Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament is richly illustrated with hundreds of images, including original artwork, artifacts, maps, and timelines. Uncover the origins of the books of the New Testament and learn how stories of Christ's life and teachings were preserved after His death. Explore the relationships between Greek, Roman, and Jewish culture that explain much about how the gospel was shared and recorded. Examine scriptural issues that have been debated by scholars throughout the ages. Nearly 300 topics provide valuable context to understanding New Testament times, from the role of women and families, to portraits of key personalities, to controversial legends that have persisted to our day. This unique resource is sure to enrich New Testament studies as never before!

    The third edition, Obama’s Last Stand, follows the reelection campaign of President Barack Obama as it struggles to find the winning formula in a political landscape that has changed dramatically since his history-making victory in 2008. Though battered and bruised after nearly four years in office, Barack Obama remains the most competitive player on the field in American politics today. In Obama’s Last Stand, POLITICO White House correspondent Glenn Thrush chronicles the efforts of the president and his team to secure a second term in the face of a determined opposition, unfavorable economic headwinds, and a series of missteps by his own team. This is a revealing portrait of the president at the most precarious moment in his political life, with insights and anecdotes drawn straight from the notebook of one of the most perceptive reporters in America. The trash-talking schoolyard athlete in Obama is very much in evidence, especially when he speaks caustically about his Republican rivals, including the man he thinks is trying to steal his legacy, Mitt Romney. Yet apart from Romney and the uncertain economy, Obama’s greatest obstacle on the road to reelection may be Obama 2008. He and his team of talented advisers must try to reconcile their nostalgia for that once-in-a-lifetime campaign with the realities of an election fundamentally altered by the advent of super PACs and the evaporation of Obama’s superstar popularity. That challenge has led a campaign operation that once prided itself on flawless execution of strategy to commit several of the most dangerous unforced errors of Obama’s political career. Yet the game is far from over. If Obama is sometimes his own worst enemy, he also has the talent and drive to reclaim this race. Spurred on by the realistic prospect of losing, and growing ever more impatient with the foibles of his campaign staff, Obama the competitor is gearing up for the most critical fourth quarter of his career. This is the story of the last stand that will either cement his legacy forever—or consign him to a roster of once-promising one-term presidents.

    After a highly publicized and controversial exit from Mormonism, Lamborn intertwines the story of his awakening with psychological aspects of religious belief.

    Pontius brings to light simple ways to recognize and implement personal revelation in your life. Inside you'll find the grand keys that will help make receiving daily guidance, answers to prayers, and much more, accessible to everyone. With this book at your side, you'll be better prepared to prosper along your life's journey and accomplish the work the Lord has planned for you.

    At seventeen she fled with her family from the dangers of revolution and was sent alone to Utah to finish high school and earn her own way into the world. Camilla tells her story, often in her own words, recounting her heritage, her high-spirited youth, and her struggles and triumphs as wife, mother, citizen, and individual. The book is packed with human interest: her childhood fear that she was going insane; her father's plural marriage; flight from Mexican revolutionaries; the insecurities of a poor but proud teenage girl; a whirlwind courtship and marriage; the terror of having a child stricken with polio; the frightening responsibility of wife of a General Authority; the exhilaration of travel; the anguish of watching her husband suffer through numerous physical infirmities. The woman who emerges is shy but warm, highly intelligent, refreshingly candid, deeply faithful, independent to a fault, unswervingly loyal, and reassuringly human.

    Kimball, from 1973 to 1985, spanned years of remarkable growth and dramatic developments in the Church. In that time, Church membership grew from 3.2 million to 5.9 million, the number of full-time missionaries serving grew from 17,000 to nearly 40,000 and temples in operation increased from 15 to 36. This book focuses exclusively on President Kimball's ministry as Church President, describing such landmark events as the revelation extending the priesthood to all worthy males, the publication of new editions of the LDS scriptures, and the reorganization of the quorum of the Seventy. The accompanying CD-ROM (created by BYU Studies) contains a wealth of additional information, including a longer version of the biography, photos not included in the book, some audio clips of President Kimball (including a sample before the surgery on his throat), as well as copies of other books written by or about President Kimball.

    This is completely contrary to the Founding Fathers’ original vision of America; it was designed by them to be a secular democratic republic built on evidence-based Enlightenment values, emphatically not religious faith.Indeed, the Founders purposefully intended that a high, strong “wall of separation” keep church and state apart in the new nation, while allowing individual religious freedom untrammeled by government—and vice versa. But Christians with theocratic dreams keep trying to breach the wall. Through their efforts, God is now in evidence everywhere in the country—on our money, in our schools, even in high-level-government officials’ speeches. Freedom of — and from — religion is the American promise to all its people whatever their belief—or disbelief. This is how the Founding Fathers wanted it to be, not the undemocratic theocracy zealous evangelicals are trying to force on American society.

