Religious Writings

“I didn’t think he’d do it. I really didn’t think he would. I thought he’d say, whoa, hold on, wait a minute. We made a deal, remember, the land, the blessing, the nation, the descendants as numerous as the sands on the shore and the stars in the sky.” So begins James Goodman’s original and urgent encounter with one of the most compelling and resonant stories ever told - God’s command to Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.

This audiobook explains why Gentiles have never been bound by kosher food laws, Jewish temple rituals, or the Saturday Sabbath.

As an English-speaking denomination, Baptists originated within 17th-century Puritanism as an offshoot of Congregationalism. English Baptists migrated to the American colonies during the 17th century. During the 18th century, the Great Awakening resulted in the expansion of the denomination, and the conversion of many slaves to Baptist churches. Baptist congregations formed their first national organization the Triennial Convention in the early 1800.

In Reading the Old Testament Through Jewish Eyes, Rabbi Moffic explores the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, and highlights points of interest to Christians. He describes the role of the Torah in Jewish worship and practice and explores the key themes of each book guided by the wisdom of Jewish interpreters through the centuries. Join Rabbi Moffic in this study of the Torah and find rich new insights into the biblical story. Discover how the Torah can be a source of wisdom, truth, and transformation in your life.

After Paul Stutzman finished hiking the Appalachian Trail, he found himself longing for another challenge, another adventure. Trading his hiking boots for a bicycle, Paul set off to discover more of America. Starting at Neah Bay, Washington, and ending at Key West, Florida, Paul traversed the 5,000 mile distance between the two farthest points in the contiguous United States.

Is it really possible to love one's enemies? That's the question that sparked a fascinating and, at times, terrifying journey into the heart of the Middle East during the summer of 2008. It was a trip that began in Egypt, passed beneath the steel-and-glass high-rises of Saudi Arabia, then wound through the bullet-pocked alleyways of Beirut and dusty streets of Damascus, before ending at the cradle of the world's three major religions: Jerusalem.

A scientist and former evangelical argues that holding onto a belief in a literal, historical Adam has forced many Christians to reject science and become intellectually isolated from the modern world.

Dr. Murray Stein’s prolific career has produced a substantial body of writings, lectures, and interviews. His writings, captured in these volumes, span a wide domain of topics including Christianity, individuation, midlife, the practice of analytical psychology, and topics in contemporary society. His deep understanding of analytical psychology is much more than an academic discourse, but rather a deeply personal study of Jung that spans nearly half a century.

From Orthodox Jewish child in postwar America to mild-mannered mathematician in academia to legendary atheist activist in the heart of today's Republican South, Herb Silverman has always been outside the mainstream of American culture, politics, and religion. From this unique vantage point, he writes about the most pressing issues of our day, including those related to war, peace, patriotism, race, gender, and church-state separation.

Dr. Murray Stein’s prolific career has produced a substantial body of writings, lectures, and interviews. His writings, captured in these volumes, span a wide domain of topics including Christianity, individuation, midlife, the practice of analytical psychology, and topics in contemporary society. His deep understanding of analytical psychology is much more than an academic discourse, but rather a deeply personal study of Jung that spans nearly half a century.

Former bookseller, longtime publisher, and author Jon M. Sweeney shows—with history and anecdotes centering around books such as Thoreau's Journal, Tagore's Gitanjali, Martin Buber's Hasidic Tales, and Tolstoy's Twenty-three Tales—what it means to be carried by a book. He explores the discovery that once accompanied finding books, and books finding us. He ponders the smell of an old volume, its heft, and why bibliophiles carry them around even without reading them. He demonstrates how and why there is magic and enchantment that takes place between people and books.

Many Christians are familiar with The Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan's famous book written from a prison cell, which portrays the Christian life as one traveling from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City. During Bunyan's life, however, he produced nearly sixty books and tracts. Roger Duke and Phil Newton, with Drew Harris, trace the significant events that shaped Bunyan's life and thought in a biographical introduction and, in thirty-one excerpts from a variety of this great man of faith's writings, give us a glimpse of his piety, which flowed from his desire to venture all for God.

Volumes one through six of the Writing Lessons from the Front series have dealt with the technical and craft aspects of writing. In this supplemental volume, veteran writer Angela Hunt shares what's she's learned as a Christian writer - about the process, the plans, the critics, the risks, and the ethics of being a writer of faith.

Stranger in Every Land chronicles my journey out of the good ol' USA and into exotic Asian countries and inviting Pacific islands where I stayed long enough to no longer completely identify with my country of origin - but never long enough to fully be regarded as a native.

A child who never quite fit in, Rebecca Dana worshipped at the altar of Truman Capote and Nora Ephron, dreaming of one day ditching Pittsburgh and moving to New York, her Jerusalem. After graduating from college, she made her way to the city to begin her destiny. For a time, life turned out exactly as she’d planned: glamorous parties; beautiful people; the perfect job, apartment, and man. But when it all came crashing down, she found herself catapulted into another world....

In this volume, we see how Krishna saves his devotee from degradation. Beginning with the famous story of Ajamila, the brahmin who fell from an exalted position to become a ruthless robber and cheat, only to be miraculously redeemed at the very moment of death. Then we hear how Indra, king of the gods, insulted his guru and as a result was overpowered by the demonic races, led by Vritra, a supernatural colossus who had been conjured for the god’s destruction.

What if an angel hadn't stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son Isaac? What does Genesis seem to be telling us about taking revenge? Or what is it saying about capital punishment? Drawing on biblical commentary from throughout the ages, Alan Dershowitz shines a brilliant legal light on the stories that comprise the foundation of our society.

Some people believe questioning the Bible, the direction God is going, or even God himself, is blasphemy. Some think it’s a sign of disbelief. Daniel Thornton is one such man. He believes his son, Rusty Thornton, is lost without God and takes him to a faraway place in the early 1950s near Spicewood, Texas, where he would never come in contact with people. He has an old King James Version of the Bible and began to try and cure his son’s affliction of skepticism.

Few luminaries in Jewish history, particularly in modern times, have made as lasting and profound a contribution to our spiritual heritage as Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812). His works embrace the entire spectrum of Jewish thought - mysticism, philosophy, psychology, ethics, and law - and represent an expression of unparalleled creative genius.

Before Harriet Tubman or Martin Luther King was identified with Moses, African Americans identified those who challenged racial oppression in America with Samson. In Black Samson: The Untold Story of an American Icon, Nyasha Junior and Jeremy Schipper tell the story of how this biblical character became an icon of African American literature.