Author: Jean-Christophe Attias
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1788736427
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 225
Book Description
What if there was another Moses, very different from the one we know? According to tradition, Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. He is depicted there in a surprising way: with and against God; with and against his people; bringer of the Tablets of the Law, which he breaks; a stuttering prophet, guide to a Promised Land entry to which remains forbidden to him, and dead in an unknown tomb... Highly confusing for those who imagine a Moses carved out of a single block. By way a series of possible portraits - including one of a female Moses - Jean-Christophe Attias follows the metamorphoses of the Hebrew liberator through ages and cultures. Drawing on rabbinical sources as well as the Bible itself, he examines the words of the texts and especially their silences. He discovers here a fragile prophet, teacher of a Judaism of the spirit, of wandering, and of incompleteness. Receive and transmit. Listen, even when the message is confusing. Insistently question, especially when there is no answer. And always, remain free. This seems to be the Judaism of Moses. A Judaism that speaks to believers and others - to Jews, of course, but also far beyond them, inviting its hearers to have done with tribal pride, the violence of weapons, and the tyranny of a special place.
A Woman Called Moses
Author: Jean-Christophe Attias
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1788736427
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 225
Book Description
What if there was another Moses, very different from the one we know? According to tradition, Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. He is depicted there in a surprising way: with and against God; with and against his people; bringer of the Tablets of the Law, which he breaks; a stuttering prophet, guide to a Promised Land entry to which remains forbidden to him, and dead in an unknown tomb... Highly confusing for those who imagine a Moses carved out of a single block. By way a series of possible portraits - including one of a female Moses - Jean-Christophe Attias follows the metamorphoses of the Hebrew liberator through ages and cultures. Drawing on rabbinical sources as well as the Bible itself, he examines the words of the texts and especially their silences. He discovers here a fragile prophet, teacher of a Judaism of the spirit, of wandering, and of incompleteness. Receive and transmit. Listen, even when the message is confusing. Insistently question, especially when there is no answer. And always, remain free. This seems to be the Judaism of Moses. A Judaism that speaks to believers and others - to Jews, of course, but also far beyond them, inviting its hearers to have done with tribal pride, the violence of weapons, and the tyranny of a special place.
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1788736427
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 225
Book Description
What if there was another Moses, very different from the one we know? According to tradition, Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. He is depicted there in a surprising way: with and against God; with and against his people; bringer of the Tablets of the Law, which he breaks; a stuttering prophet, guide to a Promised Land entry to which remains forbidden to him, and dead in an unknown tomb... Highly confusing for those who imagine a Moses carved out of a single block. By way a series of possible portraits - including one of a female Moses - Jean-Christophe Attias follows the metamorphoses of the Hebrew liberator through ages and cultures. Drawing on rabbinical sources as well as the Bible itself, he examines the words of the texts and especially their silences. He discovers here a fragile prophet, teacher of a Judaism of the spirit, of wandering, and of incompleteness. Receive and transmit. Listen, even when the message is confusing. Insistently question, especially when there is no answer. And always, remain free. This seems to be the Judaism of Moses. A Judaism that speaks to believers and others - to Jews, of course, but also far beyond them, inviting its hearers to have done with tribal pride, the violence of weapons, and the tyranny of a special place.
The Prophet's Woman
Author: Tamis Hoover Renteria
Publisher: Wheatmark, Inc.
ISBN: 1627870148
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 452
Book Description
Ninth century BCE. In the middle of a severe drought, a young Phoenician widow named Arishat is on the brink of starvation. When she prays to her goddess, Asherah, for help, Elijah, a prophet of Israel arrives at her door with bread, oil, and an allegiance to the god Yahweh. Willing to accept Elijah's help, but not his god or his vow of celibacy, Arishat follows him to Israel determined not only to win his love but also to convince him of his need for a goddess. However, as she becomes embroiled in Elijah's mission against the corrupt King Ahab, she soon discovers a cause of her own among Israelite women trying to keep goddess traditions alive against the opposition of their men. Arishat will soon have to choose between her love for a man who rejects the goddess, and her loyalty to her own beloved Asherah. Brimming over with vibrant period detail and peopled with characters who bring these ancient times to life, The Prophet's Woman is a wonderful story and a fresh, well-needed addition to the genre of biblical historical fiction.
