It happened to fall to us as Canons of Christ Church to succeed each other in residence at the Cathedral in the weeks immediately preceding the Congress for the History of Religions which has just been held in Oxford; and we thought it our duty to do what we could to enable the citizens of Oxford, or such of them as formed the Cathedral congregation, to understand what was going on and to take their bearings as to its relation to their own religious life. And we have been led to think that...

Of the Sermons collected in the present volume, the first five and the seventh were preached before the University of Oxford, the sixth was preached before the University of Cambridge, the last five were preached in the Cathedral at Christchurch.1 The volume (the idea of which is due to the suggestion of a friend) may be regarded as supplementary, to a certain extent, to my Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament, published in 1891. Although, as I hope, that work contained suff...

"C.S. Lewis is the ideal persuader for the half-convinced, for the good man who would like to be a Christian but finds his intellect getting in the way." — Anthony Burgess, New York Times Book ReviewOur moral consciousness and moral judgements are proof to the human race that a moral being exists—God.Mere Christianity explores the core beliefs of Christianity by providing an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelie...

Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God Is Within You is a searching work of religious, ethical, and political argument, written in a prophetic prose that fuses scriptural exegesis, moral philosophy, and social criticism. Centered on the Sermon on the Mount, the book rejects institutional Christianity, state violence, militarism, and legal coercion, proposing instead a radical doctrine of nonresistance to evil by force. In the context of nineteenth-century Russian literature and European social t...

True Devotion to Mary is a book by Saint Louis de Montfort on the Roman Catholic theme of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The book attracted attention in the 20th century when in an address to the Montfortian Fathers, Pope John Paul II said that reading this book had been a "decisive turning point" in his life.Pope John Paul II (who had a strong Marian devotion) was a follower of de Montfort and singled him out in his Redemptoris Mater encyclical as a key example of Marian devotion.

A visionary masterpiece of Christian mysticism and theology.First published in 1758 under the Latin title De Caelo et Eius Mirabilibus et de Inferno, ex Auditis et Visis, this enduring work presents a profound and detailed account of the spiritual world. Drawing on his claimed visionary experiences, Emanuel Swedenborg describes the nature of heaven and hell, the condition of the soul after death, and the roles of angels, spirits, and devils in the divine o...

In proceeding to the contemplation of the mysteries of knowledge, we shall adhere to the celebrated and venerable rule of tradition, commencing from the origin of the universe, setting forth those points of physical contemplation which are necessary to be premised, and removing whatever can be an obstacle on the way; so that the ear may be prepared for the reception of the tradition of the Gnosis, the ground being cleared of weeds and fitted for the planting of the vineyard; for there is a...

I conceive that the origin, the growth, the decline, and the fall of those speculations respecting the existence, the powers, and the dispositions of beings analogous to men, but more or less devoid of corporeal qualities, which may be broadly included under the head of theology, are phenomena the study of which legitimately falls within the province of the anthropologist. And it is purely as a question of anthropology (a department of biology to which, at various times, I have given a good d...

What About the Controversies? Drawing from the questions he has heard from believers and nonbelievers around the world, R. A. Torrey discusses many Bible controversies, including: (1) Is there an opportunity for salvation after we die? (2) Did Jonah really live in the belly of a whale? (3) Did God command Abraham to kill his son? (4) Did Jesus commend the unjust steward? (5) Does God send us lying and evil spirits? (6) Does the Bible contradict itself? (7) Where did Cain get his wife? (8) ...

In "The Great Apostasy, Considered in the Light of Scriptural and Secular History," James E. Talmage meticulously explores the concept of apostasy within the context of Christian doctrine and historical events. This seminal work employs a scholarly lens, blending scriptural analysis with historical narratives, illuminating how the early Christian church experienced a decline from its original teachings. Talmage's masterful prose and rigorous argumentation provide a comprehensive examinatio...

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 31 January 1892) was a British Particular Baptist preacher who remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he is still known as the "Prince of Preachers". Spurgeon was to 19th century England what D. L Moody was to America. Although Spurgeon never attended theological school, by the age of twenty-one he was the most popular preacher in London. A strong figure in the Reformed Baptist tradition, defending the Church...

The question of forming habits on the basis of the grace of God is a very vital one. God regenerates us and puts us in contact with all His Divine resources, but He cannot make us walk according to His will; the practising is ours, not God’s. We have to take the initiative and “add to . . . faith virtue. . . .” To take the initiative means to make a beginning, and each one of us must do it for himself: We have to acquaint ourselves with the way we have to go; and beware of the tendency of ...