God: A Biography PDF Download

Author: Jack Miles
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0679743685
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 465

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Book Description
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE What sort of "person" is God? What is his "life story"? Is it possible to approach him not as an object of religious reverence, but as the protagonist of the world's greatest book—as a character who possesses all the depths, contradictions, and abiguities of a Hamlet? This is the task that Jack Miles—a former Jesuit trained in religious studies and Near Eastern languages—accomplishes with such brilliance and originality in God: A Biography. Using the Hebrew Bible as his text, Miles shows us a God who evolves through his relationship with man, the image who in time becomes his rival. Here is the Creator who nearly destroys his chief creation; the bloodthirsty warrior and the protector of the downtrodden; the lawless law-giver; the scourge and the penitent. Profoundly learned, stylishly written, the resulting work illuminates God and man alike and returns us to the Bible with a sense of discovery and wonder.

Author: Reza Aslan
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0553394738
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The author of Zealot explores humanity’s quest to make sense of the divine in this concise and fascinating history of our understanding of God. In Zealot, Reza Aslan replaced the staid, well-worn portrayal of Jesus of Nazareth with a startling new image of the man in all his contradictions. In his new book, Aslan takes on a subject even more immense: God, writ large. In layered prose and with thoughtful, accessible scholarship, Aslan narrates the history of religion as a remarkably cohesive attempt to understand the divine by giving it human traits and emotions. According to Aslan, this innate desire to humanize God is hardwired in our brains, making it a central feature of nearly every religious tradition. As Aslan writes, “Whether we are aware of it or not, and regardless of whether we’re believers or not, what the vast majority of us think about when we think about God is a divine version of ourselves.” But this projection is not without consequences. We bestow upon God not just all that is good in human nature—our compassion, our thirst for justice—but all that is bad in it: our greed, our bigotry, our penchant for violence. All these qualities inform our religions, cultures, and governments. More than just a history of our understanding of God, this book is an attempt to get to the root of this humanizing impulse in order to develop a more universal spirituality. Whether you believe in one God, many gods, or no god at all, God: A Human History will challenge the way you think about the divine and its role in our everyday lives. Praise for God “Timely, riveting, enlightening and necessary.”—HuffPost “Tantalizing . . . Driven by [Reza] Aslan’s grace and curiosity, God . . . helps us pan out from our troubled times, while asking us to consider a more expansive view of the divine in contemporary life.”—The Seattle Times “A fascinating exploration of the interaction of our humanity and God.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “[Aslan’s] slim, yet ambitious book [is] the story of how humans have created God with a capital G, and it’s thoroughly mind-blowing.”—Los Angeles Review of Books “Aslan is a born storyteller, and there is much to enjoy in this intelligent survey.”—San Francisco Chronicle

Author: Philip C. Almond
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 183860863X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 379

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Book Description
In this elegant new book, the sequel to his earlier, much praised treatment of the Devil, Philip Almond reveals that - whether in Judaism, Christianity or Islam - God is seen to be at once utterly beyond our world yet at the same earnestly desiring to be at one with it. In the Christian chapter of this story the paradox arguably reaches its improbable zenith: in the fragile form of a human being the infinite became finite, the eternal temporal. The way these and other metaphysical tensions have been understood is, the author demonstrates, the key to unlocking the entire history of religion in the West. Expertly placing the narrative of divine presence within the wider history of ideas, Almond suggests that the notion of a deity has been the single greatest conundrum of medieval and modern civilization. In this rich, nuanced appraisal, 'God' is shown to be more complex and fascinating than ever before.

Author: Skip Heitzig
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
ISBN: 0736977732
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
Does God exist? If He does, is it possible to know Him? How you answer these two questions defines how you see the world. Author and pastor Skip Heitzig once wrestled with these questions himself. As he studied the Bible alongside science and philosophy, he grew confident that the answers to both are a resounding yes! In Biography of God, he shares the intricacies of what the Bible reveals about God’s character and His plans. As Skip helps you recognize and remove the limits you may have placed on your idea of who God is, you’ll gain a better understanding of the… omnipotence, paradoxes, and mystery central to God’s being true nature of the Holy Trinity life-changing hope that comes with believing God is who He says He is Whether you’re a longtime believer or you’re still looking for answers about faith, Biography of God will help you transform your acknowledgment to trust in the God in the Bible, and ignite your passion to know Him more intimately.

Author: Karen Armstrong
Publisher: Gramercy
ISBN: 9780517223123
Category : God
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A study of the deity of the world's three dominant monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In a dynamic interplay between religion and society's ever-changing beliefs, values, and traditions, human beings' ideas about God have been transformed. Ideas about God have been molded to apply to the spiritual needs of the people who worship him in a particular place and time. The author explores and analyzes the development and progression of the various perceptions of God from the days of Abraham to present times--Adapted from book jacket.

