Enter a World Where Freedom is a Myth and Truth is a Mirage In a chilling future society dominated by a ruthless colonial regime, one must ask: what is the price of liberty? This gripping narrative thrusts you into a harsh dystopia, where personal freedoms are outweighed by an all-seeing government and relentless propaganda. The world as you know it is gone, replaced by an omnipresent surveillance state that leaves no corner of existence untouched. Within this oppressive reality, every thought is manipulated, every action scrutinized, and even the concept of truth is distorted beyond recognition. Through vivid storytelling and poignant social commentary, the novel explores the perils of unchecked power. Set against a backdrop of totalitarian control, it reveals a landscape stripped of fundamental freedoms. Readers are led through a realm where the very essence of humanity is on the line, prompting a deep contemplation on the ramifications of authoritarianism.
How new is atheism? Although adherents and opponents alike today present it as an invention of the European Enlightenment, when the forces of science and secularism broadly challenged those of faith, disbelief in the gods, in fact, originated in a far more remote past. In Battling the Gods, Tim Whitmarsh journeys into the ancient Mediterranean, a world almost unimaginably different from our own, to recover the stories and voices of those who first refused the divinities. Homer’s epic poems of human striving, journeying, and passion were ancient Greece’s only “sacred texts,” but no ancient Greek thought twice about questioning or mocking his stories of the gods. Priests were functionaries rather than sources of moral or cosmological wisdom. The absence of centralized religious authority made for an extraordinary variety of perspectives on sacred matters, from the devotional to the atheos, or “godless.” Whitmarsh explores this kaleidoscopic range of ideas about the gods, focusing on the colorful individuals who challenged their existence. Among these were some of the greatest ancient poets and philosophers and writers, as well as the less well known: Diagoras of Melos, perhaps the first self-professed atheist; Democritus, the first materialist; Socrates, executed for rejecting the gods of the Athenian state; Epicurus and his followers, who thought gods could not intervene in human affairs; the brilliantly mischievous satirist Lucian of Samosata. Before the revolutions of late antiquity, which saw the scriptural religions of Christianity and Islam enforced by imperial might, there were few constraints on belief. Everything changed, however, in the millennium between the appearance of the Homeric poems and Christianity’s establishment as Rome’s state religion in the fourth century AD. As successive Greco-Roman empires grew in size and complexity, and power was increasingly concentrated in central capitals, states sought to impose collective religious adherence, first to cults devoted to individual rulers, and ultimately to monotheism. In this new world, there was no room for outright disbelief: the label “atheist” was used now to demonize anyone who merely disagreed with the orthodoxy—and so it would remain for centuries. As the twenty-first century shapes up into a time of mass information, but also, paradoxically, of collective amnesia concerning the tangled histories of religions, Whitmarsh provides a bracing antidote to our assumptions about the roots of freethinking. By shining a light on atheism’s first thousand years, Battling the Gods offers a timely reminder that nonbelief has a wealth of tradition of its own, and, indeed, its own heroes.
Abstract theology is overrated, for God can be found in even the most ordinary of things. Jesus used things like a lily, sparrow, and sheep to teach about the kingdom of God. And in the Old Testament, God repeatedly describes himself and his saving work in relation to physical things such as a rock, horn, or eagle. In God of All Things, pastor and author Andrew Wilson invites you to rediscover God in this way, too--through ordinary, everyday things. He explores the idea of a material world and presents a variety of created marvels that reveal the gospel in everyday life and fuel worship and joy in God--marvels like: Dust: the image of God Horns: the salvation of God Donkeys: the peace of God Water: the life of God Viruses: the problem of God Cities: the kingdom of God God of All Things will leave you with a deeper understanding of Scripture, the world you live in, and the God who made it all.
A bold reassessment of what caused the Late Bronze Age collapse In 1177 B.C., marauding groups known only as the "Sea Peoples" invaded Egypt. The pharaoh's army and navy managed to defeat them, but the victory so weakened Egypt that it soon slid into decline, as did most of the surrounding civilizations. After centuries of brilliance, the civilized world of the Bronze Age came to an abrupt and cataclysmic end. Kingdoms fell like dominoes over the course of just a few decades. No more Minoans or Mycenaeans. No more Trojans, Hittites, or Babylonians. The thriving economy and cultures of the late second millennium B.C., which had stretched from Greece to Egypt and Mesopotamia, suddenly ceased to exist, along with writing systems, technology, and monumental architecture. But the Sea Peoples alone could not have caused such widespread breakdown. How did it happen? In this major new account of the causes of this "First Dark Ages," Eric Cline tells the gripping story of how the end was brought about by multiple interconnected failures, ranging from invasion and revolt to earthquakes, drought, and the cutting of international trade routes. Bringing to life the vibrant multicultural world of these great civilizations, he draws a sweeping panorama of the empires and globalized peoples of the Late Bronze Age and shows that it was their very interdependence that hastened their dramatic collapse and ushered in a dark age that lasted centuries. A compelling combination of narrative and the latest scholarship, 1177 B.C. sheds new light on the complex ties that gave rise to, and ultimately destroyed, the flourishing civilizations of the Late Bronze Age—and that set the stage for the emergence of classical Greece.
Traces the story of how ancient cultures envisioned artificial life, automata, self-moving devices and human enhancements, sharing insights into how the mythologies of the past related to and shaped ancient machine innovations.
