Book picks similar to
A Mind's Matter: An Intellectual Autobiography by Stanley L. Jaki
science-religion
philosophy
theology
memoir
Mother Teresa's Secret Fire: The Encounter That Changed Her Life, and How It Can Transform Your Own
Joseph Langford - 2007
Published at Mother Teresa's personal request to share her message with the world, it contains personal stories, revealing insights and never-before-seen letters from Mother Teresa.
The Grace of Enough: Pursuing Less and Living More in a Throwaway Culture
Haley Stewart - 2018
Do you ever feel caught in an endless cycle of working harder and longer to get more while enjoying life less? The Stewart family did—and they decided to make a radical change. Popular Catholic blogger and podcaster Haley Stewart explains how a year-long internship on a sustainable farm changed her family’s life for the better, allowing them to live gospel values more intentionally.When Haley Stewart married her bee-keeping sweetheart, Daniel, they dreamed of a life centered on home and family. But as the children arrived and Daniel was forced to work longer hours at a job he liked less and less, they dared to break free from the unending cycle of getting more yet feeling unfufilled. They sold their Florida home and retreated to Texas to live on a farm with a compost toilet and 650 square feet of space for a family of five. Surprisingly, they found that they had never been happier.In The Grace of Enough, Stewart shares essential elements of intentional Christian living that her family discovered during that extraordinary year on the farm and that they continue to practice today. You, too, will be inspired to:live simplyoffer hospitalityrevive food culture and the family tablereconnect with the landnurture communityprioritize beautydevelop a sense of wonderbe intentional about technologyseek authentic intimacycenter life around home, family, and relationshipsDrawing from Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’, Stewart identifies elements of Catholic social teaching that will enhance your life and create a ripple effect of grace to help you overcome the effects of today’s “throwaway” culture and experience a deeper satisfaction and stronger faith.
The Da Vinci Hoax: Exposing the Errors in The Da Vinci Code
Carl E. Olson - 2004
Brown wants his readers to believe that he is revealing the long-concealed truth about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and early Christianity, a truth that he says has been suppressed by the malevolent and conspiratorial forces of the Catholic Church. The novel alleges that there has been throughout history a secret group of true followers of a Gnostic Jesus and his wife, Mary Magdalene, the true "Holy Grail". Almost everything most Christians and non-Christians think they know about Jesus, according to Dan Brown, is completely wrong, the result of Catholic propaganda designed to hide the truth from the world.But are The Da Vinci Code's claims fact or just plain fiction? Is the novel well-researched as claimed? What is the truth about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the early Church? Has the Catholic Church distorted the real Jesus? Why is the novel so popular? What about the anti-Catholic, anti-Christian agenda behind the novel?Best selling author Carl Olson and journalist Sandra Miesel answer these and other important questions. Their painstaking research intoThe Da Vinci Code and its sources reveals some surprising truths. No one who has read or heard about The Da Vinci Code should miss this provocative and illuminating book.
Becoming Human
Jean Vanier - 1998
He proposes that by opening ourselves to others, those we perceive as weak, different, or inferior, we can achieve true personal and societal freedom.
Bad Ideas?: An Arresting History of Our Inventions
Robert Winston - 2009
Indeed our ability to do so is what separates we humans from the rest of the animal world. The moment man first converted a stone to a useful tool set him on a relentless path toward greater power over his environment. But have our creative ideas always produced desirable results in line with their original good intention? Have they really served us well?BAD IDEAS? traces the fascinating history of our attempts at self-improvement but also questions their value. The dubious consequences of the development of weaponry, for example, is self-evident. But what of apparently more innocuous inventions such as farming, writing or medicine? All started off for the greater good but have since produced unforeseen fallout that continues to this day. What are their undesirable side-effects, when did they emerge and where will they take us in the future?Written against a huge historical canvas, we join Robert Winston on a thrilling journey from our earliest days to the present. We learn about the history of modern science, engineering, IT and much more. We meet the individuals who played a key role in their development, and share quirky anecdotes about their lives and brainwaves. Inspiring, unusual, and at times controversial, BAD IDEAS? assesses the past and also looks forward to the opportunities and ethical challenges of the future. In so doing it celebrates man's extraordinary capacity for achievement whilst warning us that his good intentions can sometimes end up as thoroughly bad ideas.
