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books tagged “religious”
books tagged “religious”
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Amazing Grace: The Story of America's Most Beloved Songby Judy Collins, Steve TurnerISBN 0060002190 (0-06-000219-0)
Softcover, Ecco Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Amazing Grace: The Story of America's Most Beloved Song'Book summary:Behind our most beloved hymn is a fascinating story spanning continents, cultures, and centuries. Inspired by the way "Amazing Grace" continues to change and grow in popularity, acclaimed music writer Steve Turner embarks on a journey to trace the life of the hymn, from Olney, England, where it was written by former slave trader John Newton, to tiny Plantain Island off the coast of Africa, where Newton was held captive for almost a year, to the Kentucky-Tennessee border and other parts of the South, where the hymn first began to spread.
Newton had been rescued from Africa by a merchant ship when, during an eleven-hour storm on the Atlantic, he converted to Christianity. Years later, as a minister, he wrote the hymn for use among his congregation. Through the nineteenth century, "Amazing Grace" appeared in more and more hymn books, and in the twentieth century it rose to a gospel and folk standard before exploding into pop music. It has been recorded by artists as varied as Elvis Presley, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Tiny Tim, Al Green, Johnny Cash, Rod Stewart, Chet Baker, and Destiny's Child. Amazing Grace closely examines this modern history of the hymn through personal interviews with recording artists.
From John Newton's incredible life story to the hymn's role in American spirituality and culture, Amazing Grace is an illuminating, thorough, and unprecedented musical history.
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Amazing Grace: The Story of America's Most Beloved Songby Steve TurnerISBN 0060002182 (0-06-000218-2)
Hardcover, HarperCollins Publishers
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Amazing Grace: The Story of America's Most Beloved Song'Book summary:Behind our most beloved song is a fascinating story spanning continents, cultures, and centuries. Inspired by the way "Amazing Grace" continues to change and grow in popularity, acclaimed music writer Steve Turner embarks on a journey to trace the life of the hymn, from Olney, England, where it was written by former slave trader John Newton, to tiny Plantain Island off the coast of Africa, where Newton was held captive for almost a year, to the Kentucky-Tennessee border and other parts of the South, where the hymn first began to spread.
As a young man, John Newton was pressed into the Royal Navy, but was such a rebellious sailor that he was moved to a slave ship in Madeira and eventually became a "servant of slaves in Africa." He was rescued from Africa by a merchant ship, but on the voyage back to England his ship endured an eleven-hour storm on the Atlantic -- after which, reflecting on his miraculous survival and on his wretched state in Africa, he converted to Christianity. Back in England, he eventually became a minister and, still later, a vocal abolitionist. During his time as a Church of England parish priest, he and a friend, the poet William Cowper, began experimenting with what was then a relatively new form of religious song, the Protestant hymn, when he wrote "Amazing Grace" for use among his congregation.
The hymn made its way across the Atlantic to South Carolina, where the lyrics were published for the first time with a tune. Through the nineteenth century it appeared in more and more hymnals, and in the twentieth century it rose to become a gospel and folk standard, then exploded into pop music with Judy Collins's masterful 1970 a capella recording, which took over the charts. The majority of the more than 450 recordings held by the Library of Congress were made after 1970 and include versions by artists as varied as Elvis Presley, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Tiny Tim, A] Green, Johnny Cash, Rod Stewart, Chet Baker, and Destiny's Child. Amazing Grace closely examines this modern history as Turner traces the hymn through the American gospel tradition in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and interviews contemporary artists to reveal why they were compelled to record the hymn.
From John Newton's incredible life story to the hymn's role in American spirituality and culture, Amazing Grace is an illuminating, thorough, and unprecedented musical history.
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American Godsby Neil GaimanISBN 0060558121 (0-06-055812-1)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'American Gods'Book summary:American Gods is Neil Gaiman's best and most ambitious novel yet, a scary, strange, and hallucinogenic road-trip story wrapped around a deep examination of the American spirit. Gaiman tackles everything from the onslaught of the information age to the meaning of death, but he doesn't sacrifice the razor-sharp plotting and narrative style he's been delivering since his Sandman days.
Shadow gets out of prison early when his wife is killed in a car crash. At a loss, he takes up with a mysterious character called Wednesday, who is much more than he appears. In fact, Wednesday is an old god, once known as Odin the All-father, who is roaming America rounding up his forgotten fellows in preparation for an epic battle against the upstart deities of the Internet, credit cards, television, and all that is wired. Shadow agrees to help Wednesday, and they whirl through a psycho-spiritual storm that becomes all too real in its manifestations. For instance, Shadow's dead wife Laura keeps showing up, and not just as a ghost--the difficulty of their continuing relationship is by turns grim and darkly funny, just like the rest of the book.
Armed only with some coin tricks and a sense of purpose, Shadow travels through, around, and underneath the visible surface of things, digging up all the powerful myths Americans brought with them in their journeys to this land as well as the ones that were already here. Shadow's road story is the heart of the novel, and it's here that Gaiman offers up the details that make this such a cinematic book--the distinctly American foods and diversions, the bizarre roadside attractions, the decrepit gods reduced to shell games and prostitution. "This is a bad land for Gods," says Shadow.
More than a tourist in America, but not a native, Neil Gaiman offers an outside-in and inside-out perspective on the soul and spirituality of the country--our obsessions with money and power, our jumbled religious heritage and its societal outcomes, and the millennial decisions we face about what's real and what's not. --Therese Littleton [via]
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The Book of the Dun Cowby Walter WangerinISBN 0060574607 (0-06-057460-7)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Book of the Dun Cow'Book summary:Walter Wangerin's profound fantasy concerns a time when the sun turned around the earth and the animals could speak, when Chauntecleer the Rooster ruled over a more or less peaceful kingdom. What the animals did not know was that they were the Keepers of Wyrm, monster of evil long imprisoned beneath the earth ... and Wyrm, sub terra, was breaking free. [via]
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Bridge Of San Luis Reyby Thornton WilderISBN 0060088877 (0-06-008887-7)
Softcover, Perennial
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Bridge Of San Luis Rey'Book summary:"On Friday noon, July the twentieth, 1714, the finest bridge in all Peru broke and precipitated five travelers into the gulf below." With this celebrated sentence, Thornton Wilder begins The Bridge of San Luis Rey, one of the towering achievements in American fiction and a novel read throughout the world.
By chance, a monk witnesses the tragedy. Brother Juniper seeks to prove that it was divine intervention rather than chance that led to the deaths of those who perished in the tragedy. His study leads to his own death -- and to the author's timeless investigation into the nature of love and the meaning of the human condition.
