Ancient Religion

An Orthodox priest with a doctorate in counseling, Fr. Meletios Webber helps us to understand addiction and explores ways to overcome it. He clearly and skillfully explains the 12 steps of the fellowship of alcoholics anonymous. In correlating the 12 steps with basic Orthodox theology, Fr. Mel identifies the implication of the 12 steps for Orthodox, and for all Christians. Using examples from the life of the Orthodox Church, he shows how the steps can be a valuable resource for our own spiritual journey.

The very popular prayer book for Orthodox youth Hear Me has now been revised to include more prayers, answer more questions, and tackle additional difficult subject matter with which our young people are constantly faced. The mission of Hear Me remains the same: to inspire young people to pray, to challenge Orthodox high schoolers and young adults in their walk with Christ, to offer encouragement, help answer questions, give direction, and ultimately be an added guide in finding one’s own path toward theosis.

In 2010, Nick Polizzi did something unimaginable. He assembled a group of eight desperately ill patients from around the world and brought them into the heart of the Amazon rain forest to put the mysterious medicines of native shamans to the test. The healing journey that unfolded would change their lives - and his own - forever. In The Sacred Science, we join Nick as he explores these primordial traditions and learns firsthand what it takes to truly heal ourselves of physical disease, emotional trauma, and the sense of "lostness" that so many of us feel in these modern times.

How did human societies scale up from small, tight-knit groups of hunter-gatherers to the large, anonymous, cooperative societies of today - even though anonymity is the enemy of cooperation? How did organized religions with "Big Gods" - the great monotheistic and polytheistic faiths - spread to colonize most minds in the world? In Big Gods, Ara Norenzayan makes the surprising and provocative argument that these fundamental puzzles about the origins of civilization are one and the same, and answer each other.

What if you could approach every part of your life - from the smallest decisions to life's biggest setbacks - with total confidence, clarity, and control? According to Sakyong Mipham, we all have that power. The secret is simple: If you just stop thinking about yourself all the time, happiness and confidence will come naturally. It sounds absurd and, what's more, impossible. But in Ruling Your World, Sakyong Mipham shares ancient secrets on how to take control of our lives and be successful while cultivating compassion for others and confidence in our own intelligence and goodness.

From Catholic schoolgirl to punk rocker to emergent church planter, Angela Doll Carlson traveled a spiritual path that in many ways mirrors that of a whole generation. She takes us with her on a deep and revealing exploration of the forces that drove her toward Orthodoxy and the challenges that long kept her from fully entering in.

Until his death in 4 BCE, Herod the Great's monarchy included territories that once made up the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. Although he ruled over a rich, strategically crucial land, his royal title did not derive from heredity. His family came from the people of Idumea, ancient antagonists of the Israelites.

Every monastery exudes the scent of holiness, but women's monasteries have their own special flavor. Join Constantina Palmer as she makes frequent pilgrimages to a women's monastery in Greece and absorbs the nuns' particular approach to their spiritual life. If you're a woman who's read of Mount Athos and longed to partake of its grace-filled atmosphere, this book is for you. Men who wish to understand how women's spirituality differs from their own will find it a fascinating listen as well.

The son of a Jewish father and Baptist mother, Paul Wilbur grew up attending synagogue. In college, he was transformed by a Baptist minister's teaching about a rabbi, Jesus, who fulfilled the promise of the Torah. As he grew in his relationship with Jesus, Wilbur was reintroduced to the God of the Old Testament and began exploring his Jewish heritage. Along the way, he discovered the power of Jewish worship traditions - the weekly Shabbat, with the power of Holy Communion and dedication to family, along with other high holy traditions and feast days.

People need stories to make sense of the world - to hold their lives together, and to fasten on to those values that last. The greatest stories are found in the Bible, enduring through the centuries. In Genesis, acclaimed television journalist Bill Moyers brings together some of the world's liveliest minds for spirited round-table discussions of the ageless stories from the Bible's first, towering book.

St. Paul is known throughout the world as the first Christian writer, authoring fourteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament. But as Karen Armstrong demonstrates in St. Paul: The Apostle We Love to Hate, he also exerted a more significant influence on the spread of Christianity throughout the world than any other figure in history.

The holy grail. The Knights Templar. The Gnostics and ancient mysteries of Greece. Discover the connection between them all with this phenomenal book written by 32nd-degree Freemason and celebrated author John Michael Greer. This book is a must-listen for seekers of the holy grail and those who want to learn about the inner workings of occult Freemasonry.

Mount Athos: The History of the Greek Mountain and the Center of Eastern Orthodox Monasticism looks at the unique region and what life has been like there since medieval times. You will learn about Mount Athos like never before.

The ancient Israelites emerged from Mount Sinai onto the hilly plains of Canaan and established a civilization that endured for hundreds of years. Even when the Israelites fell to incursions from foreign invaders and were subjected to torture and exile, they held fast to their belief system. They emerged from the Babylonian captivity as the people of Yehud. With the aid of Cyrus the Great and the Achaemenid Empire, they rebuilt their sacred temple and got back on their feet.

How we care for and nurture our bodies has implications for all areas of our development - physical, emotional, and even spiritual. The body is a living and organic revelation of the unseen spirit inside a kind of garden....

Beyond Virtue Ethics offers a distinctive approach to virtue ethics, arguing not simply for the importance of "struggle" to virtue ethics, but that "struggle" itself is a manifestation of virtue. In doing this, Stephen M. Meawad offers a way of thinking about virtue not simply as a perfected state, but as a state that is to a greater or lesser degree a manifestation of the ideal itself, which is not attainable.

Explore the interwoven lives of King Herod and Mary, Mother of Jesus as New York Times bestselling author Kathie Lee Gifford brings these biblical figures into a new light. Follow Herod from boyhood as he strives and fails throughout his life to become a beloved king. Walk in the steps of Mary of Nazareth as she navigates the repercussions of Herod's deadly obsession.

The Copper Scroll Project tells the story of an Oklahoma arson investigator, Jim Barfield, who sets off on a decade-long quest to uncover Qumran’s secrets - the lost treasures of the Jerusalem temple - and show the world that the Dead Sea Scrolls were merely the tip of the archaeological iceberg. Could its secrets hold the keys to one of the greatest treasures in Israel’s history?

The monsters of ancient mythology, folklore, and more contemporary urban legend have long captured the popular imagination. While most people in America today relegate monsters to just that - our imaginations - we continue to be fascinated by the unknown. Linda Godfrey is one of the country's leading authorities on modern-day monsters and has interviewed countless eyewitnesses to strange phenomena.

Krishna - the name itself is somehow transcendental and evokes a certain distant familiarity and evocative longing. In fact, it is said the name of Krishna is not different from himself. The ancient Vedic scriptures also confirm that Krishna, as the supreme personality of Godhead, is, therefore, present in the sound vibration of his holy name.