Religion Books

I think a point of interest is that Constantine was a Pagan his entire life and did not denounce Paganism until he was on his death bed. He mandated that Sunday be observed as The Sabbath (makes sense because it is a Pagan Sabbath, Sun Day reserved for worship of The Sun God) The Jews are the only ones observing the True Sabbath (Saturday). It was at this point Christianity took an interesting turn and Christians no longer worshipped as 1st century Christians but more like Pagans. They were basically forced to adopt many pagan rituals through the guise of Catholicism. I do not think this was an accident seeing as The Roman Empire was predominantly Pagan. They were having great difficulty in Controlling Christians and I believe candy coating Paganism in Christianity was a way to achieve total control. It is not religion that seeks to control the masses it's actually Pagans and they want you to believe it's Religion or better yet Christians. True Christians aren't war mongers. If you celebrate Easter(The worship of Ishtar) and Christmas (Saturnalia, The birth of the Sun God) you are practicing Pagan Traditions. Christ was born in the fall sometime between Sept and October. Christ was killed by The Roman Empire, therefore killed by Pagans not by The Jewish people. Although they would like you to believe that. I was raised Catholic however I do believe that many of the atrocities committed have not been by Christians they have been orchestrated by Pagans since the beginning of time. History will show you that. Just as I don't believe the Amish are a violent people.

To understand the history of western civilization it is imperative to understand the catholic church in particular, and christianity in general. For a basic understanding of these underpinnings of the western world, this book is a must. Whether you agree or not with Carroll on points, it is a thought provoking and well choreographed work. Being an anti-religionist, I approached this book with scepticism, but after just the first few lines I was taken in. Caroll is a thoughtful writer whose melodious use of words and language make this hefty book a treasure. I don't believe the book is available in an audible format, but it should be.

I found this book to be factual, brilliant and disturbing. Perhaps if the issues in this book could be openly addressed by all religions, as the author so desires, we could have love replace fear and its evil twin hatred as the dominant emotions in the world today.

A WELL DOCUMENTED HISTORICAL BOOK. ONCE YOU START READING IT IS VERY HARD TO PUT DOWN IT IS VERY WELL WRITTEN AND ENTERTAINING. THIS BOOK HAS CONFIRMED A LOT OF THE BELIEVES I HAD ABOUT THE ORIGINAL CHURCH FOUNDED BY THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE BUT SOMETIMES IT IS VERY HARD AS A CHRISTIAN TO READ ABOUT THE HORRORS COMMITED IN THE NAME OF JESUS. I WOULD ONLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO THOSE WHO ARE OPEN TO ACCEPT THE TRUTH AS DIFFICULT AS IT MAY BE TO ACCEPT IT. IT IS MY OPINION THAT RELIGIOUS AND PIOUS INDIVIDUALS MAY BE OFFENDED BY THE TRUTHS EXPOSED IN THIS WONDERFUL WORK.

This is the best book I've ever read. I was amazed to discover the actual origins of some church policies and the specifics of how anti-semitism arose in Western society. This isn't just another boring history book, it almost reads like a novel. It will enlighten you, and thereby, make you a beter person no matter what your religion.

Glimpses of Heaven gave me insight into my own immortality and while reading I could not put the book down, I took this book everywhere I traveled. The stories are awe inspiring and waiting to be read by all.
I recommend this book to people that have a curiosity for the ending of life and the beginning of death. This is a journey we all must face and Glimpses of Heaven made me feel comfortable. When my time comes I pray I have someone like Trudy Harris, RN to guide me to that place.

"Glimpses of Heaven" is a tender and inviting book that will be deeply encouraging to people of all ages and all walks of life. Broken up into 44 short stories--it gives readers an inside look into the final days of those who are dying.

The stories are varied--everything from the dying experience of toddlers, to the last days of middle aged people, to the lingering deaths of the very old. One story tells about forty-seven year old Mark, a man dying of pancreatic cancer. Harris tells that in his very last moments "suddenly his eyes opened wide, and, sitting up in bed under his own strength with arms raised in the air and a big smile, he said, `There it is. I can see it. It's beautiful.' And lying back down he took his last breath and died." Another story tells us of Lenora, a fifty-four year old woman who is dying of a brain tumor and her encounter with an angel a few days before her death.