Publisher: Wheatmark, Inc.
ISBN: 1627870148
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 452
Book Description
Ninth century BCE. In the middle of a severe drought, a young Phoenician widow named Arishat is on the brink of starvation. When she prays to her goddess, Asherah, for help, Elijah, a prophet of Israel arrives at her door with bread, oil, and an allegiance to the god Yahweh. Willing to accept Elijah's help, but not his god or his vow of celibacy, Arishat follows him to Israel determined not only to win his love but also to convince him of his need for a goddess. However, as she becomes embroiled in Elijah's mission against the corrupt King Ahab, she soon discovers a cause of her own among Israelite women trying to keep goddess traditions alive against the opposition of their men. Arishat will soon have to choose between her love for a man who rejects the goddess, and her loyalty to her own beloved Asherah. Brimming over with vibrant period detail and peopled with characters who bring these ancient times to life, The Prophet's Woman is a wonderful story and a fresh, well-needed addition to the genre of biblical historical fiction.
Kabbalistic Teachings of the Female Prophets
Author: J. Zohara Meyerhoff Hieronimus
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1594777268
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 333
Book Description
The spiritual teachings of Israel’s biblical prophetesses from a kabbalistic perspective • Explores the lives and symbolic significance of seven female prophets: Sarah, Miriam, Devorah, Chanah, Avigail, Chuldah, and Esther • Uses the gematria of Jewish metaphysics to demonstrate that prophecy is a mystical initiatory path by which Divine Will is made known, not only a tool for telling the future • Presents practical applications of kabbalistic teachings for spiritual development The seven prophetesses of Israel--Sarah, Miriam, Devorah, Chanah, Avigail, Chuldah, and Esther--lived between 1800 and 350 BCE. Their combined lives reflect a kabbalistic path of spiritual evolution that is as pertinent to our lives today as it was for the biblical communities in which they lived. From her studies of the Torah and classical gematria, Zohara Hieronimus shows that each prophetess is linked to a Sefirah on the kabbalistic Tree of Life: from creation (Sarah) through learning correct moral action (Devorah) to the promise of redemption and ultimately resurrection (Esther). Using the stories of their lives and teachings, Hieronimus reveals the relationship of each prophetess to the seven days of the week, the seven sacred species of Israel, the human body, and Jewish holidays and rituals. This book presents the kabbalistic teachings of these holy women and what they reveal about the initiatory path of individual development and redemption. The seven prophetesses show that every person has a part to play in the repair of the world, and Hieronimus gives a practical set of maps and spiritual guidelines for that journey.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1594777268
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 333
Book Description
The spiritual teachings of Israel’s biblical prophetesses from a kabbalistic perspective • Explores the lives and symbolic significance of seven female prophets: Sarah, Miriam, Devorah, Chanah, Avigail, Chuldah, and Esther • Uses the gematria of Jewish metaphysics to demonstrate that prophecy is a mystical initiatory path by which Divine Will is made known, not only a tool for telling the future • Presents practical applications of kabbalistic teachings for spiritual development The seven prophetesses of Israel--Sarah, Miriam, Devorah, Chanah, Avigail, Chuldah, and Esther--lived between 1800 and 350 BCE. Their combined lives reflect a kabbalistic path of spiritual evolution that is as pertinent to our lives today as it was for the biblical communities in which they lived. From her studies of the Torah and classical gematria, Zohara Hieronimus shows that each prophetess is linked to a Sefirah on the kabbalistic Tree of Life: from creation (Sarah) through learning correct moral action (Devorah) to the promise of redemption and ultimately resurrection (Esther). Using the stories of their lives and teachings, Hieronimus reveals the relationship of each prophetess to the seven days of the week, the seven sacred species of Israel, the human body, and Jewish holidays and rituals. This book presents the kabbalistic teachings of these holy women and what they reveal about the initiatory path of individual development and redemption. The seven prophetesses show that every person has a part to play in the repair of the world, and Hieronimus gives a practical set of maps and spiritual guidelines for that journey.
