Faiths And Avatars

This collection details the 30 most important gods in the Forgotten Realms universe and expands upon the profiles of the rest of the deities. Faiths and Pantheons includes all-new prestige classes, feats, spells, and monster templates.

This massive tomes provides more than 20 pick-up-and-play churches, whose organization and beliefs are described in lavish detail. These churches can be used in any campaign setting to bring a whole new level of detail to the religious characters. Plus, for those who don't have a complete cosmology in their game, The Book of the Righteous provides a comprehensive mythology that unifies all of the gods in the book.

In the Hindu universe, gods and goddesses play freely among human beings to help them, nudge them towards the right action and mete out justice. They may appear to us as avatars in human form or manifest themselves as forces of nature. The many myths of Hinduism become colourful and entertaining when Shiva, Vishnu and Devi take different forms to enact their rivalries, destroy demons and teach devotees with superpowers a lesson in humility. This first-of-its-kind book brings together the major deities of the Hindu pantheon, describing the different manifestations by which they are recognized, celebrated and worshipped-from Durga to Sita to Kali, and from Narasimha to Parashurama to Krishna. The contributions by Bulbul Sharma, Namita Gokhale, Nanditha Krishna, Parvez Dewan, Royina Grewal and Seema Mohanty offer enchanting stories about our favourite divinities.

Venerated for millennia by three faiths, torn by irreconcilable conflict, conquered, rebuilt, and mourned for again and again, Jerusalem is a sacred city whose very sacredness has engendered terrible tragedy. In this fascinating volume, Karen Armstrong, author of the highly praised A History of God, traces the history of how Jews, Christians, and Muslims have all laid claim to Jerusalem as their holy place, and how three radically different concepts of holiness have shaped and scarred the city for thousands of years. Armstrong unfolds a complex story of spiritual upheaval and political transformation--from King David's capital to an administrative outpost of the Roman Empire, from the cosmopolitan city sanctified by Christ to the spiritual center conquered and glorified by Muslims, from the gleaming prize of European Crusaders to the bullet-ridden symbol of the present-day Arab-Israeli conflict. Written with grace and clarity, the product of years of meticulous research, Jerusalem combines the pageant of history with the profundity of searching spiritual analysis. Like Karen Armstrong's A History of God, Jerusalem is a book for the ages. BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Karen Armstrong's Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life.

Offers a comprehensive description of the Forgotten Realms, one of the most well known Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings.

Faith Beyond Belief gives a much-needed voice to the “good” people who have left their church but whose spirituality continues to mature. Johnston uses first-person stories as well as known spiritual authorities in describing various stages of religious growth. Some of these real-life accounts are by nonbelievers; others are by those among the growing numbers of the “spiritual but not religious.” All are thoughtful people with too much integrity to live what they consider a lie. The stories of the nonbelievers-including an ex-Catholic, a former Mormon, and a clandestine Muslim apostate who left his community after the attacks of 9/11-show how complete confidence in human reason can lead away from literal religious interpretation. But, while that step is a necessary one on the spiritual path, it is only intermediate. Her second set of stories are of people at the “mystic” level who can tolerate paradox and see truth and reality as multidimensional. Johnston’s book will help doubters to see things in a new light as well as those who are struggling to clarify their own spiritual vision. It also points beyond the atheist/believer controversy wrecking such divisive havoc in our culture today.

Many religions today expect the coming of an Avatar or Saviour. The second coming of the Christ, as the world Teacher for the age of Aquarius, is presented in this book as an imminent event, a continuity of divine revelation throughout the ages. The Christ belongs to all mankind, and can be known and understood as, the same great Identity in all the world religions.

Everything a player needs to adventure in the Forgotten Realms, the most popular setting in the D&D "RM" game can be found right here: history, maps, non-player characters, geography, economics, societies, organizations, religions, politics, monsters, magic items, spells ... even a start-up adventure in the Realms!

The Criterion for Religions, the English translation of Mi'yarul Madhahib written by Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian in 1895 makes a detailed comparison of three major religions - Hinduism, Christianity and Islam - from the standpoint of natural criterion as to why Hinduism and Christianity fail to present the Perfect and Omnipotent God as proclaimed by Islam. God of Hinduism has only limited powers. His role is just like that of a mason who joins only already existing things and enjoys no role as a Creator. God of Christianity went through all the travails of life. That their God died for the sins of his followers is yet another invention of Christians. The idea of deifying humans was invented by Brahmans from whom the idea was borrowed by Greeks and was in turn borrowed by Christians from Greeks. The Christian dogma of Atonement only encourages to commit sins, to freely spread sinfulness, impiety and every kind of evil. As against the views of Hinduism and Christianity about God. 'Islam's understanding of God', according to the author, 'is very simple and clear, and is in keeping with human nature. Even if the books of all other religions were to disappear along with all their teachings and concepts, God — towards Whom the Holy Quran leads would still be clearly reflected in the mirror of the laws of nature and His might and wisdom shall be found glowing in every particle. This claim is fully substantiated in the book which covers many important aspects of Islamic concept of God.