First Religion

In The First Christmas, two of today's top Jesus scholars, Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan, join forces to show how history has biased our reading of the nativity story as it appears in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Borg and Crossan help us to see this well-known narrative afresh by answering the question, "What do these stories mean?" in the context of both the first century and the 21st century. They successfully show that the Christmas story, read in its original context, is far richer and more challenging than people imagine.

Your ticket from the twenty-first century to the era of Jesus and the first Christians. A listenable, two-volume introduction placing the entire New Testament and early Christianity in its original context, written by distinguished scholar and author N. T. Wright.

Although most people acknowledge that Jesus was a first-century Jew, interpreters of the Gospels often present him as opposed to Jewish law and customs—especially when considering his numerous encounters with the ritually impure. Matthew Thiessen corrects this popular misconception by placing Jesus within the Judaism of his day. Thiessen demonstrates that the Gospel writers depict Jesus opposing ritual impurity itself, not the Jewish ritual purity system or the Jewish law.

In this book, Justin Martyr boldly defends the Christian faith before the Roman government. He addresses the core beliefs of the early church and refutes the lies spread abroad about them. A truly inspirational piece of literature that should not disappoint the hungry soul looking for pure doctrine and teaching. He truly was a man of God that held great understanding of godly virtue and wisdom. May you be abundantly blessed as you partake in this book!

"God, I need you to do something in my children!" Have those words found their way into your desperate prayers? Do you feel helpless to know how to equip your children for this world and all it throws at them? If so, you're not alone. When Brooke McGlothlin realized her best efforts were falling woefully short of her goal to produce godly children, she discovered the joy and power of praying Scripture over her family. Her life and her children's lives were transformed. Yours can be, too.

The root chakra is the initial step on a staircase that leads up from the base of your spine toward enlightenment. As the first book in Llewellyn's Chakra Essentials series, Root provides everything you need to know about this grounding energy center. Ten chakra experts—such as bestselling author Cyndi Dale, intuitive cardiologist Dr. Nitin Bhatnagar, and award-winning aromatherapist Margaret Ann Lembo—teach this chakra's color associations, intuitive style, physical reach, psychological influence, and more.

An intriguing supplement to the 'Book of Genesis', The First and Second Books of Adam and Eve remains an ancient text of great interest to modern readers. We are given intriguing insights into what life was like in the almost 1,600 years leading up to the biblical Great Flood of Noah, and how evil came to dominate the whole Earth due to Satan and the cursed Fallen Angels, who still seek to tempt, corrupt and destroy the world today.

The first Christians were weird. Just how weird is often lost on today's believers. Within Roman society, the earliest Christians stood out for the oddness of their beliefs and practices. They believed unusual things, worshiped God in strange ways, and lived a unique lifestyle. They practiced a whole new way of thinking about and doing religion that would have been seen as bizarre and dangerous when compared to Roman religion and most other religions of the ancient world.

John W. O'Malley gives us the most comprehensive account ever written of the Society of Jesus in its founding years, one that heightens and transforms our understanding of the Jesuits in history and today. Following the Society from 1540 through 1565, O'Malley shows how this sense of mission evolved. He looks at everything—the Jesuits' teaching, their preaching, their casuistry, their work with orphans and prostitutes, their attitudes toward Jews and "New Christians," and their relationship to the Reformation.

The New Book of Christian Martyrs commemorates those modern-day heroes. In this update to Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Johnnie Moore and Jerry Pattengale highlight key martyrs of past centuries and feature stories of contemporary martyrs around the world. Through tears, Johnnie and Jerry offer this compendium of heroes from the first century to the twenty-first century, from Europe to Africa and from Asia to the Americas, to inspire Christians around the globe.

Best-selling author, humorist, and internationally known psychologist Dr. Kevin Leman helps firstborns understand their natural advantages for the highest level of personal success at home, at school, at work, and in relationships.

What does it take to rear a firstborn child? Renowned psychologist Kevin Leman educates moms and dads on the essentials of parenting and expounds on the traits that characterize firstborn children so new parents know what to expect. He explains how birth order can influence each stage of development—from infancy on into young adulthood. This audiobook will help first-time parents—especially mothers—adjust to their new situation and role while raising a happy, healthy child.

What does spirituality mean to you? Can your spirituality help depression? How does spirituality affect your health? Are spirituality and religion the same? When does someone's spirituality become toxic? Which spirituality is right for me? Where is it exactly that money and spirituality mix? Why is spirituality important? These are all good questions, and our creator—the source, the all—has heard our questions. This book, if you can listen and hear what it is truly saying, will answer all of your questions. I'm so excited for this journey we all must take back home. Where's home?

We all want to live simpler lives and to put Jesus first – and we struggle with both. While we are busy strategizing new ways to streamline our calendars and clean out our closets of the clutter, what really needs attention is what will give us long-term clarity and peace — the priority order of Jesus over everything in our lives. In Jesus Over Everything, Lisa shares eight statements of choice to help us grow in our understanding of what it means to put Jesus first amid the craziness of our days.

The ever-popular and prolific Peter Kreeft says that the most important question he has written about is how one becomes holy, or, to put it another way, how one becomes a saint. This question is central to all the great religions, as Kreeft demonstrates, for striving toward holiness, moving toward perfect love, is the whole purpose of life.

In The First Society: The Sacrament of Matrimony and the Restoration of the Social Order, Scott Hahn makes the startling claim that our society's ills and its cures are rooted in whether we reject or accept the divine graces made available through the sacrament of holy matrimony.

The Age of Paradise is the first of a projected four-volume history of Christendom, a civilization with a supporting culture that gave rise to what we now call the West. At a time of renewed interest in the future of Western culture, author John Strickland—an Orthodox scholar, professor, and priest—offers a vision rooted in the deep past of the first millennium. At the heart of his story is the early Church’s “culture of paradise”, an experience of the world in which the kingdom of heaven was tangible and familiar.

Hundreds of details about the early history of mankind had become entirely lost until the restoration of the gospel. These details about the first 2,000 years of human history are all to be found in this groundbreaking volume. We now know that Adam and Eve had two generations of children before Cain and Abel were born. The exact year of the Great Flood can now be calculated. Details about the golden age of Enoch are now available so we can better understand how the law of consecration works and how it eliminates poverty and crime. Many difficult questions can now be answered.

The medicine you have been searching for lives within you. Follow the path of the 13 Ojibwe moons with animal spirits and ancestors as your guides as you unlock your connection to your own unique, inherent healing power. Through storytelling, ceremonies and shamanic journeys, learn to apply ancient wisdom to your life in ways that are respectful and conscious of the stolen lands, lives and traditions of Indigenous peoples.

This book is about the heart of religious experience, namely Enlightenment (which is finding the truth concerning oneself), and about science (which is finding the truth concerning other things), and about the relationship between them. It claims that Enlightenment is more truly scientific than science itself; and that, without Enlightenment, science is only half the story and therefore full of contradictions, of insoluble problems both theoretical and practical.