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The Violin of Auschwitz: A Novel
by Maria Angels AngladaAn international sensation now available in English for the first time, The Violin of Auschwitz is the unforgettable story of one man’s refusal to surrender his dignity in the face of history’s greatest atrocity.In the winter of 1991, at a concert in Krakow, an older woman with a marvelously pitched violin meets a fellow musician who is instantly captivated by her instrument. When he asks her how she obtained it, she reveals the remarkable story behind its origin. . . . Imprisoned at Auschwitz, the notorious concentration camp, Daniel feels his humanity slipping away. Treasured memories of the young woman he loved and the prayers that once lingered on his lips become hazier with each passing day. Then a visit from a mysterious stranger changes everything, as Daniel’s former identity as a crafter of fine violins is revealed to all. The camp’s two most dangerous men use this information to make a cruel wager: If Daniel can build a successful violin within a certain number of days, the Kommandant wins a case of the finest burgundy. If not, the camp doctor, a torturer, gets hold of Daniel. And so, battling exhaustion, Daniel tries to recapture his lost art, knowing all too well the likely cost of failure. Written with lyrical simplicity and haunting beauty—and interspersed with chilling, actual Nazi documentation—The Violin of Auschwitz is more than just a novel: It is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of beauty, art, and hope to triumph over the darkest adversity.From the Hardcover edition.
The Virago Book Of Witches
by Shahrukh HusainA collection of more than 50 stories about witches from around the world. There are tales of banshees, crones and beauties in disguise from China, Siberia, the Caribbean, Armenia, Portugal and Australia. The characters featured include Italy's Witch Bea-Witch, Lilith, Kali, and Twitti Glyn Hec.
The Virago Book Of Witches
by Shahrukh HusainA collection of more than fifty stories about witches from around the world. There are tales of banshees, crones and beauties in disguise from China, Siberia, the Caribbean, Armenia, Portugal and Australia. The characters featured include Italy's Witch Bea-Witch, Lilith, Kali, and Twitti Glyn Hec. Alluring women, enchantresses, wise old ladies and bewitching women: they are all here and ready to haunt, entice, possess, transform, challenge - and sometimes even to help.
The Virgin Mary Conspiracy: The True Father of Christ and the Tomb of the Virgin
by Graham PhillipsA convincing and cogent argument refuting the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Church dogma and revealing the true father of Jesus• Provides historical and archaeological evidence of a tomb of the Virgin Mary• Introduces the theory that Jesus's father was Antipater, son of HerodWhat became of the Virgin Mary after the Crucifixion is one of the greatest mysteries of the Bible. Although it appears nowhere in the Bible, the belief in the Assumption-Mary's bodily ascension into heaven-is accepted by many Christians as historical fact. Some, however, believe that Mary died naturally and was buried in a tomb in Jerusalem's Valley of Jehosaphat. Others say that her final resting place was in the Roman ruins of Ephesus in Asia Minor.In 1950 Giovanni Benedetti, an archaeologist attached to the Vatican museum, found a fourth-century manuscript indicating that Mary had been smuggled out of Palestine to an island off the west coast of Britain. According to Benedetti's findings, England's first Bishop, St. Augustine, discovered Mary's tomb there in A.D. 597. The reigning pope, Gregory the Great, forbade St. Augustine to speak of this, initiating a conspiracy of silence that lasted 1,400 years. Similarly, as Benedetti was about to publish his findings, he was instructed by the Vatican to discontinue his research. Soon after, the Roman Catholic Church declared the Assumption dogma.In The Virgin Mary Conspiracy Graham Phillips unravels the truth behind this centuries-old ecclesiastical cover-up and discovers what may be Mary's final resting place. During his extensive research Phillips also discovered another controversial theory revealing that Jesus was the son of Antipater, the son of Herod, and therefore the true heir to Herod's throne, thus explaining his title of "King of the Jews."
The Virgin Mary across Cultures: Devotion among Costa Rican Catholic and Finnish Orthodox Women
by Elina VuolaThis book examines women’s relationship to the Virgin Mary in two different cultural and religious contexts, and compares how these relationships have been analyzed and explained on a theological and a sociological level. The figure of the Virgin Mary is a divisive one in our modern culture. To some, she appears to be a symbol of religious oppression, while to others, she is a constant comfort and even an inspiration towards empowerment. Drawing on the author’s own ethnographic research among Catholic Costa Rican women and Orthodox Finnish women, this study relates their experiences with Mary to the folklore and popular religion materials present in each culture. The book combines not only different social and religious frameworks but also takes a critical look at ways in which feminists have (mis)interpreted the meaning of Mary for women. It therefore combines theological and ethnographic methods in order to create a feminist Marian theology that is particularly attentive to women’s lived religious practices and theological thinking. This study provides a unique ethnographically informed insight into women’s religious interactions with Mary. As such, it will be of great interest to those researching in religious studies and theology, gender studies, Latin American studies, anthropology of religion, and folklore studies.
