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Devil's Gate: Brigham Young and the Great Mormon Handcart Tragedy
Par David Roberts. 2008
The Mormon handcart tragedy of 1856 is the worst disaster in the history of the Western migrations, and yet it…
remains virtually unknown today outside Mormon circles. Following the death of Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon church, its second Prophet and new leader, Brigham Young, determined to move the faithful out of the Midwest, where they had been constantly persecuted by their neighbors, to found a new Zion in the wilderness. In 1846-47, the Mormons made their way west, generally following the Oregon Trail, arriving in July 1847 in what is today Utah, where they established Salt Lake City. Nine years later, fearing a federal invasion, Young and other Mormon leaders wrestled with the question of how to bring thousands of impoverished European converts, mostly British and Scandinavian, from the Old World to Zion. Young conceived of a plan in which the European Mormons would travel by ship to New York City and by train to Iowa City. From there, instead of crossing the plains by covered wagon, they would push and pull wooden handcarts all the way to Salt Lake. But the handcart plan was badly flawed. The carts, made of green wood, constantly broke down; the baggage allowance of seventeen pounds per adult was far too small; and the food provisions were woefully inadequate, especially considering the demanding physical labor of pushing and pulling the handcarts 1,300 miles across plains and mountains. Five companies of handcart pioneers left Iowa for Zion that spring and summer, but the last two of them left late. As a consequence, some 900 Mormons in these two companies were caught in early snowstorms in Wyoming. When the church leadership in Salt Lake became aware of the dire circumstances of these pioneers, Younglaunched a heroic rescue effort. But for more than 200 of the immigrants, the rescue came too late. The story of the Mormon handcart tragedy has never before been told in full despite its stunning human drama: At least five times as many people died in the Mormon tragedy as died in the more famous Donner Party disaster. David Roberts has researched this story in Mormon archives and elsewhere, and has traveled along the route where the handcart pioneers came to grief. Based on his research, he concludes that the tragedy was entirely preventable. Brigham Young and others in the Mormon leadership failed to heed the abundant signs of impending catastrophe, including warnings from other Mormon elders in the East and Midwest, where the journey began. Devil's Gate is a powerful indictment of the Mormon leadership and a gripping story of survival and suffering that is superbly told by one of our finest writers of Western history.God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning
Par Meghan O'Gieblyn. 2021
A strikingly original exploration of what it might mean to be authentically human in the age of artificial intelligence, from…
the author of the critically-acclaimed Interior States. • "At times personal, at times philosophical, with a bracing mixture of openness and skepticism, it speaks thoughtfully and articulately to the most crucial issues awaiting our future." —Phillip Lopate &“[A] truly fantastic book.&”—Ezra Klein For most of human history the world was a magical and enchanted place ruled by forces beyond our understanding. The rise of science and Descartes's division of mind from world made materialism our ruling paradigm, in the process asking whether our own consciousness—i.e., souls—might be illusions. Now the inexorable rise of technology, with artificial intelligences that surpass our comprehension and control, and the spread of digital metaphors for self-understanding, the core questions of existence—identity, knowledge, the very nature and purpose of life itself—urgently require rethinking.Meghan O'Gieblyn tackles this challenge with philosophical rigor, intellectual reach, essayistic verve, refreshing originality, and an ironic sense of contradiction. She draws deeply and sometimes humorously from her own personal experience as a formerly religious believer still haunted by questions of faith, and she serves as the best possible guide to navigating the territory we are all entering.Jumpstart Your Metabolism: How to Lose Weight by Changing the Way You Breathe
Par Pam Grout. 1998
Jumpstart Your Metabolism reveals the easy but incredibly effective way to shed stubborn pounds—simply breathe. If you've tried every conceivable…