The Bridge of San Luis Rey is now reissued in this handsome hardcover edition featuring a new foreword by Russell Banks. Tappan Wilder has written an engaging and thought-provoking afterword, which includes unpublished notes for the Pulitzer Prizewinning novel, illuminating photographs, and other remarkable documentary material. Granville Hicks's insightful comment about Wilder suggests an inveterate truth: "As a craftsman he is second to none, and there are few who have looked deeper into the human heart."
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The Brother of Jesus: The Dramatic Story & Meaning of the First Archaeological Link to Jesus & His Familyby Hershel Shanks, Witherington, Ben, IIIISBN 0060581174 (0-06-058117-4)
Softcover, HarperCollins Publishers
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Brother of Jesus : The Dramatic Story and Meaning of the First Archaeological Link to Jesus and His Family'Book summary:Before lay readers can grasp the significance of this book, theyll need a little historical reference. In the time of Jesus, the Jews of Jerusalem often buried their dead in tombs. After a year, when the flesh had disintegrated, it was customary to gather the bones and place them in a small limestone chest called an ossuary. Sometimes the name of the deceased would be inscribed onto the outside of the box. Flash forward to the spring of 2002 when Andre Lemaire, a specialist in ancient texts, was asked to read the Aramaic inscription on an ossuary that was owned by a collector in Israel. When Lemaire translated the inscription--"James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus"--he knew he had just stumbled upon an artifact in the same caliber as the lost Ark of the Covenant.
Just as this artifact is now in safe hands, so is the amazing story of its discovery. Co-authors Hershel Shanks (The Mystery and Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls) and Ben Witherington III (The Jesus Quest) are esteemed scholars as well as riveting storytellers. They expertly recount the exciting moments of discovery and the darker moments of despair (at one point the ossuary is improperly shipped and breaks into five pieces). They build a convincing case against its forgery and offer a flourishing finish in which they delve into the life of James, who was a linking force between the Jews and Christian of the first millennium, and could possibly continue that role into the second millennium. --Gail Hudson [via]
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- The Brother of Jesus: The Dramatic Story & Meaning of the First Archaeological Link to Jesus & His Family: ISBN 0060556609 (0-06-055660-9)
Hardcover, Harpercollins - The Brother of Jesus : The Dramatic Story and Meaning of the First Archaeological Link to Jesus and His Family: ISBN 0060581174 (0-06-058117-4)
Softcover, HarperCollins Publishers
- The Brother of Jesus: The Dramatic Story & Meaning of the First Archaeological Link to Jesus & His Family: ISBN 0060556609 (0-06-055660-9)
Byzantium: Library Editionby Stephen R. LawheadISBN 0060176040 (0-06-017604-0)
Hardcover, Zondervan
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The Case for Christianityby C. S. LewisISBN 0020867506 (0-02-086750-6)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growthby Richard J. FosterISBN 0060628316 (0-06-062831-6)
Hardcover, Harper & Row
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth'Book summary:This study of the classic spiritual disciplines includes meditation, prayer, fasting, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance and celebration. The author claims that these disciplines can infuse life with joy, promoting inner peace and fulfilment. Richard Foster, an "evangelical" Quaker, founded and chairs the Milton Center which is designed to help Christian writers achieve exellence in their work. He won the 1978 Writer of the Year (US) Award for "Celebration of Discipline", and the Gold Medallion Award in 1982 for "Freedom of Simplicity" and he also wrote "Money, Sex and Power" [via]
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Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth 20th Anniversary Editionby Richard J. FosterISBN 0060628391 (0-06-062839-1)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth 20th Anniversary Edition'Book summary:When Richard Foster began writing Celebration of Discipline more than 20 years ago, an older writer gave him a bit of advice: "Be sure that every chapter forces the reader into the next chapter." Foster took the advice to heart; as a result, his book presents one of the most compelling and readable visions of Christian spirituality published in the past few decades. After beginning with a simple observation--"Superficiality is the curse of our age.... The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people"--Foster's book moves to explain the disciplines people must cultivate in order to achieve spiritual depth. In succinct, urgent, and sometimes humorous chapters, Foster defines a broad range of classic spiritual disciplines in terms that are lucid without being too limiting and offers advice that's practical without being overly prescriptive. For instance, after describing meditation as a combination of "intense intimacy and awful reverence," he settles into such down-to-earth topics as how to choose a place and a posture in which to meditate.
Perhaps most interesting and useful is Foster's chapter on the controversial Christian discipline of submission. According to Foster, submission does not demand self-hatred or loss of identity. Instead, it simply means growing secure in the conviction that "our happiness is not dependent on getting what we want" but on the fulfillment that naturally flows from love of one's neighbors. Such wise and encouraging suggestions have helped many readers to discard the idea that discipline is an onerous duty and to move toward a liberating and simpler idea of discipline--whose defining character, as Foster never forgets, is joy. --Michael Joseph Gross [via]
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The Chosenby Chaim PotokISBN 0030556287 (0-03-055628-7)
Hardcover, Holt Rinehart & Winston
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Chosen'Book summary:i took off my glasses and rubbed the tops of my ears. I felt a sudden momentary sense of unreality...as if all the previous years of my life had led me somehow to this one ball game, and all the future years of my life would depend upon its outcome... [via]
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Church of Our Fathersby Roland H. BaintonISBN 0023054506 (0-02-305450-6)
Softcover, Prentice Hall
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Church of Our Fathers'Book summary:RustyRiver offers fast daily shipping and 100% customer satisfaction GUARANTEED! Moderate wear to cover. Cover and pages are slightly bent. [via]
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The Complete Gospelsby Robert J. MillerISBN 0060655879 (0-06-065587-9)
Softcover, HarperCollins Publishers
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Complete Gospels'Book summary:From the editors of the bestselling "The Five Gospels, The Complete Gospels" presents for the first time anywhere all twenty of the known gospels from the early Christian era, offering a fuller and more fascinating picture of early Christian origins than found in the four canonical gospels alone - or in any other source. Each of these gospel records offers fresh glimpses into the world of Jesus and his followers, including: GOSPEL OF THOMAS reveals that Jesus, contrary to the popular image of him as an apocalyptic preacher of damnation and salvation, was actually a wisdom teacher who taught about the true origins of humankind. GOSPEL OF MARY suggests that women held prominent roles in the early church, and provides a startling look at what may have been the first attempts to suppress their leadership. SAYINGS GOSPEL Q, the controversial reconstruction of the first gospel used by Jesus' original followers, contains only Jesus' sayings and none of the dramatic stories about his life later told in the New Testament gospels. SIGNS GOSPEL is almost entirely a catalog of Jesus' miracles, intended to demonstrate that he was the Jewish Messiah, the Anointed. SECRET BOOK OF JAMES relates that immediately prior to his ascension, Jesus imparted a private revelation to James and Peter, which James presents here as a letter. GOSPEL OF PETER contains what may have been the original passion narrative later adapted in the New Testament synoptic gospels' accounts.
