An exploration of how psychological mechanisms produce intuitions, beliefs, behaviors, and experiences that are misattributed as being unique outcomes of religious or spiritual influences. Written from a social psychology perspective, this book proposes that religious and spiritual content represent one possible interpretation of the output of processes that also produce and govern nonreligious content. In looking at why people believe in God, and why belief in God is often linked with a range of positive outcomes such as prosociality, morality, health, and happiness, the author uses a critical lens that challenges past theories of religion’s functions and adds new perspectives into a discipline that is often limited by an exclusive focus on evolutionary theory. This book features several cross-cutting themes—including “dual process” theory and an exploration of how various social cognition mechanisms and biases can channel or shape religious content—and provides a continuous through-line linking the underlying building blocks of thought, as studied in the cognitive sciences of religion (CSR) to specific religious and spiritual concepts using a social cognition lens.

Bits of wisdom, advice, and must-have information every woman needs for life.

With an ever-widening world and many seasons of influence, women need insight for the countless areas and ways they are called upon to be wise. The five fun sections of The Essential Five are Popular and Pursued, Classy and Fabulous, Domestic Goddess, Fetching and Fit, and Does It All.

Lists include: Ways to Make Sure You Don't Ruin a First Date Strategies for Surviving Awkward Business Functions Ways to Make Your House Look Clean...Fast Spas Worth Traveling Around the World For Secrets for Eating Out When You're On a Diet Annual Appointments You Should Make...and Keep Ways to Stay Motivated at the Gym Steps of CPR Legal Documents You Should Have...Just in Case Body Language Signals You Don't Want to Send (or Maybe You Do )

Christians talk about the Holy Spirit, but rarely know how to recognize the Spirit's presence and activity in the world. Luke is the most illuminating gospel writer on the topic of the Holy Spirit. Luke writes about Jesus as the messiah anointed by the Holy Spirit, and about the church as the Spirit-empowered fellowship in the Mediterranean world of the first century. These meditations on Luke-Acts attempt to discern how the winds of the Spirit have blown in the lives of Jesus, his disciples, and the earliest Christians so that we can track and participate in the works of the Holy Spirit in the global village of the 21st century.

Thirteen examples of biblical pseudepigrapha including the rarely read Living Oracles translation of the Book of Revelation, the Apocalypse of Abraham and many other sought after texts which shed light on the evolution of our faith, our theology, and our church. The Lost Books: The Apocalypse of Abraham The Living Oracles version of Revelation Bel and the Dragon Tobias Judith The Book of Wisdom Sirach Baruch Epistle of Jeremiah Susanna The Prayer of Azariah The Prayer of Manasseh Laodiceans

People everywhere are facing difficult situations and they need to know how to cope with the frustration and other overwhelming emotions that accompany any uncertain situation. This book of hope from Tammy interweaves third-person stories and letters of people who needed-and found-encouragement. We're not alone in our fight . . . in our struggles ... in our loneliness...or in our questions. Other people are going through tough times too, and are pressing on through the storms. It's usually easier for us to press on when we see that others have gone before us and have found joy again. We often need others to stand in the gap for us, when we cannot stand on our own during those difficult times. If we look-if we watch, we'll see and notice that we are never alone. When it's more then we can bear-Jesus stands in those gaps for us. He is able. Give it to God and let Him put your life back together again!