The Virgin Mary's Got Nits: A Christmas Anthology
by Gervase PhinnA touching and hilarious gift book of poetry and prose on the subject of children and Christmas from the Yorkshire school inspector and bestselling author of the Dales series and Little Village School series.
The Virgin and the Grail: Origins of a Legend
by Joseph Ward GoeringSome fifty years before Chrétien de Troyes wrote what is probably the first and certainly the most influential story of the Holy Grail, images of the Virgin Mary with a simple but radiant bowl (called a "grail" in local dialect) appeared in churches in the Spanish Pyrenees. In this fascinating book, Joseph Goering explores the links between these sacred images and the origins of one of the West's most enduring legends. While tracing the early history of the grail, Goering looks back to the Pyrenean religious paintings and argues that they were the original inspiration of the grail legend. He explains how storytellers in northern France could have learned of these paintings and how the enigmatic "grail" in the hands of the Virgin came to form the centerpiece of a story about a knight in King Arthur's court. Part of the allure of the grail, Goering argues, was that neither Chrétien nor his audience knew exactly what it represented or why it was so important. And out of the attempts to answer those questions the literature of the Holy Grail was born.
The Virgin in Song: Mary and the Poetry of Romanos the Melodist (Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion)
by Thomas ArentzenAccording to legend, the Virgin appeared one Christmas Eve to an artless young man standing in one of Constantinople's most famous Marian shrines. She offered him a scroll of papyrus with the injunction that he swallow it, and following the Virgin's command, he did so. Immediately his voice turned sweet and gentle as he spontaneously intoned his hymn "The Virgin today gives birth." So was born the career of Romanos the Melodist (ca. 485-560), one of the greatest liturgical poets of Byzantium, author of at least sixty long hymns, or kontakia, that were chanted during the night vigils preceding major feasts and festivals.In The Virgin in Song, Thomas Arentzen explores the characterization of Mary in these kontakia and the ways in which the kontakia echoed the cult of the Virgin. He focuses on three key moments in her story as marked in the liturgical calendar: her encounter with Gabriel at the Annunciation, her child's birth at Christmas, and the death of her son on Good Friday. Consistently, Arentzen contends, Romanos counters expectations by shifting emphasis away from Christ himself to focus on Mary—as the subject of the erotic gaze, as a breastfeeding figure of abundance and fertility, and finally as an authoritatively vocal woman who conveys the secrets of her son and the joys of the resurrection.Through his hymns, Romanos inspired an affective relationship between Mary and his audience, bringing the human and the holy into dialogue. By plumbing her emotional depths, the poet traces her process of understanding as she apprehends the mysteries that she embodies. By giving her a powerful voice, he grants subjectivity to a maiden who becomes a mediator. Romanos shaped a figure, Arentzen argues, who related intimately to her flock in a formative period of Christian orthodoxy.
The Virgin of El Barrio: Marian Apparitions, Catholic Evangelizing, and Mexican American Activism (Qualitative Studies in Religion #4)
by Kristy Nabhan-WarrenIn 1998, a Mexican American woman named Estela Ruiz began seeing visions of the Virgin Mary in south Phoenix. The apparitions and messages spurred the creation of Mary’s Ministries, a Catholic evangelizing group, and its sister organization, ESPIRITU, which focuses on community-based initiatives and social justice for Latinos/as.Based on ten years of participant observation and in-depth interviews, The Virgin of El Barrio traces the spiritual transformation of Ruiz, the development of the community that has sprung up around her, and the international expansion of their message. Their organizations blend popular and official Catholicism as well as evangelical Protestant styles of praise and worship, shedding light on Catholic responses to the tensions between popular and official piety and the needs of Mexican Americans.
The Virgin of Prince Street: Expeditions into Devotion (American Lives)
by Sonja LivingstonWith organized religion becoming increasingly divisive and politicized and Americans abandoning their pews in droves, it’s easy to question aspects of traditional spirituality and devotion. In response to this shifting landscape, Sonja Livingston undertakes a variety of expeditions—from a mobile confessional in Cajun Country to a eucharistic procession in Galway, Ireland, to the Death and Marigolds Parade in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Mass in a county jail on Thanksgiving Day—to better understand devotion in her own life.The Virgin of Prince Street chronicles her quest, offering an intimate and unusually candid view into Livingston’s relationship with the swiftly changing Catholic Church and into her own changing heart. Ultimately, Livingston’s meditations on quirky rituals and fading traditions thoughtfully and dynamically interrogate traditional elements of sacramental devotion, especially as they relate to concepts of religion, relationships, and the sacred.
