Religious Biographies

This book is for you if your life is a series of shattered dreams. This book is for you if you have no dreams at all. It's for you if you've bought the lie that you'll never amount to anything. That's not true. Your life is big - far bigger than you've imagined. Inside this audiobook lie the keys to recognizing the full potential of your life. You won't necessarily become a millionaire (though you might), but you will attain a life that is rewarding, significant, and more fruitful than you ever thought possible.

This is not your typical Zen book. Brad Warner, a young punk who grew up to be a Zen master, spares no one. This bold new approach to the "Why?" of Zen Buddhism is as strongly grounded in the tradition of Zen as it is utterly revolutionary. Warner's voice is hilarious, and he calls on the wisdom of everyone from punk and pop culture icons to the Buddha himself to make sure his points come through loud and clear.

"Where you staying?" the Bedouin asked. "Why you not stay with me tonight - in my cave?" Thus begins Marguerite van Geldermalsen's story of how a New Zealand-born nurse came to be married to Mohammad Abdallah Othman, a Bedouin souvenir-seller from the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. It was 1978, and she and a friend were travelling through the Middle East when Marguerite met the charismatic Mohammad who convinced her that he was the man for her.

With fascinating insight into the traditions of China's martial arts, it documents the abusive upbringing that turned a four-old child into a hardened, professional killer. From China to Europe and across the Mediterranean, we follow Tony as he becomes an elite bodyguard, protecting some of the world's most powerful people. Following personal tragedy, Tony's extreme discipline and the philosophy of his art is quickly turned. He begins to use his skills for illegal means and highly destructive, bloodthirsty pleasure.

When Hitler's Pope, the shocking story of Pope Pius XII that "redefined the history of the twentieth century" (The Washington Post) was originally published, it sparked a firestorm of controversy both inside and outside the Catholic Church. Now, award-winning journalist John Cornwell has revisited this seminal work of history with a new introduction that both answers his critics and reaffirms his overall thesis that Pius XII, now scheduled to be canonized by the Vatican, weakened the Catholic Church with his endorsement of Hitler—and sealed the fate of the Jews in Europe.

In this honest appraisal of his journey from believer to atheist, the author carefully explains the experiences and the reasoning process that led him to reject religious belief. The original edition of this book was published in 2006 and reissued in 2008. Since that time, Loftus has received a good deal of critical feedback from Christians and skeptics alike. In this revised and expanded edition, the author addresses criticisms of the original, adds new argumentation and references, and refines his presentation.

Any work about the mercurial Aleister Crowley is better off being labeled a “story” than a “biography” thanks to the impossibility of being sure that anything one reads about him is true. The basic recorded facts, including birth date, educational records, and published works, are reliable indicators that can be likened to stars guiding a lost desert traveler if the sky is clear. For the rest, one is wandering in the wilderness.

Autobiography of a Yogi is at once a beautifully written account of an exceptional life and a profound introduction to the ancient science of yoga and its time-honored tradition of meditation. The author clearly explains the subtle but definite laws behind both the ordinary events of everyday life and the extraordinary events commonly termed miracles. His absorbing life story thus becomes the background for a penetrating and unforgettable look at the ultimate mysteries of human existence.

Over the last few decades, many dark secrets have been pouring out of Christian communities around the world. Most of them focus on some form of misuse of trust or abuse at the hands of church leaders. For centuries religious leaders have “circled the wagons” in an attempt to preserve the money-making institutions they lead. The result has been a continual cycle of abuse and the disillusioned leaving the institutional church world in droves. From 1982-1989, author Bob Scott founded and pastored the Kansas City Fellowship with his friend and then brother-in-law Mike Bickle.

