Written in 1525 in response to the writings of Erasmus, “The Bondage of the Will” conveys Luther’s beliefs on the issue of free will during the Protestant Reformation. Because of the fall of man, he debates with Erasmus on whether or not human beings are free to decide on good or evil. He asserts in this well written and uniquely styled work that we are incapacitated by sin, and human beings must rely on the complete sovereignty of God to redeem ...
Written in Middle English sometime in the latter half of the 14th century, “The Cloud of Unknowing” is an anonymous work of Christian Mysticism. Surviving to us in only seventeen known manuscripts, “The Cloud of Unknowing” is meant as a spiritual guide of contemplation upon God. The work advises not to seek a better understanding of God through knowledge and intellect, but rather to surrender oneself to the darkness of the realm of the “unknowin ...
Actually published in 1908, Dowling asserted that he had transcribed this work from Akashic records, which gave a detailed account of the life of Jesus. The title was derived from an age determined by constellations, adding an astrological meaning with an appellation that indicated the Age of Aquarius. “The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ” has been deemed an apocryphal work, despite the fact that it was written and published recently, notice ...
Published posthumously in 1588, “The Interior Castle” was written over several weeks in 1577 by Saint Teresa of Avila, a prominent 16th century Spanish mystic, Carmelite nun, theologian, and writer of the Counter Reformation. Saint Teresa of Avila was born in 1515 in Avila, Spain to a wealthy and prominent family. After the death of her mother when she was 11, she went to live with the Augustinian nuns and devoted the rest of her life to the chu ...
St. Paul’s “Epistle to the Galatians” is one of the most important of all Christian writings. The work was treasured by Martin Luther, the 15th century German priest, scholar, and father of the Protestant Reformation. For this reason, Luther delivered lectures on the “Epistle to the Galatians” in 1531 and published those lectures in 1535. The resulting “Commentary on Galatians” by Luther is widely regarded as one of the most important commentari ...
Collected together in this volume are the three of Martin Luther’s most important works: “The Ninety-Five Theses”, “On Christian Liberty”, and “Address to the Christian Nobility”. Martin Luther, the founder of the Protestant movement and one of the most important figures in all of religious history puts forth his objections to the Catholic Church in these classic religious texts. “The Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” ...
The French Sociologist Emile Durkheim is commonly cited as the father of sociology. Principle to the work of Durkheim was his concern with regard to how modernity was effecting traditional social and religious institutions, more specifically with how societies could maintain their integrity and coherence in an era in which new social institutions were coming into being. One of his principles works, “The Elementary Forms of Religious Life” is a c ...
“The Greatest Thing in the World” is the enduring sermon on love and kindness by Henry Drummond, a respected and popular nineteenth-century Scottish evangelist, scientist, speaker, and writer. Drummond was well-known during his lifetime for his efforts to bridge the gap between the scientific world and the religious world, most notably in his 1883 work “Natural Law in the Spiritual World”. He was also a popular and inspiring public speaker and h ...
The “Ecclesiastical History of the English People” is considered one of the most important documents of Anglo-Saxon history and was written by Saint Bede, or Bede the Venerable, an English Benedictine monk and well-known scholar who was born around 672 AD. The work, which begins as a general history of England from the time of Julius Caesar’s invasion in 55 BC, details the rise of Christianity in England and becomes a detailed study of the diffe ...
