A Renaissance man in a Revolutionary time, Benjamin Franklin had interests and knowledge not only in religion but in literature, philosophy, politics, publishing, history, and scientific inquiry, among many other disciplines. This title examines Franklin's search for the Divine using a similar, multifaceted approach.

For two decades, colleges and universities have regularly offered, and in some cases required, courses in thinking skills. Such courses generally have focused on training students in the basics of informal and formal logic, the assumption being that good thinking is logical thinking, and that instruction in critical or "good" thinking consequently should emphasize logical procedures. This "logistic" assumption is clearly reflected in both critical thinking textbooks as well as in the professional literature.

Recently, however, the epistemic and pedagogical identification of critical...

For vegetarians seeking the historical roots of vegetarianism, for animal rights activists and the environmentally concerned, and for those questioning their consumption of meat, here's a book that provides a deep understanding of vegetarianism as more than just a dietary decision.

This is the first comprehensive collection of primary source material on vegetarianism as a moral choice and includes the writings of Carol Adams, Bernard de Mandeville, Mohandas Gandhi, Oliver Goldsmith, Anna Kingsford, Frances Moore Lappe, Porphyry, Pythagoras, Tom Regan, Albert Schweitzer, Seneca, Peter...

Stretching back more than two thousand years and spanning diverse traditions, religious vegetarianism has an ancient and rich history. In this book, Kerry S. Walters and Lisa Portmess gather writings that reflect devotional as well as more analytical responses to age-old questions of animal suffering, dietary practice, and human responsibility. These include writings from ancient Orphic and Pythagorean authors, writings that span centuries of Indian and Buddhist thought, and writings from the Judaic, Christian, and Islamic traditions. Interesting both to those well-versed in the literature of...

Genuine, life-giving spirituality calls us to be our best selves and to bring out the best in others, each and every day. It calls us to care-for God, others, and ourselves. In Practicing Presence, popular spiritual writer Kerry Walters shows us how to integrate care into our daily lives on the road to happiness and holiness. As Walters reveals, we do not need to be professional caregivers to nurture a creative, intimate, and meaningful openness to our deepest selves, to others, and to God. We simply need to be present to who God is and who we are as images of God.

This illuminating discussion of deism in the early American colonies presents an overview of its main tenets, showing how its influence rose swiftly and for a time became a highly controversial subject of debate among the first citizens of our nation. The deists were students of the Enlightenment and took a keen interest in the scientific study of nature. They were thus critical of orthodox Christianity for its superstitious belief in miracles, persecution of dissent, and suppression of independent thought and expression.
At the heart of his book are profiles of six "rational infidels,"...