Bandon Public Library

The acclaimed actor reveals the passion, spirituality, and intellectual fervor that have driven his life and career, citing the elements of his childhood that gave him his sense of worth and ethics.

"In a book that took eight years to research and write, leading Bible scholar Bart D. Ehrman explores how an apocalyptic prophet from the backwaters of rural Galilee crucified for crimes against the state came to be thought of as equal with the one God Almighty Creator of all things. Ehrman sketches Jesus's transformation from a human prophet to the Son of God exalted to divine status at his resurrection. Only when some of Jesus' followers had visions...

"Question with boldness even the existence of a god," Thomas Jefferson asserted, "because if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear." America's third president regarded Jesus as a moral guide rather than a divinity, and in The Jefferson Bible, he highlights Christ's ethical teachings from the Gospels. Discarding the scriptures' supernatural elements and dogma, this volume reflects the deist view of...

In a series of 24 lectures, Professor Mark W. Muesse focuses on the period between 800 to 200 BCE to show the historical conditions in which the world religions arose. Although Professor Muesse emphasizes the early religious traditions of Iran, South Asia, and China, he also shows how these compare, contrast, and contribute to contemporary Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

"Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag." In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure...

The world's premier authority on religious traditions presents a concise and timely guide to the history, teachings, and practice of Islam. Drawn from his masterful presentation of Islam in the bestselling book The World's Religions (over two million copies sold), Huston Smith offers a revealing look into the heart of a tradition with more than one billion adherents worldwide. Dispelling narrow and distorted notions about the nature of Islam and featuring...

Professor Hale, a practicing archaeologist, explores the world's early spiritual experiences by looking at cultural artifacts and sites and using these resources as a guide to understanding why early peoples believed what they did and how they constructed their religious belief systems.

"[A] paean to feminism and the solidarity of womenkind. . . . This book is a celebration of women in their various roles: mother, sister, civil rights advocate, consumer advocate, first-class mechanic, politician-which Roberts' own mother once was." -Washington Post "The perfect combination of powerful feelings and a modulated style." - Los Angeles Times From the much beloved Cokie Roberts comes a revised and expanded tenth-anniversary paperback...