Religious fundamentalism Books

Book SynopsisThe KJV Personal Size Large Print Reference Bible is as easy to read as it is to carry along with you. At the same time, it has a substantial set of resources to enhance your time reading and studying the Scriptures.

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Book SynopsisJon Krakauer is the author of several books and has received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. According to the award citation, Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.Trade ReviewA provocative look at the twisted roots of American fundamentalism. -- Will Self * Evening Standard Books of the Year *Excellent . . . a lucid, judicious, even sympathetic account not just of Mormon Fundamentalism but of the seductive power of fanaticism in general. * Daily Telegraph *Remarkable . . . for anyone interested in the wilder frontiers of spiritual conviction, this book is a must. * Independent *

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Book SynopsisSam Harris (Author) Sam Harris is the author of five New York Times bestsellers. His books include The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, The Moral Landscape, Free Will, Lying, and Waking Up. The End of Faith won the 2005 PEN/Martha Albrand Award for Nonfiction. His work has been published in more than twenty languages. Harris has written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Economist, The Times, the Boston Globe, the Atlantic, Annals of Neurology, and other outlets. He received a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA. Please visit his website at SamHarris.org.Richard Dawkins (Foreword By) Richard Dawkins is author of The Selfish Gene, voted The Royal Society's Most Inspiring Science Book of All Time, and also the bestsellers The Blind Watchmaker, Climbing Mount Improbable, The Ancestor's Tale, The God Delusion, and two volumes of autobiography, An Appetite for Wonder and Brief Candle in the Dark. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and a fellow of both the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Literature. In 2013, Dawkins was voted the world's top thinker in Prospect magazine's poll of 10,000 readers from over 100 countries.Trade ReviewI dare you to read this book... it will not leave you unchanged. Read it if it is the last thing you do -- Richard DawkinsSam Harris's elegant little book is the most refreshing and wonderful source of ammunition for those who, like me, hold to no religious doctrine... Read it and form your own view, but do not ignore its message -- Roger PenroseSam Harris is a brave, intelligent, clear-sighted author whose brilliant essay should be read by every adult who has ever believed that a religious faith can solve the world's problems -- Desmond MorrisHarris and (Richard) Dawkins both share a wonderfully refreshing refusal to parse their language into more saccharine statements... Guaranteed to enrage all but the most delusional theist * Irish Independent *Harris picks apart the very seams of Christian belief in such a convincing fashion that any shred of belief I had has now been obliterated. This is a good thing. We only get one life - why waste one minute of it on mumbo jumbo * London Lite *

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Book SynopsisA RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK and a powerful and deeply personal exploration of a divided country - and a hopeful vision for change.''This is not another book about the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims. It is THE book. . . . Absolutely not to be missed.'' - Matthew d''AnconaSarfraz Manzoor grew up in a working-class Pakistani Muslim family in Luton - where he was raised to believe that they were different, they had an alien culture and they would never accept him. They were white people.In today''s deeply divided Britain we are often told they are different, they have a different culture and values and they will never accept this country. This time they are Muslims.Weaving together history, reportage and memoir, Sarfraz Manzoor journeys around Britain in search of the roots of this division - from the fear that Islam promotes violence, to the suspicion that Muslims wish to live seTrade ReviewThis is not another book about the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims. It is THE book. With rigour, compassion, and fearless insight Sarfraz Manzoor explores this long-contested terrain to triumphant and often moving effect. Absolutely not to be missed. * Matthew d'Ancona *An absolutely essential and inspiring read. This excellent book is filled with stories of hope and optimism we rarely hear but which need to be told. * Nazir Afzal *Sarfraz Manzoor is a gifted writer and They is the thoughtful, personal and hopeful read we all need right now. * Matt Forde *Extraordinarily researched and courageously confronting, Sarfraz Manzoor writes with a rare blend of historical depth and personal authenticity. Profoundly personal and refreshingly honest, They tells the urgent and often untold story of Muslim Britain. * David Lammy MP *Sarfraz Manzoor has taken up the challenge of trying to promote understanding in our segregated society. He succeeds magnificently. This book is enlightening, analytical and even inspiring but above all it's a thoroughly entertaining read. * Alan Johnson *Humane, heart breaking and hopeful * Kirsty Wark *A deeply personal and wonderful journey around identity, on who we are and wish to be: evocative, timely, powerful, superb. * Philippe Sands *A great achievement. They brings sanity to a debate that all too often lacks it. A must-read for anyone who wants to know why multiculturalism appears to have failed so many Muslims. * George Alagiah *Sarfraz Manzoor made me laugh, cry and broke my heart a little as he took me on an eye opening journey through a world I'd only ever glanced at as an outsider. * Shappi Khorsandi *An urgent exploration of issues about which everyone has opinions but precious few have proper knowledge. Manzoor employs a journalist's brain and a storyteller's heart to redress this imbalance through a seamless blend of investigation, examination and memoir. Deeply personal and resolutely unflinching, he manages to be both insider and outsider while providing crucial perspectives on some of the most pungent social and cultural divisions of our age. I finished They with more knowledge than I started, more understanding and, crucially, more hope. * James O’Brien *Authentic, brave and powerful storytelling * Sayeeda Warsi *Compelling, optimistic and intensely personal . Hope is ever present in what is simply a must read * Sajid Javid *This beautifully written, deeply compassionate and ultimately hopeful book gently demolishes many of the toxic myths about British Islam without exempting them from criticism. It deserves a very wide readership and will do much good * Peter Oborne *A vital book for our times - we all need to read it * Jon Snow *This big-hearted book provides reason to hope that a more generous and trusting world can exist * WI Magazine *This is an important book that deserves to be read by the widest possible audience * Radio Times *

