THE Talmud, exclusive of the vast Rabbinic literature attached to it, represents the uninterrupted work of Judaism from Ezra to the sixth century of the common era, the resultant of all the living forces and of the whole religious activity of a nation. If we consider that it is the faithful mirror of the manners, the institutions, the knowledge of the Jews, in a word of the whole of their civilization in Judea and Babylonia during the prolific centuries preceding and following the advent o...

The following passage from the biography of Arsene Darmesteter, prefixed to Volume I of his Reliques Scientifiques, deserves quotation, both on account of its criticism of Emanuel Deutsch's brilliant article on the Talmund, which originally appeared in the quarterly review for October, 1867, and as an illustration of the phenomenon, often noted in the scientific world, that investigators, wholly independent and perhaps in ignorance of each other, publish work of similar import simultaneous...

Based on the researches of the best Jewish scholars, these works are all accessible to the general reader and give us a bird's-eye view of the salient features in Jewish culture. This premium edition contains writings by Israel Abrahams, reader Talmudic literature at the University of Cambridge, Arsène Darmesteter, distinguished philologist co-founder of the Société des Études Juives in France, and Joshua Abelson, principal of the Jewish theological preparatory school Aria College and mini...

Elegant, passionate, and filled with the love of God's creation, Abraham Joshua Heschel's The Sabbath has been hailed as a classic of Jewish spirituality ever since its original publication--and has been read by thousands of people seeking meaning in modern life.In this brief yet profound meditation on the meaning of the Seventh Day, Heschel, one of the most widely respected religious leaders of the twentieth century, introduced the influential idea of an ...

Writing to a Roman layman and enquiring Christian named Lawrence in AD 421, Augustine intended The Handbook: A Guide on Faith, Hope, and Love as a guide for catechesis and spiritual development. In this strikingly concise book, he breaks down Christian life to its most basic elements–faith, hope, and love–and by examining these central commitments he provides one of the most accessible and direct introductions to Christianity and to his thought.The Handbook

Abraham Joshua Heschel was one of the most revered religious leaders of the 20th century, and God in Search of Man and its companion volume*, Man Is Not Alone*, two of his most important books, are classics of modern Jewish theology. God in Search of Man combines scholarship with lucidity, reverence, and compassion as Dr. Heschel discusses not man's search for God but God's for man--the notion of a Chosen People, an idea which, he writes, "signifies not a quality inherent...

Considered one of Jung's most controversial works, Answer to Job also stands as Jung's most extensive commentary on a biblical text. Here, he confronts the story of the man who challenged God, the man who experienced hell on earth and still did not reject his faith. Job's journey parallels Jung's own experience--as reported in The Red Book: Liber Novus--of descending into the depths of his own unconscious, confronting and reconciling the rejected aspects of his soul....

From the Trappist monk and foremost thinker of the twentieth century, an exploration of the nature of the soul's identity.The New Man shows Thomas Merton at the height of his powers and has as its theme the question of spiritual identity. What must we do to recover possession of our true selves? By way of an answer, Merton discusses how we have become strangers to ourselves by our dependence on outward identity and success, while our real need is for a con...

The Philokalia is a collection of texts written between the fourth and the fifteenth centuries by spiritual masters of the Orthodox Christian tradition.First published in Greek in 1782, then translated into Slavonic and later into Russian, The Philokalia has exercised an influence in the recent history of the Orthodox Church far greater than that of any book apart from the Bible. It is concerned with themes of universal importance: how man may develop his...

The Philokalia is a collection of texts on prayer and the spiritual life, written between the fourth and fifteenth centuries by masters of the Orthodox Christian tradition. First published in Greek in 1782, translated into Slavonic and later into Russian, this is the first complete translation into English. It is made from the original Greek, and will be completed in five volumes.Volume IV contains some of the most important writings in the entire collection. St Sy...

Pope Francis’s first papal letter, reflecting on the nature of belief and the need to renew our faith for a bright future of charity and love for all“Precisely because it is linked to love, the light of faith is concretely placed at the service of justice, law and peace. Faith is born of an encounter with God’s primordial love, wherein the meaning and goodness of our life become evident; our life is illumined to the extent that it enters into the space opened b...

The Sepher Yetzirah is the oldest and most mysterious of all kabbalistic texts. Its exact origins are unknown, and hotly debated. Some scholars believe it might have an early Medieval origin, while others emphasize earlier traditions appearing in the book. When properly understood, Sepher Yetzirah becomes the instruction manual for a very special type of meditation meant to strengthen concentration and to aid the development of telekinetic and telepathic powers.This Enhanced E-Book...