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God Against The Gods
by Jonathan KirschPerfectly suited to readers of Bernard Lewis and Karen Armstrong, God Against the Godsis a dramatic and eye-opening epic of the final struggle between monotheism and polytheism in the ancient world. It was a war fought by an Egyptian pharaoh, a Jewish king, and a Roman emperor-charismatic, visionary, and violent men battling in the name of the Only True God. Jonathan Kirsch demonstrates how the world of classical paganism was in fact based on religious liberty and diversity and how the advent of monotheism brought-in the name of true belief-holy war, crusades, martyrdom, and inquisitions. The last stand of paganism in the tumultuous fourth century is a rare example of a moment when two men-the Roman emperors Constantine, who initiated the Christian revolution that formed the future, and Julian, who later tried but failed to restore paganism-literally changed the history of the world. God Against the Gods, breaking a long-lived taboo, reveals monotheism's dark side and polytheism's bright one, illuminating the ancient roots of today's most bloody conflicts as well as the cherished idea of religious liberty.
God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism
by Jonathan KirschThe old Egyptian and Roman gods and the new religion of the Hebrews and Christians have a history. Much of it occurs during the six hundred years or so of the Roman Empire.
God: All That Matters (All That Matters)
by Mark VernonIn this book:'Mark Vernon writes with sharp insight and a generous understanding of how humans search and create meanings to sustain their lives' - Madeleine Bunting, Guardian.Why doesn't God go away? God: All That Matters, by philosopher Mark Vernon,suggests that there is something odd about the way God is discussed today. It is often as if the divine were being examined in a test tube, in a search for empirical and objective confirmation of his/her existence. Yet, for people of faith, the experience of God is nothing if not subjectively real; they know God, in-so-far as they do, in their lives. Vernon therefore looks to move the argument on from the debates between atheist and religious fundamentalists, to look at how people through time have looked for, experienced, and explained God - in suffering, in nature, in morality, in peak experiences, in goodness, in the future and in love.This accessible and concise book will appeal to both students and general readers, giving a fascinating introduction to a wide range of perspectives on God.The All That Matters series:All That Matters books:All books in the All That Matters series are written by world experts in their subject field. These experts work to distil a topic and get right to its heart, making the book accessible for both students and general readers. Each compelling book contains new and interesting perspectives and tells stories that matter.The Author:Mark Vernon has an unparalleled ability to convey profound philosophical ideas in a manner that is both accessible and personal but also rigorous and challenging.'- Raymond TallisMark Vernon is a journalist, broadcaster, teacher and author of several books. He is an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London and has degrees in physics, and theology and a PhD in philosophy. He was a priest in the Church of England, left a convinced atheist, though now takes religious and spiritualpractice very seriously - a journey he has written about in his book How to be an Agnostic.Keep up with Mark Vernon on his website: www.markvernon.com.Other books in the All That Matters series:All That Matters - Interesting introductions to important issuesBooks on the following subjects are available from the All That Matters series: Muhammad, Water, Political Philosophy, Sustainability, Philosophy, Intelligence, Love, Russian Revolution, War, and Creativity.To find out more visit: www.allthatmattersbooks.comGod - philosophy - the way God is discussed today - divine - empirical - objective - existence of God - faith - experience of God - subjective - debate - atheist - religious fundamentalists - explaining God - suffering - nature - morality - goodness - love - accessible - concise - students - general readers - fascinating - introduction - perspectives on God - spiritual practice - agnostic - All That Matters - pocket book - Christianity - Judaism - Islam - Buddhism - Sikhism - non-religious - spirituality
God Alone: His Unique Attributes and How Knowing Them Changes Us
by Jonathan GriffithsOur constant danger is that we have a view of God that is too small.We are living in a me-focused, treat-yourself world—a world that oppressively encourages us to focus on ourselves. But a life turned inward—rather than focused on God—brings peril and confusion. When we fail to know God properly, we become selfish and hopeless. But a renewed understanding of who God is changes that.Pastor Jonathan Griffiths shows us how God Alone can transform us at a root level. With pastoral warmth and heart, Griffiths shows us the character of God in all His beauty and goodness. Readers will gain knowledge of God&’s attributes—that He is eternal, all-knowing, and all-wise. Readers discover what it means that God is omnipotent, unchanging, and omnipresent. And through this knowledge, trust, hope, and joy emerge. Confidence grows when we have a robust understanding of God&’s love.This book is both a plea for the people of God to know Him intimately and, at the same time, an invitation to those who do not yet know Him—come and experience the wonderful, beautiful, powerful God revealed in Scripture.
