Divine Books

This is one of the foundation works for Baha'is and non-Baha'is alike who want to know what this glorious Faith means for this troubled age. The Beloved Guardian masterfully expounds on the specific tasks of Baha'is in the American Community in combatting racism, dealing with various other social and community issues, and in individually upholding a strong moral character.

What I especially love about this book is that it's only the 11th book in the Source Text series. The final revelation is only the half-way point of the journey. This is a great joke, but there's also a profound point being made: it's not enough to have the truth revealed to you, you have to know what to do with the truth once it's revealed. Which I guess is what the last half of the journey is all about. Myself, I am struggling just to understand this book.

America: Past and Present, Brief 6th edition by Robert A. Divine, T. H. Breen, George M. Frederickson, R. Hal Williams, Ariela J. Gross, H. W. Brands, Randy Roberts (Pearson Longman Publishers) America Past and Present, Brief Sixth Edition, is de-rived from the full-length America Past and Present, Seventh Edition. The Brief Sixth Edition shares the goal of its parent text: to present a clear, relevant, and balanced history of the United States as an unfolding story of national development, from the days of the earliest inhabitants to the present. The goal of the abridgement is to produce a condensation true to the original in all its dimensions-a miniaturized replica or bonsai, as it were-retaining the style and tone, and the interpretations, with their nuances and subtleties intact. This Brief Sixth Edition contains about two-thirds of the text of the full-length book, more than one-half of the maps, charts, and figures, and a commensurate proportion of the illustration program.

Presenting American history as the story of a nation in flux, America Past and Present, Brief Sixth Edition, goes beyond recounting the major events that have helped to shape the nation-the wars fought, the presidents elected, the treaties signed. The impact of change on human lives adds a vital dimension to the understanding of history. How did the American Revolution affect the lives of ordinary citizens? What was it like for both blacks and whites to live in a plantation society? How did the shift from an agrarian to an industrial economy affect men and women alike? What impact did technology, in the form of the auto-mobile and the computer, have on patterns of life in the twentieth century? As the narrative explores answers to these and other questions, it blends the excitement and drama of the American experience with in-sights about the social, political, economic, and cultural issues that underlie it.
America Past and Present, Brief Sixth Edition, espouses no particular ideology or point of view; instead the text encourages readers to explore the American past and reach their own conclusions about its significance in their lives. And yet the text does not avoid examining controversial issues but seeks to offer balanced and reasoned judgments on such morally charged subjects as the nature of slavery and the use of nuclear weapons. Although history may rarely repeat itself, the story of the American past is relevant to the problems and dilemmas facing the American nation and the American people today.
TEXT REVISIONS
The principal revisions in America Past and Present, Brief Sixth Edition, have been undertaken with the goals of clarifying the prose and sharpening the analysis, taking account of new scholarship, and offering new perspectives. As in previous editions, the roles that women and minority groups have played in the nation's development merit particular attention. These people appear not as passive witnesses to the historical narrative but as active participants in its evolution. New and expanded material throughout the chapters includes the following:
* Chapter 1, expanded coverage of Native Americans before encounter with Europeans.
* Chapter 6, new opening vignette highlighting the search for balance between public morality and private freedom in the new republic; additional coverage of political and social reform.
* Chapter 9, expanded discussion of treaties negotiated with Great Britain following the War of 1812.
* Chapter 11, revised and reorganized to enhance and emphasize coverage of the lives and lifestyles of slaves and their experience of slavery.
* Chapter 12, expanded discussion of black abolitionists and women's rights reformers.
* Chapter 16, restructured and revised to devote greater attention to lives of former slaves during Reconstruction; includes new sections on Black Codes and Jim Crow laws.
* Chapter 17, new opening vignette exploring a Native American's experience of conquest and exploitation of the American West.
* Chapter 26, new opening vignette highlighting personal experiences of hardship during the Great Depression; revised discussion of the stock market crash of 1929.
* Chapter 30, expanded discussion of the student protest movement of the 1960s.
* Chapter 31, shifts in the labor movement in the 1970s, including the rise of public employee unions; the changing American family at the turn of the century.
Chapter 33, revised and restructured to concentrate on the shifting economy of the 1990s to the present and the role of government policy in shaping American economy; updated with new discussion of foreign policy and homeland defense post-September 11, including new sections on the war on terrorism and war in Iraq.
FORMAT AND FEATURES
The more spacious page design of America Past and Present, Brief Sixth Edition, allows for larger maps and figures as well as the addition of marginal definitions of key terms in each chapter.
America Past and Present, Brief Sixth Edition, includes eight essays entitled "We Americans," each focusing on some aspect of diversity or multiculturalism in America. Some of the "We Americans" essays explore the roles different ethnic groups have played in shaping the nation; others examine change and constancy in the American population and national ethos. The eight "We Americans" essays are:
* Learning to Live with Diversity in the Eighteenth Century: What Is an American? (Chapter 4)
* Counting the People: The Federal Census of 1790 (Chapter 7)
* Women of Southern Households (Chapter 11) The Irish in Boston, 1845-1865 (Chapter 13)
* Hispanic America After 1848: A Case Study in Majority Rule (Chapter 14)
* Blacks in Blue: The Buffalo Soldiers in the West (Chapter 17)
* Ellis Island: Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears (Chapter 19)
* Unintended Consequences: The Second Great Migration (Chapter 30)
A second feature in America Past and Present, Brief Sixth Edition, is the "A Look at the Past" photographs. These illustrations of material culture artifacts show students some of the variety of materials historians use to learn about and interpret the past. Captions with the photographs include critical thinking questions that encourage students to reflect on the historical purpose and significance of the object pictured.

