Contemporary Religion

God is real. Everything we say about God is made up. How to Be a Holy Rascal is a rousing guide for the spiritual adventurer ready to go beyond “isms” and ideologies, and live in the world as a liberating force of compassion, joy, justice, and love. Navigating the Five Existential Questions...

Lia Carswell is good at what she does - even if it isn't as glamorous as her old life in Manhattan. The popular waitress works hard in a small Salt Lake City diner, with the goal of easing her sister's financial strain. And with her witty personality and good looks, she's something of an enigma to the male customers who vie for her attention. Ever the professional, Lia keeps her distance - with one exception.

Tales of the Talking Picture is a fabulous science-fiction fantasy novel about a boy who comes into possession of an old oval portrait of a woman named Rhiannon Tanglewyst, who happens to be a witch who has been trapped within the picture for centuries. Rhiannon tells Matthew and his troublesome girlfriend, a Goth named Christina, fantastical tales from the future and the past....

A husband and son abandoned to forge a path alone. A young woman who sacrificed her dreams. How will the God of grace and hope help them find their way? At 19 years old, Old Order Amish Jolene Keim was on the brink of happily-ever-after when everything changed, stealing the future she expected and burdening her with an unbearable decision. For the next 10 years, Jolene throws herself into family life - and then she meets Andy Fisher.

Solitary Pagans is the first book to explore the growing phenomenon of contemporary Pagans who practice alone. Although the majority of Pagans in the United States have abandoned the tradition of practicing in groups, little is known about these individuals or their way of practice. Helen A. Berger fills that gap by building on a massive survey of contemporary practitioners. By examining the data, Berger describes solitary practitioners demographically and explores their spiritual practices, level of social engagement, and political activities.

Everyone in Hollybrook agrees Uriah Umble is bad news - except Beulah Yoder. Uriah certainly isn’t bad news for her. She loves him and will do anything for him - including sneak out of the house repeatedly to be with him. After months of this, she finally gets caught and the anvil falls. She is forbidden to ever see Uriah Umble again. Join Beulah as she struggles through unbearable circumstances. Feel her confusion and rejection and rejoice with her as she learns the true meaning of faith, forgiveness, and love.

When a valuable thoroughbred racehorse is stolen from the breeding shed one stormy night, Tetch becomes the prime suspect in this infamous and mysterious theft. Though she is known far and wide as a renowned empath, even those who support Tetch begin to wonder. Why won’t she defend herself? Why would she rather go to jail than tell the truth? And ultimately, where is Quantro?

Misery loves company and the Magus is miserable. His demise, compromises all those around him or attached to him. He drags them all down by his own death sentence. It's his alone; yet, but by the sheer weight of his height held in the Order, all below will end beyond mend. His sentence fences in all who stray his way. He makes you sign your soul away. Back in the day, every member of that cult come Order is initiated in almost the same way. Upon completion of the initiation ceremony, the initiate is surprised by the sudden presentation of a black book: crooked like a nook on whoever partook.

Dies ist die Geschichte einer erfolgreichen Frau, die mit 50 Jahren die große Chance bekommt, beruflich, wirtschaftlich, familiär und in ihrer Fernbeziehung vollends zu scheitern, um noch einmal ganz von vorne zu beginnen. Es ist die Geschichte einer angeschlagenen Abenteurerin, die ihre Lebensversicherung auflöst, ihre Möbel, Bücher und High-Heels verkauft und sich nach Indien verabschiedet. Weil die Winter dort wärmer sind und das Essen erschwinglicher.

Is there life-after-death? How did everything emerge into existence? Is there a God? Accessing and utilizing an innate set of super cognitive skills embedded in an upper frequency range of human emotion, rarely accessed by most human beings on Earth, but developed through a process of “Spiritual Alchemy”, Erik P. Antoni takes the listener on a marvelous journey into the realm of pure consciousness, heavenly realms, and cosmic forces, to bring into light many of humanity’s most sought-after questions.

When Rose Kurtz first arrived in Joel Dienner's home four years ago, the Amish widower had been completely grief-stricken by the shocking loss of his wife during childbirth. At the recommendation of the bishop, Joel's father, Rose is asked to become his bride and take care of his two small children and newborn baby, nestled in the tiny Amish community of Forest Hill in the eastern Appalachian Mountains, far from Rose's home.

Springfields is a village with a lot of secrets, secrets that lure disaster to many. Sylvia, Amelia, and Elisha find themselves caught up in the sinister tale, only to find inner strength they never knew they had. This story is about three women journey in life to help put wandering spirits to rest and bring peace to the people of Springfields. Along the way finding hidden powers they never knew they possessed.

Janie Rose Whitaker's world revolved around her chocolate shop until Roger Wentworth and his young daughter moved into the apartment across from Janie's. Anyone would think Roger fit the mold of the "perfect" guy, but soon Janie discovers secrets that could keep them apart forever. Though she resists getting involved in Roger's complicated life, they are drawn further into a bittersweet relationship....

In the twinkling of an eye, their lives changed forever. Husbands, wives, children, all lost in what was first called "the disappearance." Now many understand that with millions of Christians called home, the Rapture has irrevocably torn the fabric of their lives. They wander in the wake of events nearly too powerful, too overwhelming to comprehend. Some set out on a personal odyssey to reconnect with family, their past, with some semblance of order in a world menaced by the Muslim mujahideen.

Though her B&B/Antiques business has fallen off, Billie D'Allesandro doesn't let it dampen her spirits. At forty, she no longer entertains any notions about falling in love and living happily ever after. Instead, she focuses on helping her friends and neighbors, giving generously of both her time and her money. When her niece arrives with her four-year-old twin daughters, Billie finds it a welcome distraction.

Seeking to leave her troubled past behind, nineteen-year-old Elizabeth Cameron decides to join a religious group in Belton, Texas, where she and her five-year-old Indian charge will be hidden from a cruel world. Former gunfighter and robber Caleb Martin will do anything for a governor's pardon, even if it means escorting an irritatingly prim young woman. After this assignment, he'll have his freedom. Yet along the way, he learns that there may be something he needs even more.

Legend Tripping: A Contemporary Legend Casebook explores the practice of legend tripping, wherein individuals or groups travel to a site where a legend is thought to have taken place. Legend tripping is a common, informal practice, depicted in epics, stories, novels, and film, throughout both contemporary and historical vernacular culture. In this collection, contributors show how legend trips can express humanity’s interest in the frontier between life and death, and the fascination with the possibility of personal contact with the supernatural, or spiritual.

A survey and critique of the eschatological aspects of non-Evangelical Protestant and Roman Catholic thinkers—Altizer and the "Death of God," de Chardin and "Process Theology," and Moltmann and "Theology of Hope."

Beyond Virtue Ethics offers a distinctive approach to virtue ethics, arguing not simply for the importance of "struggle" to virtue ethics, but that "struggle" itself is a manifestation of virtue. In doing this, Stephen M. Meawad offers a way of thinking about virtue not simply as a perfected state, but as a state that is to a greater or lesser degree a manifestation of the ideal itself, which is not attainable.

One out of five people in the world is Muslim; only 18 percent of those, however, are Arab. Ernst moves away from a Middle Eastern bias, addressing the pluralistic nature of Muslim societies and thought. Framing his argument in terms of religious studies, Ernst describes how Protestant definitions of religion and anti-Muslim prejudice have affected views of Islam in Europe and America.