A highly influential figure in the Church of England, John Henry Newman stunned the Anglican community in 1843, when he left his position as vicar of St. Mary's, Oxford, to join the Roman Catholic church. Perhaps no one took greater offense than Protestant clergyman Charles Kingsley, whose scathing attacks against Newman's faith and honor inspired this brilliant response. Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Newman's spiritual autobiography, explores the depths...

On Monday morning, October 2, 2006, a gunman entered a one-room Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. In front of twenty-five horrified pupils, thirty-two-year-old Charles Roberts ordered the boys and the teacher to leave. After tying the legs of the ten remaining girls, Roberts prepared to shoot them execution with an automatic rifle and four hundred rounds of ammunition that he brought for the task. The oldest hostage, a thirteen-year-old,...

A window into the Jewish understanding of God throughout history and today-written especially for Christians. In Jewish Scripture-Christianity's foundation-God's presence is everywhere: in nature, in history, and in the range of human experience. Yet the Torah, Maimonides, and 4,000 years of Jewish tradition all agree on one thing: that God is beyond any form of human comprehension. How, then can Judaism be so crowded with descriptions and images...

Reveals the evolution of the Church's relationship to the divine, its leadership of the faithful, and its role as a global religion.

Of all the demons, monsters, fiends, and ogres to preoccupy the western imagination in literature, art, and film, no figure has been more feared-or misunderstood-than Satan. But, how accurate are the popular images of Satan? How-and why-did this rather minor biblical character morph into the very embodiment of evil? T.J. Wray and Gregory Mobley guide readers on a journey to retrace Satan's biblical roots. Engaging and informative, The Birth of Satan...

"Understanding Scientology covers one of the world's newest religions. Scientology, founded in the 1950s by L. Ron Hubbard, has become a controversial faith. Followers believe its philosophies can change the world for the better. Critics point to the religion's legal troubles and alleged misdeeds"--Amazon.com.

"Understanding Buddhism covers the history of Buddhism and explores how the religion has evolved and expanded. Readers learn about monks and nuns, the branches of Buddhism, and important rituals. This title also discusses misunderstandings about Buddhism and the challenges some women have faced in the religion"--Amazon.com.

Bestselling author of Papal Sin and Why I Am a Catholic, Garry Wills spent five years as a young man at a Jesuit seminary and nearly became a priest himself. But after a lifetime of study and reflection, he now poses some challenging questions: Why do we need priests at all? Why did the priesthood arise in a religion that began without it and opposed it? Would Christianity be stronger without the priesthood, as it was at its outset? Meticulously researched,...

"A learned, lively, … literary tour of the life and the improbable afterlife of the greatest apocalypse of them all." - Jack Miles, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of God: A Biography and Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God "[A]n important book that is essential reading in our torn, conflicted world: it is articulate, learned and balanced." - Karen Armstrong, New York Times bestselling author of A History of God and The Spiral Staircase "This book...