Book picks similar to
Frodo's Journey: Discover the Hidden Meaning of The Lord of the Rings by Joseph Pearce
tolkien
non-fiction
fantasy
nonfiction
What Jesus Saw from the Cross (Revised)
Antonin Sertillanges - 1930
Never has there been spiritual reading as powerful as What Jesus Saw from the Cross, the book that will intensify your love of Jesus by burning the events of His Passion into your memory and imagination. Written by Rev. A. G. Sertillanges, this acclaimed devotional classic gives you vivid and dramatic details not included in the Gospel.
You Are Enough: What Women of the Bible Teach You About Your Mission and Worth
Danielle Bean - 2018
We are unique, we are worthy of love, and we are called to greatness. In this world, though, it can be easy to be distracted from that truth and begin to doubt God’s love is real. We live in a world that tells us we are not smart enough, not pretty enough, not sexy enough, not rich enough, not thin enough, and don’t have enough friends. It’s easy to focus on the ways we fall short of worldly perfection and to forget that we are already made perfect. We are already enough. God has made each of us for a unique purpose, and he calls each of us to know him in unique ways. In a world where everything feels fleeting and temporary, we are made for everlasting life; we are meant to experience God’s abiding love. You Are Enough uses the timeless tales of the Bible to clarify that truth for modern women. ● See how God’s love for each of us shines forth through the stories of the women of the Old Testament. ● Connect with the hopes, dreams, struggles, and experiences of these remarkable women. ● Learn how the lives of these women contain valuable lessons for our lives today. ● Find hope and encouragement as you discover that you are enough, you are accepted for who you are as a beloved daughter of God.
Helena
Evelyn Waugh - 1950
Based on the life of St. Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine and finder of the true cross, this spiritual adventure brings to life the political intrigues of ancient Rome and the early years of Christianity.
The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University
Kevin Roose - 2009
Raised in a secular home by staunchly liberal parents, he fit right in with Brown's sweatshop-protesting, fair-trade coffee-drinking, God-ambivalent student body. So when he had a chance encounter with a group of students from Liberty University, a conservative Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia, he found himself staring across a massive culture gap. But rather than brush the Liberty students off, Roose decided to do something much bolder: he became one of them.Liberty University is the late Rev. Jerry Falwell's proudest accomplishment - a 10,000-student conservative Christian training ground. At Liberty, students (who call themselves "Champions for Christ") take classes like Introduction to Youth Ministry and Evangelism 101. They hear from guest speakers like Mike Huckabee and Karl Rove, they pray before every class, and they follow a 46-page code of conduct called "The Liberty Way" that prohibits drinking, smoking, R-rated movies, contact with the opposite sex, and witchcraft. Armed with an open mind and a reporter's notebook, Roose dives into life at Bible Boot Camp with the goal of connecting with his evangelical peers by experiencing their world first-hand.Roose's semester at Liberty takes him to church, class, and choir practice at Rev. Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church. He visits a support group for recovering masturbation addicts, goes to an evangelical hip-hop concert, and participates in a spring break mission trip to Daytona Beach, where he learns how to convert bar-hopping co-eds to Christianity. Roose struggles with his own faith throughout, and in a twist that could only have been engineered by a higher power, he conducts what would turn out to be the last in-depth interview of Rev. Falwell's life. Hilarious and heartwarming, respectful and thought-provoking, Roose's embedded report from the front lines of the culture war will inspire and entertain believers and non-believers alike.
The Christian Imagination: The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing
Leland Ryken - 1981
This anthology covers all of the major topics that fall within this subject and includes essays and excerpts from fifty authors, including C.S. Lewis, Flannery O’Connor, Dorothy Sayers, and Frederick Buechner.
Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II
George Weigel - 1999
With unprecedented cooperation from John Paul II and the people who knew and worked with him throughout his life, George Weigel offers a groundbreaking portrait of the Pope as a man, a thinker, and a leader whose religious convictions defined a new approach to world politics—and changed the course of history. As even his critics concede, John Paul II occupied a unique place on the world stage and put down intellectual markers that no one could ignore or avoid as humanity entered a new millennium fraught with possibility and danger.The Pope was a man of prodigious energy who played a crucial, yet insufficiently explored, role in some of the most momentous events of our time, including the collapse of European communism, the quest for peace in the Middle East, and the democratic transformation of Latin America. With an updated preface, this edition of Witness to Hope explains how this “man from a far country” did all of that, and much more—and what both his accomplishments and the unfinished business of his pontificate mean for the future of the Church and the world.
The Soul of The Apostolate
Jean-Baptiste Chautard - 1937
In this age of relentless activity it is easy for Christians, particularly those involved in good works, to fall into the pattern of the activist. But mere activity and material results are not sufficient for a successful apostolate.In his classic work
The Soul of the Apostolate,
Dom Chautard demonstrates that the very foundation of all apostolic work must be the Interior Life. The apostle of Christ will grow to become an instrument and true channel of God’s graces to the world only through prayer, meditation and the cultivation of the Interior Life. When one is involved in works of spiritual or corporal charity, his work can only be truly efficacious when he anchors his Interior Life in Christ. Without Christ we can do nothing. Inside you’ll learn about the:Pre-eminence of the Interior Life over the Active Life Dangers of the Active Life: for you and your apostolateThe Devil’s special temptations for those working for Our LordSteps necessary in order to develop and grow in the Interior LifeNecessity of the Interior Life to a successful and spiritually fruitful apostolateFor anyone who would work for Our Lord and His Church there is simply no book more important to read and to follow than
The Soul of the Apostolate
.