Woman as Prophet in the Home and the World
Author: R. Mary Hayden Lemmons
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1498542093
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 299
Book Description
This first-ever interdisciplinary study of woman as prophet shows that, in these troubling times, ordinary women—especially Christian women—need to function as prophets by proclaiming, in word and deed, the indispensability of lovingly seeking the welfare of others. More specifically, social science shows that the person-centered love prophesied by women prophets is able to meet interpersonal challenges within the home and world, while philosophy and theology establish that women are able to excel as prophets due to the virtuous dispositions inculcated by femininity, the choice to be caring, a God-centered spirituality, and a pro-life humanitarian/personalist feminism that welcomes male collaborators. Facilitating the ability of Christian women to prophesy love are Baptismal graces, Thomistic virtues, and a much needed prophetic Marian ecclesiology based on what John Paul II calls the “prophetism of femininity.” These interdisciplinary findings provide an essential resource for educators and students of humanity, the theology of women, and evangelization. These findings emerge, first, from an investigation into the cognitive and ontological underpinnings of what John Paul II called the “feminine genius.” A second set of findings emerges from exploring the prophetic dimensions of the feminine genius, secular feminism’s need to adopt the insights of Christianity, and the ability of femininity’s prophetism to recast both femininity and feminism as Marian prophecies. A third set of findings arises from analyzing the spirituality of women prophets within the Christian tradition by considering the conditions necessary for prophesying, explicating requisite Thomistic virtues, and delving into the spirituality of Hildegard, Catherine of Siena, Julian of Norwich, and Teresa of Avila. A fourth set of findings arises from innovative studies of polarization, secularization, lust, romantic love, the conditions whereby mothers with careers can flourish, and the ability of nuns to combat racism in a small Midwestern town. Overall, these interdisciplinary investigations explicate the theology of women and show that women who prophesy love, either in the order of grace or nature, can help heal lives, families, and culture.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1498542093
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 299
Book Description
This first-ever interdisciplinary study of woman as prophet shows that, in these troubling times, ordinary women—especially Christian women—need to function as prophets by proclaiming, in word and deed, the indispensability of lovingly seeking the welfare of others. More specifically, social science shows that the person-centered love prophesied by women prophets is able to meet interpersonal challenges within the home and world, while philosophy and theology establish that women are able to excel as prophets due to the virtuous dispositions inculcated by femininity, the choice to be caring, a God-centered spirituality, and a pro-life humanitarian/personalist feminism that welcomes male collaborators. Facilitating the ability of Christian women to prophesy love are Baptismal graces, Thomistic virtues, and a much needed prophetic Marian ecclesiology based on what John Paul II calls the “prophetism of femininity.” These interdisciplinary findings provide an essential resource for educators and students of humanity, the theology of women, and evangelization. These findings emerge, first, from an investigation into the cognitive and ontological underpinnings of what John Paul II called the “feminine genius.” A second set of findings emerges from exploring the prophetic dimensions of the feminine genius, secular feminism’s need to adopt the insights of Christianity, and the ability of femininity’s prophetism to recast both femininity and feminism as Marian prophecies. A third set of findings arises from analyzing the spirituality of women prophets within the Christian tradition by considering the conditions necessary for prophesying, explicating requisite Thomistic virtues, and delving into the spirituality of Hildegard, Catherine of Siena, Julian of Norwich, and Teresa of Avila. A fourth set of findings arises from innovative studies of polarization, secularization, lust, romantic love, the conditions whereby mothers with careers can flourish, and the ability of nuns to combat racism in a small Midwestern town. Overall, these interdisciplinary investigations explicate the theology of women and show that women who prophesy love, either in the order of grace or nature, can help heal lives, families, and culture.
