Faith Rediscovered

***Purchase includes a free online course on faith*** What do you do when your newfound faith is challenged by those closest to you? Peter Daniel Young is about to find out. Convinced he was called by the good Lord to train to be a minister, Peter is caught in a poetic downpour driving back home again—the last place he ever thought he would end up. But soon after returning to his hometown, he is caught in the tension of his traditional parents, who are relentless with their questions; a brother who’s hit rock-bottom, and has walked away from the Church; new friends, who offer him welcomed support for his new spiritual direction; and a conservative professor, who challenges his beliefs at every turn. More troublesome yet: Peter begins to question whether the reimagined faith he carefully constructed to save his Christianity was what he needed in the first place — and he finds himself wondering whether there might be something more to the faith he left behind. Picking up the story immediately at the end of A Reimagined Faith, J. A. Bouma weaves a fresh, insightful spiritual story of resonance and truth to help a new generation wrestle through deep questions of faith, life, and everything in between. With shades of John Greene’s coming of age novels, combines with the poignance and insight of C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity and John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, it is the book he wished he’d had and his parents had during his own crisis of faith. Whether you are facing your own faith crisis and wonder if Christianity is still relevant to your world, or you know of someone who is struggling themselves, discover along with Peter what why the old, old story of Jesus and his love still matters. For him, his family and friends, the Church — and for you.

This is the first general comprehensive introduction to Manichaeism aimed at a non-specialist and undergraduate readership. This study will be a historical and theological introduction to Manichaeism. It will comprise a biographical treatment of the founder Mani, situating his personality, his writings and his ideas within the Aramaic Christian tradition of third century (CE) Mesopotamia. It will provide a historical treatment of the Manichaean church in late antiquity (250-700 CE), detailing the emergence of Manichaeism in the late Roman and Byzantine empires, in addition to examining the continuation of Manichaean traditions in the eastern world (China) up to the thirteenth century and beyond. The book will consider the theology of Mani's system, with the aim of providing a clear-eyed treatment of the cosmogonic, scriptural and ecclesiological ideas forming its foundations. The study will base its analysis on original Manichaean literary sources, together with rehabilitating the representation of Manichaeism in those writings that polemicised against the religion. The study will aim to demonstrate the highly syncretic nature of Manichaeism, and will look to move forward 'traditional' perceptions of the religion as being simply a form of Christian Gnostic Dualism.

The archbishop of Denver addresses the difficult question of what it means to be a Catholic in the twenty-first century.

Faith is, by definition, a belief in something without any evidence to support that belief. In search for a greater understanding of what faith is and for answers to the questions I begin to write this book. Not only to answer the questions I had myself but to help someone else who may be seeking the same answers as me.

This book is about giving people hope and faith, comfort and inspiration when a death occurs. It is based on my experiences throughout my forty-year career as a rabbi in helping my congregants deal with the emotions and thoughts that occur when a loved one dies. I have grown to understand, and have taught about, the importance of community when we are mourners, and of the absolute emotional and spiritual power of prayer. The book includes lessons that I have learned personally and professionally, lessons that are relevant to the very real issues brought on by sorrow and regret. My messages not only educate those who read them but also convey a sense of faith and hope that can positively affect our transition from mourning to living our lives. And, they are valid for Jews and non-Jews alike—those who attend services, and those who don’t.

Companionship and strategies for job seekers Millions of people become unemployed every year, yet when job loss happens to us, we typically feel completely alone and often lost, ashamed, and afraid. No one knows how to comfort us when we lose our job. Unlike other griefs--when someone can say, "I'm sorry for your loss"--joblessness leaves family, friends, and acquaintances awkwardly searching for words. Jobs Lost, Faith Found is for those who feel alone due to job loss. It is also for those who offer respect, companionship, guidance, and resources to the unemployed. Mary C. Lindberg, pastor, chaplain, and spiritual director, draws on her family's experience of unemployment and the wisdom of many others, including sages from Scripture and the Christian tradition, to help readers discover a sense of worth and purpose on their way to a new job. She offers prayers, insights, Bible stories, and reflections to light the way during this time of uncertainty and wandering. The path toward hope will be your own, but the ideas, reflections, and strategies in this book will get you started on your journey.

This bold work culminates Hall's three- volume contextual theology, the first to take the measure of Christian belief and doctrine explicitly in light of North American cultural and historical experience.Hall is deeply critical of North American culture but also of sidelined Christian churches that struggle to gain dominance within it. "We must stop thinking of the reduction of Christendom as a tragedy!" he says. The disestablishment that the churches reluctantly enjoy can enable them to develop genuine community, uncompromised theology, and honest engagement with the larger culture. To a failed culture and a struggling church Hall shows the radical implications of a theology of the cross for the shape and practice of church, preaching, ministry, ethics, and eschatology.Hall's frank and prophetic volume is the trilogy's most practical, and the most sustained probe to date of Christian life in a post-Christian context.