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A Strange Goodness?: God and Natural Evil
by Stephen AmesThis book is about all the suffering and death produced by natural processes like tsunamis, genetic disorders, extreme weather events, even before climate change, and the whole evolutionary process leading to all living things on the planet. (The book is not about the violence men and women wilfully do to each other and to the planet). Many people find all this suffering and death due to natural processes hard to reconcile with the belief that these natural processes are created by a God who is all powerful, all knowing and wholly good. They expect such a God to create a different kind of universe without such suffering and death. The actual universe contradicts the universe expected. This is good enough reason for many people to decide to give up believing in God who is the creator of these natural processes. The book is an invitation for people to revisit that decision. The book comes from the author co-designing and co-lecturing with his atheist colleagues in History and Philosophy of Science at The University of Melbourne, a second-year subject, 'God and the Natural Sciences'. This took place over twenty years. Students with a wide variety of beliefs, enrolled in the subject from across the university. The book has three chapters. The first clarifies the problem in the problem of natural evil to ensure we are not talking past each other. The second chapter gives my answer to the problem of natural evil. I argue from this idea of God to the kind of universe we should expect God to create. The expected universe is found not to contradict the actual universe. The third chapter is 'Reality Checks', nine ways of testing the account of the kind of universe we should expect God to create. The book has an appendix where I discuss alternative ideas of God that are in circulation and address several other criticisms of the idea of God besides the problem of natural evil.
A Stranger at Fellsworth: The Curiosity Keeper, Dawn At Emberwilde, A Stranger At Fellsworth (A Treasures of Surrey Novel #3)
by Sarah E. LaddIn the fallout of her deceased father’s financial ruin, Annabelle’s prospects are looking bleak. Her fiancé has called off their betrothal, and now she remains at the mercy of her controlling and often cruel brother. Annabelle soon faces the fact that her only hope for a better life is to do the unthinkable and run away to Fellsworth, where her estranged uncle serves as the school’s superintendent. Upon arrival, Annabelle learns that she must shed her life of high society and work for her wages for the first time in her life.Owen Locke is unswerving in his commitments. As a widower and father, he is fiercely protective of his only daughter. As an industrious gamekeeper, he is intent on keeping poachers at bay even though his ambition has always been to purchase land he can call his own. When a chance encounter introduces him to Annabelle Thorley, his steady life is shaken. For the first time since his wife’s death, Owen begins to consider a second chance at love.As Owen and Annabelle grow closer, ominous forces threaten the peace they thought they’d found. Poachers, mysterious strangers, and murderers converge at Fellsworth, forcing Annabelle and Owen to a test of fortitude and bravery to stop the shadow of the past from ruining their hopes for the future.
A Stranger in the House of God
by John KoesslerGrowing up the son of agnostics, John Koessler saw a Catholic church on one end of the street and a Baptist on the other. In the no-man’s land between the two, this curious outside wondered about the God they worshipped—and began a lifelong search to comprehend the grace and mystery of God. A Stranger in the House of God addresses fundamental questions and struggles faced by spiritual seekers and mature believers. Like a contemporary Pilgrim’s Progress, it traces the author’s journey and explores his experiences with both charismatic and evangelical Christianity. It also describes his transformation from religious outsider to ordained pastor. John Koessler provides a poignant and often humorous window into the interior of the soul as he describes his journey from doubt and struggle with the church to personal faith
A Stranger on the Planet: A Novel
by Adam SchwartzIn the summer of 1969, twelve-year-old Seth lives with his unstable mother, Ruth, and his brother and sister in a two-bedroom apartment in New Jersey. His father lives with his new wife in a ten-room house and has no interest in Seth and his siblings. Seth is dying to escape from his mother#x19;s craziness and suffocating love, her marriage to a man she#x19;s known for two weeks, and his father#x19;s cold disregard. Over the next four decades, Seth becomes the keeper of his family#x19;s memories and secrets. At the same time, he emotionally isolates himself from all those who love him, especially his mother. But Ruth is also Seth#x19;s muse, and this enables him to ultimately find redemption, for both himself and his family.