The Twible
Author: Jana Riess
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780989774703
Category : American wit and humor
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
It's the Bible, now with 68% more humor and 99% fewer begats You've wanted to read the Bible, but it's Uber-long and, let's face it, sometimes boring. You're a busy person with stuff to do. You want the Bible, only funnier. And shorter. Enter The Twible, which brings you every chapter as tweeted in 140 characters or less, from Genesis to Revelation Find out what the Bible says you're supposed to do if a friend starts worshiping another god, your child disrespects you in public, or you break the Sabbath. (The answers to those dilemmas are to stone your friend, stone your child, and stone yourself. In that order.) Learn where Paul swears in the New Testament, and why Jeremiah could benefit from antidepressants. Inside The Twible you'll find: - A tweet for each of the 1,189 chapters of the Bible - A summary of every book of the Bible in seven words or less - Dozens of informative sidebars (print edition only) - More than 50 original cartoons - A glossary telling you who's who in the Bible - Unicorns From start to finish, The Twible brings the Bible to wonderful, wicked, weird life. "The Twible adapts the Old Testament to the light-hearted quipping familiar in everyday Tweets." -- The Guardian, UK "The Twible is the most entertaining version of my dad's book I've read in the last two millennia " -- Jesus Christ] "Twible is the best example I have ever seen of the reverence of irreverence." -- Phyllis Tickle, author of The Divine Hours "I wouldn't object if Twibles were in every hotel room." -- Hemant Mehta, The Friendly Atheist blogger "Forget about reading the Bible in a year. Now you can read it in an hour, thanks to the subversive, somewhat disturbed, mind of Jana Riess." -- Peter Enns, author of Genesis for Normal People "The perfect (surreptitious) iPad or Tablet companion for draggy Sunday (or Saturday) morning services. Caution: Not to be used for congregational Scripture reading." -- Mark I. Pinsky, author of The Gospel According to the Simpsons "Whatever you think of Twitter, there can be no speedier or funnier way to read through the Bible than with Riess's Twible providing spot-on interpretation chapter by chapter." -- Kristin Swenson, author of Bible Babel "The Twible is an indelible book that reads like an oddly religious comedy but has the impact of a brilliant jingle that sticks in your brain to the point of madness." -- Frank Schaeffer, author of And God Said, "Billy " "This is brilliant stuff-hilariously accurate summaries of complex material." -- Debbie Blue, pastor; author of Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to the Birds of the Bible "This is absolutely the funniest and most fun Bible 'translation' ever." -- Steven L. Peck, author of The Scholar of Moab
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780989774703
Category : American wit and humor
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
It's the Bible, now with 68% more humor and 99% fewer begats You've wanted to read the Bible, but it's Uber-long and, let's face it, sometimes boring. You're a busy person with stuff to do. You want the Bible, only funnier. And shorter. Enter The Twible, which brings you every chapter as tweeted in 140 characters or less, from Genesis to Revelation Find out what the Bible says you're supposed to do if a friend starts worshiping another god, your child disrespects you in public, or you break the Sabbath. (The answers to those dilemmas are to stone your friend, stone your child, and stone yourself. In that order.) Learn where Paul swears in the New Testament, and why Jeremiah could benefit from antidepressants. Inside The Twible you'll find: - A tweet for each of the 1,189 chapters of the Bible - A summary of every book of the Bible in seven words or less - Dozens of informative sidebars (print edition only) - More than 50 original cartoons - A glossary telling you who's who in the Bible - Unicorns From start to finish, The Twible brings the Bible to