"Jesus of Nazareth, a Biography, by John Mark," recognizes the author of the second Gospel as that "John, whose surname was Mark" (Acts 15:37), whom Barnabas chose as companion when he sailed for Cyprus on his second missionary journey. In making use of the new title, the plan of the Editor is to present "The Gospel: According to Mark" as it would be printed were it written in the twentieth rather than the first century. (Introduction from Forward, by D. Appleton & Co, Publishers, 1922)

This book is a collection of English translations of medieval Latin hymns. It contains interesting historical and/or liguistic facts about each hymn, some of which are still used in one form or other in the modern Christian church.Note: An asterisk implies a belief that the piece so marked has not previously appeared in an English translation. - Summary by Devorah Allen

Paradise Regained is a poem by the 17th century English poet John Milton, published in 1671. It is connected by name to his earlier and more famous epic poem Paradise Lost, with which it shares similar theological themes. Based on the Gospel of Luke’s version of the Temptation of Christ, Paradise Regained is more thoughtful in writing style, and thrives upon the imagery of Jesus’ perfection in contrast to the shame of Satan.

Having been publicly acknowledged as God's "beloved Son," Jesus retires to the desert to meditate upon what it means to be the Messiah, about whose coming many conflicting opinions have been circulating among the Jews. Although a learned rabbi, Jesus possesses no knowledge beyond what is available to all human beings. Satan also takes a new interest in this favored "son of God" and seeks to learn what threat he constitutes. The poem consists of a debate between these two adversaries, each seeking the same understanding of precisely what mankind's Savior will do in a world where the way to success typically lies through "wealth ...

The celebrated German-British composer G.F. Handel premiered his now famous oratorio "Messiah" in 1742. In 1785 there was a celebration at Westminster Abbey of Handel's birth 100 years before. It was on this occasion that John Newton decided to preach 50 sermons from the Bible passages that form the libretto of Messiah. The sermons were preached over two years in the Parish Church of St. Mary Woolnoth, Lombard-Street - 3 miles from Westminster Abbey. - Summary by InTheDesert

Four Letters to a Minister of an Independent Church by a Minister of the Church of England Quid me alta silentia cogis rumpere? - Virgil Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. For in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love — Rom. xiv.19 Gal. v.6 First printed in 1764 - Summary by Title Page

John Owen, in this Puritan classic, writes succinctly of the matters of the heart in dealing with sin in the life of the Christian. In a way that cuts right to the heart of the matter while leaving no room for excuses, Owen encourages the Christian to “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.”

This is a small volume of Evening Prayers. Thoughts to think on in the quiet before bedtime; ideas that edify the soul, calm the mind and prepare our bodies and spirits for sleep. Each is not long, but they are edifying and thought provoking. As the author says in the prefact "May He with whom is "the residue of the Spirit," "cause His Angel to fly swiftly" and touch us in the time of our Evening Oblation; and may all that is amiss in thought and word be lost in the fragrant incense-cloud which ascends from the Golden Altar before the Throne!" "And thou shalt make an ALTAR to burn INCENSE upon: "And thou shalt put it ...

A short series of Christian sermons covering a range of topics, with the common thread throughout being the relationship between what we do know, what we may know, and what we cannot yet know about our lives, our world, and our faith. - Summary by Devorah Allen

The Three Essays on Religion were written at different times during Mill's life, and only published after his death. The first two, 'Nature' and 'The Utility of Religion' date from the 1850s - the period between the publication of 'The Principles of Political Economy' and 'On Liberty'. The third longer essay, 'Theism' was written between 1868 and 1870. The three essays were published posthumously in 1874.

Part 1 lays out the framework for Positivism as originated in France by Auguste Comte in his Cours de Philosophie Positive. Mill examines the tenets of Comte's movement and alerts us to defects. Part 2 concerns all Comte's writings except the Cours de Philosophie Positive. During Comte's later years he gave up reading newspapers and periodicals to keep his mind pure for higher study. He also became enamored of a certain woman who changed his view of life. Comte turned his philosophy into a religion, with morality the supreme guide. Mill finds that Comte learned to despise science and the intellect, instead substituting his frantic need for the regulation of change.

An outline of the Government of God as held by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as outlined by John Taylor, third President of the Church. Summary by Wayne Cooke.

