Religious Studies | FrogenYozurt.Com - Online Literature Magazine

Pope Francis: Conversations with Jorge Bergoglio: His Life in His Own Words by Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti

On May 11, 2013, in Biographies & Memoirs, Book Reviews, Nonfiction, Religious Studies, by Editor

Through his own words, we come to know a man whose actions and words reflect his deeply-rooted humility. The book concludes with the Pope’s own writings and reflections, full of wisdom and inspiration.

Does Jesus Really Love Me? A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America by Jeff Chu

On April 14, 2013, in Biographies & Memoirs, Book Reviews, Nonfiction, Religious Studies, by Editor

Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America is part memoir and part investigative analysis that explores the explosive and confusing intersection of faith, politics, and sexuality in Christian America.

C. S. Lewis – A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet by Christian Theologian Alister McGrath

On March 17, 2013, in Art & Literature, Biographies & Memoirs, Book Reviews, Nonfiction, by Editor

In C.S. Lewis—A Life, Alister McGrath, prolific author and respected professor at King’s College of London, paints a definitive portrait of the life of C. S. Lewis. After thoroughly examining recently published Lewis correspondence, Alister challenges some of the previously held beliefs about the exact timing of Lewis’s shift from atheism to theism and then to Christianity.

Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Lisa Pulitzer

On March 12, 2013, in Biographies & Memoirs, Book Reviews, Nonfiction, Religious Studies, by Editor

In this tell-all memoir, complete with family photographs from her time in the Church, Jenna Miscavige Hill, a prominent critic of Scientology who now helps others leave the organization, offers an insider’s profile of the beliefs, rituals, and secrets of the religion that has captured the fascination of millions, including some of Hollywood’s brightest stars such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

Why Priests?, A Stunning Critique of the Roman Catholic Priesthood by Garry Wills

On February 16, 2013, in Book Reviews, Nonfiction, Religious Studies, by Editor

In his most provocative book yet, Pulitzer Prize–winner Garry Wills asks the radical question: Why do we need priests? Wills concludes with a powerful statement of his own beliefs in a book that will appeal to believers and nonbelievers alike and stand for years to come as a towering achievement.

The “Dead Sea Scrolls”: A Biography and a History of Judeo-Christian History by John J. Collins

On February 15, 2013, in Book Reviews, History, Nonfiction, Religious Studies, by Editor

Since they were first discovered in the caves at Qumran in 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls have aroused more fascination–and more controversy–than perhaps any other archaeological find. They appear to have been hidden in the Judean desert by the Essenes, a Jewish sect that existed around the time of Jesus, and they continue to inspire veneration and conspiracy theories to this day.

The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad and the Making of a Legend by Lesley Hazleton

On January 30, 2013, in Book Reviews, History, Nonfiction, Religious Studies, by Editor

Impeccably researched and thrillingly readable, Hazleton’s narrative creates vivid insight into a man navigating between idealism and pragmatism, faith and politics, nonviolence and violence, rejection and acclaim. The First Muslim illuminates not only an immensely significant figure but his lastingly relevant legacy.

Trent: What Happened at the Council, A History of the 16th Century Reform Movement by John W. O’Malley

On January 25, 2013, in Book Reviews, History, Nonfiction, Religious Studies, by Editor

Like What Happened at Vatican II, O’Malley’s Trent: What Happened at the Council strips mythology from historical truth while providing a clear, concise, and fascinating account of a pivotal episode in Church history. In celebration of the 450th anniversary of the council’s closing, it sets the record straight about the much misunderstood failures and achievements of this critical moment in European history.

Nostradamus: How an Obscure Renaissance Astrologer Became the Modern Prophet of Doom by Stéphane Gerson

On January 7, 2013, in Book Reviews, History, Nonfiction, Religious Studies, Social Studies, by Editor

Through prodigious research in European and American archives, Gerson shows that Nostradamus — a creature of the modern West rather than a vestige from some antediluvian era — tells us more about our past and our present than about our future.

Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright

On January 3, 2013, in Book Reviews, Nonfiction, Religious Studies, by Editor

In Going Clear, Wright examines what fundamentally makes a religion a religion, and whether Scientology is, in fact, deserving of this constitutional protection. Employing all his exceptional journalistic skills of observation, understanding, and shaping a story into a compelling narrative, Lawrence Wright has given us an evenhanded yet keenly incisive book that reveals the very essence of what makes Scientology the institution it is.