There are many romantic tales about a handsome and rich man falling in love with a beautiful lower class woman over the objections of his family. Remember Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy? however, it takes more than a good woman to secure a man's happiness. He has to have mental strength. It is not certain that our hero, Tom, has that. Lois is a great woman. However, according to his sister, she is a "nobody." Does money and position control everything? Certainly not. Good people deserve to be happy...

The Diatessaron is such an impersonal work that we do not need to know very much about its compiler. It will suffice here to say that he tells us himself that he was born "in the land of the Assyrians," and brought up a heathen. After travelling in search of knowledge, he settled at Rome, where he became a pupil of Justin Martyr, professed Christianity, and wrote in Greek his Address to the Greeks, translated in vol. iii. of the Ante-Nicene Christian Library. He was too independent in his attitude to maintain a permanent popularity, and after Justin's death left Rome and returned to Mesopotamia...

"In the latter part of the second and in the former part of the third century there flourished at Carthage the famous Tertullian, the first Latin writer of the church whose works are come down to us. All his writings betray a sour, monastic, harsh, and severe turn of mind. "Touch not, taste not, handle not," might seem to have been the maxims of his religious conduct. The abilities of Tertullian, as an orator and a scholar, are far from being contemptible, and have doubtless given him a reputation to which his theological knowledge by no means entitles him...

In this work Tertullian defends Christianity, demanding legal toleration and that Christians be treated as all other sects of the Roman Empire. His most famous apologetic work, written in Carthage in the summer or autumn of AD 197.

Written in the 14th century by the Gawain poet, 'Pearl' is an elegiac poem reflecting on the death of a young daughter, pictured as a pearl lost in a garden. It is considered a masterpiece of Middle English verse, incorporating both the older tradition of alliterative poetry as well as rhyme, centered around the development of an intricately structured image. Sophie Jewett's translation from the Northern dialect of the original renders much of the poem's liveliness and beauty accessible to modern readers, whilst encouraging them to pursue their reading further, to read the original itself.This recording is dedicated to the memory of Pearl Jean Shearman, 1914-2012.

The Book of Common Prayer has for nearly 500 years provided the basis for Anglican and allied worship, not only in its English home but many countries around the world. Following England's break from Rome in 1534, a need was felt for a single order of worship - in English rather than the traditional Latin - to be used in churches throughout the country. BCP first appeared in 1549 during the reign of Edward VI, was abolished under Mary and was re-introduced with modifications by Elizabeth I in 1559...

The first volume in a series of Catholic Church history books written for children. Volume 1 covers the time period from after Our Lord's death till the 5th Century.

Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England is a work in Latin by Bede on the history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict between Roman and Celtic Christianity. It is considered to be one of the most important original references on Anglo-Saxon history. It is believed to have been completed in 731, when Bede was approximately 59 years old. Divided into five books, it covers the history of England, ecclesiastical and political, from the time of Julius Caesar to the date of its completion (731)...

The Explanation of the Apocalypse by Ven. Beda is the earliest of the many works of our own writers on that Book, and, as such, may well deserve to appear in a form accessible to English readers.The chief characteristics of Beda's method of exposition may be thus stated. The several visions are considered not to be successive, but contemporaneous, with occasional recapitulations and to represent the condition of the Church in all ages, under different aspects. The thousand years, in the twentieth chapter, are interpreted of the present period of the Church's existence, in accordance with the opinion of St Augustine, in the second part of his De Civitate Dei...

Read in English, this is a pivotal document in the history of Zionism and the State of Israel. Herzl designed this work to elevate the discussion of "the Jewish Question" so it would "no longer take the form of violent abuse or sentimental vindication but of a debate, practical, large, earnest, and political." While few of Herzl's proposals were actually carried out, the importance of A JEWISH STATE was in the groundswell of support for a Jewish homeland engendered by its solutions to the practical problems of establishing a new state...

Theodoret was born at Antioch, A.D. 386. His studies were pursued under Theodore of Mopsuista and Chrysostom, from the works of the latter of whom the present commentary is by many esteemed little more than an abridgement. This, however, on comparing the writings of both those Fathers, can hardly perhaps be admitted in its fullest sense. "Of all the Fathers, who have composed works of different kinds, Theodoret is one of those who has been very happy in every one of them. There are some who have been excellent writers in matters of controversy, but bad interpreters...

“It is quite generally recognized that psychology has remained in the semi-mythological, semi-scholastic period longer than most attempts at scientific formulization. For a long time it has been the “spook science” per se, and the imagination, now analyzed by M. Ribot in such a masterly manner, has been one of the most persistent, apparently real, though very indefinite, of psychological spooks. Whereas people have been accustomed to speak of the imagination as an entity sui generis, as a...

A meditation on Ecclesiastes 7:3, "Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight which he hath made crooked?," The Crook in the Lot considers the purposes of God for suffering and affliction in the life of the Christian. -Summary by Chris Bunn

The "Paraphrase on the Epistle to the Galatians" was written in his younger years, while he was minister of Simprin, for his own improvement, and not with any design of printing it; though, it is hoped, the publication of it now may be for the edification of the church of Christ. - Summary adapted from Advertisement

Religio Medici (The Religion of a Doctor) sets out Sir Thomas Browne's spiritual testament as well as being an early psychological self-portrait. In its day, the book was a European best-seller. It was published in 1643 by the newly-qualified physician, and its unorthodox views placed it swiftly upon the Papal Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1645. Although predominantly concerned with Christian faith, the Religio also meanders into digressions upon alchemy, hermetic philosophy, astrology, and physiognomy...

