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How To Be Your Own Selfish Pig: And Other Ways You've Been Brainwashed
By Susan Macaulay, Slug Signorino. 1982
This book won't teach you how to be a selfish pig. But it will tell you what a lot of…
people think about pigs, robots, the tooth fairy, and more serious topics like God and right and wrong and what's worth living for. You'll meet a lot of people in this book, real ones, who have tried all kinds of lifestyles with all kinds of results. What they have in common is that they all, at one time or another, took a serious look at their lives and their worldviews. You'll laugh and cry with these people. You'll learn how you could end up a selfish pig and why you might not want to.Evangelicals and Republicans have been powerful—and active—allies in American politics since the 1970s. But as public opinions have changed, are…
young evangelicals’ political identities and attitudes on key issues changing too? And if so, why? In Rock of Ages, Jeremiah Castle answers these questions to understand their important implications for American politics and society. Castle develops his own theory of public opinion among young evangelicals to predict and explain their political attitudes and voting behavior. Relying on both survey data and his own interviews with evangelical college students, he shows that while some young evangelicals may be more liberal in their attitudes on some issues, most are just as firmly Republican, conservative, and pro-life on abortion as the previous generation. Rock of Ages considers not only what makes young evangelicals different from the previous generation, but also what that means for both the church and American politics.To Lhasa in Disguise: A Secret Exhibition Through Mysterious Tibet
By William Montgomery McGovern. 2004
This is a record of adventures, and of achievements in the face of supposedly insuperable obstacles, which is thrilling by…
reason of the size and color and significance of the events.Tibet and especially Lhasa, its capital city, is guarded from outsiders by fanatic natives, and the country is further guarded by the giant mountain ranges that hem it in. No white man before Dr. McGovern ever got through the ice-bound Himalaya passes in the winter, and no white man before him ever contrived to live in Lhasa long enough to photograph and study the Tibetans at close range.A party made up to go to Tibet, of which Dr. McGovern was one, was met in the mountains and told to go back. All the rest of the party turned in their tracks and dropped down into India. Dr. McGovern, accompanied only by his servant Satan, continued in disguise into Tibet, arriving ultimately after a series of almost incredible hardships in Lhasa itself. He interviewed the Dalai Lama and other officials and functionaries, studied the people and took innumerable photographs.Dr. McGovern, who by the way was related on his mother’s side to both Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, was an Oxford man, a distinguished Orientalist, a lecturer of the Royal Asiatic Society, and the author of several books dealing with the Far East. He was especially equipped to capitalize in interest and information for his readers the amazing experiences through which he passed.Does God Exist: An Answer For Today
By Hans Küng. 1980
Vajrayogini: Her Visualization, Rituals, and Forms (Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism)
By Elizabeth English. 2002
Vajrayogini is a tantric goddess from the highest class of Buddhist tantras who manifests the ultimate development of wisdom and…
compassion. Her practice is prevalent today among practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. This ground-breaking book delves into the origins of Vajrayogini, charting her evolution in India and examining her roots in the Cakrasamvara tantra and in Indian tradition relating to siva. The focus of this work is the Guhyasamayasadhanamala, a collection of forty-six sadhanas, or practice texts. Written on palm leaves in Sanskrit and preserved since the twelfth century, this diverse collection, composed by various authors, reveals a multitude of forms of the goddess, each of which is described and illustrated here. One of the sadhanas, the Vajravarahi Sadhana by Umapatideva, depicts Vajrayogini at the center of a mandala of thirty-seven different goddesses, and is here presented in full translation alongside a Sanskrit edition. Elizabeth English provides extensive explanation and annotation of this representative text. Sixteen pages of stunning color plates not only enhance the study but bring the goddess to life.When the Sunday School pioneers saw a need in their communities in the late eighteenth century, their response provoked a…
