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MEV Bible Thinline Reference: Modern English Version
by PassioThe Beauty of the Past with Clarity for TodayThis Thinline Reference Bible is small, lightweight, and perfect for your Bible study, reading, and devotions. Beautiful and easy to carry, it is ideal for use at home or at church and includes study tools such as:Cross-referencesParallel referencesConcordanceWords of Jesus in redFour-color mapsClear. Reverent. Accurate.
MI... 101 Ideas esenciales que no obtuve en terapia
by Dr Rosie Kuhn Nora G. GlembockiPsicoterapeutas, psicólogos, psiquiatras. Cada profesión fue creada para dar apoyo y motivar a las personas a desarrollar una relación íntima con su psiquis, que es su alma, su espíritu, su esencia como ser humano, su consciencia, su yo interior. Es el terapeuta fuera de lo común quien ha ido tan profundo como fuera necesario para ayudar a sus clientes a llegar hasta allí, su propia psiquis. Lo sé. Me formé como terapeuta y me doctoré en Psicología Transpersonal. No es de ELLOS de quien hablo. En parte, yo soy uno de ellos, y también soy algo más. Ese algo más me ha permitido cruzar un umbral hacia la realidad humana que no se reveló como tal durante mi formación como terapeuta. Recién en mi primer empleo real como terapeuta clínica, donde trabajaba con gente en recuperación, me crucé con lo que yo considero un ingrediente esencial del crecimiento y desarrollo humanos: la espiritualidad. Ahora, como entrenadora de vida transformacional, mi trabajo difiere del que hacía como terapeuta. Entonces, tomaba de la mano a mis clientes y me movía lentamente por un gradiente que consideraba realista. Ese es un componente importante del crecimiento personal, el ritmo al cual cada individuo avanza valientemente por su camino, con confianza en sí mismo y plena responsabilidad por el camino elegido. Durante una sesión de terapia, los elementos de la espiritualidad son prácticamente ignorados. Tratamos las emociones, pensamientos y sensaciones de nuestro cuerpo, pero no nos damos cuenta del indispensable aspecto espiritual de la experiencia humana, sin el cual no podríamos existir. Este dilema humano en el que nos encontramos es provocado por experiencias que están más allá del conocimiento cognitivo. Es probable que cada uno de nosotros experimente a lo largo de su vida situaciones tremendas, numinosas, transformadoras y espirituales, y que no sepa cómo llamarlas, o peor aún, qué hacer con ellas. Muy a menudo
MIA: Missing in Atlanta
by Debby GiustiGranted, he hadn't known her long, but returning war hero Jude Walker expected to eventually marry the woman he'd met during his last leave. Not find her missing. Or learn that her last known address was a homeless shelter in a dangerous part of the city. The shelter's temporary director, Sarah Montgomery, didn't know Jude's friend. But she knew the streets, knew the dangers--from drugs and prostitution to the most cold-blooded of criminals--right outside her door. Knew that the handsome, brave captain was in for heartache. And that falling in love with him was her riskiest move yet.
MOMAHOLIC
by Dena HigleyEvery mom has felt the need to be perfect.MOMAHOLIC is one woman's private, dramatic, and often comical invitation to peek inside a time in her life where everything fell apart and she had to take an honest look at what she was doing right and what she'd been doing terribly wrong. With this simple discovery, her whacky family's season of becoming unraveled found a new glue (other than her blood, sweat and tears) that would re-bond her family and unite them in a deeper and more functional way than ever before. The real life characters:A MOM who is literally the head writer of a network soap opera... at work and at homeA HUSBAND who expects perfection from his kids and his wife, but who has the wisdom to know he's being unrealistic and yet, can't help but scratch his head in frustration as his family's troubles seem to spiral out of his controlAn autistic SONA popular DAUGHTER who is suddenly pregnantAn ADOPTED DAUGHTER pulled from the jungles of Vietnam with no leg below the right knee and fingers fused togetherAn ADOPTED SON from Ethiopia, rescued from the streets at the age of 9. This is a story showing the speed with which a "normal" family can fall apart. No one dies. No one gets kidnapped. They just have to deal with each of their own issues....and then one unwanted and unplanned pregnancy. This was a church-going family whose kids were taught abstinence until marriage. With the family running around as the tornado sirens roared warnings to take cover, mother, Miss Drama, becomes the biggest mess of all and ends up finding a whole new freedom for her soul.
