Separate Fact from Fiction
For centuries, men, women, and children have been fascinated by stories of angel sightings. Yet many contemporary beliefs are based on misconception and myth rather than solid, biblical truth. Responding to our widespread, modern cultural interest in the agents of heaven and their role in our world, popular Bible teacher Dr. David Jeremiah provides an in-depth, biblical look at the hot topic of angels. His broad and thorough survey of scriptural teaching is illustrated by powerful quotes from prominent teachers Billy Graham, Corrie ten Boom, C.S. Lewis, and others.
Separate Fact from Fiction
Popular Bible teacher Dr. David Jeremiah explores the Bible's rich teaching on angels, revealing a fascinating doorway into reliable, eye-opening truth.
Discover the reality of how angels can draw you closer than ever to God as you sharpen your sensitivity toward spiritual realities.
[Endorsements]
"Outstanding! As one would expect from David Jeremiah, this book reflects a theologian's concern, a pastor's heart, and a Biblicist's accuracy."
--Dr. Bruce Wilkinson, "New York Times "bestselling author
"David has that uncanny ability to be deliberate without being dull. His words will deepen your gratitude for God's messengers in light of God's Word."
--Max Lucado, pastor and bestselling author
"Dr. David Jeremiah shifts the focus from contemporary 'angel hype' to the fascinating biblical truth about God's powerful messengers."
--Dr. John C. Maxwell, founder of INJOY, Inc.
Story Behind the Book
Endorsements
"Simply put, this is an outstanding book! As one would expect from David Jeremiah, this book reflects a theologian's concern, a pastor's heart, and a biblicist's accuracy." --Dr. Bruce Wilkinson, "New York Times" bestselling author
"David has that uncanny ability to be deliberate without being dull. His words will deepen your gratitude for God's messengers in light of God's Word."
--Max Lucado, pastor and bestselling author
"Dr. David Jeremiah shifts the focus from contemporary 'angel hype' to the fascinating biblical truth about God's powerful messengers."
--Dr. John C. Maxwell, founder of INJOY, Inc.

Although Richard Rolle, hermit of Hampole, was perhaps the most influential spiritual author of the later English Middle Ages, the coming of print was not kind to him. Although a large collected Latin Opera appeared in the 1530s, it was scarcely exhaustive, and a number of the texts there included, notably Rolle's Latin Psalter commentary, have not been critically examined since. This volume partially redresses this silence by providing a sequence of four Latin texts that have remained in manuscript. Central to Rolle's oeuvre (and to this volume) is Rolle's meditative reading of the first three verses of The Song of Songs, 'Super Canticum'. Also included are two relatively brief unedited texts, 'Super Magnificat' and 'De vita activa et contemplativa'. In addition, the volume reassesses the universal manuscript ascription to Rolle of 'Viridarium, vel De misericordia Dei'; although the work is here reascribed, there is also an edition of selected passages. Unprinted Latin Writings also includes an introduction, critical and textual, some textual annotation, a description of all those previously undescribed manuscripts used here, and an index of the medieval sources cited.

This account of evil takes the Book of Job as its guide. The Book of Job considers physical pain, social bereavement, the origin of evil, theodicy, justice, divine violence, and reward. Such problems are explored by consulting ancient and modern accounts from the fields of theology and philosophy, broadly conceived. Some of the literature on evil - especially the philosophical literature - is inclined toward the abstract treatment of such problems. Bringing along the suffering Job will serve as a reminder of the concrete, lived experience in which the problem of evil has its roots.

This collection includes The Cloud of Unknowing, The Mystical Theology of Saint Denis, The Book of Privy Counselling, and An Epistle on Prayer.

'Alas that I ever did sin! It is so merry in Heaven!' The Book of Margery Kempe (c. 1436-8) is the extraordinary account of a medieval wife, mother, and mystic. Known as the earliest autobiography written in the English language, Kempe's Book describes the dramatic transformation of its heroine from failed businesswoman and lustful young wife to devout and chaste pilgrim. She vividly describes her prayers and visions, as well as the temptations in daily life to which she succumbed before dedicating herself to her spiritual calling. She travelled to the most holy sites of the medieval world, including Rome and Jerusalem. In her life and her boisterous devotion, Kempe antagonized many of those around her; yet she also garnered friends and supporters who helped to record her experiences. Her Book opens a window on to the medieval world, and provides a fascinating portrait of one woman's life, aspirations, and prayers. This new translation preserves the forceful narrative voice of Kempe's Book and includes a wide-ranging introduction and useful notes. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Originally published in 1925, this book contains three lectures delivered by the British theologian F. R. Tennant (1866-1957) at the University of London during 1924. The three lectures, all of which relate to the nature of miracles, are titled as follows: 'Miracle and the Reign of Law', Natural and Supernatural Causation', and 'Credibility and Alleged Actuality of Miracle'. Notes are included at the end of the text. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the works of Tennant and theology.

