God S Agents

A study of how religion goes public in today's world. Based on over three years of anthropological research, Matthew Engelke traces how a small group of socially committed Christians tackles the challenge of publicity within what it understands to be a largely secular culture.

This volume examines a category of Japanese divinities that centered on the concept of “world renewal” (yonaoshi). In the latter half of the Tokugawa period (1603–1867), a number of entities, both natural and supernatural, came to be worshipped as “gods of world renewal.” These included disgruntled peasants who demanded their local governments repeal unfair taxation, government bureaucrats who implemented special fiscal measures to help the poor, and a giant subterranean catfish believed to cause earthquakes to punish the hoarding rich. In the modern period, yonaoshi gods took on more explicitly anti-authoritarian characteristics. During a major uprising in Saitama Prefecture in 1884, a yonaoshi god was invoked to deny the legitimacy of the Meiji regime, and in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the new religion Ōmoto predicted an apocalyptic end of the world presided over by a messianic yonaoshi god. Using a variety of local documents to analyze the veneration of yonaoshi gods, Takashi Miura looks beyond the traditional modality of research focused on religious professionals, their institutions, and their texts to illuminate the complexity of a lived religion as practiced in communities. He also problematizes the association frequently drawn between the concept of yonaoshi and millenarianism, demonstrating that yonaoshi gods served as divine rectifiers of specific economic injustices and only later, in the modern period and within the context of new religions such as Ōmoto, were fully millenarian interpretations developed. The scope of world renewal, in other words, changed over time. Agents of World Renewal approaches Japanese religion through the new analytical lens of yonaoshi gods and highlights the necessity of looking beyond the boundary often posited between the early modern and modern periods when researching religious discourses and concepts.

The Bible mentions angels nearly 300 times, yet until recently many doubted their existence.

One evening in 1588, just weeks after the defeat of the Spanish Armada, two young men landed in secret on a beach in Norfolk, England. They were Jesuit priests, Englishmen, and their aim was to achieve by force of argument what the Armada had failed to do by force of arms: return England to the Catholic Church. Eighteen years later their mission would be shattered by the actions of the Gunpowder Plotters -- a small group of terrorists who famously tried to destroy the Houses of Parliament -- for the Jesuits were accused of having designed "that most horrid and hellish conspiracy." Alice Hogge follows "God's secret agents" from their schooling on the Continent, through their perilous return journeys and lonely lives in hiding, to, ultimately, the gallows. She offers a remarkable true account of faith, duty, intolerance, and martyrdom -- the unforgettable story of men who would die for a cause undone by men who would kill for it.

***WINNER - Best High Fantasy Novel of 2015 - eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook Awards*** At the dawn of time, two ancient adversaries battled for control of Earth. One man rose to stand at humanity's side. A soldier whose name we still remember today… Cut down by an act of betrayal, Mikhail lingers between life and death while his fragile alliance crumbles against the onslaught of a Sata'anic invasion. Fearful the intrepid Angelic might lose hope and die, his young protégé concocts a plan to fool him into thinking his wife is at his side. Meanwhile, held captive by the Evil One, Ninsianna must choose between loyalty to her fallen husband and manipulating the Evil One's minions to turn against him. As darkness tears the heavens asunder, a tiny Mesopotamian village finds itself the epicenter of an intergalactic war between good and evil. But all is not lost. An ancient goddess has recruited two 'Watchmen' to turn darkness back into the light; mortal creatures who do not realize they are pawns. The saga of the greatest superhero to ever walk the Earth, the Archangel Michael, continues in Agents of Ki… * Sword of the Gods saga reading order: The Chosen One Omnibus (includes:) —Heroes of Old: Episode 1x01 —Sword of the Gods —No Place for Fallen Angels —Forbidden Fruit Prince of Tyre Agents of Ki The Dark Lord's Vessel The Fairy General (coming soon) . Children of the Fallen series (set in the same universe, but in the modern day) Angel of Death Omnibus (includes) —Angel of Death —Angel of Death: A Love Story A Gothic Christmas Angel (A Children of the Fallen novella) * Note: this book is NOT religious fiction. The Sword of the Gods saga is an epic fantasy retelling of the wars in heaven at the dawn of time, the clash of ancient adversaries and empires, the myth of Lucifer, the fallen angels, and the soldier we now call the Archangel Michael, and the 3,500 b.c. humans caught in middle, similar in tone and style to books such as Game of Thrones, Dune and Outlander, with a romantic undertone, all told with a science fiction / space opera twist. At the request of the publisher, this book is sold without DRM. * Keywords: Archangel Michael, Archangel Mikhail, Archangel, space opera, military science fiction, military romance, military fantasy, genetic engineering, first contact, alien invasion, galactic empire, Special Forces romance, angel romance, galactic empire, Lucifer, Luciferi, morning star, Shaytan, Satan, dragon god, dragons, devil, evil, nature of evil, Beelzebub, Beel-zebub, Ba'al Zebub, Moloch, angel, angels, archangel, archangels, guardian angel, guardian angels, angel fantasy, angel romance, fallen angels, books about angels, angels and demons, angel romance books, angel romance novels, demons, angel fantasy, Inanna, Abaddon, Jehoshaphat, Raphael, Archangel Raphael, Jophiel, Ubaid culture, Mesopotamian culture, ancient Mesopotamia, Assur, Ashur, Hiddekel River, what to read after Game of Thrones, Halifian culture, Halafian culture, Uruk culture, Annunaki, angel romance, genetically engineered super-soldiers, lion people, centaurs, merfolk, mermaids, military romance, wars in heaven, god vs. the devil, dark lord

The angels are all around us to guide us.They want to get involved in all areas of your life: in your daily life, your home, your business, your finances, and your family. These supernatural agents of God are just waiting for you to speak the word of God. God created angels to answer and obey your word. Watch your words; the angels are listening! Doubtful words and disbelief prevent them from acting on our behalf. Wrong words and wrong prayers can provoke them. Words of faith allow them to act in our favor.The Bible says that angels will go before you and prosper your way. They provide divine protection for you as it was afforded to everyone in Bible times: Abraham, David, Elijah, Elisha, and others.This book will take you on a fascinating journey about the intervention of these heavenly beings who are obliged with the ministry of assisting the heirs of salvation.

Sociologist Jeffrey Guhin spent a year and a half embedded in four high schools in the New York City area -- two of them Sunni Muslim and two Evangelical Christian. At first pass, these communities do not seem to have much in common. But under closer inspection Guhin finds several common threads: each school community holds to a conservative approach to gender and sexuality, a hostility towards the theory of evolution, and a deep suspicion of secularism. All possess a double-sided image of America, on the one hand as a place where their children can excel and prosper, and on the other hand as a land of temptations that could lead their children astray. He shows how these school communities use boundaries of politics, gender, and sexuality to distinguish themselves from the secular world, both in school and online. Guhin develops his study of boundaries in the book's first half to show how the school communities teach their children who they are not; the book's second half shows how the communities use "external authorities" to teach their children who they are. These "external authorities" -- such as Science, Scripture, and Prayer -- are experienced by community members as real powers with the ability to issue commands and coerce action. By offloading agency to these external authorities, leaders in these schools are able to maintain a commitment to religious freedom while simultaneously reproducing their moral commitments in their students. Drawing on extensive classroom observation, community participation, and 143 formal interviews with students, teachers, and staff, this book makes an original contribution to sociology, religious studies, and education.