wonderful, wicked, weird life. "The Twible adapts the Old Testament to the light-hearted quipping familiar in everyday Tweets." -- The Guardian, UK "The Twible is the most entertaining version of my dad's book I've read in the last two millennia " -- Jesus Christ] "Twible is the best example I have ever seen of the reverence of irreverence." -- Phyllis Tickle, author of The Divine Hours "I wouldn't object if Twibles were in every hotel room." -- Hemant Mehta, The Friendly Atheist blogger "Forget about reading the Bible in a year. Now you can read it in an hour, thanks to the subversive, somewhat disturbed, mind of Jana Riess." -- Peter Enns, author of Genesis for Normal People "The perfect (surreptitious) iPad or Tablet companion for draggy Sunday (or Saturday) morning services. Caution: Not to be used for congregational Scripture reading." -- Mark I. Pinsky, author of The Gospel According to the Simpsons "Whatever you think of Twitter, there can be no speedier or funnier way to read through the Bible than with Riess's Twible providing spot-on interpretation chapter by chapter." -- Kristin Swenson, author of Bible Babel "The Twible is an indelible book that reads like an oddly religious comedy but has the impact of a brilliant jingle that sticks in your brain to the point of madness." -- Frank Schaeffer, author of And God Said, "Billy " "This is brilliant stuff-hilariously accurate summaries of complex material." -- Debbie Blue, pastor; author of Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to the Birds of the Bible "This is absolutely the funniest and most fun Bible 'translation' ever." -- Steven L. Peck, author of The Scholar of Moab
The Exile and the Prophet's Wife
Author: Johanna Stiebert
Publisher: Liturgical Press
ISBN: 9780814651773
Category : Bible
Languages : en
Pages : 164
Book Description
The author uses the unnamed character of Ezekiel's wife as a witness to explain the Exile in Babylon, at the same time providing historical information about Israel, the Temple cult, and the religion of Babylon; the reader is introduced to two methods of biblical criticism (ideological and psychoanalytical)--Provided by publisher.
Publisher: Liturgical Press
ISBN: 9780814651773
Category : Bible
Languages : en
Pages : 164
Book Description
The author uses the unnamed character of Ezekiel's wife as a witness to explain the Exile in Babylon, at the same time providing historical information about Israel, the Temple cult, and the religion of Babylon; the reader is introduced to two methods of biblical criticism (ideological and psychoanalytical)--Provided by publisher.
Fifty Of The Counsels Of The Prophet To The Women
Author: Sheikh Ahmad Jad
Publisher: Dar Al Kotob Al Ilmiyah دار الكتب العلمية
ISBN: 2745161490
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 128
Book Description
Publisher: Dar Al Kotob Al Ilmiyah دار الكتب العلمية
ISBN: 2745161490
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 128
Book Description
Prophets Male and Female
Author:
Publisher: SBL Press
ISBN: 1589837770
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 362
Book Description
Because gender is an essential component of societies of all times and places, it is no surprise that every prophetic expression in the ancient social world was a gendered one. In this volume scholars of the biblical literature and of the ancient Mediterranean consider a wide array of prophetic phenomena. In addition to prophetic texts of the Hebrew Bible, the essays also look at prophecy in ancient Mesopotamia and early Christianity. Using the most current theoretical categories, the volume demonstrates how essential a broad definition of gender is for understanding its connection to both the delivery and the content of ancient prophecy. Attention to gender dynamics will continue to reveal the fluidity of prophetic gender performance and to open up the ancient contexts of prophetic texts. The contributors are Roland Boer, Corrine Carvalho, Lester L. Grabbe, Anselm C. Hagedorn, Esther J. Hamori, Dale Launderville, Antti Marjanen, Martti Nissinen, Jonathan Stökl, Hanna Tervanotko, and Ilona Zsolnay.