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE 2017 COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARDIn the vein of Bad Blood and Why be Happy when you can be Normal?: an enthralling, at times shocking, and deeply personal family memoir of growing up in, and breaking away from, a fundamentalist Christian cult.As heard on Jeremey VineAt university when I made new friends and confidantes, I couldn't explain how I'd become a teenage mother, or shoplifted books for years, or why I was afraid of the dark and had a compulsion to rescue people, without explaining about the Brethren or the God they made for us, and the Rapture they told us was coming. But then I couldn't really begin to talk about the Brethren without explaining about my father'As Rebecca Stott's father lay dying he begged her to help him write the memoir he had been struggling with for years. He wanted to tell the story of their family, who, for generations had all been members of a fundamentalist Christian sect. Yet, each time he reached a certain point, he became tangled in a thicketTrade Review'Beautiful, dizzying, terrifying, Stott's memoir maps the unnerving hinterland where faith becomes cruelty and devotion turns into disaster. A brave, frightening and strangely hopeful book' Olivia Laing, author of The Lonely City ‘A marvellous, strange, terrifying book’ Francis Spufford, author of Golden Hill ‘Truly magnificent: a big, beautiful, brutal, and tender masterpiece. A deeply affecting human story that also goes to the dark heart of who we are and how the world works’ Mark Mills, author of The Savage Garden ‘Stott is masterly as both a storyteller and a historian’ TLS ‘By rights Rebecca Stott's memoir ought to be a horror story. But while the historian in her is merciless in exposing cruelties and corruption, Rebecca the child also lights up the book, so passionate and imaginative that it helps explain how she survived, and – even more miraculous – found the compassion and understanding to do justice to the story of her father and the painful family life he created’ Sarah Dunant, author of The Birth of Venus ‘She’s a beautiful writer and there is a powerful almost luminous quality to the book’ Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love ‘This book is important; … there isn’t an uninteresting paragraph in this furious and compassionate book’ The Times ‘An intense accomplishment’ Sunday Times ‘In the Days of Rain is a double memoir: it describes both Rebecca’s own childhood and her father Roger’s life. It is not, though, in any way a misery memoir and that’s what makes it such an attractive and interesting book’ Spectator ‘Stott deploys her multiplicity of skills to good effect: as a historian, she delves into newspaper clippings, tape recordings, archive materials, a host of memoirs and books on doctrine, theology and the Exclusive Brethren. As a novelist, she makes the tale dramatic … As an essayist, Stott weaves ideas together with ease and economy’ Guardian

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Book SynopsisExposes and explains the unlikely alliance between Evangelical Christians and anti-transgender feministsTrade Review'Compellingly explains the seemingly quixotic anti-trans alliance of radical feminists and conservative evangelicals. Intellectually rich yet accessible, it demonstrates how that alliance is rooted in a shared ideological inheritance and weaponizing of a range of political tactics and hackneyed conspiracies. In doing so, it also points to ways in which their anti-trans stances can be understood and countered.' -- Pippa Catterall, Professor of History and Policy, University of Westminster; Chair of AIDS Memory UK'We live in a time when anti-trans politics is becoming increasingly dehumanizing and dangerous. Reading this illuminating book will help the open-minded, open-hearted Christian reader hear, encounter, and love their trans neighbors. I learned much from this book. I am grateful for it.' -- David P. Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics, Mercer UniversityTable of ContentsPreface: A Tower to the Heavens Introduction Part I: An 'Unlikely' Alliance 1. Warzone 2. Of Feminists and Mystics 3. Trans as Heresy in Evangelical Thought 4. The Alliance Goes to War Part II: The Theological Bit (And Why It Matters) 5. Gender Orthodoxy 6. Rebellion Part III: Covering the Cracks 7. 'God is bullshit, and so is gender' 8. Masking Strategies Part IV: The Future 9. A Coming Storm? 10. Getting Christianity Right Acknowledgements Notes