combination of diet and exercise and still can't shed those extra pounds, then perhaps you haven't discovered the hidden key to weight loss—proper breathing. By increasing the amount of oxygen you take in, you can help your body do a more efficient job of releasing hydrogen, the chief culprit in the storage of excess fat. And you'll be amazed at the benefits of learning to breathe the right way:-Reset your body's metabolism to burn calories more efficiently-Lose weight without complicated food restrictions or rigid exercise schedules-Feel more energized and less stressedBreathing coach Pam Grout will show you how with thirteen "energy cocktails," simple but powerful breathing exercises that you can incorporate into your daily routine, whether you're at your desk, in your car, standing in line, watching TV—nearly anywhere, anytime.Easy to learn and fun to do, the program in Jumpstart Your Metabolism will help you jumpstart the rest of your life!A groundbreaking examination of new scientific research that holds the secret to weight loss, increased strength, endurance, memory, and a…
healthier, longer life In The Longevity Factor, noted neuroscientist and surgeon Joseph Maroon, M.D., offers the definitive look at recent scientific breakthroughs identifying a group of natural substances -- including the much-publicized molecule resveratrol -- that can actually activate a specific set of genes in humans that promote a longer, healthier life. These substances, which make red wine, dark chocolate, and green tea good for us, appear to stave off a wide array of age-related diseases and keep us feeling young and vital. Resveratrol is the centerpiece of headline-making research being conducted at the Harvard Medical School and elsewhere. Only recently, however, have scientists discovered how to isolate resveratrol and concentrate it into an affordable and safe supplement. Already, more than 200 supplements featuring resveratrol have flooded the market, and there are countless more on the way. But which ones work best? What is a consumer to look for on the label? Since resveratrol is a natural substance, can you get enough of it through diet alone, or should you combine diet with a supplement? And what lies on the horizon from the pharmaceutical industry? All those questions and many more are answered in this immensely informative and practical book. Joseph Maroon offers the first-ever inside look at the amazing research that has led to the discovery of resveratrol and similar substances with the miraculous ability to activate our own longevity genes. He also offers his own diet plan and sound, reader-friendly advice for living a longer, healthier, and more balanced life with or without supplements. The Longevity Factor promises to be the authoritative source for everyone who wants to know more about how we can shift from the current paradigm of aging to a disease-free golden age of health, longevity, and fitness.Between May and October of 1917, three young shepherds were reportedly visited six times by an apparition of the Virgin…
Mary near the town of Fátima in Portugal. At the final apparition event, approximately 70,000 visitors gathered to witness a prophesied miracle intended to convince the public that the children’s visions were of divine origin. The miracle took the form of a solar anomaly; witnesses claimed that the sun began to "dance." Exploring the early development of the cult of the Virgin of Fátima and the overthrow of the liberal, secular government by pro-Catholic elements, Jeffrey Bennett offers the first book-length scholarly study of the cult’s relationship to the rise of authoritarian politics in Portugal. When the Sun Danced offers a fascinating look at the cultural dynamics that informed one of the most turbulent periods in the nation’s history."It is arguably the case," writes William Parsons, "that no two figures have had more influence on the course of…
Western introspective thought than Freud and Augustine." Yet it is commonly assumed that Freud and Augustine would have nothing to say to each other with regard to spirituality or mysticism, given the former's alleged antipathy to religion and the latter's not usually being considered a mystic.Adopting an interdisciplinary, dialogical, and transformational framework for interpreting Augustine's spiritual journey in his Confessions, Parsons places a "mystical theology" at the heart of Augustine's narrative and argues that his mysticism has been misunderstood partly because of the limited nature of the psychological models applied to it. At the same time, he expands Freud's therapeutic legacy to incorporate the contemporary findings of physiology and neuroscience that have been influenced in part by modern spirituality.Parsons develops a new psychological hermeneutic to account for Augustine's mysticism that will capture the imagination of contemporary readers who are both psychologically informed and interested in spirituality. The author intends this interpretive model not only to engage modern introspective concerns about developmental conflict and the power of the unconscious but also to reach a more nuanced level of insight into the origins and the nature of the self.Fatalism in American Film Noir: Some Cinematic Philosophy (Page-Barbour Lectures)