God Alone Is Enough: A Spirited Journey with Teresa of Avila
by Claudia Mair BurneyNo one can teach a Christian to pray, like Teresa can.This lively little book introduces postmodern readers to one of Christianity's most endearing prayer warriors, and guides them through her most radical teachings. Here, Teresa of Avila is not a lofty, inaccessible saint; she's a companion, taking readers on a rollicking journey through their own interior castles. The secrets of Teresa's intimate devotional life are revealed, and readers learn practical ways to abandon complicated contemplative prayer techniques, and simply "enjoy" God. This journey through the life and writings of Teresa of Avila will engage Christians who would have never before considered encountering a post-Reformation Catholic nun. Mair Burney makes Teresa accessible—and essential—for understanding what it means to come to know God, and how it's possible.
God Always Keeps His Promises: Unshakable Hope for Kids
by Max LucadoShare God&’s faithfulness and love with your child through Max Lucado&’s new children&’s book, God Always Keeps His Promises. Based on the promises of God, children will see that God is completely trustworthy to keep His promises. Just like He did in Bible times. Just like He does for them today.Since the beginning of time, God has kept His promises. Through the stories of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Joseph, Peter, Paul, and many more, children will learn about the character and nature of God and His unending love for His people. Offer children the chance to learn about the promises God made to His followers in the Bible, and the knowledge that they still get to experience these promises today. Each chapter features a promise from God accompanied by a story example from the Bible and an application for children today.Max Lucado, beloved pastor and bestselling author, is a revered authority on biblical teaching. Yet his gentle, loving approach makes it possible for even the youngest children to understand God&’s tenderness toward them.Through beautiful illustrations and compelling stories, Max will guide your family through God&’s unfailing goodness and faithfulness through the promises He made, and how He kept those promises in Bible times and how He still keeps them today.
God: An Anatomy
by Francesca StavrakopoulouAn astonishing and revelatory history that re-presents God as he was originally envisioned by ancient worshippers—with a distinctly male body, and with superhuman powers, earthly passions, and a penchant for the fantastic and monstrous."[A] rollicking journey through every aspect of Yahweh&’s body, from top to bottom (yes, that too) and from inside out ... Ms. Stavrakopoulou has almost too much fun.&”—The Economist The scholarship of theology and religion teaches us that the God of the Bible was without a body, only revealing himself in the Old Testament in words mysteriously uttered through his prophets, and in the New Testament in the body of Christ. The portrayal of God as corporeal and masculine is seen as merely metaphorical, figurative, or poetic. But, in this revelatory study, Francesca Stavrakopoulou presents a vividly corporeal image of God: a human-shaped deity who walks and talks and weeps and laughs, who eats, sleeps, feels, and breathes, and who is undeniably male. Here is a portrait—arrived at through the author's close examination of and research into the Bible—of a god in ancient myths and rituals who was a product of a particular society, at a particular time, made in the image of the people who lived then, shaped by their own circumstances and experience of the world. From head to toe—and every part of the body in between—this is a god of stunning surprise and complexity, one we have never encountered before.
God and a Mouse
by M. AngelaSister Mary Angela describes her mouse as a contemplative and devout mouse, a lover of beauty and a philosopher. Her words are English poetry with the musical emphasis of Spanish-speaking communities.
God and Abstract Objects (Elements in the Philosophy of Religion)
by Einar Duenger BøhnSome believe that there is a God who is the source of all things; and some believe that there are necessarily existing abstract objects. But can one believe both these things? That is the question of this Element. First, Einar Duenger Bøhn clarifies the concepts involved, and the problem that arises from believing in both God and abstract objects. Second, he presents and discusses the possible kinds of solutions to that problem. Third, Bøhn discusses a new kind of solution to the problem, according to which reality is most fundamentally made of information.
