Book picks similar to
The Evolution of the Idea of God: An Inquiry Into the Origin of Religions by Grant Allen
religion
theology
history
social-sciences
Hell: The Dogma of Hell, Illustrated by Facts Taken from Profane and Sacred History
F.X. Schouppe - 1882
F.X. Schouppe, S.J., (Purgatory—Explained by the Lives and Legends of the Saints), has written here a similar book on the subject of Hell. While the basic Catholic doctrines on Hell are reviewed, he mainly recounts numerous true stories that reinforce belief in Hell and the eternity of its horrors. The subject of Hell is frightening but the purpose of this work is not sensationalistic or to terrify, but rather to present lucidly to readers the reality of Hell and to instill in them a firm dread of the loss of Heaven.We trust that reading this short volume will motivate many in their faith, bring others back to God and help people truly desire Salvation.
Purification of the Mind
عبد القادر الجيلاني - 1997
These discourses, like the ones found in some of his other books, would have been transcribed by some of his listener. There are a number of surviving manuscripts of the book. The language of Shaikh 'Abd Al-Qadir's discourses is often permeated by symbolic references, metaphorical images, and poetic expressions. This style, which is characteristic of the Shaikh's discourses, reflects a number of facts. First, the Shaikh often speaks about spiritual matters that are completely unfamiliar to the layperson and which the language is incapable of describing with accuracy. These, in the Shaikh's words, are states, stations, visions, and experiences that "no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, and has never occurred to any human being." Second, the Shaikh's words spring as much from his heart as from his mind, describing feelings as well as thoughts. He is forced to use common words to describe feelings that are known only to those who have had those spiritual experiences. No language is equipped enough to describe these feelings, in the same way that no words can assist in describing color to one born blind because it requires visual experience. Third, the Shaikh often speaks about secret and intimate spiritual issues that he does not want to or cannot fully disclose, thus wrapping his words in metaphors. The words of Shaikh Al-Jilani do not describe one spiritual state and are not targeted at one person. They paint a fascinating picture of a myriad of spiritual states and stations and apply to people of very different beginnings, paths, and ends. The destination is the same, but the routes are different. Also different wayfarers end their journeys at different points. What is good for someone might not good for another, and what is required of two different people might be completely different, even though both have the same goal. This is why understanding the Shaikh's words and their applications is a science in its own right. As Sufis say: "The ways to Allah are as many as the creatures." The words of the Shaikh remain as relevant to the seeker of the truth and nearness to God as they were when he uttered them almost one thousand years ago. For sure, the world has changed a lot, but man's nature has not, and the diseases of his heart remain the same. The Shaikh's words address these diseases and show man the way to salvation. His words lived a thousand years and will live to the day when this transient world is no more and is replaced by the permanent one. Like all beacons of truth, the Shaikh has been the target of attacks of the ignorant, the narrow minded, and the misguided. As happened to others who understood Islam to be about works of the heart not acts of the body, this pious servant, whose life was fully dedicated to serving his Lord, has often been accused of distorting the message of Prophet Muhammad by those who wanted to hijack Islam and turn it into a spiritless, legalistic system to serve their worldly ambitions. But, as history has been confirming everyday, the voice of truth can never be silenced and the words of wisdom will remain inerasable. It is ignorance of this fact, as well as mistaking falsehood for truth, that must have made some misguided individuals to use terrorism against the Shaikh as they bombed his shrine in Baghdad on 28th May 2007, damaging parts of it. These and similar criminals do not realize that what made great masters such as Shaikh 'Abd Al-Qadir live forever is not buildings that commemorate them or books written about them, but the teachings and examples they set that live in people's minds and love for God that they helped them develop in their hearts. This is why almost one thousand years after his departure from this world people still feel immensely honored to serve the Shaikh and his sacred cause, including making his words more accessible to people.
