Religion & Spiritual

Brief Summary In the ninth century BCE, the peoples of four distinct regions of the civilized world created the religious and philosophical traditions that have continued to nourish humanity to the present day: Confucianism and Daoism in China, Hinduism and Buddhism in India, monotheism in Israel, and philosophical rationalism in Greece. Later generations further developed these initial insights, but we have never grown beyond them. Rabbinic Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, for example, were all secondary flowerings of the original Israelite vision. Now, in The Great Transformation, Karen Armstrong reveals how the sages of this pivotal "Axial Age" can speak clearly and helpfully to the violence and desperation that we experience in our own times. Armstrong traces the development of the Axial Age chronologically, examining the contributions of such figures as the Buddha, Socrates, Confucius, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the mystics of the Upanishads, Mencius, and Euripides. All of the Axial Age faiths began in principled and visceral recoil from the unprecedented violence of their time. Despite some differences of emphasis, there was a remarkable consensus in their call for an abandonment of selfishness and a spirituality of compassion. With regard to dealing with fear, despair, hatred, rage, and violence, the Axial sages gave their people and give us, Armstrong says, two important pieces of advice: first there must be personal responsibility and self-criticism, and it must be followed by practical, effective action. In her introduction and concluding chapter, Armstrong urges us to consider how these spiritualities challenge the way we are religious today. In our various institutions, we sometimes seem to be attempting to create exactly the kind of religion that Axial sages and prophets had hoped to eliminate. We often equate faith with doctrinal conformity, but the traditions of the Axial Age were not about dogma. All insisted on the primacy of compassion even in the midst of suffering. In each Axial Age case, a disciplined revulsion from violence and hatred proved to be the major catalyst of spiritual change. ISBN:9780385721240 Author:Karen Armstrong

Brief Summary Your Best Life Begins Each Morning: Devotions to Start Every New Day of the Year The potential to live your best life starts with each new morning, says bestselling author Joel Osteen. With every sunrise, you can choose to approach the day with an attitude of faith and expectancy. He writes, 'When you get up in the morning, the first thing you should do is set your mind in the right direction ... and then go out anticipating good things. 'Now for the first time, Pastor Osteen offers a tool to accomplish that goal. Based on his book, YOUR BEST LIFE NOW, he offers prescriptions for positive living in 365 daily messages. Each message is accompanied by a relevant scripture. ISBN:9780446545099 Author:Joel Osteen

Brief Summary Applying the Kingdom: Rediscovering the Priority of God for Mankind In Applying the Kingdom, the third book in his Kingdom series, Dr. Myles Munroe makes the case that the key to abundant living is found in establishing priorities in one's life and living by them. Topping his list is the priority, kingdom first. ISBN:9780768424898 Author:Myles Munroe