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Book SynopsisThere is widespread concern today about the “radicalization” of young muslim men, and the deprived areas of Western cities are believed to have become breeding grounds of home-grown extremism. But how do young Muslims growing up in the cities of the West really live? This book takes us beyond the rhetoric and into the housing estates on the outskirts of Paris to meet Adama, Radouane, Hassan, Tarik, Marley, and a shadowy figure whose name suddenly and brutally became known to the world at the time of the Charlie Hebdo shootings: Amédy Coulibaly. Seeing Amédy through the eyes of close friends and other young Muslim men in the neighbourhoods where they grew up, Fabien Truong uncovers a network of competing loyalties and maps the road these youths take to resolve the conflicts they face: becoming Muslim. For these young men, Islam stands, often alone, as a resource, a gateway – as if it were the last route to “escape” without betrayal and to “fight” in a meaningful and noble way. Becoming Muslim does not necessarily lead to the radicalized “other”. It is more like a long-distance race, a powerful reconversion of the self that allows for introspection and change. But it can also lead to a belligerent presentation of the self that transforms a dead-end into a call to arms.Trade Review"Truong vividly describes the lives of young men from immigrant backgrounds in the Paris banlieue, charting their trajectories from dropping out of school towards crime and then prison. This is an extremely valuable book, rich in ethnographic detail and very well written: I was irresistibly drawn in to this world of kickbacks, payoffs and unsettlingly deep resentment against the whole of French society."—David Lehmann, University of Cambridge, UK "Truong take us deep inside the personal world of six immigrant young men from France's disreputable urban periphery. He shows how they navigate the promises and demands of the school, the street economy, the prison and the police, and why they are attracted (or not) by Islam as a 'floating political imaginary.' An insightful and urgent contribution to the analysis of the social fabrication of terrorists that punctures the sonorous but empty notion of 'radicalization.'"—Loïc Wacquant, University of California, Berkeley "It is not a clash of civilizations that Fabien Truong vividly describes but a collapse of communities, as young men in transitional stages of their life search for significance in the West's Muslim diaspora. If you want to understand how most overcome feelings of rootlessness and despair and how a few become jihadis, read this book."—Scott Atran, CNRS, Paris, and University of Oxford "... an excellent ethnography of Muslim masculinity."—Times Higher Education "... a thoughtful, well-crafted ethnography that humanizes the faceless, amorphous 'Muslim youth' of the French banlieues."—Los Angeles Review of Books "Radicalized Loyalties is an outstanding study of the social worlds of immigrant young men living in the urban periphery of Paris.... The book will be of great interest to scholars within the cross-disciplinary field of (counter)terrorism studies as well as to social scientists and anthropologists interested in state-margin relationships, Islam, the secular state, and the administration of the urban periphery in the West."EthnosTable of ContentsNote to the Reader Acknowledgements Introduction: The call of the ground Friday the 13th Behind absurdity, the social world The magic of "radicalization" A bad religion for "bad seeds"? Finding Allah at street-level Chapter 1: Common histories Making a home in public housing: a French history "Boys will be boys" Conflicting loyalties, recognition of debts "A white fence-post in a dark forest" Rebels without a cause, or a cause without rebels? Chapter 2: On the margins of the city Imprints of school The incompleteness of le business Common criminals Masculine machines Police, death, and hatred: a political trinity Chapter 3: Reconversions Being or becoming Muslim? The "community" illusion The Koran: reading and sharing In the here and now: getting better Beyond the here and now: being the best The value of reconversion and the reconversion of values Chapter 4: War and Peace Turning thirty: the verdict Toward a sociology of inner peace Kif-kif Desires for Syria: going off to war, over there "I am Amédy": at war, over here Epilogue Notes Index

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Book SynopsisV. S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad in 1932. He came to England on a scholarship in 1950. He spent four years at University College, Oxford, and began to write, in London, in 1954. He pursued no other profession.His novels include A House for Mr Biswas, The Mimic Men, Guerrillas, A Bend in the River, and The Enigma of Arrival. In 1971 he was awarded the Booker Prize for In a Free State. His works of nonfiction, equally acclaimed, include Among the Believers, Beyond Belief, The Masque of Africa, and a trio of books about India: An Area of Darkness, India: A Wounded Civilization and India: A Million Mutinies Now.In 1990, V. S. Naipaul received a knighthood for services to literature; in 1993, he was the first recipient of the David Cohen British Literature Prize. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He lived with his wife Nadira and cat Augustus in Wiltshire, and died in 20Trade ReviewSceptical, enquiring, sharply observant and unfailingly stylish. * Guardian *Peerless . . . the human encounters are described minutely, superbly, picking up inconsistencies in people’s tales, catching the uncertainties and the nuances . . . there is a candour to his writing, a constant precision at its heart. * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisPerfect for anyone looking for a new way to experience the revered KJV. This edition is published in large KJV Comfort Print type, which was designed exclusively for Thomas Nelson to be the most readable at any size.The KJV Paragraph-style Large Print Thinline Bible features the timeless beauty of the trustworthy King James Version Bible. While the traditional design of the King James text starts each verse on its own line, this edition improves the reading experience and comprehension by keeping the writers’ thoughts together in paragraph format. And with Thomas Nelson’s exclusive KJV Comfort Print®, you’ll enjoy typography designed to be exceptionally easy-to-read and honoring the legacy of the King James Version.In 1611 the King James Bible was published and authorized by the monarch of England and Scotland. Today, more than 400 years since its initial publication, the KJV is consi

