A Pilgrim's Digress

A Pilgrim's Digress

Author: John D. Spalding

Publisher: Harmony

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13:

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It's a long, strange journey to paradise, and often hilarious one, if you bravely follow the road less traveled--wherever it leads. John D. Spalding certainly has. In this smart and insightful collection, Spalding, Beliefnet.com's popular offbeat humorist, wanders America as a modern-day "pilgrim" seeking the Celestial City. Loosely organizing his comic misadventures according to John Bunyan's classic The Pilgrim's Progress, Spalding describes how he spent three days as a street preacher in Times Square ("Excuse me, sir, did you know you're going to hell?"); went to the mat (conversationally) with Omega and Apocalypse, two mainstays of the Christian Wrestling Federation; and visited a man who, practicing the art of trepanation, drilled a hole in his head to make himself permanently happy. He also experienced his own funeral, courtesy of the Dying-to-Get-In Company. Like Christian, Bunyan's beleaguered pilgrim, Spalding never knows who is waiting around the next bend. On his journey, he finds himself at the mercy of rebirthing therapists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormon missionaries, and in the company of a psychic "ghost counselor," America's luckiest (and perhaps divinely blessed) lottery winner, and a mysterious, barefoot holy man named Whatsyourname. Finally, he makes an ancient, five-hundred-mile pilgrimage across Spain, during which he learns what it truly means to be a pilgrim. Funny, wry, and revealing, the stories in A Pilgrim's Digress describe Spalding's satirical quest for the righteous path and what he discovers about the spiritual zeitgeist along the way.


Book Synopsis A Pilgrim's Digress by : John D. Spalding

Download or read book A Pilgrim's Digress written by John D. Spalding and published by Harmony. This book was released on 2003 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's a long, strange journey to paradise, and often hilarious one, if you bravely follow the road less traveled--wherever it leads. John D. Spalding certainly has. In this smart and insightful collection, Spalding, Beliefnet.com's popular offbeat humorist, wanders America as a modern-day "pilgrim" seeking the Celestial City. Loosely organizing his comic misadventures according to John Bunyan's classic The Pilgrim's Progress, Spalding describes how he spent three days as a street preacher in Times Square ("Excuse me, sir, did you know you're going to hell?"); went to the mat (conversationally) with Omega and Apocalypse, two mainstays of the Christian Wrestling Federation; and visited a man who, practicing the art of trepanation, drilled a hole in his head to make himself permanently happy. He also experienced his own funeral, courtesy of the Dying-to-Get-In Company. Like Christian, Bunyan's beleaguered pilgrim, Spalding never knows who is waiting around the next bend. On his journey, he finds himself at the mercy of rebirthing therapists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormon missionaries, and in the company of a psychic "ghost counselor," America's luckiest (and perhaps divinely blessed) lottery winner, and a mysterious, barefoot holy man named Whatsyourname. Finally, he makes an ancient, five-hundred-mile pilgrimage across Spain, during which he learns what it truly means to be a pilgrim. Funny, wry, and revealing, the stories in A Pilgrim's Digress describe Spalding's satirical quest for the righteous path and what he discovers about the spiritual zeitgeist along the way.


The Pilgrim's Digress

The Pilgrim's Digress

Author: T. J. Martinell

Publisher:

Published: 2020-12-25

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13: 9781951897307

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Book Synopsis The Pilgrim's Digress by : T. J. Martinell

Download or read book The Pilgrim's Digress written by T. J. Martinell and published by . This book was released on 2020-12-25 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


The Pilgrim's Digress

The Pilgrim's Digress

Author: Benjamin Szumskyj

Publisher:

