Religion & Spirituality Books

Etica biblica

Etica biblica

Religion & Spirituality

Che cosa insegna la Bibbia sulle scelte morali che compiamo?Nel campo dell’etica sono in troppi a evidenziare problemi indicando mezze soluzioni, e spesso anche soltanto accennare alle risposte contenute nella Bibbia genera reazioni scomposte.Eppure nell’etica biblica si fondano colonne portanti della società, come i diritti umani. Wayne Grudem, uno dei più importanti teologi evangelici, dimostra come il pensiero morale che emerge dalle Scritture sia estremamente rilevante anche in una società postmoderna piena di “zone grigie” dov’è difficile orientarsi.WAYNE GRUDEM (BA, Università di Harvard; PhD, Università di Cambridge; MDiv e DD, Westminster Theological Seminary) è uno dei più importanti teologi evangelici contemporanei. Dopo aver insegnato per vent’anni alla Trinity Evangelical Divinity School ora è professore di Teologia e Studi biblici presso il Phoenix Seminary, in Arizona. È stato presidente della Evangelical Theological Society. Ha pubblicato più di venticinque libri.

Vivere la morte

Vivere la morte

Religion & Spirituality

Nella nostra esistenza la morte resta l’evento ineluttabile per eccellenza, anche se oggi si vive come se si fosse immortali. La morte viene rubata all’uomo, come se fosse qualcosa di osceno, e la nostra vita rischia di non avere più un confronto con il momento della propria finitudine. Il libro è una forte – e insieme consolante – reazione alle ideologie dell’edonismo che confina l’esperienza della morte nello spazio degli emarginati o della incoscienza.

Christ the Head of the Church

Christ the Head of the Church

Religion & Spirituality

To ignite higher thoughts about Christ as the glorious, triumphant Head of the church, we offer this issue of the Free Grace Broadcaster: Christ the Head of the Church. Charles Spurgeon introduces us to this expansive, magnificent subject revealing that Christ represents every member of His body and is the source of spiritual life for every member. John Gill helps us to understand the Jesus’ headship is covenantal and that all the blessings of spiritual and eternal life flow from it. The French Huguenot Jean Daillé concisely explains the believer’s union with Christ and how our Lord rules by directing and guiding us and infusing us with the power of the Holy Spirit. It takes a little work to read Daillé, but he is worth the effort. In a more contemporary style, Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley deliver a rich theology of Christ’s headship and love for His body. How may we properly understand the Head and body relationship of Christ and His church? D. M. Lloyd-Jones offers a remarkable exposition of Christ as the source and center of His body’s power, as well as an overview of what true unity in Christ’s body is. On the other hand, Thomas Manton focuses on the nature of Christ’s body. Beeke and Smalley then discuss that monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy all play a part in Christ’s rule as Head. Spurgeon warns us that Christ alone determines the doctrine for His church—not men, not even famous men. Richard Barcellos gives us a profound look at Christ’s headship as it relates to the Old and New Testaments. Then, Manton gives a helpful article that explains why we need Christ as our Head. Finally, as we close out this issue of the FGB, Spurgeon presses our hearts to answer a pointed question: Is Christ your Head?

But Where is the Lamb?

But Where is the Lamb?

Religion & Spirituality

“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. A mere nineteen lines in the book of Genesis, it rests at the heart of the history, literature, theology, and sacred rituals of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. For more than two millennia, people throughout the world have grappled with the troubling questions about sacrifice, authority, obedience, and faith to which the story gives rise. Writing from the vantage of “a reader, a son, a Jew, a father, a skeptic, a historian, a lover of stories, and a writer,” Goodman gives us an enthralling narrative history that moves from its biblical origins to its place in the cultures and faiths of our time. He introduces us to the commentary of Second Temple sages, rabbis and priests of the late antiquity, and early Islamic exegetes (some of whom imagined that Ishmael was the nearly sacrificed son). He examines Syriac hymns (in which Sarah stars), Hebrew chronicles of the First Crusade (in which Isaac often dies), and medieval English mystery plays. He looks at the art of Europe’s golden age, the philosophy of Kant and Kierkegaard, and the panoply of twentieth-century interpretation, sacred and profane, including the work of Bob Dylan, Elie Wiesel, and A. B. Yehoshua. In illuminating how so many others have understood this story, Goodman tells a gripping and provocative story of his own.

