Posts tagged books
The Orthodox Book Lover Whose Store Affected Believers

(ANALYSIS) Metropolitan Saba Esper, leader of the Antiochian Orthodox archdiocese of North America, was searching for a rare book by Oliver Clement of Paris — the translation of a complex work written in French. While in Wichita two years ago, he went to Eighth Day Books to consult with owner Warren Farha.

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Cincinnati Gives Glimpse Of Catholicism’s History In America’s Heartland

(ANALYSIS) Ten years after “Hillbilly Elegy” catapulted its author into public view, JD Vance is publishing a new memoir, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.” The vice president explains the book as a sort of self-help guide for the spiritually lost: “… by sharing my journey I might be helpful to others — Catholic, Protestant, or otherwise — who are seeking reconciliation with God.”

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African Americans And Faith: It Goes Way Beyond The Black Church

African American religious practice is so much more complex than Christianity. Matthew Peterson spoke with Harvard Prof. Ahmad Greene-Hayes about his recent book, “Underworld Work,” which explores Black spirituality following the Civil War through to the Jim Crow era in the South.

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Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ Goal Inspires Kenyan Pastor To Pen Soccer Book

Argentine soccer icon Diego Maradona’s magic goal in the June 22, 1986, quarterfinal match against England in Mexico, which he attributed to the “Hand of God” as it was secured by his fist, has been the subject of intense debate whenever and wherever soccer fans are gathered.

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Out Of The Sacristy And Into The Pub: G.K. Chesterton’s Legacy Was Making Christianity Cool

(ANALYSIS) G.K. Chesterton blended humor and philosophy; he turned belief into something wondrous, culturally alive, and fiercely imaginative. The man made God fun. That sounds like a modest achievement until you consider how desperately the task still needs doing, and how spectacularly everyone since has failed at it.

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Rethinking North Korea: Inside The Christian Roots Of A Political Cult

(REVIEW) How did Christianity shape North Korea? A new 745-page book argues the regime built by Kim Il Sung resembles a national religion that borrows some ideas from Christianity — complete with myths, rituals and a central, quasi-divine figure — rather than a typical authoritarian state.

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Kierkegaard Against Comfort: The Brutal Demands of Faith In An Age Of Easy Belief

(ANALYSIS) What most people get wrong about the great Dane is that they remember the existential dread and forget the destination.

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The Cherokee Bible Offers A Window Between Spiritual Worldviews

(ANALYSIS) Perhaps even more importantly, the Cherokee Bible offers insight into Cherokee-specific meanings, interpretations of spiritual concepts and a benchmark for understanding how the language has changed. Though the history of the relationship between Christian missionaries and Indigenous people is complex, this historic text is supporting an impressive contemporary wave of cultural renewal.

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Where Is God In Suffering? New Book By Yale Professors Explores The Big Questions.

In the book “Glimmerings: Letters on Faith Between a Poet and a Theologian,” two friends engage in a conversation about God as they approach the twilight of their lives. It’s an easy-to-follow real-life discussion about suffering, God and how to cope when times get hard.

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‘Joke Is On Me’: Russell Brand’s Salvation Tour Comes With A $33 Price Tag

(ANALYSIS) Russell Brand, the erudite Englishman, is scheduled to stand trial in the U.K. on three counts of rape, three of sexual assault and one of indecent assault. He has pleaded not guilty to everything. He has also, in the meantime, become a Christian, moved to Florida and now he wants you to buy his book.

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How Birth Control Became Part of America’s Midcentury Protestant Family Values

(ANALYSIS) Mother’s Day seems like a strange time to celebrate birth control, which, on its most basic level, is about helping people to not become mothers — or not become mothers again.

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Why Are Some Americans Vaccine-Hesitant? A New Book Says It’s Their Religion.

In a new book, a religious studies scholar discusses how the concepts of conversion, testimony and purity can be used to study the vaccine hesitancy movement. Author Kira Ganga Kieffer explains how the vaccine hesitancy movement became bound up with religious liberty activists in trying to preserve their rights.

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New Book Examines Claims of State-Directed Organ Harvesting In China

China’s Communist Party runs an industrialized system of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience, enabling transplants and surgically removing the organs while they’re still alive, the book claims. Its publication fuels bipartisan U.S. efforts to impose sanctions, raise accountability, and confront what it portrays as a defining feature of China’s authoritarian rule.

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Augustine Of Hippo: Meet The Man Who Forever Rewired Christianity

(ANALYSIS) The man who would become one of Christianity's most formidable minds spent his early life doing things he knew were wrong and deploying his considerable intelligence to explain why that was probably fine. Saint Augustine of Hippo would go on to forever change his life, and with it, Christianity.

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Did C.S. Lewis Ignore Women? 2 New ‘Screwtape’ Retellings Ask The Question.

(REVIEW) In the last eighteen months, two Christian publishers have released books reimagining C.S. Lewis’s classic ‘The Screwtape Letters’ as concerning the temptation not of a man, but of a woman. The authors are at their best when they take the Lewisian approach, considering women not just as females, but as humans.

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‘Calendar And Cosmos Rhyme’: Dante’s Easter Hell Through Sin And Salvation

(ANALYSIS) In April 1300, Dante Alighieri stepped into a dark wood and started walking. He didn’t pick that time of year by accident. Holy Week — the week Christians set aside to remember death and resurrection — is precisely when the Italian began his tour of the afterlife in his epic poem “The Divine Comedy.”

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Easter In Disguise: Rediscovering The Meaning Behind Lenten Traditions

(REVIEW) Easter traditions like hot cross buns and chocolate eggs are widely enjoyed, but their deeper Christian meaning is often overlooked. Sister Liz Dodd’s book “Easter in Disguise” urges a return to the festival’s spiritual roots, encouraging reflection on justice, peace and radical discipleship during Lent and Holy Week.

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Evangelicals And Catholics Collaborate On New Bible Translation

India’s leading Catholic publisher has been awarded a papal knighthood in recognition of his groundbreaking efforts in developing Catholic editions of the English Standard Version (ESV) and the New Living Translation (NLT), both American Evangelical translations of the Bible.

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‘Never Been A Better Time’: Increased Bible Sales Brings Opportunities For Churches

Last year, 570 years after Gutenberg, more than 19.1 million Bibles were sold in the U.S., according to market research firm Circana. Bible sales increased by 12 percent over 2024 and have more than tripled over the past 10 years.

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Bedtime, Belonging and Big Lessons: 3 Faith-Filled Books for Young Hearts

(REVIEW) An early childhood educator reviews three children’s books that nurture faith and resilience: “Zeke’s Sunday” by Chantelle Marie Swayne, “When I Talk to God, I Talk About Feelings” by Chrissy Metz and Bradley Collins, and “Fail-a-bration!” by Brad Montague and Kristi Montague, highlighting their value for spiritual growth and learning through mistakes.

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