Introduction by Barry Goldwater. [adapted from jacket blurb]

    For millennia, the world's great ethical and religious traditions taught that true happiness lies in pursuing virtue and accepting limits. But now, unbound from these stubborn traditions, we are free to choose whichever way of life we think is most optimal — or, more often than not, merely the easiest. All that remains are the fickle desires that a wealthy, technologically advanced society is equipped to fulfill.The result is a society riven by deep conflict and individual lives that, for all their apparent freedom, are marked by alienation and stark unhappiness.In response to this crisis, Ahmari offers twelve questions for us to grapple with — twelve timeless, fundamental queries that challenge our modern certainties. Among them: Is God reasonable? What is freedom for? What do we owe our parents, our bodies, one another? Exploring each question through the life and ideas of great thinkers, from Saint Augustine to Howard Thurman and from Abraham Joshua Heschel to Andrea Dworkin, Ahmari invites us to examine the hidden assumptions that drive our behavior and, in so doing, to live more humanely in a world that has lost its way.Editorial Reviews“[The Unbroken Thread] merits attention . . . because Ahmari is a notable combatant in the fight on the American right for the future of conservatism.”—The New York Times Book Review“Ahmari’s elegantly written book matters because it seeks to give moral voice to what so far has mainly been a populist scream against the values of elite liberalism.”—Bret Stephens, The New York Times“A scholarly rebuke to the fashionable currents of our rootless age. . . . Salted with an intellectual breadth and curiosity, expressed with exceptional clarity.”—The Times (London)“A formidable combination of storytelling and philosophy that might change your life.”—The Times (London), Audiobook of the Week“A vital and provocative read. . . . Designed to satisfy the curiosity of those wondering whether there is more to life than rootless independence, The Unbroken Thread is an easy read, while still meaty enough to reward those already sympathetic to tradition’s insights. . . . Studded with little gems of historical and philosophical intrigue.”—The Telegraph (London)“[Ahmari] is a master storyteller. . . . Readers of Sohrab Ahmari’s new book will be grateful to him for reminding us of how serious the loss [of our traditions] could turn out to be.”—First Things“Even those who reject Ahmari’s categories and conclusions will still admire and be edified by the stories he has to tell.”—National Review“A triumph of intellectual hagiography that leads the reader confidently into deep waters.”—Commentary“Ahmari proposes a path out of the chaos in our culture today, discerning the reasons of the heart and promoting moral excellence. He frames the questions we all need to ponder and identifies many topics that families and religious leaders need to address — the sooner, the better.”—The New Criterion“Sohrab Ahmari’s latest book presents compelling critiques of the modern understanding of human freedom.”—The American Conservative“An extended, carefully worded invitation to share in the treasures of Western civilization.”—Claremont Review of Books“Ahmari’s prose is always clear, and he manages to articulate sophisticated arguments without ever sounding academic or getting lost in minutia.”—Washington Examiner“The Unbroken Thread will be of great service to Americans who have been deprived of their moral and philosophical inheritance by a shallow educational establishment. . . . Ahmari introduces a generation (and more) to the spiritual patrimony of which they have been robbed. And he does it in the gentlest way possible, knowing its riches may dazzle eyes that have too long alighted on only the rusted scrap of utilitarian liberalism.”—Spectator USA“The urgent need for this work cannot be doubted. For as Ahmari concludes his reflections, the social trends that fill parents like him with unease also come into sharper focus.”—National Catholic Register“The quality that makes [Ahmari] a valuable thinker for our current moment is the same one that made him write this book in the way that he did: his willingness to take risks.”—City Journal“Honestly, if there were another hundred Sohrab Ahmaris, or even just a dozen, the Church in the US would be transformed. . . . [A] humane and combative book.”—The Catholic Herald“Fiercely intelligent. . . . Bristling with ideas and insights, this is a book to engage theologians and general readers alike.”—Church Times (London)“Intriguing and insightful. . . . The Unbroken Thread is clearly the result of wide reading and reflection. . . . While Ahmari’s arguments are easy to read, copying and sending them to your older children is even easier.”—Catholic World Report“Although Ahmari is gentle with the reader, his aim is daring. He seeks nothing less than to build a city of heroes. . . . [His] verve and punchy style will make any educated reader rethink or think more about our society’s shaky foundations. Better yet, it might even make a saint or two.”—The University Bookman“The Unbroken Thread is a most welcome invitation to take both wisdom and tradition seriously again, to see in tradition an indispensable vehicle for conveying and sustaining wisdom about the things that truly matter. In that regard, Ahmari’s very fine book is profoundly countercultural.”—The Public Discourse“The book recalls . . . C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, a guide for the skeptical everyman to the traditionalist's position.”