MOMfulness: Mothering with Mindfulness, Compassion, and Grace
by Denise RoyA &“delightful . . . engaging&” spiritual handbook for busy moms of all faiths by a marriage and family therapist, spiritual director and mother of five(Publishers Weekly). Denise Roy combines the hard-won wisdom of a parent with the insights of meditation to create a spiritual practice that goes to the heart of everyday life: mothering with mindfulness. Through anecdotes, reflections, and specific practices, this book invites mothers to wake up and embrace their lives, discovering that they are always standing on holy ground. &“Momfulness is a wonderful guide for conscious mothering in an all-too-busy world. I love this book!&” —Michelle Borba, author, Twelve Simple Secrets Real Moms Know
MOMumental: Adventures in the Messy Art of Raising a Family
by Jennifer GrantCelebrating the joyous art of being a mother, MOMumental offers an inspiring, honest, and infectiously humorous look at the perils and pleasures of raising a family in the real world.Once a devout believer in the myth of the perfect mother, author Jennifer Grant now has a more realistic yet still upbeat view of parenting and families. Instead of focusing on creating a conflict-free home, raising picture-perfect kids, and being an ideal mother, Grant offers a wiser and more down-to-earth way to love your children that makes room for mistakes and imperfections. She says, "I share stories about family life and how I've come to appreciate the mess of it. I am grateful for my own happy, idiosyncratic, and imperfect family."MOMumental is one mother's account of the unpredictable, creative, sometimes hilarious, and always rewarding process of raising a family. It's filled with funny and poignant stories from her everyday life-a life that mothers everywhere can identify with.MOMumental is a book about parenting, family, and intentional relationships for readers who normally avoid such fare like an overzealous street evangelist. (Raises hand.) Its wit and wisdom completely enraptured me. A delightful and surprising gift to us all.Cathleen Falsaniaward-winning journalist and author
MUJERES QUE BRILLAN (EBOOK)
by Alejandra StamateasHoy la cultura nos exige un modelo, nos introduce en un patrón, en un sistema, y nos dice que las mujeres, para ser bellas, necesitamos encuadrarnos en determinadas características. Como si se tratara de una verdad absoluta, se supone que tenemos que ser de una manera y no de otra. Con Mujeres que brillan vamos a comprobar que no es así, que todas somos carismáticas, que todas somos hermosas. Y que lo único que debemos hacer es soltar ese potencial que llevamos dentro.