Pantheisticon: or, the Form Of Celebrating the Socratic-Society. Divided into Three Parts. Which Contain, I. The Morals and Axioms of the Pantheists; or the Brotherhood. II. Their Deity and Philosophy. III. Their Liberty, and a Law, neither deceiving, nor to be deceived. To which is prefix’d a Discourse upon the Antient and Modern Societies of the Learned, as also upon the Infinite and Eternal Universe. And subjoined, a short dissertation upon a Two-fold Philosophy of the Pantheists, that is to be followed; together with an Idea of the best and most accomplished Man...

This work addresses the birth and development of a rationalist stream in the Christianity of England in the seventeenth century. In this volume, Tulloch focuses on five latitudinarian churchmen, examining their lives and thought. - Summary by Barry Ganong

John Wesley, along with his brother Charles, are credited with founding the Methodist denomination. "The following Sermons contain the substance of what I have been preaching for between eight and nine years last past. Every serious man who peruses these, will therefore see, in the clearest manner, what these doctrines are which I embrace and teach as the essentials of true religion." This first series contains sermons concerning the way to heaven.

John Wesley, along with his brother Charles, are credited with founding the Methodist denomination. "The following Sermons contain the substance of what I have been preaching for between eight and nine years last past. Every serious man who peruses these, will therefore see, in the clearest manner, what these doctrines are which I embrace and teach as the essentials of true religion." This second series contains sermons concerning important Christian doctrines and practices.

A collection of poems reflecting on Christmas and the New Year, written by the founder of the Methodist denomination.

John Wesley, along with his brother Charles, are credited with founding the Methodist denomination. "The following Sermons contain the substance of what I have been preaching for between eight and nine years last past. Every serious man who peruses these, will therefore see, in the clearest manner, what these doctrines are which I embrace and teach as the essentials of true religion." The third through fifth series contain sermons on a wide variety of topics, from sermons preached at funerals, to natural disasters, to the roles of elders and deacons.

“… an alemaunde tre schal floure, a locuste schal be maad fat, and capparis schal be distried; for a man schal go in to the hous of his euerlastyngnesse…” – Eccl. xii, 5 (see Note below).Traditionally composed by Solomon sometime around 950-970 BCE but dated on linguistic evidence somewhere in the third century, this meditation on the futility of mankind’s striving can bring comfort to those of firm or fragile faith, or of no faith at all. The text used here is a revision of Wycliffe’s original translation, made by his follower John Purvey in the mid-1390s...

Born to a prosperous cloth merchant of Assisi, Francis (1182-1226) lived the typically high-spirited life of a wealthy young man of his day, which included fighting as a soldier. In 1205, while away at war, he experienced a vision that beckoned him return to Assisi, where he soon lost his taste for the worldly life and began to live a life of evangelical poverty in imitation of Jesus Christ. He embarked upon a pilgrimage to Rome, where he begged for alms alongside the poor at St. Peter's Basilica...

Jonathan Edwards was a colonial American Congregational preacher, theologian, and missionary to Native Americans. Edwards “is widely acknowledged to be America’s most important and original philosophical theologian.” His work is very broad in scope, but he is often associated with his defense of Calvinist theology, the metaphysics of theological determinism, and the Puritan heritage. His famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” emphasized the just wrath of God against sin and contrasted it with the provision of God for salvation; the intensity of his preaching sometimes resulted in members of the audience fainting, swooning, and other more obtrusive reactions...

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) was a pre-revolutionary American pastor and academic in Massachusetts, and is also widely considered to be both the last of the great Puritans, and a founder of modern evangelicalism. In 1732, his church and many churches in the surrounding region experienced “The Great Awakening”, a massive religious revival. The Great Awakening saw many people having heightened “affections”, or emotions, in response to their increased spirituality – this included excessive weeping, joyous outbursts, and many other manifestations that concerned more conservative people around them...

As religion is the great business, for which we are created, and on which our happiness depends; and as religion consists in an intercourse between ourselves and our Maker; and so has its foundation in God's nature and ours, and in the relation that God and we stand in to each other; therefore a true knowledge of both must be needful in order to true religion. But the knowledge of ourselves consists chiefly in right apprehensions concerning those two chief faculties of our nature, the Understanding and Will...

