Religion Books

“Lo! now is come our joyful'st feast,Let every man be jolly.Each room with ivy leaves is drest,And every post with holly.Now all our neighbors' chimneys smoke,And Christmas blocks are burning;Their ovens they with bak't meats choke,And all their spits are turning.” The celebration of Christmas, which was considered by the Puritans to be idolatrous, has for many centuries been so... more...

1. The words, a nagual, nagualism, a nagualist, have been current in English prose for more than seventy years; they are found during that time in a variety of books published in England and the United States, yet are not to be discovered in any dictionary of the English language; nor has Nagualism a place in any of the numerous encyclopædias or “Conversation Lexicons,” in English, French, German... more...

DISCOURSE. Psalm 33: 12.—Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord. We have met to-day, at the call of the Governor of this Commonwealth, to render thanks to the Supreme Governor of the world for his mercies granted us during the past year. Surely we have abundant cause for thanksgiving. In the present instance, our annual festival not only calls us to recognize the common bounties of God's... more...

PREFACE. No class of works is received with more suspicion, I had almost said derision, than those which deal with Science and Religion. Science is tired of reconciliations between two things which never should have been contrasted; Religion is offended by the patronage of an ally which it professes not to need; and the critics have rightly discovered that, in most cases where Science is either pitted... more...

CHAPTER I THE NEW ERA—SOME LEADING WITNESSES"The epoch ends, the world is still,The age has talked and worked its fill; The famous men of war have fought,The famous speculators thought. See on the cumbered plain,Clearing a stage,Scattering the past about,Comes the New Age.Bards make new poems;Thinkers, new schools;Statesmen, new systems;Critics, new rules." MATTHEW ARNOLD. India is a land of... more...

BRAWN AND MUSCLE. "And Samson went down to Timnath."— Judges xiv: 1. There are two sides to the character of Samson. The one phase of his life, if followed into the particulars, would administer to the grotesque and the mirthful; but there is a phase of his character fraught with lessons of solemn and eternal import. To these graver lessons we devote our morning sermon. This giant no doubt in... more...

INTRODUCTION To kindle in all minds a common sentiment of regard for the spiritual idea emanating from the infinite, is a most needful work; but this must be done gradually, for Truth is as "the still, small voice," which comes to our recognition only as our natures are changed by its silent influence. Small streams are noisy and rush precipitately; and babbling brooks fill the rivers till they... more...

PREFACE. The letters collected in this volume appeared, with others, in the New York Sun, to the Editor of which the thanks of the writer for his courtesy are due. Appended is a paper on the same subjects commenting on one by the late Mr. Chamberlain, since published in the North American Review. To the Editor of the North American Review also the writer's acknowledgments are due. There appeared... more...

Those seeking to lead a spiritual life may become curious as to what is ahimsa (non violence), and inspired to practice it. But understanding how to live in non violence is not as simple as it seems, and practicing no violence in daily life can quickly become bewildering. To someone just beginning to cultivate non-violence, daily interactions might even begin to feel like the very definition of... more...

Introduction.WO of you—Lateef and Altaf—will recollect that more than a year ago you wrote to me saying that you were puzzled by certain questions which a Missionary had put to you. I remember that Amjud or Mahmood even went so far as to ask what was the good of Islam, when countries and people professing that faith had weak governments and were crumbling to pieces under the influence of Christian... more...