A Stranger's Game
by Colleen CobleThis gripping new novel from USA TODAY bestselling romantic suspense author Colleen Coble will leave you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. A wealthy hotel heiress. Even though Torie Bergstrom hasn&’t been back to Georgia since she was ten, she&’s happy to arrange a job for her best friend at one of the family properties on Jekyll Island.A suspicious death. But when Torie learns that her best friend has drowned, she knows it is more than a tragic accident: Lisbeth was terrified of water and wouldn&’t have gone swimming by choice.A fight for the truth.Torie goes to the hotel under an alias, desperate to find answers. When she meets Joe Abbott and his daughter rescuing baby turtles, she finds a tentative ally.The more Torie and Joe dig, the more elusive the truth seems. One thing is clear: someone will risk anything—even more murder—to keep their secrets buried.USA TODAY bestselling authorFull length, standalone romantic suspenseAlso by Colleen Coble: One Little Lie, Two Reasons to Run, Three Missing Days, Strands of Truth, Tidewater InnIncludes discussion questions for book clubs
A Stranger's Gift: True Stories of Faith in Unexpected Places
by Tom HallmanIn this very personal, welcoming book, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tom Hallman, Jr., shares his journey of faith from indifferent agnostic to growing believer. Faith, Hallman tells us, is looking in the mirror in the morning and wondering why. It's about doubt and hope. It's catching a glimpse of a beacon piercing the fog of life and walking toward it, never knowing if you're headed in the right direction, but pressing onward. You'll meet ordinary people and be drawn into conversations that ask probing, almost intrusive questions--conversations that linger in your mind and resonate with your heart--from the ache of a mother who watched her baby die after only twenty days of struggling for life to the peaceful strength of a man working with those whose present situations mirror his past. Within these pages, you'll find real and honest accounts of everyday people whose discoveries of faith will inspire and comfort you on your own journey. *** The security lock thumped open, and I stepped into Level 3, a neonatal unit where I had been drawn to a drama played out minute by minute. As I stood above two cribs along a back wall, I wondered less about doctors, nurses, and medicine and more about God. Two babies had been born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Both had been placed on a heart-lung bypass machine to let their organs rest. One boy had no name. His mother was a crack addict. After giving birth, she abandoned her baby and never returned to the hospital. In the adjacent crib lay Jonah Van Arnam. His parents were active members of a church and visited their son daily to pray for him and the nurses and doctors. One afternoon, a nurse pulled me aside and told me a miracle was taking place: the crack addict's baby was getting better. But ... Jonah was dying. Why had God abandoned this couple and their son? Where was this so-called loving God? --from chapter 6
A Stranger's Gift: True Stories of Faith in Unexpected Places
by Tom Hallman Jr.True Stories of Faith in Unexpected Places In this very personal, welcoming book, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tom Hallman, Jr., shares his journey of faith from indifferent agnostic to growing believer. Faith, Hallman tells us, is looking in the mirror in the morning and wondering why. It's about doubt and hope. It's catching a glimpse of a beacon piercing the fog of life and walking toward it, never knowing if you're headed in the right direction, but pressing onward. You'll meet ordinary people and be drawn into conversations that ask probing, almost intrusive questions--conversations that linger in your mind and resonate with your heart--from the ache of a mother who watched her baby die after only twenty days of struggling for life to the peaceful strength of a man working with those whose present situations mirror his past. Within these pages, you'll find real and honest accounts of everyday people whose discoveries of faith will inspire and comfort you on your own journey. *** The security lock thumped open, and I stepped into Level 3, a neonatal unit where I had been drawn to a drama played out minute by minute. As I stood above two cribs along a back wall, I wondered less about doctors, nurses, and medicine and more about God. Two babies had been born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Both had been placed on a heart-lung bypass machine to let their organs rest. One boy had no name. His mother was a crack addict. After giving birth, she abandoned her baby and never returned to the hospital. In the adjacent crib lay Jonah Van Arnam. His parents were active members of a church and visited their son daily to pray for him and the nurses and doctors. One afternoon, a nurse pulled me aside and told me a miracle was taking place: the crack addict's baby was getting better. But . . . Jonah was dying. Why had God abandoned this couple and their son? Where was this so-called loving God? --from chapter 6
A Stranger's Love
by Laura Martin"You may be sweet, but you're not innocent!"Bethany told herself she didn't care what Chad Alington thought of her. He was a perfect stranger-too perfect, in fact-a tall, dark, handsome millionaire with a stubborn streak which matched Bethany's. So who would win the battle of wills? Bethany had tried life as a rich man's plaything, and now she was determined to live the simple life. No frills or fuss, and definitely no men! But Chad had other ideas....