Four new pieces have been added to this third expanded edition: the three Jewish-Christian gospels and the Greek fragments of the Gospel of Thomas.
Each gospel is translated into lively, contemporary English, recapturing the spirit ofthe original. Exciting both to read and to hear, this Scholars Version (SV) translation has - as one reader put it - "a vitality that jumps off the page."
The editor and contributors to this volume are members of the Jesus Seminar founded by Robert W. Funk, based at the Westar Institute in Sonoma, California. [via]
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Biblical Mysteriesby Donald P. RyanISBN 002863831X (0-02-863831-X)
Softcover, Alpha Books
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Catholicismby Robert T. O'Gorman, Mary Faulkner, Bob O'GormanISBN 0028636392 (0-02-863639-2)
Softcover, Alpha Books
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Complete Poems and Major Proseby John Milton, Merritt Yerkes HughesISBN 0023582901 (0-02-358290-1)
Hardcover, Prentice Hall
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The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible: The Oldest Known Bibleby Martin G. Abegg, Peter W. Flint, Eugene Charles UlrichISBN 0060600640 (0-06-060064-0)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptationby Paulo Coelho, Nick Caistor, Amanda HopkinsonISBN 0060527994 (0-06-052799-4)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation'Book summary:A community devoured by greed, cowardice, and fear. A man persecuted by the ghosts of his painful past. A young woman searching for happiness. In one eventful week, each will face questions of life, death, and power, and each will choose a path. Will they choose good or evil?
In the remote village of Viscos -- a village too small to be on any map, a place where time seems to stand still -- a stranger arrives, carrying with him a backpack containing a notebook and eleven gold bars. He comes searching for the answer to a question that torments him: Are human beings, in essence, good or evil? In welcoming the mysterious foreigner, the whole village becomes an accomplice to his sophisticated plot, which will forever mark their lives.
Paulo Coelho's stunning novel explores the timeless struggle between good and evil, and brings to our everyday dilemmas fresh perspective: incentive to master the fear that prevents us from following our dreams, from being different, from truly living.
The Devil and Miss Prym is a story charged with emotion, in which the integrity of being human meets a terrifying test.
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Dharma Punx: A Memoirby Noah LevineISBN 0060008954 (0-06-000895-4)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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A Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angelsby Gustov DavidsonISBN 002907052X (0-02-907052-X)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels'Book summary:In the midst of the remarkable revival of interest and belief in angels comes this handsomely illustrated reference work--the fruit of 16 years of research in Talmudic, gnostic, cabalistic, apocalyptic, patristic, and legendary texts. "A wacky and wonderful compendium of angelic lore".--Time. Illustrations. [via]
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Directing the Movies of Your Mindby A. BryISBN 0060105283 (0-06-010528-3)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Directing the Movies of Your Mind'Book summary:In 1975 Annie Dillard took up residence on an island in Puget Sound in a wooded room furnished with "one enormous window, one cat, one spider and one person." For the next two years she asked herself questions about time, reality, sacrifice death, and the will of God. In Holy the Firm she writes about a moth consumed in a candle flame, about a seven-year-old girl burned in an airplane accident, about a baptism on a cold beach. But behind the moving curtain of what she calls "the hard things -- rock mountain and salt sea," she sees, sometimes far off and sometimes as close by as a veil or air, the power play of holy fire.
This is a profound book about the natural world -- both its beauty and its cruelty -- the Pulitzer Prize-winning Dillard knows so well.
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Early Christian Fathersby Cyril C. RichardsonISBN 0020889801 (0-02-088980-1)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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Existence of Godby John Harwood HickISBN 0020854501 (0-02-085450-1)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Existence of God'Book summary:The principal philosophical arguments on the existence of God are brought together here. From the ancient Greeks and Anselm to the present day and Bertrand Russell... [via]
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Finding Your Religion: When the Faith You Grew Up With Has Lost Its Meaningby Scotty McLennanISBN 0060653469 (0-06-065346-9)
Softcover, Harper San Francisco
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The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesusby Jesus Seminar, Robert W. Funk, Roy W. HooverISBN 006063040X (0-06-063040-X)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus'Book summary:Did Jesus claim to be the Messiah?
Did he promise to return and usher in a new age?
How did Jesus envision the Kingdom of God?The Five Gospels answers these questions in a bold, dynamic work that will startle traditional readers of the Bible and rekindle interest in it among secular skeptics. In 1985 the Jesus Seminar, comprising a distinguished group of biblical scholars, was founded by Robert W. Funk. They embarked on a new translation and assessment of the gospels, including the recently discovered Gospel of Thomas. In pursuit of the historical Jesus, they used their collective expertise to determine the authenticity of more than fifteen hundred sayings attributed to him. Their remarkable findings appear in this book.
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The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesusby Robert W. Funk, Roy W. HooverISBN 0025419498 (0-02-541949-8)
Hardcover, Simon & Schuster
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From Jesus to Christianityby L. Michael WhiteISBN 0060526556 (0-06-052655-6)
Hardcover, HarperCollins Publishers
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George MacDonald: An Anthologyby George MacDonaldISBN 002570530X (0-02-570530-X)
Hardcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'George MacDonald: An Anthology'Book summary:In this collection selected by C. S. Lewis are 365 selections from MacDonald's inspiring and challenging writings.
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George Macdonald: An Anthology 365 Readingsby C. S. Lewis, George MacDonaldISBN 0060653191 (0-06-065319-1)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'George Macdonald: An Anthology 365 Readings'Book summary:In this collection selected by C. S. Lewis are 365 selections from MacDonald's inspiring and challenging writings.