The genuine faith of the author shines through "Glimpses of Heaven" from cover to cover and I was inspired, instructed, and even convicted by her childlike faith and unwavering love toward her fellow man. It's not just a book about what happens right before someone dies--it's also almost an instruction manual for those caring for the terminally ill. "Glimpses of Heaven" is touching, amusing, hopeful, and above all else comforting.

Thanks to Trudy Harris for sharing her very personal walk with God! Her generous spirit has allowed the reader of her book to experience what only a very special few have the opportunity to experience, God's mercy and love so freely given to us at our time of joining with Him.
She has changed that moment of joining from apprehension to one of loving acceptance.

An excellent and uplifting account of end-of-life experiences. For anyone who has lost a loved one, or is fearful of facing their own death this book will seriously help to calm those fears.

We thought so much of this book we are going to order ten more copies. My faith in an afterlife has been renewed by "Glimpses of Heaven

The Next Generation Leader is a great book. Andy has so much experience and insight. He writes to young leaders, encourages & challenges them, and calls them out. This book is a "easy read" but packed full of information and insight. It's good for individuals or groups.

This book helps you focus on your leadership skills and self assess your strengths and weaknesses and what that means. It is easy to understand and applicable.

This book helped me to stop and think about how I am getting my job done. Was I being efficient and effective? NO! After reading this book I began the process of examining more thorough exactly what my job was and how I went about getting it done. I have found that I get a lot more done now and don't find myself in a tailspin. Great Book!

Blake

This is a brief read on leadership. He highlights a few characteristics of leadership. The book is not a paradigm shifting book, but is a quick reminder of the need for futuristic leadership. Andy is a leader and a clear communicator. If you are looking for some easy advice on improving your leadership skills, this is a good book for you. You will be rewarded for your investment.

A great look on leadership from one of today's most influential Christian leader.

Andy Stanley is a great communicator who uses his talent in this book to inspire readers on to shape the future for tomorrow. Stanley uses memorable stories and vivid examples to explain all of his points clearly.

This book is great for anyone who needs some inspiration on being a influential Christian.

Graham Hancock is one of my favorite non-fiction writers, because he has a nose for subjects that really intrigue me. I remember his collaborations with Bauval that really angered the Egyptian authorities and spawned the science of archeo-astronomy. I also remember the work on Mars in which he described the asteroid impact that knocked off half the crust. Thought to be pretty silly at the time, this theory has recently been in the news as a working hypothesis. Maybe someday anthropologists will validate some of the ideas he's brought forth in this book. At any rate, Supernatural is a lot more fun than either Genesis or Darwin.

The ideas and experiences noted in this book are very intriguing. If I was not familiar with the author, I would not have read beyond the first chapter, but because I have studied his other works, I studied it in it's entirety. I never thought that I could ever view conscious altering substances in quite the way that I now do. Read with an open mind or after reading his other work so that you will go into this material with respect for the author.

While Graham Hancock again makes a pretty good case for his controversial theories, I found this book somewhat redundant and lacking the appeal of some of his other books that I have read. While I found the illustrations from ancient writings facinating, his drug induced explanations from his "visions" became a little tedious. I thought the book could have been a lot shorter, and had a hard time staying with it after about the first 300 pages or so.
Although Hancock's ideas on the origins of religion in the human animal may be interesting from the anthropological point of view, it seemed to me that he had said all he really had to say long before the book was over.

Hancock's basic thesis has been well described by other reviewers below. H. champions the popular Lewis-Williams hypothesis that cave art reflects shamanic rituals performed under trance conditions (often induced by hallucinogenics). This hypothesis he connects to his own experiences of having met "alien intelligences" in his own hallucinogenic journeys created by ibogain, ayahuasca and Psilocybe, in which GH encounters Egyptian gods, ancestors, transcendental snakes and weirdly sinister alien types with slit eyes. Hancock then combines these pieces of information into the suggestion that human evolution has been guided since time immemorial (actually, since about 30 000 BC) by discarnate intelligences living in "other dimensions".