Joseph Butler's great work is the Analogy, published in 1736, and from that day read and admired by every highly-cultivated mind. He was induced to write by a state of things very remarkable in the history of religion. Debauchery and infidelity were almost universal, not in any one class of society but in all. England had reached the culminating point of irreligion, and the firm re-establishment of Episcopacy had as yet done nothing to mend the nation’s morals. Piety was deemed a mark of ignorance and vulgarity, and multitudes of those who professed it were persecuted to dungeons and death...

It is certain, that from our Saviour's time to the present, there have ever been persons whose dispositions and lives have been formed by the rules of the New Testament; men who have been real, not merely nominal Christians, who believed the doctrines of the gospel, loved them because of their divine excellency, and suffered gladly the loss of all things, that they might win Christ, and be found in him. It is the history of these men which I propose to write. It is of no consequence with respect to my plan, nor of much importance I believe in its own nature, to what external church they belonged...

The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible, used by Latter Day Saints. It is a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas.The book was written by ancient prophets through the spirit of prophecy and revelation. It gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel...

The Sweet Stories of God's Word in the Language of Childhood.

The full title of this book is Bible Defense of Slavery; and Origin, Fortunes, and History of the Negro Race, by Rev. Josiah Priest, A. M. 5th edition. This is a compilation of pro-slavery literature and propaganda that went through numerous editions in the Southern United States before the Civil War. It contains the highly influential book, Slavery, as it Relates to the Negro, or African Race, by Rev Josiah Priest, which was originally published in 1843. This compilation also includes many essays and favorable reviews of Rev Priest’s book from contemporary magazines and newspapers, and written endorsements from national politicians...

This work is the story of a pilgrimage made over a hundred years ago by a group of American pilgrims. They were not headed for Canterbury, Rome or Jerusalem. Rather, they were headed for an historical but remote prison-city in a far corner of the Ottoman Empire. ‘Akká (Akko), now a city in Israel which attracts thousands of Bahá’í pilgrims each year, was but little thought of in that early period. It was originally the final place of exile and imprisonment for Bahá’u’lláh, a Persian nobleman who proclaimed that He was the Promised One of all religions and Messenger of God for this day and age...

Julian of Norwich (c. November 8, 1342 – c. 1416) is considered to be one of the greatest English mystics. Little is known of her life aside from her writings. Even her name is uncertain, the name “Julian” coming from the Church of St Julian in Norwich, where she occupied a cell adjoining the church as an anchoress. At the age of thirty, suffering from a severe illness and believing she was on her deathbed, Julian had a series of intense visions. (They ended by the time she overcame her illness on May 13, 1373)...

The fourth and concluding volume of this history of Victorian Britain opens with the brutal repression in 1865 of a rebellion by ex-slaves in Jamaica. Then in 1867, the Conservative Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, takes his celebrated "leap in the dark" with the passage of the most comprehensive expansion of manhood suffrage in British history. The Fenian movement agitates unsuccessfully for Irish independence. British trade unions win the right to organize. William Ewart Gladstone launches his great reform ministry by abolishing in Ireland the hated Anglican establishment and follows with a flood of bills reforming education, the British army, and poor relief...

Numerous theories have been proposed for the causes of dancing mania, and it remains unclear whether it was a real illness or a social phenomenon. One of the most prominent theories is that victims suffered from ergot poisoning, which was known as St Anthony’s Fire in the Middle Ages. During floods and damp periods, ergots were able to grow and affect rye and other crops. Ergotism can cause hallucinations, but cannot account for the other strange behaviour most commonly identified with dancing mania...

A sweet, old fashioned Christmas romance set in an old New England meeting house.

[The Native American] story tellers of the camp related, with dramatic gestures, stories of the Days of the Grandfathers, in the beginning of the Newness of Things. Nothing was too large or too small to come within the bounds of their beliefs, or within the play of their fancy. Only authentic myths and legends have been used in the compilation of this volume. The leading authorities are the publications of the United States Bureau of Ethnology, of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, of the Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, as well as the ethnological publications of the Canadian Bureau of Mines...