God and Abstract Objects
by William Lane CraigThis book is an exploration and defense of the coherence of classical theism's doctrine of divine aseity in the face of the challenge posed by Platonism with respect to abstract objects. A synoptic work in analytic philosophy of religion, the book engages discussions in philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of language, metaphysics, and metaontology. It addresses absolute creationism, non-Platonic realism, fictionalism, neutralism, and alternative logics and semantics, among other topics. The book offers a helpful taxonomy of the wide range of options available to the classical theist for dealing with the challenge of Platonism. It probes in detail the diverse views on the reality of abstract objects and their compatibility with classical theism. It contains a most thorough discussion, rooted in careful exegesis, of the biblical and patristic basis of the doctrine of divine aseity. Finally, it challenges the influential Quinean metaontological theses concerning the way in which we make ontological commitments.
God and Astrobiology (Elements in the Problems of God)
by null Richard Playford null Stephen Bullivant null Janet SiefertThe perception that life on other planets would be, problematic for religious people, and indeed for religion itself, is a longstanding one. It is partially rooted in fact: astrobiological speculations have, on occasion, engendered religious controversies. Historical discussions are often far more nuanced, and less one-sided than often imagined. 'Exotheology' is a lively subdiscipline within several religious traditions. This Element offers a wide-ranging introduction to the multifarious 'problems of God and astrobiology', real and perceived. It covers major topics within Christian theology (e.g., creation, incarnation, salvation), as well as issues specific to Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. It also discusses the very different perspectives offered by other (non)religious traditions, including Mormonism, various 'alien-positive' new religious movements (e.g., Heaven's Gate, Scientology, Raëlism), and the 'Ancient Astronaunt' theories popularized by Erich von Dāniken and the History channel's Ancient Aliens.
God and Blackness: Race, Gender, and Identity in a Middle Class Afrocentric Church
by null Andrea C. AbramsBlackness, as a concept, is extremely fluid: it can refer to cultural and ethnic identity, socio-political status, an aesthetic and embodied way of being, a social and political consciousness, or a diasporic kinship. It is used as a description of skin color ranging from the palest cream to the richest chocolate; as a marker of enslavement, marginalization, criminality, filth, or evil; or as a symbol of pride, beauty, elegance, strength, and depth. Despite the fact that it is elusive and difficult to define, blackness serves as one of the most potent and unifying domains of identity. God and Blackness offers an ethnographic study of blackness as it is understood within a specific community—that of the First Afrikan Church, a middle-class Afrocentric congregation in Atlanta, Georgia. Drawing on nearly two years of participant observation and in‑depth interviews, Andrea C. Abrams examines how this community has employed Afrocentrism and Black theology as a means of negotiating the unreconciled natures of thoughts and ideals that are part of being both black and American. Specifically, Abrams examines the ways in which First Afrikan’s construction of community is influenced by shared understandings of blackness, and probes the means through which individuals negotiate the tensions created by competing constructions of their black identity. Although Afrocentrism operates as the focal point of this discussion, the book examines questions of political identity, religious expression and gender dynamics through the lens of a unique black church.
God and Caesar: Troeltsch's Social Teaching as Legitimation
by Constance L. BensonH. Richard Niebuhr's powerful interpretation of Ernst Troeltsch has shaped our view of the man for over seventy years. Troeltsch is one of the most respected and renowned figures in liberal Protestant thought. Yet as Harvard philosopher of religion Cornel West observes in his foreword, Constance Benson "shat-ters certain crucial aspects of Troeltsch's image as a liberal religious thinker" with God and Caesar.Benson reconstructs the historical context in which Troeltsch wrote his landmark The Social Teaching of the Christian Churches, and reinterprets it in relation to that context. She shows that Troeltsch's Christian-ity legitimized class, religious, and gender inequality in response to the challenges of social democracy. Her controversial exploration of why most Troeltsch scholars have remained silent on this deserves seri-ous consideration. Her discovery of Troeltsch's rolein the politics and ideological debates of Imperial Germany require a painful reexamina-tion of an entire chapter of Protestant history. Benson exposes Troeltsch's relationship to Paul de Lagarde, a notorious anti-Semite and architect of what later became Nazi ideology.God and Caesaris a needed corrective. Troeltsch is an important figure for the Chris-tian right in Germany and for many mainstream Protestants in the United States. Benson's courageous book is the most challenging critique of Troeltsch's politics we have—an unsettling perspective that forces us to revise the beloved Troeltsch so many of us had come to admire and cherish. It will be of interest to intellectual historians, theologians and students of religious history, and specialists in German social and political history.