Daodejing

Daodejing

Religion & Spirituality

Das 'Daodejing' von Laotse ist eine spirituelle Schrift aus dem alten China, die grundlegende Prinzipien des Daoismus vermittelt. In poetischer Form werden Weisheiten über das Leben, die Natur und den Umgang mit Konflikten dargelegt. Der Text ist geprägt von metaphorischer Sprache und einer tiefgründigen Philosophie, die bis heute relevant ist. Laotse's Werk stellt eine wichtige literarische und philosophische Erzählung dar, die Generationen von Lesern inspiriert hat. Durch seine subtile und poetische Sprache regt das 'Daodejing' zum Nachdenken an und bietet eine neue Perspektive auf das menschliche Dasein. Als eine der bedeutendsten Schriften des Daoismus ist es nicht nur ein literarisches Meisterwerk, sondern auch ein Wegweiser zu einem erfüllten und harmonischen Leben. Leser, die nach spiritueller Inspiration und Weisheit suchen, werden von Laotse's 'Daodejing' fasziniert sein und davon profitieren, seine zeitlosen Lehren umzusetzen.

Can We Trust the Gospels?

Can We Trust the Gospels?

Religion & Spirituality

Attacks on the historical reliability of the Gospels—especially their portrayal of Jesus Christ—are nothing new. But are these attacks legitimate? Is there reason to doubt the accuracy of the Gospels? By examining and refuting some of the most common criticisms of the Gospels, author Mark D. Roberts explains why we can indeed trust the Gospels, nearly two millennia after they were written.Lay readers and scholars alike will benefit from this accessible book, and will walk away confident in the reliability of the Gospels.

The Other World

The Other World

Religion & Spirituality

"These volumes have been compiled from the standing-point of a hearty and reverent believer in Historical Christianity. No one can be greater completely conscious of their imperfections and incompleteness than the Editor; for the topics below consideration occupy such a large field, that their cure at increased size would have mostly improved the bulk of the volumes, and indefinitely postponed their publication. The data and data set forth (and throughout, the Editor has dealt with facts, as a substitute than with theories) have been gathered from time to time at some point of the previous twenty years, as nicely from regular historic narrations as from the private facts of countless pals and buddies involved in the subject-matter of the book."

Scandalous

Scandalous

Religion & Spirituality

D. A. Carson, one of today's most notable Bible scholars, introduces the irony, scandal, and greatness of the work done on the cross.How are Christians to approach the central gospel teachings concerning the death and resurrection of Jesus? The Bible firmly establishes the historicity of these events and doesn't leave their meanings ambiguous or open to interpretation. Even so, there is an irony and surprising strangeness to the cross. Carson shows that this strange irony has deep implications for our lives as he examines the history and theology of Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection. Scandalous is the latest addition to the Re:Lit series, which highlights important theological truths in accessible and applicable ways. Both amateur theologians and general readers will appreciate how Carson deftly preserves weighty theology while simultaneously noting the broader themes of Jesus' death and resurrection. Through exposition of five primary passages of Scripture, Carson helps us to more fully understand and appreciate the scandal of the cross.

Traveling Mercies

Traveling Mercies

Religion & Spirituality

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the acclaimed author of Bird by Bird comes a personal, wise, very funny, and “life-affirming” book (People) that shows us how to find meaning and hope through shining the light of faith on the darkest part of ordinary life. "Anne Lamott is walking proof that a person can be both reverent and irreverent in the same lifetime. Sometimes even in the same breath." —San Francisco ChronicleLamott claims the two best prayers she knows are: "Help me, help me, help me" and "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She has a friend whose morning prayer each day is "Whatever," and whose evening prayer is "Oh, well." Anne thinks of Jesus as "Casper the friendly savior" and describes God as "one crafty mother."Despite—or because of—her irreverence, faith is a natural subject for Anne Lamott. Since Operating Instructions and Bird by Bird, her fans have been waiting for her to write the book that explained how she came to the big-hearted, grateful, generous faith that she so often alluded to in her two earlier nonfiction books. The people in Anne Lamott's real life are like beloved characters in a favorite series for her readers—her friend Pammy, her son, Sam, and the many funny and wise folks who attend her church are all familiar. And Traveling Mercies is a welcome return to those lives, as well as an introduction to new companions Lamott treats with the same candor, insight, and tenderness.Lamott's faith isn't about easy answers, which is part of what endears her to believers as well as nonbelievers. Against all odds, she came to believe in God and then, even more miraculously, in herself. As she puts it, "My coming to faith did not start with a leap but rather a series of staggers."

