Showing titles in History

In April 1944, Rudolf Vrba became one of the very first Jews to escape from Auschwitz and make his way to freedom—among only a tiny handful who ever pulled off that near-impossible feat. He did it to reveal the truth of the death camp to the world—and to warn the last Jews of Europe what fate awaited them. Against all odds, Vrba and his fellow escapee, Fred Wetzler, climbed mountains, crossed rivers, and narrowly missed German bullets until they had smuggled out the first full account of Auschwitz the world had ever seen.

"The Confession of Pontius Pilate" is a fascinating dramatic dialogue between Pontius Pilate and his close friend Fabricius in which he recounts, from his perspective, the events surrounding the trial, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Whether the author was Fabricius himself, or it was written by an unknown author at a later date, the story sticks closely to the biblical narrative while providing additional insights into the internal conflicts of Pontius Pilate over his role in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ that led to his eventual suicide.

In this highly accessible discussion, Bart Ehrman examines the most recent textual and archaeological sources for the life of Jesus, along with the history of first-century Palestine, drawing a fascinating portrait of the man and his teachings. Ehrman shows us what historians have long known about the Gospels and the man who stands behind them. Through a careful evaluation of the New Testament (and other surviving sources, including the more recently discovered Gospels of Thomas and Peter), Ehrman proposes that Jesus can be best understood as an apocalyptic prophet.

Widely recognized as one of the most respected and indispensable reference books on Jewish life, culture, tradition, and religion, Jewish Literacy covers every essential aspect of the Jewish people and Judaism. Rabbi Telushkin discusses everything from the Jewish Bible and Talmud to Jewish notions of ethics to antisemitism and the Holocaust; from the history of Jews around the world to Zionism and the politics of a Jewish state; from the significance of religious traditions and holidays to how they are practiced in daily life.

In this book, Miles Smith offers a fresh historical recollection of America’s status as a Christian nation in the Early Republic era.

En este libro Ricardo junta la arqueología, historia, cultura con la Teología para mostrar la bendición que Dios trajo a los gentiles por medio de Cristo Jesús. Con un contexto practico en el mundo gentil moderno nos enseña como debemos comportarnos en la dignidad del cristianismo. Todo esto comparando al I siglo y la iglesia en Éfeso. A través de estas hojas podra aprender mucho acerca de la bendición y será de crecimiento espiritual para los amantes de las Escrituras.

Noted journalist Yardena Schwartz draws on her extensive research and wide-ranging interviews with both sides to tell a timely, eye-opening story. She expertly weaves the war between Israel and Hamas into a historical framework, demonstrating how the conflict today cannot be understood without the context of ground zero of this century-old war, which began long before the occupation, the settlements, or the state of Israel ever existed.

Once in a generation, a historian will redefine his field, producing a book that demands to be read or heard - a product of electrifying scholarship conveyed with commanding skill. Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity is such a book. Breathtaking in ambition, it ranges back to the origins of the Hebrew Bible and covers the world, following the three main strands of the Christian faith.

God's Battalions has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

Ross Douthat, the youngest-ever op-ed columnist for the New York Times, has emerged as one of the most provocative and influential voices of his generation. Now he offers a masterful and hard-hitting account of how American Christianity has gone off the rails - and why it threatens to take American society with it.

In this compelling narrative, best-selling author Mike Hayes and Dr. Jeffrey Garner journey through the eight beloved Beatitudes from Jesus’ revolutionary Sermon on the Mount. Aptly reframing the Beatitudes as happy oracles, Mike and Jeffrey share personal stories and historical insights that optimize Jesus’ happy message for a 21st century audience. This book challenges our cultural conceptions of happiness and beautifully guides the listener into Jesus’ Real Happy life.

As we all know, and as many of our well-established textbooks have argued for decades, the Inquisition was one of the most frightening and bloody chapters in Western history, Pope Pius XII was anti-Semitic and rightfully called "Hitler's Pope", the Dark Ages were a stunting of the progress of knowledge to be redeemed only by the secular spirit of the Enlightenment, and the religious Crusades were an early example of the rapacious Western thirst for riches and power. But what if these long-held beliefs were all wrong?

The Gnostic Gospels provides engaging listening for those seeking a broader perspective on the early development of Christianity. Author and noted scholar Elaine Pagels suggests that Christianity could have developed quite differently if Gnostic texts had become part of the Christian canon.

Zionism: An Emotional State expertly demonstrates how the energy propelling the Zionist project originates from bundles of feeling whose elements have varied in volume, intensity, and durability across space and time.

How did the shift from matriarchy to patriarchy come about? In fascinating detail, Merlin Stone tells us the story of the Goddess who reigned supreme in the Near and Middle East. Under her reign, societal roles differed markedly from those in patriarchal Judeo-Christian cultures: women bought and sold property, traded in the marketplace, and inherited title and land from their mothers.

A powerful memoir by one of the youngest survivors of Auschwitz, Tova Friedman, following her childhood growing up during the Holocaust and surviving a string of near-death experiences in a Jewish ghetto, a Nazi labor camp, and Auschwitz.

The cross and the lynching tree are the two most emotionally charged symbols in the history of the African American community. In this powerful work, theologian James H. Cone explores these symbols and their interconnection in the history and souls of black folk.

The 1986 murder of Hare Krishna devotee Steven Bryant (Sulochan dasa) was arguably the darkest moment in the fifty-one year history of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness—a new branch of the Chaitanya-Bengali-Vaishnava religion founded in New York City in 1966 by an Indian spiritual teacher and guru, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977). A mere nine years after the disappearance of this beloved spiritual father, one of their own was hunted down and assassinated. This brutal killing was achieved through a cooperative effort by “spiritual” ...

The ancient Mediterranean teemed with gods. For centuries, a practical religious pluralism prevailed. How, then, did one particular god come to dominate the politics and piety of the late Roman Empire? In Ancient Christianities, Paula Fredriksen traces the evolution of early Christianity—or rather, of early Christianities—through five centuries of Empire, mapping its pathways from the hills of Judea to the halls of Rome and Constantinople.

All Buddhist paths lead to enlightenment—but Tiantai is the master key. Some schools focus on meditation. Others emphasize devotion or philosophical inquiry. Tiantai Buddhism unites them all into a single, structured system—a tradition so comprehensive that it explains why every teaching exists, how they relate, and how they lead to awakening. If you’ve ever wondered how Zen, Pure Land, and the Lotus Sutra connect, Tiantai holds the answers. How can a single moment of thought contain an entire universe? Why does Tiantai teach that the Buddha never left the world? What is the Threefold...