The Virtual Body of Christ in a Suffering World
by Deanna A. ThompsonWe live in a wired world where 24/7 digital connectivity is increasingly the norm. Christian megachurch communities often embrace this reality wholeheartedly while more traditional churches often seem hesitant and overwhelmed by the need for an interactive website, a Facebook page and a twitter feed. This book accepts digital connectivity as our reality, but presents a vision of how faith communities can utilize technology to better be the body of Christ to those who are hurting while also helping followers of Christ think critically about the limits of our digital attachments. This book begins with a conversion story of a non-cell phone owning, non-Facebook using religion professor judgmental of the ability of digital tools to enhance relationships. A stage IV cancer diagnosis later, in the midst of being held up by virtual communities of support, a conversion occurs: this religion professor benefits in embodied ways from virtual sources and wants to convert others to the reality that the body of Christ can and does exist virtually and makes embodied difference in the lives of those who are hurting. The book neither uncritically embraces nor rejects the constant digital connectivity present in our lives. Rather it calls on the church to a) recognize ways in which digital social networks already enact the virtual body of Christ; b) tap into and expand how Christ is being experienced virtually; c) embrace thoughtfully the material effects of our new augmented reality, and c) influence utilization of technology that minimizes distraction and maximizes attentiveness toward God and the world God loves.
The Virtue Driven Life
by Benedict J. GroeschelSince when is being called virtuous an insult? She's quite virtuous. sounds rather prissy, doesn't it? Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R., would agree. It's a word that's gotten a bad rap, misused and misunderstood even by great thinkers, philosophers, and theologians, and mocked in the cynical soundbites of the media. Rediscover virtue as it should be understood in our lives. With wit, warmth, and wisdom, Father Groeschel reintroduces the Seven Cardinal Virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, fortitude, faith, hope, and charity. One by one he makes them meaningful for modern men and women, shaking off the dusty mantle of pretentiousness and demonstrating how each has a real role in a whole and holy life. Father Groeschel's charming conversational style entertains even as he educates and challenges us.
The Virtue Ethics of Levi Gersonides
by Alexander GreenThis book argues that Levi Gersonides articulates a unique model of virtue ethics among medieval Jewish thinkers. Gersonides is recognized by scholars as one of the most innovative Jewish philosophers of the medieval period. His first model of virtue is a response to the seemingly capricious forces of luck through training in endeavor, diligence, and cunning aimed at physical self-preservation. His second model of virtue is altruistic in nature. It is based on the human imitation of God as creator of the laws of the universe for no self-interested benefit, leading humans to imitate God through the virtues of loving-kindness, grace, and beneficence. Both these models are amplified through the institutions of the kingship and the priesthood, which serve to actualize physical preservation and beneficence on a larger scale, amounting to recognition of the political necessity for a division of powers.
The Virtue of Sin
by Shannon SchurenA compelling novel about speaking out, standing up, and breaking free -- perfect for fans of The Handmaid's Tale and Tara Westover's Educated.Miriam lives in New Jerusalem, a haven in the desert far away from the sins and depravity of the outside world. Within the gates of New Jerusalem, and under the eye of its founder and leader, Daniel, Miriam knows she is safe. Cared for. Even if she's forced, as a girl, to quiet her tongue when she has thoughts she wants to share, Miriam knows that New Jerusalem is a far better life than any alternative. So when God calls for a Matrimony, she's thrilled; she knows that Caleb, the boy she loves, will choose her to be his wife and they can finally start their life together. But when the ceremony goes wrong and Miriam winds up with someone else, she can no longer keep quiet. For the first time, Miriam begins to question not only the rules that Daniel has set in place, but also what it is she believes in, and where she truly belongs. Alongside unexpected allies, Miriam fights to learn--and challenge--the truth behind the only way of life she's ever known, even if it means straying from the path of Righteousness.A compelling debut novel about speaking out, standing up, and breaking free.Praise for The Virtue of Sin:"Shannon Schuren weaves a complex tale of love, faith, and lies in her thought-provoking debut The Virtue of Sin. As important as it is entertaining, this is a must-read for anyone who knows that independent thought trumps fitting in. One of my favorite reads of the year." --Christina Dalcher, bestselling author of VOX
The Virtues Of The Prophet: A Young Muslim’s Guide to the Greater Jihad, The War Against the Passions