The myths in this 1911 volume are authentic. The original collections were made by government ethnologists. Only the quaintest and purest of the myths have been selected. The leading myth of the North the Raven Myth, is given with a fair degree of completeness. . These tribes are included: Eskimo , Tlingit , Tsetsaut, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Athapascan , Eskimo , Eskimo , Koyukun, and Koryak . - Summary by Author's Preface and david wales

The Book of Judith is included in the Septuagint and has been retained in Catholic and Orthodox Christian Bibles, but was eventually excluded from the Hebrew canon and assigned by Protestants to their apocrypha. The story relates how a Jewish widow, Judith, uses her beauty and charm to destroy an Assyrian general sent by the great Nabuchodonosor to lay waste to the Israelites. The name Judith is the feminine form of Judah. - Summary modified from wikipedia

The author gives a first-hand look at unusual and arguably primitive customs on the island of Cuba. He uncovers a strange and unique blend of superstitious ritual, possibly brought from Africa by slaves, and Catholic religious ceremony, introduced by missionaries.

This book provides the basics of Theosophy and perhaps the beginning of a life long journey. Theosophy comes from the ancient wisdom that man and nature are as inseparable from the universe as the universe is inseparable from man and nature. It is a science and a philosophy, not a religion which depends on (dogma) faith. Knowledge gained through the study of Theosophy comes from the understanding of natural laws and harmony of the universe. Rogers shows us why we cannot separate ourselves from God (universe); the evolution of the soul; rebirth after physical death; why we don’t remember past lives and much more...

Greece-born Lafcadio Hearn (1850 - 1904) spent decades of his life in Japan, even marrying a Japanese woman, thus becoming a Japanese citizen by the name of Koizumi Yakumo (小泉 八雲). He wrote many books on Japan, especially about its folklore. In this posthumously published book, he takes a closer look at Japan's religious history: How it developed from ancient beliefs into Shintoism, resisted suppression attempts by both Buddhism and Christianity and how – despite efforts to westernise Japan during the era known as Meiji Restoration – it remained the basis for Japanese society...

Leo the Great was unanimously elected Bishop of Rome on September 29, 440 a.d. At the Council of Chalcedon, his famous "Tome" was a decisive contribution to the Christological controversies of the fifth century. But the Tome did not stand alone. It was written in the context of over two decades of pastoral sensitivity. This collection of sermons is the best way to let Leo himself unpack the nuances and power of Chalcedonian Christology according to one of its most influential proponents. (Introduction by Jonathan Lange)

Although Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was a wealthy landowner, in his later life he had what was considered a “religious awakening.” This experience went on to inform his writing and his lifestyle in profound ways. His views transcended the specifics of religion, as known in his day – so much so he came to be a helpful guide both to Mohandas Gandhi and to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The four stories in this collection ask profound questions and gently supply helpful, non-dogmatic hints to their...

As Russia goes to war against Japan, Tolstoy urges those at all levels of society, from the Tsar down to the common soldier, to consider their actions in the light of Christ's teaching. "However strange this may appear, the most effective and certain deliverance of men from all the calamities which they inflict upon themselves and from the most dreadful of all—war—is attainable, not by any external general measures, but merely by that simple appeal to the consciousness of each separate man which, nineteen hundred years ago, was proposed by Jesus—that every man bethink himself, and ask himself, who is he, why he lives, and what he should and should not do...

In this book, Tolstoy seeks to condense the four Gospels of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, into one, by looking along the lines of the teachings of Jesus Christ found in each book. In doing so, he discovers that the Lord's Prayer is the best summation of all that Christ taught in the Gospels.

Leo Tolstoy's "A Confession," written in 1882 shortly after a life-altering spiritual crisis, is a brutally sincere reflection on life, morality, and the nature of faith. Tolstoy describes in great detail the process by which he lost his faith in established Christian churches, the meaninglessness of wealth and fame, the agony of acute depression, and how he overcame misery and dread through personal study of the teachings of Jesus Christ. Along the way, he contrasts the artificial faith and arrogance of educated people with the genuine faith and humility of the Russian peasant...

More systematic, but no less sincere than A Confession , The Critique of Dogmatic Theology is an early attempt on the part of Tolstoy to impart the results of his meticulous study and fearless inquiry into the beliefs and traditions of Orthodox Christianity following his renewed interest in spirituality. - Summary by Paul Rizik

It is with the desire of aiding parents and teachers in telling these stories, and aiding children to understand them, also in the hope that they may be read in many schools, that a few among the many interesting stories in the Bible have been chosen, brought together and as far as necessary simplified to meet the minds of the young. - Introduction by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut inside the book itself.