Maa Baap Chokarano Vyavahar (Sanxipt): મા બાપ છોકરાનો વ્યવહાર (સંક્ષિપ્ત)
by Dada Bhagwanજો તમે તમારા સંતાનોના મિત્ર થશો તો, માબાપ – સંતાનોના સંબંધો સુધરશે. પરંતુ જો તમે તમારો માબાપ તરીકેનો અધિકાર વાપરશો તો, તમારે સંતાન ગુમાવવાનો વખત આવશે. તમારી મિત્રતા એવી હોવી જોઈએ કે બાળકને પ્રેમ અને માર્ગદર્શન મેળવવા બહાર ન જવું પડે. સંતાન ભયાનક કાર્યો કરે ત્યારે પણ, જેઓ પોતાના સંતાનોની વર્તણુંક પ્રેમ અને સમજણથી ફેરવી શકે તે જ ખરા માબાપ છે. આ જગત ને ફક્ત પ્રેમથી જ જીતી શકાય. પ્રેમાળ કુટુંબ માટે, માબાપે પોતે નૈતિકતા કેળવવી જોઈએ. માબાપ તરફથી સંતાનો ને એવો પ્રેમ મળવો જોઈએ કે સંતાનોને તેમને છોડવાનું મન ન થાય. જો તમારે તમારા સંતાનને સુધારવું છે તો તેની જવાબદારી તમારા શિરે છે. તમે તમારા સંતાન પ્રત્યેની ફરજથી બંધાયેલા છો. કિશોરાવસ્થામાં સંતાનને ઉછેરવું એ કદાચ માબાપની કુશળતાની સૌથી મુશ્કેલ કસોટી હશે, જેને માટે તેઓ જરાપણ કેળવાયેલા નથી. આજના કિશોરની આંતરિક અવસ્થાની ઊંડી અને સંપૂર્ણ સમજણથી પરમ પૂજ્ય દાદાશ્રીએ તેમને કેમ જીતવા તે આપણને બતાવ્યું છે. આ પુસ્તકથી પરમ પૂજ્ય દાદાશ્રી માબાપને, સંતાનો સાથે વર્તવામાં, તેમનામાં નૈતિકતા, શિસ્ત અને શિષ્ટાચાર લાવવામાં મદદ કરે છે. પરમ પૂજ્ય દાદાશ્રીએ સંતાન માબાપના સંબંધો મજબુત બનાવવા અને માબાપની સેવા કરવી તે સૌથી મોટો ધર્મ છે તે બાબતોનું માર્ગદર્શન બાળકોને પણ આપ્યું છે.
Maa-Baap Chhokra No Vyavahar (Granth): મા-બાપ છોકરાનો વ્યવહાર (ગ્રંથ)
by Dada Bhagwanમા – બાપ અને છોકરા વચ્ચેનો સંબંધ એ પોતાના અસ્તિત્વની મૂળભૂત કડી છે. આપણા મહાન ભગવાનોને પણ મા – બાપ હતા જેમનો તેઓ આદર કરતા અને તેમને પૂજ્ય ગણતા. આજના જમાનામાં આ સંબંધ જટિલ થઇ રહ્યા છે. મા – બાપોને તેમના છોકરાઓ સામે ફરીયાદોની લાંબી યાદી છે, જેવી કે છોકરાઓ તેમની આજ્ઞા પાળતા નથી, મોડા ઉઠે છે, ભણતા નથી, તેમને ખોટી આદતો પડી છે, એકબીજા સાથે ઝગડે છે, વગેરે. છોકરાઓ મા – બાપની અપેક્ષાઓ પૂરી કરી શકતા નથી. તેવી જ રીતે છોકરાઓને લાગે છે કે મા – બાપ તેમને સમજવા માગતા નથી, વધારે પડતા કડક છે, વગેરે વગેરે. આ પુસ્તકમાં, જ્ઞાની પુરુષ પરમ પૂજ્ય દાદાશ્રીના, કુટુંબની અંદરના આ ઘનિષ્ટ સંબંધો વિષેના સત્સંગો આપવામાં આવ્યા છે. હાલની સમસ્યાઓને સંસારિક અને આધ્યાત્મિક દ્રષ્ટિકોણથી ચર્ચવામાં આવી છે. જૂની અને નવી પેઢી વચ્ચે વધતી તિરાડો ઉપર ખાસ ધ્યાન આપવામાં આવ્યું છે. મા – બાપની ફરજો અને બાળકો, તરુણો, કિશોરો, અને યુવાન વયસ્કોની તેમના મા – બાપ પ્રત્યેની ફરજો, સ્પષ્ટતા અને કરુણાથી સમજાવવામાં આવી છે. પરમ પૂજ્ય દાદાશ્રીએ પ્રેમ અને સ્નેહથી કેવી રીતે મા – બાપ છોકરાના આ સુંદર સંબંધમાં સુમેળ સાધી શકાય તે હેતુથી ‘હકારાત્મક બાલઉછેરનો પાયો નાખવામાં પહેલ કરી છે? આ પુસ્તકના બે વિભાગ પાડવામાં આવ્યા છે, પહેલાં વિભાગમાં પરમ પૂજ્ય દાદાશ્રીએ મા – બાપની છોકરાં સાથેની સમસ્યા અને તેના ઉકેલની ચર્ચા કરી છે. બીજા ભાગમાં છોકરાંને મા – બાપ સાથેના વ્યવહાર માં આવતી મુશ્કેલીઓની ચર્ચા કરી છે. આ પુસ્તક મા – બાપ અને છોકરાં વચ્ચે સુમેળ સાધી, સંબંધો ઉષ્માભર્યા બનાવવામાં ખુબ જ મદદરૂપ થશે.