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Glimpses of Grace: Daily Thoughts and Reflectionsby Madeleine L'Engle, Carole F. ChaseISBN 0060652810 (0-06-065281-0)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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Glorious Koranby Marmaduke PickthallISBN 0042970369 (0-04-297036-9)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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The God We Never Knew: Beyond Dogmatic Religion to a More Authentic Contemporary Faithby Marcus J. BorgISBN 0060610352 (0-06-061035-2)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bibleby Adam NicolsonISBN 0060185163 (0-06-018516-3)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible'Book summary:A net of complex currents flowed across Jacobean England. This was the England of Shakespeare, Jonson and Bacon; of the Gunpowder Plot; the worst outbreak of the plague England had ever seen; Arcadian landscapes; murderous, toxic slums; and, above all, of sometimes overwhelming religious passion. Jacobean England was both more godly and less godly than it had ever been, and the entire culture was drawn taut between the polarities.
This was the world that created the King James Bible. It is the greatest work of English prose ever written, and it is no coincidence that the translation was made at the moment Englishness and the English language had come into its first passionate maturity. Boisterous, elegant, subtle, majestic, finely nuanced, sonorous and musical, the English of Jacobean England has a more encompassing idea of its own reach and scope than any before or since. It is a form of the language that drips with potency and sensitivity. The age, with all its conflicts, explains the book.
The sponsor and guide of the whole Bible project was the King himself, the brilliant, ugly and profoundly peace-loving James the Sixth of Scotland and First of England. Trained almost from birth to manage the rivalries of political factions at home, James saw in England the chance for a sort of irenic Eden over which the new translation of the Bible was to preside. It was to be a Bible for everyone, and as God's lieutenant on earth, he would use it to unify his kingdom. The dream of Jacobean peace, guaranteed by an elision of royal power and divine glory, lies behind a Bible of extraordinary grace and everlasting literary power.
About fifty scholars from Cambridge, Oxford and London did the work, drawing on many previous versions, and created a text which, for all its failings, has never been equaled. That is the central question of this book: How did this group of near-anonymous divines, muddled, drunk, self-serving, ambitious, ruthless, obsequious, pedantic and flawed as they were, manage to bring off this astonishing translation? How did such ordinary men make such extraordinary prose? In God's Secretaries, Adam Nicolson gives a fascinating and dramatic account of the accession and ambition of the first Stuart king; of the scholars who labored for seven years to create his Bible; of the influences that shaped their work and of the beliefs that colored their world, immersing us in an age whose greatest monument is not a painting or a building, but a book.
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Godricby Frederick BuechnerISBN 0060611626 (0-06-061162-6)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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The Gospel According to Jesus: A New Translation and Guide to His Essential Teachings for Believers and Unbelieversby Stephen MitchellISBN 006016641X (0-06-016641-X)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faithby Marcus J. BorgISBN 0060526769 (0-06-052676-9)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith'Book summary:World-renowned Jesus scholar Marcus J. Borg shows how we can live passionately as Christians in today's world by practicing the vital elements of Christian faith.
For the millions of people who have turned away from many traditional beliefs about God, Jesus, and the Bible, but still long for a relevant, nourishing faith, Borg shows why the Christian life can remain a transforming relationship with God. Emphasizing the critical role of daily practice in living the Christian life, he explores how prayer, worship, Sabbath, pilgrimage, and more can be experienced as authentically life-giving practices.
Borg reclaims terms and ideas once thought to be the sole province of evangelicals and fundamentalists: he shows that terms such as "born again" have real meaning for all Christians; that the "Kingdom of God" is not a bulwark against secularism but is a means of transforming society into a world that values justice and love; and that the Christian life is essentially about opening one's heart to God and to others. [via]
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The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasantby John Dominic CrossanISBN 0060616296 (0-06-061629-6)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant'Book summary:A comprehensive account and interpretation of the events and sayings of Jesus life in his historical context. [via]
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A History of Christianityby Kenneth Scott LatouretteISBN 0060649526 (0-06-064952-6)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A History of Christianity'Book summary:Brings together the essential findings of recent research in a fresh and readable way. This momumental and classic work has been updated by a team of respected scholars. The bibliography has also been revised. Companion volume: A History of Christianity, Volume I: Beginnings to 1500. [via]
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Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Americansby Malachi MartinISBN 006065337X (0-06-065337-X)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Americans'Book summary:One On One With Satan
A chilling and highly convincing account of possession and exorcism in modern America, hailed by NBC Radio as "one of the most stirring books on the contemporary scene."
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An Introduction To Islamby Frederick Mathewson DennyISBN 0023285192 (0-02-328519-2)
Softcover, Prentice Hall
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Jonathan Livingston Seagullby Richard Bach, Russell MunsonISBN 0025045415 (0-02-504541-5)
Hardcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull'Book summary:"Most gulls don't bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight--how to get from shore to food and back again," writes author Richard Bach in this allegory about a unique bird named Jonathan Livingston Seagull. "For most gulls it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight." Flight is indeed the metaphor that makes the story soar. Ultimately this is a fable about the importance of seeking a higher purpose in life, even if your flock, tribe, or neighborhood finds your ambition threatening. (At one point our beloved gull is even banished from his flock.) By not compromising his higher vision, Jonathan gets the ultimate payoff: transcendence. Ultimately, he learns the meaning of love and kindness. The dreamy seagull photographs by Russell Munson provide just the right illustrations--although the overall packaging does seem a bit dated (keep in mind that it was first published in 1970). Nonetheless, this is a spirituality classic, and an especially engaging parable for adolescents. --Gail Hudson [via]
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Joshua and the Childrenby Joseph F. GirzoneISBN 0025439456 (0-02-543945-6)
Hardcover, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
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Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Grahamby Billy GrahamISBN 0060633921 (0-06-063392-1)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham'Book summary:Every year a Billy Graham crusade comes to a stadium or a television station near you, the message unchangingly passionate, though the messenger is grayer than he once was. The Reverend Billy Graham is more than just another television evangelist; he is as much a part of this country's collective consciousness as F.D.R. or the Vietnam War. Whether you subscribe to Graham's brand of ecumenical evangelism or not, Just As I Am reveals the man behind the crusade to be forthright, deeply religious, and driven to spread the Word at all costs, even his relationships with his family. Graham is characteristically honest about his failings as a husband and father, admitting that he didn't recognize his own children at a family gathering.
