Showing titles in Christian Literature & Art

Many Christians view the Bible as an instruction manual. While the Bible does provide instruction, it can also captivate, comfort, delight, shock, and inspire. In short, it elicits emotion - just like poetry. By learning to read and love poetry, says literature Professor Matthew Mullins, listeners can increase their understanding of the biblical text and learn to love God's word more. Each chapter includes exercises and questions designed to help listeners put the book's principles and practices into action.

Listening to The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan can be a bit challenging. Not so with this new version that translates the original archaic language into simple, conversational English, allowing listeners of all ages to easily navigate the most popular Christian allegory of all time. The story chronicles the epic adventure of a man named Christian who leaves his home in the City of Destruction and begins a life-long quest to the Celestial City.

"Un jour, ils sont là. Un jour, sans aucun souci de l'heure. On ne sait pas d'où ils viennent, ni pourquoi ni comment ils sont entrés. Ils entrent toujours ainsi, à l'improviste et par effraction. Et cela sans faire de bruit, sans dégâts apparents. Ils ont une stupéfiante discrétion de passe-muraille. Ils : les personnages. On ignore tout d'eux, mais d'emblée on sent qu'ils vont durablement imposer leur présence." S. G. D'où viennent les personnages des romans et quel chemin suivent-ils dans l'esprit de l'écrivaine ?

At the center of The Dark Night of the Soul (La noche oscura del alma) is a poem written by the 16th century Spanish poet and mystic St John of the Cross. Consisting of eight stanzas, each of five lines, the poem outlines the journey in pursuit of divine union, within which the only source of light comes from the soul. This recording in English includes the poem itself and St John's two accompanying treatises (1584-1585), essentially commentaries, which offer line-by-line explanations of the poem. Many modern listeners have found guidance and consolation in this work.

The deepest longing of your heart is for one person and one place. Jesus is that person. Heaven is that place. A thousand counterfeits vie for your attention, trying to convince you that they are what you're looking for. But you'll never find true satisfaction with what this world has to offer. What you really crave can only be found in the land of substance: heaven. In Light of Eternity will grip your soul and open your eyes to the realities of heaven. Far from boring, heaven promises to be an exhilarating adventure in which every chapter is better than the one before.

Volumes one through six of the Writing Lessons from the Front series have dealt with the technical and craft aspects of writing. In this supplemental volume, veteran writer Angela Hunt shares what's she's learned as a Christian writer - about the process, the plans, the critics, the risks, and the ethics of being a writer of faith.

In Keeping Christmas, novelist and Dickens enthusiast Allison Pittman offers 25 readings for advent, seamlessly bringing together the word of God and the words of A Christmas Carol. This contemplative, entertaining book is the perfect companion for those dark winter nights as we eagerly anticipate the coming celebration of Christmas when, like Scrooge, we are given the gift of reflection, repentance, and life anew.

The Dark Night of the Soul explores not only the torments and elations of a soul’s spiritual journey, but also expounds on man’s relationship with God and the natural longing for union with the Creator. Known as a doctor of mysticism, St. John of the Cross uniquely and profoundly delves into the intimidating world of spirituality and Christianity. In this work there are ideas explored that bring light to the deep afflictions of the soul as well as the true exaltation and joy that occurs closer on the path to communion with God.

In Literature: What Every Catholic Should Know, Joseph Pearce provides a survey of literary works of which all Catholics should be aware of. Beginning with Homer and Virgil, the book progresses chronologically through the greatest works of all time, including Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Dickens, Chesterton, Eliot, Tolkien, and Lewis.

In this volume in IVP Academic's Studies in Theology and the Arts series, theologian Michael Bruner explores O'Connor's theological aesthetic and argues that she reveals what discipleship to Christ entails by subverting the traditional understandings of beauty, truth, and goodness through her fiction.

A Course in Miracles is profound, deeply moving, and as boring to read as a bookshelf assembly manual. Pam Grout to the rescue! Her new audiobook is for all those still struggling with the Course. Grout offers a modern-day rewrite of the 365-lesson workbook - the text at the heart of the Course. Unlike the original, it's user-friendly, accessible, and easy for everyone to understand. Grout drills down to the Course's essential message and meaning, grounding it in the context of everyday life in a way that's bound to stick.

The Wisdom of the Desert was one of Thomas Merton's favorites among his own books, surely because he had hoped to spend his last years as a hermit. The personal tones of the translations and the blend of reverence and humor so characteristic of him show how deeply Merton identified with the legendary authors of these sayings and parables, the fourth-century Christian fathers who sought solitude and contemplation in the deserts of the Near East.

Since the release of Halftime in 1994, more than 150,000 people have purchased the book and begun a journey from success to significance. It helped people between the ages of 35-50 realize that they have at least another 30 years of active, vibrant living ahead of them and that retirement is not the optimal option. But now, those people feel stuck. More than 80 percent of people who began the journey got sidetracked. Now they want to know how to get “unstuck.” Stuck in Halftime is written for the person who is trying to successfully make it through “half time.”

In the sixth volume of the Swans Are Not Silent series, John Piper celebrates the importance of poetic effort by looking at three influential Christians whose words magnificently display a commitment to truth and a love of beauty. Examining the lives of George Herbert, George Whitefield, and C. S. Lewis, Piper helps us appreciate the importance of carefully crafted words by exploring how Christians can use them to testify to God's glory, wonder at his grace, and rejoice in his salvation.

After the Bible, The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis is the favorite book of Catholics throughout the world and has been the spiritual guide of the saints since it first appeared in 1418. And of the English editions, none can equal this inspiring translation of Bishop Richard Challoner. This book speaks to the soul of every true Christian, reminding him of the fleeting nature of earthly joy as opposed to the eternity of happiness with God.

The Definitive Prose Version of The World's Greatest Epic Poem! If you know anything about Milton’s poem, you know it is not for the casual listener. The complicated language will turn away most at the first page. If you were waiting for a simplified version of this tale that you could actually read and enjoy, look no further. This unique novelization, not only renders it accessible to the masses, but offers the unsuspecting reader a spectacularly entertaining action adventure.

"Red beef and strong beer" was how C. S. Lewis described his education under one of his early tutors. It was, in other words, a substantial education that engaged deeply with the intellectual tradition and challenged him to grow. Gary Selby sees Lewis' expression as an indication of the kind of transformation that is both possible and necessary for the Christian faith, and he contends that spiritual formation comes about not by retreating from the physical world, but through deeper engagement with it.

Alone among the creatures of the world, man suffers a pang both bitter and sweet. It is an ache for the homecoming. The Greeks called it nostalgia. Post-modern man, homeless almost by definition, cannot understand nostalgia. If he is a progressive, dreaming of a utopia to come, he dismisses it contemptuously, eager to bury a past he despises. If he is a reactionary, he sentimentalizes it, dreaming of a lost golden age. In this profound reflection, Anthony Esolen explores the true meaning of nostalgia and its place in the human heart.

The "Revelations of Divine Love" is a 14th-century book of Christian mystical devotions written by Julian of Norwich. It includes her sixteen mystical visions and contemplations on universal love and hope in a time of plague, religious schism, uprisings and war. Published in 1395, it is the first published book in the English language to be written by a woman.

Does God speak to you? Are there words that He whispers in your ears to encourage you to live a better life, and to touch the lives of others who are open to receiving your testimony? This audiobook describes the words of a Christian woman whose faith is strong. And it is her desire to share her God-given allegories, prayers, poems, and wonderful mantras by which to live a blessed life with all who are willing to read them. These are the Words of a Praying Woman!