The Catena Aurea presents the commentaries of the greatest theologians of the Church as if they were having a discussion on each verse of the Bible. St. Thomas Aquinas put this opus together from sermons and commentaries on the Gospels composed by over eighty early Church Fathers, providing their insights into each passage. The work shows his intimate acquaintance with the Early Fathers. The work was commissioned by Pope Urban IV, so that everyone could hold to the fundamental rule of the Church, that no one is to interpret Sacred Scripture contrary to the unanimous consent of the Fathers . This first volume covers Matthew 1 - 10.

Sermons 57 through 65 cover the Gospel According to Luke 9:57 to 10:21. - Summary by the Reader

The second volume in Frazer's seminal 12 volume set on anthropology and traditional systems of belief. The superstition and magical purpose of kings is further discussed alongside the worship of trees, vegetation, fire, and the sacred marriages, and the mystical bond between people and trees. - Summary by Leon Harvey

The value of this work is not limited to virgins. For although the author, Saint Ambrose of Milan, wrote this for his sister, the nun, Saint Marcellina, my hope is that this recording will prove edifying to all who desire to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in chastity.

In "Where We Got the Bible", the author, himself a convert from Calvinism, explains how the Catholic Church compiled the sacred text, how medieval monks preserved it, and how Catholic scholars first gave Christians the Bible in their own languages. This little book about the Bible grew out of lectures which the writer delivered on the subject to mixed audiences. The lectures were afterwards expanded, and appeared in a series of articles in the Catholic press 1908-9, and are now with slight alterations reprinted...

Noted author and historian, Charlotte Mary Yonge, presents Bible stories written for children in simple language. There are thee 52 stories for the year starting at the beginning of the Bible through the end, with three readings for each chapter. - Summary by Larry Wilson

The Epistle of James translated according to the letter and idioms of the original language. Summary by KevinS

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...

A catena is a form of biblical commentary, verse by verse, made up entirely of excerpts from earlier Biblical commentators, each introduced with the name of the author, and with such minor adjustments of words to allow the whole to form a continuous commentary. The texts are mainly compiled from mainstream authors, but they often contain fragments of certain patristic writings now otherwise lost. It has been asserted by Faulhaber that half of all the commentaries on scripture composed by the Church Fathers are now extant only in this form. - Summary by Wikipedia

Catherine Booth was very much partner with her husband, William Booth, in founding the little London mission that would flourish into the global ministry of the Salvation Army. She was not only an organizer but a powerful preacher in her own right. This is a short collection of her passionate, but practical sermons, still full of transforming truth. - Summary by Larry Wilson

A.M. Hills, theologian and preacher in the Wesleyan holiness tradition, gives us a detailed biography of Charles G. Finney, one of the most influential revivalists of the nineteenth century. Charles G. Finney was a key figure in initiating the Second Great Awakening in the United States. His preaching was passionate an powerful and his very presence would often bring conviction on those around him. Although his background was Baptist and Presbyterian, he vigorously promoted the doctrine of entire sanctification and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Finney also left his mark on education as president of Oberlin College in Ohio. - Summary by Larry Wilson

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 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...

Sermons 66 through 80 cover the Gospel According to Luke 10:22 to 11:18. - Summary by the Reader

A collection of 10 out of the 12 Encyclicals written by Pope Benedict XV, who was Pope from 1914-1922. Public domain English translations of 'In Hac Tanta' and 'Principi Apostolorum Petro' were not able to be located for this collection.

From The Argument: “Ephesus is the metropolis of Asia. It was dedicated to Diana, whom especially they worshipped there as their great goddess. Indeed so great was the superstition of her worshippers, that when her temple was burnt, they would not so much as divulge the name of the man who burnt it. The blessed John the Evangelist spent the chief part of his time there: he was there when he was banished and there he died. It was there too that Paul left Timothy, as he says in writing to him, “As I exhorted thee to tarry at Ephesus...

John Henry Newman's sermons enter the human heart easily and with transformative power. Lucid thinking, beautiful English prose, an integrated theology, insightful spiritual psychology, and a meditative biblical focus combine to make his sermons live even though many of them were written and preached almost 200 years ago. A convert to Roman Catholicism from the Anglican Church, Newman was made a Cardinal and had a wide influence on Catholic thought. More recently, his spiritual depth and personal holiness have been recognized, and in 2020 he was canonized becoming Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman. - Summary by Russell Hobbs

The volume now in the reader's hands completes a work which I began sixteen years ago, entitled "Expository Thoughts on the Gospels." By the good hand of God that work is now finished. For this I desire to be deeply thankful. "Better the end of a thing than the beginning of it." I have now only to commend to my gracious God and Father this feeble attempt to explain a most glorious portion of His revealed Scripture. I do it with humble thankfulness, but with a sense of utter weakness before the power of His word, and of inability to sound the depth even of its simplest sentence...

