Religion is Not about God PDF Download

Author: Loyal D. Rue
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 0813535115
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
Annotation If religion is not about God, then what on earth is it about? Loyal Rue contends that religion is a series of strategies that aims to influence human nature so that we might think, feel, and act in ways that are good for us, both individually and collectively.

Author: Ronald Dworkin
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674728041
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 71

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Book Description
In his last book, Ronald Dworkin addresses questions that men and women have asked through the ages: What is religion and what is God’s place in it? What is death and what is immortality? Based on the 2011 Einstein Lectures, Religion without God is inspired by remarks Einstein made that if religion consists of awe toward mysteries which “manifest themselves in the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, and which our dull faculties can comprehend only in the most primitive forms,” then, he, Einstein, was a religious person. Dworkin joins Einstein’s sense of cosmic mystery and beauty to the claim that value is objective, independent of mind, and immanent in the world. He rejects the metaphysics of naturalism—that nothing is real except what can be studied by the natural sciences. Belief in God is one manifestation of this deeper worldview, but not the only one. The conviction that God underwrites value presupposes a prior commitment to the independent reality of that value—a commitment that is available to nonbelievers as well. So theists share a commitment with some atheists that is more fundamental than what divides them. Freedom of religion should flow not from a respect for belief in God but from the right to ethical independence. Dworkin hoped that this short book would contribute to rational conversation and the softening of religious fear and hatred. Religion without God is the work of a humanist who recognized both the possibilities and limitations of humanity.

Author: Andrew Farley
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 9781441232120
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Andrew Farley's experience as a Christian was first characterized by self-effort as he tried to please God at any cost. His ruthless religion resulted in spiritual burnout and disillusionment with church. Only then did he discover what relaxing in Jesus means and how enjoying God's intimate presence can transform everyday life. Using a unique story-driven format, God without Religion dismantles common religious misconceptions, revealing the true meaning of being filled with the Spirit the facts about judgment, rewards, and God's discipline the simple truth behind predestination and the divisions it causes the problem with the popular challenge to "live radical" Pulling no punches, Farley shows how the truth about these controversial issues can liberate and unify believers as we discover how to rest in the unconditional love of God.

Author: Christopher Hitchens
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
ISBN: 1551991764
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Christopher Hitchens, described in the London Observer as “one of the most prolific, as well as brilliant, journalists of our time” takes on his biggest subject yet–the increasingly dangerous role of religion in the world. In the tradition of Bertrand Russell’s Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris’s recent bestseller, The End Of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope’s awesome view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty and symmetry of the double helix.

Author: Śaṇkara Śaranam
Publisher: The Pranayama Institute
ISBN: 0972445013
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
Disillusioned with organized religion, some people escape into New Age movements and others retreat from their spiritual moorings altogether. A more satisfying and transformative option is to embark on a quest to discover God on your own. Using time-tested tools of spiritual investigation, it becomes possible to examine your present beliefs, explore the nature of God and sense of self, and ultimately expand your identity. This book is a classic and introduces readers to an age-old approach to spiritual inquiry. Included are seventeen universal techniques for developing a personal relationship with God and broadening your view of yourself, others, and all of life.

Author: James K. Karlson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781480833906
Category : Christianity and politics
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
God Is Not a Religion: Why America Is in Decline leads readers to ask the difficult--but necessary--questions. It probes the nature of God, His ties to the American people and their long national experiment, and the characteristics of the broadly based decline cutting across the country's social, political and cultural institutions. Then it offers a path to follow for returning to the fundamental tenets that originally grounded the country. It suggests that this road to recovery will take the American people to a place in which they reaffirm the sovereignty of God and the accountability of the nation's governmental servants. In this insightful diagnosis and prescription author James K. Karlson, a chemist and business executive, brings to bear his analytical and managerial experience, seasoned by his Christian convictions, to fill the pages of God Is Not a Religion with historically informed analysis and biblically grounded guidance. He proposes that the journey of faith beckons both to individuals and to the country. He applies his diagnosis and prescription to the many challenges facing America, such as education, racism, marriage, global climate change, taxes, and guns. God Is Not a Religion: Why America Is in Decline promises to take seriously history, theology, morality, politics, and personal responsibility as it turns a critical eye, tempered by the Christian faith, to the nation and its people. An examination of the political, moral, and spiritual decline characterized in modern American culture that offers a path for individuals and the nation to follow to return to living "under God."