To prove this idea, GH goes fishing for corroboration: he finds it in tales of UFO abductees, who claim to have been taken onto alien spacecraft, hoisted with "implants" and forced to nurse alien-hybrid babies (i am not making this up). Then he is struck by the similarity of the fairy lore to UFO abduction tales... again, the idea is that these "alien" creatures have been with humankind from dawn of our consciousness and that they are responsible for its awakening -through trance states induced through dancing, sensory/physical deprivation or hallucinogenics. They may even have messed with our DNA where Hancock approvingly cites Narby's ideas about DNA as a "cosmic serpent".

Like most of Hancock's books, Supernatural is well-written, representing yet another display of a natural storyteller's talent for delaying hapless readers' gratification - all the while leading us along winding roads decorated with sightseeing trinkets represented by UFO abductees, DMT trippers, prehistoric caves, Francis Crick, therianthropes, spirits and San Bushmen from Southern Africa. The book is superbly illustrated with representations of cave art from Europe and Africa and has a great intro into the murky politics of prehistoric art scholarship. However, while pretending at practicing the art of investigative reporting and objective analysis, GH is anything but. This book is all about selective citation, where *only* case studies, theories and ideas that conform to GHs grand hypothesis are cited whereas opposing views literally don't exist, with the exception of those that are easily debunked (i.e., Lewis-Williams' detractors). In other words, this book is an entertaining read, nothing less... and nothing more.

Yet - if you do chance upon it, read it. You'll have a good time.

I enjoyed entertaining the hypothesis proposed in this book. The author does a very good job reporting research done by others that helps support his hypothesis, although the author tends to provide more "case examples" than is necessary in each sub-argument, making the book longer than necessary. However, the authors of the other work he quotes admit more testing/research is needed to help prove the "realness" of what is seen in their own and research subjects' ethnogenic experiences, and the author's own experiments with ethnogenic substances as reported in the book contain only some similarities to what he is arguing should be dominant staples in everyone's experiences with these substances, as his theory goes. Relatedly, I felt he did not perform enough attempts with each substance, or at least didn't report enough of them, for me to see that the few flashes of similarity he did experience support his main hypothesis. Similarly, I disliked how the book ended on an open-ended note where he had just consumed more substances as another "test," but that's it - book ends - no information about how that experience went.

Ultimately, more testing/research is needed; I hope there is, as there seems to be a strong case for this hypothesis...

This is the book I've been trying to find. It presents the material in an age-appropriate manner, and the matter of fact delivery removes the stigma which we parents can unconsciously pass on to our kids when discussing sex. It is not graphic and it does not go into more detail than is necessary for a 7 year old child.

I have been so nervous about talking about this stuff with my daughter. But this book made it so easy! We spent a few minutes reading and stopped frequently when she had questions. Then, it sparked an awesome conversation after we were finished. This book is just the right amount of information at the right time. It has illustrations that are very tasteful and didn't make either of us squirm. (Although she did giggle a bit at the discussion of how a boy grows :-) Like other reviewers, I'm not sure my 5 year old is ready to hear this, but I'm very glad I have the book now so I can pull it out when she does start asking questions. I think it's perfect for the 7-8 year old, boy or girl (it covers both equally).

We have a 10 year old son. We are planning to start with book 2 and go from there. This series is definately frank but right on target. I want my child to hear all this from me and not the playground.
It is nice to have the words already phrased so you can read it together.
Some of the subject matter may be too much for your child, but you can decide what parts you can discuss now and hold the rest for when the topics come up.

Some reviews think this book is too graphic. If my children lived in a vacuum I'd tend to agree but, alas they do not. I want them to hear it from me and not some misinformed youth who doesn't have their facts straight as happens with so many children. I was shocked when I learned about it from a friend ... at a much younger age than my parents ever knew or even suspected. If you think you're 6+ year old isn't hearing things you most likely need another think.

