<b><i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> BESTSELLER • The bestselling author of <i>Zealot</i> and host of <i>Believer </i>explores humanity’s quest to make sense of the divine in this concise and fascinating history of our understanding of God.</b><br /><b> </b><br /> In <i>Zealot,</i> Reza Aslan replaced the staid, well-worn portrayal of Jesus of Nazareth with a startling new image of the man in all his contradictions. In his new book, Aslan takes on a subject even more immense: God, writ large.<br />  <br />In layered prose and with thoughtful, accessible scholarship, Aslan narrates the history of religion as a remarkably cohesive attempt to understand the divine by giving it human traits and emotions. According to Aslan, this innate desire to humanize God is hardwired in our brains, making it a central feature of nearly every religious tradition. As Aslan writes, “Whether we are aware of it or not, and regardless of whether we’re believers or not, what the vast majority of us think about when we think about God is a divine version of ourselves.”<br />  <br /> But this projection is not without consequences. We bestow upon God not just all that is good in human nature—our compassion, our thirst for justice—but all that is bad in it: our greed, our bigotry, our penchant for violence. All these qualities inform our religions, cultures, and governments.<br />  <br /> More than just a history of our understanding of God, this book is an attempt to get to the root of this humanizing impulse in order to develop a more universal spirituality. Whether you believe in one God, many gods, or no god at all, <i>God: A Human History</i> will challenge the way you think about the divine and its role in our everyday lives.<br /><br /><b>Praise for God</b><br /><br />“Timely, riveting, enlightening and necessary.”<b>—</b><i><b><i>HuffPost</i></b><br /><br /> </i>“Tantalizing . . . Driven by [Reza] Aslan’s grace and curiosity, God . . . helps us pan out from our troubled times, while asking us to consider a more expansive view of the divine in contemporary life.”<b><i><b><i>—The Seattle Times</i></b><br /><br /> </i></b>“A fascinating exploration of the interaction of our humanity and God.”<b><i><b>—<i>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</i></b><br /><br /> </i></b>“[Aslan’s] slim, yet ambitious book [is] the story of how humans have created God with a capital G, and it’s thoroughly mind-blowing.”<b><i><b><i>—Los Angeles Review of Books</i></b><br /><br /> </i></b>“Aslan is a born storyteller, and there is much to enjoy in this intelligent survey.”<b><i><b>—<i>San Francisco Chronicle</i></b></i></b>

If you ever wonder, is God real? ...or have ever wondered, what is God? ...then this book will reveal to you amazing awe-inspiring science-based facts to inspire your absolute conviction that there is an ultimate Benevolent Creator, and a creative intelligence, we call God, behind and within all things. Without the need for any religious doctrine you are given eye-opening and mind-blowing wondrous facts to explain how you really can believe in God.

<p>From the new afterword by the author:<br /><br />Humanity has had a long fascination with blood sacrifice. In fact, it has been by no means uncommon for a child to be born into this world only to be patiently and lovingly reared by religious maniacs, who believe that the best way to keep the sun on its course or to ensure a rich harvest is to lead him by tender hand into a field or to a mountaintop and bury, butcher, or burn him alive as offering to an invisible God. The notion that Jesus Christ died for our sins and that his death constitutes a successful propitiation of a “loving” God is a direct and undisguised inheritance of the superstitious bloodletting that has plagued bewildered people throughout history. . .</p>

<b>Christopher Hitchens's personally curated <i>New York Times</i> bestselling anthology of the most influential and important writings on atheism, including original pieces by Salman Rushdie and Ian McEwan</b><br />From the #1 <i>New York Times</i> best-selling author of <i>God Is Not Great</i>, a provocative and entertaining guided tour of atheist and agnostic thought through the ages--with never-before-published pieces by Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali.Christopher Hitchens continues to make the case for a splendidly godless universe in this first-ever gathering of the influential voices--past and present--that have shaped his side of the current (and raging) God/no-god debate. With Hitchens as your erudite and witty guide, you'll be led through a wealth of philosophy, literature, and scientific inquiry, including generous portions of the words of Lucretius, Benedict de Spinoza, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Mark Twain, George Eliot, Bertrand Russell, Emma Goldman, H. L. Mencken, Albert Einstein, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and many others well-known and lesser known. And they're all set in context and commented upon as only Christopher Hitchens--"political and literary journalist extraordinaire" (<i>Los Angeles Times</i>)--can. Atheist? Believer? Uncertain? No matter: <i>The Portable Atheist</i> will speak to you and engage you every step of the way.