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Book SynopsisDespite predictions of continuing secularisation, the twenty-first century has witnessed a surge of religious extremism and violence in the name of God.In this powerful and timely book, Jonathan Sacks explores the roots of violence and its relationship to religion, focusing on the historic tensions between the three Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.Drawing on arguments from evolutionary psychology, game theory, history, philosophy, ethics and theology, Sacks shows how a tendency to violence can subvert even the most compassionate of religions. Through a close reading of key biblical texts at the heart of the Abrahamic faiths, Sacks then challenges those who claim that religion is intrinsically a cause of violence, and argues that theology must become part of the solution if it is not to remain at the heart of the problem.This book is a rebuke to all those who kill in the name of the God of life, wage war in the name of the God of peace, hate Trade ReviewThe former Chief Rabbi, Lord (Jonathan) Sacks, is one of the most interesting thinkers, writers and speakers about today. His interventions into the public debate rarely fail to encourage thought, knowledge and indeed wisdom. I suspect that this latest book will contribute a significant amount to the ferocious debates around religion and violence in our world today. There is a huge amount in the new book, including much to find agreement with as well as some things I am sure some readers will want to push back on. -- Douglas Murray * The Spectator *Rabbi Sacks has eloquently set out the theological case for confronting religious violence in his book Not in God's Name. * Standpoint Magazine *Rabbi Jonathan Sacks's Not in God's Name is a masterpiece that should be read by all of us. The book is an essential and brilliant dissertation. * Jewish Chronicle *

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Book SynopsisAhmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist who reports for the BBC Online, The New York Times, The Financial Times, The New York Review of Books, Spain's El Mundo and newspapers in Pakistan. He broadcasts regularly with the BBC, CNN and other international news organisations. He has twice been selected for the list of 'Top 100 Global Thinkers' by Foreign Policy. He has been covering the wars in Afghanistan, as well as the wars in Pakistan and Tajikistan, since 1979. He is the author of Descent into Chaos and Jihad.Trade Review[Rashid is] Pakistan’s best and bravest reporter. -- Christopher Hitchens, Vanity FairA must read. -- Larry P. Goodson, New York Times[A] supremely insightful book about Afghanistan’s Taliban regime. . . . Rashid bases his account on detailed reporting and travel throughout Afghanistan and interviews with most of the Taliban’s elusive top leadership. As a narrative, it is gripping. . . . Rashid’s book is superbly reported, a window into a world that remains largely closed to American eyes. -- Shankar Vedantam, Philadelphia InquirerRashid’s densely detailed reportage portrays a country in ruins and the people who seek to control it. . . . Anyone contemplating new adventures in Afghanistan—whether to save its women from persecution, rescue the state from further fragmentation or save themselves from terrorist backlash—might first consult Rashid’s book. -- Paula R. Newberg, San Francisco ChronicleThe standard work in English on the Taliban. -- Christopher de Bellaigue, New York Review of Books[A] thorough, authoritative exegesis. -- Peter Bergen, Washington Post Book WorldThe author describes the insights he has gained, through personal experience of Afghanistan over the past decade, into the secretive and bizarre Taliban leadership. -- Richard Beeston, New StatesmanRead this remarkable book and the bewildering complexity of Afghan politics and the deadly over-spill of chaos, narcotics and sectarian violence into the surrounding region will become clear. -- Patrick Seale, Sunday TimesThe first credible account of the rise to power of the Taliban. -- Tariq Ali, New Left ReviewRashid has a feel for the characters in this imbroglio, who are as outlandish as any from the old Great Game. -- Rupert Edis, Sunday Telegraphthe book they are all reading. -- The Guardian[An] excellent study -- Financial TimesIt took our political classes an unconscionable time to wake up to the importance of Ahmed Rashid’s definitive study of the Taliban. The book has been a phenomenal success. -- The Independenta chilling and masterly study of the Taliban. -- Times Literary SupplementIt is the contention of Mr. Rashid’s very capable book on the Taliban that the outside world ignores Afghanistan at its peril -- James Buchan, Evening StandardAn excellent political and historical account of the movement’s rise to power. -- Katha Pollitt, The NationAhmed Rashid’s book describes the stuff that Bond [films] are made of. Warring tribes, clashing empires, fanatics with dreams of world domination, violence and sex. . If anyone understands the place Rashid does. -- Jason Burke, ObserverRashid tells a complicated story clearly. He places the rise of the Taliban in the context of the Afghan civil war, the energy polices of the Central Asian republics and the interests of American, Saudi and Pakistani intelligence services. -- Robin Banerji, Daily TelegraphThis is a riveting, balanced and well-informed book. -- International Herald TribuneIn this excellent, highly readable book, Ahmed Rashid succeeds in mixing detailed analysis not only with anecdote but also with a heartfelt sympathy for innocent peoples who for decades have been caught up in games of international rivalry and who appear fated to remain forever in a Hobbesian state of war. -- Roger Howard, SpectatorRashid has written the most thorough account of the Taliban to date, and has enclosed it within a history of Afghanistan relating back to the Great Game. -- Neil Quilliam, BRISMES NewsletterThanks to Ahmed Rashid’s analysis of the manoeuvrings of companies and governments, oil executives now have an up-to-date bible. and those interested in the new Turkic republics can get a sense of where these mysterious entities may be heading. -- Michael Church, Independent[Taliban] is said to have had a deep influence on Tony Blair’s current thinking. It has also become the focus of intensive diplomatic scrutiny as US policy makers scramble to formulate plans for a stable regime to succeed the Taliban. -- Timur Moon, Sunday ExpressThe most important book of the year. -- Bianca Jagger ‘A Good Read’, BBC Radio 4This is a fine book – erudite, concise, surefooted, packed with information and insightful, easy to read. -- Dilip Hiro, Middle East InternationalRequired reading not only for specialists, but for anyone who wishes to learn how the wider world contributed to the emergence of a parish regime from the wreckage of Afghans’ courageous struggle against the armed forces of the Soviet Union. -- William Maley, The World Today[A] valuable and informative work. -- Richard Bernstein, New York TimesAhmed Rashid is to be complimented for this factual, readable and thought provoking work. -- Asian NewsA fabulous piece of journalism. -- Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm and FireThe best book on the Taliban. -- L. Carl Brown, Foreign AffairsVirtually the only informed work on the men who, since 1994, have ruled almost all of Afghanistan. . . . [An] indispensable book. -- Steve Wasserman, Los Angeles Times Book ReviewTable of ContentsPreface and Introduction to the Third Edition Preface and Acknowledgements Maps Introduction: Afghanistan's Holy Warriors Part 1: History of the Taliban Movement Chapter 1 Kandahar 1994: The Origins of the Taliban Chapter 2 Herat 1995: God’s Invincible Soldiers Chapter 3 Kabul 1996: Commander of the Faithful Chapter 4 Mazar-e-Sharif 1997: Massacre in the North Chapter 5 Bamiyan 1998–99: The Never-Ending War Part 2: Islam and the Taliban Chapter 6 Challenging Islam: The New-Style Fundamentalism of the Taliban Chapter 7 Secret Society: The Taliban’s Political and Military Organization Chapter 8 A Vanished Gender: Women, Children and Taliban Culture Chapter 9 High on Heroin: Drugs and the Taliban Economy Chapter 10 Global Jihad: The Arab-Afghans and Osama Bin Laden Part 3: The New Great Game Chapter 11 Dictators and Oil Barons: The Taliban and Central Asia, Russia, Turkey and Israel Chapter 12 Romancing the Taliban 1: The Battle for Pipelines 1994–96 Chapter 13 Romancing the Taliban 2: The Battle for Pipelines 1997–99 – The USA and the Taliban Chapter 14 Master or Victim: Pakistan’s Afghan War Chapter 15 Shia Versus Sunni: Iran and Saudi Arabia Chapter 16 Conclusion: The Future of Afghanistan Chapter 17 The Taliban Resurgent 2000–2009 Appendices Notes