God and Cancel Culture: Stand Strong Before It's Too Late
by Stephen E. StrangFROM THE BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF GOD AND DONALD TRUMP64% of Americans believe cancel culture is a threat to their freedom. This book will help you realize the seriousness of the battle before us and illuminate the present circumstance for the purpose of doing good-to bring hope. It will document what is happening in our country, how believers can respond, and why we can look expectantly to the future. This is the time for neither religious fatalism nor political inaction. No matter how bad things get in the culture or in government, the Bible is true and God has plans and purposes we don't understand-and in the end we win. Things are chaotic in America. Liberal policies are advancing. A rash of executive orders appears to be moving the nation closer to socialism and a one-world government. And conservatives, including many Christians, are being censored as never before. There's even a term-cancel culture-which 64 percent of Americans believe poses a threat to their freedom, according to a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll. (Among Republicans, that figure is even higher at 80 percent.) The term applies to all conservatives who oppose the politically correct crowd, but it's part of a bigger effort to cancel Christianity and those who espouse biblical principles. It almost seems this is the beginning of the end and the Antichrist will appear at any time. You pick the cultural or political issue, and there likely is not even the semblance of widespread agreement. It seems that Christians are in an unprecedented season of fragmentation, potential division, and actual separation on many fronts. Instead of going forward, much of the church seems to be moving backward or standing still, waiting for what's next. The body of Christ is a big, diverse family, and we must choose to cheer one another on rather than get into circular firing squads. We are called to advance on every front. This book will assess and affirm the different approaches playing out. The body needs clarity and unity- and has little of both right now. Wounded armies want hope, focus, and encouragement. This book will not throw anyone overboard who is standing for the truth in some positive way. Rather, it will allow readers to look critically at the various approaches vying for our allegiance and attention here in the middle of 2021. In the course of this survey, we will find reason to affirm where people are fighting on the battlefield and validate the perspectives they bring. Featuring interviews with a cross section of leaders, this book will document what is happening in our country, how believers can respond, and why we can look to the future with hope. Even though things are bad, we must understand that conditions have been this bad or worse in the past and God always came through. He has plans and purposes we don't understand. Christians must not lose heart. We must stand strong and not be intimidated. We must pray, and we must believe God for a great awakening. No matter how bad things get in the culture or in government, the Bible is true and "all things work together for good to those who love God" (Rom. 8:28, MEV). That's because we are called according to His purpose. A purpose never goes in reverse. This book will reveal what that looks like in its various forms in the day in which we live. It gives a great handle for promoting unity and appreciation of one another when that is breaking down so badly elsewhere. Indeed, maybe the love Jesus spoke about that makes us recognizable to the world will be seen as this book illuminates the supernatural unity among people of very diverse opinions and approaches while pointedly addressing these various hot-button areas.
God and Creation in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas and Karl Barth
by Tyler R. WittmanThe legacies of Thomas Aquinas and Karl Barth remain influential for contemporary theologians, who have increasingly put them into conversation on debated questions over analogy and the knowledge of God. However, little explicit dialogue has occurred between their theologies of God. This book offers one of the first extended analyzes of this fundamental issue, asking how each theologian seeks to confess in fact and in thought God's qualitative distinctiveness in relation to creation. Wittman first examines how they understand the correspondence and distinction between God's being and external acts within an overarching concern to avoid idolatry. Second, he analyzes the kind of relation God bears to creation that follows from these respective understandings. Despite many common goals, Aquinas and Barth ultimately differ on the subject matter of theological reason with consequences for their ability to uphold God's distinctiveness consistently. These mutually informative issues offer some important lessons for contemporary theology.
