Religion

Catalogues nearly three thousand demons in the mythologies and lore of virtually every ancient society and most religions. Also included are descriptions of the demonic and diabolical members making up the hierarchy of Hell and the numerous species of demons that, according to various folklores, mythologies, and religions, populate the earth and plague mankind.

As a man who loves the word of God, Alec Motyer presents these daily devotionals from Isaiah. For him, daily devotion is not a mere habit but a real desire to be transformed by the challenging word of Isaiah. These devotionals reassure us that the Lord can restore what sin has robbed us of. These daily devotionals are birthed from a lifetime of study on the prophecy of Isaiah. Day by day you will be provided with passages from Isaiah and an opportunity to explore the passage further. Take time to acquaint yourself with these passages from God's Word and treasure them in your heart.

In order to penetrate Tibet and reach Lhasa, Madame Alexandra David-Neel used her fluency of Tibetan dialects and culture, and inked skin and tackled some of the roughest terrain and climate in the World. This title presntes her intensive study and daring adventure in mysterious territories of the East.

The Sacred History is an account of the workings of the supernatural in history. It tells the epic story of angels, from Creation, to Evolution through to the operations of the supernatural in the modern world.

Many books have been published in recent years on happiness. Ezra Bayda, a remarkably down-to-earth Zen teacher, believes that the happiness "boom" has been largely a bust for readers. Why? Because it's precisely the pursuit of happiness that keeps us trapped in cycles of dissatisfaction and suffering. In Beyond Happiness, Bayda draws on Zen teachings to question our conventional notions about what happiness is and where we can find it. Most of us seek happiness in things that are external to us. We imagine that getting more money, a better relationship, or going on a nice vacation will finally make us happy. But Bayda shows us that the deepest and most lasting form of happiness does not rely on external circumstance at all. Bayda offers Zen insights and practices that point readers toward the true sources of lasting happiness: mindfulness, compassion, gratitude, and generosity.

Daniel C. Matt is a leading authority on Jewish mysticism. For twenty years, he served as Professor at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He has also taught at Stanford University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Matt is the author of The Essential Kabbalah (1995); God and the Big Bang (1996); and Zohar: Annotated and Explained (2002). He is also the translator of the first five volumes of The Zohar: Pritzker Edition.

The world is changing, and preaching needs to do the same. With that change, the notion of truth need not be surrendered in a postmodern age, but it must be approached differently. David Lose argues that preaching is a confession made openly for the hearers to embrace and engage in the midst of the real lived world they experience.

A Consideration from an Anthroposophical Point of ViewThe reflections in this book by Peter Selg and Sergei Prokofieff on the soul-spiritual, ethical, and medical-therapeutic issues surrounding physician-assisted suicide (and suicide as such) will provoke one's thought, feeling, and volition. Its inspiration arises from both Rudolf Steiner and the Hippocratic Oath.Peter Selg begins by showing how Rudolf Steiner views the principle of life as immanent spirit and the living medium of the "I," or individuality and as inviolable and wise beyond our understanding. It is the sacred task of healing always to attend to, honor, and serve life in this sense--to affirm, enhance, and strengthen the life forces of the sick. As Rudolf Steiner puts it, "The will to heal must always function as therapeutically as possible...even when one thinks that the sick person is incurable." These words were spoken before the full consummation of materialist, technologically enhanced medicine, but Rudolf Steiner, as Peter Selg shows, was well aware of the dangers related to the direction of modern medicine.Sergei Prokofieff links the initiatory origins of Hippocratic medicine in the Mysteries with the return of the Mystery origin of medicine and healing in Anthroposophic medicine. Turning to Steiner's spiritual research, he considers suicide to be an "illness" of our time and examines the spiritual consequences of suicide for the after-death experiences of those who have taken their own lives--specifically, that suicide results in the soul's profound disorientation. He goes on to show how suicide makes the after-death experience of Christ infinitely more difficult, as it does the "resurrection of the spirit" and the relation to the spiritual world. Far from being a "free" act, Prokofieff concludes, suicide is quite the opposite.Anyone seeking insight into suicide will find in this book a profound and esoteric introduction to this controversial problem.

