These beautiful, touching stories not only educate and entertain--they uplift and inspire. Written in the poignant, soul-stirring style of the author of Book of Our Heritage, these vibrant tales of holy tzaddikim--the first followers of the Ba'al Shem Tov--illustrate the faith, courage, and humility of a bygone era. Includes stories of R'Yechiel Michel, R'Yitzchak Shlomo, R'Zusia, R;Levi Yitzchak, and many more.
SWAT Commander Lieutenant William Peterson finds himself under investigation from the police and is forced to defend his honor, his career, and his team against a supervisor determined to bring him down.
The Lion’s Den (HB) By: Frank B. Atkinson The Lion’s Den is essential reading for anyone whose confidence in American democracy has been shaken by recent events. There is plenty to discourage and alarm us these days; the supply of negative political role models, real and fictional, seems endless. Frank Atkinson leaves no doubt that we can do better and be better. Just in time, it seems, he arrives with some exemplary political characters, a powerfully uplifting story, and a summons to get to work restoring the ethic of principled citizenship and service that reflects the ‘better angels of our nature’ and offers hope for bringing Americans together again.” - LARRY J. SABATO, Director, UVA Center for Politics The Lion’s Den offers a prescription for American renewal at a time of eroding confidence in our political institutions and growing confusion about our national purpose. In Frank Atkinson’s formulation, there are no quick fixes for our broken politics … no easy cure for what ails our democracy. A republic’s community spirit and capacity for constructive self-governance depend on a consensus about essential values and the active choice to practice, promote, and perpetuate those values. The ethic of principled citizenship and service that Atkinson considers indispensable for American renewal is not an inherited trait – like every ethic, it is a character requiring cultivation. And it is strongest when grounded in personal faith and integrity … illuminated by hard-learned lessons from history and experience … inspired by worthy human exemplars … propelled by the optimistic pursuit of a “more perfect union” … and kindled in a culture of mutual respect and forbearance guided by the “Golden Rule.” No starry-eyed idealist, Frank Atkinson’s major nonfiction works – The Dynamic Dominion and Virginia in the Vanguard – turned a candid lens on the hard-fought modern politics of his native state. In The Lion’s Den, he offers a compelling fictional account of life in the political arena – at once a venue for selfless contribution and palace of selfish ambition. Inspired by timeless lessons from the Book of Daniel, Madison’s vision of competition and compromise, and the colorful politics of his contemporary Commonwealth, Atkinson places his characters in a modern-day lion’s den where they grapple with vexing moral and practical choices. But Atkinson’s players find the grace to come together ... and, he suggests, so can we.
International experts offer fresh insights into: (1) Review of Scholarship and Context; (2) Near Eastern Milieu; (3) Interpretation of Specific Passages; (4) Social Setting; (5) Literary Context, Including Qumran; (6) Reception in Judaism and Christianity; (7) Textual History; and (8) Theology of Daniel.
In this collection of new essays, more than thirty leading scholars from Europe, North America and Israel examine the Composition and Reception of Daniel in eight sections: Review of Scholarship and Context (J.J. Collins, M. Knibb); Near Eastern Milieu (K. van der Toorn, S. Paul, J. Walton); Interpretation of Specific Passages (D. Dimant, R. Kratz, A. Lacocque, E. Haag, J.-W. van Henten); Social Setting (R. Albertz, S. Beyerle, L. Grabbe, P. Davies, D. Smith-Christopher); Literary Context, including Qumran (J.-W. Wesselius, G. Boccaccini, P.W. Flint, L. Stuckenbruck, E. Eshel, J. Hobbins); Reception in Judaism and Christianity (K. Koch, C. Rowland, U. Gleßmer, C.A. Evans, J.D.G. Dunn, M. Henze); Textual History (E. Ulrich, A.A. Di Lella, K. Jenner) and Theology of Daniel (J. Goldingay, J. Barton, J. Lust). This is the second volume to appear (following Writing and Reading the Scroll of Isaiah. Studies of an Interpretative Tradition) in the collection The Formation and Interpretation of Old Testament Literature, part of the series Supplements to Vetus Testamentum. Further volumes in preparation on the composition and reception of Old Testament books include Genesis, Leviticus, Kings, Psalms, and Proverbs. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.
Lincoln's death, like his life, was an event of epic proportions. When the president was struck down at his moment of triumph, writes Merrill Peterson, "sorrow--indescribable sorrow" swept the nation. After lying in state in Washington, Lincoln's body was carried by a special funeral train to Springfield, Illinois, stopping in major cities along the way; perhaps a million people viewed the remains as memorial orations rang out and the world chorused its sincere condolences. It was the apotheosis of the martyred President--the beginning of the transformation of a man into a mythic hero. In Lincoln in American Memory, historian Merrill Peterson provides a fascinating history of Lincoln's place in the American imagination from the hour of his death to the present. In tracing the changing image of Lincoln through time, this wide-ranging account offers insight into the evolution and struggles of American politics and society--and into the character of Lincoln himself. Westerners, Easterners, even Southerners were caught up in the idealization of the late President, reshaping his memory and laying claim to his mantle, as his widow, son, memorial builders, and memorabilia collectors fought over his visible legacy. Peterson also looks at the complex responses of blacks to the memory of Lincoln, as they moved from exultation at the end of slavery to the harsh reality of free life amid deep poverty and segregation; at more than one memorial event for the great emancipator, the author notes, blacks were excluded. He makes an engaging examination of the flood of reminiscences and biographies, from Lincoln's old law partner William H. Herndon to Carl Sandburg and beyond. Serious historians were late in coming to the topic; for decades the myth-makers sought to shape the image of the hero President to suit their own agendas. He was made a voice of prohibition, a saloon-keeper, an infidel, a devout Christian, the first Bull Moose Progressive, a military blunderer and (after the First World War) a military genius, a white supremacist (according to D.W. Griffith and other Southern admirers), and a touchstone for the civil rights movement. Through it all, Peterson traces five principal images of Lincoln: the savior of the Union, the great emancipator, man of the people, first American, and self-made man. In identifying these archetypes, he tells us much not only of Lincoln but of our own identity as a people.
Job and Habakkuk represent the Bible’s most focused interlocutors on the concepts of justice and theodicy. Both works center upon men chosen by God who see and suffer evil (Job 1:8, cf. Hab 1:1). Both books record the cries of these men as they wrestled to make sense of the world in which they lived (Job 3, cf. Hab 1:2–4). While they have a passing similarity, what if there is something more fundamental to their connection? What if these books are not merely two unconnected discourses on suffering, but linked in a significant way? By examining the texts themselves, this study explores the possibility that a textual relationship exists between portions of Habakkuk and Job and how the underlying transformation of Job’s theodicy shapes Habakkuk’s dialogue with God.
All of humanity resides on Saturn’s rings known as Lustrous Utopia I, ruled by the diplomatic High Priestess. The top quadrant of the planet is reserved for prisons, where Titan reigns as the most dangerous of all. After being betrayed by his partner Darius, Lex finds himself sentenced to life on Titan for a crime he didn’t commit. His family life destroyed, never to see his wife or his daughter Halo again. Once you enter the Red Chamber...you will never escape.