Max Lucado: Come Thirsty / Traveling Light / Next Door Savior
Max Lucado - 2008
Three books in one, bringing you closer to the Savior. In Come Thirsty, Max Lucado encourages you to visit the well and drink deeply, to receive Christ's work on the cross, the energy of his Spirit, and his lordship over your life, and his unending, unfailing love.Using the illustration of weary travelers in Traveling Light, Lucado invites us to release the burdens of our excess baggage that we were never intended to bear--with the Twenty-third Psalm as our guide.In Next Door Savior, master storyteller Max Lucado presents the life of Jesus Christ in stunning contrast, revealing the irresistible human qualities and the undeniably divine characteristics of Jesus. Lucado describes, as only he can, a Savior who is as approachable as a next-door neighbor, yet mighty enough to save humanity.
In God's Hands: The Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book 2015
Desmond Tutu - 2014
It is a meditation on the infinite love of God and the infinite value of the human individual. Not only are we in God's hands, says Desmond Tutu, our names are engraved on the palms of God's hands. Throughout an often turbulent life, Archbishop Tutu has fought for justice and against oppression and prejudice. As we learn in this book, what has driven him forward is an unshakeable belief that human beings are created in the image of God and are infinitely valuable. Each one of us is a God-carrier, a tabernacle, a sanctuary of the Divine Trinity. God loves us not because we are loveable but because he first loved us. And this turns our values upside down. In this sense, the Gospel is the most radical thing imaginable.It is extremely moving that in this book Archbishop Tutu returns to something so simple and so profound after a life in which he has been involved in political, social, and ethical issues that have seemed to be so very complex.
Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament
Jason David BeDuhn - 2003
It begins with brief treatments of the background to the Bible and its translation, the various approaches to translation, and the specific origins of nine translation versions in wide use in the English-speaking world today. It then proceeds to compare those versions on nine points of translation, ranging from individual terms, to difficult passages, to whole categories of grammar. The book serves to inform readers of the forces at work shaping the meaning of the Bible, to help in their selection of Bible translations, and to act as a critical catalyst for the improvement of Bible translations through more careful attention to the risk of bias in the translation process.
The Rabbi Who Found Messiah: The Story of Yitzhak Kaduri and His Prophecies of the Endtime
Carl Gallups - 2013
In 2007, two Israeli news publications, Israel Today and News First Class reported that the most famous Rabbi in Israel's modern history, 108-year-old Yitzhak Kaduri, had left a cryptic death note revealing the name of the long-awaited Messiah. Within a year after the rabbi's death, the note was reported to have been verified as authentic by some of Kaduri's closest followers and then placed on Kaduri's own website (Kaduri.net). The purported Kaduri message proclaimed that Messiah's name was Yehoshua, or Jesus. Its significance shocked the religious world. Shortly thereafter the furor began. The note immediately disappeared from Kaduri's website. The media refused to report further upon the matter. The Kaduri family, and several others close to the Kaduri ministry, began to claim that the note was a forgery or a mere fabrication - a cruel joke. Now, author, senior pastor, radio talk show host, and former law enforcement officer Carl Gallups, uses his biblical knowledge and journalistic and investigative skills to explore the matter inside and out. His thorough and balanced reporting of the documented facts of the case will astound you. Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, author of The Harbinger, several renowned biblical experts, as well as former students of Kaduri's rabbinical training school weigh in on the case. Gallup's exciting detailed reporting reaches startling conclusions that will amaze you. Mystical death-curses, visions of Messiah, an important world political figure under threat, religious leaders in shock, a cryptic death note, and more, this story is shocking, it is true and it is still unfolding. Did Rabbi Kaduri actually see and identify the real Messiah? From the publishers and the movie studio that brought you the best-selling documentary The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment comes the story of The Rabbi Who Found Messiah.
Your Faith, Your Life: An Invitation to the Episcopal Church
Jenifer Gamber - 2009
This "everything-you-need-to-know" guide for newcomers to the Episcopal Church is written and designed to provide accessible and user-friendly reading, with an easy-going look and style that's packed full of substance.The book carefully unpacks the Episcopal Church's language of worship, theology, church structure, and sacraments, so that newcomers will have the vocabulary and framework to share their beliefs and practices, explore the Bible, understand prayer and discern their own ministry within the church.Drawing upon the success of an earlier book written for teens, the new book retains the same unique presentation, inviting readers to consider their relationship with God and the church community as an ongoing process of transformation, while providing ways to engage in that process.