—The Washington Free Beacon“The Unbroken Thread is simply tradition issuing a series of reminders to Western liberalism. And yet we’d be remiss if we didn’t attend closely to the conceptual contours traced by Ahmari’s highly readable book.”—Human Events“The Unbroken Thread is an achievement in scholarship, journalism, and entertainment. . . . If you’re feeling 'exhausted' or just looking for refreshment and renewed energy, read The Unbroken Thread.”—The Catholic Thing“Well-written, thoughtful and true arguments.”—UnHerd“The Unbroken Thread is persuasive because it is a father’s working-out of a vision worth imparting to his child. Ahmari’s love for his son is a gateway to the book’s universal concerns.”—Arc Digital“With The Unbroken Thread, New York Post op-ed editor Sohrab Ahmari has given us a beautifully written book that makes classical and Christian thought intelligible, relevant, and attractive to contemporary readers.”—Providence Magazine“Ahmari is speaking to all of us as the children we are, appealing to our reason, as well as to our eternal selves. He petitions that part of us that, like children, reaches out to the sky, the universe, the heavens, and pleads for some glimpse of true meaning. We beggars at the altar of mercy have tried everything we could think of, have indulged in every kind of fulfillment, prioritized every pursuit, and still none of them can equate to the glory of God's love.”—The Post Millennial“Ahmari’s eminently readable book is a rediscovery of time-tested wisdom.”—The Daily Signal“The Unbroken Thread is not a polemic; it is an intellectual journey told as a series of cozy, fireside chats. . . . It satisfies what the late critic Harold Bloom considered the reader’s strongest, most authentic motive: 'the search for a difficult pleasure.’ ”—The Imaginative Conservative“While Ahmari’s new book is certainly well-written, it does not leave readers feeling comfortable. Instead, it challenges readers, conservative and progressive alike, to examine not just their opinions but their habits — and those of their civilization. . . . It is both poignant and edifying.”—The European Conservative“Ahmari deftly blends history, biography, and philosophy to propose answers to the questions he sets himself.” —SemiduplexAdvance Praise“Sohrab Ahmari offers more than a vivid and learned defense of traditionalism. With fatherly love, he leads his son—and us—on a fearless consideration of life’s big questions, taking thinkers of many historical times and circumstances as interlocutors. Along the way, he recovers truths about the nature and flourishing of the human person—truths seemingly in danger of being forgotten in our contentious and uncertain times.”—Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York“Ahmari’s tour de force makes tradition astonishingly vivid and relevant for the here and now. Only a writer with Ahmari’s intellect, his audacious commitment to faith and reason, and a journalist’s gift for storytelling could have pulled this off.” —Rod Dreher, bestselling author of Live Not by Lies and The Benedict Option“A serious—and seriously readable—book about the deep questions that our shallow age has foolishly tried to dodge.”—Douglas Murray, bestselling author of The Madness of Crowds and The Strange Death of Europe“As having a child instantly teaches us, it’s no longer about you. Ahmari uses his personal experience, but then broadens out to draw on wisdoms of all ages and faiths. He jars us out of our selfie-obsessed world with the clear message that commitment to faith, to others, and to humanity is actually the most liberating existence of all.”—Martha MacCallum, anchor, The Story on Fox News, and author, Unknown Valor: A Story of Family, Courage, and Sacrifice from Pearl Harbor to Iwo Jima“In this fascinating book, Sohrab Ahmari eloquently articulates what many American Founders understood and the French revolutionaries forgot: that faith is essential for freedom to truly flourish, and that we abandon the wisdom of the past at great peril to our future. Traditional Jews, Christians, and all who care about the future of the West are in his debt.” —Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, director, Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought, Yeshiva University“In a time of widespread confusion and uncertainty about the meaning of life, Sohrab Ahmari makes a strong case for the truth and relevance of traditional values, virtues, and beliefs. This is a unique and hopeful book that reminds us that the human person is made for great and beautiful things — far more than the vision of life offered by our society today.”—Most Reverend José H. Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles“Drawing on the deepest wells of ancient and modern wisdom from around the world, The Unbroken Thread weaves together essential lessons desperately needed to guide a new generation into an uncertain future. Written with love as a legacy for his young son, Sohrab Ahmari has produced a gift for all of us.” —Patrick J. Deneen, professor of political science, University of Notre Dame, and author of Why Liberalism Failed“Sohrab Ahmari has been thinking for himself since arriving from Iran as a youth. Paradoxically, he has thought himself back into the heart of our best traditions and has seen, with striking clarity, that the modern quest for total liberation of the intellect and will is both quixotic and damaging, individually and collectively. This clever and engaging work is the result; the dozen questions it asks are fresh, and the answers it gives are powerfully persuasive.” —Adrian Vermeule, Ralph S. Tyler, Jr. Professor of Constitutional Law, Harvard Law School