Mabel McKay: Weaving the Dream
by Greg SarrisIn this wise book, Greg Sarris weaves together stories from the life of Mabel McKay, a world-renowned Pomo basket weaver and medicine woman. As his mentor and teacher, Mabel McKay told Sarris many of the stories that inspired Grand Avenue, his acclaimed book of short fiction and the basis for an HBO film of the same name.
Mabon: Rituals, Recipes & Lore for the Autumn Equinox (Llewellyn's Sabbat Essentials)
by LlewellynA thanksgiving celebration for the second harvestMabon—also known as the Autumn Equinox—is a time to honor the spiritual significance of harvest, sacrifice, and survival. This guide shows you how to perform rituals and work magic that incorporates the shifting balance between light and dark that reaches its pinnacle during the equinox.RitualsRecipesLoreSpellsDivinationCraftsCorrespondencesInvocationsPrayersMeditationsLlewellyn's Sabbat Essentials explore the old and new ways of celebrating the seasonal rites that are the cornerstones of the witch's year.
MacArthur 2-in-1: 2 Truth-Filled Books in 1 Volume to Strengthen Your Faith
by John MacarthurThe Truth WarThere is no middle ground, no safe zone for the uncommitted in this war. The battle for truth is raging, and this book reveals: Right now, truth is under attack, and much is at stake. Perhaps no one in America is more passionate than John MacArthur about exposing those who are mounting this attack?especially those bringing the assault right into the church. The pitfalls of postmodern thinking Why the Emerging Church Movement is inherently flawed Past skirmishes in the Truth War and their effect on the Church The importance of truth and certainty in a postmodern society How to identify and address the errors and false teachings smuggled into churches "[The postmodern age] is the age of no truth, an age that has reached a point of deadly fatigue when it comes to facing the truth?a generation that no longer believes truth can be known. Dr. John MacArthur knows better, and he is armed with the courage to confront this age with a bold defense of truth. . . . His argument is compelling, his defense of truth is brilliant, and his concern for the church is evident on every page. The evangelical church desperately needs this book, and it arrives just in time." -R. Albert Mohler Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Strange FireWhat would God say about those who blatantly misrepresent His Holy Spirit; who exchange true worship for chaotic fits of mindless ecstasy; who replace the biblical gospel with vain illusions of health and wealth; who claim to prophesy in His name yet speak errors; and who sell false hope to desperate people for millions of dollars? The charismatic movement has always been a breeding-ground for scandal, greed, bad doctrine, and all kinds of spiritual chicanery. As a movement, it is clearly headed the wrong direction. And it is growing at an unprecedented rate. From the Word of Faith to the New Apostolic Reformation, the Charismatic movement is being consumed by the empty promises of the prosperity gospel. Too many charismatic celebrities promote a "Christianity" without Christ, a Holy Spirit without holiness. And their teaching is having a disastrous influence on a grand scale, as large television networks broadcast their heresies to every part of the world. In Strange Fire, bestselling author and pastor John MacArthur chronicles the unsavory history behind the modern Charismatic movement. He lays out a chilling case for rejecting its false prophets, speaking out against their errors, showing true reverence to the Holy Spirit, and above all clinging to the Bible as the inerrant, authoritative Word of God and the one true standard by which all truth claims must be tested.