The Life and Prayers of Saint Benedict
Wyatt North - 2013
Benedict was not interested in fame, power, or legacy. He was only interested in living the Christian life to the fullest and helping those around him to do the same. The rest is history—and the work of Providence. St. Benedict is regarded as the Father of the Benedictine Order of both religious men and women that follow his Rule, a key principle of which is ora et labora—pray and work. Today, many people wear holy medals of St. Benedict, invoking his intercession for protection against the powers of evil. Not only consecrated religious but also many lay people find inspiration in his call to balance, discipline, and prayer. Historically, St. Benedict helped bridge the early Church with the medieval period by standing on the shoulders of the fathers of the monastic tradition and bringing that tradition solidly into a new era.
The Classic Works of A. W. Tozer
A.W. Tozer - 2012
W. Tozer include two of Tozer most loved books; The Pursuit of God and Man, the Dwelling Place of God. Each has a linked table of contents.
Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World
Tom Holland - 2019
How astonishing it was, then, that people should have come to believe that one particular victim of crucifixion-an obscure provincial by the name of Jesus-was to be worshipped as a god. Dominion explores the implications of this shocking conviction as they have reverberated throughout history. Today, the West remains utterly saturated by Christian assumptions. As Tom Holland demonstrates, our morals and ethics are not universal but are instead the fruits of a very distinctive civilization. Concepts such as secularism, liberalism, science, and homosexuality are deeply rooted in a Christian seedbed. From Babylon to the Beatles, Saint Michael to #MeToo, Dominion tells the story of how Christianity transformed the modern world.
The Incredible Life of a Himalayan Yogi: The Times, Teachings and Life of Living Shiva: Baba Lokenath Brahmachari
Shuddhaanandaa Brahmachari - 2014
Baba Lokenath, through his amazing penance and practice of hathayoga, rajayoga, and the synthesis of Yoga, reached a state of being one with the Divine. To thousands of followers who came to seek succor from the pains of worldly life, Baba showered his boundless grace and miraculous power, healing and redeeming them, and showing the simplest path of Yoga of Action. He never wanted the seekers to leave their home and comforts of life, but be where they are and practice meditation of self-enquiry and the path of devotional surrender to the Higher Reality. He supported Gnana-mishra-bhakti, the path of a balanced blending of Awareness and Love Divine. As you read this book, please know that very little is known about Baba Lokenath’s long life of 160 years, for he was against any propaganda about him or his incomprehensible powers of manifesting miracles. But this book has his presence, for it is his divine grace that made this book possible. Whoever will read this book will feel the aura of his divine presence surrounding them. It is no coincidence that you have this book and you are reading the life of one who could say, ‘In danger, remember me, I will save you’. Please read his promises, his teachings and the lives of those who came in touch with him and the transformations they attained, particularly, his equanimity, his infinite love for animals and his boundless compassion for mankind. When you read this incredible life, Baba’s Divine Presence works in your heart and soul and creates the ground that attracts his miraculous powers to heal you and bring fulfillment of your coveted desires of life. His Presence will cleanse your inner being to allow the awakening and opening of the petals of divine consciousness so that your human life is fulfilled. You are now on a journey to rediscovering yourself and finding your teacher who guides from within to the world of Eternal light and Joy.
Saying Yes to Life: The Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book 2020
Ruth Valerio - 2019
As people made in the image of God, we are entrusted to look after what he has created: to share in God’s joy and ingenuity in making a difference for good. Ruth Valerio imaginatively draws on the Days of Creation (Genesis 1) as she relates themes of light, water, land, the seasons, other creatures, humankind, Sabbath rest and resurrection hope to matters of environmental, ethical and social concern.Foundational to Saying Yes to Life is what it means to be human and, in particular, to be a follower of Jesus. Voices from around the world are heard throughout, and each chapter ends with discussion questions and a prayer to aid action and contemplation. e
The Life and Legends of Saint Francis of Assisi
Candide Chalippe - 2003
REVISED AND RE-EDITED BY FATHER HILARION DUERK, O.F.M.
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.
A Minute in the Church
Gus Lloyd - 2010
In this easy to read booklet, you'll find 37 one-minute teachings on how to explain and defend Catholic teaching.