The Judgment Of The Sword

Commands to kill, to commit ethnic cleansing, to institutionalize segregation, to hate and fear other races and religions—all are in the Bible, and all occur with a far greater frequency than in the Qur’an. But fanaticism is no more hard-wired in Christianity than it is in Islam. In Laying Down the Sword, “one of America’s best scholars of religion” (The Economist) explores how religions grow past their bloody origins, and delivers a fearless examination of the most violent verses of the Bible and an urgent call to read them anew in pursuit of a richer, more genuine faith. Christians cannot engage with neighbors and critics of other traditions—nor enjoy the deepest, most mature embodiment of their own faith—until they confront the texts of terror in their heritage. Philip Jenkins identifies the “holy amnesia” that, while allowing scriptural religions to grow and adapt, has demanded a nearly wholesale suppression of the Bible’s most aggressive passages, leaving them dangerously dormant for extremists to revive in times of conflict. Jenkins lays bare the whole Bible, without compromise or apology, and equips us with tools for reading even the most unsettling texts, from the slaughter of the Canaanites to the alarming rhetoric of the book of Revelation. Laying Down the Sword presents a vital framework for understanding both the Bible and the Qur’an, gives Westerners a credible basis for interaction and dialogue with Islam, and delivers a powerful model for how a faith can grow from terror to mercy.

Maud Diver (1867-1945) was a British Indian author who was a friend and contemporary of Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) and who, like Kipling, primarily wrote about Englishmen in India and their encounters with the people and cultures of the East. The Judgment of the Sword is one of two books Diver wrote about Eldred Pottinger (1811-43), an army officer in the East India Company. The other volume, The Hero of Herat, is a popular biography recounting Pottinger's 1837 involvement in the Persian siege of Herat, and his much-praised role in helping to end it. In the volume presented here, Pottinger is portrayed in a tragic but dignified tone. The volume, comprising six "books," is a "dramatized history" that records the disastrous events surrounding the 1841 Afghan uprising against the British and their protégé Shah Shuja during the First Anglo-Afghan War. The volume focuses on Pottinger's heavy involvement in the fighting and diplomacy during the uprising. After his residence in Laghman was attacked, Pottinger fled to the garrison town of Charikar, where a Gurkha force of the British Indian army supporting Shah Shuja was stationed. The rebels besieged the Gurkhas, killing the commander and forcing the troops to evacuate. Severely wounded, Pottinger escaped with the rest of the troops to Kabul, where eight days after their arrival, Afghan commander Akbar Khan murdered British envoy Sir William Macnaghten. Pottinger replaced Macnaghten in dire circumstances. He negotiated the British Indian withdrawal from Kabul with Akbar, but the latter detained him as one of three hostages. Pottinger thus escaped the massacre in which the retreating force was destroyed. He returned to India in 1842 with the army of Major General George Pollock, one of two forces that the British had sent to retaliate against the Afghans. Pottinger died the following year, while on a visit to Hong Kong.

Excerpt from The Judgment of the Sword: The Tale of the Kabul Tragedy, and of the Part Played Therein by Major Eldred Pottinger, the Hero of Herat Thus it has seemed best to tell the whole wonderful tale so far as it can be told in one volume, merely giving rather more space and detail to those events in which Pottinger came conspicuously to the fore. By this means the part he was called on to play, and the unfailing courage with which he played it, will best be revealed, while British readers will be reminded of an object-lesson as dramatic and terrible as any in the annals of Empire. True, neither men nor nations care to be gratuitously reminded of failures. Successes alone are deemed fit objects for remembrance, for commemoration. Let our failures be thrust into the nearest cupboard and the door slammed on their unflattering faces. Yet there is more to he learnt - both by men and nations - from looking failure frankly in the eyes, from sincere acknowledgment of the fact and the cause, than from the more popular process of white washing that masquerades as patriotism. Not, My country can do no wrong, but, Right or wrong, my country, is the true patriotic note. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

What if praying became a curse instead of a blessing? Former Army Ranger Jagger Baird thought he had his hands full with the Tribe—the band of immortal vigilantes fighting to regain God’s grace by killing those opposed to Him. But that was before he encountered the ruthless group of immortals called the Clan. The Clan is after a prize that would give them unimaginable power—a piece of the Ten Commandments known as the Judgment Stone. Those who touch the Stone can see into the spiritual world: angelic warriors, treacherous demons, and the blue threads of light that signal the presence of believers in communion with God. By following the blue beam radiating from those closest to God, the Clan plans to locate His most passionate followers and destroy them. Jagger quickly realizes his high-tech gadgetry and training are no match for these merciless immortals. But how can he defeat an enemy who hunts believers through their prayers . . . and won’t stop until they’ve annihilated all those close to Him? In this high-action thriller, best-selling author Robert Liparulo examines the raging battle between good and evil on earth . . . and beyond.