Between 2 Gods

The mountains rise, tall and majestic, stretching into the skies and gracing the heavens-that place where God dwells. I pause from my play, a young preschooler, to take in the breathtaking view, and wonder if I would be closer to God if I were at the top of that mountain. I feel Him in the breezes, see His angels in the raindrops as they dance in the puddles. At least that is how I imagine it. My heart is captivated and I want to know Him, this God who paints the beautiful sunrise and draws the curtains of sunset... I hear murmurings that my father has threatened to kill us-his family. He flies into a rage, cursing disobedience, declaring damnation on the offender... He offers religion without relationship, and it seems that the church affirms this teaching.... These two Gods-the one revealed in nature, who makes beautiful things and whispers in the breeze, and the angry god who threatens, yells and abuses-collide, head on, in my mind, soul and spirit. I am confused and troubled. I pray to God. I ignore Him. I reach for Him. I shut Him out. I cry in desperation. I scream against Him, inwardly. I long to be held and loved by Him. I cringe. I fear. I flee. And always my heart wonders: Which God is real? Which one is safe? Which one will ultimately save me? Which one will condemn? My soul is tormented in the night, as the shadows dance on the walls of my room. I am seven. I am lost. I lie awake, afraid, wondering.... I am thirteen... the shadows still strike fear... the creaking stairs terrorize my mind... nightmares torment my sleep... I have tried the God of wrath, and He has left me condemned and lonely. I am abused, neglected and alone. I shut down... become numb and feel nothing. I am determined that I will not suffer forever... ...the God of my childhood is lost in the pain and trauma of abuse and I am left to struggle.... caught in a tug of war Between 2 Gods...

This is an analysis of how 16th- and 17th-century astronomers and theologians in Northern Protestant Europe used science and religion to challenge and support one another. It argues that these schemes can solve the enduring problem of how theological interpretation and investigation interact.

Published in 1904, this forgotten classic is sci-fi and dystopia at its best, written by the creator and master of the genre Following extensive research in the field of "growth," Mr. Bensington and Professor Redwood light upon a new mysterious element, a food that causes greatly accelerated development. Initially christening their discovery "The Food of the Gods," the two scientists are overwhelmed by the possible ramifications of their creation. Needing room for experiments, Mr. Besington chooses a farm that offers him the chance to test on chickens, which duly grow monstrous, six or seven times their usual size. With the farmer, Mr. Skinner, failing to contain the spread of the Food, chaos soon reigns as reports come in of local encounters with monstrous wasps, earwigs, and rats. The chickens escape, leaving carnage in their wake. The Skinners and Redwoods have both been feeding their children the compound illicitly—their eventual offspring will constitute a new age of giants. Public opinion rapidly turns against the scientists and society rebels against the world's new flora and fauna. Daily life has changed shockingly and now politicians are involved, trying to stamp out the Food of the Gods and the giant race. Comic and at times surprisingly touching and tragic, Wells' story is a cautionary tale warning against the rampant advances of science but also of the dangers of greed, political infighting, and shameless vote-seeking.

The stunning sequel to instant New York Times bestseller, Wicked Saints Nadya doesn’t trust her magic anymore. Serefin is fighting off a voice in his head that doesn’t belong to him. Malachiasz is at war with who--and what--he’s become. As their group is continually torn apart, the girl, the prince, and the monster find their fates irrevocably intertwined. Their paths are being orchestrated by someone...or something. The voices that Serefin hears in the darkness, the ones that Nadya believes are her gods, the ones that Malachiasz is desperate to meet—those voices want a stake in the world, and they refuse to stay quiet any longer. In their dramatic follow-up to Wicked Saints, the first book in their Something Dark and Holy trilogy, Emily A. Duncan paints a Gothic, icy world where shadows whisper, and no one is who they seem, with a shocking ending that will leave you breathless. This edition uses deckle edges; the uneven paper edge is intentional.

Selene DiSilva, goddess of the hunt, squares off against a killer who threatens the very existence of the gods themselves in this stunning sequel to Jordanna Max Brodsky's The Immortals, "a lively re-imaging of classical mythology." (Deborah Harkness) Winter in New York: snow falls, lights twinkle, and a very disgruntled Selene DiSilva prowls the streets, knowing that even if she doesn't look for trouble, it always finds her. When a dead body is discovered sprawled atop Wall Street's iconic Charging Bull statue, it's up to Selene to hunt down the perpetrators. Her ancient skills make her the only one who can track a conspiracy that threatens the very existence of the gods, including Selene, who was once known as Artemis. Olympus BoundThe ImmortalsWinter of the GodsOlympus Bound The Wolf in the Whale

Packed with myth, magic, and bloody vengeance, John Gwynne's "masterfully crafted, brutally compelling, Norse-inspired epic" (Anthony Ryan) continues in The Hunger of the Gods. THE DEAD GODS ARE RISING. Lik-Rifa, the dragon god of legend, has been freed from her eternal prison. Now she plots a new age of blood and conquest. As Orka continues the hunt for her missing son, the Bloodsworn sweep south in a desperate race to save one of their own–and Varg takes the first steps on the path of vengeance. Elvar has sworn to fulfil her blood oath and rescue a prisoner from the clutches of Lik-Rifa and her dragonborn followers, but first she must persuade the Battle-Grim to follow her. Yet even the might of the Bloodsworn and Battle-Grim cannot stand alone against a dragon god. Their only hope lies within the mad writings of a chained god. A book of forbidden magic with the power to raise the wolf god Ulfrir from the dead...and bring about a battle that will shake the foundations of the earth. Praise for The Shadow of the Gods “There is not a dull chapter in this fantasy epic.” —Vulture (Best of the Year) "A satisfying and riveting read. It’s everything I’ve come to expect from a John Gwynne book." —Robin Hobb "A masterfully crafted, brutally compelling Norse-inspired epic." —Anthony Ryan "A masterclass in storytelling . . . epic, gritty fantasy with an uncompromising amount of heart." —FanFiAddict For more from John Gwynne, check out: The Bloodsworn Trilogy The Shadow of the Gods The Hunger of the Gods Of Blood and Bone A Time of Dread A Time of Blood A Time of Courage The Faithful and the Fallen Malice Valor Ruin Wrath

"In this book Peter Schäfer casts light on the common assumption that Judaism from its earliest formulations was strictly monotheistic. Over and over again in the Hebrew Bible the biblical writers insist upon the idea that there is one and only one God. But the biblical text is multifarious and contains many sources that subvert from within the strong monotheistic thesis. Old Canaanite deities such as Baal and El, although pushed to the edges, prove stubbornly persistent. They come to the forefront in, for example, the famous "Son of Man" of chapter 7 of the Book of Daniel. In sum, Schäfer argues that monotheism was an ideal in ancient Judaism that was consistently aspired to, but never fully achieved. Through close textual analysis of the Bible and certain key post-biblical sources, Schäfer tracks the long history of a second, younger, subordinate God next to the senior Jewish God YHWH. One might expect that with early Christianity's embrace of this idea (in the form of Jesus Christ), Judaism would have abandoned it utterly. But the opposite was the case. Even after Christianity usurps the original Jewish notion of a second, younger God, certain post-biblical Jewish circles-in particular early Jewish mystical circles-maintained and revived it with the archangel "Metatron," a controversial figure whose very existence is questioned and fiercely debated by the rabbis of the Babylonian Talmud. This book was originally published in Germany by C.H. Beck Verlag in 2016"--