Mary Baker Eddy: Christian Healer is the first book-length biography of Mary Baker Eddy that specifically focuses on all of Eddy’s more than 300 known healings. The book details Eddy’s Puritan upbringing, discovery of Christian Science, healing and teaching, founding of a global religious movement, and more. Ideal for both the casual listener and scholar, this amplified edition includes all of Eddy’s documented healings, a helpful “Prelude,” and an “Appendix” containing Eddy’s advice to students on how to heal more quickly and effectively.

For decades, Kathie Lee has had deep conversations about her faith with anyone who is interested in talking about it. What she discovered early on is most people are very willing to talk about Jesus: atheists, agnostics, Scientologists, Jews, broken-hearted Catholics, confused Baptists, Pentecostals, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Hindus alike. While some of the people Kathie Lee has spoken with do not share her belief that Jesus is the Messiah - as prophesied for centuries by prophets in the Hebrew scriptures - they nonetheless have a universal fascination with him.

Author David Bennett came out to his parents as gay when he was 14 and entered Sydney's active gay community a few years later. In A War of Loves, he shares his growing desire as a gay rights activist to see justice for LGBTQI people, his journey through new age religions and French existentialism, and his university years as a postmodernist - before Jesus Christ showed up in his life in a highly unexpected way, leading him down a path he never would have imagined or predicted.

The first definitive biography of Moses Maimonides, one of the most influential intellects in all of human history, illuminates his life as a philosopher, physician, and lawgiver. Recalling such bestsellers as David McCullough's John Adams and Walter Isaacson's Einstein, Maimonides is a biography on a grand scale, brilliantly explicating one man's life against the background of his time.

Quel était donc le secret de Marthe Robin, cette petite paysanne qui, malade, paralysée, vivant loin de la célébrité dans une discrétion absolue pendant 60 ans, a reçu plus de 100 000 personnes...

As a fourteen-year-old intent on living a “modern” life, the last thing Isobel Kuhn wanted to grow up to be was a missionary. But as it turned out, this young agnostic’s life was redirected―from crisis and doubt to hope and strength. Convinced that God wanted her to preach the gospel as a China Inland missionary, Isobel bravely served among the Lisu people in remote mountainous regions of China and Thailand. After twenty years of ministry Isobel returned to the United States, writing stirring stories of faith and inspiring generations of people

Ireland's patron saint has long been shrouded in legend: he drove the snakes out of Ireland; he triumphed over Druids and their super-natural powers; he used a shamrock to explain the Christian mystery of the Trinity. But his true story is more fascinating than the myths.

When she arrived at a clinic, usually five hundred, sometimes a thousand people were there to greet her. Helen's reputation as the unstoppable Mama Luka had gone before her—she could do more to heal a sick child or baby than all the witch doctors in the area combined. This was the work God had called her to pioneer, and that belief encouraged her.

A former top insider reveals the nightmare world of violence and abuse at the highest levels of the Church of Scientology. One review states: "At home alone, a 14 year old girl takes a phone call from Scientology. This starts a quarter of a century journey of manipulation, betrayal and sexual, physical and mental abuse. This journey leads to the highest management echelon and one woman's courage to break free. A real page-turner." Mark P. Another writes: "Amy Scobee has written a book unlike any other expose of Scientology.

Marcantonio Colonna's The Dictator Pope has rocked Rome and the entire Catholic Church with its portrait of an authoritarian, manipulative, and politically partisan pontiff. Occupying a privileged perch in Rome during the tumultuous first years of Francis' pontificate, Colonna was privy to the shock, dismay, and even panic that the reckless new pope engendered in the Church's most loyal and judicious leaders.

In March 2015, millions worldwide were captivated by news reports of the dramatic rescue of an 18-month-old girl, Lily Groesbeck, who'd somehow survived 14 hours in an overturned car partially submerged in an icy-cold Utah river after her mother apparently lost control of the vehicle. A voice the four responding officers assumed was the child's mother still trapped inside spurred them on: "Help me, help me." Yet once the two victims were recovered, it was clear that the voice could not have come from Lily's mother: She'd been killed on impact.