A Stranger's Secret: A Lady's Honor And A Stranger's Secret (A Cliffs of Cornwall Novel #2)
by Laurie Alice EakesAs a grieving young widow, Morwenna only wants a quiet life for herself and her son. Until a man washes ashore, entangling her in a web of mystery that could threaten all she holds dear. Lady Morwenna Trelawny Penvenan indulged in her fair share of dalliances in her youth, but now that she's the widowed mother to the heir of the Penvenan title, she's desperate to polish her reputation. When she's accused of deliberately luring ships to crash on the rocks to steal the cargo, Morwenna begins an investigation to uncover the real culprits and stumbles across an unconscious man lying in the sea's foam—a man wearing a medallion with the Trelawny crest around his neck. The medallion is a mystery to David Chastain, a boat builder from Somerset. All David knows is that his father was found dead in Cornwall with the medallion in his possession after lying and stealing his family's money. And he knows the widow who rescued him is impossibly beautiful—and likely the siren who caused the shipwreck in the first place—as well as the hand behind whoever is trying to murder David. As Morwenna nurses David back to health and tries to learn how he landed on her beach, suspicion and pride keep their growing attraction at bay. But can they join together to save Morwenna's name and estate and David’s life? Can they acknowledge the love they are both trying to deny?
A String and a Prayer
by Maggie Oman Shannon Eleanor WileyEleanor Wiley and Maggie Oman Shannon have taken an ancient practice and made it new. A String and a Prayer recounts the history and symbolism of prayer beads, teaches basic techniques for stringing beads and a host of other objects into prayer beads, and offers a variety of prayers and rituals to use those beads on a daily basis. Beads have appeared throughout history. Prayer beads are used in the spiritual practices of cultures as diverse as the African Masai, Native Americans, Greek and Russian Orthodoxy, as well as the religious rituals of Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and Buddhism. But prayer is highly personal. By infusing prayer beads with personal associations, we can keep our spirituality fresh. The beads are a device to help build and rebuild meaningful ritual in our lives. With myriad ideas about what makes objects sacred and where to find sacred objects -- from the personal, perhaps beads from a grandmother's broken rosary, to the unusual, maybe seashells from far away found in a thrift store -- A String and a Prayer offers many suggestions for different ways that beads can be made and used, exploring the creative roles they can play in our relationships, ceremonies, and rituals. "You are the expert, trust yourself. Let the instructions be a guide to your own creativity," write the authors.
A Stroke of Faith: A Stroke Survivor's Story of a Second Chance at Living a Life of Significance
by Mark MooreMark Moore always believed he was in charge of his life. All that changed on a beautiful Saturday morning in May 2007. Suddenly he was no longer in control of anything. Though his life will never return to his pre-stroke normality, through this crisis, he has gained a deeper understanding of the centrality of God's role in his life and in all of our lives. A STROKE OF FAITH tells the story of moving from acceptance to surrender and from hope to faith. It reveals God's work in Mark's life as He transformed him from thinking he had everything under control to knowing God has had control all along.