    As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.Abraham LincolnNothing is more daring in the American experiment than the founders' belief that the American republic could remain free forever. But how was this to be done, and are Americans doing it today?It is not enough for freedom to be won. It must also be sustained. Cultural observer Os Guinness argues that the American experiment in freedom is at risk. Summoning historical evidence on how democracies evolve, Guinness shows that contemporary views of freedom--most typically, a negative freedom from constraint-- are unsustainable because they undermine the conditions necessary for freedom to thrive. He calls us to reconsider the audacity of sustainable freedom and what it would take to restore it.In the end, Guinness writes, the ultimate threat to the American republic will be Americans. The problem is not wolves at the door but termites in the floor. The future of the republic depends on whether Americans will rise to the challenge of living up to America's unfulfilled potential for freedom, both for itself and for the world.

    Attacked by partisans on both sides of the aisle, he has been called a "right-wing hate monger," the "ultimate D.C. power-broker," a "traitor" and "turncoat." Now, this influential spiritual adviser to America’s political class chronicles his controversial, sometimes troubling career in this revelatory and often shocking memoir.As a teenager in the 1970s, Schenck converted from Judaism to Christianity and found his calling in public ministry. In the 1980s, he, like his twin brother, became a radical activist leader of the anti-abortion movement. In the wake of his hero Ronald Reagan’s rise to the White House, Schenck became a leading figure in the religious right inside the Beltway. Emboldened by his authority and access to the highest reaches of government, Schenck was a zealous warrior, brazenly mixing ministry with Republican political activism—even confronting President Bill Clinton during a midnight Christmas Eve service at Washington’s National Cathedral.But in the past few years Schenck has undergone another conversion—his most meaningful transition yet. Increasingly troubled by the part he played in the corruption of religion by politics, this man of faith has returned to the purity of the gospel. Like Paul on the Road to Damascus, he had an epiphany: revisiting the lessons of love that Jesus imparted, Schenck realized he had strayed from his deepest convictions. Reaffirming his core spiritual beliefs, Schenck today works to liberate the evangelical community from the oppression of the narrowest interpretation of the gospel, and to urge Washington conservatives to move beyond partisan battles and forsake the politics of hate, fear, and violence. As a preacher, he continues to spread the word of the Lord with humility and a deep awareness of his past transgressions.In this moving and inspiring memoir, he reflects on his path to God, his unconscious abandonment of his principles, and his return to the convictions that guide him. Costly Grace is a fascinating and ultimately redemptive account of one man’s life in politics and faith.

