Book picks similar to
A Dish of Orts by George MacDonald
george-macdonald
literary-criticism
grad-school
essays
My Inventions and Other Writings
Nikola Tesla - 1919
Famous for his pioneering contributions to the electronic age, his lifelong feud with Thomas Edison, and his erratic behavior, Nikola Tesla was one of the most brilliant and daring inventors and visionaries of his time. My Inventions is Tesla's autobiography, with meditations on his major discoveries and innovations, including the rotating magnetic field, the magnifying transmitter, and the Tesla coil. This volume also includes three articles by Tesla, as well as an enlightening introduction that discredits many of the myths surrounding the thinker's eccentric life. This rare window into the industrial age's most tragic genius will fascinate historians, scientists, aspiring inventors, and curious fans alike.
Surprised By Truth: 11 Converts Give the Biblical and Historical Reasons for Becoming Catholic
Patrick MadridRick Conason - 1994
Each year thousands of atheists, Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, and Pentecostals are being surprised by Catholic truth – and these converts tell you why.
Stepping Heavenward
Elizabeth Payson Prentiss - 1880
The story follows her life from when she is sixteen, though courtship, engagement, marriage, having children, and the many challenges that she confronts in her adult life. This classic Christian story is told through a series of journal entries by Katherine and is an inspirational tale for young girls who themselves are facing the very same challenges of growing up.
The Age of Fable
Thomas Bulfinch - 1855
The so-called divinities of Olympus have not a single worshipper among living men. They belong now not to the department of theology, but to those of literature and taste. There they still hold their place, and will continue to hold it, for they are too closely connected with the finest productions of poetry and art, both ancient and modern, to pass into oblivion.
Poems and Prose
Gerard Manley Hopkins - 1953
On entering the Society of Jesus at the age of 24, he burnt all his poetry and 'resolved to write no more, as not belonging to my profession, unless by the wish of my superiors.' The poems, letters, and journal entries selected for this edition were written in the following twenty years of his life and published posthumously in 1918.His verse is wrought from the creative tensions and paradoxes of a poet-priest who wanted to evoke the spiritual essence of nature sensuously, and to communicate this revelation in natural language and speech-rhythms while using condensed, innovative diction and all the skills of poetic artifice. Intense, vital, and individual, his writing is the 'terrible crystal' through which the soul--the inscape, the nature of things--may be illuminated.
Treatise on the Gods
H.L. Mencken - 1930
Now, fifty years after Mencken’s death, the Johns Hopkins University Press announces The Buncombe Collection, newly packaged editions of nine Mencken classics: Happy Days, Heathen Days, Newspaper Days, Prejudices, Treatise on the Gods, On Politics, Thirty-Five Years of Newspaper Work, Minority Report, and A Second Mencken Chrestomathy.Controversial even before it was published in 1930, Treatise on the Gods collects Mencken’s scathing commentary on religion.
The Dictionary of Imaginary Places: The Newly Updated and Expanded Classic
Alberto Manguel - 1980
Here you will find Shangri-La and El Dorado; Utopia and Middle Earth; Wonderland and Freedonia. Here too are Jurassic Park, Salman Rushdie's Sea of Stories, and the fabulous world of Harry Potter. The history and behavior of the inhabitants of these lands are described in loving detail, and are supplemented by more than 200 maps and illustrations that depict the lay of the land in a host of elsewheres. A must-have for the library of every dedicated reader, fantasy fan, or passionate browser, Dictionary is a witty and acute guide for any armchair traveler's journey into the landscape of the imagination.
The Silver Chalice
Thomas B. Costain - 1952
Basil, a sensitive artisan, is purchased from slavery and commissioned to create a decorative casing for the Chalice that Jesus used at the Last Supper. Basil travels to Jerusalem, Greece, and Rome, meets the apostles, braves the perils of persecution, and finally makes a fateful choice that allows him to “see” Jesus. The dramatic plot, compelling characters, and spiritual depth of The Silver Chalice made it one of the most popular historical novels of the twentieth century.
Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of Life
Joanna Weaver - 2000
The life of a woman today isn't really all that different from that of Mary and Martha in the New Testament. Like Mary, you long to sit at the Lord's feet...but the daily demands of a busy world just won't leave you alone. Like Martha, you love Jesus and really want to serve him...yet you struggle with weariness, resentment, and feelings of inadequacy. Then comes Jesus, right into the midst of your busy Mary/Martha life-and he extends the same invitation he issued long ago to the two sisters of Bethany. Tenderly he invites you to choose "the better part"-a joyful life of "living-room" intimacy with him that flows naturally into "kitchen service" for him. How can you make that choice? With her fresh approach to the familiar Bible story and its creative, practical strategies, Joanna shows how all of us -Marys and Marthas alike- can draw closer to our Lord, deepening our devotion, strengthening our service, and doing both with less stress and greater joy. This book includes a twelve-week Bible study. Also look for the ten-week DVD study pack companion product to this book, which includes three DVDs and a separate, revised and expanded study guide.
