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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Alternative belief systems > Syncretist & eclectic religions & belief systems > General
My book is an inspirational and challenge to others to want to know
God on a personal basis. This is my testimony of how God is working
miracles in my life. All my life I have been trying to do things on
my own. But when I realized that I could not make, i had to find
another source. When i accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior my life
change. I begin to focus on the positives of life. Trusting in God
is what makes our lives complete
Richard Trudeau writes, I'm a skeptic. I don't believe in
supernatural beings or miraculous events. I don't believe in a
supernatural God, or the soul, or miracles, or an afterlife. I
don't believe that Jesus was raised from the dead on the third
day--or the fourth day, or any subsequent day. My skepticism
notwithstanding, there are stories in the Bible that I return to
over and over. They engage my mind. They strengthen my heart. They
nourish my spirit. While seeking neither to encourage skepticism
nor to undermine it, I want to share my enthusiasm about these
stories with fellow skeptics and others who might find my point of
view interesting. I believe that for Christianity to flourish--and
to a lesser extent, for Judaism to flourish--they need to be
separated from the perceived necessity of belief in the
supernatural. This book shows by a series of examples how this
separation can be carried out.
Through the centuries, many wars have been waged in the name of
religion. Today, there are currently some 26 conflicts in the
world, in which religion plays a major role. Two Faces of God
explores the four pillars of religion; theology, ritual, dogma and
social consciousness, in an effort to determine the real cause of
religious conflicts. Taking a closer look at these last two
pillars, Two Faces of God concludes that religious dogma, and in
particular the literal interpretation of the Scriptures, regardless
of faith, is not only the cause of much of the current strife
around the world, it is also the major focus of the world's media.
Dogma breeds intolerance, mistrust, hatred, anger and violence and
this is the first Face of God. However, it is social consciousness
that is at the heart of most religions; offering comfort, hope,
inspiration, solace and assistance to the less fortunate people of
the world. This is the second Face of God.
The book is designed to assist the believer with removing excuses
out of their lives so they can continue to progress. It is
essential for every person to understand that they can live life to
the fullest without relying on excuses. Every person on the planet
faces issues and struggles. It is important to remove the excuses
in order to break the grips of the problem.
It is the objective of every functional, ministry-oriented church,
to have leaders in place who are ready, willing, and able to direct
new Christians and new members into ministry. That is always a
beautiful thing, yet, there are many issues to be considered. Far
too often, church leaders put people in ministry positions when:
people are not certain where they should be working in ministry;
people are still healing from emotional injury in their past which
would affect their service in the position; people have not
developed the proper attitude or temperament for the position;
people are not willing to make the necessary sacrifice to be
effective in the ministry position; people do not have the
necessary experience for the particular ministry position; people
do not want to be in the position. The results of a poor ministry
placement is that, over time, church leaders become frustrated, the
church worker becomes frustrated and church members receiving the
ministry services become frustrated. As a result, the work does not
get accomplished with maximum effectiveness, and the entire
experience leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth. As church
leaders, we are certain to increase the chances of making a
successful ministry placement by putting the right person, with the
right skills set and temperament, in the right place, at the right
time. "So You Want To Be A Mentor...Here's What You Should Be
Asking Yourself" is the title of Chapter Four in this book. In this
chapter, I've attempted to bring clarity to the essential role of
mentoring. In this chapter I share, "No one arrives at the place
they are in life without the influence of someone else, especially
if they are blessed with success." That principle is true with
positive or negative influences. Note the powerful principle in the
final point of this chapter, "Be Sympathetic to the Growing
Process" 10). Be Sympathetic to the Growing Process - Your protege
will drop the ball and make mistakes. You can co"
Are you eager to ask the questions you've been told not to ask? Are
you no longer satisfied with beliefs based on faith alone? Are you
bold enough even to ask, "Is God real?" Most importantly, "are you
willing to follow where the questions lead?" What is the book
about? In "Rethinking God, the Cosmos, and Other Little Things,"
Gary Bond invites the reader to join him on his journey from belief
to skepticism. This journey ultimately led to Bond's renouncing
Christianity and his embracing a life of apostasy as a "rethinker."