Author: David L. Rowe
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802803806
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
William Miller was the founder of the modern American millennial tradition. Using various dates found in scripture, he sought to calculate the chronology of Christ's return to earth. Although his prediction that Christ would visibly return in 1843 failed spectacularly, followers reinterpreted his message and laid the basis for the modern Seventh-day Adventist Church. In this book, David L. Rowe utilizes the vast collection of Miller primary materials to reconstruct Miller's life. He relies on information found in correspondence. Rowe gives special attention to the Miller family connections and to Miller's personal identity struggles, documenting a deep tension between proclivities for both obedience and rebellion.

Author: Costica Bradatan
Publisher: Broadleaf Books
ISBN: 1506465781
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
In the wake of the horrific 9/11 terrorist attacks we, as an increasingly secular nation, were reminded that religion is, for good and bad, still significant in the modern world. Alongside this new awareness, religion reporters adopted the tools of so-called New Journalists, reporters of the 1960s and '70s like Truman Capote and Joan Didion who inserted themselves into the stories they covered while borrowing the narrative tool kit of fiction to avail themselves of a deeper truth. At the turn of the millennium, this personal, subjective, voice-driven New Religion Journalism was employed by young writers, willing to scrutinize questions of faith and doubt while taking God-talk seriously. Articles emerged from such journalists as Kelly Baker, Ann Neumann, Patrick Blanchfield, Jeff Kripal, and Meghan O'Gieblyn, characterized by their brash, innovative, daring, and stylistically sophisticated writing and an unprecedented willingness to detail their own interaction with faith (or their lack thereof). The God Beat brings together some of the finest and most representative samples of this emerging genre. By curating and presenting them as part of a meaningful trend, this compellingly edited collection helps us understand how we talk about God in public spaces--and why it matters--in a whole new way.

Author: E. Asamoah-Yaw
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1465309489
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
A Biography of the Biblical God is an insightful and thought-provoking analysis of religion and faith. In this compelling and stimulating read, one will discover a myriad of well-supported facts and references which question the validity of Biblical claims and explanations. Written by E. Asamoah-Yaw, the provocative pages of this book reveal the Bibles lack of verisimilitude with scientific, as well as the common laws of nature. A groundbreaking expose on the humanity of Jesus Christ, his intimate marital and sexual relations with Mary Magdalene, historical inconsistencies of the Catholic Church, the inaccuracies of the Book of Genesis explaining the beginning of creation, the holes in the four Gospels of the New Testament and many more are all discussed in this analytical book. This creative and compelling page-turner will no doubt strike intellectuals and insinuate a sense of curiosity within an individual. A book that will surely appeal to those who possess an independent mind and a logical sense of reasoning, A Biography of the Biblical God will stimulate a wide avenue for discussion, serving as a catalyst for ones personal reflection on the things previously assumed and accepted to be true. Furthermore, this read sends an eye-opening message to its readers. Mr. Asamoah-Yaw explains that faith in anything outside the self is demonstrably not dependable, not predictable and in fact very counter-productive. Religious faith may temporally increase peoples comfort levels, but it freezes the knowledge of the self and therefore prevents humans to face head-on challenges of the practical world. For the author, faith outside the self encourages total self-submission and hinders one from discovering ones innate powers.

Author: Alexander Waugh
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0312329059
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 359

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Book Description
This is a book about God. Not just any god, but the god that created Adam and Eve; the god of Abraham, the god of the Jews; the god of the Christians; and the god of Islam---without a doubt, the most influential figure in the history of human civilization. But what do we really know about him? Who is he? Where did he come from? What does he look like? What sort of character does he have? What, if anything, does he eat? Does he have a family? In what ways can he be said to even exist at all? Alexander Waugh has been asking questions like these for as long as he can remember. Now, having drawn from an enormous range of sources, from the sacred books of the Torah, the Christian New Testament, and the Islamic Qur'an, from the Greek Apocrypha and the ancient texts of Nag Hammadi to the Dead Sea Scrolls, he has sought out the answers. Using material gleaned from the diverse writings of saints, rabbis, historians, prophets, atheists, poets, and mystics, he has molded his findings into a singular, striking biographical portrait of God. Erudite, perceptive, and entertaining, God reveals many startling and unexpected characteristics of the divine being. From the simple stories of Genesis and Job, explored from God's own viewpoint, to the prophecies of Muhammad and Sybil and the intricate philosophies of Newton and Nietzsche, Alexander Waugh has left no stone unturned in his compulsive mission to create a fascinating and complex portrait of God, as humans have claimed to understand him.

Author: Roberts Liardon
Publisher: Whitaker House
ISBN: 1603741712
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 470

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Book Description
In God’s Generals, Roberts Liardon will help you recapture God’s glory with compelling spiritual biographies of some of the most powerful ministries to ever ignite the fires of revival. Liardon faithfully chronicles their lives in this work, along with their teachings, their spiritual discoveries, and many revealing photos. Four of God’s Generals who you will meet include: William J. Seymour, the son of ex-slave, who turned a tiny horse table on Azusa Street, Los Angeles, into an internationally famous center of revival Aimee Semple McPherson, the glamourous and flamboyant founder of the Foursquare Church and the nation’s first Christian radio station Smith Wigglesworth, the plumber who read no book but the Bible—and raised the dead! Kathryn Kuhlman, the beloved evangelist whose miracle-filled meetings drew millions of skeptics to faith