The Bible is a perplexing book. It blends primitive beliefs with timeless truths, swings between compassionate love and ruthless violence, and forms a sympathetic heavenly father from the remains of a savage tribal god. What are we to make of it all? Petri Merenlahti takes an entertaining journey through biblical literature and returns with an original theology of imperfection. Looking at the Bible through the lenses of history, culture, literature, and psychology, he calls his readers to let go of an idealized image of the Christian Scriptures and embrace their limited human nature instead. This is vital, he argues, because false idealization and psychological splitting are major sources of religious fanaticism and violence. Merenlahti insists that we make a difference between the smaller God of human imagination and the transcendent God that should remain beyond it. We will then be rewarded with wisdom instead of fanaticism, mercy instead of moralism, and peace instead of hatred and guilt.

God's imagination is on full display every day in the world we live in. Take a peek at His beautiful and fun creations plus find out what He loves most of all in this charming, rhyming story!

The beloved debut novel about an affluent Indian family forever changed by one fateful day in 1969, from the author of The Ministry of Utmost Happiness NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • MAN BOOKER PRIZE WINNER Compared favorably to the works of Faulkner and Dickens, Arundhati Roy’s modern classic is equal parts powerful family saga, forbidden love story, and piercing political drama. The seven-year-old twins Estha and Rahel see their world shaken irrevocably by the arrival of their beautiful young cousin, Sophie. It is an event that will lead to an illicit liaison and tragedies accidental and intentional, exposing “big things [that] lurk unsaid” in a country drifting dangerously toward unrest. Lush, lyrical, and unnerving, The God of Small Things is an award-winning landmark that started for its author an esteemed career of fiction and political commentary that continues unabated.

Overly concerned about what people think of you? Edward T. Welch uncovers the spiritual dimension of people-pleasing—what the Bible calls fear of man—and points the way through a true knowledge of God, ourselves, and others.

Some animals are little, others are bigÑbut big or small, God made us all! Frolic board books playfully introduce basic faith concepts in a way thatÕs fun and age appropriate for very small children.

God's Little Daughters examines a set of letters written by Chinese Catholic women from a small village in Manchuria to their French missionary, "Father Lin," or Dominique Maurice Pourquié, who in 1870 had returned to France in poor health after spending twenty-three years at the local mission of the Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris (MEP). The letters were from three sisters of the Du family, who had taken religious vows and committed themselves to a life of contemplation and worship that allowed them rare privacy and the opportunity to learn to read and write. Inspired by a close reading of the letters, Ji Li explores how French Catholic missionaries of the MEP translated and disseminated their Christian message in northeast China from the mid-19th to the early 20th centuries, and how these converts interpreted and transformed their Catholic faith to articulate an awareness of self. The interplay of religious experience, rhetorical skill, and gender relations revealed in the letters allow us to reconstruct the neglected voices of Catholic women in rural China.

"Everyone can use a little inspiration, a little reminder of what is truly good, moral and just. God's Little Devotional Book provides just that! These devotionals--linked to pithy quotations and also to verses from the Bible--are short and easy-to-read... but no less meaningful.You'll find anecdotes, illustrations and stories that make you laugh, challenge you to think, and in some cases, touch the soft spot in your heart. As one reader has said, "Some of these hit me right between the eyes... and others caused tears to come to my eyes." Either way, this book promises you an expanded vision and new insights. And because the devotionals are tied to the external truth of God's Word, they also will help build in you excellence of character and strength in integrity.God's Little Devotional Book is for readers of all ages, in all circumstances of life, in all professions. These devotionals are ones to which every person can relate, and from which every person can draw encouragement. They'll add meaning to your day with truth, even as they brighten your day with hope! Share them with your children. Share them with a friend. They're guaranteed to offer a road map to succeed in the daily journey of life.