In 1548, Calvin published his "Commentaries on six of St Paul's Epistles, viz., Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Timothy. In his "Commentaries," the peculiar doctrines which mark his system of theology occur, of course, in a scattered manner, as the occasion of his text may call them forth.

The Epistle to the Philippians, is a letter written by St. Paul the Apostle and Timothy to the clergy of Philippi. It is included in the New Testament of the Bible. Philippi is a city in Macedonia, a city that is a colony, as Luke says. It there that a seller of purple was converted, a woman of uncommon piety and heedfulness. There also the ruler of the synagogue believed, and Paul was scourged with Silas. This commentary is composed of a serious of homilies delivered by St. John Chrysostom, the golden-mouthed preacher of Constantinople. - Summary by ancientchristian

Amongst the many wonderful truths which are spoken of God in the Bible, one of the most wonderful and beautiful is that He is a "God of comfort." "Comfort" is such a soothing word in itself, that, the moment we hear of it in connection with God we are led to expect great things; some cheering, some lifting up, some refreshment, some ease, some lightening of our trouble, something very good.O Thou most worthy judge eternal, we have no comfort in ourselves, and unless Thou hadst revealed Thyself as a comforting God we could have had none in Thee...

The Crusades were a series of religious wars fought between 1096 and 1272 to recover the Holy Land from Islamic rule. According to the Latin Church, Crusaders were penitent pilgrims whose sins were forgiven. British historian, George Cox, writes of the churchmen, great and small, who inspired the Crusades, of the warriors who left families and lands behind, of the wily Venetian merchants and Byzantine emperors who exploited the knights, and of the valor of the Saracens. Here are accounts of sublime sacrifice and bestial ferocity, of dynastic conflict within the Crusader States, of sieges, starvation, pestilence, and ambush, and of the clash and interpenetration of two cultures...

"Holy indeed are all the Epistles of Paul: but some advantage have those which he sent after he was in bonds: those, for instance, to the Ephesians and Philemon: that to Timothy, that to the Philippians, and the one before us: for this also was sent when he was a prisoner,… "But why do I say that these Epistles have some advantage over the rest in this respect, because he writes while in bonds? As if a champion were to write in the midst of carnage and victory; so also in truth did he. For himself too was aware that this was a great thing, for writing to Philemon he saith, “Whom I have begotten in my bonds...

The Catena Aurea presents the commentaries of the greatest theologians of the Church as if they were having a discussion on each verse of the Bible. St. Thomas Aquinas put this opus together from sermons and commentaries on the Gospels composed by over eighty early Church Fathers, providing their insights into each passage. The work shows his intimate acquaintance with the Early Fathers. The work was commissioned by Pope Urban IV, so that everyone could hold to the fundamental rule of the Church, that no one is to interpret Sacred Scripture contrary to the unanimous consent of the Fathers .

As one of the first two bishops of the Methodist church in America and one of the most well-known circuit riders during the spread of Methodism, Francis Asbury kept a journal of his travels and activities. His journal begins with his prayerful decision to come to America in 1771 and continues to December of 1815, a few months before his death. In the meantime, we travel with Rev. Asbury across the ocean, over mountains, through rivers, and up and down the whole length of the fledgling United States of America. - Summary by Devorah Allen

What can be said? It's the ASV Bible, copyrighted 1901 by Thomas Nelson & Sons. I have previously recorded the New Living Translation of the Bible and would now like to do this version in order to make the Holy Scriptures more available on.

An accounting of the need, purpose and events surrounding the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ though the Prophet Joseph Smith. - Summary by Wayne Cooke

"And God tempted Abraham and said unto him: take Isaac, thine only son, whom thou lovest and go to the land Moriah and sacrifice him there on a mountain which I shall show thee. Genesis 22:1" Soren Kierkegaard wondered how Abraham made the movement of faith that made him the father of faith mentioned in the New Testament . Fear and Trembling is the product of his wonder. Work out your salvation in fear and trembling . One-third of "Fear and Trembling" was translated in 1923 by Lee Hollander in the University of Texas Bulliten. This book has already been read in parts in the Short Nonfiction Collection but I think some might be interested in listening to it as a complete reading.

Jung says in his subtitle that this work is a study of the transformations and symbolisms of the libido and a contribution to the history of the evolution of thought.

Purgatory by FX Schouppe, SJ, a french Catholic theologian who died in November, 1904 details the place where saved souls go before Heaven. Think of it as a temporary cleaning or purging place for those who aren't going to Hell. Fire, burning and intense pain for various lengths of time make up the experience of Purgatory. The author details eyewitness accounts and blood chilling stories from the perspective of a number of saints who went through it. We can pray, give alms and have Masses said for the souls in Purgatory to shorten their and our time there. This book really turned me around! Purgatory will scare the Hell out of you!