by Charles UptonIN THE RELIGION OF ISLAM the character of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him, is the model of human virtue. Orphan, exile, contemplative, successful businessman, long-time faithful husband to one wife, husband to several wifes in his later years, statesman, judge, warrior, conqueror, lawgiver, peacemaker, spiritual teacher, Muhammad is the complete man, the exemplar of broad and balanced character whose sunnah (habitual and characteristic way of acting) is the deal of human behavior for the traditional Muslim world. Dar-al-Islam is presently under ruthless attack from the forces of secular modernization, as well as those of the Islamicist reaction; both sides are attempting to trim Islam down to fit their own shrunken ideologies. Under such damaging blows, young Muslim need to remember not just the Holy Book, but the man whose character was the perfect mirror of that Book. Both modernizers and Islamicists want to narrow down, marginalize, and perhaps even do away with the example of the Prophet; he was too complete and genuine a human being to fit into their increasingly inhuman agendas. Human life requires heroism in any time, and the duties of self-development and self-mastery call for a greater degree of heroism than any other struggle, which is why the Prophet called the war against the sub-human aspects of one's own soul 'the greater jihad'. Alone of all creatures, human beings are not simply established as themselves by God, but are required by God to become themselves. It is easy to throw one's life away, either in the name of a cause or at the ever-present command of the vices and passion; much harder and requiring an even greater degree of courage is the struggle to grow and live, so as to become a human being. We must be prepared to nurture and develop life, both of our own salvation and in the name of future generations. This unity of heroic abandon with painstaking and compassionate care is the essence of the traditional Muslim character, which is nowhere more clearly visible than in the character of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him, who said: 'Even if you know that the world will end tomorrow, plant a tree'. Charles Upton is a serious thinker from whom I have learned much. His writing merits close attent
The Virtues of Capitalism: A Moral Case for Free Markets
by Scott Rae Austin HillIn the aftermath of the recent economic downturn, some observers leveled harsh criticism against free-market economies. In the spring of 2009, for instance, an article in the The London Telegraph insisted that the industrialized West must re-articulate its moral case for market capitalism. Additionally, numerous commentators proclaimed the days of unfettered markets to be over. In this timely and balanced book, Austin Hill and Scott Rae agree with capitalism's critics that the economy is essentially a moral issue, but they argue that free markets are by-and-large the solution to financial disasters rather than the cause. Though they recognize that there are legitimate criticisms of the market system -- and real limits to what it can and should accomplish -- the authors further conclude that capitalism both depends upon and sustains classic Judeo-Christian virtues better than any of its rival systems. Thoughtful and engaging, this book pushes against the tide of current public opinion and some of the administration's proposed economic policies with a principled defense of capitalism.
The Virtues of Capitalism: A Moral Case for Free Markets
by Scott Rae Austin HillIn the aftermath of the recent economic downturn, some observers leveled harsh criticism against free-market economies. In the spring of 2009, for instance, an article in the The London Telegraph insisted that the industrialized West must re-articulate its moral case for market capitalism. Additionally, numerous commentators proclaimed the days of unfettered markets to be over. In this timely and balanced book, Austin Hill and Scott Rae agree with capitalism's critics that the economy is essentially a moral issue, but they argue that free markets are by-and-large the solution to financial disasters rather than the cause. Though they recognize that there are legitimate criticisms of the market system -- and real limits to what it can and should accomplish -- the authors further conclude that capitalism both depends upon and sustains classic Judeo-Christian virtues better than any of its rival systems. Thoughtful and engaging, this book pushes against the tide of current public opinion and some of the administration's proposed economic policies with a principled defense of capitalism.
The Virtuous Woman: According to Proverbs 31
by Gwen BrownThis brief but powerful book offers inspiration for women who want to live a virtuous life as prescribed in the Bible. &“The virtuous woman is a woman who has her foundation in the Lord and everything she does is done in careful consideration of the will of the Lord and with an attitude of being a godly mother, wife, and manager of her household.&” —Gwen Brown, from the introduction This book offers hope and insight for young wives and mothers who struggle to maintain vision and faith as they encounter the growing pains of life. In a deep reading of the Bible verse Proverbs 31, The Virtuous Woman expounds on the ideals that we as Christian women must strive for if we are to find true happiness in Him. Though we all fall short, true virtue is not a matter of being perfect, but of how dedicated we are to living the example He set forth for us.