In Just As I Am Graham discusses the beginnings of his career, his struggle to subsume intellect to faith, and, of course, the many famous--and infamous--people he has met over the years, everyone from the Shah of Iran to the Queen Mother to mobster Mickey Cohen. Graham's ministry has extended his influence to many quarters of the world, a fact that should make his autobiography interesting reading for believers and non-believers alike. [via]
More editions of Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham:
- Just as I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham: ISBN 0060633875 (0-06-063387-5)
Hardcover, HarperCollins Publishers - Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham: ISBN 0060633883 (0-06-063388-3)
Hardcover, Harpercollins - Just As I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham: ISBN 0060633921 (0-06-063392-1)
Softcover, Harpercollins
- Just as I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham: ISBN 0060633875 (0-06-063387-5)
Kamasutra of Vatsyayanaby Richard BurtonISBN 0048910082 (0-04-891008-2)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse: A Novelby Louise ErdrichISBN 0060187271 (0-06-018727-1)
Hardcover, HarperCollins Canada, Limited
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse: A Novel'Book summary:Over the course of 13 years and five novels, Louise Erdrich has staked out a richly imagined corner of North Dakota soil--her own Yoknapatawpha, where every character is connected to every other and nothing can be said to happen for the first time. The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse is no exception. The report in question comes from Father Damien Modeste, who has served the Ojibwe through a century of famine, epidemics, murders, and feuds. But the good priest is not what he appears. The prologue ends with the curiously beautiful image of the old man slowly removing heavy robes, undergarments, and, at last, a bandage wound tightly around women's breasts: "small, withered, modest as folded flowers."
How--and why--could such a deception last so long? That's the first mystery. The second begins when Father Jude Miller (a name familiar to readers of The Beet Queen) arrives to investigate the life of Sister Leopolda (or Pauline Puyat, another familiar name). Was Leopolda a saint? Or its opposite, whatever that is? Miracles, after all, are a part of the reservation's everyday life; for every nun's stigmata there's a secular wonder like the death of Nanapush. Indeed, the chapter detailing this old trickster's demise is the kind of earthy, tragicomic fable Erdrich does to perfection, including as it does an extended trial by moose, death by flatulence, and not one but two lustful resurrections.
Erdrich's writing is at its best when she chronicles the bittersweet humor of reservation life. It's at its worst, sadly, when she cranks up the fog machine and goes for the violins. ("He had the odd sensation that petals drifted in the air between them, petals of a fragrant and papery citrus velvet," she tells us, telegraphing Father Jude's attraction to a woman.) But at least the book's sins are sins of ambition--this is a novelist who revisits the same territory because the capaciousness of her vision demands it. Readers may forgive Erdrich's vagueness about Father Damien's religious calling, but they will never forget her images, as lovely and surprising as figures glimpsed in a dream: the devil in the shape of a black dog, his paw in a bowl of soup; freshly planted pansies, nodding at the priests' feet "like the faces of spoiled babies"; a woman in a billowing white nightdress riding a grand piano through the "gray soup" of a flood. Moments like these are small miracles of their own. --Mary Park [via]
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Letters from the Earthby Mark Twain, Bernard Augustine De VotoISBN 0060518650 (0-06-051865-0)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Letters from the Earth'Book summary:If you're already familiar with Finn and Sawyer, perhaps this collection of fragments, short stories, and essays--assembled posthumously some few decades ago now, but still fresh--will enhance your sense of Twain's true range. A particular favorite: his essay "The Damned Human Race," wherein he proves, rather convincingly, that an anaconda snake is a higher form of life than an English Earl. [via]
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Man's Religionsby John Boyer NossISBN 0023884304 (0-02-388430-4)
Hardcover, Macmillan
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The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visionsby Marcus J. Borg, N. T. WrightISBN 0060608765 (0-06-060876-5)
Softcover, Harper San Francisco
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions'Book summary:The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions is a theological remix of the old Cole Porter song "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off." In alternating chapters, the (mostly) liberal Marcus J. Borg and the (mostly) conservative N.T. Wright consider the major questions of the historical-Jesus debate that has dominated biblical studies in the 1990s. Borg and Wright agree that Jesus was the Christian messiah and preached the Kingdom of God, but they disagree about the Virgin birth, the purpose of Jesus' death, the issue of his bodily resurrection, and the question of his divinity. The Ping-Pong structure of this book and the fastidious politeness with which the authors treat one another sometimes give The Meaning of Jesus a tomato/tomahto, potato/potahto bounciness, but the project is nevertheless worthy: this is a simple, clear orientation to some of the most important biblical questions of our time, and a record of a lively and loving friendship between two of the best Christian scholars alive. --Michael Joseph Gross [via]
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Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus & the Heart of Contemporary Faithby Marcus J. BorgISBN 0060609176 (0-06-060917-6)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus & the Heart of Contemporary Faith'Book summary:All Christianity is, to some extent, idolatrous. Christian worship is a response to a worshiper's image of Jesus, and all images of Jesus fall short of his reality--in the same way that all biographies and portraits fail to depict a whole person. In Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, New Testament scholar Marcus Borg attempts to understand how popular images of Jesus connect Christians to their savior and isolate them from him. Borg writes about his own evolving ideas of who Jesus was, considers the scholarly and popular religious evolution of Jesus' public image, and investigates with special care the effects of Historical Jesus research on contemporary images of Jesus. Meeting Jesus Again is written in an affable, gracious, and unflinchingly honest voice. Borg's description of his own faith particularly exemplifies these qualities, and gives the reader a simultaneously safe and unsettling new perspective on the peasant from Galilee: "[T]he central issue of the Christian life is not believing in God or believing in the Bible," he writes. "Rather, the Christian life is about entering into a relationship with that to which the Christian tradition points, which may be spoken of as God, the risen, living Christ, or the Spirit. And a Christian is one who lives out his or her relationship to God within the framework of the Christian tradition." --Michael Joseph Gross [via]
More editions of Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus & the Heart of Contemporary Faith:
- Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus & the Heart of Contemporary Faith: ISBN 0060609168 (0-06-060916-8)
Hardcover, Harpercollins - Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus & the Heart of Contemporary Faith: ISBN 0060609176 (0-06-060917-6)
Softcover, Harpercollins
- Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus & the Heart of Contemporary Faith: ISBN 0060609168 (0-06-060916-8)
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Mere Christianity: A Revised and Amplified Edition, With a New Introduction, of the Three Books, Broadcast Talks, Christian Behaviour, and Beyond Personalityby C. S. LewisISBN 0060652926 (0-06-065292-6)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mere Christianity: A Revised and Amplified Edition, With a New Introduction, of the Three Books, Broadcast Talks, Christian Behaviour, and Beyond Personality'Book summary:In 1941 England, when all hope was threatened by the inhumanity of war, C. S. Lewis was invited to give a series of radio lectures addressing the central issues of Christianity. More than half a century later, these talks continue to retain their poignancy. First heard as informal radio broadcasts on the BBC, the lectures were published as three books and subsequently combined as Mere Christianity. C. S. Lewis proves that "at the center of each there is something, or a Someone, who against all divergences of belief, all differences of temperament, all memories of mutual persecution, speaks with the same voice," rejecting the boundaries that divide Christianity's many denominations. This twentieth century masterpiece provides an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear a powerful, rational case for the Christian faith.
