Why Does the Heathen Rage?
Why Does the Heathen Rage?

Author: J. Stephen Roberts

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2016-02-08

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 9781523957620

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

It is twenty-four years since the First Crusaders conquered Jerusalem. Robert of Bures is a young knight whose father rose to power and prosperity in the new Crusader kingdom, and whose uncle died in battle with the Saracens. Nothing matters more to him than defending the Holy Sepulcher, the tomb of Jesus Christ, more sacred than any shrine in Christendom. Robert has been a trusted retainer to Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, a veteran of the First Crusade who now rules the beleaguered Christian outpost in the Holy Land, but his friendship with the King's daughter, the beautiful and headstrong Princess Melisende, is growing unfittingly close. In Aleppo, the Turkish warlord Balak has raised a vast Saracen army and promises to drive the Christians into the sea. King Baldwin II is short of men and funds, yet his faith in God in unshakable, and he inspires passionate loyalty in his troops. His daughter Melisende feels the weight of the future pressing down upon her, for her father has no son, and she is heir to a Kingdom that her people believe would be better inherited by a warrior prince. Why Does the Heathen Rage? explores a magnificent but rarely examined chapter in Crusades history. The Kingdom of Jerusalem is young, and beset from all sides with enemies. In the face of unending trials, King Baldwin II and his knights fight with zeal, ready to die for the city that Christ made sacred with his blood: Jerusalem.

All Things Shining
All Things Shining

Author: Hubert Dreyfus

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2011-01-04

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1439101701

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An inspirational book that is “a smart, sweeping run through the history of Western philosophy. Important for the way it illuminates life today and for the controversial advice it offers on how to live” (The New York Times). “What constitutes human excellence?” and “What is the best way to live a life?” These are questions that human beings have been asking since the beginning of time. In their critically acclaimed book, All Things Shining, Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly argue that our search for meaning was once fulfilled by our responsiveness to forces greater than ourselves, whether one God or many. These forces drew us in and imbued the ordinary moments of life with wonder and gratitude. Dreyfus and Kelly argue in this thought-provoking work that as we began to rely on the power of our own independent will we lost our skill for encountering the sacred. Through their original and transformative discussion of some of the greatest works of Western literature, from Homer’s Odyssey to Melville’s Moby Dick, Dreyfus and Kelly reveal how we have lost our passionate engagement with the things that gave our lives purpose, and show how, by reading our culture’s classics anew, we can once again be drawn into intense involvement with the wonder and beauty of the world. Well on its way to becoming a classic itself, this inspirational book will change the way we understand our culture, our history, our sacred practices, and ourselves.

Dostoevsky's Incarnational Realism
Dostoevsky's Incarnational Realism

Author: Paul J. Contino

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2020-08-17

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 1725250748

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this book Paul Contino offers a theological study of Dostoevsky’s final novel, The Brothers Karamazov. He argues that incarnational realism animates the vision of the novel, and the decisions and actions of its hero, Alyosha Fyodorovich Karamazov. The book takes a close look at Alyosha’s mentor, the Elder Zosima, and the way his role as a confessor and his vision of responsibility “to all, for all” develops and influences Alyosha. The remainder of the study, which serves as a kind of reader’s guide to the novel, follows Alyosha as he takes up the mantle of his elder, develops as a “monk in the world,” and, at the end of three days, ascends in his vision of Cana. The study attends also to Alyosha’s brothers and his ministry to them: Mitya’s struggle to become a “new man” and Ivan’s anguished groping toward responsibility. Finally, Contino traces Alyosha’s generative role with the young people he encounters, and his final message of hope.

The Scandal of Holiness
The Scandal of Holiness

Author: Jessica Hooten Wilson

Publisher: Brazos Press

Published: 2022-03-29

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 1493435345

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

How do we become better people? Initiatives such as New Year's resolutions, vision boards, thirty-day plans, and self-help books often fail to compel us to live differently. We settle for small goals--frugal spending, less yelling at the kids, more time at the gym--but we are called to something far greater. We are created to be holy. Award-winning author Jessica Hooten Wilson explains that learning to hear the call of holiness requires cultivating a new imagination--one rooted in the act of reading. Learning to read with eyes attuned to the saints who populate great works of literature moves us toward holiness, where God opens up a way of living that extends far beyond what we can conjure for ourselves. Literature has the power to show us what a holy life looks like, and these depictions often scandalize even as they shape our imagination. As such, careful reading becomes a sort of countercultural spiritual discipline. The book includes devotionals, prayers, wisdom from the saints, and more to help individuals and groups cultivate a saintly imagination. Foreword by Lauren F. Winner.