Building on the foundation she established with her ground-breaking book, The Critical Years, Parks invites us to take up responsibility for providing thoughtful mentorship and mentoring environments during the wilderness years of young adulthood.

As well as vividly exploring the tales, the author brings her expertise in the archaeology of the Iron Age and particularly shamanism to bear on the mythical worlds she describes, with evidence as diverse as the Gundestrup Cauldron and the famous bog bodies. She also asks how the myths survived the Christianization of Europe.

When writer Lorilee Craker learned that the Amish are not just surviving but thriving in the economic downturn, she decided to find out why. What she found was about a dozen tried and true financial habits the Amish have employed for generations that will make your cash last longer and help you build wealth.

Book One of the Apprentice Series, a course in spiritual transformation.

Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?Yale University religion scholar Miroslav Volf?widely known for the much-publicized course on faith and globalization he coteaches with Tony Blair?places this question at the root of the twenty-first century's most sensitive, and critical, geopolitical concerns. Volf reveals how the prevalent belief that these traditions worship different gods is directly linked to increased hostility and violence around the globe. Theological wars fuel real wars.

Christianity is the only world religion with a chronic shortage of men. David Murrow identifies the barriers to male participation, and explains why it's so hard to motivate the men who do go to church. Then, he takes you inside several fast-growing congregations that are winning the hearts of men and boys.

DeYoung and Gilbert help us think carefully about what the church is sent into the world to do. Looking at the Bible's teaching, they explore the what, why, and how of the church's mission for today.

Shares the author's approach to change and loss, dealing with difficult emotions such as fear, grief, and anger, and the role of crisis in uncovering our authentic selves. This title provides our most important opportunity for learning about ourselves and the nature of reality.

The great depth and diversity of Taoist spirituality is introduced in a single, accessible manual Millions of readers have come to the philosophy of Taoism thanks to the classics Tao Te Ching and the I Ching, or through the practices of t'ai chi and feng-shui, but the Tao is less known for its unique traditions of meditation, physical training, magical practice and internal alchemy. Eva Wong, a leading Taoist practitioner and translator, provides a solid introduction to the Way. All of Taoism's most important texts, figures, and events are covered, as well as its extraordinarily rich history and remarkable variety of practice. Sections include: · The History of Taoism traces the development of the tradition from the shamans of prehistoric China through the classical period (including the teachings of the famous sage Lao-tzu), the beginnings of Taoism as a religion, the rise of mystical and alchemical Taoism, and the synthesis of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. · Systems of Taoism explores magical sects, divination practices, devotional ceremonies, internal alchemy, and the way of right action. · Taoist Practices discusses meditation, techniques of cultivating the body, and rites of purification, ceremony, and talismanic magic. This roadmap to the spiritual landscape of Taoism not only introduces the important events in the history of Taoism, the sages who wrote the Taoist texts, and the various schools of Taoist thinking, but also gives readers a feel for what it means to practice Taoism today. A comprehensive bibliography for further study completes this valuable reference work.

'Ken Carey is one of the greatest living teachers... Read him, and you'll have hope.'MARIANNE WILLIAMSONExploring the transformative impact of Native American spirituality on contemporary events, this is the third book in Ken Carey's be

* Whether it's Islamic terrorists in the Middle East or the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, why does religion too often lead to lethal results? This book will give readers not just a picture of the problems but a vision of a hopeful way forward.

Presents a theological, biblical, and scientific case for the necessity of belief in the historical Adam and original sin in response to recent contemporary challenges.