A Strong Start in Language
by Ruth BeechickEducator Ruth Beechick asserts that children can best learn written language in the same way they learn spoken language. Just as children learn to speak by listening and speaking, they can learn to write correctly by reading and copying good writing. The author explains how home schooling parents can use this "powerful, natural approach" to teach writing, spelling and grammar in the primary grades. Sample lessons are provided. There are also short Bible passages, for writing and spelling practice, as well as character building.
A Student's Guide to Culture
by Brett Kunkle John StonestreetThe student edition of the popular A Practical Guide to Culture by John Stonestreet and Brett Kunkle delivers a hopeful message to readers ages 15–25 who live every day with increasing cultural pressure. These young people struggle to navigate contemporary challenges to their Christian faith and values, but will be encouraged to emerge as leaders. In A Student&’s Guide to Culture, Stonestreet and Kunkle write in a highly relational style, sharing insight and experience. Jumping off from the original version, this guide includes all-new discussion questions and stories that remind young readers that they can live differently and be a light in a culture that sometimes feels overwhelming.
A Student's Guide to Religious Studies (ISI Guides to the Major Disciplines)
by D. G. HartAn exploration of the challenges of teaching and studying about religion in secular academic settings. The study of religion in American higher education is fraught with difficulties that raise important questions about the nature of faith and the purpose of advanced learning. Although religion has been foundational to some of the United States&’ most prestigious universities, religious studies is a relatively recent addition to the liberal arts curriculum. As a result, students often take courses in religion with expectations that exceed what professors can actually deliver. D. G. Hart explores the conundrums of the ambiguous position of religious studies in the academy and offers advice about the best way to approach and benefit from the teaching and study of religion in contexts often hostile to faith.
A Study Guide for BABY DINOSAURS ON THE ARK?
by Janet Kellogg RayIt&’s time to address the elephant in the ark. In Baby Dinosaurs on the Ark? The Bible and Modern Science and the Trouble of Making It All Fit, Janet Kellogg Ray reached out to Christians who experience cognitive dissonance between their creationist commitments and modern science. With this new study guide, she returns to her argument with fresh perspective and an eye toward practical instruction. Ray approaches her topic with empathy for her readers while maintaining scientific rigor. This discussion guide is the perfect companion for students and nonexpert readers of her book, as it includes notes, discussion questions, and lists of external resources to supplement the original. Expanded treatments of each chapter&’s topics encourage thinking with and beyond the concepts introduced in the main text.
A Study Of The Movement Of Spiritual Inner Awareness
by James R. Lewis Diana G. TumminiaA Study Of The Movement Of Spiritual Inner Awareness
A Study of Angels
by Edward MyersThe interest in angels has never been greater. But with so much speculation and misinformation out there, how can readers separate truth from fiction? This study of angelology discusses the origin, nature, activities, and destiny of angels -- all based on solid, biblical teaching. While comprehensive in scope and biblical in foundation, this book is easy to read and understand. This fascinating and informative book assures readers that they are not alone in this world.
A Study of Jewish Refugees in China (1933–1945): History, Theories and the Chinese Pattern
by Guang PanThis book comprehensively discusses the topic of Jews fleeing the Holocaust to China. It is divided into three parts: historical facts; theories; and the Chinese model. The first part addresses the formation, development and end of the Jewish refugee community in China, offering a systematic review of the history of Jewish Diaspora, including historical and recent events bringing European Jews to China; Jewish refugees arriving in China: route, time, number and settlement; the Jewish refugee community in Shanghai; Jewish refugees in other Chinese cities; the "Final Solution" for Jewish refugees in Shanghai and the “Designated Area for Stateless Refugees”; friendship between the Jewish refugees and the local Chinese people; the departure of Jews and the end of the Jewish refugee community in China. The second part provides deeper perspectives on the Jewish refugees in China and the relationship between Jews and the Chinese. The third part explores the Chinese model in the history of Jewish Diaspora, focusing on the Jews fleeing the Holocaust to China and compares the Jewish refugees in China with those in other parts of the world. It also introduces the Chinese model concept and presents the five features of the model.