This book is brilliant. Unless I had read it I don't think I ever could have conceived of a plan of Divine government that was so ingenious. The basic concept here is that God governs the human race by allowing people to do as they wish. It reminds me of the saying 'He governs best who governs least.' Therefore God governs in a way that is basically invisible, and yet He still governs.

According to this book God maintains 'control' in myriads of subtle ways, and yet the system is set up in such a way that people really are free. That is, people can acknowledge or not acknowledge God, they can obey or disobey Him, they can think and do as they wish. I think this is a pretty good explanation of the existence of evil. It exists in potential as an opposite of God, dictated by the principle of freedom - but not created by God. I thought this was brilliant. It explains why bad things happen to good people, at least it does to me. That is, bad things are not caused by God but by the principle of freedom itself.

The best part of this book, however, is its articulation of the means God uses so that bad things will stop happening to good people. According to Swedenborg, God is guiding the human race in subtle and miraculous ways towards a happier future. It happens slowly and invisibly so as not to impinge on human freedom. The principle method is information. As people gather knowledge, the knowledge eventually has a great impact on how they act. Knowledge of God is called the Word of God, and it very gradually shapes human actions - but only insofar as people understand, accept, and willingly act on it. I find it easy to believe that information is that powerful.

The purpose of all of this, according to this book, is to bring people to happiness, both in this world and after death in heaven forever. Not a bad purpose.

A work of genius. I would call it Divinely inspired.

It is amazing to me that Ann Ree Colton and Jonathan Muro were such wondferful master teachers who wrote so many books full of wonderful knowledge.The Anointed is a book that teaches how to insulate yourself witih the whole armor of God, how to fast in a spirtiual way with some very powerful prayers, how to heal anger and many other interesting things. This is a good book for healers and ministers and the lay person to study. This book is full of sacred practicable tools and knowledge. that work when put into practice.

This book arrived in like new condition which was a concern with a used book. The seller also shipped quickly which was appreciated. Would definitely use this seller again!

Prior to my class with Dr. Reinhard Huetter (a formidable theologian in his own right), I had only encountered Thomas Aquinas in out of context snippets. That's not to say that I had negative perceptions of Thomas, only slightly off base. Velde's text was a secondary source to the main text, Thomas Aquinas' "The Treatise of the Divine Nature" from his "Summa Theologiae"(see below).

Velde briefly familiarizes the reader with major alternative interpretations of Aquinas without amassing a detail overload. He then proceeds to clearly demonstrate his own reading of Aquinas. Velde emphasizes the long history of ripping pieces of Aquinas' work out of its theological context to make it do strictly philosophical work. Velde reasserts the theological context of ALL the arguments in the Summa, especially Aquinas' "treatise" on God.

This book is dense and not for the faint of heart! I would suggest some prior engagement with Aristotle's "Metaphysics," if only briefly. You might also want to look at Torrell's brief introduction to Aquinas (see below).

This text is definitely a must for anyone who wishes to engage Aquinas beyond surface level; thus, any who wish to do theology should read this since a good theologian will familiarize herself with Thomas Aquinas!

Aquinas's Summa: Background, Structure, & Reception
The Theology Of Thomas Aquinas
The Treatise On The Divine Nature: Summa Theologiae I 1-13 (The Hackett Aquinas)

Book on the Message from the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Devotion to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary; plus a short biography of His messenger, Berthe Petit. 93 pages with Prologue, Forward and Index; First published in 1955; Imprimatur; Nihil Obstat. Excellent book on this devotion. Jesus tells Berthe Petit, 'Recourse to my Mother under the title I wish for her universally, is the last help I shall give before the end of time.'

Also recommended: The Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary; The Immaculate Heart of Mary

I participated in the original workshops from which these Guided Meditations were recorded. They are awesome! Michael Hammer's music, which was spontaneously channeled for each Meditation, Shilea and Zandriel's guided Meditations, with Antiquala's energetic support through her Dreamweaving! If you are Spiritual and would like an opportunity to work with guided meditations that are TRANSFORMATIVE, for yourself and for the Earth, this is your opportunity! Do you believe that consciousness can actually change matter, and activate DNA? If so, then these guided meditations are for you! I wouldn't necessarily recommend them for beginners to meditation, though, unless you are particularly guided to work with them. These meditations create real change in the person who does them, if you will allow it! Participating in these workshops were some of the finest, most spiritual, most exhilarating times of my life! They are professionally recorded, so the sound quality is excellent! Don't miss out!

Unless you are a literature professor or certified theologian, do not attempt to read Dante's Divine Comedy without this book!(My understanding is that Leithart happens to be both!) My teenage daughter and I attempted to work our way through the trilogy without Leithart's excellent guide. Finally, I just set it aside until Leithart's book was published. What a difference some guidance makes. Many view the Divine Comedy as merely a theological examination of the "places" of hell, purgatory, and hell. Leithart successfully leads students through a more insightful examination of the concept of "courtly love" and follows through the progression towards true, selfless love. This is a critical understanding for young people to differentiate. It opened our eyes to truths in Dante's book which, formerly a drudgery, became a favorite in her high school, homeschool education of worldviews.