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Book SynopsisPerfect for anyone looking for a new way to experience the revered KJV. This edition is published in large KJV Comfort Print type, which was designed exclusively for Thomas Nelson to be the most readable at any size.The KJV Paragraph-style Large Print Thinline Bible features the timeless beauty of the trustworthy King James Version Bible. While the traditional design of the King James text starts each verse on its own line, this edition improves the reading experience and comprehension by keeping the writers’ thoughts together in paragraph format. And with Thomas Nelson’s exclusive KJV Comfort Print®, you’ll enjoy typography designed to be exceptionally easy-to-read and honoring the legacy of the King James Version.In 1611 the King James Bible was published and authorized by the monarch of England and Scotland. Today, more than 400 years since its initial publication, the KJV is consi

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Book SynopsisCrafted to be an easy-to-carry large print Bible with cross references allowing this Bible to be an ideal choice to take with you wherever you go. This edition is published in large KJV Comfort Print type, which was designed exclusively for Thomas Nelson to be the most readable at any size.Enjoy the unmatched beauty of the King James Version combined with the readability of Thomas Nelson’s KJV Comfort Print® typeface, all in a Bible that’s a convenient size to take anywhere. Plus, you’ll also have essential study resources, including over 42,000 cross references, a concordance and more.In 1611 the King James Bible was published and authorized by the monarch of England and Scotland. Today, more than 400 years since its initial publication, the KJV is considered one of the most influential and beautiful works of the English language and continues to be the favorite translation for millions of Christians worldwid

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisBased on extensive interviews with mostly former cult members, this book chronicles the history of the Church of God of Union Assembly from its beginning around World War I up to recent times. Founded by a charismatic, unlettered leader, C. T. Pratt, who forcefully broke away from the Holiness COG organization, the church eventually found its home base in Dalton, Georgia. It grew steadily at first and then more rapidly as the great Depression ravaged workers in the mostly rural area of north Georgia. The group set up communal living practices and spread branches of the church across the country, recruiting among the most displaced with a message of social uplift and anti-capitalism, even as its religious practices became increasingly authoritarian and exploitative. If C. T. Pratt exhibited some characteristics of a violent cult leader, his son, who took over the church as his father suffered from ill-health, took these tendencies to a new level that eventually caught the attention of secular authorities. His son, in turn, was even worse--and placed the church on the path to financial ruin. Amazingly, the church survived its three authoritarian leaders and still exists