With a new foreword by Lewis's stepson, Douglas Gresham, this illustrated gift edition evokes the historic time and place of the book's creation.
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Mere Christianity/Screwtapeby Lewis C.S.ISBN 0060086130 (0-06-008613-0)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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Mere Christianity/Screwtape Lettersby C. S. LewisISBN 0060652918 (0-06-065291-8)
Hardcover, Harper San Francisco
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mere Christianity/Screwtape Letters'Book summary:A gift set containing C. S. Lewis's most popular works -- Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters.
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Mind Of The Makerby Dorothy L. SayersISBN 0060670770 (0-06-067077-0)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mind Of The Maker'Book summary:Best known for her Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, Dorothy Sayers was also a playwright, essayist, and a translator of Dante. C.S. Lewis said that he liked her "for the extraordinary zest and edge of her conversation--as I like a high wind." The reader gets a fair taste of that wind in this book, her study of the human (and divine) creative process. Beginning with some stingingly humorous words for the education process (which has produced, she says, "a generation of mental slatterns") she then explores the Trinitarian nature of creativity. Here she identifies the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity--God, Son, Holy Spirit--with three elements of creation. First, the Idea: "passionless, timeless, beholding the whole work complete at once, the end in the beginning"; then the Creative Energy: "begotten of that idea, working in time from the beginning to end," manifesting the Idea in matter; and finally the Creative Power: "the meaning of the work and its response in the lively soul"--in essence, what she calls "the indwelling Spirit."
In a plain, matter-of-fact style that readers will recognize from her mysteries, she reflects on the question of free will and miracle, evil, and, ultimately, "the worth of the work." It is especially here, I think, in this final chapter that the book remains both timeless and profoundly timely. The artist stands for the true worker, she writes, who, while requiring payment for his work, as an artist "retains so much of the image of God that he is in love with his creation for its own sake." So too, ultimately, should it be for all human work: "That the eyes of all workers should behold the integrity of the work is the sole means to make that work good in itself and so good for mankind. This is only another way of saying that the work must be measured by the standard of eternity." --Doug Thorpe [via]
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Moby Dick Or, the Whaleby Herman Melville, Charles FeidelsonISBN 0023367202 (0-02-336720-2)
Softcover, Macmillan Coll Div
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Moby Dick Or, the Whale'Book summary:Avec Moby Dick, Melville a donné naissance à un livre-culte et inscrit dans la mémoire des hommes un nouveau mythe : celui de la baleine blanche. Fort de son expérience de marin, qui a nourri ses romans précédents et lui a assuré le succès, l'écrivain américain, alors en pleine maturité, raconte la folle quête du capitaine Achab et sa dernière rencontre avec le grand cachalot. Véritable encyclopédie de la mer, nouvelle Bible aux accents prophétiques, parabole chargée de thèmes universels, Moby Dick n'en reste pas moins construit avec une savante maîtrise, maintenant un suspense lent, qui s'accélère peu à peu jusqu'à l'apocalypse finale. L'écriture de Melville, infiniment libre et audacieuse, tour à tour balancée, puis hachée au rythme des houles, des vents et des passions humaines, est d'une richesse exceptionnelle. Il faut remonter à Shakespeare pour trouver l'exemple d'une langue aussi inventive, d'une poésie aussi grandiose. --Scarbo [via]
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Mother Teresa of Calcutta: A Biographyby Edward Le JolyISBN 0060652179 (0-06-065217-9)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Timeby Karen ArmstrongISBN 0060598972 (0-06-059897-2)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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Music Through the Eyes of Faithby Harold M. BestISBN 0060608625 (0-06-060862-5)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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Reading the Bible Again for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously but Not Literallyby Marcus J. BorgISBN 0060609192 (0-06-060919-2)
Softcover, Harper San Francisco
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- Reading the Bible Again for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously but Not Literally: ISBN 0060609184 (0-06-060918-4)
Hardcover, Harpercollins - Reading the Bible Again for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously but Not Literally: ISBN 0060609192 (0-06-060919-2)
Softcover, Harper San Francisco
- Reading the Bible Again for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously but Not Literally: ISBN 0060609184 (0-06-060918-4)
Religion: An Introductionby T. William Hall, Richard B. Pilgrim, Ronald R. CavanaghISBN 0060635738 (0-06-063573-8)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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The Religious History of Americaby Edwin S. Gaustad, Leigh Eric SchmidtISBN 0060630566 (0-06-063056-6)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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The Religious History of America: The Heart of the American Story from Colonial Times to Todayby Edwin S. Gaustad, Leigh Eric SchmidtISBN 0060630574 (0-06-063057-4)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Religious History of America: The Heart of the American Story from Colonial Times to Today'Book summary:In this landmark work, award-winning Princeton historian Leigh Schmidt teams up with eminent American religious history scholar Edwin Gaustad to produce a fully revised, updated, and expanded version of a modern classic. First published in 1966, The Religious History of America made the religious dimensions of our common history readily accessible to a generation of readers. This edition remains true to the literary grace of earlier editions as it expands its scope, increasing the emphasis on pluralism, religious practices, and spiritual seeking, as well as the direct connection of religion to social and political struggle. The authors have updated the structure of the text, replacing the five distinct ages of Gaustad's previous editions with a more explicit emphasis on specific historical markers, carrying the multifaceted story of religion in the United States into the twenty-first century.
Extensively illustrated, and with a new emphasis on African-American and Native American religious life, Eastern religions, and the recent boom in spirituality, this new edition of The Religious History of America is the master telling of the heart and soul of the American story.
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Richard J. Foster's Study Guide for Celebration of Disciplineby Richard J. FosterISBN 0060628332 (0-06-062833-2)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Richard J. Foster's Study Guide for Celebration of Discipline'Book summary:Brief, incisive essays clarify key issues raised in Celebration of Discipline and encourage a fuller understanding and practice of the spiritual disciplines. [via]
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The Scarlet Letterby Nathaniel HawthorneISBN 0030098602 (0-03-009860-2)
Softcover, Harcourt College Pub
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The Story of Christianity: Reformation to the Present Dayby Justo L. GonzalezISBN 0060633166 (0-06-063316-6)
Softcover, Harper San Francisco
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Story of Christianity: Reformation to the Present Day'Book summary:Beginning with the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, this second volume of The Story of Christianity continues narrative history to the present. Historian Justo Gonzalez brings to life the people, dramatic events, and shaping ideas of Protestantism, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy during this period, keynoting crucial theological developments while providing fresh understanding of the social, political, and economic forces that influenced the formation of the church. In particular, the author notes recurring themes of unrest, rebellion, and reformation.
