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Spirituality and Religion May 2017
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| The Islamic Jesus: How the King of the Jews Became a Prophet of the Muslims by Mustafa AkyolAccording to Turkish journalist Mustafa Akyol, the first Muslims drew significantly from early Jewish-Christian belief that Jesus was a prophet rather than God in human form. Accessibly analyzing early Christian texts, the Qur'an, and archaeological evidence, Akyol discusses a possible connection (identified by scholars) between the Jewish-Christian movement and the origins of Islam. He also details Qur'anic texts about Mary the mother of Jesus and about Jesus the man. This thought-provoking study offers a theological basis from which Christians and Jews can learn from Islamic teaching and Muslims can benefit from a deeper understanding of Jesus. |
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Big Miracles : The 11 Spiritual Rules for Ultimate Success
by Joanna Garzilli
Spiritual success coach Joanna Garzilli has helped countless clients, from executives to celebrities, make over their lives and find ultimate fulfillment. Now, she invites you to experience the power of her practical, prescriptive 11-step system to manifest miracles that lead to big breakthroughs in your life. The 11 Spiritual Rules of Big Miracles will teach you exactly how to make huge positive changes in your life and replace anxiety with tranquility, self-doubt with self-acceptance, and insecurity with certainty about your life purpose--how to achieve your dreams and actively create miracles. Each chapter shows you, with encouragement and grace, both how to live its lessons and how doing so will create your miracle. Filled with deep wisdom, empowering meditations and journaling exercises, and concrete strategies for achieving the life of your dreams, Big Miracles is your own personal guide to creating the miracles you never thought possible.
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The Five Thieves of Happiness
by John B. Izzo
Happiness is our natural state, for each of us and for humanity as a whole, argues John Izzo. But that happiness is being stolen by insidious mental patterns that he depicts as thieves: the thief of control, the thief of conceit, the thief of coveting, the thief of consumption, and the thief of comfort. He discovered these thieves as he sought the true source of happiness during a year-long sabbatical, walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain and living in the Andes of Peru. This thoughtful and inspiring book describes the disguises these thieves wear, the tools they use to break into our hearts, and how to lock them out once and for all. Izzo shows how these same thieves of personal happiness are destroying society as well. This book will help us all discover, develop, and defend the happiness that is our true nature while creating a world we all want to live in.
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| Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet by Lyndal RoperIn Martin Luther, Oxford University historian Lyndal Roper provides a detailed biography of the great Reformation leader in time for the 500th anniversary of his theological debate challenge in the form of 95 Theses. Presenting well-known history in a fresh and engaging manner, Roper portrays Luther's family background, depicts key friendships, and discusses important influences on his theological evolution. Candidly and with restraint, she examines his uncompromising stances on such significant matters as his rejection of humanism and his anti-Semitic proclamations. Both scholars and general readers will appreciate the "grace and perceptiveness" (Booklist) of this volume. |
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| May Cause Love: An Unexpected Journey of Enlightenment After Abortion by Kassi UnderwoodAt age 19 and far from home, an unmarried Kassi Underwood learned that she was pregnant and decided that her only choice was to have an abortion. Three years later, she was overwhelmed by sadness when she found out that her ex-boyfriend had a daughter with someone else. In May Cause Love, Underwood relates her search for emotional and spiritual healing on a road trip across America. Recounting a Buddhist ceremony for women who have had abortions, consultations with therapists, a Roman Catholic pro-life retreat, and other efforts to seek healing, she poignantly charts her map to recovery and offers it to those (or their friends and family) who have lost a child through miscarriage or abortion. |
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Focus on: Spiritual Memoirs
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Gently to Nagasaki
by Joy Kogawa
Gently to Nagasaki is a spiritual pilgrimage, an exploration both communal and intensely personal. Set in Vancouver and Toronto, the outposts of Slocan and Coaldale, the streets of Nagasaki and the high mountains of Shikoku, Japan, it is also an account of a remarkable life. As a child during WWII, Joy Kogawa was interned with her family and thousands of other Japanese Canadians by the Canadian government. Her acclaimed novel Obasan, based on that experience, brought her literary recognition and played a critical role in the movement for redress. Kogawa knows what it means to be classified as the enemy, and she seeks urgently to get beyond false and dangerous distinctions of "us" and "them." Interweaving the events of her own life with catastrophes like the bombing of Nagasaki and the massacre by the Japanese imperial army at Nanking, she wrestles with essential questions like good and evil, love and hate, rage and forgiveness, determined above all to arrive at her own truths. Poetic and unflinching, this is a long-awaited memoir from one of Canada's most distinguished literary elders.
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Living with a Wild God: A Nonbeliever's Search for the Truth about Everything
by Barbara Ehrenreich
Author Barbara Ehrenreich was raised by vehemently atheist parents and regards herself as an unbeliever. However, when she was a teenager she noted an unexplained sensation of expanded consciousness in her journal, and this was just one of many such events throughout her life. In Living with a Wild God, Ehrenreich relates how she rediscovered that journal entry and decided to explore both the nature of her own experiences and the phenomenon of mysticism. Though this "powerful, honest" (Kirkus Reviews) autobiography takes an unusual approach to spirituality, it offers absorbing reflections on human awareness of the external world.
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| Nine Essential Things I've Learned about Life by Harold S. KushnerLooking back on his life and his career as a rabbi, well-known author Harold Kushner offers a compendium of lessons he's learned about faith. He emphasizes that learning is more important than knowing and recounts events that taught him to listen well and discern the deep questions that lead to God. With chapters such as "Forgiveness Is a Favor You Do Yourself" and "Leave Room for Doubt and Anger in Your Religious Outlook," Kushner grounds his theology in the realities of human existence, just as he did in his now-classic When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Kushner's fans and those new to his writing will appreciate this "balm for the skeptical and the religious" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| The Bassoon King: My Life in Art, Faith, and Idiocy by Rainn WilsonBest known as Dwight Schrute on television's The Office, comedian Rainn Wilson didn't fit in while growing up (and never was a bassoon phenom), and he struggled financially early in his acting career. He also floundered spiritually until he reconnected with Baha'i, the faith of his childhood. In The Bassoon King, Wilson irreverently and movingly details the challenges of his youth, dishes gossip on The Office, and shares the importance of openly embracing Baha'i and living according to its teachings. Whether you're a fan of his career (which he broadcasts on Twitter) or interested in his spiritual life, be sure to pick up this autobiography. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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