The Gospel of Mary of Magdala
Karen L. King - 2003
Karen L. King tells the story of the recovery of this remarkable gospel and offers a new translation. This brief narrative rejects Jesus' suffering and death as a path to eternal life and exposes the view that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute for what it is--a piece of theological fiction. The Gospel of Mary of Magdala offers a fascinating glimpse into the conflicts and controversies that shaped earliest Christianity.
Joan of Arc
Mark Twain - 1896
And besides, it furnished me seven times the pleasure afforded me by any of the others; twelve years of preparation, and two years of writing. The others needed no preparation and got none." --Mark Twain
Surrender! The Life Changing Power of Doing God's Will
Larry Richards - 2011
But Scripture and Father Larry Richards can be equally as compelling as he challenges you to go against the grain and do what few are willing to do.A gifted and captivating speaker, preacher, and retreat master... inner city pastor Father Richard's infectious enthusiasm, in-your-face realism and solid teaching will help you see how surrendering to the will of God paves the way to obtaining the peace which surpasses all understanding, that will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (see Phil 4:7).Following in the footsteps of his best-selling "Be a Man" book, Surrender outlines concrete steps you can take to dwell in peace. Simply put, God wants every one of us to be a saint which is a lot of work! It requires developing a plan for your life, in accordance with the Lord's will.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church - 1992
This book is the catechism (the word means "instruction") that will serve as the standarad for all future catechisms.The Catechism draws on the Bible, the Mass, the Sacraments, Church tradition and teaching, and the lives of saints. It comes with a complete index, footnotes and cross-references for a fuller understanding of every subject. Using the tradition of explaining what the Church believes (the Creed), what she celebrates (the Sacraments), what she lives (the Commandments), and what she prays (the Lord's Prayer), the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers challenges for believers and answers for all those interested in learning about the mystery of the Catholic faith. Here is a positive, coherent and contemporary map for our spiritual journey toward transformation.The Catechism of the Catholic Church is, as Pope John Paul II calls it, "a special gift."
Return To Rome: Confessions of an Evangelical Catholic
Francis J. Beckwith - 2008
He was baptized a Catholic, but his faith journey led him to Protestant evangelicalism. He became a philosophy professor at Baylor University and president of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). And then, in 2007, after much prayer, counsel, and consideration, Beckwith decided to return to the Catholic church and step down as ETS president.This provocative book details Beckwith's journey, focusing on his internal dialogue between the Protestant theology he embraced for most of his adult life and Catholicism. He seeks to explain what prompted his decision and offers theological reflection on whether one can be evangelical and Catholic, affirming his belief that one can be both. EXCERPTIt's difficult to explain why one moves from one Christian tradition to another. It is like trying to give an account to your friends why you chose to pursue for marriage this woman rather than that one, though both may have a variety of qualities that you found attractive. It seems to me then that any account of my return to the Catholic church, however authentic and compelling it is to me, will appear inadequate to anyone who is absolutely convinced that I was wrong. Conversely, my story will confirm in the minds of many devout Catholics that the supernatural power of the grace I received at baptism and confirmation as a youngster were instrumental in drawing me back to the Mother Church. Given these considerations, I confess that there is an awkwardness in sharing my journey as a published book, knowing that many fellow Christians will scrutinize and examine my reasons in ways that appear to some uncharitable and to others too charitable.
Tolkien and the West: Recovering the Lost Tradition of Europe (The Modern Scholar)
M.D.C. Drout - 2012
Tolkien are quite possibly the most widely read pieces of literature written in the 20th century. But as Professor Michael Drout illuminates in this engaging course of lectures, Tolkien's writings are built upon a centuries-old literary tradition that developed in Europe and is quite uniquely Western in its outlook and style. Drout explores how that tradition still resonates with us to this day, even if many Modernist critics would argue otherwise. He begins the course with the allegory of a tower - a device which Tolkien himself crafted in one of the most famous academic works of all time - as a way to illuminate how Tolkien's works continue and build upon a tradition that goes back as far as Beowulf itself.Drout's lectures take us on a literary journey that explores Tolkien's most celebrated writings: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. As he brings these works life, he explains Tolkien's technique and themes, which he shows reverberate all the way back though the Western literary tradition. In the end, Drout shows us how J.R.R. Tolkien crafted literary worlds that the reader cares desperately about and wishes to save. Those worlds, in turn, are allegories for a Western literary tradition - a tower - that is worthy of preservation.
The Origin of Satan: How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans and Heretics
Elaine Pagels - 1995
With magisterial learning and the elan of a born storyteller, Pagels turns Satan's story into an audacious exploration of Christianity's shadow side, in which the gospel of love gives way to irrational hatreds that continue to haunt Christians and non-Christians alike.
A Hobbit Devotional: Bilbo Baggins and the Bible
Ed Strauss - 2012
R. R. Tolkien—even if you’re new to his classic stories—you’ll love A Hobbit Devotional featuring 60 humorous, challenging, and encouraging devotionals. Soon to be a major motion picture, The Hobbit has fascinated readers for more than 70 years. Now, this tale of humble folk who overcome fear, discouragement, and despair through steadfastness, courage, and hope forms the basis of a brand-new devotional book. Each reading sketches a scene from The Hobbit, relates it to a contemporary life situation you might experience yourself, and brings in the teaching of a relevant Bible story or verse.