Published: 2015-08-03

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13: 9780692488263

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In The Pilgrim's Digress, former editor and literary critic Benjamin Szumskyj details the time he spent writing and working in the genres of fantasy and horror literature. Biographically reflecting on the years he spent as a teenager and young adult, Szumskyj realized that his newly-discovered Christian faith was inconsistent with his involvement with secular fiction. Upon leaving the field of literary criticism, he was concerned to discover that many Christian readers embraced the genres that he once studied. To counter this, Szumskyj began writing The Pilgrim's Digress as a work of discernment in order to expose these genres as not being credible instruments in living out the Great Commission, to rebut claims that secular literature should be celebrated and read by Christians, and to admonish so-called Christian fantasy and horror authors and their novels. Unlike many other Christian books that condone such genres, Szumskyj's The Pilgrim's Digress is a labor of love that seeks to promote a high view of Scripture, redeem the time spent reading works not born of the Kingdom, and inform Christian readers of the dangers in reading both Christian and secular literature that are labeled fantasy and horror.


Book Synopsis The Pilgrim's Digress by : Benjamin Szumskyj

Download or read book The Pilgrim's Digress written by Benjamin Szumskyj and published by . This book was released on 2015-08-03 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Pilgrim's Digress, former editor and literary critic Benjamin Szumskyj details the time he spent writing and working in the genres of fantasy and horror literature. Biographically reflecting on the years he spent as a teenager and young adult, Szumskyj realized that his newly-discovered Christian faith was inconsistent with his involvement with secular fiction. Upon leaving the field of literary criticism, he was concerned to discover that many Christian readers embraced the genres that he once studied. To counter this, Szumskyj began writing The Pilgrim's Digress as a work of discernment in order to expose these genres as not being credible instruments in living out the Great Commission, to rebut claims that secular literature should be celebrated and read by Christians, and to admonish so-called Christian fantasy and horror authors and their novels. Unlike many other Christian books that condone such genres, Szumskyj's The Pilgrim's Digress is a labor of love that seeks to promote a high view of Scripture, redeem the time spent reading works not born of the Kingdom, and inform Christian readers of the dangers in reading both Christian and secular literature that are labeled fantasy and horror.


Christianity and the Postmodern Turn

Christianity and the Postmodern Turn

Author: Myron B. Penner

Publisher: Brazos Press

Published: 2005-07-01

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 144120251X

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In our post-Cold War, post-colonial, post-Christian world, Western culture is experiencing a dramatic shift. Correspondingly, says Myron Penner, recent philosophy has taken a postmodern turn in which traditional concepts of reality, truth, language, and knowledge have been radically altered, if not discarded. Here James K.A. Smith, John Franke, Merold Westphal, Kevin Vanhoozer, Douglas Geivett, and R. Scott Smith respond to the question, "What perils and/or promises does the postmodern turn hold for the tasks of Christian thinkers?" Addressing topics such as the nature of rationality and biblical faith, the relationship of language to reality, and the impact of postmodern concerns on ethics, this book presents a variety of positions in vigorous dialogue with each other.


Book Synopsis Christianity and the Postmodern Turn by : Myron B. Penner

Download or read book Christianity and the Postmodern Turn written by Myron B. Penner and published by Brazos Press. This book was released on 2005-07-01 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In our post-Cold War, post-colonial, post-Christian world, Western culture is experiencing a dramatic shift. Correspondingly, says Myron Penner, recent philosophy has taken a postmodern turn in which traditional concepts of reality, truth, language, and knowledge have been radically altered, if not discarded. Here James K.A. Smith, John Franke, Merold Westphal, Kevin Vanhoozer, Douglas Geivett, and R. Scott Smith respond to the question, "What perils and/or promises does the postmodern turn hold for the tasks of Christian thinkers?" Addressing topics such as the nature of rationality and biblical faith, the relationship of language to reality, and the impact of postmodern concerns on ethics, this book presents a variety of positions in vigorous dialogue with each other.


