reason that brings scientific certainty back into relational balance with philosophical inquiry and religious faith. Applying his wedge of truth, Johnson analyzes the latest debates between science and religion played out in our media, our universities and society-at-large. He looks to thinkers such as Newbigin, Polanyi and Pascal to lay a foundation for our seeing the universe in a totally different way. In the end, Johnson prophetically concludes that the walls of naturalism will fall and that the Christian gospel must play a vital role in building a new foundation for thinking--not just about science and religion but about everyhting that gives human life hope and meaning.

The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions


David Berlinski - 2008
    Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens have dominated bestseller lists with books denigrating religious belief as dangerous foolishness. And these authors are merely the leading edge of a far larger movement–one that now includes much of the scientific community.“The attack on traditional religious thought,” writes David Berlinski in The Devil’s Delusion, “marks the consolidation in our time of science as the single system of belief in which rational men and women might place their faith, and if not their faith, then certainly their devotion.”A secular Jew, Berlinski nonetheless delivers a biting defense of religious thought. An acclaimed author who has spent his career writing about mathematics and the sciences, he turns the scientific community’s cherished skepticism back on itself, daring to ask and answer some rather embarrassing questions:Has anyone provided a proof of God’s inexistence?Not even close.Has quantum cosmology explained the emergence of the universe or why it is here?Not even close.Have the sciences explained why our universe seems to be fine-tuned to allow for the existence of life?Not even close.Are physicists and biologists willing to believe in anything so long as it is not religious thought?Close enough.Has rationalism in moral thought provided us with an understanding of what is good, what is right, and what is moral?Not close enough.Has secularism in the terrible twentieth century been a force for good?Not even close to being close.Is there a narrow and oppressive orthodoxy of thought and opinion within the sciences?Close enough.Does anything in the sciences or in their philosophy justify the claim that religious belief is irrational?Not even ballpark.Is scientific atheism a frivolous exercise in intellectual contempt?Dead on.Berlinski does not dismiss the achievements of western science. The great physical theories, he observes, are among the treasures of the human race. But they do nothing to answer the questions that religion asks, and they fail to offer a coherent description of the cosmos or the methods by which it might be investigated.This brilliant, incisive, and funny book explores the limits of science and the pretensions of those who insist it can be–indeed must be–the ultimate touchstone for understanding our world and ourselves.From the Hardcover edition.

How (Not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor


James K.A. Smith - 2014
    This book by Jamie Smith is a small field guide to Taylor's genealogy of the secular, making it accessible to a wide array of readers. Smith's How (Not) to Be Secular is also, however, a philosophical guidebook for practitioners a kind of how-to manual that ultimately offers guidance on how to live in a secular age. It's an adventure in self-understanding and a way to get our bearings in postmodernity. Whether one is proclaiming faith to the secularized or is puzzled that there continue to be people of faith in this day and age, this is a philosophical story meant to help us locate where we are and what's at stake.

Taking Back Astronomy: The Heavens Declare Creation and Science Confirms It


Jason Lisle - 2006
    Jason Lisle is your guide to the universe beyond our world in this remarkable book. Step out among the stars and experience the truly awesome power of God through this glimpse of His vast creation.