    . . combined. A man who believed from a blessing he received from Joseph Smith that if he never cut his hair he could never die in a fight. Assassins ambushed him, but no one could kill him, as confirmed by the Deseret News in 1918, stating he had passed through dangers "unscathed, as numerous as those recorded in the most lurid fiction" after it had interviewed numerous settlers who had known him. Gunfighters traveled hundreds of miles to "get him" - none succeeded. Outlaws actually sang compfire ballads about him. Latter-day Saints are proud to view him as a folk hero. Reading this book allows us to see what a real hero is. Famed British journalist Jules Remy wrote in 1861, "He is the stuff from which heroes are wrought. It is he who is ever at hand where there is a sacrifice to be made which can be of advantage to the oppressed." Richard Lloyd Dewey quotes hundreds of original sources - journals, letters, and court records - some from sources never before tapped - and weaves them all together in fascinating form. In the process he clarifies the controversies, dispels the shadows, and melts away the myriads of anti-Mormon myths. Journalistic, fast-flowing writing sweeps you through explosive early Mormon history with charm and style. He reports little known events and unravels a bizarre yet faith-promoting tale. The Deseret News of 1986 reports, "The writing is slick and the pace is fast. Dewey has done his homework." It's a story told with breadth and feeling . . . the most intriguing, ACCURATE account yet of Orrin Porter Rockwell. Also the most comprehensive, by far. As the definitive work on him, this fascinating, epic biography is as exciting to read as a first-rate novel. Beautifully illustrated by western artist Clark Kelley Price.

    Christ and the New Covenant

    But what does it mean to always have the Lord's Spirit with us? And how can we recognize the presence and guidance of the Holy Ghost in our lives?Paired with both inspirational and personal photography, this new book brings together some of Elder Ronald A. Rasband's greatest stories and counsel about recognizing the divine hand of the Lord in our lives. Get to know Elder Rasband and his teachings as he draws upon personal experiences from his younger life and his ministry as an Apostle. Through his own experience, he helps us learn first how to seek the Spirit and then how to recognize and respond to divine guidance in our families, with friends and colleagues, in our Church service, and during times of trial.Each of these short quotes, heartfelt stories, and brief messages is an important reminder that the Lord is in the small details of our lives. He is interested in our success and eternal happiness, and He has provided the Holy Ghost to offer divine guidance and lead us back to Him.

    Gold reserves that exceed those of industrialized nations. Real estate holdings that equal the total area of many countries. Opulent palaces containing the world's greatest art treasures. These are some of the riches of the Roman Catholic Church. Yet in 1929 the Vatican was destitute. Pope Pius XI, living in a damaged, leaky, pigeon-infested Lateran Palace, could hear rats scurrying through the walls, and he worried about how he would pay for even basic repairs to unclog the overburdened sewer lines and update the antiquated heating system. How did the Church manage in less than seventy-five years such an incredible reversal of fortune? The story here told by Church historian Paul Williams is intriguing, shocking, and outrageous.The turnaround began on February 11, 1929, with the signing of the Lateran Treaty between the Vatican and fascist leader Benito Mussolini. Through this deal Mussolini gained the support of the staunchly Catholic Italian populace, who at the time followed the lead of the Church. In return, the Church received, among other benefits, a payment of $90 million, sovereign status for the Vatican, tax-free property rights, and guaranteed salaries for all priests throughout the country from the Italian government. With the stroke of a pen the pope had solved the Vatican's budgetary woes practically overnight, yet he also put a great religious institution in league with some of the darkest forces of the 20th century.Based on his years of experience as a consultant for the FBI, Williams produces explosive and never-before published evidence of the Church's morally questionable financial dealings with sinister organizations over seven decades through today. He examines the means by which the Vatican accrued enormous wealth during the Great Depression by investing in Mussolini's government, the connection between Nazi gold and the Vatican Bank, the vast range of Church holdings in the postwar boom period, Paul VI's appointment of Mafia chieftain Michele Sindona as the Vatican banker, a billion-dollar counterfeit stock fraud uncovered by Interpol and the FBI, the "Ambrosiano Affair" called "the greatest financial scandal of the 20th Century" by the New York Times, the mysterious death of John Paul I, profits from an international drug ring operating out of Gdansk, Poland, and revelations about current dealings.For both Catholics and non-Catholics this troubling exposé of corruption in one of the most revered religious institutions in the world will serve as an urgent call for reform.

    Here is a rare collection of photographs taken by one of the country's best photographers.

    Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

    In this remarkable volume, Mark Shields, an experienced gospel teacher, casts new light on the symbolism inherent in temple ordinances and provides a wealth of insights that will change the way you worship. Whether you've been attending the temple for years or are preparing to enter for the first time, you will learn to love the temple, understand its purposes, and appreciate the rich symbolism it embodies. Your Endowment is a must-read for anyone looking to get more from temple worship.

    For those who have wondered in what specific ways it differs from the Christian faith, Mormonism 101 provides definitive answers. Together the authors examine the major tenets of Mormon theology and compare them with orthodox Christian beliefs.