Julian of Norwich and the Mystical Body Politic of Christ provides a close and historically sensitive reading of Julian's Revelation of Love that addresses the question of the relationship between our understanding of God and our vision of human community. By examining Julian's images of Christ's body, this book seeks to discern the "political" meaning of her theology. Locating these images within the context of late medieval debates over the nature and extent of divine power, the book argues that Julian presents an alternative account of divine power in which the crucified body of Christ becomes the focus and shape of divine omnipotence. This account of divine power serves as the norm of all human exercise of power, rendering the possibility of the "mystical body politic of Christ" as the exemplary form of human community. In this reading, the theological is irreducibly political and the political is irreducibly theological. As such, Julian is presented as both a theologian of the first rank and one who "imagines the political".

In this book, Conrad Rudolph studies and reconstructs Hugh of St. Victor's forty-two-page written work, The Mystic Ark, which describes the medieval painting of the same name. In medieval written sources, works of art are not often referred to, let alone described in any detail. Almost completely ignored by art historians because of the immense difficulty of its text, Hugh of Saint Victor's Mystic Ark (c. 1125 1130) is among the most unusual sources we have for an understanding of medieval artistic culture. Depicting all time, all space, all matter, all human history, and all spiritual striving, this highly polemical painting deals with a series of cultural issues crucial in the education of society's elite during one of the great periods of intellectual change in Western history."

Originally published in 1932, this book presents the content of the Rede Lecture for that year, which was delivered by Edgar Allison Peers at Cambridge University. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in theology and the history of Christianity.

In this practical guide to attaining your true Divine Identity, Denmark's leading spiritual teacher Lars Muhl reveals exactly how to connect with your magnificent inner power and attain your highest possible potential. Muhl invites us to join him on a journey to the Qumran Caves in the Judean desert to discover The Book of Asaph. The journey and the sacred text itself offer a breath-taking metaphor for the process of spiritual Enlightenment. Lars Muhl considers The Light Within a Human Heart his most profound and powerful work. It is for all who wish to embrace their endless magic and enter Heaven on earth, remaining beautifully Present despite the inevitable difficulties of life. When we move, breathe and live in our Inner Light, we have returned home.

The Cambridge Companion to Christian Mysticism is a multi-authored interdisciplinary guide to the study of Christian mysticism, with an emphasis on the third through the seventeenth centuries. The book is thematically organized in terms of the central contexts, practices, and concepts associated with the mystical life in early, medieval, and early modern Christianity. Written by leading authorities and younger scholars from a range of disciplines, the volume both provides a clear introduction to the Christian mystical life and articulates a bold new approach to the study of mysticism. The book looks beyond the term mysticism, which was an early modern invention, to explore the ways in the ancient terms mystic and mystical were used in the Christian tradition: What kinds of practices, modes of life, and experiences were described as mystical ? What understanding of Christianity and of the life of Christian perfection is articulated through mystical interpretations of scripture, mystical contemplation, mystical vision, mystical theology, or mystical union? What practices and experiences provided the framework within which one could describe mystical phenomena? And what topics are at the forefront of the contemporary study of Christian mystical practice and experience?

The Cambridge Companion to Christian Mysticism is a multi-authored interdisciplinary guide to the study of Christian mysticism, with an emphasis on the third through the seventeenth centuries. The book is thematically organized in terms of the central contexts, practices and concepts associated with the mystical life in early, medieval and early modern Christianity. This book looks beyond the term 'mysticism', which was an early modern invention, to explore the ways in which the ancient terms 'mystic' and 'mystical' were used in the Christian tradition: what kinds of practices, modes of life and experiences were described as 'mystical'? What understanding of Christianity and of the life of Christian perfection is articulated through mystical interpretations of scripture, mystical contemplation, mystical vision, mystical theology or mystical union? This volume both provides a clear introduction to the Christian mystical life and articulates a bold new approach to the study of mysticism.

If the western world knows anything about Zen Buddhism, it is down to the efforts of one remarkable man, D.T. Suzuki. The twenty-seven-year-old Japanese scholar first visited the west in 1897, and over the course of the next seventy years became the world's leading authority on Zen. His radical and penetrating insights earned him many disciples, from Carl Jung to Allen Ginsberg, from Thomas Merton to John Cage. In Mysticism Christian and Buddhist Suzuki compares the teachings of the great Christian mystic Meister Eckhart with the spiritual wisdom of Shin and Zen Buddhism. By juxtaposing cultures that seem to be radically opposed, Suzuki raises one of the fundamental questions of human experience: at the limits of our understanding is there an experience that is universal to all humanity? Mysticism Christian and Buddhist is a book that challenges and inspires; it will benefit readers of all religions who seek to understand something of the nature of spiritual life.