“A readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture” from a world-renowned Sumerian scholar (American Journal of Archaeology). The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them. Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world. “An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity.” —Library Journal
Our origins as a slave species and the Anunnaki legacy in our DNA • Reveals compelling new archaeological and genetic evidence for the engineered origins of the human species, first proposed by Zecharia Sitchin in The 12th Planet • Shows how the Anunnaki created us using pieces of their own DNA, controlling our physical and mental capabilities by inactivating their more advanced DNA • Identifies a recently discovered complex of sophisticated ruins in South Africa as the city of the Anunnaki leader Enki Scholars have long believed that the first civilization on Earth emerged in Sumer some 6,000 years ago. However, as Michael Tellinger reveals, the Sumerians and Egyptians inherited their knowledge from an earlier civilization that lived at the southern tip of Africa and began with the arrival of the Anunnaki more than 200,000 years ago. Sent to Earth in search of life-saving gold, these ancient Anunnaki astronauts from the planet Nibiru created the first humans as a slave race to mine gold--thus beginning our global traditions of gold obsession, slavery, and god as dominating master. Revealing new archaeological and genetic evidence in support of Zecharia Sitchin’s revolutionary work with pre-biblical clay tablets, Tellinger shows how the Anunnaki created us using pieces of their own DNA, controlling our physical and mental capabilities by inactivating their more advanced DNA--which explains why less than 3 percent of our DNA is active. He identifies a recently discovered complex of sophisticated ruins in South Africa, complete with thousands of mines, as the city of Anunnaki leader Enki and explains their lost technologies that used the power of sound as a source of energy. Matching key mythologies of the world’s religions to the Sumerian clay tablet stories on which they are based, he details the actual events behind these tales of direct physical interactions with “god,” concluding with the epic flood--a perennial theme of ancient myth--that wiped out the Anunnaki mining operations. Tellinger shows that, as humanity awakens to the truth about our origins, we can overcome our programmed animalistic and slave-like nature, tap in to our dormant Anunnaki DNA, and realize the longevity and intelligence of our creators as well as learn the difference between the gods of myth and the true loving God of our universe.
-It is the biggest question of all in the universe, when and from what universe came into being and how it expanded. It puzzled Einstein and many other cosmologist after him. Finally, they have discovered the particle, which they mysteriously named the God particle. As the mystery surrounds this particle, their quest will either end in finding God, the source of the particle or not. -In an age when biblical truth are considered fairytales by many a scientists, someone must be bold enough to tell the truth that in the beginning the universe was void and darkness prevailed in the entire cosmos until God separated darkness by his eternal light and used 5 percent of the dark matter to create the universe and everything within it. Dr. Cherian courageously links the Scriptures and the science behind the dark matter and the scientists who were divinely guided to name it the God particle. -Newton's and Einstein's dreams have been materialized and though not accepted by the vast majority of scientists openly, many are compromising that universe formed from a cosmic evolution, and life evolved abiogenetically and God interjected his presence into the process of evolution to claim his role-a most absurd stand. -While the latest scientific discoveries tackled the biggest mystery of the universe, scientific discoveries have corroborated the truth man (humanity) is nothing but specks of the dust (Ps. 103:14). -While God who created the universe "sits enthroned above the circle of the earth and stretches out (expanse) the heavens like a canopy and spreads them out like a tent. (Isa. 40:22) is also holding the universe in his hands. -Dr. Cherian brings to light the neglected truth that science and theology are the perfect match of God's truth in the universe. -Most of the scientific discoveries deciphered during the last five hundred years are recorded in the Bible, including water in the exoplanets and the dark matter and dark energy that have been discovered recently. The author has succinctly explained with specific biblical references and explanations. -The author also reveals that from Plymouth Rock to Independence Hall and throughout the length and breadth of America, the profound Christian heritage is engrained in every inch of the land, and America cannot negate God from our land. -God's systematic order of creation was schemed as stages of unguided evolution. -All Christians of the nation must reinvent the declaration by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1892 that "This a Christian Nation," and present-day lawmakers must adhere to that with freedom and liberty for all. -Like a skilled attorney, the author explains America is part of the "Israel of God and a member of the Commonwealth of Israel," as explained by Apostle Paul. The United States of America and the United Kingdom are two nations blessed by God, under the protection of the Almighty God, and we have a moral mandate to preserve our godly culture and civilization and lead other nations to follow before Armageddon, which is imminent.
In this book Ronald A. Simkins addresses the current environmental crisis and what the Bible might contribute in response to it. The environmental crisis includes loss of biodiversity, degradation of the soil, and especially climate change. If left unchecked, these trends will bring about the collapse of human civilization. These environmental problems are interrelated and share a similar cause: the exploitation of the natural world through an economy structured by capitalist relations of production and powered by the burning of fossil fuels. Through our economic relations, we have depleted natural resources, polluted natural environments, and altered natural processes. These problems are a product of our political economy, which entails not only our politics, ideology, and religion, but primarily our economic system. Because the crisis is economic at its core, Simkins first sets the Bible within its own economic context, exploring how the biblical ideas of creation—an understanding of the human relationship to the natural world—were the product of the ancient Israelite political economy. Then Simkins places the biblical tradition in conversation with the current environmental crisis. The result is a far richer view of creation in the biblical tradition and a better understanding of what is at stake in the current environmental crisis.