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Book SynopsisAlmost thirty years ago, the image of burning copies of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses held aloft by thousand-strong mobs of protesters became an internationally familiar symbol of anger and offence. In From Fatwa to Jihad, Kenan Malik reveals how the Rushdie affair transformed the debate worldwide on multiculturalism, tolerance and free speech, helped fuel the rise of radical Islam and pointed the way to the horrors of 9/11 and 7/7. In this new edition, Malik examines the rise of home-grown jihadis, the threat of IS-inspired terrorism in Europe and how the West has failed to learn the lessons of the past.Trade ReviewA gripping account of how we went from burning books to bombs on buses. The Rushdie Affair has shaped all our lives. This book shows us how. -- Hanif KureishiA thorough and highly readable history of the politics of the Rushdie affair and an important intervention in the current debate on freedom of expression. -- Monica AliA riveting political history of contemporary Britain... Impeccably researched, brimming with detail, yet razor-sharp in its argument. -- Lisa Appignanesi * Independent *Few writers have untangled the paradoxes and unintended consequences of political Islam as deftly as Malik -- Maureen Freely * Washington Post *Enthralling -- Robert McCrum * Observer *An admirable piece of reportage... subtle and intelligent -- Stuart Kelly * Scotsman *Seldom can a book have had a more searing relevance to contemporary events -- Lindsay Johns * New Humanist *

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Book SynopsisWith the seeming defeat of ISIS, has jihadism disappeared from world politics? In this startling new book, Stephen Chan uncovers the ideological foundations that allow ISIS and other jihadi groups to survive, as they propagate terror by sophisticated means online and continue thrusting their spear at the West. Far from presenting simple-minded, black-clad fighters, Chan describes an elaborate process of online recruitment, which is, in its own terrible way, meaningful and thoughtful. He examines the foundations of this thought and the step-by-step methods of jihadi indoctrination, exposing the lack of IT knowledge among Western world leaders and urging the 'moderate' Islamic community in the West to challenge jihadi ideology with a courageous, non-violent ideology of its own. Without a counter-ideology, Chan argues, alienated Muslim youth are drawn not only to glamorised dreams of violence, but also to the pull of a totalising system of politics and theology. Spear to the West picks apart the fallacy of 'thoughtless' jihadi carnage, arguing that—dangerous and gruesome as it might be—there is more thought behind this phenomenon of destruction than meets the eye.Trade Review‘Chan’s argument … has at least two major implications: only those capable of speaking within the ideological terms of jihadis can counter their appeal, and counterterrorism strategists must consider using the Internet in ways they have not yet tried.’ -- Foreign Affairs‘Chan’s succinct and discerning study of violent jihadism and radicalization will reward specialists and policy-makers, but its apportionment in discrete, digestible essays makes it a good choice for anyone needing a primer on its complex and critically important subject.’ -- Michigan War Studies Review'With erudition and élan, this insightful book challenges us to rise above facile condemnations and to acknowledge that contemporary jihadists evince a moral reasoning--one that is, at once, motivating, arrogant, and self-limiting.' -- James Piscatori, co-author of 'Muslim Politics'‘For anyone who is seeking to understand the mind of the jihadis, Chen has provided a wealth of information and insights.’'Stephen Chan is one of the great doyens of world politics. His book "Spear to the West" displays his distinctive global consciousness and unique cultural empathy, even when tackling the most contentious topics.' -- Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, Professor in Global Thought and Comparative Philosophies, SOAS, University of London'In this brilliant, disturbing work Chan lays bare the global jihad’s sinister engagement with modernity. Full of insights, it is one of the best treatments of radicalisation I have read.' -- John Calvert, Professor of History, Creighton University'Chan shows how the West incubates jihad and must instead respond actively to digital recruitment by ISIS. He also argues powerfully for debate within Islamic scholarship to accommodate Muslim aspirations for justice.' -- Alison Scott-Baumann, Professor of Society and Belief, SOAS University of London

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Book SynopsisThis classic large print KJV Bible includes center-column references and uses Thomas Nelson’s exclusive KJV Comfort Print type, which was designed to be the most readable at any size.Enjoy the beauty of the King James Version in a large print format and featuring Thomas Nelson''s custom KJV Comfort Print. But you won’t have to sacrifice study features for readability. This edition is complete with center-column references, book introductions, a concordance, words of Christ in red, and full-color maps.Features include: The Presentation page is a special place to personalize this special gift by recording a memory or note Bible book introductions provide a concise overview of the background and historical context of the book about to be read Center-column references allow you to find related passages quickly and easily