Par Robert B. Pippin. 2012
The crime melodramas of the 1940s known now as film noir shared many formal and thematic elements, from unusual camera…
angles and lighting to moral ambiguity and femmes fatales. In this book Robert Pippin argues that many of these films also raise distinctly philosophical questions. Where most Hollywood films of that era featured reflective individuals living with purpose, taking action and effecting desired consequences, the typical noir protagonist deliberates and plans, only to be confronted by the irrelevance of such deliberation and by results that contrast sharply, often tragically, with his or her intentions or true commitments. Pippin shows how this terrible disconnect sheds light on one of the central issues in modern philosophy--the nature of human agency. How do we distinguish what people do from what merely happens to them? Looking at several film noirs--including close readings of three classics of the genre, Fritz Lang’s Scarlet Street, Orson Welles’s The Lady from Shanghai, and Jacques Tourneur’s Out of the Past--Pippin reveals the ways in which these works explore the declining credibility of individuals as causal centers of agency, and how we live with the acknowledgment of such limitations.Textual Intimacy: Autobiography and Religious Identities (Studies in Religion and Culture)
Par Wesley A. Kort. 2012
Given its affinity with questions of identity, autobiography offers a way into the interior space between author and reader, especially…
when writers define themselves in terms of religion. In his exploration of this "textual intimacy," Wesley Kort begins with a theorization of what it means to say who one is and how one's self-account as a religious person stands in relation to other forms of self-identification. He then provides a critical analysis of autobiographical texts by nine contemporary American writers—including Maya Angelou, Philip Roth, and Anne Lamott—who give religion a positive place in their accounts of who they are. Finally, in disclosing his own religious identity, Kort concludes with a meditation on several meanings of the word assumption."This above all: To thine own self be true," is an ideal—or pretense—belonging as much to Hamlet as to the…
carefully choreographed realms of today’s politics and social media. But what if our "true" selves aren’t our "best" selves? Instagram’s curated portraits of authenticity often betray the paradox of our performative selves: sincerity obliges us to be who we actually are, yet ethics would have us be better.Drawing on the writings of Immanuel Kant, Søren Kierkegaard, and Emmanuel Levinas, Howard Pickett presents a vivid defense of "virtuous hypocrisy." Our fetish for transparency tends to allow us to forget that the self may not be worthy of expression, and may become unethically narcissistic in the act of expression. Alert to this ambivalence, these great thinkers advocate incongruent ways of being. Rethinking Sincerity and Authenticity offers an engaging new appraisal not only of the ethics of theatricality but of the theatricality of ethics, contending that pursuit of one’s ideal self entails a relational and ironic performance of identity that lies beyond the pure notion of expressive individualism.Vigilant Faith: Passionate Agnosticism in a Secular World (Studies in Religion and Culture)
Par Daniel Boscaljon. 2013
In Vigilant Faith: Passionate Agnosticism in a Secular World, Daniel Boscaljon takes up the contemporary challenges to faith by skepticism…
and secularism. He proposes a model of faith for believers and unbelievers alike—a passionate agnosticism—that is rooted in a skeptical consciousness. Skepticism and faith are structurally similar, he writes, in that they share an "unknowing" quality. The author argues that vigilance—the act of keeping watch, a spiritual practice in its own right—is as necessary a precondition for the structure of faith as it is for the structure of skepticism. A suspension in uncertainty and an openness to possibility require vigilance, he attests, if faith and skepticism are to avoid the often dogmatic tendencies of both theism and atheism to cling to their own brands of certainty and knowledge.Boscaljon has three aims: to expand the current, post-theistic definitions of God for greater relevance to human beings on an individual and existential level; to integrate skepticism into faith so that it will restore the importance of faith to current theology and recover it from anti-intellectual bias; and to conceptualize the vigilance of faith in such a way that can provide a vocabulary for distinguishing "good faith" from "bad faith." He offers a variety of cultural examples ranging from film to poetry to represent a life of faith and to show how its components come together in practice. As an alternative to the prevailing fundamentalisms in today's world, his book proposes a paradigmatic understanding of faith in which theism, atheism, and agnosticism refuse to differ.The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity
Par James D. Tabor. 2006
Based on a careful analysis of the earliest Christian documents and recent archaeological discoveries, The Jesus Dynasty offers a bold…
new interpretation of the life of Jesus and the origins of Christianity. The story is surprising, controversial, and exciting as only a long-lost history can be when it is at last recovered. In The Jesus Dynasty, biblical scholar James Tabor brings us closer than ever to the historical Jesus. Jesus, as we know, was the son of Mary, a young woman who became pregnant before her marriage to a man named Joseph. The gospels tell us that Jesus had four brothers and two sisters, all of whom probably had a different father than his. He joined a messianic movement begun by his relative John the Baptizer, whom he regarded as his teacher and a great prophet. John and Jesus together filled the roles of the Two Messiahs who were expected at the time: John, as a priestly descendant of Aaron, and Jesus, as a royal descendant of David. Together they preached the coming of the Kingdom of God. Theirs was an apocalyptic movement that expected God to establish his kingdom on earth, as described by the Prophets. The Two Messiahs lived in a time of turmoil as the historical land of Israel was dominated by the powerful Roman Empire. Fierce Jewish rebellions against Rome occurred during Jesus' lifetime. John and Jesus preached adherence to the Torah, or the Jewish Law. But their mission was changed dramatically when John was arrested and then killed. After a period of uncertainty, Jesus began preaching anew in Galilee and challenged the Roman authorities and their Jewish collaborators in Jerusalem. He appointed a Council of Twelve to rule over the twelve tribes of Israel, and among the Twelve he included his four brothers. After Jesus was crucified by the Romans, his brother James -- the "Beloved Disciple" -- took over leadership of the Jesus dynasty. James, like John and Jesus before him, saw himself as a faithful Jew. None of them believed that their movement was a new religion. It was Paul who transformed Jesus and his message through his ministry to the Gentiles. Breaking with James and the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem, Paul preached a message based on his own revelations, which would become Christianity. Jesus became a figure whose humanity was obscured; John became merely a forerunner of Jesus; and James and the others were all but forgotten. James Tabor has studied the earliest surviving documents of Christianity for more than thirty years and has participated in important archaeological excavations in Israel. Drawing on this background, Tabor reconstructs for us the movement that sought the spiritual, social, and political redemption of the Jews, a movement led by one family. The Jesus Dynasty offers an alternative version of Christian origins, one that takes us closer than ever to Jesus and his family and followers. This is a book that will change our understanding of one of the most crucial moments in history.Your Inner Pharmacy: Taking Back Our Wellness
Par Robert Blaich. 2006
Shift to a healthy mindset—and add years to your life!In the United States, almost one-third of the population lives with…
a chronic disease such as osteoarthritis, asthma, GERD and heartburn, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, or anxiety/depression and mood disorders.Most chronic conditions are self-induced and are a product of our lifestyles and the result of an imbalance of chemicals that our own bodies produce. The good news is that Your Inner Pharmacy offers realistic options that can give you five, ten, even twenty more years of quality time that can delay, postpone, and often minimize the onset of chronic disease. By devoting ten percent of your leisure time to "healthy aging" activities (roughly five hours a week), you can affect the progression of these preventable chronic diseases.Healthy Happy Sexy: Ayurveda Wisdom for Modern Women
Par Katie Silcox. 2015
In this hip, sensual Ayurveda bible for the modern woman, holistic health and wellness expert and New York Times bestselling…
author Katie Silcox offers a spirit-infused yet pragmatic guide that seamlessly brings this ancient wisdom into our modern lives without sacrificing the occasional rendezvous with red wine, fashion magazines, and other sensual pleasures.Healthy Happy Sexy offers not only a philosophy of life but a time-tested (we&’re talking thousands of years!) method for living your most radiant, healthy, and sexually vital life possible. Covering everything from how to get the perfect poo to glowing skin to deeper sexual fulfillment, here is a complete guide to women&’s health.Through evocative questions, journaling exercises, simple but deep meditations, and natural recipes for common health and beauty needs, Katie gives you a method to heal, entertain, inspire, and remind you that you are one sexy mama.The Mindful Diet: How to Transform Your Relationship with Food for Lasting Weight Loss and Vibrant Health