    In Just As I Am Graham reveals his life story in what the Chicago Tribune calls "a disarmingly honest autobiography." Now, in this revised and updated edition, we hear from this "lion in winter" (Time) on his role over the past ten years as America's pastor during our national crisis of the Oklahoma bombing and 9/11; his knighthood; his passing of the torch to his son, Franklin, to head the organization that bears his name; and his commitment to do the Lord's work in the years of his and his wife Ruth's physical decline.

    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.

    Although they do not represent a majority of Americans—and will not for the foreseeable future—today’s Republican senators possess the power to block most legislation. Once known as “the world’s greatest deliberative body,” the Senate has become one of the greatest threats to our democracy. How did this happen?In Kill Switch, Senate insider Adam Jentleson contends that far from reflecting the Framers’ vision, the Senate has been transformed over the decades by a tenacious minority of white conservatives. From John Calhoun in the mid-1800s to Mitch McConnell in the 2010s, their primary weapon has been the filibuster, or the requirement that most legislation secure the support of a supermajority of senators. Yet, as Jentleson reveals, the filibuster was not a feature of the original Senate and, in allowing a determined minority to gridlock the federal government, runs utterly counter to the Framers’ intent.For much of its history, the filibuster was used primarily to prevent civil rights legislation from becoming law. But more recently, Republicans have refined it into a tool for imposing their will on all issues, wielding it to thwart an increasingly progressive American majority represented by Barack Obama’s agenda and appointees. Under Donald Trump, McConnell merged the filibuster with rigid leadership structures initially forged by Lyndon Johnson, in the process surrendering the Senate’s independence and centrality, as infamously shown by its acquiescence in Trump’s impeachment trial. The result is a failed institution and a crippled democracy.Taking us into the Capitol Hill backrooms where the institution’s decline is most evident, Jentleson shows that many of the greatest challenges of our era—partisan polarization, dark money, a media culture built on manufactured outrage—converge within the Senate. Even as he charts the larger forces that have shaped the institution where he served, Jentleson offers incisive portraits of the powerful senators who laid the foundation for the modern Senate, from Calhoun to McConnell to LBJ’s mentor, Richard Russell, to the unapologetic racist Jesse Helms.An essential, revelatory investigation, Kill Switch ultimately makes clear that unless we immediately and drastically reform the Senate’s rules and practices—starting with reforming the filibuster—we face the prospect of permanent minority rule in America.

    He is unprepared for the reality of America’s bloody fight for independence. The Continental Army is starving, underpaid, and dangerously close to mutiny, and Washington fights not just to defeat the British but to maintain order and morale among his own men.As anonymous letters by officers calling for revolt circulate through camp in Newburgh, New York, Washington must make a choice: preserve the young republic by keeping civilian control of the military, or reshape the new government by standing in solidarity with his troops and assuming greater power for himself.During one fateful week in American history, Josiah will watch a conflicted general become a legend and will discover for himself that the greatest struggles of war are those within the hearts and minds of fallible men.

    From Abraham wandering in the desert to Jesus teaching the multitudes on a Judean hillside, this award-winning bestseller follows the biblical story from start to finish.Priests and kings, apostles and prophets, common folk and charismatic leaders—individual stories offer glimpses into an unfolding revelation that reaches across the centuries to touch us today. The Book of God:Follows the biblical story in chronological orderFilled with carefully researched cultural and historical background Includes biblical events viewed through the eyes of minor charactersMaster storyteller Walter Wangerin Jr. shares the story of the Bible from beginning to end as you've never read it before, retold with exciting detail and passionate energy. Experience the Bible in a beautiful new way!

