Showing titles in Philosophy

Thomas Paine, a political activist and member of the US Constitution, argues persuasively for a logical approach to theology in The Age of Reason. In keeping with the intellectual tradition of British Deism, Paine rejects the idea of divine revelation, claiming that "it is revelation to the first person only, and hearsay to every other." He continues by thoroughly examining the contradictions and historical errors in the Bible in order to reach the conclusion that it cannot be a work of divine inspiration.

For numerous centuries, the Talmud—an extraordinary work of Jewish ethics, law, and tradition—has compelled readers to grapple with how to live a good life. Full of folk legends, bawdy tales, and rabbinical repartee, it is inspiring, demanding, confounding, and thousands of pages long. As Liel Leibovitz enthusiastically explores the Talmud, what has sometimes been misunderstood as a dusty and arcane volume becomes humanity's first self-help book. How the Talmud Can Change Your Life contains sage advice on an unparalleled scope of topics.

The essential guide to mastering the teachings of one of the most influential spiritual teachers of the 20th century. This concise handbook distills Neville Goddard's core philosophies into practical steps, allowing listeners to apply his transformative techniques to their daily lives.

An accessible introduction to Christian philosophical theology Philosophical or analytic theology seeks to employ philosophical tools while studying topics in Christian theology and examining the logical consistency or intelligibility of some of the key doctrines of the Christian faith. In this...

Militant atheism is on the rise. In recent years, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens have produced a steady stream of best-selling books denigrating religious belief. These authors are merely the leading edge of a larger movement that includes much of the scientific community. In response, mathematician David Berlinski, himself a secular Jew, delivers a biting defense of religious thought.

The boring debate between fundamentalist believers and non-believers is finally moved on by Alain de Botton's inspiring new book, which boldly argues that the supernatural claims of religion are of course entirely false - and yet that religions still have important things to teach the secular world.

For too long, Christianity and evolution have been cast as enemies—faith clinging to the past, science racing into the future. But what if they were never meant to be in conflict? This book presents a bold vision: evolution is not chaos but a path, and Christianity reveals its goal. Science shows how matter rises into life and consciousness; faith proclaims why it moves—toward unity, freedom, and love in Christ. Reconciliation means more than compromise.

Dana Sawyer skillfully synthesizes insights from spiritual luminaries like Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts, and Ram Dass with contemporary thinkers, offering practical tools for personal growth and a deeper understanding of timeless 'perennial' wisdom. This fresh examination speaks to all who pursue self-realization, offering an illuminating guide for navigating the depths of consciousness.

God is seen as the ultimate authority figure, the one who makes the rules and controls everything about our lives through his divine plan. But what if you learned none of that is true? What if it wasn’t God, but mere men laying claim to his authority who actually make the rules and keep you under control for their own gain? Lies Upon Lies is a candid and fast-paced examination of the ways in which kings and rulers throughout history have forced belief in God upon their subjects in an effort to consolidate their power. We travel from the reign of the Egyptian pharaohs to the Catholic ...

Truth used to be based on reason. No more. What we feel is now the truest source of reality. Despite our obsession with the emotive and the experiential, we still face anxiety, despair, and purposelessness. How did we get here? And where do we find a remedy? Schaeffer's work takes on a newfound relevance today in his prescient anticipation of the contemporary postmodern ethos. His critique demonstrates Christianity's promise for a new century, one in as much need as ever of purpose and hope.

From birth, the intimate, face-to-face encounters of life form each person in a natural, everyday philosophy. Mother’s delighted welcome invites her tiny child into a fundamental vision of reality and models flourishing involvement with it. Sustained and matured in the gaze of certain friends throughout life, seeing oneself being seen with delight grows a “yes” to the world, a sense of one’s existence, a regard for others, and a lifelong desire for the face of God.

With every earthquake and war, understanding the nature of evil and our response to it becomes more urgent. Evil is no longer the concern just of ministers and theologians but also of politicians and the media. We hear of child abuse, ethnic cleansing, AIDS, torture and terrorism, and rightfully we are shocked. N. T. Wright says that we should not be surprised. For too long we have naively believed in the modern idea of human progress.

In recent years, the theological—and, more specifically, Roman Catholic—question of the supernatural has made an astonishing return from seeming oblivion. David Bentley Hart's You Are Gods presents a series of meditations on the vexed theological question of the relation of nature and supernature. In its merely controversial aspect, the book is intended most directly as a rejection of a certain Thomistic construal of that relation, as well as an argument in favor of a model of nature and supernature at once more Eastern and patristic.

"The unexamined life is not worth living," according to Socrates, but pursuing the examined life strikes many as daunting, unappealing and even unnecessary. Is philosophy important? Why do I need philosophy if I have the Bible? Aren't philosophers simply engaged in meaningless disputes that are irrelevant to everyday life? Mark Foreman addresses these and other questions in this "prelude" to the subject. Unlike a full introduction to philosophy, this book is a preliminary discussion that dispels misunderstandings and explains the rationale for engaging in philosophical reasoning.

Why do we buy what we buy, vote the way we vote, eat what we eat, and say what we say? Why do we have the friends we have, and work and play as we do? It's our choice? Yes, but there are forces, often unseen, that shape every decision we make and every action we take. These hidden, life-shaping values and ideas are not promoted through organized religions or rival philosophies but fostered by cultural habits, lifestyles and the institutional structures of society. 

If we are to believe many modern commentators, science has squeezed God into a corner, killed and then buried him with its all-embracing explanations. Atheism, we are told, is the only intellectually tenable position, and any attempt to reintroduce God is likely to impede the progress of science. In this audiobook, John Lennox invites us to consider such claims very carefully. Is it really true, he asks, that everything in science points towards atheism? Has science buried God? God's Undertaker is an invaluable contribution to the debate about science's relationship to religion.

Contemporary culture trivializes the "seven deadly sins," or vices, as if they have no serious moral or spiritual implications. Glittering Vices clears this misconception by exploring the traditional meanings of gluttony, sloth, lust, and others. It offers a brief history of how the vices were compiled and an eye-opening explication of how each sin manifests itself in various destructive behaviors. Listeners gain practical understanding of how the vices shape our culture today and how to correctly identify and eliminate the...patterns of sin in their own lives.

In Habits of the Mind, James Sire challenges you to avoid one of the greatest pitfalls of intellectual life by resisting the temptation to separate being from knowing. He shows you how to cultivate intellectual virtues and disciplines—habits of mind—that will strengthen you in pursuit of your calling. And he offers assurance that intellectual life can be a true calling for Christians: because Jesus was the smartest man who ever lived, Sire argues, you can and should accept the challenge to think as well as you are able.

In this sweeping narrative, which takes us from the Stone Age to the Information Age, Robert Wright unveils an astonishing discovery: there is a hidden pattern that the great monotheistic faiths have followed as they have evolved. Through the prisms of archeology, theology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright's findings overturn basic assumptions about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and are sure to cause controversy.

Buddha and the Quantum offers a bold yet approachable way to understand modern physics through lived experience. While many books draw parallels between science and Eastern thought, this one flips the equation—showing how space, time, and the physical world itself arise within consciousness. Just as planetary motion only makes sense when the sun is placed at the center, modern physics becomes clearer when awareness takes center stage.