Par Ruth Q. Wolever, Beth Reardon, Tania Hannan. 2015
“An essential, must-read guide” (Dr. Susan Albers, New York Times bestselling author of Eating Mindfully) from the renowned Duke Integrative…
Medicine center: the first book to combine health psychology with cutting-edge nutrition research to deliver an up-to-the-minute method for eating mindfully and breaking the yo-yo diet cycle.It’s easy on occasion to eat too much, eat too quickly, eat for comfort, or choose junk food. But every year millions of Americans vow to lose weight and get healthy and aren’t able to overcome the largest roadblock to these changes—ingrained eating habits. Now two leading experts from Duke Integrative Medicine offer a new paradigm for eating and health—a step-by-step program that dismantles old patterns, provides new tools for making healthy choices, and fosters deep, internal motivation.Grounded in scientific research, The Mindful Diet examines how what we eat and drink affects our body on a biochemical level, and how we can become aware of our own internal signals through the practice of mindfulness. Loaded with concrete meditation exercises, behavioral techniques, nutrition advice, and meal-planning charts, this book provides the tools to manage cravings, curb emotional overeating, and figure out when you are full. Instead of an all-or-nothing approach to eating, The Mindful Diet focuses on the many variables that drive our habits—including stress, unhappiness, and even unconscious beliefs—and provides a roadmap for sustainable change. “This is not an eat this, don’t eat that program; rather, it’s an attack on the negative thoughts and patterns that lead to diet failure” (Publishers Weekly). Lasting weight loss and healthy living begin in the mind: now you can learn how to re-program your body, make healthy choices, lose weight, and keep it off for life.The Hidden Face of God: Science Reveals the Ultimate Truth
Par Gerald L. Schroeder. 2001
Gerald Schroeder, an MIT-trained scientist who has worked in both physics and biology, has emerged in recent years as one…
of the most popular and accessible apostles for the melding of science and religion. He first reconciled science and faith as different perspectives on a single whole in The Science of God. Now, in The Hidden Face of God, Schroeder takes a bold step forward, to show that science, properly understood, provides positive reasons for faith. Recent research in biology, chemistry, physics, and neuroscience contains unmistakable hints about the ultimate nature of reality. Simply put, we now know not only that behind matter lies energy, but also that behind energy lies wisdom. Scientists have touched on this wisdom in the laboratory, and its implications are awesome. From the wisdom encoded in DNA and analyzed by information science, to the wisdom unveiled in the fantastic complexity of cellular life, to the wisdom inherent in human consciousness, The Hidden Face of God offers a tour of the best of modern science. Schroeder makes no attempt to "prove" the existence of God. Yet his interpretations of the work of his fellow scientists touch on life's ultimate mysteries. His wise observations on the organization of organic life, on the power of humans to make sense of their sensory inputs, and on the complexities of the code of DNA all show that life has a direction and purpose that cannot be explained in purely physical terms. Throughout, he addresses three great themes: the question of first causes (i.e., where do the laws of nature come from?); the inseparability of mind and matter; and the philosophical problem of design. To believe that a designer must have been involved, he reminds us, we need not insist on perfection or on our view of perfection in the design. The Hidden Face of God will open a world of science to religious believers, and it will cause skeptics to rethink some of their deepest beliefs.Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness
Par Erich Schiffmann. 1996
Discover the path to inner peace with this guidebook that combines hatha yoga and meditation strategies from world-renowned yoga master…
Erich Shiffmann.World-renowned yoga master Erich Schiffmann offers an easy-to-follow, exciting new techniques—the first to combine hatha yoga and meditation—to all who are seeking healthful beauty and inner peace.The Everything Pilates Book: The Ultimate Guide to Making Your Body Stronger, Leaner, and Healthier (The Everything Books)
Par Amy Taylor Alpers, Rachel Taylor Segel, Lorna Gentry. 2012
Explore the fitness craze that's right for everyone!Whether you're a ballerina or a couch potato, a mountain biker or a…