A Study of the Sikh Kanya Mahavidyalaya: Education, Religion and Gender Issues
by Tripti BassiThis book addresses the issue of Sikh women’s education in Punjab within the larger discourse of women’s education in India. It focuses on the role of the Sikh Kanya Mahavidyalaya (SKM)—one of the most important educational institutions established in the nineteenth century as a result of the Sikh reformist movement in Punjab. It explores how various dimensions of caste, class, gender and religion generate a variety of approaches to the culture of literacy, and takes a closer look at the relevance of the Sikh Kanya Mahavidyalaya in today’s India and its contribution to the area of educational pedagogy. It focuses on gender in education, specifically discourses and practices in women’s education. In addition to providing valuable insights and critical evidence that can be used in the planning and implementation of education and gender policies, the book is sure to spark conversations in courses and professional communities interested in education, gender studies, history, sociology as well as overlooked dimensions of gender history.
A Subversive Gospel: Flannery O'Connor and the Reimagining of Beauty, Goodness, and Truth (Studies in Theology and the Arts)
by Michael BrunerThe good news of Jesus Christ is a subversive gospel, and following Jesus is a subversive act. These notions were embodied in the literary work of American author Flannery O'Connor, whose writing was deeply informed by both her Southern context and her Christian faith. In this volume in IVP Academic's Studies in Theology and the Arts series, theologian Michael Bruner explores O'Connor's theological aesthetic and argues that she reveals what discipleship to Christ entails by subverting the traditional understandings of beauty, truth, and goodness through her fiction. In addition, Bruner challenges recent scholarship by exploring the little-known influence of Baron Friedrich von Hügel, a twentieth-century Roman Catholic theologian, on her work. Bruner's study thus serves as a guide for those who enjoy reading O'Connor and—even more so—those who, like O'Connor herself, follow the subversive path of the crucified and risen one.
A Sudden Glory: God's Lavish Response to Your Ache for Something More
by Sharon JaynesDo you long for something more in your relationship with God? The good news is that "something more" does not mean "doing more." God is not waiting for you to get your spiritual life "right." He wants to be with you right where you are.The real question is not "What does God want from you?" but "What does God want for you?" Sharon Jaynes understands what it's like to have a "glory ache"--a longing to experience God's presence on a daily basis. She also knows how easily working for God can get in the way of intimacy with God. And she's discovered that we tend to make our faith journey much too hard. In A Sudden Glory, Sharon uses Scripture and story to help you erase the line between your "spiritual life" and your "daily life" as you enter the sanctuary of God's presence even in the middle of your busy, messy day. Here you will find your eyes opened to moments of sudden glory in which the Creator assures you of His love as you live and move and have your being in Him. Here you will discover true freedom--the freedom of experiencing God in a deeper and more intimate way than ever before. Includes Bible study and discussion guide.