<b>From bestselling author and provocateur Christopher Hitchens, the classic guide to the art of principled dissent and disagreement</b><br />In<i> Letters to a Young Contrarian</i>, bestselling author and world-class provocateur Christopher Hitchens inspires the radicals, gadflies, mavericks, rebels, and angry young (wo)men of tomorrow. Exploring the entire range of "contrary positions"--from noble dissident to gratuitous nag--Hitchens introduces the next generation to the minds and the misfits who influenced him, invoking such mentors as Emile Zola, Rosa Parks, and George Orwell. As is his trademark, Hitchens pointedly pitches himself in contrast to stagnant attitudes across the ideological spectrum. No other writer has matched Hitchens's understanding of the importance of disagreement--to personal integrity, to informed discussion, to true progress, to democracy itself.<br />

The central contention of the “New Atheism” of Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens is that there has for several centuries been a war between science and religion, that religion has been steadily losing that war, and that at this point in human history a completely secular scientific account of the world has been worked out in such thorough and convincing detail that there is no longer any reason why a rational and educated person should find the claims of any religion the least bit worthy of attention.<br /><br />     But as Edward Feser argues in <i>The Last Superstition</i>, in fact there is not, and never has been, any war between science and religion at all. There has instead been a conflict between two entirely <i>philosophical conceptions</i> of the natural order: on the one hand, the classical “teleological” vision of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas, on which purpose or goal-directedness is as inherent a feature of the physical world as mass or electric charge; and the modern “mechanical” vision of Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, and Hume, according to which the physical world is comprised of nothing more than purposeless, meaningless particles in motion. As it happens, on the classical teleological picture, the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, and the natural-law conception of morality are rationally unavoidable. Modern atheism and secularism have thus always crucially depended for their rational credentials on the insinuation that the modern, mechanical picture of the world has somehow been established by science.<br /><br />     Yet this modern “mechanical” picture has never been established by science, and cannot be, for it is not a scientific theory in the first place but merely a philosophical interpretation of science. Moreover, as Feser shows, the philosophical arguments in its favor given by the early modern philosophers were notable only for being surprisingly weak.<br /><br />      However, not only is this modern philosophical picture rationally unfounded, it is demonstrably false. For the “mechanical” conception of the natural world, when worked<br /><br />out consistently, absurdly entails that rationality, and indeed the human mind itself, is illusory. The so-called “scientific worldview” championed by the New Atheists thus inevitably undermines its own rational foundations; and into the bargain (and contrary to the moralistic posturing of the New Atheists) it undermines the foundations of any possible morality as well. By contrast, and as The Last Superstition demonstrates, the classical teleological picture of nature can be seen to find powerful confirmation in developments from contemporary philosophy, biology, and physics; moreover, morality and reason itself cannot possibly be made sense of apart from it.  The teleological vision of the ancients and medievals is thereby rationally vindicated – and with it the religious worldview they based upon it.<br /><br />     Winner of the 2008 Book of the Year in Religion from <i>ForeWord</i> Magazine and the only 2008 Editors’ Choice for Religion from the American Library Association’s <i>Booklist</i>, <i>The Last Superstition</i> remains the most cogent and powerful refutation of the New Atheism extent.

Atheism is on the march in the western world, and its enemy is God. Religion, the New Atheists claim, is dangerous, it kills or poisons everything. And if religion is the problem with the world, their answer is simple: get rid of it. But are things really so straightforward? Tackling the likes of Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett head on, John Lennox highlights the fallacies in the their approach, arguing that their irrational and unscientific methodology leaves them guilty of the same obstinate foolishness of which they accuse dogmatic religious folks. Erudite and wide-ranging, Gunning for God packs some debilitating punches. It also puts forward new ideas about the nature of God and Christianity that will give the New Atheists' best friends and worst enemies alike some stimulating food for thought.