Publisher: SBL Press
ISBN: 1589837770
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 362
Book Description
Because gender is an essential component of societies of all times and places, it is no surprise that every prophetic expression in the ancient social world was a gendered one. In this volume scholars of the biblical literature and of the ancient Mediterranean consider a wide array of prophetic phenomena. In addition to prophetic texts of the Hebrew Bible, the essays also look at prophecy in ancient Mesopotamia and early Christianity. Using the most current theoretical categories, the volume demonstrates how essential a broad definition of gender is for understanding its connection to both the delivery and the content of ancient prophecy. Attention to gender dynamics will continue to reveal the fluidity of prophetic gender performance and to open up the ancient contexts of prophetic texts. The contributors are Roland Boer, Corrine Carvalho, Lester L. Grabbe, Anselm C. Hagedorn, Esther J. Hamori, Dale Launderville, Antti Marjanen, Martti Nissinen, Jonathan Stökl, Hanna Tervanotko, and Ilona Zsolnay.
Flunking Sainthood
Author: Jana Riess
Publisher: Paraclete Press
ISBN: 1612610331
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
This wry memoir tackles twelve different spiritual practices in a quest to become more saintly, including fasting, fixed-hour prayer, the Jesus Prayer, gratitude, Sabbath-keeping, and generosity. Although Riess begins with great plans for success (“Really, how hard could that be?” she asks blithely at the start of her saint-making year), she finds to her growing humiliation that she is failing—not just at some of the practices, but at every single one. What emerges is a funny yet vulnerable story of the quest for spiritual perfection and the reality of spiritual failure, which turns out to be a valuable practice in and of itself. Praise for Flunking Sainthood: " Flunking Sainthood is surprising and freeing; it is fun and funny; and it is full of wisdom. It is, in fact, the best book on the practices of the spiritual life that I have read in a long, long time." - Lauren Winner, author of Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath Jana Riess reminds us that saints are different from most of us: They are special, we are barely normal. They get it right, we rarely get it. They see God, we strain to see much of anything. And, Jana is no saint. Rather than climbing to the pinnacle and sitting on a pedestal to tell us how it could be, Jana slides right next to us and reminds us that sainthood is overrated. With humor and insight she whispers to is that our lives matter just as they are. She prods us to never let our failures hold us back. She calls us to something greater than spiritual success - ordinary faithfulness. Flunking Sainthood is the book I’m giving to my friends who are seeking to make sense of their emerging faith. - Doug Pagitt, author of A Christianity Worth Believing “Jana Riess may have flunked at sainthood, but she's written a wonderful book. It's both reverent and irreverent, and it will make you want to become a better Christian -- or Jew, or Muslim, or Zoroastrian, or Jedi, or whatever you happen to be.” - AJ Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically "Warm, light-hearted, and laugh-out-loud funny, Jana Riess may indeed have flunked sainthood, but this memoir assures us that she is utterly and deeply human, and that is something even more wonderful. Honest and sincere, she will endear you from page one." -- Donna Freitas, author of The Possibilities of Sainthood “With a helpfully hilarious account of her own grappling with godliness, Jana Riess proves to be a standup historian well-practiced in the art of oddly revivifying self-deprecation. She loves her guides, historical and contemporary, even as she finds them alternately impractical, harsh, or "infuriatingly jolly." The book is freaking wonderful—a candid and committed tale of prayers that resists supersizing and spirituality that has no home save the glory and the muck of the everyday.”--David Dark, author of The Sacredness of Questioning Everything “Jana Riess's new book is a delight—fun, funny, engaging and a powerful reminder that the greatest work in our lives is not what we'll do for God but what God is doing in us.” --Margaret Feinberg, www.margaretfeinberg.com, author of Scouting the Divine and Hungry for God “Flunking Sainthood allows those of us who have attempted new spiritual practices-- and failed-- to breathe a great sigh of relief and to laugh out loud. Jana Reiss’s exposé of her year-long and less-than-successful attempts at eleven classic spiritual practices entertains and educates us with its honesty and down-to-earthiness. In spite of Jana’s paltry attempts at piety and her botched prayer makeovers, God showed up in the surprising, sneaky ways that only God does. Jana is the kind of girlfriend I like to have--hilarious, smart, stubborn, irreverent, and totally gaga over God. She writes in the unfiltered, uncensored way I’d write if I had the skill and the guts (Oh sorry, Mom, I meant gumption, not guts.)” --Sybil MacBeth, author of Praying in Color
