Read for you by #1 Best-Selling Narrator, Steve Cook, the text for this recording is taken entirely from four Books of the Apocrypha contained in the original King James Bible: Tobit (Book 3), Judith (Book 4), The Rest of Esther (Book 5) and The History of Susanna (Book 10). For contextual reasons, we have also included the biblical text of Esther (Chapters 1-10).
In modern times, the Apocrypha has only been excluded from the Old Testament in some Protestant publications. Jesus himself is said to reference texts from the Apocrypha using the Old Testament language which was familiar to those he was teaching.
It is also interesting to note that the Apostolic Fathers of the Early Church referenced the Apocrypha, and quoted from it as they did the Old Testament. It was hard not to do so, as the Jewish Old Testament included the Apocrypha.
We hope you find this compilation profitable for study as well.
Join Thomas Merton in exploring life's great questions.
In this audio program, Merton will challenge you with questions about man's individual destiny, the human condition, prayer, and the nature of time. Originally delivered in 1965, these timeless lectures have been remastered and released as a set for your enjoyment. Delivered with wit and profound insight, these recordings will transport you into the abbey where Merton taught and imparted his spiritual wisdom.
In the first part, you will look at Greek tragedy and Chinese philosophy, both or which rose to prominence in the fifth and sixth centuries BC. The wisdom in Greek tragedy and Chinese thought is linked to that of the Scriptures, and in them we discover similar developments of thought. We see man acquiring a sense of identity and destiny as he comes to terms with freedom and responsibility.
In the second half, you will look at the concept of time and how it relates to prayer. The monastic life that Merton lived was one of constant prayer, in which time is experienced differently. Merton looks at such great literary works as Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time and William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury to explore the concept of time in our lives.
Journey with Thomas Merton with these erudite and essential lectures today.
Photograph of Thomas Merton by Sibylle Akers. Used with permission of the Merton Legacy Trust and the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University. This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
For many, the Bible is anything but rational. It is often seen as a collection of religious fairy tales. In this remarkable new work, The Rational Bible: Exodus, the second book of the Bible, is explained by Dennis Prager, not employing faith but reason. Stories and laws which for the non-believer have seemed meaningless and even destructive, are explained in contemporary terms demonstrating surprising relevance to the lives of the religious, the non-religious and even the atheist and agnostic.
What if the book which formed the foundation of western civilization conveyed practical lessons for each of us? And what if that book could be explained so clearly AND rationally that we could better our lives as a result? That is the promise delivered by The Rational Bible: Exodus.
This commentary and explanation has been in the making for 35 years. Prager is a theologian, a classical musician (he periodically conducts symphonies), a world traveler (130 countries and the 50 states), the author of seven bestselling books, and a nationally syndicated radio talk show host who has spoken to millions of people on virtually every subject for over 30 years.
Read for you by best-selling narrator, Steve Cook, this book tells the story of the beautiful widow Judith who bravely saves her besieged city Jerusalem from the Assyrian army.
She avoids the enemy surrounding the city and manages to make her way into the camp of the enemy commander. While there, she helps him drink until he is drunk and then cuts off his head. She returns to the city with his head, showing it to her own people. This gives them courage and the strength to rally together and defeat the invading army.
In modern times, the Apocrypha has only been excluded from the Old Testament in some Protestant publications. The idea that these books are forbidden is viewed both as myth and fact by many Christian scholars, with the reasonable course left in the midst of divided opinion being to study and understand these books. Jesus himself is said to reference texts from the Apocrypha using the Old Testament language which was familiar to those he was teaching. It is also interesting to note that the Apostolic Fathers of the Early Church referenced the Apocrypha and quoted from it as they did the Old Testament. It was hard not to do so, as the Jewish Old Testament included the Apocrypha.
Read for you by best-selling narrator, Steve Cook, Esther’s story is the basis for the Festival of Purim; a joyous commemoration of God's salvation of the Jewish people. Esther acted against the social and political norms of her day to win a victory against misplaced political power.
The Book of Esther continues the theme of God's promise to bless the Jewish people given in the Book of Genesis, and His providence and sovereignty over all things. The Apocrypha contains what is known as the 'Rest of Esther', an additional 10 verses of Chapter 10 of the biblical Book of Esther, as well as 6 more full chapters.
In modern times, the Apocrypha has only been excluded from the Old Testament in some Protestant publications. Jesus himself is said to reference texts from the Apocrypha using the Old Testament language which was familiar to those he was teaching. It is also interesting to note that the Apostolic Fathers of the Early Church referenced the Apocrypha and quoted from it as they did the Old Testament. It was hard not to do so, as the Jewish Old Testament included the Apocrypha.
Read for you by best-selling narrator, Steve Cook, Susanna is found in the Apocrypha under the name, sometimes called, 'The History of Susanna'. She was very beautiful and feared the Lord, having been raised by righteous parents who instructed her in Mosaic law. After being wrongly accused of a crime, and sentenced to death, Susanna cries out to God, who hears her and sends a young Daniel (yes, the very same) to her rescue.
Daniel conducts a clever investigation and convinces her judges to change their minds and side with Susanna, condemning her accusers to death instead. Daniel's wisdom was respected from that day forward.
