Religious Biographies

In this biography of a key figure in Korean Church history, Rev. Sang-Dong Han (the founder of the Korean Presbyterian Church in Korea, Koshin, denomination), Rev. Koon Sik Shim, a personal friend of Rev. Sang-Dong Han and person who also experienced various stages of Korean history as "a living witness", recounts the life and work of Rev. Sang-Dong Han. This book is a "must have" for all those who are interested in Korean history and learning how it relates to American and world church history.

American Phoenix tells the gripping story of John Quincy Adams’s “honorable exile” during the War of 1812 and the harrowing journey of his wife, Louisa, to be reunited with her family.

For centuries, Augustine's writings have moved and fascinated readers. With the keen eye of a writer whose own intellectual analysis won him a Pulitzer Prize, Gary Wills examines this famed fourth-century bishop and seminal thinker whose grounding in classical philosophy informed his interpretation of Christian doctrine. Saint Augustine explores Augustine's thought as well as the everyday man who set pen to parchment. It challenges many misconceptions.

When the great preacher Jonathan Edwards wanted to describe what authentic revival looks like, he looked to his wife Sarah. A transformative experience empowered her to delight and trust in God, even through the darkest of times. She could testify: “I felt such a disposition to rejoice in God, that I wished to have the world join me in praising him.” Sharon James gives an engaging account of Sarah’s life, and includes Sarah’s full first-hand account of her formative revival experience.

This is a testimonial to the true witness of God's love and forgiveness as you follow Karen's journey. Karen starts her life with innocent dreams that only become shattered when she wanted nothing more than to find the love of her life and God's will. Karen experiences true heartbreak, sadness, and an intense fight for her mental and spiritual survival as she meets and discards the men in her life. The overpowering male relationships make her question herself over and over as she battles herself, God, and if she is "good enough" for His love and forgiveness.

Throughout the Bible, God has worked through ordinary people and things to accomplish His plans. His tactics haven't changed, and we can see the results in the lives of Jim and Linda Meyer. Walk with them and witness how God still answers these questions the same way He answered the people in Biblical times. While they are the two main characters in this book, they aren't the star of this story– God is.

A brilliant schoolboy in 17th-century Amsterdam, Bento Spinoza⏤formally Baruch and later Benedict de Spinoza⏤quickly learns to keep his ideas to himself. When he is 23, those ideas prove so scandalous to his own Jewish community that he is cast out, cursed, and effectively erased from their communal life. The scandal shows no sign of waning as his ideas spread throughout Europe. At the center of the storm, he lives the simplest of lives, quietly devoted to his work as a lens grinder and to his steadfast search for truth, striving to embody a philosophy of tolerance and benevolence.

Paramhansa Yogananda’s classic Autobiography of a Yogi was more about the saints Yogananda met than about himself - in spite of the fact that Yogananda was much greater than many he described. Now, one of Yogananda’s few remaining direct disciples, Swami Kriyananda, author of award winning book The New Path, tells the untold story of this great spiritual master and world teacher.

“A really excellent introduction to an amazing female saint from the fourth century. Simonetta Carr gives a very personal feel for Macrina, as well as being theologically and historically rich!” JOHN BEHR, Regius Chair of Humanity, University of Aberdeen; and author of numerous works on patristics

At the age of 8, Urmi was married and divorced. Her mother had her married behind her father's back, who immediately made sure she got divorced. Urmi was taught by her loving father how to be a devout follower of Islam. Her mother, on the other hand, was much less interested in religion but wanted her to marry well. Urmi loved her father, wanted to please him, and agreed that following Allah was most important. But at the age of 17, her mother again had her way.

At 538 pounds, Rick Salewske lived a small life that consisted of his job, his house, and his car—and he was very close to no longer fitting into his car. His stomach rubbing on the steering wheel had already worn a threadbare line across his pants. Often ridiculed by total strangers, he felt humiliated and very much alone. Rick had been raised in a traditional Catholic family, but his relationship with God was more of a distant, respectful belief than an up-close and personal experience.