St. Benedict’s Bones

St. Benedict’s Bones

Religion & Spirituality

St. Benedict of Norcia (480-547) is indisputably one of the most influential figures in the development of the culture and spirituality of Western Europe and is recognized as the "patriarch of all monks of the West." Shortly after Benedict's death, his monastery at Monte Cassino was destroyed by Lombard invaders. It was at that point that one of the greatest mysteries of medieval monasticism arose--the true location of the mortal remains of this revered saint. This volume presents the first English translations of key medieval texts relating to this famous mystery. These piquant narratives are filled with adventure, intrigue, and spellbinding wonder, in which imagination, history, folklore, and legend are freely intertwined. Within these pages, the reader will encounter fierce barbarian hordes, perilous quests to discover ancient tombs, ferocious dragons, man-eating wolves, mysterious visions, and enigmatic oracles. Here will be found tales of saints fleeing from papal forces under the shroud of darkness, phantasmagoric apparitions of dead monks, malicious poisonings, nocturnal attacks made on infants by venomous toads, levitating lamps, and a veritable multitude of other marvels. A translation of the striking account of St. Benedict's life from the thirteenth-century Golden Legend is also included.

The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life

The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life

Religion & Spirituality

The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (French: Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse), published by French sociologist Émile Durkheim in 1912, is a book that analyzes religion as a social phenomenon. Durkheim attributes the development of religion to the emotional security attained through communal living. According to Durkheim, early humans associated such feelings not only with one another, but as well with objects in their environment. This, Durkheim believed, led to the ascription of human sentiments and superhuman powers to these objects, in turn leading to totemism. The essence of religion, Durkheim finds, is the concept of the sacred, that being the only phenomenon which unites all religions. "A religion," writes Durkheim, "is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden—beliefs and practices which unite into a single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them." In modern societies, the individual and individual rights evolve to become the new sacred phenomena, and hence these may be called "religious" for Durkheim. Durkheim examined religion using such examples as Pueblo Indian rain dances, the religions of aboriginal tribes in Australia, and alcoholic hallucinations.

A Ready Defense

A Ready Defense

Religion & Spirituality

Be prepared "in season and out" with this handy reference book of faith. Timely and biblically based, Josh McDowell's work offers defenses in 60 of the most-challenged areas of faith. All in one easy-to-reference volume, this book will strengthen your commitment and help you stand firm against challenges to the truth.

History and Eschatology

History and Eschatology

Religion & Spirituality

How can we know about God? That question increasingly bothered scientists and philosophers in the modern period as they chipped away at previously imagined "certainties." They refused to take on trust the "special revelation" of the Christian Bible, trying instead to argue up to God from the "natural" world. That is the theme of the Gifford Lectures, inaugurated over 130 years ago.This natural theology has usually bracketed out the Bible and Jesus—and with them, usually, the scholars who study them. History and Eschatology: Jesus and the Promise of Natural Theology represents the first Gifford delivered by a New Testament scholar since Rudolf Bultmann in 1955. Against Bultmann’s dehistoricized approach, N. T. Wright argues that, since the philosophical and cultural movements that generated the natural theology debates also treated Jesus as a genuine human being—part of the "natural world"—there is no reason the historical Jesus should be off-limits. What would happen if we brought him back into the discussion? What, in particular, might "history" and "eschatology" really mean? And what might that say about "knowledge" itself?This lively and wide-ranging discussion invites us to see Jesus himself in a different light by better acquainting ourselves with the first-century Jewish world. Genuine historical study challenges not only what we thought we knew but how we know it. The crucifixion of the subsequently resurrected Jesus, as solid an event as any in the "natural" world, turns out to meet, in unexpected and suggestive ways, the puzzles of the ultimate questions asked by every culture. At the same time, these events open up vistas of the eschatological promise held out to the entire natural order. The result is a larger vision, both of "natural theology" and of Jesus himself, than either the academy or the church has normally expected.