200 year movement. These early Sunday Schools met a clear social need: that for basic education. By the 1960s, they faced rapid decline – a rigid institution amidst societal change. Over recent decades, Christian youth work has emerged as a response to further youth decline within churches. Many youth workers engage with young people’s self-perceived needs by delivering open-access youth provision in their local communities alongside more specifically Christian activities. Tensions emerge over whether the youth worker’s role is to serve community or church needs, with churches often emphasising the desire to see young people in services. Drawing together historical and contemporary research, Young People and Church Since 1900 identifies patterns and change in young people’s engagement with organised Christianity across time. Through this, it provides a unique analysis of the engagement and exclusion of young people in three key time periods, 1900–1910, 1955–1972, and the present day. Whilst much commentary on religious decline has focused on changes external to churches, this text draws out the internal decisions and processes that have affected the longevity of Christianity in England. This book will be of interest to researchers and scholars of young people and Christianity in the twentieth century and today, as well as youth ministry students and practitioners and those interested in youth decline in churches more widely.Voices of the English Reformation: A Sourcebook
By John N. King. 2004
Spanning the different phases of the English Reformation from William Tyndale's 1525 translation of the Bible to the death of…
Elizabeth I in 1603, John King's magisterial anthology brings together a range of texts inaccessible in standard collections of early modern works. The readings demonstrate how Reformation ideas and concerns pervade well-known writings by Spenser, Shakespeare, Sidney, and Marlowe and help foreground such issues as the relationship between church and state, the status of women, and resistance to unjust authority.Plays, dialogues, and satires in which clever laypersons outwit ignorant clerics counterbalance texts documenting the controversy over the permissibility of theatrical performance. Moving biographical and autobiographical narratives from John Foxe's Book of Martyrs and other sources document the experience of Protestants such as Anne Askew and Hugh Latimer, both burned at the stake, of recusants, Jesuit missionaries, and many others. In this splendid collection, the voices ring forth from a unique moment when the course of British history was altered by the fate and religious convictions of the five queens: Catherine Parr, Lady Jane Grey, Mary I, Mary Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I.When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God
By T. M. Luhrmann. 2012
How does God become and remain real for modern evangelicals? How are rational, sensible people of faith able to experience…
the presence of a powerful yet invisible being and sustain that belief in an environment of overwhelming skepticism? T. M. Luhrmann, an anthropologist trained in psychology and the acclaimed author of Of Two Minds, explores the extraordinary process that leads some believers to a place where God is profoundly real and his voice can be heard amid the clutter of everyday thoughts. While attending services and various small group meetings at her local branch of the Vineyard, an evangelical church with hundreds of congregations across the country, Luhrmann sought to understand how some members were able to communicate with God, not just through one-sided prayers but with discernable feedback. Some saw visions, while others claimed to hear the voice of God himself. For these congregants and many other Christians, God was intensely alive. After holding a series of honest, personal interviews with Vineyard members who claimed to have had isolated or ongoing supernatural experiences with God, Luhrmann hypothesized that the practice of prayer could train a person to hear God's voice--to use one's mind differently and focus on God's voice until it became clear. A subsequent experiment conducted between people who were and weren't practiced in prayer further illuminated her conclusion. For those who have trained themselves to concentrate on their inner experiences, God is experienced in the brain as an actual social relationship: his voice was identified, and that identification was trusted and regarded as real and interactive. Astute, deeply intelligent, and sensitive, When God Talks Back is a remarkable approach to the intersection of religion, psychology, and science, and the effect it has on the daily practices of the faithful.From the Hardcover edition.Thirty-One Days of Praise: Enjoying God Anew (31 Days Series)
By Ruth Myers, Warren Myers. 1994
Christians who long to experience God in a fresh, deep way will treasure this powerful, personal praise guide, rereleased with…