God and Design: The Teleological Argument and Modern Science
by Neil A. MansonRecent discoveries in physics, cosmology, and biochemistry have captured the public imagination and made the Design Argument - the theory that God created the world according to a specific plan - the object of renewed scientific and philosophical interest. This accessible but serious introduction to the design problem brings together new perspectives from prominent scientists and philosophers including Paul Davies, Richard Swinburne, Sir Martin Rees, Michael Behe, Elliot Sober and Peter van Inwagen.It probes the relationship between modern science and religious belief, considering their points of conflict and their many points of similarity. Is the real God of creationism the 'master clockmaker' who sets the world's mechanism on a perfectly enduring course, or a miraculous presence who continually intervenes in and alters the world we know? Are science and faith, or evolution and creation, really in conflict at all? Expanding the parameters of a lively and urgent debate, God and Design considers how perennial questions of origin continue to fascinate and disturb us.
God and Difference: The Trinity, Sexuality, and the Transformation of Finitude (Gender, Theology and Spirituality)
by Linn Marie TonstadGod and Difference interlaces Christian theology with queer and feminist theory for both critical and constructive ends. Linn Marie Tonstad uses queer theory to show certain failures of Christian thinking about God, gender, and sexuality. She employs queer theory to dissect trinitarian discourse and the resonances found in contemporary Christian thought between sexual difference and difference within the trinity. Tonstad critiques a broad swath of prominent Christian theologians who either use queer theory in their work or affirm the validity of same-sex relationships, arguing that their work inadvertently promotes gendered hierarchy. This volume contributes to central debates in Christianity over divine and human personhood, gendered relationality, and the trinity, and provides original accounts of God, sexual difference, and Christian community that are both theologically rich and thoroughly queer.
God and Difference: The Trinity, Sexuality, and the Transformation of Finitude (ISSN)
by Linn Marie TonstadGod and Difference interlaces Christian theology with queer and feminist theory for both critical and constructive ends. Linn Marie Tonstad uses queer theory to show certain failures of Christian thinking about God, gender, and sexuality. She employs queer theory to dissect trinitarian discourse and the resonances found in contemporary Christian thought between sexual difference and difference within the trinity. Tonstad critiques a broad swath of prominent Christian theologians who either use queer theory in their work or affirm the validity of same-sex relationships, arguing that their work inadvertently promotes gendered hierarchy. This volume contributes to central debates in Christianity over divine and human personhood, gendered relationality, and the trinity, and provides original accounts of God, sexual difference, and Christian community that are both theologically rich and thoroughly queer.
God and Donald Trump
by Stephen E. StrangOver 100 5- Star Reviews! Featured on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC"One way to get President Donald Trump to stop and talk at the World Economic Forum: wield a book about him. On his way into the World Economic Forum, Trump stopped and talked for about ten seconds to one delegate who was brandishing a copy of &“God and Donald Trump&” by Stephen E. Strang. He then proceeded to hold the book aloft in his left hand." - Associated PressWith pundits asking, &“How did he win?&” this book explores whether there was a supernatural element involved. Christian leaders prophesied before the election that God had raised up Donald Trump to lead the nation through a time of crisis. But could this billionaire reality-TV star actually convince the voters he was for real? If so, what is God doing now not only in Donald&’s Trump&’s life, but also in the nation? Trump is an enigma, a brash self-promoter, casino owner, and man of the world. Yet he is also a devoted husband and father who has surrounded himself with men and women of faith and has made religion a key component of his image.God and Donald Trump is a powerful first-person account of one of the most contentious elections in American history, with exclusive interviews and insightful commentary from the men and women who were there.
God and Emotion (Elements in the Philosophy of Religion)
by R. T. MullinsAn introductory exploration on the nature of emotions, and examination of some of the critical issues surrounding the emotional life of God as they relate to happiness, empathy, love, and moral judgments. Covering the different criteria used in the debate between impassibility and passibility, readers can begin to think about which emotions can be predicated of God and which cannot.
