Thomas Aquinas is known for producing history's most complete system of Christian philosophy. In the late thirteenth century, this quiet, reflective Dominican scholar combined the work of Aristotle with Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and pagan thought to reconcile reason and faith. He believed we can know that God exists but not what God is like. Aquinas concluded that mortal happiness is uncertain but immortal happiness is the ultimate end of life; beatitude is to pass beyond death to see the face of God. His thought continues to exert a powerful influence on Catholic philosophy today.The Giants of Philosophy series is a collection of dramatic presentations, in understandable language, of the concerns, questions, interests, and overall outlook of the world's great philosophers and philosophical traditions. Special emphasis on clear and relevant explanations give you a new arsenal of insights toward living a better life.

    But joy often gave way to sorrow as she invested her heart fully in walking alongside people in the grip of poverty, addiction, desperation, and disease.After unexpected tragedy shook her family, for the first time Katie began to wonder, Is God really good? Does He really love us? When she turned to Him with her questions, God spoke truth to her heart and drew her even deeper into relationship with Him.Daring to Hope is an invitation to cling to the God of the impossible--the God who whispers His love to us in the quiet, in the mundane, when our prayers are not answered the way we want or the miracle doesn't come. It's about a mother discovering the extraordinary strength it takes to be ordinary. It's about choosing faith no matter the circumstance and about encountering God's goodness in the least expected places.Though your heartaches and dreams may take a different shape, you will find your own questions echoed in these pages. You'll be reminded of the gifts of joy in the midst of sorrow. And you'll hear God's whisper: Hold on to hope. I will meet you here.

    Taught to play the piano by her mother, she developed quickly into a prodigy, immersing herself in the work of classical masters like Bach and Brahms. She was just ten years old when she began a rigorous course of study at the Beijing Conservatory, laying the groundwork for what was sure to be an extraordinary career. But in 1966, when Xiao-Mei was seventeen, the Cultural Revolution began, and life as she knew it changed forever. One by one, her family members were scattered, sentenced to prison or labor camps. By 1969, the art schools had closed, and Xiao-Mei was on her way to a work camp in Mongolia, where she would spend the next five years. Life in the camp was nearly unbearable, thanks to horrific living conditions and intensive brainwashing campaigns. Yet through it all Xiao-Mei clung to her passion for music and her sense of humor. And when the Revolution ended, it was the piano that helped her to heal. Heartbreaking and heartwarming, The Secret Piano is the incredible true story of one woman’s survival in the face of unbelievable odds—and in pursuit of a powerful dream.

    Nearly two thousand years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God. Killing Jesus will take readers inside Jesus's life, recounting the seismic political and historical events that made his death inevitable - and changed the world forever.

    They did not know exactly why God had brought them there, what He wanted them to do, or even where the money to live on would come from. But He began opening doors, and people with questions about life's meaning began finding the way to their home.Edith Schaeffer, wife of Dr. Francis Schaeffer, tells the remarkable story of how God led them step by step, as that one small chalet grew into a whole community. It took the name L'Abri (French for shelter). Day by day, God faithfully provided for their family, and eventually for the entire community.The Schaeffers believed that truth must be demonstrated as well as debated. They wanted to show the world through the transformed lifestyle of a believing community that the personal-infinite God is really here in our generation. In a society losing the ability to distinguish between Christian and non-Christian values, truth and untruth, good and evil, L'Abri equipped people to make that distinction.For more than thirty years, people have come to L'Abri from all walks of life and from many countries, searching for truth and reality. There they find someone who cares for them personally, who listens carefully to their questions, and who gives them answers based on an uncompromising commitment to Biblical truth. L'Abri now has branches in several other countries and has affected the lives of literally thousands of people around the world.

    Some were people of rank and influence. Some were ordinary folk. Some were even his friends. Four centuries later, these deeply moving accounts of faith and courage mark a path for modern Christians to measure the depth of their commitment.