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Book SynopsisA significant contribution to the historiography of religion in the U.S. south, Forging a Christian Order challenges and complicates the standard view that eighteenth-century evangelicals exerted both religious and social challenges to the traditional mainstream order, not maturing into middle-class denominations until the nineteenth century. Instead, Kimberly R. Kellison argues, eighteenth-century White Baptists in South Carolina used the Bible to fashion a Christian model of slavery that recognized the humanity of enslaved people while accentuating contrived racial differences. Over time this model evolved from a Christian practice of slavery to one that expounded on slavery as morally right. Elites who began the Baptist church in late-1600s Charleston closely valued hierarchy. It is not surprising, then, that from its formation the church advanced a Christian model of slavery. The American Revolution spurred the associational growth of the denomination, reinforcing the rigid order of the authoritative master and subservient enslaved person, given that the theme of liberty for all threatened slaveholders’ way of life. In lowcountry South Carolina in the 1790s, where a White minority population lived in constant anxiety over control of the bodies of enslaved men and women, news of revolt in St. Domingue (Haiti) led to heightened fears of Black violence. Fearful of being associated with antislavery evangelicals and, in turn, of being labeled as an enemy of the planter and urban elite, White ministers orchestrated a major transformation in the Baptist construction of paternalism.Forging a Christian Order provides a comprehensive examination of the Baptist movement in South Carolina from its founding to the eve of the Civil War and reveals that the growth of the Baptist church in South Carolina paralleled the growth and institutionalization of the American system of slavery—accommodating rather than challenging the prevailing social order of the economically stratified Lowcountry.Trade Review"This is a well-researched and clearly written study that makes a significant contribution to the historiography of religion in the U.S. South. The author persuasively demonstrates that from the mid eighteenth century to the decades immediately preceding the outbreak of the American Civil War, South Carolina Baptists organized ecclesiastical institutions of increasing vigor and influence, with a wide-ranging Christian defense of slavery at their center, in order to extend their reach and strengthen their denomination.”&—Thomas J. Little, author of The Origins of Southern Evangelicalism: Religious Revivalism in the South Carolina Lowcountry, 1670–1760

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Book SynopsisThe multidisciplinary anthology Religious Fundamentalism in the Age of Pandemic provides deep insights concerning the current impact of Covid-19 on various religious groups and believers around the world. Based on contributions of well-known scholars in the field of Religious Fundamentalism, the contributors offer about a window into the origins of religious fundamentalism and the development of these movements as well as the creation of the category itself. Further recommendations regarding specific (fundamentalist) religious groups and actors and their possible development within Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism round up the discussion about the rise of Religious Fundamentalism in the Age of Pandemic.Trade Review"I recommend this anthology as a guideline for both science and practice in order to strengthen ourunderstanding of religious perceptions of contagion, fear, debt, and faith that are responsible for theinteraction between certain religious groups and their environment during a pandemic." János Besenyo, Terrorism and Politcial Violence, 33/5 (2021)"The volume should be useful for both academics and P/CVE practitioners who arengaged with radicalization and religious extremism." Ahmet S. Yayla/Serkan Tasgin, Perspectives on Terrorism, 15/6 (2021)

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Book SynopsisTwo veteran journalists tell the inside story of convicted hate-monger Abu Hamza, his infamous Finsbury Park Mosque and how it turned out a generation of militants willing to die – and kill – for their cause…

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Book SynopsisFor most of his sixty-year career, the Reverend Carl McIntire was at the center of controversy. The best known and most influential of the fundamentalist radio broadcasters and anticommunists of the Cold War era, his many enemies depicted him as a dangerous far rightist, a racist, or a McCarthyite opportunist engaged in red-baiting for personal profit. Despised and hounded by liberals, revered by fundamentalists, and distrusted by the center, he became a lightning rod in the early American culture wars. Markku Ruotsila''s Fighting Fundamentalist, the first scholarly biography of McIntire, peels off the accumulated layers of caricature and makes a case for restoring McIntire to his place as one of the most consequential religious leaders in the twentieth-century United States. The book traces McIntire''s life from his early twentieth-century childhood in Oklahoma to his death in 2002. From his discipleship under J. Gresham Machen during the fundamentalist-modernist controversy, through Trade Reviewthis is an important, well-constructed book. It adds a significant chapter to the rise of politicised Evangelicalism, and it establishes the importance of Carl McIntire. * Joel A. Carpenter, Calvin College, Journal of Ecclesiastical History *We have long needed serious studies of both figures. In each case the authors serve us well. * Justus D. Doenec, Anglican and Episcopal History *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements ; Introduction ; Chapter 1 Beginnings: The Making of a Fundamentalist ; Chapter 2 Come-Outer: The Twentieth Century Reformation Movement ; Chapter 3 Leading the Charge: The Making of Christian Libertarianism ; Chapter 4 Cold Warrior: The Worldwide Fight for Liberation ; Chapter 5 Exposing Red Clergy: McCarthyism in the Churches ; Chapter 6 Massive Resistance: Struggles for Civil Rights ; Chapter 7 Under Siege: The Radical Right Years ; Chapter 8 "Kill a Commie": Marching for Victory in Vietnam ; Chapter 9 Broadening the Agenda: Towards the New Christian Right ; Chapter 10 Prophet Forsaken: The Last Years ; Epilogue: Carl McIntire's Legacy ; Manuscript Collections Consulted ; Notes ; Index

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Book SynopsisThis is a pastoral rather than a controversial book. Its main aim is not to show fundamentalists that they are wrong, but rather to help those who have grown up in the world of fundamentalism or have become committed to it but in the end have come to feel that it is a prison from which they must escape.