Practicing Pilgrimage

Practicing Pilgrimage

Author: Brett Webb-Mitchell

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2016-11-09

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 1532614047

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Practicing Pilgrimage: On Being and Becoming God's Pilgrim People explores both the theological, cultural, and spiritual roots of Christian pilgrimage, and is a "how-to" book on doing pilgrimage in our suburban backyards, city streets, rural roads, churches, retreat centers, and our everyday life. Brett Webb-Mitchell takes the ancient practice of Christian pilgrimage and applies it to our contemporary lives.


Book Synopsis Practicing Pilgrimage by : Brett Webb-Mitchell

Download or read book Practicing Pilgrimage written by Brett Webb-Mitchell and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2016-11-09 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Practicing Pilgrimage: On Being and Becoming God's Pilgrim People explores both the theological, cultural, and spiritual roots of Christian pilgrimage, and is a "how-to" book on doing pilgrimage in our suburban backyards, city streets, rural roads, churches, retreat centers, and our everyday life. Brett Webb-Mitchell takes the ancient practice of Christian pilgrimage and applies it to our contemporary lives.


A Pilgrimage to Eternity

A Pilgrimage to Eternity

Author: Timothy Egan

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2019-10-15

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 0735225230

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From "the world's greatest tour guide," a deeply-researched, captivating journey through the rich history of Christianity and the winding paths of the French and Italian countryside that will feed mind, body, and soul (New York Times). "What a wondrous work! This beautifully written and totally clear-eyed account of his pilgrimage will have you wondering whether we should all embark on such a journey, either of the body, the soul or, as in Egan's case, both." --Cokie Roberts "Egan draws us in, making us feel frozen in the snow-covered Alps, joyful in valleys of trees with low-hanging fruit, skeptical of the relics of embalmed saints and hopeful for the healing of his encrusted toes, so worn and weathered from their walk."--The Washington Post Moved by his mother's death and his Irish Catholic family's complicated history with the church, Timothy Egan decided to follow in the footsteps of centuries of seekers to force a reckoning with his own beliefs. He embarked on a thousand-mile pilgrimage through the theological cradle of Christianity to explore the religion in the world that it created. Egan sets out along the Via Francigena, once the major medieval trail leading the devout to Rome, and travels overland via the alpine peaks and small mountain towns of France, Switzerland and Italy, accompanied by a quirky cast of fellow pilgrims and by some of the towering figures of the faith--Joan of Arc, Henry VIII, Martin Luther. The goal: walking to St. Peter's Square, in hopes of meeting the galvanizing pope who is struggling to hold together the church through the worst crisis in half a millennium. A thrilling journey, a family story, and a revealing history, A Pilgrimage to Eternity looks for our future in its search for God.


Book Synopsis A Pilgrimage to Eternity by : Timothy Egan

Download or read book A Pilgrimage to Eternity written by Timothy Egan and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2019-10-15 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From "the world's greatest tour guide," a deeply-researched, captivating journey through the rich history of Christianity and the winding paths of the French and Italian countryside that will feed mind, body, and soul (New York Times). "What a wondrous work! This beautifully written and totally clear-eyed account of his pilgrimage will have you wondering whether we should all embark on such a journey, either of the body, the soul or, as in Egan's case, both." --Cokie Roberts "Egan draws us in, making us feel frozen in the snow-covered Alps, joyful in valleys of trees with low-hanging fruit, skeptical of the relics of embalmed saints and hopeful for the healing of his encrusted toes, so worn and weathered from their walk."--The Washington Post Moved by his mother's death and his Irish Catholic family's complicated history with the church, Timothy Egan decided to follow in the footsteps of centuries of seekers to force a reckoning with his own beliefs. He embarked on a thousand-mile pilgrimage through the theological cradle of Christianity to explore the religion in the world that it created. Egan sets out along the Via Francigena, once the major medieval trail leading the devout to Rome, and travels overland via the alpine peaks and small mountain towns of France, Switzerland and Italy, accompanied by a quirky cast of fellow pilgrims and by some of the towering figures of the faith--Joan of Arc, Henry VIII, Martin Luther. The goal: walking to St. Peter's Square, in hopes of meeting the galvanizing pope who is struggling to hold together the church through the worst crisis in half a millennium. A thrilling journey, a family story, and a revealing history, A Pilgrimage to Eternity looks for our future in its search for God.