Stranger and Friend: The Way of an Anthropologist
Hortense Powdermaker - 1966
An occasionally humorous and insightful look into what makes socities both similar and unique.
The Gargoyle Code
Dwight Longenecker - 2009
Master Tempter Slubgrip writes daily to a trainee devil Dogwart, advising him on the temptation of a confused young Catholic, while he struggles to control his own patient, an older Catholic man who is facing a serious illness. Meanwhile, Slubgrip has to watch his back, keep control of various under devils who are plotting to take control of his territory and send him to the banqueting house of the Father below. The Gargoyle Code makes for un-put-downable reading at any time, but it is especially designed as a book to be read during Lent. The letters from the tempters begin on Shrove Tuesday and follow day by day, taking the reader on an entertaining, enlightening and sobering journey toward Easter Sunday. Fr Dwight Longenencker has written a book on spiritual warfare that is profound, hilarious, upbeat and inspiring. He nails the devils and all his works, and succeeds in keeping the reader's attention all the way through. This is a book to be read and re-read and to share with others.
Joseph the Silent
Michel Gasnier - 1961
Joseph, yet his life is full of spiritual treasures. Michel Gasnier O.P., here shows you where to find them and how they can enrich your own relationship with God. In this series of brief meditations he explores St. Joseph's work as a carpenter, his marriage, his character, the flight into Egypt, his return to Nazareth, Simeon's prophecy, and more. He gives you an enlightening portrait of this man who remains one of the Church's most extraordinary saints and intercessors.
The Age of Reason
Thomas Paine - 1794
The Age of Reason represents the results of years of study and reflection by Thomas Paine on the place of religion in society.Paine wrote: "Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst; every other species of tyranny is limited to the world we live in; but this attempts to stride beyond the grave, and seeks to pursue us into eternity."The cool rationale of Paine's The Age of Reason influenced religious thinking throughout the world; and its pervasieve influence continues to the present day.
Seven Types of Atheism
John N. Gray - 2018
John Gray's stimulating and extremely enjoyable new book describes the rich, complex world of the atheist tradition, a tradition which he sees as in many ways as rich as that of religion itself, as well as being deeply intertwined with what is so often crudely viewed as its 'opposite'.The result is a book that sheds an extraordinary and varied light on what it is to be human and on the thinkers who have, at different times and places, battled to understand this issue.
Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
Bart D. Ehrman - 2005
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.
Standing For Something More: The Excommunication of Lyndon Lamborn
Lyndon Lamborn - 2009
After a highly publicized and controversial exit from Mormonism, Lamborn intertwines the story of his awakening with psychological aspects of religious belief.
For the Time Being
Annie Dillard - 1999
Vivid, eloquent, haunting, For the Time Being evokes no less than the terrifying grandeur of all that remains tantalizingly and troublingly beyond our understanding.
My Billion Year Contract
Nancy Many - 2009
But it was only after she joined Scientology's elite inner circle, the Sea Organization, and signed a Billion Year contract that she she discovered the dark world of fanaticism and abuse at the center of Scientology's vast empire. For more than two decades she worked at all levels of the organization, from serving as a personal aide to the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, who placed her in charge of the religion's worldwide expansion to becoming the head of Celebrity Center in Los Angeles, the organization that caters to Scientology's celebrity members.Early in her Scientology career, she spent five years as a covert agent engaged in espionage activities for the Church's shadowy Guardian's Office. After leaving the Sea Org, she spent an additional two years as an undercover operative for the "reformed" Guardian's Office, the Office of Special Affairs which continued the same pattern of covert intelligence and dirty tricks against the Church's perceived enemies while using intense legal attacks and bolstered by hired private investigators. She personally experienced the Sea Organization's Rehabilitation Project Force; a labor camp where erring members are "reeducated".When her loyalty came into question she was subjected to weeks of grueling interrogation, ending up in restraints after being rushed to a hospital by ambulance, unable to even recognize her own husband.It is a shocking story of abuse, imprisonment, espionage, lies, mental torture and suicide-vital reading for anyone who wants to know what goes on behind Scientology's curtain.