MacArthur 2in1 Vanishing Conscience & Hard to Believe
by John MacarthurTwo books by John MacArthur in one volume. Contains the Vanishing Conscience and Hard to Believe.
MacArthur New Testament Commentary Index
by John MacArthurAmong the most helpful features of the MacArthur New Testament Commentary set are the indexes in the back of each book. This practical resource combines all indexes of the 33-volume set into one convenient location.If you want to know where MacArthur discusses a certain Greek word, Bible verse, or biblical-theological subject—across his whole set of commentaries—you can find out in just the turn of a page, and then begin your in-depth study from there. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary is for anyone who wants to dig deeper into God's Word, and this resource is a welcomed tool for that worthy endeavor.
MacArthur New Testament Commentary Index
by John MacArthurAmong the most helpful features of the MacArthur New Testament Commentary set are the indexes in the back of each book. This practical resource combines all indexes of the 33-volume set into one convenient location.If you want to know where MacArthur discusses a certain Greek word, Bible verse, or biblical-theological subject—across his whole set of commentaries—you can find out in just the turn of a page, and then begin your in-depth study from there. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary is for anyone who wants to dig deeper into God's Word, and this resource is a welcomed tool for that worthy endeavor.
MacArthur's Quick Reference Guide to the Bible: A Book-by-book Overview Of Essential Bible Information
by John MacarthurNoted pastor/teacher John MacArthur takes you through the key aspects of the Bible in this guide for students. For all 66 books, key doctrines, highlighted people, geographic, historical, and cultural background, cross references, how Christ is pictured, character/attributes of God, explanations of key words and interpretive challenges will be examined.In addition, the guide will include: "Why I Believe the Bible" How to interpret each type of literature Charts, timelines, maps "Where to Find It" index of favorite passages and key Bible events, stories, and teachings Doctrinal studies (concise, with references and brief explanations) Index of people in the Bible Topical Index "How to Study the Bible" article
Macabre Montreal: Ghostly Tales, Ghastly Events, and Gruesome True Stories
by Mark Leslie Shayna KrishnasamyA collection of ghost stories, eerie encounters, and gruesome tales from one of Canada’s most interesting cities. Montreal is a city steeped in history and culture, but just beneath the pristine surface of this world-class city lie unsettling tales of uncanny phenomena, dark deeds, haunted buildings, and forgotten graveyards. The dark of night reveals buried secrets, alleyways that echo with the footsteps of ghostly spectres, and memories of ghastly murders and unspeakable acts that will make your blood run cold. Read, if you dare, about the ghost that wanders Griffintown in search of her missing head, top-secret experiments conducted on unwitting subjects at McGill University, and the mysterious gunshot deaths of a mother and son in their mansion, among other terrifying stories.
Machen's Hope: The Transformation of a Modernist in the New Princeton
by Richard E. BurnettThe first critical biography of J. Gresham Machen, examining the full arc of his intellectual career J. Gresham Machen is known as a conservative hero of the fundamentalist-modernist controversy. But was he always so staunchly antimodernist? In this sweeping new biography, Richard E. Burnett examines the whole of Machen&’s life and career—from his early years at Princeton, to his experience in the First World War, to his founding of Westminster Theological Seminary . Burnett pays special attention to topics that have received little attention from biographers, like Machen&’s crisis of faith and his support for historical criticism of Scripture. Incorporating all of Machen&’s major works as well as his previously unpublished private correspondence, Burnett crafts a nuanced narrative of Machen&’s intellectual journey from enthusiastic modernist to stalwart conservative. Nuanced and thorough, Machen&’s Hope will challenge scholars&’ assumptions about Machen and his dynamic era.