A Pilgrim's Path

A Pilgrim's Path

Author: Wesley Henry

Publisher: Tate Publishing

Published: 2008-03

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 1604622768

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A seasonal arrangement collection of devotions and daily living, of common things with eternal effects, set in Kentucky, by Minister of Education, Wesley Henry.


Book Synopsis A Pilgrim's Path by : Wesley Henry

Download or read book A Pilgrim's Path written by Wesley Henry and published by Tate Publishing. This book was released on 2008-03 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A seasonal arrangement collection of devotions and daily living, of common things with eternal effects, set in Kentucky, by Minister of Education, Wesley Henry.


Death of a Pilgrim

Death of a Pilgrim

Author: David Dickinson

Publisher: C & R Crime

Published: 2011-09-01

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 1780334133

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1905. A young man called James Delaney is dying in a New York hospital. The doctors and the nuns cannot save him. When his life is spared his tycoon father takes it as a miracle and organizes a family pilgrimage to the resting place of the boy's name saint, Saint James the Greater in Santiago de Compostela in Spain, the greatest pilgrimage site of the Middle Ages. The first modern-day pilgrim is killed in Le Puy en Velay in Southern France and Powerscourt is summoned to investigate. The pilgrims' progress across the holy sites is punctuated by further bizarre deaths. After his own life is put in terrible danger Powerscourt finally solves the murders on the day of the Bull Run at Pamplona in Southern Spain where young men race down the cobbled streets pursued by the bulls. The careless are gored to death, but it is up to Powerscourt to beware of the horns and other hidden dangers to finally resolve the Deaths of the Pilgrims.


Book Synopsis Death of a Pilgrim by : David Dickinson

Download or read book Death of a Pilgrim written by David Dickinson and published by C & R Crime. This book was released on 2011-09-01 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 1905. A young man called James Delaney is dying in a New York hospital. The doctors and the nuns cannot save him. When his life is spared his tycoon father takes it as a miracle and organizes a family pilgrimage to the resting place of the boy's name saint, Saint James the Greater in Santiago de Compostela in Spain, the greatest pilgrimage site of the Middle Ages. The first modern-day pilgrim is killed in Le Puy en Velay in Southern France and Powerscourt is summoned to investigate. The pilgrims' progress across the holy sites is punctuated by further bizarre deaths. After his own life is put in terrible danger Powerscourt finally solves the murders on the day of the Bull Run at Pamplona in Southern Spain where young men race down the cobbled streets pursued by the bulls. The careless are gored to death, but it is up to Powerscourt to beware of the horns and other hidden dangers to finally resolve the Deaths of the Pilgrims.


A Sense of Direction

A Sense of Direction

Author: Gideon Lewis-Kraus

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2013-05-07

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 1594631492

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In medieval times, a pilgrimage gave the average Joe his only break from the daily grind. For Gideon Lewis-Kraus, it promises a different kind of escape. Determined to avoid the fear and self-sacrifice that kept his father, a gay rabbi, closeted until midlife, he has moved to anything-goes Berlin. But the surfeit of freedom there has begun to paralyze him, and when a friend extends a drunken invitation to join him on an ancient pilgrimage route across Spain, Lewis-Kraus packs his bag, grateful for the chance to wake each morning with a sense of direction. Irreverent, moving, hilarious, and thought-provoking, A Sense of Direction is Lewis-Kraus’s dazzling riff on the perpetual war between discipline and desire, and its attendant casualties. Across three pilgrimages and many hundreds of miles, he completes an idiosyncratic odyssey to the heart of a family mystery and a human dilemma: How do we come to terms with what has been and what is—and find a way forward, with purpose?