an updated cover. Every day for just one month, a Scripture-based devotion cultivates the "heart habit" of praise and worship. Readers will be gently inspired to appreciate and adore the Lord in all things -- yes, even in the midst of pain, disappointment, and heartache. A deeper intimacy with God -- and a greater love for Him -- is the sure result.Come into His Presence with Praise Praise. It leads you into God's awesome presence, into the delight of His Word, into the sure knowledge of His great love for you. If you long to experience God in a fresh, deep way, you'll treasure this personal praise guide. Every day a different Scripture-based devotion helps you cultivate the "heart habit" of praise and worship. You'll be gently inspired to appreciate and adore the Lord in all things, even in the midst of pain, heartache, or disappointment. A deeper intimacy with God--and a greater love for Him--is the sure result.From the Hardcover edition.Trauma + Grace: Theology In A Ruptured World
By Serene Jones. 2009
Loving and Leaving a Church: A Pastor's Journey
By Barbara Melosh. 2018
Barbara Melosh's story was a common one. A second-career seminarian, she arrived at her first pastorate brimming with enthusiasm and…
high hopes. The blue-collar congregation to which she'd been called had a glorious past but an uncertain future. Certain that she could turn around its slow yet undeniable slide into decline, Melosh inaugurated a number of church growth and outreach programs. Most of these efforts had little effect, and the ones that did seem to work soon suffered reverse outcomes and eventual demise. In the end, Melosh had to conclude that the members of the congregation liked their church the way it was and that she could not drag them into a future they did not want. Yet while the congregation failed to change itself, Melosh notes, it succeeded in changing her. Simply put, it made her a pastor. At times heartbreaking and hilarious, Loving and Leaving a Church offers a glimpse into the challenges and opportunities of ministry in a mainline church.Buddhism and Monotheism (Elements in Religion and Monotheism)
By Peter Harvey. 2019
Buddhism is a religion lacking the idea of a unique creator God. It is a kind of trans-polytheism that accepts…
many long-lived gods, but sees ultimate reality, Nirvana, as beyond these. It does, though, see Dhamma/Dharma as a Basic Pattern encompassing everything, with karma as a law-like principle ensuring that good and bad actions have appropriate natural results. This Element explores these ideas, along with overlaps in Buddhist and monotheist ideas and practices, the development of more theist-like ideas in Mahāyāna Buddhism, Buddhist critiques of the idea of a creator God, and some contemporary Buddhist views and appreciations of monotheisms.Biblical Theology: The Convergence of the Canon
By Ben Witherington III. 2019
In Biblical Theology, Ben Witherington, III, examines the theology of the Old and New Testaments as a totality. Going beyond…
an account of carefully crafted Old and New Testament theologies, he demonstrates the ideas that make the Bible a sacred book with a unified theology. Witherington brings a distinctive methodology to this study. Taking a constructive approach, he first examines the foundations of the writers' symbolic universe - what they thought and presupposed about God - and how they revealed those thoughts through the narratives of the Old and New Testaments. He also shows how the historical contexts and intellectual worlds of the Old and New Testaments conditioned their narratives, and, in the process, created a large coherent Biblical world view, one that progressively reveals the character and action of God. Thus, the Yahweh of the Old Testament, the Son in the Gospels, and the Father, Son, and Spirit in the New Testament writings are viewed as persons who are part of the singular divine identity. Sensitive to do a more than merely thematic reading of the Bible which strips texts out of their original context, Witherington's progressive revelation approach allows each part of the canon to be read in its original context and with its original meaning. The result is a Biblical theology that allows Jews and Christian's to dialogue about and appreciate the sacred scriptures in both testaments. The capstone work of an internationally known theologian, Biblical Theology also offers new insights on key theological issues, including the character of God, grace, covenants, salvation, election, and eschatology as they relate to the doctrine of God.Matthew
By James Davison. 2019
This study focuses on Jesus as Messiah as a beginning point for considering Matthew's perspective of the life and ministry…
of Jesus Christ. Jesus' important teachings are explored and we find how they shape our Christian lives today. They give the church--as the community of faith--directions for its mission and ministries in the world. The Six Themes Everyone Should Know series introductes biblical books and their main themes. Each volume consists of six chapters that present major biblical themes; each chapter contains an introduction and three major sections: What does the biblical theme mean? What is the meaning of this biblical theme for the life of faith? What does the biblical theme mean for the church at this point in history for action?She’s My Dad: A Father's Transition And A Son's Redemption
By Jonathan Williams. 2018
Jonathan S. Williams was three months into pastoring a new, evangelical church plant when his father confessed a secret: he…