    Yet until now little attention has been paid to the role Reagan's personal spirituality played in his political career, shaping his ideas, bolstering his resolve, and ultimately compelling him to confront the brutal -- and, not coincidentally, atheistic -- Soviet empire.In this groundbreaking book, political historian Paul Kengor draws upon Reagan's legacy of speeches and correspondence, and the memories of those who knew him well, to reveal a man whose Christian faith remained deep and consistent throughout his more than six decades in public life. Raised in the Disciples of Christ Church by a devout mother with a passionate missionary streak, Reagan embraced the church after reading a Christian novel at the age of eleven. A devoted Sunday-school teacher, he absorbed the church's model of "practical Christianity" and strived to achieve it in every stage of his life.But it was in his lifelong battle against communism -- first in Hollywood, then on the political stage -- that Reagan's Christian beliefs had their most profound effect. Appalled by the religious repression and state-mandated atheism of Bolshevik Marxism, Reagan felt called by a sense of personal mission to confront the USSR. Inspired by influences as diverse as C.S. Lewis, Whittaker Chambers, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, he waged an openly spiritual campaign against communism, insisting that religious freedom was the bedrock of personal liberty. "The source of our strength in the quest for human freedom is not material, but spiritual," he said in his Evil Empire address. "And because it knows no limitation, it must terrify and ultimately triumph over those who would enslave their fellow man."From a church classroom in 1920s Dixon, Illinois, to his triumphant mission to Moscow in 1988, Ronald Reagan was both political leader and spiritual crusader. God and Ronald Reagan deepens immeasurably our understanding of how these twin missions shaped his presidency -- and changed the world.

    Luce issues a revolutionary wake-up call to the church and home about the cultural battle for America's teens' hearts, minds, and souls.

    He wants more for us than a tepid faith and half-hearted routines at the dinner table. He's called you to a life of courage, not comfort.This book will show you how to pray the prayers that search your soul, break your habits, and send you to pursue the calling God has for you. But be warned: if you're fine with settling for what's easy, or you're OK with staying on the sidelines, this book isn't for you. You'll be challenged. You'll be tested. You'll be moved to take a long, hard look at your heart.But you'll be inspired, too.You'll be inspired to pray boldly. To pray powerfully. To pray with fire. You'll see how you can trade ineffective prayers and lukewarm faith for raw, daring prayers that will push you to new levels of passion and fulfillment. You'll discover the secret to overcome fears of loss, rejection, failure, and the unknown and welcome the blessings God has for you on the other side.You'll gain the courage it takes to pray dangerous prayers.

    He was beaten and tortured by the sheriff and state police. But through it all he returned good for evil, love for hate, progress for prejudice and brought hope to black and white alike. The story of John Perkins is no ordinary story. Rather, it is a gripping portrayal of what happens when faith thrusts a person into the midst of a struggle against racism, oppression and injustice. It is about the costs of discipleship--the jailings, the floggings, the despair, the sacrifice. And it is about the transforming work of faith that allowed John to respond to such overwhelming indignities with miraculous compassion, vision and hope.

    The meditations include selections from "Believing Prayer," "The Ministry of Intercessory Prayer," "Waiting on God," "Living a Prayerful Life," and more. Readers will find a wide range of topics, such as the importance of morning devotions, intercession, Jesus's prayer life, boldness in prayer, and prayerlessness. Each of the more than 150 readings includes a related brief Scripture passage. The language has been updated for today's readers.

    Through the prisms of archaeology, theology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright's findings overturn basic assumptions about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and are sure to cause controversy. He explains why spirituality has a role today, and why science, contrary to conventional wisdom, affirms the validity of the religious quest. And this previously unrecognized evolutionary logic points not toward continued religious extremism, but future harmony. Nearly a decade in the making, The Evolution of God is a breathtaking re-examination of the past, and a visionary look forward.