Book Synopsis A Sense of Direction by : Gideon Lewis-Kraus

Download or read book A Sense of Direction written by Gideon Lewis-Kraus and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-05-07 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In medieval times, a pilgrimage gave the average Joe his only break from the daily grind. For Gideon Lewis-Kraus, it promises a different kind of escape. Determined to avoid the fear and self-sacrifice that kept his father, a gay rabbi, closeted until midlife, he has moved to anything-goes Berlin. But the surfeit of freedom there has begun to paralyze him, and when a friend extends a drunken invitation to join him on an ancient pilgrimage route across Spain, Lewis-Kraus packs his bag, grateful for the chance to wake each morning with a sense of direction. Irreverent, moving, hilarious, and thought-provoking, A Sense of Direction is Lewis-Kraus’s dazzling riff on the perpetual war between discipline and desire, and its attendant casualties. Across three pilgrimages and many hundreds of miles, he completes an idiosyncratic odyssey to the heart of a family mystery and a human dilemma: How do we come to terms with what has been and what is—and find a way forward, with purpose?


C. S. Lewis

C. S. Lewis

Author: Bruce L. Edwards

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2007-04-30

Total Pages: 1398

ISBN-13: 0313082081

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Most popularly known as the author of the children's classic The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis was also a prolific poet, essayist, novelist, and Christian writer. His most famous work, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, while known as a children's book is often read as a Christian allegory and remains to this day one of his best-loved works. But Lewis was prolific in a number of areas, including poetry, Christian writing, literary criticism, letters, memoir, autobiography, sermons and more. This set, written by experts, guides readers to a better understanding and appreciation of this important and influential writer. Clive Staples Lewis was born on November 29, 1898, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. His mother died when he was young, leaving his father to raise him and his older brother Warren. He fought and was wounded in World War I and later became immersed in the spiritual life of Christianity. While he delved into the world of Christian writing, he did not limit himself to one genre and produced a remarkable oeuvre that continues to be widely read, taught, and adored at all levels. As part of the circle known as the Inklings, which consisted of writers and intellectuals, and included J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and others, he developed and honed his skills and continued to put out extensive writings. Many different groups now claim him as their own: spanning genres from science fiction to Christian literature, from nonfiction to children's stories, his output remains among the most popular and complex. Here, experts in the field of Lewis studies examine all his works along with the details of his life and the culture in which he lived to give readers the fullest complete picture of the man, the writer, and the husband, alongside his works, his legacy, and his place in English letters.


Book Synopsis C. S. Lewis by : Bruce L. Edwards

Download or read book C. S. Lewis written by Bruce L. Edwards and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2007-04-30 with total page 1398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most popularly known as the author of the children's classic The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis was also a prolific poet, essayist, novelist, and Christian writer. His most famous work, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, while known as a children's book is often read as a Christian allegory and remains to this day one of his best-loved works. But Lewis was prolific in a number of areas, including poetry, Christian writing, literary criticism, letters, memoir, autobiography, sermons and more. This set, written by experts, guides readers to a better understanding and appreciation of this important and influential writer. Clive Staples Lewis was born on November 29, 1898, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. His mother died when he was young, leaving his father to raise him and his older brother Warren. He fought and was wounded in World War I and later became immersed in the spiritual life of Christianity. While he delved into the world of Christian writing, he did not limit himself to one genre and produced a remarkable oeuvre that continues to be widely read, taught, and adored at all levels. As part of the circle known as the Inklings, which consisted of writers and intellectuals, and included J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and others, he developed and honed his skills and continued to put out extensive writings. Many different groups now claim him as their own: spanning genres from science fiction to Christian literature, from nonfiction to children's stories, his output remains among the most popular and complex. Here, experts in the field of Lewis studies examine all his works along with the details of his life and the culture in which he lived to give readers the fullest complete picture of the man, the writer, and the husband, alongside his works, his legacy, and his place in English letters.