Religious Biographies

Born to Betty and George Sumrall of New Orleans on February 15, 1913, Lester Frank Sumrall's cold-hearted brawler father considered him an "accident", telling him bluntly, "You weren't supposed to be here." Reared in the Deep South he showed early in life the resourcefulness and leadership attributes that comprised his remarkable 83-year life and 65-year ministry of the Gospel of Christ.

Love to Christ introduces listeners to one of the most beloved Scottish pastors of the nineteenth century, Robert Murray M'Cheyne (1813-1843). Following a biographical sketch that acquaints us with the life and ministry of M'Cheyne, Jordon Stone presents thirty-eight excerpts from M'Cheyne's writings that walk us through the nature, foundation, means, rewards, and ministry of holiness. M'Cheyne's life and ministry was marked by a pursuit of holiness.

Jean-Paul II, personnage de premier plan pendant plus d'un quart de siècle sur la scène mondiale, le pape slave qui a donné le coup de grâce à l'Union soviétique et à son empire, a été appelé "l'homme du siècle". Plus simplement, il a cru qu'il lui avait été donné la tâche de faire entrer l'Eglise dans le troisième millénaire. C'était, selon sa conviction, ce qui conduisait la main invisible de la Providence.

In the Shadow of Enlightenment is the gripping story of Carroll’s childhood inside the Osho Rajneesh cult—one of the most controversial spiritual movements of the 20th century. While in the commune, Sarito was submerged in a world where devotion and freedom clashed with manipulation, sexual misconduct, and neglect. This was the life she knew until the movement collapsed amid scandal and criminal charges in 1985, when sixteen-year-old Sarito was thrust into a society she knew little about.

JEANNE GUYON is Christianity's best-known and most influential woman in church history. Her autobiography has moved the hearts of believers for three centuries. Even today, in France, she is one of the greatest figures of French history. Guyon's influence reached the court of Louis XIV. Jealousy ensued, and she was imprisoned in the infamous Bastille. For most of her life she suffered persecution at the hands of the church, because she believed all Christians could have a rich prayer life. Perhaps John Wesley summed it up best: "Guyon is the greatest Christian to rise since the first century.

God Owns My Business is more than an audiobook about a successful businessman. It is the chronicle of how an average man can, with God's guidance and a willing heart, succeed in any endeavor. They said it couldn’t be done, but formally and legally, business owner Stanley Tam made God the owner of his business. Learn what happens when a man gives his business - literally - to God, and be inspired to steward your whole life for God's honor.

With no mission board to support or guide her, and less than 10 dollars in her pocket, Gladys Aylward left her home in England to answer God's call to take the message of the gospel to China. With the Sino-Japanese War waging around her, she struggled to bring the basics of life and the fullness of God to orphaned children. Time after time, God triumphed over impossible situations, and drew people to himself. Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman tells the story of one woman's determination to serve God at any cost.

New York Times bestseller One of PW’s Best Books of the Year One of Amazon’s Best Books of the Month Why is religion still around in the twenty-first century? Why do so many still believe? And how do various traditions still shape the way people experience everything from sexuality to...

Is it possible to experience life in a whole new way? Nikki Hawkes explored every available avenue to make sense of her world, battling depression through her childhood and early adulthood. In her relentless pursuit of healing, she embraced all possibilities. However, it was the tragic death of a baby that unveiled the profound and ancient, earth-based practices of Shamanism to her.

Scripture is filled with examples of men and women whom God used late in life, often with great impact—Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elizabeth, and Anna, to name a few. They were ordinary men and women who discovered that the latter years of life can be some of the most rewarding and fulfilling. “For them, growing older wasn’t something to be denied or dreaded;” says Billy Graham, “it was to be embraced as part of God’s plan for their lives.” Billy Graham’s life and ministry have been dedicated to the here and now but always with a happy-ever-after in view.

Fed up with teenage life in the suburbs, Jaimal Yogis ran off to Hawaii with little more than a copy of Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha and enough cash for a surfboard. His journey is a coming-of-age saga that takes him from communes to monasteries, from the warm Pacific to the icy New York shore. Equal parts spiritual memoir and surfer's tale, this is a chronicle of finding meditative focus in the barrel of a wave and eternal truth in the great, salty blue.

Since his retirement as Archbishop of Canterbury and his return to academic life (Master of Magdalene College Cambridge), Rowan Williams has demonstrated a massive new surge of intellectual energy. In this new audiobook, he turns his attention to St Augustine. St Augustine not only shaped the development of Western theology, he also made a major contribution to political theory ( The City of God) and, through his Confessions, to the understanding of human psychology.

The true story of how a demeaning nickname opened amazing doors for the gospel—and how you can overcome your own fears in sharing your faith. Millions came under the sound of the everlasting gospel, all because of that humiliating name: Banana Man. Learn how being christened “Banana Man” by Professor Richard Dawkins and being mocked worldwide by the atheist community led to a worldwide evangelism ministry. Be inspired, fascinated and delighted while this autobiography brings your own fears into perspective.

Scientology, created in 1954 by a prolific sci-fi writer named L. Ron Hubbard, claims to be the world's fastest-growing religion, with millions of members around the world and huge financial holdings. Its celebrity believers keep its profile high, and its teams of "volunteer ministers" offer aid at disaster sites such as Haiti and the World Trade Center. But Scientology is also a notably closed faith, harassing journalists and others through litigation and intimidation, even infiltrating the highest levels of government to further its goals.

Este libro ofrece un recorrido claro, profundo y humanizado por la vida y el pensamiento de Tomás de Aquino, una de las figuras más influyentes de la historia intelectual de Occidente. Desde sus orígenes nobles en el siglo XIII, su batalla interior por la vocación y sus años de estudio en París, hasta la construcción de sus grandes obras y el impacto de su legado, el lector descubre no sólo al teólogo y filósofo, sino también al hombre: el fraile corpulento y silencioso, el profesor paciente, el creyente que al final llamó “paja” a todo lo que había escrito ante el misterio de Dios.

Dorothy Day (1897-1980) was a prominent Catholic, writer, social activist, and cofounder of a movement dedicated to serving the poorest of the poor. Her life has been revealed through her own writings as well as the work of historians, theologians, and academics. What has been missing until now is a more personal account from the point of view of someone who knew her well.

When Augustine handed over the leadership of his church in AD 426, his successor was so overwhelmed by a sense of inadequacy that he declared, “The swan is silent”, fearing the spiritual giant’s voice would be lost in time. But for 1,600 years Augustine has not been silent - and neither have the men who faithfully trumpeted the cause of Christ after him. Their lives have inspired every generation of believers and should compel us to a greater passion for God.

While many missionaries died within months, this fiery mill worker from Scotland labored in love among the unreached tribes of Africa's Calabar region for thirty-nine years (1848-1915).

In 1981, ambitious young Ma Anand Sheela transported the Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh to the United States to fulfill his dream of creating a utopia for his thousands of disciples. Four years later, the incendiary Rajneeshpuram commune in Oregon collapsed under the weight of audacious criminal conspiracies hatched in its inner sanctum, including the largest bioterrorism attack in US history, an unprecedented election fraud scheme, and multiple attempted murders. Rajneeshpuram explores how this extraordinary spiritual community went so wrong.

Rarely has a book had such an impact on so many of us here at Ignatius Press. It is one of the most powerful and moving books we have come across. If you can only buy one book this season, this must be the one. Here is the astonishing true story of the harrowing experiences of a young German seminarian drafted into Hitler’s dreaded SS at the onset of World War II.