On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears
Stephen T. Asma - 2009
Beginning at the time of Alexander the Great, the monsters come fast and furious--Behemoth and Leviathan, Gog and Magog, Satan and his demons, Grendel and Frankenstein, circus freaks and headless children, right up to the serial killers and terrorists of today and the post-human cyborgs oftomorrow. Monsters embody our deepest anxieties and vulnerabilities, Asma argues, but they also symbolize the mysterious and incoherent territory beyond the safe enclosures of rational thought. Exploring sources as diverse as philosophical treatises, scientific notebooks, and novels, Asma unravelstraditional monster stories for the clues they offer about the inner logic of an era's fears and fascinations. In doing so, he illuminates the many ways monsters have become repositories for those human qualities that must be repudiated, externalized, and defeated.
Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life
Thomas Moore - 1988
Promising to deepen and broaden the reader's perspective on his or her own life experiences, Moore draws on his own life as a therapist practicing "care of the soul," as well as his studies of the world's religions and his work in music and art, to create this inspirational guide that examines the connections between spirituality and the problems of individuals and society.
Some Mistakes of Moses
Robert G. Ingersoll - 1879
His logic was impeccable and his mind was as sharp as a whip. Many religious beliefs have no logic in them at all and Ingersoll was a master at exposing the outright cruelty, stupidity and foolishness that religions, through their dogmatic and outdated precepts, force us to embrace. This book covers the Old Testament, worshipped and revered by Jews and Christians alike, which supports things like slavery, warfare, polygamy and the idea that women should be treated as property. He asks many pointed questions. For example: If you find slavery upheld in a book said to have been written by God, what would you expect to find in a book inspired by the devil? Also, why would God tell me how to raise my children when he had to drown his own in the flood? He also presents an interview of two men at the gates of heaven-one an honest and loving family man, the other a despicable thieving businessman. Based on their beliefs, guess who gets into heaven and who goes to hell. This book will truly make you think. It is meant to demonstrate how religion can control and affect our lives in ways that are quite contrary to our own moral fiber, modern logical reasoning and ethical conscience.
Savor: Living Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are
Shauna Niequist - 2015
She writes about the beautiful and broken moments of everyday life--friendship, family, faith, food, marriage, love, babies, books, celebration, heartache, and all the other things that shape us, delight us, and reveal to us the heart of God.
The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment
Brian P. Copenhaver - 2015
. . as when iron is drawn to a magnet, camphor is sucked into hot air, crystal lights up in the Sun, sulfur and a volatile liquid are kindled by flame, an empty eggshell filled with dew is raised towards the Sun . . .'
The Bible is full of stories featuring forms of magic and possession - from Moses battling with Pharaoh's wizards to the supernatural actions of Jesus and his disciples. As, over the following centuries, the Christian church attempted to stamp out 'deviant' practices, a persistent interest in magic drew strength from this Biblical validation. A strange blend of mumbo-jumbo, fear, fraud and deeply serious study, magic was at the heart of the European Renaissance, fascinating many of its greatest figures.This is a book filled with incantations, charms, curses, summonings, cures and descriptions of extraordinary, shadowy, only half-understood happenings from long ago. It features writers as various as Thomas Aquinas, John Milton, John Dee, Ptolemy and Paracelsus along with anonymous ancient and medieval works which were, in some cases, viewed as simply too dangerous even to open.Brian Copenhaver's wonderful anthology will be welcomed by everyone from those with the most casual interest in the magical tradition to anyone drawn to the Renaissance and the tangled, arcane roots of the scientific tradition.
The Intimate Mystery: Creating Strength and Beauty in Your Marriage
Dan B. Allender - 2005
Allender and Tremper Longman III have together written this brief, simple and charming introduction to help couples build healthy and happy marriages. Their model follows the "leave, weave and cleave" imagery of the Bible: leave your parents, weave a life together and cleave to each other. This book is part of a kit that includes everything needed to mentor individual married couples or to lead a group discussion. It will be especially helpful for newlyweds or young married couples who are just beginning their new life together.