A Oração Primitiva

A Oração Primitiva

Religion & Spirituality

Charles Finney , um dos mais importantes pregadores de todos os tempos nos apresenta um texto rico em ensino bíblico. Baseado no livro de Atos dos Apóstolos, a Oração Primitiva nos leva a meditar sobre o verdadeiro propósito da oração e seus objetivos na vida do Cristão. Um texto edificante e esclarecedor sobre a oração.

Truth Matters

Truth Matters

Religion & Spirituality

In an interview with Christianity Today in 2012, Ed Stetzer shared that according to Lifeway research among young adults who had attended church regularly for at least a year in high school, 70% stop attending regularly for at least a year between ages 18-22. However, 35% of these had returned to attending twice a month or more by the time they were surveyed for the study. This means that about 4 out of 10 kids leave the church and NEVER RETURN. Here is how leading experts describe our church kids today: They are unarmed and incapable of defending their faith. They possess a faith that cannot withstand the scrutiny of trials or intellectual questions. They have a shallow belief system. They lack a robust faith. They haven’t learned how to think. They are embarrassingly ignorant of our faith. Truth Matters is written directly to this audience, arming them with well-reasoned responses to the accusations that are most likely to appear in their lives, either as upcoming lecture notes and test questions or as inner qualms and questions. Things like: What gives the Bible any authority or credibility? Where is God in a world full of suffering? Why should Christianity be any more believable than any other religious system? And many, many more. Easy to read yet loaded with meat and substance, this book is a level-headed reaction to those who equate Christian faith with “blind faith,” even those whose subtle or stated goal is to separate students from their religious traditions. Readers will discover the kind of historical information and thinking skills that build a sturdy backbone of confidence in high schoolers and young adults, making them able to defend by “reasoned faith” what the Bible claims as truth. Loosely organized around the theological skepticism of New York Times bestselling author (and southern college educator) Bart Ehrman, this jam-packed counterclaim is a book that parents will want to buy for their kids, a book that youth and student leaders will want to work through one-on-one and in discipleship groups—a book that could prove a lifesaver for young minds and hearts everywhere.

Dangerous Prayers

Dangerous Prayers

Religion & Spirituality

Be inspired to pray boldly, pray powerfully, pray with passion, and trade ineffective prayers and lukewarm faith for raw, daring prayers that will transform your daily life.Do you ever wonder if God answers your prayers? Do you wish you could see the evidence that prayer changes lives? Do you long for more than playing it safe in your faith? Join New York Times bestselling author Craig Groeschel as he helps you discover the power of authentically communicating with God, breaking out of the restrictive spiritual safety bubble, and expanding your ideas about what's possible with God.The Bible tells us that prayer has the power to move God's heart, but some prayers move him more than others. He wants more for us than a tepid faith and half-hearted routines at the dinner table. God called you to a life of courage, not comfort.In Dangerous Prayers, Groeschel will show you how to pray the prayers that search your soul, break your habits, and send you out to pursue the calling God has for you. But be warned: If you're fine with settling for what's easy, or if you're okay with staying on the sidelines, this book isn't for you. You'll be challenged. You'll be tested. You'll be moved to take a long, hard look at your heart. But you'll be inspired, too.Dangerous Prayers will give you the encouragement and tools you need to:Transform the patterns around your daily prayer lifeTruly embrace and believe in the power of intentional prayerStart to pray daring, faith-filled, God-honoring, life-changing, world-transforming prayersYou'll discover the secret to overcoming fears of loss, rejection, failure, and the unknown, and you'll welcome the blessings God has for you on the other side. But best of all, you'll gain the courage it takes to pray dangerous prayers.

The Harmony of the Gospels

The Harmony of the Gospels

Religion & Spirituality

"The Harmony of the Gospels" is part of The Fig Classic Series on Early Church Theology. To view more books in our catalog, visit us at fig-books.com. Related: patristics, creed, canon, systematics, biblical commentary, exegesis Pages: 455 ISBN-13: 9781626300743