Gonzalez presents an illuminating record of the lives, impelling ideas, and achievements of such prominent figures as Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, and John Calvinmovers and shapers in the emerging Protestant church. His biographical insights, in conjunction with vivid historical accounts, reveal how individual lives mirror and clarify core theological concerns and developments.
The interpretive overview of The Story of Christianity includes a thorough and timely analysis of the growth and maturation of Christianity, including events in Europe, the United States, and Latin Americathe latter an area too often neglected in church histories, yet increasingly vital to an understanding of Christianity's historical development, present situation, and future, options.
Gonzalez's richly textured study discusses the changes and directions of the church in the traditions of Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, and Eastern Christianity. The Story of Christianity covers such recent occurrences as the World Council of Churches, the Second Vatican Council, the movement toward Christian unity, and much more. It concludes with a thoughtful look at the major issues and debates involving Christians today.
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The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, Volume 1by Justo L. GonzalezISBN 0060633158 (0-06-063315-8)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, Volume 1'Book summary:The Story of Christianity, Volume 1, is an informative, interesting, and consistently readable narrative history. It brings alive the people, dramatic events, and ideas that shaped the first fifteen centuries of Europe, such as the Spanish and Portuguese conquest of the New World. Historian Justo Gonzalez shows how various social, political, and economic movements affected Christianity's internal growth.
Gonzalez skillfully weaves in relevant details from the lives of prominent figures from the apostles to John Wycliffe, tracing out core theological issues and developments as reflected in the lives and struggles of leading thinkers within the various traditions of the church. "The history of the church, while showing all the characteristics fo human history, is much more than the history of an institution or movement," Gonzalez stresses. "It is a history of the deeds of the spirit in and through the men and women who have gone before in the faith." The Story of Christianity demonstrates at each point what new challenges and opportunities faced the church, and how Christians struggled with the various options open to them, thereby shaping the future direction of the church.
The Story of Christianity will serve as a fascinating introduction to the panoramic history of Christianity for students and teachers of church history, for pastors, and for general readers.
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The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terrorby Christopher MooreISBN 0060590254 (0-06-059025-4)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror'Book summary:Christmas crept into Pine Cove like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland, ribbon, and sleigh bells, oozing eggnog, reeking of pine, and threatening festive doom like a cold sore under the mistletoe.
'Twas the night (okay, more like the week) before Christmas, and all through the tiny community of Pine Cove, California, people are busy buying, wrapping, packing, and generally getting into the holiday spirit. It is the hap-hap-happiest time of the year, after all.
But not everybody is feeling the joy. Little Joshua Barker is in desperate need of a holiday miracle. No, he's not on his deathbed; no, his dog hasn't run away from home. But Josh is sure that he saw Santa take a shovel to the head, and now the seven-year-old has only one prayer: Please, Santa, come back from the dead.
But hold on! There's an angel waiting in the wings. (Wings, get it?) It's none other than the Archangel Raziel come to Earth seeking a small child with a wish that needs granting. Unfortunately, our angel's not sporting the brightest halo in the bunch, and before you can say "Kris Kringle," he's botched his sacred mission and sent the residents of Pine Cove headlong into Christmas chaos, culminating in the most hilarious and horrifying holiday party the town has ever seen.
Only Christopher Moore, the man who brought you the outrageous lost gospel Lamb and the hysterical fish tale Fluke could have devised a new holiday classic that tugs at the heartstrings and serves up a healthy slice of fruitcake to boot.
Move over, Charles Dickens -- it's Christopher Moore time. [via]
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The Tall Book of Bible Storiesby Katherine Gibson, Ted ChaikoISBN 0060219351 (0-06-021935-1)
Hardcover, Harpercollins Childrens Books
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Telling the Truth: The Gospel As Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Taleby Frederick BuechnerISBN 0060611561 (0-06-061156-1)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Telling the Truth: The Gospel As Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale'Book summary:A sermon arises out of silence, preacher and writer Frederick Buechner reminds us, and that silence is both an opportunity and a warning. An audience sits in the pews waiting, and each of those who sit there bring with them a long and complicated history. How will you reach them? How will you awaken them? "Tell them the truth," Buechner says in this brief and powerful book. The Gospel begins here, out of this silence: "It is life with the sound turned off so that for a moment or two you can experience it not in terms of the words you make it bearable by but for the unutterable mystery that it is." Out of this silence, he writes, the "real news comes, which is sad news before it is glad news and that is fairy tale last of all."