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Book SynopsisOffers a re-statement of Liberal Protestantism for the twenty first century, especially alive to the imperative of inter faith dialogue and understanding. This title presents fundamentalism, born in the United States of America, as the great twentieth century heresy and aberration.Trade ReviewMentioned in 'Titles just published' section in The Church Times, 30th April, 2010.'Demonstrates Bradley's strengths as an engaging writer able to call upon a wealth of illustrative material.' Church of England Newspaper, 2nd July 2010'Read Bradley if you want to get a feel for serious issues in the Churches today' Methodist Recorder, 15th July 2010‘This amazing little book is full of ... insights, which will come as a complete surprise to most people' Churchman, Sept. 2010‘This amazing little book is full of ... insights, which will come as a complete surprise to most people' Churchman, Sept. 2010This book... presents a well-defined statement of liberal beliefs clearly very far from the assumed position of most Congregationalists -- The Congregationalist‘This is an intelligent and passionate book. The author is unusually sure-footed in the way in which he not only defends liberalism, but remains engagingly open to the flaws that its critics accuse it of.' -- The Church Times‘This is a fun and interesting book... Bradley makes an important case for a set of values that need and should be part of any good theology.' -- TheologyIan Bradley has given us a readable, broadly researched book, a passionate reclamation of theological liberalism and a stout defence of its academic pedigree. -- Jim Lawlor * The Furrow *Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1 Grace; 2 Order; 3. Diversity.

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Book SynopsisKhaled Abou El Fadl is a classically-trained Islamic jurist, an American lawyer and law professor, and one of the most important Islamic thinkers today. In this updated and expanded edition of The Search for Beauty in Islam, Abou El Fadl offers eye-opening and enlightening insights into the contemporary realities of the current state of Islam and the West. Through a conference of the books, an imagined conference of Muslim intellects from centuries past, Abou El Fadl examines the ugliness that has come to plague Muslim realities and attempts to reclaim what he maintains is a core moral value in Islam-the value of beauty. Does Islamic law allow, or even call for, the gruesome acts of ugliness that have become so commonly associated with Islam today? Has Islam become a religion devoid of beauty, compassion and love? Based on actual cases, this book tackles different issues and problems in each chapter through a post-9/11 lens, discussing such topics as marriage, divorce, parental rights, the position of women, the veil, sexual abuse, wife-beating, terrorism, bigotry, morality, law, and the role of tradition. Abou El Fadl argues that the rekindling of the forgotten value of beauty is essential for Muslims today to take back what has been lost to the fundamentalist forces that have denigrated their religion.Trade ReviewEl Fadl attempts to offer interpretations that are humanistic and accommodating to modern values, yet simultaneously challenging for traditionalist scholars and preachers. -- An-Chi Hoh Dianu * The Library Quarterly *This highly original book is in part a dialogue with Muslim scholars in the past, and, in part, a hymn to an enthralling vision that 'beauty' is to bring life to the truth of the Prophet. The dialogue shows the enormous breadth of [the author's] reading in classic works of learning by Muslims, and his vision suggests a new spiritual esthetic, which is both inspiring and challenging. -- Roy Parviz Mottahedeh, Gurney Professor of History, Harvard UniversityKhaled Abou El Fadl is emerging as a major Muslim voice for the twenty-first century. Conference of the Books is an excellent introduction to the ideas, insights, and reflections of this important scholar of Islam and Islamic law, author, and poet. -- John L. Esposito, Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown UniversityDr. Khaled Abou El Fadl, the most important scholar writing on Islamic jurisprudence and its development in the American context today, sets a high standard here for legal discourse and practice among North American Muslims. -- Karen Leonard, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, IrvineEach independent essay may be read in any order, but collectively they illustrate richness and diversity. -- Charles C. Kolb, National Endowment for the Humanities, Religious Studies Review

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Book SynopsisThe exercises in this workbook reproduce the exercises in the chapters of Fundamental Biblical Hebrew. More space is provided for writing out the exercises. The chapter summaries from the textbook are included at the end of this workbook. In addition, at the end of each chapter''s exercises are supplementary exercises. Two principles will be apparent to anyone using these supplementary exercises:1) The supplementary exercises require students to reproduce basic Hebrew forms, including forms of weak verbs, as an aid to learning the basics of Hebrew morphology.2) This workbook emphasizes reading actual Biblical Hebrew as an aid to learning syntax. The texts reproduced are exactly as they appear in the Hebrew books of the Old Testament.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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