Kids at this age (at least my son) are so into animals and biology and nature that they are just sponges. They accept facts at face value without adding all the "dirtiness" associated with sex in our culture. Regarding the intercourse description he just looked at me with a look that said, "are you for real?" I said I was and he kind of went, "oh, okay." It was just another fact of nature to him.

I decided that I wanted to be the first one to talk to my son about sex, and God's design for sex. I picked up this book based on the reviews, and I was not disappointed. The pictures were obvious, but not graphic and the explanations were complete, but not overdone. My son was interested and not at all uncomfortable when we read the book. I highly recommend it.

The print in this bible is perfect. It is easy to read! The Bible is Ultra Slim which is nice. I would recommend this for anyone who has difficulty reading small print!

Excellent bible. Very easy to read, nicely bound with leather covers. A joy to transport. I've owned many bibles and this is, for sure, one of my favorites.

My purchase from this seller was purchased one week after two other purchases from other sellers. This one arrived two days later. I thought it was one of the other orders and was amazingly surprised when it was the one I just purchased. Book was in excellant condition. Never even opened and much cheaper than anyone else for the same book. I expected it to have been at least opened. It never was. I recommend purchase from this buyer and will look for them again on my next purchase. THANK YOU!

The Bible was a decent price the leather on the cover is kinda stiff and cardboardie.

Th use of the expressions [LARGE PRINT] and (Leather Bound) are misleading, as pointed out by earlier reviewers. I am now selling the book, unread.

Commanding Your Morning, by Dr. Cindy Trimm is a book that is a MUST-HAVE for any born-again believer in Jesus Christ who is serious about setting the tone for their days and tearing down the enemy!!!!

The paper back booklet was introduced to me during a very callenging time. Since then (Oct 2007), the activations and declarations have become a part of my daily walk with the Lord. I'm living in expectation of the fulfillment of all these and more that I've been releasing into the air!

This book is a blessing. We really have to be careful of the words we allow to come out of our mouth. Those words speak into our future and the future of our family. Guard your words. Dr. Trimm's guidance in this book helped me to realize the power of the spoken word and how I can change the outcome of my own life.

In this book Dr. Trimm gives you all the essential tools you need to turn things and matters of your life around full circle. This book gives you all the essential tools you need to start making a difference in your own life! This book is a must read! It has changed how I view things, circumstances etc.. Thank You Dr Trimm!!

I love this book. i have the older version of this book while my mother has this edition. either way, we both use them all the time. it is definitely a must read. i can definitely see a difference in my day when i command my morning. thank you Dr. Trimm - this really helped. God bless.

I purchase a Everyday Bible and I received it in good timing. The book was new, I was really happy with the purchase. Saved me a couple dollars and provided awesome quality. Thank you.

This is the very best bible. I Love it! It's very easy to read and understand. The extras, like commentaries, only make this bible a better product.

I have had this bible in the past and I am very pleased to have it again. This is such a wonderful bible...with joyce meyers personal experiences inside and all her input on scriptures. I would recommend this bible to anyone.

THE BODY STYLE:
-I got the leather bound one because that feels more comfortable for me and because I did not want those pictures on the front of my Bible like the hard back one has. The leather one is kind of a maroonish color and looks nice. Has gold edges and a built in bookmark ribbon.

-The only negitive I have about the body style of this Bible is that the pages are too thin which makes getting to where ya need to get sometimes harder and slower.

BIBLE VERSION:
- It is the amplified version which can get rather wordy with lots of paraphrasing. But that does not bother me since I need extra discriptions so I can better understand many verses. But it might not be good for when you have to read passages out loud in a Sunday school class because of the wordiness.

-I find this amplified version easier to understand then the King James version by far.

BIBLE NOTES AND ECT:
-I enjoy the notes and commentaries ( or whatever they are called). I like the way Joyce Meyer says things bluntly but with love. I dont want some kind of wishy washy beat around the bush notes. I need the truth and she does a good job of that IMO. The notes/commentaries make me think and want to read more to see what else I can find in the Bible.