Derrick Kitayiga’s woke up one morning from what he now sees as a God-sent dream. But a dream of moving from Kampala, Uganda, to the West is one thing; seeing it come to pass is quite another. In I Dreamed of Skyscrapers, Kitayiga paints a vivid picture of the transformative and hope-filled power of faith. The author navigates through many obstacles—betrayal, grief, theft of his savings, and lack of support he could count on, and yet he persevered.

Now abridged and adapted in student-friendly language, Bonhoeffer, Student Edition, tells the story of one of Christianity's most courageous heroes. The student edition will share Bonhoeffer's inspirational testimony with children in a compelling and relatable way. Young listeners will enjoy learning about the fascinating life of the man who had the courage to follow his convictions into Nazi Germany and stand up for others because of his radical faith.

يعد هذا الكتاب من أعظم الكتب التي تناولت السيرة النبيلة لواحدة من أهم نساء التاريخ العربي القديم؛ إنها أُم الشهداء (فاطمة الزهراء) ابنة النبي "محمد" من السيدة "خديجة " وذلك باعتبارها مصدرًا من مصادر القوة التاريخية التي تتابعت آثارها في دعوات الخلافة في صدر الإسلام إلى الزمن الأخير.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer died a martyr’s death at the age of 39 but remains one of the most influential and challenging theologians of our time. His writings teach us the value of cross-centered theology, and his courageous actions against the Nazi regime compel us to consider the cost of discipleship. From Bonhoeffer, we learn that the Christian life is lived both alone and together, and that there is a stark difference between cheap and costly grace.

Francisco de Asís muere en octubre de 1226 y es canonizado casi de inmediato: en 1228. Esta celeridad inusual en un proceso que suele llevar mucho más tiempo, muestra a las claras su singularidad y su relevancia. Desde entonces hasta hoy ocupa un lugar impar en el santoral católico. Según la leyenda, fue un joven puro, de escasa cultura, un alma clara y bendecida. Admirado y de enorme predicamento en su época. Sin mácula, salvo por un detalle: una imagen muy estereotipada, un relato demasiado ajustado y perfecto.La realidad es distinta, es más rica, más polémica, más vital.

P. Alois Grimm SJ war Lehrer und Erzieher an der Stella Matutina in Feldkirch/Vorarlberg und am Kolleg St. Blasien im Schwarzwald. Im Unterricht und in seinen Predigten verteidigte er das chistliche Weltbild gegen die völkische Ideologie des Nationalsozialismus und geriet so bald in Konflikt mit der Geheimen Staatspolizei. Da diese keine Handhabe gegen ihn hatte, setzte sie einen Spitzel auf ihn an, der unter dem Vorwand, zum Katholizismus konvertieren zu wollen, ihn aushorchte und in Gespräche über die politische Lage verwickelte.

"Onde bateu a luz" apresenta uma narrativa autobiográfica peculiar de Philip Yancey, reconhecidamente um dos maiores escritores cristãos da atualidade. Seu ambiente é uma América do pós-guerra em ebulição, em que o fundamentalismo religioso e o movimento dos direitos civis colidem. Nesse contexto convulsionado, a perda prematura do pai mergulha a família em uma crise sem precedentes.

In Ley Lines of Love, Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle shares wisdom gained from a lifetime of spiritual seeking and devoted practice. A dedicated practitioner of Buddhism, she shares many remarkable stories about her inner journey, including the joys of learning from enlightened teachers. She also recounts how her years of involvement with a devotional tradition from India ended in an archetypal story of disillusionment.

Joseph McCabe was a remarkably courageous thinker and writer, who was not shy from pointing out the numerous errors he found in the monastic lifestyle which he eventually felt distracted human beings away from an unvarnished and more honest approach to understanding the cosmos around us and how to live within in it. The problem with Roman Catholicism, as Joseph McCabe will illustrate throughout his text, is that it is too concerned with its own survival as a worldwide organization and less as school for open and unabashed inquiry.