was transgender. His father, Paul, a prominent evangelical pastor, soon became Paula, and Jonathan’s life and ministry went into a tailspin. Feeling betrayed by his mentor and confidante and scared that his church would lose funding and support if Paula’s secret was exposed, Jonathan sunk into depression and alcoholism. She’s My Dad explores Jonathan’s long and winding journey toward reconciliation, forgiveness, and acceptance of his father as well as his church’s journey to become one of the few fully LGBTQ-inclusive, evangelical churches in America. Jonathan and Paula offer insight and encouragement for those with trans family members, empathizing with the feelings of loss and trauma and understanding that even being LGBTQ-affirming doesn’t mean the transition of a family member will be easy. Jonathan writes of his family’s continuing evolution, the meaning of remaining loyal to one’s father even when she is no longer a man, the ongoing theological evolution surrounding transgender rights and advocacy in the church, and the unflinching self-scrutiny of a pastor who lost his God only to find God again in his father’s transition.In May 2017, after sixty years as an ordained United Methodist minister, Rev. J. Philip Wogaman surrendered his ordination, choosing…
to exit a community of clergy who will not allow an openly gay person to join. By surrendering his ordination, he chose to join the group of devoted Christians outside the clergy who welcomed gay and lesbian individuals. Beginning with an examination of ordination and what is means theologically, ethically, and pastorally, Wogaman then describes the action itself and its aftermath. Surrendering My Ordination also explores how The United Methodist Church can move forward, beyond the polarized present situation found in many contemporary Christian churches.Six Themes Everyone Should Know
By John Carroll. 2018
A Philosophy of the Christian Religion: An Introduction
By Nancey Murphy. 2018
Each field of study comes with its own set of questions; each period of time refines and redirects those questions.…
The Christian religion as we find it in the twenty-first century presents a unique set of problems to be solved and questions to be answered. In this introduction to the philosophy of the Christian religion, eminent philosopher and theologian Nancey Murphy applies the tools of philosophical analysis to a set of core yet contemporary religious questions: what does our historical moment mean for the possibility of knowing God? Is faith still possible? Does God intervene in human history? Is there such a thing as universal knowledge of God? Written with the needs of students encountering the philosophy of religion for the first time in mind, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to the fundamental questions inherent in Christian faith. Murphy also provides tools for how to answer those questions.Published in the years following 9/11, David Dark’s book The Gospel according to America warned American Christianity about the false…
worship that conflates love of country with love of God. It delved deeply into the political divide that had gripped the country and the cultural captivity into which so many American churches had fallen. In our current political season, the problems Dark identified have blossomed. The assessment he brought to these problems and the creative resources for resisting them are now more important than ever. Into this new political landscape and expanding on the analysis of The Gospel according to America, Dark offers The Possibility of America: How the Gospel Can Mend Our God-Blessed, God-Forsaken Land. Dark expands his vision of a fractured yet redeemable American Christianity, bringing his signature mix of theological, cultural, and political analysis to white supremacy, evangelical surrender, and other problems of the Trump era.Miracles: God's Presence And Power In Creation
By Luke Johnson. 2018
Miracles are not confined to the stories of Scripture; these signs of God's presence and power in creation are experienced…
throughout our daily existence. Yet cultural challenges and modernity's skepticism have marginalized belief in them as unreasonable and irrational, says Luke Timothy Johnson. In this excellent resource for church professionals, Johnson reclaims Christian belief in miracles as integral to recovering a proper and strong sense of creation, recognizing the validity of personal experience and narrative and asserting the truth-telling quality of myth. His analysis includes: a description of the competing symbolic worldviews that have framed the discussion on miracles, including secular debates and theological imagination; interpretation of miracles consonant with the biblical construction of reality in the Old and New Testaments; suggestions for four areas in the church's life—teaching, preaching, prayer, and pastoral care—that can work together to shape a symbolic world, within which believers can expect, perceive, and celebrate the miracles in everyday life.