The Visibility of Things Long Submerged (American Reader Series #39)
by George LooneyFrom poet George Looney comes a new short story collection that explores the essential nature of faith while plumbing the gritty secrets of the human heart. With swamps, alligators, revival tents, faith healers, sex, death, guilt, sin and snakes, Looney leads us through a dark landscape brimming with the miraculous and the peculiar alike. A man from a fire shows up on someone's doorstep, covered in ash and barely alive. One man’s actions make an entire town question its own violence. A healer is bitten in half by an alligator as a crowd looks on. Dripping with Southern gothic, The Visibility of Things Long Submerged gazes at the obscure and obscene. Densely populated with characters that know intimately the trials of life and the restorative powers of love, these stories are filled with a deep longing for something beyond the restless disquiet.
The Vision
by Kahlil Gibran Juan R. ColeThe Vision: Reflections on the Way of the Soul brings together Kahlil Gibran's Arabic writings concerned with the spiritual life. In twenty-four meditations, essays, and prose poems, Gibran expounds his unique philosophy of life while discussing such perennial themes as Beauty, Nature, Hidden Realities, Human Unity, Tragedy, Pride, Death, and the Immortality of the Soul.Gibran's religious vision is world-embracing and ecumenical. He read widely and was inspired by Buddhism, Vedanta, American Transcendentalists, and Nietzsche, along with his primary influences of Eastern Christianity, Islam, and the folk traditions of his native Near Eastern culture. His fervent belief in humanity's common heritage and shared destiny has made his writings popular the world over and classics of modern religious literature.Juan Cole's stunning and lyric translation revives Gibran's passionate stories of spiritual transcendence through love and suffering.
The Vision
by Kahlil Gibran Juan R. ColeThe Vision: Reflections on the Way of the Soul brings together Kahlil Gibran's Arabic writings concerned with the spiritual life. In twenty-four meditations, essays, and prose poems, Gibran expounds his unique philosophy of life while discussing such perennial themes as Beauty, Nature, Hidden Realities, Human Unity, Tragedy, Pride, Death, and the Immortality of the Soul.Gibran's religious vision is world-embracing and ecumenical. He read widely and was inspired by Buddhism, Vedanta, American Transcendentalists, and Nietzsche, along with his primary influences of Eastern Christianity, Islam, and the folk traditions of his native Near Eastern culture. His fervent belief in humanity's common heritage and shared destiny has made his writings popular the world over and classics of modern religious literature.Juan Cole's stunning and lyric translation revives Gibran's passionate stories of spiritual transcendence through love and suffering.
The Vision
by Kahlil Gibran Juan R. ColeThe Vision: Reflections on the Way of the Soul brings together Kahlil Gibran's Arabic writings concerned with the spiritual life. In twenty-four meditations, essays, and prose poems, Gibran expounds his unique philosophy of life while discussing such perennial themes as Beauty, Nature, Hidden Realities, Human Unity, Tragedy, Pride, Death, and the Immortality of the Soul.Gibran's religious vision is world-embracing and ecumenical. He read widely and was inspired by Buddhism, Vedanta, American Transcendentalists, and Nietzsche, along with his primary influences of Eastern Christianity, Islam, and the folk traditions of his native Near Eastern culture. His fervent belief in humanity's common heritage and shared destiny has made his writings popular the world over and classics of modern religious literature.Juan Cole's stunning and lyric translation revives Gibran's passionate stories of spiritual transcendence through love and suffering.
The Vision Board: The Secret to an Extraordinary Life
by Joyce SchwarzIn The Vision Board, influential career strategist Joyce Schwartz describes a transformative exercise that offers a simple way to change your life for the better. As featured on the Oprah Winfrey show, vision boards are a practical, effective approach to identifying and achieving your goals. With a foreword from Bob Proctor, featured teacher in The Secret, and an afterword by Jack Canfield, co-creator of the hugely popular Chicken Soup for the Soul series, The Vision Board offers concrete advice and motivation anecdotes designed to help you utilize vision boards in your own daily life.
The Vision Glorious: Themes And Personalities Of The Catholic Revival In Anglicanism (Clarendon Paperbacks Series)
by Geoffrey RowellThe Vision Glorious Themes and Personalities of the Catholic Revival in Anglicanism
The Vision of God
by Nicholas Of CusaKnown for his deeply mystical writings about Christianity, Nicholas of Cusa wrote this, his most popular work, against a backdrop of widespread Church corruption. God, he believed, is found in all things, and thus cannot be perceived by man's senses and intellect alone. The path to ultimate knowledge, then, begins in recognizing our own ignorance. Deeply influenced by Saint Augustine, Nicholas mixes the metaphysical with the personal to create a deeply felt work, first published in 1453, designed to restore faith in even the most jaded.