A collection of Tennyson's poetry : 1 The Brook - 00:16 2 Song from "Maud" - 1:20 3 A Farewell - 2:34 4 Song from “Maud” - 3:26 5 Break, Break, Break - 4:53 6 From “Locksley Hall”- 5:43 7 Song from “Maud” - 6:43 8 Song from “The Princess” - 7:43 9 Lillian - 8:37 10 Ring out, Wild Bells - 9:52 11 From “The Princess” - 11:27 12 Song From “The Princess” - 12:43 13 From “Enoch Arden” - 13:58 14 From “Enoch Arden” - 15:36 15 The Charge of the Light Brigade- 16:56 16 From “The May Queen” - 18:51 17 Song from “The Princess” - 19:36 18 From “Harold” - 20:14 19 From “The Revenge” - 21:28 (From Sam Stinsson)

This is a series of sermons that were given in Hanson Place Methodist Episcopal Church in January 1895. They are here collected together by the author and presented "with the earnest prayer that they may bring comfort and inspiration to the friends of Christ wherever they may go." - Summary by Devorah Allen

This is a series of 52 talks, all of which were delivered by Rev. Banks in the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Cleveland, Ohio on a weekly basis over the course of one year. They are here compiled and published by the author "with the prayer and hope that in suggestive and illustrative material they may be of service and blessing." - Summary by Devorah Allen

This is a collection of thirty-one revival sermons, all of which were preached in the First Methodist Episcopal Church, Cleveland, Ohio, during the month of January, 1900. They were then collected and published, in order to be an inspiration and a help in the work of winning souls to Christ. - Summary by Devorah Allen, adapted from preface

This is a collection of sermons which were preached in the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Cleveland, Ohio, during the autumn and winter or 1898 and 1899. They were all delivered during evening services, and therefore, as the author explains, were intended as messages to sinners, not to Christians. - Summary by Devorah Allen

Brief instruction on numerous subjects pertaining to the Catholic faith, the Sacraments, the Ten Commandments and more.

Brief instruction on numerous subjects pertaining to the Catholic faith. In this second volume of two, it continues on with the Commandments of the Church, virtues, prayer, the Mass, stories from Our Lord's life, saints and more!

Rabbi Louis Ginzberg was one of the outstanding Talmudists of the twentieth century. He was born on November 28, 1873, in Kovno, Lithuania; he died on November 11, 1953, in New York City. Ginzberg taught at the Jewish Theological seminary from 1903 to 1953. For 50 years, he trained two generations of Conservative Rabbis.The Legends of the Jews is an epic 7-volume compilation of traditional Jewish stories loosely related to the Bible. Volumes 1-4 contain the stories, while volumes 5-7 contain Ginzberg’s notes and commentary...

A short, simple Old Testament Bible History for children, but which can also be enjoyed by adults alike. Starting with Creation, the sections cover Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, etc. up to the promise of a Redeemer. The same format continues in the volume that follows - My Bible History: New Testament - by the same author.

A short, simple New Testament Bible History for children, but which can also be enjoyed by adults alike. Starting with St. John the Baptist, and running through the beginning years of the Church, the sections cover Our Lord's birth, public life, miracles, death, resurrection and more. This is the companion volume to My Bible History: New Testament - by the same author.

Taking issue with Hegel’s sense that God, as Logos, is somehow central to all that is, Feuerbach explores his own notion that Christianity, as religion, grew quite naturally from ordinary human observation. Only upon deeper, systematic reflection did people postulate a divine source–God. Religious teaching which loses sight of its own essential rootedness in human experience runs the risk becoming overly abstract, disconnected even, from realities which shape humanity and which impart meaning and dignity to life...

This is a collection of the parables of the new testament. - Summary by Lynda Marie Neilson

A Pictorial Record of Personal Experiences by Day and Night in the Great Metropolis, with hundreds of thrilling anecdotes and incidents, sketches of life and character, humorous stories, touching home scenes, and tales of tender pathos, drawn from the bright and shady sides of the great under world of New York. By Mrs. Helen Campbell, City Missionary and Philanthropist; Col. Thomas W. Knox, Author and Journalist; and Supt. Thomas Byrnes, Chief of NY Police and Detectives. With highly interesting descriptions of little known phases of New York life; and an account of Detective Byrnes' thirty years' experiences and reminiscences written by himself from his private diary...

The following work offers in book form the series of studies on the question of the historicity of Jesus, presented from time to time before the Independent Religious Society in Orchestra Hall, Chicago, 1909. No effort has been made to change the manner of the spoken, into the more regular form of the written, word.