A poetic version of the Psalms by Sir Philip Sidney and his sister, Mary Sidney Herbert, the Countess of Pembroke . "It is possible that the original Autograph manuscript of Sir Philip Sidney may still exist in the library at Wilton. It would have been desirable to have ascertained this, as it might prove which were versified by him, and which by his sister. This I have not been able to accomplish." Some of the Psalms may have been written by a third party. The Christian Remembrancer magazine for June, 1821 contains a paper by Dr...

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.

Sermons 81 through 95 cover the Gospel According to Luke 11:19 to 12:59.

The Catena Aurea presents the commentaries of the greatest theologians of the Church as if they were having a discussion on each verse of the Bible. St. Thomas Aquinas put this opus together from sermons and commentaries on the Gospels composed by over eighty early Church Fathers, providing their insights into each passage. The work shows his intimate acquaintance with the Early Fathers. The work was commissioned by Pope Urban IV, so that everyone could understand the established meaning of the Gospels from the teaching of the early Fathers.

An exhaustive verse-by-verse study of Acts, integrating it with both the Gospels and the Old Testament, by one of the more unconventional theologians of his day. - Summary by Joanne Turner

Brief Bible stories from the Old Testament, many accompanied by poems. - Summary by Larry Wilson

These sermons on the Psalms of the Holy Prophet and King David are as poetic as the Psalms themselves. They are well-suited for inspirational and devotional listening. - Summary by The Reader

Frank Boreham was a well known preacher who served in England, Australia, and New Zealand. He published dozens of books and thousands of editorials during his lifetime, with no sign of slowing down, even up until his death at age 88. He wrote with a distinctive style, seeming to be able to draw a spiritual lesson out of any conceivable topic.In this volume, Boreham invites us to enter his book and his thoughts as if we were honored guests entering his home, with an evening of hospitality and fellowship before us. - Summary by Devorah Allen

No one goes to hell by committing sin in the abstract, sin in general. Our character traits, talents and dispositions, our experiences — everything about us points out to us a particular road to hell — one of the seven that are called the capital sins. For us, this or that particular one is the fastest and easiest because of who we are, what we are, where we find ourselves. And the road sign will read either pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy or sloth. The seven capital sins are called capital because they are the sins of primary importance and inevitably spawn a whole litter of other sins...

The subject of the treatise was suggested, as is plain from the text itself, as the result of a public, or at any rate semi-public, discussion with some person unknown in which St. Bernard, strongly commending the work of grace, had seemed to lay himself open to the charge of unduly minimizing the function of free will. There is about the treatise the fragrance of mystical theology; not the mystical theology of the esoteric, but that of the simple Christian living in the world. It is wonderful how this ascetic, this cloistered recluse, touches his subject with the hand of one who knows the pulsations of average humanity.

This short treatise by St. Clement's is an exposition on the words of Jesus Christ to the young rich man, recounted in the gospels. In the account, the man asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. First, Jesus advises the man to obey the commandments, then Jesus adds: "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." However, when he heard this, "he became very sorrowful because he was very wealthy....

Fr. John Gerard was an English Jesuit priest who operated covertly in England during the Elizabethan era, during which the Catholic Church was subject to persecution. Gerard notably not only successfully hid from the English authorities for eight years before his capture but also endured extensive torture, escaped from the Tower of London, recovered and continued with his covert mission. After his escape to the Continent, he was instructed by his Jesuit superiors to write a book about his life...

The Catena Aurea presents the commentaries of the greatest theologians of the Church as if they were having a discussion on each verse of the Bible. St. Thomas Aquinas put this opus together from sermons and commentaries on the Gospels composed by over eighty early Church Fathers, providing their insights into each passage. The work shows his intimate acquaintance with the Early Fathers. The work was commissioned by Pope Urban IV, so that everyone could understand the established meaning of the Gospels from the teaching of the early Fathers. - Summary by ancientchristian

While many of Calvin's sermons are now lost after they were sold by weight by the library of Geneva, his sermons on Ephesians have been preserved, having been translated into Early Modern English by Arthur Golding . Arthur Golding's claim to fame is that his translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses influenced Shakespeare. A comparison with Calvin's commentary on the same letter shows that Calvin saw preaching as no mere explanation of the text - the sermons work consecutively through the text but circle round on the point many time with brief illustration and continuous application to the hearers...

