Download or read book The Benefits of Belief written by Julián Melgosa and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When was the last time you went looking for a miracle cure or the Fountain of Youth hoping for something to diminish the signs of living on this sinful earth a little too long? Over the past two decades much research has been done on the effects of the religious life on our emotional, mental, and physical health. The documented results are astounding. Did you know that a regular prayer life, an attitude of gratitude and joy, or a spirit of forgiveness can dramatically impact your overall health? Even church attendance and Scripture reading are intimately connected to health, happiness, and longevity. In Benefits of Belief, Dr. Julian Melgosa uses research and personal stories to reveal the amazing benefits everyone can obtain from following the Lord s ways and living the Christian life. Jesus promises that anyone who follows Him will receive a hundredfold now (Mark 10:30). Dr. Melgosa believes it is reasonable to think that these blessings are not exclusively material, but are also related to the exercise of wisdom, resilience, and endurance that ultimately translate into good health, happiness, and well-being.

Download or read book Literature of Belief written by Neal E. Lambert and published by Bookcraft, Incorporated. This book was released on 1981 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Meaning of Belief written by Tim Crane and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2017-10-30 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[A] lucid and thoughtful book... In a spirit of reconciliation, Crane proposes to paint a more accurate picture of religion for his fellow unbelievers.” —James Ryerson, New York Times Book Review Contemporary debate about religion seems to be going nowhere. Atheists persist with their arguments, many plausible and some unanswerable, but these make no impact on religious believers. Defenders of religion find atheists equally unwilling to cede ground. The Meaning of Belief offers a way out of this stalemate. An atheist himself, Tim Crane writes that there is a fundamental flaw with most atheists’ basic approach: religion is not what they think it is. Atheists tend to treat religion as a kind of primitive cosmology, as the sort of explanation of the universe that science offers. They conclude that religious believers are irrational, superstitious, and bigoted. But this view of religion is almost entirely inaccurate. Crane offers an alternative account based on two ideas. The first is the idea of a religious impulse: the sense people have of something transcending the world of ordinary experience, even if it cannot be explicitly articulated. The second is the idea of identification: the fact that religion involves belonging to a specific social group and participating in practices that reinforce the bonds of belonging. Once these ideas are properly understood, the inadequacy of atheists’ conventional conception of religion emerges. The Meaning of Belief does not assess the truth or falsehood of religion. Rather, it looks at the meaning of religious belief and offers a way of understanding it that both makes sense of current debate and also suggests what more intellectually responsible and practically effective attitudes atheists might take to the phenomenon of religion.

Download or read book The Universal Christ written by Richard Rohr and published by Convergent Books. This book was released on 2019-03-05 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From one of the world’s most influential spiritual thinkers, a long-awaited book exploring what it means that Jesus was called “Christ,” and how this forgotten truth can restore hope and meaning to our lives. “Anyone who strives to put their faith into action will find encouragement and inspiration in the pages of this book.”—Melinda Gates In his decades as a globally recognized teacher, Richard Rohr has helped millions realize what is at stake in matters of faith and spirituality. Yet Rohr has never written on the most perennially talked about topic in Christianity: Jesus. Most know who Jesus was, but who was Christ? Is the word simply Jesus’s last name? Too often, Rohr writes, our understandings have been limited by culture, religious debate, and the human tendency to put ourselves at the center. Drawing on scripture, history, and spiritual practice, Rohr articulates a transformative view of Jesus Christ as a portrait of God’s constant, unfolding work in the world. “God loves things by becoming them,” he writes, and Jesus’s life was meant to declare that humanity has never been separate from God—except by its own negative choice. When we recover this fundamental truth, faith becomes less about proving Jesus was God, and more about learning to recognize the Creator’s presence all around us, and in everyone we meet. Thought-provoking, practical, and full of deep hope and vision, The Universal Christ is a landmark book from one of our most beloved spiritual writers, and an invitation to contemplate how God liberates and loves all that is.

Download or read book Formations of Belief written by Philip Nord and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019-09-17 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For decades, scholars and public intellectuals have been predicting the demise of religion in the face of secularization. Yet religion is undergoing an unprecedented resurgence in modern life—and secularization no longer appears so inevitable. Formations of Belief brings together many of today's leading historians to shed critical light on secularism's origins, its present crisis, and whether it is as antithetical to religion as it is so often made out to be. Formations of Belief offers a more nuanced understanding of the origins of secularist thought, demonstrating how Reformed Christianity and the Enlightenment were not the sole vessels of a worldview based on rationalism and individual autonomy. Taking readers from late antiquity to the contemporary era, the contributors show how secularism itself can be a form of belief and yet how its crisis today has been brought on by its apparent incapacity to satisfy people's spiritual needs. They explore the rise of the humanistic study of religion in Europe, Jewish messianism, atheism and last rites in the Soviet Union, the cult of the saints in colonial Mexico, religious minorities and Islamic identity in Pakistan, the neuroscience of religion, and more. Based on the Shelby Cullom Davis Center Seminars at Princeton University, this incisive book features illuminating essays by Peter Brown, Yaacob Dweck, Peter E. Gordon, Anthony Grafton, Brad S. Gregory, Stefania Pastore, Caterina Pizzigoni, Victoria Smolkin, Max Weiss, and Muhammad Qasim Zaman.

Download or read book Is Belief in God Good Bad Or Irrelevant written by Preston Jones and published by ReadHowYouWant. This book was released on 2012-02 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Greg Graffin is frontman, singer and songwriter for the punk band Bad Religion. He also happens to have a Ph.D. in zoology and wrote his dissertation on evolution, atheism and naturalism. Preston Jones is a history professor at a Christian college and a fan of Bad Religion's music. One day, on a whim, Preston sent Greg an appreciative e - mail. That was the start of an extraordinary correspondence. For several months, Preston and Greg sent e - mails back and forth on big topics like God, religion, knowledge, evil, evolution, biology, destiny and the nature of reality. Preston believes in God; Greg sees insufficient evidence for God's existence. Over the course of their friendly debate, they tackle such cosmic questions as: Is religion rational or irrational? Does morality require belief in God? Do people only believe in God because they are genetically predisposed toward religion? How do you make sense of suffering in the world? Is this universe all there is? And what does it all matter? In this engaging book, Preston and Greg's actual e - mail correspondence is reproduced, along with bonus materials that provide additional background and context. Each makes his case for why he thinks his worldview is more compelling and explanatory. While they find some places to agree, neither one convinces the other. They can't both be right. So which worldview is more plausible? You decide.

Download or read book Historical Theology written by Alister E. McGrath and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-07-23 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Freshly updated for this second edition with considerable new material, this authoritative introduction to the history of Christian theology covers its development from the beginnings of the Patristic period just decades after Jesus's ministry, through to contemporary theological trends. A substantially updated new edition of this popular textbook exploring the entire history of Christian thought, written by the bestselling author and internationally-renowned theologian Features additional coverage of orthodox theology, the Holy Spirit, and medieval mysticism, alongside new sections on liberation, feminist, and Latino theologies, and on the global spread of Christianity Accessibly structured into four sections covering the Patristic period, the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the reformation and post-reformation eras, and the modern period spanning 1750 to the present day, addressing the key issues and people in each Includes case studies and primary readings at the end of each section, alongside comprehensive glossaries of key theologians, developments, and terminology Supported by additional resources available on publication at www.wiley.com/go/mcgrath

Download or read book Religion and the Global City written by David Garbin and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-06-29 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first book to explore how religious movements and actors shape and are shaped by aspects of global city dynamics. Theoretically grounded and empirically informed, Religion and the Global City advances discussions in the field of urban religion, and establishes future research directions. David Garbin and Anna Strhan bring together a wealth of ethnographically rich and vivid case studies in a diversity of urban settings, in both Global North and Global South contexts. These case studies are drawn from both 'classical' global cities such as London and Paris, and also from large cosmopolitan metropolises - such as Bangalore, Rio de Janeiro, Lagos, Singapore and Hong Kong – which all constitute, in their own terms, powerful sites within the informational, cultural and moral networked economies of contemporary globalization. The chapters explore some of the most pressing issues of our times: globalization and the role of global neo-liberal regimes; urban change and in particular the dramatic urbanization of Global South countries; and religious politics and religious revivalism associated, for instance, with transnational Islam or global Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity.

Download or read book Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures written by Mary Baker Eddy and published by BEYOND BOOKS HUB. This book was released on 2024-02-12 with total page 3 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science and Health, With Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy is a seminal work that serves as the foundational text of Christian Science, offering profound insights into the nature of spirituality, healing, and the relationship between God and humanity. Originally published in the late 19th century, this book presents Eddy's theological perspectives and teachings, emphasizing the power of spiritual understanding in achieving physical and mental well-being.

Download or read book The Sanity of Belief written by Simon Edwards and published by SPCK. This book was released on 2021-02-18 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We've all heard the arguments that Christianity is irrelevant, irrational and even immoral. But what if the Christian faith makes sense of all that matters? In this thoughtful, engaging book, Simon Edwards challenges the assumptions that may lead us to reject a faith and doubt something that we've never really had the chance to understand in the first place. From our need for meaning and significance, to our desires for truth, goodness, love and hope, he explores the things that matter to us as human beings and shows us why the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ might just make sense of them all. The Sanity of Belief is a fresh take on apologetics, faith and doubt, that will leave you with a stronger understanding of Christian belief and how it relates to today's world. It is ideal for anyone looking for a clear, down-to-earth introduction to Christianity, or for those wanting to reaffirm the foundations on which their faith is based.