-I wish this Bible had a some extra learning materials with in it such has maps, special dictionaries and other stuff like that. But even without them I still enjoy this Bible and am very glad I have it.

-I think many people tend to think Joyce Meyers teachings are for women only but that is not true. I find that her notes in this Bible are for every one to learn from not women only.
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I am the type to not want to spend much money on something without 1st getting to know more about it. So once this Bible started being sold in my local walmart I began checking it out there looking through it. I decided then that I wanted it but not the hard back version. So for my birthday this year my parents gave me the money to order the leather version and Im so glad I did.

I dont understand why many keep making a fuss over if it is a study Bible or not. One can make a study out of anything no matter if it is worded as a study Bible or not. I find myself wanting to study into the Bible after reading much of the notes in this Bible.

This bible is an excellent addition to other available bibles. The type is large enough to read easily and the amplified version of the bible is a very great help in understanding the meaning of words and passages. It brings to life the wonderful message the bible has to share. Joyce Meyer is a great bible teacher and her insights that she shares in this bible are a wonderful addition and not to be missed. I'm so glad I have this bible and would encourage others to get it too.

Very down to earth, practical book about living the Christian Faith. Archbishop Chaput is a very holy man who knows how to get his point across to everyone. I highly recommend it

This was a gift and replacement order. This is a fabulously interesting, inspirational, and readable book! I had loaned my original out so often that it needed to be replaced, plus I bought several for gifts. I will read this book many more times! Living the Catholic Faith: Rediscovering the Basics

Addressing both those Catholics who adhere to Church teaching and just need a refresher, and those Catholics are happy to be "cafeteria Catholics" accepting those tenets of the faith that comfortably fit their lifestyles while rejecting those they find challenging (or as one reviewer put it "out of touch") Archbishop Chaput presents a concise teaching of Catholic belief which is essential to these times. He explains what we believe, why we believe it and the negative repercussions of deviating from these parameters. He builds up belief from the theological to the practical. From what we believe about God to its significance in our daily dealings with our neighbor.

Contrary to his critics, Archbishop Chaput is not the least out of touch, in fact the book is peppered with annecdotes from popular culture as well as annecdotes from classical works. He very ably discusses current affairs, and he insightfully points out just where the world is going off-course.

Archbishop Chaput is one of the stars among the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. He speaks clearly, concisely and without fear of offending people with the truth.

This book is well worth your time.

I am a doctoral student in Theology, so I have read much deeper explanations of many truths of the faith and explorations of how to live it. I don't want to read heavy theology all of the time, though; sometimes I just want something light and entirely oriented towards my practice of the faith. This book hit the spot. My wife and I read it concomitantly and it has really energized us and given us a lot to talk about. We are both cradle Catholics and very informed, but everyone needs continual spiritual nourishment. While the book might not have taught us anything "new" per se, it provides a great vision of the faith overall and very helpful vignettes and action points to indicate how to live as a Catholic in the modern world. As the book unfolds, it enters into some of the typical stumbling blocks that Catholics have (e.g. why priest don't marry, why contraception and NFP are different). Again, not much new or different from the academic explanations I've heard, but the approach is much more engaging than most. Chaput simply unfolds the beauty of the Catholic faith in a convincing way.

I think the book is at its best in its emphasis upon mission/evangelization in the modern world. We often think that families are not capable of this--this is for crazies willing to take vows and give up everything. Taking the cue from Vatican II and recent Church teaching, Chaput insists that the family is the domestic Church capable of cultivating heroic holiness, and the laity are the primary interface between the Church and the world. We Catholics aren't as good as our separated Protestant brethren at inviting others to consider our faith, but I was challenged to do this in the ways recommended by the book.