The expansion of a lecture delivered in connection with the National Council of Public Morals

The fourth volume in Frazer's seminal 12 volume set on anthropology and traditional systems of belief. With this third part of The Golden Bough we take up the question, why had the King of the Wood at Nemi regularly to perish by the hand of his successor? Topics investigated include the practice and intention of human sacrifice, the mortality of gods, the regular killing of divine kings and spirits, and the superstitions surrounding the succession of the soul. - Summary by Leon Harvey

This little volume is by no means intended to be a theological work. Nor does it attempt to show the details of the Christian life. The author seeks to point out the principal means by which sincere souls may be saved and keep saved. It is intended to be a simple, direct exposition of the way of salvation, put in every-day language, with the earnest desire that ‘‘he that runneth may read,"’ and that the reader may be helped in reaching the goal, and in finding an abundant entrance into the City of God. With this single aim we launch this little book, praying that it may be helpful to some soul who seeks to know what God has for him. - Summary by G. A. McLaughlin

Saint Anthony of Padua is especially invoked and venerated all over the world as the patron saint for the recovery of lost items and is credited with many miracles involving lost people, lost things and even lost spiritual goods. The names and places in these stories are fiction; the incidents, however, are real. They were sent to the Editor by clients of the Saint in their accounts of thanksgivings for favors received through St. Anthony's intercession and for which most of them had promised publication. The writer has simply woven these accounts into readable stories.

Shows God's providence in every aspect of our lives. - Summary by RuthP

Sermons 96 through 110 cover the Gospel According to Luke 13:6 through 16:17. The conclusion of Sermon 96, the whole of 97, and the beginning of 98 have perished. Therefore, they have been replaced with text from Mai’s Nov. Bib. Pat. Vol. ii. pp. 315-321; and Cramer, ii. 107, where some of the following extract is given anonymously; and from the Aurea Catena, p. 201. ed. Venet. 1775.

Questions and answers delivered at church meetings on various subjects, particularly relating to personal holiness, grace and sin, belonging to the genre of Purtian casuistry.

Anna is the daughter of a clergyman in a small town in Vermont. She is very happy with her lot. But when she goes to nurse a woman in the big city, she starts to discover the world. She sees new places, meets new people, and falls in love. This will test all the resolutions she once held dear. - Summary by Stav Nisser.

Twelve year old Helen is determined to be a good girl, but the harder she tries, the worse her days go. Is there any hope? And what made such a change in the life of her grown-up brother in the seven years he was away from home? Little do the Lesters know what a pivotal year this will be in each of their lives.This is the first book ever published by Isabella Alden whose pen name was Pansy.

This is classic book by scholar, educator, theologian and preacher George Frederick Maclear, headmaster of King's College School, London, and later warden of St. Augustine's Missionary College, Canterbury. Each short chapter is a nugget of events and persons of the Old Testament, giving a very accessible overview of history from the Earliest Times to those of Ezra and Nehemiah.

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

Advent readings and spoken hymns for each of the Four Sundays of the Advent Season.

There are prayers of our Lord, the apostles, the martyrs, and the saints covering the period of the Early Church from its beginning through the fifth century. There are some prayers from each of the first five centuries. The treasure house from which to choose is almost unlimited. It is a vast and fruitful field and anyone is amply rewarded who delves into it.The prayers have been selected primarily for their spiritual and devotional content. Many have been laid aside with regret that they could not be included in this book, but its compass in size is set and only so many can be used...

The Fundamentals: A Testimony To The Truth is a set of ninety essays published between 1910 and 1915 by the Testimony Publishing Company of Chicago. According to its foreword, the publication was designed to be "a new statement of the fundamentals of Christianity." However, its contents reflect a concern with certain theological innovations related to liberal Christianity, especially biblical higher criticism. It is widely considered to be the foundation of modern Christian fundamentalism. The essays were written by sixty-four different authors, representing most of the major Protestant Christian denominations...

The First Epistle to the Corinthians is attributed to St. Paul the Apostle and a co-author named Sosthenes, and is addressed to the materially wealthy Christian church in Corinth. The letter can be divided as follows: 1) Thanksgiving 2) Division in Corinth 3) Immorality in Corinth 4) Difficulties in Corinth 5) The Doctrine of the Resurrection 6) Closing Remarks . In general, the letter is rich in instruction and covers many relevant issues for Christians today. This collection of St. John Chrysostom homilies on the letter gives us a chance to hear one of the greatest minds of the early church expound on its contents. - Summary by ancientchristian

The two first and essential means of grace are the Word of God and Prayer. These two means of grace must be used in their right proportion. If we read the Word and do not pray, we may become puffed up with knowledge, without the love that buildeth up. If we pray without reading the Word, we shall be ignorant of the mind and will of God, and become mystical and fanatical, and liable to be blown about by every wind of doctrine.These Addresses are not to be regarded as exhaustive, but suggestive. This...