God Is Not A Christian

"[ArchbishopDesmond Tutu’s] unofficial legacy will be his life and the story of how thistiny pastor with a huge laugh from South Africa became our globalguardian." —Time magazine Biographer John Allen collects the ArchbishopDesmond Tutu's most profound, controversial, and historic words in thisinspiring anthology of speeches, interviews, and sermons that have rocked theworld. An unforgettable look at the South African pastor’s deeply rootedempathy and penetrating wisdom, God IsNot a Christian is perfect for anyone moved by of Martin Luther King Jr.’s“I Have a Dream” speech or Nelson Mandela’s stirring autobiography Conversations with Myself, brilliantlyconnecting readers with the courageous and much-needed moral vision thatcontinues to change countless lives around the globe.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu is regarded as one of the best-loved, most outspoken activists for peace in the world today. In 'God is Not a Christian' he shares his thoughts on a wide range of subjects, such as forgiveness and justice, tolerance and respect, hope and human rights, the importance of community and the challenges of sexuality, theology and race.

The author of The Gospel of Inclusion continues to rouse organized religion as he raises controversial issues and provides enlightening answers to the deepest questions about God and faith. What is God? Where is God? Who is the one true God? Questions such as these have driven a thousand human struggles, through war, terrorism, and oppression. Humanity has responded by branching off into multiple religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam—each one pitted against the other. But it doesn’t have to be that way. In God Is Not a Christian, nor a Jew, Muslim, Hindu . . . , the provocative and acclaimed Bishop Carlton Pearson follows up on his celebrated first book, The Gospel of Inclusion, to tackle these questions and many more, exploring new ideas about God and faith and putting forth the stunning assertion that God belongs to no particular religion but is an ever-loving presence available to all. For these beliefs, Bishop Pearson lost his thriving Pentecostal ministry but was catapulted instead into a greater pulpit. His readership has grown through appearances on national television and an extensive speaking schedule. With the world in the midst of a holy war, there is no better time for the wisdom of Bishop Pearson to reach a global audience. Bishop Pearson’s many loyal fans, along with new readers, will surely welcome this provocative and eye-opening exploration of a deeper faith, one that goes far beyond any fundamentalist way of thinking, be it Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc. Simply put, Bishop Pearson dares to tell the truth so many others are too afraid to face.

And while Christianity is continuing to grow at a modest rate, other religions are growing at a faster pace. Some scholars predict that Islam will overtake Christianity as the world's largest religion by the middle of the twenty-first century. Predictions aside, religions are competing for the world stage, and in the competition, Christians seem certain that God is on their side. Christians often think and behave as though God is a Christian. This book is written to ask if that assumption is true and to foster a more open conversation about other world religions. The world has grown too small and the stakes for mankind have grown too high for any of us to engage our faith as if our understanding of God represents the only way God's presence may be known in the world. We need, more than ever before, to develop creative communities of conversation. Conversation does not begin with talking. It begins with listening. Like Quakers of old, we need to gather in humility and honesty to face the meanness and evil that religion itself has sometimes heaped upon mankind. Godsey asserts that "We should open ourselves to new spectrums of light that may emanate from faiths foreign to our own. Our high calling is to commit ourselves to building a better pathway for creating understanding and mutual respect among people of faith throughout the world." Book jacket.

Christopher Hitchens, described in the London Observer as “one of the most prolific, as well as brilliant, journalists of our time” takes on his biggest subject yet–the increasingly dangerous role of religion in the world. In the tradition of Bertrand Russell’s Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris’s recent bestseller, The End Of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope’s awesome view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty and symmetry of the double helix.

Written by an L. A. County homicide detective and former atheist, Cold-Case Christianity examines the claims of the New Testament using the skills and strategies of a hard-to-convince criminal investigator. Christianity could be defined as a “cold case”: it makes a claim about an event from the distant past for which there is little forensic evidence. In Cold-Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace uses his nationally recognized skills as a homicide detective to look at the evidence and eyewitnesses behind Christian beliefs. Including gripping stories from his career and the visual techniques he developed in the courtroom, Wallace uses illustration to examine the powerful evidence that validates the claims of Christianity. A unique apologetic that speaks to readers’ intense interest in detective stories, Cold-Case Christianity inspires readers to have confidence in Christ as it prepares them to articulate the case for Christianity.

The church was established to serve the world with Christ-like love, not to rule the world. It is called to look like a corporate Jesus, dying on the cross for those who crucified him, not a religious version of Caesar. It is called to manifest the kingdom of the cross in contrast to the kingdom of the sword. Whenever the church has succeeded in gaining what most American evangelicals are now trying to get – political power – it has been disastrous both for the church and the culture. Whenever the church picks up the sword, it lays down the cross. The present activity of the religious right is destroying the heart and soul of the evangelical church and destroying its unique witness to the world. The church is to have a political voice, but we are to have it the way Jesus had it: by manifesting an alternative to the political, “power over,” way of doing life. We are to transform the world by being willing to suffer for others – exercising “power under,” not by getting our way in society – exercising “power over.”

The FIRST EVER Orthodox Study Bible presents the Bible of the early church and the church of the early Bible. Orthodox Christianity is the face of ancient Christianity to the modern world and embraces the second largest body of Christians in the world. In this first-of-its-kind study Bible, the Bible is presented with commentary from the ancient Christian perspective that speaks to those Christians who seek a deeper experience of the roots of their faith. Features Include: Old Testament newly translated from the Greek text of the Septuagint, including the Deuterocanon New Testament from the New King James Version Commentary drawn from the early Church Christians Easy-to-Locate liturgical readings Book Introductions and Outlines Index to Annotations Index to Study Articles Full-color Maps