Machiavelli's God
by Maurizio ViroliHow Machiavelli's Christianity shaped his political thoughtTo many readers of The Prince, Machiavelli appears to be deeply un-Christian or even anti-Christian, a cynic who thinks rulers should use religion only to keep their subjects in check. But in Machiavelli's God, Maurizio Viroli, one of the world's leading authorities on Machiavelli, argues that Machiavelli, far from opposing Christianity, thought it was crucial to republican social and political renewal—but that first it needed to be renewed itself. And without understanding this, Viroli contends, it is impossible to comprehend Machiavelli's thought.Viroli places Machiavelli in the context of Florence's republican Christianity, which was founded on the idea that the true Christian is a citizen who serves the common good. In this tradition, God participates in human affairs, supports and rewards those who govern justly, and desires men to make the earthly city similar to the divine one. Building on this tradition, Machiavelli advocated a religion of virtue, and he believed that, without this faith, free republics could not be established, defend themselves against corruption, or survive. Viroli makes a powerful case that Machiavelli, far from being a pagan or atheist, was a prophet of a true religion of liberty, a way of moral and political living that would rediscover and pursue charity and justice.The translation of this work has been funded by SEPS—Segretariato Europeo per le Pubblicazioni Scientifiche.
Machiavelli's Three Romes: Religion, Human Liberty, and Politics Reformed
by Vickie B. SullivanMachiavelli's ambiguous treatment of religion has fueled a contentious and long-standing debate among scholars. Whereas some insist that Machiavelli is a Christian, others maintain he is a pagan. Sullivan mediates between these divergent views by arguing that he is neither but that he utilizes elements of both understandings arrayed in a wholly new way. In this illuminating study, Sullivan shows Machiavelli's thought to be a highly original response to what he understood to be the crisis of his times.
Machiavelli, Islam and the East
by Lucio Biasiori Giuseppe MarcocciThis volume provides the first survey of the unexplored connections between Machiavelli's work and the Islamic world, running from the Arabic roots of The Prince to its first translations into Ottoman Turkish and Arabic. It investigates comparative descriptions of non-European peoples, Renaissance representations of Muḥammad and the Ottoman military discipline, a Jesuit treatise in Persian for a Mughal emperor, peculiar readers from Brazil to India, and the parallel lives of Machiavelli and the bureaucrat Celālzāde Muṣṭaf#65533;. Ten distinguished scholars analyse the backgrounds, circulation and reception of Machiavelli's writings, focusing on many aspects of the mutual exchange of political theories and grammars between East and West. A significant contribution to attempts by current scholarship to challenge any rigid separation within Eurasia, this volume restores a sense of the global spreading of books, ideas and men in the past.
Machig Labdron and the Foundations of Chod
by Jerome EdouMachig Labdron is popularly considered to be both a dakini and a deity, an emanation of Yum Chenmo, or Prajnaparamita, the embodiment of the wisdom of the buddhas. Historically, this Tibetan woman, a contemporary of Milarepa, was an adept and outstanding teacher, a mother, and a founder of a unique transmission lineage known as the Chöd of Mahamudra. This translation of the most famous biography of Machig Labdron, founder of the unique Mahamudra Chöd tradition, is presented together with a comprehensive overview of Chöd's historical and doctrinal origins in Indian Buddhism and its subsequent transmission to Tibet.Chöd refers to cutting through the grasping at a self and its attendant emotional afflictions. Most famous for its teaching on transforming the aggregates into an offering of food for demons as a compassionate act of self-sacrifice, Chöd aims to free the mind from all fear and to arouse realization of its true nature, primordially clear bliss and emptiness.
Machik's Complete Explanation: Clarifying the Meaning of Chod (Expanded Edition)
by Sarah HardingFear, anger, and negativity are states that each of us have to contend with. Machik's Complete Explanation, the most famous book of the teachings of Machik Lapdrön, the great female saint and yogini of eleventh- to twelfth-century Tibet, addresses these issues in a practical, direct way. Machik developed a system, the Mahamudra Chöd, that takes the Buddha's teachings as a basis and applies them to the immediate experiences of negative mind states and malignant forces. Her unique feminine approach is to invoke and nurture the very "demons" that we fear and hate, transforming those reactive emotions into love. It is the tantric version of developing compassion and fearlessness, a radical method of cutting through ego-fixation. This expanded edition includes Machik Lapdrön's earliest known teaching, the original source text for the tradition, The Great Bundle of Precepts on Severance (Chöd). This pithy set of instructions reveals that the teachings of the perfection of wisdom are the true inspiration for Chöd. It is beautifully clarified in a short commentary by Rangjung Dorje, the Third Karmapa.
