Dogmatic Constitution on the Church: Lumen Gentium

David Baddiel (Author)

The God Desire

From the bestselling author of Jews Don't Count ' A hugely heartfelt, funny, kind, fascinating, human and clever book ' ALAIN DE BOTTON ' Magnificent. Breathtaking. And shockingly rare ... another one-sitting wonder' STEPHEN FRY David Baddiel would love there to be a God. He has spent a lot of time fantasising about how much better life would be if there actually was such a thing as a Superhero Dad who chased off Death. Unfortunately for him, there isn't. Or at least, that is Baddiel's view in this book, which argues that it is indeed the very intensity of his, and everyone else's, desire for God to exist that proves His non-existence. Anything so deeply wished-for we will, considers Baddiel, make real. The admission of his own divine yearnings makes for a book that is more vulnerable - and more understanding of the value and power of religion - than most atheist polemics. A philosophical essay that utilises Baddiel's trademarks of comedy, storytelling and personal asides, The God Desire offers a highly readable new perspective on the most ancient of debates.

Hal Edward Runkel

Screamfree Parenting: The Revolutionary Approach to Raising Your Kids by Keeping Your Cool

WANT A PEACEFUL HOME? This practical, effective guide for parents with kids of all ages introduces proven principles for overcoming the stress and anxiety of parenting, forged in the personal trenches of countless Screamfree families. If you're like most parents, what you want right now is pretty simple: an effective plan for getting your kids to behave and be happy. You're probably looking for something else as well - something a little deeper. Like many other parents all over the world, you want to know you're doing a good job. You want to feel like you can handle anything. You want to feel confident, competent, and hopeful for the future, for both your kids and yourself. (Oh, and along the way, you'd like a little peace, quiet, and respect as well.) All of the above are possible, even probable, if you can learn to become "Screamfree." You can have the structured, rewarding home life you've always craved, with respectful kids who are responsible for their own actions. All you have to do is learn to pause, so you can respond more and react less. It really is that simple. Once you learn to control your own emotions and behavior, your children will soon learn how to control theirs. ...

Joad Raymond

Milton's Angels: The Early-Modern Imagination

Milton's Paradise Lost, the most eloquent, most intellectually daring, most learned, and most sublime poem in the English language, is a poem about angels. It is told by and of angels; it relies upon their conflicts, communications, and miscommunications. They are the creatures of Milton's narrative, through which he sets the Fall of humankind against a cosmic background. Milton's angels are real beings, and the stories he tells about them rely on his understanding of what they were and how they acted. While he was unique in the sublimity of his imaginative rendering of angels, he was not alone in writing about them. Several early-modern English poets wrote epics that explore the actions of and grounds of knowledge about angels. Angels were intimately linked to theories of representation, and theology could be a creative force. Natural philosophers and theologians too found it interesting or necessary to explore angel doctrine. Angels did not disappear in Reformation theology: though centuries of Catholic traditions were stripped away, Protestants used them in inventive ways, adapting tradition to new doctrines and to shifting perceptions of the world. Angels continued to inhabit ...