Publisher: Paraclete Press
ISBN: 1612610331
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
This wry memoir tackles twelve different spiritual practices in a quest to become more saintly, including fasting, fixed-hour prayer, the Jesus Prayer, gratitude, Sabbath-keeping, and generosity. Although Riess begins with great plans for success (“Really, how hard could that be?” she asks blithely at the start of her saint-making year), she finds to her growing humiliation that she is failing—not just at some of the practices, but at every single one. What emerges is a funny yet vulnerable story of the quest for spiritual perfection and the reality of spiritual failure, which turns out to be a valuable practice in and of itself. Praise for Flunking Sainthood: " Flunking Sainthood is surprising and freeing; it is fun and funny; and it is full of wisdom. It is, in fact, the best book on the practices of the spiritual life that I have read in a long, long time." - Lauren Winner, author of Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath Jana Riess reminds us that saints are different from most of us: They are special, we are barely normal. They get it right, we rarely get it. They see God, we strain to see much of anything. And, Jana is no saint. Rather than climbing to the pinnacle and sitting on a pedestal to tell us how it could be, Jana slides right next to us and reminds us that sainthood is overrated. With humor and insight she whispers to is that our lives matter just as they are. She prods us to never let our failures hold us back. She calls us to something greater than spiritual success - ordinary faithfulness. Flunking Sainthood is the book I’m giving to my friends who are seeking to make sense of their emerging faith. - Doug Pagitt, author of A Christianity Worth Believing “Jana Riess may have flunked at sainthood, but she's written a wonderful book. It's both reverent and irreverent, and it will make you want to become a better Christian -- or Jew, or Muslim, or Zoroastrian, or Jedi, or whatever you happen to be.” - AJ Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically "Warm, light-hearted, and laugh-out-loud funny, Jana Riess may indeed have flunked sainthood, but this memoir assures us that she is utterly and deeply human, and that is something even more wonderful. Honest and sincere, she will endear you from page one." -- Donna Freitas, author of The Possibilities of Sainthood “With a helpfully hilarious account of her own grappling with godliness, Jana Riess proves to be a standup historian well-practiced in the art of oddly revivifying self-deprecation. She loves her guides, historical and contemporary, even as she finds them alternately impractical, harsh, or "infuriatingly jolly." The book is freaking wonderful—a candid and committed tale of prayers that resists supersizing and spirituality that has no home save the glory and the muck of the everyday.”--David Dark, author of The Sacredness of Questioning Everything “Jana Riess's new book is a delight—fun, funny, engaging and a powerful reminder that the greatest work in our lives is not what we'll do for God but what God is doing in us.” --Margaret Feinberg, www.margaretfeinberg.com, author of Scouting the Divine and Hungry for God “Flunking Sainthood allows those of us who have attempted new spiritual practices-- and failed-- to breathe a great sigh of relief and to laugh out loud. Jana Reiss’s exposé of her year-long and less-than-successful attempts at eleven classic spiritual practices entertains and educates us with its honesty and down-to-earthiness. In spite of Jana’s paltry attempts at piety and her botched prayer makeovers, God showed up in the surprising, sneaky ways that only God does. Jana is the kind of girlfriend I like to have--hilarious, smart, stubborn, irreverent, and totally gaga over God. She writes in the unfiltered, uncensored way I’d write if I had the skill and the guts (Oh sorry, Mom, I meant gumption, not guts.)” --Sybil MacBeth, author of Praying in Color