He makes the provocative case that to remedy this problem, we should return to teaching religion in the public schools. Alongside "reading, writing, and arithmetic," religion ought to become the "Fourth R" of American education.Many believe that America's descent into religious illiteracy was the doing of activist judges and secularists hell-bent on banishing religion from the public square. Prothero reveals that this is a profound misunderstanding. "In one of the great ironies of American religious history," Prothero writes, "it was the nation's most fervent people of faith who steered us down the road to religious illiteracy. Just how that happened is one of the stories this book has to tell."Prothero avoids the trap of religious relativism by addressing both the core tenets of the world's major religions and the real differences among them. Complete with a dictionary of the key beliefs, characters, and stories of Christianity, Islam, and other religions, Religious Literacy reveals what every American needs to know in order to confront the domestic and foreign challenges facing this country today.

    In this gift book His Holiness the Dalai Lama imparts his message: the importance of love, compassion and forgiveness.His Holiness the Dalai Lama describes how to bring wisdom and compassion into our busy, stressful everyday lives.A beautiful selection of words from His Holiness that will help you to face difficult emotions such as anger in yourself and in others with genuine acceptance and understanding.The only little gift book based on the words of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, this book should have tremendous appeal especially during the holiday season.

    Are your prayers being answered? Do you even know what to pray? Deep down inside, do you feel that prayer is too passive to really accomplish much? If these questions gave you pause, welcome to a new day! War Room Strategies offers a step-by-step, Bible-based approach to prayer that will revolutionize your prayer life! With the Holy Spirit as your ultimate Guide, you will learn to search the scriptures for wisdom as well as check your heart to address ungodly motives before developing a prayer that honors God and bring His Kingdom to bear on everything that deeply concerns you.

    The answers are by Sadhguru,a living master and profound mystic of our times.Unshakably anchored in inner experience,he remains unaffiliated to any organized religions,sectarian or ideological tradition.Forthright,witty, unconventional,provovative,but deeply compassionate,these answers were shared with close disciples over a period of ten years on various occasions.Spanning a variety of subjects that he seldom addresses otherwise in public,these words were spoken to foster the growth of a few who had been with him for a long time.The tone is intimate,the cadence conversational,the context specific.And this is the book s strength.Seekers of every culture and persuasion will find themselves turning from eavesdroppers to participants from the very first page.For the answers carry the unmistakable ring of authenticity,the deep clarity and wisdom of one who knows what it means to seek.And to know.And just how to map the arduous,often interminable,journey in between.

    Indeed, many view religion in general, and Christianity in particular, as unfounded and unreasonable.Norman Geisler and Frank Turek argue, however, that Christianity is not only more reasonable than all other belief systems, but is indeed more rational than unbelief itself. With conviction and clear thinking, Geisler and Turek guide readers through some of the traditional, tested arguments for the existence of a creator God. They move into an examination of the source of morality and the reliability of the New Testament accounts concerning Jesus. The final section of the book deals with a detailed investigation of the claims of Christ. This volume will be an interesting read for those skeptical about Christianity, as well as a helpful resource for Christians seeking to articulate a more sophisticated defense of their faith.

    Many written by monks, and some written by hippies and spiritual gurus. But how many are written by an ordinary dude? Someone who is just like you: someone who has a day job, whose preferred outfit is jeans and a t-shirt, and enjoys knocking back a few beers on Friday night? I'm as ordinary as they come. The only difference...I've been meditating for over 13 years. And I want to show you how you can too—in a straightforward language that any ordinary dude or dudette can understand. Over a decade of practice, meditation has transformed my life, bringing more peace, calm and clarity into it than I could have ever imagined when I started at the age of 19. And now I want to share how meditation can do the same for you.

    Religion for Atheists suggests that rather than mocking religions, agnostics and atheists should instead steal from them – because they're packed with good ideas on how we might live and arrange our societies. Blending deep respect with total impiety, Alain (a non-believer himself) proposes that we should look to religions for insights into, among other concerns, how to:- build a sense of community- make our relationships last- overcome feelings of envy and inadequacy- escape the twenty-four hour media- go travelling- get more out of art, architecture and music- and create new businesses designed to address our emotional needs.For too long non-believers have faced a stark choice between either swallowing lots of peculiar doctrines or doing away with a range of consoling and beautiful rituals and ideas. At last, in Religion for Atheists, Alain has fashioned a far more interesting and truly helpful alternative.

    (The somewhat confusing title is from a line in Zorba the Greek in which the title character refers to the ups and downs of family life as "the full catastrophe.") But this book is also a terrific introduction for anyone who has considered meditating but was afraid it would be too difficult or would include religious practices they found foreign. Kabat-Zinn focuses on "mindfulness," a concept that involves living in the moment, paying attention, and simply "being" rather than "doing." While you can practice anything "mindfully," from taking a walk to cleaning your house, Kabat-Zinn presents several meditation techniques that focus the attention most clearly, whether it's on a simple phrase, your breathing, or various parts of your body. The book goes into detail about how hospital patients have either improved their health or simply come to feel better despite their illness by using these techniques, but these meditations can help anyone deal with stress and gain a calmer outlook on life. "When we use the word healing to describe the experiences of people in the stress clinic, what we mean above all is that they are undergoing a profound transformation of view," Kabat-Zinn writes. "Out of this shift in perspective comes an ability to act with greater balance and inner security in the world." --Ben Kallenreissue 2005

    A collection of talks she gave between 1987 and 1994, the book is a treasury of wisdom for going on living when we are overcome by pain and difficulties. Chödrön discusses:    •  Using painful emotions to cultivate wisdom, compassion, and courage    •  Communicating so as to encourage others to open up rather than shut down    •  Practices for reversing habitual patterns    •  Methods for working with chaotic situations    •  Ways for creating effective social action

    Dinosaurs had feathers.The appendix isn’t useless but there are nine body-parts that are.Coliseum gladiators were obese and staged their fights.The first robot was built 2,400 years ago.The Bible never says what The Devil looks like.Leprosy doesn’t exist.This book corrects many misconceptions people have about the human body, books, dinosaurs, words, disorders, quotes, religion, and unsolved mysteries (that have actually been solved.)Read on to find out the real reason why movies were made, how angels are actually described in the Bible, discover what happened to the ancient Mayans, and the answer to the ultimate question: which came first - The chicken or the egg?

    A conversation taking place in the spiritual realm. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were part of it. Throughout the history of humanity others have joined it, and there is something buried in each of our hearts that tells us we were created to be part of it as well.   We long for it. We yearn to be in on it. But despite giving our lives to Christ and being born again in the Spirit, we don’t always know how to plug into it. So we stay in earth’s chat rooms rather than praying from heaven’s throne room. Even Jesus’ disciples did not ask Him how to preach, but how to pray.   The Prayer Warrior’s Way is a practical guide for praying, enabling you to become versed in the basics necessary for talking to and hearing from God for yourself. Following the revolutionary prayer model Jesus gave to His disciples, Cindy Trimm gives you the keys to joining the most important conversation in the universe.