Given my studies and goals, I am likely to find myself teaching introductory courses on Christianity or the Catholic Church. I will most likely try to use at least portions of this book to cover the basics of Christianity in a compact, informative, but attractive way. I would also recommend this as reading for engaged couples. Due to the family-oriented nature of the book, it might not be as useful for teenaged audiences, which might not care for this perspective as much.

I highly recommend this book--it will enrich you and challenge you to live Christ and be Christ to the world!

Anyone who follows any type of sports knows that the best teams or players, year in and year out are those that have most clearly mastered the fundamental basics of the sport. For years in American College football, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Alabama dominated the sport. These teams accomplished their goals, not by doing anything fancy or unusual but by simply lining up and running over their opponents. Put another way, they won by relying on the basics. Many Catholics, including myself could learn a valuable lesson from these football teams as we try to live our Catholic faith.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has written a playbook to allow us as Catholics to get back to the basics of our faith and to more fully appreciate the scriptural authority behind these core teachings of the Church. He does this in a very appealing and straightforward way that is easy to understand and very easy to read. There is no heavy theological jargon nor are there any unexplained Latin terms in this book and even someone who is totally unfamiliar with the Catholic Church will have no trouble grasping the Archbishop's points.

To his great credit, the Most Reverend Chaput takes on the issues he discusses head on and never swerves to avoid hurting someone's feelings. Almost any Catholic who reads this book will find that at least some of the author's arguments hit mighty close to home. The author also takes on the hard issues like abortion, contraception and suicide, issues that may be controversial in some quarters but which are at the heart of the Church's teachings on the sanctity of human life. The learned author also takes the time to explain in very clear terms some of the most basic tenants of the Christian faith and I found his point by point discussion of the Ten Commandments to be very enlightening.

The Archbishop does all of this while relating it to the world that we live in today. I found his analogy of two twentieth century films to be particularly poignant and to be charged with unpopular truth. Sometimes the truth hurts but it does us a world of good in the long run.

This book is highly relevant to the world today and especially to Catholics facing the challenges of the twenty-first century. The good Archbishop has given us a wonderful blueprint to follow as we try to live our faith and spread the gospel to the whole world.

I bought this book to help provide me tips on raising my daughter. I found the book to be very applicable to both my daughter and my son. In fact, I would even say that it's a good book for not only fathers but for both parents. It is very conservative which I personally like and carries a traditional approach towards raising daughters. I found it helpful, insightful and very encouraging. I would consider going through the book in a parent Bible Study since there are questions at the end of each chapter. I found the book very practical as well.

I bought this for my son who has 2 daughters. I have read it myself and was very impressed with the excellent practical advice that Michael Farris has for fathers. This book is not for the timid, he gives fathers lots of authority but much responsibility in raising godly daughters. Liz

I am an adoptive Father of a (now) 6 year old girl and in the two years since she and her brothers moved in I started to realize how completely lost I was. As I watched her grow and be shaped by the world around us I knew I needed some good, solid, real-world advice. Knowing that the author has raised/is raising 6 Daughters went a long way towards meeting that, "real-world" criteria!

Addressing a vast number of areas - some you'd expect, (helping to create positive friendships, communication), and others you wouldn't, (being politically aware/active) - he serves up doses of both common sense and sometimes surprising advice.

Although at 6 my Daughter is still a bit too young for some of what I read, I feel I will be a better Father for having read this book. I intend to keep it around and go back to it for gentle reminders as I need them.

We used this book with 36 dads and ran the study for 7 weeks. This book is great for group studies because it has questions at the end of each chapter and great practical help for dads. Thanks for a good work.

I picked up this book because I was a soon to be father. I finished it because I was amazed with how fascist the author is. He homeschooled his children (which is fine), but he hand picked their friends. He chose his daughters' boyfriends from young men that worked for him, and if I remember correctly each daughter married their first boyfriend. I'm sure his daughters are happy, but he has raised submissive robots. Quiet scarry actually. This is called: "How a Man Prepares His Daughter for Life". I'm not sure how many people are wealthy lawyers turned politicians, but I'm assuming most do not share this man's wealth of resources and I'm hoping even fewer share his ideology of total control.