This book presents the first-ever English translation of the Prison Narratives written by the seventeenth-century French mystic and Quietist, Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717). Although she was marginalized and ignored by French historians for two centuries after her death, Guyon became a major figure in the development of transatlantic Protestant spirituality in the eighteenth century, and her writings have remained popular among English-speaking audiences.
Guyon's narrative describes her confinement between 1695 and 1703 in various prisons, including the dreaded Bastille. It also maps, in moving and unforgettable detail, the political and religious hegemony that sought to destroy her reputation and erase her from history. Although she published an autobiography in 1720, Guyon kept the part that described her experience in prison private and the text remained undiscovered for almost three centuries - until an archival version was found and published in 1992 under the title Recits de Captivite (Prison Narratives).
Mourad and Guenin-Lelle provide here not only a translation of the full Narratives but a thorough introduction, including a brief biography of Guyon, an analysis of the Quietist Affair (the religious and political conflict responsible for her persecution), and a summary of the key historical, literary, and theological aspects of Guyon's prison writings. The introduction represents the most detailed examination of the Prison Narratives presently available in either English or French.
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Carefully edited for the undergraduate reader, this Norton Critical Edition includes an informed introduction, focusing on Julian s theology and preparing students to understand the complex, controversial themes of the text, particularly Julian s solution to the problem of evil in Revelation XIII and XIV. Paragraph divisions have been organized to emphasize the thematic units of each chapter, and the sentences have been punctuated for clarity. The text included is a Middle English edition, based on the Paris manuscript (1580 1650) of the long text, with language akin to Chaucer s and therefore more accessible than other Middle English editions. "Contexts" includes contemporary texts that help students better understand Julian s originality, including selections from works by Margery Kempe, Augustine, Aelred of Rievaulx, and Walter Hilton. "Criticism" brings together interpretations that address the themes and style of the Showings by Sandra McEntire, Lynn Staley, B. A. Windeatt, and David Aers, among others. A Selected Bibliography is also included."

Scholars of Gregory of Nyssa have long acknowledged the centrality of faith in his theory of divine union. To date, however, there has been no sustained examination of this key topic. The present study fills this gap and elucidates important auxiliary themes that accrue to Gregory's notion of faith as a faculty of apophatic union with God. The result adjusts how we understand the Cappadocian's apophaticism in general and his so-called mysticism of darkness in particular.
After a general discussion of the increasing value of faith in late Neoplatonism and an overview of important work done on Gregorian faith, this study moves on to sketch a portrait of the mind and its dynamic, varying cognitive states and how these respond to the divine pedagogy of scripture, baptism, and the presence of God. With this portrait of the mind as a backdrop we see how Gregory values faith for its ability to unite with God, who remains beyond the comprehending grasp of mind. A close examination of the relationship between faith and mind shows Gregory bestowing on faith qualities which Plotinus would have granted only to the "crest of the wave of intellect."
While Gregorian faith serves as the faculty of apophatic union with God, faith yet gives something to mind. This dimension of Gregory's apophaticism has gone largely unnoticed by scholars. At the apex of an apophatic ascent faith unites with God the Word; by virtue of this union the believer takes on the qualities of the Word, who speaks (logophasis) in the deeds and discourse of the believer. Finally this study redresses how Gregory has been identified with a "mysticism of darkness" and argues that he proposes no less a "mysticism of light."

Scholars of the patristic era have paid more attention to the dogmatic tradition in their period than to the development of Christian mystical theology. Andrew Louth aims to redress the balance. Recognizing that the intellectual form of this tradition was decisively influenced by Platonic ideas of the soul's relationship to God, Louth begins with an examination of Plato and Platonism. The discussion of the Fathers, which follows shows how, the mystical tradition is at the heart of their thought and how the dogmatic tradition both moulds and is the reflection of mystical insights and concerns. This new edition of a classic study of the diverse influences upon Christian spirituality includes a new Epilogue, which brings the text completely up to date.

