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Author: Richard R. Losch
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Published: 2002
Total Pages: 204
ISBN-13: 9780802805218
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDesigned to introduce general readers to the great diversity of religion that exists today, this fascinating and very useful book provides short descriptions of the beliefs and practices of the world religions and the denominational branches, of Christianity. Now in paperback.
Author: Michael Taylor
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Published: 2009-12-02
Total Pages: 228
ISBN-13: 145000623X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFaith is one of the most critical aspects of the Christian life, because it is the means by which we receive all that God has secured for us; yet the nature of faith is one of the most misunderstood concepts of Christianity. Some conceptualize faith as some mental state that one must reach before they are able to “tap into” God’s “resources.” Others view faith as some sort of incorporeal substance that is “out there” for which we must reach. All of these concepts of faith are deficient, if not heretical, and yet all of them are found in the church. Others view faith as a mere fantasy or hope with no basis in reality, and thus religious claims are excluded from the arena of knowledge. “For a number of years my heart has been trilled over the doctrine of faith as it is received and taught among evangelical Christians everywhere. Great emphasis is laid upon faith in orthodox circles, and that is good, but still I am troubled. Specifically, my fear is that the modern conception of faith is not the biblical one; that when the teachers of our day use the word, they do no mean what Bible meant when they used it”. I also share the same concerns with A.W.Tozer, when he said; “the cause of my uneasiness are these”: 1. The lack of spiritual fruits in the lives of so many who claim to have faith. 2. The rarity of a radical change in the conduct and general outlook of persons professing their new faith in Christ as their personal Savior. 3. The failure of our teachers to define or even describe the thing to which the word faith is supposed to refer. 4. The heartbreaking failure of multitudes of seekers is they are even so earnest to make anything out of the doctrine or to receive any satisfying experience through it. 5. The real danger that a doctrine that is parroted so widely and received so uncritically by so many is false as understood by them. 6. I have seen faith put forward as an escape from reality, a refuge from the necessity of hard thinking, a hiding place for weak character, natural optimism, emotional thrills and nervous tics. Therefore, in the pages of this book, I will endeavor to outline for your benefit the dynamics of faith. What is faith? How does faith works? How to grow in faith? The power of faith; the Excellency of faith; the demand of faith; the perseverance of faith; the challenges of faith; the object of faith, the effect of faith; the response of faith; the discipline of faith; the necessity of faith and many more are discussed.
Author: Philip Jenkins
Publisher:
Published: 2015-10-13
Total Pages: 338
ISBN-13: 0465066925
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"In The Many Faces of Christ religious historian Philip Jenkins refutes our most basic assumptions about the Lost Gospels and the history of Christianity. He reveals that hundreds of alternative gospels were never lost, but survived and in many cases remained influential texts, both outside and within the official Church. We are taught that these alternative scriptures--such as the Gospels of Thomas, Mary, or Judas--represented intoxicating, daring and often bizarre ideas that were wholly suppressed by the Church in the fourth and fifth centuries. In bringing order to the tumult, the Church canonized only four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The rest, according to this standard account, were lost, destroyed, or hidden. But more than a thousand years after Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and made his Roman Empire do the same, the Christian world retained a much broader range of scriptures than would be imaginable today"--
Author: Küster, Volker
Publisher: Orbis Books
Published: 2023-06-01
Total Pages: 281
ISBN-13: 1608339769
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"Updated version of an Orbis classic"--
Author: Fernando Moleres
Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications
Published: 2009
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9780847833047
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis collection of photographs, by one of Spain’s leading photographers, is a cross-cultural and interfaith exploration of what it means to devote yourself to the pursuit of faith. Throughout the world, and in almost every religion, there are people who withdraw from the world in order to explore their faith and spirituality. These photographs offer a series of portraits and scenes of monastic life in countries as diverse as Spain, Armenia, Eritrea, and Nepal. This life is based on spiritual values whose metaphysical element transcends time and space. Lives of Devotion demonstrates the amazing similarities that lie across the spectrum of faith—whether Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Hindu or Buddhist. The monasteries featured include: Mount Athos, Greece; Koya San, Japan; La Oliva, Spain; Kumbh, India; Mont Saint Michel, France; Kopan, Nepal; Sera, Tibet; Saidnaya, Syria; Geghard, Armenia; Decani, Kosovo; and Pechory, Russia.
Author: Jeremy Campbell
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Published: 2006
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9780393344851
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn this grand work of philosophy and history, Campbell shows how religious conceptions have been shaped by advances in technology and science over a 400-year period.