This series of lectures explores these three ways of seeing the Gospel: first as tragedy, as honest sorrow and suffering--this must be faced before anything else becomes possible. From this comes the comedy of new life: a child born to Abraham and Sarah in old age, Lazarus raised from the dead. This is the folly of the Gospel--what Buechner will ultimately call the fairy tale. Drawing deeply from the well of The Wizard of Oz and other stories, he reminds us in this final chapter that "there is a child in all of us," a child in touch with a truth deeper than the logic of tragedy. --Doug Thorpe [via]
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Tom Dooley, Jungle Doctorby Alice H. Brown, Troy Howell, Alice J. HughISBN 0030494419 (0-03-049441-9)
Softcover, Harpercollins Childrens Books
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Warrior of the Light: A Manualby Paulo Coelho, Margaret Jull CostaISBN 0060527986 (0-06-052798-6)
Softcover, Perennial
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What Makes Us Catholic: Eight Gifts for Lifeby Thomas H. GroomeISBN 0060633999 (0-06-063399-9)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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Where God Was Born: A Daring Adventure Through The Bible's Greatest Storiesby Bruce FeilerISBN 0060574895 (0-06-057489-5)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Where God Was Born: A Daring Adventure Through The Bible's Greatest Stories'Book summary:Bruce Feiler's latest book combines now familiar elements into his own peculiar, delightful alchemy. Any particular page may be found effortlessly weaving together strands of theology, biblical exegesis, physical exploration, history and personal reflection as Feiler continues his journey of discovery, looking at the common roots of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The Middle East has become a more dangerous place since the writing of his first book in this vein, Walking the Bible. But Feiler is impelled to answer his continued call, even when a flak jacket is necessary. He explores tunnels under Jerusalem. Goes to where David may have slain Goliath. Even looks for the Garden of Eden in Iraq while acknowledging that "the garden would never be found." It is this externalization of searches typically only made in the heart that fascinates us and brings power to Feiler's narrative. In one of the more compelling sections of the book, a meditation on Jonah, Feiler makes a persuasive argument that "God cares only that you conduct yourself in a moral way& And what might come across as preaching in another context is instead organic; Feiler's ideas seem to grow as much out of his travel and present-day experience as they do from Scripture and history. Of particular interest is his writing on King Cyrus II. He travels to Persepolis, in modern-day Iran, and finds an ancient precedent for religious tolerance in this king who helped the Jews build the Second Temple. Feiler provokes us to reflect that if the Bible itself can sing the praises of a king who accepted the various religions of those he ruled, perhaps there is hope we can find room for more tolerance in our own time. Highly recommended.--Ed Dobeas [via]
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Who Wrote the Bible?by Richard Elliott FriedmanISBN 0060630353 (0-06-063035-3)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Who Wrote the Bible?'Book summary:"J," "P," "E," and "D" are the names scholars have given to some authors of the Bible, and, as such, they are very important letters to a lot of people. Churches have died and been born, and millions of people have lost faith or found it, because of the last two centuries of debate about who, exactly, wrote the canonical texts of Christianity and Judaism. Richard Elliott Friedman's survey of this debate, in Who Wrote the Bible?, may be the best written popular book about this question. Without condescension or high-flown academic language, Friedman carefully describes the history of textual criticism of the Bible--a subject on which his authority is unparalleled (Friedman has contributed voluminously to the authoritative Anchor Bible Dictionary). But this book is not just smart. Perhaps even more impressive than Friedman's erudition is his sensitivity to the power of textual criticism to influence faith. --Michael Joseph Gross [via]
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A Wrinkle in Time: Library Editionby Madeleine L'EngleISBN 0028180054 (0-02-818005-4)
Hardcover, Glencoe/McGraw-Hill School Pub Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Wrinkle in Time: Library Edition'Book summary:Everyone in town thinks Meg is volatile and dull-witted and that her younger brother Charles Wallace is dumb. People are also saying that their father has run off and left their brilliant scientist mother. Spurred on by these rumors, Meg and Charles Wallace, along with their new friend Calvin, embark on a perilous quest through space to find their father. In doing so they must travel behind the shadow of an evil power that is darkening the cosmos, one planet at a time.
Young people who have trouble finding their place in the world will connect with the "misfit" characters in this provocative story. This is no superhero tale, nor is it science fiction, although it shares elements of both. The travelers must rely on their individual and collective strengths, delving deep into their characters to find answers.
A classic since 1962, Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time is sophisticated in concept yet warm in tone, with mystery and love coursing through its pages. Meg's shattering yet ultimately freeing discovery that her father is not omnipotent provides a satisfying coming-of-age element. Readers will feel a sense of power as they travel with these three children, challenging concepts of time, space, and the power of good over evil. (Ages 9 to 12) [via]
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Zen And the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Valuesby Robert M. PirsigISBN 0060589469 (0-06-058946-9)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Zen And the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values'Book summary:In his now classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig brings us a literary chautauqua, a novel that is meant to both entertain and edify. It scores high on both counts.
Phaedrus, our narrator, takes a present-tense cross-country motorcycle trip with his son during which the maintenance of the motorcycle becomes an illustration of how we can unify the cold, rational realm of technology with the warm, imaginative realm of artistry. As in Zen, the trick is to become one with the activity, to engage in it fully, to see and appreciate all details--be it hiking in the woods, penning an essay, or tightening the chain on a motorcycle.
In his autobiographical first novel, Pirsig wrestles both with the ghost of his past and with the most important philosophical questions of the 20th century--why has technology alienated us from our world? what are the limits of rational analysis? if we can't define the good, how can we live it? Unfortunately, while exploring the defects of our philosophical heritage from Socrates and the Sophists to Hume and Kant, Pirsig inexplicably stops at the middle of the 19th century. With the exception of Poincaré, he ignores the more recent philosophers who have tackled his most urgent questions, thinkers such as Peirce, Nietzsche (to whom Phaedrus bears a passing resemblance), Heidegger, Whitehead, Dewey, Sartre, Wittgenstein, and Kuhn. In the end, the narrator's claims to originality turn out to be overstated, his reasoning questionable, and his understanding of the history of Western thought sketchy. His solution to a synthesis of the rational and creative by elevating Quality to a metaphysical level simply repeats the mistakes of the premodern philosophers. But in contrast to most other philosophers, Pirsig writes a compelling story. And he is a true innovator in his attempt to popularize a reconciliation of Eastern mindfulness and nonrationalism with Western subject/object dualism. The magic of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance turns out to lie not in the answers it gives, but in the questions it raises and the way it raises them. Like a cross between The Razor's Edge and Sophie's World, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance takes us into "the high country of the mind" and opens our eyes to vistas of possibility. --Brian Bruya [via]
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Manual Del Guerrero De La Luz / Warrior of the Lightby Paulo CoelhoISBN 0060534184 (0-06-053418-4)
Hardcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Manual Del Guerrero De La Luz / Warrior of the Light'More editions of Manual Del Guerrero De La Luz / Warrior of the Light:
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Trece Sentidosby Victor Villaseñor, Alfonso GonzálezISBN 0060505117 (0-06-050511-7)
Softcover, HarperCollins Publishers
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Trece Sentidos'Book summary:En un deslumbrante relato de pasión, Trece Sentidos de Victor Villaseñor continúa la estipulante epopeya familiar que empezó con el ampliamente reconocido bestseller Lluvia de Oro.
Trece Sentidos abre con las bodas de oro del ya mayor Salvador y su elegante esposa, Lupe. Cuando un joven sacerdote le pide a Lupe que repita la sagrada frase ceremonial 'respetar y obedecer,' Lupe se sorprende a sí misma al contestar--¡No, no voy a decir obedecer! ¡Cómo se atreve! ¡Ah, no! ¡Usted no me va a hablar así después de cincuenta años de matrimonio y sabiendo lo que sé!--. Así, la familia Villaseñor se ve forzada a examinar el amor que Lupe y Salvador han compartido por tantos a ños: un amor universal, entrñable y sincero que eventualmente dará energía e inspiración a la pareja en su vejez.
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