Ancient Religion

Five hundred years after Martin Luther and his Ninety-Five Theses ushered in the Reformation, best-selling author and controversial bishop and teacher John Shelby Spong delivers 12 forward-thinking theses to spark a new reformation to reinvigorate Christianity and ensure its future. Spong contends that there is mounting pressure among Christians for a radically new kind of Christianity - a faith deeply connected to the human experience instead of outdated dogma.

Saint Peter, also known as Peter the Apostle, was one of the main figures of the early Christian Church. He began his life as a simple fisherman who caught fish in the Sea of Galilea, but one day, this fisherman became a “fisher of men” instead. In good time, he would help to form one of the largest religious movements the world had ever known, eventually giving his life to the cause when he was sentenced to death by crucifixion. Here, in this audiobook, we discover the life of Saint Peter from beginning to end.

Drawing directly from the actual surviving Icelandic books of magic, Stephen Flowers presents a complete system of magic based on Icelandic lore and magical practices from the 16th century onward. He explores the history of magic in Iceland in pagan and early Christian times and reveals specific practical techniques and ritual templates that readers can adapt to their unique purposes. Illustrating traditional Icelandic magical practices and the Icelanders’ attitudes toward them, he shares original translations of Icelandic folktales.

Shamanism is humanity’s oldest spiritual tradition. In much of the Western world, the indigenous pre-Christian spiritual practices have been lost. Yet at the northern fringes of Europe, Christianity did not displace the original shamanic practices until the end of the Viking age. Reconstructing the shamanic practices of the hunter-gatherers of Scandinavia, Evelyn Rysdyk explores the evolution of Norse shamanism from its earliest female roots to the pre-Christian Viking Age.

In A.D. 381, Theodosius, emperor of the eastern Roman empire, issued a decree in which all his subjects were required to subscribe to a belief in the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This edict defined Christian orthodoxy and brought to an end a lively and wide-ranging debate about the nature of God; all other interpretations were now declared heretical.

In The Darkening Age, Catherine Nixey tells the little-known - and deeply shocking - story of how a militant religion deliberately tried to extinguish the teachings of the Classical world, ushering in unquestioning adherence to the 'one true faith'. The Roman Empire had been generous in embracing and absorbing new creeds. But with the coming of Christianity, everything changed. This new faith, despite preaching peace, was violent, ruthless and intolerant. And once it became the religion of empire, its zealous adherents set about the destruction of the old gods.

In modern parlance, the word "sacrifice" conjures images of suffering, loss, and even martyrdom. But sacrifice, as practiced in the Old Testament and throughout the ancient world, was most often the occasion of joyous celebration—a way of drawing near to God and to the other members of the community. Welcoming Gifts explores the history of sacrifice, the meaning of Christ's sacrifice, and what the concept should mean for Christians today—a way of expressing and cementing our relationship with God.

Young Samson, his birth foretold by an Angel of God. Lives his life as a devout Nazirite and is blessed with immense strength. Samson navigates life through his devotion to God and his fight against Philistine injustice against the Israelites. The Lord sets Samson on a path to help deliver his people from their oppressors. With the power of God in his arms he terrorizes the Philistine Army until he is betrayed by the seductive Delilah.

One of the most significant and popular books in the history of human thought, and China’s earliest philosophical classic, The Dao De Jing has served for millennia as a brilliant guide to living healthily and happily, to treating the Earth with respect, and to understanding our place in the cosmos. Renowned translator J. H. Huang has spent over two decades researching the Dao, resulting in the most accurate translation to date based on the oldest known transcripts of the text.

Speaking to non-believers and believers alike, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick attempts to create a sacred space in which we can encounter God. In this compact volume, he distills the essence of the traditional Christian faith, addressing the fundamental mysteries of where God is, who God is, why we go to church, and why Christian morality matters. If you’ve only heard about the Protestant or Roman Catholic version of Christianity, what he has to say may surprise you—and make you long to encounter God in Jesus Christ.

In this hands-on guide to working with the sacred energies of the sun, night sun, and moon, curandera Erika Buenaflor details the rites, rituals, and deities for each part of the day and night and explores the sacred tools and techniques used by ancient Mesoamerican shamans for harnessing solar and lunar energies. She explains how the sun is the source of soul energy that heals, animates, strengthens, and revitalizes us on many levels, while night energies are transformative and conducive for connecting with non-ordinary realms.

The ultimate guide to witchcraft for every woman craving a connection to something bigger, using the tools of tarot, astrology, and crystals to discover her best self. In these uncertain times, witchcraft, astrology, tarot, crystals, and similar practices are seeing a massive resurgence, especially among young women, as part of their self-care and mindfulness routines. Gabriela helps listeners take back their power while connecting to something larger than themselves.

What if you could close the "joy gap," that distance between how you feel now and the way you wish you felt? In The Joy Challenge, pastor and bestselling author Randy Frazee shares the secret to experiencing real, lasting joy—and stepping into a life of contentment and purpose. If this sounds familiar, Frazee has good news for you. In The Joy Challenge, he shares the secret to experiencing genuine joyfulness, the kind of resilient happiness that doesn't evaporate in the face of challenges and setbacks.

Ancient Faith has produced a fresh update and redesign of a book cherished by a generation of seekers. Written in an accessible manner for the average lay person, Orthodox Worship offers insights into the Orthodox liturgy. Early Christians preserved a continuity of worship from the Old Covenant to the New, employing elements from the Jewish Temple liturgy, the synagogue liturgy, and the rituals of the Jewish home.

The ancient church fathers taught many things about end-time prophecy. They taught the Second Coming would be approximately 2,000 years after the First Coming (AD 32 and AD 2032). The actual writings of church fathers Irenaeus (AD 170), Hippolytus (AD 210), and Ephrem (AD 350) identify three of the ten nations that will become part of the Antichrist’s government and where the Antichrist will be born. Brought to you by Biblefacts Ministries, Biblefacts.org.

Lynn Cohick provides an accurate and fulsome picture of the earliest Christian women by examining a wide variety of first-century Jewish and Greco-Roman documents that illuminate their lives. She organizes the book around three major spheres of life: family, religious community, and society in general.

The monsters of ancient mythology, folklore, and more contemporary urban legend have long captured the popular imagination. While most people in America today relegate monsters to just that - our imaginations - we continue to be fascinated by the unknown. Linda Godfrey is one of the country's leading authorities on modern-day monsters and has interviewed countless eyewitnesses to strange phenomena.

TURTLE TORTOISE, IMAGE & SYMBOL is published here in two volumes Volume One: THE WEST and Volume Two: THE EAST, and each volume is divided into four books. The WEST series is presented as a chronological sequence and the EAST series as individual studies of specific cultures. Together they constitute an in-depth coverage of the image and symbol of the turtle/tortoise throughout the world from the earliest times. Reference is made to specific artifacts, documents and monuments, works of science, literature and art, which may be viewed or consulted today in museums and public places, ...

A concise and elegant treatise on occultism and high magic in Greece and Egypt, The Kybalion: A Study of the Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece will introduce you to the seven hermetic principles, a foundation upon which one can build their own personal spiritual path.

This 2000-year-old scroll reveals the chronology from Creation through Cyrus' decree that freed the Jews in 536 BC. The Ancient Seder Olam uses Biblical prophecy to prove its calculations of the timeline. We have used this technique to continue the timeline all the way to the reestablishment of the nation of Israel in AD 1948.