When Bond began rethinking the foundational beliefs upon which his
life was built, life could not have been more safe, secure, and
comfortable. He found himself a model Baptist church member, leader
of a men's ministry, Sunday school teacher, facilitator of
seminars, author of a Christian book, and owner of a Christian
bookstore. But nagging doubts would eventually lead Bond to end the
religious charade and become honest with himself. A central
question permeated Bond's rethinking: "Does this make sense?" This
book explores questions not only about God, the Bible, and
religion, but "other little things" as well, such as the Universe,
the American government, human motivations, religion-less
morality-and yes, sex. Who is this book for? If you are comfortable
and happy and confident in your beliefs, then this book will
probably not persuade you otherwise. However, if you have
persistent doubts about your belief system, then this book can
serve as a catalyst to begin your own "rethinking" of why you
believe what you believe. Perhaps you may begin to realize that
while beliefs often serve as illusion builders, "dis"illusionment
might provide a breakthrough to discovering reality. If you find
yourself, as the author did, in any of the following circumstances,
you may consider joining the journey: Burdened by a seeming lack of
enough faith to accept what you're told by religious authorities
Confused by the many interpretations of scripture and the resulting
varying views and factions within the Christian community Fearful
of expressing the inner doubt, "Is God a delusion?" and afraid to
ask questions that would put you in the camps of agnosticism and
atheism Not wanting to lose the respect and closeness of friends
and family Scared that your doubts will doom you to an eternal hell
Why should you read this book? This book will certainly have
different effects on different readers. The author's experiences
will not necessarily be your experiences. But there will be
inevitable similarities, especially for those who question the
Christian faith. Here are some possible benefits to reading
"Rethinking God, the Cosmos, and Other Little Things": To better
understand how beliefs can ensnare the mind, build illusions, and
leave no room for questions To bring to light the many
inconsistencies within the Christian religion that most Christians
choose to ignore To realize that religion does not have to be
off-limits to the logic and reason that you apply to every other
facet of life To learn the methods of becoming a rethinker Bond's
desire is that through reading this book, you may also experience
the power of free thought. Consider this book a traveling companion
on a journey of doubt and questions. The journey is surely not
always easy and may disrupt your life completely. But Bond
encourages you to take comfort in the knowledge that many
sojourners have come before you, and many are joining the journey
now. You are not alone.
The topic of gods and religion has bewildered generations
throughout history. Some have been led to believe that believing in
a god is the only way to be happy, others fear that the fabric of
society would fray and tear without widespread deference to
religion, and still others have chosen to believe because they did
not realize that there was ever even an alternative. This book
articulates the "None of the Above" alternative to the
multiple-choice question of gods and religion. Beginning with a
systematic deconstruction and demolition of religious thought as
unreliable, imprecise, and unproven, the discussion then turns to
rebuilding one's identity once he has relinquished the concept that
gods are anything more than an idea. Leading the reader through the
process and techniques of rebuilding his intellect, emotions,
morals, and meaning, What Are You Without God? refuses to destroy
religious thought without providing a definite alternative, namely,
to be a human being with the fleeting chance to give effect to his
desires and emotions before he closes his eyes for good.
Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins give voice to the
aspirations of hundreds of millions of atheists and secular
humanists around the world. The duo are the most influential
activists for a generation, energizing secular humanists and
non-believers through their landmark and best selling books The God
Delusion (2006) by Dawkins and Hitchens God is Not Great, How
Religion Poisons Everything (2007). Promoting rational principles
and common sense logic, Hitchens and Dawkins argue for the
advancement of reason, science and secularism over blind obedience
to religious dogma and worn out, stagnant mythologies. In Religion
Free, Keith Howard assembles an anthology of the two intellectuals
very finest thoughts selected from their essays, debates, lectures,
and media interviews, supplemented with correlated news stories and
excerpts from other prominent atheists and activists. The result is
a comprehensive collection of the most compelling opinions and
ideas of the modern day humanist and religion free communities.
There are indeed things that go bump in the night...and it is
usually me stubbing my toe on the door frame as I go to the
bathroom at 3:00 A.M. The world on which we live, and ultimately
the universe, is full of natural wonders and mysteries, and most of
them make little or no sense when you look at them with a little
bit of critical and rational thinking. Through the ages, we have
assigned supernatural qualities to so many aspects of our world
that too many people cannot tell fact from fiction. When you look
at mysteries and phenomena from an anti-theistic standpoint, a
whole new way at looking at them arises, or is that old
superstitions and senseless stories seem to melt away leaving
nothing behind because they had no true substance in the first
place? This is not a book about religion, rather how religion has
shaped our views on what we deem to be the supernatural, and what
happens to those views when religion is subtracted from the
equation. Ghosts, gods, alien visitations, vampires, werewolves,
powers of the mind, magic, and strange creatures are just some of
the topics covered in this short, to-the-point book dealing with
what we humans deem "mysteries." Meant to be a quick, fun, and
thought-provoking read, Explaining the Unexplainable may or may not
change your mind, but it will make you think.
