Showing results for "Jack" in Religious Studies

How did our forebears begin to think about religion as a distinct domain, separate from other activities that were once inseparable from it? Starting at the birth of Christianity - a religion inextricably bound to Western thought - Jack Miles reveals how the West's "common sense" understanding of religion emerged and then changed as insular Europe discovered the rest of the world. Finally, in a moving postscript, he shows how this very story continues today in the minds and hearts of individual religious or irreligious men and women.

What if the present cultural setback is really a divine setup for a spiritual comeback? Ungodly forces have devastated American culture. The family of faith is feeling intimidated and fearful. Worse, many of us think that nothing can be done about it—that society will inevitably get worse. Actor, producer, and conservative activist Kirk Cameron says this hopelessness is completely misplaced. God has given His faithful followers a birthright of courage. If we choose to live in this bravery, we will realign the nation with Christian values.

In The Beginner's Guide to Buddhism, author and teacher Jack Kornfield immerses you in this time-honored approach to living fully and compassionately in the present moment. Join him as he illuminates Buddhism's most essential teachings, and how they make it possible to overcome the mental states that challenge us every day.

Who is Allah? What does he ask of those who submit to his teachings? Pulitzer Prize-winner Jack Miles gives us a deeply probing, revelatory portrait of the world’s second largest, fastest-growing, and perhaps most tragically misunderstood religion. In doing so, Miles illuminates what is unique about Allah, his teachings, and his resolutely merciful temperament, and he thereby reveals that which is false, distorted, or simply absent from the popular conception of the heart of Islam.

In this innovative and deeply felt work, Bron Taylor examines the evolution of "green religions" in North America and beyond: spiritual practices that hold nature as sacred and have, in many cases, replaced traditional religions. Tracing a wide range of groups - radical environmental activists, lifestyle-focused bioregionalists, surfers, new-agers involved in "ecopsychology", and groups that hold scientific narratives as sacred - Taylor addresses a central theoretical question.

In this gripping memoir, Jack and Rochelle Sutin recount their experiences as Jewish resistance fighters during World War II, a story that ranges from extreme horror to poignant triumph. Told through their son Lawrence, the book brings alive the reality of months spent hidden in a dank underground bunker infested with lice and disease.

The New Testament Apocrypha refers to texts written by early Christians that were not included in the Bible used by the main branches of Christianity today. These texts vary in subject matter, with some being accounts of Jesus, others being about the nature of God, and still others being accounts and teachings of Jesus' apostles. What makes them fascinating is not just the history behind why they are considered non-canonical, but what they tell us about the early Church and early Christianity. Moreover, they offer insight into what sources were used to write them, and whether they shared the same sources as the texts that comprise the Bible today. Given their historical and religious importance, there is still a fierce debate over the authenticity of many of these texts.

This long-awaited translation of Confessions, which Stephen Greenblatt describes as central to the legacy of Adam and Eve, enlivens the beguiling world of late antiquity. No modern, well-versed literature lover can call her education complete without having listened to Augustine’s Confessions. One of the most original works of world literature, it is the first autobiography ever written, influencing writers from Montaigne to Rousseau, Virginia Woolf to Gertrude Stein.

What happens when we push past the surface and allow real, grounded, mutually challenging, and edifying friendships to develop? We need only look at the little-known friendship between eminent Christian thinkers Dorothy L. Sayers and C. S. Lewis to find out. Born out of a fan letter that celebrated mystery novelist Sayers wrote to Lewis as his star was just beginning to rise, this friendship between a married woman and a longtime bachelor developed over years of correspondence as the two discovered their mutual admiration of each other's writing, thinking, and faith.

Yin Yang focuses on the yin-yang symbol’s prominence in cultures worldwide and its immersive history. Religious leaders, meditation guides, award-winning authors, psychedelic therapists, and business executives provide in-depth conversations about the vital importance of healthy duality within our lives and how to bring mindfulness, spirituality, and harmony into effective leadership.

Are you scared of dying? Lots of people are. Maybe it’s because you’re not sure what happens after you die. There are only two options: Nothing. When you’re dead you’re dead. Some people act like that’s what they believe. And some really believe it’s true. Something. Others believe in an afterlife. Even people without any formal religion believe this. All the religions of the world have a view on eternity and what you must DO to get it.

The book reveals the universal and cosmic love of the Red Road. The Red Road is the philosophy/worldview/religion of the native Indian tribes/pueblos of North and South America. This worldview promotes integration with Mother Earth and the cosmos to achieve harmony within eternally evolving existence. Using the Chicano as an example, the book explores the human lifetime as a cosmic being with eternal cycles of reincarnation and integration. This cosmic journey is examined from the perspective of the Red Road.

Progressive Islam is a celebration of faith. The book focuses on the Muslim faith's rich liberal ideas, including freedom, opportunity, responsibility, and cooperation. By focusing on China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, Imam Daayiee Abdullah also presents diverse perspectives on Islam. The book is divided into five sections, including an introduction, a short autobiography of the author, the life of Prophet Muhammad, the Qur'an, and Progressive Islam.

Previously published as Yeshua's Yoga, The Hidden Message of the Lost Gospel of Thomas unearths the central teaching of this ancient text. The Gospel of Thomas, re-discovered in Nag Hammadi Egypt in 1945, remains one of the most exciting archaeological finds of recent centuries. But how prepared are we to approach this text on its own terms?

Jungian analysts Vlado Solc and George J. Didier set out to explore the psychological dynamics and causes of religious fundamentalism and fanaticism. The book offers an in-depth psychological analysis of what happens when a person becomes possessed by the unconscious energies of the self.

Have you been struggling to see God lately? This beautiful weaving of biblical reflection and true stories from Jesus-followers turns our gaze again to the One who made us, loves us, and will never leave us. Each chapter in Portrait of God explores an attribute of God through a person in church history who radically experienced His nature.

From the Eastern religions of Buddhism and Taoism to the Abrahamic religions that billions across the globe follow, this audiobook provides a detailed introduction to some of the world’s major religions, breaking down their fundamental concepts in a way that anyone can understand. With insightful explanations and an unbiased approach, An Introduction to the World Religions is a must-listen for anyone interested in learning about the belief systems that billions of people practice.

Jack Call gives a detailed account of what his life was like during the years from 1972 through 1978, as a follower of Art Kleps, the Chief Boo Hoo of the Neo-American Church, whose members subscribe to the belief that psychedelics such as LSD are sacraments, in that they encourage the realization that life is a dream. This true story has many surprising twists and turns, but ends, predictably in hindsight, in disillusionment.

We communicate with our cells in many different ways: prayer, meditation, yoga, music, poetry, exercise, running, cycling, walking, and many more ways. I will attempt to demonstrate that life’s adventure is the very medium that will let us live a wholesome, healthy life based on common sense and breakthrough pioneering research. Knowledge is part of the equation, so the more we know, the better informed we become to make those crucial decisions so important for good health.

Many Americans call themselves Christians, and say that America is a Christian nation. This book takes the Christian's own text - the Bible - and turns it against them, showing U.S. Christians that if America were indeed a "Christian nation," the evidence isn't there. Steve Dustcircle attacks the theocratic mentality point by point, using everything from the early Jewish civilization to the early Church, and uses that as a mirror against the ways America acts and thinks politically, spiritually, and intellectually.