Religion Theory

When Matthieu Ricard and Trinh Thuan met at an academic conference in the summer of 1997, they began discussing the many remarkable connections between the teachings of Buddhism and the findings of recent science. That conversation grew into an astonishing correspondence exploring a series of fascinating questions. Did the universe have a beginning? Might our perception of time in fact be an illusion, a phenomenon created in our brains that has no ultimate reality? What is consciousness and how did it evolve?

Colleges, universities, and seminaries do more than just transfer knowledge to students. They sell themselves as "experiences" that transform young people in unique ways. The conservative evangelical Protestant network of higher education has been no different. In Fundamentalist U, Adam Laats shows that these colleges have always been more than just schools; they have been vital intellectual citadels in America's culture wars. These unique institutions have defined what it has meant to be an evangelical and have reshaped the landscape of American higher education.

A master of psychoanalysis and social philosophy explores Zen Buddhism. In 1957, social philosopher and psychoanalyst Erich Fromm invited Daisetz T. Suzuki, the most famous Zen Buddhist master in the Western world, to a seminar at his new home in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Their discussion was one of the highlights of Fromm’s life, and the paper Fromm presented (and later expanded into a book) was a watershed work. Fromm demonstrates his mastery of the philosophy and practice of Zen.

Since the Protestant Reformation and the beginning of the Enlightenment, the world, in the West at least, has become increasingly disenchanted. While this might be taken as evidence of a crisis of belief, Richard Beck argues it's actually a crisis of attention. God hasn't gone anywhere, but we've lost our capacity to see God. The rising tide of disenchantment has profoundly changed our religious imaginations and led to a loss of the holy expectation that we can be interrupted by the sacred and divine. But it doesn't have to be this way.

We humans are prone to failure. We’re experts at muddying, mixing, and messing up our lives. Who among us hasn’t looked up from the bottom of a pit and realized he dug it himself? Who hasn’t fallen so far, messed up so badly that she thought there was no hope? And it’s at these low points that we crave reminders that there’s hope for the broken. No reminder is quite as poignant as a story of second chances. A story of grace in action. Who couldn’t use more stories of grace like this? Second Chances includes tales of second chances for the rebellious and more.

The gritty business of politics is not something we usually associate with the occult. But esoteric beliefs have influenced the destiny of nations since the time of ancient Egypt and China, when decisions of state were based on portents and astrology, to today, when presidents and prime ministers privately consult self-proclaimed seers. Politics and the Occult offers a lively history of this enduring phenomenon. A few of the fascinating topics include the fate of the Knights Templar and the medieval Gnostic Cathars, the occult roots of America and the French Revolution in Freemasonry, Gurdjieff and the swastika, and much more.

The greatest promise ever given to the human race came from the lips of our Redeemer when Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me...I go to prepare a place for you...I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:1-3). Just after his 95th birthday, Mr. Graham proclaimed with resolve, "When I die, tell others that I've gone to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - that's where I am."

In The Case for Grace, Lee offers an accessible explanation of the theology of God's grace, shown through the incredible, dramatic, can't-put-it-down stories of people whose lives were changed by the gift of grace--true accounts of people whose transformation and renewal are so radical that they seem to be best explained as the work of a gracious God.

Deeply researched and a delight to listen to, The Sacred Chain provides clarity in our uncertain times, revealing a bigger picture of our world and our place within it. It is a panorama consistent with the scientific findings about who we are and where we come from that can actually bolster our faith as it engages our curiosity about ourselves, our universe, and the nature of existence itself.

Using plain language and word pictures, Spurgeon shares an earnest word for those who are seeking salvation. It has been written to show clearly how much we all need grace and how much grace is available for our needs. The writer would like to compel us, by his words, to come to Jesus Christ and receive that grace. A classic on a great subject written by one of the greatest preachers who ever lived.

Encountering God’s grace changes lives forever. Let Dr. David Jeremiah show you how the transforming mercy that captured songwriter John Newton and the apostle Paul can awaken within you a fresh experience of the God who loves you fearlessly and pursues you with abandon.

Cold Tangerines is a collection of stories that celebrate the extraordinary moments hidden in our everyday lives. It is about God, and about life, and about the thousands of daily ways in which an awareness of God changes and infuses everything. It is about spiritual life, and about all the things that we have called nonspiritual life that might be spiritual after all.

The highest-ranking Soviet bloc intelligence official ever to defect to the West, Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa is at it again. A quarter century ago, in his international bestseller Red Horizons, Pacepa exposed the massive crimes and corruption of his former boss, Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu, giving the dictator a nervous breakdown and inspiring him to send assassination squads to the U.S. to find his former spy chief and kill him. They failed.

In this award-winning book, Leanne Payne reveals how to overcome the three great barriers that keep us from becoming whole persons: The inability to receive God's forgiveness, the inability to forgive others, and the inability to accept ourselves.

The hope-infused audio of On My Worst Day reveal the redemption you’ve longed for. Discover firsthand how the narrative of your life changes as you dare to believe that your worst days do not define you. With each impactful story, you will be awakened to the undeniable power of the cross that sets you free. Whether for the first time or the first time in a long time, you will encounter the voice of God, who has adored you from the beginning, and you will hear his words to you: You are enough, my child. Surpassingly enough.

What are your earliest childhood memories? Were you afraid of the dark? Can you remember a particularly embarrassing moment? Those memories - along with the words and emotions you use to describe them - hold the key to understanding the person you are today! Drawing on examples from his own life, the lives of celebrities, as well as case studies from his private practice, renowned psychologist Dr. Kevin Leman helps you apply these same techniques to uncover why you are the way you are.

Grace is more story than doctrine. It's more than forgiveness or compassion. It's undeserved by definition, essential to salvation. And it turns out that God's grace—though it's the only thing we stand on and the only thing we should stand for—is the very thing that we consistently distort and hesitate to extend to others. Why is that? To understand the story of grace—what it means and how it's misunderstood, why we need it and how it was given to us—we have to begin at the beginning.

The Radio Right tells the story of the 1960s far right, who were frustrated by what they perceived to be liberal bias in the national media, particularly the media's sycophantic relationship with the John F. Kennedy administration. By the early 1960s, millions of Americans listened each week to conservative broadcasters, the most prominent of which were clergy or lay broadcasters from across the religious spectrum, including Carl McIntire, Billy James Hargis, and Clarence Manion.

In What I Believe, Ramadan attempts to set the record straight, laying out the basic ideas he stands for in clear and accessible prose. He describes the book as a work of clarification, directed at ordinary citizens, politicians, journalists, and others who are curious (or skeptical) about his positions. Aware that that he is dealing with emotional issues, Ramadan tries to get past the barriers of prejudice and misunderstanding to speak directly, from the heart, to his Muslim and non-Muslim readers alike.

Grace or truth…or both? Truth without grace breeds self-righteousness and crushing legalism. Grace without truth breeds deception and moral compromise. Is it possible to embrace both in balance? Jesus did. Randy Alcorn offers a simple yet profound two-point checklist of Christlikeness. “In the end,” says Alcorn, “we don’t need grace or truth. We need grace and truth. And for people to see Jesus in us, they must see both.”