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.

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.

For the early Christians, "pagan" referred to a multitude of unbelievers: Greek and Roman devotees of the Olympian gods, and "barbarians" such as Arabs and Germans with their own array of deities. But while these groups were clearly outsiders or idolaters, who and what was pagan depended on the outlook of the observer, as Christopher Jones shows in this fresh and penetrating analysis. Treating paganism as a historical construct rather than a fixed entity, Between Pagan and Christian" uncovers the ideas, rituals, and beliefs that Christians and pagans shared in Late Antiquity.

While the emperor Constantine's conversion in 312 was a momentous event in the history of Christianity, the new religion had been gradually forming in the Roman Empire for centuries, as it moved away from its Jewish origins and adapted to the dominant pagan culture. Early Christians drew on pagan practices and claimed important pagans as their harbingers--asserting that Plato, Virgil, and others had glimpsed Christian truths. At the same time, Greeks and Romans had encountered in Judaism observances and beliefs shared by Christians such as the Sabbath and the idea of a single, creator God. Polytheism was the most obvious feature separating paganism and Christianity, but pagans could be monotheists, and Christians could be accused of polytheism and branded as pagans. In the diverse religious communities of the Roman Empire, as Jones makes clear, concepts of divinity, conversion, sacrifice, and prayer were much more fluid than traditional accounts of early Christianity have led us to believe.

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"

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.

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

Our world today is increasingly characterized by speed, movement and flux. There is often a lack of sufficient time to do 'what needs to be done', and life seems to be marked by change, upheaval and revolution. But in the midst of this turmoil, say the authors, people are having conscious and semiconscious experiences of the etheric world - the world that comprises the forces of life. However, this growing sensitivity to the etheric realm only intensifies experiences of movement and upheaval. To counter such feelings, we should take hold of our inner life and strengthen the 'I' - our true self. Featuring essays supplemented with a substantial amount of source material from Rudolf Steiner and other authors, this book is an invaluable resource for inner development and the beginnings of true spiritual vision. We learn to practise the ability to add to every physical perception - whether of stone, plant, animal or another person - the etheric reality associated with that entity. This process leads us to become more aware of the 'after-image' and to become conscious within the etheric realm. Baruch Urieli comments that this 'is not an esoteric path but is, rather, an endeavour to bring the beginnings of a natural consciousness of the etheric to full consciousness and, hence, under the rulership of the ego'.

"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.

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.

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.

What is Atheism? Atheism is the rejection of religion outright. It posits that there are no deities, and that the existence of all things can be explained rationally and without the presence of a higher power. This independently written book aims to examine the history of atheism and its philosophical development throughout the years, its rise in popularity throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, its central tenets of belief, the reason behind a person becoming and atheist, as well as atheism's future. It also contains survey data, provides popular quotes about atheism, lists a large variety of famous atheists, and depicts today's commonly used atheist symbols. Contents: What is Atheism? The History and Development of Atheism Atheism Today & Tomorrow Atheism Vs. Agnosticism What is Behind the Selection of Atheism as a Religion? Types of Atheism Reasons for Atheism The Current State of Atheism Atheist Symbols, Quotes and Famous People

A Secular Humanist's tour de force, Don Libey's second novel offers Christian believers rare insight into the true fallacy of God's Church and a Life in the Lord. Set in Small Town, America, it is the story of how people of blind faith plant their seed, nurture their beliefs, and harvest their rewards with their unquestioning reliance on the mythical divine and revealed Word of God and the moral rectitude and disaster of Christian teaching. For those for whom "Jesus is enough" this is a story that reveals the "old-timey Gospel" as essentially hypocrisy and a simple life with God on your heart as the primary ingredient for the church to make money and keep its "believers" enslaved.

Infinity and God have been close bedfellows over the recent millennia of human thought. But this is James A. Lindsay's point. These two ideas are thought, mere concepts. Lindsay shows in a concise and readable manner that infinity is an abstraction, and shows that, in all likelihood, so is God, particularly if he has infinite properties. This book is about math. It is about God. It is about stressing the importance of not confusing these two ideas with reality. Never the twain shall meet. "A short and engaging read on the meeting of two huge ideas, infinity and God, that leaves us seeing both as abstract ideas that may have nothing to do with reality. Honest and accessible, Dot, Dot, Dot is a great little book to stretch your thinking." - Peter Boghossian, author of A Manual for Creating Atheists "Timely, important and very readable, this book pulls the rug from under theists' feet." - Jonathan MS Pearce, The Little Book of Unholy Questions "Read this to avoid making any more cardinal sins and learn how much math is an amazing human endeavor." - Aaron Adair, PhD, The Star of Bethlehem: A Skeptical View

Beginning in 1689, Jean Meslier worked for around forty years as the priest of the small town of Etripigny, France. When he died, his parishioners were astonished to find his last testament to them: a refutation of every religious doctrine he had advocated in life. This is the testament, with preface by Voltaire, who exhorted his own daughter to read it again and again. The Godless Heritage Series is a project dedicated to bringing hard-to-find works of atheist and secularist history back into print in an accessible way. Our goal is to bring back works that allow us to rediscover the lives of atheists, agnostics, and secularists from across cultures and through the ages.

Some events defy statistics and common sense, like winning the lottery four times in a row. For believers it's just God doing His thing. Atheists and agnostics don't have it that easy. What are these astounding synchronicities and highly improbable lucky breaks? Are they just coincidences or is there something else at work here? Drawing on science, mathematics, psychology, and philosophy, this book places the miraculous into a rational framework, and suggest strategies for harnessing its power in your decision-making and worldview. That's just half the story. The other half is the author's own improbable life, starting as a Jewish infant hidden in the basement of a Gestapo headquarters, later becoming an Israeli soldier in the Six-Day War, a concert pianist, a stand-up comedian, and a yogi in an ashram, all before he turned 50. It is a rip-roaring hilarious tale that will make your head spin. It will also give you a blueprint for turning your own life into a journey of awe and amazement. About the author Peter Elyakim Taussig is a Czech-Israeli-Canadian-American composer, author, filmmaker, concert pianist, nature photographer, and inventor. He is neither award-winning nor internationally acclaimed. He resides in Lenox Massachusetts and Santa Barbara California. Further self-aggrandizing information is available on his web site at: www.petertaussig.com