<p>I’ve shared the details of my spiritual journey in <i>Goodbye Jesus: An Evangelical Preacher’s Journey Beyond Faith</i>. My aim in this book is raise four challenging questions that need to be addressed by every Christian believer and then to offer one incredibly simple answer—an answer that challenges the veracity of the Christian faith but can also be the gateway to a rewarding new life that is based on truth and does not require the suspension of common sense.</p><p>Objectively examining your closely held belief system is not a walk in the park. And facing up to the idea that you might be under a spell that makes it hard for you to think objectively is daunting, especially when you rely on the spell’s results to make you feel that everything is okay and when you’ve been warned that tampering with the spell is the worst thing you could ever do.</p><p>Choose courage. If what you believe is true, it can stand the test of any question that I or anyone else might raise. I encourage you to open your mind, face the facts, and decide that you will follow the truth wherever it leads.</p><p>I spent most of my life in a search for truth about faith, God, and religion. Maybe I can save you some time as you make your own decisions. </p><p> Tim Sledge</p>

Do you want to get sober without adopting the belief in God that is often pushed in AA, NA, and other 12-step meetings? Do you want a practical, no-nonsense, psychology-based approach to sobriety that is rooted in down-to-earth principles and actions? Staying Sober Without God is a guide that will help you do just that.<br /><br />Staying Sober Without God provides an overview of alcoholism, drug addiction, and behavioral addictions along with a new version of the 12 steps referred to as The Practical 12 Steps. These steps, written by a recovering addict and licensed psychotherapist, are adapted from the original 12 steps. They contain the original wisdom of the 12 steps without any reference to God or the supernatural.<br /><br />Staying Sober Without God also provides guidance in areas that the original 12 steps don't fully address such as physical health, seeking outside help, and effective communication. The end result is a robust, well-rounded guide to a balanced recovery lifestyle that can help you stay forever free from your compulsive behaviors if you choose to be.<br /><br />Finally, there is a path to recovery for the rest of us.

<b>“Jacoby writes with wit and vigor, affectionately resurrecting a man whose life and work are due for reconsideration” (<i>The Boston Globe</i>).</b><br />  <br /> During the Gilded Age, which saw the dawn of America’s enduring culture wars, Robert Green Ingersoll was known as “the Great Agnostic.” The nation’s most famous orator, he raised his voice on behalf of Enlightenment reason, secularism, and the separation of church and state with a power unmatched since America’s revolutionary generation. When he died in 1899, even his religious enemies acknowledged that he might have aspired to the US presidency had he been willing to mask his opposition to religion. To the question that retains its controversial power today—was the United States founded as a Christian nation?—Ingersoll answered an emphatic no.<br /><br /> In this provocative biography, Susan Jacoby, author of <i>Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism</i>, restores Ingersoll to his rightful place in an American intellectual tradition extending from Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine to the current generation of “new atheists.” Jacoby illuminates the ways in which America’s often-denigrated and forgotten secular history encompasses issues, ranging from women’s rights to evolution, as potent and divisive today as they were in Ingersoll’s time. Ingersoll emerges in this portrait as an indispensable public figure who devoted his life to that greatest secular idea of all—liberty of conscience belonging to the religious and nonreligious alike.<br />  <br /> “Jacoby’s goal of elucidating the life and work of Robert Ingersoll is admirably accomplished. She offers a host of well-chosen quotations from his work, and she deftly displays the effect he had on others. For instance: after a young Eugene V. Debs heard Ingersoll talk, Debs accompanied him to the train station and then—just so he could continue the conversation—bought himself a ticket and rode all the way from Terre Haute to Cincinnati. Readers today may well find Ingersoll’s company equally entrancing.” —Jennifer Michael Hecht, <i>The New York Times Book Review</i>