Much debate continues over which books should be considered part of Holy Scripture to this day. Various church councils have made different decisions about what should be included and what should not. But all Christians who are serious about their walk in the Christian faith should read the Apocrypha, ponder its place in Christian history, compare what the great church scholars have said concerning it, consider why Jesus himself referred to it, and above all, prayerfully understand its significant contributions to the ultimate message of salvation, made available by Jesus the Messiah.
Read for you by best-selling narrator, Steve Cook, Sara is found in the Book of Tobit in the Apocrypha. So as not to confuse; this is not Abraham's wife from the book of Genesis.
Sara is miserable because of numerous marital misfortunes, and she eventually prays to God that he would let her die. Her story is intertwined with that of Tobit, a righteous man who lived in Nineveh (a town many miles away) near the time of Jonah, the biblical Prophet. Tobit, for reasons of his own, also prays to God to allow him to die at the very same time Sara does.
The intertwining of these two stories is reinforced by the fact that almost immediately after Sara ends her prayer, the book mysteriously changes in tense from 1st person (Tobit) to the 3rd person. In addition, the Archangel Raphael is sent to minister to both Tobit and Sara at the end of Chapter 3. Thus, it seems 'another voice' quite literally has taken over the story at the beginning of Chapter 4.
Sara's faithful prayers and obedience to God brought her blessings beyond anything she could have ever imagined. In modern times, the Apocrypha has only been excluded from the Old Testament in some Protestant publications. The idea that these books are forbidden is viewed both as myth and fact by many Christian scholars, with the reasonable course left in the midst of divided opinion being to study and understand these books. Jesus himself is said to reference texts from the Apocrypha using the Old Testament language which was familiar to those he was teaching. It is also interesting to note that the Apostolic Fathers of the Early Church referenced the Apocrypha and quoted from it as they did the Old Testament. It was hard not to do so, as the Jewish Old Testament included the Apocrypha.
What makes us happy?
It's not what you think.
Stress is everywhere.
Clever marketing has led us to believe in chasing happiness down a path that doesn't lead anywhere. There is an answer.
It's not a secret.
An ancient formula can help.
2000 years ago there was a prayer.
A prayer for happiness.
You can follow these ten practices in it. The prayer has helped thousands of people. No matter where you are in life, finding purpose is easier than you think.
Rabbi Evan Moffic knows the power of prayer. He was called to lead a synagogue at thirty. The prayer became his guidepost.
It provided him with the wisdom to lead beyond his years.
It made him happy.
It's not a typical prayer. It's an active prayer. You will live it.
The magic is not in the words. It's in the way the words will change your life.
You will discover those words in this book and the ten life-changing practices it reveals.
Get started on your new life, now, with just one click.
As a lifetime student of scripture, Kathie Lee Gifford has been traveling to Israel since she was 17 years old. The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi is an examination of a decades-long desire to know more and understand more than the typical “Sunday School” teaching so prevalent in our churches today.
Written to help readers better understand Jesus's life, death, and ultimate mission, this new book by well-known preacher John MacArthur looks at an important-yet often misunderstood-section of the Bible: Isaiah 53. Often hailed as one of the greatest chapters in the Bible, this passage foretells the crucifixion of Jesus, a critical event in God's ultimate plan for salvation. Explaining the prophetic words of Isaiah 53 verse by verse, MacArthur highlights important connections to the history of Israel and to the New Testament-ultimately showing us how these prophetic words to ancient Israel illuminate essential truths for our lives today.
The poignant, searching, haunting story of one family's entanglement with twentieth-century history
AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
'Intensely involving ... a fervent meditation on love and loss, with a remarkable cast of characters' Financial Times
'Rich, intriguing ... Maybe Esther calls to mind the itinerant style of W. G. Sebald' Guardian
'Unflinchingly potent ... Revolutionaries, war heroes, teachers and phantoms populate these magnetic pages' Irish Independent
Katja Petrowskaja's family story is impossible to untangle from the history of twentieth-century Europe. There is her great-uncle, who shot a German diplomat in Moscow in 1932 and was sentenced to death. (Could this act have had more significance than anyone at the time understood?) There is her Ukrainian grandfather, who disappeared during World War II and reappeared without explanation forty-one years later. (How was it that he then went back to normal family life, as though nothing had happened?) And there is her great-grandmother (was she really called Esther?) who was too old and frail to leave Kiev when the Jews there were ordered to leave, and was brutally killed by the Nazis on the street.
Taking the reader from Moscow to Kiev to Warsaw to Berlin, and deep into archives and pieced-together conversations, photos and memories, Maybe Esther is a journey into language, memory, philosophy, history and trauma, and a singular, beautiful, unforgettable work of literature.
Widely recognized as one of the most respected and indispensable reference books on Jewish life, culture, tradition, and religion, Jewish Literacy covers every essential aspect of the Jewish people and Judaism. Rabbi Telushkin discusses everything from the Jewish Bible and Talmud to Jewish notions of ethics to antisemitism and the Holocaust; from the history of Jews around the world to Zionism and the politics of a Jewish state; from the significance of religious traditions and holidays to how they are practiced in daily life. Whether you want to know more about Judaism in general or have specific questions you'd like answered, Jewish Literacy is sure to contain the information you need. Rabbi Telushkin's expert knowledge of Judaism makes the updated and revised edition of Jewish Literacy an invaluable reference. A comprehensive yet thoroughly accessible resource for anyone interested in learning the fundamentals of Judaism, Jewish Literacy is a must for every Jewish home.