Preaching and Preachers
Preaching and Preachers

Author: D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 1972-03-03

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 0310278708

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In Preaching and Preachers, the author states unapologetically his attitudes about his role in the church and explains his methodology, all the while addressing various problems and questions that have been put to him.

We Built Reality
We Built Reality

Author: Jason Blakely

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 185

ISBN-13: 0190087374

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Over the last fifty years, pseudoscience has crept into nearly every facet of our lives. Popular sciences of everything from dating and economics, to voting and artificial intelligence, radically changed the world today. The abuse of popular scientific authority has catastrophic consequences, contributing to the 2008 financial crisis; the failure to predict the rise of Donald Trump; increased tensions between poor communities and the police; and the sidelining of nonscientific forms of knowledge and wisdom. In We Built Reality, Jason Blakely explains how recent social science theories have not simply described political realities but also helped create them. But he also offers readers a way out of the culture of scientism: hermeneutics, or the art of interpretation. Hermeneutics urges sensitivity to the historical and cultural contexts of human behavior. It gives ordinary people a way to appreciate the insights of the humanities in guiding decisions. As Blakely contends, we need insights from the humanities to see how social science theories never simply neutrally describe reality, they also help build it.

Flannery O'Connor's Why Do the Heathen Rage?
Flannery O'Connor's Why Do the Heathen Rage?

Author: Jessica Hooten Wilson

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2024-01-23

Total Pages: 203

ISBN-13: 1493445022

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

When celebrated American novelist and short story writer Flannery O'Connor died at the age of 39 in 1964, she left behind an unfinished third novel titled Why Do the Heathen Rage? Scholarly experts uncovered and studied the material, deeming it unpublishable. It stayed that way for 40 years. Until now. For the past 10-plus years, award-winning author Jessica Hooten Wilson has explored the 378 pages of typed and handwritten material of the novel--transcribing pages, organizing them into scenes, and compiling everything to provide a glimpse into what O'Connor might have planned to publish. This book is the result of Hooten Wilson's work. In it, she introduces O'Connor's novel to the public for the first time and imagines themes and directions O'Connor's work might have taken. Including illustrations and an afterword from noted artist Steve Prince (One Fish Studio), the book unveils scenes that are both funny and thought-provoking, ultimately revealing that we have much to learn from what O'Connor left behind.

Giving the Devil His Due
Giving the Devil His Due

Author: Jessica Hooten Wilson

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2017-02-28

Total Pages: 158

ISBN-13: 1498291384

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Flannery O'Connor and Fyodor Dostoevsky shared a deep faith in Christ, which compelled them to tell stories that force readers to choose between eternal life and demonic possession. Their either-or extremism has not become more popular in the last fifty to a hundred years since these stories were first published, but it has become more relevant to a twenty-firstt-century culture in which the lukewarm middle ground seems the most comfortable place to dwell. Giving the Devil His Due walks through all of O'Connor's stories and looks closely at Dostoevsky's magnum opus The Brothers Karamazov to show that when the devil rules, all hell breaks loose. Instead of this kingdom of violence, O'Connor and Dostoevsky propose a kingdom of love, one that is only possible when the Lord again is king.

On the Whole Bible
On the Whole Bible

Author: Matthew Henry

Publisher:

Published: 1995-07

Total Pages: 1032

ISBN-13: 9781884543043

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Born the son of a clergyman on October 18, 1662, Matthew Henry was ordained into the British Presbyterian Church where he held the pastorate in Chester from 1687 to 1712. He was widowed, married again and had 10 children, three whom died in infancy. Henry died in 1714. Henry began work on his commentary as "Notes On The New Testament" in 1704 and the monumental work was completed shortly before his death in 1714. Remembered as a caring pastor, a passionate lover of the Word of God, and a man of great personal integrity, Matthew Henry has left his mark on the hearts of countless Christians who seek a deeper understanding of the riches that Scripture contains. This edition of Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible uses the King James text and is abridged from the original six volumes while faithfully retaining all of the vibrant themes of that classic work. Everything here is in Matthew Henry's own words and nothing relevant to today's reader has been omitted.