Machine Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm: Spiritual Freedom and the Re-animation of Matter
by Luke Lafitte• Explores how we naturally project consciousness onto machines and how this is reflected in human culture, science, artificial intelligence, and literature • Demonstrates a direct connection between consciousness and the history of machines in American history • Looks at the contributions and influence of Grace Hopper, Richard Feynman, Philip K. Dick, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Elon Musk, David Bohm, Norbert Wiener, and Steve Jobs as well as the Nag Hammadi Gnostic gospels Humans invented and constructed machines to aid them, as far back as the Stone Age. As the machines became more complex, they became extensions of the body and mind, and we naturally began projecting consciousness onto them. As Luke Lafitte shows in detail, although machines complicate the already complicated issue of identity, because they are &“ours&” and &“of us,&” they are part of our spiritual development. In this sweeping exploration of the history of the machine as a tool, as a transpersonal object to assist human activity, and as a transitional artifact between spirits and the humans who interact with them, Lafitte examines the role that machines play in the struggle between &“spiritual man&” and &“mechanical man&” throughout history. He interprets the messages, archetypes, and language of the unconscious in the first popular stories related to mechanical men, and he demonstrates a direct connection between consciousness and the history of machines in American history, specifically between the inventors of these machines and the awakening of our imaginations and our powers of manifestation. He examines the influence of Philip K. Dick, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Grace Hopper, Richard Feynman, Elon Musk, David Bohm, and others and shows how the Nag Hammadi gospels explain how we can take back our myth and spirit from the machine. Although the term &“mechanical man&” is a catch-all phrase, Lafitte shows that the term is also a meeting ground where extra-dimensional communications between different forms of matter occur. Every machine, android, robot, and cyborg arose from consciousness, and these mechanical men, whether real or fictive, offer us an opportunity to free ourselves from enslavement to materialism and awaken our imaginations to create our own realities.
Machines for Making Gods: Mormonism, Transhumanism, and Worlds without End
by Jon BialeckiThe Mormon faith may seem so different from aspirations to transcend the human through technological means that it is hard to imagine how these two concerns could even exist alongside one another, let alone serve together as the joint impetus for a social movement. Machines for Making Gods investigates the tensions between science and religion through which an imaginative group of young Mormons and ex-Mormons have found new ways of understanding the world.The Mormon Transhumanist Association (MTA) believes that God intended humanity to achieve Mormonism’s promise of theosis through imminent technological advances. Drawing on a nineteenth-century Mormon tradition of religious speculation to reimagine Mormon eschatological hopes as near-future technological possibilities, they envision such current and possible advances as cryonic preservation, computer simulation, and quantum archeology as paving the way for the resurrection of the dead, the creation of worlds without end, and promise of undergoing theosis—of becoming a god. Addressing the role of speculation in the anthropology of religion, Machines for Making Gods undoes debates about secular transhumanism’s relation to religion by highlighting the differences an explicitly religious transhumanism makes.Charting the conflicts and resonances between secular transhumanism and Mormonism, Bialecki shows how religious speculation has opened up imaginative horizons to give birth to new forms of Mormonism, including a particular progressive branch of the faith and even such formations as queer polygamy. The book also reveals how the MTA’s speculative account of God and technology together has helped to forestall some of the social pressure that comes with apostasy in much of the Mormon Intermountain West.A fascinating ethnography of a group with much to say about crucial junctures of modern culture, Machines for Making Gods illustrates how the scientific imagination can be better understood when viewed through anthropological accounts of myth.