Download or read book The Language of God written by Francis Collins and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-09-04 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dr Francis S. Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, is one of the world's leading scientists, working at the cutting edge of the study of DNA, the code of life. Yet he is also a man of unshakable faith in God. How does he reconcile the seemingly unreconcilable? In THE LANGUAGE OF GOD he explains his own journey from atheism to faith, and then takes the reader on a stunning tour of modern science to show that physics, chemistry and biology -- indeed, reason itself -- are not incompatible with belief. His book is essential reading for anyone who wonders about the deepest questions of all: why are we here? How did we get here? And what does life mean?

Download or read book A Chosen Faith written by John A. Buehrens and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 1998-06-01 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An updated edition of the classic introduction to the history and beliefs of Unitarian Universalism—from a senior minister of the Unitarian Church For those contemplating religious choices, Unitarian Universalism offers an appealing alternative to religious denominations that stress theological creeds over individual conviction and belief. Featuring two new chapters, a revealing and entertaining foreword by best-selling author Robert Fulghum, and a new preface by UU moderator Denise Davidoff, this updated edition of the classic introductory text on Unitarian Universalism explores the many sources of the living tradition of this ‘chosen faith’.

Download or read book Belief in God written by George I. Mavrodes and published by . This book was released on 1970 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book deals with a limited aspect of religion. Any well-developed religion is a very complex entity which unites components of very different sorts. There is probably no living religion that does not involve a set of characteristic beliefs, some prescribed or recommended practices (public or private, or both), some characteristic feelings or emotions, and some institutions or social arrangements. In addition, religions usually involve their adherents in special forms of experience. With respect to the complexity that it generates, interest in religion is similar to other pervasive human interests and activities, such as those that generate scientific enterprises. For some purposes, however, it is useful to separate the aspects of a complex phenomenon and to discuss one or another of these aspects individually, so far as is possible. This is the procedure that I will adopt here. My discussion is aimed primarily at that element of religious interest that centers upon belief, with what one might call the noetic aspect of religion. Some of the other aspects that I have mentioned- most notably religious experience and, to a much smaller extent, religious institutions- are discussed, but only to the extent that I take them to be relevant to questions about belief. But, of course, the should not be construed to imply that these other aspects of religion are unimportant.

Download or read book In Search of Belief written by Joan Chittister and published by Liguori Publications. This book was released on 1999 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this stirring testament to the resiliency of the Christian faith, Joan Chittister...spells out the meaning of the Apostles' Creed, phrase by phrase. For her, this testament is not an index of dogmas, but a 'catalog of choices, an inventory of possibilities, a roster of visions'...

Download or read book Christianity Cults the Occult written by Rose Publishing and published by Rose Publishing. This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Christianity, Cults, and the Occult: " Compare 11 Groups with Biblical Christianity "Christianity, Cults, and the Occult," a pamphlet that can be read in 30 minutes or less, takes a close look at eleven cultic movements that have a wide range of occult connections and compares them to the origins and key beliefs of Christianity. "Christianity, Cults, and the Occult" helps Christians understand their own beliefs, explains the backgrounds of different occults, and includes a list of occult terms and definitions, as well as Scriptural warnings against the occult. "14 panels, fits inside most Bibles, 8.5 x 5.5 inches, unfolds to 38 inches long"

Download or read book White Too Long written by Robert P. Jones and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-07-13 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "WHITE TOO LONG draws on history, statistics, and memoir to urge that white Christians reckon with the racism of the past and the amnesia of the present to restore a Christian identity free of the taint of white supremacy"--

Download or read book Sincerely Held written by Charles McCrary and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2022-04-08 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "If you read Supreme Court opinions on cases involving First Amendment religion issues, you're likely to encounter the ubiquitous phrase "sincerely held religious belief." The "sincerity test" of religious belief has become a cornerstone of US jurisprudence, determining what counts as legitimate grounds for First Amendment claims in the eyes of the law. In Sincerely Held, Charles McCrary provides an original account of how "sincerely held religious belief" became the primary standard for determining what legally counts as genuine religion. McCrary traces the interlocking histories of sincerity, religion, and secularism in the US, starting in the mid-nineteenth century. He then shows how, in the 1940s, as the courts expanded the concept of religious freedom, they incorporated the notion of sincerity as a key element in determining religious freedom protections. The legal sincerity test was part of a larger trend in which the category "religion" became largely individualized and correlated with "belief." This linking of religion and belief, with all its Protestant underpinnings, is a central concern of critical secularism studies. McCrary contributes to this conversation by revealing the history of how sincerity and sincerely held religious belief developed as technologies of secular governance, constraining the type of subject one has to be in order to receive protections from the state"--