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Islam : a new history from Muhammad to the present
by John Tolan
"Today's Muslim world is in upheaval: legalists and mystics engage in intense debates, radical groups invoke Sharia, Muslim immigrants in the West face prejudice and discrimination, and Muslim feminists advocate new interpretations of the Koran. At the same time, Islam is mischaracterized as unitary and unchanging by people ranging from right-wing Western politicians claiming that Islam is incompatible with democracy to conservative Muslims dreaming of returning to the golden age of the prophet. Against this contentious backdrop, this book provides an essential and timely new history of the religion in all its astonishing richness and diversity as it has been practiced by Muslims around the world, from seventh-century Mecca to today"
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Jesus Wept: Seven Popes and the Battle for the Soul of the Catholic Church
by Philip Shenon
When Pope John XXIII was elected in 1958, he launched the Second Vatican Council to modernize the Church. Former New York Times reporter Philip Shenon explores issues such as celibacy, birth control, and women's roles, most notably diving deep into the church’s sex abuse scandals, offering a vivid and highly critical history of the modern Church and its leaders.
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I Want You to Be Happy: Finding Peace and Abundance in Everyday Life
by Francis
Catholic readers especially will take comfort in Pope Francis’s grounded and humble suggestions for finding happiness in life. The short chapters distill his message into bite-sized readings, making this book perfect for daily reflection while reminding readers to keep God and serving others as the focus of their lives.
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Essential Tibetan Buddhism
by Robert A. F. Thurman
Introduces Tibetan Buddhism and gathers selections from the most important Tibetan writings on Buddhism and the path to enlightenment
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The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church
by Sarah McCammon
NPR correspondent Sarah McCammon examines the recent, relatively sharp decline in membership in evangelical churches, drawing interviews with others who left their churches and on her own experience being raised in a strict religious environment. Don't miss: the exploration of how responding to large cultural shifts has shaped evangelical churches since the 1970s.
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Christ Actually: The Son of God for the Secular Age
by James Carroll
Award-winning religion columnist James Carroll examines Christian doctrine about Jesus Christ in Christ Actually, looking for an interpretation that makes sense in the post-Holocaust and post-Hiroshima era. Concluding that Jesus' identity as a Jew has been neglected or obscured by the Church, he analyzes the record in the New Testament, emphasizing Jesus' relationship with John the Baptist and Paul's Jewish training. Though Carroll's scholarship does not break new ground, he makes Jesus and Christian faith newly relevant for the 21st century in this thoughtful and engaging book.
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A simple path : basic Buddhist teachings
by Bstan-'dzin-rgya-mtsho
The leader of Tibetan Buddhism shares his insights into life and his religion in this colorful gift book designed to introduce Western readers to this warm, spiritual man and the teachings of Buddhism.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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