Showing results by publisher "Spoken Realms" in Christianity

A key figure in the metaphysical movement known as New Thought, Florence Scovel Shinn has influenced many modern spiritual leaders, including Dr. Wayne Dyer, Dr. Christiane Northrup, Deepak Chopra, May McCarthy, and Louise Hay. Through stories of real-life situations and biblical tenets, Shinn teaches that the empowering use of positive attitude and affirmations can create a path to wealth, good health, and loving relationships. Intuition, love, and prosperity can expand through intentional thoughts and prayer.

A Comic Wake: Extrapolations from Acts' offers two essays exploring themes from the New Testament writings known as Acts. The first essay, "Comedy of Christian Faith" explores the nature of comedy, finding parallels in many dynamics of Christian faith and identity. The second essay, "In the Wake of Acts" explores an absence of mourning as a cultural phenomenon in the early Christian community in Acts, and asks what this might indicate regarding Christian faith and hope.

Even among Christians there is a difference of opinion about the end of the world. All seem to agree there is a spiritual component to end times, but well-loved preacher D. L. Moody provides a sermon on how he interprets the biblical texts on the subject - and why he believes this is God's blessed hope.

In this small audiobook, through letters and conversations, Brother Lawrence simply and beautifully explains how to continually walk with God - not from the head but from the heart. Brother Lawrence left the gift of a way of life available to anyone who seeks to know God's peace and presence; that anyone, regardless of age or circumstance, can practice - anywhere, anytime. Brother Lawrence also left the gift of a direct approach to living in God's presence that is as practical today as it was three hundred years ago.

Proverbs is not merely an anthology but a "collection of collections" relating to a pattern of life that lasted for more than a millennium. It is an example of the Biblical wisdom tradition and raises questions of values, moral behavior, the meaning of human life, and right conduct.

Nicholas Herman was born around 1610 in Herimenil, Lorraine, a Duchy of France. As a young man, he was injured as a soldier in the Thirty Years War, sustaining a near-fatal injury which left him in chronic pain and crippled for the rest of his life. After some time as a civil servant, he entered a new monastery in Paris and became known as Brother Lawrence. It was there that he spent the rest of his life, discovering and following a simple and straightforward way to continually consider God’s presence.

The Divine Companion was the last work completed by James Allen and was published posthumously in 1919. Of the book, Allen himself wrote: "It is the story of my soul, and should be read last of all my books, so that the student may understand and find my message in its pages. Therefore hold it back until you have published everything else." The book is divided into three sections: The Divine Companion, The Divine Dialogue and The Divine Messages. The first section is an exploration of various aspects of truth.

Little is known of the life of Zen master Huang-Po (Obaku in Japanese). He was born in Fuzhou, China, and died about 850 AD. His main teacher was Pai Chang (Hyakujo) (720 - 814). The main source for Huang-Po's teaching is the Treatise of the Essentials of the Transmission of the Mind, compiled by his student, Pei Xiu. Huang-Po's teaching is focused on the concept of Mind, the essence of intrinsic Buddahood. According to the master, the search for enlightenment was a useless distraction, as seeking for something inevitably separates the seeker from what is being sought.

In The Teaching of Jesus Concerning the Kingdom of God and the Church, Geerhardus Vos (1862-1949), Professor of Biblical Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, describes the Messianic work of Jesus as the realization of Old Testament revelation. Vos says the kingdom of God was inaugurated by the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, but that it awaits consummation at the end of the world. Vos concludes that religion alone can act as the supreme unifying factor in the life of man, leading it to its final goal in the service of God.

This brief and lively pamphlet on the history of the medieval church is a concise and entertaining introduction to an extremely complex subject. Covering the period between the seventh century and 1500, the author provides succinct summaries of major developments like the Crusades, the growth of scholastic and mystical theology, the removal of the Papacy to Avignon, and the great councils convened to resolve the papal schism.

In regard to Christianity and, especially, Catholicism, Joseph McCabe was one of the most learned atheist writers of the 20th century. McCabe was a former Catholic priest, fluent in Latin and several other languages, who had taught philosophy and ecclesiastical history in a Catholic university. During his lifetime he wrote hundreds of books and pamphlets, and translated dozens of others, on various aspects of science and history, and a great many texts on religious topics.

This book explores the position of the Church and the Papacy at the end of the First World War. It is a synoptic presentation of the material discussed in much greater detail in his later works, Crises in the History of The Papacy (1919) and A History of the Popes (1939).

Joseph McCabe (1867-1955) was a Catholic priest and scholar who abandoned his faith in the 1890s and later became a very prominent secular activist. He published over 250 books and pamphlets, covering a wide range of genres, including history, politics, biography, and popular science.

Much of the life of Spanish mystic John of the Cross (1542-1591) was dedicated to the establishment and management of monastic institutions. Among his responsibilities was the provision of spiritual direction to clerics and also to prominent lay Catholics. The 18 letters in this collection cover a range of administrative and spiritual topics.

In 1803, Thomas Jefferson copied from the four gospels such passages as he believed would best present the ethical teaching of Jesus, and arranged them according to time and subject. Accordingly, all references to miracles or events related to the supernatural were removed, and the text restructured to form a treatise on morality comparable to the Dhammapada or the Analects of Confucius.

According to Tertullian and others Marcion was the son of a bishop and was born at Sinope, in Pontus. He arrived in Rome in about 140 CE, bringing a scripture with him that he named "The Gospel of the Lord". Marcion described this not as a new gospel, but as that which Saint Paul had used and which he communicated to the churches he founded.

Henry van Dyke was a member of the clergy; this story reads like a sermon for good reason. Its full title is "A Short Christmas Sermon: Keeping Christmas". Read by award-winning audiobook narrator Mike Vendetti, this lovely piece reminds us what Christianity is about.

In his works, James Allen sought to develop a generic spirituality by drawing on and matching the precepts of a variety of religious teachers. In this short treatise he examines the words of Jesus as a guide to spiritual advancement.

The collection consists of three stories related to the Gospel narrative. All three stories feature the writer's characteristic view of the bleakness of human endeavor in an uncaring world.

This was the third book by New Thought philosopher James Allen and was published in 1903. It consists of two volumes, each of which was later published separately: Entering the Kingdom and The Heavenly Life. Although he recommended the search for spiritual principles, James Allen was no supporter of organized religion. In fact, he disparages the search for both earthly pleasures and heavenly rewards. In his view the Kingdom of Heaven is in the here and now, and can only be reached by adopting the right mode of living.