Author: Clark Strand
Publisher: Harmony
ISBN: 038552952X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
In How to Believe in God, Clark Strand, an accomplished master of both Eastern and Western mystical practices, takes on the most troublesome and provocative passages from Judeo-Christian scripture, transforming the Bible into a manual of spiritual liberation for the twenty-first-century seeker. Offering a revolutionary new model of approaching the Bible, he frees those sacred scriptures from superstition, dogma, and tribalism, and in the process recovers their universal teaching on salvation and belief. Drawing on his personal experiences, including his Bible Belt upbringing, his years as a Buddhist monk, and his life as a father and husband in a small rural community, Strand makes even the most subtle spiritual teaching heartfelt and accessible. How to Believe in God illuminates a clear path to reclaiming a God that leaves nothing out and leaves no one behind. His open, gentle, pioneering approach to faith allows everyone—from churchgoing Christians to those with no religious affiliation at all—to experience the Bible in new and exciting ways.

Author: Z. Adil
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1475990928
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 111

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Book Description
Aamil, a twelve-year-old boy from Middle East, was born to a Muslim father and a Christian mother, Fatima, whom he loves the most. Fatima, who has an unwavering faith in her child, who cant be an active parent due to her sickness, who doesnt know how to read has her son read to her every night before he goes to sleep; it was for him so that he can read himself to sleep. In return, she will put two dinars under his pillow. A story about this boys journey and purpose to write about what he calls Mr. God . . . Anything that creates differences amongst men will create war. Unfortunately, religion is the biggest difference creator and reason for the unrest world. There has been more bloodshed in the world in the name of religion than the water in the ocean. Aamil says in his book, I believe in God I call him Mr. God. A book about love, finding ones purpose in life, promises and most importantly its about us The inner uniqueness and true self of a human! Lets see how his journey go from the day he left Middle East at the age of 12 to get education, see the world while keeping his focus on the promise to his mother, and to his purpose to write a masterpiece!

Author: Reza Aslan
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0553394738
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The bestselling author of Zealot and host of Believer explores humanity’s quest to make sense of the divine in this concise and fascinating history of our understanding of God. In Zealot, Reza Aslan replaced the staid, well-worn portrayal of Jesus of Nazareth with a startling new image of the man in all his contradictions. In his new book, Aslan takes on a subject even more immense: God, writ large. In layered prose and with thoughtful, accessible scholarship, Aslan narrates the history of religion as a remarkably cohesive attempt to understand the divine by giving it human traits and emotions. According to Aslan, this innate desire to humanize God is hardwired in our brains, making it a central feature of nearly every religious tradition. As Aslan writes, “Whether we are aware of it or not, and regardless of whether we’re believers or not, what the vast majority of us think about when we think about God is a divine version of ourselves.” But this projection is not without consequences. We bestow upon God not just all that is good in human nature—our compassion, our thirst for justice—but all that is bad in it: our greed, our bigotry, our penchant for violence. All these qualities inform our religions, cultures, and governments. More than just a history of our understanding of God, this book is an attempt to get to the root of this humanizing impulse in order to develop a more universal spirituality. Whether you believe in one God, many gods, or no god at all, God: A Human History will challenge the way you think about the divine and its role in our everyday lives. Praise for God “Timely, riveting, enlightening and necessary.”—HuffPost “Tantalizing . . . Driven by [Reza] Aslan’s grace and curiosity, God . . . helps us pan out from our troubled times, while asking us to consider a more expansive view of the divine in contemporary life.”—The Seattle Times “A fascinating exploration of the interaction of our humanity and God.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “[Aslan’s] slim, yet ambitious book [is] the story of how humans have created God with a capital G, and it’s thoroughly mind-blowing.”—Los Angeles Review of Books “Aslan is a born storyteller, and there is much to enjoy in this intelligent survey.”—San Francisco Chronicle

Author: Timothy Keller
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525954155
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
We live in an age of skepticism. Our society places such faith in empirical reason, historical progress, and heartfelt emotion that it’s easy to wonder: Why should anyone believe in Christianity? What role can faith and religion play in our modern lives? In this thoughtful and inspiring new book, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller invites skeptics to consider that Christianity is more relevant now than ever. As human beings, we cannot live without meaning, satisfaction, freedom, identity, justice, and hope. Christianity provides us with unsurpassed resources to meet these needs. Written for both the ardent believer and the skeptic, Making Sense of God shines a light on the profound value and importance of Christianity in our lives.