Abu Hamid al-Ghazali was born in 1058 AD in the city of Tus in modern day Iran. He was a reputed scholar, philosopher and Shafi'i jurist who was a professor of theology at the Nizamiyya College of Baghdad. At the peak of his fame, he was gripped by an internal schism between his beliefs and his inner self. He gave up his position lead a life of seclusion and personal mystical transformation. During this time of solitude and contemplation he authored a number of seminal works reconciling the outward practices of Islam with a deep inner spirituality...

In this short book, Ballou defends the notion that non-resistance (today we call it non-violence) is the superior Christian method, and the one practiced by Jesus himself.

The Counter-Reformation, also called the Catholic Reformation, and remembered for its infamous Inquisition, was the period of Catholic resurgence which was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. Adolphus Ward writes, that it was "a movement pursuing two objects...the regeneration of the Church of Rome, and the recovery of the losses inflicted upon her by the early successes of Protestantism...The onset of the combat is marked by the formal establishment of the Jesuit Order as a militant...

The Story of Ahikar is a fictional work. It is a colorful story but considered to be a work containing great wisdom. The story of Ahikar is considered one of the earliest "international books". It can be found in a variety of geographical translations and has been circulated in the middle east and near east regions. - Summary by CJ Plogue

"As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." This thirst for an intimate relationship with God, claims A.W. Tozer, is not for a select few, but should be the experience of every follower of Christ. But, he asserts, it is all too rare when believers have become conditioned by tradition to accept standards of mediocrity, and the church struggles with formality and worldliness. Using examples from Scripture and from the lives of saints who lived with this thirst for God, Tozer sheds light on the path to a closer walk with God.

Compiled from the much larger 12 book set of "Butler's Lives of the Saints", this volume contains short biographies of the Saints, for each day of the year, followed by a reflection for each entry.

Even with the best intentions, we can often get caught up in the affairs of this world and forget about God. To stay on the path to Heaven we must make, from time to time, an examination of our life's heading. This collection of essays reminds us to live for God rather than for ourselves, encourages us to rise above the concerns and cares of our daily life, and places God's existence - rather than possessions or success - as the true meaning of our lives. . . . While he was the superior of the young Jesuits at Manresa House, Roehampton, Rev...

In this book, Schweitzer traces the historical progress of 'Historical Jesus' research, from Hermann Reimarus in the mid 18th century, to William Wrede at the turn of the 20th. Schweitzer showed how Jesus' image had changed with the times and with the personal proclivities of the various authors. He concluded with his own synopsis and interpretation of what had been learned over the course of the previous century. He took the position that the life of Jesus must be interpreted in the light of Jesus' own convictions, which he characterized as those of late Jewish eschatology. (Introduction from Wikipedia, modified by JoeD)

Surely the most deeply-rooted need of the human soul, its purest aspiration, is for the closest possible union with God. As one turns over the pages of this little work, written by Blessed Albert the Great towards the end of his life, when that great soul had ripened and matured, one feels that here indeed is the ideal of one's hopes. (From the Preface)

The Book of Lies, or Liber 333, is a holy book in the Western occult tradition of Thelema, consisting of 91 short chapters of poems, aphorisms, rituals, and metaphysics. This recording is of the original 1913 publication, and thus omits the further commentaries added by Crowley for subsequent additions. Those familiar with Crowley’s hermetic writings will recognize his subversive and playful style. Beneath the layers of symbolism, contradiction, and blasphemy lies a biting critique of the puritanical social, political, and religious values of the author’s generation.

It will be seen at a glance that this is not a life of Christ in the usual sense. It is not a review of the events of the earthly existence of our Lord. There is a greater life and a larger work of Christ of which his life on earth is but a single chapter. While no apology is needed for any publication of the great theme of the gospel, it may be stated that there is a special reason for such a book as this. The author has examined many works on Christ and lists of hundreds more, and has conferred with competent literary authorities, and has learned of few works, if any, covering this greater life and work of Christ...

Pope’s Essay on Man, a masterpiece of concise summary in itself, can fairly be summed up as an optimistic enquiry into mankind’s place in the vast Chain of Being. Each of the poem’s four Epistles takes a different perspective, presenting Man in relation to the universe, as individual, in society and, finally, tracing his prospects for achieving the goal of happiness. In choosing stately rhyming couplets to explore his theme, Pope sometimes becomes obscure through compressing his language overmuch...

This collection is first in a series of writings from the ante-Nicene Fathers' works. This first collection includes all the so-called Infancy narratives from the New Testament Apocrypha. - Summary by KevinS

This is the second volume of four which goes into the details of Characters from John Bunyan's books. This one continues with the characters of Pilgrims Progress.

Dumas's 'Celebrated Crimes' was not written for children. The novelist has spared no language -- has minced no words -- to describe the violent scenes of a violent time.In some instances facts appear distorted out of their true perspective, and in others the author makes unwarranted charges. The careful, mature reader, for whom the books are intended, will recognize, and allow for, this fact.The first volume comprises the annals of the Borgias and the Cenci. The name of the noted and notorious Florentine family has become a synonym for intrigue and violence, and yet the Borgias have not been without stanch defenders in history...

These are Alice Lady Lovat's meditations on the treatise "Del Aprecio y Estima de la Divina Gracia," written by the prolific Roman Catholic theologian and mystic Juan Eusebio Nieremberg, S.J. (1595-1658). Nieremberg's treatise was published in 1638 in Madrid, where he taught Sacred Scripture at the Jesuit Colegio Imperial. Abbot Oswald Hunter-Blair, O.S.B. wrote the preface for Lovat's book, which bears an imprimatur. (Introduction by dave7)

The Spirits' Book, published in French in 1857, is considered the most important book in the Spiritist philosophy. It contains the bases for that philosophy and all important points in its doctrine: the belief in God, reincarnation and the survival of the soul after death, the fact that it is through reincarnation that the soul learns and moves closer to perfection. The work is the first of a five book canon, and it is organized in the form of questions and answers, with commentary by the codifier, Allan Kardec, a pseudonym of Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail.