While in prison, Paul writes this letter to another Christian, Philemon. Paul has met with and converted a man named Onesimus, probably a runaway slave, and he writes to Philemon, Onesimus's legal owner, to tell him that he is sending him back. Appealing to Philemon's personal debt to him, Paul urges him to welcome Onesimus as though he were Paul himself, and to accept him as a fellow brother in Christ. (Summary by Leon Mire)...

Religion

Although written from a child's perspective, this is not a kids book but a series of funny, poignant, and sometimes disturbing stories about life in a late 19th-century Russian-Jewish village -- the world of my grandparents. Sholem Rabinovich (1859-1916) was born in Pereiaslav, Ukraine and later immigrated to New York. His short stories about Tevye and his daughters were freely adapted into the musical FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Rabinovich's will contained the following injunction: Let my name be recalled with laughter or not at all. His translator, Hannah Berman, was Irish of Lithuanian descent. Some of these stories may be too intense for younger children. (summary by Adrian Praetzellis)...

Short stories, Religion, Historical Fiction

Saint Catherine of Genoa (Caterina Fieschi Adorno, born Genoa 1447 – 15 September 1510) is an Italian Roman Catholic saint and mystic, admired for her work among the sick and the poor. She was a member of the noble Fieschi family, and spent most of her life and her means serving the sick, especially during the plague which ravaged Genoa in 1497 and 1501. She died in that city in 1510. In 1551, 41 years after her death, a book about her life and teaching was published, entitled Libro de la vita mirabile et dottrina santa de la Beata Caterinetta de Genoa. This is the source of her Dialogues on the Soul and the Body and her Treatise on Purgatory, which are often printed separately. Her authorship of these has been denied, and it used to be thought that another mystic, the Augustinian canoness Battistina Vernazza, who lived in a monastery in Genoa from 1510 till her death in 1587 had edited the two works, a suggestion discredited by recent scholarship, which attributes a large part of both works to St Catherine, though they received their final literary form only after her death. In the first part of the Spiritual Dialogue, St. Catherin...

Religion

This is a collection of short poems and readings, both religious and secular, on death and bereavement. (Summary by Ruth Golding)

Poetry, Philosophy, Religion

Karl Gjellerup war Däne, schrieb hauptsächlich auf Deutsch und wurde 1918 mit dem Nobelpreis für Literatur ausgezeichnet. Der Roman Die Weltwanderer spielt in Nordindien in der ersten Hälfte des vorletzten Jahrhunderts. Die Protagonisten sind ein weiser indischen Minister, ein deutschen Gelehrten und seine hübsche Tochter und ein skrupellosen Engländer, der ein Freund Lord Byrons war. Um das buddhistische Konzept der Wiedergeburt webt Gjellerup seine Erzählung um ein altes Manuskript, Thugs, Intrigen, Leidenschaft und wahrer Liebe....

Adventure, Religion

A collection of essays on the Hindu/Buddhist view of humankind's place in the universe. As the author says in his introduction: in these papers, it may be hoped, western readers will have an opportunity of coming into touch with the ancient spirit of India as revealed in our sacred texts and manifested in the life of to-day. Most of the essays were given as lectures before Harvard University in 1916 or before. (Summary by Peter Yearsley)...

Philosophy, Religion, Essay/Short nonfiction

Ignatius of Antioch penned these letters to churches (Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, Romans, Philadelphians, and Smyrnaeans) and Polycarp on his way to martyrdom. Ignatius was an apologist for the Episcopal style of church government (as opposed to sole rule by a council of presbyters) which developed in the late first or early second century. Eager to die in imitation of his Savior, it was Ignatius who wrote this to the Roman church: I am God's wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may be found pure bread [of Christ]. (Summary by Sam Stinson)...

Religion

Set in the days of the religious wars of Europe, St. Bartholomew's Eve is the tale of the Huguenot's desperate fight for freedom of worship in France. As the struggle intensifies the plot thickens, culminating in the dreadful Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve. Henty, The Boy's Own Storyteller weaves the life and adventures of Philip Fletcher and his cousin, Francois DeLaville, into the historical background with thrilling battles, sieges and escapes along the way (not to mention a fair damsel in distress! ). (Summary by Minkona)...

Historical Fiction, Children

Phillips Brooks (1835 - 1893) was one of the finest and most famous clergyman in the nineteenth century; he was acknowledged as a masterful preacher. His teachings were filled with understanding, compassion, and encouragement. He spent most of his life as rector of Trinity Church, Boston, and served briefly as Episcopal bishop of Massachusetts at the end of it (1891 - 1893). His life was a course of gaining an increasing name as preacher and patriot. In addition to his moral stature, he was a man of great physical bearing as well, standing six feet four inches tall. During the American Civil War he upheld the cause of the North and opposed slavery, and his sermon on the death of Abraham Lincoln was an eloquent expression of the character of both men. He was asked to be the full-time chaplain at Harvard University (with whose faculty and students he maintained a close relationship to the end of his life), but he later wrote, {My only ambition} is to be a parish priest ...” He died unmarried in 1893, after an episcopate of only 15 months. His death was a major event in the history of Boston. One observer reported: They buried him like...