God and Empire
by John Dominic CrossanAt the heart of the Bible is a moral and ethical call to fight unjust superpowers, whether they are Babylon, Rome, or even America. From the divine punishment and promise found in Genesis through the revolutionary messages of Jesus and Paul, John Dominic Crossan reveals what the Bible has to say about land and economy, violence and retribution, justice and peace, and, ultimately, redemption. In contrast to the oppressive Roman military occupation of the first century, he examines the meaning of the non-violent Kingdom of God prophesized by Jesus and the equality advocated by Paul to the early Christian churches. Crossan contrasts these messages of peace with the misinterpreted apocalyptic vision from the Book of Revelation, which has been misrepresented by modern right-wing theologians and televangelists to justify U.S. military actions in the Middle East. In God and Empire Crossan surveys the Bible from Genesis to Apocalypse, or the Book of Revelation, and discovers a hopeful message that cannot be ignored in these turbulent times. The first-century Pax Romana, Crossan points out, was in fact a "peace" won through violent military action. Jesus preached a different kind of peace--a peace that surpasses all understanding--and a kingdom not of Caesar but of God. The Romans executed Jesus because he preached this Kingdom of God, a kingdom based on peace and justice, over the empire of Rome, which ruled by violence and force. For Jesus and Paul, Crossan explains, peace cannot be won the Roman way, through military victory, but only through justice and fair and equal treatment of all people.
God and Evil: The Case for God in a World Filled with Pain
by Chad Meister James K. Dew Jr.God and EvilGregory E. Ganssle and Yena LeeBruce LittleGarry DeWeeseR. Douglas GeivettJames SpiegelJill Graper HernandezWin CorduanDavid BeckGod and Evil
God and Evolution?
by Gerard M. Verschuuren Carlos A. SevillaWhere do we come from? Can a believing Christian accept evolutionary theory? What about? Intelligent Design? Are devout believers naïve and ill-equipped to take on current scientific debates? Can faith and science be reconciled? What does the Catholic Church teach about science and faith? Book jacket.
God and Football: Faith and Fanaticism in the Southeastern Conference
by Chad GibbsAt the age of 8, Chad Gibbs attended his first Southeastern Conference football game. Since then he has been in a constant battle to not let his love of all things pigskin consume him. As a Christian, Gibbs knows he cannot serve two masters, but at times his faith is overwhelmed by his fanaticism. He is not alone. In 2008 over six million people attended an SEC football game. They spend thousands on season tickets, donate millions to athletic departments, and for three months a year order their entire lives around the schedule of their favorite team. Gibbs and his six million friends do not live in a spiritually void land where such borderline idol worship would normally be accepted. They live in the American South, where according to the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, 84 percent identify themselves as Christians. This apparent contradiction that Gibbs sees in his own life, and in millions of others, has led him to journey to each of the twelve schools to spend time with rabid, Christian fans of various ages and denominations. Through his journey he hopes to learn how others are able to balance their passion for their team with their devotion to God. And if Gibbs learns others are just as messed up as he is, at least he will know he is not alone.
God and Gaia: Science, Religion and Ethics on a Living Planet (Routledge Environmental Humanities)
by Michael S NorthcottGod and Gaia explores the overlap between traditional religious cosmologies and the scientific Gaia theory of James Lovelock. It argues that a Gaian approach to the ecological crisis involves rebalancing human and more-than-human influences on Earth by reviving the ecological agency of local and indigenous human communities, and of nonhuman beings. Present-day human ecological influences on Earth have been growing at pace since the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions, when modern humans adopted a machine cosmology in which humans are the sole intelligent agency. The resultant imbalance between human and Earthly agencies is degrading the species diversity of ecosystems, causing local climate changes, and threatens to destabilise the Earth as a System. Across eight chapters this ambitious text engages with traditional cosmologies from the Indian Vedas and classical Greece to Medieval Christianity, with case material from Southeast Asia, Southern Africa and Great Britain. It discusses concepts such as deep time and ancestral time, the ethics of genetic engineering of foods and viruses, and holistic ecological management. Northcott argues that an ontological turn that honours the differential agency of indigenous humans and other kind, and that draws on sacred traditions, will make it is possible to repair the destabilising impacts of contemporary human activities on the Earth System and its constituent ecosystems. This book will be of considerable interest to students and scholars of the environmental humanities, history, and cultural and religious studies.