This book is an in-depth, comparative study of two of the most popular and influential intellectual and spiritual traditions of West Africa: Tijani Sufism and Ifa. Employing a unique methodological approach that thinks with and from-rather than merely about-these traditions, Oludamini Ogunnaike argues that they contain sophisticated epistemologies that provide practitioners with a comprehensive worldview and a way of crafting a meaningful life. Using theories belonging to the traditions themselves as well as contemporary oral and textual sources, Ogunnaike examines how both Sufism and Ifa answer the questions of what knowledge is, how it is acquired, and how it is verified. Or, more simply: What do you know? How did you come to know it? How do you know that you know? After analyzing Ifa and Sufism separately and on their own terms, the book compares them to each other and to certain features of academic theories of knowledge. By analyzing Sufism from the perspective of Ifa, Ifa from the perspective of Sufism, and the contemporary academy from the perspective of both, this book invites scholars to inhabit these seemingly "foreign" intellectual traditions as valid and viable perspectives on knowledge, metaphysics, psychology, and ritual practice. Unprecedented and innovative, Deep Knowledge makes a significant contribution to cross-cultural philosophy, African philosophy, religious studies, and Islamic studies. Its singular approach advances our understanding of the philosophical bases underlying these two African traditions and lays the groundwork for future study.

Advent is close, expectation is holding its breath. The angels hover high above. Come, begin your journey - Hope Was Heard Singing can be used as part of a daily discipline for Advent, or as a book to dip into. It is a collection for personal reflection, and a rich resource, from an original voice, for congregations and small groups searching for material relevant to the 21st century. There are prayers, meditations, poems, a few wee plays thrown in for good measure and Bible readings on Advent themes. Much of the material was tried and tested at Dunblane Cathedral, where Sally is Associate Minister. On the hillsides, hope was heard singing unexpected Hallelujahs. In a Bethlehem backwater, hope hovered and love was born. And now, as the wise journey and the powerful start to pace the floor and mumble into sleepless nights, we gather - the light of the world is here. The job now is to keep it burning.

The diversity of prophetic voices in the Bible provides a message that is rich and variegated. But the variety of the testimony can be lost by limiting one's interpretations or application of the prophetic word. Interpreting the Prophetic Word helps readers understand the harmony of the voices that reveal God's purposes in redemptive history. Dr. Willem VanGemeren explains clearly and fully the background of the prophetic tradition. He then interprets the message of the major and minor prophets, using historical context and literary form and structure as tools in his analysis. He concludes with an explanation of the relevance of the prophetic word today. Dr. VanGemeren's extensive research and scholarship is presented in a readable way to unlock the door of prophecy for readers. He helps them to interpret prophecy and invites them to listen to the prophets and to lives the prophetic word.

In The Resurrection of the Body Caroline Bynum forges a new path of historical inquiry by studying the notion of bodily resurrection in the ancient and medieval West against the background of persecution and conversion, social hierarchy, burial practices, and the cult of saints. Examining those periods between the late second and fourteenth centuries in which discussions of the body were central to Western conceptions of death and resurrection, she suggests that the attitudes toward the body emerging from these discussions still undergird our modern conceptions of personal identity and the individual. Bynum describes how Christian thinkers clung to a very literal notion of resurrection, despite repeated attempts by some theologians and philosophers to spiritualize the idea. Focusing on the metaphors and examples used in theological and philosophical discourse and on artistic depictions of saints, death, and resurrection, Bynum connects the Western obsession with bodily return to a deep-seated fear of biological process and a tendency to locate identity and individuality in body. Of particular interest is the imaginative religious imagery, often bizarre to modern eyes, which emerged during medieval times. Bynum has collected here thirty-five examples of such imagery, which illuminate her discussion of bodily resurrection. With this detailed study of theology, piety, and social history, Bynum writes a new chapter in the history of the body and challenges our views on gender, social hierarchy, and difference.

The Mysticism of Ordinary Life: Theology, Philosophy, and Feminism presents a new vision of Christian mystical theology. It offers critical interpretations of Catholic theologians, postmodern philosophers, and intersectional feminists who draw on mystical traditions to affirm ordinary life. It raises questions about normativity, gender, and race, while arguing that the everyday experience of the grace of divine union can be an empowering source of social transformation. It develops Christian teachings about the Word made flesh, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the Christian spiritual life, while exploring the mystical significance of philosophical discourses about immanence, alterity, in-betweenness, nothingness, and embodiment. The discussion of Latino/a and Black sources in North America expands the Western mystical canon and opens new horizons for interdisciplinary dialogue. The volume challenges contemporary culture to recognize and draw inspiration from quotidian manifestations of the unknown God of incarnate love. It includes detailed studies of Grace Jantzen, Amy Hollywood, Catherine Keller, Karl Rahner, Adrienne von Speyr, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Michel Henry, Michel de Certeau, Luce Irigaray, Julia Kristeva, Gloria Anzaldua, Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, Alice Walker, M. Shawn Copeland, and more.

Drawing from both her published writings and her private journals, this compilation presents a candid look at the extraordinary journey of Evelyn Underhill. For the many readers who have been moved by the writings of Evelyn Underhill, and for those who are merely intrigued by mysticism or captivated by a good memoir, this book presents a vivid and deeply personal rendering of a life that was, both intellectually and spiritually, radiant.