fitness novice, you can do Pilates - and reap its amazing benefits. Perfect for building stronger, leaner, more flexible muscles, relieving stress, and achieving full body health, the Pilates method is a revolutionary program that has the power to transform lives.Written by the founders of the internationally renowned studio, The Pilates Center, The Everything Pilates Book gives you all you need to start doing Pilates in your own home - and choose a studio that's right for you. The book provides step-by-step instruction on how to do such incredible exercises as the Spine Stretch, the Roll-Up, and the Swan, as well as more than 100 clear photographs that make it easy to get started.The Everything Pilates Book helps you:Create a supple, powerful bodyPrevent osteoporosisReduce the risk of injuryEstablish proper postureIncrease strength and flexibilityTone absAlleviate back painNo matter of your physical condition, The Everything Pilates Book can help you take control of your body.Born Believers: The Science of Children's Religious Belief
Par Justin L. Barrett. 2012
Infants have a lot to make sense of in the world: Why does the sun shine and night fall; why…
do some objects move in response to words, while others won’t budge; who is it that looks over them and cares for them? How the developing brain grapples with these and other questions leads children, across cultures, to naturally develop a belief in a divine power of remarkably consistent traits––a god that is a powerful creator, knowing, immortal, and good—explains noted developmental psychologist and anthropologist Justin L. Barrett in this enlightening and provocative book. In short, we are all born believers. Belief begins in the brain. Under the sway of powerful internal and external influences, children understand their environments by imagining at least one creative and intelligent agent, a grand creator and controller that brings order and purpose to the world. Further, these beliefs in unseen super beings help organize children’s intuitions about morality and surprising life events, making life meaningful. Summarizing scientific experiments conducted with children across the globe, Professor Barrett illustrates the ways human beings have come to develop complex belief systems about God’s omniscience, the afterlife, and the immortality of deities. He shows how the science of childhood religiosity reveals, across humanity, a “natural religion,” the organization of those beliefs that humans gravitate to organically, and how it underlies all of the world’s major religions, uniting them under one common source. For believers and nonbelievers alike, Barrett offers a compelling argument for the human instinct for religion, as he guides all parents in how to effectively encourage children in developing a healthy constellation of beliefs about the world around them.This book examines narratives of individual religious transformation in Western European literature and culture. Religious individuals, themes, experiences and communities…
are widely represented in diverse literature and culture, including literary texts and visual arts and media. Taking the subject of religious transformation as an angle from which to study constructions of religion, gender and race, this book reveals through various case studies what authors, documentary makers, film makers and playwrights consider to be important (possible) shifts between the old and the new, continuities and discontinuities, and the formation of the self. The chapters demonstrate how individual religious transformations are understood to be shaped by various intersections of difference, and point at the need to consider gender as always related to and co-constructing religion and race. This transdisciplinary and intimate study provides a fresh lens through which to examine pressing questions regarding the place and future of religion, gender and race in contemporary Western Europe.Facilitating Counseling Groups: A Leader's Guide For Group-Based Counseling Ministry
Par Brad Hambrick, John Chapman. 2023
Leading a counseling group is different from leading a general discipleship group, even if both exist at the same church.…
A counseling group focuses on a specific need, garners heightened levels of vulnerability about matters of greater sensitivity and requires more skill and intentionality from its leader. When a layperson is well-equipped, this kind of ministry is tremendously rewarding, as they see God multiply the work he did in their life with people walking a similar journey. Brad Hambrick and John Chapman equip lay leaders to be effective in a group-based counseling ministry within the church. By learning how to use their life experiences and a group curriculum to help others overcome a life-dominating struggle of sin or suffering, leaders will learn to share the comfort and hope for change that can only come from God.