Bulfinch’s Mythology, first published in 1855, is one of the most popular collections of mythology of all time. It consists of three volumes: The Age of Fable, The Age of Chivalry, and Legends of Charlemagne. This is a recording of the tenth edition of the first volume, The Age of Fable. It contains many Greek and Roman myths, including simplified versions of The Iliad and The Odyssey, as well as a selection of Norse and “eastern” myths. Thomas Bulfinch’s goal was to make the ancient myths accessible to a wide audience, and so it is suitable for children.

Thomas Chalmers had read, when a young man, several infidel productions. Their semblance of logic and learning, and supercilious confidence of style, disposed him to regard all religion as mere superstition. His mind was poisoned. Accustomed as he had been to the positive and precise reasonings of mathematics, he could not find similar proofs for Christianity. But he was induced, by some friends, to study Butler’s Analogy. This, as he expresses it, took Christianity “out of the class of unlikelihoods...

The astronomical objection against the truth of the Gospel, does not occupy a very prominent place in any of our Treatises of Infidelity. It is often, however, met with in conversation — and we have known it to be the cause of serious perplexity and alarm in minds anxious for the solid establishment of their religious faith. There is an imposing splendour in the science of Astronomy; and it is not to be wondered at, if the light it throws, or appears to throw, over other tracks of speculation than those which are properly its own, should at times dazzle and mislead an inquirer...

Written by the former skeptic, poet, and scholar, Thomas Cooper, The Bridge of History Over the Gulf of Time admirably sets forth a winsome defense of Christianity. Written as the substance of fourteen years of lectures, at the request of his hearers, Cooper leads his reader across the bridge of history, through the centuries, tracing Christianity. At last, he addresses "Leben Jesu" by Dr. David Friedrich Strauss, discusses the historicity of the four Gospels, and offers some concluding evidences for the truth of Christianity. (Introduction by tzieger)

Thomas DeWitt Talmage was born in Bound Brook, New Jersey. He earned an undergraduates degree at the University of the city of New York, now known as New York University. After his graduation he studied law, but ultimately decided on the ministry. He pastored a church in Philadelphia and spoke in many other places including England and New York. This book contains 33 of his sermons all of them well worth a read or listen! They are full of encouragement and thought provoking comments.

When Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage went to visit the Holy Land, he wrote sermons for his home church and sent them back to be read. It resulted in this wonderful collection of sermons exploring in depth the places he visited, explaining their significance both in the past and present, describing what he saw and how he felt. As well as what happened there in biblical times, all the while expanding on that and teaching valuable lessons about Christ and how he is just as real today as he was when he walked the Earth in physical form...

This is a work of theology which addresses a seeming contradiction in Christian thought: that love and forgiveness are freely offered to all, but they cannot be accepted without a major change in the receiver's heart. Along the way, the author explains what he believes justification to be--not a judicial act of God, but rather a description of the state of the believer. He also goes into detail on why our pride makes it difficult to accept God's love. -Summary by Devorah Allen

For above forty years I have been a diligent collector of history, tradition, legend, custom, or folklore, whether from familiar or unfamiliar sources, relating to the festival of the Holy Nativity. Moreover, I have gathered copiously from scarce pamphlets of the 17th and 18th centuries, from old chapbooks, newspaper paragraphs, and magazine articles old and new, and from contact with rustics in several counties. The fruits of my gathering are briefly summarized in the following pages, in the hope that they may conduce to that "joy and pious mirth" wherewith we ought, all of us, to commemorate the best and greatest Gift of God to man. - Summary by from the Preface

A discourse of the several parts which the three persons of the Godhead bear in the accomplishment of our salvation, and that they have taken on them several works appropriate to them therein.—And the distribution of our salvation into three parts, according to the number of the three persons, and the part which each of them have taken therein, viz., the Father in election, the Son in redemption and justification, the Holy Ghost in sanctification and application. - Summary by Preface

The Reverend Thomas Guthrie was first introduced to the idea of ragged schools in 1841, while acting as the Parish Minister of St. John's Church in Edinburgh. On a visit to Portsmouth, he saw a picture of John Pounds and felt inspired and humbled by the crippled cobbler's work. Pounds had been injured in a shipbuilding accident at the age of 15. He later became a shoemaker and, in 1818, he began teaching poor children without charging fees. He actively recruited children and young people to his school, spending time on the streets and quays making contact and even bribing them to come with the offer of baked potatoes...

"The Light of Egypt" will be found to be an Occult library in itself, a textbook of esoteric knowledge, setting forth the "wisdom Religion" of life, as taught by the Adepts of Hermetic Philosophy. It will richly repay all who are seeking the higher life to carefully study this book, as it contains in a nutshell the wisdom of the ages regarding man and his destiny, here and hereafter. The London and American first edition, also the French edition, Vol. I, met with lively criticism from Blavatsky Theosophists, because it annihilates that agreeable delusion of "Karma" and "Reincarnation" from the minds of all lovers of truth for truth's sake.