Written over three decades ago, Cardinal Ratzinger's profound treatise on the true meaning of Christian brotherhood is perhaps even more timely and important now as a clear statement on the biblical grounds for cooperation among believing Christians. In treating Christian brotherhood from the perspective of salvation history, Ratzinger opens up the meaning of both the Old and New Testament in this most essential area. After establishing the distinctively Christian sense of brotherhood (vis-À-vis Judaism, Hellenism, Stoicism, the Enlightenment, and Marxism), he shows how fraternal charity can only be perfected through God's fatherhood, Christ's divine sonship, and our brotherhood in Christ.
Life Is Never Mainly About Love and Marriage. So Learn to Live and Date for More. Many of you grew up assuming that marriage would meet all of your needs and unlock God's purposes for you. But God has far more planned for you than your future marriage. Not Yet Married is not about waiting quietly in the corner of the world for God to bring you "the one," but about inspiring you to live and date for more now. If you follow Jesus, the search for a spouse is no longer a pursuit of the perfect person, but a pursuit of more of God. He will likely write a love story for you different than the one you would write for yourself, but that's because he loves you and knows how to write a better story. This book was written to help you find real hope, happiness, and purpose in your not-yet-married life.
The Brotherhood Prayer Book is a book dedicated to the singing of the canonical prayer offices and the entire Psalter and Old Testament canticles pointed to Gregorian tones. This is the paperback version of the Second Revised Edition published in 2007.
Brotherhood as an ideal has meant many different things. In this disarmingly simple study Ratzinger begins by examining two contrasting views: that of the ancient mystery religions which created 'closed ' brotherhoods of the initiated; and that of the Enlightenment, which looked to an open brotherhood of all. The author finds the first of these views too restricted and inward looking and the second too extended. After a brilliant exposition of New Testament teaching, he proposes a synthesis in which the Christian ideal of brotherhood is shown to be both 'restricted' and 'universal'. Essential biblical Christianity is once again shown to be more meaningful and more radical than most of us, Christian or non-Christian, imagine.
After his martyrdom at the hands of the Gestapo in 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer continued his witness in the hearts of Christians around the world. His Letters and Papers from Prison became a prized testimony to Christian faith and courage, read by thousands. Now in Life Together we have Pastor Bonhoeffer's experience of Christian community. This story of a unique fellowship in an underground seminary during the Nazi years reads like one of Paul's letters. It gives practical advice on how life together in Christ can be sustained in families and groups. The role of personal prayer, worship in common, everyday work, and Christian service is treated in simple, almost biblical, words. Life Together is bread for all who are hungry for the real life of Christian fellowship.
The role that Mary plays in God's plan of salvation is an issue that over the centuies has divided Christians and their churches. In part, these differences stem from disagreements about what the New Testament says about the mother of Jesus. This book should go a long way toward solving the disputes. It is not a collection of essays but rather a collaborative statement prepared by a team of Protestant, Anglican, and Roman Catholic scholars who have reached substantial agreement on how Mary was pictured by Christians of the first two centuries. This book follows the same methodology as an earlier volume, Peter in the New Testament, produced by the same research group. The status of that first book as an ecumenical achievement of American biblical scholarship is attested to by the welcome it received and by its translation into five foreign languages. In light of the difficulty of the subject matter, Mary in the New Testament may be an even greater achievement. If Roman Catholic and Protestant scholars can agree on what the oldest Christian sources said, is the way open for the churches to agree on a fundamental Christian attitude toward Mary? This book is written by scholars, but it is not meant only for scholars. The authors have taken pains to make the work intelligible to students, clergy, and the knowledgeable laity of their churches. It combines scientific research with a respect for Christian sensiblities.
An initiatic journey into the Mysteries of the Goddess and humanity’s return to an age of peace and celestial light • Details the ceremonies and rituals of initiation into the Fellowship of Isis • Reveals the lost teachings of Jesus about the Divine Mother and Father and how the goddess Sophia is connected to Mary Magdalene as the Female Christ • Explores the many archetypes of the Goddess, including Isis, Brigit, and the Black Madonna, and how we can transform into Homo luminous, spiritual beings of light Called through her dreams by the Priestesses of Isis, Tricia McCannon set out on a spiritual journey into the Mysteries of the Goddess. After a fateful encounter with a high initiate of the ancient Fellowship of Isis, she began researching the history of Judaism and Christianity to find out how and when the Divine Feminine became lost. She discovered a forgotten age when the Creator was honored as female and humanity lived in peaceful societies completely free of war. She shows how we can return to an age of peace and celestial light if we work to bring the masculine and feminine energies of the world back into balance. Sharing her journey into the heart of the Divine Mother, McCannon details her initiation into the Fellowship of Isis, a process rich with ceremony, ritual, and myths of the Goddess from ancient Egyptian, Celtic, Greek, Hebrew, and Native American traditions. She reveals how the many archetypes of the Goddess, including Isis, Ishtar, Brigit, and the Black Madonna, can become our allies for self-transformation. She explores Mysteries at the heart of Christianity that have remained hidden for nearly 2,000 years and how the Gnostic goddess Sophia is tied to the Second Coming, Mary Magdalene, and the Female Christ. She reveals the lost teachings of Jesus about the Divine Mother and Father and about the Divine Daughter and Son. Through her story and her in-depth research, McCannon takes us on a journey to awaken the creative power of the Divine Feminine within each of us. Equipped with the teachings of the Goddess, we gain the mastery to overcome the deeply rooted masculine-feminine imbalance of the patriarchy and to embark into the future as Homo luminous, beings of light.
In 1908 a book appeared on the shelves of American bookstores that was destined to garner interest throughout the world, so much so that today it has gone through more than seventy editions in America alone. This book was The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ by Levi H. Dowling. Immediately it evoked a response in those who intuited and sought for a deeper meaning of the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Many at that time, as well as today, could not honestly accept the limited interpretation of Jesus and his words that was offered by Churchianity, an acceptance that would have obligated them to reject him as but one of many misperceiving religionists of the past. For them the Aquarian Gospel was truly Light in Darkness, a fount of life-giving knowledge.With penetrating insight, Abbot George Burke illumines the practical value of the Aquarian Gospel for spiritual seekers, and the timelessness of this classic writing.. With a unique perspective of a lifetime of study and practice of both Eastern and Western spirituality, Abbot George mines the treasures of the Aquarian Gospel and presents them in an easily intelligible fashion for those wishing to put these priceless teachings into practice.