A Sudden Terror: The Plot to Murder the Pope in Renaissance Rome
by Anthony F. D'EliaIn 1468, on the final night of Carnival in Rome, Pope Paul II sat enthroned above the boisterous crowd, when a scuffle caught his eye. His guards had intercepted a mysterious stranger trying urgently to convey a warning conspirators were lying in wait to slay the pontiff. Twenty humanist intellectuals were quickly arrested, tortured on the rack, and imprisoned in separate cells in the damp dungeon of Castel Sant Angelo. Anthony D Elia offers a compelling, surprising story that reveals a Renaissance world that witnessed the rebirth of interest in the classics, a thriving homoerotic culture, the clash of Christian and pagan values, the contest between republicanism and a papal monarchy, and tensions separating Christian Europeans and Muslim Turks. Using newly discovered sources, he shows why the pope targeted the humanists, who were seen as dangerously pagan in their Epicurean morals and their Platonic beliefs about the soul and insurrectionist in their support of a more democratic Church. Their fascination with Sultan Mehmed II connected them to the Ottoman Turks, enemies of Christendom, and the love of the classical world tied them to recent rebellious attempts to replace papal rule with a republic harking back to the glorious days of Roman antiquity. From the cosmetic-wearing, parrot-loving pontiff to the Turkish sultan, savage in war but obsessed with Italian culture, D Elia brings to life a Renaissance world full of pageantry, mayhem, and conspiracy and offers a fresh interpretation of humanism as a dynamic communal movement.
A Sufi Martyr: The Apologia of 'Ain al-Qudat al-Hamadhani
by A.J. ArberryOriginally published in 1969. This volume was composed by an eminent Sufi mystic whilst in prison in Baghdad, awaiting execution, in a vain attempt to overthrow his sentence; he was put to death in AD 1311 at the age of 33. This apologia is a document of great poignancy, composed in most elegant Arabic and translated with the customary skill and elegance for which A J Arberry became so well-known.
A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue
by Diana LobelWritten in Judeo-Arabic in eleventh-century Muslim Spain but quickly translated into Hebrew, Bahya Ibn Paquda's Duties of the Heart is a profound guidebook of Jewish spirituality that has enjoyed tremendous popularity and influence to the present day. Readers who know the book primarily in its Hebrew version have likely lost sight of the work's original Arabic context and its immersion in Islamic mystical literature. In A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue, Diana Lobel explores the full extent to which Duties of the Heart marks the flowering of the "Jewish-Arab symbiosis," the interpenetration of Islamic and Jewish civilizations.Lobel reveals Bahya as a maverick who integrates abstract negative theology, devotion to the inner life, and an intimate relationship with a personal God. Bahya emerges from her analysis as a figure so steeped in Islamic traditions that an Arabic reader could easily think he was a Muslim, yet the traditional Jewish seeker has always looked to him as a fountainhead of Jewish devotion. Indeed, Bahya represents a genuine bridge between religious cultures. He brings together, as well, a rationalist, philosophical approach and a strain of Sufi mysticism, paving the way for the integration of philosophy and spirituality in the thought of Moses Maimonides.A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue is the first scholarly book in English about a tremendously influential work of medieval Jewish thought and will be of interest to readers working in comparative literature, philosophy, and religious studies, particularly as reflected in the interplay of the civilizations of the Middle East. Readers will discover an extraordinary time when Jewish, Christian, and Islamic thinkers participated in a common spiritual quest, across traditions and cultural boundaries.
A Suitor for Jenny (A Rocky Creek Romance #2)
by Margaret BrownleyJenny Higgins is certain falling in love and finding a husband are matters of the mind. Her heart has other plans.After their parents died, Jenny felt responsible for seeing that her two younger sisters were well taken-care of. Tipped off by an article naming Rocky Creek the town with the highest number of eligible bachelors, Jenny rolled into this Texas town with a clear objective: find suitable husbands for her two sister and then start fresh somewhere far, far away.Jenny believe that women who fall in love at first sight often wish they'd taken a second look, so she diligently begins to follow all the rules set forth in her handy manual on how to land a husband.But while Jenny is interviewing the less-than-promising candidates, her sisters are falling in love the old-fashioned way--with men of their choosing. And the longer Jenny stays, the more her sense of control slips away. The town isn't living up to her expectations, her sisters are rebelling against her practical choices, and soon her own heart starts to betray her, as US Marshall Rhett Armstrong stirs emotions in her that weren't part of her plan.To relinquish her control to God and calm her restless spirit, she'll need to give her foregone conclusions about marriage, love, and faith.