Gods Of Our Time

The first novel by Mongane Serote since his acclaimed To Every Birth Its Blood, Gods of Our Time traces the latter years of the liberation struggle in South Africa and successfully conveys the bewilderment and uncertainty that were the experience of those involved in the historic events of this time. Unique in the multitude of characters who enter the pages in a seemingly random manner and then inexplicably leave again, the novel accurately portrays the surreal mood of the day when people really did come and go, frequently disappearing without a trace. Gods of Our Time is a challenging and enriching novelistic experience, one that addresses an important moment in South African history, and in many ways exemplifies the shifts taking place in the literature of this country.

Christians desperately need to name and expose the modern-day false gods of prosperity, nationalism, and self-interest. Combining a biblical study of idolatry with practical discipleship, Old Testament scholar Christopher J. H. Wright calls readers to fight the temptation of idolatry as we consider connections between Old Testament patterns and today's culture.

This volume is comprised of a series of reflections on current religious and political tensions, occasioned by the death of the P.R. Brown's mother and written as a homage to her.

This book is more than a novel. It's a testament to one of the most harrowing problems of our time. It's the story of one man's crusade to bring justice to the victims of child abuse. And it's a journey through the dark corridors of the oldest, richest, most powerful religious institution on earth: the Roman Catholic Church.

Traversing visible and invisible realms, A Time of Lost Gods attends to profound rereadings of politics, religion, and madness in the cosmic accounts of spirit mediumship. Drawing on research across a temple, a psychiatric unit, and the home altars of spirit mediums in a rural county of China’s Central Plain, it asks: What ghostly forms emerge after the death of Mao and the so-called end of history? The story of religion in China since the market reforms of the late 1970s is often told through its destruction under Mao and relative flourishing thereafter. Here, those who engage in mediumship offer a different history of the present. They approach Mao’s reign not simply as an earthly secular rule, but an exceptional interval of divine sovereignty, after which the cosmos collapsed into chaos. Caught between a fading era and an ever-receding horizon, those “left behind” by labor outmigration refigure the evacuated hometown as an ethical-spiritual center to come, amidst a proliferation of madness-inducing spirits. Following pronouncements of China’s rise, and in the wake of what Chinese intellectuals termed semicolonialism, the stories here tell of spirit mediums, patients, and psychiatrists caught in a shared dilemma, in a time when gods have lost their way.

Startling stories center the bodies, memories, myths, and relationships of Asian American women in “a voracious, probing collection, proof of how exhilarating the short story can be” (The New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice)—from the National Book Award “5 Under 35” honoree and author of Bestiary “Wise, energetic, funny, and wild, Gods of Want displays a boundless imagination anchored by the weight of ancestors and history.”—Kali Fajardo-Anstine, author of Sabrina & Corina and Woman of Light WINNER OF THE LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Them, Book Riot In “Auntland,” a steady stream of aunts adjust to American life by sneaking surreptitious kisses from women at temple, buying tubs of vanilla ice cream to prepare for citizenship tests, and hatching plans to name their daughters “Dog.” In “The Chorus of Dead Cousins,” ghost-cousins cross space, seas, and skies to haunt their live-cousin, wife to a storm chaser. In “Xífù,” a mother-in-law tortures a wife in increasingly unsuccessful attempts to rid the house of her. In “Mariela,” two girls explore one another’s bodies for the first time in the belly of a plastic shark, while in “Virginia Slims,” a woman from a cigarette ad comes to life. And in “Resident Aliens,” a former slaughterhouse serves as a residence to a series of widows, each harboring her own calamitous secrets. With each tale, K-Ming Chang gives us her own take on a surrealism that mixes myth and migration, corporeality and ghostliness, queerness and the quotidian. Stunningly told in her feminist fabulist style, these are uncanny stories peeling back greater questions of power and memory.

The tyranny of the gods is absolute, and they are capricious, malevolent and almost all-powerful, playing cruel games with the fates of mortals for their own ends . . . A vibrant and powerful epic set against an alternate Bronze Age, this tale of gods, men and monsters, conspiracy and war, is a rich, compelling and original read from a master of the historical and fantasy genres. The people caught up in toils of the gods are merely trying to survive. Victims of vicious whims, trapped by their circumstances or pushed beyond what the mortal frame can bear, a handful of god-touched mortals - a scribe, a warlord, a dancer and a child - are about to be brought together in a conspiracy of their own. A conspiracy to reach the heavens, and take down the corrupt and aging gods . . . who are already facing troubles of their own . . . An epic which draws on the Greek mythology of gods and heroes, this new trilogy is a must read for fans of Dan Simmons and Madeline Miller alike. Praise for Miles Cameron: 'Utterly, utterly brilliant. A masterclass in how to write modern fantasy - world building, characters, plot and pacing, all perfectly blended. Miles Cameron is at the top of his game' John Gwynne, author of The Faithful and the Fallen series 'Cold Iron is fantastic. It shimmers like a well-honed sword blade' Anna Smith Spark, author of The Court of Broken Knives 'Promising historical fantasy debut featuring an expansive cast, an engaging plot, and a detailed eye for combat' The Ranting Dragon on The Red Knight 'Literate, intelligent, and well-throughout . . . a pleasingly complex and greatly satisfying novel' SFF World on The Red Knight

Minter explores what happens when good desires become false gods, robbing people of an intimate relationship with the heavenly Father. (Christian)

Exploring the origins of Christianity, this book looks at why it was that people first in Judea and then in the Roman and Greek Mediterranean world became susceptible to the new religion. Robert Knapp looks for answers in a wide-ranging exploration of religion and everyday life from 200 BC to the end of the first century. Survival, honour and wellbeing were the chief preoccupations of Jews and polytheists alike. In both cases, the author shows, people turned first to supernatural powers. According to need, season and place polytheists consulted and placated vast constellations of gods, while the Jews worshipped and contended with one almighty and jealous deity. Professor Knapp considers why any Jew or polytheist would voluntarily dispense with a well-tried way of dealing with the supernatural and trade it in for a new model. What was it about the new religion that led people to change beliefs they had held for millennia and which in turn, within four centuries of the birth of its messiah, led it to transform the western world? His conclusions are as convincing as they are sometimes surprising.