2013 Reprint of 1925 Edition. Full facsimile of the original
edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. "The
Hermetic Marriage" explains certain alchemical symbols in the
nature of all things. Taking the chemistry of human relationships
as the basis, this essay describes the true preparation of a
Philosopher's Stone and Elixir of Life, according to the
fundamentals laid down by Hermes and the ancient Egyptian priest
craft. Manly P. Hall (1901-1990) founded the Philosophical Research
Society in 1934, a non-profit organization dedicated to the
dissemination of useful knowledge in the fields of philosophy,
comparative religion and psychology. In his long career, spanning
more than 70 years of dynamic public activity, Mr. Hall delivered
over 8000 lectures in the United States and abroad, authored over
150 books and essays, and wrote countless magazine articles.
With a mix of serious rational analysis and hilarious observations
Holy Unbelievable looks at why so many people still believe in the
existence of a divine being. The biblical text is examined and its
many contradictions and absurdities laid bare. Is The Bible the
source of human morality? Did Noah really build an ark? It is fair
to say that PC Dixon is not convinced. Whether you are a believer
or not this book offers much food for thought and plenty of
amusement. 'This book is intended to make you think: That's a good
point and also laugh from time to time. Hopefully simultaneously in
many cases.' - PC Dixon
Remember when religion was fun? (Neither do I) This book dares to
make religion fun again by taking you on a funny trip from Biblical
times to the present tackling such controversial topics as God,
Jesus, the Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, suicide bombers, the
Bible, evolution, gay marriage, abortion, and life after death.
Since religion isn't so fun anymore, more people than ever are
becoming atheists. The New Atheist movement has many people deluded
about God, even though many still think God is great. This movement
is waging war on Christianity and wants religion abolished in the
modern world. They think that religion has brought far more harm
than good to the world, and enslaves people to irrational thinking.
Are they right? Refuting atheism and defending Christianity are no
easy tasks. This book attempts to prove God's existence by showing
how God revealed Himself to the world. First, He revealed Himself
to the Jews and got them out of more than a few jams. Then, He
became a man named Jesus and walked the Earth in sandals. Next, the
Catholic Church came along and said it had all the answers, until
Protestants came along and said the same thing. Of course, much
fighting ensued, but maybe the world was better for it.
Understanding and obeying God are no easy tasks. Today, we are
living in the post-Christian era. Entertainment is America's new
religion and promotes a secular agenda. Have you noticed that pop
culture is nothing but a brainwash for accepting immorality?
Probably not, since every movie you see and every song you hear
seems to subtly treat sex and violence like they are life's highest
virtues. Entertainment wants to win over the youth, so they can
forget God as early as possible. Is going to church nearly as fun
as today's entertainment? Now that you're a follower of God, is He
done with you? Absolutely not, He wants you to be with Him forever
He has plans to defeat the Devil once and for all, and rapture all
Christians up to Heaven Jesu
The colorfully illustrated story of a boy, named Gilly, who starts
asking too many questions in Sunday School and is brought before
the congregation to explain himself. He upsets his parents, the
pastor and everyone else by openly questioning the existence of
God.