Biography, Religion

This is a nice collection of 52 kid-aimed sermons by missionary Wright while he served in the Philippines in the World War I era. Each offers a slice-of-life reference point, an appropriate Bible verse, and hymn. (Summary by BellonaTimes)...

Children, Religion

HE WHO SPOKE and wrote this message will be greatly disappointed if it does not lead many to the Lord Jesus. It is sent forth in childlike dependence upon the power of God the Holy Ghost, to use it in the conversion of millions, if so He pleases. No doubt many poor men and women will take up this little volume, and the Lord will visit them with grace. To answer this end, the very plainest language has been chosen, and many homely expressions have been used. But if those of wealth and rank should glance at this book, the Holy Ghost can impress them also; since that which can be understood by the unlettered is none the less attractive to the instructed. Oh that some might read it who will become great winners of souls! Who knows how many will find their way to peace by what they read here? A more important question to you, dear reader, is this – Will you be one of them? (From All of Grace)...

Fiction, Religion, Philosophy

A collection of ten short nonfiction works in the public domain. The essays, speeches and reports included in this collection were independently selected by the readers, and the topics encompass history, politics science and religion. Included in this collection are Martin Luther’s “Ninety-five Theses,” Jefferson Davis’ speech before the United States Senate in 1861 “On Withdrawing from the Union,” William E. Gladstone’s address delivered in the House of Commons in 1893 on “Irish Home Rule” and Wendell Phillips speech in 1837 in Fanuiel Hall in Boston regarding “The Murder of Lovejoy.” You will also find here an epistolary essay by François Marie Arouet de Voltaire “On Lord Bacon,” a letter from Samuel Clemens commenting on the inclusion of Jesus in the list of “One Hundred Greatest Men,” “On Applauding Preachers” by Saint John Chrysostom, an essay by Alice Meynell on “Solitude,” and the entry on Captain Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard) from “The Pirates Who’s Who” by Philip Gosse. (summary by J. M. Smallheer)...

Essay/Short nonfiction, Biography, History, Politics, Science, Religion

This is book five of the “Angel Food” series by the author. It consists of a series of 28 short sermons for children, in the form of a charming story. The author was a Catholic parish priest in New York for many years during the mid 1900’s. He was the author of several books for children, the most well known being the books in what is considered the “Angel Food” series. (Summary by Maria Therese)...

Children, Religion

Chesterton and Shaw were famous friends and enjoyed their arguments and discussions. Although rarely in agreement, they both maintained good-will towards and respect for each other. However, in his writing, Chesterton expressed himself very plainly on where they differed and why. In Heretics he writes of Shaw: “After belabouring a great many people for a great many years for being unprogressive, Mr. Shaw has discovered, with characteristic sense, that it is very doubtful whether any existing human being with two legs can be progressive at all. Having come to doubt whether humanity can be combined with progress, most people, easily pleased, would have elected to abandon progress and remain with humanity. Mr. Shaw, not being easily pleased, decides to throw over humanity with all its limitations and go in for progress for its own sake. If man, as we know him, is incapable of the philosophy of progress, Mr. Shaw asks, not for a new kind of philosophy, but for a new kind of man. It is rather as if a nurse had tried a rather bitter food for some years on a baby, and on discovering that it was not suitable, should not throw away the food ...

Biography

This short book was written in 1920, and in it Chesterton, with his usual wit and incisive logic, presents a series of articles defending marriage and indicating the weaknesses in divorce. He did this 16 year before the first Christian denomination in the world allowed it's members to divorce. Till then Christendom was unanimous in standing against it. Chesterton saw clearly the trends of this time, and delivered this defense. (Summary by Ray Clare)...

Essay/Short nonfiction, Religion, Advice

Volume IV of a series containing anecdotes and stories, some well-known, others less so, of particular countries. This fourth volume covers the history of England from its conversion to Christianity up to the reign of Queen Victoria, describing history for children and young adults in an exciting and novel manner. (Introduction by Kalynda)...

History

Teddy loves to tell the story of how his father heroically died on the battlefield and guards his button jealously. But this brings contention and strife when a new girl comes to town. Teddy begins to learn what it means to be a soldier under Christ, his Captain. (Summary by GabrielleC)...

Children, Religion

Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) was a German Augustinian nun who had visions about Christ's life and death. This book relates her visions regarding the Blessed Virgin Mary, from her marriage to St. Joseph to the events surrounding the birth of Christ.(Introduction by Ann Boulais)...

Religion

The novel has two main plots; one set in the real world at the time the book was published (the Victorian era), the other in the fictional world of Fairyland. While the latter plot is a fairytale with many nonsense elements and poems, similar to Carroll's most famous children's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the story set in Victorian Britain is a social novel, with its characters discussing various concepts and aspects of religion, society, philosophy and morality. (Summary from Wikipedia}....

Children, Fairy tales

The Holy War is perhaps John Bunyan's second most popular work, after The Pilgrim's Progress. It tells the story of afierce battle to take control of a city from its rightful ruler. (Summary by Thadine)...

Fantasy, Fiction, Religion