Best Comparative Religion
Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft has influenced and guided countless students, coven initiates, and solitaries around the world. One of modern Wicca's most recommended books, this comprehensive text features a step-by-step course in Witchcraft, with photographs and illustrations, rituals, beliefs, history, and lore, as well as instruction in spellwork, divination, herbalism, healing, channeling, dreamwork, sabbats, esbats, covens, and solitary practice. The workbook format includes exam questions at the end of each lesson, so you can build a permanent record of your spiritual and magical training. Though Raymond Buckland was a student of the late great Gerald Gardner, this manual does not adhere to a specific branch or denomination of witchcraft, but rather seeks to teach the elements and philosophies common to all, whether Celtic, Saxon, Finnish, or what have you.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Gorgeous book that teaches the history and how to of the craft, love that it includes little quizzes at the end of each lesson/chapter."
"Nice book for new beginners like me."
"Gave me a great understanding."
"Love this book!!"
"Great book to kick off your research!"
"I love this book so much!"
"Recommend this book if your just starting out in the craft, you will go back and reference it when you need to."
In his engaging style, Dr. Craig offers four arguments for God’s existence, defends the historicity of Jesus’ personal claims and resurrection, addresses the problem of suffering, and shows why religious relativism doesn’t work. You’ll discover that On Guard is solidly factual, winsomely personal, consistently practical, and ultimately convincing in its presentation of the case for Christianity.”. (Mark Mittelberg 2010-03-01). “ On Guard is an excellent summation of how the Christian faith makes sense of the real world in which we all live. He is simply the finest Christian apologist of the last half century, and his academic work justifies ranking him among the top 1 percent of practicing philosophers in the Western world.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"good book with good information."
"A weak point is Craig's argument for the necessity of God for their to be any moral code."
"This is a great first book if you're interested in learning how your Christian faith can actually be defended very soundly on rational and logical grounds."
"This was my fifth book on Christian Apologetics; which stared from by Timothy Keller, then the Classic by C.S Lewis, by John Lennox, by Francis Collins, with many of the regarding YouTube talks and debate."
"The book is very readable, and does a great job of covering many of the essential apologetics arguments, from the existence of God to the resurrection of Jesus."
"This book is good for Christians who are completely inexperienced at dealing with tough and valid questions that non-Christians pose and that frequently go unchallenged in the public forum because they seem so logically insurmountable."
"Someone who can turn an atheist into a believer is rare to find, but Dr Craig makes it look like child's play, spreading the gospel in this way simply makes sense."
"It does everything near perfectly without having the layman being stressed out by an of the philosophical arguments present in the book."
The World’s Religions, by beloved author and pioneering professor Huston Smith ( Tales of Wonder ), is the definitive classic for introducing the essential elements and teachings of the world's predominant faiths, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, as well as regional native traditions. Huston Smith's masterpiece explores the essential elements and teachings of the world's predominant faiths, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the native traditions of Australia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"in 2009 I wrote a letter to Huston Smith telling him that in my teens I had taken a course on world religions at Boston University and the professor had used as textbook Smith’s “The Religions of Man” (now titled “The World’s Religions”)."
"A fifty year old book which helps to understand age old religions, and from one mans perspective not a lot of self promoting thought."
"Huston Smith, one of America's most respected religion scholars, provides in this book a superb resource for both classroom and non-academic reading."
"Great book written from a non biased perspective."
"Wonderful synopsis of the world's great religions."
Best Religious History
A newly updated edition of the landmark translation by one of our greatest religious scholars Since its publication in 1962, esteemed biblical expert Géza Vermes's translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls has established itself as the authoritative standard. Geza Vermes ’s pioneering work on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the historical Jesus led to his appointment as the first professor of Jewish studies at Oxford University, where he is now professor emeritus.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Opening the book, I found a very thorough introduction, background history, and references and content context explained in simple historical perspective."
"This translated copy helps put some understanding of Biblical times and verifies a lot in the Bible."
"Awesome book if you like learning the history of our ancestors and how they praised God."
"Not to imply that I loved all the texts, but I do think this is a very well executed translation."
"The book contains translations of the various Dead Sea Scrolls in addition to information about the Essenes."
"It was complete and extremely informative of what the found and interpreted in the scrolls."
"We are commanded to search out The Ancient Paths of our Fathers... Those Set-Apart Men and Women Who walked in Uprightness and Equity of Character; Those who Rendered Credence to YHWH... Those who Heard Intelligently and Obeyed."
"This is nowhere near the complete Dead Sea scrolls, and I'm not referring to the portions that are absent due to the original text being damaged and unreadable, I'm talking about entire sections that exist in English but for some reason are not included in this "complete" collection."
Best Wicca, Witchcraft & Paganism
Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft has influenced and guided countless students, coven initiates, and solitaries around the world. One of modern Wicca's most recommended books, this comprehensive text features a step-by-step course in Witchcraft, with photographs and illustrations, rituals, beliefs, history, and lore, as well as instruction in spellwork, divination, herbalism, healing, channeling, dreamwork, sabbats, esbats, covens, and solitary practice. The workbook format includes exam questions at the end of each lesson, so you can build a permanent record of your spiritual and magical training.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Gorgeous book that teaches the history and how to of the craft, love that it includes little quizzes at the end of each lesson/chapter."
"Nice book for new beginners like me."
"Gave me a great understanding."
"Love this book!!"
"Great book to kick off your research!"