Author: Bob Lord
Publisher:
Published: 1987-07-01
Total Pages: 242
ISBN-13: 9780926143074
DOWNLOAD EBOOKBob and Penny Lord write about the apparitions of Mary, contending that each of them has significance for larger numbers than the fortunate few to whom she has appeared.
Author: Bob Smietana
Publisher: Worthy Books
Published: 2023-08-29
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9781546001621
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"A superb examination of the future of Christian institutions.... A must-read for anyone invested in the fate of the American church." -Publishers Weekly (starred review) Uncover the ways the Christian church has changed in recent years--from the decline of the mainline denominations to the mega-churchification of American culture to the rise of the Nones and Exvaneglicals--and a hopeful reimagining of what the church might look like going forward. The United States is in the middle of an unprecedented spiritual, technological, demographic, political and social transformation-- moving from an older, mostly white, mostly Protestant, religion-friendly society to a younger diverse, multiethnic, pluralistic culture, where no one faith group will have the advantage. At the same time, millions of Americans are abandoning organized religion altogether in favor of disorganized disbelief. Reorganized Religion is an in-depth and critical look at why people are leaving American churches and what we lose as a society as it continues. But it also accepts the dismantling of what has come before and try to help readers reinvent the path forward. This book looks at the future of organized religion in America and outline the options facing churches and other faith groups. Will they retreat? Will they become irrelevant? Or will they find a new path forward? Written by veteran religion reporter Bob Smietana, Reorganized Religion is a journalistic look at the state of the American church and its future. It draws on polling data, interviews with experts, and reporting on how faith communities old and new are coping with the changing religious landscape, along with personal stories about how faith is lived in everyday life. It also profiles faith communities and leaders who are finding interesting ways to reimagine what church might look like in the future and discuss various ways we can reinvent this organization so it survives and thrives. The book also reflects the hope that perhaps people of faith can learn to become, if not friends with the larger culture, then at least better neighbors.
Author: Stefania Tutino
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2022-09-06
Total Pages: 265
ISBN-13: 0197608957
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book is about the relationship between belief, credibility, and credulity in post-Reformation Catholicism. It argues that, starting from the end of the sixteenth century and due to different political, intellectual, cultural, and theological factors, credibility assumed a central role in post-Reformation Catholic discourse. This led to an important reconsideration of the relationship between natural reason and supernatural grace and consequently to novel and significant epistemological and moral tensions. From the perspective of the relationship between credulity, credibility, and belief, early modern Catholicism emerges not as the apex of dogmatism and intellectual repression, but rather as an engine for promoting the importance of intellectual judgment in the process of embracing faith. To be sure, finding a balance between conscience and authority was not easy for early modern Catholics. This book seeks to elucidate some of the difficulties, anxieties, and tensions caused by the novel insistence on credibility that came to dominate the theological and intellectual landscape of the early modern Catholic Church. In addition to shedding light on early modern Catholic culture, this book helps us to understand better what it means to believe. For the most part, in modern Western society we don't believe in the same things as our early modern predecessors. Even when we do believe in the same things, it is not in the same way. But believe we do, and thus understanding how early modern people addressed the question of belief might be useful as we grapple with the tension between credibility, credulity, and belief.
Author: Bernard F. Batto
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Published: 2022-02-17
Total Pages: 342
ISBN-13: 1666711624
DOWNLOAD EBOOKContrary to popular opinion, the story of Adam and Eve is not confined to the book of Genesis. It has roots in prebiblical myth and continued to evolve long after the Bible was completed. Bernard F. Batto traces the development of the Adam and Eve story from its origins in Mesopotamian myth to its reformulation in Genesis and beyond—including its expansion in Jewish epigraphs such as 1 Enoch and the Life of Adam and Eve, and its place in Christian innovations such as the apostle Paul’s thesis that Christ is a second Adam, and in the thinking of church fathers such as Irenaeus, who held that Christ recapitulates all humankind in himself, and Augustine, whose doctrine of original sin interprets the Adam and Eve story. Batto also examines gnostic teachings about a heavenly Adam and an earthly Adam, and surveys rabbinical attempts from the Talmudic period to find hidden meanings in the Genesis story. Islam’s emphasis on Satan’s role in seducing Adam and Eve is also discussed, and the book concludes with Milton’s unforgettable retelling of the Adam and Eve story in Paradise Lost. Batto’s goal is not only to reveal the many faces given Adam and Eve throughout history, but also to understand the divergent cultural and theological factors powering this long, evolving tradition.