While I can make various arguments for the harm that religion does
in the world, and the dangers represented by a faith mentality, the
primary issue that I remain passionate about is that religion is
false. The underlying premise is untrue, which means that
everything that is built upon that premise is also untrue. The
staggering amount of time, money, emotional energy and bloodshed
expended in the name of something completely fictitious is a crime
against humanity. So while there are debates about religion's place
in society, whether the charitable works they do add value, whether
they should have tax exemptions and access to power in government,
whether the comfort some people seem to derive from their faith is
worthwhile and should be left unchallenged, I will focus on one
thing: To show that the God of Abraham, from which the three great
monotheisms were spawned, does not exist. I have read many books on
the subject of gods, religions and belief in the supernatural. I've
watched many debates on the matter as well, and one particularly
vexing issue comes up frequently and leaves me feeling
dissatisfied. That issue is the one of disproving the existence of
God. Scientists will often stop well short of even making a claim
about the existence of God, answering instead that one cannot prove
a negative, i.e. we cannot prove that God doesn't exist. Many
debates about the existence of God are often mired down in that
esoteric point and the natural progression from there to debates
regarding who carries the burden of proof. Arguments are presented
and then countered and in the end, people must decide for
themselves if they heard anything that impacted their thinking on
the subject. I began to think that I could build a compelling
argument for the non-existence of God, but I wanted more than just
arguments: I wanted proof. What you will find in this book is a
combination of both. Part I features arguments supporting my
statement that the god of monotheism; the God of Jews, Christians
and Muslims featured prominently in the Holy Bible and the Quran,
does not actually exist. In Part II of the book, I will use
evidence, or more precisely, the lack of evidence where evidence
should exist, to show beyond a reasonable doubt that the Biblical
God is a mythical figure no more real than Zeus, the King of Gods
from Greek Mythology.
The remarkable discussions in this volume took place between Rudolf
Steiner and workers at the Goetheanum, Switzerland. The varied
subject-matter was chosen by his audience at Rudolf Steiner's
instigation. Steiner took their questions and usually gave
immediate answers. The astonishing nature of these responses -
their insight, knowledge and spiritual depth - is testimony to his
outstanding ability as a spiritual initiate and profound thinker.
Accessible, entertaining and stimulating, the records of these
sessions will be a delight to anybody with an open mind. In this
particular collection, Rudolf Steiner deals with topics ranging
from limestone to Lucifer! He discusses, among other things,
technology; the living earth; natural healing powers; colour and
sickness; rainbows; whooping cough and pleurisy; seances; sleep and
sleeplessness; dreams; reincarnation; life after death; the
physical, ether and astral bodies and the 'I'; the two Jesus
children; Ahriman and Lucifer; the death, resurrection and
ascension of Christ; Dante and Copernicus.
Have you ever searched for a scripture when you, or someone you
knew, were in need of healing, protection, or financial provision?
For over seventeen years, Jacqueline Mortenson volunteered at a
scriptural prayer line at her church. She received daily telephone
calls and prayer requests from parishioners and others who knew
about the line, and she or one of the core group would find the
right scripture to meet each request. The following morning,
forty-plus prayer line members would pray these scriptures for the
people who had called for them. Realizing that a simple handbook of
scriptures for specific needs, particularly for Catholics, would be
useful, Jacqueline spent the next few years gathering and
categorizing scriptures to address particular concerns. Using the
Sword of the Spirit is the result of this work. Whatever your own
needs might be, God's Word has the answer-and this little book will
help you find it
"The Heathen's Guide to Christmas: A Field Manual for the War on
Christmas" brings you the real 'reason for the season'. From the
Virgin Birth to boughs of Holly; Christmas lights to Santa's evil
origins, 'The Heathen's Guide to Christmas presents the actual,
historical origins of this supposed Christian holiday, all in a
hilarious and convenient reference format that makes ruining
Christmas as easy as mincemeat pie. This is the book you want
in-hand when family and friends try to get you into the 'Christmas
Spirit'.
As soon as man becomes conscious of his existence, as soon as he
was able to reason, he was bound to ask himself the questions:
"From whence did I come? And "Whither do I go?" It was very natural
that he should wonder how he came to be here on earth and what
would become of him after death. He saw his fellow man fall asleep,
never to awaken. He saw others killed, life extinguished. It was
his efforts to solve these problems that caused primitive man to
create beliefs in life after death and in the power of super-human
beings. When we look back over the experiences of the race, the
history of mankind, we find that man has found three different ways
of explaining his activities. In other words, there have been but
three conceptions of history, three basic explanations by man of
his doings on this planet. It is true that more than three names
have been given to these conceptions of history, but they will all
fall within the following: First, in order of time, is the
Theological Conception of History; Second, is the Idealist
Conception of History, and, third, is the Materialist Conception of
History.
If suddenly you find yourself traveling down a long tunnel towards
a soothing, ethereal light and you see Grandma waving to you from a
distant garden with harp music in the background, relax. You're not
dead. When you die, you'll know it. Death isn't going to sleep.
Death is waking up. It is actually like being startled awake. There
is no afterlife. There is merely life. What comes after the biology
is magic.
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