"I love this book so much!"
"Recommend this book if your just starting out in the craft, you will go back and reference it when you need to."
Best Christianity
Muscle and a Shovel is a raw and gritty true story about a pair of young newly-weds who move to the city to chase the American dream. Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Catholics, the Community Churches - none are spared when Truth is at stake and their new friend Randall isn't about to "candy coat" God's Word for the sake of "political correctness" or "religious tolerance." Your beliefs about the Lord Jesus Christ, the Almighty Father in Heaven and your church are beliefs that you hold close to your heart, and rightfully so. However, your beliefs are about to be challenged in a way that you never thought possible.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The book kept my attention from beginning to end as I followed the two main characters through their quest for spiritual satisfaction."
"A good friend suggessted this book and I thank him for his suggestion."
"Wonderful book."
"This book came highly recommended by several people i attend church with and it did not disapppoint.My 15 year old daughter asked for it for her birthday and I'm so glad I purchased it for her!!!!"
"This is a good book."
"The book presents the true as to what one must do to become a faithful christian."
Best Judaism
The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition, is an essential resource for anyone interested in the Hebrew Bible.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"And the footnotes are a life saver for people unfamiliar with scripture or for people who want to have a little bit more background on what their reading."
"Received in two days."
"Get it for your library, it has Jewish insights to verses that may not be in our regular commentary ."
"Bought it for a class but will continue to use it."
"This was a gift to a family member."
"Will use along with my KJV bible for study."
"has what I need for my studies."
Best Islam
His design from time immemorial, regarding man's destiny, is filled with countless details about the future, especially the coming war with an Islamic coalition against Christianity and Israel. His paternal grandfather was an associate of Haj-Ameen Al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who was an ally of Adolph Hitler, who conspired with the Nazis during the holocaust.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Shoebat is uniquely qualified to write on the subject of terror, Islam and the Holy Bible, based on his indoctrination into the world of terror; his intimate knowledge of Islam and his careful study of the Holy Bible following his conversion to Christianity."
"Although satan has his Muslim army in place, and is working his deception in the middle east, it remains to be revealed what is coming for the remainder of the world, be it caliphate or new age satanic/demonic deception--we are so close, and unbelievers everwhere are buying into it all so easily, naively (ignorantly) and way too greedily already."
"This book is impressively researched opening the readers eyes to information passed over by hasty or miss informed scholars. First you will miss a very insulting tone in regards to your cultural upbringing which might lead you to putting the book down. You will be given the tools to facilitate through events still future as we exit from the church age and enter the millennium based on historical and sound Biblical data."
"This is a very scholarly, yet highly readable, book. Yet in the book itself we are told that the people who actually destroyed the Temple in 70 A.D. were the descendants of Ishmael, at the instigation of the Roman Empire."
"Easy reading, easy to understand, well explained, well documented and WELL supported with Scripture."
"Thought I knew about end times prophecy... and knew Islam was a major player for Satan, but this is truly eye opening and should be required reading in public high schools.. not to show hate, but to show truth."
"Moreover, when you follow Jesus you will not be afraid of the horrors of this world, or of Islam, or any organization of men who do what is evil and only have the power to kill your body; you will fear only the living God, who Jesus said has the power to kill your body and soul, and cast them into hell."
Best Buddhism
A bold translation of Nobel Prize-winner Herman Hesse's most inspirational and beloved work in a Penguin Classics deluxe edition Hesse's famous and influential novel, Siddartha , is perhaps the most important and compelling moral allegory our troubled century has produced. Hesse’s rich allusions to world mythologies, especially those of Asia, and his persistent theme of the individual striving for integrity in opposition to received opinions and mass culture appealed to a generation in upheaval and in search of renewed values. This early exposure to the philosophies and religions of Asia—filtered and interpreted by thinkers thoroughly steeped in the intellectual traditions and currents of modern Europe—provided Hesse with some of the most pervasive elements in his short stories and novels, especially Siddhartha (1922) and Journey to the East (1932). By the start of World War I in 1914, Hesse had produced several more novels and had begun to write the considerable number of book reviews and articles that made him a strong influence on the literary culture of his time. Ralph Freedman , Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature at Princeton University, is acclaimed for his biographies Hermann Hesse: Pilgrim of Crisis , and Life of a Poet: Rainer Maria Rilke.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Yes, the Kindle edition has some typos and translation issues, but these are the sorts of issues that are par for the course reading translated texts, you can certainly get the overall gist of the story. This story serves as a biography for how the young Siddhartha came to be the Buddha, while at the same time serving as a metaphor for how people of the time- or indeed you as the reader- can come to understand the Buddha and his teachings. Anyone worried about this sounding overly religious or hokey need not worry- the stories here are just as powerful if you read them in a perfectly secular way where the Buddha was just a wise man and not any kind of deity. If you want a play-by-play for exactly what "Englightenment" is supposed to be, how to attain it and how to live with it, the first story is one of the best examples I've ever read."
"I haven't made a lot of progress in the reading part, just didn't find it comfortable reading."
"I have received the strong suggestion to read this book many times without actually following through but have just found another to add to my list of favorites."
"It did have some grammar errors, maybe due to translation but that bothered me a little."
"Bought it for my 21 year old son, my 29 year old already read it."
"I loved this book."
"However, unlike most people, Siddhartha reaches the final stage where he understands what it is that brings enlightenment and wisdom."
"I read this in High School and decided to re-read it now as an adult."