In this third edition of Mark as Story, Rhoads, Dewey, and Michie take their treatment of the Gospel of Mark to new levels. While retaining their clear and thorough analysis of Mark as a narrative, they now place their study of Mark in the context of orality. The new preface explains the role of Mark in a predominantly oral culture. Throughout the study, they refer to the author as composer, the narrator as performer, the Gospel as oral composition, and the audience as gathered communities. The conclusion hypothesizes a performance scenario of Mark in Palestine shortly after the Roman-Judean War of 66 to 70 CE.The new edition also highlights the dimensions of Mark that stand in contrast to imperial worldviews and values. The authors argue that the performance of Mark itself was a means to draw audiences into a non-imperial world based on mutual service rather than hierarchical domination. In so doing, they shift the Gospels center of gravity from the end of the story to the beginning, configuring it not as "a passion narrative with an extended introduction" but as "the arrival of the rule of God with an extended denouement."Performing Mark: The appendices for students at the end of the book that offer exercises to interpret the narrative of Mark now also include "Exercises for Learning and Telling Episodes" from the Gospel of Mark by heart as part of the learning process.

What will you do when the unthinkable happens in your life? Her parents called her Lenya Lion because of her ferocious personality and hair that had been wild and mane-like since birth. But they never expected that, five days before Christmas, their five-year-old daughter would suddenly go to heaven

Prana and Pranayama, by Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati, is a comprehensive book on the philosophy of prana the life force, and pranayama the expansion and control of the life force.This book offers a complete explanation of the science of pranayama as presented in the classical texts and as taught in the Satyananda Yoga Tradition by Bihar School of Yoga. The book explores the theory of prana and its related yogic concepts such as koshas, chakras, nadis and mantras. It also discusses respiratory physiology and current research undertaken on pranayama. The book also has a practical section, which contains particular guidelines for practicing pranayama, explained through instructions and illustrations. Throughout the book, biblical sources enhance the reader''s understanding, bringing to light the unique spirit and intent of these classical teachings.

The harrowing account of five women who were confined in Magdalene Laundries in Ireland.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones' preaching always had an emphasis on the desperate plight of man and the power of God to save. His preaching was crystal clear on the sovereignty of God in the salvation of sinners, a concept that does not sit comfortably in our day of pragmatism, programmes and self-help books. Nevertheless it remains at the core of what the world needs to hear. Based on Romans chapter 1, this wonderful book will help you understand what the gospel is. As we live in a world that seems to be spiralling out of control, you will want to hear this message again and again.

We all face death, but how many of us are actually ready for it? Whether our own death or that of a loved one comes first, how prepared are we, spiritually or practically? In Preparing to Die, Andrew Holecek presents a wide array of resources to help the reader address this unfinished business. Part One shows how to prepare one''s mind and how to help others, before, during, and after death. The author explains how spiritual preparation for death can completely transform our relationship to the end of life, dissolving our fear and helping us to feel open and receptive to letting go in the dying process. Daily meditation practices, the stages of dying and how to work with them, and after-death experiences are all detailed in ways that will be particularly helpful for those with an interest in Tibetan Buddhism and in Tibetan approaches to conscious dying. Part Two addresses the practical issues that surround death. Experts in grief, hospice, the funeral business, and the medical and legal issues of death contribute chapters to prepare the reader for every practical concern, including advance directives, green funerals, the signs of death, warnings about the funeral industry, the stages of grief, and practical care for the dying. Part Three contains heart-advice from twenty of the best-known Tibetan Buddhist masters now teaching in the West. These brief interviews provide words of solace and wisdom to guide the dying and their caregivers during this challenging time. Preparing to Die is for anyone interested in learning how to prepare for death from a Buddhist perspective, both spiritually and practically. It is also for those who want to learn how to help someone else who is dying, both during the time of illness and death as well as after death.

The Shakers sought to create a heaven on earth through a combination of worship, diligent work, and their handicrafts. This book showcases the furniture, textiles, tools and machinery of the Shakers. It was known to the world in twentieth century.

Ideal for use as a pew Bible, this revised and updated 2011 NIV Bible is a great value hardback edition.

This Catholic commentary on Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon presents sound exegesis and reflections on the text's pastoral, theological, and practical applications.